Blogging about knitting (mostly), stamping, gardening,
beading, and cooking
Ok everyone, get back to your
knitting!
--Fred (or George) Weasley
tuesday, april 25, 2006
speed dating
Well, we're hoping the third time's a charm. On Sunday, we took Luna for another round of speed dating at
the San Diego chapter of the House Rabbit Society. We weren't sure about getting another bunny after Stella died, mostly because of the fear of losing another pet.
But Luna seems lonely...or at least she seems to be getting into more trouble. So after a miserable attempt at matchmaking
about a month ago (think flying fur and bunnies biting at anything that stood in between them) we think this may work.
Maybe.
This is Domino. She was Dominique but we like Domino better and there was a character called Dominique whose nickname was Domino in one of the Bond movies so it works for me ;) She looks exactly like Luna except where Luna is brown, Domino is black. There are
eyes somewhere amongst all that fur. She likes to go up to Luna and put her head down to received kisses. Luna
is still suspicious of other bunnies at this point and is finding this all to be a ploy on our part to take her food and give
it away to another bun.
They did get into a scuffle last night after being out for about 20 minutes, but I'm hoping a series of short dates will
eventually lead to a happy ending. I'll keep you posted.
On the knitting front, I didn't get as far on my Sockapaloooza socks this weekend as I'd hoped, but I'm almost done with
one sock, and almost as far on the second one. Of course....I can't help but compare myself to Tullia whom I met for the first time on Friday. While I was talking to her, she was just finishing up a cuff and
by Sunday she was done with her Sockapaloooza socks. She is unbeliveably fast!
Just for fun, I picked up the latest issue of InStyle. I was flipping through it and found this page with some shoes on it that I recognized. I just recently picked
up a pair of these at Target in the same color as those in the magazine, and, I realized, that the rest of the outfit is actually
affordable. Now, I rarely buy shoes, or clothes for that matter. But lately, I've been thinking that
my clothes selection could use a fashion boost. My main concern is comfort, but sometimes I think I take that too far,
and really don't make much of an effort to dress up a lot.
Anyway, I thought it was funny, that I have part of the makings of a cooler-than-what-I-usually-wear outfit.
Here's the pic, by the way:
I've been working on my Sockapaloooza socks and stressing about taxes as well. And there's Easter brunch and the dinner for friends who came over last
night. All have deadlines which I don't deal well with. My initial plan with the socks was to knit them up to the
heel flap using the magic loop on 2 seperate needles and then to switch to the 2 socks on 2 circulars
method. I'm not sure it's worth the effort trying to wrap my head around how to go about doing it.
So, so far I've been alternating between the 2 socks and have completed the heel flap for both. Now I have to pick
up stitches for the gusset. I've only done this once before since I've only previously made one sock, so of course I'm
already confused. I know it would be less confusing on DPNs but I don't like knitting with them so I'll struggle ahead
this way. I have to get them done by the end of April, so I better!
I got some new yarn from KnitPicks: Alpaca Cloud in the Stream and Iris colorways and some sock yarn in colorways that might be discontinued:
I do have a weakness for green/red yarn. I used the Alpaca Cloud to start the Trellis Scarf from the current Interweave Knits. I started with the recommended size 5 needles. First with bamboo needles and
then with my Denise Interchangeables. Neither had a point that was quite right and I'm using the Susan Bates needles
that I picked up for the Log Cabin Socks which are working the best so far.
I bound off the first 9 rows or so, to see if it would block big enough (it's supposed to be 9" wide). It definitely
blocks out to the right side, but in the process of blocking it, some stitches came loose. Of course. This is
my first lace project. Mistakes will be made. It was just too confusing to fix with all those
yarn overs and whatnot so I just started over. I think I'm about 11 rows into the border pattern.
I picked up a copy of Interweave Knits Crochet at The Grove the week before last. I didn't realize it would end up costing more than $8 bucks! till I got to the register, so that
meant I had to swatch for something right away to justify it. Check out the back of the Lacy Leaf Cocoon that I mentioned in my previous post....
....way more elaborate than it looks like from the front. This may be more confusing than I bargained for.
The thing I have found frustrating about crochet in the past, is that you constantly have to count the stitches your making
so that you end up with the right amount each round. Perhaps I should take Hilari's advice and just make stitches till it looks right and chances are it will all work out in the end! (The recommended
yarn, btw, is Cascade Pima Tencel that I borrowed from Peter's San Diego Scarf which is now on hold till next next fall. Oh well.)
There is something about this cardigan in Interweave Knits Crochet that makes me want to learn how to crochet. I don't know if it's that the color looks great on her or the necklace
just brings it all together or maybe that I just like it. It may just have to try it (or at least by the magazine.)
The Stash-of-Shame is here. I've added some more close-ups in Flickr with notes on what the yarns are. There are also some sale yarns for your viewing pleasure.
This is the "Yarn Buffet"--that is all the yarn that's hidden in 3 three-drawer plastic cabinets which have a table cloth
over them, thus acting as a buffet. It never fails to impress/amuse/scare people at parties:
And this is what's in the "yarn buffet" (details here):
and finally, and appropriately, the blues (details here):
I went a little crazy on Elann one day with the Rowan Cork:
I calculated last night, that since I've started knitting, I've bought about $2,500 worth of yarn from Elann. Of that, I've knit up about $230 of it, and I've sold about $430 of it. That still leaves $1,650 that you're
looking at there. Yup, that's right. Doesn't even include the stuff I haven't bought at Elann most of which I
have tracked in Needletrax (so if I want to really feel bad, I can figure out what the grand total is). Yikes.
At last count I had 538 balls of yarn. I have used and sold some of these so it's not totally accurate, but still
telling (that's 17, 457 yards of yarn, by the way).
So help me out here ;) Here's some cheap yarn. And here's more on Flickr.
