tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-245061082024-03-21T09:05:15.516-07:00Deep Space KnitYarn arts (knit and crochet) balled up with a heady dose of geekdom. Raise your pan-galactic-gargle-blaster and cheer!JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-26174225082159867722023-06-25T15:14:00.007-07:002023-06-25T15:14:53.641-07:00Oval Socks, or How I Swatched Until I Found a Sock Pattern I Wanted<p> So once upon a time I found a stash of HiKoo DK (skacel) in the Herrschners' sale bin. It was a nice, bouncy, sturdy merino/nylon yarn perfect for thicker socks. And I enjoy using this yarn for socks! I'm sad that it's no longer easily available to me. It's a little splitty, but the stitch definition is excellent and they wear like a boss. So yes, I would reccomend this yarn for experienced knitters who can navigate around some splitting issues.</p><p>I originally had five skeins of blue and made a pair of socks last year for Christmas gifting. I also had three skeins of pink and three skeins of coffee. And my rules for this yarn were to use it with patterns that highlighted the nice stitch definition. Also, my family hates lace socks "because they are cold" so that make me focus on knit through the back loop and cable designs. Or a combo of knit through the back loop with cables.</p><p>Originally I was going to use these two skeins for the pattern "Socke 1" which is a 8 stitch cable man's sock. I was going to size it down to a woman's sock based on my gauge swatch. And then I did the gause swatch and... well...</p><p>I knit a LOT looser than the designer. So I'm on a good needle size for the yarn and coming up with a sock that would fit an elephant. Noooope! New sock pattern!</p><p>I went with Twisted Ovals, and then immediately changed the slip stitch + knit cable pattern into a no slip stitch K1TBL cable pattern. Because that's what I wanted to knit.</p><p>Here's the first one, knit toe up, short row heel. It uses the entire skein, just knit the ribbing until you run out of yarn. I like how my modifications turned out!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCeHbLX5-9GyJHJ7ckF7_Fq-VVTqVDd4KV731pmZoOsvSxziE8pnA9VZOoO-QCgDES6Czekpg_KcrDFD3aTC23m9gKozKbH-YALEl1PFPnI1fkBQEGnF7Wwn6F24tTm-PEJwY-NZNWlDqhngc7PFVjnMDUr3GIhyA-uvtyi0CiF5UXzxrJY1R10HQtPyIP/s640/Twisted%20Ovals%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="545" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCeHbLX5-9GyJHJ7ckF7_Fq-VVTqVDd4KV731pmZoOsvSxziE8pnA9VZOoO-QCgDES6Czekpg_KcrDFD3aTC23m9gKozKbH-YALEl1PFPnI1fkBQEGnF7Wwn6F24tTm-PEJwY-NZNWlDqhngc7PFVjnMDUr3GIhyA-uvtyi0CiF5UXzxrJY1R10HQtPyIP/w409-h545/Twisted%20Ovals%201.jpeg" width="409" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-57493797200429857772023-06-25T15:14:00.002-07:002023-06-25T15:14:18.653-07:00Gideon's Court Sox, 10 months of Second Sock Syndrome<p> I call these Gideon's Court Sox.</p><p>Why?</p><p>The socks are a present for Christy, who is my longtime Changeling friend, one of my best online friends for decades. I love making socks for Christy, she is absolutely knitworthy.</p><p>Her character in the current Changeling game is Gideon, a Danaan Sidhe Knight. A stately nobleman in the court of New Orleans. His colors are black and silver.</p><p>I wanted to pick a sock that fit the character and would be appreciated by the player. Something silver (I already had the perfect yarn!), something intricate and yet stately.</p><p>I picked Fledermaus by Cahoua Coffee.</p><p>I'm pretty adept at 1X1 cable crosses and KTBL. I can cable without a cable needle and the way I knit (wrong) allows me to adjust the tension on the cables for a result I like. So I thought "no probblem!"</p><p>HAH.</p><p>Ok, so this pattern DOES get a rest row on every even round. </p><p>But this pattern IS NOT one I can memorize. I am chained to the chart and the chart is focus intensive.</p><p>The sock contruction is straightforward - top down, heel flap and traditional gusset. It's really the focus intensive chart that gets me every time.</p><p>I started these on September 24th 2022. Finished the first sock for a HPKCHC quidditch match in November... and then immediately stuffed the yarn and the first sock in a project bag and left it sit there for months.</p><p>But 2023 is my year of erasing as many WIPs as possible. So these socks are back on the needles. Between work and family life is pretty stressful right now so these socks are NOT RELAXING. But we're pushing through one row at a time.</p><p>They are, however, very, very pretty...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmD_gij5IHBMyBsmyxo7qE7RM-lU9fWQ_2eP3CaOopWGgg8H-Q05UdHticy8vGO1M7699xvulgYA4JSybVATASLKO_JRgKWFclS5l7mgFhq2F3K-Gt_kenfpDdpwWHIkmw-SmQjChj6L7GZreP3rWacGuTctTTllS9mImRusDaxspqJ9lDhSoMWC0OimrD/s640/Gideon's%20Sox%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmD_gij5IHBMyBsmyxo7qE7RM-lU9fWQ_2eP3CaOopWGgg8H-Q05UdHticy8vGO1M7699xvulgYA4JSybVATASLKO_JRgKWFclS5l7mgFhq2F3K-Gt_kenfpDdpwWHIkmw-SmQjChj6L7GZreP3rWacGuTctTTllS9mImRusDaxspqJ9lDhSoMWC0OimrD/w350-h467/Gideon's%20Sox%201.jpeg" width="350" /></a></div><br /><p>Looks like a noble sock, right? Look at that lovely cable geometry!</p><p>Now - no diss on the pattern. For as complicated as the chart is, the pattern is prefectly well written. I'm not swearing at a poorly written pattern. I'm swearing at my ability to read a very complicated chart. Even with the nice little highlighter row thing that Knit Companion had, I still mis cross cables and have to go back and fix things.</p><p>I just turned the heel last night and I'm hoping that having only one side of cables and one side of flat will make this all go faster!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtY89ZRAsBgVd234m-xbToTms-AwJQ9-Hhre5IazSiweEdmCVz5TVDer3tIPd8E1055_vAwxzF-68acq4e9qo0Tg5g3Cdz5Sog3cJnOgiT4aZzowub2Ozbgbr0aKIcvst6yXqJq5FYu8Piq0aEZ-CxHmCN0Gcaof1abkcSyCHabrjj4lFbElkaKLvGurs1/s4032/IMG_4640.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtY89ZRAsBgVd234m-xbToTms-AwJQ9-Hhre5IazSiweEdmCVz5TVDer3tIPd8E1055_vAwxzF-68acq4e9qo0Tg5g3Cdz5Sog3cJnOgiT4aZzowub2Ozbgbr0aKIcvst6yXqJq5FYu8Piq0aEZ-CxHmCN0Gcaof1abkcSyCHabrjj4lFbElkaKLvGurs1/s320/IMG_4640.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br />JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-21569371294792977982023-06-25T15:13:00.002-07:002023-06-25T15:13:36.795-07:00Ten Year Check In?<p> What is this?</p><p>A blog post after ten - ok eleven - years?</p><p>Why yes.</p><p>I guess I'm feeling journalley lately.</p><p>Did I take an eleven year hiatus from knitting? Oh hell no. I have knit over 600 projects in the last decade, and each year I knit and crochet the equalivalent milage of the isle of Manhattan.</p><p>I just took a break from blogging about it.</p><p>But lately I've been feeling like Ravelry forum posts are passing things and it would be good to get my thoughts about yarn and my relationship to the craft back down on digital paper.</p><p>So here we go...</p>JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-4358150903523702342012-05-25T11:51:00.000-07:002012-05-25T11:51:09.490-07:00Summer of SocksBack to blogging, back to socking.<br />
<br />
I'm slowly working through my sock patterns and figured out that I have (ready for it??) over 500 sock patterns.<br />
<br />
That's... a lot of socks.<br />
<br />
Well, on the bright side I ~only~ have 90-some skeins of socks yarn. Piece of cake, right?<br />
<br />
I'm screwed.JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-89203412549389624752011-04-07T12:21:00.000-07:002011-04-07T12:29:09.652-07:00State of Pogona<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7AcvLASJRLFkkXSOFILFdLg39qPCijgEa-5pepE5oEWE3P7P5VMaJGDn02NW-pKGelyBE5-hp-3LIo-1gBRmj92k7FxT2mDG67V-tC9fp7WUIVxQmEOLiqUAHvYlQk_iENSo/s1600/IMG_0834.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV7AcvLASJRLFkkXSOFILFdLg39qPCijgEa-5pepE5oEWE3P7P5VMaJGDn02NW-pKGelyBE5-hp-3LIo-1gBRmj92k7FxT2mDG67V-tC9fp7WUIVxQmEOLiqUAHvYlQk_iENSo/s320/IMG_0834.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592925265886703842" /></a><br />GO OUT! MAKE YOURSELF ONE!<br /><br />Seriously, this pattern is easy, fast and fun. It's just like having sex with yarn.<br /><br />Wait. That didn't come out right.<br /><br />But truly it's a good analogy. Fast, fun, satisfying and when you're done you wanna make more. I haven't even gotten this one blocked and I still wear it all the time (Darn you knitpicks, ship me mah blocking wires faaaaster!)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1np-8ZlmLAARmcpxxNUlOwTRrZfpbqiYI9HoWij83Fkdqax0E4VKAOePAKMqifKqDq0GvN48HcMuv8uPKHn2GP080rE_Tp51XKru5bv8WaGrtU5pqiHx1nTSncggMOZPqK4N0/s1600/IMG_0830.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1np-8ZlmLAARmcpxxNUlOwTRrZfpbqiYI9HoWij83Fkdqax0E4VKAOePAKMqifKqDq0GvN48HcMuv8uPKHn2GP080rE_Tp51XKru5bv8WaGrtU5pqiHx1nTSncggMOZPqK4N0/s320/IMG_0830.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592925529811874242" /></a><br /><br />Ooooh, look at all those ruffles. Besides, when you have a red-red-redder-than-red red ninja coat, you really need a scarf that highlights it!<br /><br />This scarf was made with 350 yards of lovely Sophie's Toes sock yarn in the colorway state fair.<br /><br />It took 3 days to knit.<br /><br />I lurrrves it!JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-41367908653865364652011-03-31T10:35:00.000-07:002011-03-31T10:40:20.853-07:00My-my-my-my PogonaWhy am I still singing that song?<br /><br />Yes friends, have cast on a new shawl. And decided in the casting on that I am enamored with Stephen West's designs. So clean. So purdy. So modern.<br /><br />Anyways, in a leap of total frivolity I finished a sock and instead of casting on and finishing another sock like a good girl, I have cast on this lovely little shawl. Balled up the yarn and dove in head first. Tsk. tsk. tsk. My mother would be cross. I was a WIP yet to finish >.<<br /><br />The yarn is Sophie's Toes, bought at the Madison Knit in - whooo! :D Color is not my usual bag, baby: State fair. Has a lot of jewel tones in it, but somehow the blend is appealing. The sum is greater than its parts.<br /><br />Potato chip knitting at its best. Knit, purl, increase and YO. Ooooh. Is ok, the handpaint on the yarn is pretty wild.<br /><br />The intention is that this shawl will match my purdy new coat. Yeah, splurged on a new coat because I had two options for spring: Heavy wool and denim. So bake or freeze. To be fair, the coat was found at a resale shop and I didn't pay much for it, so win! The new coat is bright freakin' red and since all my other coats are either A. olive green or B. black I decided that the red coat needed a lovely scarf to go with it.<br /><br />So Pogona was pushed to the forefront of my knitting.<br /><br />Loving this shawl so far.JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-16645920577668561742010-10-09T20:45:00.000-07:002010-10-09T20:47:01.266-07:00Taj Mahal ShawlThe story of a knitter, a yarn of destiny and a project that sprang out of nowhere.<br /><br />Every project has a story. Or at least that is what I’d like to think. Even when it doesn’t I am enough of a storyteller to just make something up, embellishing the little glimmers of thought that existed in my mind to craft a reason as to why I spent hours crafting something which the outside world will see as ‘just another hat’ or ‘just an other scarf’ or ‘why don’t you just buy them from Wal-Mart’ pair of socks.<br /><br />Fortunately I don’t have to embellish much on this one. It has a story and a pretty decent one at that. Or at least one that tells of a knitters connection to yarn in a way she cannot describe and might give a clue to yarn shop owners on how to get someone to buy their wares even if they weren’t considering buying anything in the first place.<br /><br />So lets start with the basics. This, technically isn’t my first shawl. But it is my first traditional shawl: lace, shaping, thin yarn, blocking, the whole nine. Some may call it a shawlette as it is, in fact, decently small. Fine by me. I don’t wear normal shawls and fully intend to wear this as a scarf with the point in the front and the end gracefully draped about my neck. It accommodates my insane desire to wear V-necks in the middle of Wisconsin winters.<br /><br />It didn’t start with any intention to make this shawl. It started with a late-night yarn purchase one summer evening whilst I was trying to chase away the ‘help me, my crew and I work with idiots’ doldrums. That purchase netted me 2 self-striping rainbow sock maki from Play at Life fiberarts, in a delicious hand-dyed MCN. Once I had the maki in hand and was fondling their beautiful strands I wondered ‘what in the hell will I do with these?’ So I turned to my steadfastly awesome knitting bud Squidwidget and asked her. She agreed with my initial inclination that the maki were too lovely to be socks and trampled on, why not make them into a shawl?<br /><br />Hm…a shawl? What an unusual idea. I’m not big on most shawls. But someone on Ravelry suggested that I might like the Westknits designs… and what do you know? I like Westknits designs. I particularly love the Akimbo pattern. And so I decided that the sock maki needed to become an Akimbo.<br /><br />The problem? Akimbo uses a contrast color. I am missing that contrast color. I wanted the same yarn type: MCN and wanted a smoky tonal/kettle dyed blend of grey and black. I soon found that black sock yarn is difficult to come by.<br /><br />This brings us up to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival. Still looking for MCN, I surfed many booths with a lot of lovely yarn, coming back with very little. Finally, as my intrepid friend SquidWidget was spelunking through a sale bin of ??? yarn I wandered off and found an entire booth of sock yarn. Beautiful sock yarn. MCN sock yarn.<br /><br />And no black.<br />Ok, there was close to black, but it registered as dark purple. Tonal, but not perfect. I left the booth, dejected back to see if SquidWidget was making it out alive. ??? hundred yards of yarn later we were back walking towards the Sun Valley Fiber booth and once again I was tempted by the yarns. The booth vendor started up a pleasant conversation, handed out Ravelry buttons and in general gave us a reason to stick around her booth a few more minutes. And that’s when I saw it.<br /><br /> “Ocean.”<br /><br />It was not MCN. But it did catch my eye – and for one of the most foolish reasons. I wanted it because it reminded me of another yarn. It had that same misty, smoky colorway of Aruncania Atacama’s misty blue; sadly discontinued. A color style I rarely see. It reminded me of lazy days spent knitting in Vermont, and my first tentative steps through socks. I knit my Mom bedsocks with that blue, bedsocks that were eventually the unfortunate victims of my aunt’s vicious laundering. And this yarn said that I should buy it.<br /><br />And I did.<br /><br />Now what the heck was I going to do with a skein of beautiful fingering weight, non-superwash merino? I even set it on my computer desk, right by the screen so I had to look at it and remember it wanted to be knitted. I vowed not to be that type of knitter who goes to a fiber festival and goes wild… putting up half the stuff she bought for sale in destash a month later. I was going to knit this.<br /><br />But into what?<br /><br />“Make a shawl!” someone helpfully suggested. Alright, I wasn’t against shawls, but I didn’t have a pattern in mind, and Akimbo was out. So, time to Ravelry search. Fingering weight, yes. Knit, yes. Shawl, yes. Photo, yes. 400 yards, yes.<br /><br />This produced some 60 pages of patterns to sift through. I ended up actually clicking on maybe 2 dozen, and with page after page tabbed on my screen, I was coming to the end of the list and saw this pattern.<br /><br />Small enough to be worn as a scarf? Check. Solidly works with 400 yards? Check. Attractive, interesting lace pattern? Check. Not too frou-frou? Check. Triangle shape, pointy hem, cables and lace and kibbles and bits… Sold!<br /><br />Literally. Purchased from Ravelry Saturday night and cast on Sunday morning while I was chilling out at my parent’s farm. The cast on took a bit of brain-work. Oh yeah… read ahead dummy. And then we were off and going. I like the charts in this pattern better than the written parts, and almost as a gift when I was halfway through an update of the pattern, fully charted came out – glee!<br /><br />Now Taj Mahal has been cast off. Her final row is finished, and she lays in that lumpy mess that unblocked shawls take. She is beautiful. Cabled ripples like ocean waves undulate across her, with a yarn that reminds me of a quiet respite from crazy theatre days. I will block her this weekend and wear her with joy, and the prideful sense of accomplishment a knitter only gets from finishing a project crafted from impulse yarn. Oh ho! The non-knitters say. You bought that without even having a plan for it!<br /><br />Ha ha! This knitter sasses back. I know what I like and I am solid in my beliefs that what I like is usable and beautiful yarn. See? I can find a project for the yarn I buy! And I can make something beautiful from it. <br /><br />Now if I could only find tonal black MCN…JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-57945630305569081862010-10-06T19:08:00.000-07:002010-10-06T19:13:20.737-07:00As I sit here, editing another podcast and drinking tea I start to plan winter projects. gifts you ask. Nah. After over two dozen pair of gift socks methinks I shall be knitting for myself. <br /><br />The question then becomes 'what do I knit?'<br /><br />Do i knit something deliciously and tantalizingly difficult to show off my mad knitting prowess? Or do I knit something mind numbing but flattering and classic. Do I knit something I have had queued for ages or something I just pull out of my bum.<br /><br />Have you ever wished you could knit more, faster? I am, at heart a process knitter. I enjoy making the stitches. I enjoy intricate and difficult patterns for the challenge of seeing them through, but I also enjoy the finished product and showing off that finished product on my body. I have so much yarn that is planned for attractive projects if I could only knit faster.<br /><br />I know. I know. I knit fast enough already, but there are times when my decisive destashing urge (and finish-itis) kick in and say 'KNIT MORE NOW!'<br /><br />Which is why I shall stop writing and go back to finishing my shawl. Taj Mahal shawl, bay-bee! I'm on row 135 of 140! You are looking at a woman who is nearing completion and is on the home stretch!<br /><br />Go me!<br /><br />Whatever will I knit next?JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-85305012675850293302010-09-28T19:52:00.000-07:002010-09-28T21:11:23.215-07:00And tonight marks the night Squidwidget and I try a podcast...<br /><br />Be ascared. Be very ascared!<br /><br /><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/AYKAmkUA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="270" width="320"></embed><br /><br />And part 2!<br /><br /><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/AYKAnGIA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="320" height="270" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed>JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-29853372770753537362010-06-14T19:14:00.000-07:002010-06-14T19:17:37.282-07:00He Doth Protest too much!So said boyfriend from the computer saga has requested appeal to those humble readers who judge him by his computer merit. for he: A. internet-stalks me and B. has fixed the computer.<br /><br />Protesting that I have not portrayed him well, he holds that he has redeemed himself and that my computer fubared itself - rather than him mucking it up.<br /><br />So, yes, he has made all computers whole again.<br /><br />but his own is dead now....<br /><br />Entropy I tell you. Entropy.JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-43068614407614128882010-06-11T10:41:00.000-07:002010-06-11T10:53:26.917-07:00Kim's Chemo Hat Project<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBsHdjmT339jkscTha_XOakHW05xFi4ZxkKF6DcGgusuy48KFK7Gi4IqvQTS9EJzljOtCbfcZzldHD-hq4q8CcvpSaZIkdtOjBaRbAWWuhG_QLzBoagRU47fSLPDcOxmNotw0Z/s1600/100_2353.JPG"><br /></a><br />I seem to keep finding long-running projects lately.<br /><br />Kim is lovely. Kim is a Trekkie, a writer, a mother, a friend, a lady with an impossibly large head (literally!) and a wonderful person.<br /><br />She is also undergoing chemo for breast cancer.<br /><br />I could go into a big long speech about why does cancer hit nice people all the time, and how come you never hear about horrific dictators or celebrity fearmongers getting cancer and slowly going away; but instead I'll say: Doctors are hopeful. The prognosis is good, the chances of curability are high. From here on out it's as much a battle of the mind as it is of the body.<br /><br />Kim lives several states away (almost everybody seems to live several states away... -.-) but when she lost her hair she contacted me. I had knit her several hats before hand - and I know her head is unusually wide. Like anybody recovering from something she wanted some cheer and to feel beautiful again. Hence: The Hat Project.<br /><br />I'm shooting for a hat a month, to be sent while chemotherapy goes on. All must be soft. All must be bright. All must be easy-care. I hope the steady stream of cards, letters and hats will help the cheer factor and help offset the sickness of the chemo. I knit up a prototype in Early May for headsize and finding it fit, worked up the first of the series:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBsHdjmT339jkscTha_XOakHW05xFi4ZxkKF6DcGgusuy48KFK7Gi4IqvQTS9EJzljOtCbfcZzldHD-hq4q8CcvpSaZIkdtOjBaRbAWWuhG_QLzBoagRU47fSLPDcOxmNotw0Z/s1600/100_2353.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBsHdjmT339jkscTha_XOakHW05xFi4ZxkKF6DcGgusuy48KFK7Gi4IqvQTS9EJzljOtCbfcZzldHD-hq4q8CcvpSaZIkdtOjBaRbAWWuhG_QLzBoagRU47fSLPDcOxmNotw0Z/s320/100_2353.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481574990432860658" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is called the "Lace Leaf hat" and is knit in Berroco Comfort. I only wish I had completed it a bit sooner as it scream springtime to me, with green and leaves and suchlike. Kim has specially requested her next hat be red...<br /><br />I need to find a good cotton blend red yarn for this. Pattern of my own design taken from the red socks of doom.<br /><br />What red socks of doom?<br /><br />Cliffhanger!JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-88976656878513461692010-06-07T13:47:00.000-07:002010-06-07T14:34:41.335-07:00The Amazing Computer Saga<div><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>So, I needed somewhere to post my story - somewhere where I could shout it out loud and link those who needed to know.<br /></div><br /><div>As the length between blog posts may say; I have computer issues. On a regular basis it seems I get knocked off the interwebz because, as far as I can tell, I'm a Calibite and have this anti-technology entropy field around me (bonus points for getting the reference). Or it may have something to do with being a theatre person and running forth with cobbled together old equipment. Maybe both? </div><br /><div>Anyways, heart of the story. Last week my computer died. Why? no clue. Vista up and took a crap all over itself and when my boyfriend tried to fix it (he's a computer programmer who used to be an IT tech guy) he damaged the boot files. It was a fix he said "Worked on XP!"</div><br /><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 240px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480142368787510194" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0VFn6VZtD-SU7KFsxKidH9629ryUpglkee_P9cO9Qh5DeWmqtzUmpvU-oO4B2gKA5pAy7MGkygteRXf7EnLiGQOK9YCEVLkh7JwPaElcq2Vp853d00E_jGhGwj8d5Wa-JQc2/s320/100_2335.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><div>"Um, hun..." I replied. "The computer wasn't running XP... it was running Vista."</div><br /><br /><div>We have learned something very important here: XP =/= Vista.</div><br /><br /><div>So, days stretched by. The computer lay dead. I struggled on with my craptop.</div><br /><div>What is a craptop, you ask? Well, it's a crappy laptop. Of which I have 2: The original one my mom got me when I went off to college which runs Windows *ahem* 95 and the 'upgrade' which my production manager in VT gave to me when he decided to swap over to all Mac products. It runs Windows 2000. The latter is the one I was struggling with. The former exists so I can play "Starship Titanic."</div><br /><div>So. I roleplay. You guys know this, right? Well, for those who don't there is it. </div><br /><div>I not only roleplay but I "ST" (aka: storytell, aka Dungeonmaster, aka Gamemaster, aka turn into a schizophrenic running in multiple personality mode who plots horrific ways to tantalize and torment poor PCs) and have done so for... more years than I can count. <span style="font-size:78%;">(ok, I started the year before I went to Grad School which was 2003 which means... damn. 7 years)</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Roleplaying is done on a chat format.</span> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">However chatting with the craptop is like running the Boston Marathon with your grandmothers high heels that are 3 sizes too small. Slow, painful and ultimately frustrating. But I would soldier on! Slowly.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">============================================<br /></div><br /><div>Here starts my story.</div><br /><div>I have long held I have the best damn players of anywhere on the web. Seriously. </div><br /><div>Some of the story lines we have pulled off are the sorts of things you only get when everybody trusts one another and everybody wants to play the game for fun - not to be a jerk or get their jollies by trolling or stealing the glory. One of the reason I have done it so long as because over many years we seem to have garnered the best damn following of players possible. They recommend the game to other people they know - which is a tremendous compliment and then we get more players of similar mind. So we can run stories and have fun - how freakin' cool is that?</div><br /><div>STing is a volunteer job. I don't know why I started doing it in the first place. I guess I thought I'd be good at it. It ended up that I created the game I wanted to play in and ran it instead of played it. And along the way I met a lot of super cool people, and made a lot of friends.</div><br />=======================================<br /><br /><div>Holy shit do I have good friends.</div><br /><div>=======================================</div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6d-jEh3gVPRaj5_AXZblFXsm_zO_kXJHEPzhfYLS1pGkoZNSPWKz-Y182jPk0CRYKYKeSJDPUGFyBOZOfzKtDCbfO4GDiVgWB3rsAB90LkkBq1OvWYYqpNtMFgPS8Xy56DZzc/s1600/100_2349.JPG"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 240px; display: block; height: 320px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480142381704718514" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6d-jEh3gVPRaj5_AXZblFXsm_zO_kXJHEPzhfYLS1pGkoZNSPWKz-Y182jPk0CRYKYKeSJDPUGFyBOZOfzKtDCbfO4GDiVgWB3rsAB90LkkBq1OvWYYqpNtMFgPS8Xy56DZzc/s320/100_2349.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div>10-Something AM, CST.</div><br /><div>Jamie is at work, on the stage, dragging dance towers across the floor, setting them up and focusing them with her teenaged interns Collin and Bridget. We have a tech for a dance show that night so we are putting the finishing touches on the lightplot and dance set-up. I do remember I had been up in the booth grabbing frosts and gels while my crew were in the box booms ready to focus the lights there. And the phone rings.</div><br /><div>Me running across the theatre to grab the phone before it goes to voicemail is not unusual. This one I just barely got to in time, a beat or two after the third ring. It's switchboard. OK. There is a call coming in for me. OK. Not the most unusual thing.</div><br /><div>But it isn't someone asking to schedule the theatre. It is Christy. Who is on the west coast. And sounding devious. Wha? Last time one of my western state friends tracked me down at work was because she wanted to tell me that a mutual friend had, indeed, come out of a very hit-and miss surgery OK and giving me an address to send cards.</div><br /><div>This was far more devious. I was given a number. I wrote it on a orchestra program, because, well - it was there. I was told to bring this number and a photo ID to Best Buy in Plover. I was told to call her before I got there.<br /></div><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 219px; display: block; height: 289px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480142374124914578" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm8uy2ABhURT_-BX3inC8dCWdb2PzWcSrWdDyk_dh44s_KApVE-WoxRetD7r0YN-EmPiKA_YMw0ALnV6K3pf6rDeegL2FRlmfhuA6Fpq5aaWTcoW1-EXt-ytRthzce-NsenZRw/s320/100_2338.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><div>Hoo-kaaay. Curiosity piqued. Certainly. Mind a bit swimmy. Goodbyes are given. Lights are focused. Lunchtime comes about 2pm.</div><br /><div> </div></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYQxOx1CKs0YP4v7ybmQvSt2r5-6YY6B5A9NY15IPfEjxebKLXsiUNDu1APY14Y2XBXkjCqLznlpKCxTzebC0pKE1-3hz_YmKmgReX2ij349FgxIf6OastYDWWlMp3-LnNEK0s/s1600/100_2339.JPG"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 240px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480145054494421170" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYQxOx1CKs0YP4v7ybmQvSt2r5-6YY6B5A9NY15IPfEjxebKLXsiUNDu1APY14Y2XBXkjCqLznlpKCxTzebC0pKE1-3hz_YmKmgReX2ij349FgxIf6OastYDWWlMp3-LnNEK0s/s320/100_2339.JPG" border="0" /></a><div>I call as directed. My cellphone sucks. It cuts out about a dozen times (contract is done at the end of June... can anyone else say "landline?!" I can.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>Best Buy idles around a bit. And then they bring me a box.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>A big freakin box.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-xYAmBEbcr_t6pmELfQ0EeJ7cHKc_pwTZxjv9kQWaKf1K-BKL66tJ-65IiFPA0NLrUD9kP2agOtb13I3Pne2oR5WS6UeNHJL0XSncJuuIwvng-bBb-qlOQQ0vzbtmegC8XLFV/s1600/100_2342.JPG"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 240px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480142406084165410" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-xYAmBEbcr_t6pmELfQ0EeJ7cHKc_pwTZxjv9kQWaKf1K-BKL66tJ-65IiFPA0NLrUD9kP2agOtb13I3Pne2oR5WS6UeNHJL0XSncJuuIwvng-bBb-qlOQQ0vzbtmegC8XLFV/s320/100_2342.JPG" border="0" /></a><div> </div><br /><div>Holy shit that's a big freakin' box.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>You guys are crazy.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>You guys are crazy and I LOVE YOU!</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>My cat however, is unimpressed.</div><br /><div> </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxZbxTYRs6gZfUoQKO3muf8eKSSc7yr_MXa9UiE6bt7i5PnzQMheFGRmb9z8EE9rwF_k4TWAL4VIjxI7cdUpLqRKqKSwiIuFe_W2YdsFVGusbJUZjhVt6-TaMv5MnxkRgQWdhQ/s1600/100_2341.JPG"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 240px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480142392986797138" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxZbxTYRs6gZfUoQKO3muf8eKSSc7yr_MXa9UiE6bt7i5PnzQMheFGRmb9z8EE9rwF_k4TWAL4VIjxI7cdUpLqRKqKSwiIuFe_W2YdsFVGusbJUZjhVt6-TaMv5MnxkRgQWdhQ/s320/100_2341.JPG" border="0" /></a><div>I don't really know what to say, beyond thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>Several of you have not given me your addresses, but if you guys could investigate and track me down at my place of work ("Hm, how many insurance companies have theatres in Stevens Point, WI? Only one? Ah ha!") I shall track you down with a personalized thank you. See? I am devious and I have needles (have to have aknitting picture in here somewhere since this is, technically, a knitting blog)</div><br /><div> </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMBNCwLrFSKfj_bFLVXsBN6AOWXlyiN4qgu5MPcqz6Wvmzq5QJ3sx89ExDwZmTOUdncCDbfj6AHaaJ40RnD1IBve8DeoP-UlzXTzD2t7MOB8EZRJKZf55EJ-GFbdWr1zjfoEyE/s1600/meh.jpg"><img style="text-align: center; margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; display: block; height: 240px;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480145060892218290" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMBNCwLrFSKfj_bFLVXsBN6AOWXlyiN4qgu5MPcqz6Wvmzq5QJ3sx89ExDwZmTOUdncCDbfj6AHaaJ40RnD1IBve8DeoP-UlzXTzD2t7MOB8EZRJKZf55EJ-GFbdWr1zjfoEyE/s320/meh.jpg" border="0" /></a><div>I cannot tell you how awesome this is. I have been more upbeat and stoked in the past few days than in months. And now I can be online without curing the hardward every two minutes. ("Craptop, you DO have a harddrive. Please remember that.")</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>You guys rock my world, as players, as characters, as people and as friends.</div><br /><div> </div><br /><div>Thank you so much,</div><br /><div>~Jamie.<br /><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-54101385229116672252009-10-01T00:29:00.000-07:002009-10-01T00:33:13.766-07:00If you can help...This is a geek thing, but I promised a friend I would spread the word. <br /><br />An artist at Dragon Con had a piece of his artwork stolen from him. My friend is a fellow artist who is acquainted with the theft victim and we are trying to get word out - if you see this or have information about it, please follow the link and contact the original artist. I know y'all are knitters but this is a geek blog, too and geeks take care of one another.<br /><br />Here is a <a href="http://brute-force.livejournal.com/127377.html?view=1199249">LINK</a> to the original blogJamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-60680046138032089992009-09-29T23:32:00.001-07:002009-09-30T15:38:37.977-07:00Socks N Dirge of CerberusAlright, I warn you, I am about to commit knitting sacrilege:<br /><br />I don't really like knitting socks.<br /><br />Gasp, shock! I know! I'm a knitter, and we're all supposed to like socks, right? I mean I have knit socks. Heck, I have knit four pairs in September alone (yeah, most of them were heavy socks, pick yer jaws up). And still socks are among my least-favorite projects.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwiLhPOAZuarD4OnQSA3eLbWOXV9KJ7x-gQkxYRdkH4XsmCiYzIjCVP9jeEIlRizmQni6N8LPpTgaFlWRYgnsvNQohw18dp0lwCDGNILgWj14b0ZD4wc98cRm5prenyjixj19/s1600-h/100_2173.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiwiLhPOAZuarD4OnQSA3eLbWOXV9KJ7x-gQkxYRdkH4XsmCiYzIjCVP9jeEIlRizmQni6N8LPpTgaFlWRYgnsvNQohw18dp0lwCDGNILgWj14b0ZD4wc98cRm5prenyjixj19/s320/100_2173.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387149891134263586" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Why you might ask? Easy. It isn;t turning the heel - I find that rather charming, actually. I don't like the interruption. I like zen knitting - back and forth, back and forth or round and round and round. Anything with changing needles, tangling yarn or potentially creating ladders irks me to some degree. I can hack it at the top of a hat because I have just spent the rest of my time joyously creating the body (or will be creating the body), but socks are continual: knit, stop, knit, stop, pull tight and get the yarn in the right position. Yargh.<br /><br />Yeah, I know how to knit on two circulars, 4 DPNs, 5 DPNs... in the end I magic loop. One needle, less fuss. I sort of like working the foot of my current pair, which is from Charlene Schurch's Sensation Knitted socks - Small Capitals. The pattern balances nicely across the top on the foot, and the stockinette bottom seems to zoom by. But afterwards I'm doomed to make a pair of socks for my aunt who prefers 2x2 rib.<br /><br />Yawn.<br /><br />Heck, she doesn't just prefer... I can put book after book after book of amazing, lovely, creative, interesting sock patterns in front of her and she will <span style="font-style: italic;">go out of her way </span>to find the basic beginner sock at the front of the book and tell me to 'make that sock'<br /><br />Round and round and round and round, watch the ladders, watch for no yarnovers, finish one, knit a second, ARGH!<br /><br />Usually when knitting irritates me, I turn towards my guilty pleasure: video games. I have a small selection (read: sizable stash) of favorites from the Atari 2600 up to the Playstation 2. Haven't gone newest gen yet - haven't found any games really worth playing on any system but the Wii, and my boyfriend has a Wii. Anyways (this all ties together, I promise) I favor two types of games: Mindless action adventure and serious RPG. Usually when stress kicks in I favor the former. Dynasy Warriors ("Watch me wade into a dozen dudes and righteously slay them with my magical powaz while being accompanied by period-accurate ancient Chinese hard rocks music...") and Devil May Cry - the first one - ("Jamie, why are you juggling blood-spraying zombies in the air with a hail of gunfire?" ""Cause it's fun, Mom...") are personal favs.<br /><br /> But I bought Dirge of Cerberus several months ago, Heck, maybe even a year or more ago - can't remember. Gainful adult employment does that to ya. Anyways, a while ago -and I hadn't played it yet. It looks so promising - RPG styled, action oriented, badass main character, prettyboy anime design. So what do you mean I have to go play almost first-person shooter? (third person shooter actually). I mean it's all about getting my ass kicked while I run around with a really big gun. See?<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnwWP3a3l_8sX87OwB8vUHF7YkygyzJYHbivPugi5gl9vL5UuCFXmBCNhYv055kXo9GJ67CdbBZUI0jxt7Ngf3Z6yvAlw1ry5AOkaads9v0QrObzSv0jajU37zXDwYScdOO5V/s1600-h/2_dirge_of_cerberus.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsnwWP3a3l_8sX87OwB8vUHF7YkygyzJYHbivPugi5gl9vL5UuCFXmBCNhYv055kXo9GJ67CdbBZUI0jxt7Ngf3Z6yvAlw1ry5AOkaads9v0QrObzSv0jajU37zXDwYScdOO5V/s320/2_dirge_of_cerberus.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387149886489169634" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I bite at this game. I blow goats at it. RPG fans are not created to do shooter games. I aim everywhere but at the dudes I am supposed to be killing - and at times this reminds me of my sock knitting. I drop stitches forget patterns and occassionally forget to turn the freakin' heels and only notice this after I'm decreasing for the toe. I run around Dirge of Cerberus saying things like "You get back here, I'm gonna shoot you!" while wildly flailing and shooting the crap out of anything around me; and I knit socks while vowing "You get back here you damn dropped stitch! you will not evade me!"<br /><br />This is cheaper than therapy. Trust me. :DJamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-59817645114126612642009-09-24T00:35:00.000-07:002009-09-30T15:30:09.958-07:00StashCatLike a LOLCat, but lazier.<br /><br />So, I have a new cat. Actually an old cat that is new again.<br /><br />Hokay, let me try to explain. My mother and I swap cats. She lives on a farm and decided to rescue stray kittens, so she has a lot of cats. More cats than could really be considered normal and a house that is far too clean to have so many cats. I swear she's like a bionic woman when it comes to keeping a clean house with (*ahem*) fifteen cats.<br /><br />Yes, fifteen.<br /><br />Stop rolling your eyes, we used to have twenty. (The joke used to be 'I have two, my mother has the other 18 - cats are cheaper in packs of 20...)<br /><br />Anyways she has a lot of very happy healthy cats in a disturbingly clean house. And when Sultan was a kitten he used to be called Meriadoc (because his brother was Pippin, 'natch) and he was supposed to be my cat. However my first cat, Robin, didn't like Meriadoc. So Robin stayed with me and Meriadoc stayed with my mom, who changed his name to Sultan. Thanks, Mom.<br /><br /> Anyways, after getting gainful employment and an apartment nearby said gainful employment, I wanted a cat with me in the apartment. But Robin is getting weird in his older age and he has decided that he will. Not. Move. Ever. Again. To the point where he hyperventilates and pulls out all of his fur if you try to move him to a new house. So that was a no. Meanwhile Sultan was banished to the basement for peeing on the baseboards (say that five times fast!) because he had dominant male issues.<br /><br /> So my mother sweet talked me into taking Sultan, again. He knows he new name now so I couldn't change it back. However being an only cat means he has had no peeing issues whatsoever. He does, however, believe he is prettier than any other creature on the farm, and he has also decided that my stash is his stash.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMwVIkJD2k280qNZxuA89rBplijLyFM75AlRtawjp3FlKaefZFH7bMTE46dpBWFQRyOI2DGp4Z7iXwPbIp1nJU52XPDrQp3XvK6uGRz-Jm6iYReKKQxPikio0a2E0LyKkY8N3/s1600-h/100_2139.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMwVIkJD2k280qNZxuA89rBplijLyFM75AlRtawjp3FlKaefZFH7bMTE46dpBWFQRyOI2DGp4Z7iXwPbIp1nJU52XPDrQp3XvK6uGRz-Jm6iYReKKQxPikio0a2E0LyKkY8N3/s320/100_2139.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387391214898869378" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is Herschnerrs Warehouse swag. Yum. I dig the Nob Hill Jewel Sparkle for kid's hats. Sultan prefers it for it's lovely bed-like qualities.<br /><br />Look at him. He's smirking. Proud that he can shed on my yarn.<br /><br />Jerk.JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-24600884530555199772009-09-24T00:30:00.000-07:002009-09-24T00:33:10.388-07:00Oh Dear MeI am a horrific blogger.<br /><br />I really am. Stress gets to me and I stop writing.<br /><br />However Ravelry is down tonight and I finally have a new computer and decent internet access and, well, a blog!<br /><br />So I'm working on a Scotty hat. Dang is this a long hat! Long to wear, long to knit, LONG! It is for Eric, who is lovely and has a big head. Physically not egotistically ;-)<br /><br />I have piles and piles and piles of photos. I must sort and post them.JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-53145738773965517402008-10-04T21:44:00.000-07:002008-10-04T21:52:09.149-07:00Gainful Adult EmploymentI has it.<br /><br /><br />When I ended last theatrical season, I swore to myself that this seasonal work thing was going to stop. I was sick and tired of moving across the country every 7 months, and feeling like I was getting older with nothing permanent to show for it.<br /><br />So I did not re-accept my contract with my previous employer.<br /><br />As the summer days grew on, I kept failing to reach a new contract with a full time theatre; and it was looking more and more likely that I would have to see if my position was still unfilled at my old job. (sigh) And one day out of the blue the neighbor lady came over to collect her rummage sale things and she suggested that I check on the Sentry website for a job.<br /><br />I paused a second and wondered if she was nuts. Sentry is a grocery store; but near my hometown it is also a major insurance company. I thought that neither sounded like they really had a career path for a theatre technician.<br /><br />Ah, I was wrong. Sentry Insurance owns a theatre. And they needed a theatre manager. And after a long interview process of many candidates, I am the chosen successor for the 'Theatre Manager' position.<br /><br />My very own theatre, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">mwa</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">hahahah</span>!<br /><br />I work 30 minutes from home. Not 1200 or 2000 miles.... 30 minutes. It's.... amazing!<br /><br />So, that's what I have been up to. That and scads of knitting. Oh, and Hat Attack. Dear goodness. So much catch up blogging to do!JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-74496506389974123152008-08-30T19:42:00.000-07:002008-08-30T20:28:19.058-07:00Yarn Recycling DayAh, lovely lazy weekends.<br /><br />Since I have been bit heavily by the destash bug, I have also been going through my yarn. I feel the need to ball up, tidy up and categorize everything. And with that, I have been frogging some very old projects I will never finish or wear in order to reclaim the yarn. <br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmGakZcyHQWBfq191jKNWIe_v5UWt_0SL7X5UyEq4PotIK4L5ufyJcJk4YfNpuF9Ai-YSMHgRs2nfPB5mpGhbr9WlmJ1x1h_Numy5zuIaEP82tm8HeXLcP-mf9q0z-TUi-dwI/s320/Knitting+015.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240515261684154130" /><br />Mmmm, strawberry flavored wool. This was at one point going to be a crocheted sweater; but I figured out that I didn't quite have enough yarn for the pattern I wanted to make. So it sat in a box all through grad school and then sat for two more years until I finally found it and thought "gee, this is nice wool"<br /><br />Besides, I figure that knitting takes less yarn than crocheting does, so I still have enough yarn for a ~knit~ sweater!<br /><br />And so it was frogged. And balled. And turned into a lovely hank of crinkley yarn.<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJxKzy5G4sX635d1JCiCZlFDHw9f3OuYvQ5xsX4Ed048GcwMB4Vh6cFFm6VHX0gg-iTkJv6Rnvnx2Vfh-Ye58CNqO-5eRa1Z5bUvyGlZ0QVGR507BhU7gpDmIrqQByfkmOnR-/s320/Knitting+014.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240515258949276818" /><br /><br />I even had help through this whole process! See? This is Heidi. She thinks I cannot see her...<br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7dpZa1HchPpvWrE8ytMOm5gahkVA4Ng1316K2UDkTA24naYwMuudP5iKx_UqPu-VysW_DXWai5OUsbtvOEkwI6vGVY5YkecV27IlbcBJ9kM9u-5f0AgWdcWMssvmMcRJBIQ5x/s320/Knitting+013.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240515253878177938" /><br /><br />Oh... but the temptation was too great. I see you, Heidi... >.> <.< <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6c6z8x_JHcSzIwitHrP8HFqSv6ctNtpVokG2Uq0YXbjHe0jbdDNRQdE4icDaWVTi2mxNRxwyXgBc9c389yVcQ3Rv6qziu161Nh-qflKvbVVvX0JCyENte-8y_Zt1bA4jnrNDk/s320/Knitting+012.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240515250464790322" /><br /><br /><br />I had five hanks to be dipped in hot water, relaxed and then hung to dry. Several move <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">un-crocheted</span> skeins that could simply be balled and stored.<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7fMvDutn8wTa3p1yULeJBxKwWxzZM4-GedmO5kpyEM-C9Oey86YG3JPyP5xmSibPCzbsvmKrD_qKfP4DwlTKyu8Wd9I3mnEOC7NlLuTxiySSXjvJ5LFQKWZOaXmmmkeLQeD3/s320/Knitting+016.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240515265884497730" /><br /><br />After all that work, my assistant was pooped. <br /><br />I'm sort of jealous that this old cat still has the flexibility to turn herself completely into a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">catball</span>. May I be as supple when I am her age.<br /><br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhottdPiYuWVLnDYHcpG7A1MK5fNGPqkrOWxatkLRoDnDF8flDuY2C0gpgRtWalHXzcZXkGSPWnVsKkPSFY0yY_-VuKi714Fv2AN7DXg_Qxhz7BZTG5GPgtSQ1RWFQjZnejoDuJ/s320/Knitting+036.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240517969554676594" /><br /><br />Until then, I'll content myself with the fact that I now have a sweater's worth of wool all fresh and waiting for me!JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-43307707600971976492008-08-26T20:30:00.000-07:002008-08-26T21:02:27.035-07:00Cats in the Slammer<span>(with all due respect to "Cops"... eh, who am I kidding. I'm making fun of it.)</span> <br /><br />Bad cats, bad cats, what'cha gonna do? What'cha gonna do when the come for you...<br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFiZOA00a_pv7ImyvkEYGyVyP2iEICY-eiGUaBTUDGeWbNMGLBM5suVUdwvW-sxc0pTChYepperNNdFfXJ0ykqhoSeoBqctDl7Rg9ZHwoHKDZNcJ2nj-AJiEymuXyi5rHdD9u/s320/Knitting+004.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239041956414160066" /><br /><br />To be fair these are not bad cats. They are simply feral rescues. For years and years my parents had barn cats in the, well, barn. But as the number of cows dwindled the number of cats grew. So we started taking in kittens (which might account for the unusually high number of housecats our family has) and finally my mother decided that enough was enough. She was going to livetrap all the feral cats. <br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWEbohRbHfoJ72Bfm2tedc-1fJsvCJ_HsD7hec4dmDZ2EA1td39XOMObe3WHN9AEhqHvv90idZEdt45zIF2j6eymb2oJ3RZpcQjQbqyjhCmVfdUN1sai9YSNPkjRaASQm_r6u/s320/Knitting+005.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239041966378082482" /><br /><br />We finally live trapped the last of the feral mothers from the barn; tranquilized them, got them taken to the vet for shots and fixings; and now they are enjoying a lovely day in the sun. We set up a place for them to live indoors, with an outdoor cage. Now they pass thier time away as healthy, lazy cats. This is a Saint Bernard pen that is rigged up through a basement cat door, for some fun in the sun. Or shade as the case may be in the pictures. I just like how Suzy (the little black cat) is looking up so woefully, as if to say 'nobody knows the trouble I've seen...'<br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6xTAsudiJ-KCguneOGIgztICLIYOTiZV_xJyjdomaU0VI1Q0XPtQ7DpL7CdW0rJb2U-hCybGBJR_f6z7Gxq932lmdBM7pEUV3EO_iKrCjFfqDRDw1AsVgRqRhist5kRymfAi/s320/Knitting+007.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239041977395549442" /><br />Woe be to the chipmunk who runs through the bars.JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-40325926431164976432008-08-25T19:46:00.000-07:002008-08-25T21:39:44.901-07:00Round and Round(and round and round and round and round....)<br /><br />I find it a theme of my projects lately that I start them "because the yarn was there"<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaW8OfB7SF1BqtvOj-ywCeYGjhzYwlDD5X1FZCh8SEzSyu5cPAqo9N-sFb7m8jmD1bCwx8tYC9FpWVdTdwjQ-X5cIP9tUlNlUSGEo8QqelltL-KQUQp41WbR6znB-InHs-QSGD/s320/Knitting+078.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238680818042551154" /><br /><br />No, really. It's the yarn's fault. It lays in the boxes and tells me to make things. I erase all responsibility. <br /><br />So let's start with the yarn. Red Heart Symphony. It's 100% faux mohair. As faux as mo goes. Acrylic, all of it. I found it within my stash - the old stash (yes, I have stash stored away in separate places, like vintages. And when I dig it out I find some surprising things. This was one of them.) I took it out and looked at the skein and thought 'what the hell is this?'<br /><br /> What the hell indeed? It was... well, it was furry. Not Fun Fur furry. Just furry. <br /><br />What the hell do you do with furry? You type "Red Heart Symphony" into Ravelry and click on 'pattern ideas.' That's what you do. God Bless Ravelry.<br /><br />Anyways, one of the patterns that showed up was the "Portland Pullover" from Interweave Knits. I have always thought it was an attractive pattern; and the fact that it's modeled on that cute redhead model IK used for so many years didn't hurt. The ravelers said it was a fast, easy and nice to wear. I said 'sold!'<br /><br />I cast it on a few days before my mother fell off the garage roof, and I ended up spending hours knitting the sweater body in the ER waiting room. There are some times where completely mindless circular knitting (19 inches of it...) is most welcome.<br /><br />I did not knit the sleeves flat. I mean a circular body with a circular yoke and flat sleeves? Please. I knit them on a 16" circ. Yaaay!<br /><br />I'm not fond of funnel necks, and I will almost certainly wear a button down or turtleneck underneath it; so I bound it off earlier, and shored it up with a single crochet border and kitchenered the armpit seams.<br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBDMrkWU9iICjWRql_cQxJuWeZtwJe4aktnYw7br02K4TpBvSPyG1cGNqkp0B0rDBDSqx5-ToP3uyRxALljYGfAk05ysNRklZw2LbHro8haDpM4zS8aKQSZHCKfj8n83LXvLa_/s320/Knitting+080.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238680806791779458" /><br />Since Wisconsin is cold lately, I got to get some lovely outdoor pictures. Mmm, fuzzy sweater. Fauxmo it may be, but it's delightfully soft and light.<br /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqADGPjcabqkn7lXEyfm9wGEWttIAaG6aT_-9hX3iI6Wm_oc2WN96I69TKC5BPKOpmBsmoIzAameVG1vV37RKxr4O-kaWz4Hz1ozgCy9QGGRELYAO0o2ZNAx7sIy9u-5TWYi9N/s320/Knitting+082.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238680811593355298" />JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-75747488117716694802008-08-23T20:37:00.000-07:002008-08-25T22:11:12.751-07:00HermitageLike animals when they don't feel good and they crawl off to thier dens, I have crawled off to my internetless den for, oh, about two months. I'm very bad at that >.<<br /><br />News: my mother just got okayed to walk again (yay!) and now she can really start driving me nuts.<br /><br />Man, I'm glad she doesn't read my blog. >.> <.<<br /><br />Life is good.<br /><br />This post had pictures. The internet ate the pictures. *shakes fist at the internet* I will post the pictures later.<br /><br />Life is still good.JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-13485579750425133722008-07-06T19:03:00.001-07:002008-07-06T19:06:02.568-07:00I want to thank everyone who gave me comments and thoughts. When I get a moment to sit down and it is quiet I will try to respond to each individually. <br /><br />My mother is home. Sore and slow, but home. And so I knit on. I have half a sweater done. Soon I hope to have pictures. <br /><br />Happy 4th of July to all, and peace,<br /><br />~PSGJamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-9821702408176881572008-06-30T17:43:00.000-07:002008-06-30T17:50:17.254-07:00Sometimes You Knit...Sometimes you knit to remember.<br /><br />Sometimes you knit to forget.<br /><br />I don't have any jokes for today's blog. No witticisims or sarcasm. No pictures even.<br /><br />My mother fell off a roof today. We were very lucky because she slid and landed on her hip rather than falling on her chest or head. So she broke her pelvis, but hopefully no other injuries. <br /><br />It all seems so stupid. The ladder slipped. You wonder 'could I have done something different?' I stepped into the house for a minute or so, trying to get something out of the over before going back outside, and I heard the ladder collapse and her scream.<br /><br />I don't know. I don't like to wallow in guilt. So I spent two hours in the emergency, knitting while I waited to hear about CAT scans and X Rays. <br /><br />It will be a long heal. Two months. I wish it were me instead of her. I really do. I'm much younger and I mend better. But if all goes well, there won't be any major complications. She can come home in a day or so.<br /><br />Knitting is funny. Stitch after stitch, a way to channel the enegry that could be used for pacing, screaming, shouting, hitting. Stitch by stitch by stitch. The same movement over and over and over again.<br /><br />I think I might give the sweater I make to her. We are the same size, it'll fit.<br /><br />A sweater to remember the love, knitting to forget the pain.JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-23056512780742103112008-06-18T21:53:00.000-07:002008-06-19T18:49:37.561-07:00The Manly Scrafghan<div>Scrafghan: <em>(noun)</em> <strong>scrˈaf-ˌgan</strong> : a blanket or shawl knitted or crocheted from many different colors or types of yarns. (scrap+afghan)</div><div><em><strong><span style="font-size:78%;"></span></strong></em> </div><div><em><strong><span style="font-size:78%;">~My dictionary of dumb definitions for words that don't exist... but should!</span></strong></em></div><br /><br /><div>Several days ago my mother entreated my with a quest. Nothing so droll as running out and slaying monsters or beating the hoards of cats back from the basement. No. I was to protect the integrity of the very walls of the farmhouse she lives in. Save the chairs from a cruel fate! Preserve the sheen and appearance of the 1970's fake wood paneling!!</div><br /><div>I needed to make her an afghan.</div><br /><div>So, the yarn warrior rode again, digging through the nameless trenches of ages old stash. Stash so old everyone had forgotten where it was bought. Stash that surely bore the horrors of things like nameless forgotten scratchy wools and acrylics so cheap they would curdle milk. What would come of thise project... time would only tell.</div><br /><div>~*~*~*~*~*~</div><br /><div>So, yes. My mother wants an afghan. For the express purpose of putting it on the back of the chair my Dad sits in to watch TV.</div><br /><div>Now my Dad is an older man, and the years (and beers) have not worn well on his frame. He has bad knees and therefore has a tendancy to not so much sit as to collapse into any given chair. Therefore the wall behind his favorite chair gets decimated if there is no padding between chair back and wall. That's where the afghan comes in.</div><br /><div>He has an afghan on his chair. Oh yes, he does. Or did. It is his afghan. My great grandmother made it for him in the 1970's. Much of my parents house still dates to the 1970's. Anyways, it was a fine afghan, one of the few knit afghans in the house (most of them are crocheted because most of the grandmothers crocheted more than they knit), with wide chevrons done in knit and purl ridges, in dark brown and white. Nothing wrong with it... well there wouldn't have been anything wrong with it had half of the afghan not been made in wool with half made in acrylic.</div><br /><div>See how it has big stripes? Some of the stripes are wool. Some aren't. </div><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213772955518005042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWad_jTe5CbAMOyHzZyOSaH4Nfne0PVo1CropunFJTh-MSJ6NLmODK2099PzlFYUJVE2YnCNkN6rJdIGtnp7nYwx7shsgGhJOBw32CB4Ee1w35vFAOW6d3LZfU2M1bSNO_mtCb/s320/Blogz+026.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>Well, my Dad sweats. Most men sweat. So when he would use the afghan and get sweaty the afghan got smelly. After decades my mother decided the afghan needed a wash because it was rank. All of the other afghans in the house were either all wool or all acrylic. This one said on a very old card that it was all acrylic, so my mother out it in the washing machine on gentle and washed it before hanging it on the line to dry.</div><br /><div>And then she noticed that some stripes had felted, some hadn't.</div><br /><br /><div>Whoops.</div><br /><p>So I dug through the big old stash of bulky yarns that time forgot. Some I bought (shame on me...). Some my mother bought (shame on her...) and some that we didn't know where the hell they came from. I pulled out everything that was in the olive/gray/brown color scheme and then all the neutrals. I figured if this was a sacrifice afghan, I was going to make it the easiest and quickest way I knew how: interlocking shells of crochet with an N hook. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213772960886312226" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwq7LELTrzXPJkkMVkHpyYmYBYtggQ6kIYiRhB7UjeDmMdurhTRQIdRtTiM2YuD3mbuTj4DaI9yreuk5pyhOvPD6YRLWJlIzcdhTSmfmxN9axO-8FffbUz19PeffU_6WXNPKZj/s320/Blogz+025.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p>So now the challenge is to make this big pile of unknown scrap yarns look like something that really meant to be an afghan without killing some of the yarns in the process. (I hate you, Lion Brand Cheille Thick and Quick... do you hear me? )<br /><br />So far, not so bad!</p><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213772965007943266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR6BJoj8m-8KPSRhW0mhzDeUK7aeZz5D7IdDGn3kPgMFL-LJNozxtPptc6RjXP9QKYVKMEfYkgZaO3FraFoHYZPUcG7selDYjU1MZDuiTjdP0RLGwBGGxdVptBTKEzwFrn3Cju/s320/Blogz+024.jpg" border="0" /></div>JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24506108.post-29835875672585870932008-06-18T20:36:00.000-07:002008-06-18T20:40:04.837-07:00Today is...<span style="font-size:180%;">Jerky day!!!</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5213431952262800626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1jAFSjLOUhTDeGrTU1sgXuOT2tp7xIZHKXXxwKsdu8b0rRaVJ-pjHzK4DIw3uxSew5lEo1nFXtLJKhULt7GI069pEZFPqCHeE0ivZplsURu6qmKEtWaipslRsHKBheHWOwRLs/s320/Blogz+003.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">YUM!</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;"></span> </div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:78%;">(yes. This is thoroughly random. But I don't care. Because I have jerky.)</span></div>JamieLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00872843412093794199noreply@blogger.com2