What on earth???

Knitty is one of my favorite knitting websites. They only publish four times a year, and they have some amazing patterns. I have to share one with you.

Am I the only person who thinks that this pattern is hideous? Do you know
anyone who would feel comfortable wearing these things? They're almost obscenely ugly.

Once in a while, Knitty messes up in a big way!

One of two patterns in this issue that I'm inclined to knit is this one.

It looks cool and comfortable and not too complicated. I might try it.

The other one is this cute baby pattern.

There are so many new babies/grandbabies being born here this school year and I get tired of knitting the same old socks.

My favorite from this is issue is this shawl.


When I first saw it, I thought it was hideous. But I kept going back to it; I might make it some day. Maybe.

I haven't been knitting much lately. I didn't bother on the planes. Two of them had DirecTv, which is pretty cool in a plane. AirTran was trying out wireless internet service free for a couple of weeks, but it was so hideously slow that I quickly gave up on that. When they're offering it for $10 a day, I won't be purchasing it.

When I ordered my copy of New Moon from Target, I didn't realize that they planned to have it arrive on March 19, the day before it was released in stores. I left for Florida on the 19th, so I left a pre-stamped Priority Mail box and asked a friend to send it to me in the Keys. It didn't arrive till the 26th, yet a first-class letter that I mailed got there in two days. Go figure.

So that night I watched New Moon on my laptop. Very small screen, very low sound. I couldn't understand a thing. I was wondering why on earth I'd thought that movie was so good when I saw it at the theater. And my laptop used to be much louder. I was a bit worried that maybe my hearing is worse than I'd thought.

I bought a pair of headphones, a cheap pair, that had a set of ear buds as well. Suddenly the movie was much more interesting. I watched it again and enjoyed it. I also watched the two extra discs that came with Twilight, since I hadn't seen them before. We don't have tv yet in our place in the Keys, but we will when I move down in June. Along with internet access.

On the flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Orlando, my very large checked bag was seached by TSA. I could tell by the sticker they put on it, along with the discovery of broken brand-new-used-twice headphones that had been carefully packed. Also, my beads, teeny tiny beads packed in a tightly-closed Tupperware bowl were all over the place, with the bowl in one of the suitcase and the lid buried in the other. I have no problem with TSA checking my bags, but please be more considerate.

We went to Key West once during my stay. It was spring break time all over the place and the island had far too many people and cars on it. I went to my favorite bead store and Knit Wits of Key West right next door and discovered, to my sadness, that the bead shop is closing this month. There's a bead shop in Islamorada, considerably farther from Big Pine Key than Key West, but I've never been in it. I haven't been able to find good quality beads here and have mail-ordered from him before. Now that I'm addicted to beads, I'm going to miss the shop.

We're off to see the Lizard

(with apologies to Betty, from whom I stole it, and to Liz, who really is called Lizard sometimes, but on your wedding day, you're not Lizard)

Joan's Special Day is almost here. The family is gathering, all of us making our way to Chester, some of us there already, some of us ready to leave in about 40 minutes. One of us doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of things to copy today, so she's wasting lots of time. Facebook can be accessed by Crack.

I've been knitting 7+ hours each evening trying to finish The Wedding Stole. I haven't done much of anything else for the last couple of weeks. (Like that's such a stretch.) I make stupid mistakes and keep making them when I try to pay attention to whatever's on tv (my current favorite is "My Name Is Earl". Even after this marathon knitting (thousands of beads, I tell you, thousands), I still have a good 15" to knit. It just isn't going to happen.

You see, I started the thing by following the pattern directions and knitting the first 15" without beads. They're only supposed to be on the very ends of the stole, and it just was ugly. So I started the full beading, it looked much better, and I decided to cut off the part that wasn't beaded (the middle of the thing was on a provisional caston so I could pick up and knit in the other direction when I finished the first half). That wasn't a particularly enjoyable job, but I managed to pick up the stitches at the beginning of the beaded part and start off in the other direction.

So. Yeah. It's going to be shorter than I'd like, I'm afraid. I have a couple of hours to knit on the way to Mom and Dad's house, but that only equals a couple of inches. I've gotten faster at "uploading" the beads, but each pattern repeat takes over an hour to complete. That's 8 rows.

I ran out of beads. I'd bought a ton of them in Key West in April and again in June but used them for a scarf or two and for A's socks. I'd bought them for Shipwrecked, the knitty.com shawl I plan to make at some point in my lifetime. I bought clear beads, silver-lined, black ones, and red ones to go with the yarn I had custom-dyed for the shawl. I ordered what I thought were the same beads on ebay, and they came really quickly, but they're the wrong color and size. I'll use them for something else. I was starting to panic last week when I had enough beads to get through a few more repeats, so I called Beads of Distinction in Key West and ordered another 50 grams of beads. They're just gorgeous. The owner only charged me $5 for shipping, but he shipped them out that day by Priority Mail, insured. $10. I'll buy more beads from that dear man!


This isn't a good shot, but it's about all I could get. It's hard to photograph that color yarn with clear beads. I'll get more at the wedding.

We've been looking at used cars. I insist on having a Toyota; I've had three Camrys over the last 20 years and love them. We debated getting an older one with many miles on it but a cheaper price, a newer one with fewer miles and a much higher pricetag, then decided that we might as well buy a new one while I still have a semi-decent income. Once we move to Florida, the car won't get nearly as much mileage put on it as it does now, and there won't be any mountains to cross, either, so we're looking for a new Prius. We might even buy one this weekend. Tom plans to start trips to Florida hauling stuff down and I'll have to have a car then.

Jennifer and the kids should already be in Chester; she was leaving right after school yesterday. They'll start back home tomorrow after the wedding so the kids won't miss more than one day of school. It's going to be such a wonderful weekend!

Someone is coming to look at the house on Sunday. We'll close on The Cat House toward the middle of next week. We'll be house- and car-poor until our WV place sells, with only a few thousand available to tent the place, tear off the deck, and fix the pool and a/c. Tom might rob his 401k next year to start more work on the house. Once the place over here sells, we can (more or less) finish The Cat House. Let's just hope that's soon; one more winter here is enough!

I'll leave you with some photos of The Cat House. If you have a weak stomach, be forewarned. It's not pretty.

Wedding Stole pics

The Wedding Shawl. Not this color at all. Can't get the beads to show (so far they're just along the outside edges).


More accurate color. 55/45 cashmere silk lace. I'm heading out to buy a lace needle, something I never thought I'd need.



It's affishul.



Tom, after I hit him with the cast iron skillet.

AUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!

This is my first official day of work for the new school year. Within minutes after I turned on the copiers, I was already faced with a recalcitrant machine.

When a new xerographic module or fuser is needed, it clearly states on the keypad that it's time to order one to have on hand. That usually gives me plenty of time to order it (they won't send them until they're needed) and get it in before the old one blows. But whoever was doing the copying this summer (and she is the woman who had the job before me) ignored the warning, so after spitting out a few copies, it stopped cold.

I have an extra fuser here, for some reason, but no xero module. I called the hotline and they're sending one out "priority", to get here tomorrow or the next day. We'll see. The person on the phone also gave me a code to enter into the machine that would give me an extra 5000 copies before it died for good. It was closer to 2000, but it did help.

Meanwhile, the "good" copier started printing pages with nothing on them--except black. Each page was totally black. I called Xerox again, and the tech walked me through removing the xero module (I'm sensing a pattern here), turning off the machine, waiting a minute, replacing the module, then turning it back on. Fortunately that resolved the problem.

But never fear, another popped up quickly. It started jamming every few pages. Not only was it irritating the hell out of me, it wastes a lot of paper (4 sheets every time it jams). Out of desperation I turned on the dehumidifier, and for the last few minutes the copier has been working properly. I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but I don't care as long as it works.

A couple came by yesterday to look at our property. It was the hottest day we've had this summer, and they wanted to walk around and see what it's like. I declined. They're not interested in the house, just want some remote land in WV where they can park their camper. I don't know if they'll be willing to pay the price we're asking if they don't want the house. I told them they could rent it out.

We're going through our "stuff" and throwing out/giving away as much as possible. I'm a pack rat and it's really hard for me to part with anything, but some of this crap I've been toting around for the past 21 years without ever looking into the boxes, so I think it's safe to say I don't need most of it.

And I decided that I had to make a shawl for my sister to wear to her daughter's wedding in November. I still haven't started Shipwreck; that's on the back burner for a looonnnggg time. I spent hours on Ravelry last week searching for the perfect pattern: lightweight, airy, beaded. Yeah, I just have to have beads on it. Joan doesn't care; it's my doing. So I started Pampas ( too lazy to link), which has three different lace charts (did I mention that it's LACE?????) and some stitches that I just could not for the life of me figure out how to do, so after two tries at it (it took me 2 hours just to knit the first row), I gave up and went back to Ravelry. I finally chose the easiest one that has beads, Piece of Pi, and started knitting. Of course I'm using mohair lace yarn, which means that it felts almost as soon as it's knit (just makes it difficult to rip out when I make errors. And do I make errors.) After three starts, I finally made it through the first twenty rows, which equals maybe 3 inches.

I don't do well with charts, even simple ones. I felt particularly stupid yesterday; I kept making really dumb mistakes. I may end up buying a shawl for Joan.

The stinking copier is jammed again. Where's my gun?

Ketchup

I've really been neglecting this blog. My excuse, for last week, anyway, is that I've been busy. I spent one day working in the attendance office (those ladies are not paid enough for all they have to do!), one day giving math placement tests, and one day on an art field trip to the National Gallery of Art and the Hirschorn Museum of Modern Art. I gave the SAT Saturday morning, then we drove to Mom and Dad's house to visit overnight. While there, we went to see/hear Todd Snider at Ashland Coffee and Tea. We left Mom and Dad's around 3:30 yesterday and drove the three hours to my son's house to attend my youngest granddaughter's 6th birthday party. We left home at 6:30 on Saturday morning and got back at 10:00 last night. It was a very busy weekend, but it was great to visit with family. And earn $98 for giving the SAT.

Here's a photo of my Bloodlust (from All That Glitters) custom-dyed for me by Yarn Lust (etsy.com). I love it. It's 2% silver so it's sparkly; I'll use it to knit Shipwreck (knitty.com). She sent a stitch marker with each hank of yarn: one red heart, one black heart, and one clear heart. I have a feeling I'll need them for this. You can also see the beads I bought at Beads of Distinction in Key West; I think I'll need more of them, but I have to figure out how many and which ones go where. That's going to be a pain; I want the inside rows to have clear beads, the center red ones, and black on the outside rows. Thank God they're not needed until the entire center is knit; they go on the edging. But how am I going to figure out just how many I'll need and in what numbers? I can always break the yarn and add more beads when needed, but I really really hate having those ends to weave in. I may try a Russian join, which basically, I think, is spitting on the loose ends of yarn and then mooshing them together. If it'll work, I'm all for it. I hate to weave in ends on anything.

This photo doesn't show the sparkle factor, but it's there all the same. I plan to haul this to Florida and work on it this summer, but I'm not sure how well I'll be able to concentrate when a) I'm sitting on the porch in 90 degree weather while gazing at the Gulf waters a few hundred feet away with wool on my lap, and b) I can't concentrate when I'm in a room by myself anyway and this one is going to take some concentration.

Slacker radio works pretty well when we're in flat country with a really strong AT&T signal, which means it doesn't work well in this area but did closer to Richmond. We're interested to see if it's any better in Florida where there are a lot fewer hills and no mountains. I like that I can fine-tune custom channels to play songs by people that we like, but I do not like the cutting in and out when we're in less-than-flat land.

I'm not a very good traveling companion since I got the Crackberry. I mean, I can check my email in the freaking car! And Facebook. I hate Facebook, but it's interesting once in a while to log in and see what (mostly) boring things others are doing. I haven't had any luck sending photos to cell phones or others' email; something else I need to check on. And, like I said earlier, I can read blogs and their comments but cannot post my own comments. I still haven't attempted to tether it to my laptop, which I should do very soon because we're paying for it and I want to see if make sure it works before we leave for the summer.

I loaned Twilight the movie to a friend a couple of weeks ago (I know! I let it out of my possession for a good 10 days, but I did keep the codes for the iTunes downloads, just in case I needed to watch it). My friend and I usually don't like the same movies or books, and she's not obsessed sucked into the phenomenon as I am, so I didn't expect her to enjoy the movie. To my surprise, she thought it was well-cast and well-made, although she did say that she was a little disappointed that Edward didn't dress more elegantly, as described in the book, but overall, she really enjoyed it. Wow, and she's 61.

I'm almost to the toe of the boring socks I'm knitting now; I got a lot done on the bus on Friday and in the car this weekend when I wasn't fiddling with the Crackberry checking my email.

School's almost done with for the year; the kids are here till Thursday, and I have to work until June 18. That afternoon we're leaving for Florida as soon as 3:30 rolls around. We'll drive straight through to Orlando (with a dog and a cat) and spend a few days with my daughter and her family. Then--the Keys. For six glorious weeks. We plan to shop for a house while we're there.

I haven't checked any blogs since Wednesday, unless you count the drive-bys while on Crack(berry), and those don't count because the type is so tiny that I can't read it anyway. I'll try to do better. Oooh--I need to run over to June Cleaver's place and check out the Monday Swoon. This selfless woman spends hours each week ogling checking out finding photos of Swoon-worthy men and posts them on Mondays for those of us who can't get through the work filters are too busy to search for them ourselves. The lady is a saint.

Black and Red

So. Yeah. I finished my Twilight-cover-art-inspired socks last evening. What do I do now? It's kind of like after I finished reading the Twilight Saga, nothing else appealed. Others I've talked to in rl are the same way (not all of them, but enough women I consider to be sane are saying the same thing). What knitting project is next?

I really want it to be Shipwreck, but that's a pattern that's not suitable for knitting during odd down moments. It's going to be a committment. Tom suggested that I save that for condo knitting this summer. I'll probably work on it in the car on the way down and back. I went ahead and rolled one hank into a ball. I've got a couple thousand (I hope) 6/0 glass beads in red, black, and silver-lined clear. I really have no idea how to determine what color I want where on the shawl; I'll have to figure it out as I go, I guess, since I'm not going to use the 5000 beads that the pattern calls for. I don't want a stripe of all red, or all white, or all black, or red and white, or red and black, or whatever when I get done with it. I'm really going to have to think when I knit this one. No mindless tv knitting.

I went to Ravelry and printed off page after page of discussion of this shawl and its challenges. Fortunately, the designer has been an active participant and clears up a lot of the issues.

I can't get the entire chart to print, but she has each section written out, so with luck I won't need a chart. I really mess up when I used even a simple chart, so I'm glad that she spelled them out.

So, I've got three hanks of Bloodlust All That Glitters yarn dyed by yarnlust, dozens of vials of beads in three colors, the two needles necessary to start the project, and alllllll of those pages packed away in a plastic shoe box to take to Florida in June. I may have to start the center long before then; it depends on how stupid I'm feeling. If a simple chart kicks my ass, I cannot imagine what this heirloom-quality lace will do to me.

I've never before felt like I just have to knit something. There are lots of patterns that appeal to me, but never has one jumped into my brain and taken up residence there. The very first time I saw Shipwreck, I knew that I had to knit it. I also know that it will probably take years to finish (hello? 5000 beads), and that's okay. I'll probably end up using it as a decorative table cloth most of the time. By the time it's done, we should be living in South Florida permanently, so I might be able to wear it during a cold snap.

But that leaves me without a current project. I cannot rest until I find something that I want to do and get it organized. I have two hanks of Twilight-cover-art-inspired worsted that I want to use to make a neck warmer and a hat, but I just can't get too enthusiastic about that now. I haven't seen a hat pattern that I really, really want to do with it, so I'll wait.

I dug through my stash of Claudia fingering and came up with some gorgeous red and gray sportweight. There are four separate hanks of it; I'm just hoping that I have enough to finish a pair of socks. I started knitting last night using a pair of size 1 dpns; it's heavier yarn, but I didn't want to go any higher in size because they look like they'll be nice and squooshy on the feet. I think it's Claudia's Buckeyes colorway, which, oddly, is very similar to christinamariepotter's colorway for the cover of Eclipse. This got my mojo rising and I cast on. This isn't to say that I won't be ordering more yarn from christinamariepotter (on Ravelry and etsy) for each of her colorways from books 2-4. Must. Have. Them.

I finished books 2 and 3 of P. C. Cast and Kristen Cast's House of Night series. I'm now reading the fourth book. They're light and cute and a quick read. But they are not Twilight.

I am so doomed.

I'll try to add photos to this post after lunch. Tom is substituting in and English class today and he's going to bring me a big Pepsi. I might want to check my weight tomorrow morning; I've been drinking more Pepsi than sugarless tea lately.

Two of my sisters, Betty and Joan, are planning to fly to Ft. Lauderdale at the end of June and we'll have a Sisters' Week in the Keys. We've long dreamed of doing this, but scraping together the money for the four (or three, as Nancy will be with friends that week) of us to fly, get a motel on the beach, and eat for a week has eluded us. With a free place to stay and our own gourmet chef (Tom), we're going to make out like bandits. (No, Google search, we sisters will not make out.)

And the bead goes on and on and on and on

I spent hours yesterday pushing beads up to the beginning of the neverending ball of yarn. The remaining ball looks slightly smaller, but I'm not going to believe my eyes until the beads actually touch the shawl. And maybe not then.

In the meantime, I've cast on for another bamboo Tropical Tee (by Oat Couture), this time in coral. It's more easily portable than a ton of beads. It's a very easy knit, and I love the way my first one in bamboo drapes. And drapes. And drapes. I'm knitting this one in the round to the sleeves to avoid having to seam later. I hate seaming.

(photo from Oat Couture website, www.oatcouture.com)

Quick note

Summer's here! The sun is shining, it's warm, and I'm happy.

I've been moving beads up the yarn for hours at a time, trying to get to the point that I can finish the test knit. It's boring.

We did buy a new modem, and after quite a bit of frustration, cursing, and in spite of another visit with customer "service", the new wireless modem installed itself and is working. I haven't even attempted to try to use the laptop with it. I'm afraid the air will turn blue.

So. That's where we stand now. I'm on vacation and loving it. I will work at school for a couple of hours tomorrow, but that's it for now.

I will eventually post photos from the Last Train Home (click on their name in the sidebar) shows last weekend, and I have some other things I want to blog about, but they'll have to wait till probably next week. My sisters and I are heading to the NC mountains for a nice, long weekend with our cousins.

Oh, and I think Claudia fired me.

Beads and beads and beads and beads

I don't think I'll ever make anything that requires over a thousand beads again.

I decided to knit the shawl then crochet the edging to the point that I need to start placing beads, then totally unroll the ball of yarn that's left (and it's a big ball) and add the beads to the end. (Thank you, Raveler whose name I can't remember, and I can't access Ravelry from here to find her name.) I spent hours on Sunday stringing beads onto the end of the yarn and finally gave up after my thumb cramped and refused to cooperate any longer. Tom helped me, bless his heart, to keep the beads and yarn from tangling. I got maybe 3/4 of the beads strung and called it a day.

This project has gotten to the size and weight (with those glass beads) that it's not easily portable. Really cuts into the time I have to work on it.

So now I have a string of beads well over a yard long and a big ball of yarn. And I have to get those beads to the other end of that ball so I can finish crocheting the edging.

Here's what happened when I tried to get started yesterday: I'd wound the beaded yarn back around the big ball o' yarn, and they sparkled and looked so beautiful. And so slippery. When I picked up said big ball o' yarn 'n' beads, the beaded portion immediately slid off into a tangled mess in my lap. Cursing the beads'n'knots didn't help, but it made me feel better.

It took over an hour to sort out the mess. Then I was able to finally start moving beads to the beginning of the ball.

No photos. I was admiring the way the beads sparkled in the sunlight, but I was too pissed to haul out my camera.

For the next hour, I painstakingly moved maybe a foot's worth of beads at a time a few yards upstream, and finally I got them all away from their end of the ball a little closer to the place they need to be. I estimate that it's going to take me weeks to get them all where they have to be to use them.

Is there a better way to do this? I thought about crocheting each bead into the edging, but then it's not as free to move a little or be shoved into position. And it would be just as aggravating to have to stop, pick up the bead, place it with a tiny crochet hook, crochet it into place, rinse, repeat. I'm more and more convinced that knitting with beads is not for me.

But I want my own shawl of this pattern. I've never wanted a shawl before, but after trying on Claudia's, I have to have one. But the beads, oh, the beads. I don't know if I can ever face them again.

I think there might be a job opportunity for someone out there who likes to string beads, then sell the beaded yarn in a kit.

I don't think that person will be moi.

No knitting content

I took my Red Wagon socks to Florida with me, but I didn't touch them. I pulled them out yesterday and knit a little, then realized I'd made yet another mistake in the heart pattern, unknit 6 rows, reknit 2, saw another mistake, unknit 2, reknit one or two. Who knows where I am now. Or if I'll ever finish them.

I need to get back to the test-knit shawl, but there was no way I was taking that to Orlando where little fingers would no doubt play with 1500 tiny glass beads and they'd spill on the carpet or tile several times and I'd pull all of my hair out.

At least then I wouldn't have to color the gray anymore.

Partially FO

*exhales*

I've officially finished the body of the neverending test-knit, and yesterday I held in my hands Claudia's own totally finished shawl. It's a work of beauty; it's knit of Begonia, I think, with glass beads along the bottom of the crochet edging. It's made me decide that, after all, I am a shawl-wearer, or will be one day if I can ever finish this thing and make my own.

It has swoopy, curvy ends, unlike the usual straight triangle-type shawl. They can be tossed around your neck and they'll stay there without the shawl falling off your shoulders (it's that short-row shaping), and the beads glisten and give the shawl some weight. Not too much weight, but just enough to hold the swoops in place and sparkle in the light.

So, now on to the beading. Have any of you done this? Claudia said to string the beads onto the yarn, all of them, all 1500 of them, so there won't be any ends to weave in along the way. 1500 tiny glass beads. How can I keep them from getting tangled? I mean, I still have about 300 grams of yarn left; that's about 550 yards. I can't just let the yarn/beads pool in a bag; they'll get tangled. What do I do?

I put a bunch (maybe 50-100) beads on the yarn last night, and already the logistics are overwhelming me. Should I unroll the ball of yarn and start from the end? Am I going about this bass-ackwards?

Any help out there? I've googled, but so far no good answers.

Auuuuugggghhhhhhh!