30.Apr.06 ~ 3:42 pm
Where did the month go? I realized I had better hurry and post the last of my pictures for Project Spectrum.
But before I share some orange and yellow things… I’m taking down this yellow skin/theme. I enjoyed using it for April, and particularly liked the three-column layout. But it just isn’t **me.** I’ve restored my temporary default theme and it does have some green, lookit above at the logo!
Continue reading »
general, knitalongs | Comments Off
29.Apr.06 ~ 7:18 pm
(Sigh… I had over half of this post typed out, then my mouse went bonkers and I lost the post!)
Quick Sockettes update: I have just half of a cuff to go… I aim to finish tonight and post pictures tomorrow.
Yarnover 2006: Mom and I went through all the colorful, fiber goodness this morning. I know some other local bloggers were planning to go, I think I might’ve seen Renee, maybe… There were LOTS of people. :)
Continue reading »
events, general, knitting, yarn stash | Comments Off
25.Apr.06 ~ 6:47 pm
Madder Ribbed Update: I’m experiencing that sneaking feeling that I will be frogging these. I’m keeping them in their travel bag for a couple more days until I take a good look and make my decision.
A few days ago I said I was going to take a break from socks… at the time I typed that, I was thinking it wouldn’t be until early-mid-May before I started a new pair.
Continue reading »
knitting, socks | 1 stitch
23.Apr.06 ~ 7:10 pm
Thanks again for the nice comments on my Sixth Sense Socks! : ) They were fun to knit! (And in full disclosure, I’m wearing them for the second day in a row.)
Celia asked about the sock blockers I used (you can see them in the first picture in yesterday’s post): “Question, are the sock blockers worth the money?“
Continue reading »
knitting, socks | 1 stitch
21.Apr.06 ~ 11:04 am
Six Sox KAL update: I finished the Sixth Sense socks this morning! I tried a couple of quick snapshots but they were terrible. I haven’t been having much luck with pictures lately… I’ll try again later today.
I’m not going to start a new pair of socks just yet. I do have the orange Madder Ribbed socks OTN and will continue working on that (or frog and start over, I still haven’t decided). Meanwhile, I want to work on a larger project (both in scale and needle-size). I remembered that I had cast-on and knit two rows of the second cushion cover for my parents. Perfect. Since I haven’t blogged about that yet, here’s the 411.
My parents completed their new basement “rec room” just before Christmas 2005. The walls are Martini Olive, with one accent wall greenish-brown (I’ve forgotten the official name). Their new couch is a dark taupe microsuede. If you’ve seen the HOM Furniture commercials featuring Klik-Klak, that’s exactly what they got. It opens up for two storage areas underneath, or you can take off the arms and “Klik-Klak” the back all the way down for a sleeper/futon that sleeps one comfortably, and two snugly. They also got new shelves and TV stand in brown-black from IKEA. Mom kept her old coffee table (big square, great for jigsaw puzzles) that used to be Grandma’s old farmhouse table.
It was clear they were settled in happily with the new room, but I noticed that there wasn’t much in the way of accessories yet. I had just gotten 25 Cushions to Knit by Debbie Abrahams, so I gave it to Mom, saying, “Take a look at it, let me know if theres’s anything you like.” She picked the Hessian pattern and, not surprisingly, requested cotton.
After some searching around for cotton DK, I found Lana Grossa Lino for sale at
Herrschner’s Yarn Sale, but it was 70% cotton, 30% flax. Mom liked it though, and chose tan, olive, and brown. Even though this color combination screamed ’70s to me, it’s a great match for the room.
The Hessian cover is formed first with a center square, and then the back panels are picked up and knit from either the bind-off or cast-on edges. I used single crochet to seam the sides together.
Originally, I thought I would be making only one cover, but it appears that I have enough for another cover if I change the back panels to tan and green. So, one down, one to go. : )
decor, knitting | Comments Off
19.Apr.06 ~ 9:16 am
kat knits is holding this fun contest/meme: Name 5 places (other than home and LYS) where you’ve knitted.
It’s been fun reading all the various answers. Here’s mine!
Knitting update:
The Madder Ribbed socks are nearly to the point where I will have to start the heel flap. I’m trying to decide whether they are too tight before continuing (or frogging).
The Sixth Sense socks are coming along well. I’m about halfway through the instep and hope to get to the toe decreases by the end of today.
knitting, know thyself, socks | 1 stitch
16.Apr.06 ~ 5:33 pm
One good thing from the ’80s decade: Q*bert. If you played video console games or home video games (Atari, Colecovision, etc), you most likely played this game. I absolutely loved Q*bert, and it always pops into my mind whenever I see tumbling blocks, slanted squares, or cube-type patterns. It was also a colorful, maybe even psychedlic, game; you had to jump on each cube to change its color, completing the level when all cubes changed. As the levels got harder, sometimes you had to do it twice. If you made a wrong jump (eg: off the pyramid) Q*bert plonked to his death. There were also bad guys like a sproingy snake coil to avoid.
I took a break from my two sock projects on Friday and Saturday to knit a huge (to me anyway) washcloth with this cotton chenille. Because I chose a slanted square pattern, working on it constantly made me recall the funny-looking, adorable Q*bert creature. I used most of the cotton chenille hank and a US 6 needle to make a 10.5-inch square washcloth. I intended to machine wash and dry purposely to shrink the washcloth. (After all, the label says to handwash then dry flat.) None of the pictures I took turned out well, but the washcloth turned out great after a wash and tumble dry. It’s softer and fluffier. It hardly shrunk, though, but I’m happy with it.
While the Q*bert reminiscing was good, I had a not-so-good ’80s Fashion Nightmare Flashback at MOA while mall walking. In the Gap front window, there was an eerily familiar sight. There were thick-striped polo shirts accented with gray (eg: red gray red gray, or blue gray blue gray…). I managed to swallow my gasp of horror and not trip. I couldn’t believe it. You see, way back in the late ’80s, maybe 1 or 2 years before the Gap became what it is today (eg: it wasn’t yet cool), they had the exact same patterning on a bunch of mix-and-match shirts and shorts. The colors and styles appeared to be a strong match to the old versions. I couldn’t find an example at the Gap website, though. I remember back then, my friend bought one with red stripes, and mine was turquoise. (I hadn’t learned my colors yet, either, yuck! I don’t believe I wore any good outfits in the ’80s until I discovered Esprit and Generra. I freed myself from brand name dependency in the ’90s, thank goodness!)
computer games, fashion, general | Comments Off
15.Apr.06 ~ 4:08 pm
So… I have been meaning to blog about this, but haven’t had a chance yet. I signed up for not one but two secret pal exchanges.
I’ve always enjoyed reading about the various Secret Pal going-ons and generosity over the past two years. But because I’m such a perfectionist, I never could open my blog to the public. I’m glad I finally forced myself to stop fussing around my site and just get it over with. : )
On April 1, signups opened for Secret Pal 8! I’m a bit surprised glad Secret Pals are still going on and thrilled that 1) I was finally eligible (with a live blog), and 2) I didn’t miss the deadline! I’m really looking forward to shopping for a SP! : )
About 1 or 2 weeks into April, I got the Interweave eMail newsletter and saw the blurb for the One Skein Secret Pals Exchange. (That’s a mouthful! How about we use OSSPE? Maybe 1SSPE is better, yeah.) I liked the premise (send 1 skein only to your SP in June, and again in July, then send a handknit (or crocheted) item from one skein to SP in August). After only one day of thinking about it, I sent in my signup information. I should probably get a copy of the book soon. I’ve browsed the OneSkein KAL blog, that cupcake is as cute as can be. Socks and fingerless gloves are easy one-skein projects but I will endeavor to find and create something different from these usual projects. I have more than 2 months to think about about the possiblities.
secret pals or swaps | Comments Off
