Dogs Steal Yarn

Oh my sweet Louet...

Thanks for the congratulations and good wishes, everyone! It feels great to have such a wonderful community to share good news with.

I did something today that I hadn't done since July: I sat down and spun some yarn on my beloved Louet. The spinning wheel had gone into storage last summer when I put my apartment on the market. It was moved in a couple weeks ago along with the big red couch and the colander, but I hadn't managed to find any time to actually sit down with it. It was giving me these really pitiful looks every time I walked past it. It looked especially hurt when it would see me sneak in some knitting time with storebought yarn. It was pathetic, really. So on a work break this afternoon I set up my dear Louet, pulled out the bag of lovely merino that Billy surprised me with last year, and sat down.

I'd forgotten how much I love to spin, how relaxing it is. This merino is fantastic. Really soft and practically spins itself. I'm spinning up skinny singles of it to ply together. I'm not sure yet if I'll dye it or leave it natural. I'm not one to wear white, but this wool is such a perfect creamy color it almost seems a shame to cover it up. We'll see how the mood strikes me once there's enough done to ply. I have three pounds of the stuff total.

Okay, back to work with me. On deadline, as usual. Billy and I had a conversation last night that we've had at least ten times before. He wants me to take less editing work so I'll have more time for writing, knitting, sleeping, breathing. I want that too, but having been so fiercely financially independent for so long, it's a scary thought to consider actually working less and letting him pick up a bit of my slack. I'm lucky that he considers my novel not only as real work, but as the most important work I do, which it is... It's just hard to decide to intentionally earn less, especially with all the house expenses right now. I guess I could start to take less work now, and if it's just too scary or money gets too tight I could take on more work again. Sigh. I don't know. I can't believe I'm even discussing this here. Blogging's a funny thing. You know, when I started this blog I was determined to talk only about knitting and spinning and nothing personal. Right.

Guess what came in this box...

Billy proposed to me last night. I knew it was coming, but I didn't know when. He did good, that boy of mine. I had no idea that when he suggested a month and a half ago that we buy a loveseat, it was all part of his proposal plot. The loveseat was delivered yesterday, and he made me promise that I wouldn't sit in it until we could both sit in it together. I went out after class last night (I never go out, so it was pretty ironic that this night of all nights I was out galavanting) and when I came home around midnight, the living room was clean, the boxes shoved out of the way, and the new loveseat all set up and ready for sitting. We snuggled into the loveseat and that's when he proposed. So the first time we sat together in it, he proposed. Nice, hmmm? I think he came up with it by himself too. Now we'll always have that story attached to the loveseat.

Okay. Girl moment. Here's the ring:

You think it would be in bad taste to register at Threadbear? Heh heh. Just kidding! Really. Kidding.

I never could resist a rogue

I had precious little knitting time this weekend. Enough maybe to finish the back piece of the Kyoto sash and start the trim, the two pieces left before seaming. Did I do that? Nooooo. I cast on for a Rogue sleeve. I couldn't help myself. I only had time to knit the facing (I opted for the k1p1 rib) and twenty or so rows of the actual sleeve. Enough to get a taste of it and know I'm going to have a lot of fun with this project.

For whatever reason, this yarn refuses to take a decent photo. Trust me that the color looks good and the cabling shows up nicely in person. Here's a not so great shot of my progress so far.

I'm still swamped with work work and school work. Just finished Vol. II (Within a Budding Grove) of In Search of Lost Time this evening. Tomorrow I jump into Vol. III. Still loving Proust. When the editing work eases up a bit (in another week or so) I'll hopefully finally finish up Kyoto and get some good work in on Rogue. That's the plan, anyway...

Bet you were starting to wonder

if I was really making Kyoto at all. I mean, no pictures of it at all yet. Yes, well, there are now enough pieces to actually suggest a sweater-to-be and so here they are: the parts that will become Kyoto. I still have the trim and the back half of the sash to go. (See the post before this one if you're wondering why I'm knitting the sash in two flat pieces instead of the round called for by the pattern.)

It's not a great photo, colorwise, nor are the parts aligned as well as they might be. Ah well. Please trust me that the red is lovely, as is the purple, and that the parts all fit together just fine so far. Oh, and those accent stripes on the sash aren't the same red as the body. They're actually a deep pumpkin, but the camera decided not to show that very clearly.

Second childhood...or am I up to three by now?

I found a toy from my childhood on eBay the other night, bid on it on a whim, and accidentally won it. The first time I had it, at age seven or so, it was also secondhand--my mom was a whiz at finding great toys at garage sales. Take a look!

It'll come in handy if I ever need to whip up an army's worth of st st tubes. Heh. Actually, Andrea had the brilliant idea to use it to quickly make felting material. That is, crank out some tubes, crochet steek 'em, slice em open and felt em to make handy felt strips. A lovely idea, I think. Anyway, I'll definitely have fun playing with this baby.

I cast on for the Kyoto sash, and will post pics later today or tomorrow. I changed the pattern a bit to be more flattering to me. The sash is supposed to be knit in the round, but I'm knitting two flat pieces instead, which I won't seam on the sides, so there'll be nice slits on the side and the overall look will be more gi than kimono. Fitting, since I'm a martial artist (you did know that, right?) and also a smoother, drapier garment. Since I'll be wearing it over another top, like a camisole or something, I think it'll work. That's the theory, anyway. We'll see how it actually pans out when I have it finished.

About as much fun as watching a sweater dry

I'm about two-thirds of the way done with Kyoto. I've got the two fronts, the back, and one and a half sleeves done. Once I finish the second sleeve, there's just the trim and the sash to go. Oh yeah...and a hell of a lot of seaming. The original plan had been to have Kyoto done by today, in time for the official kickoff of the Rogue Knitalong. Well, that knitalong has started without me. I just haven't had any knitting time and so Kyoto has languished a bit. I've got a crazy deadline this weekend. That'll be done by Tuesday morning, for better or worse. Then a ton of schoolwork, and THEN maybe I can get Kyoto done by the end of the week. I hope so. I'm dying to wear it.

I've got all the finished pieces blocking at the moment. I took a few pictures, but they all sucked. I then realized why the pictures were so bad. There's no way to make a photo of plain st st sweater pieces look interesting. I'll describe them to you instead. They're red. Two are wedge shaped and two are rectangles. They're wet. There ya go.

Okay...back to work I go. I hate rush jobs like this, but I certainly appreciate the rush rates. Sigh.

Proof of progress

Look! It's a couch! (And a very cute boy on the couch.)

I took this standing on the stairs. Nevermind the lightbulbs in temporary cages or the white walls. The walls will be painted a nice light yellow. Yes, I'll have to take the painting down, but I was so excited by the possibility of a break from dingy white that I couldn't wait to hang it, even temporarily. In fact, that painting isn't even finished yet. It's a self-portrait. Cantcha tell? Here's the photo I based it on (um...also a self-portrait, obviously).

The living room looks nice and clear and unpacked, yes? Well, here's the other side of it.

Oh, and look--the plasterer started!

That's a wall in the kitchen. And it's only the first layer of goop. I've been assured it will be smooth and lovely when finished. Turns out one of my classmates is a professional plasterer (!) who is kindly doing the job for half what the others quoted us, out of the generosity of his heart and the fact that grad school makes you poor. You never know who you'll find in an MFA program!

More pictures of boxes, you say? Why sure! Here's my office.

My friend the plasterer said I really shouldn't be sitting under that damaged ceiling at all, so nothing but boxes in there at the moment. Yes, those are all filled with books. Half my books. The rest are still in Jersey. What's your point? I can stop buying books anytime I want. Really.

Here's where I'm working now, until the ceiling is deemed safe. It's the corner of the yoga room. Yep, two planks across two drawer units. It kind of sucks but I'm getting used to it.

Came here hoping for knitting photos, perhaps? Sorry. I've got nothing to show ya. I'm almost done with the first Kyoto sleeve, but I haven't touched it in days. I should have had both sleeves finished days ago. I've been totally sucked into my novel, though, and everything else has just been pushed to the side. So maybe Kyoto pics in the next couple of days. I need to block the pieces first anyway. They're curling so much it would just be pictures of red tubes at this point.

couch, sweet couch

Our stuff is here! It's sprung from storage! We can't totally unpack yet, since the plasterer still needs to do his work and we still need to paint, but we have our beloved Big Red Couch back, and a real table to eat at, and the rest of my clothes, and half of my books (the rest are in unofficial storage at my mom's boyfriend's place--we'll have to head out to Jersey with a U-haul for that).

I can't begin to explain how lovely it was to sit on that couch last night after almost two months on folding chairs. Pictures of a house full of boxes tomorrow night, I promise.

Oh...and get this. I'm almost ashamed to admit this after all the moaning and groaning I did. That box of yarn and knitting tools that I SWORE I carried out to my brother's truck, and which was then nowhere to be found? Apparently the movers packed it before I actually got it outside to my brother's truck because it arrived along with everything else yesterday. I'm feeling rather sheepish, but relieved to have the knitting tools. And now I have enough Wool Cotton for two Kyotos. Ahem. Well, I'm sure I can find a use for it. The funny thing is, I have such a crystal clear memory of carrying that box outside. Goes to show you how reliable memory is.

Hmmmm....

Not so sure about this one...

You are Mohair.
You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with
others, doing your share without being too
weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely
refuse to change your position once it is set,
but that's okay since you are good at covering
up your mistakes.


What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I'm late!

I said I would post this pic of Em last night, after knitting circle, and I had too much work for school and didn't get to it. Here she is: Em, knitting at my card table.

That's her gorgeous Banff that she's wearing. I also have a photo of her modeling it, but that is for her to post, not me. Don't want to steal her bloggy thunder.

And that's it for me for now. It's 12:30 at night and I have a job due in the morning and I really want to get some sleep before daylight. Oy vey.

The return of Knitting Tuesday!

(except now it'll fall on Wednesdays...)

Our little Brooklyn knitting circle is starting up again, and I couldn't be more excited. We always met at my place, so the circle was put on hold during the whole moving process. The lovely women of the group have now agreed that it's better to gather folding chairs around a card table than to not gather round at all, so tomorrow night we're getting together for knitting and pizza. Since my Proust class is on Tuesdays (tonight was the first class and it was fantastic) we've moved knitting to Wednesdays. Otherwise it's the same. Oh--and we're welcoming a new knitter this time. My friend Sara, who I taught to knit a few weeks ago. She took to it immediately--a real natural. She'll be working on her scarf.

(Rob, if you're checking in to see what I'm up to, yes that's Sara from school. If you hadn't given up knitting you could have come too.)

Rumor has it that The Divine Ms. Em will possibly be wearing her Banff. We're all rather excited by that possibility. If everyone agrees, I may even take some photos.

A most useful skill...

I made a wonderful discovery this weekend. I've gotten accustomed enough to Proust's rhythms and language that now (halfway through Volume II and LOVING it, thank you very much) I am able to read Proust while knitting. Of course, that's while working on mindless knitting, because Proust merits my full attention. Big deal, right? Well, see, what this means is that I should have no trouble finishing up Kyoto in time to begin the Rogue along. The large expanses of st st on Kyoto are perfect for knitting while reading. I've finished the back and two fronts of Kyoto, and am almost halfway up the first sleeve. I'm not rushing through it just to get to Rogue. I also really love this pattern and am anxious to wear it. I've made a change or two to the pattern to make it more flattering to my shape. Nothing major--all shall be revealed when I finish it.

We spent several hours today stripping paint with the magical heat guns. I'm a bit loopy from the fumes, but did manage to snap a picture of our progress. I present to you not a before and after, but a before and during. After is a long time away in this house. This is a view of the front door from inside the house. The before view was actually taken this summer before we owned the house. While Billy was up on the roof with the inspector, my mom and I were roaming around and snapping pictures.

Before:

During:

We've now received two estimates we can't afford for plaster and paint. We've decided we'll do the painting ourselves, and just take it room by room. We had really wanted to have the painting done professionally, since the house is big and the ceilings are high, making it a hell of a lot of work. We came to our senses this weekend and realized we simply don't have the money for that kind of luxury. So we're going to get the holes the electricians made patched up, we're going to get the ceiling in my office replaced (no choice about that--it's a safety issue) and then we're going to finally get our furniture, books, clothes, and the infamous colander delivered from storage. It'll take us a while to do all the painting ourselves, so the plan is just to put everything in the center of the room that's being worked on and cover it with dropclothes. That should work well enough. Sigh. We keep hoping we'll win the lottery and be able to hire people for all of this stuff. Thing is, we never buy tickets. That's probably getting in the way of our winning...