the quacking fiber addict

What have I been up to these past couple of days? Oh, well, let's see...

Mum and I tried to start reupholstering her set of 8 Edwardian oak dining chairs yesterday (we spent the day before in Hell Depot and Jo-Ann's getting supplies). After a practice run on a very strange footstool (has anyone ever heard of cedar wood shavings being used as cushion filling??), Mum and I pulled out the first chair seat. "If we can get two of these done today, I'll be happy," she told me.


Only to find that the chairs were really well made - oak seat frames, dozens upon dozens of iron tacks, silk velvet upholstery, silk batting under the seats, linen broadcloth under the silk batting and then 4" of wool rag encased horse-hair filling the cushions. All afternoon yesterday, we'd pull up another layer only to find that the frame was that much further away.

"Mum, we're going to be lucky if we get one chair a day done!" She waved me off, determined to finish two chairs by 6. After a couple more hours of pulling out iron tacks, ripping off jute webbing and oil-cloth, Mum sat down, huffing.

"We're might not get this chair done today," she finally admitted.

And we didn't. After another hour or so, she and Dad finally agreed that we might just want to consider the possibility of making plywood copies of the frames (er, frame, as we've only managed to strip one) and reupholster them.

After that, we had to clean up quickly to meet with some old friends who were in town, visiting their son. Our families had been in the same congregation in MD, so they called us when they were flying this way. We took them to a truly authentic Chinese restaurant and then home for dessert. I snapped a shot right before they left:


Sooo, that should explain why I haven't made that much progress on the Mystery Stole (scarf in my case) 3 or le Tour de Fleece...


And why I ache all over and still can't get the dirt completely out from under my finger nails (arrrrg). What's that? Here's a close-up of the stole IP:


I finally went back to the evil that is known as Jo-Ann's this afternoon to get a magnetic board and line magnifier. Last night I managed to cut and paste all of the charts into one file and printed it out - just so I wouldn't have to flip back and forth between the charts for the L and R sides. Of course, the charts are now tiny and require a magnifying rod - which is fine, because it clips to the stand.

Project specs? I'm completely crazy, but still smitten with the bamboo. I'm using Addi 2.5 mm's (US 1.5) instead of the recommended 3.5 mm (US 4). My stole's going to be smaller than intended, but I preferred the look of the lace knit with the smaller needles. Oh, and I am mad in love with Addi Turbo lace needles right now.

I'm also sorry (and embarrassed) to have to admit that I'm further behind than ever in my bloglines subscripts. My laptop and wireless card just aren't up to the new LAN set-up we got, so I'm stuck using the family PC. 30 mins a day to check my email, Peace Corps status, and other web stuff is clearly not enough. Hopefully, I'll get the cash together soon (after I get a job) to update my little Dell.

Until then? *sigh*

Well, on the bright side, maybe I'll have more time to knit with less internet access.

Labels: family, insanity, lace, le Tour de Fleece 2007, MS3

Vancouver sucked. Drivers were crazy (and drunk). The guards at the celebration wouldn't let me take my knitting needles in. We had to walk a 1/2 mi back to the car to put them back. People got increasingly drunk as darkness fell (shooting off more and more fireworks over our heads*) and one idiotic woman nearly ran over my brother.

Seriously - I had to grab his shirt and yank him back**. Mum was screaming (as were everyone else watching). That was when we decided to leave - in the middle of the fireworks show, too.

I managed a couple of shots before it was too dark (we arrived around 7 pm). Here're Mum and Emm on top of the hill we sat on (however brief a period):




... right about where the car tried to drive over the hill, a couple dozen families, and my brother. Genius, really.

Sooo... haven't gotten any knitting done. The majority of the day was spent at Jo-Ann's and Home Depot. Both of which Mum and I have vowwed never to return to.

All in all, today sucked. I'm going to go and knit something. Screw startitis. I'm casting on whatever I feel like right now.

* there's a reason these things are illegal in many states.
** which probably wouldn't have helped in the long run - I was standing right behind him. Thank goodness Mum and several onlookers were screaming.

Labels: idiocy, insanity

It turns out that our house is not invisible to the eyes of mail carriers, in a different dimension, or "VACANT 1506" as previously claimed.

Right now you're thinking: "What?"

Oh, let me explain. I ordered a pattern, Titania's Revenge (to use with my lovely lovely Puck's Mischief), from Blue Moon a fortnight ago. I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, when I returned home after BSG, I emailed them - wondering where the heck my pattern was.

I imagine it was sitting in their office, flocked by similiar parcels of patterns or yarn, waiting for a 'correct' address. Apparently the mail carrier had deemed our house "VACANT 1506" (whatever that means), the pattern undeliverable, and sent it back to Blue Moon. I was told that if I gave them an acceptable address, they'd send it to me (and charge shipping fees again).

I explained that, no, our house isn't vacant - erm, we've been residing here for, what, like, 3 weeks-ish? The furniture has been here at least that long. And that I've received several packages at this address without a problem - clearly the mail carrier who is responsible is delusional.

The very nice customer service person offered to send it again (free of additional charges), but asked for the names of the other people in the house - so that there'd be no excuse for USPS to turn it back again. Her clever plot worked and my new pattern arrived this afternoon:


Now I just need to get my Addi's free (3" to the toes!), and I can start on 'em.

Labels: insanity

Real internet! Yaaaaaaay. So, here's that picture of Portland from the top of Mt Tabor I've been promising:



The past two days I've been moving around a lot: Portland to Eugene to St Paul to Portland. In Eugene, we got ready for the Black Sheep Gathering and the Sheep-to-Shawl competition:

The Sinister Spinsters

St M, Emmos and I slaved away for the 12 hours after S-t-S trying to get a wraplan done for the baby of a friend (the shower was this afternoon)...





Possibly not the final version, though.

Anyway. Literally as Emmos ran out the door to deliver the wraplan, St M and I started getting ready for TheBon's wedding. I hate make-up and I hate panty-hose, it must be said. But I wore 'em both. Emmos got back from her errands and dashed into her closet. Literally 5 minutes later, we ran out the door and hit the road. We managed to just make it to The Oak Grove before the service. I took tons of pictures:

TheBon's wedding

The service was sweet and short (my favourite descriptives). Bonnie's dress was gorgeous, as was her lace shawl (a true wedding ring shawl). Everything was great. But now I'm home and tired, and I'm going to bed. St M and Emmos and Opus and I are going on a Portland yarn crawl tomorrow - I'm gonna need all the rest I can get.

Labels: BSG, handspun, insanity, Sheep-to-Shawl

At 4:00 pm (PST) today, I cast on the Knit Like A Pirate Tricorn Hat. I had remembered this morning (3 days before POTC 3 comes out) that I had sworn last time (POTC 2) that I would have one knit up in time for the premiere. I hang out with geeks (hey, I AM one) and we like to dress up whenever you give us an excuse.

At 5:25 pm, I am nearly done with the brim (on Row 9).

Can I get this knit by the weekend?

Of course, Dad, I told him as I plopped the yarn (Lion Brand Lion Wool, 'ebony') on a counter at the store in question.

I guess we'll see. Back to the knitting... Better update forthcoming. (clearly I am not dead and my house hasn't burnt down - I'm just a bad blogger right now)

Labels: cast on, insanity, knitting

... though, at this rate, I may just have to strangle them all in their sleep.

Mum came this morning to visit. After a nap, she immediately started criticizing every. single. bloody. thing. in the house. How we were storing unused items. How dirty the floor was. Why were the china and pots and pans all stored together? Why were there dirty dishes stacked on the counters?

How about because we've been working our asses off doing things like weeding, hauling crap off to the dump/ yard refuse place, and moving shite out to the storage shed.

Dad and Emmett finally concocted an excuse to escape (I decided to do laundry). Then, whilst weeding she managed to throw dirt and weeds on my head at least 3 x I can recall. Carelessness or passive aggressive?

I kept snapping at her, because a headfull of dirt isn't my idea of fun. She kept telling me not to take it personally. Right. Arguments ensued.

Over dinner (which should have been nice), she and Dad started arguing. I ordered a cease-fire, both parties ignored me, and kept snapping and snarling.

Joy.

I decided to ignore them both and cast on another test pair of spox (this time for the "alternate" pattern), until Mum finished her meal and we left. I then shoved the yarn and needles into my bag (bad, bad idea) only to seriously regret it later. It took me over 1/2 an hour to create order from the chaos and start knitting.

Oy.

At least I finally got my bath, right? (If we ignore the fact that I had to scrub the tub out twice, because Mum had plopped the grouting bucket down in it, creating a nice, gritty mess)

As I said, I think I love my family.

[P.S. Emm got an iPod today (finally!!) and of course spent the day walking around with his headphones in, trying to talk to people whilst listening to music. He'd also announce at odd moments what he was listening to, and why it rocked.]

{I need a vacation from these people}

Labels: cast on, family, gardening/ weeding, insanity, The Move

I was so doozy last night that I didn't manage to post the other half of my evening. I am such a ditz. Yesterday, St M came over and had our "alternative" Seder with us, I received my Knit Picks Cotlin (snarl), and the geometry is kicking my ass (hence the title of last night's post).

How is the geometry kicking my ass?? Do you remember back to the days when A*2 + B*2 = C*2? I do. Trying to apply such logic to knitting (specifically the instep decreases on a sock) is futile, idiotic, and insane all at once. I was near tears by the time I decided that I was not going to look at the damn Spox pattern for another 24 hours.

Then, this morning, hahaha. I had the crazy I idea to try something different. No, I am not going to explain it. It would take too long, and it brings back painful memories.

Anyway, that's the condensed second half of last night's post.

Onto tonight's post. Here's tonight's quote:

“Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.”
Oscar Wilde

The story of my life.

Moving on. Today I received my Handdyed Roving Swap parcel. Since I have too many photos, I'm going to direct you to the pictures on Flickr. After that (and battling the bloody Spox pattern) I went to Homework Club. Or so I thought. Apparently (although we hadn't been told) it was cancelled. Emmos took me, instead, to see her workplace. We then went on to dinner and the EWES. A local spinner we (the "babies", *snark*) all really like was this week's hostess. Here's Emmos, laughing, with her wheel:


(I spun the hand-dyed roving I received from girlbotgoods). I'd say C's first EWES hostessing gig went well, as Emmos and I didn't leave until after 10. We got there at 7. Twas lots of fun. Emmos offered to show me the "scenic" route home, and we proceeded to get lost. So, I got home at 11 pm after lots of star-gazing on some rural highway. I didn't care, it was fun.

Mum wanted to watch Casino Royale again, so I cast on a new project. I made it through the first 30 mins before I saw this:


I am very annoyed. I usually really like Knit Picks. I've been pleased with their lace and sock yarns. This, though, is really unacceptable. It's just awful, and I'm going to have to cut the entire mess out and weave in the ends. Joy.

It was as I stomped upstairs that I decided that, damn it, I needed to knit something for myself that required no shaping and yarn I knew wouldn't give me a headache. Mum's shawl is out of the question. The Queen of Cups nearly reduced me to tears. My silk pullover is beautiful but the yarn has slubs that I have to watch for (or else regret it eternally). The Spox, it turns out, are too big for me and are going to go to Mum.

So. I am casting on SOMETHING tomorrow with my Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace. I've wound it and know for CERTAIN that there are no knots, slubs, weird ends, or general ickyness.

This isn't Startitis. It's self-preservation.

Labels: designing, friends, handspun, idiocy, insanity, knitting

“Men come together in cities in order to live; they remain together in order to live the good life.”
Aristotle

What a loooooong day. I got up just as A was about to run out the door, to work, and was given 10 minutes to decide if I wanted to go into The City (read: San Fransisco) or entertain myself in the south Bay Area. I opted for The City, but didn't have any time to get a friend's cell # or look up anything I might have wanted to see. I decided to play it by ear.

It must be noted that my sister's ability to predict the weather is decidedly lacking. As we ran out of the house the sky was a rich blue. A mentioned that she was envious that I got to spend the day in The City with the weather so lovely. But, by the time Caltrain arrived in SF proper there was a very large, very dark, very black thunderhead floating in overhead:


As I walked towards Artfibers Yarns (TheBon insisted that I visit them, and I'm glad I did) the weather got decidedly damper. I was very glad to dash indoors and look at yarn for a bit. This store was incredibly dangerous. Like Knit Picks, they only carry their own yarns straight from the mills. They had some amazing mixes (cotton with stainless steel) and enough lush yarn to tempt me to bankrupt myself. I managed to rein myself in and only got enough yarn for a sweater. I was drawn to the silk yarns (who could blame me?) and to two particular yarns/ colours as well. I finally gave in and paid for the yarns I really wanted:

• Zabumba: 80%/ 20% nylon boucle-like yarn in a tidepool colourway. It knits up to 24 sts/ 4 inches on size US 3 needles. It was so gorgeous and light (and expensive) that I got some to act as a decorative touch to the main yarn...
• Hana: 100% silk, smooth and shiny and peacock blue. It knits up to 26 sts/ 4 inches on size US 3 needles. It was suuuuch a deep and vibrant colour and so soft that I wanted it the moment I saw it.

Soooo... yeah, more yarn. But I'm already designing the sweater it's gonna be.

After spending too much money on yarn, I started walking. I didn't know where I was going, so I decided to follow the trail of pretty, old buildings. Somehow, I ended up in Chinatown. Noticing that everything around me was in Chinese, I decided to do some shopping for presents. No pictures, sorry. Maybe later.

Anyway, as I left a little Pho restaurant the sky opened. Soon I began to wonder if I was going to need gills. By the time I got to the Caltrain station I was literally soaked. I had ducked into 3 separate buildings (buying more hot chocolate in one day than I normally drink in a week), under several awnings (huddled with other bemused walkers), before realising that I couldn't get any wetter and just decided to walk it.

All in all, I walked 4 mi (I used the gmap pedometer and everything).

Well, that's everything. By the time A picked me up in Mountain View, at another coffeehouse (yes, I ducked into another one and bought another hot chocolate), I was exhausted and wet and soaked and a bit wet.

Now it's time to knit. And teach A to knit.

Labels: insanity, knitting, LYS review, travel

I'm completely crazy, but I had an idea for a children's picture book this evening. I doodle the same little sheep a lot (her name is Lana). She shows up on the pages of my calendar, my notes, whatever. She always looks inquisitive, too. Tonight I wanted to draw her with another sheep (her older brother, Tessus) and a sheepdog (their friend Linus). On top of giving them names, I also came up with a title for said children's story.

Clearly, I am insane. This diagnosis is further proven by the fact that I spent the next 1/2 hour pondering why they looked so curious and puzzled. And I decided that they were on a quest to find out where all the wool goes.

See? I am insane.

Anyway. Moving on.

I promised (several days ago) that I'd post pix of the marvelous goodies my partner, varandra, from the Magic Yarn Ball Swap 3, sent me. Here's the box everything was hidden in:



After letting Mum pull out everything she could find in the ball (she was having too much fun, IMO), I rewound the yarn into sensible balls. Here's the yarn (Garnstudio's Silk/Alpaca) with my favourite items:


I'm still amazed she managed to get everything IN there. Wow. My magic yarn ball skills need some practice. Here's the list of everything:
- a rubber duck shower cap
- a pink ducky toothbrush holder
- Salta - salted licorice candies
- Zoo - fruit candies (animal shaped)
- chocolate that's already been eaten
- a spicey licorice lolly-pop
- "Let's Talk" post-it notes
- 2 cabled bag patterns
- stickers!
- 3 winter post cards
- an "angora" rabbit charm (he might just end up on my cell phone...)
- an Ikea bag (I'm gonna have to guard this with my life out here)
- a glow-in-the-dark/ reflective zipper ghost
- and a really cool collapsible PINK gift box

Just... wow. I <3 swaps majorly.

And, um, I've forgotten everything else I was gonna write. That chamomile tea has gone straight to me brain *yawn*. Maybe I'll remember tomorrow. Salve.

Labels: craft swaps, insanity, Lana