Category Archives: Knitting

Festing, Knitting, Reading

There’s a rumor of sunshine in the forecast…

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Vacation Summary So Far
Friday – Biked, went to the library, picked up new glasses, read, knitted.

Saturday – Moaned about the rain, read, knitted, met Jodi of A Caffeinated Yarn at Common Roots for coffee, conversation, and knitting while she was in the area.

Sunday – Moaned about the rain, read, knitted, ripped, re-knitted, bothered the cats, randomly selected contest winner. Congrats to Lisa! Your copy of Night Shift will be on its way as soon as I make it to the post office.

Reading Update
Gale Force (Weather Warden, Book 7) by Rachel Caine. This is a series I continue to enjoy, but boo hiss to the cliffhanger endings! (If you read either Caine’s Weather Warden or Morganville Vampire series, check out the free online short stories on her website.)
Birthright and Two of a Kind (Impulse / The Best Mistake) by Nora Roberts. It’s starting to scare me how much she’s written…
Acheron (Dark-Hunter, Book 12) by Sherrilyn Kenyon. This book was hefty – over 700 pages worth of heft. The first half, about Ash’s human life, is not easy reading. The second half seemed really choppy and not very well-written – not sure if I was just reading too fast, or if I had expectations for this book that it couldn’t quite meet.
Witch in the House by Jenna McKnight. Another light’n’fluffy paranormal romance, featuring a witch and a Pierce Brosnan lookalike PI.

“Sheesh, Mom, can’t a guy sprawl in his own living room without ending up on the internets?” -Chaos

“I didn’t do it! You can’t prove it! Oh, wait, what?” -Mayhem

Contests, Knitting, Randonymity, Reading

If I offer you a nectarine, you might want to wash it again…

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Yesterday was another crazed day at work, but I am now officially on vacation until the 23rd! Although there’s a good chance that I’ll get called at least once due to some work crisis, I’m going to put even the possibility of that out of my mind. Besides, I’ll probably head up to the cabin next weekend, and there’s no phone service (not even cell) at the cabin. Unless I drive down to mile marker 193. Which I won’t. 😉

Disturbing discovery of the week: Walking into the kitchen and discovering Chaos on the counter, licking the nectarines that were ripening. Ewwwwww!

After its nearly yearlong nap, I’ve pulled out my KP&S Neckdown Shaped Cardigan #241. (Probably only Marina remembers that I was knitting a sweater.) I tucked it away when I got really sick of knitting stockinette back and forth. The funny part? I only had an inch or two of said stockinette left, plus an inch or two of seed stitch for the bottom edge. Now I’m ready to pick up and knit the sleeves (in the round! Yay!) and do the seed stitch neck edging.

Don’t forget about my wee contest! If you enjoy urban fantasy/paranormal romance and haven’t read Night Shift, the first Jill Kismet book by Lilith Saintcrow, send an email to my contest line by Sunday, September 14, 9 pm CDT. A winner will be randomly selected from among the entrants. Be warned that, while this is an extremely well-written series, it is also graphically violent at times.

Reading Update
Paths Not Taken (Nightside, Book 5) by Simon R. Green. Obviously inspired by the Dresden Files, but a bit darker and more British.
Sacred Sins; Love By Design (Loving Jack & Best Laid Plans); Taming Natasha & Luring a Lady (Stanislaski Books ! & 2); Falling for Rachel / Convincing Alex (Stanislaski Books 3 & 4); Waiting for Nick / Considering Kate (Stanislaski Books 5 &6) by Nora Roberts. She hasn’t written quite an infinite number of books, Kat, but close!
Underground (Greywalker, Book 3) by Kat Richardson. This continues to be an extremely well-written and intense urban fantasy series. Highly recommended.
If Wishing Made It So by Lucy Finn. Very light’n’fluffy paranormal romance. Perfect beach reading… although I guess beach season is mostly done for the year.
The Night Serpent by Anna Leonard. Ignore the cover, as its relevance to the story is extremely low! There’s a bit of violence against kitties that I found traumatizing (albeit less so knowing the author is a kitty owner and found writing it a challenge), but this was a compelling paranormal romance with an unusual premise.
Hunter’s Prayer (Jill Kismet, Book 2) by Lilith Saintcrow. This continues to be an excellent urban fantasy series – but be warned that it is very, very violent.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

“Mmmm… sleeping in… what a nice change…” -Mayhem

Knitting

Noroesque socks finished!

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On Saturday, I finished the Noroesque socks from the yarn I’d dyed using the KnitPicks sock blanks. They are taller than my sock blockers! I did have more of the gold left, but if I’d continued knitting, I would’ve had to fuss with calf increases. I was feeling lazy. 🙂

“Ha! These socks must not be stripey enough for Mayhem to deign to notice them, so they’re all mine!” -Chaos

“Wait, where did she come from?!” -Chaos

“Mmmm… vaguely stripey socks…” -Mayhem

Knitting, Reading

In which I report on a lot of reading and a very little bit of knitting

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People frequently comment on how quickly I read. Part of that is just me – I’ve always been a voracious and relatively quick reader since my mom used some flashcard program to teach me to read when I was three. (I had library priviliges in kindergarten and was sent to the library while the class was learning to read because I was disruptively bored.)

Another part of it is a class I took in community college to fulfill a requirement. That class, Efficient Reading, used the technology of the time (1986) to improve our reading speed, comprehension, and retention. (Efficient Reading and Typing were the two most useful classes I took in community college. I’m so happy to be free of my two index finger typing.) The final part of the speedy reading was grad school – after slogging through textbooks and academic treatises, reading popular literature and nonfiction can’t help but be faster.

If you’re interested in improving your reading speed and retention, you might try a program such as the free SpeedRead (Windows only).

Reading Update
Stars: Hidden Star & Captive Star (Book 1 & 2 of the Stars of Mithra Trilogy); Treasures: Secret Star (Book 3 of the Stars of Mithra Trilogy) & Treasures Lost, Treasures Found; and River’s End by Nora Roberts. Truly, the woman has written a seemingly infinite number of books.
The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman. Audio. I love Alice Hoffman’s style of magical realism and listening to this book made the trip to and from the cabin fly by.
Cry Wolf: An Alpha and Omega Novel by Patricia Briggs. First off, don’t even bother reading this book unless you’ve first read the short story in On the Prowl, because that short story is really the first chapter or two of this book. It was a decent read – there is some character overlap between this and Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series.
Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4) by Stephenie Meyer. I was equally annoyed with Bella and Edward during the early parts of the book, but the last third of the book redeemed it all for me.
Storm Born (Dark Swan, Book 1) by Richelle Mead. This is an extremely compelling, well-written, and racy paranormal romance. Highly recommended, although I must admit that I’m a little afraid of how the series will develop, as the heroine seemed a combination of Meredith Gentry and Anita Blake. But, hey, CarrieK, there aren’t any vampires! 😉
Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum) by Janet Evanovich. These are always fun, but they also feel sort of stuck in a holding pattern…

Knitting Update
Back in May,  I won some lovely Wollmeise from Cathy-Cate; I started knitting a pair of Tidepool socks from it at the beginning of August.

“Gee, Mom, you sure haven’t made much progress on those socks in nearly a month, have you?” -Mayhem

Um, no. I started the sock on my usual KnitPicks 0s and realized the yarn was thinner than your average fingering weight. A-ha! A chance to try my Addi Lace 00s!

Ouch. Within a few days, I had poked painful holes in the tips of both my index fingers with the brutally sharp points of those needles. And then I started the Noroesque socks, which have occupied my somewhat limited knitting attention since (I’ve started the second sock!). I know I’ll get back to them, because I love how they’re turning out.

“Sure you will, Mom. I’ve heard that before.” -Mayhem

Contests, Knitting

Friday, Friday

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Susan’s giving away a copy of Casual Elegant Knits – if you’d like to win, leave a comment with a question for the authors. Plus, Susan’s birthday was yesterday, so you should wish her a happy birthday if you stop by!

If you like to read fantasy or urban fantasy, check out these cool book giveaways.

Head on over and vote in the 2008 Knitter’s Hunk contest!

Can anyone recommend a good ftp program that works in XP SP3? I had been using SmartFTP, but suddenly they want $40 for it. I’d pay $10 or so, but not $40. I’m using FireFTP, but it doesn’t remember the last connected directory when you reconnect. I tried FileZilla, but can’t remember why I uninstalled it – probably because, like CoreFTP Lite, it doesn’t have a nice right click to copy the file path. I just tried WinSCP and I think it will work! Thanks for the recommendations!

“Where is dangly thing??!!! Dangly thing! Dangly thing!” -Chaos

“Get a grip, big kitty! It’s at the other end of the bag, on the zipper. Have you no shame?” -Mayhem

Since I know there are those amongst you who actually like to see unobstructed pictures of the knitting… 😉 I mostly like how my graduated dyeing experiment is coming out. However, if I do this again, I won’t make the color sections so long (i.e., I’ll have more colors) and I’ll increase the overlapping/graduated sections. While I only have four colors, Jeanne has six colors, so it could be perfect! (No pressure, Jeanne…)

Knitting

The second Xmas present is done!

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It might be amusing to keep my camera handy for the facial expression when these are opened, eh? 😉 I finished the Fiery Charades (aka the Clown Vomit Socks) on Sunday. Again, these were knit from Socks That Rock colorway Fire on the Mountain (lightweight), using the pattern Charade at 64 stitches on 2mm needles. Each sock was knit from the opposite end of the ball, which had less effect than one would expect.

And the other side:

“Hey, socks on the floor! They aren’t stripey, but I’ll take what I can get. Besides, they do have some pink in them. I like pink.” -Mayhem

“Wait, did you hear something?!” -Mayhem

“Oh no, I hope it isn’t socknappers!” -Mayhem

Knitting, Those Cats

Presenting… the Clown Vomit Socks

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Does this remind you of anyone?! How about this?

I know, I know, you’ve all been waiting patiently. The yarn is Socks That Rock colorway Fire on the Mountain, which is absolutely stunning in the skein. I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t take a picture of the yarn before I wound it into a ball. The pattern is Charade. I tried something else first, but can’t remember what it was. I’m knitting each sock from the opposite end of the ball.

“Mmmm… More Socks That Rock yarn! I really loved that tasty Lagoon yarn.” -Mayhem

“Nom nom nom nom.” -Mayhem

As you can see, I was under siege whilst trying to take these pictures, so please excuse this blurry picture of the first heel – the only place that I really like what the colors are doing. That heel redeemed these socks for me. Now I’m trying not to flinch at the unholy mixing of mango and olive that happened across the gusset of this sock and across the sole of the other.

Knitting

Tidepool Lagoon (aka In which I complete the first Xmas present for 2008)

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I finished a pair of socks! I knitted these from the STR Lagoon I won in Kerry’s bird naming contest, using the Tidepool Socks stitch pattern. And yes indeed – these will be a Christmas present. 🙂

“These socks sounded very watery.” -Mayhem

“But I’m disappointed to report that I found no water here.” -Mayhem

“I do so like water, big kitty! Just not so much when I fall in the shower every few days.” -Mayhem

Knitting

A break in the scenery

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Island Yarn Company is having a charity auction on ebay for Doctors Without Borders and and Kiva – you can purchase a handknit or crocheted blanket, sweater, tote, or scarf and support these organizations at the same time. All auctions close the evening of July 17.

Have I mentioned how proud I am of my dear friend Rebecca?! While her bellamoden sock yarn sells out lickity split at the Loopy Ewe, she does have some available at her etsy store right now.

I have been knitting – just very, very slowly.

“Could it be?!” -Mayhem

“Oh, I think it is!” -Mayhem

“Mmmm… stripey socks!” -Mayhem

“Although they are the perfect place for a bath…” -Mayhem

“I think I’ll just lie here and love on these wonderful stripey socks.” -Mayhem

*uncontrollable purring* -Mayhem

What? Don’t feel as if you actually got to see my finished socks? 😉 I knit them from Regia Banner Color #5451, using the stitch pattern from Charade and achieving near perfect matchy matchy. (You know how I am about the matchy matchy.)