the quacking fiber addict

Is it Sunday evening already? Wow, that was... fractured. I had a couple of really low days there, so not much was done. Other than lying in bed, wondering what I had done to piss off Hashem so badly.

But I'm better now, and have finally admitted to myself that it's time to buck up and go to a psychologist. The antidepressants are clearly not working. I hate having to try new drugs (friends and family can tell about the horror of me on Welbutrin), but I hate the lows even more.

Anyway. Enough drama. Somehow, I managed to knit a bit. The heels of the Baudelaires took longer than any other heels I've knit. This might be due to my own problems at the time, or it might just be due to the fact that the heels are f*cking insane.


Genius. I'm not denying the genius of toe-up heel gussets/ flaps. But insane. Clearly insane. Cookie A. must have some interesting thoughts.

Tonight was supposed to be a Knitting Southies meet-up (ravelry), but I ended up being the only one to turn out. Nice, I know. I forgive Aimee, as she has a young daughter. To make myself feel better, I indulged in yarn therapy. Looking around Mabel's, I sought the perfect yarn for Mona's Embossed Leaves socks.

Finally, I spied the Green Mountain Spinnery cubbies. Ah, c'est magnifique. The colourway "Yarrow" immediately made me think of Birch leaves in autumn, so I snatched up two skeins of Cotton Comfort (20% organic cotton/ 80% wool - and machine washable!), to be used as soon as I get some needles free:


Did I mention that I took out Favourite Socks and Knitting On The Road from the local library? No? Hehehe.

Aaand look, more knitting news!, I'm nearly done with the left sleeve of the SBT, now affectionately known as Miss Lizzy's Spencer:


I've always been fond of the character Elizabeth Bennett, from Pride & Prejudice. Designing something with her in mind has been of interest ever since I read the "Jane Austen knitting" thread on Craftster.

In non-knitting news, I applied for 10 different jobs on Friday. I have absolutely no doubt that I will not be hired for any of them. Which is fine, I have tons of yarn to keep me company.

Oh, and finally, ravelry is going to steal my soul. Sockdown: Ravelry is a success. The SKA hyas 740+ members, and I'm losing track of all the forums I'm on. It's worse crack than Craftster. Someone saaave me. (well, not really, I'm having too much fun)

Labels: baudelaire, depression, ravelry, socks, yarn p0rn

It was so hot and humid today, I almost felt like I was back on the East Coast. We're expecting another thunderstorm tonight, which is shocking to me - 2 in one summer in Oregon? Strange.

This afternoon, I received four teasers - the 4 extra bobbins for my en route Journey Wheel:



After fixing the sewing machine (again) for Mum, cleaning, doing several loads of laundry, and slaying a small chimaera, I took the sock to Laurelhurst Park:


The sock didn't like the weather, either. But we fared better than either of the 'rents or the dog. It was quite pathetic, really, how droppy Charlie was - he wouldn't even play with the other dogs at the park. That was another first.

Because we were on the right side of town, I dragged Mum, Dad and Charlie to Twisted. Oh, yes, Charlie came in, too, to ooh's and ahh's. I liked the store. They've made an effort to stock unusual yarns, like recycled rayon and Tibetan hemp. The store's still new and their shelves are a little bare (good publicity has helped them with that), but I also really appreciated the fact that they had a wall of sock yarn. Sock yarn other stores in the area don't carry, like Cherry Tree Hill (drool), Woolarina, aaand Dreaming in Colour's 'Smooshy':


I'm sorry. I couldn't resist it's siren song. It kept whispering sweet nothings to me when the young ladies were chatting with Mum. 'Knit me! Knit me! I want to be a pair of Embossed Leaves socks! I know you want me... Knit me!"

Oh, right. Speaking of Embossed Leaves socks... (deep breath)... Mona Schmidt, the designer, has agreed to be the SKA's Mystery Sock designer for November! (little squee)

And that is all the news I have right now. So sleepy and we're getting up early to drive along the Columbia River Gorge to the Dalles. Expect lots of traveling sock photos tomorrow...

Labels: LYS review, socks, travelling sock(s), WIP, yarn p0rn

Today was one of those disconcerting, existential, surreal days. All day I felt wrong, like I was in the wrong body, living the wrong life. I couldn't knit anything. I didn't want to eat. And everything I touched turned to lead or broke.

Oy.

To make matters worse, the family was snippy again and I finally couldn't take it any longer. I snapped and started screaming. It wasn't pretty. But I've since apologized and sat in my corner trying to psychoanalyze myself.

First thing I noticed? Analyzing oneself isn't the easiest task in the world. Finally, I just admitted to myself that this is all probably part of the frustration of the move, being unemployed and still living with my parents.

Let's add a 'gavault' to that 'oy' above.

But, to make matters somewhat easier on us all, I come bearing more pictures of the Portland parks, and the PNW, from Lake Oswego:




The last one is something pretty cool and amazing (even for the 10-year-Girl-Scout) - a holly tree growing out of the stump of a long-dead cedar tree. Now, I've seen young trees growing out of the stumps of old ones, but they've always been the same type of tree. It was really cool to see a holly paired with a cedar.

And, on top of the pretty greeness, I also come bearing yarn p0rn:


You are looking at the LAST TWO skeins of Shi Bui Sock "Orchid". At the Sip'n'Knit tonight, I saw (omg, what's her name?) walking by with an armload of too-beautiful-to-be-real yarn and immediately asked if those skeins were what I thought they were.

They are. They're also the last two in the store. The other ones in the shipment have been on order for several knitters for the past 3 weeks. Realising this might be my last chance for another month (or more) to get the yarn I've coveted for weeks, I immediately pulled out my checkbook.

And, you want to know something sad?, they didn't even ask for my name or address this time. They have it all memorized. This is a bad, bad sign. And Opus didn't even stop me! Bad girl. She promised last week that she'd stop me the next time I tried to buy yarn.

*sigh*

After buying the yarn, waiting for it to be wound, and knitting a bit, we decided to leave at around 7:30-ish. I hadn't eaten and Opus hadn't eaten what we would call real food. And it was hot in there.

Just as we finished dinner and were leaving the restaurant, the sky opened and lightning laced across the sky in an eerily East-Coast-sort-of-way. The natives were all excited and immediately started counting between the flash and crash. I, instead, though about getting somewhere insulated.

Summer storms in D.C. meant either: A) flash floods, or: B) tornadoes.

But, I managed to get home (damp and frazzled) safe enough to lose my cool. Joy. I'm probably going to be hearing about this for weeks. Oh, well. It happens.

Tomorrow we get to clean the house because the landlord is coming by. Oooh, what fun. I'll even give you the Peace Corps update tomorrow, to keep the next post from being completely boring.

Labels: family, Portland, Sip'n'Knit, yarn p0rn

Sorry for the itsy bitsy pictures, but I'm on Portland free Wi-Fi at the moment, and since it's offered by MSN it inherently hates Blogger. Sooo... clickies if you want to see them bigger.

We got up at 9 am when the movers arrived an hour early and started frantically packing (well, I showered first, I can't say as much for my brother). After 4 hours of intensive boxing and sorting, the kitchen was packed and Mum and I were thoroughly exhausted. The boys hadn't finished loading the truck and actually suggested leaving my stuff behind because 'there wasn't enough room'.

Right. Nuh-uh. Mum and I left about an hour earlier than the boys and, alas, I didn't get to test my Contortionist Knitting abilities as I had hoped. The trip was stop-and-go the entire way, so I had to hold onto Lapis' tank with both hands all the way to the house*. I suppose I could have tried knitting with my feet (I can write with my right foot), but it didn't seem feasible as my feet were resting on two bags and ensconced in shoes. Thus is my sad excuse for not making any sock progress.

But, I do bring yarn p0rn! When we went to open the door of our new rental house, I noticed some interesting bulges in the doormat. Our nice postal worker had hidden several packages under the mat! That's a first. Tammy, lovely wonderful person that she is, sent me Socks That Rock! I mentioned to her at the Harlot's Powell's event that I was severely disappointed that I had never managed to get Socks That Rock lightweight yarn in Puck's Mischief, so she sent me some! How sweet is she? And it's sooooo pretty...


I simply must cast on with this yarn ASAP. And I already have a 'thank you' gift arranged, mwahaha. Think lavendar-ish. Anyway, that little parcel totally made up for the 6 hours of sleep I got, packing, moving, unloading, and unpacking many, many boxes and huge pieces of furniture.

Back to the honking big furniture. Dad and Emm (and Charlie) arrived about 1.5 hours after us (Mum and I went grocery shopping in that time), and we immediately got to work, so that everyone would have a bed to sleep in tonight (and maybe some clothes to wear in the morning):


We didn't quite manage the 'clothes to wear in the morning' angle for Mum & Dad as their dressers were the first pieces to be loaded on the truck. Since my stuff was the last to go in, and the first out (I think there might be some envy about that), so I actually have a furnished room at the moment:


All I need to do is summon up the energy to get up, walk down the hall, and put sheets on my bed, and then I can lie in a horizontal position for as long as I like.

Now there is a happy thought. Thank you everyone for the well-wishes, now I think I'm going to sit here and think about nothing. Toodle-oo.

*this did not prevent me from singing Irish ditties as loud as I could the entire way.

Labels: SSE, The Move, yarn p0rn

“The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.”
Oscar Wilde

Just another one of those days.

A Costco run was made (we have food again!) and Dad made the spur-of-the-moment decision to buy Emm that mp3 player he's been wanting. Because our father is a cheap bastard*, he edged away from getting Emm an iPod Nano. Emm was opposed to the iPod on principle, he claimed that they were only popular because of their name. I tried to convince him otherwise, but to no avail.

As soon as we were in the parking lot, Emm tore into the box and started fiddling with it (it's worth mentioning here that he didn't read the directions). When we got home, we all went our separate ways - me to photograph the lovely yarn and goodies Amanda at Bulldog Knits sent me as my Mystery Sock KAL prize:


Emm went, of course, to plug his mp3 player into his 'puter. Dad went to... well, I have no idea. I sat down on the bare floor, surrounded by my knitting bits and bobs. As I was working on the chart for a lace stole pattern I'm working on, I heard a banesidhe-worthy wail. I paused, pen hovering above the grid-paper. Another wail and Emm came rushing out of his room.

"It won't work!! You have to fix it!!" He demanded, looking rather on edge. I sighed, put my pen down and got up.

"Alright, you go and get me a gluestick from Dad and I'll fix it."

Well, I tried, anyway. After an hour of wailing and hair-pulling and mild hysterics on Emm's part, I finally figured out (after I sent him to bother Dad, the racket was driving me insane) that the mp3 player could not work with Emm's puter - he didn't have a High Speed 2.0 USB port.

Right.

Whatever that is**. In the duration, I got Rhapsody working (despite Emm's claims that you had to pay to subscribe, which you don't) and iTunes installed (just in case).

So, after several long arguments with both the males - Emm declared that he never wanted to see another mp3 player ever again, whilst Dad argued with everything I said (likely on principle). Could I really be certain that an iPod would work with Emm's computer? Well, even if my iPod did, there're no assurances that a new one would, are there? And on and on and on...

Finally, the mp3 player was put away when Dad and Emm agreed that Emm could use Dad's new(er) 'puter (which does, indeed, have these new-fangled "High Speed" USB ports) tomorrow to transfer his mp3 files to the player.

All's well that ends well, I suppose - except I had just spent over an hour arguing about mp3 players with two people who've never even used one. By that time, I was a bit twitchy and realised that I needed to start dinner.

St M arrived as I threw the rice in to simmer. We were planning on going to the Monday Night Knitters (after dinner) - until we found out that the truck's battery was dead (moral: never leave the lights on all damn day). So, we went back to watching Ninja Warrior and then Jon Stewart and Colbert. I want some of that ice cream, y'all.

St M went home at around 10. I finished the left spock - buttons and all, and have rewritten the pattern to also suit people who have larger ankles and insteps. People like me. Crazy thought, eh?

And, a knitting meme! Stolen from Tamara's blog:

Mark with bold the things you have ever done, with italics, the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn (I've got some to spin up!)
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)(I sooooo want to do this!)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting (??)
Dyeing with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding (TheBon's wedding is coming up...)
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Spinning
Knitting with someone else's handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles (but don’t like them)
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine (I'm working on it)
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets (uh, no. never.)
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair (ew)
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

I'm surprised because I've done nearly everything on the list, or plan to. Crazy kudos to me, I guess. And this post has gone on waaay too long. Night night.

*and I say that in the most loving way possible, but he really does make things difficult because of his skinflint tendencies.

** One would guess that it's a hopped up USB port; but I've never used one, that I know of.

Labels: family, meme, yarn p0rn