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! Always in green-ish, aya types in black, oh the fun of the shared blog)

It is Sunday of a fun fabulous looooooooong weekend of ames and aya being in the same place at the same time. HOMG.  I flew in Wednesday afternoon and we had dinner at aya’s parents’ house (mmmyum roast beef) and picked up the car that her mom was graciously lending me for my adventures on Thursday.  Then it was home to aya’s, where we did nothing.  Possibly there was a little bit of knitting.  Possibly not.  We were tired.

Thursday!  Poor poor aya had to work, and was very sad about it.  Oh, the pitiful text messages I got!  I slept in a bit, then hopped in the car to drive into the city and meet my friend Jo for lunch.  Jo and I haven’t seen each other in six years, and it was like not even five minutes had passed.  <3 <3 <3 She looks exactly the same, and we laughed and gossiped and giggled for almost two hours.  Also – the lobster bacon macaroni and cheese at Laurel is possibly one of the most amazing dishes I’ve ever eaten.  Aya came home, we played with her cute little bunnies, and started many tv watchings, beginning with The Plan, which is the Battlestar Galactica miniseries where everything is told from the Cylons’ point of view. Very good, but holy cow does Edward James Olmos like to throw in totally gratuitous (and fake) t & a. ANYWAY. Moving on.

Friday was yaaaaaarn daaaaaaay. We bought these!

Sheep Shop Yarn Company, Sheepfeet DK Merino, very pretty, and on SALE. We both have this, and need to pick a sock pattern. We’ll be all matchy-matchy.

Trekking XXL, my favorite sock yarn for gifting socks. I love it, I can’t wait to use it, and it will be fabulous.

Artyarn Handpainted Merino, Colorway 110 (wtf with the numbers, how hard it is to say pink, for pete’s sake). These are aya’s, and they’re so pretty. Artyarns does good work, man. Pretty pretty.

And there has been knitting! I started a new pair of socks on the bus to the airport Wednesday, and I’ll be finishing them today. No pictures yet, but it’s this sock . Mine is an odd but pretty slate grayish blue. Very nice, and I’ve almost finished the first one. Woo-hoo, I will finish it tonight. I’m loving this pattern, and raved about it so much that aya decided she needed to knit it as well. HA. Anyway, it’s the Mock Wave Cable from Interweave Press’s 25 Favorite Socks book. (I am chipping away at my goal of knitting every pattern in the book.)

We went to see The Book of Eli yesterday, which aya really enjoyed and I didn’t totally hate, and capped off the evening with three hours of Sanctuary, my current favorite tv show. (Last week’s episode, and then the two-hour finale of awesome from Friday night.)

Today? We stay in. Most likely. Who knows. We’re low on milk for lattes, and aya has a fancy new espresso machine, so we may be crawling out of the house at some point. I go back home tomorrow, sadness. I miss my kitties, though. Rabbits are cute pets, but they don’t snuggle.

aya says “type, minion!”

(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.