Timecheck December 29, 2007
Posted by La in Miscellaneous.2 comments
timestamp should read 12-29-07 11:20 pm
Fibercrack’d was created now.
Washburne December 26, 2007
Posted by La in Design, FO, Knitting.Tags: Cable, Scarf, Washburne
2 comments
Wonder where I’ve been? Betcha thought that a swarm of angry nekkid sheep, alpaca & goats hunted me down demanding their coats back. Or maybe you thought some wrongly convicted then released man-turned canabalistic barber hacked me into bits, put me in a wood chipper, and served me to the unsuspecting peoples of London? Oh, wait, that’s a whole other story…
Nope, still here! Well, as much as I can tell, and as much as I have ever been, which isn’t saying much. Can I say much, much? Well, having 1 entire vacation day left [insert sarcasm here], I took it on Friday, not only to have a 5-day weekend, but to join my Colorado brother Aaron and his family for much crowded fun in the sun at Disneyland.
Hey, I’ve got a question for you. Having observed several of their numbers, why on earth would an Emo kid go to the Happiest Place on Earth? Nevermind.
Anyhow…
On Friday we had a blast! Alex, aka The Nephew Following In His Autie’s Footsteps, aka UberGeek wanted to get into the Jedi Training Academy show so badly that he, upon the recommendation of said Geeky aunt, made a sign that was sure to stir the force…
I’ve Traveled 1,000 miles to defeat you [sic] Lord VadarIt did. . . And HE did…kicked Vadar’s spandex-clad ass!
The galaxy is safe once again!
And that makes me & lil’ brother Zane VERY happy!
Sunday we celebrated Christmas with my family. The Colorado Clan was leaving for home on Christmas day, so we celebrated a little early. Let me tell you, family portraits picture taking, lots of good food, much sangria, lotsa margaritas, loud, boisterous, animated conversation, grumpy men, excited children makes for a wonderful, but tiring day (hence the grumpy men part). But it’s moments like these, that makes it all worth while.
Auntie La and baby Levi
Oh! I almost forgot. Dad’s scarf! Did I get it done in time??
What do YOU think?
Oh, ye of little faith!
Stats:
Pattern: My own, not-quite-right-so-I’m-gonna-tweak-it-a-little-more-and-try-again attempt to recreate a cable I saw in a sweater I saw on T.V.
Yarn: 4+ balls Noro Cash Iroha [99 yards, 40g]
Needles: US size 6 [4.0 mm]
Started: December 7, 2007
Finished: December 22, 2007
Mods/Notes: As you can tell by my pattern name, it’s not quite right. The outer curves of the cable aren’t roundy enough. and it’s a little on the wide side.
I think I’ll take the yarn down to a worsted or DK-weight, and see if I can’t lose a few stitches along the way as well.
Oh! And the yarn. Let’s talk about that for a few, shall we? It was part of a wonderful (and extremely generous) gift from Karen, and it pains me to talk shit about something someone so thoughtfully gave me, but she now feels the same way, so I’m not gonna hurt any feelings by airing mine. But there’s just no delicate way to put this…I HATE this yarn. At first it lures you into thinking it’s amazing, with it’s glorious fiber content of silk, lambswool and cashmere. It’s so soft to the touch, and so squooshie too! You just want to rub your cheek on it all day. Take my advice, and leave it at that. You’ll be much happier than trying to knit with it. And actually, I didn’t even mind the thick-and-thinness of it either. No. What I took issue with was it’s unspunness (uh-huh. that is SO a word) and it’s proclivity towards breakage…not to mention the various twigs and sticks (but that’s to be expected, it’s what Noro’s famous for, isn’t it?). If I didn’t know any better I’d say that Karen had played a well-executed joke on me, but it bamboozled her too, going all pilly and felty on her!
In its favor, I do have to say it sure does make for one soft and warm and sproingy scarf, perfect for an 81-year-old-man’s sensitive skin. But still. That’s not enough to redeem the yarn. Nope, this is just further confirmation of why I have yet to spend one red cent on any Noro yarn, and justification to continue that non-buying habit, and rightly so! Yet one more thing I’m an anti-fan of, ranking right up there with FOX and NBC executives, The New Bionic Woman and memes.
Lovely
My Dizzy Blonde December 17, 2007
Posted by La in Pets.add a comment
Yesterday marked the first anniversary of very important addition to the family, because a year ago yesterday I brought home a dizzy little blonde bit of fluff and named her Trixie.
And she made herself right at home…starting with my heart, then proceeding to other comfy soft & squishy places…
Funny thing, I’ve always considered myself a cat person, never once thinking that a loud, drooling, smelly dumbass dog could be as fulfilling. Leave it to Trixie to prove me wrong. Life has been interesting with her around, that’s for certain, but it’s been filled with love and fun too.
Besides she’s not quite the typical “dog”, at times choosing not only to be distubingly cat-like, but comfortingly Momoze-like. Case in point:
1) Momoze LOVED shredding toilet paper; not only does Trixie love shredding toilet paper, but she relishes in distributing as many minute pieces throughout the entire house as caninely possible (which is even moreso than humanly possible).
2) Momoze hoarded the litterbox; Trixie hoards hedgies and displays her collection creatively, usually either at the entrance to her crate like baracade of posession or at the exact point of contact where my feet hit the floor first thing in the morning, to optimize maximum squeakage, of course.
3) Momoze licked drywall and tile backing board; Trixie licks carpet.
4) Momoze – knitting overseer yarn guard; Trixie – knitting sitter-onner yarn thief
5) Momoze – heart-warmer; Trixie – foot-warmer
6) Momoze – mellow-sharer; Trixie – over-sharer…
Which, actually, is more Sassy-like than Momoze-like.
In any case, I’m so happy I insisted Trixie came home with me! She has brought so much to my life, and is a wonderful companion. It was the best Christmas present I ever got myself. Now, what to get THIS year to top that. hmmmmmm
December 7 December 7, 2007
Posted by La in Accessories, Design.Tags: Pearl Harbor Day, Scarf, Washburne
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December 7, 1941: A Date Which Will Live In Infamy
Remember and Honor
~~~~~~~~~~
Yes. Ok. I admit it. I caved to my mom’s request for a hand-knit scarf for my dad. My dad has rarely asked me for anything, and has given me everything within his power/budget/ethics he could. Really, does this man deserve anything less? So, now it’s crunch-time. Because we’re actually celebrating on December, 23rd, I have a little over a week in which to knit it, block it, dry it and wrpa it. At least I’m done with the charting, which seems to be the hardest part. Well for me at least.
Unfortunately, my original yarn of choice left much to be desired. I wanted to hand-dye the yarn (to make it extra-special) and had some worsted weight in my stash reserved just for such an occassion.
Unfortunately, come to find out after the fact, there’s a lot of vegetable matter in it, which I’m sure you all can see. And I don’t mean the occasional a piece of barnyard flarn attached that’s easy to pick out. No. I’m talking as-if-it-were-spun-in-and-thoroughly-embedded-in-every-inch-of-it hay and grass and TWIGS, twigs for kreist sake! Yeah, not so comfortable on a tender 81 year old neck. Nope, this stuff is going back into the stash either awaiting that perfect rugged out-doorsy rug/doormat/saddle blanket knit (of which I have SO MUCH need /sarcasm), or when I get tired of it taking up so much room, find a magical way of removing it from my stash. Maybe I’ll use it for some Lilypads. Dunno. All I know is that it’s not going to be knit into nice cables to be wrapped around my dad’s neck.
I had almost resigned myself to hitting Stitches In Time on the way home tonight (yarn shopping, oh. darn) when I decided to do a little stash-diving. And lookie what I found!
That there is close to 500 yards of soft silky, wooly & cashmere-y heaven, in a similar shade of blue! Kismet! I plan on knitting this most of the weekend. The pattern is relatively engaging, well, as far as I can tell with my test-knit-on-shit-yarn trial. So it should be doubly enjoyable with yarn I actually like. We’ll see. I’m just thrilled that I’m able to kill 3 birds with 1 stone: a) Make something special for my dad for Christmas; b) Reduce my stash a little, thus making room for new stash enhancements; and c) Suss out a cable pattern I’ve been obsessed with since the first time I ever saw it, a couple months ago, on a borrowed DVD.
