Hurricane Sandy Knitting

Thanks to Hurricane Sandy giving me a day off (and lots of knitting time in the car over the weekend's visit to the Chiller Theatre convention), I was able to finish two of the five projects currently on my needles.

Project Number One -- Thermis

This is the one that should have made you laugh your ass off when I listed the things that I needed to finish.  All that it needed was the ends woven in, and buttons sewn on, and I already had the buttons with the project since it was a re-knit.  My excuse:  I had to go all the way up to the third floor to find the thread that matched the buttons, and to get my sewing needles.  It turns out, when I opened the hat box I keep my thread in, the matching thread was right on top since the buttons on the first knit of this had been the last thing that I had needed thread for.

Ahem.

So, here it is, and as an added bonus you get to see my Morning Face complete with red mark on my nose from my CPAP:







I will be really warm come the cold weather.

Project Number Two:  Sleepknitting Socks.










I called these my Sleepknitting Socks, because it was a 2x2 rib that I could knit in my sleep.

I also wound my yarn for Color Affection, because the socks were my commuting project and I will need something simple to knit on the train (Color Affection seems like it would be fitting, plus I've been dying to cast on for this).




It's all Tilli Tomas sock yarn, and the colorways are on my stash page.  (That's my way of saying that I can't remember the colorway names and am too lazy to go look it up, so if you need to know so badly then go look it up).

As for the storm, we fared pretty well here in the Dale.  Part of a tree came down in the yard on the other side of my building, and there are some small branches here and there, and some sort of transformer blew out over the train tracks next to us (which is very loud and causes a huge flash -- yes, this happened before, a few months ago), but it was apparently not a danger to us.

Up until the transformer blew, the cats were acting as if it was just another day lounging around the house:

Luciano:




Gibson:




Ellie:




Around 7:30 p.m., I opened a window because I wanted to see what our parking lot looked like.  This got both Ellie's and Gibson's interest, so I kept it open for a little bit so they could investigate:








Luciano was not at all interested (he's not much of a window kitty), and when I picked him up to show him, the wind picked up, so I put him down so I wouldn't get perforated.  The wind freaked Gibson out a little, but Ellie stood her ground.

We survived Sandy without losing power at all, which I'm happy for.  Hopefully the rest of this week will run as smoothly!

Laissez les bons temps rouler (WIP it out Wednesday!)

Dude, I can't believe I'm managing to post twice in one month! But I am!



I'm calling these Laissez les bons temps rouler because the yarn is Mardi Gras colors. I hope to finish them before the season is over - Fat Tuesday is not until March 8, so I think I have a good chance.

The yarn is Dorchester Farms Handpainted Sock Yarn. Dorchester Farms is local to me and sets up at many of the Sheep and Wool Festivals in New England. I'm not sure at which one I purchased this, but I do know it was in 2010.

The sock is going to be plain, toe up (obviously!), because I want the yarn to speak for itself. I have two skeins of it, each about 190-200 yards (label says 200; Ravelry database says 192), so I'll dedicate one skein per foot.

Nothing else to share here except for gratuitous cat shots:

Gibson!

It appears my last post was of Rhinebeck, and even that was a few weeks late. Have I been that busy? Has home ownership melted my brain? Did I have a good holiday season?

Well, yes, I have, and after this weekend, I can go back to being a normal human being who watches what she eats and exercises.

First up, the weekend after Thanksgiving, we added a new member to our family. Meet Gibson:



He's about 1.5 years old, medium-to-long hair, brown/black neutered male with double paws in the front:



He's a damn sweetheart:



He was sick when we got him (upper respiratory infection, which is really common on shelter animals and really easy to take care of), so we didn't have a proper indication of how active he is. The boy is crazy! One of his favorite things to do (besides chase Luciano all over the house) is to run from one end of the crinkle tunnel to the other. He and Luciano are getting along okay, although Luciano will go and hide in the box spring when he's had enough. Ellie still has moments when she'll attack him for no reason. She tolerates him enough for them both to sleep on the bed with us.

It's been a long time (since 1994, to be exact) since I've had three cats, and the litterbox patrol is crazy! We have two boxes set up, and I wonder if we should add a third.

I do need to get more pics uploaded. My camera started acting up during the summer, and I haven't gotten off my ass to replace it yet. I was thinking of getting a Canon Rebel, but still wonder if those are over my head. I don't know if I want to take the time to learn how to take good photos. The point and shoot cameras are good for lazy people, but I don't like the lack of control I have. This camera still works, but it will sometimes turn itself on and off repeatedly, which in turn drains the battery and also makes me miss some shots. Pisses me right off.

I have many FOs to post as well, but I don't think this is the best post for that. I'll probably do a separate post for those, but I wanted to give Gibson a blog welcome, even if it is a month late.

Well, This Took Longer Than Expected

It took much longer than expected, but I finally put the finishing touches on my Aurora Shawl Collar Cardigan!



I started this the day after I purchased the yarn, so that would be February 7, 2010.



It languished for a while ("for a while" = "about 3-4 weeks") because I wasn't sure if the circular needle I had would be long enough to handle all of the stitches on the collar (it was, but it was a bit tricky for a while).

Then I was lazy about blocking it, because that would require moving some stuff around in the back room to make space to block it.



Then I only had the button loop and the button to put on it, but I was pretty lazy about doing that, too.



(Speaking of. . . that button loop looks a little bit stressed. I think my epic boobage is putting that to the test, or the loop itself is trying to tell me "Fuck You, Fattie!")

Now that's it's done, I can jump up and down like a monkey:



(Yes, I was doing a monkey imitation there. I don't think I can ever stand for photos without doing something goofy.)

And I can hold a fat cat:



Mike pointed out that it's the first photo of me holding Ellie. I hadn't realized that. I suppose I usually only hold her briefly, because as soon as I pick her up she says, "MRRRRAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOO!", which, I don't think is her saying, "Don't pick me up!" usually because she's quite a chatty cat, but it does often make me put her down. Plus, she's, um, kinda chubby. You may have noticed that.

So, back to the knitting. I was hoping to have this sweater finished within a month, and I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids!!! Oh, wait. I'm not pretending to be a ghost. The only reason I didn't finish within a month is because of the excuses I listed above. But I'm not complaining. It's still cool enough to warrant wearing such a sweater; it was, in fact, 33 degrees when I woke up this morning and our heat was on. That's something to complain about. And I would complain if it wasn't expected to creep up into the high 70s by this weekend.

I'm still working on the Bacon and Lattice socks - I have about 1.5 pattern repeats and the toes, and then I'm done! Done, baby!!!

I switched my progress of the Swallowtail Shawl to "hibernating" on Ravelry, because I don't anticipate getting to work on it any time soon. I'm anticipating being a bit preoccupied for the next month or so (I'll disclose the reason for that as soon as is practical, but I can't yet).

We went to the Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival last weekend, and I did take photos - they just aren't on Flickr yet. I also purchased a few things, but haven't taken those photos yet (which I should do, because I got just a small amount of yarn, but it's beautiful yarn). I'm hoping we can get to the NH Sheep and Wool as well as the MA Sheep and Wool, but I can't make a solid date of it yet.

Oh! I also want a close up of the button on my sweater! It's quite pretty -- it was in my collection of old, dusty (and, in the case of one jar, stomach-turningly stinky, but a soak in pine cleaner helped out with that) vintage buttons. It was painted black, and lots of the paint was chipped off and just didn't look good. I used some nail polish remover to clean it up, revealing a lovely faux-tortoise shell button underneath! I'll upload that photo soon as well (gotta take it first).

I got something for ya

No drama this time, honest!

I have some WIPs!

First off, my Aurora Shawl Cardigan is coming along nicely. My progress on it has seemingly slowed down, since it's too bulky to take along with me to knitting groups. I really hoped to be done by this weekend, since tomorrow will mark a month since cast-on. Alas, my dreams of finishing a sweater in a month are now shattered.

It's getting close, though:





I can't wait to start the collar, which will add an inch or so to each side of the front and keep the damn thing from curling! The collar is all in garter stitch, and hopefully will go by quickly. I don't have a button for it, though -- I guess I should think about that soon, eh?

Since I lost the portability of the cardigan, I needed a project to take on the go. One of my Christmas gifts had been some Holiday Yarns sock yarn in the Bacon colorway. I had initially cast on for the Wasabi Pea socks from the current Interweave Knits, and had gotten just past the cuff (which is a folded cuff, something I had only done before on a hat). Once I started the pattern (which, admittedly, I hadn't read beforehand), I realized that it was full of something I would rather gouge my eyes out than do - p3tog. Slick Addis needles, slick sock yarn, and purl 3 together. Um, no. Just no.

So, I went looking through some of my sock pattern books for something else. As I was searching, the name of one stitch pattern caught my eye. I am now working on some . . .

Bacon and Lattice (Hold the Tomato) Socks







The worst thing about knitting with this yarn? It makes me hungry for bacon! I'm not even one of those crazy bacon fanatics who does things like buy bacon flavored lollipops (yes, they exist - maple bacon flavored! Personally, I find the lollipop part grosser than the maple bacon part, because the thought of my teeth touching a soggy lollipop stick makes me shudder. I have my hangups.) Bacon on a cheeseburger, in a turkey club, or with eggs, though - oh yes! I don't even know the first thing about cooking bacon at home. It's a restaurant food to me, like fish and deep fried stuff - things I couldn't be arsed to cook at home.

As I was here typing, a mail truck came by and dropped something off. A big box from KnitPicks!!! While they were on sale, I couldn't resist ordering both the Town and the Country slipper kits. At the price it's at now, the yarn alone comes out to a little over a dollar a skein. I haven't used much of KnitPicks' yarn, so I figured I'd give their felting yarn a shot. I know a few people who'd probably love some cool felted slippers like these (who WOULDN'T want cowboy boots or Chuck Taylor felted slippers? Really!) I threw a few circular needles on my order to get the free shipping. The best part? I ordered these Thursday morning. Today's Saturday. Wow!

Luciano let me hold him for a little bit today (I think he was hoping to be fed), and Mike was able to get a good one:



He looks put upon because he IS. He's not a big fan of being held, or forced love in general. When HE wants it, it's a different story.

He got to enjoy some open window time, since it was in the 50s and sunny today:



Ellie let me know what she thinks of it all:



Did I mention it was in the 50s today? Even though it's going to be written up on another blog, I can share a few photos that I took on our first hike of 2010, at Allendale Woods:





Blue skies, but it obviously wasn't warm enough:



Either Mike or I will blog at the other place about this walk. I'm hoping to not be as lazy about blogging this year as I got to be last year. I feel as though I shouldn't blog without photos, as if my words aren't enough. I also spend more time typing my one-line snarky comments on Ravelry. I should put some of that snark into my blog, shouldn't I?

Sam I Am

Yesterday I finished Mike's socks



I hope he never puts them in a box



I liked this yarn, the color of yam



Yes, I liked it, Sam I Am.



........








So, in the event that makes no sense, the pattern for the socks in question is Sam from Cookie A's Sock Innovation book. I started them on October 25, 2009 and finished them yesterday morning, January 31, 2010.

They are awesome, if I do say so myself.

Want to know what else is awesome?

Catching your cat cuddling and having the sense to run and get your phone to snap a photo:



Sorry for the drive-by post (like the last one). I'm about to eat dinner and do a bit of knitting while watching The Equalizer.

Oh, and the slang glasses are from Urban Outfitters. We have six - Douchebag, Fucker, Slut, Bitch, Pimp and Ho.

Let's not talk about my absense

I know, I haven't posted in close to two months. I'm not sure what happened other than holidays and work-craziness, so I'm just going to leave it at that.

This is a long overdue post.

I'm at home today. I took yesterday and today off as vacation days to coincide with the last two days of Mike's company shutdown (2 weeks after Xmas! Booyah!), and now I'm sick. I had a doctor appointment (annual exam) on Monday and had a clean bill of health, then on Tuesday started coming down sick. Now I feel as though I've been hit with a shit bat. It's not so bad that I want to stay in bed, but bad enough to keep me from doing a whole lot. I either picked up something in the waiting room or, considering that Mike started feeling ill a little before I did, we both picked up something at one of the two parties we went to last weekend. Aah, the perils of having an active social life.

I just took my temperature, and it was 98.9. This morning was 99.3, so at least it's going down. My normal, healthy temp is around 98.2 (yup, I'm a below-average freak).

Let's move to the knitting.

In November, I took part in the Pine Street Inn Knit-a-Thon. I mentioned that I had taken home a blanket to-go, meaning 35 squares to attach on my own time. I finished putting those together a while ago:



In typical Zanti fashion, I haven't delivered it to the Pine Street Inn yet. I've been in contact with the director, and I can drop it off any time, and there's no rush. It has inspired me further to think about making an afghan for us at home.

I also finished one of Mike's Sam socks, and made my way into the second one:





The pattern is loads of fun. I do have to pay attention to my knitting so I don't miss a cable, but it certainly never gets boring. Of course, I can't be loyal to one project, so I cast on for a Knotty But Nice hat for Mike. I quickly learned that knitting this hat is a whole lot like eating M&Ms -- I can't stop! I'm knitting it in some old alpaca/wool yarn in a brick red color. It was from a big box of yarn that I purchased in 2005 from someone whose aunt had died. The brand name is Musarde, and I have six skeins of 93 yards/skein. I have no clue how old it is, but I do like it. I may knit up a swatch to see how it felts as well, since it would make some warm-assed slippers.

I did make a quick hat to stuff in Mike's stocking:



It's the same pattern as the Noro hat I made last year (err, scroll down that post a bit to see it -- it looks as though I've made it a pattern to not post much during the holidays).

It's cold here, and seems to snow every weekend. Typical. I think it snowed for a day and a half last weekend, but we haven't gotten hammered like other parts of the country have. As much as I don't want to be lazy and stay in all weekend, all winter, it does seem like it's going to happen.

Hey, I did go out for a while yesterday -- we took Ellie to her vet appointment. She gained over 2 lbs. in the past year. Poor dear is fat. And lazy.



The doc gave us a goal to get her down to 12 lbs. in the next two years. Hey, my doc gave me a goal to lose 20 lbs, but she didn't give me a time limit. Maybe Ellie and I can diet together? I have already decided to lay off the sweets, and I haven't had any since those EPIC cherry/chocolate scones we had at a brunch party on January 2nd. I think that was my last day of decadence. Almost a week with no sweets is a pretty decent track record for me; I should hop on the scale, and I would, if we had one.

I also realize that I should be laying off the beer -- not that I really do drink a lot of it, but I've been known to have one or two over the weekend, while spinning or knitting (or watching TV). But HOW can I not have a beer, when I found the perfect pint glasses?









Y'all KNOW you want these pint glasses! I got them at Urban Outfitters, and I really need to go back there, since there are a few birthdays coming up that may require these. We had to make room in the cabinet for these, but they were worth it (especially at the price - 2 for $10!!!!!). They also have "Pimp" and "Ho", which I hadn't realized until later were connected to each other (I thought at the time that the "Ho" one was a Christmas themed glass, and passed it by. I had noticed the "Pimp" one, and as I was going home after purchasing them, I said, "oooooooooh, yeah, Pimp and Ho! DUH!")

I got a photo of Luciano yawning, which made us laugh so hard Mike got stomach pains:



The non-zoom version is funny, too. Mike said he looks like an ineffectual rattlesnake:



It probably couldn't hurt him to lose a few pounds as well.

Just to prove that my photos aren't all about making fun of my cats, here's a lovely one I took of Ellie:



Well, it's hard to find a non-silly photo of Luciano, isn't it?



Oooh, you can see my gold boots in that photo. I'm such a show-off!



I hadn't worn those in a few years, but I've worn them twice recently. I love those boots!

I think it's time for me to go to a warmer part of the house and make some more tea, maybe get back to knitting and watching some more 90210. I'm almost done with season 3, and soon it's buh-bye Brenda!