Three Little Kittens

There's a reason Bob Barker is so adamant about getting animals spayed and neutered. There are going to be three new kittens in the Lazy household and we don't know what we are going to do!

That's right, the cat Offspring adopted...and subsequently asked us to foster, is pregnant. Offspring didn't know it at the time (nor did the vet that examined and vaccinated Bella/Bela) and feels terrible. I took Bella/Bela to my vet and he estimates that the kittens will arrive in about 3-4 weeks. According to the ultrasound there are three kittens. My brother has suggested the names Huey, Duey and Looey or Larry, Curly and Moe. Hubadub says not to get attached and want to just call them 1, 2 and 3.

Soooo, anyone want a kitten?

My First Test Knit- Belina Legwarmers

After stalking the threads on the Free Pattern Testers group I finally managed to get in on a little test knit action. Wowzers the projects fill up quickly. Of course, I'm limiting myself to smaller projects and my own stash which may hinder my test knitting.

But let's move on to the project, shall we?





The pattern is called Belina and it will be available at FabEwelousKnits August 1st. I only knit one since the designer said one was fine and I'm, well, lazy. Two may have been better just so I wouldn't have this 1-random- leg- a- la- Christmas- Story- lamp- thing going on in the pictures. That and I could have hidden the misscrossed cable legwarmer in the back. Even though I only made one, I'm still going to consider it a finished project.

Project Deets (which are raveled here as well.)
Yarn: Patons SWS in a color I'm too lazy to get up and look at the label for
Needles: US size 8 (6mm)
Pattern: Belina. It's a well written, clear pattern as well as fun too knit. Not too boring, not too complicated.
10kH: 3.08 hours (hours so far: 280.88...which includes the time I forgot to report for PVS IV. Hours to go: 9729.12)

Friday Fill-In 7/30/10

1. I'm going to miss all the free time I had to myself this Summer.

2. I don't do adventure and daring.

3. Perhaps today you can make it a point to smile at a stranger.

4. I lack the true adventurer’s spirit.

5. Compassion is defined by how you treat someone who can do nothing for you.

6. Try to be nice no matter how difficult.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to lighting Shabbat candles and knitting, tomorrow my plans include staying inside and avoiding the 100+ degree temps they are predicting and Sunday, I want to continue to say inside and knit!

The Socks of Summer

What's that you say? There is a pair you don't recognize? How observant you are!


PVS IV

I finished them last night while I was watching Law & Order.

My Best Knitting Investments

First of all, I can talk myself into buying almost anything. This is a terrible quality, I know. I will spare myself the stupid-stuff-I've-purchased-post and just stick to stuff I'm glad I've purchased (which is sadly small compared to the "stupid stuff" list.)

Equipment/Notions

• All of my Addis
• Swift
• Ball winder
• Blocking wires
• Blocking mats
• Soak 
• My clover clickety-clickety counter

Books

• The Magic Loop
• The Knitting Answer Book
• Barbara Walker's A Treasury of Knitting Patterns (I own 4 of her treasuries, but I use this one the most.)

(I am most shamed by my propensity to buy books. I just can't seem to resist them, but as you see, there are only three that I'm really glad that I bought.)

And there you have it, the very short list of things I am glad I invested in.

PS: I'm currently debating on whether I should invest in a steamer. I may have to if I've sworn off the animal fibers. Acrylic doesn't take to dunking.

Ten on Tuesday 7/27/10

10 Things to Do Instead of Watching TV
I'll try to think of ten things, but I'm bit of a TV junkie. The TV is almost always on in our house. For background noise most of the time.

1. Knitting (Well, duh.)
2. Crochet
3. Read
4. Go for a walk
5. Sleep
6. Write a blog post
7. aaaand I'm stuck....
   

Test Knitting Report
A big part of test knitting is stalking and hoping things don't fill up quickly, but I finally got lucky and found a pattern that 1. wasn't too big  2. I had the materials for and 3. didn't fill up in five minutes. So I'm officially test knitting a pattern for someone. I got started on it last night and I love it! It's kinda cool helping a designer out.

Mallet of Sanity
My buddy over on the Soapbox and Worsted Knitt were kind enough to whack me over the head with the Mallet of Sanity and remind me that it *is* vacation and I really shouldn't put all sorts of pressure on myself to start and finish a bunch of projects. They really are right. Except for the test knit I cast on last night I won't be starting anything new for now. As much as  want to finish Kiama and wear it on my first day back to work, I'm not going to stress myself (or my wrists) to finish it that quickly. Speaking of Kiama, let me share some progress shots with you:


Standard Progress Shot


Artsy Progress Shot

Gratuitous Cat Pics!!

I guess I could have done a little cropping so there was more cat and less floor.

Hopped Up on Yarn Fumes

That's what it feels like. This week is my last full week of vacation and ACK!! There are still things I want to get done:

• Cast-on the Edgy scarf.
• Finish Old Man of Storr
• Finish Kiama. (Of course this is a pipe dream)
• Finish the Grrrlfriend Market bag.
• Finish reading Free Range Knitter.
• Cast on Mojo.
• Finish PVS IV-The Revenge of Magic Stripes
• Finish Bluerose
• Decide on a project for Defense Against the Dark Arts and actually finish it

I'm thinking long nights are in order. I should stay away from the computer, but it is hard (I have a ravelry addiction.) I may have to write to-do lists. Egads! I may have to make goals.*shudder*

Kiama-From Swatch to FO

I've spent the afternoon swatching for Kiama. I'm really becoming a convert to the swatch. It's more than just measurements. I'm starting to understand that it's also about the fabric and how it feels and behaves. I even caught myself looking at the selvage stitches to see how easy or hard the seaming will be and paying attention to how it felt to weave in ends. But maybe I'm nuts.

I know that I knit pretty loosely. I tend to knit on the shaft of the needle and not the point. The pattern calls for a size 9 (5.5mm) needle, but I decided to start with a size 8 (5.0mm.) Right off the needle the swatch measured about 4 1/4". After a spin in the washing machine it grew a quarter of an inch to make it 4 1/2". (Which kind of surprised me. I expected it to grow more.)



As far as the fabric went I was "meh" about it. It was a bit sloppy for my liking, so I didn't mind that I had to go down to a size 7 (4.5mm) needle. I liked the way the knitting felt almost immediately. This swatch ended up measuring 4" pre-wash.



If the math holds, this means post wash it would measure 4.25". Yes, I said "would" because at this point I was getting antsy to start and didn't want to take the time to complete the extra washing step. Not to mention I bought exactly the the number of skeins called for in the pattern and I don't know if I should be wasting the yarn with all this swatching. (You have my permission to say "I told you so" if this all goes terribly wrong.)

So tonight I will be officially casting on. Squee!

It's Here! It's Here!

Omigosh! I got here so quickly! I'm so excited, I just couldn't wait to share with you all so I hope you will forgive another 2-posts-in-1-day day.


The most beautiful box I have ever seen.

Now behold the yarn:


Origami by Berroco

Oh I love it. The color is perfect. I should not have been worried at all. I had forgotten how lovely buying yarn could be. I am struck with the urge to buy more...but I shall resist. This yarn is destined to become Kiama (which I have loved since I first saw it on the Yarn Halot's site.)

Vanilla...With Sprinkles

I cast on a new pair of socks Thursday evening. They aren't my usual style.



What's this? A top-down sock? It's a shock, I know, but I think the pattern (Blackrose by Suzi Anvin) is worth it. It's been sitting in my queue for at least a year and I finally decided to cast on for it. The yarn is Panda Cotton by Crystal Palace Yarns. It's a bit splitty, but that's probably because I tried 5 other patterns previous to this one and the yarn was a bit tired and ratty by the time I settled on Blackrose. I like the yarn well enough. It's not my super favorite. I'm going to have to spend some time researching vegan sock yarns. Oh the agony. I must surf ravelry and the Internet looking for sock yarn. (It's kind of hard to tell, but that was sarcasm. The world needs a sarcasm font, don't you think?)

Anyway, back to the sock. I'm enjoying the pattern. The lacy bit is worked over 17 stitches and then it's just plain vanilla knitting. I peeked at the heel instructions and I'm looking forward to trying out the technique. Normally with Magic Loop, you have to do a little rearranging of the gusset...and I usually screw it up. In this pattern you use a couple of dpn's for the gusset. If I'm on top of things, I'll remember to take pictures of the process, but please don't get your hopes up!

Of course, I also have to worry about the fact that with top-down socks I must *gasp* graft the toe closed. (AKA: Kitchener...shudder.) I have attempted the Kitchener on several occasions and usually failed. Recently, thought I stumbled across this article about and easier way to Kitchener. (It's worth clicking over for the guinea pig.) I'm going to give it a try when I get to the toe.

PS: Don't worry too much about this out-of-character knitting. I also cast on "Plain Vanilla Socks IV-The Revenge of Magic Stripes."



And exclusively for the blog readers, a picture not available anywhere else! (Well, except for my flicker account.)

Friday Fill-In 7/23/10 (And Some Rambling)

1. I feel pretty. Oh so pretty!

2. Sometimes it's hard to catch up.

3. Do or do not. There is no try.

4. Everyone is completely unique.

5. It's hard to know how much yarn I actually have.

6. And everyone follows suit.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to alone time, tomorrow my plans include knitting and Sunday, I want to knit some more!

The Rambling Bit

Next week is my last full week of vacation* and  I should probably let everyone know what to expect once I'm back to the grind. What better way than with bullets!

On the blog...

• Most posts will consist of bulleted lists. (In fact, I'm considering making August "Bullet Month".)
• Knitting content will be hit or miss. For sure there will be fewer FO posts.
• There will be a lot more "Bitchin' and Moanin'" posts.

In cyberspace..

• I may not comment on your blogs as much, but I'll still be reading!
• I may not respond to your comments as much, but I'll still be grateful for them!
• I may not be as active at Hogwart's next term.
• I will be lucky to manage the "good morning" and "good night" plurks that keep my karma from plummeting.

In real life...

• There will be early bedtimes and early mornings.
• There will be more dishcloth knitting.
• There will be football on the weekends!

*Because someone thinks reporting back to work on a Thursday is a good idea. Must be the same schmuck who thought the first day of school should be on a Thursday, too.

2 Posts in One Day

I have some FOs and I want to share, thank you for your patience while I clog your feed-readers.

I'll begin with knitting...



Yup. Another pair of plain vanilla socks. I thought about doing a few "on the foot" shots, but it is too hot to go outside and take pictures. (I'm slowly starting to admit to myself that my house has cave-like lighting.)

Yarn: Lion Brand Magic Stripes in Regatta Blue (which would have been beautiful had they stuck with blues and white; instead, they thew in a brown and sea foam green.)
Pattern: PVS III. Let's be honest, you really don't need a pattern for plain vanilla socks
Needles: US 1 1/2 (2.5mm)for the body of the socks and US 1 (2.25mm) for the cuffs.
10kH hours: 11.33 hours down; 9741.20 to go
Notes for improvement: I didn't see that using a smaller needle for the cuff made that much of a difference, but that may be because the smaller needle wasn't that much smaller. If I had an on-the-foot picture you would see the leg is a little short. I tend to do that, so I need to make an effort to knit the leg a little longer, no matter how much I want to be done with it.

I'm about to cast on another project. I'll give you three guesses what it will be. I'll give you two hints:

1. Famous ice-cream flavor
2. IV

On to the literary FO..
I finished A Deadly Yarn by Maggie Sefton, another book from that Ten on Tuesday list. So this brings me to #12 of the 50 book challenge. In 2009 I didn't get to #12 until December 31, so compared to last year I'm doing better. I managed 16 books in 2008. I would love to end 2010 with 17, but I'll be back to work in two weeks and who knows what that will do to my reading schedule...not to mention my knitting productivity (both subjects for a post still rolling around my noggin.) I'm reading Free Range Knitter right now so hopefully I can get #13 under my belt before the school year begins.

Buyer's Remorse

Stephcuddles left this lovely comment yesterday:

"Wowsers, still can't believe you did a whole year and a couple of days :) bet  you can't wait to get your yarn!!"

Well, akshully I can. I've spent most of the last 24 hours worrying if maybe I chose the wrong color. This never happened pre-diet. You can be sure that as soon as my order arrives I will be taking crappy pictures and begging everyone to reassure me asking for your opinions.

And that's not all! Remember when I said I was no longer going to buy animal fiber? Well, I haven't fallen off that wagon yet, but I think it's going to be hard to stay on it. We shall see...

A side note: Can you believe that after 5 years of blogging and some odd years of labeling posts I've NEVER used "Yarn" as a label? Unbelievable isn't it? Well, that all changes with this post!

Until said package arrives,  I will leave you with a picture of Offspring. The best part of being a mom is embarrassing your child.

Something I'm Considering

This may end up being another one of my wild-hair-don't-start-what-I-finish ideas, but I'm considering volunteering to be a test knitter/crocheter. I joined the Free Pattern Testers group on Ravelry and I've been stalking it for a couple of weeks. I'm thinking I should start with smaller projects. I don't really care about making money. I'm happy to do it for a free pattern. Do any of you pattern test? If so....

• How did you start?
• Do you use stash yarn or do you buy the yarn when the designer chooses you as a test knitter?
• Have you had any bad experiences? (You could privately e-mail me for that if you prefer.)
• What advice would you give to an aspiring test knitter?

Falling Off the Wagon

It is finished. It is done.

The yarn diet that is. I went 367 days. Woot! I ordered yarn today, but I think I will keep it a secret until it arrives in the mail. I can tell you I bought enough for a sweater. I can tell you that the minute I saw the pattern (months ago) I knew it would be the yarn I would end my diet with. I can also tell you that I spent quite a bit of money, but it's OK. Why? Because I feel now like I can control the yarn spending. There were several other yarns I wanted to buy, but I put them on my wish list. A year ago I would have purchased them "just in case." It is difficult for me to explain, but now I know how to tell real yarn/pattern love from infatuation or emotional buying.

I haven't gotten rid of the count up from my sidebar, though. I'm wondering if I should keep it and monitor how often I purchase yarn. What do you all think?

Ten on Tuesday 7/20/10

Ten Things to Bring on a Camping Trip

Ha! There's only one thing.

1. The hotel reservation confirmation number.

Why I Like Plain Vanilla Socks

1. They are the best pattern choice for self-striping yarns. And I have a lot of self-striping yarn in my stash.
2. It's like knitting garter stitch! knit knit knit knit knit.......
3. I can cast on any number I'd like and not have to worry about stitch patterns.
4. Mindless knitting (until I turn the heel, at which point Hubadub decides he wants to chat.)
5. There is beauty in simplicity.

Now for the details on this pair.
Pattern: Of my own devising, sort of. I used Wendy's numbers for a gusset heel.
Yarn: Plymouth Sockotta
Needles: US 1 1/2 (2.5mm)
10kH: 10.75 down, 9752.53 to go
Assessment: I really need to switch to a smaller needle when it comes time to do the ribbing. Guess I will just have to cast on another pair in my pursuit of PVS perfection.

Lest I forget...
Today is the end of my yarn diet and I really don't feel like buying any yarn right now...but it sure is nice to know that if I want to, I can. I'll be sure to let everyone know the minute I buy some!

Analyzing Content

I just read "20 Warning Signs That Your Content Sucks" Wow. Harsh. 

• Check out #4. Average time folks stay on my blog? 59 seconds (Google Analytics.) I am "repelling" people (which I find hilarious for some reason.)
• Part of me wants to write a satire article "20 Warning Signs That You Are a Misunderstood Blogging Genius." 
• I'm pretty sure using too many parenthetical statements and quotation marks is also a "your content sucks" warning sign.
• Now go check out #5. No way in hell am I going to spend 2 to 10 hours on a post. I love you guys but damn.
• And seriously #6? I guess I better go write a 5 page e-mail to Wendy so she knows her content does not suck. And to all the folks on my blogroll, consider this post my letter to you. I thank God for your existence. (See? Now y'all know how good your content is!)
• Never mind. According to #7, good content incites hate mail as well. I hate you all. (See? Now y'all know how good your content is!)
• Moving on to #17. This Dude is a nut-job. 1,000 words? Uh.... No.
• I don't really think this guy is nuts. I am actually thinking about what he's saying. 
• If you get a chance, wander around the site and read some of his articles about grammar. They are entertaining.
• And holy crap there's and article about tah-dah: Bullet Points! (Hmm. I'm doing it wrong.)

Friday Fill-In 7/16/10 (Late)

1. This is what life does. It lets you discover more about yourself.

2. Is it so hard appreciate the moment?

3. Upon reflection I should have used a smaller sized needle.

4. I have lived in the South for quite a long time (Like, my whole life!)

5. Later, you wake up and feed the cats.

6. He longed to travel to the far and boundless sea.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to alone time, tomorrow my plans include date night with hubby and Sunday, I want to knit.

Just a Little Thursday Ramble

(Alternate title: I Love Bullet Points)

• I admire bloggers that can string together coherent sentences all on one topic/theme.
• I finished a shawl: It's the Tea Wrap/Sea Shell Wrap from Lion Brand (rav link.) I've done it in laceweight yarn.10kH hours: 9.75 (that I remembered to write down.) 246.72 hours down, 9763.28 to go.

• Today I might start the Grrrlfriend Market Bag. Or a dishcloth. Maybe. I don't know. *sigh*
• I have to take Ash to the vet. He is drooly, won't eat kitty treat and is being nicer than usual.
• Also in cat news: Topper and Bat seem to love Bella/Bela's carrier. The minute either one of them has to go to the vet, though, they will fight tooth and claw NOT to be put in the carrier.

Sorry, I have no photographic evidence of Bat. And please ignore the dust rhinos.

• Speaking of Bella/Bela, my brother has come up with an unfortunate nick name: Hezbellah. I'm sure being Jewish I should find this distasteful, but I don't. It's hilarious and I've been calling her that for days.
• I report back to school duty on August 5. I haz a sad, but have no real right to whine. Most people would love to have 8 weeks off every Summer. (Can I ask you to pity me anyway?) I'm not looking forward to going back. The school president really got on my bad side at the last meeting in June when she asked me (through someone else) not to knit (There was a guest speaker.) I relayed the message that this offended me because on numerous occasions she has told us how important it is to allow students to move or do whatever they need to help them concentrate yet she was asking me to not do something that helped me concentrate. To top it all off, Madame President took text messages and got up three times during the talk (she was in the front row.) So now I am seriously considering calling in sick and playing hooky from the first meeting. I know this is not a mature attitude, but dammit, I take knitting that I can do without looking and it is less disruptive than the cell phones that constantly go off. Sorry. Didn't mean to rant there. 
• Two more for the "I haz a sad" department: The World Cup is over. Yay Spain! But *sniff* four more years until the next one. Offspring left for a month in England on Sunday. I miss her.

So I think that about covers all the thoughts in my head, none of which would have made an entire post. Hope you enjoyed this edition of thought barf.

You Know You Are a Loser When....

You put the sign ups for this year's Dish Rag Tag into your Blackberry...and set a reminder.

Ten on Tuesday 7/13/10 (Among Other Things)

So today we are supposed to list ten things I like about where I live. I've been thinking about this since I got the e-mail notification.

You see, I work with teens. They almost always associate their happiness with their location. "X-town sucks. I'm sooo living in Y-town." Hubadub (ex-military brat) and I have lived many places. In our opinion, a place is what you make of it, but more importantly it's about the people you have in your life. So, I've been trying to write this list and I keep thinking of people. I did manage to come up with:

1. El Rey Burrito Lounge
2. The Capri Theatre (I wrote about both these places when this blog was in it's infancy.)
3. Tomatino's (across the street from El Rey and the Capri, they serve the best pizza in town and they don't look at me funny when I order it with no cheese.)
4.  I am three hours away from the beach (even if it is covered in oil right now.)
5. Property taxes are so low, lawmakers could triple them and still not meet the national average. (Which would explain the horrendous state of our schools...but I'm supposed to be writing about why I like it here.)

...And that's it. That's all I got. Hubadub is with me and Offspring is nearby. What more could a gal need?

PS: I've read one more book from my previous Ten on Tuesday list: A Stitch in Crime by Betty Hechtman, which brings my 50 book challenge up to #11.

Is it Irony or Oxymoronic?
I've been suffering from a knitting malaise of late, yet at the same time have a strong desire to start new projects. I get all excited about starting something and then after about 10 rows I decide "meh. I don't like it." (I've got the Sadim touch. Everything I work on turns out looking like crap.) I recently finished a scarf for your viewing pleasure:



Its the One-Row Lace Scarf by Turvid. I seriously love it because it has all the feel of knitting garter stitch, yet it's nice and lacey.

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Gray Heather
Needles: US 10 1/2 (6.5mm)
10kH: 5.42 hours (236.97 hours down, 9773.03 to go)

Note to self: I really need to buy a travel steamer for blocking acrylic.

Word Verification Fun and Bloggity Things
(This last bit is mainly random mish-mashy stuff)

• From Musings of a (mostly) Self-Taught Knitter: horse. I love when I get a real word.
• Hands in Delight recently contacted me and said the link to post a comment was missing. I think I fixed it. Did I?
• I would love to use a cool font to do post-titles and sidebar titles like Melody recently did, but egads the instructions look complicated and fiddly. Truly I am lazy.
• It's hot. And muggy. I'm melting.

Sunday Miscellany

Foster Cat
A new cat has adopted Offspring. She cannot keep her due to her room mate,s allergies (plus Offspring will be in England for the next month.) We will be foster grandparents for the next year.

Meet Bella/Bela¹



According to the vet, she is one or two years old. She weighs 7 pounds. She is dwarfed by my behemoth boys. Even Ash (our tiniest) looks huge next to her. She eats a lot so I expect she will gain a little weight while she stays with us.

50 Book Challenge #10
After the Ten on Tuesday list two weeks ago, I started thinking I should read at least one of the books on the list. I sat down and read By Hook or Crook by Betty Hechtman. It's the third book in her crochet mystery series. I find them very entertaining. The characters are stereotyped, but for some reason, I find that very entertaining. One character is so rabidly anti-knitting it's amusing. I've always found these books perfect for escape reading.

And since I seem to be suffering from a knitter's malaise, I went ahead and started reading the fourth book in the series:A Stitch in Crime. I'm a little concerned that the ending will be similar to While My Pretty One Knits by Anne Canadeo, but I'm not good at solving mysteries (I always had to read the solutions at the back of the Encyclopedia Brown books) so maybe I am way off base.

FO
Despite the malaise, I did manage to finish one project for HPKCHC: A baby blanket for History Of Magic.



Pattern: Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth. I can't for the life of me remember who told me about using this for a baby blanket. Basically you use one skein for the increase section and one skein for the decrease section.
Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun in Hepplewhite
Needles: US size 10 1/2 (6.5mm)
10kH: 9.25 hours Total: 217.88 Hours to go: 9792.12.....wait, I forgot about the totals for the Montavilla Market Bag. Let's see, that project took me 13.67 hours (I had some issues getting started.) So that makes 231.55 hours down 9778.45 hours to go.

Blog Tweaking
FYI: I've got a new header and I've added the "Reactions" widget. That is all.

This post will abruptly end in 3...2...1

---

1. Offspring named her after Twilight's Bella. WE are calling her Bela in honor of Bela Lugosi (Hubadub is half Hungarian.)

Friday Fill-In 7/9/10

1. Layers of cake.

2. I can offer no insight.

3. I'd be willing to bet I can't think of anything for this.

4. A loud noise scares the dog.

5. I'm fond of cake.

6. Yesterday, I ate too much (including a slice of cake!)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to knitting, tomorrow my plans include watching the Uruguay/Germany match and Sunday, I want to stay home, but we have to take Offspring to the airport. She leaves for a month at Oxford!

Conversations With Offspring

Mother and daughter are sitting in the drive-thru of Starbuck's. Young Offspring has the newly purchased Early Fall 2010 issue of Vogue Knitting on her lap. As they wait for their drinks, Offspring begins to flip through the magazine.

Offspring: This one is kind of cute.
Mother: Hmm? Oh, yes. It's nice. What does the description say?
Offspring: "A feast for detail knitters..." (Offspring snorts and flips the page.) Forget it. You won't be making that one.

She knows me so well.

Let me also share with you my latest (craptastic-ly photographed) FO.



Modified Montavilla Market Tote from Knit Picks.

Recently, the Ypsilanti Dilettante left a comment and suggested I not be so hard on myself with my knitting. She said in quilting they use a "galloping horse" standard. If you can't see the flaws from the back of a galloping horse, they don't count and shouldn't be mentioned. So I will just share the photo, take a deep breath and say "Galloping horse. Remember the galloping horse." I'll be sending it to my Sister-in-Law sometime soon...and probably casting on another tote for my mother-in-law as well. I think I'll do the Grrlfriend Market Bag for her. While I'm at it, maybe I should make one for myself too. No harm in being green, right?

Speaking of green, Noricum left me this comment the other day:

What's your feeling about bugs? Are you still allowed silk? (Since that actually kills the worm, as opposed to just causing discomfort, as with sheep & wool.)

Is your vegan decision environmentally based (meat takes a lot of resources to produce), or cruelty based? If it's environmentally based, wool might actually be a better option. Cotton uses tons of water and pesticides, acrylic is petroleum based, and products like rayon, tencel, sea/soy/corn/bamboo silk, etc, go through some complicated process that I have no idea how much resources & chemicals it uses. All that's left is hemp and flax, and even then you need to be careful that the water used for retting is handled responsibly.

My vegan decision was cruelty based more than anything else, so that definitely means I won't be using silk. There actually are some cruelty issues with commercial wool production (The article I linked to has no pictures, so you don't need to worry about clicking through and being unpleasantly surprised*.) I guess if I knew the farmer and it was a small operation that did not practice the things mentioned in the article I would not be against using that wool, but that just isn't going to happen. The comment has given me a lot to think about, so I will be considering my yarn purchases more carefully from now on. I will try to make eco-friendly choices as much as I can (and as much as I can afford.)

*I have strong opinions about graphic videos/pictures in the animal activism movement. A subject for another post...

Ten on Tuesday 7/6/10

This week's topic is perfect. I was just thinking I'd like to do a "guilty pleasures" post.
Ten Ways to Enjoy Summer

1. Stay indoors and enjoy the AC (if you live in AL, you know how hot it gets.)
2. Wear jammies as much as possible.
3. Knit. Try to knit*
4. Stay up late.
5. Sleep in.
6. Take naps when needed.
7. Watch Little House on the Prairie re-runs.
8. Watch Quantum Leap DVD's you get from Netflix.
9. Watch Discovery ID.
10. Snorgle with the kitties.

*If I may rant/whine: For the past three days I've been trying to knit a patterned sock, but I believe I may be doomed to knit only Plain vanilla socks. I thought I had pretty normal/average feet, but apparently that's not the case. If a sock pattern is written for more than say, 52 stitches (and that is if I'm working on a size 0-00 needles...which, by the way, I refuse to do), then the resulting sock will be waaaay to big. I'm discovering that 1. most socks are designed for a medium size foot (around 64 stitches), 2. most patterns do not include the multiple of the stitch patterns and 3. I suck at math...bad.

For the record: my foot is 8 inches long and 8 inches around at it's widest point.

And really it's not just the sock. I do believe I have screwed up almost everything I tried to knit this weekend. Luckily, I was able to fix it (or in some cases start over since I hadn't made much progress.)

I think it may be time for some Dishcloth Therapy.

The End Is Near

The end of my yarn diet that is. It officially ends on July 18 and I'm getting kind of twitchy. I am very proud of myself for going a whole year without buying yarn. I wish I had done some things differently, though. I should have stashed all my yarn on Ravelry last year when it all began. Not two weeks ago. It's much easier to stash bust when you know what's in your stash. I originally told myself not to buy patterns or magazines and I was good for about 6 months, but going on a complete fast is too much to ask of anyone, don't you think? I think I learned about my yearn buying tendencies and how not to fall into the overwhelming stash trap again.

I'm sure it's no surprise that I already have a list of projects I'd like to make.

• I'd like to get some Comfy in bulky weight and make another Shalom cardigan.
• I'd like to get some Origami yarn to for Kiama
• I love the Zen Jacket and would like to get some yarn for this, but I can wait for that.
• I also love the Rayne Wrap Cardigan, but I haven't decided on a yarn.

Now I want to give myself a new challenge. When I went vegan almost 2 years ago I had very little trouble giving up things like cheese. I can't say the same for wool and other animal fiber goodness one finds in yarn. I'm really ashamed of myself for continuing to buy animal fiber yarns. No more. From now on, no more animal fibers! However, I do foresee a problem, and I'd love to hear your thoughts. During this year, I discovered that I liked lace. It is essential that one* knit lace from some sort of blockable fiber. Most of the lace weight I've seen contains wool. Does animal free lace weight exist? Thoughts? Comments?

*I keep thinking about Sheldon on Big Bang Theory "Incidentally, one can get beaten up in school simply by referring to oneself as one."

Happy Fourth!

Image from the U.S. National Archives Flickr Photogroup. If you haven't read it in a while, you can find a transcript here.


To all my friends celebrating today, have a happy and safe 4th!

Friday Fill-In 7/2/10

1. When it's quiet I can think.
2. I haven't seen Offspring in what seems like a month (She was last here June 12.)
3. My heart is happy.
4. I can't believe it's already July (I bet a lot of people said this.)
5. In the town where I was born there are Seminoles and politicians. (Can you guess? I'll buy a Ravelry pattern for the first person to e-mail me the correct answer!)
6. His ability to make me laugh is something I really love about my significant other.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to knitting, tomorrow my plans include knitting and Sunday, I want to knit!

Dear Anonymous

I do believe you are my most loyal reader. I can always count on you to comment on either this post or this one. I hope you will understand why I keep rejecting your comments, though. Normally I'm pretty laid back about your interruptions, but today I don't have much patience for you.

You see, classes were posted over at the HPKCHC group today and I am shaky chihuahua excited. I do believe I will try to make something for every class. In fact, I already turned in my Herbology homework:


It's the return of craptastic photos!

It's the Diagonal Owl dishcloth. Specs are pretty standard...Sugar n' Cream, US size 7(4.5mm). I didn't keep track of how long it took me to complete.

And to all my Canadian friends and visitors: Happy Canada Day!!!