Happy Long Weekend

I’m heading out of computer range immediately after work today, so I don’t have much time to say anything other than the following:

One. I don’t have any new knitting pictures, but I have been knitting. Mostly the same stuff. And I have been rather spectacularly not finishing that baby blanket I mentioned… so I’ve got that going for me. Where is my creativity?

Two. We are hosting a passel (yes, a passel) of friends for the Fourth up at my parents’ house over the long weekend, and the past week has been full of preparations, procrastination, packing (thank gourd I typed that… I have to throw the camera in the bag), and purchasing groceries. I’m tired, but most of the busy work is done and all that’s left is to hang out with awesome folks and relax.

We’re camping in my parents’ backyard, but we’ll be using the gas grill and occasionally the kitchen to do our cooking; I meant to make vegan cheezymac and the delicious pie before we left, but other things got in the way and there we are. I’ll make them at my parents’ house tonight, before loads of people arrive tomorrow.

Three. Things of a nature which cannot be described adequately at the moment due to superstition and timing and not wanting to piss off whatever gods may be… things are getting better. There is light ahead. That’s all I’m saying.

Four. This is our new couch, which is comfortable and delightful and was generously given to us by my wonderful mother-in-law:

Five. If you celebrate it this weekend, I hope you have a great Independence Day. If you don’t, I hope you have a great weekend this weekend. I will be whooping it up with my friends, making them participate in an American Revolutionary War Trivia Tournament and an Indian Leg Wrestling Tournament for fabulous prizes! It is likely that I will also be feeding the mosquitos native to my parents’ backyard.

Have a great weekend everyone!

One stitch short

I have returned from the delightful cabin trip to Michigan (we were in this general area), and I am happy.

We didn’t spend a lot of time up there, but the time we spent was awesome. We arrived late on Friday, having survived an hour of bumper-to-bumper sitting (during which we saw four teen-ish-age kids running along the shoulder of the highway oh my god. Idiots.). We went to Wick’s Apple House (and I fully expected them not to have a website) while it rained a bit and bought tasty delicious Vidalia onion-tomato-basil salad dressing, and “Bluebarb” preserves. When we got back to the cabin the weather had cleared up so we went canoeing around the lake, which was beautiful and fun. I love canoeing. I got only a little bit of sun, because it was about 5:00pm when we went out, and because I wore my (handmade) floppy sunhat.

There are no pictures of the canoeing. Some of you may remember the wine-glass incident; there is no way I am bringing my camera into a canoe.

I did, however, take pictures of the campfire because I came over all abstracty.

On Sunday we all slept in until after 1:00pm. Maybe after 2:00pm. It was all overcast every time I woke up so I thought it was very early instead of very late, and there were no clocks. I had turned off my cell phone because I couldn’t get service, I didn’t know where other cell phones were, and there were seriously no clocks in the cabin. And it was LOVELY. I woke up first, ate some leftovers for breakfast, read my escapist fiction novel (the third book in this series), and just sat. I didn’t even knit, though I brought two knitting projects. It was lovely to be still, to be quiet, to not think of the many things that have been making me crazy in the past few weeks, and to just look outside and see green trees and a gentle lake.

I think part of my uptightness has to do with a lack of green space where I live. We are in one of four apartments on the second floor of a multi-business building close to downtown, surrounded on all sides by concrete, streets, and other buildings. We’ve been sleeping with our windows open since the weather got nicer — we hear everything, especially the very loud garbage truck that comes TWICE A WEEK OH MY GOD to pick up the trash in the dumpster (by which I mean “smash the dumpster into the ground a lot, very loudly, at 6:00am”) directly outside our bedroom window. This doesn’t make for a peaceful calm. I find that I breathe easier when I go to my parents’ house on seven acres in the middle of farmland, full of trees and green where it is very quiet. The noises there consist of bullfrogs, cattle, and the occasional coyote. It’s amazing.

Of course, another part of my uptightness is that when I do actually get around to knitting, I screw up.

Click through and see the explanatory and highly sarcastic notes

I forgot to knit a stitch on the Chosen-by-Blog sock, thanks to beer and good conversation, and didn’t realize it until about 9 rounds later.

So I had to rip it back to where I had ignored that one stitch. And that made me a little uptight. As you might have guessed.

Anyhow, I’m back from the Land of Calm and am determined to bring Calm with me. So far (all of three days) it’s been working out pretty well. Deep breaths and forward thinking.

I only appear at the solstice, apparently

I’ve been gone a while, yes. I’m sure it is tragic and heartbreaking to the two of you who read this blog regularly. It’s been a busy couple of days (weeks? how long has it been since I posted?) and I’m leaving with NinjaHusband and the neighbors for Michigan in like an hour, so here’s a brief rundown of my recent activities:

1. My first doula client had her baby last Thursday. It was awesome and delightful and amazing and yes, I totally cried when the baby was born. Good times.

2. NinjaHusband and I got a new-to-us couch, dinette set, and a dresser (for a friend) from his mom on Saturday. We borrowed my Dad’s truck and were on the road FOR SIX HOURS. We started at 5:30pm and finished at 1:30am. HATE. Love the couch and the dinette set, but I do not want to spend so long (3 round trips from our town to the hometowns… ugh) in a car again.

3. Which is funny, because we’re going to Michigan for the weekend and we anticipate a 3-4 hour drive. Hooray crappy Chicago traffic.

4. Knitting has slowed, for no discernible reason. I have pictures of my recent sock mishap, which I had hoped to post and talk about, but the camera is already all packed up, so that’s not happening.

5. I got a massage (hurt my shoulder at the birth) and my therapist asked if she could pass my name on to a pregnant lady who has been looking for a doula. AWESOME!

6. House hunting continues apace, and it is still depressing. Why do I want to live in this town so much? I can’t afford it. *deep breath* We’re going again (we went last night) next week Wednesday, and will hopefully find something glorious and inexpensive. Cross your fingers, mmkay? Thanks!

That’s all I have now, as I have to shower and pack underwear in my bag (because I forgot that most essential piece of clothing while packing last night.) I leave you with another look at a waterfall… have a great weekend!

It’s because I’m a slovenly heathen

And the fact that I have no children that I am a wretched failure at being a 1930s housewife:

-9 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

But it’s because I’m a careful auto driver, stubborn, and prepare my own breakfast that I am a Very Superior 1930s husband:

104 As a 1930s husband, I am Very Superior Take the test!

In other news, I’m still knitting on the baby blanket, still knitting on the single sock, about to rip back half of the purple Sprout cardigan, and still contemplating casting on 500 more projects. And last night I had a dream about Wollmeise. My attempts to save for a down payment are under attack!

Recording the minutiae

On Saturday we went to Matthiessen State Park with our friends and neighbors Adam and Beth. It was a gorgeous day and we drove the hour drive to Utica Illinois (yes, that Utica) and started walking around, seeing things like this:

and this:

and after I started taking pictures like this…

… I was designated the Minutiae Recorder.

Ever since I was a wee girl I’ve always loved looking at small things. My overactive imagination plus a love of fairy tales like Thumbelina made me highly interested in the very small. Hunkering down to see the tiny, feather-like moss tips, or to see inside a bluebell flower, or squinting to see the hidden crystals in a geode made me feel like I was looking into a fairy world or something. I love seeing the tiny bits of life that happen below the usual daily radar; the detail in rocks (leading to fossils! or geodes!) or in plants like the lichen (or maybe it’s not lichen, I don’t know) in the last picture up there… they’re so graceful and delicate and so hidden most of the time that it’s impossible NOT to get a thrill from squinting at them.

Of course, sometimes squinting to see very small things will give you a strong case of nearsightedness and then you have to wear glasses for the rest of your life.

(No real point to this. Just musing.)

Full set of Matthiessen pictures here, if you’re interested.

Proof of life (of a sock)

Previously I showed you an old picture of the Chosen-by-Blog sock. It was pretty terrible, and also old and outdated. I have moved on from the foot since then, and I am now ready to show you just how it really looks:

Pointy bits to be removed at a later date

I added three columns of twisted rib up both sides of the sock, for anti-boredom purposes. So far it’s working and it looks fabulious.

Right now I’m only working on the first sock — haven’t started the second sock — and it’s a little weird. Usually I like to knit both socks at the same time so I can make them the same. My standard method is as follows:
(1) cast on the toe for the first, swear, rip it out, try again, swear more, rip it out, try again, succeed and get past the increases for the wedge toe;
(2) repeat for second sock;
(3) work the foot of both socks, alternating between first and second socks to pretend like I’m not knitting the same thing over and over and over forever, because my feet are 9.25″ long (most of which I blame on my toes);
(4) increase for the gussets on whichever sock is in my hands at the moment it reaches 6.25″ long;
(5) repeat for the other sock, wherever it is… it should be in its project bag but IT IS HIDING;
(6) turn heel and work heel flap on whichever sock is handy;
(7) repeat if I can find the other sock;
(eight) work the leg on both socks (assuming they are in the same place again), alternating between first and second socks, again pretending this isn’t boring (so far I’ve only made very basic socks)
(9) cuff both of them about the ears and finish.

Why am I not following the oh-so-soothing protocol for the Chosen-by-Blog socks? Because the other set of 2.25mm needles is still in the second sock of this pair:

which does not fit (*sob*). I’m hanging on to the second sock in case the finished first sock fits my sister; if it does, I will finish the second sock.

In other news, it is raining and gloomy today, and our search for a house continues apace. We saw EIGHT houses last night and none of them really turned our crank. Or, none of the prices really turned our crank. I know that where I live prices are not anywhere near the high prices of other areas, but these houses seem really overpriced. We looked at a HUGE 4-bedroom in kind of a crap neighborhood, which would take years and years and probably 150,000$ to fix up and make nice. That’s on top of the asking price of 132,000$.

I am a little discouraged, and the rain is not helping. If anyone knows of a fantastic home in my town for very little money (hello! we are poor!), please let me know.

Confessions: I am a knerd

I’m fairly certain that admitting these things to normal people (non-knitters) would get me lots of weird looks, a bit of them edging away from me, and possibly a few hand gestures used to ward off evil. But I can confess all my knitting knerdiness here without fear of judgment (dear kniternet: I love you).

1. In my Flickr account there are 62 pictures of my wedding day and 231 pictures of my yarn.

2. This? This is not all my yarn. Not by a long shot. (Ravelry link)

3. I’m trying to buy a house and with that comes saving money to help feed the monster known as A Down Payment. I have said several times over the past several months that I am ABSOLUTELY DONE BUYING YARN FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. Absolutely. No exceptions. Except then a few months ago I saw Grumperina’s spiral sock and then I bought this yarn:




…because I had to have a pair of Swedish-looking spiral socks. And maybe some for a friend.
And then I realized I want some summery-type tops for myself and I wanted to make them before summer starts and I bought three skeins of this yarn

…which turned out not to be the right yarn for that particular project so I bought eight skeins of this yarn

…because it was on supersale (due to the color being not-quite-right) and I thought the remainder would make a supercute baby-something, if yet another friend decides to reproduce. Which they seem to be doing at an alarming rate.

4. I have 5 projects on the needles, including this new addition…

… and am about to add 2 more. While I know this is not exceptional or even unusual in the knitting world, it seems a lot for me at the moment and I know it’s making my Mom crazy (”Finish one thing and then move on to the next thing!). I blame spring, good weather, and my friends’ propensity for making babies. That’s right, I’m blaming my knitting on pregnant women. Because I am the worst kind of person.

5. I just turned my knitting bookshelf (oh yes, I have one of those) upside down in search of something I graphed out like 3 years ago, which would be awesome on the sleeves of Skully (Ravelry link), but IS NO LONGER IN ITS PLACE and it’s making me crazy. It’s possible it might be somewhere inside the yarn stash (”Patterns go in… but they NEVER COME OUT!!!!!” — say in horror-movie voice over), but I’m not sure. I’m annoyed, but secretly okay with the possible loss of this graph because if I have to do it all over again, I’ll probably make it better.

And now, to prove I can blend in with the natives if need be, I’m headed off to get ready for a Memorial Day cookout with many other-kind-of nerds. But I’ll still bring my knitting.

Not Abandoned

Back by popular demand! Or, the demand of one person. Whatever — I’ll take what I can get.

There’s no way for me to adequately catch up on everything that’s happened in the past three weeks, so I’ll take a stab at inadequately catching up.

First, I have been knitting!

This is a blanket for an upcoming baby (due at the end of August) who will live in California. It’s a cotton-wool blend, and the pattern exists only in my head, as far as I know. I’ll put one together after this blanket is finished. Click the picture for more details on the Flickr page, or here’s the Ravelry project page if you swing that way.

And the first Chosen-by-Blog sock is zooming right along.

This is really bad lighting and the sock is well past the heel by now, but it’s the only picture I have of it at the moment. Today is kind of overcast and not so great for picture-taking.

Second, I went to Ann Arbor for one day of a conference, and it was a pretty good time. Hanging out with Mark and Amy was totally awesome, and the conference session I attended was good, so it averaged out. It was a birthy-type conference and the topic was kind of exhausting. I probably won’t go for just one day any more… too much traveling, not enough good stuff. I took Amtrak out, which was awesomely cheap but kind of inconvenient this time… NinjaHusband was supposed to meet me at 10:40pm, but the train got held up (twice!) and we didn’t get in till closer to midnight. Annoying. But we survived. And saved a bundle on gas.

Third, I visited Femiknitter for four days! I had such a great time just sitting on the couch, knitting and talking and teaching her how to crochet:

although I’m not sure it will stick…

… as you can see, she’s snarling at it just a bit.

We went to Philadelphia where I bought this:

at Loop (and damn is that a well-put-together store, you should totally go if you have a chance).
and where we took these pictures:


and the nicest-looking one…

Fourth, There is no “fourth,” just catching up at work and at home, and trying to get some loose ends tied up. I have a doula client due in two weeks, and I’m getting ready for that. BusyBusy at Casa del HookOn. I hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!

I was going to talk about so many things

I’m sorry for the blog silence these past few whatevers! I’m nuttily trying to finish eighteen billion things at once, so this post’s wondertwin power activates in the form of … LIST!

1. Remember this sock?

I finished the first one. Yeah, it doesn’t fit. I’m a little bit furious about it. Because it’s my fault entirely — I didn’t try the damn thing on (despite it being toe-up! and so easily tried on during the knitting process!) nor did I really swatch (because it’s socks! why would I swatch!). It lies in the “time-out” basket, and I weep.

2. The Chosen-by-Blog socks are coming along. I’m bringing them on my trip. Oh yes…

3. I’m going to Michigan tomorrow for a one-day conference in Ann Arbor, and coming home latelatelate on Wednesday night. It’s a 4.5 hour train ride (that’s one-way) and I’m taking a bunch of knitting. And a whack of podcasts.

4. Holy crap, I haven’t updated my ipod yet. Or chosen my knitting. Or showered. Or packed my bag.

5. The baby blanket

and the baby hat

have been given to the expectant mama, and they were a huge hit. Very exciting.

6. I recently bought a new bar of soap, chosen kind of on a whim. I remember having used it before (it’s this soap), but didn’t really remember it. When I got home and showered, I remembered when I last used this soap. It was on a trip to Oxford, England. And that’s extra awesome because I get to visit Femiknitter next week!

And now it is time for me to actually get my shit together and get ready for this conference!

(huge pre-THANK YOU to Mark and Amy for putting me up while I’m in town!)

Winners, winners, everywhere

Well, the votes are in, the winner has been chosen by a random number generator, and I’m about to cast on with the winning yarn.

First, thank you to the SIXTY-FIVE people who voted! This is a new comment record for little GetYourHookOn. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the yarn choices, and for taking the time to comment! And bonus: I now have new knitting blogs to read and new knitters to meet!

Second, the winning yarn.
The winner and clear favorite (getting more votes than the other two choices combined) is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in MONET!

Monet got 33 votes and lots of love from just over half of you!

We had a tie for second place between Lorna’s Laces Flames (16 votes), and Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Jewels (16 votes)

(Rest assured that I will be using the second-place yarn in the future.)

Third, the winning knitter…
…is Sprite! Hooray! You have been chosen by a computer program as the winner of the sock bag from StuckInIllinois’s Etsy shop! Congratulations! Also included in your sock bag (which is green and earthy in honor of Earth Day totally by accident — I forgot about Earth Day until after I had purchased it) is a set of 5 stitch markers made by me (probably not very well, this was only my second attempt):

You will also find some hand lotion and a magnetic notepad, both of which are somewhere in my home and cannot be located for photographing.
Congratulations, Sprite! I’ve emailed you for your mailing address.

Fourth, I’m off now to start on my Chosen-by-Blog Monet Socks! Thanks again to everyone who left a comment!