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 |
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Geesh, I LOVE these quizes!
Sunday, April 22, 2007
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). |
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! |
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! |
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Is Cherry smarter than a 5th grader?
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.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Dragon Hair - Dragon Wings!!!
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.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Scotch Thistle Stole KAL
Monday, April 9, 2007
Ah, Spring...
|
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.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
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}
Monday, March 19, 2007
Pi Are Square progress
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.Sunday, March 18, 2007
Victorian Lace Today - Syrian shoulder shawl
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.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
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.
Friday, March 2, 2007
I'm William Gibson??
I am:William GibsonThe 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.
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". |
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Lace Progress
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.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
I LOVE 3-Day Weekends!!
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.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
What City?
You Belong in Dublin |
You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town. |
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.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
January 2007 Socks
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. |
Sunday, December 24, 2006
My Royal Title
My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Imperial Majesty Sandeleh the Verdant of London by the Bow Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title |
Now that's something to ponder. Actually, I suppose my title should include the word "buxom" or "voluptuous" rather than "verdant," since I'm more fat than green... Peculiar, indeed.
I found this bit of humor over on Barbara's blog, looking for her email address. This blogging comment stuff is good and all, but I wish folks would leave their email addresses so I can respond. Maybe I just don't get it yet. Yeah, that's probably it.
Two thrums plyed
Looks pretty, huh? Well, it had been stored wound into bumps stuffed into a plastic bag, then wedged into a Sterlite storage bin in the wool room for a couple of years. The roving was compacted, lumpy (I suspect the lumpiness was not caused by storage) and pretty dry. Much to my dismay, the pretty spots of color were from what looked a lot like dyed NEPS! Indeed, I don't recall seeing such neppy roving before. I'm afraid most of my color in this yarn will fall off, as neps are wont to do. :( I plyed it with some of the bland blue and this afternoon the yarn was dry and ready to photograph.
I think I like this two-color yarn a lot better than the bland blues, so I'm gonna spin up more of both batches of thrums. The dark thrums are now unbound on the bathroom floor, enjoying a steam sauna. I'm hoping that a bit of rehydration will make them more pleasurable to spin. While the dark thrums are steaming, I guess I'll spin up another bobbin of the bland blues.
Not much going on today - I have to cook for the dog this weekend, so I have rice steaming. I've read 3 books by one of my favorite authors this weekend - Phillip R. Craig. He writes lovely mysteries set in Martha's Vineyard. I think these 3 are the very first 3 in the series, and I've already gotten all the rest from the library, so I will have to find a new author to stock up on when I return these next week. Interested? Start with "A Beautiful Place to Die," then "The Woman Who Walked into the Sea." Just go on from there.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
spindlitis ornament exchange
Back Again, finished yarn in hand
As promised in the title, I have spun the 2nd bobbin of that Spinderella thrums and plyed it up. I finished that and the very last bit of my Border Leicester (for my Pi Are Square shawl) this past weekend and I sure do wish I had more of the BL to spin. It was wonderful. :) I've gloated about it on the photo pages (my old stuff is here if you haven't seen it) way back when I started spinning it, and maybe again when I was working a bit on it at the fair last October, but I gotta say it again - great fiber, wonderful roving and not bad spinning, if I do say so myself. heh.
Anyway, I'm sure you're sick of reading and want some eye candy. With no further ado...
The blue yarn on top is the plyed thrums from Spinderella. I took it to work and showed it off. It looked really great held up against Phil's jeans, but I'm just not thrilled with the color. I think it has too much black and not enough of the bright royal bits. It doesn't take much black to really drab a color this stuff is plenty drab. I'm going to try plying it with some dynomite royal blue romney I have here. I was going to post a photo of that yarn, but apparently I didn't take it's picture (or I lost it, entirely possible). I know where the yarn is, tho, so photos will be coming. I think I have about 8 or so oz of the roving left - plenty to ply with the remaining 12oz of the thrums.
The yarn below the light blue thrums is that I spun from the BL roving. Gosh, that was wonderful wool. I emailed Rose and asked her to send me 2lbs of silvery fleece. I washed the fleece and sent it off to Stonehedge for processing. Deb and Chuck did their usual spectacular job and I was thrilled with the roving. It was SO easy to spin that I had to lock it up at night so it wouldn't spin itself. :) The photo directly above was taken before I started my PiAreSquare shawl, so it's pretty old. The shawl was the very first big thing I ever knit with my own handspun and I was amazed at how different handspun feels from mill spun. Kind of alive, ya know? I'm hoping to bore you silly, so I'm gonna post another shot of this marvelous fiber - this is the singles on the bobbin - check out that shine!!
Hmmm... Will this entry be complete without a shot of the in-progress shawl? What the heck! I stopped knitting on this shawl the beginning of last winter - I knitted up all of the yarn I had spun and needed to get the rest of the roving spun up. I was thinking I might do the edging and collar in a different yarn, but now I'm thinking I'll do the edging in the same yarn and try to spin up some really soft grey stuff I have for the "shawl" collar. This Border Leicester, while very fine for BL, is just a teensy bit too harsh for the back of my neck.
Wow, that was different. One of the reasons I'm blogging instead of putting up more photos at Webshots is that the photos are no longer mine. I can't download any of my own photos as jpg images - only as Webshots proprietary format that only their software can display. And I'm paying for that "service!" So, since I don't have a photo of my shawl on my own computer, I have to link to the one on Webshots and to see the pix you gotta click on it, get taken away to Webshots and I can only hope you will return here. (sigh)