Purlene’s Corner

(aya here)

So, ames came to visit last weekend, and it was wonderful! I missed her as soon as she left. :(

We knit lots and we watched lots of tv. Our typical m.o., heh.

She even talked me into knitting the same pattern (Mock Cable Waves from Favorite Socks) that she was working on, and of course, I listened. I almost always listen, because she has good knitty mojo, and has very rarely led me astray. HA HA, don’t get a big head. (or you can, and then that really cute green/pink hat won’t fit and you can give it to me. *covet*)

I finished the first sock tonight, and it’s absolutely slouchy and cushy and I love it.

Dark blue is a bitch to photograph, especially at night.

It’s a yarn-eater though. I normally have quite a bit of Claudia’s HP left over when I knit socks, but I ended up having to chip into the second skein during the first sock, about one repeat from the toe. I went and ordered a third skein last week, so I’ll have enough to finish the pair. The color is “Yo, Sailor Boy!” by the way. Exclamation included. :D

It’s fun because there’s no ribbing for the cuff – you just dive into pattern. Now, I love a nice ribbed cuff – a 2×2 or a 1×1, doesn’t matter, but every now and then, it’s nice to change it up. The pattern isn’t difficult, sort of a shift every couple of rows, and a few rows that repeat – but I just could not get it set in my mind, so I knit the whole sock with the book next to me. That’s okay though- it’s not like I don’t normally have a pattern glued to my side (especially when attempting a cookie a pattern).

It’s been a while since my last post, at least a couple of months. I went on a mitten tear – two pairs of fingerless mitts, and a full set of mittens for my mom:

They’re made with some really soft yarn – Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton & Silk. Since they’re actually indoor mittens, the yarn works. I wouldn’t recommend it for snowy adventures outdoors though. My mother is always cold, and on the days where she just can’t warm up, you’ll find her curled up on the couch under a couple of blankets, wearing a shirt, a sweater AND a fleece, and with mittens on. We keep telling her that all her meds have over-regulated her, but she doesn’t listen. So – MITTENS.

I also have a pair of zens that I’m ignoring.

I like the yarn, but they’re very boring. I’m almost halfway through the second sock. Maybe I’ll finish them up once the MWC socks are done. Or not. I’ve been wanting to tackle a pattern out of Sock Innovations, so they may have to wait.

After knitting almost exclusively from the stash last year, thanks to 8 months of unemployment, I’ve taken to rebuilding the stash. When ames was here, I added two yarns to it (see previous entry from ames for pics). I kind of sort of maybe added to it again, when I ordered that third skein of Yo! Sailor Boy!. Hrm. Okay, I added quite a bit. But, I have to squirrel yarn away in the case of new unemployment, after all.

More Claudia’s, this time in periwinkle:

Madelinetosh tosh sock in norway spruce:

Cherry Tree Hill supersock semi-solid in fuschia (it’s not really fuschia though, more of a bright cherry color, like kool-aid):

And lastly, some ShiBuiKnits in bare. These are destined to become those Austrian socks from Favorite Socks:

(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 here!)

This is the project that has been eating my brain for the past week.

A stiff tube.

Stranding!

A mitten in progress! I’ve been wanting to do some more colorwork lately, and I need cold-weather gear desperately. The library supplied with with an awesome book, Folk Mittens by Marcia Lewandowski, which is filled with wonderful stranded knitting projects. This is the Halland Mittens, done in stash white and yellow from The Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride worsted, size 4 US needles. It is a snug fit, which makes me happy – snug equals warm, and I can stretch them out a smidge in blocking. And I’ve had such fun with this first one, I’m pretty confident the second mitten will be knit right after this one is bound off! The only tricky part was the cuff, mostly because there are some long floats, and the pattern for the hand is easily learned. I’ve got a few rows left before the hand decrease, then it’s picking up the stitches for the thumb, doing it in pattern, and boom! A lovely mitten for meeeeeeee.

Today was an interesting day of doctor’s appointments, forgotten wallets, backtracking and worrying, and then yummy dinner with friends.  I didn’t get to work until around 10:30, and then had to leave at 4:30 to go back to the doctor’s and get my forgotten wallet – I feel like I was barely there!  All that walking and socializing left me with zero knitting time, however. I am slowly working on a pair of colorwork mittens that are fun but about to kill me with the complex.  Also, size 3 needles on worsted weight, yikes.  I’ll try and get a picture tomorrow to put up for Wednesday’s post.  And now I am sleepy, I got to walk home in pretty snow, and I’m going to bed.

when I see it, I want to wail – MAAAAAAAAIL!

ames here!  Yes, I have watched me some Blue’s Clues back in the day.  Steve! ♥ He would be impressed with the package I received yesterday, I think.  Mom sent me an e-mail telling me to keep an eye out for a package – “a little thing, hardly worth mailing.”  au contraire, ma mère. There was good stuff inside!

A shopping bag from American Classic Tea Plantation, the only tea plantation in the US. It’s on Wadmalaw Island, which is right by James Island, where I grew up. (All part of lovely Charleston, SC.) I love this tea – it’s clear, crisp, and doesn’t leave me with a dry mouth afterwards. It is also impossible to find outside of the South, so I’m thrilled with the little care packages I get.

TEA! Individual silk tea bags, perfect for a cup whenever. Also, please note the cute honey bear in the background. My honey ONLY comes in bear form.

Books! Perfect for my recent reading jag I’m on. I’ve never read Eileen Goudge, but I do enjoy the McNally series. These will be a nice break after the current book I’m on, A Thousand Splendid Suns, about women in Afghanistan in the 1970s and 1980s. It’s good, but not exactly happy.

BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE.

A neeeeew coffee mug! \o/ And I recently broke my favorite one, so this is perfectly timed. Check out the clever little pocket on the side for the tea bag, too.

And, what I assume is the original item that prompted the whole gift box extravaganza. . . (drumroll)

The stylus to my PDA! (cymbal crash) Ahahahaha. This delighted me to NO END. But now my PDA is happy again, and no longer incomplete. The observant among you will notice the knife marks on the counter, haha. Sometimes I am too impatient to grab the cutting board. It is ok; it’s a $40 butcher block from IKEA, it can take the pain.

And one knitty picture, just to keep up the illusion that this is actually a knitblog:

Gah, again with the crappy picture. I don’t know if I need a new camera (doubtful) or to improve my skills (highly likely).

Cabled Fingerless Gloves by Kimberley Gintar.  Currently my favorite fingerless mitt pattern, as evidenced by the fact that I’ve knit a pair already.  These are in Knit Picks Comfy, a cotton/acrylic blend, and I am learning a lot about knitting with cotton yarn.  First, it has zero stretch.  Second, it has zero memory, so it doesn’t bounce back.  Third, there is nothing to keep a drop stitch from unravelling and unravelling and unravelling. Fourth, it can be amazingly soft and snuggly, and I kind of want to knit a shoulder wrap out of this stuff to keep at work.    Fifth, cables don’t draw in like they do with wool, so I had to go down a needle size.  I probably could have gone down another, but I think the fabric would have been stiff as a board.  I’m making these for Rachel, whose office is probably colder than mine, so it’s ok that they’re a little loose; easier to type with, right?

Honestly, I’m going to have to make a pair for myself, one of these days.

And there were other things I wanted to talk about today, but between the pictures and the uploading of the pictures, and the whatnot, I’m done.