Sock Wars has begun

OK - got the info - got it late as I was away all last week and wanted to spend time with the kids today.

Will now knit myself stupid on socks.

To the commenter who asked about Pomatomus - I found them pretty easy. Other people I know have had more trouble. I reckon just go for it! If you have hasles and can't find somebody local to help drop me a line and I'll see what I can do.

Off to kill somebody with knitting!

Saved by a KNITTY episode

OK – I was planning on giving you a long and involved reason for why I haven’t posted in ages. I was going to let you know that I’ve finished my Pomatomus socks (they look lovely, thanks for asking, photo to follow shortly) and fucked up Icarus (made one of the side thingies into the middle thingy and didn’t notice – lace surgery to follow shortly). I was also going to include a brief history of my life the last few weeks, with the postgrad course, and the exam, and the assignment, and all the travelling for work (including the progressively weirder 5 hour night time drive from Springbok to Cape Town with a man I will NEVER (I will make sure of it) see again who decided to tell me all about his sexually dysfunctional relationship with his wife).

Then, I found THIS article.

My life will never be the same. I am using this method to knit two socks for Jackie, who is growing like a weed, and will hopefully fit into the ones I am making regardless of them being a teeny bit loose. As suggested I’m using different colours of wool but I can’t see why I really need to. I’m doing them toe up, starting with short row toes, and everything has gone swimmingly so far. I’m taking pictures and will share them with you all (oh 2 or 3 readers) so you can see that I’m not lying. Once this bit is done, on to another pair of Pomatomus socks - I have the PERFECT ball of red wool or something with cables – YEAH I LIKE CABLES.

Lots of Pictures

Hi Everybody
As Promised – more pictures and less bitching and moaning.

I did a bit of a tidy up in my room yesterday. I re-arranged the big plastic tubs of craft stuff so I’ll be able to find what I want WITHOUT basically dumping everything out on the floor and digging through the resulting pile. I did quite a good job as I now have 3 empty shelves in my cupboard that I can use for storing other stuff.

Here are the 3 big plastic tubs FULL of spinnable fibre. It would help if I had more than 5 minutes a week to spin, but it is so cold at the moment I could use it as insulation if I needed to.

Here are some cross stitch pictures that I just need to get cleaned up and framed.

This one, which is a birth announcement for my son, has been waiting for this since he turned 1, which is when I made it. You can do the maths and work out just HOW LONG this has been waiting. The alphabet is from a Burda book of Alphabets (I think) that I’ve had since I was a teenager.

The next two are from Teresa Wentzler. The first is a freebie called “Tempest in a Teacup”; the second is “The Castle”. They’ve been waiting about 2 years to get finished off.

The last one is from Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum. It’s called “The Quiltmaker”. This has also been sitting around for about 2 years too.

Now on to the quilts. I Have NO IDEA how long these have been sitting around, but seeing just how close I am to finishing so many of them inspires me to get working on them again.

This one I call “Big Sue”. I just need to finish quilting the border (yes, there IS only a little over half of it to go) and sew on the binding. The centre block is a super sized Sunbonnet Sue. The small squares in the border are all hand dyed (by me) and leftovers from the fabric I dyed for my Millennium Quilt swap (no, I never made THAT quilt either).

This was inspired by Ami Simms’ book “Invisible Appliqué”. In it she talks about using the method to piece curved blocks. I had some hand dyed fabric leftover from another quilt I never finished (Fair play it was supposed to be for a friend of the EX and he dumped me before I’d even sewn the thing together so I dumped the blocks) and I’d always wanted to do a tumbling blocks quilt so I designed a curvy version and, as they say in the classics, just went for it. This is also nearly finished. Once this is done I’ll probably make it into a bag or something as I need a nice knitting project bag (or 50).

This needs to be quilted. The blocks are hand pieced (also from leftover hand dyed fabric from the MQ swap), the assembly was done by machine, and I’m waiting for my Thimblelady book on “Hand Quilting Without Pain” to get started on this one.

These are blocks that I did on a sampler course. I only did the course because I wanted to do the “Advanced” course offered by the shop and they insisted you did the “Beginner” course first. Well, I was so unimpressed by the course and the rather Bolshy attitude of the teachers that I never went back. Now I look at them again I’m starting to like them all over so I’ll do something with them SOMEDAY. Hell, maybe I’ll put borders round them all, practice quilting, and make me a heap of throw pillows.

This is a top that I did from some other hand dyed leftovers from a hand dyeing course I did AGES ago. I started off doing asymmetrical log cabins but got bored so I cut them all into wonky squares and alternated them with squares of the hand dyes. I just need to slap a border on this puppy and quilt it.

This is a top that needs a new home as I’m never going to finish it. In 1998 my son’s aftercare teacher fell pregnant. I started this quilt for her. Then, I found out I was pregnant, so I changed plans, decided to buy her something, and allocated the quilt to my baby. Then I miscarried at 9 weeks. It wasn’t a good time for me as I hadn’t told lots of people so not many of them knew why I was the way I was and sometimes, you know, you just DON’T want to talk about things like that. Also, I had people say to me that I shouldn’t have found out so early as if I’d waited a month or two I’d never have known and things would have been fine. What can I say – I have Rh negative blood. I NEED to know these things as I need an injection of Anti-D or something like that to stop me building up antibodies which could jeopardise my health or the life of any future babies I might want to have.

Anyway – enough about the extreme insensitivity of people. I tried to make the quilt for the other baby but it just didn’t work. You can see from the CRAPPY border I put on that I was NOT doing well. I have offered it to a friend and if she wants it and will finish it, it will be hers to do with what she will.

OK – This was supposed to be posted this morning but Blogger wouldn't let me post pictures. Hope you like the pics. There will be knitting ones once I sort that bit of my stuff out.

WHY is it ?????

Why is it that people, who you have TOLD that you DO NOT take requests for knitted items (other than from your children) as it then becomes a JOB which you ALREADY HAVE and if it’s a JOB you should be paid the same as WORK pays you, still get that “WHY EVER NOT?” look on their faces when they ask you to make them something and you say “NO”?

Yes, I DID make something for Alegra when she had the baby, but I OFFERED to make it, she didn’t ASK, and it was a GIFT for use by the BABY.

Why is it that people, who would not come up and grab your jacket off your chair and try it on (at least they haven’t yet, maybe they do it secretly while I’m off getting coffee or in the loo), feel free to pick up knitted things from the desk (socks, gloves) and TRY THEM ON?

This is usually followed by “Won’t you make me one” followed by me saying “Yes, I won’t” while smiling in a friendly fashion. It’s AMAZING how long some people take to work out what I’ve said.

Why is it that people, who (once again I’m assuming here) wouldn’t walk up to a painter or a sculptor or a glass blower or a potter and start groping THEIR project feel free to come over and PAW knitting / sewing / spinning / other fiber or fabric type craft thingy and get offended when you pull it away (resisting the urge to poke them with something sharp and metallic) and ask them if their hands are clean?

They don’t seem to realise that the “Are your hands clean?” and the accompanying glare of death are warning signs of a crafter on the edge who is resisting the URGE to THUMP THEM for their AUDACITY.

Why is it that people seem to think that saying nice things about your work will make you magically forget that you didn’t give birth to them?

Yes, I know I do good work. Yes, I know I knit quickly. Yes, I know I make beautiful things. Yes, I know it would take you a whole lot longer to knit it for yourself than it would take me to knit if for you, but I DON’T CARE. I am more than willing to help you find yarn and a pattern and to talk you through the tricky bits. However, my “free” time is MINE and I do what I want in it.

Yes, it’s been one of those weeks at work. I will be better over the weekend when I see about tidying up my stash so I can try to fit a table into my bedroom for my sewing machine and cutting board and good things like that.

There will be photos and less ranting tomorrow, PROMISE!

So much for "Sunny South Africa"

It is FREEZING! We apparently had snow while I was at work. It was all gone by the time I got home. Apparently it settled on the dog's backs a bit and they looked like somebody had sprinkled them with salt.

I wish I had pictures but, as mentioned above, I was at work and my brother, who was at home, didn't think of taking pictures.

This weather is SO WRONG! Rain and snow down here and heatwaves in the Northern Hemisphere. This is not how things are supposed to happen.

Anyway - I finished my first Pomatomus sock and will start the second one tonight while watching Smallville. I NEED to hone those sock knitting skills for the SOCK WARS!

Knitters - sharpen your needles

OK - I surrender - I am signing up for

You can find out more here .

In other news, I am almost finished my first Pomatomus sock, have still not finished the shawl for Miriam's baby, and have decided that whoever thought up "No Pain, No Gain" as an inspirational motto to get people to exercise needs their head read.

In an attempt to stay positive, let me just say, I am not sore, I am firming up.

I Finished Birch

OK - Birch is finished, it is GORGEOUS, it is also HOOGE (which, as you all know, is the same as huge, just bigger) and I haven't even blocked it yet. I am totally stunned that I could cover so much area with less than 75g of KSH. I'll post a picture once I darn in the ends and block it.

I'm also onto the leg of the first of my Pomatomus socks. Turned the heel last night so I could knit on an easy bit while waiting at the gym for the spinning class to start. Well, the leg pattern is MUCH easier to do without the printout. The foot is a bit of a pain as you have that extra little "triangle bit" but the leg just GOES.

Fine - all of you out there who are waiting for the follow up post starting "I stuffed up my socks" go think of something else RIGHT NOW - there will be NO tempting fate here.

Have a good weekend everybody. Pics will follow.

Photos

Hi All
As promised – here are some photos.

Me with my new haircut. Yes, I now have almost no hair and yes, I got it done at the barber shop when I took my son for a trim. I LOVE having my hair this short – seriously low maintenance. My PI shawl – just the edging needs to be done now. It’s for Miriam’s little girl. Hopefully I’ll get it done when she’s still of a size to use it.

Birch – not bad for a little over a week’s worth of knitting.

Birch close up – this bit is right at the bottom so if you see a mistake PLEASE just keep quiet.

My loot from the sale – all at 20% off. The pink and blue KSH will be used to knit up Christmas presents. The green is about 900m of 4 ply cotton. I know what I’m using the KSH for; just need a pattern (for ME) that I can use the cotton in. I’m thinking a nice summer tank top or something. Suggestions?
Jackie’s bag. Bag made from Knit Picks Wool of the Andes “Natural White”. Pattern made up as I went along. Felted / Fulled to make it a bit smaller and more durable. Buttons sewn on as directed by daughter to make a flower. OK – two posts in one day – I’m getting better. I’m off to visit one of the mines tomorrow and will only be in a fit state for blogging from Wednesday. Will try to post then.

Have a good week everybody.

A new Spin on Knitting in Public

Yesterday I went to my first ever spinning class - the exercise bike kind of spinning, not the wheel and wool kind. I've been to the beginner classes once or twice and decided that I needed to take a leap.

Being ME I got to the gym early and took some knitting with me just in case I had to wait for the studio to open. As luck would have it, the room was already open and once I'd got the bike all set up I realised that I could, indeed, fit in some knitting. I HATE to sit around doing nothing and as all I was doing was sitting on a bike and pedalling I needed something to fill in the time. The lady sitting next to me expressed some interest in what I was doing; I commented that maybe next time EVERYBODY would bring knitting to kill time before the class

My conclusions are:
1. Lace is not a good choice for knitting on a bike, even an exercise bike. Next time I'll take a sock. Even though I didn't knit during the actual class I think socks are much more portable.
2. I need to cut my hair and I need a bigger sweat towel. At least I'm not as bad as the woman two rows in front who left a little puddle of sweat on the floor under her bike Which, BTW, she didn't clean up! All together now YUK!!!!
3. I need to get out of my winter hibernation mode. Basically, I need legs that are shorts friendly as I nearly DIED of overheating even though I was in tracksuit pants and a T-shirt.
4. While not as fit as the maniacs in the front row I'm not as out of shape as I thought.

Other than that I got my hair cut, went to the pre-sale week at Arthur Bales (20% off all purchases over R150 - like THAT is a hard target to reach) and got some KSH and some cotton for SOMETHING.

Jackie, naturally, wanted SOMETHING too so we got her 10 pink buttons. I then knit her up a little bag which I felted last night. We'll sew the buttons on today and I'll post some pictures tonight. I made the pattern up as I went along and will probably do something similar for myself for a “carry along project” bag instead of the old shopping bag I currently use.

All in all, other than the flash thunderstorm that lasted JUST long enough to get us all a bit wet - it happened at exactly the same time as I was fetching Michael and Leslie from Magic - Saturday was a good day.

I am a HORRIBLE Person

OK - I am a horrible person. I have still not sent Gina her birthday present, I have still not finished the baby shawl for Miriam, and I am currently neglecting just about everything I possibly can just so that I can knit on Birch. I think this is the most wonderful pattern I have ever knitted. The KSH knits up all soft and fluffy and it really feels like you are knitting with thin air, it's just so light. The whole casting on 299 stitches went just fine, I haven't made any mistakes that I couldn't fix on the next row, and as the number of stitches decreases it just seems to be going faster and faster. I am almost finished with my second ball of KSH, and feel very much that I am just about on the home stretch.

Another indication of what a monster I am - Gina was the one who helped me get hold of the pattern and we were going to have a knitalong. I was going to "just cast on" and wait for her to be ready.

No hate mail, PLEASE.

On the plus side I've been to gym twice this week.

Photos of knitted stuff will follow when I have the time. That is, when I've finished Birch.

I am still here

Yes - the title says it all. I am still here, busily knitting on the PI shawl for Miriam's baby girl who arrived earlier than expected. I'm doing the border now as I'm sick of the bloody thing. I've also got 2 more lace shawls in the works, my eye on "Three cornered and long shawls", a pile of socks to knit for the 6YO, and must REALLY get Gina's birthday present off in the post.

My tax form is also due on Friday.

I want a 48 hour day!

I Blame the Drugs

Yes, I was all morbid and depressed yesterday and I couldn't work out why. Then I went looking for a package insert for the heavy duty antibiotics I've been on for the last two weeks. The list of side effects are as long as my arm and feeling crap and down is in there SOMEWHERE.

I'm sure I'll start feeling better once the pneumonia and the medication to get rid of the pneumonia are BOTH out of my system.

The post that changed

Hi there. This was supposed to be a post about meeting Miriam for knitting and coffee and pancakes and the nice book I found in a second hand shop and Gerhard and his wool and the self help group and the socks and scarf I finished and how the socks went from "WOW thanks MOM" to "MOM I can't find one" in the space of a few moments. Thankfully the sock did not vanish into the black hole that is my lounge, it was under Michael's Magic file.

Then I went blog cruising and found THIS post at Crazy Aunt Purl's blog.

Boy that sent me off over the edge of the self-pity wagon. Doesn't help that the 29th of June, in addition to being Gina's birthday, is the 6th anniversary of my divorce. Doesn't help that I, maths geek that I am, does the sums and works out that I have now been divorced for 2/3 as long as I was married. Doesn't help that I KNOW that I am better off without him, happier without him, and much better than he deserved in the first place. I still remember getting dumped the day Jackie was due, because in all the years we'd been together I hadn't changed into the person HE wanted me to change into, going to pieces while he carried on with his life as if nothing had happened, finding out after he killed himself (November 2004 - just in time for Christmas - his timing was ALWAYS impeccable) just how little time it took him to replace me, and finding out that he'd probably been cheating on me all the time we were married, I was just too trusting and STUPID to notice.

Most of me is moving on. Hell, all of me was ready to go out and hit the dating game pretty much around the time he offed himself, which put paid to all that, at least till the kids move out of the house or the little one grows up enough to realise that not EVERY unattached male who walks through the door is her "New Daddy".

There's just a little bit of me that feels expendable and discarded and unwanted and that nobody ever wanted to be with me.

The rest of me will go buy it some wool and maybe a book or three and chocolate - LOTS OF CHOCOLATE.

I took my knitting to great heights today

After a suggestion by Miriam that we organise a suitable entry for the Knitty Calendar Contest I enlisted the services of Dave, assorted equipment and accessories, and took my (and Miriams) knitting to great heights. Assuming we get anywhere in the contest we'll point you to our picture. Otherwise we'll just wait until the closing date and post the pics.

Are you intrigued yet?

The Magic of Blocking

Today I blocked the shawl (Kiri) that I finished knitting yesterday. Here it is before blocking:

During blocking (the 6 year old has been added for scale):

And finally, after blocking:

Here's a close up of the shawl itself. I have to resist the urge to run into the street yelling "DAMN, I'm GOOD".
Blocking is quite stressful for me. This is only the second time I have done this and I live in fear of a stitch popping as I pull the lace to shape. Alternatively I worry about the whole thing crumpling back to its original size when I remove the pins. Also, I have to make sure that the blocking venue is secure as the blocking assistant

or cat thinks that my bed is actually her bed. You will notice that, in a sheer fit of knitterly brilliance, I acquired a cat who can shed on ANY colour and STILL have it show up. If anyone were to ask which fiber I include in ALL my projects I can honestly reply "Angel hair" as Angel is the cat's name.

Michael, 16YO son, learned to knit today. I tried to show him a few years ago without success. I think the planets were in the correct alignment tonight or something because I showed him how to knit and he just took to it. He knitted 3 whole rows by himself while I was in the bath. Even better - he noticed when he made mistakes and went back and fixed them. I am a VERY proud mom tonight. See - all this AND he knits too.

I have finished some things

OK - I'm following up on some of the comments and posting some FO pictures. Gina wanted to see my progress on the Spiral Petal Shawl. Well, I finished it and here it is. I just needs ends darned in and it might actually go to Jackie. It is pretty small (just covers my shoulders) and as it is done in acrylic (what can I say - I wanted a quick finish so I grabbed what I had) blocking won't do much good. I'm thinking of doing it again in SUPER Bulky but we will see.



I finished one of the Kiri shawls that I have on the needles. This will be blocked tomorrow (it's a public holiday) and posted off to the birthday girl on Saturday, assuming I can find a padded envelope that it will fit into.



I was also asked how such a little snake could eat a WHOLE mouse. Well, you feed it a really small mouse, called a pinky because they are so little they haven't got fur yet. Once Crystal gets a bit bigger she will be fed fuzzies, so called because they are a little bigger and have baby fuzz, not fur. When she gets bigger she will be fed larger mice and, depending on how big she gets (corn snakes grow to about 1.5 m in length) she might graduate to small rats.

My daughter, despite her current love affair with all things pink, is not the typical little girl. She takes after her mother that way. 

I have Pneumonia

Meant to post pictures yesterday, didn't get round to it. Didn't post pictures today either, mainly because I didn't take any. I have an excuse. I have pneumonia. Went to see the doctor yesterday morning. My back has been hurting for a week or so. The pain is in that particular spot in the vicinity of the bra strap that makes it well nigh impossible for you to poke your thumb in to see what the problem is. I KNEW it wasn't due to the weight of my breasts but was a little worried that it might be due to excessive knitting. I'd been applying the traditional remedy of taking pain pills and ignoring it under the assumption that if it was a strain it would be better by then.

Doctor made me pee in a bottle. Turns out your kidneys are up there. WOW - that was a learning curve for me. I always thought they were a lot lower down, closer to the bladder. Anyway - kidneys were fine so I got sent for chest X-rays. I had a cold about 2 weeks ago and most of the congestion was in my left lung. This, surprise, surprise, is about where the pain was. Radiologist, doctor, and another doctor looked at the pics and agree that I have pneumonia. I am, apparently, not the first person to have pneumonia with no cough. I have different antibiotics, 3 days off work, and pain pills. I don't know if this would have happened anyway but I have felt progressively worse since seeing the doctor.

It has not hampered my knitting. I am almost finished a shawl, have convinced the 16YO son that he should learn to knit, and have completed "At Knit's End". However, after reading page 86 and sniggering a bit I went home and did EXACTLY that. I didn't notice that I'd done a Russian join to the end of the cast on NOT the start of the new ball until I started to make the next stitch and realised how little wool there was to work with. I blame the drugs.

I think I'm in love

I bought myself an omelette maker. A friend was raving about hers a while ago and I've been looking for one ever since. Yesterday I saw one and bought it. Jackie wanted a penguin waffle maker. Goodness knows WHY as she doesn't eat waffles. I insisted and took my new toy home.

This is the MOST AMAZING appliance I have ever owned. You just put it on to heat up, toss in some filling, cover it up with beaten eggs (I put them in a shaker and, well, shake), close the lid and wait. In a few minutes the lid starts to rise up (it reminds me of the Citroen a schoolmate's mom had - it had air suspension and did this whole WHOOSH thing as the system engaged) and before long you have an omelette a child.

I think I need more action in my life if I can get this excited over an appliance.

Yesterday was International KIP day

AND - we got together and knitted in public. As suggested by Gail we arrived at Gloria Jeans in Nelson Mandela Square (formerly Sandton Square) for knitting and goodies. Here's the picture I got the manager to take of us :

From left to right we are: Miriam, Carol, a waitress who wanted to be in the picture and was told to hold a sock and act like she was knitting, Gail, Ingrid and ME. Miriam and I (OK - just me) pointed out that, unless the other ladies were sporting hand knitted underwear or socks WE were the only participants wearing hand knitted items.

There is, however, a much better picture of us all (once we'd moved from the table to some couches) taken by Miriam's husband, Nico, at the Fiber Fever group home page. I look a lot less FAT in this one, so maybe that's why I like it more. HMMM - it would seem that husbands DO actually have some uses, after all. Maybe it's just that she hit the jackpot and got one of the good ones?

Gail suggested that we bring along any WIPs or UFO's of interest. I seem to have the biggest collection - 2 big shopping bags and a rucksack. I think I need to do a recon of what I have on the needles and see about finishing some things up.

I did, however, get Ingrid started on knitting socks. I think the poor woman is still in shock. In the space of an hour she learned how to knit a tension swatch in the round, do a provisional cast on, and how to do short rows. Eventually she claimed she had to rush off to feed her kittens but she DID promise to come visit me during lunch next week to get some more tips. At least this way she'll have some knitting skills to teach her mom the next time she visits.

Hope you all did some public knitting and had as much fun as we all did!

The Snake has eaten

Crystal version 2 is NOT overstressed. She ate her mouse quite happily, Jackie is delighted, and all is currently good with the Wagner reptile.

I have an international KIP day meeting with friends tomorrow at 10:30. I meet the creche teacher on Sunday for feedback on the girl child. Other than that my weekend is MINE (and the kids, of course). I plan on knitting.