Geesh, I LOVE these quizes!

You Are the Thumb

You're unique and flexible. And you defy any category. Mentally strong and agile, you do things your own way. And you do them well. You are a natural leader... but also truly a loner. You inspire many but connect with few. You get along well with: The Middle Finger Stay away from: The Pinky

What Finger Are You?

I was almost a "middle finger," it all hung on which kind of movie I choose to watch. I suppose I really could have used any of those answers, but this is kinda cool. And if you are even slower on the uptake than I am, here is the link to Blogthings where the quizes live and multiply.

I have not been doing much knitting lately - kinda stalled on everything due to nagging chronic pain in neck, shoulders and hands. I've had a couple of acupuncture treatments, but they really knock the wind out of me and I need a day off work to recover from them. Really! My boss is a nice guy, but that's just too many sick days. The "new" NSAID they gave me for arthritis pain doesn't work nearly as well as the Celebrex, but the new pain management doc says that Celebrex can cause heart problems in someone with my medical history. It's always **something**!

I have been doing a bit of spinning - I bought a Gulf Coast Native Improved fleece from Magrett Stratton a while back and had it processed at Stonehedge. It is marvelous to spin, but not like a down fleece (Magrett says it felts readily) so I don't know if I want to try to knit socks from it.

Actually, I've been buying up some sock yarns on sale and from others' destashing efforts, so I don't know why I'm so eager to think about spinning sock yarns. (G) I should get you all a photo of all my new sock yarns. Hmmm...

The other roving I'm spinning is a Corrie-X pindrafted roving that was processed by Morro Fiber Works. This is the first time I've worked with any of her roving and it is quite nice. More vm in the roving I have than I like, but this is the match for my Pi Are Square Shawl at long last. It's spinning up very fine, but it's also a lot softer than the BL of the main body of the shawl. The only thing I dislike about spinning so fine is that it takes forever to spin, then another forever to ply the stuff. Of course, it's marvelous to knit with. :)

Today was our first day officially over 100 deg and it's hot. I left my cooler on all day, but it's still 81 here in the office. I had to replace the motor on the cooler last month, and the repair guy didn't adjust it so that it blows as much air as the old motor. So my house is quite a bit hotter than it has been in the past. :( I cut down all my trees, too, so I haven't much shade. It's gonna be a miserable summer.

Gotta run - need to feed the critters and me, too.

Wot color is YOUR brain?

Your Brain is Green

Of all the brain types, yours has the most balance. You are able to see all sides to most problems and are a good problem solver. You need time to work out your thoughts, but you don't get stuck in bad thinking patterns. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about the future, philosophy, and relationships (both personal and intellectual).

What Color Is Your Brain?

This is pretty much true - I am good at problem solving. How did they decide that from my saying I'd like a vacation at an interesting conference?? Have some fun and take the test! :)

Here's another:

You Are an Ice Cream Cake

Surprising, unique, and high maintenance. You're one of a kind, and you don't want anyone to forget it. You're fun in small doses, but it's easy for people to overdose on you!

What Kind of Cake Are You?

And this one the most fun of all - could there be any doubt I let my dog kiss me?

You Are 44% Gross

You're more than a little gross, but probably no more gross than the average person. Maybe it's time to drop some of those disgusting habits that could eventually embarrass you!

How Gross Are You?

Is Cherry smarter than a 5th grader?

Barely 2 in this photo, Cherry is 13 yrs old this month. She has been my constant companion and best friend for 12 of those years and has learned quite a bit of English in addition to the usual doggy commands. I often tell people she undertands English better than a lot of high school kids, but what happened a few nights ago really proved my point.

I had my trees trimmed way back a few weeks ago and the guys who did the lugging of branches out of the back yard left a few sticks behind. I was out in the back yard (something I hardly ever do anymore) talking to my friend who was putting new pads on the swamp cooler and my dog came out to see what was going on. She's a retrieving fool and has worn out both my arms and quite a few tennis balls. I reached down and picked up a 4" section of branch and heaved it across the yard for her. Off like a shot, she brought back and lay down and prceeded to chew on the wood. Not wanting her to eat splinters, I found a smaller branch and heaved it for her, knowing she'd forget about the one in the jaw for one in the bush.

Off again, but not quite so fast this time - she is, after all, elderly for a Pit Bull. She runs over to where the stick fell, sniffs around and loses interest. Back she comes with no stick. She used to do this with her tennis balls, too, so I sent her back out for it. "Where's that stick? Go get your stick! Find it!" Bang, thru the doggie door into the house. Back she comes with her rawhide chew stick - the only thing she has ever heard called a stick!!

So, what do you think? Is Cherry smarter than a 5th grader? I think so. She's sure smarter than a lot of the adults who are on that show.

Dragon Hair - Dragon Wings!!!

Joy cometh in the mail! A week or so ago I spotted an ad from Lady Guenhwyvar putting her wondrous Dragon Hair and Dragon Wings on sale for a measly $2/oz. I hurried and managed to obtain these gorgeous fibers - Monster seems a poor name for the colorway. Those are the Dragon Wings on the left, and the Dragon Hair on the right.

And below is a photo of the Wings spun up. I cannot decide if I want to ply Wings with Wings or to spin up some of the Dragon Hair and ply that with Wings. I'm sure I'll manage to ply a bit of everything with a bit of everything else, then decide. I've got a whole pound of each, so I'm well set. :)


I also got a pound of Garnet Queen. I'm afraid it looked a bit different on my monitor when I was choosing. I wanted a bright true red and this is quite dark and subdued. I'm happy to offer it for sale for the same $32 (plus shipping) that I paid for it. This photo looks true to the color to me. There is an email link on the top right corner of the blog, so drop me a line if you are interested.

Scotch Thistle Stole KAL

A week or so ago I joined the Scotch Thistle Stole KAL on the www.knittingzone.com forums. This is a drop dead gorgeous pattern from HeartStrings (Jackie E-S) that I bought as soon as it came out. I'm using some of my own handspun (what else?) - a NZ Romney Ewe from the Southern Alps breeding. This wool is a pale pearl grey and so far it looks luscious. I'm thinking I might paint it in "thistle" colors after the stole is finished.

The stole is knit from each end towards the middle and then joined together. I decided to cast on both ends at once; that way they will match exactly even if I goof up the pattern repeats. I took these photos at work where the light is not very good (yellow fluorescents) and the counter top is very slick. I tried to stretch the knitting out, but it snapped right back. I'm sure it will look better after blocking. I think this yarn is pretty close to sport wt and I'm using the size 7 needles called for in the pattern. I'm just about ready for the 2nd pattern to pop in. This is very impressive looking lace, but also very easy. Jackie E-S offers very nice charts and very clear instructions in all her patterns.

Ah, Spring...

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a while. I spent weeks hunting for my new car and picked it up last Friday night. I leased a new Mitsubishi Outlander LS. It's kind of an SUV, kind of a station wagon. It is a **lot** smaller than the Mazda and my dog barely fits in the back seat. She only weighs 50 lbs, so you know that's a small back seat. My walker can fit in the back seat floor standing behind the front seat, but my dog and the walker don't fit in the back at the same time. The walker wont lay down in the cargo area cuz it's longer than the car is wide. The only way to carry it is with 1/2 the back seat down and the walker on its side along the side of the cargo area. There is still room for the wheel in the back with the walker, but no way the ice chest will fit. I'm gonna have to see if the walker will fit in the front seat without interfering with my driving.

I will take photos of the new car soon - maybe I can get one of the guys at work to take a picture of me sitting in it. :)

I've finished the edging on my Pi Are Square shawl and am spinning the yarn for the collar. I want to use a wool softer than the Border Leicester I used for the body of the shawl. I have a Corrie-x fleece that is almost the exact same color of grey (not as easy as you would think) but I need to get it to spin up a bit thicker. I also have a lovely NZ Romney hoggett fleece that might work. I need to spin a sample and see how the color works.

What, again??

So, what did I do last night after I got home and finished dinner? Did I sit down with my beloved PR2 and work on the edging? Nah.... I decided it was too large to schlep back and forth to work and that I needed another smaller project. heh. I wanted to try the next shoulder shawl from VLT - the cherry leaf shawl. I dug around in my weaving yarns for something variegated and came up with this lovely rayon/silk slub (that I have two big cones of!) and started right in. Well, sadly my eyes were just not up to reading the tiny chart in the book and I messed up right away. Made a copy of the pattern and tried writing in stitch counts so I wouldn't get lost. Didn't work. Phooey - I wanted to watch this movie and get started on the new shawl. After about 45 mins of frustration I gave up, ripped back to nothing and started another Syrian shoulder shawl.
I have had a few minutes to work on it this morning at work and got a few rows done. I borrowed one of the cameras here and took a couple of shots, one against a light background and one against a dark background, hoping one of them would show the colors correctly.
Under the office fluorescents, the bottom photo looks closer, but I don't know about in natural light. We have rain today, so it's grey and ugly outside. Bummer. Anyway, I just knew you all would be thrilled to see more pix, right? {G}

Pi Are Square progress

I made up an edging pattern for my Pi Are Square shawl and am off to a great start. The edging is only 8 sts by and 8 rows so it goes really fast. I've gotten quite a bit done in just 2 evenings. I think I'll take it to work with me tomorrow since I haven't anything to do. :)

Here is the full shawl view - this is my Calif King size bed and the shawl is just off the needles - not blocked yet. I think it will be plenty big enough for me. This was my first big project with my handspun and I really enjoyed knitting it. Lots and lots of soothing garter stitch. Mmmm... Not that I was stressed or depressed or anything like that...

Above is a long view of the edging - big, very big YO holes. :)

And here it is close up - REALLY big YO holes! (LOL) At first I was afraid I wouldn't have enough handspun to finish the edging, but now I'm sure I'll have plenty. May even have enough left over for a cap or wrist warmers.

Victorian Lace Today - Syrian shoulder shawl

Yes, DONE!! Well, not done as in washed and blocked, but definitely off the needles. Ends woven but not clipped, mistakes repaired - sort of. :) My handspun yarn is thicker than that called for in the pattern, so I truly got a shoulder shawl for a larger person. Good thing, since the recipient is a larger person, as I am.
The shawl is spread out over the bottom half of my Calif King size bed and takes up a good portion of it. I imagine it will be quite a bit larger once blocked. I intend to do that in a couple of weeks - I need the bed to block it on and it has to be dry and removed so we can sleep in the bed.
I've folded back a corner here - which side is supposed to be the "right" side? The attachment of the edging leaves a definite line of sts, two rows of them in fact. I like both sides, so I suppose it really doesn't matter which side winds up showing.
Fleece from NZ Southern Alps natural colored Romney ewe, washed by me and processed by Wooly Knob into easy spinning roving. 1st skein spun at my friend's house in Burbank on my Joy, the rest spun at home on the Reeves frame wheel. It took 4 full bobbins of singles plyed up and I had only a very small amount left over. Plenty of roving, tho, so I can make lots more of this yarn. The color is very hard to photograph - a warm grey leaning towards light tan.

Syrian progress

I have not had much work to do at work lately, so my Syrian shoulder shawl has been coming right along. I plyed up another 400 yds last Monday (took a sick day), but it wasn't dry until Tuesday. I was only a few rows away from the end of the base triangle, so yesterday I started the edging. I've only completed 2 repeats so far, but it should go fairly quickly. I'm not sure if I have enough yarn spun up to finish the edging, but I have plenty more of that roving.

I took the entire shawl off the needle and put it on a piece of string. As you can see in the bottom photo, this will be a sizable shawl for a norman sized person. I'm 5'9" tall and the shawl is wider than my wingspan. It is at least 36" from point to long edge and should block out much larger. My yarn is quite a bit thicker than lacewt, but that just means I get bigger things with the same number of sts. :) I appologize for the poor quality of these phtos, but they were done at work with one of the company cameras. It didn't have a macro setting for good closeup shots, so I'll have to take another picture when I get home.

I've been shopping for a new car the past 2 weeks and I'm just exhausted. I really ddin't want to buy another van, but I'm afraid that only a van offers enough cargo area for my walker and spinning wheel at the same time. Of course, the back seat is reserved for my Cherry dog, and I do need space for a chair and some fiber... I've been to almost every dealership in town, but I still need to visit the other Toyota lot to see the boxy Scion and I want to look at Honda Elements. My walker is 40" tall when folded up and takes up quite a bit of space. I just tie it to the back handle in the MPV and still have loads of room, so I guess I will probably wind up with another van. I just hope I can find one with a more comfortable seat than the Mazda!

Well, I have knitting to do and novels to read, so I'll write more later.

I'm William Gibson??

I am: William Gibson The chief instigator of the "cyberpunk" wave of the 1980s, his razzle-dazzle futuristic intrigues were, for a while, the most imitated work in science fiction.

Which science fiction writer are you?

This has been a very slow week at work and I'm going crazy(er) trying to find stuff to do. Today I spent about 5 hrs bouncing around blog-rings looking for something interesting. As you see, I didn't find much.

I took the Syrian shalwette to work after I mangled it last night trying to pick up a lost YO 3 rows down. ARGH!! I had to drop down 5 rows of 10 sts to fix it and it took the other 3 hours of today. Then when I knit the next pattern row, I put K2togs on the left side where the SSKs belong. I had to tink back to the middle and do it over. <> Nomatter - tonight is pizza night and I can hardly wait.

So, kind reader, I leave you with yet another senseless quiz:

I am: a plastic sword (with fell runes injection-moulded into the blade) Waving this bad boy around may, on too many occasions to count, have saved a trusted colleague from "going postal".

Which office supply are you?

Lace Progress

I have been flirting with this shawl for years, ever since I bought the Folk Shawls book. It is, of course, the Wool Peddler's shawl and is shown in the book in bright red. I kinda like purple, so mine is knit from Jaggerspun Maine Line 100% wool and I've added a center section for better fit. The center will not be growing any more - I made increases until it would fit my back and after starting the Horseshoe Lace section the middle will stay the same. I'm still increasing on the two sides (the original part of the shawl).
I'm using my KnitPicks Options needles and this is the 60" length with size 11 needle tips. I have far too many sts to spread the shawl out, but if you can see both photos at once, you can easily understand the way I've modified it. I haven't a clue how many sts I have on that needle, but it's a LOT. :)
This is the Syrian shoulder shawl from Victorian Lace Today. The bottom half looks a bit wonky cuz I had started on the Harebell fichu and then decided I just didn't like it. So the yarn has been frogged and I didn't steam it before reknitting. The yarn will look just fine after the whole thing is blocked. OK, yarn - my handspun NZ fine romney in a lovely warm grey. This photo doesn't show the true color of the yarn, but it does show the true color of the towel. Strange, huh? Anyway, I've just changed to the 40" cable on my KP Options needle (size 9). I think I have 12 Vs done and the pattern calls for 18. Then I'll start the edging. I need to spin some more of this yarn to finish the edging. I've got about 4 oz into it - the yarn is a 2ply about 16-17 wpi. I love endless garter stitch and that's what this little shawl is. Wonderful, mindless garter stitch. And so pretty... We wont talk about the place I forgot a YO and the "fix" is visible. I'm hoping it will disappear when I block.

I LOVE 3-Day Weekends!!

Why, you might ask? Because I can spend enough time spinning to actually accomplish something. This past weekend I finished off 4 huge (well, 2 huge, one large and one medium) skeins of yarn. Woo-hoo! The Spinderella thrums were already spun up and waiting to be plyed, one and one/half bobbins of the pale grey romney was spun and the other two rovings were snug in their bins in the wool room. I got out the bin of "Honey" (improved Eng. Leicester from Anne Grassham in NZ) and quickly spun up two bobbins and plyed them. I have already spun a skein of this fiber and it's a wonderful thing - so shiny and fluffy. :) After spinning two bobbins of Honey, I wandered around, trying to choose something for my secret skein pal. I decided upon this Fine NZ romney hogget in a silvery gray. The fiber is wondrously soft, but the roving was sticky and hard to draft! Boo!! This is one of the rovings from Wooly Knob and I can't tell if it's sticky because it's cold or because it got felted a bit in its travels. The good thing about a sticky roving is that it makes it so much easier to spin a thicker yarn. Heh heh - I took full advantage of that and made a lovely thick 2ply that will knit up quicky and felt easily. Overdyeing this light gray gives wonderful jeweltones, too, so my secret pal should like this a lot.

Honey, toffee colored Leicester from Anne Grassham's flock in New Zealand. Leicester is a longwool breed not known for softness, but this lofty and softly spun and plyed yarn has a wonderful hand. This photo does not do the yarn justice.

This fleece is also from NZ, purchased from Sue Cote way back in 2000. The sheep is simply identified as "E-106," but her wool is very soft and a glowing pearly pale grey. I got a whopping 568 yds from just under 6 oz. I'm thinking I might dye this wool - the pale grey would overdye marvelously.

This is another skein of the Spinderella Thrums that you have seen before. One ply light blue, the other a deeper blue and the result a richer, more interesting yarn. 210 yds.
And here is the skein for my Secret Skein Pal - Carissa. She knits for her kids and this wool is very fine NZ romney hogget. I think this will make snuggly warm caps for the whole family. I had trouble drafting this roving for whatever reason, so I chose to leave the singles very thick and to ply them softly. My magnetic winding counter failed to count when I was winding this off, so I don't know how many yards I got.

What City?

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What
European City Do You Belong In?

Isn't this great?? I was blog-running today and stumbled across this. I don't know all the cities available, but I think I'd do well in Dublin. I'd certainly love to do some jumping on a well bred Irish Hunter.

January 2007 Socks

I actually finished these socks a while back; the Fortissima pair about 2 wks ago and the KnitPicks Daffodil socks back in December. Just never got around to photographing them for you. Anyway, here they are - along with close-up views of my "new" method for avoiding the holes at gusset pickup.

This pretty pastel yarn is from the Fortissima Carnival collection that I got years ago and am just now getting around to knitting up. This is number 9078 and it's a 6ply. I cast on using the German Twisted Cast On and did about an inch in 3x1 ribbing before starting a long stockinette cuff. Garter stitch heel flap and plain stockinette foot finished with a wide toe. Soothing TV knitting at it's best.

These socks represent my 2nd attempt at this "new" heel flap method for me and it's so simple I can't believe I just recently thought of it! Ready for the no-brainer? All you have to do is wrap and turn before you split for the heel flap. And it looks even better than my previous pick-up-in-the-row-below-increase. (Check my Webshots gusset album if you don't believe me)

So very simple. When you are the point to start on the heel flap you normally just knit across X sts, then turn and purl back. The only difference is that this time you will slip the first st from the instep needle, wrap, turn, slip that st back to the instep needle, then (DON'T tug too hard here) purl back. Or in my case, knit back, since I've become enamoured of garter stitch heel flaps.

When you get to the other end of the heel flap, slip the first st from the instep needle, wrap, turn, slip that st back to its own needle, then proceed on with your flap knitting. when it comes time to pick up gusset sts, nothing special is done on the heel flap, but you must pick up the wrap and knit it with each of the "end" sts on the instep needle.

If you like to use the Magic Loop method, this should work easily for you. If you are doing the 2S2C, it could get really frustrating, so I'd recommend putting the extra sts on the "heel" needle on the round before and moving them back when you can. It's been quite a while since I did the 2S2C method and I can't even remember how I did the heels. I think I may have gone to DPs or separate needles at this point. (grin)

These socks were finished quite some time ago, but I kept forgetting to wash them so they would bloom and not look so "cardboardy." The yan is KnitPicks Parade (6ply) in Daffodil and the cuff pattern is Crest of the Wave. These are the first socks I tried the wrap and turn on the heel and this sock looks much better than the 1st - heh heh. It's important that you don't pull the wrap too tight when you turn and start to knit back cuz that will surely cause a hole - exactly what we are trying to avoid. Washing the sock a few times will probably make the hole less obvious, but aren't we in search of perfection the first time around?

I've written a pattern for this sock (2nd in my Not For Skinny Legs series) and until I can figure out how to post it here for dl, I'd be happy to email you a PDF file. You will need Acrobat Reader (or another pdf reader - there are a few out there) to open the file. Please put your email address in your comment, or click on the email me link and send me an email. I can't send you the pattern if I don't have your email address. And this pattern is Not For Skinny Legs - so if you have a normal sized leg/ankle/instep you will need to adjust it. It features a non-binding cast on, long heel flap to accommodate a high arch and a wide toe to minimize pinching in the shoe. In short - a close to perfect sock for the diabetic foot.

I am Pegasus

You Are a Pegasus

You are a perfectionist, with an eye for beauty. You know how to live a good life - and you rarely deviate from your good taste. While you aren't outgoing, you have excellent social skills. People both admire you - and feel very comfortable around you.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

My goodness, it's been a LONG time since I've posted here. I've been ill, had amazingly bad luck and been in a fog of depression. Perhaps things are looking up, tho - my MD put me on Prozac last week. Says it will take about 3 weeks to kick in, but maybe, just maybe, that light at the end of the tunnel is NOT a train.