AnotherPurl :: a knitter's life

counting down to a 3-day weekend

While it would be nice to be expressing the fine sentiments of my country's birthday, right now I'm mostly looking forward to the 3-day weekend.  When you work a busy job (I sometimes refer to it as cramming 6 days of work in a 5 day work week) that only gets busier when the week is short, sometimes you just got to let go and hide or something.

Well, I was going to go to the gym after work tonight, but instead I'm going to hide.  I'm going to go home with Vestish, which is close to done (I'm at the last piece of the front, before side seams and edgings), plop down on the couch and eat the most glorious food I can imagine: cold pizza.

I'm not sure I'm equipped for more than that, but who knows... maybe I'll get a second wind on the way home!

racing against time

Thanks for the comments about the race.  The Corporate Challenge is a fun though extremely packed short race.  Normally in Boston the race is 3.5 miles, though this year because of construction near Kenmore it was shortened to 3 miles. 

This is usually a really slow race for me.  It is really hard to dodge all of the other people, runners and walkers both, when you want to increase your pace even just a little.  I'm getting better at it, and hopefully next year I'll have mastered that special sideways step that will allow me to maintain something approximating my normal race pace. 

Of course, the running culminated with a couple of other athletic endeavors, leaving me pretty tapped for the moment (my body is starting to tell me things again) and lunches like today's banana and cereal aren't likely to make things better.  I'm crossing my fingers that I'll survive till I get home to make something a bit more robust for dinner.  I'm hoping for stir fry veggies and tofu over soba noodles.  Shouldn't take too long!

Saturday I watched Wall-E after a round of stupid running tricks.  I met a friend and ran with my backpack on.  Even an extra 8 pounds made a huge difference in how well I felt like I was moving!  But all wasn't lost.  I did get to Windsor Button to buy the ribbon for my Frog Camisole.  I didn't squeak the finishing in before the end of June, but I have all of the pieces and should hopefully get that done over the long weekend!

A long weekend that couldn't happen too soon.

short and sweet

I finished the knitting on the Frog Camisole yesterday, though I haven't woven in the ends or blocked it.  I did yank it over my head (in the cafeteria at work) to make sure it wasn't too far off the size mark.  I'm going to use ribbon instead of icord for the straps, or maybe the rattail.  I just don't have enough of the Noro sock yarn to also do straps with it. 

So, I'm back to working on Vestish and running.  Tonight is the Corporate Challenge.  I'll probably end up walking it (because, believe me, running without a sports bra is seriously uncomfortable and running with a wet sports bra really isn't any better).  But because of construction the race has been shortened, so even with the crowds I should be able to pull a decent time out of it.  Power Walking!

I wish good sports bras came in six packs like beer (or a case of 12 like soda).  Maybe then I wouldn't feel like I needed twice weekly laundry episodes just to keep up with the dirty gym clothes (small loads granted, because sports bras aren't big unless you are gifted with the gargantu-boob).

Heh.  Gargantu-boob.  Because I am 12 inside.

The view outside my window

 A few days off and the world just throws you for a loop. 

Last week I bought yarn for my birthday (and gave away the lime green sock yarn to Miss G!).  Of course, buying yarn for my birthday was only supposed to be the yarn for the Butterscotch Cardigan (which I will probably start in a week or two) and the yarn to finish Vestish, but I decided that the Frog Camisole would never be finished if I continued with the cotton.  So, a frogging and a shopping I went.  Currently, I'm knitting it with a combination of the Kureyon sock yarn (thick and thin sock yarn is very odd) and leftover Trekking (I had 40 grams leftover from a pair of socks!).  The original gauge for the pattern produces a garment about 29 inches around (just mathing here) for a 35 inch bust.  I figure my rejiggered numbers should work just fine for my measurements.

But this isn't really about knitting.  Lately, my hubby and I have been taking pictures outside our windows.  We live slightly below grade, so many a morning is punctuated with cries of "Bunny!"  We have a regular bunny visitor and slightly less regular kitties who talk to our cat through the window.  We also have plants.  I want to do Norma's Garden-a-long, but I don't really have a place with light.  Occasionally I will say rules be damned and toss something out the window (usually it is trying to grow anyway).  And because photographing my knitting is much harder than taking random pictures out the window...

Our regular visitor taunts Saru-chan.  She is by nearly every day (or at least every morning I'm looking out the window).  Thankfully our cat is not like some I've heard of - she doesn't stare out the window with her mouth partway open and little bits of drool.  Thank goodness.  I am not sure I would be photographing her then.

The bunny was all over the area around our condo that morning, with my hubby and I looking at her from roon to room. 

We do have some things growing outside our windows... I'd need an expert to tell me, but I think this is an onion. If so, then I put it outside a number of months ago when I decided that three inches of green shoots meant it wasn't food anymore.  Can anyone tell me?

Of course, I am having a few issues with my image insertion with the newer Typepad interface (I'm just not used to it being so slow), so this image is currently stuck at its tiny size.  The top of the plant is a small bulb-like area covered with a large number of small white flowers.  If the powers of knitbloggers aren't enough, then I'll start with wikipedia and the sites like Burpee for the rest of my info!

red soxx...

I'm home really late (the kitty was fed before we left and twice more since we've gotten home).

The Red Sox beat the Orioles.  Much knitting was had, and I was reminded forcibly by the people sitting in front of us why drinking responsibly doesn't mean buying at least one beer an inning (until inning 7, when you buy 2 because they're going to stop selling).  Belligerent drunk people are not my idea of a good time had by all.

I worked on Abotanicity until about the 7 inning stretch.  I feel like the yoke increases are taking forever (last I counted I had 67 stitches between the first 2 stitch markers... I need to get to 105... *zzzz*).  I know it is going to be great once I get to put the sleeve stitches on the holder and better still when I get to the lace.  The getting there, however, is a lot slower than I want it to be.

Head first in the startitis vat

Sploosh!

This week has been an adventure in knitting.  I have started three things (and haven't gotten them all into Ravelry yet):  Vestish (where I am almost done the back), a One Skein Wonder (which is apparently my Golion knitting), and Abotanicity (which I started about two days ago).

I have something blocking, so it isn't completely just starting things, but I've been too lazy to get around to photographing them.  Suffice to say that one of the things is socks and that the other is not.  Maybe I'll do the photography this weekend and get in some quality blogging time.

Of course, I've knit a lot of stuff and most of it has approached completion.  I'm up to four finished objects (and I only posted about two of them), which is well within my requirements to buy more yarn!  So for my special day next week (Thursday!), I'm ordering yarn from Loopy Ewe for the Butterscotch Cardigan.  Though I might be bad and throw in a little something else while I'm at it.  There is always more sock yarn afterall...

Not quite enough

A bit over a week ago, I took apart my faded rib stole to recycle the yarn.  I wanted to make Vestish, and indeed I have started Vestish.

However, I am doing the ribbing in a contrasting tweed grey and the body in the reclaimed yarn.  How much yarn do I need (based on the skeins): 750 yards.

How much do I have?  500 of my main color and 191 of my contrast (though, technically I have two skeins of contrast, I'm much more worried about the 500 yards of the main color not being quite enough).

So, if anyone has a partial skein of the natural Mostly Merino Sport Singles and is willing to trade for it?  Yeah, I'm looking in advance.

Swiffer?

I was inspired by Gleek's swiffer cover (Ravelry link) from yesterday (at least that's when I read it).  I had a partial ball of Sugar and Cream back from a washcloth I made ages ago, and figured I'd use it up.  I had to find my second ball of yarn, because I didn't have quite enough to make the cover.

Because I'm too lazy to download the pattern, I cast on 40 stitches and knit the first and last 5 in stockinette, using seed stitch in the middle.  When I had enough knit to cover the paddle front, I bound off.  I then picked up 40 stitches from each side and knit 8 rows.  I bordered the entire thing with single crochet.

If (though probably when as I have about 3/4th of a skein left) I make another one, I will eliminate the side border (I had meant to knit the cover from left to right, but realized that my stitch count meant I had the width of the paddle covered).

This was a reasonably quick knit.  I started it during the day, but did the bulk of the knitting during the Red Wings-Penguins game (it was sad!).

I think I'll be starting Vestish (Ravelry link) today.  I pulled out the yarn this morning that I want to use.  Another project all from the stash!  Vivat!

I don't like shopping

I don't like shopping for traditional things.  Clothing and food aren't as much fun as buying more yarn or knitting-related tools.  I try to be good about it, and I experience mixed results.  Just like all of life really.

So, when I won a gorgeous skein of laceweight last month (880 yards!), I wanted to find something really good to make with it.  I have another wedding to attend this year (September), and it would be nice to use the yarn for something wedding appropriate.  While I am not supposed to buy yarn (Stashing along after all), nothing says I can't buy a pattern.

I just bought Hanami.  And printed it out.

Now, I will admit my WIP list is still outrageously huge, but I have finished 4 items in the last two weeks!  I'm trying to get around to taking pictures of all of them, but that has never been my strong suit.  I'm almost half way to finishing another as well (they are really basic socks, so they hardly count).  It's been a good couple of weeks in knit land.

(Also, I've been so good about finishing things and knitting from the stash that I'm going to be free and clear to buy the yarn I want for the Butterfly Cardigan within the next two weeks!  A good thing too, because next month is the perfect time for me to stash enhance!)

a fine spring day

My back is starting to feel better (I think it is how I sit when I knit), so I'm going to take one of the folding chairs outside and knit and read outside.  It's just too pretty to spend the rest of the day inside.

I have 2.5 repeats left of Convertible, and then it is weaving in and blocking time!  There will be button pictures, though I'm pretty sure that I am just not a good enough photographer to capture them properly.

And now, before I go back outside... Miss N-- has won the book.  The email has been sent (now that the Internet is playing well with others again).