knit1frog2

okonomi

When I don't feel good, I tend to crave spicy things...I don't know why.  I had made ma po tofu the other night, so feeling like utter crud today, it really seemed like the thing to eat with some brown rice.  While it was okay, it was definitely missing something.  I grabbed the okonomi and put some on top.  Okonomi basically makes everything better (it pretty much means -- as you like it).  Too bad you can't put it on badly knitted items to make them all better too or maybe put some on my head to make me feel better.

No pics today...I'm totally achy.  I can say, however that somehow I got the nbat back and front onto the blocking board.  I'm not sure how, but there it lays. I am still not convinced those sleeves will fit, but time will tell.  It's nice to have mindless stockinette when your head can't otherwise think.

throat...swollen...ugh.

ow quit it

Typically when you start a project, you shouldn't switch knitting techniques mid-way through the back...I know this, you know this, we all know this.  However, since my left index finger was starting to get sore from the continental purling...I just had to find another way to purl.  My right hand is already damaged from that time I knit my niece that Weasley sweater in 3 days and the incessant mouse-clicking that I do at work (yes I have since changed to left-mousing as well).

I just had to.

I had read that you can "pick" the purl stitch kind of like how you pick the knit stitch (not your nose) a la continental.  I tried it awhile back, but it was funky and it leaves your stitch backwards for the knit row, so you've got to remember to knit into the back of the stitch to turn it around for the next purl row.  The needle goes clockwise around the yarn that is held by the left index finger and voila.  The stitch is now on the RH needle. 

A handful of things that I've noticed while doing this:

1. My left index finger hardly even MOVES, thus no pain!
2. It's not so true that no pain, no gain theory.
3. The tension for the knit and purl is naturally much more even w/o having to cinch the purl!
4. Knitting goes almost mach speed!!

Seriously, I am already on the 3rd increase up the front after the waist!!  Sadly I am too tired to take a picture.  My throat was kind of funny last night and I felt ill!  I tossed and turned all night long.  Hot (toss covers).  Cold (where'd those covers go?!).  No wait.  Hot (covers off).  Nooooo, cold (covers on!).  Repeat 50 more times.  ugh.  I think I got 3 hrs of sleep total.

We also had an office move where I arrived to my new location this morning to find that my sofa and ergo desk were nowhere to be found.  Super.  Luckily the move crew was there on the 2nd floor and they were great.  Not only did they find my sofa, they moved it in, moved the fridge over, found an ergo desk, moved ALL 3 of my monitors and hookups off the old desk and back onto the new desk and even installed the underneath plug thingy that they wouldn't install for one of the guys on my team onto his desk when he asked really nicely. 

I leave you with this, only b/c it's more fun to look at a blog that has pictures.

so soothing.ah.

two

Well, I've done a little here, done a little there knitwise...worked on the 2 EL socks for a few rows before meeting some friends for lunch and a movie...and finished up the 2nd sleeve for the nbat.  Wow did that go fast!  I've also cast on for the front, but I counted the stitches 2 times before starting this time.  I don't think I could bear knitting half-way up the front a 2nd time to find that I am only 2 sts short.  no way, no how.

blue bells

Speaking of two, I'm wondering what a person is supposed to do when they only want two cupcakes (b/c really, who just wants ONE?).  I was really craving cupcakes earlier...yellow cupcakes with a chocolate top.  Don't know why as I don't normally crave the sweets and store-bought cupcakes just don't cut it sometimes (okay most of the time)...so even though it was hot outside, I baked today.  Yes indeed.  24 cupcakes later the lovely smell of baked goods wafting around me, but now I'm wondering what a person is supposed to do with 22 cupcakes?!  Yeah, NOW WHAT?

minus...two.

sigh

This week has been a bit...off.

I honestly wasn't sure until just a few minutes ago why.  Father's Day was Sunday.  It's a great thing and my Dad was the king of dads.  I was one of the lucky ones whose Dad was the best, the rock, the good side of things...'cept my Dad...is no longer around.

It's been weeks of Father's Day email and advertisement reminders of just that fact.

Also, I just realized that while steadily knitting away on the front of the nbat, that it seemed narrow, so I stopped and took a measurement...Hmm.  Close, but it felt a bit smaller than the back.  It wasn't until I started knitting the 24th row of the waist when I thought to count the stitches.  I swore I had the right number when I started, so why count them along the way?

DOH.  2 stitches short.  TWO.  I had been knitting all of this time, two stitches short.  Disgusted, I frogged the entire front and started on the sleeve.  It made me smile.  Take a look.

hostess cupcake anyone?

You know how I adore cake.  'nuff said.

gorgeous

Have you seen anything lovelier??

I haven't.

Picked these up from Z yesterday...she almost didn't give them up. Now I can see why. Puck's Mischief (medweight) and Rolling Stone (lightweight) are amazing...simply amazing STR yarn.  I don't know how they get the vibrancy in their yarns, but I am glad they've figured out how to do this!  Here's to hoping the lightweight isn't cumbersome (finer yarn = smaller stitch gauge)...but at least it will be pretty to look at while knitting!

Who wants some socks?

nbat take 2

Well, after frogging the nbat, I immediately cast back on for another try.  This one looks much better already...

right on track, sort of

Interestingly I couldn't get gauge with US8s so I had to drop down to US7s.  While I got stitch gauge, I wasn't getting row gauge, so I had to do a little math to compensate, though I just now realized that I forgot to add a row to every decrease/increase set--argh.  This means I'm missing an inch already.  Hmm.  Well, I'm not that tall, so maybe this will work.  I'll have to make sure that I add extra rows for the upper chest portion and armholes--cause ooo would that be bad or what?!

one down

I stumbled to the kitchen this morning, making my way through the maze of boxes that is now my living room since the insane FREE 63" wide TV entered my life...and I saw the NBAT.  Sadly, it was in the same pile as in this post (oh geez, how sad, TWO yrs ago?!), still folded neatly in a box.

It was already seamed at the shoulders, so I thought I would try it on to see just how it fit.  Um.  Yeah, no.  Then I laid it out to take measurements and holy moley.  It was 22.25" across.  A 44" chested sweater?  I may have chesticles, but they certainly would enjoy a 42" fit instead at the most since that is the closest wearable size.  (the collar looks really wonky b/c it wasn't yet sewn down)

memories...

Here's where we're at now.

can you say, "do over?!"

I had forgotten how soft Calmer is.  It's nice stuff.  I didn't enjoy all of the fluffy bits that went up my nose though when winding back into balls and cakes.  (what's with all of those little balls anyway?)

library of my own

So I have been very very busy at work.  You know it's bad when you are leaving after the warning flicker happens to tell you the lights in your building are about to shut off.  That and I have been (finally) unpacking some boxes of books at home and lo and behold, I came across my own version of IK Winter05!  Now I can return the copy that I have from the library and know that I won't have to photocopy the Embossed Leaves project.  Nice!  I also came across some Rowan mags and that striped sweater with the CSH is in one of them!  hooray!

Now I can get started whenever I want with this yarn.  I do think, however, that the sweater would look better as a v-neck...so I'll have to do some modifications.  Also I think the body should be tapered a bit.  But, I still need to finish the EL socks.

Something else funny.  I thought other yarn in my stash was for the DB Biker Jacket...but while looking through one of the Rowan mags, I remembered that all bets were off after I had seen someone at AS wearing this:

A Yorkshire Fable sweater

I can't believe I forgot that. 

leaves are falling--quickly!!

I can't seem to put these socks down.  I'd be closer to being completed if I hadn't gotten the bright idea of reinforcing the heels and toes...but with what?  I looked for my neutral reinforcement stuff and it wasn't with the rest of the stash.  So yes, I thought I would just hold the yarn double throughout the heel and toe.  It sounds innocuous enough, right?

Well, when I tried to find the inside end of the skein...out came this ginormous clump o' green yarn.  I mean huge...as in derail-the-knitting-for-a-good-30-minutes-while-trying-to-unravel-this-maze-and-puzzle-of-a-yarn-tangle.  ugh.  Then of course I repeated said aggravation when I tried to find the end of the other skein.  Tack another 40 minutes of untangling!!  I think I should win a prize in patience, that's for sure.  I finally unwound each...put the ends into center-pull balls and stuffed them back into the skeins.  Man.

As if it wasn't challenging enough to knit both socks on one circular off of two different skeins and keeping THOSE untangled.  Now I am dealing with both ends of each skein...egad.

But at least I can tell you that I've turned the heels on both socks.  I won't have to worry about keeping all four ends of the skeins untangled until I reach the toes...

looks like ice cream scoops!

I think this is the fastest that I've ever worked on a pair of socks!!  Go leaves go!!  Okay I am breaking for coffee.  I haven't had any yet and my head is killing me.

do you see what I see?

Something about knitting that I've learned...if you don't like the yarn suggested, substitute it for another!  If you're not getting gauge, try a different needle!  If you like the pattern, kind of, change it!  Knitting isn't as rigid as I once thought it was...it's pretty fluid, actually, which just makes it all the more fun.

I had hesitations about that yarn I first cast on with, would the pattern get lost in the colorway?  After it turned my hands black each time I spent with it, I knew it had to go.  Now...wonder how I get it back into pre-hank form from yarn cake form so that I can wash it to try to set that color....  (yay!  the knitalong with Amanda would still be ON!)

While I pondered this, I rifled through one of my yarn boxes and I found a most perfect yarn to try again. Here is what I've knit up with so far...

Regia 4fädig Farbe 622/37871

Isn't that yarn precious?  Perfect for the embossed leaves!  This pattern is just...awesome.

leaves!  glorious leaves!