I finally finished the socks I was making for my brother. As he was down in PA this Christmas with the kids and SIL (woot!), I decided not to mail them up to him. Boy am I glad I did! I got to see his initial reaction to the socks.

Now honestly, they're nothing special - no special yarn, no special pattern - just a basic 2x2 rib done in Plymouth Sockin Sox made by me for my brother, but my brother is not a knitter. At all. He doesn't get the whole sticks+string=socks thing. He thinks it's magic that what starts out as a triangle on 3 sticks (with a 4th doing some pokey stuff) winds up as a sock that will fit his foot.

It's okay. I don't get the whole hockey stick+pool=underwater hockey thing, so we're even. But we both share a fascination of the other's hobby even though we don't really understand it. And THAT my friends is totally cool. :)

I'm taking a quick break from NaNo'ing to make a quick post about the last rose in my garden. It bloomed this month during one of our warm-ups, took me quite by surprise.
( pic spam this way )
I'm also on the second foot of a pair of 2x2 ribbed socks for my brother, but no pictures of those yet.

Okay... back to NaNo'ing.

I ask because I was just reading today's "Knitting Daily" about the Magic Loop technique. Kathleen starts the article telling of her laddering woes when working with DPNs. I've heard this familiar complaint from other knitter - they get ladders when they work in the round on DPNs changing from one needle to the next.

I ... don't. I just don't. And now I'm beginning to wonder if something isn't wrong with me because I don't suffer from this seemingly common knitting issue. Even when I was first learning to knit, this was not a problem.

So I ask... is it me? Am I some sort of knitting mutant?

Or is it just that my gauge swatches consistently lie and that's my own personal knitting cross to bear?

I have determined that I really, really don't like using tiny bamboo needles. The baby booties that I'm knitting right now are on 2.0 mm needles (bamboo) and at least one of the needles has a snag on it. All of them are too bendy. And just don't like the way they work.

I need to pick up a set of metal 2.0 mm's I think. Soon. Hey! Lookit that! This is a pay week! Mine! *grin*

My brother's socks - Plymouth Yarn - Sockin' Sox - neutral colorway - simple 2x2 rib basic sock pattern on size 1 needles

Blue Pine Jacket - Knit Picks - Merino Style - in the colors suggested in the pattern - for me!

Booties & Hat for Dana's Baby - remnants of Handpainted Ambrosia (gorgeous!) - basic baby hat with a simple cable and a pom pom (finished); Amy King's Baby Keep Your Socks On - size 0 needles - my first attempt at toe-up socks. So far, I like it! :)

(photos to come)

How do I only have 1 set of size 5 knitting needles? And their not even DPNS! Straights only. How can this be?

Off to Michael's at lunch to get a size 5 circular needle so I can work on my Blue Pine Jacket. The ribbed band at the bottom is fine on the straights, but the rest of the sweater needs to be worked on a circular needle or on DPNS.

*le sigh*

Edited to add: No needle love at Michael's. They had size 6 and up. *le pout*

Most excellent:

Serpentine Mitts in Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Fingering. Colorway: Toast






I think I have enough leftover for a matching hat or caliometry, too. Woot! :D

My friend and writing buddy, haldira, is the chairman for the Austin Browncoats, an Austin based non-profit organization for Firefly fans. They do a lot of fund raising for charities. Last year they started selling hand knit Jayne hats to support Equality Now and Kids Need to Read. They support several other charities as well. Anyway, read on for information on how you can help.


The Austin Browncoats need some knitting help. Many of you heard about our knit-a-thon at Dragon*Con 2008. Claudia knit 12 hats during the course of booth hours, which is an impressive feat. The hats are so popular that we have pre-orders coming in weekly. We're looking for individuals that are interested in helping us knit hats for charity. For more information about the charities we support, visit: Austin Browncoats Charity.

We will provide you with a starter kit, that will include the pattern or pattern and yarn (according to if you want to donate your knitting time or your knitting time AND yarn). We will provide receipts to all knitters to document time, as well as monetary donations.

We are in need of knit wool and acrylic hats, but are not in need of crocheted Jayne hats currently. We are working on being able to provide acrylic yarn, but as of right now, we can only provide wool yarn.

If you can't knit, but would like to help us make Jayne hats for charity, think of this:

$15 makes 3 Jayne hats.

By donating $15 to the Austin Browncoats, you are helping us produce three Jayne hats. That $15 turns into over $100 that goes straight to Kids Need To Read, Equality Now and our other supported charities.

If you are interested in any of these positions, or would like more information about volunteering with the Austin Browncoats, write to: volunteer@austinbrowncoats.com.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled LJ. :D

Corrected to change "fan club" to "non-profit organization." (Sorry about that! Big difference!}

For SCA purposes, these examples are way out of period, but oh, they're gorgeous works of art. The knitted gloves start towards the middle of the page with the purple knitted silk ladies gloves. Drooooooooooooooool!

debris4spike, there's even an example of crocheted gloves!

http://www.glovecollectioncatalogue.org/Spence-Collection-at-Bath-23390-23417

I've been on a sock knitting jag lately. AND I have pictures! Woot! Sadly, they're using my camera phone, so their not very good, but you get a good idea of what they look like.

First are the infamous Alum Socks that I'm knitting for my parents' anniversary (which was in June, but shhhhh...). My parents met at the University of Pennsylvania in the early 60s when my mom was a freshman and my dad was a sophomore. They were married in '66 and are even more in love now than ever. It's completely awesome. Anyway, to commemorate their beginnings, I chose to knit them socks in Penn's colors.

So without further ado:
Dad's socks - done




Yarn - Novita Florica in navy blue and Dalegarn Baby Ull in red, metal needles US size 1 (2.25 mm)

Mom's socks - in progress - at heel flap for #1



Yarn - Fotissima Socka by Schoeler & Stahl in a heathery navy and Baby Ull by Dalegarn in red, metal needles US size 1 (2.25 mm)

Dragon*Con 2008 Socks - in progress - on leg of #2




Yarn - Trekking XXL by Zitron, color way 171 (mostly red), Brittany wooden needles US 2 (2.75 mm)

Soon I will get pictures of Casey in his Saranac sweater. :D

Life:

• Casey's job search continues. He has a brand new resume that highlights his project management skills and he's taking a self-directed project management course which will result in a certificate of completion at the end of it (read: proof that he really does know what he's talking about).
• I received my recertification booklet for the SPHR. I need to recert by June 2011. The requirements are pretty hefty... much more than I was expecting, but it's good. It means I get to go to more conferences and start doing research within HR about HR and business strategy. I'm still ruminating, so no ideas yet on what that means exactly.
• It looks like we'll be taking in my BIL and SIL's mastiff for a little while until they are able to move into a place either of their own or that allows big dogs. She's a sweetie. We had a trial run Thursday night and Friday morning when BIL came to town for an interview.
• I need to find a dress suitable for a Masonic dinner and a fairly posh evening wedding. The Masonic dinner is this Friday. The wedding is November 7. I'm hoping to be down by a dress size by the wedding, so whatever I get this week needs to be easily altered. Suggestions on where to look in Philly for plus size would be greatly appreciated. (Lane Bryant doesn't carry what I'm looking for this time of year.)
• Our next door neighbors put their house up for sale last week. Hopefully the new neighbors will be nice and friendly. (The old neighbors are nice and we chat over the fence, but the relationship never went beyond that. Same with the neighbors on the other side.)
• Went to visit Grammy Saturday morning before heading to a shower (for the posh wedding) in NJ. She's doing all right. She was thrilled to learn that Bingo was scheduled for after lunch.
• The bridal shower was lovely. Very tasteful, no silly games, and amazing cupcakes! :D It was funny because the bride is normally so composed and confident and she's NOT about the wedding. (Note to self: send her the hanky to carry with her bouqet at the ceremony for her borrowed.)
• Because of the shower I had to miss the Grand Opening at Tangled Web. :( I'm sure it was a blast and that everyone had fun. :D

Stuff:

• Why can't I just subscribe to the channels we watch for cable rather than only watch broadcast tv, 5 or 6 cable channels and then have a gazillion other channels of crap?
• Sleeves continue to be the bane of my existence. I got Casey's Saranac knitted, finished, and blocked. Then gave it to him to try on and the damned sleeves were 5" too long. So I measured and snipped and ripped the bottom half back to the cuff, reattached the cuff... and now the first sleeve is 3" too f*(^@(%g short. GRRRRRR... I started the detaching process again last night. I'm just going to reknit the rest of the sleeve and pray. Pray lots.
• I'm making progress on the anniversary socks for my parents. I should have my dad's pair to give to him on Monday.
• Mom's Isabella is starting to proceed forward. Now that I have the right number of stitches and I didn't twist them.
• Dragon*Con socks are looking cool!
• Network at work is going down in 10 minutes, so I'm going to go grab some lunch and then walk down to the credit union to deposit an expense check. Amex will be happy.

Photos to come soon, but...

I'M WEAVING IN THE ENDS AND FIGURING OUT HOW TO ATTACH THE ZIPPER AND THEN IT WILL BE DONE!

Woot!

Totally excited and ready to finish the next project. :D

I've been knitting! So I borrowed the work camera and took some snaps. :)

First we have Saranac:
Nearly there! I'm working on the yoke now.


Close up:


Next is the beginnings of Isabella (which I cast on this weekend):


Here's the swatch for Isabella which told me I need to knit on a smaller needle (size 2 - circular):


Here's my first Jayne hat (while in progress) to be sold at Dragon*Con by the Austin Browncoats for charity. I've got a lot of knitting to do! If anyone wants to help, let me know. I have to have them all in my hands no later than August 27. They knit up really quickly.


Next is some wool that I bought at The Tangled Web in Germantown. I loooooooooooooove gift certificates!
Sheep shop wool:


And 2 skeins of Tofutsies:


I've been relearning how to spin and I'm pleased with my progress. I first bought my spindle at Estrella War in 1996 (holy God! Really??? Damn... I didn't think it was THAT long ago) and with it, some roving. Greyish stuff. Kinda cool. I spun it up - badly and let it sit. For 12 years. I had some cream colored wool as well and started that around 1997 or 98... Then I put the spindle and roving away and forgot about all of it until this year. This year, I pulled it out again and finished the first bit of ivory (with a bit of orange). And then the lovely women at the Falls Fiber Night taught me how to Navajo ply. COOLNESS! I got this neat yarn that looks like a creamsicle in spots.



So then I decided to resurrect the first yarn I spun and try to ply that. The best I can call it is Frankenyarn. I did wind up with three mini skeins (because it kept breaking in the overspun bits):


And I've decided I'm addicted to spinning so here's what's on the spindle now - more of the ivory wool. I'm planning on spinning two bunches and dying the second bunch a different color because I really like the effect of color on cream. :D


Isn't progress cool?

So I have this idea.

My parents' anniversary is in June. They went to the same university - it's where they met actually - University of Pennsylvania. See, my mom was in a sorority and my dad was in ROTC. One of my dad's best friends was dating one of my mom's sorority sisters. My mom was dating some other guy (seriously, that's how he's referred to when they tell the story - lol). The sorority had a dance and my dad's friend didn't want to go, but his girlfriend had to. So he asked my dad to take her. Dad agreed and while at the dance met my mother.

Now to hear my dad tell it, he was head over heels as soon as he saw her. My mom said, "He seemed like a nice guy."

Well, to make a long story short, my mom wound up breaking up with the guy she was dating and she and my dad started dating. They would meet after classes at Houston Hall and chat and get to know each other. Mom brought him home to meet her parents. Dad brought her home to meet his parents. They dated for three years.

When Dad graduated (he was a year ahead of her), he was sent to Korea to finish his enlistment (remember, he was ROTC). He proposed, but my grandfather wouldn't let them get engaged because he was going so far away and it would be another 2 years before they could marry anyway. He told my mother, "If it's really love, it will last even while he's away."

So dad went to Korea with the army and mom stayed home. She graduated in 64 and took a teaching job in Olney. They wrote constantly. I found one of the letters my dad wrote my mom - made me blush! But it was nice to see that the feelings they expressed for one another while I was growing up (and even now) were just as vibrant as when they were dating. It also gave me an example of what real love looks like - not just the romantic part about it either.

Anyway, this inspiration of love found has led me to designing a pair of socks for them in Penn's colors and incorporating the Penn "P" into the design. The problem I'm having is the official P is diagonally counter changed red and blue. The main body of the socks is blue. So I may have to take some liberty with the socks and knit the P's in red only. Unless I can figure out a way to get the blue part of the P to pop. Maybe by knitting the P in relief - the P stitches knit, the background purled... I don't know... still contemplating.

In the meantime, I finished the first cuff of my dad's socks. I decided to do corrugated ribbing. It looks pretty cool. I'll take pictures when I get the pattern right.

I received an e-mail this morning from my lovely target, Sekkoko, that she "died" today by asoxination. Here is a picture of my weapon of choice:





The yarn is Fortissima Socka purchased at The Tangled Web in Philadelphia. The pattern is The Detonator for Sock Wars III. I don't know that the pattern is available to the public at this point.

What you don't really see in my photos is that the pattern forms these neat little points like cartoon explosions. Part of that is the photo, part is the yarn I used (not self-striping). I am very tempted to make a pair for myself using the recommended yarn (Tofutsies).

It's been a pleasure knitting for you, Sekkoko!

Since I mailed my Detonator socks last week, I've finished the second sock to a pair of socks I had started before Sock Wars started and picked up Casey's sweater again. The pattern is Saranac. It's pretty simple - garter rib - R1 k6,p2 all the way around, R2 knit all the way around - but I've reached the it's-never-going-to-end stage. I'm currently working on the Lower Body. The size I'm knitting needs to measure 19" before I can move on. Since Saturday, I've measured it ... many times. The first time it was 15". I figured I could make significant progress by the end of the weekend and get to 19" easily. Yeah. No. I've been knitting on this pretty much nonstop today and it JUST reached 18"... sort of... if I stretch it a little. But when I hold it up, it looks like it's over 19"... but no. It's just 18". I'm taking a break right now to give my wrist and shoulder a rest, but I really want to get that extra inch! (Hush, you in the peanut gallery! It's not that kind of post!) I'd take more pictures of it to show you, but nothing interesting has happened to the shape or pattern since the last time I posted. Pictures will happen when I get to the sleeves and collar and other interesting bits. *grin*

Until then, I will continue inching along, like the little inch worm.

On Mother's Day, I wore my Isabella over a white blouse with a denim skirt. My mom loved it. I offered to knit her one if she bought the yarn. I sent her some links so she could pick her color and order it. She's ordering from The Knitting Garden. The color - Bloom. Woot!

Ah, my dear, lovely Sekkoko, you should be concerned now. I have made it to the foot of the second sock. Yes. The foot. Of the second. Mwahahahahahaha! A huge thank you to my hubby for driving on Saturday afternoon to his grandmother's and his mother's. :D

I was also able to make significant progress yesterday - first at the Philadelphia Book Festival where mamagrainne and I went to see Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and get our copies of her newest book signed. La Harlot was in fine form, enjoyable as always. And every word. Truth. Seriously. We walk among you! Of course, I am sans camera (and my cell phone takes crappy pictures) so no fun photos from me. I did redeem myself, though, and showed off my to gauge Detonator socks. So yay! (for reference go back to One on the Way and my post from October 2, 2007.)

While in line we met up with purlewe, her lovely Sue (whom I finally got to meet), and Rebecca (whose LJ name I'm totally blanking on right now). It was great to see them and as they were all going on to rhainn31's for the SnB, we decided to all pile into my car. Sadly, mamagrainne was thoroughly exhausted and decided to head home after the book signing. We'll get her out another time! :D

We trekked over to the parking lot, getting positively drenched (is that something you can even do negatively?) in the last two blocks before the parking structure. Yeah. I totally walked out of the house without a jacket or an umbrella or even a hat. What was I thinking? LOL... luckily I don't mind walking in warm rain and the blouse I was wearing was light enough that it dried quickly once in the car.

On the road to the SnB we discovered that the GPS doesn't like to be started in the middle of a city with big tall buildings. We also decided that my GPS sounds disctinctly Germanic and will henceforth be called Inga. Or maybe Helga. Possibly Ilsa. That part is still up for debate. *grin*

The SnB was fun, there was lots of good food and conversation, and much knitting was accomplished. As well as eating. Did I mention the eating? Yummy food is one of those phenomenon that just seems to happen at these things. And Min's Smores Sandwiches... Oh. My. Gawd. Yeah... food-gasm. LOL I wish I could have stayed longer, but the getting home from North Jersey at 2:30 a.m. was finally taking its toll. I dropped Rebecca off near her apartment and made it home.

Casey had just pulled into the driveway as I pulled into my parking spot, so that was lovely timing. The dog was beside himself. LOL After a quick dinner of left over roast beef with rice noodles and peanut sauce (fun with leftovers!), I plunked down on the couch with my knitting and two more discs of Rome (Season 2). I did wind up falling asleep somewhere in the middle of Phillipi, so I'll have to rewatch that. Maybe tonight after I take Sammy for a hike in the woods.

But the point of all that exposition? Nay-yah! I'm on the foot of the second sock, Sekkoko! I should be able to mail these babies to you by Wednesday at the latest! Bwahahahahahahaha!

So I just downloaded a whole bunch of podcasts from iTunes. Most of them are knitting or writing related (what?).

( Here's my current podcast list )

I know I'm going to go through that list over the weekend and weed out what I don't like, but so far that's what I've got. I would be listening to these while knitting and unable to watch a movie or while walking or at the gym. SO... anything you would recommend?

In audiobooks, I'm making my way through "The Oddessy" on my iPod right now. I'd like to download something a little lighter though. I do find that for novels I do prefer to read the books myself, but there are times when that's not practical - driving, knitting, on the elliptical, walking, etc. So... What would you suggest?

I turned the heel on the first sock last night and am on the gussets. I should make substantial progress today at lunchtime. Beware, my target, beware! ;)

ETA: I am halfway through the gussets. Excellent!