Purlene’s Corner

(aya here)

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, here in MA. I spent the day doing a bit of spring cleaning, with all the windows open, to air the place out. I ended up rearranging the living room furniture, and I finally hung up some pictures that I never seemed to get around to. I’m pretty pleased with the new layout, though the bunnies are letting me know of their displeasure – they keep going and nudging me and the things that have been moved, as if to say “Hey, this is your fault! THIS doesn’t belong HERE.”

I’ve been knitting on a pair of socks, Meida, from Favorite Socks:

I’m about halfway through the second sock. I’m just about done with the gusset decreases.

Though I really like the pattern, which is easy to memorize, I needed something else to knit on. So I cast-on for a hat – ames, the same slouchy hat that you knit, though I didn’t realize it until I finished it!

I knit it up while re-watching a few episodes of season one Battlestar Galactica last night. I decided to re-watch the series, now that I know how they wrapped it up, to see what I missed the first time around (the answer, of course, is that I missed A LOT).

I’m thrilled with this hat, and I just love Malabrigo. It’s so soft and such a tactile pleasure to knit with. This hat is definitely a keeper, though forgive me if I say that I hope that I don’t get any use out of it until next winter.

Two days of sun and temps in the 50s, and Spring Fever has definitely set in!

(ames)

It’s been a bit of a chilly winter here in Chicago. We’ve had days of single-digit temperatures, and snow, and frigid rain, and it’s still not as bad as it was my first and second winters here. That second one just about killed me. This year, I’m a little more hardened to the extreme chill, and ventured out for some picture taking fun.

There is a bunny in the snow! In someone’s front yard! Looking cute! (Smack in the middle of the picture, with a glowy eye. I had to stalk him veeeeery slowly.)

My standard Lakefront shot, this time with snow. It’s just strange to me, this juxtaposition of lake, beach, and snow. Snow on the beach – how strange.

Pretty snow and pretty red berries against a white white sky. The sad thing about snow is that when it’s actually snowing, you lose the blue blue sky. (Obviously.) But the nice thing is that when it’s done, it’s breathtaking.

It was so chilly right before Christmas, that this was all you could see of people – hats and scarves, heavy coats and cold noses.

One of the girls in my local knitty group had a baby recently, and we did some sneaking around and yarn shuffling and secret knitting, and made her a pretty pretty blanket.

Under construction! Everyone knit one or two stripes, then Jenny and I settled ourselves in her basement, listened to holiday tunes, and learned how to seam garter stitch. It was fun, but after four or five hours, we still were not done!

This is the closest I have to a picture of the finished work. The part of me that likes symmetry wants to add another strip vertically and horizontally, so the squares aren’t cut in half, but I think it’s pretty darn cute as-is.

I also knit mittens for Lola and the warmest hat I’ve ever made for me. I was pondering giving it away while I was making it, but it’s mine mine mine.

Frog Tree Alpaca, basic mitten pattern from Ann Budd’s Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns, on loan to me from Amy M. Awesome book, I’m too lazy to find a link right now, but I love it. Lola’s hands are a bit larger than mine, so I sized them by trying them on over gloves. Perfect fit!

Star Crossed Slouchy Beret, Malabrigo Worsted, and completely yummy.  Please excuse the pink face – you can only do so much when your poor skin is pelted with ice on a regular basis.

I’ve been on a serious salt-diet for a few months now. I’m at the point now where I don’t really want it, except for some food that really needs it to bring out the taste. It’s amazing how much salt is in food! I’ve got a tub of what used to be my favorite chicken salad from the old deli, and it is so salty I can barely eat it. I miss ramen (so bad for you but so tasty), but can’t eat it for all the salt. :\ It’s probably better for me, it is better for me, but I’m having food mourning.

(ames)

I’ve got copious amounts of free time right now, as I was laid off from my job a couple of months ago.  (If you know of any legal jobs or benefits/HR-related jobs in Chicago, let me know, resume available upon request.) You’d think this would translate into a massive knitting fest, but it has not.  I blame Plants v Zombies, lots of reading, and the startling realization that I am a situational knitter. When I was working, I spent two hours of every day on public transportation, which is prime knitting time. It would be me, an audiobook or DVD commentary, and the current knitting project. I would do it all on the train – a sweater, delicate lace, hearty socks, a blanket. When I came home, I would sometimes knit, but would be just as likely to read, play on the computer (FFXI ftw), chat on the phone, or do anything else. But those two hours a day of dedicated knitting time got me through many a project.

But now I have all the time in the world to knit, and little inclination. I have projects that have actual deadlines, projects that have been hanging around for far too long, a sweater that is one re-knit front and a buttonband away from being finished, and umpteen million other ones that I want to do (gloves for a friend, socks for me, another sweater for me) – and yet I don’t do them.

What I do instead is read!
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – a great book set in a small village in China back in the 19th century, a place where women’s feet were bound. It’s a gorgeous story of the deep friendship and love between two “old sames” – Snow Flower and Lily, bound together at age 7 in a ceremony designed to form an emotional bond between them that would last a lifetime. The girls’ friendship is immediate and powerful – they send each other small gifts andnotes, but save the most important messages and life events to write on their shared paper fan, which is sent back and forth.

Hyperion – Written in the style of Canterbury Tales, this is the story of seven pilgrims who journey to a world named Hyperion to answer the mysteries of their lives. It’s the first in a series, and I’m eagerly waiting for the next one to be returned to the library so I can get my greedy little hands on it. The seven stories are each fascinating in their own way – the father, the priest, the warrior, and others, each with an unresolved question that they hope to have answered. Loved this book, and sent it to my older brother almost immediately after finishing it.

I’ve been watching tv! Star Trek: Deep Space 9, Fringe, a re-watch and finishing of Pushing Daisies (which ended far too soon, but beautifully), and a rewatch of the entire 10-season run of Friends. It may be cheesy, but Friends is my desert island show. I love it, I love that I can see my friends and myself in it (Erin = Ross, Meg = Monica, and apparently I am Ms. Chanandler Bong), and it still makes me laugh and cry. I’ve been watching Horatio Hornblower, and have plans to go see the new George Clooney movie next week.

I’ve been taking long walks along the lakefront, although not nearly as many as I should. My tendencies towards sloth and laziness are strong and hard to fight, but I will prevail. I’ve been job hunting and interviewing, although not much has come of it. And yeah, I’ve been knitting a little, but finishing almost nothing.  I’m heading out to the burbs in a few hours – there’s a day trip to The Fold on the schedule tomorrow, and I’m very excited about it!  And there will be knitting. I’ve got a nice hefty commute out there and back today and tomorrow, and projects need to be done.

In conclusion, here are some things that were finished recently. Phew.

Hat and mittens for Baby D! I have to make the mittens a little longer, and he was completely befuddled by them, haha.

Frilly wristwarmers, from leftover Manos. They’re kind of silly, but cute, and I knocked them out in an evening.

ames, writing on the day she’s actually supposed to! Aya’s Foliage gorgeousness inspired me, last night.  Plus, I had pretty new yarn that was demanding that I knit with it.

I couldn’t resist.  The beautiful Lion & Lamb was calling my name.  I mean, just look at it:

Can you resist that? The gorgeous colors, the sheen from the silk, the way you can tell just by looking at it that it’s the softest stuff in the world – this is not stash yarn, my friends. This is yarn to be USED.

It’s even pretty all caked up! Actually, it may be prettier, as you can see how the colors look next to each other in a way that the skein doesn’t always show.

A few minutes on the internet looking for a pattern, four episodes of Stargate Atlantis, and a few hours of blissful blissful knitting later, and we have a big circle! Ha, ok, it’s a beret/tam type hat, but it’s blocking on a dinner plate so it can get that nice defined edge. Look at that gorgeous color. It’s Lorna’s, so it pooled (not all their multi colorways do, but enough of them that you just learn to expect it), but I actually like how it ended up. Just a little bit right at the center, enough to almost be called a design element. He.

A GIRL AND HER TAM. ♥
Last Minute Purled Beret by Knit and Tonic
half a skein of Lorna’s Laces Lion & Lamb, Sand Ridge colorway
US8 DPNs.
Lots of Rodney McKay.
Snuggly couch, purring cats, slight chill in the air, warm blankets.
♥Autumn♥