I’m really good at the rambling…

So Week 3 of the 30 day challenge I got totally wiped out by a cold.  No brainpower, no willpower, blah, blah, blah.  Finally feeling better and back on track to end this week.  My only goal is to lose a few more pounds by the end of the week!  Today’s food is another sauteed onion/spinach/feta frittata and a “pizza” made with whole wheat english muffing crust.  I found some turkey pepperoni and light salame.  I would have made those the whole day’s meal but the pepperoni and salame are really high in sodium.  I also fit in some Mexican Hot Chocolate from Moonstruck. Yum!  I need to make up a recipe to duplicate it (and lighten it up!)

For some eye candy… Thelonious by Cookie A. in Knit Picks Gloss Sock Yarn, color Cosmos.  These took me four months!  I did do some other socks in between becuase these were so hard.  I knit them on a smaller needle than it called for (I’m crazy) and did the medium size and it came out wonderfully.  They feel really good.  (I’m sure the silk in the yarn helps too).  If you’re a Cookie A. fan, she has a book coming out in April. Pre-Order on amazon… Sock Innovation: Knitting Techniques & Patterns for One-of-a-Kind Socks.  There’s a pdf preview here.  I’m drooling!!  Here’s some mediocre pictures of my Theloniouses

Thelonious

Thelonious with Shoes

2 things finished Wednesday night! Been lying on my back a lot hopped up on muscle relaxers.  Probably too much stress seized my back up. I can’t take any pain reliever but Tylenol, Friday’s endoscopy revealed a stomach ulcer.  Surprise!  

This is probably the first thing I’ve sewn since January.  For my boss on Boss’s Day (today).  Sewn by hand(!) out of some off-white velour.  The pattern is from the book Softies: Simple Instructions for 25 Plush Pals.  I present Tooth with Crown.  (I work with a lot of Dentists)  There’s probably a small industry in selling plush teeth to the dental industry if I make up my own pattern

Also finished these socks out of bamboo yarn.  Very unforgiving splitty yarn.  I had to force myself to finish them.  If they hadn’t of fit they’d be in the trash bin!  Back to wool yarn!

It has gotten below 50 in the morning this week, chilly on the way to work.  I’ve worn handknit wool socks twice this week.  Yay!  Today’s pair was these Hedera’s by Cookie A. I actually finished these in Feburary of 2007, but one got lost in the chasm of my apartment.  They were both found during apartment purging a few weeks ago and have now been blocked and photographed for posterity.  This was my third pair of finished socks.

I spent last weekend picking up parts for the light box this was photographed in. It consists of some PVC pipe and fittings, a cheap hack saw, cheap task lamps, 100W Daylight compact florecent bulbs, white poster board and some thin batiste white fabric. It was super fast to chop up the PVC pipe.  (The hard part was figuring out how to put 10 foot pieces of pvc in my car).  I need to take a picture when I actually get the fabric panels built. I just draped it over so I could take pictures immediately. My inspiration was this DIY Light Box.  And since nothing is glued, it breaks down!  Hopefully this will be usefull for phoographing small stuff, selling stuff on etsy/ebay and for yarn pictures

More quick fancy light box pictures: Knit Purl Sock Club September 2008:

And another sock started… (I need more commute time)

Started Monday night. They’re currently about 2 inches longer than this picture. The Spiraling Master Coriolis socks from Cat Bordhi’s New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One. Yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight Raven Clan color Haida. Yummy dark black and blue color, but stains my fingers. Washes off easily at least. Must remember to wash socks before wearing! I also joined the new Knit-Purl Sock Club. (Thank you economic stimulus check!)

Maybe this should be a photo blog, I never seem to have much to say!

I love me some magic loop.

A finished object! The “Boyfriend Socks” in size US 0 (SO TINY) that took me 4 months. They fit, I’m happy. These shoes fit my skinny feet better now too! The yarn is ShibuiKnits Sock in color Midnight purchased from Knit/Purl. The temperature is supposed to hit 70 today. Why not wear some wool socks?!

Pictures are here from tonight’s knitting talk by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot. Click for larger ones on flickr. Fun night, I got there about 1.5 hours early and about 1/3 of the seats were taken. There most have been over 500 knitters there. I bought her new book and a special Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock lightweight sock yarn colorway: Knitters Without Borders. I’m too sleepy to write anything else. I didn’t stay to get my book signed, 3 hours on my butt in a chair was enough. Lots of lovely nice knitters there! Stephanie was as hilarious as her books.

I also have video of a few bits of Stephanie and the song at the end. I’m not posting those publicly yet, I think I want to find out if it’s okay first. (From whom, I’m not sure!) If you’re interested, email me at akimboATonthefritzDOTorg and I’ll give you the link and password. Videos in this post.

No Mean Feet! 1st and 3rd Monday night Sock knitting at Knit-Purl. Sock Monkey is Kaaren’s (in bottom pick), fresh from Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock Camp (jealous!). This week includes Yarn Harlot Tuesday at the World Forestry Center for a book reading and signing. It’s on my way home, how could I not go! This weekend Annie Modesitt will be in town and I’m taking her Colorwork class Sunday and probably Combination Knitting on Friday night depending on my schedule. I’ve never taken a class (I taught my self to knit from books) and I enjoy Annie’s blog, so this ought to be a FUN week!

Kaaren and her awesome Sock Monkey:

Proof I do actually finish a few things! These were finished in January, 2006. Rib and Cable socks from Interweave Knits Fall 2005.

For my first pair of socks I’m working on the Rib and Cable socks from Interweave Knits Fall 2005 by Nancy Bush. I have Nancy’s Knitting on the Road sock book, but decided to try these first. I got some pretty Zitron Trekking XXL (Color 29) yarn at All About Yarn in Tigard. It is dark purple/green/teal subtly varigated. It is 75% wool and 25% nylon and feels a little stiff knitted up, but hopefully a little wash afterwards will soften them up.

I decided to try the magic loop circular method, and after a few rounds I got the hang of it. I had purchased 2 addi turbos at the same time as the yarn. They are sz 1 and 2 (US) and are 40 inches long. I’m using the sz 1’s for the socks and the gauge seems perfect. I knit a lot on mass transit and didn’t want to have double point sliding everywhere. I thought about trying the 2 circular needle method, but I think fewer needles is better sometimes. I also find it easy to just shove my knitting down on the wire when I have to put it back in my bag real quick. I haven’t lost a stich yet!

Magic loop links:http://www.trishknits.com/circularknitting.html and http://www.az.com/~andrade/knit/mloop.html and http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/advanced_techniques/

Proof they will fit… (note the lovely pizza box backdrop!)