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Wednesday, March 28, 2007

3 posts in 3 days? i must be unemployed!

I finished the Monkey socks today, thanks to an excruciatingly long Advanced Grammar class last night. I know it's just the first semester, but I'm over school already. Must. Persevere.

Sigh.

Here's Monkey. And proof that I'm not so good with the picture taking late at night. And also proof that I could have chosen better patterned yarn for this project.

From above:



From the side, in midair, cause I'm a gymnast and junk:



From the creative angle, with the camera no where near my face:



These socks don't represent the Monkey pattern very well, partly because of the yarn, which I happen to love, but maybe for something else (Lorna's Laces in Parfait), and partly because I didn't block the socks. Honestly, who blocks a sock? (sorry, just watched Casino Royale and now I'm channeling Austin Powers.) They're much prettier in person. Most importantly, I learned about arch shaping. Ok, really just doing more decreases at the gusset, but still. I have a narrow foot, so it's important to get right, otherwise you just have a bulky sock that doesn't fit into your shoe.

In other news, I started a job today, and it closely resembles the things I asked for earlier this month, with a few key exceptions. The pay is significantly less. But I'm with cute babies all day, honing my mom skills, until 3:30 when I can go to class or just go home and study. Or dye lots of wool. Priorities you know. And I can wear whatever I want and be barefoot all day, which totally rocks because that's how I hang at home. Except now when I get home I have to change cause I'm covered in baby drool. And wow is my hand-washing OCD-ness kicking in. I'm pretty sure I'll have scrubbed them raw by next week.

OH! I blew past my 75 mile goal for April 1, and I'm now at 80, so I'm going to get on my bike this weekend and see if I can't power out those last 20 miles. Maybe I'll make 100 anyway!

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

new banner!

whee!

i love my new banner! i've been meaning to put something fun up there for a long time, and pete threw this together via photoshop in a few minutes (cause he's awesome and fast), and together we figured out how to manipulate the html and voila!

pretty, eh?

Monday, March 26, 2007

busy little bee

Gosh it's nuts over here! And I'm not even working.

Ok, first things first...the drawing!! As accomplished by my super scientific method of writing names on little pieces of paper, throwing them in the air and seeing which one lands first.


And the winner is.................MADGE!

Shoot me an email with your address and I'll get this skein o' joy right out to you! Congrats!!!

For the rest of you, I'll have some more Punk Rock Girl very soon!

I'm continuing to dye up yarn using some worsted I had in my stash. And I'm having so. much. fun! My first batch of colorways are musically inspired, since that's really what started it all. I'm paying tribute to some of my all-time favorite songs and bands, most of which are punk, goth, and alternative types. And as soon an my yarn order comes in I'll have several to show you. You can almost hear me tapping my foot, I'm sure.

To give you just a taste, this is Letter to Elise (god bless The Cure):



And here she is in the round:



Such a show off, that Elise.

I love the pinks and grays, but I'll be branching out soon enough (where is the mail man already?!?), and I'm feeling very red and blue.

Anarchy in the UK anyone?

Friday, March 23, 2007

resurrection of the buffyverse, and a prize

Holy crap.

Buffy is back.

Like many other Buffy fans, I'll take Joss Whedon in any form I can get, though preferably in the Buffy incarnation. And now the series continues as a comic! What a perfect forum. And great, just when I have no money, along comes a new addiction. (Mary, make sure to tell Madge!)

*****

I have to tell you, I'm so thrilled that ya'll loved Punk Rock Girl. Just looking at it makes me giggle a little, and knowing that ya'll love it too, well that just makes me giggle some more. I'm big on giggling. And silliness in general. Wish I could get a Masters of Silliness. That would rock.

Anyway, since you guys are so amazing, I'm going to host a drawing for Punk Rock Girl. That's right, I'm giving it away! But not because we aren't BFF and all, it's just that sometimes you gotta share the love. And PRG deserves a good home, since I barely have time to knit at all any more. It's taken me almost a month to get through a pair of socks (and that's the only thing I'm working on)! It's totally astonishing how fast the day goes by when you have no work to do. Super fast. Yet still, no time for the knitting. Bizarre.

So! Leave a comment in this post to enter the drawing. Don't forget to tell your other knitting friends. Unless you want better odds of winning for yourself. But I know knitters are the generous sort, so spread the word!

On a side note, this particular skein is KP's Bare superwash merino, 462 yards, 7-8 st. per inch on US 1-3 needles. If you don't like KP, stay tuned - I've ordered some yummy Kona to try next!!

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

just you and me, punk rock girl

Since I named this skein Punk Rock Girl, I can't get the Dead Milkmen out of my head.


Magic looped on 60 stitches:



All skeined up and no where to go:




"We got into her car away we started rollin
I said how much you pay for this
Said nothin man it's stolen..."

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Ask, receive

I'm a believer in the concept that what you put out to the universe comes back to you, whether energetically, or in some other form.

In my last post, I mentioned two things I wanted, and in the span of 24 hours I had both.

Yesterday I finally made it to IKEA with Nate, and my brother and sister-in-law.



We had a blast, and I got a really cool table for my laptop, since I'm too short to reach our coffee table with ease. We also got some glasses and a great picture for one of our bedrooms.


My second wish was to see the Harlot. And guess what. Denise made it happen! (p.s. where the hell is your blog girl?) On April 20th we're heading up to Lexington, KY, since that's as close as the Harlot is going to get to Georgia, and we're gonna spend a weekend in horse and tobacco country. Woot! We might even have to drive through Nashville on the way home, since neither of us has ever been.

Since the universe is in a giving mood, I'd like a kickass, fun job that let's me work part time (30 or so hours/week), but pays me more than I was previously making (the universe knows how much), and doesn't freak out if I work from home, and also lets me wear whatever I want. Thanks. Plus, a million bucks couldn't hurt. While you're at it and all.

I, too, am in a giving mood, and a few of you asked me to post shots last weekend's yarn knitted up. From the cast on edge to the purl ridge is knit back and forth, then I magic looped it and knit in the round like a sock.

Tulips:



Bruise:



I think my mother-in-law is getting the Tulips, because she just fell in love with it, and she likes bright funky colors. I'll probably be making some more because it was just so much fun.

I also got a shipment of new dye colors to enhance my new obsession:



And now I have a new colorway drying on the deck.



Nate's comment was that I should be knitting for the Suicide Girls, so this one is called Punk Rock Girl. It's gonna make some seriously fun socks.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

parum pum ping...

Man. I really, really want to go to THE Knitting Party of the Year. I wish I could meet the Harlot, and cavort with knitters from all over and take over NYC with our yarniness and wackiness and drown Central Park with our multi-colored socks. Choke on them NYC, choke! Haha!

Ahem. Better to choke on socks than smog right? I'm just sayin.

But alas. Tomorrow is my last day with the Company of Eternal Lies, and I shall soon be broke and probably working at Barnes & Noble, if they'll even deign to hire me. Once I'm completely free of the shackles of bullshit, I'll go into further detail. Also, I'm not a huge fan of NYC (smog and asthma are NOT friends). Maybe she can do the next one in Boston, or Denver, or LA (celebrity smog! at least i'll suffocate with a smile!), or hell, Atlanta! That would be perfect!! And she can do it in the IKEA, cause it's big and I still haven't been yet, and cause I said please and I can make cute faces and all. Or you know, just to suit me cause I'm me.

Sigh.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

blunderificus

Look! More yarn!

Ok, it's the same yarn from this weekend. But now in yummy yarn cake form!



I tried to skein it all by my little self, but to say that the effort was disastrous would be selling it short. Yarn in tangles, spurned on in its badness by wide-eyed kitties eager for some yarn kicking action. So I wound it instead. Today I sneaked over to the yarn store during lunch and snagged myself an Ashford niddy noddy for next time. All hail Ashford.


In other yarn news, I finished the design swatch for the Star Wars hat. There are several mistakes, but they're fixed on the chart now. Knitting a circle out of a bunch of squares takes critical thinking. And maths. Both of which I'm resisting right now, as I struggle through an "everyone please just leave me the hell alone, I want to sleep and pretend the world doesn't exist" funk. I think spring break was just too short.

Anyway, here's the mistake ridden prototype swatch:



It needs love and blocking, but it doesn't entirely suck. I tried the yarn dominance trick (down yarn! bad!), but I'm not sure it worked very well. Now for the band and the text. Eep.



Oh, and did you yarny-type folks see Cookie's pattern site? I'm all aswoon over Rhiannon. But my fear is that they will take forever to knit, and I've no idea where to wear them, seeing as how I'm not Scottish, and I threw away my Catholic school girl skirt long ago. But you know how you just neeeeeeed something sometimes? Well I neeeeeeeeed kneehighs.

Clearly, I have lost my head.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

dye happy

I had a wonderfully productive weekend. Caught up on a lot of school work (though not completely), went for a 6 mile walk with the hubs, and dyed some yarn. I'll continue to catch up tonight, and hope to be completely on top of my game by Thursday. I wasn't terribly far behind, but I have been lazy and stressed. The walk puts me at 54 total miles this year, which is no where near my goal of 100 by April 1, so I've revised my goal to 75 miles by April 1, and I feel very confident that I can meet it. Even if I don't, it's a lot farther than I would have done on my own, so I win both ways.


So, about the dying. I'm not so sure I'm very good at it.

This was my first attempt, with Jacquard dyes from knitpicks, and some sponge brushes I found at Michael's. I used pink, yellow and emerald, with spring in mind (specifically my long lost dead tulips...I'm in mourning).



And the close-up:



The pink looks almost fushcia, but it's not quite that bright. I loved the salmony/orangy color made by the pink and yellow, so I kept doing it.


Then I did something much darker. If I were to name it, Bruise would probably be appropriate:




I used some of the Jacquard dyes in blue, then I used the Rit dyes I found at Michael's for the black and purple.

Once I figure out how to skein them up, I'll post those pics too.


And there was one more dye job in the house this weekend.

Mine.



Man I love having black hair.



P.S. Taylor says "woof, mofos"

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

zenification

The hor-o-scope for Libra, according to the Divine Aunt Purl, sayeth thus:

LIBRA (Sept. 23 - Oct. 23) We all have so much stress wrapped up in money. Libra is no different, even with all the balance and Zen and so on associated with Libra folks, money can still bring up all sorts of tricky issues. Toward the end of the month, money will loom large and in charge, and you can cower, cry in a corner eating cheetos, or decide that money is just math, not magic, and while you yourself may not feel all mathy and brilliant in the moment, they have these new-fangled things called calculators which do the adding, and in this case, subtracting. The upside is that you are better prepared right now than most to handle some weird financial blip and your Zen will return right after tax day in mid-April. That's not long to wait for Zen, now is it? You Libras and your ability to remain upright in a flood, I tell you what. Share a little of that rowboat with a Cancer girl? please?


She's right about that upright ability. Me and the tree pose are justlikethis, and it's my favorite. Yeah, I might cross that thin insanity line when really stressed out, but I always look back and go "oh damn, there's that line again" and hop back over to semi-normal. But sometimes it takes a while for that realization to kick in. Ahem.

I will be keeping my cool this month though. Even though I put in my notice at work yesterday. And I have no job to go to afterwards. While that's a somewhat insane thought, it's really not that big a deal. Yes I know I just bought a house. And I have two car payments. Yet I'm still not worried. I have my resume out to a thousand different places, and I'll get something. The relief I feel is totally glossing over all the negative 'what-ifs'. Not to say that I'm not looking at those 'what-ifs', I just know I can handle them if they should arise. And that my friends, is very zen indeed.

So is this:



Look at all the sheeps! (I know they're "lambs", shush.)



Eeeee! Poor widdle bwack sheep, all awone.



These two follow their mom! And try to eat every time she stops! Run mama sheep, run!


I see these new little guys every day on my way to work (no, I do not live in the boonies, but when you're near a university people study stuff, and on my way to work is where they study the sheeps). Every day I drive past them and I can't help but squeal "baby sheeps!" in the most shrill voice I can muster, so it would really sound more like "bbships!" if it were actually audible to the human ear. Luckily for the rest of the world, I don't carpool.

They just make me so happy, what with the way they just run around being sheeps and all. And the knitter in me can't wait for them to get fluffy in hopes that on shearing day someone pulls me over as I pass by with a "hey lady, want some free wool?", in which I reply "hells yes handsome young farmer boy, I'll take all you have!". Clearly my baby sheep fascination is multifaceted.


More good things today:

1. I'm getting almost 3k from my previous employer (to my IRA), mostly because I rocked when I worked there and it's bonus time. See above about not being stressy about money.

2. Borat. Enough said.

3. Affordable karate lessons.

4. BB SHEEEEEEPSSS!!!

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

yarn-type pornage

there must be something about chicago.

everyone from chicago that i've interacted with has been truly awesome.

maybe it's the wind. if you have to grab on to strangers to keep from flying down the street, panties a-flashing, perhaps it's wise to make nice with those who might keep you upright.

my point here is that robin, who is from the chicago area, is wonderful. last week she posted about some hemp yarn on her blog, and said that the first person to comment got the skein. and guess what? i'm quick.

and it happened to come on the most awful day i've had in a very long time. as soon as i saw the package i just relaxed. cause i was reminded that there are other people in the world who are just cool...just because.

hempy goodness (thanks again, robin!!!):




i also got my kp order for pete's hat this week (and now pete has a blog!! omg! go check it out!):




i can't wait to get started on this hat. the swatching is done, and the charting has begun.

while i was waiting for the hat yarn to arrive, i started a sock so i could keep up with one of my goals this year. i want to work on making socks for myself that fit properly. i've taken some measurements, and i think the problem lies in the fact that my calf is bigger around that my foot. almost all sock patterns have you decrease back down to the original cast on number, which for me is too big. i'll probably do a good deal of ripping, but at least i can identify what part needs work.

this is monkey from knitty.com, in lorna's laces' parfait colorway. yay for pink socks.



as i was taking pictures this morning, i heard an eerie crunching sound.

beware, the sneaky cheerio eater...



(also, big events happened today, but i'm not sane enough to post about it today. maybe tomorrow!)

Sunday, March 04, 2007

babies and tattoos....but not baby tattoos, or tattoos of babies

What a short weekend. I spent almost all day Saturday at Karen's house, finishing up the super secret knitting project. We ate lunch and dinner together, and I left around midnight. It was great to finally spend a lot of time together and talk about all the things we've been meaning to discuss.

I'll have pics of the project, if someone sends them to me ever so graciously (hint hint guys), as I forgot my camera for the event today and had to make my idle hands busy with finger foods. Mmm, cheese straws. If I had fondled some yarn, I probably would have been ok and potentially could have avoided the panic attacks followed by uttering the word "baby". Regardless, I won a sweet prize for keeping my mouth shut more often than everyone else. At least when it came to the "b" word.

And on that front, I think the hubs and I have come to an understanding that neither of us will ever really turn to the other and say, "honey, let's have kids right now". Therefore, we've decided that if it's not an accident, it isn't meant to be. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being "hell no, I'll slit my wrists and throw myself in front of traffic before I'll ever reproduce" and 10 being "please god, impregnate me now via your divine essence so that we may be fruitful and multiply like insane bunnies", we both sit at a comfortable 7: "if it happens, cool, we'll make the world a better place with the fusion of our awesomeness, but if not, no one will cry...not really hard anyway...ok maybe just a little".

Guess it would be wise to inform the parents so they can stop calling me every month to see if I'm "regular". My common response is, "yes mom, I just made number 2, and there were floaters AND sinkers!". Her reply is usually, "jeez you're so gross....you're gonna be a great mom".


Scout posted that she wanted to see some flesh art, and I happen to sport a bit of ink.



This one is my first tattoo, and is now quite faded. I swear there used to be some yellow in there somewhere. Anyway, it's on my left shoulder blade, and I got it when I was 20. I designed it myself, with a bit of fleshing out by the artist. It took about 40 minutes, and I swore I was going to die. It was the first major defining act (and there were many) of my independent adulthood. We all know the debauchery that shortly followed.




I got the lotus done over the course of several months, during the summer of 2004. I love it, even though it's a lot bigger than I intended. I had an initial design in mind, and the artist and I worked over it several times until we got something I absolutely couldn't live without. What started as a simple little geometric design across the lower back became an intense 5.5 hour exercise in patience and the art of breathing through the pain. And my skin reacted very negatively, which meant that I could only sit for an hour at a time. Getting up the nerve to go back every few weeks was tough. But I couldn't be happier, and it was definitely worth it.

Would I ever get another? Probably not. Five hours was enough.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

uber me

so i forgot to mention that not only did i write a paper on leet, i had to present it too.

and i totally r0xx0r3d.

i used a leet translator as part of my hand out, as well as a guideline to gaming acronyms, and a few comics like this one (with permission, of course).

i was horribly nervous, cause that's what i do - freak myself out to the point that words escape me, then i get embarrassed, my face gets all red because i cant remember what i need to say. it's a vicious cycle. so i tried to go last. i found my nerve, however, when the guy before me did his presentation on text speak, and proceeded to swear that no one uses leet anymore, and that he could find almost no research on either topic. of course i had to show him up. but not in an "i'm better than you" sort of way.

for a grad student to say "i couldn't find any research" is just bullshit. work harder. look harder. if you still can't find anything, extrapolate and use what you can find to go further. or hell, just write about something else.

anyway, the presentation lasted about 20 minutes, including question/answer time, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. txt guy even participated a good bit, and we had a nice little banter about the whole thing.

still. must suck to get pwn3d by a girl.