CygKnit

Packing up and moving

2008-01-08T09:49:00.000-05:00

Over to Wordpress!

Come visit me at http://cygknit.wordpress.com/

Sit down and stay a while, you hear?

Under the wire

2008-01-01T19:36:00.000-05:00

My last FO of the year slid in under the wire at 10:50ish last night.

Baby Bib O' Love for Terry's baby girl. It was made to distract her from the fact that I have not yet finished the blanket I've promised her. I'm not sure if it worked. I am making a larger version of the lovey I knit for Em, close to a full blanket size. It has been an easy and comforting knit--except that I ran out of yarn. After calling a variety of stores locally AND in South Carolina, I finally stumbled upon one that actually offered to order some for me. It's a new yarn store for me, Yarn Garden. It's only about 20 minutes from me, and may possibly become a replacement LYS for the local one that went out of business. The 20% student discount is a powerful motivator.

In an effort to dodge the end-of-year wrap up that so many bloggers do, I'm entertaining myself with a contest from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I chose to enter option 1:

Post a picture of your recipe box (binder, drawer, whatever) on your blog if you have one. Also post one recipe from the box. Then, post a comment to this post containing a link to your blog entry, so that I can find you and link to your recipe box. (Let's review: post on your blog, comment on our blog with a link.) TIDYING UP YOUR BOX IS CHEATING.

Here's my box:

I didn't tidy a thing up, including the shelf it sits on. Or dust, for that matter.

I bought my box in the mid '90's as a (too) young matron. I was living in Texas and working at a craft mall at the time with stalls of handmade items at my fingertips. The woman who painted this box was highly in demand. Her items, no matter how large or small, sold out within a few days of restocking. I admit to having more than a few of her pieces, though my style has changed considerably from those country-loving days.

The recipes in the box are a time-capsule of my life during that period. I was experimenting with cooking and with my role as wife. There are recipes clipped from magazines, recipes quickly scribbled as co-workers recited them, recipes won in Tupperware party games. The marriage didn't last, but the recipe box did.

My favorite is this one, given to me by a friend's mom years ago:

There are as many recipes for Coca-Cola Cake as there are big-haired women in Texas, and I've never found the perfect match to this one to fill in the pieces. I made it a number of times before it was lost, with varying degrees of success. It's a bear to make, but so rich and so filling that it's totally worth the work. I miss it some days.

I'll share this one, then, in honor of the New Year. It is a Southern tradition to make black-eyed peas for luck. There is little else in this world that goes with them then a fine cornbread:

Click for big, if interested

The only instructions? 8x8 pan, 395* for 28 mins.

Happy New Year from all of us at the CygKnit household

Coming to You Live From South Carolina

2007-12-22T09:47:00.000-05:00

As we speak, the boy is downstairs, in the loving arms of Grandma. This is a beautiful thing for mama, who relished her first shower completely alone in weeks. Grandma is no doubt feeding said infant cheese sandwiches on wheat bread* but I assure you at this glorious towel-wrapped moment I do not care.

I have a few things that have been poking in the back of my head, demanding to be blogged. I present you with:

-- A FO! This is a wee lovey made for Em from Plymouth Heaven gifted to me at my Florida baby shower. I think I blogged about it ages ago, possibly before Em was born (way to finish project, huh?)

And another view:

You may notice something amiss is the middle? Um, yeah. I tried to knit on a bear head, a la this, and it did not work. Compared to the Heaven, any other yarn seems as scratchy and nasty as the cheapest acrylic. Knit in Heaven, a bear head has all the definition of a lump of snow. So, rather than just rip it back (which is a trick with the Heaven) I had the grand idea of just snipping it off. You see where this is going--I snipped the blanket instead of the head and was faced with a big old hole. Some blind sewing later (this yarn is nothing if not camouflaging) and the whole is closed, if ugly. The boy loves it, though.

For the record, it was knit on size 13 (9 mm) needles. I cast on 35 stitches, I think, and alternated four rows of the variegated and two of white in garter stitch. (There is no such thing as stitch definition with this yarn, so don't even bother with the knits and purls.) I finished it off with a double crochet edging in the white, with the biggest hook I had around. It's about 12" by 18" (30 x 45 cm), perfect for a little lovey.

-- Next up: Yarn!

I won a contest of over at Imbrium's a few months back and received this lovely skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot as my prize. Yum-o. Sadly, it arrived while I was in the end-of-semester crunch and aside from photographing it for Ravelry, I totally forgot to mention it. Regardless of that glaring blogger error, I am still really happy to have won my first contest and get such a coveted (by me) prize.

-- Finally, a WIP. Kinda. Young Master Em is rapidly outrgowing his hats (I have sworn since the day he was born that boy had a big head). I told Mr. C that I would be more than happy to (finally) knit a hat, if he would pick it out. He picked a Viking helmet. Of course. (I only have a Ravelry link to it). Here is the "metal" band with rivets:

And here is the "leather" helmet portion:

Sadly, it is stalled because the pattern was on her blog but exists no longer. Being the Queen of Prepared that I am, I failed to print it out. For once, I was prepared to make that leap to FO and have been thwarted. I'm hoping she'll repost that page soon.

-- Finally (for real this time), here's a picture of my six month old boy. (I am THAT woman who bores everyone with pictures of how cute her kid is.) He's airing out a bit from a teething rash, here, after mama learned that he needs to air out WITH a diaper (cloth, of course) rather than without. Hence the bumper in the wash.

I don't know how much time I'll have again until after Christmas, when I'm back from SC, so Merry Merry to those that celebrate it. For those that don't, I'll see you at the Chinese restaurant.

*This has become a joke between my sister and I, as my mother attempted to feed a three month-old Em some cheese, and just yesterday tried to give his six month-old self wheat bread. Considering my personal list of allergies is longer than my list of non-allergic foods, my heart stops when I see my child fed things known to cause life-long intolerances. Fun times with the Fam.

It's not about freaking out the muggles. That's just a bonus.

2007-12-11T10:02:00.000-05:00

I took a much needed break on Saturday from paper writing to meet Jessalu at a Starbucks halfway between the two of us. I've spent months trying to learn chain plying, but without actual three dimensional instructions I was lost.

Friday evening Mr. C. was at a work networking-thingie (a Neil Young concert, go figure), so once Em was down I pulled my wheel into the living room, geared up the Tivo and finished up the Ravelry BFL I started a few weeks ago. The last few dozen yards were colored by anxiety over extra lateness and snow-covered roads. Nervousness causes some wicked over-spinning.

Taken at not quite a full bobbin, but with better light than 2 am produces

At 11 the next morning I met Jess at Starbucks. That location was PACKED, with a line out to the door more than once. We snagged a sunny (and hot) squishy couch and looked a lot like this:

Neither of us were feeling particularly photogenic Saturday, but our wheels were.

It amazed me the number of people who came up to talk about the spinning. Many were led by small children unafraid of staring. Other's stopped their walk by the windows to watch from outside, much like we were inside an exhibit.

I've spun in public only at the Hancock Shaker village. There, it wasn't a curiosity, it was a demonstration. At Starbucks we were a bit of a sideshow (someone even asked if Starbucks hired us to bring in business). I had a lot of time to reflect how humbling it is to learn a new technique with an audience looking on.

When I got home I tossed aside hopes of finishing my paper in favor of plying the rest of the bobbin. I live on the edge, I know.

The picture above shows two different qualities. The foreground has my early attempts, with no continuity in the spinning as I stopped too often to clear tangles. The back of the niddy noddy shows the end of the plying, which has evened out some. It was still badly overplied, though.

Sunday morning I was stepping out of the shower when I decided to give the yarn a bath. I wasn't worried too much about felting as I thought some light roughing up wasn't much of a bad thing. A quick soak in the shower and then it was off to the sink with Eucalan. My sheepy smelling bathroom was a nice companion to my furious paper-writing on Sunday.

Here's the finished skein today. It's just under 200 yards and I haven't a clue what to knit with it. And I DO want to knit something right away. I don't have other details yet, like wpi and such, though I hope to soon.

This little skein holds so much inside it. Spinning it was freeing, as I threw "shoulds" out and did with it as I pleased. This is my first time spinning not for product, but for process. Instead of being embarrassed about and apologetic for mistakes, I love them. I see a new thought process in many of them.

My holiday request of Mr. C was a spinning lesson. Without knowing this, Jess offered to give up her Saturday and enter the retail hell the town we met in is. I won't be so cliche as to call it a Christmas miracle...but I may think it.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2007-12-08T08:52:00.000-05:00

I am about three days out from being done with this semester. I cannot express the joy I feel right now, coming off of a day with visits to two libraries in different parts of the state, in the snow, with a very grabby nearly-six month old. I have to finish this paper, make a few comments and I am done. Donedonedone. At least until January when I get to start this all over again.

Since I have about 3 posts in the queue waiting for me to simply caption some pictures, I am going to vote for brevity over content this time.

I have on my mind the yearly December Showdown between Christian and Jewish cultures, or American and American Jew practices (I think that is closer to the truth). Last year I posted a bit about my tree-or-no-tree struggle as I tried to figure out what we would do once the child I was carrying was born.

It appears that I am not the only one with this dilemma. Terry sent me this New York times article from the other day on compromise. I'll let it speak for me this time.

As for our little household, I can answer that this year we didn't even bother to argue over a tree or not, but both tiredly agreed to a small table-top model. We have the perfect spot for it in the living room, pretty, but not in the way or near the grabby clutches of the boy (did I mention he's in a grabby stage?). I'm sure it would be lovely, if I could only clear all that yarn off it.

Happy Hanukkah.

Overdue

2007-11-22T13:07:00.000-05:00

The end of the semester is here, and I am scrambling to get assignments in. At this point, turning them in on time is a major accomplishment, and it sadly is one I'm not always achieving. (Julie was right in a big way about that organization thing.) The knitting isn't getting done so much, except random rows here and there. I have a hat for my sister's newborn that's giving me grief in the decreases (somehow I thought I could go without a pattern for a plain hat. Seems I was mistaken on that), I have a wee knitted animal that just needs stuffing, and I have my standard parade of UFOs that are requesting attention. Oh, and the nearly a dozen emails I'm behind on answering. Can't forget those.

I am here for another reason, though. I'm overdue in blogging about this:

This is the Wing of the Swan shawl knit for me by the matchless Knitter Bunny.

Isn't it gorgeous? Last Saturday night Mr. Cygknit and I attended a play co-starring Terry's husband. To be appropriately attired, I chose this ensemble:

Fabulous, no? She has more pictures here (blog) and here (Ravelry). I won't be able to do justice to her description of the design of this amazing shawl. I can tell you that the lace elements reflect swan feathers (me) dragon scales (for my not-enough co-blogging here), water, and more. Kelli, please explain more in the comments? Mr. C is rushing me out the door for Thanksgiving at the in-laws and I don't have the words to describe this well enough. All I can say is thank you for adding such beauty to my day.

Pictures

2007-10-31T13:10:00.000-04:00

Em and I just got back from a week in Texas. My intent had been to post on one of my down days there, but there was a problem. My "remember me" cookie for my password expired...and I couldn't remember what the password was! I spent several days trying every possible combination with no luck. Then, we get home well after 1 am yesterday and I tried again, half asleep. It worked. D'oh!

Since I didn't get to post my Rhinebeck wrap-up in a timely fashion, I think I'll just post some pictures:

Both males looking equally thrilled:

Spunky Eclectic BFL I won at the Ravelry party, in the Ravelry colorway:

And what it looks like partially spun. When Lisa was here she had me try something I never was brave enough to do before: random spinning. She pulled off bits where she felt like it, adding more pink here and more green or white there. I just did what she told me, and spun as fast as I could. Despite my inability to photograph the colors right, I think it has turned out pretty great:

We couldn't resist the crocheted frog hat. I don't think I have a single non-blurry shot of him in it, despite much effort:

Bamboo to spin:

Roving purchased by Mr. C, who is actually going to spin! It is hard to see in the picture, but it is grey with teal and purple. That's about all I know of it, as I didn't purchase it and I'm nursing at the moment :)

Circular sock machine socks from Jess! I totally snagged these in a way that would embarrass my mother (I was raised better than that), as I basically helped myself to them. The karmic payment for that? Now that I've (very gently) washed them, they don't fit. I've tried, and I just can't get away with it, even though they look great here:

Finally, a not-Rhinebeck picture. Em says, "This is what happens when Daddy dresses me!"

At least Daddy picked a handknit and wool pants.

Some last random things regarding Rhinebeck"

- Am I the only one who didn't see a lot of the people she set out to see? I was looking for a variety of people that I never once ran into. There were others I only got to see for a second, then never saw again. Frustrating.

- I got to meet NeedleTart!! She gave us a super yummy challah loaf that I hoarded all for myself, and a shiny bank filled with 2007 pennies to Em:

- I barely had a chance to catch up with Sarah. We did get in a good bit of time to chat, though it wasn't nearly enough. She gifted me with some hearty hugs and these cuties :

That's it, that's all I have right now. It's taken me two days to type all these, while rearranging my house, celebrating Halloween, and re-entering my life. I have so much more to write about, though! In the near future I hope to post about some other spinning I've been doing, and the amazing Wings of the Swan Shawl that Kelli has sent me. By the time you read this, it will be her birthday. Pop on over and show her some love, will ya?

Rhinebeck

2007-10-22T23:01:00.000-04:00

There will be a Rhinebeck post, I promise. I am so tired I can't even think of a metaphor to describe the tiredness. I don't have the wide-eyed overwhelm that I did last year (Bloggers! Everywhere! Gah!!), rather I'm all soft and squishy inside from seeing my people and being around my kind again.

The baby boy did amazingly, as well. We have taken to calling him The Boy Who Would Not Nap in recent weeks, and he surprised us by taking three naps on Saturday, all in the sling. Had I the energy, I would have cried. I think from the relief of it, from the freedom to sit on a bench and breastfeed my baby with other mamas (sans hot blanket), and from the knowing that I am--despite my new world as Mama--still my fiber-loving self.

I might cry from it now.

I think I'll steal a picture from Jess, to prove to myself that I was there as much as to show you.

More soon, I promise.

2007-10-06T09:08:00.000-04:00

Well, somehow I went a whole month without posting, though I'm not sure what happened.

I'd like to catch up, if I can...I tried to get this post out ~~yesterday, two days ago~~ so I could be all kinds of random AND be on a Wednesday, but I didn't quite make it. Can we pretend?

1. We went to Florida! We went down for a week, flying right after Labor Day. Mr. C's grandmother turned 90 (whoo!), so the whole family got together to surprise her. Shortly before we arrived, though, it was decided that surprising a 90 year old woman wasn't the smartest plan. Interesting picture from the weekend: Em and Great-Grandma rolling around on the floor. Wish I could do that as well as she can!

2. While in FL we stopped by Orlando to see my mom (and hopefully Lisa). Lisa and her man were sick so we opted out of visiting. The only consolation is that she's going to be here in a few weeks for Rhinebeck! Wheee!

3. Oh, yeah, the shawl...well, I DID rip it back, as some suggested. Instead of making me sick, like the consideration of it did, the ripping out was oddly freeing. And...I haven't done anything on it since. I would blame it on the Rhinebeck jinx, except I have been doing some gift/deadline knitting for wee babes (not my own, though).

4. Speaking of, I have a FO!! Except I forgot to photograph it...Terry took a picture, but I didn't. Until I can convince her to send me one, it looks like this, only pale green. Anticlimactic, I know.

5. Where I distract you with a babe in handknits:

You will piiiiiiiiiick me uppppppppppppp.

Lisa made and gifted this to me waaaay back in, um, March. And I didn't blog it. (And she's made him a second sweater and I haven't blogged that, either. Yes, I do suck.) It is, I beleive it is the Baby Albert jacket from Sally Melville's book. I don't know what yarn she used, but it's super soft and goes with everything. I crammed it in the diaper bag this weekend when we went out of town and pulled it out several times. Love a sweater that goes with anything.

6. Oooh! I've been spinning! Then I realized I had no idea where my wheel oil is off to, so I was forced to go online and buy some more. Really, my hand was forced to buy not just oil, but scented oil. And a new drive band.

7. I made a really ill-conceived decision a few months ago to register for classes to continue my Masters. I will not whine about this one, only say that this wasn't the best choice I could have made for my sanity.

8. ~~I will be at the Hancock Shaker Village on Friday from about noon-ish until about three-ish.~~ Yikes! That was yesterday. So I WAS at the Hancock Shaker Village Friday, as part of their Spinning week demonstration. I was there last year with my wheel, but only managed a spindle since I was bringing the boy along, as well. This year, I brought the camera but took a grand total of zero pictures*. I am sure Jess will post some, I saw some terrific ones on her digital camera before we left. More on what I was spinning soon :)

There is more, but the boy is asleep in his swing and I have to do some homework. I really do have lots to post and hope to do so more than just once a month. Seriously.

[ETA: I just saw that while I brought the camera yesterday, I totally forgot the memory card. I'd have zero pics, anyway. Sigh.]

To Tink or Not To Tink

2007-08-31T23:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'm going to do it. While brushing my teeth tonight I decided I don't want a shawl that has two screw ups so early on. (Did I not mention the other one? Oopsie. You can almost see it in the picture, there's a decrease that doesn't stack right. All subsequent ones are fine, so I was really going to pretend it wasn't there.) Surely I'll make more mistakes later, and isn't it important to not rip rows that have 196 stitches in them rather than ones with less than 40? And don't I--since this is for me--deserve something perfect? You bet I do.

I am totally going to rip back and make this baby 100%. I haven't knit on it for four nights and there's a reason. It needs to be right.

Except...I have no idea how to rip back something like 9 rows of lace without completely screwing things up. And I have no lifeline because, well, because lifelines are for amateur's and regardless of the fact that I AM an amateur at lace I wasn't going to admit it to myself.

(Excuse me while I go look up the definition of "hubris.")

So how do I do it without tinking back stitch by stitch? Any suggestions??

And while I'm waiting? I'm totally going to cast on this guy. I can't help myself. Thanks, Kristi.

Thank you, Ravelry

2007-08-31T13:42:00.000-04:00

You know, it has taken me two weeks to write this post. But such a good reason why:

Sure enough, digging into my iPhoto library for stash pics lit a fire in me to knit again. Sunday afternoon (8/12!) found me hunched over the laptop, nursing a half-asleep baby while one-finger typing left-handed. Mr. Cygnet, who is often sympathetic to all things fiber-related, only shook his head when he'd stumble upon me surreptitiously adding another yarn or project.

Naturally, this led to wanting to knit. No, strike that. I realized I *need* to knit. That night I drifted off in a haze of wool fibers, swearing that I was going to insist on 30 minutes of knitting time a day. Thirty minutes of baby-less time where I do absolutely nothing but knit.

Day One:

Day 3:

Day 6:

As can be seen, I had some trouble with continuity. At first, I thought that when Mr. CygKnit came home, I could rely on him to give me the 30 minutes. I pretty quickly found out that he had nothing to do with it. The real person in control of me getting my knitting time was me (not Emerson, as I thought for a few days).

I finished the knitting on the bolero, and am almost done seaming. When I did the last bolero, I blocked the sleeves and armholes before seaming, then did a light blocking of the whole piece when it was done. The seaming ended up as easy as it can be for me, and looked pretty good. Not so much this time. I have fought with those damn things like you wouldn't believe.

So I cast on another project. Or two.

This is a gift, which is why this is all you see. It will be gifted today, so more soon on it. (The bolero really should be gifted today, too, to the same person. Of course, I should probably not have thrown it across the room in frustration last night, hmm?)In the past (pre-baby, of course) I have made this piece in an evening. This took me about ten days, but it was a comfortable knit, easy to do while the boy sat in his bouncy seat at cooed at me.

This is all Ravelry's fault:

Forest Canopy Shawl

The lighting is bad in this picture, and I have zero experience photographing lace. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in an unknown colorway. I lost the tag somewhere--it's been caked-up since last September, after buying it at Kaleidescope Yarns after the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival. It was supposed to be used for a Diamond Fantasy Shawl for my mom, but the event I was to make it for her has come and gone (oops) so I figure the yarn can be re-purposed, right?

Oh, in the pic, I've completed the set up and the first repeat. Since then, I've just about finished the second repeat...except I somehow ended up with an extra stitch. Since all my decreases are stacked right, and each of the leaves looks like it should (I think), I'm going to follow Jess' advice and bury the decrease. I may be back next post regretting that, but for now I am fearless in the face of lace! Ha ha!

I can't help myself. I have to end with a picture of Em. At least this one is fiber related.

2007-08-11T10:57:00.000-04:00

Guess what? Em can smile:

And because I can't help but be excited by a smiling baby, another one:

Is that great? Or is it just me?

My BFF of many years (15 this year!) came out for 11 days to stay with me. You know the type of friend where you don't have to entertain, you just exist in each other's company? That was the kind of wonderful we had. We went on a tour of half of New England, including SIX farm & factory tours in Vermont. Her visit came at just the right time, too, as I was starting to feel a little edgy. Getting out with her made me realize that while the first two weeks may be the hardest, the six week mark has a sort of endless quality to it.

Ben & Jerry's, of course, was quite the highlight of our Vermont tour:

What's not to love?

While driving nearly the length Vermont with a baby with a deep and abiding hatred for his carseat, I had some time to think. I put down my knitting (yes, knitting. I completed a whopping four rows on a sock for me) and stared out the window. I was trying to compose a blog post about this, about traveling with a baby, about all the stuff that accumulates with them, about staring strangers, and about the stress of it all. I kept rejecting thoughts and opening sentences because they weren't what I would like to read about. They weren't that funny/reflective that captivate so many people. Mostly, they had the sound of that high-pitch nervous giggle that you give right before succumbing to hysteria. While that is far closer to my day-to-day emotional state than funny/reflective, it isn't what I want to be. It certainly isn't what I want to blog about.

So, I did some more thinking. I though more about it while we were riding through Vermont (while staring at a baby who, despite a full tummy, a clean diaper and every trick we could think of, still insisted on screaming his frustration at the safety of a five-point harness). I've been thinking of it every day since. I don't know why I can't find the funny. There is certainly something essay-worthy about waking up next to your adorable infant (whom you swore would never sleep in your bed) and realizing that you're covered in his poop.

Maybe it's perspective I need.

I realize those thougths don't sound great, but I don't mean it that way. He's a damn cute baby and I really do wake up every morning amazed at his little self and totally in love with the way he insists on curling up his little body into my chest. Even on the days I have to wash the poo off me.

I have been knitting here and there. Sometimes it's just a few rows on the Baby Bolero I'm way overdue on gifting, but I am knitting. It feels good to go at it again, and as we fiddle with some form of a schedule for the boy I think there may be more time for me in the near future. Lisa and I are even talking about Rhinebeck: Revisited this year. I got my Ravelry invite yesterday, too, so diving back into my fiber obsession seems probable again.

I would like your help, though. I spend a lot of time (still) nursing this little boy. Once he closes his eyes, I like to pop open the laptop and read some blogs. My Bloglines was always pretty sparse, holding just enough feeds for me to be able to sneak a peek at when I was at work. Now that I have oodles of (kinda) free time, I'd like to read more. I don't get to comment much (or return emails), as may be obvious, but I'd like to read more. Please, suggest some of your favorite reads. (Even yourself, if you're not listed over there.)

This post brought to you by Free Hands

2007-07-21T11:01:00.000-04:00

Hands free is an amazing thing.

Around week three of life (he is five weeks, now), Em developed a sudden need to be held constantly and developed an amazingly sad and pained cry.* I felt like I was nursing him around the clock, as that was all that would comfort him, and I was beginning to wonder what had happened to my sweet baby . Between the rocking, bouncing, shushhing and nursing, my arms and shoulders were creaking, my rear-end was numb and I was starting to feel a little twitchy. Of course, with a new baby I was a hormonal nightmare, and was torn between a deep desire to put the child down periodically and a consuming guilt about not wanting to hold my baby. Not rational, but I was hormonal. Trying to find a middle ground, I tried two types of carriers but the boy was not amused. Not until this was gifted to me:

My first attempt at wrapping a Moby D was a little sloppy, as you can see, but wow, did he love it. And you know what? I got to hold my baby AND do the dishes, or the laundry, or even *gasp* knit.

No pictures, yet, but I've been working on a Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono for this baby, and I found the long-lost Baby Bolero I started for her (I might have neglected to mention this here, but I kinda lost the entire bolero for a few months. The yarn, the needles, the pattern, everything. I live in a >700 sq ft. house; this is a bit embarrassing).

Before I post pictures of what I really am knitting (I promise!) I want to show off another amazing hand knit my child was lucky enough to be gifted. This was sent to us from the talented Netter. My photography does not do it justice, but here's a shot for size:

For texture:
For detail:
Do you see the mitered corners in my poor shot? So cool. The blanket was knit with Rowan All Seasons Cotton and is amazing. It's soft, beautiful, and knit on a gauge I wouldn't have dared for something as large as it is. Truth be told, I rarely use it just for the boy. Rather, when I rock him late in the night I drape it over us. I tuck it around me, snuggle in and enjoy a 3 am nurse with a happy baby.

*Turns out he has reflux. We're managing it well without medication, but gone are my wonderful nights drifting off while nursing in bed. We're all about keeping him at an angle, now.

Part 1

2007-07-09T11:02:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much for the well wishes, everyone. I've pretty much have fallen down in the email answering department, but intend to crawl back out in the next few days. Of course, Blogger's inability to include email addresses doesn't help, either.

We've had typical newborn fun, here. The boy is an absolute gem. He is beautiful, sweet, angelic and often just amazing to watch. All cliche, I know, but I get why, now. It helps so much when they scream.

After some camera issues (surprise) I'm able to start showing some of the amazing hand knits and quilts that Em has been given. I'd been having some trouble creatively arranging them, until I realized adorable babies make great models!

(These are in no order, except what was most accessible in my small window of good lighting and happy babyness.)

Created by the generous and talented NeedleTart, the Hebrew aleph bet:

Isn't the quilting amazing? I have one more picture that is an even better quilting example, but I need to Photo Shop out some personal information.

Thank you, Mrs. NeedleTart.

2007-06-22T18:05:00.001-04:00

For the first time in more than a week, I am alone with my little family. My mom has gone home, the bris is done, and my in-laws have retreated to their hotels for the night. As I sit here on our couch--a couch again after a week of duty as a bed--i see the cats emerge from their hiding places and begin to sniff new baby gifts. The only sounds are the rhythmic chirping of two birds, the tick of the hall clock and the crunch of a cat free to eat his dinner. My child is asleep on my chest. There is nothing more I need than this.

To see pictures of Emerson's first days, click here, then click "view slide show."

Baby Cygknit

2007-06-20T12:23:00.000-04:00

Announcing the birth of

Emerson Benjamin Ryle _____

Born 15 June 2007
at
2:20 p.m.
weighing 7 lbs. 7 oz
and
measuring 20 inches long

Happy family

2007-06-08T11:19:00.001-04:00

Taken outside my bedroom window, about 5 feet away.
There is so much for me to write about. Every time I sit down to compose a post, I get overwhelmed about halfway through and run away from the computer, twitching. Today, in a lot better spirits than I have been for a while, I realized it was pretty simple. I have just a few things that I know I HAVE say:

Since the baby dropped in mid-May, my gallbladder has laid off the pain. Any discomfort I have now has to do with just being full-term pregnant, and is, in comparison, not too awful. Thanks for all the well-wishes, though, they really did help.
Nope, the baby isn't here yet. I took the pictures above yesterday, when I was at a pretty low point. I admit I was a little bitter looking at the happy and complete little family, but after watching them for over a half an hour I had a perception shift. It's hard waiting on someone else to make a decision about what's going on with your own body. He's going to come when he's good and ready, regardless of if I'm sobbing from frustration or laughing with my goofy husband. I like laughing (and my goofy husband) better.
I've started taking pictures of the amazing knitted gifts that this little boy has been given, and I hope to start posting them tomorrow. Please know that if you've sent us something and I haven't blogged it, it is due to my rather desperate state of mind for the last few weeks and NOT because I don't completely love what you've sent. I admit to cuddling with more than a few of them and imagining the day he finally does get here.

Ow.

2007-05-02T20:34:00.000-04:00

I have so much to write about it isn't even funny. Usually when I fail to write it's because my mind is wretchedly empty and I can think of nothing to say that isn't amazingly trite*. The last few days have killed me, though, because I have So Much To Say. An amazing package from Kelly. The fun of CT S&W and meeting more people than I kept track of (thank you for commenting!!). Being the recipient of Jess' stealth knitting. My own actual knitting AND spinning.

But...apparently this little child has ticked off my gall bladder in a big way. Most of the time I can deal with the ouch level, but the past few days have been pretty awful and I'm not doing so well with coherent thought (or answering emails for that matter). The positive is that the baby is fine. In fact, I will be fine, too. The negative is that there isn't anything that can be done right now except for me to suck it up and move on. I'll get back to you when I get there.

*I just ordered a great book for the library about the evils of adverbs (and adjectives, of course) and there I go with two in one sentence. If you like 'em, though, try this from the guy who writes the Lemony Snicket books.

2007-04-27T11:12:00.000-04:00

Thanks for all the blogiversary wishes! It really hadn't started feeling like a year until I went digging in the archives.

But that's not why I'm here. I actually *gasp* knit something. Well, half of something:

A single baby bootee from 50 Baby Bootees to Knit. Now, I know I (and he) will need two of these, but geez. Is it me? Is this impossibly small??

The pattern calls for Rowan Cotton Glace, but I only had Baby Ull handy. I was about to type something here about wondering if my gauge was off, but in the three seconds I took to pull these links from the manufacturer's site made me realize, um yes. Gauge wayy off. Could stand a blocking, too.

Now I wonder: Will the babe be able to wear them (a hypothetical plural) home from the hospital, even? Should I knit the other to match? Should I knit a pair larger? Heck, I wondered while knitting if I should forget the bootee and recast as socks? Advice welcome here.

Since I will be (rain & husband accommodating) attending the Connecticut Sheep & Wool festival tomorrow, I thought it might be a good idea to give an updated idea of what I look like now. Terry, whose due date is just 17 days ahead of mine, is allowing me to post this picture of the two of us, taken last night:

Me, in black, at 32 weeks and 4 days. Terry, at 35 weeks on the dot. And another, less fuzzy one:

You know, there is nothing like seeing yourself from a new angle to realize, "Wow. That's what huge looks like." Don't even ask me what I think of my ankles.

Blogiversary

2007-04-17T13:38:00.000-04:00

Somehow I managed to post on Saturday without remembering it was my blogiversary!

April 14, 2006 was the date that I made the official switch from having an online journal that was overrun with knitting to having a blog dedicated to the topic. I was nervous at first, as my journal was mostly private with only one or two people I knew well reading it. Writing for an audience was another sort of mindset, one I wasn't sure I could handle. Jumping into the blogosphere and setting up in a corner of Knit Land was frightining since I'm not so hot at flaunting myself...or dealing with criticism.

The Knitting Olympics really moved me, though, and made me realize that being a solitary knitter wasn't all it was cracked up to be. There were festivals out there, and author talks, and spin-ins and all kinds of people who were just as into this as me--and were real people.

This year has been bit of a roller coaster of blogging for me. For a while, I posted 5 days a week, then none, and now I'm just aiming for twice a week. There have been times when I've been utterly disgusted in my writing and others when I've been super proud of what I wrote (and then no one commented!). As well, there have been way too many times where I've wanted to give it up completely and times where I would have been lost without knowing that someone, somewhere was checking in on me. I may not have a readership of 300--or even 30--but I've gotten to know many of you in real life, either at festivals or through phone or off-post emails. That's what keeps me going most days, whether I say so or not. So, thank you.

Works in progress

2007-04-14T08:08:00.000-04:00

First, I'd like to thank you all for the condolences on Juniper. Although we only had him for seven or eight months, he really made an impact on us. Our learning curve was huge and we struggled with how to make a bunny happy (while keeping sane, ourselves), but we never seriously considered giving him up. His last six or eight weeks were perfect; we'd struck a balance with his needs and ours and he was genuinely pleased with his life. It just didn't seem fair. Mr. Cygknit has been my hero through all this, from taking him to the Vet posthumously to find a why (there is no good one) to cleaning and dismantling the cage so I wouldn't come home Tuesday night to an empty one.

I thought it was time to post some pictures of some things I've been working on, especially since I'm freed from the seaming of (1 of 3) baby sweaters. First up? My telephone knitting:

The yarn is Plymouth Heaven, and was gifted to me by Lisa's roomie. It isn't something I would have selected (I'm nervous about baby yarn), but it's really grown on me. What you see above is just a giant garter stitch rectangley thing. Stitch definition is non-existent, so why not just knitknitknit? Since my glider arrived, I've been looking forward to phone calls so I can rock back and forth and knit for the wee babe that will be under it some day soon(ish).

Also on the plate is this disastrous looking thing:

Sadly, this is one of those things I can't blame the designer--or anyone else--for. I have been wanting to try Magic Loop for ever, but always shied away from the patterns with some excuse or other. Turns out that I was right that ML can be bad for my self esteem...but upon further reflection (after flinging it to the floor) I realized that the cord length was just not enough for what I was doing. Instead of taking it (too) personally, I (finally) realized that it wasn't the concept that was tying me up, it was the lack of cordage. Now, I just have to convince Mr. CygKnit to loan me his longer needles.

Finally, I started a washrag on a whim yesterday on my lunchbreak. It has no purpose but to be a calm and mindless piece of knitting to keep me from violence at work. Hormonal? Me? Nahhh!

Juniperbunny

2007-04-10T14:28:00.000-04:00

I tried to write this post this morning, but I just couldn't do it. Looking through the pictures on my laptop...it was just too much.

Juniperbunny got sick late last night and passed away this morning. The Vet told us this morning that there wasn't anything they could have done for him since it took him so quickly.

Thanks to emails from fellow rabbit lovers Knitter Bunny and my old friend Karen, I feel more sad than angry and guilty (which feels much more like progress than it sounds). The pictures above are ones that I've posted before; the ones I took a few weeks ago are still too fresh for me.

He will be missed much.

Cold day, warm neck

2007-04-05T09:20:00.000-04:00

Waaaaaaaaay back in January I received a lovely scarf in the mail from Knitter Bunny...but I committed the ultimate blogger sin: I never mentioned it, except in passing. When she sent it to me, she asked if I could block it--she would have herself except she was afraid she'd not get to the post office if she did it. I said "Sure!" and promptly avoided blocking it. For 3 whole months.

Yesterday I was surprised to see that the cold was coming back and temps would be in the 20's when I left for work this week. In what I can only guess is a fit of pregnancy hormones, I decided I wasn't going to clean out the sink to wet the darn thing, I would just take it in the shower with me. So I did. After rolling it out in a damp towel, I set it on the back of the futon, right over the heat vent and prayed it would be dry by this morning:

Sure enough, it was:

Doesn't it look like the greyest, nastiest day out? (I'm guessing that's why I look so thrilled.) Perfect day for a hand-knit handspun scarf. We even had snowflakes this afternoon.

Thanks, Knitter Bunny.

Finished!

2007-04-04T12:53:00.000-04:00

Pattern: Baby Bolero from One Skein
Yarn: Blue Skye Alpaca Organic Cotton, Sand
Started: March 14, 2007
Completed: April 2, 2007
Notes: For the first time in my knitterly life, I used the recommended yarn.
Problems:

Total knitting time on this sweater was almost exactly the same as the seaming time. Regardless of what I may have inadvertently implied in my last post, the seaming time I was complaining about wasn't related to my avoidance of it (does that make sense?), rather I was lamenting the amazing amount of time I was putting in for something so small and easy looking. Silly me.
In the pic below there's this wee hiccup in the adding of the ribbed edging. After about 4 rip outs, I decided that this was an error I could live with. The stitch before the hiccup is about two rows below the stitch after, and nothing I tried seemed right. In fear of the consequences of continuing, I gave up. See #4.
The directions (which have been complained about on various other blogs) call for a light blocking. I highly recommend a nice heavy wetting and firm block. The heck with them.
When seaming with lightly spun yarn, be careful of ripping out your imperfect stitches one too many times. Why? It's not pretty to cry in the lunchroom at work when you're seaming the same armhole for the 4th time and the yarn breaks. Falls apart in your fingers. After you take a moment to collect yourself and convince your trembling mind that you could do this it breaks again. Too short to weave in. Yes, I cried.

The thing I'm most proud of, though, is that I did all this seaming (which I know I have complained loudly about) without visual aid. Yup, I had no book or website to guide me, even though I'd been sent links. When I started I couldn't find the book I'd used the last time I set a shoulder in, and the computer was too far away (I know, that sounds pathetic. Getting off the couch is a little tricky right now, and not at all graceful.). I ended up being amazingly particular about each freakin' stitch, and all kinds of proud that I finished. Now, I just have 2 more to do.

Like writing a Lit paper*

2007-03-28T17:12:00.000-04:00

So it's Wednesday, and the bolero still isn't done. If something huge had come up and I simply hadn't been able to work on it, I might have an excuse. Instead, I'm pretty sure it has taken me the same number of hours to seam/finish it as it took to knit.

This has led to some thinking.

First, I was a little embarrassed the other day to realize that I hadn't the foggiest idea what was the best way to seam the shoulders. Worse, I didn't realize that fearing the shoulders was silly. Fearing setting in the sleeves, now that makes sense...but fearing the 10 shoulder stitches? Just silly.

Then, I thought about why seaming was such a big shocker for me. I've knit a few things over the last few years, and thought I was pretty competent. But looking back over what I've made I see socks, some things done in the round, and more than a few squares/rectangles. Yes, I've knit two sweaters (only one blogged of here), but one was entirely in the round. The other is still sitting in pieces in UFO basket, waiting for the finishing elves to sew the shoulders to the body. Obviously, there's a problem here.

While I've thought I've been learning lots of techniques, I've been learning them in my safe little world. I learned cables while making squares for Warm Up America, and, now that I think of it, Fair Isle the same way. Sure, I'm learning new things, but I can't shake the feeling that by never having seamed a sweater I somehow had failed to become a "real" knitter without even realizing it. (I am not the only one, it seems)

Several hours have passed since I wrote the bulk of this post, and I've had some time to think on this. No new insights have gripped me, except the desire for more sweater experience. Sweaters for me would be silly right now--I am not knitting a watermelon-sized space into a pattern--but I have the perfect template coming up: a wee baby.

I hope to post pics of the bolero tomorrow, after casting off when I get home from work tonight. I hope to do a light blocking, and maybe have it in the mail before the babe (born at 6:30 ish today) graduates college.

* One of the pieces of advice my sister gave me when is started college was to leave Lit papers for last in the queue of homework. I didn't understand this at first, especially since so much work goes into one, but I finally got it: Lit papers will suck up exactly as much time as you have set aside for all your homework. I think seaming is not so far removed from that.

Third time a charm?

2007-03-22T09:05:00.000-04:00

The Baby Bolero pattern from One Skein is cute. It's easy. It's fast. I've started three and haven't finished one.

Not one to lose faith, I'm plugging away at #3, fully believing I can have it knit, seamed AND delivered to Florida by next Wednesday, March 28.

Yeah.

Tuesday's status:

As of Thursday's lunch break, I had finished the back (shown partially done, above) the left front (on the stitch holder to the left), and 3/4 of the other sleeve (sleeve one at top). I didn't actually work on it at all Wednesday or today--turns out Mr. Cygknit is actually sick, oops--so I've come pretty far in a short amount of time.

So, my internal Q & A runs something like:

Question: Do I have any hope of finishing it before the weekend is up?

Answer: The knitting, no problem. Even if I don't knit a stitch tonight, I'll have that sleeve done on my lunch break Friday. But to get it in the mail Saturday, I ought to block and seam Friday night. And get to the Post Office by Noon on Saturday.

Question: So what's the problem with finishing these?

Answer: Overwhelming frustration

This is the first one I knit, for Baby CygKnit:

I've blocked the sleeves and armholes, and all that's left to do is seam it. Except...when I tried to sew the shoulders it turned out awful.

Olive helpfully points out that when you graft shoulder seams together, you should have wrong sides facing. Not right sides.

The other shoulder, (seen if you click for big) is just live stitches swinging in the wind. It turns out that blindly following directions isn't always the best idea. Not only did I bind off as directed, but I actually wove in the ends. Then, I read the assembly instructions: "Sew shoulder seams together." Um, OK. How? What's best? An hour of picking my ends out later, I was prepared for the grafting...which I promptly did inside-out. Can you see why I want to frog the whole darn thing and make a different sweater?!

*Deep breath*

For the Florida Baby's bolero, I left the shoulder stitches live (seen in top photo) so I could do either a three needle bind off or kitchener. Which should I do? Any suggestions would be gratefully (and tearfully) received.

2007-03-20T08:24:00.000-04:00

Thank you all for your happy thoughts that I'm back. I knew it had been a while, but I had no idea (until I started getting subtle emails with a day count) how long it had been.

When it comes to blogging and knitting, I've fallen down a bit over the last seven months. This morning, though, I felt a twitch. Not a baby twitching in my belly, not a twitch from wondering just how sick my husband really is (how come so many men seem to be just dying when they simply have a cold?), but a twitch that I felt all the way down to the tips of my fingers.

I think my knitting mojo is coming back. Shhhh, don't say anything, yet.

Before I get to that, though, I want to show off an awesome gift that showed up in my mailbox. I was on my way home on Monday, after a snoozy day at work from a late plane arrival the night before (did I forget to mention I was in Florida for a week?) when occurs to me that my sweet husband might have forgotten to get the mail while I was gone. (Apparently the mail person noted this, too, as our box was rubber banded shut) To my surprise, I found packages! Look what ~~Kristi~~ Scrappy & Gangles sent us:

How cute are those bibs? Mr. CygKnit is crazy over anything with dinosaurs on it (see the dino button on the blue?) and I have long been in love with the green/brown/cream colorway. AND Kristi included yarn for me to make my own :) Though, of course, the boys didn't actually knit them themselves, "each bib was entirely made holding a baby (or two)."

While Mr. C and I are quite tickled at the surprise gift, baby CygKnit (aka Buster, at 27 weeks) had nothing to say:

I say, don't get your picture taken outside wearing a low-cut top when it's snowing.

2007-03-19T16:37:00.000-04:00

Hang on, kids, I have an FO.

...of sorts... Can a joint, non-knitting project be counted as an FO?

The people who've seen it in person say that the pictures don't do it justice. I think the texture really makes a difference, too, but I can't manage to figure out how to make that come through here on the blog. (~~I've lost the camera again, so I can't even try the macro setting.~~ Found!)

Here's a shot of the back with the label, and a smidge of the front. (Please forgive my clumsy attempts at editing out last names)

So there it is, my first time as a Quilter's Assistant, and our first project. The baby in question expressed some glee at the bright colors, and the new Mommy fussed over it enough to make me feel proud.

Details:

Concieved: February 6

Started: February 8

Finished: March 7 8, after 1 am, by Terry

Gifted: March 8, 9:00 am

Blog post started: March 9

Blog post finished: March 19

I have a lot of catching up to do :)

Mini update

2007-02-16T11:18:00.000-05:00

I should have posted this earlier, but the complete and utter joy I took in my snow (ice) day on Wednesday got in the way of blogging.

Since there were requests, I thought I'd post a progress photo on the quilt:

Looks a bit different than the link I provided, doesn't it? I'd been asked about the style/design of that linked quilt with a little trepidation (Mr. C asked with some horror in his voice), and the hopes it wouldn't be so...busy? I think what we've done looks amazing, and even more so in person.

Last night we tied the centers of all the squares to the fantabulous backing, using yellow, orange and green. I've taken possession of it for the weekend, and will tie the corners of the squares, too (I think). What we'd really like to do is quilt the yellow border area. In the interest of time, we can't quilt the squares--there's just too much area--but maybe we can swing just the yellow? I'll keep you posted.

In knitting news, I've completed one and a half cardi's (up from one and a quarter). If this was a full size sweater, that might be some achievement, but for me this just means I've finished another sleeve. Four down! Whoo hoo! I should be able to sew up Buster's bolero this weekend and add the border in the near future. Then, it's back to Terry's bolero for the body, and a start on the last one to do. With a little more focus, who knows how many I could do? Maybe I'll even go a bit crazy and take a picture :)

Best Intentions

2007-02-09T14:42:00.000-05:00

It seems like every time I start a project, I'm consumed with enthusiasm for it. I can't imagine ever getting to the point where it is monotonous, annoying or just plain ugly to my eyes. Yet, every single project seems to wither under some sort of super-critical gaze. The ones that make it to FO are the lucky ones--please don't ask to see the graveyard for the ones that don't.

Now, I know I am faaaar from the only one that does this. We all have UFO piles, and some even have UFO closets (this is something I both admire and fear). I guess what's bothering me is the fear of the next UFO. I mean, I understand why I might put down a sweater for six months, or a fair isle vest that vexes me, but an infant cardigan?? That takes just hours to finish, instead of days??

It leaves me wondering at my own foibles. Is this habit of not finishing things leaking into my non-knitting life? Has it been painfully noticeable to everyone else for years, but not me? What's wrong with you feeble brain when you can't finish a wee cardigan?

---

I actually paused between these two paragraphs for several days. The problem--the gripping fear that I couldn't manage to make an FO out of a paltry 150 yards of cotton--sat with me for a few days, but I just couldn't find a way to resolve it. I had been given a chance to spend my knitting time on something other than the wee cardis, and I wasn't sure I could hack it. Last night, dragging myself home at 10:45 from this new project, I understood it: It was the fear of moving on.

One of my co-workers found out on Wednesday that she (finally!) has come up to adopt a child here in the state. Although Connecticut doesn't use waiting lists, the wait for a child matching her criteria (basic, I assure you) has been, interestingly, about nine months. She meets this little boy on Tuesday, and after all this time will have her deepest wish come through.

In response to this, Terry (the maker of Buster's quilt and a former employee here) suggested we get together and make the Fastest Crib Quilt Ever. Now, when it comes to quilts, I am qualified to do two things (if you're generous): 1. Iron and 2. Sew a straight line. I can't pick colors, even in my own wardrobe, and I certainly don't have any knowledge of quilt design.

Our color palette, for the curious:

The style? The pattern? The inspiration? for it is here. I tried to read it and it meant little to me. Too many big quilting words, I guess. I can tell you two things, though:

1. It is beautiful and vibrant and so very full of good thoughts. (This is a heartening departure from my frequent cursing at knitting). And, using energy and and assembly line-like style we were able to piece 2/3 of the top of the quilt in just 1/2 hours.

2. Just because I'm starting a new project doesn't mean I will abandon my current WIP. I think I get that, now.

2007-02-05T18:06:00.000-05:00

I find myself wanting to start of this post with something like: "Nope, not much going on here!"

But then I remember I've knit 1.25 newborn cardigans, and I think that might count as something.

I wish I could post pictures of the two, and bask in the glow of seeing my handiwork on the vast and glorious Internets. Unfortunately, I completely forgot this weekend that my camera-to-computer cable isn't any good. That it so completely slipped my mind kinda worries me. (Since I forgot to take my credit card out of my pocket this morning, I'm looking online to see if I can order one. Must strike while the memory is hot. Or something).

Right, the cardi's. I've done the body and one sleeve for Buster, using this yarn & color. Really, I'm not sure on the olive any more. In the store, in the lighting in the store, I was very fond of the lighter and darker greens. In the (lack of) light in my house, I wonder if I'm trying to put my (lack of) color onto my child. As for the other cardi, I've just done 2 sleeves so far. The yarn is delicious to knit with. So, soft, so gentle, I'm tempted to put on my best Long Island accent and invoke a simile of spreadable dairy product. It is that good, I tell you. The green I'm using, I think this (my monitor is awful and the yarn is at home), is so much more...I don't know. Baby. What do you think?

Pictures of each:

(While typing this post, I've managed to find and purchase online the right cable for the camera. Pictures of the cardis to come as soon as I wrap my head around how easy it was to just sit down and whip out the card. Now I know how Jess feels with buying fiber.)

Elsewhere on my mind:

I realized that spending so much time on the baby boards (message boards for pregnant women, generally centered around due dates/months) has taken away the coherent thought I used to put into blogging. I'm attempting to wean myself off them, and come back to my home. You people.

I realized that leaving a bunny alone for 3 days with no human contact is a bad idea. Especially when a) he's molting (read: leaving little trails of angora wherever he goes) and b) you think he's "over" his bad power cord chewing habit. Please don't ask my husband about the fire behind the sofa. He's still a bit upset about that.

Reasonably Random

2007-01-30T19:30:00.000-05:00

I still have tons of stuff floating around my head:

1. I think I broke the camera. When your husband says not to leave it plugged in to the laptop (and the cord dangling to the ground), you should listen. I thought I was too clever to catch my foot on said cable and fling the camera across the floor. I was wrong.

2. Wanna see what I'm knitting?

It's the Baby Bolero from One Skein. While I have the appropriate yarn (2 skeins, no less) I succumbed to a yarn emergency and bought a skein (or two) of this. I think it looks less olive-y and more pale green in person, but I blame the crappy picture on my camera.

3. The yarn for these wee cardigans was the first I've bought since Rhinebeck. I can't begin to explain how amazing it felt to buy yarn again. Like, "Wow, buying yarn is fun." How did I forget this?

4. That bit you see that I've done? That's the entire right front of the cardi. It took me 45 minutes. 45. In the car on the way back from South Carolina, I knit the rest of the body (back, and left front). In one 2 hour shift as passenger, including ripping out the left front once after finding I couldn't follow directions.

5. I had no idea newborns were that small. Since I will be delivering one, I'm kinda happy about this. I keep unfolding the body of the sweater, though and trying to imagine a little person in there. I'm having a time with this concept. I had dolls bigger than this.

6. During my last non-blogging period, I found out something I should have shared: IT'S A BOY!!

7. I have no idea how to raise a boy.

8. This wee cardi isn't for me, it's for a friend. Why? She's making a crib quilt for my son (!!):

Some early squares:

Squares she did over the weekend:

Fabric:

The bottom two fabrics are for squares, the green is for the backing, the dotted one is for the border and the top one is for the facing. (I think I have those terms right.)

9. Clearly, I need to knit more for this woman than a tiny cardigan.

10. At some point I spoke about a little project I was making for my child, a thing that deserved it's own post. We've decided to use cloth diapers on baby Buster (my step-father's nickname for him), which is controversial I understand. Before the loss of an antique needle in the Toys R Us parking lot, my wee project was a wool diaper soaker. I don't know if I would be interested in using wool soakers (I like these better) but I thought it would be good to at least knit something. I was having powerful urges to knit, but was intimidated with anything else. The soaker was some old Cascade 220 in the stash, less intimidating than buying baby yarn. That must sound silly. I'm not sure I want to finish it, now that I'm working on the cardis.

11. My reasons for cloth diapering are not environmental. Really, its 45% health reasons, 45% monetary and 10% environment. I was hospitalized more than a few times as an infant and child with asthma, and I found that the chemicals in disposables that make them so absorbent give off emissions that cause asthma in lab rats. I'm thinking the child will have enough genetic disposition in that direction that I don't need to add to it. (Here's a good link. I've looked up the actual studies, too).

12. I've been trying to spin. It's not going so well. How can I forget everything in just a few months??

13. I've been given some additional responsibilities at work, which is seriously cutting into my Bloglines time. As of 10:15 this morning I had 251 unread, and I don't even have that many subscriptions (compared to some). At least my resume will look nicer.

14. I'm sorry, Knitter Bunny. No pics of the blocking, yet.

Gone to Carolina

2007-01-30T16:08:00.000-05:00

Though the song is more about people and less about places, I keep hearing it in my head. I find myself back here in blogland, writing about this rather than the knitting I have been doing. Will you humour me for a moment while I get this out of my system?

This past weekend was my sister's wedding, held in South Carolina. I've made more than a few snarky comments about it over the past few months, in part because I was a bit holier-than-thou and part due to what felt like a burden. This is her third wedding, and I was feeling superior (what with me having been married "only" twice--you may roll your eyes at me for this) and a little put out at the cost of flights or car expenses, plus maternity dresses for two formal dinners, hotel prices, and yet another set of wedding presents. As you can imagine, I didn't have high expectations for this weekend.

So now it is Tuesday, and I'm successfully re-entered back into my world, as silly as it sounds for a just a weekend away. Some things got to me: being in the South again and realigning my mindset to that way of life. The landscape. Sweet tea--real sweet tea, not tea with sugar. Seeing my sister happy for the first time in her life.

I'm still sorting all this out.

I'll have more tomorrow, I promise. I have knitting, I have a gift from Knitter Bunny I've been too chicken to block, and I have pictures of something beautiful to me. I just have to think.

We interrupt this morning sickness to tell you...

2007-01-10T17:18:00.000-05:00

That I'm (mostly) back in action. Whoo hooo. My Mac is back from the Dr., Mr. C's hard drive is installed and operating, our cell phones actually work (there was a recall on the chargers because they weren't charging. I've been telling them this for months, but to no avail) and our camera? Well, at least it runs on batteries.

So, all in all, I'm back in blogging action--at least as long as the AA's hold up. To that end, I have pictures! I was home alone the day I realized I had batteries, so took these belly shots myself. Sadly, the lighting in the bathroom is wretched and I was forced to try out snazzy effects to make the colors less garish.

Here is a flash-less shot at 17 weeks & 4 days:

And one to say hello, since I rarely show my face around here:

Don't I look too big to be still getting sick?? Yeah, I think so, too. However, it seems this baby is in charge and I'll be doing the porcelain Rhumba until he/she decides otherwise. On a positive note, I'm 45% of the way through, AND I find out on Thursday if I can write HE or SHE instead of he/she in my posts. Yay! (I'm kinda excited about this.)

Right, knitting...

I have finally determined that part of the reason I'm not knitting so much right now relates to the projects I'm working on. The socks for my mom (seen here when I thought I could finish them for Socktoberfest. Ha!) aren't fun to knit as the yarn (Sockotta) is rough in my hands and I think the color is a bit...garish. My Mom picked it out, though, so I don't have much choice. I do need to get them to her by my sister's wedding on Jan 27, which means I need to get working. It would be nice if I finished the second bed sock for my grandmother by then, too. Although she won't be at the wedding, my dad will be able to deliver them for me if I can get them done. I think I just need to just put on my big girl pants and get over second sock syndrome.

Of course, instead of working on either of these, I've cast on a new project to remove me from sock funk. I think I'll save it for another post, though, as I think it will deserve it's own.

In other news, I got a package!!

This is from the Lovely and Talented NeedleTart. What you see is a Burt's Bees Baby kit, a wonderful board book, a book titled "101 Secrets A Good Dad Knows," a book of her own recipes (wow!), a card/social game about food, and the best (hiding behind/supporting everything): a wonderfully scented "rice thingie" (her term) that when microwaved for a short time gives off warmth and lavendar-y scented comfort. She even included a spare cover for it! If you can click for big, you'll see the knit sheepy pattern, too. Ms. NeedleTart must have read my mind, because I've been having trouble the past few weeks with sore muscles at night. Thank you from both me and Mr. CygKnit!

On the blocking board right now (ok, the ironing board) is a wonderful gift from Knitter Bunny. I hope to have a pic of it next time, too. Hopefully, next time won't be another two weeks...

Experiencing technical difficulties

2006-12-28T14:55:00.000-05:00

First, my cell phone has completely died. I'm not particularly attached to the thing (in fact, some would argue that I've never been attached enough to it) and we aren't having anything like winter weather here for me to worry much about getting caught in a blizzard. So my phone dies, once and for all. No biggie.

As I've mentioned, the digital camera has had some (bunny) issues with the power cord. Motivated off my lazy butt by holiday shopping, I've been to no less than three stores looking for a replacement. Sadly, the nice lady at the Kodak help line has informed me that my camera dock is no longer being manufactured, though there is something that will kinda work. (At least, I think that's what she said, the growing one inside me has made me a bit daft when it comes to accents.) So, we have something that kinda charges the battery for now, enough to take a few quick pictures of knitting (if there was such a thing) and growing bellies. We can deal, right?

Saturday, I came home from my day at the library to find Mr. CygKnit rather upset. It seems that while I was at work the hard drive on his Dell keeled over. This was not good, but we could deal. Someone had the foresight to buy the three year warranty with the laptop (knowing that law school would suck all our available cash for three years), and a new FREE hard drive was winging its way to us. So, we use one computer, my MacBook, for a few days. Easy peasy, right?

I can take a lot. A dead phone, a chewed up battery, my sweet husband's twitching over the (temporary) loss of his computer. Except...the MacBook. The MacBook that I love, that holds lots of pictures and highly important data (like our list of baby names), that brings light and joy into my life, now lives in the land of Noworky. I don't think I cried, but I've been tempted to.

On the (very) bright side, the good man at Mac I spoke to was pleasant, cheerful, and amazingly helpful. He walked me through some things that might keep it from randomly turning off, and didn't seem at all ruffled when they didn't work. Apparently, heat sink issues are common, but instead of me feeling bad for purchasing a bum one, he made me feel better that it wasn't me who screwed up the computer. When I get home tonight, there will be a prepaid Express box on my doorstep, and I'll pop my baby off to Mac Docs central, and in about a week all will be right with the world.Right?

In knitting news...well, there's none. I'm itching to start a new project, but I haven't the foggiest idea what. I feeling the urge to Fair Isle, but in small quantities. I have a second sock to complete, though, which is like a bucket of cold water on my knitterly desires.

I've even given my wheel a few longing glances and a whispered promise.

I'll keep you posted.

Has anyone else seen this?

2006-12-23T13:49:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's just because I'm grumpy I'm at work today, or all the grey sky is getting to me, but this just made me all kinds of happy:

Happy Holiday of Choice to you from Mr. & Mrs. CygKnit, Olive, Misfit and Juniper. And baby CygKnit, too :)

Readership? What readership?

2006-12-20T09:18:00.000-05:00

I was told once that if I didn't post regularly then no one would be interested in hanging around to read what I write. Though I was absent for 18 days or so (not that I'm counting) the thought has been very much on my mind. I worry, though that starting each post with an apology isn't a good idea, as it will most likley get annoying after a while. Rather than apologize yet again for the embarrassingly long time between posts, I would like to thank you for sticking by and still reading me. Thank you.

(right now, I can hear only the sound of metaphoric crickets chirping. I hope there are still people reading... )

There's quite a lot to catch up on, I hardly know where to start. Except, the contents of my brain pretty much look like this:

babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby[patron question]babybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby[email]babybabybabybabybabybaby[patron question]babybabybaby...ad nauseam.

I suppose this is normal, this obsession with what's going on in, around and beneath my belly. And of course, what I'm obsessing about changes constantly. First, it was AmIShowing?AmIShowing?AmIShowing? and now it's HolyCrapI'mShowing!HolyCrapI'mShowing! I wish I could say that my mind was busy on wonderful intellectual pursuits (or even knitting) but sadly, this is what I've got. Now, my reason for not posting becomes clear, doesn't it?

Last baby thing, I promise?

Look at that! Something's going on in there! (Experienced mothers will recognize this as the stage when, unless you squish your shirt under your boobs and belly, no one else thinks you're pregnant, just hitting the buffet a little hard.)

But y'all came for the knitting, didn't you?

This is a bed sock for my grandmother. Most of what you see was done the day before Thanksgiving, as these are a really fast knit on size 7 needles. I know it is cheating, but oh! So nice to have a sock fly to the toe! (Let's not discuss the state of the second sock, ok? It seems to be, well, a bit stalled.)

And an action shot:

It's a simple baby cable, designed to look like I'm a far more clever knitter than I am. My grandmother is a champion crocheter (well, she's very good and very fast) but not a knitter. I was hoping to impress her with as little effort as possible, but since these won't show up until after 12/25, I'm thinking the impression factor is going to go down.

I've been doing other knitting, too. Back in November, I mentioned a wee project I was working on, but never followed up (be careful clicking on that link, that's the story of yaking on the cat). Here's what it was:

Now, this wee sockie is just a prototype. See, for some reason I still have a weird fear about knitting for the baby. What I was really trying to do here was fudge a pattern for a set of baby socks for Kristi and her boys. Sadly, I had no pattern at home (quite embarrassing, really) and was avoiding the computer (I was still working on papers for school). I decided to try out the first sock in Sensational Knitted Socks, the demo, to see how that would work out. Following the pattern, this is regular worsted weight *ahem*acrylic*ahem* on maybe size 5's. (It's just a template! I promise!)

The problem came when I finished and wove in the ends. I'd made a sock (a scratchy one, yes), but who would it fit? Is it too big for an infant? Too small? I have no experience with this.

Since then, I've checked out two baby knits books from the library, but haven't really looked at the sock patterns yet (which makes me feel like a complete chump, just so you know). Now that finals are over, and I'm in my second trimester, I have no excuse for not ripping myself out of the couch's gravitational pull. I'm just not sure why I haven't, yet.

Before I go (read: before my boss comes back from lunch) I want to thank everyone for their comments and emails about my Hanukkah bush crisis. Reading everyone's thoughts helped me put mine into place and into perspective, and basically stop freaking out over it. For the most part, I've become comfortable again with celebrating Hanukkah as Hanukkah, and exchanging gifts on Winter Consumer Holiday, aka Capitalist Gift-Giving Day, aka December 25 like most other Americans. The bush didn't get put up this year, but this had more to do with Juniper's obsessive chewing habit (the branches would reach into his cage, which isn't a good idea at all) than with either of our feelings. We did buy a little 2' table top model, but since neither of us has made it up into the attic for ornaments, it sits naked on our table. But we're ok with that.

While neither of us have really had the energy to do much (Mr. Cygknit is still in finals, and I'm, well, sleeping on the couch more often than not) in our own home, we have noticed a different perspective on others' decorations. We've found ourselves commenting on the merits of one neighbor's ostentatious display of inflatable elves over another's snowmen, and the tacky quotient of white lights vs. Colored vs. Blinking. While we're not going to be moving into the Christmas camp in the future, at least I'm not as afraid of it as I was. And that is a good thing.

A washrag isn't a finished object

2006-12-06T08:50:00.000-05:00

But, sadly, all I've finished in the last 6 weeks has been said washrag. I am not terribly proud, well, only a little, that I finished something. It was started last Thursday during a quiet morning of jury duty, and the finishing--mostly just binding off and weaving in ends--was done on my lunch break today. It has since been gifted, along with some locally made goat's milk soap, to a friend and co-worker who was just a few hours away from being offered the perfect job for her family. I hoped something pretty and sweet-smelling might ease her anxiety for those hours. The camera is juiceless, so just imagine a feather and fan washcloth knit in white and pale green and brown cotton.

Although I have no knitting, I do want to quote a small book. It was recommended to me several years ago by a dear friend, but I haven't been able to find it in print anywhere. The other day I found it on Half.com and ordered it right away. Mr. Cygknit brought it in with the mail last night, and I sat down and read it while he told me about his day.

There has been some discussion in this house about Hanukkah bushes, which Mr. Cygknit was raised with, Christmas trees, which I was raised with, and the absence of either, which our religion would prefer, I think. Our discussions on this topic weave through the holiday days each year, finally dying with New Year's. Each Thanksgiving I dread the inevitable gentle disagreements we have, until we find a balance between what we can't live with and refuse to give up. This year, my perspective is all wonky as I struggle with my hormones. I don't really know what I want, except to have some definitive idea of what a family tradition is for us.

I read this excerpt from There's No Such Thing as a Chanukah Bush, Sandy Goldstein tonight, and wanted to share this little bit. As I have said before, I am taken with knitting content in books. This time, the subject matter applies, as well.

Mom went to the sofa and began knitting. The apartment was very quiet. I moved the candle around on the table trying to find six colors I liked. Red, white, blue, red, white, blue. White, white, white, red, red, red. They all looked terrible!

"Can we have a Chanukah bush?" I asked softly. I felt warm tears float up into my eyes.

"There is no such thing," she said. Her knitting needles clicked quickly. I pushed the candles around some more. I decided to try again.

"But Sandy Goldstein has..."

"What Sandy Goldstein has is a Christmas tree. And you know Jews do not believe in Christmas."

My tears were the large kind that creep slowly down the cheek. They rested on the corners of my mouth.

"Sandy's Jewish," I said. My nose was all stuffy. Mom didn't seem to notice.

Her knitting needles were really clicking fast. Then, suddenly, they stopped. Mom sighed a very deep sigh.

"You're right, Robin," she said. "Sandy is Jewish. But there are many ways of being Jewish. In our own family there are men who wear hats, always, to show their respect for God."

"Like Uncle Bob?"

"Yes. And there are men who worship in synagogues where the men pray bare-headed."

"Uncle Marshall?"

"Yes. And your father prefers to cover his head during prayer. All three have found their own way to be Jewish. If Sandy Goldstein's parents feel they can live with a Christmas tree, then that is their business. But I will not have one in my home."

I stuck white candles into the menorah. I hate white candles.

This excerpt in the third of nine chapters, and is not intended to be a spoiler. The story as a whole is very nice, and I even found myself exclaiming aloud at one point. For adults, it is really no more than a 20 minute read. I found both the subject and the knitting fascinating, how Mom shows her anxiety through her knitting, and how Robin perceives this. I wonder what my own child with think as my needles click away?

If only I could decide about the "bush" this year.

Bunny update

2006-12-04T22:50:00.000-05:00

I have been a bad bunny mommy. Not only did I let the little man eat the camera's power cord (oh, and the cable cord, too), but I haven't posted about him in weeks. Leigh's comment the other day asking if he was well has stuck with me for days, and I've known I need to show him here. While *I* may know he's fine, I'm depriving bunny lovers of some confirmation of that. (And looking like I'm spending all my time asleep on my couch. Which I am, but that's beside the point).

So, I present to you, one contented Juniper:

Doesn't he look happy? And OMG, aren't those feet adorable?!

In the interest of full disclosure, this pic was taken a few weeks ago, back before he was given the run of the house (I mentioned I'd be digging into the archives).

The brightly colored backdrop was once a tool for taming the wild Olive. When she was a kitten, one of her more favorite games (besides licking my nostrils at 4 in the morning) was whacking the blinds (at 4 in the morning). The apartment we were living in at the time had those huge honkin' metal blinds, which can be a bit jarring when repeatedly whacked into the metal window frame. It did not take long for this to get real old, prompting Mr. C to make some room dividers and pull the blinds all the way open until she was old enough to know better. We'll let you know when that is.

For the first few weeks of Juniper's out-of-cage experience, we unscrewed the dividers (which seem to always move with us) and laid them on their sides to protect heavily corded areas. Unfortunately, we left off this practice for a few weeks, since he wasn't being chewy (and the cats were knocking over the dividers), and we've paid for it. Now, instead of blocking off rooms or large parts of rooms, we're placing these dividers in front of the cords so he can't get them. The cats respect this, so we just need to worry about the clumsy humans in the house.

In other Juniper news, guess who's still molting?

Sexy bunny

Somebunny does NOT like to be brushed, so we've had to do short installments of grooming to de-dreadlock him (this is also an archived photo, and those dreads are quite gone, now). Some behavior modification has been started, and he'll now sit still for a whopping five minutes with the promise of a green leafy treat. Still, he's not keen on his lower sides or his bunny tush being brushed, and I haven't seen his tummy yet. I could use some lessons on being a better bunny mommy.

In other news, this is my last week of the semester, so I hope to be back to blogging with more regularity than I have had. I've complained a bit about these classes, but the real problem (of course) has been me and my attitude. One of the classes I signed up for was a bit of a stretch for me--the subject matter was one I had little familiarity with, and has the tendency to confuse me as much as ~~any~~ higher math does. I took it anyway, really wanting a challenge, and have barely kept my head above the material (and cursing myself for wanting a challenge). Because of this, I've not been giving my other class enough attention, and my grades aren't what I'd normally want them to be. I'm learning a lot about perspective, time management, and, well priorities. And it has been a hard lesson that neither knitting nor blogging are truly priorities if I want to finish this degree. Which I do. I just want to knit, too. And spin. In the words of a co-worker, "This, too, shall pass." I hope she's right.

Late to the party

2006-11-29T11:12:00.000-05:00

My last meme (ok, my last post) generated some questions about what memes are, why they are, and exactly how different they are from the old chain letters that used to come in the mail. This was good, as I love researching obscure and unimportant things, especially when those things take me away from more important things. Like homework.

So, when I read Mamacate's request, then saw this spread across tons of other blogs, I was inspired. That, and it was not that long ago that this starving grad student begged for survey respondents. If you haven't already, do the guy a favor and check out the link to the project, write a post, and ping here. No sweat, right? Heck, even I can do it.

If the concept of memes, language viruses, and how this has affected the Internet, has any interest for you (I'm going to go totally librarian here and recommend a book) read Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. Though I'm not a fan of Wikipedia, the two links above do a good job of describing the plot outlines. If it sounds a little weird, that's ok. Not only is it a great read if you like Sci Fi and a good read if you don't, it's was required reading in two of my undergraduate classes (Political Futures and Postmodern American Literature). That means it must be good, right? :)

Its funny to me that here, at the end of my post, it occurs to me that I've written almost nothing about what I had intended to. Quickly, then: In good news, I found the camera! It was hiding in the car the whole time I tore the (700 sq. ft.) house apart looking for it! In not-so-great news, it seems that sometime when I wasn't keeping good watch on Juniperbunny he ate the camera's power cable (thankfully not while plugged in). I hope to shamelessly dig into my hard drive for old pics and actually post more regularly until we ~~finally remember to go to Radio Shack~~ get that new cable.

Also, I'm approaching the end of my first trimester (yay!!!) which I hope means I'll be able to string together some more coherent thoughts. I've been kinda bummed by some of my recent posts not reading the way I want them to, and have been placing the blame squarely on the fig-sized young one. Please tell me I'll be mentally back to my old self soon? And the morning sickness will *poof!* disappear on Sunday, too? Please?

Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T09:35:00.000-05:00

I am going to shamelessly borrow this meme from Carole, as it perfectly matches my mood today. We've been baking since last night, and got up early this (very gray, chilly) morning to finish up before we're due to be at our friends'. I've been wanting to blog since yesterday, too (a nice change of pace from my recent absence!) but the camera has gone MIA and I can't show my wee little project (or the sock that's nearly done). Until then, have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

1. Which do you like better: Cooking at your house, or going elsewhere? I SO much prefer cooking at my house, but as I've lived in tiny places for most of my adult life I find that cooking at home and bringing food with me is the perfect balance. Like this year.

2. Do you buy a fresh or frozen bird? I generally buy a fresh bird, as frozen birds come with too much anxiety. I can't be the only one who pokes at it for days, worried it won't defrost in time...

3. What kind of stuffing? My Mom's family recipe. I was so proud the year I was promoted from Bread Tearer to Sauteer (that can't be spelled right. Saute-er?) It was one of my big achievements! I've called my Mom from multiple states over the years, to make sure I've prepared it just right.

4. Sweet potato or pumpkin pie? Neither. I like Pecan, personally.

5. Do you believe that turkey leftovers are a curse, or the point of the whole thing? Curse? Ohhhh, because you get sick of them! When I make a turkey for just the two of us (like this year, when we're going to our (vegetarian) friends' house) I usually pick a wee bird. Just enough for ONE day's leftovers, not so much that every time I open the fridge for a week I see the carcass and cringe.

6. Which side dish would provoke a riot if you left it off the menu? For me, the stuffing :) Mr. Cygknit is a Fiend for sweet potato casserole.

7. Do you save the carcass to make soup or stock? I admit that I always *mean* to, but never quite get there.

8. What do you wish you had that would make preparing Thanksgiving dinner easier? Oh, more counter space, without a doubt.

9. Do you get up at the crack of dawn to have dinner ready in the early afternoon, or do you eat at your normal dinner hour? Growing up, we always ate early afternoon. That's sorta programmed into me, and I cant sleep late on Thanksgiving for any reason.

10. If you go to somebody else's house, what's your favorite dish to bring? I've brought everything from green bean casserole to fresh bread. I pretty much cook whatever the hostess wishes.

11. What do you wish one of your guests wouldn't bring to your house? My first thought was my step-sister's alcoholic husband, but thankfully we're far from the drama-makers in our families. (I know that wasn't very nice, but it really was my first thought.)

12. Does your usual mix of guests result in drama, or is it a group you're happy to see? Since we moved up to CT, I've been away from my family for holidays. They're a pretty dramatic bunch, but in that quiet way where it sort of eddys around the room until someone explodes. I've been lucky to see various family on non-holiday visits, which reduces the stress level for everyone.

13. What's your absolute favorite thing on the menu? I'm a starch girl. Give me lots of 'tatoes and stuffing, please!

And Carole added this one, which is so very appropriate this year:

14. What are you thankful for this year? I'm thankful for my health. This year was so stressful, with several months of doctors questioning if I had breast cancer, and then with one surgery and another to go. I am so lucky to be in the not-yet cancer stage, and to have had the support of all of you through that time. Then, during this same time we were told we'd need treatments if we ever wanted kids...and here I am with a kumquat on the way that I never expected I'd be lucky enough to have. This year, I'm so grateful for all the support I've had from Mr. Cygnet, my family, my friends--including all you blog folk who've become my friends this year. I have to stop, I'm getting all teary!

What about you? What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Catch-up and A Story

2006-11-21T16:37:00.000-05:00

So, I started a post on Sunday. Really and truly and 100% about a wee project I was knitting. I was so excited to be both knitting and blogging that I may well have swelled up with pride at my own cleverness. As the Knitting Fates would have it, I apparently abandoned said project just an inch and a half from completion. I would feel guilty about this except that it is out of sight (it may well be under the sofa, I heard the bunny chewing on something last night).

After sending the story below in an email to Lisa, she asked if I would post it on the blog. Since the likelihood of me finishing that wee project and subsequent post is slim, I present this. (Please don't read if you have a weak stomach.)

The Joys of Morning Sickness, or Where Olive Gets Her Due

So, this morning I was brushing my teeth as I was getting ready for work. Olive, of course, wanted to be in on the fun and jumped up onto the sink just as I was about to spit out my toothpaste. Because she was taking up the entire sink space, I kept the toothpaste inside instead of spitting it out--which activated my gag reflex. Up came my breakfast as I pushed her out of the sink. After cursing a bit, I grabbed my toothbrush and paste again, figuring I should freshen up before work. This was a bad idea; my gag reflex was in full swing and it took just a moment for the rest of breakfast to come up. Just at that critical moment, Olive darted across the front of the sink again, and whisked her tail up to my mouth. Her misplaced appendage acted as a slide and she ended up covered with all I had left in me.

It has been suggested that Karma is a bitch. Perhaps Olive should remember this the next time she chases snakes, gets stuck on the roof, breaks yet another wedding present, or looses *her* lunch next to my side of the bed?

Maybe I'm just being cranky.

Where have I been??

2006-11-12T09:46:00.000-05:00

I had no idea that I hadn't posted since October 26. That is, until I started getting emails from various folks. Some were really nice, saying wonderful things of worry and concern. Others? They were a little more, um, forceful. I love my friends (but sometimes they scare me). The whole time, all I could think of was my utter lack of knitting and spinning content. I had absolutely nothing to blog about besides my homework. And if I don't find my homework interesting, then it is some pretty crappy blog material.

After my big week of homework I blogged about last time, I was so exhausted I slept all the time. 8 pm and time for prime time? I was snoozing on the couch. Time to write a paper (because it was due the next day). Face down on the bed, still in my work clothes. I thought I was just recouping from the monumental homework week.

I am not a smart girl, as can be seen. The evidence?

I found that I was more than 8 weeks pregnant.

(My little one, at 8 weeks and 6 days)

Some important parts of the picture:

-The big part under the word "Dad" is his/her head
-The arrow is pointing to an arm. When she took the picture, the little hand was waving at me!
-The dark spot a bit under the arm is the heart. It was beating so fast, and totally beyond "neat" to see it pulsating. I cried.
-At the end, the part that goes up near the top is the umbilical cord.

I have to tell you that I *never* believed that I was pregnant. It didn't matter that I haven't been able to eat a thing for four freakin' weeks without feeling like I'd yak it right back up. I thought it was an ulcer. An inability to stay awake if I sat still for more than five minutes? Well, it has been busy at work. No more sleeping on my stomach because the girls protested? That's just PMS...that lasted a month.

As I said, I am not bright. But holy crap, look what I have to look forward to.

First time

2006-10-26T09:07:00.000-04:00

A wise woman told me Saturday night that you never forget your first time (with a fleece). I might have made an inappropriate reference to the fleece's name, but we don't need to talk about that.

Instead, may I present Black Cherry:

(Here, in the blinding sunlight of my trunk)

(Here, a lock)

(Here, more crimp. Sorry about the finger.)

Some information:

What is it? A cormo fleece. I think. I'm pretty sure. (They took the card that told me so when I purchased it. I might have been a wee bit dazed at the time.) It could be a corriedale, though, because I just remember that it began with a C.

How much is it? It is just a hair under three pounds. 2.7, I think. From what I understand, this doesn't actually qualify it as a fleece purchase (and therefore it was reasonable for me to nearly forget about it last post).

Why on earth did you pick that fleece? Um...I didn't. Lisa did. Now, Lisa couldn't care less (and that is stating it mildly) about fleece, and looked so bored in the fleece barn I was reminded of past bad dates. But, this one spoke to her and she called my attention back to it. I fondled it, listened to it, stroked its crimp until I wondered what all that brown stuff was on my fingers, took a deep breath and bought it.

Whatcha going to do with it? Good question. I have received some pretty strong hints that it wants to be plied with some caramel-colored alpaca I have tucked away, and sent on a journey to Florida. But I don't know if I should listen to such hints. Really, all I'm thinking about right now is getting it to clean. I will worry about the rest much, much later.

What about pictures of that Olympic/Rhinebeck sweater? You hush, NeedleTart. I still need to wash it/block it. Y'all weren't supposed to know that.

As for the washing (that I'm actually looking forward to) I hope to be able to get started this weekend. I've found myself overwhelmed with homework, as we're just over half-way through the semester and rolling quickly downhill towards the end. While I was thrilled to have an easy week for Rhinebeck, I am paying for it now in a big way. That said, if anyone wants to take a short (15 minute) survey on internet searching, let me know at cygnet246 at yahoo dot com. (I'm in a bit of a pinch on my numbers!)

Until then, the fleece lives in the car.

What They* Don't Tell You About Rhinebeck

2006-10-23T11:22:00.000-04:00

* "They" are the people who have gone before, who tell you that you *must* go, but not really why.

What have I learned about Rhinebeck:

I learned that it's not the festival, its not the bloggers, its not the weather or the lamb burgers or the vendors or the h(m)otel that makes Rhinebeck. It really is all of it, all mushed together.

I learned that there are far far more knit bloggers out there than I could have imagined, and that though I saw a huge number (see pictures here and here, for starters) I only saw a wee fraction.

I learned that Socks that Rock are worthy of a looooong line. A long long long long line, the length of Building A in fact, and all the really super stuff was already claimed by the people in front of me in line. Which didn't stop me from standing in a long line to buy sock yarn for someone I promised I would.

I learned that there is a finite amount of blithering idiocy that can fall out of my mouth when talking to people whose work I admire. Not that it doesn't happen, but that I can control it. A little.

I learned that after you meet a few bloggers--no matter how terrified of crowds you are--you're happy to talk to someone just as freaky on fiber as you are.

I learned that bunnies are like crack. Everyone stops to look, and those that stop to coo at them *all* talk in baby talk.

I learned that it is very important to get a recommendation on a hotel/motel and not just take what you can find. Trust that this is the best picture of the room:

(I'm in the room, facing out.)

I learned that friends can be really good to you. Lisa bought this for me, a Grafton Fibers batt and spindle:

And this is my haul:

(Except for the spinning stool I bought. Oh, and the fleece.)

Off like a prom dress

2006-10-19T13:55:00.000-04:00

It's official: I'll be wearing the ~~Olympic~~ Rhinebeck sweater on Saturday. I have it on right this second (though the bottom hem isn't done), and while it's a bit snug (or I'm a bit round), it looks pretty damn ok.

Mr. Cygknit is back from the bank for me. Dragon arrives in 30 minutes (I live 35 minutes from the airport, FYI). See you Saturday (or not. Sorry.)

I know I'm not the only one

2006-10-17T17:32:00.000-04:00

I have a list of things to do before Rhinebeck that is freakin' huge. Overwhelming. And I know I can't be the only one.

See, Ms. Dragon is flying up here on Thursday for a weekend of Rhinebeck fun. We're spending Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at some nice place in Red Hook (let's not dwell on the fact that I can't for the life of me remember the name of the place. We'll worry about that tomorrow). Somewhere between the homework, the cleaning and the packing, I have to figure out the nearest Starbucks to Hartford Airport (apparently the girl needs caffeine immediately upon deplaning. I can't argue with that).

(For the record, I spent over 20 minutes trying to figure out what to type next, as all that was in my head is was Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck.)

Right. So, I am taking everyone's advice that 1/8 of an ounce of yarn is *plenty* to finish the mitt 2. I would feel silly about being so worried, but I'm going to wait to see how it turns out, ok? I am sure y'all are 100% right. I'm just ~~a little~~ ~~slightly~~ ~~not noticeably~~ high strung. I admit it.

Sadly, mitt 2 been getting little time with me, what with the alarmingly long to-do list and the homework that I *cough* kindagotbehindon *cough*. Progress as of this morning:

(Note the Rhinebeck Bingo card in the background!)

I made it through the last cable on my lunch break today, so it goes, if slowly.

Tuesdays are my Knit With Terry nights, assuming I've been a good girl and done my homework (due on Tuesdays). What was I working on last night? Hemmed down some stitches, that's what.

(a poorly photographed Hourglass sweater)

Lest it appear that I will *actually* finish my ~~Olympic~~ Rhinebeck sweater, I still have a few more stitches to hem down.

(UV index in Connecticut 10/18/06: 0. Stitches left to hem: 270ish)

This angle is bad, I know, and the sweater isn't nearly as shapeless as it appears. I was running late for a doctor's appointment*. Also, for the record, I haven't ever tried this sweater on. I know this puts me in the running for Stupidest Knitter of the Year, but I'm badly superstitious about this sweater. I don't know why. I really hope to wear it Saturday. Really, really really. Rhinebeck Rhinebeck Rhinebeck. Anyone else as excited as a kid going to the circus?

* I was told today that I have to cut my caffeine intake to zero. I'm really not happy (read: I cried in front of the Dr.). There might be some whining or general crankiness in posts over the coming weeks. I'm really sorry, in advance.

Not that kind of girl

2006-10-16T19:56:00.000-04:00

Really.

I love to knit, and I do it as frequently as I can. Lunch breaks, trips with Mr. Cygknit (including trips to Target), and far too many hours I should be doing schoolwork. On a scale of obsessed, however, I don't rank nearly as I high as ~~my co-workers~~ I would like to think I am. Yes, I will chose to knit over cleaning. I will even pick knitting over reading a book (which is a change of pace for me). But knitting over sleep? Oh. No. That's crazy talk.

So. Right. *Ahem* I present Fetching

No sleep for me until the ends were woven in

So, Fetching is kinda Bunny's fault. Mr. Cygknit set up the bunny pen a little after 5pm to clean the main cage out, and asked if I'd like to sit with Bun. I grabbed a jacket and sat inside the enclosure, watching the considerable frolicking (and eating of greens. Bunny likes greens.) The landlords walked over to chat, and we all stood around for a good while just talking. My hands got cold. Really cold. And I remembered: I wanted to make fingerless gloves back in April. When talking and cage cleaning and gazing fondly at the bunny were done, I cast me on a project.

There's just one problem:

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Wish me luck.

Flash

2006-10-13T08:32:00.000-04:00

Again with the behind on Socktoberfest posting.

Here is my sock stash. Isn't it pitifully small?

Lolly's Questions:

Do you have certain patterns planned for some of the yarns? Do you buy yarn and then choose a pattern?

Um, sometimes. The green Opal Gems in the top left is meant to be some leaf lace socks, and some Pinguin I forgot about until just now was meant for a lace pattern. Otherwise, no. When I comes to sock yarn, I go with what makes me happy.

Does a certain sock yarn you have in your stash take you back to a certain event? (where you were when you bought/received it? what was going on in your life at the time!)

Sure. The green/blue ball in the lower right is part of my Dye-O-Rama pal's beeyoutiful gift to me (there's more, but that's what I could find while getting ready for work). The Artyarns came from the Yarn Harlot time at WEBS, while the Lorna's Laces is from KnitterBunny and the Swizzle is from Lisa. I could keep going, but I think I made my point :)

Gathering my wee sock stash together has given me a very important insight: I need more sock yarn. For a while now, I've thought I had a whole lot more than I apparently do. How sadly mistaken I've been, and how much more sock yarn I can buy (I'm holding back an evil laugh). This afternoon I plan to be at Sit N Knit in W. Hartford for Stitchy's talk. Bwahaha!

Because I can't stop

2006-10-12T20:18:00.000-04:00

Forgive me. I really should be Socktoberfest posting. But, oh! I'm taken with the bunny.

Apparently, Olive and Juniper are getting along: they played hide and seek last night. It terrified the heck out of *me*.

PS Today, Dragon turns 30. If you can stand any more mushiness from me, go read how we met and why I like her.

So far behind

2006-10-11T08:53:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful, (if cold medicine filled) weekend with Jess up at the Hancock Shaker Village. We were part of...wait, we WERE...the spinning demonstration for the end of National Spinning Week. Aside from being a great excuse to go up and see Jess, and hang out with her (very fun) family, and chill in her wool-filled house, this was a heck of an experience for me, even in my cold medicine stupor.

I had never spun in public before.

See, I've never had a class, or any spinning instruction beyond that very first day I sat at a wheel. And with all that I was doing that day, I really haven't the foggiest idea what I was told, except "draft and twist/draft and twist/draft and twist." (Which I finally got after several long moments of questioning my own intelligence).

Anyway, here I was, with Jess The Experienced Spinner sitting behind me. Me, out front, with all the curious staring at me. Need I say I was terrified? I prayed no one would have a clue that I had no idea what I was doing. For the most part, they didn't. I was able to prattle on when asked a question, and so long as I didn't have to name a part ("Oh, that's a doohicky. No, really. That's its name. Really") most people were just looking at the very basics, like how we can all be making yarn with different kinds of wheels. (My amazing fright aside, this really is the kind of thing I want to do. I'll suck it up, I promise.)

When I came home on Sunday, guess what I found? (If you guess "home" you're right! I made it all the way home with no directions from Jess' lovely home ~~in the middle of freakin' nowhere~~ far from the sound of highways with only my wee mind to guide me. Yeah, I was sweating bullets.) No, really, what I found when I got home was this:

BUNNY!*

This was one of the very first pictures we took of him, though it isn't really the best. He's still a bit nervous, here

Why, what did the kitties think of him, you ask? Misfit was the first to see him, through the glass door between our kitchen and mudroom (where he lives). He was NOT interested in meeting him face to face, though. Olive gets that distinction:

Olive the Wild Bunny Chaser is surprisingly not interested in ~~eating~~ chasing this one. Instead, she hangs out with him. There's a bench next to his cage, which was for *us* to sit on when we're in there. Olive, though, will take a nap there if given the choice, happily stretching to touch noses with Bunny whenever the chance arises. While I thought this was cute, and all, my real fear was what would happen when they met in the wild (ok, the front yard).

Mr. Cygknit built a foldy-up sort of pen, about 5 1/2 feet across, for Bunny to play in. It seems that when he saw Bunny's natural habitat in Vermont, there was much frolicking about in the grass, and he wanted to replicate such a thing here:

Don't I look healthy?

The odd thing, again, was Olive's lack of murderous heart for this little creature. We were all out there for over an hour, with Olive ranging around the property. She'd see him hopping about, and the movement would make her crouch. She'd run about half the distance to the pen, see it was him, and turn around, disappointed. She didn't care. She chased squirrels, instead (for the record, the squirrels always win).

Misfit, however, was not as amused by the bunny.

CrankyPants

For the most part, he just leaves Bunny alone, which is just fine by me. Bunny got his first free range in the house yesterday, after I blocked off about half the kitchen. Misfit pawed at the screen (a handmade room screen) a bit, and then resigned himself to whining. When Olive finally woke up, she whacked the screen over, and joined Bunny. At least he's getting the litter training down.

Finally, a Gratuitous Bunny Shot:

There are plenty more where that came from. Maybe tomorrow?

*We're in a bit of a dispute over names, here in the CygKnit house. Mr. C likes to call him Senor Pantalones (and has several songs he's created to the tune of "I Have A Little Dreidel.") I prefer Juniper, a suggestion from Terry. It is looking like Juniper will be his "Official" name, and he'll be known as Pantalones in the home. I'm not sure how I feel about this.

Spinning, Socks and Sneezing

2006-10-06T18:34:00.000-04:00

I am sick. I know I will be all better soon (I have to! I have too much to do!) but boy, today hasn't been so very fun. The socks for my mom (the Sockotta) were not working out, and after much cursing I ripped them out and started a different pattern, the last on one the right, here. The color change in the yarn happens about every three stitches, and I think this one will show it off better.

Instead of whining any longer though, I present:

Long Promised Spinning

So, way back in August, I started spinning this

Then, something happened. I couldn't spin it any more. Every time I tried, it just sorta fell apart. I'd spin and spin--even adding way more twist than I thought--and still it would just whip away onto the bobbin. I adjusted the tension about six million times and...nothing. I posed the question to a spinning forum, and...nothing. I thought it might be all the humidity, so I just walked away. Yeah. I'm not proud, but I walked away.

Now, our house is pretty small. At about 700 square feet, there wasn't anywhere to hide the wheel. And the room you see her photographed in all the time? Really, it's just a nook between the bedroom and the bathroom. With all the coffee I drink...I saw a lot of Edina. And I felt a whole lotta guilty.

So, fast forward to a week or so ago, when the Project Linus blanket came back to me with a gift inside: Cherry Tree Hill Roving (I wish I had a picture of it before splitting it and spinning it). Oh, Lord, I had to do something. So, I told Mr. Cygknit I was going to do this spinning thing, and Do Not Disturb Me!

He found me later, in tears. It wasn't working. He gently asked me to slide over on the bench, he made one adjustment, and it worked. (I'm never very sure if I love him or hate him. So hard some days.)

This is what I ended up with:

Two-ply. About 300 yards. Very "designer."

Do you see, in the very first picture, how very baby fine the fiber is? While it was a dream to touch and pet, it made spinning it *maybe* not the best choice for this novice.

This, however, is what 100% Merino does:

Isn't it beautiful?

Socktoberfest!! (again!)

2006-10-05T09:07:00.000-04:00

Late, again! I've been reading everyone's answers to Lolly's Socktoberfest questionnaire, and want to play along (what with being on a sock high, and all).

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?

I started making socks in March of 2005. My mom's birthday was coming up and she perpetually has cold feet. Socks seemed the perfect gift. Ha!

I taught myself, with only a little success. I really wanted to try DPNs (having been afraid of them for so long). Unfortunately, a lot of instructions leave out that you are to knit the outside of the loop (either that, or they assume you're not as dense as me). I was viewing the stitches from above and knitting into the backs, though I didn't realize it. My socks were being knit inside out (!!!). A co worker at the time, an older Danish woman (with that brusque Germanic accent that can render a person two inches tall) literally laughed at me when I pulled them out one day at lunch. She helped me tweak the process a bit...

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?

My first pair was for my Mom's birthday. They were a month late, they took so long. I don't know if they've held up, though, as I don't think she wears them. It could be because she treasures hand-knit things--or it could be that one was a whole size smaller than the other. It's hard to say ;)

What would you have done differently?

Well, I would have knit them both right side out!! Also, I left in two or three mistakes, as I didn't see them right away (what with the insideoutedness). It seemed that it had taken so very long to get where I was that I couldn't bear to rip back. I know better now. Oh, and I would have knit them both the same size, and all.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

Almost all of them. The only one I haven't enjoyed was the Regia Nation Colors (the bumblebee socks), since they felt kinda wiry. I'm also not liking the Sockotta a whole lot, but I hope that changes.

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

I do NOT like to crochet socks. I tried once and gave up, figuring the pattern was much smarter than I was. It could just be that I'm allergic to crochet. Much like my aversion to toe-up...

The bestest way for me to knot socks is on 4 DPNs (total). I can completely get my head around the math (ratios) for decreases at the gusset and toes, and I haven't looked back since then. Much.

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)

I've not tried short-row (yet). I keep meaning to, but because I can knit a flap-heel and turn with no directions (read: while at work) I'm pretty partial to it. The socks I'm doing for my mom, though, are short-row, so be prepared for the ~~whining~~ fun.

How many pairs have you made?

Only five, I think, have been finished.

Hopefully I will have some spinning pictures tomorrow. I really have been spinning, despite what it may have appeared, though I'm not yet ready to talk about the issues I had with Edina, yet. Tomorrow...

A new leaf

2006-10-04T10:07:00.000-04:00

Right now, as I write this, I am experiencing something I've never felt before.

My own hand-knit socks. On my own feet. Not socks for someone else that I'm just testing the fit of. No stressing over horribly kitchenered toes. Socks. For. Me.

Side view, resting on the screen of my bedroom window (that's a rock ledge out there, and yes, those are kitty pajamas. What of it?).

Front view. There's no natural light today, sorry.

These socks, these warm little wool hugs of self-love (which sounds dirtier than I imagined it would) have made me reconsider something. I'm not knitting for other people any more, unless SPECIFICALLY asked. Huh-uh. I have felt the power of the hand-knit sock, and I am embracing my selfishness. From now on, (that is, after my holiday requirements) only socks for me and for charity.

Please hold me to this.

Socktoberfest!!

2006-10-02T21:42:00.000-04:00

No, really, I'm not late in posting for Socktoberfest. Really!

Here's the line up:

1. Socks for my Mom. Reasons to knit them ASAP include
a) she picked the yarn out herself, having no experience with Yarn Store sock walls
b) she picked the yarn out at my request
c) she picked the yarn out as a Winter Consumer Holiday* present for herself.

Shown is the Chevron section of Sensational Knitted Socks. I need to move on these.

2. Sock for my Step-Father. See #1 above. I'm thinking (if I can get reasonable gague) of the Father and Son Socks from the Fall Interweave. I'm not sure if the pattern will be obscured, though. Any thoughts?

3. Baby socks for the Dutchicans. (No pictures, sorry) I have some Lion Brand Magic Stripes (In the cleverly named "Purple" colorway) that was bought with a friend in mind. Sadly, she's allergic to all wool, including superwash. So, baby socks!

4. *Sigh* Do you see something wrong with this picture?

Maybe one sock way smaller than the other?? I have no idea what I did, as I have the same number of stitches on the same needles as the first one. I probably knit the second one a lot tighter--the thought crossed my mind at one point. Time to rip.

Finally, thanks for the Yom Kippur comments. During the ~~completely flippin' fiberless~~ period of reflection that such a somber day requires, I had much time to reflect on my ~~complete and utter~~ dependence on wool in any form. I'd be a little worried but the sun's down and I can knit now.

* I don't like calling December 25 "Christmas." It's one of those quirks of mine that I probably shouldn't talk about. Some reasons tie to the pagan history (why call it Christmas when so much of the symbolism isn't Christian), while others relate to the almost total capitalistic nature of the American observance of it (why call it Christmas when there's little Christ-action going on with all the wrapping paper flying about?). I like my menorah sans presents, and my Consumer Holidays with lots of 'em. But that's just me.

2006-10-01T15:03:00.000-04:00

I have this bad habit of putting off my homework as much as I can. As I child, this was understandable--what kid likes to do schoolwork? As an adult, though, I've fought hard to overcome this. Sadly, I haven't had and overwhelming amount of success. Because Yom Kippur starts at sundown tonight, I've been working my butt off to get as much work done as possible, and working at the library yesterday didn't exactly help. I have two half-written blog posts saved, as I keep getting pulled back to school stuff and completely abandoning the train of thought.

There are prohibitions on what can and can't be done on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Normally, this isn't the hugest concern for me, as we're usually in services the vast majority of the day. This is also helpful when it comes to the 25 hour fast, as you wouldn't dare breaking your fast with a building full of cranky Jews wishing they had some coffee and bagels, too. Its just that I was informed this morning that my husband forgot to get tickets for us for services. Much like Christmas Eve, where churches are packed with Christians-for-a-day, Yom Kippur services are full of the 1 and 2 day Jews. Having your name on a list, or having some kind of ticket, means that you have a seat. No ticket means no room for you.

I know I sound panicky (and I might be whiney). I thought I could deal, really. That is, until I decided to look up (due to my fuzzy memory) what can and can't be done on Shabbat and Holy Days. I read this article which lists these forbidden actions:

"From this, the rabbis concluded that the work prohibited on Shabbat is the same as the work of creating the sanctuary. They found 39 categories of forbidden acts, all of which are types of work that were needed to build the sanctuary:

1. Sowing
2. Plowing
3. Reaping
4. Binding sheaves
5. Threshing
6. Winnowing
7. Selecting
8. Grinding
9. Sifting
10. Kneading
11. Baking
12. Shearing wool
13. Washing wool
14. Beating wool
15. Dyeing wool
16. Spinning
17. Weaving
18. Making two loops [more than 1, that is]
19. Weaving two threads
20. Separating two threads
21. Tying
22. Untying
23. Sewing two stitches
24. Tearing
25. Trapping
26. Slaughtering
27. Flaying
28. Salting meat
29. Curing hide
30. Scraping hide
31. Cutting hide up
32. Writing two letters
33. Erasing two letters
34. Building
35. Tearing a building down
36. Extinguishing a fire
37. Kindling a fire
38. Hitting with a hammer
39. Taking an object from the private domain to the public, or transporting an object in the public domain.
(Mishnah Shabbat, 7:2)"

If you could see me right now, you'd see a very twitchy individual about three seconds from crawling under the bed and curling up in a fetal position. What do I do???

Dragon asked me how observant I am, and how observant I want to be. I don't know. But I really do wonder at 12 of the 39 prohibitions being fiber related.

[Edited to add: Mr. CygKnit just made a phone call, and found that the synagogue we're going to has *plenty* of room for us tomorrow, though we missed the start of tonight'. Regardless, the freak out is officially over. Still, I find it amazingly interesting that spinning, knitting and weaving are specifically prohibited. Was it set down this way to give these folks (those that spun or wove as their profession) an Official break? Or was there another reason? I won't be online tonight or tomorrow until sundown. If you have any ideas, though, I'd love to see them, then.]

Knit like the wind

2006-09-29T09:32:00.000-04:00

So, I *was* going to blog yesterday (and the day before), but stuff got in the way. Not work (though that is leaving me in a semi-vegetative state), not school (though I did manage to write the correct paper with a whopping 5 minutes to spare), but just...Stuff.

So what the heck have I been up to? Well, there's some sockage, among other things. The chilly nights recently (and my home's lack of carpeting) gave me some motivation to knit something for myself. I don't know why, really, but I have a hard time knitting for me. A sickness? An Issue for a therapist? I don't know. I just feel so guilty.

I found myself the other Tuesday ready to head to Terry's for our regular knitting date, but I had forgotten my knitting. I had a half a dozen UFOs at home, but driving all the way there and then back to Terry's would cost more in gas than to stop at the yarn store and paying $6 for a skein of Cascade 220. Luckily, I had an emergency pair of DPNs in my desk drawer at work, and an hour of comp time to kill. (For the record, leaving work early to go to the yarn store feels all kinds of decadent.)

This was the Tuesday after the horrible Fair Isle disaster, and I didn't want anything hard. No pretty color changes, no fancy lace, or edging or anything. Just some quick slipper booties to keep my toesies warm.

(Yeah, my cankles are pantyhose-clad--I was about to leave for work)

As you can see, the picot edge and the shale-like pattern somehow mysteriously appeared.

The good news is that the emergency size 5 dpns made sock 1 fly off the needles--it took maybe three or four hours (the picot was tricky--never done that before). Sock 2, as of my lunch today, is a few rows past the gusset decreases and I only cast it on during Wednesday's lunch.

Why is it important to hurry these puppies up? Is it the nighttime temps in the low 40s? The satisfaction of finishing yet another object? Nope! Sunday starts Socktoberfest (see the button on the sidebar? The smaller one being eaten by the Rhinebeck Bingo and Twisted Knitter's buttons? Jess made it!) and I have a whole slew of socks I'm planning to knit. These blue anklets better be done by bedtime Saturday. I've got a lot to do.

Finally, my Blogger template is giving me nightmares. Seriously. If anyone can offer advice on where to get a good lightly colored one (lavender? periwinkle?) or how to customize my header (even though I have no graphics program to make one) I will love you forever. I might even send yarn.

Oh, my

2006-09-26T18:03:00.000-04:00

So today was it, the day the new library operating system went live. Sadly, by "went live" I mean that it is mostly dead, in a Miracle Max sort of way. At our end-of-day meeting today (we had a morning one, too. Ouch.) the Director asked what we wanted to have at our Oh My God We Survived the Migration party on Friday. Without thinking, I answered "Scotch." (And I don't drink scotch.)

But! I will be back to regular posting soon, this week's copious wine drinking aside. I've been reading blogs, and even commenting on them, but it seems that each post I've tried to write recently comes out sort of half-formed, like too-clever D&D character that needs to be killed off quick.

Tommorow, real post with real progress. Spinning! Socks! Jewish Holy Days!

I have to go write a paper now, one that's kinda due tonight. It seems my topic of The Social Consequnces of the Early Printing Press meets the paramaters of next week's paper. Not today's. Eeek.

What we have here is a failure to communicate...

2006-09-19T07:37:00.000-04:00

Or at least understand what the bugger they're talking about.

Beg chart: After reading this pattern, I realized that the best code breakers in the world make some pretty neat knitted items; that is if they know math. What I like about knitting, specifically fair isle, is the challenge of detail that becomes a pattern. Knitting with one color...zzzzz...boring. Give me two or three colors and the fun begins. Give me 5 (yes 5) and I'll be ecstatic.

For those of you who normally read this, you'll notice something is off in the writing. You would be correct. Tonight's guest author is (drum roll please) Mr. CygKnit. Why? Because tonight we are going to talk about knitting math, which is really nothing more than pattern recognition. Please note that I was NOT an English major and have a horrible time writing narrative papers on which I know nothing about. (That would be most of the papers I have ever written). Shall we start then?

My wife started a fair isle sweater not too long ago. The first 13.5 inches went just fine, because it was one color. When it came time to start the extra colors, she started just fine. She asked me if it mattered how she read the chart, and I being the all naive ex-math teacher, looked at the chart and said "No, because the chart is symmetrical, it won't matter" (Notice I did not read the directions, but hey, I'm a man!) She became a little lost repeating the pattern within the pattern so often, but we circumvented that with some stitch markers (mark each time you finish the pattern, then check it, then move on to the repeat). Simple enough, she did just fine.

9 rows later at what was to be the completion of this particular motif, she asked me to take a look, which I did. Hhhhmmmm...something is just not quite right, but what is it? She checked the more complicated rows with me and it was fine, so what happened?

These two pictures show what she showed me. While it kind of looks like a pattern, it kind of doesn't at the same time. (Never mind the fact that she chose different colors. I think it looks like a hot librarian sweater with these)

I'll tell you what happened. You see, knitting patterns have the dubious honor of being read from left to right AND right to left, just as one knits. However, I have noticed, most pattern editors leave this seemingly small detail out. Ooops.

You can see the chart above that we followed. Being a symmetrical chart, it is irrelevant which way it is read. 5 stitches in from the left or right is still the same color, which is just dandy (and simple). Let me show you the kicker and why directionality became an issue.

Above are the directions we followed. I'll type them out so you can follow along. Begin with stitch 1, work 19 stitches of chart (5) times. (We were working on the largest size, thus the "5"). Then work stitches 1-7. Continue in pattern as established, repeat rows 1-14...blah blah blah.
We worked till row 9, which completed this particular colored pattern, which is when we noted the mistake.

As I said above after the picture of the chart, it does not matter how you read the chart, whether from left to right, or right to left, because it is symmetrical. Fold it in half and it is completely identical. BUT, where the editor (or uneducated knitter, whoever you choose to blame) screwed up is where it says "Then work stitches 1-7". What we have really is the chart repeated 5 times, and then a portion of the chart. What this means is, depending on which way the first row is knit, the "portion of the chart" must ALWAYS be on one particular side. In our case, our first row of the chart was knitted left to right, so the "portion" must always be on the right.

The best illustration I can think of would be brick laying. Imagine each row of the chart is a brick. The directions tell us to repeat the chart 5 times, or in this case lay 5 bricks. Then, knit 1-7, or lay a half brick. In order for the chart to line up completely, when laying the next row, the half brick must be laid on the half brick below, otherwise we get a traditional looking brick wall (meaning, the pattern within each row is askew to the row above and below). Good for brick walls, bad for knitting.

The remedy? Easier directions. From left to right, chart 5 times, then stitches 1-7. From right to left, stitches 7-1, then chart 5 times. Suddenly, it all makes sense. Notice I reversed the stitches in the "portion" too? Looking at the first row of this pattern, we can see that stitch number 7 will be the last stitch in the row. Much as the portion must line up with the portion in the next row, the stitches within in the portion must also line up. In other words, stitch number 7 will end the left to right rows, and start the right to left rows. Ta-da!

We'll show you this when we're less frustrated and have completed the ripping and restitching of this pattern.

[For the record, Mr. CygKnit made me dinner and poured me a nice drink before writing this.]

Where I distract you with pretty pictures.

2006-09-17T22:40:00.000-04:00

So, I was fixing the webrings on the side over there ---> and kept seeing that awful picture of my mudroom. A new post was definitly in order, but what to post about? The bunny habitat is progressing nicely (read: 90% of crap is gone) and I did some fair isle over the weekend (read: FUBAR).

So, I distract you.

Weeks and weeks ago, I went to this place, in Wethersfield:

It is actually part of a larger historic area, which includes the Silas Deane House, the Issac Steves House, and more historic homes than you can imagine (trust me, I got lost there). We waited for the tour, which is the only way to see these three, and our rather congested guide fed me all the fascinating facts I could take (which I apparently have forgotten, or you'd have them here).

While I have a deep and abiding love for all things historical, I kept my eyes out for ONE thing as we toured each of the three houses: Spinning wheels. Finally, in the last room of the last house, I saw them.

Notice the black chain in the foreground. Not only were they roped off, but I wasn't allowed to take pictures. My sniffly guide did not care ONE bit about blogging, no sir he didn't . My resentful little heart reluctantly climbed back down the stairs, and headed to the giftshop.

I had decided not to buy any trinkets, as this was the week I had bought the wheel (read: blew all my cash until payday). As I wandered about, I saw...a docent knitting. Of course, I had to ask, which led to me mentionioning spinning wheels, and how sad I was that I couldn't take pictures. Know what she did? Took me and my camera upstairs! Then, she took me behind the rope. I heart knitters.

(The fibers you see in front of her are flax, as are all the fibers & lightly colored braids you in the first picture.)

In the first attic picture, you can see parts about five or six of the dozen-ish wheels. Waaaaaaaaaay back in the back, I saw this:

Because my baby is a castle wheel, and I never seem to see them wandering about, I was *thrilled* to see it. She even let me touch it. This one, set up for flax, is very different than mine, though (aside from not having its treadles set up).

For those of you not thrilled with castle wheels, I present Saxony Wheel Candy (and a loom):

More Wheel Candy:

(I love the distaff on this one)

For those of you not thrilled with spinning, come back tomorrow. Mr. Cygknit has agreed to guest blog My Fair Isle Disaster, with charts and graphs to show you just how bad I am at following directions. Do stay tuned.

Habitat

2006-09-16T11:14:00.000-04:00

What's our plan for today? Turning this into a bunny home:

A lot of work ahead of us, no? This is half our mud-room-y kind of place, and as you can see, its a bit of a catch-all. Cans that need to go for return, shoes that never seem to stay on the racks, empty boxes to take to the landlord (he heats with wood, and recycles boxes as kindling), coats, scarves, a tiny part of our craft supplies. Everything. And yeah, I am ashamed to show this. I am flat-out dreading the clean-up (spiders!!), but keep repeating, "it's for the bunny. It's for the bunny."

Then, once we're thoroughly exhausted ourselves getting rid of useless junk, it's off to Macy's for their Shop For A Cause drive, where local charities benefit from folks buying stuff. Mr. Cygknit has been manning a table all this week to raise money for Western Connecticut Agency on Aging, the group that funds his job this past summer, protecting seniors from unfair consumer practices. He's a good egg, that Mr. Cygknit.

He's started cleaning--I'd better go. It's for the bunny, you know.

Something about a work in progress??

2006-09-15T13:23:00.000-04:00

As I got to the 13 1/2" mark, and ready to switch from ~~ten freakin' miles of~~ ribbing to fair isle, it occured to me...maybe I should blog this?

Um, yeah. Sorry.

How about a picture?

( Olive would. Not. Move. Tommorow's post will explore just how naughty a kitty can be and sill live.)

I am so excited to be doing the fair isle, I could wet myself. Seriously. I have tried to revise that statment so I don't sound so much like a sad little geek, but I can't.

Forget homework this weekend, I'm gonna be hanging out on Fair Isle.

Consequences

2006-09-13T11:34:00.000-04:00

Well, yesterday's super-fast dash-off of a post taught me a few things. First, I don't make a whole lot of sense when I'm in a hurry. (I wonder, now, what that homework I was doing looks like. *shudder*). Second, innocent play with Blogger templates is a Bad Idea. Losing the html for my rings is a bit of a pain, as it will take away from some ~~knitting~~ schoolwork time to dig them all up again. Worse, it makes me all kinds of frustrated with my computer illiterate self for not performing basic data saving techniques. What's even worse is that all this template playing has made me Dangerous. You know, in that just-enough-information-to-be-a-danger-to-yourself kind of way. I've been looking at all kinds of tutorials for creating your own templates, exploring different hosts (Typepad? Moveable Type? Other places that makes no sense to me, yet?) and generally slacking off at the high-stress zones of work and school. Told ya it was Danger, with a capital D.

So it is Wednesday and I *still* haven't said much about my weekend 'cept that I got a bunny (isn't he cute? I can't stop pulling that picture up. What's wrong with me?). We left late Friday, after 9 pm, and drove to the ancient (seriously) Snow Lake Lodge at Mt. Snow. I wasn't sure why we would do such a thing (this is a Mr. Cygknit plan in action), until Saturday morning when I figured out: Vermont is a very looooooong state.

We eventually made it through lots of (beautiful) back roads to get to the Vermont Sheep & Wool festival. For a description of said festival check out Jess and Jesse's blogs. What more can I say than what they have said so eloquently? Nothing. (Except: Didn't I take a good picture of Jess?)

I kinda came home with some stuff:

Requisite crappy picture

But not all of it is for me! The bag(s!) of roving in the back are for Mr. Cygknit. No, really! He has been playing with wool, in all kinds of special ways that deserve their very own post. The smaller bag with lots of colors is for needle felting, because "knitting and then felting is just too slow." The bag of roving (I forgot what it is, do you remember Jess?) was something he fell in love with, and I'm considering having *him* learn how to spin it up.

The two mushroom shaped blobs of color are silk caps, which I have NO IDEA how to spin (yet). But that's beside the point. It's soft! And silky! Finally, the yarn in the center bottom came from Kaleidoscope Yarns, and is for my mom's shawl. Which I forgot to blog about. Here! Have a picture!

What did I pick? Sivia Harding's Diamond Fantasy Shawl. [Edited to add: This picture is from her site. I should have mentioned that.] I DID get a comment today about another shawl, Kiri. What is so tempting about it? It is knit with oh-so-luscious Kidsilk Haze. Which I have been needing an excuse to buy. So, I'm not sure if I should thank you Spinning Fishwife, for providing me such a tempting choice or cry that I have to choose all over again!

Tangent over. So that yarn shown above is Cherry Tree Hill um, something or other. (This is what happens when you dash out the door in the morning after uploading a pic you want to blog about. No forethought here.) Finally, the rectangular thing in the middle of the ~~crappy~~ picture? A license plate holder that says "I'd rather be spinning." I am Such. A. Dork.

The rest of the weekend wasn't nearly so fiber-related, except...I drove through Rhinebeck. I drove through Rhinebeck, I saw the fairgrounds, and I would have looked for our hotel if I had even the smallest clue where I made the reservation. It occured to Mr. Cyknit on our drive home that my legedary ability to get myself totally and completely lost (and Dragon, in this case) might be helped with a little trip by next month's (!!!) destination. I should probably stop buying fiber until then, huh?

I'm Late! I'm Late!

2006-09-12T17:45:00.000-04:00

As each day in September passes, I feel more and more like I am falling into a rabbit hole (and not the cute furry kind). The library system migration that's happening here, and at 22 other libraries in the area is a great big CF. (All definitions, by the way.) Apart from the rampant hysteria--eased by applying generous doses of wine--I'm actually kinda enjoying it.

Why yes, that does make me sound kinda off, doesn't it? But really, it is kinda exciting. Just the sort of exciting that prevents me from posting [ahem] while at work.

So, tucked away in a corner of the library, doing homework after my shift is over, and just 9 minutes before we close the doors, I present:

A finished object from the hated list

Not bad?

And just to show you that he can rock the fashion world, Mr. CygKnit in his PJs

[Edited to add: In my haste, I did something awful to my template. Yikes, I'm on it.]

So much

2006-09-11T21:27:00.000-04:00

that I can't even begin to tell you: A migration of a library system from the stone age to modern times, Fall classes starting, completely whacked out hormomes from hell, another FO from the list, another cast on project, pictures from the Vermont Sheep & Wool festival.

All of that is big, don't get me wrong. But pales in comparison to this:

My new bunny (a French angora). He's coming home October 9.

FO! FO!

2006-08-31T08:29:00.000-04:00

Ohhhhh, look! A Finished Object!

(I would have posted yesterday, but Misfit wouldn't move off the futon. As you can see, he's fond of comfort. And, sorry about the date stamp.)

Some notes:

1. This was originally a pattern from an afghan book. After several inches of slipping a stitch for five rows (with bulky yarn!) and dealing with wicked pucker and amazingly off row gauge, I chucked the pattern and decided on plain old stockinette stitch.

2. The "pattern" (used loosely) was about 82 st cast on, and six rows with each color.

3. The yarn? Lion Brand Chenille Thick and Quick (and yes, I'm embarrassed to admit that)

4. Start date? Sometime in October '05

5. If you get a chance (if you haven't already) listen to the Cast On podcast (#2). In the Knitter's Manifesto, she talks about how our choice of yarns and patterns reflects our personality and our state of mind. I shudder to think of what a probing mind might think of me in regards to this afghan. (Cheap, white trash knitter?) But don't think that's not affecting my choice of future projects.

Now do I get to cast on something fun?

Afghan

2006-08-29T08:47:00.000-04:00

Total Perimiter: 184 inches

Perimiter Edged thus far: 171 inches

I'll get back to you.

Hold on tight...

2006-08-28T08:07:00.000-04:00

...there may just be an FO in the future.

Sunday morning, 9 AM: With one cup of coffee in me and another cooling in the mug, I continue Saturday evening's joyous casting off of the ~~damn~~ afghan.

Sunday, 9:45AM: After forty-five excrutiating minutes (mostly involving preventing the Olive from hopping into my lap) I cast off the last stitch. Much rejoicing ensues, immediately followed by a trip to the bathroom (having refused until I cast off the last stitch).

Sunday, 5:40 PM: Having successfully ignored the afghan all day in favor of a visit to an open-air market at a local Mansion, (I bought wool! And organic taters! In the rain!) I sat down to weave in a few ends.

Sunday, 6:20 PM: Successfully posted pictures of my new baby. Wove in an end or two.

Sunday, 8:40 PM: After diving through a small trash can's worth of now-used tissues in an attempt to retrieve all the ends I've woven in (for a clever picture), I return the afghan to see how many more of the flippin' things I have left (I washed my hands. Ewww.) Found 1 (one) end left to sew in.

Sunday, 8:45 PM: Still staring at the afghan in shock.

Sunday, 8:47 PM: Resigned myself that Dragon is right, it will look better with a crocheted edging.

My new best friend

2006-08-27T17:40:00.000-04:00

Meeting the free-range yarn:

Getting to know the wheel--very important:

Weaving in ends! How fun!

I think she'll be a good fit. Don't you?

(Photos courtesy of Mr. Cygknit)

On shawls and such

2006-08-25T14:28:00.000-04:00

What I would really like to be doing right now is showing you some progress on the UFOs. I failed to realize this week was that Mr. Cygknit's return to school meant one thing--the laptop went back to school, too. *Sigh* Now, this laptop is the only computer (of 3 in the house, not counting those inhabiting the attic) that's connected to the Internet. Don't ask me why. As well, it is the only computer that can handle the digital camera. So, tomorrow, pictures.

What has been driving me nuts today, and off and on since June, is lace. Lace, lace, lace. I really need to make a shawl, for me and/or for my mother. Perhaps its time for a story:

My mother is going to Italy next May, and wants me to knit a shawl for her.

Ok, that's a short story. Want the long version?

My mother does not like to fly. When my mother flies, she has a tendency to use the airsick bag. And those of the her immediate seatmates. And those of the inhabitants of all the rows in the vicinity (Ask me how I know). So, it is only logical that she fly to Europe.

I say that with some sarcasm, but the truth is that I'm proud of her. While we don't have the best relationship (or even always a good one) she's not been free to do whatever she wants for a good many years (and that's a different story). The only time she's been out of the country in my lifetime was the time when we went to Toronto--for just as long as it took to see the CN Tower, then back across to NY. So, Italy is a big thing, and me being asked to make something for the trip is an even bigger thing.

So, of course, I want to make the Perfect Shawl. Not only should it be technically perfect, it needs to visually embody the idea of a shawl. It needs to be exactly what my mother wants, even though she has no idea what it is that she wants. No problems there, right?

Here's the criteria I've come up with, based on her recommendations:

It needs to as fuss-free as possible. She's not a fusser, and will ball it up into the corner of the suitcase if she has to futz with it sliding off her shoulders all the time. I refuse to sweat over something that will annoy her.
It needs to do double duty as a shawl and a sort of hair-cover-y-thing. (I don't quite get this, but apparently she intends to cover her head when walking into every church-turned-museum. She was raised Episcopalian, and I'm pretty sure that's where this is coming from.)
It needs to be lightweight enough for late Spring mornings and evenings.
Although I was thinking a neutral color, she would like something bolder. Maybe a turquoise?
Probably a triangle shape?
My requirements: It needs to look like a shawl--no weird (for her) motifs like frolicking sheep. We'll save that for me.
It needs to be easy enough that I don't spend months sobbing over my inadequacies.

No sweat, right? (ignore the maniacal laughing from me, right now)

Some ideas:

Knitterbunny made a Triangles Within Triangles shawl back in July that looks, well, like a shawl. Or like I think my mom thinks a shawl looks like. (Blogger isn't letting me add the pic, sorry.)

I'm not adverse to Faroese shawls, either. (Really wish Blogger would load a pic!)

Any ideas?

# 3 & # 4

2006-08-23T10:21:00.001-04:00

#3 Bumblebee socks

Remember this? From how many months ago?? (May 14. Eek.)

Second sock syndrome is not much of a problem for me, as I'm usually working some sort of self-imposed gift-giving deadline. But this pair for Mr. Cygknit, to match his black and yellow Guinness pajamas (imagine these as pants. With a matching shirt. The man has style.) has been giving me some problems. Since summer is winding down here it is nearly time to drag the flannel out and prepare for winter. And ~~not-so-~~subtle hints about finishing projects have started to be whispered. So, this has been dragged from the depths of the naughty basket:

Sock 2. The yellow zone was my wait at the Dr.'s office yesterday, the black section above it was done at a Terry knitting lesson/wine tasting. Now, I just have more yellow, more black, and some more soul-crushing yellow before I can declare an FO.

#4 The Olympic Sweater

Don't worry, I am ashamed that, six months after the Olympics is over, I am still not done with this poor crumpled thing:

The Hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Sadly, it only needs a few rows of last raglan shaping and some hemming. You'll notice that the left sleeve has already been hemmed? I didn't realize that I could do it as I go until I was on the last one. *sigh* On the positive side, Sensations Dolcetto has been one of the best yarns I've worked with--regardless of the fact that it is a Jo-Anne Fabric brand and yarn snobs everywhere would snub me. Next time you slink in there, (checking both ways to make sure no one is looking) pet some of this stuff. Seriously good.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of dragging my UFOs out to the light of day (and the spiders are all getting annoyed, as well). I foolishly thought that 4 was it in unfinished land, until being gently reminded of a few hidden obligations last night (What, you want two mittens, Mr. Cygknit?). Instead, I'd rather be spinning angora:

...which is much like poking your eyeballs with tiny dpns, over and over.

attack of the UFOs

2006-08-20T11:55:00.000-04:00

I am sick of my messy knitting corner:

(note the junk on the table and UFOs in the corner--and I cleaned up)

Combine that with my desire to cast on about a zillion projects, and we're faced with a bit of a problem, here: Clean up or shut up. So I clean up. Rationally, I know that:

Summer is very nearly over in New England. I will want sweaters soon, despite today's nasty humidity.
School starts again right after labor day. I have no time for stuff that's been making faces at from the stash corner for the last 6 months. Or so. I want new stuff to stare at me(Above is not where all the stash is. Just so you know.)
Do I really want to cart around any more unfinished object guilt??
It is a little unreasonable to have my Olympic Sweater still undone.
Did I mention that I want to cast on lots of new stuff??

To properly atone for my UFO sins, I will show them here, and promise to show some advancement on them at some kind of regular interval. For your enjoyment, UFOs 1 &2:

#1 Joey Ramone (pattern here) Here's what he looked like last I saw him:

Now, add to this: part of another arm! Yay! That was Saturday evening's work, performed while madly shuffling yarn about in a futile attempt to organize. Sadly, while working on the cream part of Joey's arm I realized something. If I followed the pattern, Right Arm wouldn't match Lefty. It seems that on the first one I left out that key line after the increases: "Work even in St st for 13 rows." Hmmmm. So does Joey get short arms, or does he get some arm surgery? Tune in to see...

2. The albatross that is my father's afghan:

(an old picture, with other UFOs for fun)

Ok, so last September I went to Florida for 5 days . I knew I'd have to do a LOT of knitting to say sane--the least stressful aspect of that trip was that my dad watches FOX News 24/7. I needed to knit. So, in an effort to improve my skills I decided to make 7 X 9 squares for Warm Up America. Pop (as my dad likes to be called) kept asking if I was making an afghan for him. Picking up on that gentle clue, I picked up 10 skeins of Lion Brand Chenille Thick and Quick. Yes, I am embarrassed, but it really seemed like a good idea at the time. I ended up hating the pattern I picked for it, and ripping it all back. Just so you know, it says right on the label not to rip it out. Or the yarn will fall apart. I kid you not.

I cast on the above plain stockinette monstrosity, instead, and have been forced by various friends and family to continue working on it. Even Olive the Cat hates it, and has shown her rampant dislike by dumping beer on it. I have one color strip (6 rows) left. Amen.

Tomorrow? UFOs 3 & 4

2006-08-19T12:26:00.000-04:00

I was going to wait until I got home from work today (my turn on the weekend rotation) to blog, but just couldn't hold it in any longer. Remember that class this summer? The one that made me, at best, cranky, and at worst, sobbing under the bed in frustration? Just got my grade: A-. I will take that minus and be darned happy that I never ever have to take another class with this woman again.

Whew. And now, on to the good stuff:

Cards!

My new boss' wife is huge into all that paper scrappy kinda stuff. She holds a "stamp camp" every three months or so, and I (finally) decided to go this time. Normally, this sort of thing completely weirds me out, but look! I made these! And they don't look like crap!

Cards! (Like before, but different):

I think I see a new facet of this fiber obssession on the horizion. It all started with a posting on one of the Yahoo spinning groups I belong to (can't remember which one or I'd link it) had a woman who posted alpaca fleeces for sale. Although I was sorely tempted (Dragon had to give me a serious talking-to) to pick one up for the, ummmm, educational purposes, I had to settle for buying ~~dog~~ carders. At least until Rhinebeck.

Text-full Tangent

2006-08-16T19:09:00.000-04:00

So, how many more pictures of bobbins can you take? How about a short break from them (for you, not for me. Heavens, no!)

I've been reading my Knit the Classics selection this month during my lunch break...instead of knitting. August is Nabakov's Lolita, and my lunch break is an exactly perfect amount of time to spend with it--just enough to be absorbed into the story, but not so much that I need a shower after. (I read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in a day once, for school. That's crazy-making stuff. I need breaks, you know?)

At any rate, in July I listened to that month's selection during my 30 minute drive to work, mostly because of the time constraints with that silly class. This month, though, I couldn't easily get a CD version of the audiobook. So what was I to do on those long drives? Continue trying to cram the Old White Guy Classics into my head.

(Note: There is much debate about teaching "classics" in college Lit programs. A good definition of classic is here: "A classic, according to the usual definition, is an old author canonised [sic] by admiration, and an authority in his particular style" [bolding mine]. The problem with these Standards of Good Literature is that they are generally white men--the literature of a lot of women and most of the non-European world is barely taught. Most of my undergrad was spent with these "new" authors, especially Latin American authors (I lived in Florida). The only problem is that there is a body of work that a Lit major is expected to know to be considered educated, and I wasn't taught it. I don't regret it, just have to fill in some big gaping holes.)

So, yesterday I popped Heart of Darkness into my CD player. If you've read this you feel my pain already, don't you? Listening to it, I was dying. I was trying to keep my tortured mind from wandering as far away as possible when I heard the magical words: knitting. You betcha. My ears perked up, and for several glorious minutes I actually paid attention. Here's the excerpt:

Two women, one fat and the other slim, sat on straw-bottomed chairs, knitting black wool. The slim one got up and walked straight at me -- still knitting with down-cast eyes -- and only just as I began to think of getting out of her way, as you would for a somnambulist, stood still, and looked up. Her dress was as plain as an umbrella-cover, and she turned round without a word and preceded me into a waiting-room...
I began to feel slightly uneasy. You know I am not used to such ceremonies, and there was something ominous in the atmosphere. It was just as though I had been let into some conspiracy -- I don't know -- something not quite right; and I was glad to get out. In the outer room the two women knitted black wool feverishly. People were arriving, and the younger one was walking back and forth introducing them. The old one sat on her chair. Her flat cloth slippers were propped up on a foot-warmer, and a cat reposed on her lap. She wore a starched white affair on her head, had a wart on one cheek, and silver-rimmed spectacles hung on the tip of her nose. She glanced at me above the glasses. The swift and indifferent placidity of that look troubled me. Two youths with foolish and cheery countenances were being piloted over, and she threw at them the same quick glance of unconcerned wisdom. She seemed to know all about them and about me, too. An eerie feeling came over me. She seemed uncanny and fateful. Often far away there I thought of these two, guarding the door of Darkness, knitting black wool as for a warm pall, one introducing, introducing continuously to the unknown, the other scrutinizing the cheery and foolish faces with unconcerned old eyes. AVE! Old knitter of black wool. MORITURI TE SALUTANT."

About halfway down the page at this link, I found the translation for MORITURI TE SALUTANT: "those who are about to die salute thee." The tradition was that gladiators would shout "AVE! Ceasar...[those who are about to die salute thee!]" Personally, I kind of like the knitters in that role. I'll be reading this one, instead of listening to it.

Final Note: Blogger isn't notifying me when someone comments, isn't sending me the comment, and its taking 8-12 hours to deliver said comments to my email. Just so you know: if I don't reply, its me, not you.

Navajo what?

2006-08-16T08:43:00.000-04:00

Yes, the ones who Navajo ply are the clever ones. Sadly, I didn't realize--until looking for a link for this here post--that one could Navajo ply on the wheel. (You may smack your foreheads in shame and embarrassment for me, its ok.) I had only remembered this tutorial out there-- probably because I only had a spindle, when I went searching last.

Sheeesh, let's move on, I'm embarassed for myself. What you see here is (a rather fuzzy) final shot of the very first wheel spun yarn of mine (!!!!!) I have fully embraced the "novelty" aspect of it, as thick and thin is truly its hallmark. But isn't it pretty?? I'm pretty impressed with myself that it looks like yarn at all, since most was spun during a time that I have little memory of. It really really wanted to be Clapotis, but I've had to break the news to it gently that there's simply not enough yardage.

So what's next? Just moments after moving the wet yarn to the clothesline outside, I had Kelly's hand-dyed Blue Faced Leicester tucked securely under my arm and was making a bee-line for the wheel. I hear a small voice say: "You're spinning that?"

I nod my head slowly. What on earth else am I to spin? (Let's forget the bin of fiber in the corner, ok?) Mr. Cygnet says, "What about what you bought for me?" I wrack my brains (Swiss cheese though they still be) and can't come up with anything. "You know, that you bought at Cummington!"

Now, I have no recollection of this. The day was winding down, and we had just finished talking to a mill that had not only processed roadkill raccoons that were last year's S&W festival hit, but they were conveniently located just across the river from us. I was possibly still shaken up about the image of these guys pulling a truck over to the side of Route 9 when Mr. Cygknit asked for some roving for me to spin for him. Unfair, I say. So, sadly, I put down Kelly's luscious roving and was handed this:

This is half of the 4 oz., the other half is sitting next to the wheel. The colors are not what I'd choose, but it makes the man happy and he has been doing a bang up job of keeping me in good spirits. I pulled a bit out for you to see--this wool is so fine that it practically spins itself. As sad as it was for me to put away Kelly's gift for today, this isn't too bad. Here's it spun a bit:

Of course, the bobbin is much more full since I've taken the picture :)

Interlude

2006-08-15T08:16:00.000-04:00

I interrupt the scheduled outline for an exercise on why self-teaching is kinda hit or miss:

I posed a question (yes, buried deep inside Sunday's post) about what to do with the leftovers on one of the bobbins. Since, you know, looking it up on the internet would be way too easy, I listened instead to the voice of Mr. CygKnit (note: this has gotten me in trouble in the past). "Why don't we just wind it out?"

This is what it looked like:

Ummmmm, yeah.

(The wood handle is on our interior/mudroom door; the floor does need to be swept, and sorry about the angle.)

How did I proceed next? (You would ask this if you weren't laughing, I am sure)

You betcha, a "homemade" nostepine and the exterior door. (You've now seen the entire length of the house, by the way.)

How did it work out? Ummmm, let me tell you something about using nostepines: Leave a tail for the center pull ball.

This is going to be a long one

2006-08-13T12:46:00.000-04:00

One of the side-effects of not blogging for nearly a week is the extreme quantity of stuff to blog about. Trust that it was a good thing I didn't blog, or even email you back (I will! Soon!). The pain was easily managed with Vicodin (and friends), but the trade off? Swiss cheese for brains. I have no clear recollection of Monday-Wednesday, and Friday was really the first day I could carry on a decent conversation. On Thursday, I was trying to educate someone (yes, I'm sure it was as pretentious as it sounds) on the theories and usage of the distaff on a spinning wheel. I followed the mental thread in my mind as my mouth ran on and on, and just as I got to the real point (she was breathless with anticipation, I am sure)...nothing. I stood on the edge of a huge hole in my memory right where the information was stored. As the crickets chirped, I realized I had no idea what I was talking about. Good times.

In honor of my summer class' demise (I cried when it was done, tears of relief and thanksgiving) I am employing an outline:

What I Did On My Vicodin Vacation

I. Introduction (see above)
II. ~~Body~~ What I have been up to:

Spinning!

batt

spun

Clapotis

b. And now, a gratuitous wheel shot:

c. Notice that one of the bobbins has wool still on it, and one doesn't. What do I do??

Edina

city

2. Canning!

a. Technically, this was done last Sunday, but since I was racing to beat the clock on my turn-in-assignment page, I didn't take pictures:

Library Thing

small-batch preserving

3. Knitting!

Mermaid Hair

Dragon

load

b. I know why they call it an I(diot) cord. I think I lost IQ points every 3rd row.

c. Coming soon: Bunnies! (intarsia, I think, though I still delude myself that I can strand them.)

(Are you still here?! The good parts is next)

4. Presents! (in no particular order)

hand dyed

That's all I can do today. More tomorrow.

2006-08-09T17:02:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling a little punk still from the surgery and the Vicodin (I didn't mention this, did I?). I hope I can make up (or at least make you forget) by showing some pics of my new love:

She and I have been talking, and trying to overcome our language barrier (she's Polish, you know). I'm starting to understand her name, but I'll have to get back to you on it. In this Vicodin stupor, all I can say is: I love her.

Finally, in honor of the surgery, Terry made some scones for me:

I'm sure the shape was just a coincidence, right?

Mr. Ashford

2006-08-05T14:58:00.000-04:00

Dear Mr. Traditional,

First, let me take this opportunity to thank you for taking the time to meet with me today. I understand that you have a busy schedule as the only wheel at your store, and I surely do appreciate our meeting.

I have long been curious about your simple lines, and classic styling. You are both modern and traditional--something that many try but few succeed. I respect that. At the risk of embarrassing us both, I must say how lovely you were to the touch. And no, my husband was not offended at our gentle embrace. Granted, you were a bit shorter than I thought you'd be--no, no! I found that charming. Really.

As much as I enjoyed meeting you, learning your personality, and understanding all your needs and wants, I am afraid it may not work out for us. I know you're the "All-time favo(u)rite" of so many women. I can't imagine that you shall be alone. You are loved by thousands, and I just wouldn't give you all you need. Its not you, dear, its me.

All my respect,
Cygknit

Wired (errr...rather, wireless)

2006-08-04T23:12:00.000-04:00

[Edited to add: How about some captions, eh?]

[My first cuke this year...and my first non-deformed one ever. 11 of its dearest friends will ripen today, and this weekend I will attempt to reach my goal: Can pickles like my PopPop. More to come on this.]

[The view from about halfway up Mt. Greylock.]

[Soy silk, inego (corn fiber, donchaknow), and the luscious mohair locks I'm clueless about. Bosworth spindle for scale.]

[Birthday present from my mother. I asked her to pick out yarn for socks she and my step-father might want for the Winter Consumer Holidays. I was told by Mr. Cygknit that its a cheesy gift to get yarn you intend to give back. Perhaps it is. But she spent more on the yarn for her than she would have for just me (take that as you will--it is simply a fact, and does not bother me), and I never would have bought the Mountain Colors for myself. Kelly has given me some good suggestions from Sensational Knitted Socks so I don't freak out (more than I have) on what to knit.]

[Project Linus blanky, nearly ready to send back to the Dragon. I've talked aboout this, I think, but not sure if those posts ever got published. We work for a 2 week period, then mail it back to the other until its done. We're responsible for weaving in the other's ends, but not our own (who wants to do their own?) . The penatly for not obeying the rules? Presents. Of course, I've missed our swap deadline (7/31) and am hitting the stores today. Sometimes, its worth it to get that extra strip (left) in.]

Today, I'm off to Wool Connection to play with some Ashford wheels. My schedule and Janet's are not agreeing with each other so I thought I'd go try some out and report back to her with an order. Ya, I have zero patience. I should feel bad for this, but I don't. I have a three week window between semesters, and I want to spend every possible hour glued to the wheel. (I just reread this, and am a little scared by the power of the justification. ) I'm just so darn excited I almost scare myself.

Wheels! Wheels! Wheels!

2006-08-02T10:34:00.000-04:00

I say I'm speechless, but here goes:

$120 towards a wheel of my choice! Holeeeey Crap. Knitter Bunny, a public thank you for you, too.

(One of my co-workers said that it sounds like I've put out a donation cup. I really hope it doesn't sound like I have!)

I huffed and puffed and stomped my feet to get Mr. Cygknit to agree to change our plans this weekend so that I could try out some wheels. He caved last night. So, I begged and pleaded with Jess for when she's available (she has kindly agreed for me to use her house as a wheel shop for an afternoon), and so I emailed Janet...who isn't free this weekend. *Sob*

That's ok, really. (She says, drying her tears.) I have some research to do. And you wouldn't expect me not to research, right?

So Janet sells Kromskis, Ashfords and Babes. What to buy? What to try? Here's what I'm thinking:

I tried the Kromski Minstrel, but I wasn't 100% thrilled with it. It fought me! I want to try some of the other Kromskis, specifically the Mazurka and the Symphony. I have a lead on someone who's trying out a Symphony, so I just have to send out an email and see if she says something similar.

I like traditional style wheels. It is not just that I like the traditional look...its more that I like the roots of things. I thought I wouldn't want a wheel because spindles were the "original" way to spin. Since wheels *are* historic, I'm not worried that I'm bending a bit!

Speaking of wheel styles, I like both the castle wheels and the Saxony. For our space constraints (we rock 700 square feet at our place), Castle wheels seem compact enough to not be constantly tripped over.

For the record, I don't like modern-looking wheels. I know there are lots of folks who love their Joy's, their Hitchhikers and even the Babe's. If I was handed one of these free, you bet your sweet kitty that I would take it with a smile and be spinning yarn before sunset. But its not what I'm getting this time.

Which brings me to my next point. When I have said, both in personal emails and on this blog, that I have been moved way down deep in my squishy little soul by what these five folks have done for me in helping get a wheel, I am not exaggerating. If I was buying a wheel with my paycheck, heck with some money from my folks, I wouldn't be so carefully considering which to get. (Or subjecting you folks to my thought process.) But as Ms. Knitter Bunny pointed out to me, this will be something I "will treasure for a long time." She's right--I want a wheel I can look at and think of my blog and my bloggy friends.

So what to get? A Kromski Mazurka or a Symphony? An Ashford Traveler or a Traditional? Any personal opinions out there?

You just won't believe me

2006-07-31T15:51:00.000-04:00

I have been dying to make this post, and I think I'm finally ready to. By some bizarre confulence of events, I have internet access, a free few minutes, and a big story to tell.

Let me explain.

(If you don't want to read all this, skip down to the good part, ok? Please?)

Friday, we decided that we'd leave on our weekend trip Saturday morning, instead. I had homework to do to be able to feel good about getting away, and there was the small matter of Mr. Cyknit not ~~thinking it important~~ remembering to book us a room for the weekend. No big deal, right? Lots of rooms available in the Berkshires in the height of Summer...

During all this discussing, a big storm rolled through with lots of thunder and lightning. It seemed a good night to stay in ~~so I stopped rolling my eyes~~. I was working on the laptop(unplugged!) when BOOM! A great flash of light and we lost everything. And then smelled smoke. Much running about in circles ensued, until we finally realized that the smoke was coming from the TV. Not great, but the house wasn't on fire. A really good thing, you know?

I need to make this story shorter to get to the good stuff.

Ok, so 18 hours with no power, but we took off after about 14 for our adventure. We hit WEBS on the way to nowhere, and I got to try out a few wheels. Because I am (really!) trying to stay short to get to the good stuff I will say ~~one~~ two things: 1. I sat down at the first wheel, and I didn't forget how to spin. Huge, I tell you. Huge. I just started spinning, and I DID it. 2. I found that I didn't like the Louet wheels they had out. (This is important. You'll see).

We ended up wandering about Mass until Mr. C realized that he knew where a yarn shop in Brattleboro, VT was. I do love this man, just so you know. After lunch in the (very) crunchy downtown area, we kept on wandering until we nearly passed a farm. A farm with fiber. Now is the time I wish I had internet at home so I could show pictures of alllllllll the fiber I bought (Did I mention our DSL box blew, also? I forget). I bought ingeo, soy silk...and the most beauteous dyed mohair locks. Do I have the foggiest idea of what to do with locks of fiber? Ummmm, no. But that's not important, is it?

Fast forward again: That night, we went to a bonfire at the farm, complete with a wagon ride to a bear cave, and Mr. Cygknit as the voice of "the bear." (If you know him, you're giggling right now, aren't you?). We stayed in a hotel at the foot of Mt. Snow, right around the corner from where Mr. C spent his formative high school years. Then, the hike.

We drove to Mt. Greylock park and, due to a really stupid move on our part, started our hike having no idea where on the trail we were. Quite possibly the stupidest thing I've done in a good long while. We ended up hiking Mt. Williams (a 1,000' vertical climb in less than a half a mile, thankyouverymuch), hiking Mt. Fitch (the ridge between Williams and Greylock) and then Mt. Greylock. (Enlarge map here if you want to laugh at us. We started and ended at Wilbur's Clearing & followed the AT). Do I need to tell you that I thought I would die in this forest?

So, sweaty, muddy and exhausted beyond belief we headed home. The long way, of course, down Rt. 8 the whole way. I was a zombie girl most of the ride, to exhausted to move. My fear the whole time? That there would still be no power at the house, but there'd be an awfully nasty fridge.

There was power (YAY!) and a birthday dinner of hot dogs, tater tots and ice cream cake. Yeah, there's some white trash in my genes.

(THE GOOD PART)
Now, here's the unbelievable part, the part that I hope you've made it down to and haven't been bored to tears. Please read this, and share the love that I am feeling:

I got to work on Monday and was swamped. With no internet, I still had two homework assignments to do, plus extra work work from leaving early Friday. It was 2 o'clock before I checked my email, and after I saw 87 in my inbox (not my junk mail, even), it was another 30 before I was brave enough to open it. Click. Click. Click. I thought I'd clear out junk that made it past the filter..."GIFT CERTIFICATE." Naww, that's junk. As I was about to trash it, it occurs to me that I know the name Janet Lynn.

I'm going to stop now, before I go on, and tell you that opening this email made me cry. Not in that awful bad-news kind of way, but the kind of crying where you're not sure how such good things actually happen to you. I just want you to know this now, before I tell you what it was, so you know what it means to me.

Four of my friends bought be a $100 gift certificate to The Wheel Thing. Led (apparently) by the Ringleader Dragon, Jess, Kelly, the Gabby Knitter, and NeedleTart got together and put 100 bucks on a wheel. For me.

It took me several hours to get to the point where I could send out some thank yous. I have never. Ever. Ever. in my life received exactly what I wanted for my birthday, deep down in my soul of souls. And to know that this deepest desire of my silly little heart was given to me by my bloggy friends makes me feel incredible in ways I'm just not eloquent to say. There is Family, and there is Tribe. You people are my Tribe, and I wouldn't change that for all the yarn in the world. Thank you for making it the Best Birthday Ever.

2006-07-28T14:25:00.000-04:00

Guess what I'm doing right now?

Nuthin'. And it is so sweet. I'm burning comp time on a Friday afternoon, I have a Coke in the freezer cooling off (50 minutes, no more, no less), I've the door open, the breeze wafting in, and happy kitties coming and going as they please.

And I am not doing homework.

I haven't been blogging much, and haven't been emailing much because of this stinkin' class. I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you. Last week, it was 7 assignments assigned and due within 7 days, (some with 2 due on one day & 1 whose due date was moved 4 times). Yeah, yeah, I should suck it up, but dude. It was about 170 pages single spaced. I'm beat.

I'm in a good spot right now, and have my feet up to prove it.

Pictures: I haven't posted pictures here in a while. Wanna see what I've been up to?

I went to a giant rummage sale on my lunch break recently:

I couldn't resist, they were 25 cents each! There was a woman who asked if I was going to be buying all of them (I had more than this). Duh. Then I ~~snatched the box away~~ indicated I was still looking at this box over here, and I'll let you know when I'm done, Thank You. I shouldn't have been that mean to an old lady.

Darn it. It is finally sinking in that I have to do some homework today to have a blissful weekend away with no guilt. We're planning a hike in the Berkshires on Sunday, and hitting some yarn stores on Saturday. I am so excited every metaphor I've tried here sounds cheesy. That excited. I'm going to go be good, now.

where I corrupt the innocent

2006-07-26T17:01:00.000-04:00

Last week, I was asked the sort of question that makes folks like us weep with joy.

"Cygknit, will you teach me to knit?"

When I was done drying the tears from my face, I asked her if I truly heard her right.

"You want me to teach you to knit?"

"Uh-huh."

"You sure?"

"Yep"

I made plans to go to the yarn store before she changed her mind.

After an overwhelming experience at a store I'd not been to before--so much wool piled everywhere I had to take care not to trip--we headed over to her place for Lesson 1: Stockinette.

She didn't want to learn to knit a garter stitch scarf a mile long. No, she wants her first project to be a cardigan. You heard me--a cardi. Button band, and all. And I wasn't going to tell her she couldn't.

The swatch above is her first try at kit and purl, and done in about 30 minutes. The girl is a natural. She emailed this to me a little later, the productive little wench.

She asked for homework, and I gave it to her: a 4" swatch for gauge. Extra credit? K1P1 for another 2". I almost hated her for being so darned clever. (I'll not mention how pleased I was when she called asking about a "hole" she had made, and a mysterious extra stitch. I'm sure she's human, now. I wasn't before.)

I think she's hooked on this knitting thing. How do I know? She sent me a pic of a "scenic knitting place" in her yard:

My work here is done.

Hurray!

2006-07-23T10:10:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Netter, the winner (by random number generator) of my first-ever contest. This is what she gets:

Some Austermann Step and a pack vintage dpns I picked up recently. Although they're not compatible with each other, I thought the needles were fun. I picked the sock yarn up at the Yarn Harlot book signing at WEBS, while completely overwhelmed with wool fumes and a stupid comment I made that day. I met this woman there, Dawn, (shown with the felt stars), who completely enabled me to buy Way Too Much Yarn. I like Dawn. The point, though, is that these future socks will have the benefit of having been one step (no pun intended) away from super-coolness. I am really curious to find out if the Aloe and Jojoba oil really do make the yarn fun to work with.

In other news, I really *have* been knitting. No, really! Some days, with all the craziness of my summer class, I only get to knit on my lunch break (when I refuse to do homework). I present: Lunch Break Slippers

Yarn: Bernat Cottontots (for softness)
Needles: size 6 (!) DPNs
Started: Sock 1: 6/18-6/24 (2 actual knitting days) -- Sock 2: 6/25-7/23
Finished: 23 July 2006
Pattern: Trial and Error

I found out recently that my very dear and looooong time friend (and newly blogging!) gets so cold at night that she sleeps with two pairs of socks? Now, what would You do if the girl who has 1) known your deepest darkest secrets for the past 14 years, and 2) still talks to you, has cold feet? Knit her some foot cozies? You're darn tootin'! Since she's allergic to wool and most synthetics, I had to run with cotton. The large gauge was a huge help, but since I hadn't ever made anklets and had no pattern, there was a bit of a learning curve.

Ugh, I'm off to lock myself in the local university library for the rest of the day.

Would you like to hear some good news?

2006-07-20T21:02:00.000-04:00

I don't have to lose the whole nip.

Can you believe it??

As I said yesterday (muddled in everything else I said) I had been too nervous? frightened? chicken? to write down any questions until sat down with a glass of wine. Terry (soon to be a fellow blogger) offered for the umteenth time to go with me to today's appointment, and I immediately said yes. She showed up this morning with a typed list of my questions. How cool is that?

In the appointment, the doctor seriously sidelined me with a new option: Not take the whole thing just yet. Just take as much tissue (about half the nip) as she thinks will get all of the _______ (insert medical term I can't spell), test every last cell of it to make sure that everything left is clean, and only lop off the whole thing in case of dire need.

I like the idea.

(It does mean that the going away party for the nipple is canceled.)

The best question asked today was Terry's response to the partial (instead of full) removal: "So, does that mean if she walks into a cold room...?"

I did get a very generous offer that I (hope) I won't be able to accept: Thank you dear Knitter Bunny, but I won't be needing the knit nip, after all. And Mr. CygKnit was so looking forward to it, too.

Oh, and I shall draw for the contest on Sunday, so there's still a little time. I have received some great comments, both on the blog and via email. More to come on that, later. And maybe some pictures, finally.

Confession

2006-07-19T11:36:00.000-04:00

Have you ever read something that has humbled you?

I did today, which has prompted me to interrupt my (almost negligible) pictures of the (lack of) knitting I've been doing lately.

I was sent from here to this, about the horrifying process of this blogger finding out if the unidentifiable masses in her breast are cancer or not.

Why am I humbled about this? These women have written about personal information about their families (Keyboard Biologist) and about their bodies (My Only Sunshine). Amanda is talking about her breast on her blog, is getting comfort and peace (through writing about it) and yet I haven't felt like you guys would want to know about me.

That's sad. I view all of you regular readers as my friends, and many of you are not just blog friends, but real ones, too (this includes you lurkers--you know who you are J.M.). Keeping such a huge part of my life these past few months from you guys has started to feel more like a lie as more time passes. Why? It is taking up such a huge part of my thoughts and actions, and coloring my attitude and what I do chose to write about. I feel like writing about my breast is, well, Way Too Much Information. It involves words like nipple, even. Eeek. Who wants to hear about that?

It is just that as the whole testing process was going on, I couldn't bear to have people worrying. Then, once I got the diagnosis, I couldn't bear to think about it. It wasn't until last night when Terry (seen here (a little surprised) with her boy @ the CT S&W festival) sat me down and made a list for me of questions to ask tomorrow about surgery, reconstruction and such that I stopped hiding from what's going on. Then, today, I see others brave enough to face it, and I feel humbled.

The situation is this: (do, please, stop reading if you don't want to know, and skip down to the contest part)

I have a small growth on my right nipple (not too icky looking). After the biopsy in June (hence the painkillers, as it was in a very tricky spot) and many horrible tests and comments from specialts that it must be cancer, it was found to not be cancer. Thank GOD. But, the nipple still has to be removed. The type of thingie it is will cause cancer in about 85% of patients, if it is left to hang around.

Please, tell me how you draw the line about what to post in your blog and what not to. I have been struggling with this for months, and haven't know what other people do--how other people choose. I have been meaning to post a contest about this, but have been avoiding it.

CONTEST:
Tell me in the comments or send me an email how you choose what to post in your blog, how much personal information you decide to share, and if you've had any repercussions if you have shared too much. If you don't have a blog, tell me what you would do if you DID have one.

The winner of a random number draw gets a lovely prize of yummy Sock Yarn, or Pretty Roving :)

Thanks for the help, guys. <

Baby

2006-07-18T08:37:00.000-04:00

Not for me, thankyouverymuch, but a visiting baby.

This is Walter (a description of why she's called Walter is here)

Isn't she cute? She was busy eating my Mac's mouse all afternoon while her Mommy was up for a visit from Florida. She happily perched on our floor cushions for something like three hours, and never once made a pouty face. So long as we fed her pita and let her eat the mouse, she was Happy. Happy babies are Such a Good Thing.

Her Mommy, an old friend of mine, gave me this:

(needles pulled out for effect)

Happy early birthday to me! See the cute notions bag, chock full 'o goodies? And the long-coveted pack 'o sock needles? I'm giddy as we speak.

I have been knitting. Not much, mind you, but some. Pictures to follow tomorrow (I hope)

Crankypants

2006-07-14T20:06:00.000-04:00

I am so relieved to find that I am not the only one that (apparently) gets cranky without my daily dose of fiber.

(I am not going there with that joke, just so you know.)

I feel, well, vindicated. If it was just me, I might laugh nervously, change the subject to something else, and dash off as soon as I thought I might not be noticed. But that it is you guys, too? Dude. I'm normal. (Immediatly followed by: So that's what its like. Who knew normal would have fiber?)

So, being the budding Librarian (note the capital L) that I am, I took it upon myself to do a little research. (Yes, I was supposed to be doing homework instead. What of it?)

A quote from here, which seems like a reasonable enough source for our purposes.

One of the papers presented to the Psychology Postgraduate Affairs Group annual conference in Derby this week argued that there is a tendency to describe relatively harmless hobbies as obsessions or even addictions. The researchers, Michael Larkin and Richard Wood of Nottingham University, suggested that the word has become "a scapegoat for the nineties," a moral label for what society feels isn't acceptable. Lots of people are being called addicts when they're just engaging in unusual behaviour.

Hmmmm...we're quite post-nineties, now, aren't we? And frankly, we need to define what's "harmless" and what isn't. I do have the pointy sticks, you know.

Oh, and could you be a little more specific on the unusual behavio(u)r for me?

The English word addict to start with had the sense of being obligated or formally bound to someone else.

I would say that those doing the Amazing Lace might agree.

He continues:

Pretty soon, though, it took on a reflected meaning of being attached to something through one's own inclination, or of being devoted to some practice. Examples in the OED down to 1790 refer to gluttony, lust, and "superstitious ceremonies".

Oh, that's rich. "Superstitious ceremonies!"

I was going to create a quiz, a sort of modified "Are you addicted to..." type, and have the best results or a random result number get a prize. (I even have the prize all picked out) I thought, perhaps, that you would laugh just as much as I did to questions like:

Do you spend more time than you think you should knitting (spinning)?"
Have any of your friends or family members complained about the time you spend knitting (spinning)"
Do you have troubling controlling your impulses to purchase items, products, or services related to knitting? (spinning)
Do you derive much of your pleasure and satisfaction in life from knitting (spinning)?

Yeah, I knew the answers without having to quiz ya. (Really, I just didn't want to take all that time. I have knitting (spinning) to do, you know.)

Now, I just need to address my addiction to parenthesis.

It is with great trepidation

2006-07-14T11:29:00.000-04:00

I feel a bit nervous here, now. Like I've gone back to my old high school, and things have changed (though not nearly so much time has passed as that). Time off from the blog--a no guilt, no plans to come back soon kind of time off--has been, well, different than I expected.

I think it has been good.

So what has the Cygknit been up to? Knitting? Spinning? Maybe a little, but not nearly as much as I'd like. Pics to come soon, though. I was going to take some last night, but the light was so wretched. I got sucked into my ~~frustrating~~ ~~pointles~~ ~~mind-numbingly dull~~ homework, too, which has effectivly killed my free time this last week. Not that I'm bitter about it, mind you.

When I wasn't doing the *expletive deleted* homework last night, I was dithering about a third class in the fall semester. I did three in the spring but was just working part-time. Would full-time work and school drive me nuts? Listen in on the conversation in the CygKnit household:

Me: Should I take another class?
Him: harrrph
Me: Seriously. Financial implications are your department.
Him: It is up to you.
(note the excitement in his tone)
Me:I wouldn't have time to knit.
Him: (Raises head) Do you know what you're like without caffiene?
Me: Not pretty, I know. But I'm not like that with knitting, am I?
Him: No, no, no. You need fiber interaction each day. You're cranky without it.
Me: I'm not that cranky without knitting.
Him: Not just knitting. Fiber. Fiber of any kind. You need it.

There you go, folks. Fiber: The next drug. What will the Surgeon General have to say about this?

Right

2006-07-06T12:21:00.000-04:00

So yesterday I got a bit sidetracked. Lost it all over the slippery sweet goodnesss of angora fiber. I'm so easy. I decided to split the posts up, angora yesterday, and spinning today, and at least get something out.

This is what I did Sunday and Monday:

That's of about 80 yards of some wool (two-ply) I picked up at Cummington (lost the label somewhere!). It had been languishing on the spindle for a while, unmotivated to become any particular thing. I came home Saturday night from my Mystical Spinning Experience and filled the spindle. Then, I filled it again. Fire, I tell you, fire. I think I've been hit by the spinning sickness bad. I can't seem to stop. (Not that this is a bad thing, mind you.)

This is it, skeined up. I think it wants to be a shawl, at least when the rest is spun up, too. When I'm able to talk about the horror of a project that my mother volunteered me for, and the dumb, dumb parts I added to it, I will post of it. This wool is begging to be part of it, simply because it has brought me so much peace and happiness. There's another full single on the spindle now. I heart wool.

Speaking of wool! This, below, is what I also picked up this weekend. I assure you that it is purple and all kinds of Project Spectrum-y. What is so freakin' cool about it is all the pretty colors (blues, purples and black) that were carded into it. As I spin, it makes pretty little swirly stripes. I worry about plying it, though, because I don't want that stripe definiton to get lost. I'm sure there's something clever to do to prevent that, but I haven't put down the spindle enough to look it up.

I'm using the Louet spindle (bigger one) with it, mostly because I wanted the Bosworth for the Cummington wool. The thing is, the Louet one is so freakin' heavy compared to the Bosworth! It kinda hurts my hands some to carry the weight. (Don't tell it though, I don't want it to feel bad.) Of course, I'm spinning a bit too thin on the Bosworth and a bit too thick on the Louet. I am (at least) getting a bit more consistency on both. Which is good, because I was going to give up, delete the blog and never spin again.

Tomorrow, more fiber.

2006-07-05T22:57:00.000-04:00

I thought of posting for a couple of days, but I just can't seem to put the spindle down. I itch for it when I'm at work (don't ask about work). I put off my schoolwork for just one spin (don't even ask about my group project). Both spindles are in action, with two different fibers. I could stop any time, you know. Really.

It occured to me while out with Jess (about three minutes before we were to leave) that the whole idea of angora bunnies is a good thing. A good thing. The whole free fiber concept, not to mention that I l-o-v-e the cute thingies. Maybe not the best reasons to acquire a life form, but there you are. In a rare flash of brilliance it occurs to me that perhaps I should buy some angora fiber and see if I like spinning it. Brilliant. I may not even be capable of spinning it, for all I know.

Misfit believes in the power of angora.

Of course, this was about three seconds before he burried his face in the pile and started chewing. Olive decided not to wait so long.

It's settled, the cats like bunnies.

Grinning Fool

2006-07-02T08:41:00.000-04:00

I've been trying to write this post since last night, and I can't. It's not that I'm speechless, or that I don't know what I want to say. It's just that when angels sing in your chest, its kinda hard to put into words.

Perhaps I should explain? Yesterday, I spun at a wheel for the first time.

Jess described me as "grinning like an idiot." I'm ok with that, really.

First, I tried her new wheel (that's her story, though. For the purposes of this story, though, it is a Lendrum.) I was nervous, people were watching and I had no idea what I was doing. Can I repeat that? People, people I didn't know, were staring at me and I had No Idea what I was doing. For someone that is a little high-strung on a good day, this was not good. (I didn't want to wet my pants in front of Jess' wheel. Bad form.) While it is a lovely wheel, I skittered off to hide somewhere.

Then, I met this, a Kromski Minstrel, I think.

Now, this isn't the perfect wheel for me. I know this. I had to accommodate it, rather than it helping me. But, this is the wheel I learned to spin on. In my world, this is Big. Jess has a few pictures that, I'm sure, make me look like the biggest dork of my life. I don't care. For what I felt, I'll take it. The lady, Janet Lynn of The Wheel Thing, who's wheel it was, took the time to completely encourage me. "No, it's normal for a new spinner to do that. Oh, and that. Whoops! That, too." I didn't feel like a slow child, I felt...normal. Then, she said the magic phrase: It is a 1-2 step, like a metronome. Draft, spin, draft, spin. I tried it. She was right! I stumbled at first, but there it was. I was spinning!

Can we pause here for a moment, please?

This is when the angels (that I don't actually believe in) entered my chest and started singing angel songs. My whole body started to buzz, to fill with lightness and, no. No, I'm not exaggerating. It was like finally understanding how to drive a stick shift, but with angels. And no cursing.

Chucky told me this morning that financially, we could afford either a wheel or bunnies, but not both. I'm thinking of going with the wheel.

I should be writing about where we were, my "adventure" with Springfield and the Mass road systems, and the hell of a good time I had with Jess. I can't. The spinning is too much. I can only say: Jess? I got 32.2 miles to the gallon on the way home.

Wheel

2006-06-29T10:11:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure that anything could top yesterday's post. Who wouldn't love that Guinea Pig? (My husband has adopted him as a mascot, but I'm sure no one needed to know that.)

I was going to title this post something like "help, please" but I realized that I do way too much of that begging for help thing. Especially if it is information that I seek (kinda embarrassing with me being a librarian and all). This time, however, the fire burns within me and I am in serious need of ~~enabling~~ direction.

I need a wheel.

My list of justifications include:

I have a Rubbermaid bin of fiber, and the spindle isn't burning through it so fast.
I have about a pound of prepared alpaca fiber I got for an embarrassingly low price. The spindle is intimidated.
Spinning is therapy (I dare any spinner to argue that)
My husband actually said, "Do you want a wheel for your birthday?"

Do I need to go on? I thought not.

What I would like to know is how those spinners out there found their first wheel. Did you try out a bunch at a store? (And if said store is in CT, dude, let me know) At a festival? A guild meeting? Did a ~~pusher~~ friend get you started?

I have a serious itch to spin (no, Eskimo, not the kind that cream can help), and I don't know where to start. I beg thee for direction.

I can't make this stuff up

2006-06-28T14:49:00.000-04:00

I needed a laugh today, and thought you might, too.

(Click to enlarge)

No bunnies were hurt in the making of this post

2006-06-27T16:38:00.000-04:00

There has been very little knitting to report of late from the Cygknit household. Sunday night, I knit my first hat for the Dulaan Project. It may fit a small doll. Hat 2 is on the needles, and appears that it may fit a real live human. If this is the case, I shall post pictures. In related news, it appears that no one else knows if washing greasy wool will make it less scratchy. I don't feel so bad.

I went back to work yesterday, eager to track down and tackle some normalcy. Ummm, maybe not the best idea. Sometimes, heavy lifting and librarianship aren't so distantly related. Sadly, I had somehow not heard the nurse mention that I shouldn't lift things and found myself delirious from pain. It does, however, help with cranky patrons. Today has been much better, due in part to being in an (actually) interesting training all afternoon--across the street from my house. Yup, I am located quite close to one of the places that the State does workshops for Librarians. I ate lunch outside (more on that later; trust me, it has interest) and then walked down my driveway to class. Now if I only worked there...

A Bunny update:

Since the knitting has been paltry, I thought I would share a bunny story (I know at least 2 people who read this that are suckers for bunnies. This is for you guys).

So last night, the wild rabbit was out, eating goodies (weeds) from the lawn. Olive, who is usually hidden away napping at the dinner hour was actual up and wandering about. She saw the bunny and raced to the screen door, pawing at it like a dog wanting out. I explained that we don't chase bunnies, and picked her up so that she ~~would stop whacking the door~~ could see better.

The bunny hopped a few feet past our view just as I realized that fat cats constitute heavy lifting, and I let her down. She raced to the french doors, (which the landlords have screened for summer) only to see that the bunny was just feet away. Much butt-wiggling and mewing ensued. I again assured her that we in this house do not chase bunnies.

Feeling that my little lecture had worked, I sat down with ~~got sucked into the vortex of~~ the laptop. A few minutes later: rrrriiiiiiiiiiip.

The cat had popped through the screen and was dashing after the bunny. I was not amused.

Mr. Cygknit was touched that the rabbit had escaped, and (I believe) giggled at Olive as she sat in the remains of the Lily of the Vally patch, wondering "Where did it go?" He even, in a fit of good feeling, said that the Little Nut Brown Hare (as he calls it) could eat the bean seedling outside our makeshift fence, if it wanted. Do I need to tell you that we have no bean seedlings left?

Score:

Nut Brown Hare: 1
Olive: 0

Some help, please?

2006-06-25T21:00:00.000-04:00

At some point in the recent Vicodin-induced haze I was accepted into the Knitting Blogs webring (Yay!). Rather than freak out at the huge spike in hits on the blog here, I decided to ask all those passing through for a little advice. And you folks that are always here for me? You chime in, too, you hear?

Perhaps you remember the woolly windfall a few weeks ago, where I was gifted with a bin full of Maine wool? After receiving a suggestion from Sharon G. (sadly, Blogger shared no information on her) that the Dulaan Project needs wool warm stuff, I emailed Ryan to see if they still were accepting. And they are! The reports of them refocusing on other needs was true at the time, but apparently the response was so great they're keeping it open for another year or so.

Still with me? The question is this: Some of the wool is scratchy, so I won't use that for next-to-the-skin stuff. All of the wool, though, (now that I use it) is greasy. Now, this isn't a bad thing--my hands are soft now--but I was wondering if I washed it, would the scratchy go away? All the wool smells strongly of sheep, so I was going to toss it in some warm soapy water, anyhow.

Any thoughts?

Some reasons

2006-06-24T14:58:00.000-04:00

Some reasons why Vicodin and knitting are not mutually compatible:

1. It is possible that your ability to make good color choices can be affected.

2. Lace, even easy lace, can be a bit of a challenge.

(It may not look like it, but I took Netter's advice and Eskimo's encouragement and went from memory. It was quite exciting.)

3. Ankle socks, in 100% cotton, (worsted weight, no less) seem like a supremely good idea.

4. The fourth time you attempt to kitchener the same toe should be a clue to wait until you're not high on painkillers.

I have noticed how easily amused I have become.

This little bunny has been solely responsible for decimating most of our garden. Isn't it cute, though?? He/she was just two feet from the porch doors and I would have given anything for it to hang around longer (except Chucky's beans. He's a bit cranky about it eating the beans.) I thought of you, Knitterbunny.

Thanks for all the good wishes, all of you. I'm still trying to catch up with all my email. Thankfully, it is back to the regularly scheduled kitting and blogging for me.

We're sorry...

2006-06-23T01:26:00.000-04:00

...but your regularly scheduled blog has been temporarily disconnected. Please try your call again in a few days.

My apologies for the lack of blogging the last few days, and most likely the next two. I had a wee surgery yesterday, and all icky feelings about it aside: they have given me Vicodin. Vicodin. Not sure what the next few days will be like. After sleeping the anesthesia off for the last seven hours I'm ready to pop the first one, but I kinda feel like Alice dropping into a rabbit hole.

It is probably a good idea to hold off on the knitting during this time, isn't it?

Book Review

2006-06-20T12:02:00.000-04:00

Aside from a few book reports in middle grades, I have not ever done a book review. I read plenty of them, they're essential to that purchasing part of my job (have I mentioned that I get to buy lots of books with other people's money? Best part of being a Librarian.) But book reviews haven't blipped my radar.

Since I started knitting, I've mostly given up reading. Well, yes, there is an obsession happening, but a few years ago I stopped being able to read for pleasure. For a person who, as a child, did everything with a book in hand (especially folding clothes), this has been hard. Awful. My eyes do this funny thing when I read for pleasure (read=for hours on end), and I end up having, after just a few books, to go to the eye doctor and get new glasses. Knitting, however, doesn't stress my eyes, and I can (with good lighting) knit 'till I pass out.

Where's that book review I promised?

I stayed up until I finished it last night (late!), even though I had to be up earlier than ususal. I dreamed of sheep. Sheep testicles, that is. Read this, if you get a minute, and all will be explained.

You know what? I don't know how to do a book review. This is what I can tell you though:

Sheep are way more fun than I thought they would be, and lambs are small and bouncy.
I'm pretty sure I would freak about easy lambing, and a prolapsed sheep uterus would render me a vegetable.
It is entirely possible that sheep may be too smart for me.
I still want this farm thing, bad.
Not sure I could handle a sheep-for-meat farm. I'm a chicken.
Speaking of chickens, I didn't know they had bellybuttons, or that chicken nookie would be so darn funny.

I could keep going, but I'll spare you. Llamas, ducks, coyotes and women's underwear. The author has a blog (yay!).

Excuse me, I'll be off in the corner dreaming of having a farm.