More Monkeys!

Pair #4! Hey, you can never have too many handknitted socks, no matter what pattern they are!

Details:

Pattern: Monkey, Cookie A, Knitty
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock, Autumn shades
Needles: Addi Turbos US1, 32" circular
Started: July-ish, 2007
Finished: September 26, 2007
Size: US 6.5-7
Modifications: Short-row heel and short-row toe

I literally finished these yesterday afternoon, slapped them on my feet, and went to work.

I've spent most of the morning (and early afternoon) putting stuff up on Ravelry. Damn, that's a cool site. I've got a lot more to add, but it can't all be done in one day, now can it?

WOOT!

I'm there! Look me up and add me to your friends!

My Ravelry name is myyarns.

My word, I can see what I'll be doing for, like, oh, the next few years.

Squee!!

Found you!

• You signed up on July 17, 2007
• You are #18177 on the list.
• 128 people are ahead of you in line.
• 18059 people are behind you in line.
• 49% of the list has been invited so far

See you all on Ravelry very soon!

Monkey Swap Revealed

I heard from my Monkey Swap Pal that she got the package I sent her today! That means I can show what I sent!


This was the view that greeted her when she opened the box.

I found this great monkey drawstring bag for her at Target. They had a bunch of monkey things!

Inside this bag was almost all of the goodies. (I put the pattern underneath the bag in the box so it wouldn't get folded or rumpled.)










And of course the "money shot" of everything!

A monkey stuffie, Cookie A's Thelonius sock pattern, monkey drawstring bag, "What Every Woman Should Do" book (this is so cute), Seacoast Handpainted Yarns Merino/Tencel sock yarn (color: Butte) in pastels and light brown, Schaefer Anne Merino/Mohair/Nylon sock yarn in berry and purple, a monkey dishcloth, monkey tape measure, Monkey socks, 5 little monkey themed magnets for her fridge, a monkey on a bike journal (for keeping track of all of those important knitting notes!), two monkey pencils, and the leftover yarn from her socks (just in case.)

Here's some individual shots of everything! (Click to make bigger.)













I had the MOST fun making and preparing everything for her package, and she emailed me the nicest thank you earlier.

Swaps are fun!

It Must Be Fall

You know how I can tell it's Fall?

a) it's getting cold
b) the leaves are starting to turn
c) my internal clock says to start watching Halloween
d) I start knitting Entrelac
e) all of the above

If you answered e, you win the booby prize!

Er, well that would be if I actually *had* a booby prize.

... Anyway ... If any of you dear readers were around last year, you already know of my obsession, er, fondness of knitting Entrelac (which is well documented here, here, here, and even here, too.) I can't help myself - it's hypnotizing in its "looks-really-hard-but-it's-really-simple" technique.

But that's neither here nor there. (Or wait, what the hell does that expression really mean? If something is, isn't it safe to assume it's somewhere, ie here or there? Hmm...)

The other day I was looking through some of my past finished objects and came across my Lady Eleanor, who appeared pretty rumpled. (I guess I'd be pretty rumpled, too, if I were folded up and stuck up on a shelf in a closet for almost a year. In fact, I'd be pretty pissed off.) So I blocked her. And laughed a little about it, too. Last year when I finished her, I'd decided not to block her because I liked the texture of the fabric. Yea, that's changed. While I still like the texture, I just thought she would look so much better (read: finished) if she was properly blocked. And she does!

What's the point of me droning about that you ask? Well, nothing really except it awoke the desire to knit entrelac again. See, Lady E is gigantic, ginormous, gihundo - in fact, she's all that and more. Not to mention dense. I'm what you would call petite, standing at 5'4". And my Lady E is, oh, maybe 7' long. (After blocking, you see. She wasn't quite that large before.) She kind of doesn't fit me anymore. And she's too thick and heavy to fold over and wear around my neck as a scarf. I mean, my neck is only so long. (To those who have made Lady Eleanor, how do you wear her?)


I had another skein of the yarn I used for my Monkey Sock Swap Pal's socks (plus two more on the way) and decided to knit a smaller and lighter weight Entrelac scarf. I'm enjoying the process just as much as last year!

This one will be almost as wide as Lady E, but no where near as thick. I'll probably stop when it hits 60" long before blocking, as I like medium to long scarves and I think I'll be able to get maybe 5 more inches when I block it.

Plus, I can double this one over and it will still fit!

Pattern: Based off of Lady Eleanor from Scarf Style
Yarn: Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch, color 707
Needles: Addi Turbos US 5, 32" circular
Started: September 18, 2007
Modifications: one less base triangle, 10 stitches per square


And a shot of the whole thing, so far.

____

Omgoodness, I have to mention this.

My song for the day today is
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite - Eddie Izzard, from the Across the Universe Soundtrack.

I loved The Beatles' original, but this one is just hilarious.

To quote: "... and of course, Henry the Horse is gonna do the waltz! Oh, you've gotta see it. It's genious! I mean, she's brilliant, she does this stuff... and movement, it's waltz. Horses, how do they do that stuff? You gotta give 'em sugar, you know? And she's called Henry, and it's a lot of explanation, but don't worry about it, kids, ok? Just tune in, turn off, drop out, drop in, switch off, switch on, and explode."

Seriously, check the song out. Eddie Izzard's commentary between the lyrics is fantastic.

Monkeys & a Woodin

I finished the socks for my Monkey Swap Pal!

Pattern: Monkey, Cookie A, Knitty
Yarn: Meilenweit Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch, color 707
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 2, 32" circular
Started: September 5, 2007
Finished: September 13, 2007
Dimensions: can't tell - she might read this!
Modifications: short row heel and toe

I really like how these turned out. The one on the right was the 2nd sock and I like it's color line up better, but oh well. I have to stop being so anal about my knitting, including how stripes line up on socks. Sometimes it's ok if they're fraternal. (Please tell me it's really ok?)

The colors in this yarn appealed to me so much that I ordered another ball for myself. Hee hee ;)

I've been gathering goodies and monkey-related items to send along with the socks and I'm almost ready to send her package out. Can't wait till she gets it!

Yesterday I saw the new Knitty was up. OMG, there are a few things this time I am going to make. Muir is gorgeous, and I think it would be pretty in a delicately colored yarn. Cherie Amour made my jaw drop. I so badly want to buy yarn for this right now, but good sense tells me to press on through my WIPs to dwindle them down first. But seriously, it's a sexy and flattering design! Totally Autumn intrigues me, but I'm actually thinking of doing it in laceweight and making a large stole out of the pattern. We'll see. The Diamond Waffle Socks I think would be perfect for my hubby as dressier socks to wear to work. (Let me know what you think on that one, babe, ok?)

Last but not least, the Woodins! SO CUTE.

And um, made.


I couldn't resist.

Pattern: Woodins, Anna Hrachovec, Knitty
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Angora, white
Needles: Addi Turbos US5, 32" circular
Started: September 13, 2007
Finished: September 13, 2007
Modifications: *edited to add* I didn't felt mine like the pattern called for. I simply brushed it to bring out the fuzz in the angora.

Last night when I finished, I showed my hubby and older son. My son thought it was adorable, hubby just looked at it, then me, like, "Wha??"

T asked hubby why he didn't like it. I said, "Because your dad can't understand the simple pleasure of knitting something pointless just because it's cute and it makes you feel better." Hubs giggled.

This one's for me, but both my boys have asked for one. T wants a green one with a yellow tail, and C wants a red one with a purple tail.

Well, that's all for today. I haven't blogged regularly lately (sorry.) Hopefully now that the initial first week of school rush is over I can get back to it.

Just So You Know

The Across the Universe Soundtrack album that just came out?

So. Good.

Can't wait to see the movie!

Exuberance, Thy Name is Socks

A sock sandwich!

There's a lot of knitting going on around here.
There's a lot of sock knitting going on around here, too.

Top to bottom:
- Monkeys for my Monkey Swap Pal
- Vanillas for my mother-in-law
- Monkeys for me
- Jaywalkers for me (but I'm thinking these may be headed to the frog pond)
- Wide Ribs for hubby

They're all in various stages of progression. The closest ones to being done are the Monkeys for me - just need to do the toe then start the other one.

Good grief, I just realized these are all socks 1 of 2 in the pairs. So lots more sock knitting for me.

And here's a shot to see them all.

I still love knitting the Monkey socks. (Thank goodness, since I have two pairs going right now.) It's a pattern I have long since memorized and can knit anywhere.

The Jaywalkers in shades of green... eh. I love the first pair of Jaywalkers I knit (and wear them often), but I'm just not feeling these. I started them quite a while back and knitting has stagnated. I think I'll frog them and find another pattern for these colors.

Hubby's socks came about because he's been bothering hinting at me for another pair. I bought the yarn over the weekend and cast on Monday night when we got home. These babies are flying, which makes hubby very happy.

MIL's socks are actually a 2nd incarnation. I was knitting a mock cable design, two at a time, but hated the pattern and it didn't look like they were going to fit. So I frogged them both and started over with just a Vanilla, one at a time. Now these, too, should go pretty quickly. I hope she likes them.

My other projects are probably feeling quite rejected. I'll bet they're planning a coup as I'm typing this.

---

On the school front, everything went great for both boys on their first couple of days. T loves 3rd grade and says his teacher is very nice. He's most excited about the brand new playground that the school built this summer. I drove past it - it looks like one heck of a good time!

C adores Kindergarten and came home yesterday full of smiles and stories about his day.

I'm enjoying my free time immensely. Who wouldn't?

First Day of School!

I love the First Day of School.

T boarded the bus a little while ago for his first day of 3rd grade. (Man I can't believe how big that child has gotten.)

And C goes for an hour orientation this afternoon and will begin his first day of Kindergarten tomorrow.

Ahhhh, Summer. You were fun while you lasted, but here's a big BUH BYE to you.

First Day of School! First Day of School! First Day of School!

Um, can you tell I'm a little bit excited?

Four Years

Four years ago I married the most wonderful man on earth.

Happy Anniversary, J!

Hanami!

Ooooh, I'm absolutely in love with this one. It's just so ethereal!

Pattern: Hanami, Melanie Gibbons
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace, Natural White, 2 skeins
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 3, 32" circular
Started: August 4, 2007
Finished: August 21, 2007
Dimensions: 17" w x 65" l
Modifications: Added beads to the body, one fewer pattern repeats of the basket weave section, repeated the last 12 rows of Chart F twice , only knitted Chart G two times, and did a beaded bind off instead of the ruffle.

The reason for these modifications were: I got bored with the basket weave, I wanted the cherry blossom section to be fuller, and I don't care for the way all those repeats of Chart G look so I did as few as possible.


I'm very very happy with this! I'll probably wear it more as a lacy scarf than a stole.

What a great pattern!

I had so much fun knitting this. I feel a little bit guilty, though, as I joined the Hanami Knit-a-long but ended up finishing before the KAL even got started. Oops. Oh well, I plan to make another of the mirrored Cherry Blossoms sections - that part is my favorite.

More shots:

Swan Lake

It's done!

Ohhh, those last few rows of Clue 7 were torture. I had totally lost my momentum and just didn't want to knit it anymore. But I pressed on and finished last night.

And then blocked it.

Kittens, pinning this sucker out took four hours. I simply have to get blocking wires. It was just so difficult to get things to stretch properly in one direction so that they would stretch properly in the other direction. And the unusual shape of the body and wing combination made it that much harder. Luckily determination and stubbornness are two of my more prominent personality traits - I kept going.


Pattern: Swan Lake (Mystery Stole 3), Melanie Gibbons
Yarn: Ornaghi filati Merino Oro, white (used roughly 800 of the 1375 yards)
Needles: Addi Turbos Lace US 3, 32" circular
Started: July 6, 2007
Finished: August 19, 2007
Dimensions: 20" w x 65" l
Modifications: none

I'm a bit puzzled about the length of mine. It's supposed to be around 75-77" long. As you can see, I'm quite short. I didn't shorten mine, so I'm not sure where that length disappeared to. I had no trouble stretching it to the 20" in width (and with the join laying so wide between the wing and the traditional body, I had no choice but to stretch to 20"), but wow, it just wouldn't pin any longer. Come to think of it, it could be because the yarn I used is actually cobweb weight instead of the recommended lace weight. Oh well. It's fine the way it is.

I've decided I'm going to give this to Steven to have for the store as a lace sample. It's very beautiful, but it's not quite my taste. The assymetry is great, but the design as a whole is just a little busy for me. Hanami is more my style.

Here's the rest of the photos:


1. MS3 feathers, 2. MS3, 3. MS3, 4. MS3, 5. MS3, 6. MS3, 7. MS3 feathers, 8. MS3 beads, 9. MS3

As a whole, being a part of this mystery was so much fun. I'm so glad I joined.

Monkey Sock Swap Questionnaire

I couldn't resist.

I signed up to be a part of the Monkey Sock Swap. I think it will be fun!

So here's my completed questionnaire:

Do you consider yourself a beginning sock knitter, an intermediate, or have you been doing this so long you could probably knit a pair in your sleep? I'm somewhere in between intermediate and sleep-sockster. I have knit several pairs of socks (among other things) and always love to learn new things.

The measurements:

Shoe Size: US Women's 7
foot measurement from heel to tip of big toe: 8.5"
foot circumference measured at the ball of the foot: 8.5"

Yarn Preferences:

What colors do you love? Earth tones, jewels. Oh, and pink.

Do you prefer solids or variegated? Variegated or self striping (preferably hand-painted/hand-dyed)

Do you prefer wool, cotton or acrylic yarn? Wool, please.

What colors would you never wear? Yellow or orange.

What are your favorite brands of yarn? Koigu, Austermann Step, Jitterbug, Schaefer Anne...

Are there any new brands you would like to try? Fleece Artist, Socks That Rock, Wollmeise

Cookie A. Patterns:
Which of her patterns have you already knit? Monkey! I started Pomatomus once, but I hated the yarn I chose so I frogged them.

Which pattern(s) would you like to knit and don’t already own? Thelonious, Gothic Spire, Flicker, Baudelaire, and someday I'd like to complete Pomatomus.

Other pertinent information:

Would you be willing to have an international Monkey Pal or do you prefer one in the US? I'd prefer US, please.

Do you have any allergies? Yes, cats.

Will your knitting be exposed to smoke or animals? No smoke, but I have two dogs.

Are you on Ravelry yet? If you don’t mind having new friends, what is your Ravelry name? I'm waiting for my invite!

This should be fun!

Hanami

So um, I'm knitting something else among my enormous project list already.

I just couldn't resist. Hanami called to me and it's so utterly beautiful. It's designed by Melanie, the same designer of the MS3 (Swan Lake.)

I started this a couple of weeks ago and have been working on it pretty exclusively the last few days. (Read: have been obsessed with it.)

My yarn is Misti Alpaca Lace in Natural White. It's the leftovers I had after finishing the Striped Baroque Scarf for work.

And because of my MS3, I'm adding beads into the body of my Hanami. Why? Hell, I don't know. It's fun!













And to show the detail of the beaded cast on (which took F O R E V E R)


It's gorgeous, though.

I took this to our Starbucks knitting night last night. Everyone loved it.

Only 3 1/2 charts to go!

OMG Ya'll

The helicopter ride was so. friggin. cool.

We went up around 1:00 and rode for maybe 20 minutes. It was exhilerating.

I thought it was just going to be the pilot and I, but Hubs worked it in where he could go, too.

Ok, let me tell you about this. It was one of the coolest moments of my life. We get to where they were giving the rides and told them that we were there to do the aerials. (They of course recognized Hubs.) They said, "Yup, let's go!"

And then they took the doors off the helicopter.

Seriously! They said, "We figured you'd want to be able to shoot into open air." Hell yea!

So we board, and our pilot gave Hubs and I both headsets so we could communicate easily with each other. (Because if we didn't have them, we'd be reduced to tapping him on the shoulder and pointing.)

We're sitting on the ground and he starts it up, turns on the propeller, and gets the gauges all set. And then, lift off! Now, I've been in planes before, so I'm not afraid of flying, but man, this was just awesome. There are no words. It was smooth, seamless, and I had an unhindered bird's eye view of the ground below!

I started shooting, to my heart's content, the grounds and the areas of Hubby's show site (which is what I was there to do.) We circled around several times, each time going a little bit higher so I could get full shots of the whole show. (Which, by the way, is huge. It's an outdoor show, and wow. They use a LOT of land.)

I have never felt so free, so cool in my whole life!

We circled around once more, then we got positioned to land. Kittens, it was the smoothest landing I've ever felt. He got us to where we were hovering maybe a foot above the ground, then we went down as if we were landing on a huge cloud of marshmallows. There was no jerking, no nothing. This guy was good.

Hubs and I got out and I looked at him and said, "That was so f***ing awesome!"

And now I'll just let a few of the photos tell the rest. These may seem boring to you, because, well, you've got no real idea of what they're of, except that I told you they're of my husband's company's show site.

But I think because they're aerial shots, they're still pretty damn cool.

And let me just say one more thing: Thank God for fisheye lenses. Just sayin'.

MS3, Clue 5 complete

I finished last night and I'm already itching for the next Clue.

This is by far my favorite part of the stole. Such an original construction and the lace pattern in this "wing" is beautiful!

It's pretty hastily pinned out here.

This is the first time I've pinned my MS3 (Swan Lake) out. But it's just too unweildly to try to take a good photo now with detail if it's not pinned. With the unusual construction, it makes it hard for the knitting to behave and lay flat. But I didn't want to stretch it too far, yet. I'll save that for the final blocking when it's off the needles.





Which, should be in about 2 weeks! I can't wait to have this done!

Here's a close up of the feathers. I know Melanie suggested against using a halo yarn (such as Kidsilk Haze) for this, but I think this feathery part would look gorgeous with a yarn like that. Maybe I'll have to use this stitch pattern in something else.

Steven wants to set up a lace display in our store and at the same time, really showcase the gorgeous selection of lace yarns we have. He asked if he could borrow one of my lace pieces to display. I'll probably let him borrow this one, since it will be done soon. I've got Hanami on the needles right now, but it's at the v-e-r-y beginning and I've yet to cast on for a beautiful lace stole from the Rowan magazine #41. (Which is what this yarn is going to become.)

Hubby left today to go on one of his business trips for his company's outdoor shows. He'll be gone until Thursday, but I'll see him on Tuesday when I go there.

Why am I going? Well, that's an exciting thing. They have hired a helicopter pilot to give rides during the show. Hubby's boss wants some new aerial photographs of the show site and I asked Hubs if I could take them.

Me! I'm going to get to ride in a helicopter and take aerial photos! I have always wanted to do that but figured I'd never get the chance. I'm SOOO excited!

Well I'm off to work on Hanami! Later, kittens!

MS3 Clue 5 Tips and Pics

Exciting! A Wing!

Swan Lake! We're knitting a stole themed after Swan Lake!

I LOVE that ballet!

This section might be hard to wrap the mind around so I just wanted to offer a few tips to help.

Have any of you knitted Grumperina's Jaywalker socks? Well the double decrease found in Clue 5 (slip 2 stitches knitwise together, knit 1, pass slipped stitches over) is the same double decrease in the Jaywalker socks.

As far as the short rows... In this case, if any of you have knitted Entrelac, it's the same kind of principle. You have live stitches going one way, you're working stitches going another direction, and you're joining them with a p2tog where they intersect.

I'm halfway into Chart G, and it looks SO cool.

Basically, the stitches here will start working upwards like in this photo:













And a close up:


I hope this is helpful!

Striped Baroque Scarf

Look! A finished object! That's 1 for me and .... ah, hell, the WIP's are still ahead. Who cares?

This was one of my projects for the store. Steven gave me the pattern almost a month ago and had me go through the color card for Misti Alpaca laceweight. I chose these colors (which I *love*) and they came in last Saturday.

Details:

Pattern: Striped Baroque Scarf, an Ann Norling publication
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace, 6 colors: Melange Moss Grey, Melange Forest, Natural Dark Brown, Natural Dark Tan, Natural Tan, Natural White
Needles: Addi Turbos US7 24" circular
Started: July 28, 2007
Finished: July 31, 2007

There was quite a bit of yarn left over from each skein, which I offered to buy off Steven because I'd like to make one of these for myself - he told me just to keep them. Score! I'll probably cast on for mine in late August. It's such a light and airy (yet warm) scarf that it'll be perfect for the fall chill.

Another view:

I scrunched the scarf together for these shots to show the blocks of color. It lays flat in a rectangular shape with triangular ends (similar to the Mystery Stole that I'm working on right now.)

Speaking of that, Clue 5 comes out tomorrow AND the much anticipated release of the theme!

Major excitement is brewing on the board of all 6600+ knitters impatiently eagerly awaiting to see what it is!

___

I want to take a minute to thank you guys, for sticking around the last few days. I know my blog hasn't been the lightest read over this last week and I thank you for putting up with my darker post.

Checking In

I'm sure you've all heard about the 35W bridge that collapsed into the Mississippi River last night.

Click to watch video of it falling.

Just wanted to check in and let you know that my family and I are all ok.

The Blackest Day

It's been seven years.

The pain has lessened, but the wound is still there, still fresh at times. I still cry.

When my father told me, I remember feeling the walls close in on me for a second. And then I said three stupid words, out of shock. I still feel terrible about uttering them; he was hurting and in his own dark place, reeling with grief and loss. He told me and all I could say was, "are you kidding?"

Of course he wasn't kidding. And I knew it. But shock will make you say stupid things. Dad has since told me he doesn't even remember driving home that day, nor does he remember telling me.

But I do. I remember catching my boyfriend J, (now husband) just before he walked out my front door to go play softball. I remember seeing the darkness shadow his eyes just before I collapsed in his arms, wracked with despair and sobbing like there was no tomorrow.

We left my dad's house, listening to the sounds of him crying on the phone, delivering this most unwelcome news to my brother. I could feel my brother's reaction, though I wasn't the one speaking to him. I knew. I knew his heart was bleeding and shattered like mine was. I knew nothing would ever be the same, for any of us.

J and I drove without words to my grandmother's house. She had to know, and I couldn't bear the thought of telling her over the phone. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do - to break an old woman's heart that way, to see the disbelief in her eyes, the anger, then the sorrow. And then the emptiness through desperate tears. She ran to call her firstborn son. J held me in his arms as we listened to her shouting into the phone, her voice thick with anguish.

After staying with her for a while, trying to comfort her the best I could, J and I left to go back to my dad's. My brother was there by this time, his face red and eyes shining with tears, so much like mine. Dad was pacing the driveway like he did on so many occasions when he needed time to think. But this time, I could tell his mind wasn't there, not really. He was lost in his own grief, closed off from everyone.

Though I knew the reality of the situation, I still had trouble believing it. Surely this couldn't be happening. There had to be some mistake. I started making phone calls. The endless phone calls to friends and family that needed to hear the news. I guess I thought the more I said it, the more my heart would start to accept it.

Those phone calls were torture. I never ever want to be the bearer of that kind of news again. It's absolutely heart-wrenching to hear the pain in the voice of someone you've just saddened in such a way.

Finally, I'd had enough. It was almost midnight and I was emotionally numb. J stayed with me that night, holding me in his arms we slept. His shirt was soaked with my tears throughout the night. I kept waking up and it would all come rushing back, the bitter pain, the agony, the loss. I couldn't control my mind - it kept going back to that moment when my father's words changed my life forever.

Something in me broke that day, the blackest day. I haven't been the same person since, though I've tried.

She was my best friend, my confidante, my mother.

I miss you, Mom.