Thursday, July 27, 2006

Twisted Socks

After completing Noah's socks and drooling over them to wear with Crocs, I grabbed some sock yarn before I left Charlottesville and started working on this pattern with this yarn in the Autumn color. The pattern calls for size 2 and size 3 dpns and involves a few tricky stitches. I shouldn't be surprised that the yarn, being so inexpensive and all, tends to separate into distinct strands, and doesn't have such a finished look. However, the pattern involves twisted stitches (hence, the pattern's name, duh) so it's not the end of the world that the plys of the yarn (sounds so technical but it's not, I just made that up) sometime separate. As with Noah's socks, I am knitting both socks at the same time, avoiding the one-sock syndrome. I'll try to take a picture tonight, but you know how I am with promising pictures...I always break my promise. But I promise to try real hard, I promise.

And if you need to laugh a bit today, check out this site...genius I tell you. Okay, maybe not genius but definitely gonna provide a few chuckles.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

I Can't Believe I Did This AGAIN

Okay, I said this before, but I really mean it this time. I'm not going to knit this shawl again. Don't get me wrong, I am elated that Miss Brenda loves her shawl, but it did take a long time and I'm ready to move on to another pattern for shawls. She has admired the one I made for my mom, so I know she'll really enjoy the one I made for her. Here it is in all it's glory:


And for its close-up:

It's been so dang hot at work due to the old-ass air conditioning system that Miss Brenda hasn't used it yet, but it's hanging from the back of her chair, just like mine does, for when the air-conditioning system is upgraded to work in this era.

In other knitting news, Noah and I are going to celebrate Sam and Brad's engagement at a wine party. All attendants are encouraged to bring a bottle or two of wine to build their budding wine collection. Hopefully she won't look at this blog before Saturday, because I knitted this wine cozy for them using this Knitty pattern.


Green is one of her colors, so hopefully she'll make the connection. It's not completely finished. I still have to make the cord to weave through the yarn-over stitches in the ribbing (hard to see in the picture) used to pull the ribbing tight. Also, for the finishing, the pattern indicates "Sew Seam. Work 2 rows crochet along CO edge as follows: Row 1: Single crochet in each st. Row 2: Single crochet in first st, [chain 5, slip stitch in 3rd chain from hook, skip next 3 sts, single crochet in next stitch] around. Break yarn, secure, and weave in ends." Following the directions, I sewed the seam, knowing that I would have to do some crocheting along the CO edge. Well, maybe I knew that I would have to use the CO edges but ignored that fact anyway because the way that I sew seams, I do it in a way as to make it not look like a seam, seaming with the knitted object inside out. Now I can't pick up the CO edge cause it's inside the cozy. There aren't any pictures in the pattern to indicate what the crocheted seam looks like and I like the way the cozy looks now just fine. Granted, there's a bit of complacency in that statement "I like the way the cozy looks now just fine." I guess I'm just being lazy about it. Oh well, I'm lazy. Sue me.

While in Charlottesville this past week, I grabbed some sock yarn that I had purchased from Knit Picks a while back to bring back to Maryland with me, but of course, I don't have the right size needles for the pattern I want to use. So, I actually worked on a project that I had started over a year ago. It's knit in a seed stitch, but instead of alternating every stitch, every row, I'm alternating every two stitches, every two rows. It's quite vintage looking and I have just the perfect recipient in mind for this scarf. The yarn is a combo of two types of acrylic yarn, one I picked up at a yard sale (go Yard Sales!!) and one I had in my stash from A.C. Moore. It knits up pretty well. I'll post a pic of the scarf when it's complete.

And in Grey's Anatomy news, this is an warning to all those out there who have evening commitments. Don't make any commitments on Thursday evenings cause Grey's Anatomy is moving to Thursday evenings at 9 PM. Two hospital shows, Grey's and ER, in one evening, right after the other. I hope I can handle myself!

Monday, July 10, 2006

A Voice From the Back Pew

There was a preacher whose wife was expecting a baby so he went before the Congregation and asked for a raise. After much discussion, they passed a rule that whenever the preacher's family expanded, so would his paycheck.

After 6 children, this started to get expensive and the congregation decided to hold another meeting to discuss the preacher's salary. There was much yelling and bickering about how much the clergyman's additional children were costing the church.

Finally, the Preacher got up and spoke to the crowd, "Children are a gift from God," he said. Silence fell on the Congregation. In the back pew, a little old lady stood up and in her frail voice said, "Rain is also a gift from God, but when we get too much of it, we wear rubbers."

And the congregation said, "Amen!"

Thursday, July 06, 2006

It's J's Day!!

Happy Birthday JaKnit!!

I hope you are having an absolutely fantastic day, eating lots of cake, drinking lots of wine (ok, maybe not at work), and getting ready for a weekend of celebration. And we'll just dismiss the fact that you share the same birthday of "dubbya."

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Summer 2006 Knitty

The new knitty issue is up. Click here to check out The Extremeties Issue. I love Fetching, definitely on my list of things to knit.