Once More Into the Breach

Or at least the living room. Seems the house shaking project is underway once more. It's slow going, but I can now see the trunk (which serves as a coffee table) for the first time in months. There's still a bit more to move and at some point I'll probably re-organize the stuff that I've moved down stairs, but for now it's fine.


There is one slight (okay, fairly large) hitch in this whole program. The Ikea in Calgary is out of these:
And that's the main storage piece for the new studio area. Which means I won't be able to finish organizing that area any time soon~arrrrggghhh!

Oh well, moving on. On to knitting that is. Haven't been knitting quite as much as I usually do, this summer seems unusually busy, what with (gasp) working and Mom and Dad moving and then just the usual extra work in the yard. However, a Doctor Who marathon last weekend with the members of the Dork Squad (some of whom actually post over there) gave me the opportunity to work on Thermal.

This one might be done for Fall/Winter 2010. Yeah, dense stitch patterns over 268 stitches on 2.5 mm needles in fingering weight yarn. do not make for a quick knits. I do like it though. And I think I'll end up getting a lot of use out of it.

Liza {who's just discovering what unused muscles were called into play today during the house shaking process~owwwwwie!}

Hit and Run Posting

Oh my, how has this much time passed? Oh yeah, it's that thing called work. Something I'm not exactly used to you know. And it's really interfering in my social/knitting life. Since, I'm somewhat pressed for time, this is going to be another drive-by update.

2) Offspring # 2’s Blue Sky Alpacas’ Hooded Pullover in Dyed Cotton (the one that was supposed to be for Christmas). Sleeves done, just needs sewing up and hood.

3) Jumbo cat blanket (aka an afghan for the living room, but I might as well be honest about it’s eventual fate). Another ball of yarn finished, but now it's stalled as the rest of the yarn is buried under a bunch of stuff left over from the house shaking project (something else that's been stalled).

4) KP&S’s Weekend Neck Down Jacket in Blue Sky Alpacas’ bulky. First sleeve is finished, but I'm not that happy with the look of the cuff, so I may take that out .

5) All the little kid items (charity knitting) that have been languishing about. I’m counting this as one item even though there are, oh, 2 vests, 3 cardi’s, 2 pullovers and a baby sweater in the bunch . Mostly because they all just need a little bit of finishing work. Nada.

6) At least 2 pairs of socks of the ½ dozen or so on the needles. Done.

7) The Blue Sky Alpacas’ Eyelet Cardigan in Dyed Cotton (it just needs finishing work). Nothing, still.

9) My version of Mr. Greenjeans in Dream in Color’s Cocoakiss. Body finished, cast off first sleeve last night.

10) KP&S’s Neckdown Wrap Cardigan in Malabrigo. First sleeve finished.

11) Blue Sky Alpacas’ Scoop Neck Vest in Classic Elite’s Renaissance. Zero progress.

12) Fleece Artist’s Lady of the Lake in Curlylocks and Fleece Artist Aran Yarn. Needles still missing/unknown. When I stop with this work thing, maybe I'll have time to find them.

And just to prove I haven't really mended my ADD/procrastinator ways, look at what I cast on for the other day.

Liza {who notes that of course the perfect thing to cast on for summer knitting is a long-sleeved wool shirt}

Random Wednesday

In fine knit blogger tradition (one started by, I believe, mamacate) I declare today a random day.

To start, the bad:

1. I'm sick. Offspring #2 shared the cold/flu thing (need to talk to that child about what/when one should share and when not to) and an elephant has taken up residence in my chest. A small elephant to be sure, but an elephant none the less.
2. Gas is up to $1.15 per litre
3. I missed Knit Nite at M1 last night, I missed my quilt group meeting this morning and it now looks like this concert is a no go for me as well.
4. I have a criminally short attention span.

The good:

1. Between avoiding too much driving around ($1.15/L!) and being sick, I've had lots of knitting time.
2. Mr. Greenjeans and the jumbo cat blanket have both grown a few inches. There may have been a few other things jumping on to my needles as well (see #4 above). For example, this pretty little thing might, just might, be several inches into the rib.


The pattern calls for Blue Sky Alpaca's Sportweight held double, but as usual, I'm changing things up a bit and am using these two together:



This is their Alpaca Silk in Wisteria (#114)

And this is the Suri Merino in Dusk (#418)

I'm loving the fabric these two are turning into. It's looking kinda tweedy and it's soooooo soft!

Also landing on my needles (I was just sitting there, I swear, and the yarn just jumped on) is Roam from Knitty:

I've had this yarn in my stash for a bit and I guess it got lonely or tired of being ignored or something. Oh, and of course, I did change things a bit. The yarn shown is lovely, but the colourway was not for me. So instead I'm using this one:

Hand Maiden's Great Big Sea in the colour Nova Scotia. Just a note, on my skeins, the light green is more of a yellow green. Again, loving the fabric it's making up into. However, the seed stitch pattern is (for me anyway) slooooowwww.

3. The chicken noodle soup I made yesterday is very good and well timed!

Totally Random:

1. Eugene Levy's son Daniel (in spite of the eyebrows) is a hottie. Who'da guessed that?
2. Signs of spring are here. It's shedding season and absolutely everything I own is coated in a fuzzy/furry grey layer.
3. A new study showed that over 90% of the food marketed towards kids is crap. No really? And someone paid for that study? I think any parent could have told you that.



Liza {who wishes she could find someone to give her money to find out the obvious}

It's Heather Day

Yep, it's that time of year again, time to celebrate the natal day of my partner in crime. As of today she's ........ years old (come on now, did ya really think I was gonna say the *actual* number? )

I remember being, well, less than thrilled with the idea of a new sibling, but over the years, those feelings have certainly changed. It's great to have someone who will help you move furniture, chose a special outfit, go to exercise classes with you (or not) and enable your shoe and purse habits, not to mention the yarn habit. It's even good to have someone who can say to you "Were you drinking when you bought that?" (and no, I wasn't, it's just my inability to just say no to a sale). So, all in all, this whole baby sister thing has worked out pretty well, I think. Thanks for being you kid. Happy Birthday and many, many, many returns of the day.

Liza {who thinks the baby brother or puppy would have been a really bad idea}

Cheer-up Post

Since my last couple of posts have been of a fairly cranky nature, I feel I need to post something a little more, well, light-hearted. So, here we go, LOLCats and Monty Python references, how can that not make you smile?

Liza {who adds, this post brought to you by I Can Has Cheezburger. Making regular people wet themselves and the grammar police cringe since January 11, 2007 }

Beware the Ides of March

This line popped into my head yesterday when I changed the date on the calendar by my knitting spot.

However, unlike Caesar, I don't have to worry about assassination, only bad knitting.

I dunno what I've done to anger the knitting gods, but for the past few days everything I've done has been, well, crap. The Swallowtail Shawl hasn't progressed since Wednesday.

I've worked on it, but have ended up going backwards! Very frustrating.

So, I thought I should do something else and on Friday brought several different projects to TGIF at Make One. The first thing I went with was the Sleeveless Wrap Top from Blue Sky Alpacas.

Uh, yeah, that was a no go. Then I pulled out the second sock (of the second pair) of #6 on my MP 2008 list. The sock that I said earlier this month was at the gusset. Um, no it wasn't, however I didn't clue into this fact and blew right past the need for the heel turn and started picking up stitches.

It was at that point that I decided to give up and cast on for some brainless knitting in the form of a roll-brim hat that I'll donate to charity. It seems this is what the knitting gods wanted me to do, as that project moved smoothly for the rest of TGIF and I was able to continue on easily at Pub Nite (it's at the crown shaping).

I think I was being sent a message, but I'm not sure what exactly the message was. Was I getting to cocky with my knitting? Or was this a reminder that sometimes I need to stop focusing so hard on myself and look at the bigger picture?

Either way, I did end up with a mental list of things I need to remember:

1) Read ahead in the pattern.

2) Before ripping out what you did before you read ahead in the pattern, make sure that any changes you make are actually needed, as your style of knitting may not match exactly with the pattern designers.

3) Check for errata.

4) Please learn to count to three!?!

Oh, and I forgot this one:

5) Because your memory is, well, less than reliable (no really?), when picking up a project after a protracted break, it is not a bad idea to review what's been done so far and what still needs to be done. Even if you're sure, you know where you left off. And a quick glance at the pattern wouldn't go amiss either.

Liza {who's avoiding the whole issue today, by spending it with her fabric stash}

Two Steps Forward Five Steps Back

Okay, I know that's not exactly how the saying goes, but that's my interpretation right now. And what, one may ask, has me feeling this way? Well, there are a few things.

The first situation we need to examine is only partially my fault. I say only, partially 'cause certain people convinced me this was a good idea. And said good idea? Nothing less than a KAL for the Swallowtail Shawl. Now don't get me wrong, it's a lovely pattern, see:

Well written, nice clear charts, etc., etc. However, there seems to be the knitting equivalent to PEBCK happening here (for those of you who don't speak computereze, this means Problem Exists Between Chair and Keyboard). Yep, it seems I am a dumbass who can't count to three on a regular and ongoing basis. Sigh.

The second situation contributing to the 5 steps back feeling? Well, that'd be this house. I you remember last week we had ourselves a plumbing situation. After some time and more $$ than I'd like to have spent (think of the yarn that could have been) I got that mostly sorted out. There's still a tap that needs replacing, but I think I'm just going to have to figure out how to do that by myself, even if it kills me. Oh, and does anyone know of a plumbing equivalent to the Knitting Help videos? All in all though, sounds things are improving, right? That's what I thought too, ha! The house was just waiting. It seems that now the side door on the garage is not latching properly. In a strong wind, the door now pops/blows open. And what is one of Calgary's weather's most notable features? Yeah, strong winds. Of course, I'm not even going to mention the furnace, the fence that's falling down or the mouse (mice?) in the compost bin.

And the final 5 steps back situation? That'd be the house shaking project. The one that designed to make life easier? Not so much. A month later I have 3 messy/unusable spaces where before there was one messy/unusable space, one semi-messy/inconvenient space and one lovely living room. But that, well, it could be a post all on it's own. And it might just be, maybe even with pictures to illustrate.


Liza {who really needs to remember that other saying. The one that goes "Those who fail to plan, should plan to fail" or at least should be prepared for a mess. Just saying}