January One -- Sunshine Socks
September 06, 2005
Ends
I set myself some big-ass goals this weekend and guess what? I MET THEM! Yahoo! First up on the list: DON'T BE CRAZY! And I wasn't too crazy. Really. There were a few moments here and there of bad thoughts but successful thought-stopping ensued which may or may not have included jumping on a trampoline screaming "I LOVE YOU!" at the top of my lungs. Actually, just thinking about doing it made me smile which stopped a bad thought. Did you know it's scientifically impossible to have bad thoughts while jumping on a trampoline? It's true. Don't believe me? Try it yourself.
Second goal: EXERCISE! Which I did! I actually got off my ass and went out this weekend to run, not once but TWICE! Granted, I started my beginner running program from the freaking beginning AGAIN, but it felt so good to be out there and the weather was glorious. I was a little sad though because my running route is basically the same as my flower route - the path along the development behind my building is the source of most of my flower pictures. I basically missed the whole season. Literally. And what's out there dying is pretty much TOO dead for my tastes. I do like to take pictures of flowers on their last stem, but these babies are already gone. A trip to the botanical gardens may be in order very, very soon. My little sister will be coming to stay with me next week for a little bit while G is away (AGAIN!) and hopefully we'll make a trip up to the Bronx.
Third goal: EAT! Yeah. Too much of that. I'm already putting back on the gloriously lost crazy pounds. You knew it was going to happen. But for two days I looked thin again. Hopefully the running will keep things in check. I was back in pants I couldn't wear since LAST summer. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I always look my best and mentally I feel my worst. It's a sad truth.
Fourth goal: KNIT!
I'm really enjoying this lace project. I've put markers at all of the 12 stitch repeats and it's been fast going that way. I've barely had to tink back - I think maybe once so far. I've got one purl row to go on the fourth repeat. I'm planning on doing all ten - for the shawl. Those girls that can do the scarf and call it a shawl are much more petite than I. I may actually go even farther - depends on the yarn situation. I'm liking the yarn too - at least the color. The variegation seems to be working really well with the pattern. Each diamond has some blue, some green, some darker blue. It's looking lovely. As I knit it I'm thinking it will be beautiful to wear to synagogue this year, should I go for the High Holy Days. With a nice navy skirt and a crisp white blouse. I always loved High Holy Days clothes. Almost as much as I love the prayers said this time of year. They're mournful and melodic and I often catch myself singing them year round. Anyway, I've been enjoying the DFS and I highly recommend it!
Yes, I completed a sock. I very much like it - it's bright and cheery and it fits well. The heel isn't perfect - I need to tighten up some almost holes, but in the end I think I like the gusset/flap heel best. I tried two different kinds of short rows and didn't like either. I still have to try an afterthought heel - next pair of socks - but for now this works well for me. Nice to know that, you know? I haven't cast on for the second - but I will today. And I want these clogs. Especially for Rhinebeck.
And last but not least....
Yes, my friends, it's a FINISHED back AND FRONT of the now infamous Short Row Sweater. This was the MAJOR goal of the weekend - I want this sucker done! Of course, in succeeding at said goal, I kind of made pretend that there weren't 3,681,207 ends.
Just for kicks, you know, to see if this thing will actually, one day, miracle of miracles, BE a sweater, I pinned the back and front together.
WHAHOOO! This might actually WORK! I'm very happy with it so far. Here are some close-ups on the zigzags:
So all I've got left are the sleeves - which should be a breeze since they're all one color. I'm planning on doing both at the same time - and I still haven't decided yet if I'm going to even cast on for them BEFORE I attend to those ENDS. Ugh. I see myself wearing this sweater for the High Holy Days too. With the same navy skirt. It's nice to have goals. ;-)
Lest you think it was all fun and games and knits here this weekend, there were still tears and sadness. Some of it personal, some of it global. The more I read and see of the tragedy on the Gulf Coast the more disillusioned I am with the human race as a whole. People are just SO MEAN. I'm sick to death of the finger pointing and name calling and who did or did not do what. I've never had any love (or even like) for the current administration, but now I'm even disgusted with the people I supposedly AGREE with. Now is the time TO SHUT THE FUCK UP and ACT! It's not the time for who's right and who's wrong. It seems to me that the political atmosphere in this country is directly to blame - which means BOTH SIDES. BOTH SIDES. NO POLITICIAN OR PUNDIT IS INNOCENT.
[ETA: If I hear one more "person" say how everything would've been handled so wonderfully if Ghouliani had been mayor - I'm going to start screaming and not stop. There is NO WAY that the disaster in NOLA can be compared to 9/11. After the towers fell, the event was pretty much over, except for the clean-up. The whole tragedy affected (physically) a very small part of the city. There was no recovery. By the end of the day, things were back to "normal" in terms of people getting food, shelter, communicating with each other. Sure, some people were homeless - but those people had the means (by virtue of where they lived) to find other shelter. Ghouliani didn't have to hold the physical well-being of the city together. This may seem harsh - but it's the truth as I see it.]
I watched the Sunday news programs this weekend - it's something G usually does and occasionally I tune in. When I saw Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard on Meet the Press, I was beyond horrified. Then I read about shoe shopping and slack jaws and I wonder, where is our collective conscience? And even if you don't really care about what's happened here, where is your INTELLIGENCE to keep your mouth shut? We can't even make it LOOK like we care. (And isn't it so much worse that these WOMEN can't seem to gather up any real sympathy?)
All weekend long I'd pop on over to Margene and Susan's site and gain a little bit of hope back.
Knit on through all crises. And that's exactly what I'm doing.
Posted by Cara at 11:42 AM | Comments (17)
August 11, 2005
The Agony of Defeat
Short Rows are killing me again. NO, not that Short Rows. Sock heel short rows. Yesterday I attempted both Wendy's version and Alison's PG-R version and while I enjoyed the short rows - I didn't enjoy the holes that formed when joining in the round again - no matter how many stitches I knit together or how many stitches I picked up. Also, when I tried it on, holes and all, I don't think I liked how it fit. Damn Short Rows! They've become my white whale for sure. So I started doing a regular gusset heel - I mean, I like it so far in the socks I've made and it works for the master, so who am I to argue, right? I would like to try an afterthought heel though. That might work.
Anyway, the sock's going a road trip today. We're heading to the beach for a little sun and work, believe it or not. I've got a beach shoot. Yipee!
Posted by Cara at 09:19 AM | Comments (14)
August 10, 2005
Sox in the Bronx
The White Sox won 2-1. Apparently excellent pitching makes for a boring game, and of course we missed the two big homers in the 9th because we left. Oh well.
Now that's not to say there wasn't a bit of excitement. G and I go to, on average, one baseball game every year and a half. Mainly to the Bronx, but they're ALWAYS full of excitement. The last one we went to tied for the biggest shutout in baseball since 1900. Then there was the bench clearing brawl in 1998 when Benitez hit Tino between the shoulders because he was pissed he gave up a two-run homer to Bernie. I'm normally a peaceful person, but what a fucking good brawl. And we were about to leave that game too.
The most special, most amazing of amazing baseball moments for us will always be in Fenway (tut, tut) on our wedding night. On that fateful summer evening, the Texas Rangers, ARod in tow, played the BoSox. On his first at bat, Scott Hattenberg line drived into a triple play. On his next at bat he hit a grand slam. Probably the first and ONLY time that’s ever happened in the history of baseball. And we were there. Fate stepped up to the plate.
So what happened last night? Well, the excitement really wasn't on the field, but in the stands. Sort of. Some complete and utter asshole competing for a Darwin award took a header into the net behind home plate. We were sitting two sections to the left.
Click for a better look.
So he had to crawl his way out of the net back to the stands where the cops were waiting with a loving embrace. Apparently his friends were taunting him to jump from the third level. If you want, you can read more about this stunning display of intelligence here. He may not have made ESPN, but by gawd he made the COVER OF THE POST! Impressive indeed.
I gotta say, my mind was changed about one aspect of America's game. I've always hated what I've thought to be phony patriotism during the seventh inning stretch. Instead of a rousing rendition of Take Me Out to the Ball Game, the powers that be have decided to play God Bless America, followed up by a really goofy Take Me Out. To me, this always smacks of lip service and Ghouliani and profiting off of dead soldiers and civilians. I don't know HOW they're actually profiting - maybe in brownie points - but still. Insincere, maybe? At least that's the feeling I've come away with. Especially when that Ronan Tynan guy does it. But last night they had a recording of Kate Smith - guaranteed to be from a fantastic Flyers game - and I was struck by the fact that HEY! We're at WAR! Men and women are DYING FOR MY RIGHT TO BE AT THIS BALLGAME! Suddenly it all seemed very appropriate. God Bless Kate Smith. She really knew how to bring a point home.
Posted by Cara at 09:22 AM | Comments (11)
August 01, 2005
Got Gauge?
I want a t-shirt that says this. Who's going to help me design it? We can sell it and give the proceeds to charity. I'm not kidding. I need a t-shirt that says "got gauge?" and maybe one that says "swatch-n-bitch". What do you think?
This weekend was all about the knit, baby. And even though there was some phenomenally BAD news of the knitting variety, I enjoyed the weekend and thinking about my knits.
I'm leading off with the bad, because, well, it's so bad that I want EVERYONE to read it - none of this skimming through and missing it at the end.
Okay. Here goes.
Friday night, I FINALLY cast on the front of Short Rows. And guess what? I GOT GAUGE!!!! This may seem like a good thing, but trust me, it's very, very, very bad. Why you ask? Because when I knit the back, I didn't get gauge. Or at least I thought I didn't - I seem to remember measuring it a bunch of times. I even remember starting it a couple of times and ripping it because I DIDN'T get gauge. I deliberately, painstakingly decided to move up a size in the pattern - which would leave me with a sweater conveniently between the medium and large size. Nice and comfortable for me. But while I was casting on and knitting the front, something kept nagging at me about the back. It just seemed, so, I don't know, HUGE. And I kept pushing those bad feelings down, down into the locked closet of my brain that sucks all the bad thoughts in like a hoover - as I've been training myself to do. (It's working. A little bit. Everyday.)
But. I just couldn't let it alone.
Sunday, I got out a sweater I have that fits pretty good and put the two backs together. Then I took out not one, but three tape measures. Sure enough I GOT FUCKING GAUGE! The sweater matches perfectly to the dimensions the pattern lists for a large. It is WAY too big.
I think you all know where this is going. Do I really have to say it? At least I didn't get too far on the front (honestly, I was getting bored pretty quickly. What happened to all the love?) I'm going to cast on again for a back. In the size I should've done the whole time. I'm going to knit said back, and compare the two. Then I'm going to rip the sleeve I'VE ALREADY KNIT, because I can salvage the yarn easily. I think I might just leave the first back and buy more yarn. The thought of ripping it, after I've cut and WOVEN IN all those ends is enough to - I don't know - NEVER KNIT AGAIN?! What's a few extra dollars for a project I really loved (once) and want to get right? Don't you agree? Eventually I can rip out the bad back and make something with the yarn. But right now, I think that would just be way too depressing.
That's it. That's my awful knitty news. Feel sorry for me. Seriously - I WANT the pity.
On to the GOOD!
I found a new knitting store this weekend. I was looking through the new VK and came across some interesting notions. When I went on the website to see where they were sold, I found Stix-n-Stitches in Montclair, NJ. They literally opened about a week ago. The store was very nice - nice wood - roomy - lots of cool notions and stuff. Tons of Classic Elite yarns. I asked the proprietress, Sheila, what kinds of new yarns she was going to get in. No Noro or Debbie Bliss, because another yarn store in town is going to carry it. What about Rowan, I asked. Another new store opening up is going to carry that, so no. I found this really, really interesting. What do you think? Is she limiting her business by not carrying yarns that other stores in the area are carrying? I'm not sure what I think about this.
One thing she does have is a full line of ArtYarns - which happens to be one of my all time favorites - so that's good!
That's Ultramerino 4 - a new fingering weight yarn. They've come out with Ultramerino 6 as well to go along with the 8. Good stuff. Oh and I bought some circular needle size markers as well. They clip onto the wire and clip right off. Never seen them before - maybe they'll help.
All in all - a nice store that I definitely plan on going back to - Jen - whenever you're ready!
I spent a lot of time looking through stitch pattern books this weekend. I was pulling together cable patterns for my dad's sweater and also looking for stitch patterns for squares for the John Glick Afghan Project. Some fits and starts, but I've managed to identify all of the cables and I've finished one square and started another.
Both squares are from Cascade 220 I had in the stash. I love the blue-green heather color and I have more, so I might make another one with this. The stitch on that one is the Quaker Ridge from Barbara Walker - I figured it was fitting for John since by all accounts he was a peace loving man, traits the Quakers embody. The brown square stitch is called Jacob's Ladder or Ladder of Life - both of which I thought were appropriate. I've tried to infuse the squares with love. I hope they bring comfort to the recipient.
And last but not least, when your knitting gets you down, KNIT SOCKS!
I'm calling these my Walking on Sunshine socks! I'm hoping to remember the bright, warm, NOT HUMID, sunny day I started them on when I'm wearing them on a particularly cold and gray winter day. Also, they match my bright orange flip flops (which I won't be posting a picture of - they've turned black under my toes and well, ew.)
I'm using Trekking XXL Crazy Stripes in Color 38 - I'm loving me some stripes and stockinette and hey, you can never have too many socks, right Margene? (Check it out - she's got FOUR FEET!)
Posted by Cara at 10:58 AM | Comments (22)