Domestic Bliss
It's like you're unraveling a big cable-knit sweater that someone keeps knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting...
Couch potatoes.
I've had my couch for 10 years, and it's been a good one, but one of the springs in the center finally worked its way to the surface, emerged, and eviscerated the cushion. We've been shopping for a new one for a few weeks, and today we took the plunge and bought one. We figured we could go one of two ways with this: either we would buy a really good-quality couch and expect to live with it for years and years, or we would buy a cheap one, live with it until we're ready to move in 3 to 5 years, and dispose of it so we don't have to worry about moving it. Option #2 it was! Actually we found an awesome sale at one of the cheap places, so we were able to get the couch, the loveseat, and a chair in our price range. We ordered the large pieces in dark red microfiber, the chair in navy microfiber, and the accent pillows in a dark blue diamond print. They'll be arriving just before Christmas.I'm especially happy about the chair. I sat in every chair in every furniture store we visited, looking for one that would be good for knitting. Most of them are too wide and have the armrests too far apart; most of the rest have armrests that are too low. I did find a perfect knitting chair at another store, but it was $600, which is what we paid for the couch and the loveseat together. (I told you it was an awesome sale!) The chair we got is the same style as the couch; it's roomy without being too huge, and the armrests are just about right. (One inch higher and they would have been perfect, but these will do fine.) I'm already planning out the knitted throw pillow I will be making for it.
Loot!
I got a nice surprise in the mail the other day - a box of goodies from my secret pal! There's some yarn (but of course), a blank book, a necklace with a fused glass pendant (she made that herself), sour gummy bears, hand cream, three flavors of coffee, a tea sampler, two sleeping furry kitties, and handmade stitch markers and a row counter. (My secret pal is talented!) Thank you, pal, whoever you are! I love it all.
It's easier than it looks.
This is going to be a good week. I don't have to go back to work until next Monday, which means I have time to do some serious knitting (and perhaps a bit of housekeeping and shopping).
Yesterday was the entrelac class. It was great! The scarf pattern we used is simple, clear, and easy to follow; it didn't take long at all before the light bulb over my head went on and I understood what I was doing. This is what I did in class:
This was done with a size 8 needle (the pattern calls for a 9), but I didn't care for the gauge. If you hold this up, you can actually see through it in spots because the stitches are so big and loose. Also, it was a good 4" wider than the teacher's sample scarf. (The knitter sitting across the table looked at my work and said, "My, you are a loose woman, aren't you?" Hee.)
When I got home, I started the scarf over on a size 6 needle, and I'm much happier with the result:
(It's the same yarn, but this ball started in a different place in the colorway.) It looks really lumpy in the photo, but the lumpiness is minor and should be fixed with blocking.
A word of advice to those of you who, like me, hate picking up stitches: don't try entrelac. Having never done it before, I had no idea that after your base row you have to pick up stitches on every single block! I will say that I'm getting better at it, and by the time I'm done with the scarf I fully expect to be an expert.
ABCs.
I haven't really made enough knitting progress to post more photos, but I need an entry for this week. Thus, another meme for your reading pleasure.
A - Age: 37
B - Band listening to right now: none
C - Career future: bleak
D - Dad's name: Ellis
E - Easiest person to talk to: Syntax
F - Favorite song: changes with my mood. At the moment it's "The Masochism Tango."
G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: sour gummy fruit salad!
H - Hometown: none (we moved around too much)
I - Instruments: (I'm assuming this means musical instruments I play?) French horn, trumpet, keyboard, pennywhistle. I hope to add the autoharp to this list soon.
J - Job: audio technician
K - Kids: no, thanks
L - Longest car ride ever: San Francisco to Vancouver, BC
M - Mom's name: Rita
N - Number of people you've slept with: 3
P - Phobia[s]: bees
Q - Quote: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."-- Derek Bok
R - Reason to smile: I have next week off!
S - Song you sang last: "I'm an Amendment-To-Be"
T - Time you wake up: 5 a.m. on workdays; 7 or 8 a.m. when I'm off
U - Unknown fact about me: I secretly want to be a housewife, even though I hate cleaning the house.
V - Vegetable you hate: green peppers
W - Worst habit: procrastination
X - X-rays you've had: dozens - mostly of my lungs
Y - Yummy food: mashed potatoes
Z - Zodiac sign: Cancer
Pass the tissues.
This is what it sounds like in here right now:
type type COUGH type type type COUGH COUGH HACK type WHEEEEEEZE type type type COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH
Repeat ad nauseam.
I've been sick most of this week and I am really sick of being sick. Does anyone else remember The Sick of Being Sick Book by Jovial Bob Stine (who used to write funny kids' books before switching to the horror genre and becoming R.L. Stine)? I know I still have my copy around here somewhere.
Anyway, I've reached the point now where I'm still sick enough to need to drink fluids and take it easy, but not sick enough to stay in bed all day. So today has been spent making bread in our new machine, catching up on stuff recorded by TiVo, and, of course, working on the Christmas knitting.
I've finished one fingerless mitt:
I put it on my own hand for the picture, but it's way too big for me. It should fit the recipient nicely, though. Since the whole thing is ribbed, I had to do the thumb gusset kind of unconventionally so as not to disturb the pattern: I did double increases in the center of the thumb instead of on the sides. It did leave some small holes, but those were easily concealed by running stitches through the back side. I'm going to have to play around with this concept and see if I can come up with a better way to do this.
I've finished the olive watch cap except for blocking:
I love the decreases in this pattern - they make an X at the top instead of a swirl. Much more manly. Both this hat and the fingerless mitts are made from Merino Style, which is really yummy wool.
Also, I've knit about 100 rows on the Garter Lace Triangle Shawl:
This time I'm using a size 4 needle (when I made the last one I used a 6), and it's coming out quite dense. I should be able to open up the lace with blocking, but even so, this will be a very warm shawl. I'm using Andean Treasure in Wild Rose; I love knitting with this stuff because it's so soft, but I have encountered a problem - this stuff sheds like crazy! The black shirt I was wearing yesterday is covered in hair. Is there anything I can do to tame the shedding? Will washing help? Suggestions are greatly appreciated.
They forced me to buy Noro.
I got a call from the LYS the other day, telling me that they cancelled the entrelac class scheduled for this week. (I had wanted to take that class, but it was on a day I had to work.) They've rescheduled it for later in the month - again, on a day I'm supposed to work, but I want to take this class so much that I'm going to use a vacation day. The class itself isn't expensive, but they require you to buy 4 skeins of Noro from the shop to make the entrelac scarf. I liked the colors of the Kureyon, but the Silk Garden felt much better against my skin. Here's what I got:
Of course the flash made the colors appear much brighter than they actually are; this page has a much more accurate shot of the color (click on #37). The colorway is called "purples." I can't wait for the class!
