Purlene’s Corner

(aya here)

Love your Bayerische sock, ames! Can’t wait to see it (and the real color!) up close and in person later this week. I can’t believe this trip to Charleston is actually happening for me, yay!

After losing my power twice in the past 18 hours, I’ve been fairly accomplished. Well, really, my Dad was – I just stood around and handed him what he needed, and tried to look like I understood what he was doing. I have pretty pics of all the destruction.

Lots and lots of holes in the wall of the living room:

More holes, and the basic concept for where the shelf is going:

My TV successfully attached to the wall, bunny-gated off, as well as a rabbit who is scurrying away from the chaos:

(yes, that’s Dean Wincester on my desktop, ames)

Tomorrow’s action plan includes putting in two cable jacks, and two outlets. Two will be hidden by the TV, two should be hidden behind the dvr and the modem, which will be on the (yet to be purchased and installed) shelf that will reside  about 18 inches below the TV.

There was some sort of hassle because of the firewalls between the condos and some sort of soundproofing which I really didn’t follow (probably because I’d already tuned out and was just nodding like I understood). But evidently my father can handle it all, so yay! No more huge entertainment center, no more wires running around everywhere, and happy Amy not having to police the bunnies’ actions.

I even convinced Dad to finally build me the boxes to cover the hideous a/c units (for upstairs and down), so that I don’t have to look at them if they’re not on.  :D

Then, of course, I’m going to finally have to paint. Going with the grey color, that’s hidden a bit behind the TV on the wall.

In knitting news, I’m kicking butt on my FLS. I’ve got about 11 inches of lace conquered, and as soon as I get a chance, it’s going on scrap yarn so I can try it on.  But it’s getting there!

Hey, ames – how long is your lace section on your cardi?

This is definitely coming with me to Charleston, I want to keep up my momentum. I’ll probably also tuck in a second sock, in case I need small knitting for the plane.

We’re evidently in the middle of a nor’easter, which means….more rain. Crazy winds too. It seems to be helping my garden, which is now starting to resemble a jungle.  I really need to weed, first dry day I get…which probably won’t be until I get back next week. Oh well.

Check out my basil! I have plans to cook with some of it soon. It smells wonderful. And some I’ll give to the buns, since I originally grew it for them, and I need to share. ;)

(ames)

OK, so here’s the deal. My camera died right after my trip to the Chicago Botanic Gardens. It won’t turn on, and it isn’t the battery, it’s just a seven-year-old digital camera and it’s gone to be with Elvis. I’ll get another one eventually, but in the meantime, I have no pictures.

Well, until last night, that is. Mom reminded me that her digital movie camera (that can’t be what they’re called) takes stills! And so I did that. The pictures are kind of grainy, which you should attribute to the lighting inside my apartment and not the camera itself, but look. I have things to show you.

Bayerische Sock The first one! Lorna’s Laces, I think the colorway is Sunshine (I will check when I get home), US1 needle and ta-da. I’ll probably cast on for the second one next week when I head home to Charleston for vacation. I have many hours of travelling that day, from the el to the plane to the other plane, which is lots of time to knit complicated twisted stitches and whatnot.

I’m gonna say that this sock is a lot easier than it seems. It took me a while to get the hang of it, and there’s an increase row right after the cuff ribbing that is BIZARRE, but if you want the pattern to flow out of the ribbing nicely, you’ll do it the way Eunny said to. Also, this is the second year in a row that I’ve knit on a yellow twisted stitch sock at Bitcherie Weekend in Ann Arbor. Either it’s a tradition or a coincidence. We will see what happens next year.

Here’s a closeup of the pattern:

Onward. This is a sock that is no more:

It’s lovely, and it’s going to be done, but I need to go down a needle size. But look at that – a toe-up sock. Honestly, why people do these and claim that they’re so much easier is beyond me. A figure-8 caston is just about the most fiddly annoying thing I have EVER had to do in my life, but I will not let it defeat me. Yarn: The Unique Sheep Sushi, in Garden Tomato, and it is gorgeous. Shimmery and beautiful. (dude. I need a new camera.)

There has been playing with the drop spindles!

There has been sock knitting and birthday yarn!

Lorna’s Laces Tuscany, in a simple 2×2 rib, offset by one stitch every six rows

Dream in Color Classy, in Happy Forest. One of four skeins given to me by Aya for my birthday next week, YAY. I’m thinking they’re going to be a pretty lacy cardigan. Summer’s End and I apologize for the Ravelry link, but the designer linked to it on Ravelry from her webpage. It’s awfully shortsighted of her not to have at least a page on her own website for it, since she has a website, but whatever. I don’t run the world. More’s the pity.

And that has been your knitting update from ames! \o/

(aya here)

Here’s the latest sock that I’m knitting on – a no-purl Monkey. The yarn is a combination of cotton, bamboo and nylon, and has a great stretch to it. I love the colors of the yarn too. I was afraid it would be too busy for the pattern, but I really think it works well.

The color’s a bit more accurate in this picture:

I’ve also  been knitting on the February Lady Sweater, but it’s just a sea of boring blue garter stitch right now, so I won’t bore you with a photo until I get further along on it.

I’ve been working around the house, getting things done, but I’ve gotten fairly lazy about it. I finally got my bedroom completed – the new blinds are installed and the artwork (if you can call it that) is all hung up on the walls. I’m really happy with how the room came out – especially now that the vertical blinds are up. Such a cleaner look than the old curtains that were there before.

Here are a couple of pics of the bedroom:

The brown chair is missing from this corner of the room – this picture was taken before I dragged it back into the room. See my lovely new blinds?

I’m trying to decide what to tackle next – there’s a list of things that I want to do, but I can’t decide which one to do first. Until I make a decision, I’m at a standstill.