Eastburn Adventurestag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://12008-07-16T02:47:03ZAll my roads...Movable Type 3.33Hey! It's Cold in Here!tag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1922008-07-16T02:41:23Z2008-07-16T02:47:03ZYES! We have air conditioning again! After a very long, stressful weekend, which included us spending lots of time in restaurants, Barnes & Noble, and other "cool" places, and having a fan blow directly on us at all possible times...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.com
YES! We have air conditioning again! After a very long, stressful weekend, which included us spending lots of time in restaurants, Barnes & Noble, and other "cool" places, and having a fan blow directly on us at all possible times (a huge THANK YOU to Steve and Ginger for loaning us a super-duper high-powered industrial fan), we now have a new high-efficiency HVAC system that works! I woke up this morning to 70 degrees, and almost cried when I realized Robert had opened the blinds. We had been keeping them closed for over a month now while trying to help our old A/C not work as hard to keep it going until the new system. I didn't realize until I saw the morning sunlight streaming in the windows how gloomy our house has been for so long. I seriously think I had seasonal effectiveness disorder from lack of sunshine!
But now - it's a new day!
Long Hot Summertag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1912008-07-12T16:45:08Z2008-07-12T17:01:41ZIt's official. I have no air conditioning until Monday afternoon at the earliest. I do, however, have a super-duper high efficiency brand spankin' new furnace and A/C that are being installed as I type. My dad, after he retired from...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.comSpeaking of summer, I finished my second pair of socks for the Summer of Socks 2008 KAL. These are Wendy's Peace Socks, knit in Dream in Color Smooshy, in the Dusky Aurora colorway. It's a great pattern, very easy to memorize, but those K3TBL's were killer! I finished them last night, and now I've got to decide which pair to start for #3. I know I want to make the No Purl Monkeys, but I'm thinking those will be good travel socks, so I'm waiting until next week for those.
Stay cool!]]>
I really am an Introvert - Seriouslytag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1902008-07-10T02:40:35Z2008-07-10T03:06:29ZOkay, so I was the kid in school who didn't date because she always had her nose in a book. I didn't go to parties, and I still don't like being in big crowds, especially alone. If I'm forced into...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.com
Ravelry, which caused me to interact in various groups with lots of people, which led to me spending a weekend in St. Louis at a knitting retreat, and sharing a room with a friend I met first online. Then along comes Facebook, and Twitter, and now Plurk. Oh, and don't forget the podcast, and its blog.
Robert and I were talking this morning about the differences in our online presences (he's a gamer), and I realized that from seemingly out of nowhere, I'm actually fairly well known. Kate and I have podcast listeners from all over the world - almost every U.S. state, Canada, Australia, Germany, and Singapore, to name a few - and they all know me both as Tammy and DarthKnitter.
As much as I'm traveling now, for both work and pleasure, it's pretty certain that I'm going to run into someone who knows me from the internet, in part because we all keep tabs on each other and know when we'll be in someone's hometown. How cool is that? I've got a trip coming up to Notre Dame, so I visited the South Bend group on Ravely and got some information straight from the locals. There's a group of the Spring Flingers who will be at Rhinebeck, and you know we'll be having a reunion! I might have a business trip to California next year, and I've got another online friend I know I can call, and hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to visit Stacy and learn her spinning and dyeing secrets!
Maybe there's something to this extrovert stuff after all. (Oh, and if you think it's hard to keep up with all the social networking sites, try Ping.fm - with one click you can update all your sites at once.) Okay, I'm getting off the computer now and going back to my knitting.]]>
Declaration of Independencetag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1892008-07-04T14:08:01Z2008-07-04T14:24:15ZHappy Independence Day!!! I pray that we never lose the freedoms we currently have. And now, I am declaring my own independence - from my Summer of Socks 2008 goals. Originally, I wanted to knit a pair of socks a...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.comThen I cast on for Wendy's Summer of Socks pattern, which is cute, easy, and lacy. Meaning it's going to stretch. Wendy's instructions say to go down a size smaller than one usually knits, and the Ravelry boards are filled with posts about it being stretchier and bigger than thought, and people frogging them all over the place. I was prepared and adapted the pattern appropriately. Not only did I go down two sizes instead of just one, I also went up a needle size to make them knit up faster, which was working fine. The sock fits fine. So what's the problem? I'm never going to wear this sock. I got past the heel, tried it on, and realized I'm just not a lacy, holey, sock kind of person. I know, I know, I could finish them up and give as a gift, but they're my size right now - 10 - which means they're not going to fit anyone I know exactly right. And that's the point of hand-knit custom fitted socks. So I hereby give myself permission to frog them, start over with something else, and not stress about not having a pair of socks for SOS08 Week 2.
That, my friends, is freedom. Have a great 4th of July, and thank God that we live in this wonderful country. My prayers go out to our military and their families, and I thank them for their service. They make me proud.]]>
Smile!!tag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1882008-06-29T03:14:44Z2008-06-29T03:21:48ZI just got a new digital camera! WhooHoo! I've been researching, pricing, and saving for several months now, and finally found a slick deal on a Canon PowerShot G9. It's a high-end non-DSLR that's about as close as you can...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.com
Canon PowerShot G9. It's a high-end non-DSLR that's about as close as you can get to a DSLR without spending a ton of money. It's got 12.1 megapixels, a 6x Optical Zoom, and RAW capabilities (not that I'm an expert on that by any means), and there are a couple of external lenses available for it, so I'll be saving up to add on to my package. My Fuji FinePix was a good, reliable camera, but it's definitely outdated now and technology is so much better, and it's never really been the same since my sis knocked it over on the floor off of the tripod during our annual Peanut Brittle Makin' Days two years ago, so it was definitely time to upgrade. I look forward to playing with it and learning all the cool things it can do, and hopefully my photography will improve as well!
(And yes, this is a post about a camera with no photos. The battery is still charging.)]]>
Long Hot Summertag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1872008-06-27T12:59:01Z2008-06-27T13:13:25ZMy first pair of socks for Summer of Socks are finished! These are the Tidal Wave Socks pattern, knit in Hand Maiden Casbah in the Amethyst colorway. This yarn is so yummy, and seriously, after I was finished, I probably...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.comough yarn left over to make another pair. Steph from work loved it, though - purple is her favorite color - so I gave the rest to her. (Oh, and yes, I know the photo's wonky and it looks like the bottom sock doesn't have a heel - it does - it's just my sock blockers are 2 different sizes and I didn't realize I had the one sock turned wrong on the blocker.)
Pair #2 is started. I'm making The Lucy Sock by Wendy, and using Misty Mountain Farms Jubilee in Waterfall. I completed the first toe last night at Knit Together. Also at KT, I cast on for the Swallowtail Shawl. Then I frogged it when I made an error on like the 8th row. Then I started over. Then my cable caught on my knitting bag and pulled the needle out of all my stitches. Then I decided to wait until I wasn't so tired to start over. More updates on that later.
The other thing that's been going on is our air conditioner has decided to die. It's still working, but we have to be very fiddly to keep it going, and it's time to replace it. My dad, who was formerly in the business, after retiring from the fire department, was still able to get the equipment for us at cost, but because of his health is really unable to install it. So he lined up another firefighter who does HVAC on the side who agreed to install the equipment this past Wednesday. When this man came to our house on Monday to look over the equipment, he claimed that it wasn't any good and he backed out of the installation. What we believe really happened is that he recalculated his bid and decided he wasn't going to make enough money on the installation alone since he couldn't mark up equipment to sell us at a higher price. (The equipment is fine; my dad absolutely knows what he's doing, and this is the same brand that's currently installed in our home and original equipment, and it's lasted 19 years.) So, a warning to my Springfield, Missouri area readers - DO NOT do business with Jeff Owings. Period. We've made other arrangements, and in a couple of weeks we'll have a new high efficiency HVAC system. ]]>
Finally!!tag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1862008-06-23T02:59:55Z2008-06-23T03:29:46ZI can't believe it - I have officially finished knitting my first adult-sized sweater! This was one of those projects that was never ending. I bought a pattern shortly after I learned to knit from Knitting Pure & Simple for...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.comI can't believe it - I have officially finished knitting my first adult-sized sweater! This was one of those projects that was never ending. I bought a pattern shortly after I learned to knit from Knitting Pure & Simple for a short-sleeved v-neck tee because it looked easy, and I really didn't have any guidance from anyone with regard to sweater knitting. If I knew then what I know now, I never would have bought the pattern because 1) it's your basic plain vanilla top-down raglan which you can find free all over the web, and 2) it didn't look like what I really wanted in the first place. Again, it was just because I thought I needed an "easy" pattern to learn how to make a sweater - wrong. The endless stockinette of the body nearly killed me, and indeed, this sweater spent months, months, and more months in time out. Officially, it took me 13 months to finish, but once I was seriously working on it, it probably only took a total of 3-4 weeks. My recommendation for a newbie knitter who's never made a sweater: 1) Get support from your local knit group or Ravelry, and 2) knit a pattern in pieces rather than in the round. Anyway, I'm glad it's finally finished, and now that I've conquered an adult sweater, I know I can make any number of patterns. It's kind of like when I learned to make socks - I didn't understand how someone could knit socks without a pattern and make them it a short period of time, and now I'm cranking them out with the best of them! (Oh, and the sweater is knit using the now discontinued Elsbeth Lavold's Silky Tweed, and the lace pattern is from WendyKnits' Vince Sweater.)
Speaking of socks, I'm on track with my first pair for Summer of Socks 2008. I'm making the Tidal Wave pattern in Hand Maiden Cashbah in Amethyst. I cast on using my trusty Addi Turbos size 1 1/2 (2.5mm) and drat it if my gauge wasn't off. Rather than move down to 0's again, I moved up to a size 2 1/2 and cut the total stitches down from 64 to 48, which will make these go very fast! I finished the heel tonight while at my great-niece's and great-nephew's birthday party. Another reason this is going so fast, the foot is all stockinette - the pattern is only on the leg.
And how cool is this? The Springfield Knitters ordered t-shirts for the WWKIP Day on June 14, where everyone (except me, because I was in Hilton Head) was going to the Springfield Cardinals game for a Stitch 'n Pitch to celebrate. Zarah worked with a knitter on Ravelry to get us all t-shirts with our Rav-names on them, and although they didn't come in time for the game, they're too cute!]]>
So You Had a Bad Day. . .tag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1852008-06-20T03:44:43Z2008-06-20T04:05:38ZThis has been a day. First, I got up and spent my usual 15 minutes in the morning on the internet, checking e-mails, blogs, Ravelry, Plurk, etc. One of the tech blogs I follow was raving about Firefox 3.0, and...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.com
Ravelry, Plurk, etc. One of the tech blogs I follow was raving about Firefox 3.0, and said to upgrade immediately, so I did. Bad choice. FF3 doesn't work with Microsoft Vista. (I know, what does? Vista bites, but my XP machine died in the flood.) I didn't have time to fix it then, so it was off to work. (I did spend about an hour this evening uninstalling 3.0 and downgrading back to the previous version, which is working fine.)
Robert and I drove to work separately because he wasn't feeling well. He ended up coming home at noon. I then had to go stay with my mom (who's not in the best health) while my dad had a doctor's appointment. It was only supposed to be for about 90 minutes, but I ended up being away from the office for about 3 hours. Thankfully, I have a very understanding, family friendly company. The good news is that I finished Robert's socks while staying with my mom. These are just plain stockinette socks, toe up, casting on 30 stitches and increasing to 74, with short-row heels. The yarn is Universal's Ditto, and it's pretty cool looking on its own, which is why I didn't do any pattern. But the first ball had a ton of knots in it that I had to cut, so there were lots of ends to weave in. I'll stay away from this yarn in the future. I also made progress on my sweater, weaving in all the ends, and ripping back one of the sleeves and started re-knitting it (the cuffs are just a little too tight, but that's an easy enough fix).
I hadn't been back to work for more than 30 minutes or so, when a storm came through. There was a tornado warning, and while I haven't heard yet if one was actually sighted, the winds did knock out power in east Springfield, and the roof collapsed at a local furniture store. Then I ended up missing Knit Together because I needed to get Robert some medicine. I did work on the sweater a little bit, but then Dish went out when another storm came through and I took a break. I'm so sick of rain, and while our flooding issues are nothing like what's happening in Iowa or along the Mississippi, it would be nice if everyone got a break from this weather soon.
Tomorrow's Friday, and on Saturday I'll be spending some time with Brianne and starting on my first pair of my SOS08 socks. Things are looking up.]]>
Hidden Gemtag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1842008-06-18T00:35:58Z2008-06-18T03:21:25ZWho knew? I mean seriously - who? I wasn't all that excited about our recent trip to Hilton Head Island, SC mainly because from what I knew of HHI, it was just a lot of golf courses. Which is true...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.com
here. Way cool. But even cooler? The beach. This is a serious beach, people. When I think of going to the beach, Florida or Hawaii are about the only places that cross my mind. Or maybe a cruise to some Caribbean islands. But South Carolina? A beach destination? Boy - was I happy to be completely wrong. HHI is absolutely beautiful.
We spend some time on the beach, in the ocean (where I found myself surrounded by a school of sting rays - not once, but twice!), rode bikes, and had a fantastic time. On Sunday, we took a tour of Savannah before we flew out, where we saw a lot of historical homes, Paula Deen'srestaurant (before the fire), and a really cool bridge.
I thought I'd just post some of my favorite photos from the trip here. You can see more on my Flickr page.
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Lemmingstag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1832008-06-09T00:54:27Z2008-06-09T01:02:10ZI've been a little busy lately doing stuff around the house, like endless loads of laundry, painting our master bathroom, and planning what to take on our mini-vacation to Hilton Head Island this weekend, so I haven't spent a lot...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.com
Wendy has me Plurking, too - I'm DarthKnitter there, as usual.)
Anyway, so I'm catching up on Ravelry and my friends' activity, and apparently EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE is queuing this sweater! I'm sucked in as well - it's adorable! I wonder where I can fit this in on The Plan?
The sweater I'm actually knitting is coming along - in fact, it's almost finished. I just haven't taken any photos yet. All I have left to do is to finish the bind off at the waist, reknit the sleeves to loosen them up a bit, and do some sort of crocheted edging on the neck. After over a year of working on this sweater off and on, will the never-ending mindless stockinette round and round and round, I think I'm entitled to say I'm almost finished. There'll be photos soon.]]>
FREEDOM!!!!!!!!tag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1822008-05-31T02:09:10Z2008-05-31T02:26:57ZIn spite of all the recent stress of daily life, in spite of all the stuff that remains on my to do list, and in spite of the fact that our air conditioning is on its last legs, today was...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.comIn spite of all the recent stress of daily life, in spite of all the stuff that remains on my to do list, and in spite of the fact that our air conditioning is on its last legs, today was one of those milestone days. First, to get the knitting news out of the way, I finally finished the basketweave socks. I've made 6 pair of socks this year, in 5 months, so I'm a pair ahead. I still love the color of these socks, but am a little disappointed that they are fraternal socks, and not identical. Oh, well. No one's really going to know but me. I'm so ready to move on to something else, but I'm going to try to focus on my sweater and finish it up. Right now it's my only project on the needles.
A completed pair of hand knit socks don't really make today a milestone day. What makes today such a great day is that Robert and I have completed Step 2 of Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps, and we are DEBT FREE except for the house! It's taken us almost 3 years, but a lot has happened during that time, including us being able to afford Robert to leave a job he hated and begin to do something he loves, even though it was a significant pay cut. I can't recommend Dave's plan enough - we had previously bought into all the myths about credit, and today we have been released from the bondage of debt. Even though it was a little anticlimactic because now we're going to have to save up and shell out about $4k for a new HVAC system, we know that it's only going to take a couple of months, and it's really just an annoyance rather than an emergency. The best thing about Dave's plan is the change in attitude about money and "stuff." We are so blessed, and now have a level of contentment we'd not really known before. If anyone has any questions about the plan, I'd love to share it with you.
Oh, and I also made Dave's blog here, and you can hear us call in on Dave's archived shows - I'm the first caller in hour 2.
FREEDOM!!!!! And, as Dave says, "Remember, the only way to financial peace is to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus." Amen!
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Wendy Says it's Okaytag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1812008-05-29T12:53:51Z2008-05-29T13:12:29ZSo much for me getting back on track keeping up with the blog, so as a brief diversion, I'm going to post my answers to the Peeps I Want To Know More About meme, and claim that Wendy tagged me,...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.com
Wendy tagged me, since she said in her answers that anyone could answer. It's okay, my Junior Stalker pin is in the mail. :-)
1. What was I doing ten years ago?
I was working as a registered sales assistant in the investment division of a local bank, and made my first trip to Alaska.
2. What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
1) Update the blog; 2) go to Knit Together; 3) Buy paintbrushes at Wal-Mart; 4) finish the bloody basketweave sock; 5) E-mail chat with Zarah and Kate
3. Snacks I enjoy:
Ice cream is definitely my downfall. Gelato runs a close second. Then of course, there's chips and salsa, but it's got to be either Mexican Villa's sweet sauce or Red Cactus salsa - yum. Oh, and chocolate. Really good chocolate.
4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Tithe. Pay off the mortgage (and start planning to build our dream house). Travel to all the wonderful places I've read about and haven't yet had the opportunity to go. Give a lot of the money away to family and friends - have a lot of fun with random acts of kindness.
5. Places I have lived:
Springfield, Missouri. With the exception of one 2 month period in an apartment, I have lived in the same zip code my entire life. Although as Robert says, I did own property in Battlefield, Missouri when we got married because he hadn't sold his house yet.
6. Jobs I have had:
Final inspector and shipping clerk in a photo lab. I've seen a lot of wedding and senior photos. A bank teller and registered investment sales assistant. Paralegal in a labor and employment private law firm representing management (see, Wendy and I have something else in common!). Accounting clerk in a software firm. Operations manager and compliance officer in a local independent broker-dealer/investment adviser, and my current position as Compliance Officer for a non-profit religious financial institution.
7. Peeps I want to know more about:
The usual suspects.]]>
Recaptag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1802008-05-19T00:16:34Z2008-05-19T00:42:40ZWow. I know I made a random post the other day, but I have not been doing a great job at keeping up with everything - the blog, Ravelry, the podcast, even knitting. First, Robert and I both had business...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.com
Ravelry, the podcast, even knitting.
First, Robert and I both had business trips out of town the same week. He went to South Carolina, and I headed to Miami. The conference I attended had some very good sessions; other details were overlooked, like they didn't provide sodas for the afternoon sessions. Gee, like no one was gonna need caffeine not in the form of coffee after lunch? I was not at all excited about the prospect of going to Miami, and it did not fail to disappoint. Overall, I found South Beach to be a dirty, smelly, nasty place, and did not see the appeal of it at all. I did, however, get to enjoy the beach for a few hours, and when I wasn't watching a catfight between 3 girls (yes, this really happened) or accidentally realizing that it actually was a topless beach (thank you to my boss for warning me about this possibility in advance) - ick - I did enjoy wiggling my toes in the sand and letting the waves crash over my feet. Back to the topless issue for a moment, can someone explain to me why a girl who is free enough to remove her bikini top while laying on the beach towel had to put the top back on before she went into the ocean? I don't get it.Moving on, I didn't get much knitting done at all while I was gone. I did finish my first of the basketweave socks, but haven't started its match yet. Nor have I worked on my sweater, or thought about future projects. I've been in a bit of an organization mood lately, which started with the flood and has motivated me to work on other parts of the house. I have removed all of the ugly wallpaper that was in our master bathroom, and am almost ready to paint.
Yesterday was the annual Fiber Fair in Marshfield, Missouri. It's a very small fair, but it was a beautiful day to hang out with friends, and I did buy some random roving for my beginning fiber stash - for the "someday" when I get my wheel. "Lola" always enjoys looking at the Fair's wares, and I was enamored with a beautiful cashmere goat.
I've pretty much given up on getting caught up. I had almost 1,000 unread blog posts when I got home from Miami, and used the "mark all read" option pretty freely. I went through about 120 personal e-mails, 100 work e-mails, and am now being very selective on the Ravelry forums I'm reading. So if I've missed commenting on my regular blogs that I read, or replying to a podcast e-mail, or not responded to a Rav post, forgive me. I'm entering my busiest season at work for the next two months, and have 2 more trips scheduled in June and July which will take me out of the office. I'm giving myself a free pass to not put undue pressure on myself. Summer's comin', and I'm going to enjoy myself!]]>
Let's Clear This Up . . .tag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1792008-05-17T13:40:43Z2008-05-17T13:58:46ZDear Mexican Villa Waitress: Thank you for your excellent service to my husband and me last night in your restaurant. I really appreciated you tracking down some limes for my Diet Coke, and you were very quick to bring the...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.com
Mexican Villa Waitress:
Thank you for your excellent service to my husband and me last night in your restaurant. I really appreciated you tracking down some limes for my Diet Coke, and you were very quick to bring the refills. I think, however, that we may have given you the wrong impression and that you might be under the assumption that we are, well, poor. Not that we are wealthy by any means, but we can certainly afford to eat in your establishment without it being a hardship. I can understand where you may have gotten your misconceived notions, so let's clear this up now, okay?
First, when you came to the table and I was busy with a calculator and our checkbook, I was not anxiously calculating whether or not we could afford to each have our own meal. My husband and I both were out of town this week on separate business trips, the 15th was payday, and I hadn't had time to pay the bills yet. Finishing up at dinner was a matter of convenience.
Second, I ordered the $4.60 half-size Sancho Enchilada Style because I wasn't that hungry and we had errands to run after dinner, so that it was not feasible to get a full-size order as the leftovers would not have kept in the car. My husband always orders a $4.00 plain burrito because that's what he likes. We weren't deliberately looking to order the cheapest items on the menu.
Third, when my husband requested more mild sauce for the chips, and we balked when you told us the "first one is free, but others would be $0.35 each," it wasn't because we couldn't afford the additional salsa - it was rebellion against the principle of the matter, because we believe in America that complimentary chips and salsa in a Mexican Restaurant is an absolute right. We do, however, appreciate you bringing us an additional bowl of the mild sauce, under the table, at no cost.
Last, again we really appreciate you trying to look out for us, but it really wasn't necessary to ring up our two Diet Cokes as waters, and thus, not charging us for the soda. Although we usually order water in restaurants because the soda game is a high profit margin and it usually costs more for one glass than a two-liter does at Wal-Mart, we both happened to want the caffeine last night, and so decided to "splurge."
Total on the ticket - a little over $10. We paid with a twenty - keep the change.]]>
I Love Chocolatetag:eastburnadventures.com,2008://1.1782008-05-08T12:38:13Z2008-05-08T13:05:17ZUsually when the Yarn Harlot talks about something on her blog, there's a stampede of knitters scrambling to obtain the exact pattern or yarn that she's working with. Don't get me wrong, I adore the Harlot; I think she's a...Tammyhttp://www.eastburnadventures.com
Yarn Harlot talks about something on her blog, there's a stampede of knitters scrambling to obtain the exact pattern or yarn that she's working with. Don't get me wrong, I adore the Harlot; I think she's a wonderful writer and has some brilliant insights into this world of knitting that we're a part of. She is a fabulous ambassador for our craft, and I'm appreciative of the fact that her influence will help keep yarn stores across the country in business for a long time. But for example, recently the Harlot knit the Must-Have Cardigan and the Ravelry forums were ablaze with ISO posts - the pattern was sold out everywhere, nowhere to be found (although patient knitters could have just ordered it - it wasn't even out of print). Zarah and I were talking about this phenomenon - we were like, yeah, it's a nice sweater, but it's just a cabled cardigan - there are zillions of cabled cardigan patterns out there. But because the Harlot knit it, it became in high demand.
I wasn't interested in the Must-Have Cardi because 1) the pattern wasn't written for my size and I didn't want to rewrite it, and 2) I'm not really a bulky cardigan kind of girl. But something else happened. I succumbed to the Harlot's influence on something else. Way back when, she posted about the Duet Sock Yarn in the Chocolate Crunch colorway. Now, I am not a pink person at all, but there's something about the combination of pink and brown that I am unable to resist. It's like Kryptonite - or as Darth Vader would say, "resistance is futile." Normally I try to buy my all my sock yarn at The Loopy Ewe, but they didn't have the color. Big surprise - things sell out fast. Plus, because the dyer is an indie, chances were that we'd never see that colorway again (this is why I don't feel bad about having a decent sized stash - you never want to regret not having bought something that spoke to you.). But I took a chance and e-mailed Angela of A Swell Yarn Shop, inquiring if we'd see that colorway again. She said she didn't usually repeat colorways, but said she'd make an exception for this one. I signed up for her e-mail newsletter, found out when she was restocking, and quietly purchased my Chocolate Crunch.
It lived in my stash for while, playing nicely with the other non-pinkish colors, till finally it told me it wanted to be a pair of Basket-Weave Rib Socks. I've knit this pattern before, for my sister's Christmas socks, and enjoyed it, so I said, "sure, why not?" After a minor gauge issue (which sent me back to my size 0's again), we are getting along just fine, even in spite of the pink. I think these are going to be a favorite pair once they're finished. Thank you, Stephanie, for the suggestion.]]>
Speaking of summer, I finished my second pair of socks for the Summer of Socks 2008 KAL. These are Wendy's Peace Socks, knit in Dream in Color Smooshy, in the Dusky Aurora colorway. It's a great pattern, very easy to memorize, but those K3TBL's were killer! I finished them last night, and now I've got to decide which pair to start for #3. I know I want to make the No Purl Monkeys, but I'm thinking those will be good travel socks, so I'm waiting until next week for those.
Stay cool!]]>
Then I cast on for Wendy's Summer of Socks pattern, which is cute, easy, and lacy. Meaning it's going to stretch. Wendy's instructions say to go down a size smaller than one usually knits, and the Ravelry boards are filled with posts about it being stretchier and bigger than thought, and people frogging them all over the place. I was prepared and adapted the pattern appropriately. Not only did I go down two sizes instead of just one, I also went up a needle size to make them knit up faster, which was working fine. The sock fits fine. So what's the problem? I'm never going to wear this sock. I got past the heel, tried it on, and realized I'm just not a lacy, holey, sock kind of person. I know, I know, I could finish them up and give as a gift, but they're my size right now - 10 - which means they're not going to fit anyone I know exactly right. And that's the point of hand-knit custom fitted socks. So I hereby give myself permission to frog them, start over with something else, and not stress about not having a pair of socks for SOS08 Week 2.
That, my friends, is freedom. Have a great 4th of July, and thank God that we live in this wonderful country. My prayers go out to our military and their families, and I thank them for their service. They make me proud.]]>
ough yarn left over to make another pair. Steph from work loved it, though - purple is her favorite color - so I gave the rest to her. (Oh, and yes, I know the photo's wonky and it looks like the bottom sock doesn't have a heel - it does - it's just my sock blockers are 2 different sizes and I didn't realize I had the one sock turned wrong on the blocker.)
Pair #2 is started. I'm making The Lucy Sock by Wendy, and using Misty Mountain Farms Jubilee in Waterfall. I completed the first toe last night at Knit Together. Also at KT, I cast on for the Swallowtail Shawl. Then I frogged it when I made an error on like the 8th row. Then I started over. Then my cable caught on my knitting bag and pulled the needle out of all my stitches. Then I decided to wait until I wasn't so tired to start over. More updates on that later.
The other thing that's been going on is our air conditioner has decided to die. It's still working, but we have to be very fiddly to keep it going, and it's time to replace it. My dad, who was formerly in the business, after retiring from the fire department, was still able to get the equipment for us at cost, but because of his health is really unable to install it. So he lined up another firefighter who does HVAC on the side who agreed to install the equipment this past Wednesday. When this man came to our house on Monday to look over the equipment, he claimed that it wasn't any good and he backed out of the installation. What we believe really happened is that he recalculated his bid and decided he wasn't going to make enough money on the installation alone since he couldn't mark up equipment to sell us at a higher price. (The equipment is fine; my dad absolutely knows what he's doing, and this is the same brand that's currently installed in our home and original equipment, and it's lasted 19 years.) So, a warning to my Springfield, Missouri area readers - DO NOT do business with Jeff Owings. Period. We've made other arrangements, and in a couple of weeks we'll have a new high efficiency HVAC system. ]]>
I can't believe it - I have officially finished knitting my first adult-sized sweater! This was one of those projects that was never ending. I bought a pattern shortly after I learned to knit from Knitting Pure & Simple for a short-sleeved v-neck tee because it looked easy, and I really didn't have any guidance from anyone with regard to sweater knitting. If I knew then what I know now, I never would have bought the pattern because 1) it's your basic plain vanilla top-down raglan which you can find free all over the web, and 2) it didn't look like what I really wanted in the first place. Again, it was just because I thought I needed an "easy" pattern to learn how to make a sweater - wrong. The endless stockinette of the body nearly killed me, and indeed, this sweater spent months, months, and more months in time out. Officially, it took me 13 months to finish, but once I was seriously working on it, it probably only took a total of 3-4 weeks. My recommendation for a newbie knitter who's never made a sweater: 1) Get support from your local knit group or Ravelry, and 2) knit a pattern in pieces rather than in the round. Anyway, I'm glad it's finally finished, and now that I've conquered an adult sweater, I know I can make any number of patterns. It's kind of like when I learned to make socks - I didn't understand how someone could knit socks without a pattern and make them it a short period of time, and now I'm cranking them out with the best of them! (Oh, and the sweater is knit using the now discontinued Elsbeth Lavold's Silky Tweed, and the lace pattern is from WendyKnits' Vince Sweater.)
Speaking of socks, I'm on track with my first pair for Summer of Socks 2008. I'm making the Tidal Wave pattern in Hand Maiden Cashbah in Amethyst. I cast on using my trusty Addi Turbos size 1 1/2 (2.5mm) and drat it if my gauge wasn't off. Rather than move down to 0's again, I moved up to a size 2 1/2 and cut the total stitches down from 64 to 48, which will make these go very fast! I finished the heel tonight while at my great-niece's and great-nephew's birthday party. Another reason this is going so fast, the foot is all stockinette - the pattern is only on the leg.
And how cool is this? The Springfield Knitters ordered t-shirts for the WWKIP Day on June 14, where everyone (except me, because I was in Hilton Head) was going to the Springfield Cardinals game for a Stitch 'n Pitch to celebrate. Zarah worked with a knitter on Ravelry to get us all t-shirts with our Rav-names on them, and although they didn't come in time for the game, they're too cute!]]>
Robert and I drove to work separately because he wasn't feeling well. He ended up coming home at noon. I then had to go stay with my mom (who's not in the best health) while my dad had a doctor's appointment. It was only supposed to be for about 90 minutes, but I ended up being away from the office for about 3 hours. Thankfully, I have a very understanding, family friendly company. The good news is that I finished Robert's socks while staying with my mom. These are just plain stockinette socks, toe up, casting on 30 stitches and increasing to 74, with short-row heels. The yarn is Universal's Ditto, and it's pretty cool looking on its own, which is why I didn't do any pattern. But the first ball had a ton of knots in it that I had to cut, so there were lots of ends to weave in. I'll stay away from this yarn in the future. I also made progress on my sweater, weaving in all the ends, and ripping back one of the sleeves and started re-knitting it (the cuffs are just a little too tight, but that's an easy enough fix).
I hadn't been back to work for more than 30 minutes or so, when a storm came through. There was a tornado warning, and while I haven't heard yet if one was actually sighted, the winds did knock out power in east Springfield, and the roof collapsed at a local furniture store. Then I ended up missing Knit Together because I needed to get Robert some medicine. I did work on the sweater a little bit, but then Dish went out when another storm came through and I took a break. I'm so sick of rain, and while our flooding issues are nothing like what's happening in Iowa or along the Mississippi, it would be nice if everyone got a break from this weather soon.
Tomorrow's Friday, and on Saturday I'll be spending some time with Brianne and starting on my first pair of my SOS08 socks. Things are looking up.]]>
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In spite of all the recent stress of daily life, in spite of all the stuff that remains on my to do list, and in spite of the fact that our air conditioning is on its last legs, today was one of those milestone days. First, to get the knitting news out of the way, I finally finished the basketweave socks. I've made 6 pair of socks this year, in 5 months, so I'm a pair ahead. I still love the color of these socks, but am a little disappointed that they are fraternal socks, and not identical. Oh, well. No one's really going to know but me. I'm so ready to move on to something else, but I'm going to try to focus on my sweater and finish it up. Right now it's my only project on the needles.
A completed pair of hand knit socks don't really make today a milestone day. What makes today such a great day is that Robert and I have completed Step 2 of Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps, and we are DEBT FREE except for the house! It's taken us almost 3 years, but a lot has happened during that time, including us being able to afford Robert to leave a job he hated and begin to do something he loves, even though it was a significant pay cut. I can't recommend Dave's plan enough - we had previously bought into all the myths about credit, and today we have been released from the bondage of debt. Even though it was a little anticlimactic because now we're going to have to save up and shell out about $4k for a new HVAC system, we know that it's only going to take a couple of months, and it's really just an annoyance rather than an emergency. The best thing about Dave's plan is the change in attitude about money and "stuff." We are so blessed, and now have a level of contentment we'd not really known before. If anyone has any questions about the plan, I'd love to share it with you.
Oh, and I also made Dave's blog here, and you can hear us call in on Dave's archived shows - I'm the first caller in hour 2.
FREEDOM!!!!! And, as Dave says, "Remember, the only way to financial peace is to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus." Amen!
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First, Robert and I both had business trips out of town the same week. He went to South Carolina, and I headed to Miami. The conference I attended had some very good sessions; other details were overlooked, like they didn't provide sodas for the afternoon sessions. Gee, like no one was gonna need caffeine not in the form of coffee after lunch? I was not at all excited about the prospect of going to Miami, and it did not fail to disappoint. Overall, I found South Beach to be a dirty, smelly, nasty place, and did not see the appeal of it at all. I did, however, get to enjoy the beach for a few hours, and when I wasn't watching a catfight between 3 girls (yes, this really happened) or accidentally realizing that it actually was a topless beach (thank you to my boss for warning me about this possibility in advance) - ick - I did enjoy wiggling my toes in the sand and letting the waves crash over my feet. Back to the topless issue for a moment, can someone explain to me why a girl who is free enough to remove her bikini top while laying on the beach towel had to put the top back on before she went into the ocean? I don't get it.
Moving on, I didn't get much knitting done at all while I was gone. I did finish my first of the basketweave socks, but haven't started its match yet. Nor have I worked on my sweater, or thought about future projects. I've been in a bit of an organization mood lately, which started with the flood and has motivated me to work on other parts of the house. I have removed all of the ugly wallpaper that was in our master bathroom, and am almost ready to paint.
Yesterday was the annual Fiber Fair in Marshfield, Missouri. It's a very small fair, but it was a beautiful day to hang out with friends, and I did buy some random roving for my beginning fiber stash - for the "someday" when I get my wheel. "Lola" always enjoys looking at the Fair's wares, and I was enamored with a beautiful cashmere goat.
I've pretty much given up on getting caught up. I had almost 1,000 unread blog posts when I got home from Miami, and used the "mark all read" option pretty freely. I went through about 120 personal e-mails, 100 work e-mails, and am now being very selective on the Ravelry forums I'm reading. So if I've missed commenting on my regular blogs that I read, or replying to a podcast e-mail, or not responded to a Rav post, forgive me. I'm entering my busiest season at work for the next two months, and have 2 more trips scheduled in June and July which will take me out of the office. I'm giving myself a free pass to not put undue pressure on myself. Summer's comin', and I'm going to enjoy myself!]]>
It lived in my stash for while, playing nicely with the other non-pinkish colors, till finally it told me it wanted to be a pair of Basket-Weave Rib Socks. I've knit this pattern before, for my sister's Christmas socks, and enjoyed it, so I said, "sure, why not?" After a minor gauge issue (which sent me back to my size 0's again), we are getting along just fine, even in spite of the pink. I think these are going to be a favorite pair once they're finished. Thank you, Stephanie, for the suggestion.]]>