Marathon Knitting

-or-

What I learned this weekend during the Socktopia Knit Off!

1. Have a really high quality yarn to use. If it doesn’t feel good in your hands, imagine how it will feel for 10 – 12 hour stretches of time.
2. Try to avoid small needles. Ok, I used size US 1 DPNs and they are pretty small. But in order to get gauge with my yarn I needed to use that size and I could have even used US 0 needles but – OUCH!
3. Stretch your hands and wrists before you start, and every time you put the needles down (for beverage refills, bathroom breaks, food runs and internet checks). Before going to bed, give your hands a nice massage with a good hand cream.
4. Have lots of TV to watch. Rent DVDs. Watch a season of some show you always wanted to see.
5. Load up the I-Pod with podcasts or an audio book.
6. Frequently check your posture. No slouching!
7. Have plenty of caffeinated beverages and chocolate in the house. M&Ms work best.
8. Go for a walk. You’ll need it!
9. If there is no one else around to do so, don’t neglect your pets. If they need a lap or a cuddle then put the needles down. You may need them to lay on your hands later to get the blood flowing through your hands again.

Mostly I learned that it is possible to knit a pair of socks (regular socks with 7 inches before the heel) in a weekend. Nothing else gets done, but it is possible. It’s very rewarding to finish within the time constraints. I am a little in love with my socks. It could be from the constant yarn fumes tho.

Socktopia Knit Off!

These socks were knit for the Socktopia Knit off! The pattern was published at noon on Saturday and the socks needed to be completed before 8PM on Monday. I finished these about an hour ago. They are knit out of Sock That Rock (medium weight), color is Fairgrounds. I'm really happy with them!

I’ve been a bad, bad girl

I was reading Grumprina’s site and she mentioned her favorite e-bay seller. I went there. I bought.

Yesterday I got “Favorite Socks” and “No Sheep for You” in the mail and I have about 37 projects newly added to the list.

I really have a problem.

I wish someone would have told me I was moving into a wool house.

Adventures in Dining Out

My Nephews are great fun to take out to dinner. They always have been. They never misbehave or run around or make a scene. They’re 8 and 7 now and they have their own favorite places to eat out (other than fast food).

One of those places is the Chinese Buffet in the next town over. Usually a Chinese Buffet place is the last on my list. I’ve eaten in a lot of crummy ones, but this one – really good. They refill the trays often so everything is hot and fresh and they have specialty dishes that change every time you go there.

Last weekend my SIL called and asked if I wanted to join her and the boys for Chinese Buffet since my brother was out for the evening? Yeah!

We planned to get there a little on the early side because that place gets crowded and with two kids it’s just easier to have room to move around the steam tables. We ordered our beverages and headed over to load up our plates. As I was reading which dish was which on the “sneeze guard”, I read something that surprised me. Nephew1 was next to me and so I said:

“Hey look. Read what that is.”
“Faaaa... I don’t know.”
“Yes you do. Try again.”
“Faaahhhhg. Fog,”
“No. One more try.”
“Feerrrog… Frog? Really?”

From the other side of the steam table Nephew2 pipes up “I wanna try it!” I put a frog leg on his plate.

My Brother and SIL don’t inflict their food likes and dislikes on the boys. My parents were the same and let us try anything we wanted to try. But frog is something I never wanted to try, or even look at. But, I wasn’t going to inflict my “ICK FROG!” thought on the boys. Neither was my SIL who felt the same way as I did.

We went back to the table and started to eat. We paid attention to Nephew2, watching out of the corner of our eyes to see if he would actually taste the frog leg. When he did we asked him what he thought. “It’s good. I like it!” He went back for seconds and Nephew1 went to try it too.

After Nephew1 took his first bite my SIL asked him “How is it? Does it taste like chicken?” Heh.

“No. It’s salty.” He didn’t eat any more but I think if it wasn’t “Salt & Pepper Frog” he may have had more.

Nephew2 had 3 helpings. When he went back for the 3rd, he rooted around to find the thighs because there was more meat on them.

I’m really proud of them for trying it; but I’m a little skeeved out too.

Knitting!

It's been a while since I had actual knitting content. Here is what I've been working on the most, even tho the WIPs are piling up (3 sweaters and the Lady Elenore shawl are waiting for me).

My March socks for Socktopia. I'm knitting the Roza Socks from the Spring 2007 Interweave. It's an easy pattern, and I love the brioche stitch.



(click for larger image)

I've also been working on the Cherry Leaf Shawl from Victorian Lace Today. I'm using Briar Rose Legacy which is thicker than called for in the pattern, but I wanted something that would be almost like a blanket. The yarn is wonderful to work with and the pattern, so far, is fairly easy. We'll see what happens when I get to the edging.


(sorry for the blurry photo)

I've also been working on a top down cardigan, again in Briar Rose yarn. I'm using a strand of Forth of July with a strand of the Sonoma that I won from the KAL site. I need to slide the stitches onto some waste yarn and see how the fit is across the shoulders before I get any further. But it's a quick knit so far and I love how the fabric is coming out.



And you may have noticed that a little someone has taken quite an interest in all things knitting. Can you blame her? She especially likes the Briar Rose yarn and my Knit Picks DPNs.



Either that or she's decided to become a camera hog.

The Law & Order Incident

I admit it. I’m a Law & Order fan. But for some reason I don’t usually watch on prime time, I only watch the re-runs on cable. Mostly I watch SVU and CI because I haven’t seen many of those episodes.

Last week I was flipping around the channels because my usual Tuesday night show (House) was pre-empted for 3 weeks so that Idol could greedily take over all of the Fox programming for that night (Wednesday night too – which pre-empted Bones. 4 hours of Idol a week for 3 weeks. Who can stand that much of the most annoying judges in prime time TV?) There was absolutely nothing “good” on. Then I came across the L&O CI at 9PM. COOL! I’ll watch this!

I snuggled into my chair, put my feet up and Katie jumped up and stretched out along my legs from thigh to ankle. This is a new thing. See picture below; it’s so funny and it kind of pins me down. Last night she was so anxious to get on my lap that she laid down on my yarn so I couldn’t knit.

I hadn’t seen any CI episodes with Chris Noth and I was looking forward to it. Katie continued to snuggle stretching herself longer and longer along my legs. It was a good show, but I get confused when they start talking about which Middle Eastern country could have been behind the murder plot and the reason for it. It was kind of an unsolved murder.

The show ended and I was starting to contemplate going to bed. Katie was still stretched long, snuggling her little nose between my ankles when that noise happened. You know the noise I mean? The metallic, resonating dah-dah? The Law & Order noise? The noise that had played several times the hour before played again at the start of L&O SVU and it scared Katie so bad that she launched herself sideways, across the coffee table and ended up on the other side of the living room on the love seat. She scared the be-jesus out of me. I felt so bad for the poor little thing. She sat there collecting herself and I didn’t want to do anything to make her think she did something bad or that something bad was happening in the house.

That’s when I felt it. Pain. Searing, itching, pain in long strips down my legs. Yup – I was scratched all down my calf and across the shin of the other leg.

I'm healing nicely and I should be able to wear skirts and hose again in the near future...