Rip & wind weekend

January 23, 2006 Vicki11 Comments

When not studying or singing karaoke, the girl is seeing the sights, having her picture taken with phone booths (I’m humored that the person in the booth behind her also appears to be having a picture taken rather than using the phone), doing some shopping, and taking walks in the park.

I’m wishing for feel-o-vision right now — I’ve love to get my hands on that cute little bag — it appears to be made of little felted balls that are all glommed together somehow. That’s her new phone for scale.

The more pictures she sends, the more I want to go. Workin’ on it. I love the light in the park picture and that sunset. Wow. My girl’s a sky-watcher, too.

I spent most of Saturday at home and did some training for International Pajama Day (the next celebration is slated for February 5th!). Maddy needed my driving services later in the day, and while she and a friend shopped the import store, I ran up to the LYS for a pair of needles so I could commence the Olympic training.

Oh, but before that could begin, I had to rip the offending work and wind it all up. It’s a big, big, BIG pain the ass to rip and wind yarn that is ‘held double throughout.’ I did not want to re-wind it doubled, I wanted it separate; it went pretty well, though I did have to enlist help once. I was dreading ripping the Blossom, but it came out okay!

In the fresh start spirit, I re-copied the pattern on Sunday — in color and on nice paper — and also made a motivational page with Mary Beth’s helpful information regarding this sweater. In an unusual training maneuver, I made two swatches during football yesterday — BIG swatches — one in stockinette and one in the cable pattern. Next, I’ve got to sharpen my pencil and warm up the calculator…

While I was doing all that ripping, separating, winding and swatching, the Luna Shawlette was having a Eucalan bath — I kind of forgot about it, so it was a good, long soak! There was a little bleeding of dye, but not bad. It ought to be dry and ready for unpinning when I get home tonight — I believe I did get about four inches in length when I pinned it, but will have to see how much it might bounce back.

And in between all that, I worked on the Jaywalker — I’ve knit the heel flap, turned the heel and started the gusset. That’s simple enough work that I ought to be able to do it while watching 24 tonight…

Snakebite

January 20, 2006February 8, 2019 Vicki12 Comments

What do you think might happen if you had a beverage called a "Snakebite" (a combo of lager and cider) — preceded by one or two Strongbows and followed by a Smirnoff and intermingled with a Chinese buffet and karaoke? There’s a young, international studies student in London who can tell you that she "…became for the first time actually DRUNK" and, a little later, kinda sick. My daughter tells me that the staff at the house where she’s staying "…loves when the Wisconsin groups come because ‘we know how to party’." Look what happens when they leave you!!!

Uscableteam_1 Eddiejumpingenjoy I’ve found my team — did you know there were teams? Jenifleur has provided some great buttons. She is on the Fair Isle Team and is making that gorgeous Fair Isle Bag from Summer ’04 Interweave Knits — I forgot how much I like that bag (thanks for the reminder!). I love these Olympics and all the fun and buzz it’s generated. Margene has her Tribute to Eddie The Eagle (I remember Eddie!). I wonder who’s going to adopt the Jamaican Bobsled Team. ; )

I’m kind of stalled in the middle of the street, dodging cars; progress has been
s-l-o-w on the Petrified Jaywalkers, though I have worked on them a little this week. The Red Scarf was completed last night, so the Jaywalkers ought to see more action over the weekend. And Shirley Shrugs… oh, I had pangs as I read Celia’s post about her failing the Olympics Trials (aka, Christmas knitting) and, combined with the echo of Mom’s recent query about my progress on her gift, they hurt — like a snakebite!! Am I worthy of participation in the Olympics? I will do what I must do, and train hard; my regimen shall include nothing but Jaywalkers, Shirley Shrugs, and Williamsro prep from now ’til Opening Ceremonies!

I’m not finished yet with the bowls. It was very interesting to gather one of my collections in one place for the sole purpose of photographing it – something I’d never have done if it weren’t for the ABC-Along. I viewed these things that I look at and use everyday in an entirely different way – I handled each and every one, I arranged them differently (dare I say even artfully?) and I’m tickled that there’s this unexpected, small sense of discovery in this endeavor. I enjoy thinking about the letters to come and how I will represent. To borrow a line from Cara that made me laugh out loud this week, "Let’s look a few more pictures, shall we?" (when would we ever say to no her pictures?).

Lastly, I read a blog called Rebecca’s Pocket. Wondering about blogging? She wrote the book. She’s doing a series of interviews called Bloggers on Blogging. I really enjoyed the most recent interview with David Weinburger. The questions and answers are very interesting; and I like the perspective of a non-knit-blogger. Blogging and blogging issues and blogging etiquette (among them reading, commenting, emailing, responding as Cara posted about today) seem to be a recurring theme across the blogosphere and they won’t be getting any easier.

Oh, and Happy 21st Anniversary to hubby & me!

ABC-Along 2006

B is for…

January 19, 2006 Vicki15 Comments

Bowls. (With lots of pictures for that slimmer skimmer Ann.) It was not by happenstance that my sister gave me bowls for Christmas. She has given me many bowls for many Christmases and not so much because she makes them as because I kind of like them a little. Okay, okay, a LOT!

I gathered all my bowls for a picture yesterday. These portraits do not include my more everyday collection of soup/sauce/cereal bowls or any that were holding leftovers in the ‘fridge.

They’re like my kids in that there are no favorites, except for that stack on the left of bowls that Ali made and the ones my sister made and those green ones and that blue one and the ones with the girl watering the garden… see? I love them all. This is a utilitarian collection — I use most of these bowls — that does double-duty as decorative element because all of my upper kitchen cabinets have glass doors. One of the nice things about having such a large and varied collection is that I can always come up with the right bowl for the job! I love to stand in front of the cabinet, peruse the display, and carefully choose my bowl.

Cuckoo. Go ahead, you can call me that. I think all collectors are a little off their rocker — they’ve just got to be! And it’s catchy: Katie’s already declared her love for bowls and her intention to populate her own cabinets in such a way someday; Ali makes them; not able to take a reading on Maddy yet.

Knitting Olympics 2006/Williamsro · Smokin' (or NOT)

Red are strawberries

January 18, 2006February 8, 2019 Vicki10 Comments

Redscarfbutton Redder than red roses
La la lalala
Redder than my scarf
Red are strawberries
Redder than red roses
Green the leaves are growing*

I found a skein of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky, plus the remainders of another, in a nice maroon and Norma said that I could definitely use it for my contribution to the Red Scarf Project. I tried to find a pattern on Monday night, but I was watching 24 and it was gripping, demanding my full attention, and I could not concentrate on anything! There are 20 more hours in the next few months, for sure, that I will not be knitting — you can take bets! Anyway, Norma mentioned, and I’d noticed, that there were a lot of lacy red scarves being knit and she was concerned about the boys, so I’m knitting a narrow "boy scarf" in mistake rib.

Hey, I got a QuitNet email with numbers today: 306+ days, 6126 cigarettes not smoked, 1-1/2+ months of lifetime (on life support — or not) saved, $1071 saved. Yeah, baby, I’m okay with being a turkey among turkeys.

As announced yesterday, my event for the Harlot Olympics — oooh, that might not be the best nickname, hm? — I mean The 2006 Knitting Olympics (eh, TKO just doesn’t have the oomph) is Williamsro. I started this sweater a LONG time ago — I bought the yarn shortly after my quit date, before the funds saved from smoking really equalled such a purchase (I rewarded myself early and often!), but the Cash Iroha was on sale and I just had to. This little splurge was to eventually become a symbol of my success — why wear it on my sleeve when I can simply wear it? I had a hell of a time finding the right color of Blossom — the search even took me to New York City — but I eventually scored on ebay. I completed the sleeve/swatches and thought I was on target, so cast on and knit most of the back. It became apparent that it was not going to be the comfortable, maybe even roomy sweater I was after — gauge was totally off! So I ripped the back and stuffed the doomed sleeves into a bag and there it’s been for quite a while now. My training over the next few weeks will be concentrated on the ripping, winding, and recalculating. An entire sweater in two weeks may seem daunting, but Mary Beth just knit this very same sweater in that timeframe, and she wasn’t even competing — she did it because it was FUN! It wasn’t ’til after I’d already thrown my hat into the burning ring of circular knitting needles that I realized I’d made plans to attend the WPT Garden Expo in Madison on opening weekend (my sister will be an exhibitor), also visiting with sisters and babies… but I’m good. I’ll just have to train hard and concentrate.

Lastly, please give a nice blogland welcome to Chelle. She’s no stranger among us, but we may not recognize her wearing that shiny, new blog! Now I’m off to shoot my Bs…

*The twins and I used to sing that to our little sister from our beds at night in a round. I don’t know where we learned it, or who wrote it, or whether it’s part of a more substantial song, but it’s awfully pretty and, apparently, very soothing. An even bigger favorite was Today — we can all sing it as if it were only last night. We all remember the words to our elementary school song, too; I don’t know what that says about us. ; )

Saturday-ish Sky

January 17, 2006February 8, 2019 Vicki11 Comments

What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?

You will be smothered under a rug.
You’re a little anti-social, and may want to start gaining new social skills
by making prank phone calls.
Take this quiz!

Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

I love Edward Gorey. I did a little blog-hopping yesterday and found this at a new-to-me blog which I may or may not have added to my Bloglines list and I can’t believe I didn’t jot down the name. I must have been all excited about my Gorey death…

I27maskywatcher2_1

I love the sky. There are a lot of knit-blogging Sandy Sky Watchers standing on their porches in their jammies with wind-blown hair taking pictures of the sky these days; the sky images make me smile, the photographers’ images in my head make me giggle.

Knittingolympics1_2

I love the Olympics. Like Stephanie, I have never participated much in competitive sports; I was invited to join the gymnastics team in high school, but, hey, it was high school — I needed more of a nudge and didn’t get it. Oh, how I love to watch! I cringe and grimace and wince at the mistakes, and sometimes my heart breaks; I beam to bursting, heart full with pride and accomplishment at the winning; and often I cry. I love the anthems, the flags, the pomp and circumstance and ceremony, the flowers, the medals, the smiles and the tears. I love the TV clips of past glories (never enough!) and athletes’ stories. And I think I have the perfect project for the Knitting Olympics — Williamsro! I’ve done some training (i.e., knitting, ripping, knitting, ripping), but I’ve lapsed, so some intense drills are in order these next few weeks. Williamsro is my reward sweater, which I intend to have finished by the quit anniversary, and if I do it for the Olympics, I’ll actually finish it a month ahead of schedule!