Knit-ometry

A little lesson in "knit-ometry":

I can knit about one row in 12 minutes, the same amount of time that it takes me to read about 8 pages in a really engrossing novel. I can read about 200 pages in about 25 rows. I can watch an hour long episode of 24 in about five and a half rows. I can knit a row from the house to the mall, I can knit two to down town. About three rows will be knitted whilst J browses a fly shop. Each row is 1/10th of inch in height, 117 stitches is about 19.5 inches in length.



And this?



This is a lesson in toddler-ology:

This is the amount of trouble a 2 year old can make in about 1/2 a row, 58.5 stitches, 9 3/4 inches, 6 minutes, 4 pages, half way to the mall...

The Week of Our Discontent

I added, subtracted, multiplied and divided. I cursed, I spat, I cried and scared the children. I tirelessly calculated and adjusted, inferred and assumed. I prayed and pleaded. I swatched, I frogged, I spent an entire week with paper, calculators, breaking pencil leads, biting nails off, (mine and others), I muttered things to Mr. that he didn't find very respectful, I survived on coffee and buttered toast. I lived and breathed Cotton Fleece, Blue Paradise on size 3.25 (?)straight needles. There was fitful sleep, fitful wake, I was a shell of myself. Finally, after a week of this insanity, I found the supposed formula. I went to the knitting shop, desperate to get the only needles that fit my calculations. In a desperate moment, I spilt all my woes to the clerk of Needleworks By Holly Berry House. She gave me a sad look and said "I never worry about gauge for a baby sweater, you should just do it on size four needles, so it will be bigger. You'll probably want her to wear it for a while, and don't forget, you'll probably be layering it over other clothes. Always go bigger." The clouds parted, the sun shined, I fairly hugged her. I didn't even flinch when she pulled out the Turbo Knits, so happy was I that she had saved me from myself. I slapped down the card. I bought the Cadillac of all needles, went home and cast on all 117 stitches, confident that I would make the best baby sweater in the world. One inch down, eleventy-million to go. I don't know that it was wise to start a birthday sweater two weeks before the said birthday occurs, but I'm going to give it my best. If I knit about 100 rows a day I should get it done...
I am also shamefully dreaming up another birthday project. Perhaps I can get Mr or the children to take up knitting...

In other happy news, I learned that I can play audio tapes on the portable DVD player, so when I am knitting till my fingers bleed, I won't have to turn pages of my current novel. Right now, I have devised a genius plan of using two super strong magnets to hold several pages together so that they don't flip while I am reading and knitting. I am thrilled to check out other books on tape (or CD as it were) and listen so that I don't loose my place when I split a stitch.

The sun is out, it is beautiful, I am going walking!! In my new tennis shoes. That are so comfy they rivaled my crocs...and won.

Another Grey Weekend

Finally, a use for all that acrylic worsted weight yarn that I have stashed all over the place. A ball for my friend's cats. It ain't pretty, but it sure is easy and it knits up in about twenty minutes, no kidding. I'm planning on running to Pet Smart and grabbing some catnip to put inside. Since I don't have cats, (our own allergic child) I always thought that the effects of cat-nip were a wives tale, but according to real cat owners, they love it. Sounds like a good idea to me. I went to Border's yesterday and found a huge book called Now You're Knitting, on the bargain book rack. It was mostly stuff that I already know, and patterns that I won't ever knit, but it did have a stitch dictionary, and some cute patterns, (including the ball) and when I got home and started thumbing through it, I found that it has a gauge guide and needle guide. I almost bought one of those last year from Herrshener's, but didn't want to pay the shipping. So, with the cat ball and the gauge guide, it has pretty much paid for itself. (all $9.00)

Since no one voted on the sweater dilemma, I am going to go unguided and knit it in the yarn and adjust for gauge. It may be a bit of an adventure, and it probably isn't wise, but I am sure that it will be worth it in the end. Even if it doesn't work, I will learn something.

Check this out:

Our Amaryllis bloomed last night. It is so beautiful and brings some spring to the house. We have lived in Colorado for six weeks now, and it has snowed every weekend. I am getting cabin fever, I just want to be outside in the sun. I realize that there has been a terrible drought for the last seven years (since I first moved to New Mexico in fact) and all this snow is really going to be good for the summer and for fires and alleviating the drought, so I will just request one sunny weekend. Then bring on the flurries!

As Promised....

Here is the recap of the blog that never was:

So sorry about the terrible picture, but I couldn't seem to get a good focus on it. Believe it or not, this is the best picture that I took. This is the birthday sweater that I am planning to knit, though my gauge is off (big surprise there) and I am going to have to adjust the entire pattern to make it work. The other bad news? Well, the intended pattern is written for a baby 6-9 months only. Our Mimi is small, but that small? Do I really want to spend hours and hours knitting a sweater that may or may not last a month? I. Love. This. Sweater. Love it, I tell you. I could do one of two things here...I could knit it at the gauge that the pattern calls for, adjusting and fixing things, or I could try my luck knitting it on the gauge that I am getting and see how big it turns out. Cast your votes, because I don't know which way to turn. The logical answer would be to knit it properly, but when have I ever done anything properly, or logically for that matter? Or maybe choose a pattern that would be sure to fit. All this indecision is giving me a head ache.



I finished up some "warshrags" from Mason-Dixon Knitting for our awesome new neighbors as a welcome to the neighborhood, glad we're neighbors gift. The round one knit as written is so wrong it should be a crime. Wrong, wrong wrong for all kinds of reasons... see for yourself:


It is so ugly that they may think that we are somehow offended by their moving in next door. I was a little hesitant to give it to such nice people, but I figured that they would most likely clean the toilet with it (which as ugly as it is, it sort of deserves it) and I could have frogged the whole thing right then and there, but in a way, it sort of shows my vulnerability and lack of judgement. This may come in handy when I need them. They'll say "Well, she really is a pain, but remember that warshrag she gave us? How can we refuse such a helpless lass?" But it does look like it should be draped over some crazy cat lady's couch huh?




This one is my own creation from the log-cabin technique, and it is as inoffensive as it was easy.



Finally, this one is just easy and makes me look like I really spent some time on it. The only reason it took me so long is that I was doing about a row a day for a while.

*All warshrags were done in Sugar and Cream worsted cotton. About a dollar a skein, cheap and functional...how can you go wrong? Well, you saw how I went wrong, but pretend that you didn't.

Pilates is the devil, and I am dieing of it. If it weren't for my neighbor going with me, I might give up. I look as ridiculous as I feel flopping around on the mat while trying to do things like downward facing dog plank and the mermaid, but something must be working, because I hurt like crazy. It is good, my muscles need some attention and the stretching feels so good that it makes it all worth it. So far, my best pose is child's pose, where you curl into a fetal position, and bury your face into the mat...wonder why I am so good at that...warm happy place, warm happy place...

What the Spank!

Errrrrr. I spent a good amount of quality time writing a post and hit publish and...and nothing. That's what! I might just be irritated enough to not update today...But that I have been working so hard on stuff and wanted to tell you all about it. I uploaded pictures, I told of missing cameras and ugly warshrags, sore muscles and screwed up gauge swatches. This is very nasty business, this missing blog stuff. In my confusion and disgust, I logged off the entire Internet and read my new library book, spent time cursing and ranting, logged back on and it really gone. Really really. I hesitate to work too hard lest the whole ugly scene be repeated again. If this works, look for more this evening or more probably, tomorrow, otherwise, look for headlines about woman running screaming through the neighborhood with a severly injured hard drive being dragged behind her...

Feel the Burn...

Thank you for your kind reception to my newest endeavor. I am touched that you all care, and are interested. I will continue to send out my news letters, and no one will be asked to knit anything, but if you are so inspired, all the better!

Guess what I did? I went forth and got myself a library card. There is a pretty snappy system here where I can go online and reserve any book from any library in the city and they will deliver it to my local neighborhood library in no time flat. So Saturday night found me all over the knitting section looking through books, killing a little time and getting some personal space.

I picked up the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules and laughed till I cried over her first sweater story. I read her blog daily and she is so funny, but I opted for Pressure Cookers for Dummies and Mason-Dixon Knitting last year for my birthday Amazon gift certificate. I assumed that her books would just be an extension of her blog, so I went with something with colorful pictures and a very handy Dummies book. So anyway, she is really funny and I now know that I will be adding her book to my collection. She has several out, but that is the one that I really want. I picked out a pattern from one of the books that I checked out, I know, I know, I said that I would be knitting felted clogs for my grandmother, but my Mr. put the smack down on a trip to the yarn store...Sooo, I was thinking of working on a little sweater for Miss Mimi's big 01. I do have a goodly amount of Lamb's Pride left over from a phenomenal thrift store purchase last year. Fifteen skeins for fifteen bucks! It was as if the knitting gods smiled happily on me and I snatched it up, before the luck was reversed. Seeing how I am using a different yarn than called for, I will be forced to check gauge and that will be a test if my character and a test of how well I follow my own rules...

Speaking of thrifty buys, has anyone checked out Craigslist.com? It is a local trade, barter and thrift shop online. It is awesome because you can buy locally and not have to pay shipping like on E-bay, because you pick up your purchases. Check it out.


In other news, I started doing a little working out to to try to get into shape, and starting tomorrow, I am going to be doing Pilates twice a week with my new neighbor. I am pretty excited, but a little nervous as I can only do about fifteen minutes of my tape, and I am supposed to do an hour for the class. Starting little right? I may not be able to move tomorrow afternoon, but I am looking forward to feeling like I am doing something for myself. It should be a nice way to start my day, if it doesn't kill me!

So, I can't upload any pictures, but tomorrow, if all the bugs are worked out, I can show off the pictures of the sweater I am going to start this week. Stay tuned!

A whole lotta bloggin' goin' on

It occurs to me that at some point, someone may actually happen upon this and even read some of it. I may even want people to read it, people I like and respect and love. What will be the purpose of my blog? What do I hope to accomplish with it? Why blog?

Well, the obvious answer is world peace, of course. But on a more immediate level, I really enjoy reading other people's blogs. It is sortta like driving through a neighborhood at night and being able to see into a living room or kitchen (never a bathroom). It is a glimpse into another town and another life that I might never have encountered otherwise. That is pretty neat. Maybe someone that I don't know will read my blog and even enjoy it and we can all be united in bloggy paradise...blog-topia?? Maybe when we are all brains in jars in the distant future and blogging is the only common link of humanity, I will already have friends!

I primarily read knitting blogs which I find endlessly inspiring, and which brings me to my second hope. Perhaps if someone else is keeping track, I will be a more...uh, responsible knitter. Maybe people will wonder why a woman who has been knitting for nearly seven years and who reads about knitting daily and who fondles yarn as lovingly as if it were the hair on the heads of her own precious children and who visits yarn shops and dreams in sport-weight and who owns all the effects of a very accomplished knitter, knits nothing. Well, at least nothing worthy of posting in a knitting blog. Oh yes, there have been a few socks here and there, there was a felted purse, some scarves and hats and a baby blanket. But nothing that would end up in another person's keepsake box, or even in a drawer. I knit so little for someone who thinks about it so often. That is about to change. I hereby decree: Now that we are in a town where there is actually a knitting shop and there are endless possibilities, I will knit something more challenging and more useful and more beautiful. First on the needles? A pair of felted clogs for my grandmother. One of my main problems with knitting is gauge. Somehow I just don't get it...or could it be that I am too lazy to try it? I may be. I have a sock which is a story for another day...So my other knitting decree: Thou shalt learn the art of gauge and use it when thou knittest.

Lastly, my intention for blogging is enjoying my day to day life more and sharing it with my friends and family. In the past, I have written a tri-monthly letter that I have tried to cram in every blessing and accomplishment into with out sounding hopelessly nauseatingly optimistic and peachy. It is hard to share the good times and leave out the daily stuff and not sound like a liar. Yes, we have problems and we have hard times and rocky days and days where everything is almost perfect. I don't have the time or the room to document it all in a single quarterly letter, so I come off sounding like some kind of poster-child for antidepressants or something. Guess what? This blog is intended to be the in-bewtweens of my days. A documentation of the daily adventures in yarn, motherhood and housekeeping. Beware, things might get ugly.

I guess I have to admit that I like to read my own blatherings as much as I love talking, so now I have a notebook that I can always find and I can share with others...

Midnight Madness

Ok, so I am going to try this blog thingy out. Who would have thought that a witty and remarkably interesting gal like myself would have the time to journal? Not me, but then I decided that since it was past 12 and I couldn't sleep, I would make my mark in the cyber-world and start my own blog. It should be interesting. I mean, I've been lurking around reading other people's blogs for a while and it looks fun and easy. Here goes...