Da Box, Tangled Yoke Yarn, and... Politician Hair!

Yes, I cut my hair. Click on the picture for a larger view. I was just a little shocked to discover that I looked... like a politician! Vote for me, willya?

Thanks for all the lovely compliments on the bat dress, by the way. I did get the skirt too. Because I can't resist. And I already have the yarn for the Flower Petal Shawl from Elann... except, knit in black, it's a bat wing shawl. So I'm thinking ahead.

Now, without further ado, I give you the contents of The Box! Yorkie, I had to get over the iridescence of the greenish/blueish/orangeish/glittery yarn in the box. There's something so outrageous about it, I'm afraid I rather like it! It makes me think Cthulhu. Don't know why. But it will want to become tentacular trim, I can already tell!


Of course, weird yarn wasn't the only thing in that box. It also contained the incredibly yummy mint cake and toffees. Yum. For the most part, what you're seeing is empty box. I wonder how it got that way!


Thanks, Yorkie. The Box really cracked me up. I was expecting to win at least one weird thing in a Pope picture caption contest!

Have you all seen pictures of the Tangled Yoke Cardigan in the Fall issue of Interweave Knits? I saw it and thought it would make the perfect work garment. Except in a different color. Something that would add a bit of pizzazz to corporate couture. And I came up with this.


Purplish/fuchsia-ish tweed. Very professional, n'est-ce pas?

Bats, cats and a birthday gift

I know, I know, I've been pretty sporadic about the blogging lately. With a new job, frantic finishing of secret knitting, and my upcoming LSAT (I think I'm insane, I must be, because all my lawyer buddies tell me you have to be to apply to law school, but I want to go so badly, I'm doing it anyway), I haven't had much time to devote to projects that lend themselves to posting about. On the bright side, I just finished all the frogging and knitting on said secret project (Jacque, you're gonna love it!). And I haven't been led astray by any knitty people with excellent fashion sense. Unlike, say, the time chemgrrl tempted me into checking out a site with wonderful clothes, including this bat dress.


Yeah. It's a summer dress. With bats. How am I supposed to resist?

Then, there are the kittens. This is their new favorite toy, a cat scratchie with a ball. Morgana is all happy and perky, which makes me very happy because we had a bit of a scare this morning. You see, Mr. Batty saw her running out of the bathroom like she was being chased, and he noticed that she was pursued by something she thought she'd buried... attached to her butt with a strand of my hair. Of course, I freaked out, because I was afraid my hair was going to cause a blockage in her little kitten tummy. So tomorrow, I'm getting a haircut. I love my kittens, I want them to be OK!


See the little make-up bag sitting on top of the lime green monstrosity? It's part of my birthday gift from the fabulous Rosi. It turns out her birthday is a day before mine, and we decided to do a gift swap.


I'm extremely happy with my gift! Even before I read the sticky note that was attached to the make-up bag, I thought, "Oooh, it's the perfect project bag!" -- and that's exactly what she had intended it for. It's a sock knitting bag, not a make-up bag, and it even has a compartment for notions! I also got some wonderful soap that looks like she made it herself and smells wonderful, candy in a future stitch marker box, and yarn. Pretty purple yarn, in mohair and in alpaca. I'm thinking either a hat and a scarf, or a hat with both yarns held together. We'll see.

That's it for today, but I promise to get back to you soon with pictures of some actual knitting. I just got the yarn for Eunny Jang's Tangled Yoke Cardigan. It's pretty!

Cats and... knitting!

Let's start with the cats. Aren't they cute? This is one of their few quiet moments. They love my computer desk, it's one of their favorite hangouts.


Next, the promised knitting picture. Excuse the frumpy nightie and completely flumped pose. It's a Saturday morning, and unless I have to go grocery shopping, I'm staying in my nighttime frump.

Morgana is watching me knit. This is before her brother decided to chew on the cable of my Addi Turbos. She saw him do it and picked up his bad habit, and now, they're impossible to knit around. As I'm typing this, they're shredding some Kleenex tissue while chasing each other through the cables behind Mr. Batty's computer desk -- after Morgana clawed a deep gouge into my left thigh while trying to climb me like a tree. Fun times!


The snakey is still a hit. Merlin, too, is completely enthralled.


Next up, pictures of some actual hand-knit objects, not just of me knitting. Promise!

No Birthday Knitting

Not for me, at least. Yes, it's my birthday, but I'm going in to work. There will be some knitting on the train, though, and Mr. Batty is taking me to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Yum, cheesecake!

I got a wonderful birthday package from Rosi G., of which I will post pictures soon. I even decided to take a later train so I could open it this morning and look at the goodies. They're wonderful!

OK, now I have to go to work. I hope the catalog behaves for me today.

Early Birthday Bliss

Friday was an amazing day. It started off with the usual attempt to wake up at 6 am and the habitual dash for the train only 45 minutes later. I went to work and did loads of cataloging even though I was excited about heading out to Newbury Yarns for my lunch break. Birthday yarn!
Yes, I know, my birthday technically isn't until Tuesday, but I wanted yarn, and my birthday is coming up, so I bought some.

And here it is, red sock yarn. Louet gems in a bright red that will make amazing socks. Very in your face, nothing subtle about it, just the way I like it.


That was supposed to be it, but then I saw this. It's CTH laceweight in teals and purples, with black bits here and there. It's incredible, as is the yardage: 2400 yards! That's enough for a whole triangle shawl and a stole. Who could say no to that? Two projects for the price of one, or so I keep telling myself.
Yarn diet? What yarn diet?


On my way home, I sat next to a woman who was knitting. She saw my yarn, which was sticking out of my bag. We had the greatest yarn and knitting chat. We were clearly having too much fun because the poor guy next to us decided to change seats when he got the chance. Oh, well, he doesn't know what he's missing. She gave me her card so we can get together and knit sometime. Yay for knitters on trains!

When I got home, I showed my yarn to Mr. Batty. I was all excited and so was he, because he wanted to know if I'd like my birthday present early. And then he came up the basement stairs with a box. This box.


I'm not often lost for words, but this time, he really did it. Add this to the other 999 999 999 reasons I love my sweetie. He saw me oooh and aaah over this wheel after I tried it out at Mind's Eye a while ago. So he went and bought it for me. Figured out a place to get it all by himself, ordered it, and managed to hide it from me. I was just going to take a picture of the box before my birthday, but suddenly, it was all put together, and I was ogling the pretty roving that came with it. Wonder how that happened.


And speaking of my wonderful sweetie, here he is entertaining the cats. The green fuzzy teaser is Morgana's favorite toy, but as you can see, Merlin is not averse to the occasional stalk and pounce either.


Morgana, on the other hand, goes spastic. Not sure if she's actually airborne in this picture or if she's just on her hind legs. These kittens can jump, though. She can make it through our entire living room and reach the stairs without touching the floor once, bounding from couch to couch.


They're both taking a nap as I type this. I'm finally getting ready to knit around them. Depending on how that goes, I may take a chance on trying out the big wooden spinning cat toy, I mean, my brand new spinning wheel.

Almost knitting

I know. This is a knitting blog. As my friend Margaret remarked, though (Hi, Margaret!), there hasn't been a lot of knitting content lately. One of the reasons is obvious. This is me on the phone with my mother, cuddling a kitten. The other kitten is scampering around somewhere else.


The other reason is that I'm finishing up the secret knitting. The Baltic Sea Stole is growing exceedingly slowly, and I'm bored with the second Jaywalker. I have two feet. Not one and a half. My dad's sweater needs knitting, and I still only have half a sleeve for Tangerine Twist.

So... why did I stop by the yarn store during my lunch break? Why is it that I feel the urge to cast on something new every time I have a surfeit of WIPs? How do other knitters deal with this? I feel awful because knitting should be fun, it shouldn't be a chore. And yet... I can't just live with hundreds of unfinished projects around the house, can I?

Takeover

Our lives have been taken over by two adorable fuzzballs. This is a knitting blog, but there has been very little knitting this past week. That's partly due to my new job and the efforts of getting used to a set of new tasks, but the other part has to do with two energetic felines.

See? Merlin, with the bookshelf. In an attempt to get at his sister, he has thrown out Foucault and The Making of the English Working Class. His sister is hidden behind the books, contentedly chomping on Orientalism. They are orphan kitties who were weaned too early, and they have an oral fixation that would have delighted Freud. Everything needs to get gnawed, but for some reason, they particularly like to gnaw on books. Oy vey!


Merlin also enjoys chasing the gray snake that follows him around wherever he goes. Occasionally, he'll go after the black snake, which he likes even better. When you bite down on the black snake, it doesn't hurt. Now, if he could only figure out why it ticks off his sister!


And speaking of little sister, Morgana is a real nerd. She loves toys, she loves to chew on cables and the wireless router, and she has discovered computers. Mr. Batty is trying to play Civ, but she has her little nose almost glued to the monitor. There are things moving around, but when you try to grab them, they're not really there. Is that weird or what?


And, finally, the reason for the lack of knitting content. My comfy chair has been usurped.


So, now you know what's going on at our house. There will be knitting in my next post, I promise. I also promise to catch up with everybody's blogging activity over the weekend. Working full-time and learning to be a new kitty parent sure cuts into a person's free time!

Kittens!

Meet Merlin and Morgana, our new kittens. They were found without their mommy, only a few days old and starving. A friendly animal control lady fostered them until they were old enough to find a home where they could be loved and fed and cuddled -- ours.

At first, they were rather shy. This is Merlin. He's a feisty little guy who likes to play and cuddle. They both still spook easily, but he has come up to me for a cuddle and even walked all over my chest. I think he'll like it here.


Here, we have Merlin's sister Morgana. She's the shy one and she gets scared easily, but at least she no longer hides the second we enter the room. She's still a bit suspicious of this whole new home and people thing, but she'll come around. Oh, and that green thing? It's a cat toy on a stick and her new favorite thing. She'll drag it all over the house and even play with it by herself.


Here they are, stuffing themselves. The scratching post doesn't interest them in the least.


They do love to scamper up and down the stairs. Merlin is too funny, he'll be chasing his tail up and down the stairs, and his sister will look at him like she can't believe he's such an idiot. Of the two, she's clearly the smart one. Oh, and did I mention that she chased around the animal control lady's mastiff when they were in foster care?


Click on the pictures to enlarge. There will be more once they let us get closer!

We saw the Harlot!

Last night, Eileen (aka lindydiva) and I went to see the Yarn Harlot in Burlington, MA. It was a fun and eventful evening, starting with a little involuntary "detour" that landed me in unknown yet creepy parts of Pawtucket, RI. Thank goodness for cell phones with navigation!

In spite of this initial setback, I made it to Eileen's and we set off for Burlington. There was some confusion over Barnes and Noble (which I'd been to before) and Borders (had to use navigation to get there), but we made it just in time to sneak into the back row.
The view was amazing. Knitters everywhere. And the Harlot.

We knit.


We waited in line (person to the right is Lick My Sticks!).


And then, we met the Harlot! She held our socks, we got to hold her sock, it was amazing.


And thanks to Eileen's direction sense, we took only one wrong turn on the way back. I can't claim any credit for getting us back home.

Update on the kitty situation: we fell in love with two adorable kitties, but they're still being treated for ringworm. We're going back to the shelter tomorrow, when the feline care coordinator gets back from a trip, and we'll learn when we get to take our new babies home!

Exciting news

I'm still knitting the secret project, so unfortunately, no pictures this time around. But here is some exciting news: Mr. Batty and I are going to adopt a kitty, possibly even two! We're going to the shelter tonight and having a look around. Maybe there's a fur baby just waiting to come home with us.

I'm back!

After a brief Harry Potter-induced hiatus and some other unexpected issues, I'm back! Most of the knitting I've done lately has been of the secret variety, but I think I'll be able to show some FOs soon. So please check back in the next couple of days, there will be stuff. With pictures.

Hair, WIPs and a Partial Meme

You know it's summer when memes are going round. In my case, Jen tagged me with the "8 things about you" meme. Since I already did the 7 things about me a while ago, I thought I might get away with adding no. 8 to the already existing list.

8. I like nighties. Yes, I may be goth, and I may wear velvet and lace most of the time, but when it comes to sleepwear, I have a deep-seated love for the comfy, cuddly and frumpy. To quote Mr. Batty: "If it ain't flannel, you ain't got it."
So true. Long flannel nightgowns that are several sizes too big, comfy PJs, and cotton nighties for the summer. Here's my new current favorite. Don't those clouds look like they're up to something?


This one has been around for so long, I'm not sure who has or hasn't done it yet. But if you think it would be fun to tell us 8 things about yourself... go ahead, I know I'm always curious!

Mr. Batty is at work, so I tried to take another picture of my hair. There are only 5 or 6 extensions, and they're towards the front. It's so hard to get a good picture of hair this long! I had to hold out the camera, and now that I see how it makes my arm look all flabby...
Better post it before I decide to delete the whole thing.


Oh, and long hair really is easier to care for. I wash and let it air dry. My dad keeps suggesting I cut it short again, but when I had a chin length bob, I had to spend half an hour in front of a mirror because there were cowlicks I hadn't even known existed. Now? Wash and I'm done. I love it.

In knitting news, I've finally finished the first pattern repeat on my Baltic Sea Stole. I'm very happy with my gauge on US 3 needles, and the color really works with this pattern. It's LL Helen's Lace in Purple Club, by the way.


Also, I finished one Jaywalker, and I love it! It fits perfectly. My only issue is that I wish the ribbing around my calf were a bit tighter, but it's not a big deal. The yarn is LL Shepherd Sock in Amethyst Stripe, for all who wanted to know.


And a look from the side. This is the outside of my right leg, and you have no idea how much I had to contort myself to get this shot!


Someday soon, this little Jaywalker will have a friend. It's such a happy sock, it shouldn't be alone.

Socks... and purple streaks!

My sock drawer has been tagged by Zuma!

So, here, without delay, is my sock drawer. It's part of the ugly blue chest of drawers I got for cheap when I was moving into my first unfurnished apartment, and as a grad student, I had to take whatever I could get.


'Regular' socks are to the right, hand-knit socks (the ones on the far right were knit by me, the purple lace socks came from stariel, the green ones from AKknitter, and the bit of red that's peeking out are the sock swap socks I got from Jespere), and under the whole thing, there are tights.


This is a very special pair of socks. They are the first socks I ever knit. I made them when I was 17. My parents went to the US for Christmas, but I stayed home in Germany because my high school graduation exams were coming up and I wanted to study. Hella Mantwill, a lady who looked after me and my sister while we were growing up, slept over at night to make sure I was safe, and she knit socks. I saw what she was doing and wanted to try, so she brought some green worsted weight wool she had lying around and showed me how. No pattern, just 48 stitches, and lots of patience.
She has been gone for almost 5 years now, but I'm holding on to these socks. We had such a good time watching movies, talking, and knitting socks. She gave me the gift of sock knitting without fear because she never once said it would be hard to learn. And next to her, it wasn't.


At this point, I think I also need to mention that I have an obsession with fashion tights. I love funky tights, and I have an entire drawer full of different kinds, from stripey to bat to a Baroque pastoral scene to solar system (seen here at the top).

And, since we're talking fashion: I had some purple extensions put in today! I love the way they look against my own color, and the best part is that they stay in for 4-6 months and can then be taken out without damaging my hip-length hair. That's so much better than bleaching and dyeing.


And now, back to socks. Hmmm, whose sock drawers would I like to see?

Oooh, I know! How about pixieriot, stariel and weezalana?

After Shot and Upside Down

I blame it on the yarn fumes. How else could I have forgotten to post an after shot of my newly organized stash?


Now, not everything you're seeing is knitting stash. There is my cross stitch stuff, Mr. Batty's miniature box, a dead laptop...
But it doesn't matter. There's all this new room, and all the yarn is safely tucked away. I'm a happy knitter.

To quote Monty Python's Flying Circus: "And now, for something completely different..."

An upside down shot of my progress on Tangerine Twist, or rather, Dusky Pink Twist, and some observations on knitting and photography.

Have you noticed how difficult it can be to photograph cables? Here, I'm using flash, and the color is very true to the original. But what of the Little Waves pattern? It's nearly invisible.


Same lighting, same everything, no flash. The cables stand out in beautiful relief, perfectly visible, lovely. Only the color is... less than pretty. Washed out orangey pink that looks like I stuffed my WIP in the washer with the husband's brown polo shirt and it bled. I guess you can't get both cables and perfect color with cheap artificial light!


I have started the heel on my Jaywalkers. After the many assurances that I am indeed not the last knitter on this green earth who is knitting these socks, I feel somewhat better. Not that I'm a trendsetter, or even trendy enough to follow the latest trend. But this is a very popular pattern, and I seriously hope I won't run into the many sizing problems people have had with this.


Next up: MS3 and the beads (sounds like a bad 80's band), more Jaywalker, and some mindless knitting.

Stash Reorg!

It all started with Jackie. Tuesday night, she mentioned that she'd joined the Mystery Stole 3 KAL. I told her I was too busy working on other projects. When I got home, I looked at other people's progress anyway, because, you know, it's mysterious. You don't know what it's going to look like till you're done!
I really liked what I saw. And then someone on knitty mentioned that part of the pattern is starting to look like skulls, possibly dragon skulls. That did it. I joined. I mean, it possibly has skulls in it, and I had just the perfect black yarn in my stash! Black laceweight, about 1400 yards, bought for $14.00! That's I why remembered it so precisely: I came home that day and told Mr. Batty, "Hey, look, an entire shawl's worth of yarn, and only 14 bucks!"
I was very excited.

So, I went looking through my stash. The bags, the bins, the bags outside the bins... no laceweight. What I was finding, though, was a whole bunch of beautiful yarn I'd completely forgotten about. It bothered me because it was so pretty and I didn't even know I had it.

And then I realized why. My stash needed reorganizing!

I mean, look at the chaos.


There was even some on my floor, right by my knitting chair.


Without delay, I went to buy another large bin, Ziploc bags big and small, and... I went at it. Mr. Batty and I have been together for almost 7 years, married for almost 4. I was pretty sure our marriage could withstand the knowledge of the sheer... yarniness going on around the house.


And I was right. He sat behind me the entire time. He thought the whole thing was cute and funny, until he heard a shocked exclamation coming from my general direction: "What the sock???"


They've told you that sock yarn doesn't count, and I've even said so myself. Well, look at the above picture. Look closely. Because this is what happens when you believe that sock yarn does not count. You end up with two extra large bags full of the stuff. Fortunately, the husband was amused, and he insisted of taking a picture.

This morning, I organized the rest of the stash. Now, it's beautifully sorted by weight, locked up in little baggies and bigger baggies and stored in 3 bins. There's no overflow, a distinct crochet stash, and a distinct fiber stash. Beautiful.

And I found it, my yarn for the Mystery Stole!


I feel like I have accomplished a lot.

WIP Friday (I think it's a tradition now)

4th of July was fun. We went to Battleship Cove in Fall River, which was far more interesting than I thought it would be! They have a destroyer, a cruiser, a submarine, and a huge battleship. That battleship is enormous, it used to carry 2000 crew -- an entire floating city. I didn't take any pictures, but I will the next time we go. It's an all-day activity and we only took half the day, which means there's much, much more to see.

Now, because this is a knitting blog, back to knitting. Tangerine Twist, or rather, Pink Twist, is making progress. There were some peculiarities about the pattern and I had to tweak a thing or two, but so far, I'm happy with the way it's coming along. It's a fun knit.


Am I the last person on the planet to knit these? Yes, it's Jaywalkers! The yarn is the Amethyst Stripe Shepherd Sock that was meant to become Sock Pal socks but didn't work with the Conwy pattern. So instead, it's becoming Jaywalkers. And it's working really well with this pattern, if I may say so myself.


It's been a busy weekend, but I even made progress on the Baltic Sea Stole. I like the fabric much better now that I'm using US 3 needles. I'm knitting it loosely on purpose, which is easier on the hands, makes the decreases easier, and still produces a lovely drape. And now, there's stitch definition, which was lacking before. I'm happy.


I hope everyone to whom it applies had a great July 4th!