Lace While U Wait

So, I'm waiting ever so patiently (so...patiently...grah) for Handpaintedyarn.com to come through. But I lace on anyways!


One skein of KnitPicks Shadow in Vineyard right here and about 5 1/2 repeats of the Baltic Sea Stole from Fibertrends.


Well, most of the skein. What's that, 99.999999%?

Doesn't it seem a little...short? But no fear, I have TWO. MORE. SKEINS! Yes, this thing will be three times the length of that first little block there and hopefully in time for the KC Ren Fest. Of course, that'll be in October. *cough* And you can't see it with the pictures, but there are the slightest bit of lighter colors against darker colors, giving it a dappled shadowy look...hence the name of the yarn, of course.

Anyways, more fun and excitement in this hole I live in, huzzah!

Eeee!

E is for Epimetheus, greek god of hindsight! And with all this catching up to do, you'd think he was poking me right in the eye for it!

Speaking of eyes, I do happen to have two and they're a nice blue in person. A few people have remarked on them and with the contacts in, they're really a nice blue. When the contacts are not in...well, they're icy blue. But still blue!


And what rhymes with eyes? DYES!

Last Sunday I decided to stop being so lazy and try out some dying. I wanted something Iris-ish.

A little unorthodox, but hey, it worked. Sort of. It kept sucking the water out of the jar into the big pot so the dyes kind of couldn't take very well. But the results were cool!


I'll eventually knit it up once I get over my Sock Burnout. :p

Finished Object: Calcifer Socks for Sockapaloooza

Have you guys seen Howl's Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki yet? As I was watching it, I looked over at these finished socks and thought "Wow, they're the same color!" Calcifer, if you've never seen the movie or read the book, is a fire demon with a mysterious connection to Howl. I can say no more because if you don't know the story it would give it aaaall away. But I recommend it highly!


Click for full view!
Pattern: Feather And Fan from the book Socks Socks Socks!
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in color: Bittersweet
How long it took: An estimate of about 24 hours cumulative.

They were fun socks, but I got burnt out. And now that I'm thinking "Gee, I want to knit something, I guess I can start another sock", I can't find my little silver sock-knitting bag. Maybe it's a sign?

P.S. I realize it's not mandatory to add anything to the Sockapaloooza package, but have those of you who are veterans done so? And what did you add?

By the way, Happy St. Patrick's Day! Too bad I'm not Irish. And that I don't drink. But I have an unfinished Arizona Green Tea (for my raging tummy troubles) and if I weren't going to bed, I'd drink a toast to you Irish and your Saint of the Patrick. Instead, have an Irish Celtic Podcast just for the season! And wish Marc Gunn a merry one because it's his birthday. And I think he might be irish, I don't know, but he likes the music so he's cool with me.

Second Sock Done!

Last night I had to work. Work consists of about 3 cumulative hours of setting up meds and passing them out, really. The other 5 hours consist of being prepared to hand out tylenols and other such medications as people require, which on was not much on the unit I worked last night. I tend to bring a bit of knitting with me when I work and so I brought The Sock with me.

What I love about working with DPNs are the wide eyes and jaws dropped when they see me knitting with FOUR NEEDLES, OH NOES! And it's always with a bit of the feeling of a magician giving away the secret to a magic trick that I explain that no, I'm still knitting only with two needles, the other two are just holding the stitches until I get to them.

Anyways, I had gotten quite a bit done and thought "oh, these will be done on Sunday!"

I kind of underestimated how much I got done while I watched the patients and laughed/joked/chatted with the psych techs. The Second Sock is finished as of 1pm today.

So I put her through the gauntlet of SockBlocking that I go through.


I don't have any Eucalan, but I have Aussie Mega Shampoo and if it does for yarn what it does for my hair, it'll be just fine.


After a rinse and a slight press (hey, it's superwash anyways, it can stand a little rougher handling), it goes on some clean dishtowels for a wringing.


All tucked in and ready for a squishing. Aww.


And the blocking hardware is present to start their work.


Ever stick your hand in a warmish wet sock? It makes my toes curl a little. Brrr. But the walmart bags are maleable so I can get them in the right form for the sock. The liter bottle makes just the right size for calves. Well, slender-ish calves, but it works.


And here she is, settling into the right shape on a towel rack. She'll be dry in 24 hours or so. Phew!


Speaking of work, I haven't laughed so hard for a while. Oh, and for those who have ever heard of "tunnel singing" and participate in it at BYU, I'd probably avoid doing that until summer. All I can say is Icewater Balloons. You've been warned. I hope I work that unit again. And I hope they don't take apart the post-it note and soapbar montage, I was particularly proud of my Pirate Hitler and Trogdor. I would have taken pictures, except that's illegal at work. Alas.

If I tore out my hair in frustration on top of what was falling out due to stress, I'd be bald!

Dear Life, Circumstance, and Fate:

You've done it again, I see. You know, just to spite you, I will no longer promise to go to anymore S'n'Bs. Because either I will end up having to get up BEFORE the buttcrack of dawn (hello 4am, what an odd concept YOU are to me now!)like I have to be tomorrow (a girl's gotta work or there can be no more experiments with Alton Brown recipes) or I'll be sick, half-dead, in Las Vegas, or some OTHER odd reason I can't make it to the cozy cafe with people that I am starting to warm up to and beginning to like an awful lot. So, lovelies, I will see you guys when I see you and maybe that'll be sometime this month, maybe I can only promise sometime this year, but I will try to make it.

Eat that, L, C, & F.

And in the meantime, I find myself oddly with a real queue of things to finish, not just a dream of "gosh, I'd like to make another sweater, but all I have is all this sock yarn!". I did finish my "Jayne" hat:


Can't Stop The Signal
Pattern: My own.
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky
How long it took: One day.

And I still have a pair of Mrs. Beetons to make, along with the second sockapaloooza sock and then my lace thing (and maybe the Mountain Shawl, I waaaant). This is actually quite a queue for me. And only one of those things (and the shawl, maybe) is for me. Is that just typical for knitters or am I one of the few that gives away about 66% (or more) of the things she knits?

Anyways, bedtime is at 10, I'm going to get my knit on, maybe I can reach the heel of this sock before bed. ;)