Spectrum Socks

After the speed knitting last weekend, this past week has been disappointing. I was scheduled to close 3 nights this week and that really eats up the evening knitting time. All of this means that I am still finishing the Austermann Step socks. So, logically, I started another pair of socks. Ha! These new socks are actually the Project Spectrum colors for Feb and Mar.



(We'll see if Blogger wants to upload this picture. If it doesn't, click on this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/bookwormknitting/384647105/.)

I also dug some ribbon yarn out of my stash which also works for Project Spectrum. The plan is to make a summer scarf out of it.



(Again, in case Blogger is stupid, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bookwormknitting/384647107/)

So how many WIPs is this? Hmmm, don't want to think about that!

Ha!

Ha!,
originally uploaded by bookworm knitting.

Yes, this sign is for real. I saw it on my way to work and just HAD to take a picture of it.

The Professor and the Madman

I finished reading the historical non fiction book/micro-history,The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester. I really liked it. Our library system had a non fiction book club read it a couple of months ago.

A historical non-fiction is a book that reads almost like fiction. A micro-history is a book which focuses on one small part of history. The part can either be an item or a time period. Seabiscuit is a wonderful example. It focused on horse racing during the Depression and really made that time-period come alive.

The Professor and the Madman focused on two men who were strongly involved in the editing of the OED: James Murray (the professor) and Dr. William Chester Minor (the madman). The vast undertaking of creating the OED simply amazed me. Before 1857 (when the idea was first suggested), there was no all-encompassing English dictionary. Or at least, not a dictionary like we think of today. The OED editors set out to catalog, define, provide illustrative quotations, and track the word's history through written history from its first use until the current day. Every. Single. Word. Wow.

They had thousands of volunteers read through books, write down words (any words), illustrative quotations, where the quotation was found, page number, and send in the slip of paper to the Scriptorium that Murray had set up in Oxford. The Scriptorium might sound impressive but really it was just a corrugated metal structure full of paper. Can you even imagine the scraps of paper everywhere? How would anything ever get done or even found?

Dr. Minor is introduced as a madman from the very beginning of the book. A madman but also an intellectual. He was an American doctor who served in the Civil War. Apparently, his paranoia was sparked and/or became more pronounced after an experience during the Wilderness where he had to brand an Irish soldier as punishment for desertion. After that, he felt that the Irish everywhere were after him in revenge. He also complained of being followed and being forced to perform "lewd acts" every night by persons unknown. A while after the end of the war, Minor left America for England. He was imprisoned in Broadmore, a lunatic asylum there, when he murdered a man in London. (Minor thought the man was going to attack him.)

While in Broadmore, Minor had an extraordinary amount of special privileges. He had a pention from the U.S. Army and was a doctor like those taking care of him so Minor was housed in the nice part of Broadmore. He had the use of two rooms, one of which served as a library and the other which was his bedroom, where he painted and played his flute. The library was quite impressive because he collected rare works and anything else that caught his interest. Minor hired one of the other inmates to clean his rooms and perform small tasks. Sounds pretty nice, huh? He still had the slight problem of thinking people were breaking into his room at night and poisoning him or forcing him to perform those lewd acts.

Ten years after he was first imprisoned, Minor came across Murray's plea for volunteer readers. He wrote to Murray offering his services and got down to reading. Minor's approach to the task was completely different than that of the other volunteers. He would read a book through writing down each word that caught his attention and page number where it was found. He wrote the words down so that they would be in alphabetical order, leaving space for words he would find as he read. Once he finished one book, Minor would go on to the next. Because he wasn't sending in submissions to the editors in Oxford, they thought he had gotten bored with the project.

Once Minor thought he had come up with enough words, he wrote to Murray asking him if they were having any difficulty with any word. When Murray responded that "art" was vexing them, Minor immediately responded with quotation, volume number, and page number. After that, Murray and his workers would send any word "problems" to Minor and he would immediately respond with a correct response. Because Minor had his word lists minutely indexed, it took him no time at all to find a correct quotation. As the author says, other volunteers might have sent in more quotations but Minor's were worth their weight in gold. The editors knew they didn't need to double-check his work.

It was very interesting to watch the friendship between Minor and Murray develop. They corresponded for years and Murray visited Minor frequently in Broadmore. I also found it fascinating to learn more about the editing of the massive dictionary.

The only problem I had with the book was that the author, Simon Winchester, did not have a bibliography in the back of the book. True, he mentioned other books people could read to learn more and talked about some of the books he read. But, to a historian like me, that is not good enough. I want to see all of the documents he used. The letters, the journals, the books, the interviews. Everything. Still, I greatly enjoyed the work and would highly recommend it.

Austermann Step socks

Austermann Step socks,
originally uploaded by bookworm knitting.

Blogger is being stupid and not letting me load any pictures. We'll get around that by posting from Flickr!

If you want to see any Chihuly pictures, click on my user name / photostream.

Flying fingers

I have no idea how it happened but a pair of socks is virtually flying off of my needles.* Late Friday evening, I started on a pair of Austermann Step (Whiskey colorway) that I got while in Austria.

I worked on the toe-up socks a little during the day on Saturday while I was at the Franklin Park Conservatory. (I <3 Dale Chihuly.) That night, a family friend invited us to a bluegrass festival up at Denison. Apparently, bluegrass is a perfect music for knitting. When the music sped up, my fingers kept pace. When it slowed down, I did, too. I was already working on the gusset increases by the end of the evening.

Sunday, I was able to put in a little bit of knitting time before going to work and during my break. By the end of the night, I had turned both heels and started working on the legs.

I am thinking that, by the time I go to bed tonight, I will have at least 2 maybe three inches worked on the legs. I am planning to make them however long it takes to use up the yarn.

This is unbelievable! It has never taken me this little time to make a pair of socks. NEVER. Even when I was travelling and on planes and trains all day, nothing like this has ever happened! Maybe it is the combination of the yarn (LOVE IT) and the Addis. Who knows!

A little about the Austermann Step yarn. It is some of the nicest feeling yarn with which I have ever worked. It has aloe vera oil and jojoba oil infused in it. These oils mean that the tips of my fingers are soooooo soft where they come in contact with the yarn. I can only imagine what the socks will feel like on my feet! According to various websites, the oils should last through 40 washings (hand-washed, of course!) The only thing that I don't like about the yarn is that it has a tendency to be splitty. That is definitely not a good thing when your fingers are flying along with a banjo player's! Most of the time I can catch the splits but that slows me down.

Another "bad" thing about the yarn is that it is not Project Spectrum colors :) I meant to work on a pair of blue, grey and white socks (perfect colorway for Feb/Mar) this weekend but the Austermann Step took over! I had already made a pair of socks using the blue, grey and white yarn but frogged them because the sizing was all off. Not sure what I was on when I made that pair. Whatever it was, it wasn't a good thing! I think I made that pair when I was first starting socks and didn't have any idea how to customize them. This time around, the result will be much better.

* I like working toe-up socks two at a time on two circular needles.

Knitting Survey

I just received this from one of my knitting lists.

" My niece, a knitter herself, is writing her thesis on knitters &
knitting and has put together an online survey to collect the
information she needs. If you have a moment, would you mind going over
to submit your information? It takes only a few minutes. You can find
it here:"

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=772833217495

Anyone who is a knitter, please help and fill out this survey. I wonder what the girl's thesis will end up being.

13

With the wind chill, right now it feels like 13 degrees Fahrenheit. This is what Java thinks about it.
Out at the barn it is definitely colder because the wind has nothing to break it. Java gets another reprieve from riding!

Old Bag of Nails

Old Bag of Nails,
originally uploaded by asbalyan.

I think I am tempted to go here. With that name, who wouldn't want to?

Winter!

Ironically, the weather took a couple of months to figure out it is supposed to be winter and now we are having below normal temperatures for this time of year. This morning we had a wind chill of 0 (degrees Fahrenheit). Whew. Little chilly.

It feels like I haven't been knitting too much within the past couple of days until I realized that I have frogged one project (so long orange and blue tie!), started another (baby stuff for my cousin, Emily, using the orange and blue yarn), completed another (mom's socks, finally), finished the baby hat and started another. The second one is for my other cousin, Katy, who is not pregnant (not yet, at least) but who will want a hat when she sees Emily's. Lots of sibling rivalry there. I do love that 3 of my cousins and me all went to schools that had orange and blue for their colours. It makes it easy to make things. Find the perfect yarn and you have something for everyone.

I'll have to figure out something else to make for the baby shower. Maybe some type of blanket as well as some boots out of the same yarn.


Here is a picture of Lily modelling the hat. She is so not thrilled with this.

And a picture of Mom's Christmas socks which I did get finished by the end of January. Oops.

I've started on another pair of socks. This time I am working with my Kool-aid yarn and size 0 needles. Ugh. I love the colours but the needles are the smallest with which I have ever worked. I don't want to do a simple stockinette stitch with them but that is all that I am coming up with for ideas. Blah. I might put that aside for a little while and work with some of the stuff I picked up during the Austria trip.

Snow (again) and sun!

It would probably be worth it to check the weather when trying to make plans with someone. I definitely didn't and suddenly we have an inch of snow on the ground.

This picture was taken earlier this morning but now the sun is coming out. It is so pretty! All of the trees have snow stuck to their branches and the pine trees are all lightly frosted with snow.

I hope to go hiking in the Bio Reserve while it is so nice. (I know, some might not consider high 20s and snow nice, but I do!) Hope someone else agrees. . . .

Yesterday (you may now start humming the Beatles)

So I was planning on getting things accomplished yesterday like riding the horse, laundry, going to the FP Conservatory, etc. Number of things complete: 1 -- riding the horse. My jeans will soon be able to stand up by themselves.

What I did instead of my original goals was waste time. Large amounts of it. In the morning, I relaxed and lounged. Finished one of the many Terry Pratchett books I have checked out from the library. Finally, got ready to go out around 11 but then Mom and I had brunch. Went out to the barn around 12. Somehow, in the cold weather yesterday, rode for 45 minutes. (I think we were both frozen by the end of it. Java kept looking at me like I was nuts.) Then went to the Soup Loft in town to have something warm for lunch. THEN (and this is where most of the time was wasted) I went to my LYS.

Now, something happens when you go into a LYS. My theory is that time warps. Suddenly, you have spent an hour in there when you only intended 10 minutes. I got there around 2 so I could thaw and spend a little time chatting and working on the shawl. Well, then Kim had to run to an appointment so her dad came in to mind the shop. He doesn't know knitting so I decided to stick around for a little while longer. Isn't it inevitable that, when the owner leaves, things suddenly get crazy?

Two women came in looking to re-start knitting again after a long break so they wanted a pattern, yarn and needles. Luckily, Kim has tons of samples out so they could just point at what they thought looked good. So that was easy. Then two people who are in the "Beginning to Knit" class came in with problems. I sorted them out and they hung out for a while. Then another woman in the same class came in for help with binding off. She had accidentally knitted the stitches twice instead of knitting 2 then slipping the one over the other. So we had to rip it out and start binding off again. Luckily, she picked it up quite easily and was able to finish it before she left (her finished bag was so cute!). She was there for a while, too. Then a couple more people came in just to look around. Then, a person from Ambercrombie and Fitch came in to look for yarn samples and with the example of a swatch Kim is going to be knitting for them. Note: They had told her that they would be there by 1 so she was expecting to be there. They ended up getting there at 3. Luckily, through all of this, one of Kim's assistants who hadn't been able to get there before 3.30 arrived and couple help the A&F girl.

It was definitely an exciting afternoon but not what I expected at all! Never got to the conservatory. When I looked at the clock and realized that it was 10 till 4 (it closed at 5 and would take me 45 min to get there), I gave up on it. Now, I hope to go there on Sunday. We will see if anything else comes up instead. Thankfully, I am not working this Sunday, too. Three in a row would be a little much. Hell, 2 in a row was.

Knitting news . . . I worked on the shawl until it needed to be sent to time out. I was getting a number of extra stitches so will have to solve that problem a little later. I worked on Mom's socks some more. (Can't wait till those are finished!) Currently, I am working on more blanket squares for the library program though those are being crocheted. It is giving me a lot of practice with crocheting.

Unsettled

Franklin Park Conservatory, Chihuly,
originally uploaded by Mike and Rani.

Do you ever feel like you get into a rut at work, at home, etc etc? I think I have reached that winter rut. I can't settle to any book that I have already and nothing at the library looked interesting. Even though I really like the shawl I am working on, I want to start another project but don't know what. Blah, I hate the winter blues.

I think I will go to the conservatory in Columbus tomorrow. They have a Chihuly exhibit on right now and I love his stuff.

Snow again!

It is flurrying again! :) I am very excited. It hasn't felt like winter without some snow on the ground.

My program on Tuesday went really well. I had three ladies come and one brought her granddaughter. Two knew how to knit and crochet and one was relearning. Once she started, her hands definitely remembered how to do it. We made 3 blanket squares that night. One of the ladies was going to rush home and look through her yarn stash to see what she could use to make squares.

Speaking of stash . . . . I was worried that I might not have enough yarn for people to use and would have to buy some. Then I started looking through my stash . . .

A full tote bag and a shopping bag! (I think I had enough yarn.) This is just the junk yarn and none of my good stuff! I don't even know where all of this was hiding!

Peacock shawl . . . I was finishing up another pair of Fetching last night so not much progress has been made. I am on the 96th row and the feathers have started to appear. I love it though I need to pick up more books on tape/CD because it is definitely a project that I can't knit and read at the same time!

Warm up America!

I am really nervous for tomorrow.

I work in a small branch library which is relatively new (opened in Sept. 2005). Before we opened, the only library service this community had was the bookmobile. Most of the time we don't have a huge number of participants in our programs. For instance, the last program I had (free blood pressure checks) only had 2 people come. One of those was a library employee who I begged and the other was a man who came in to use the Internet. Discouraging to say the least.

Tomorrow, I am having a program for Warm Up America!, a really great non-profit foundation. The whole point is to make enough 7 x 9 inch squares to make up a blanket. I am going to be teaching people how to knit or crochet if they don't already know how to do so. It should be a lot of fun since I love teaching / infecting others with the yarn sickness ;)

No, what I am nervous about is whether or not anyone will actually come. I've had a couple of ladies say they will but we have had other people say they will come to events then not show up. Blah. I always get very nervous before each of my programs and it looks like this time is no different!

Oh, the shawl is flying by. I can't get enough of it! I am on the 90th row and the 3rd of 8 total charts. You can really see the feathers starting to develop. But I should set it aside tonight (gasp) and make some squares for the blanket tomorrow. Time to practice different stitches!

So addictive

Can I just say that I love this yarn and this pattern? It is so easy to fly through it. I am already on the second chart. I just want to work on this lace all day!

AND, it is snowing!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited. It is very small flakes of packing snow. I went out to feed the horses and my tracks were almost completely covered in 15 minutes. If it keeps up like this, we might have whiteout conditions. Too bad I have to go to work today :( Definitely going to be calling the severe weather number to see if the library will be open.

I'm in love . . .

. . . with this yarn!

I think all of the other projects will have to take a back seat for a while. Time to start the shawl!

Cable Crack

So apparently I am addicted to the cable crack. Seriously, once you start, it is hard to stop. I finished the pair of Fetching for Carolyn on Thursday night, weaved in the ends, blocked it, the whole nine yards. By Friday afternoon, I had it in the mail and had started on a pair for myself with a couple of modifications. I increased the number of cables around the wrist and lengthened the glove a little beyond the thumb. By the end of the evening, I had one finished and the other started. If I get time today, I will probably be done with the second one.

Kim from the yarn store called yesterday to tell me the yarn I had ordered had come in! We only ordered it on Wednesday! I am planning to make the Peacock Feathers Shawl with Cherry Tree Hill's colorway, Green Mountain Madness. What could be better? Some of my favorite yarn and lace that makes peacock feathers :) Looks like I am back on the lace crack. So addicitive. . . .

2 Balls

kool-aid yarn,
originally uploaded by bookworm knitting.

Get your mind out of the gutter! :D These are my finished product from the Kool-Aid experiment. The one on the left is Cherry, Orange, Pink Lemonade and Lemonade. It doesn't look quite so orange in real life. The second ball is the one from before just all balled up.

OTN: Fetching (still) for Carolyn. I cast on the second glove last night while waiting at the airport and am almost done. By the end of Ugly Betty tonight, I should be finished.

I met my friend at the airport yesterday and drove him and his boss to their hotel. (They were in town for a conference.) Then proceeded to get sort of lost trying to find a restaurant. I hate one way streets! We finally found a place (Barley's near the North Market) which was a brewery and had some very interesting beers. The dinner was wonderful (sooooooo much food) and the conversation was fun. It was nice to catch up. When we left, I ended up getting horribly turned around and slightly lost. Again, I hate one way streets. I turned too soon then had to make my way back. Ugh, definitely don't like city driving! Though it was worth it to see a friend from college. :)

This kind of stuff amuses me

In the year 2007 I resolve to: Procrastinate more. Get your resolution here.

FOs and my loathing of weaving ends

I've come to realize how much I dislike weaving in ends. I've had a ton of small projects done (2 hats, a purse (not felted yet), brioche stitch scarf, one pair of socks, one Fetching glove, etc) but never finished finished them because I needed to weave the ends. Well, last night I finally made myself sit down and finish everything that has been hanging around for the past couple of weeks.

It felt really good to have a bunch of completely finished projects. I'm now able to felt the two purses I made and will be able to send them out. I'll post pictures of some of the things later.

OTN: Still trying to finish up the mystery yarn. It is like the yarn that never ends! Two hats and 2 long scarves later there is still plenty of yarn left! I am trying to make a pair of Fetching with them but it kind of results in a bulletproof fabric so that will probably be frogged. The next project for it is another hat with a different stitch. I am thinking of making one that will match the Liesel scarf. Hmmm, we shall see.

Also OTN: A pair of Fetching (boy, am I obsessed!) for Carolyn also using up some stash yarn that I used for the one Forest Canopy Shawl. I don't know what all of this stash-busting is about but I like it. More room for the new stuff! ;)

Kool-Aid is kool

I am having so much fun with Kool-Aid! In the process I covered my fingers in purple but here is the result:

I am soooooooooooooo excited! Can you tell by the number of exclamation points I am using?! These colors are Black Cherry, Grape, Blue Raspberry and Lemon Lime. I can hardly wait for it to dry before I can think of using it.

The colors are a bit uneven but I figure, for my first dyeing project, it looks pretty good. I still have 1 skein of undyed sock yarn left which I am planning to dye yellow, red, orange and pink though I might change my mind and use the Black Cherry instead of the pink. Have I mentioned that this yarn is really nice to feel? I am so excited!

How Anne are you?


How Anne are You?

FO fiend

I've finished up another project, the second of two felted bags which were Christmas presents for people. Now they just have to be felted. I know to whom they are being sent so, once everything is dry, off to the post office for them! I just have to decide who gets the Liesel scarf and the brioche stitch scarf. I have enough of the colored yarn from the brioche scarf to start on a hat and finish up with the blue of the Liesel. (I made sure the brioche scarf had a small section of blue at each end just for this reason.) I'll add pictures of the finished project later.

Next project (I have so many going right now) is a pair of Fetching for Carolyn. They will probably be made of the blue Liesel yarn. Can you tell I am really trying to use it up?

We actually had a small snow fall last night! The first in a long time. Unfortunately, it went up into the 40s today so it all melted. :(

Florida for a day

knitting at the pool,
originally uploaded by bookworm knitting.

I can't even believe I was in Ohio on Friday, Florida on Saturday and on Sunday am back in Ohio. Definitely a whirlwind trip! My parents and i went down to FL to see all of Dad's cousins and for a birthday celebration for Cousin Pat who is 75. As Mom said, it is better to get together for a life event than for a funeral. I am just amazed that she could rip Dad away from home.

I spent the time on the plane knitting and reading. I finished the scarf I started (in Charlotte airport no less). I had no idea that the yarn would pattern up but that is exactly what it did. I knitted it in stockinette stitch before but there was no pattern. When I did it in a brioche stitch, *poof* pattern. It is kind of a spiral pattern of green. In addition, it used up almost all of that kind of yarn! I have a little left that I am planning to make into a hat or a start of a hat.

In other news, I got my KnitPicks needles on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I so wanted to start using them but didn't want to risk them being taken away on the plane so I decided to hold off until today. Guess what I am going to be doing for the rest of the day :)

Blue Liesel Scarf Finished!

Blue Liesel blocked,
originally uploaded by bookworm knitting.

The scarf is done and blocked. Thanks to the blocking you can really see the leaf pattern. I made the scarf the length of my "wingspan" but that was a pre-blocking measurement. Turns out blocking made it a little longer (duh)! I really like the pattern though and happy to use up some mystery yarn.

My next project is going to be a scarf made out of the Brioche stitch to use up some different mystery yarn. That yarn has purples, dark pinks, greens and some blues. It is the same kind as the mystery blue yarn. Just wish I had the ball bands. The second scarf shouldn't take long to make especially since I am going to be flying to Florida this afternoon then flying home late Saturday. Nothing like whirlwind trips to visit the relatives! Have to be home for work on Sunday.

Project Spectrum!

Lolly at Lolly Knitting Around has initiated the second round of Project Spectrum. I thought this idea sounded like a lot of fun and useful for getting me out of my colour ruts. What can I say? I like green and blue!

These are the colors for the next couple of months. It seems like it has a whole lot of flexiblity and time to do each project. I've definitely signed up for this knit-a-long

February / March
Blue, White, Gray

April / May
Green, Yellow, Pink

June / July
Red, Black, Metallics

August / September
Brown, Orange, Purple

Finished my first project of the year, the Liesel Scarf made out of the mystery blue yarn from the stash. It ended up being a tad longer (and wider) than I originally planned. Oops. The pattern was just so much fun to do. I am definitely going to be sending it to someone for a late Christmas present.

Knitting ADD

Apparently I have it. I've started 4 different projects in 3 days. The blue scarf is called Liesel and is much more blue than this picture shows.

The orange and blue tie are a Christmas present which isn't quite done. Oops.

The purple bag is finished and just needs to be felted then the magnetic clasp added.

This blue yarn is going to be for the next felted bag. Once I finish it, I am going to felt both of the bags at the same time. I have only cast on for it but not done much more than that. I am waiting for my KnitPicks needles to come in the mail. They were supposed to be here yesterday but didn't arrive. This means that they won't be here until Tuesday. This arrived, however.

Isn't it wonderful? It is undyed sock yarn from Ruby Sapphire Yarns on etsy.com. I am planning to dye it using Kool-Aid sometime soon. I have decided to make one skein "Berry Blue," "Grape" and "Black Cherry." The other one will be " Lemonade," "Orange" and "Cherry." I can't wait! :)

Start of bag and pattern,
originally uploaded by bookworm knitting.

OK, so I am starting some Christmas books a little late. This one probably won't even get to the recipient for a couple of weeks what with drying time and shipping time. I love working with heavier weight yarn (or two strands of worsted weight held together) and large needles. It just makes the project knit up so quickly! I started this purse in the afternoon yesterday and am finished with it (other than weaving in the ends, sewing the bottom together and felting it) this afternoon.

I am going to be starting on the next purse (exact same pattern but different colors) this evening. The sun is shining so I will be riding the horse while the weather is good. Perhaps there will be time to walk the dog, too?

My Fortune Cookie of the Day

My Fortune Cookie told me: Chocolate-coated lofts! Dozens of them! All of them hapless! Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

Hehe.

The key to a party

The final round of Christmas parties has finally come to an end. Don't get me wrong, I love visiting with all of the people but it can be a bit much. In high school, we used to have a cookie party each year. The tradition didn't continue when I went to college. This year, however, we decided to change that. Apparently we went a little overboard! My family ended up having 3 parties this year. :)

The first and second parties happened on the same day. The first was in the afternoon and the second in the evening. Much soup was eaten, many stories shared, and meeting new people was done but not much cookie decorating happened. The third party, on the other hand, was a cookie decorating machine. (I know that sentence doesn't make sense but stick with me on this one.) I had to start baking more cookies during the party so there would be more variety! All of the parties were so much fun. I just love socializing and feeding people :)

My family had a quiet but nice Christmas. The cat and the dog stayed in the same room to see what all of the activity was about. We use cloth bags instead of wrapping paper so the cat couldn't have fun attacking the paper. In the way of knitterly gifts, my aunt gave me a gift card to the LYS (<3) and Mom (and presumably Dad) gave me a set of Knit Picks Options needles. I didn't get all of my presents finished for Christmas (oops) so I am still working on them. Perhaps New Year's presents?

Just might make it

I have finished the heels on Mom's socks and just might make it for Christmas. Hope she doesn't want a long leg! This picture was from yesterday. I happened to be reading the chapter on socks in Knitting Rules! while making these socks :D

This picture is from today with both of the heels made. It should be pretty smooth sailing from here. I'm not wearing the other sock because it would have done interesting things to the circular needles.

FO (Finally) and WIPs


Picture time!



The picture to the right is the Forest Canopy Shawl being blocked. Note to self: get more T-pins!!!




This picture on the left is a close-up of the stitch pattern. See the detail? I definitely like it better after blocking. It looks much more like a leaf. I think the green was a good choice for the pattern.

These socks are the socks I am making Mom for Christmas. Note to self: stop sleeping! It is cutting down on the gift making time!! They are made out of Cherry Tree Hill yarn (<3)in Spanish Moss colorway.




And this is what I did yesterday at work. I really like the 3D snowflakes. Easy to make yet look very complicated.

Mozart and more Mozart

On Andi, Emily, Karen and I went to Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart and town known to everyone who has watched The Sound of Music. Here is a quick photo collage.

The guesthouse where we were staying was one train stop away from the main train station and a couple of minutes walk. Well, it would have been a couple of minutes if we had not been lugging our luggage (funny how similar those two words are) up a steep hill. The guest house on Panoramaweg was very nice, pleasant, and cozy. The proprietress met us at the door and showed us to our large 4 person room. The next morning we were not able to see much from the breakfast nook because the fog had rolled in during the night. :( That is the downside of visiting Austria at the end of November and the beginning of December.

We made our way into town and began walking around. The streets of the old city were very charming. Everything was decorated for Christmas and the Christmas markets were in full swing.

Speaking of Christmas markets, I don't think I have ever had alcohol as early in the morning as I had this trip. The gluehwein and punsch were freely consumed. Probably explains why many of my pictures are slightly tilted. Hmmm.

My friend, Sarah, is currently an au pair in Germany. She and her boyfriend, Aaron, were visiting Salzburg at the same time so we met up with them in the Christmas market. The 6 of us trooped up to the fortress which hangs over the city. How anyone ever stormed castles is beyond me!

Feldkirch

To start off, our trip to Feldkirch, Austria was interesting. We landed in Zurich and were going to take the train to Feldkirch to meet Andi. We bought the tickets and had an hour+ to kill. We hung out in the train station until we were asked to leave for loitering (or we think that is what he said in German).

We went to the track where we thought the train was leaving from. The word "thought" is very important here. I blame jetlag. The train left at the correct time but ended up being a local train. We were riding along blissfully (me knitting then napping away) until the train came to a stop and the dreaded words "Last stop" were heard. Keep in mind that we had no map of Switzerland, only Austria, and were on the wrong train.

Luckily, a girl in a shop at the train station spoke some English and was able to direct us to a train which would take us to a place where we could connect for Feldkirch. Meanwhile, Em, Karen and I are worried that Andi would be waiting for us at the train station and not knowing where we were.

We arrived in Feldkirch (with a side trip to Lichtenstein) 2+ hours later than planned. Andi wasn't there waiting for us and we realized that we didn't know where she was teaching, living or her phone number. Ooops. We did know the address of the hostel so we trudged our way there. Not an encouraging start to the trip.

The owner of the hostel let us check in super early and put our stuff in our room. We sent an e-mail to Andi telling her that we made it to the hostel, were going out to find food, and would be back at the hostel later. The Italian(ish) place we stopped at was OK though there were major difficulties with the credit card machine. We wandered some in the old town when what should appear? A yarn store! It was the one I had found online :)

Zum Schwarzen Schaf was the best store I found the entire trip. The people were so friendly, the store was so bright and happy, and it was stocked full of beautiful yarns. I bought some Austermann Step yarn there (with aloe vera and jojoba oil). There was a BEAUTIFUL other sock yarn that I didn't buy because I thought I would find it later in Vienna or Salzburg. That was stupid! I should have bought it then because I didn't see it anywhere else. *Sigh*

Walking back to the hostel we met up with Andi and, boy, were we happy to see her! She had gotten our e-mail and told us that somehow she had written down the wrong address in her date book and was expecting us Thursday not Wednesday. She scrambled and was able to leave a day earlier than planned though we wouldn't have a chance to meet with her friends. Emily and I declined to go to her Wednesday movie night but Karen did. I think we (Em and I) to sleep at 7.30. Ugh, jetlag.

The next day we met up with Andi again and she showed us around her town. Feldkirch is a cute medieval town. We wandered to the castle there but it was closed for the season. Andi showed us around the old town. We had lunch in a very nice restaurant and I had a traditional Austrian dish almost like maccaroni and cheese but much heavier. After lunch, we stopped by the supermarket (International SPAR!!!) to buy food for the train. Then we started the hike to where Andi lives and teaches.

Let me tell you, by the end of her time there, Andi will be able to race up mountains without pausing for breath! It was a pretty steep hill which would ensure that you didn't buy much at the supermarket. I am just glad that she didn't take us up the steep stairs!

Andi's school and dorm (and a couple of other buildings) are all connected. Genius for those cold, winter mornings when snow is falling. The commute to work wouldn't be bad at all :) Andi's room is much bigger than I expected. It reminded me of my room in England with an extra room tacked on. The view out the window was amazing!

That evening, the four of us got on the train to Salzburg.

P.S. Go to this link to Austria pictures and this link to see New York pictures.

More vacation stories (oh, how I wish I was back there)

Meeting up with Karen and Emily was extremely easy at the airport. They had a little more difficulty because our tickets were purchased as a group but I wasn't there yet. That problem was resolved quickly and they were checked in.

The flight over to Zurich was amazingly empty. I would say that the plane only had 1/3 of it occupancy filled. Everyone was able to spread out and almost everyone was able to have a row of seats to themselves. I was really looking forward to watching the in-flight movie, The Devil Wears Prada (who else thought the book ending was much better?). It did get started late so I wasn't able to get as much sleep as I should have. Also, the individual lights weren't working so they never turned off the main cabin lights :( I did, however, get plenty of knitting done.

I guess we were really getting pushed by the tailwinds because we arrived in Zurich almost an hour (!) early.

Yes, I am alive

All of us made it back to the United States easily. I am going to do one post for my New York trip and probably break up the Austria/Switzerland trip into different posts.

There was knitting and yarn shop visiting all of the places I went. Ironically the best store in Austria was the one I visited first. Isn't that always the way? :)

New York City. . . (mini picture)

My cousin Carolyn is currently living in the city so I went to visit her and be a tourist. The only other time that I had been to New York was when I flew out of JFK in 2003 to study abroad in England. Didn't see too much then.

My trip to NY started on the day after Thanksgiving because that is when the ticket prices were the cheapest. The only problem was that I was working the day after Thanksgiving. Small detail. So I had to pack the night before and was all ready to leave directly from work. Mom drove me to the airport.

I wrote about my first little bit of NY in an earlier post. So read that and I will skip ahead.

On Sunday, Carolyn, Greg and I went to see Spamalot on Broadway. Carolyn and I got up earlier (kind of) to try to get discount tickets for it but we weren't sucessful. We ended up having to buy them online like everyone else. Oh, well. The play was just like the Holy Grail movie come to life. I think my favorite song was the "Song that Goes Like This." Monty Python humour all the way.

I was expecting to meet up with Mike, Karen and Emily sometime either on Sunday or Monday since we were leaving on Tuesday. Well, I forgot to take my phone with me on Saturday. Of course, that was the day that Mike kept trying to get a hold of me. He realized that they would have nowhere to store Emily and Karen's bags while going around the city. Oops. So we ended up having to give Mike keys to Carolyn's apartment in Brooklyn so they could put their stuff there. We met up with Mike right before the play. Em and Karen's bus was coming into the Port Authority which was only 2 blocks away.

Once they got all the way out into Brooklyn, they ended up being too tired and hungry to make the trip back into Manhattan. Carolyn told them how to get to the Alligator Lounge so we all met up there. Yummm, pizza. Six of us ate 9 pizzas. NINE. It was really fun to catch up and have my friends meet my cousin. After dinner and many games of pool, we went back to Carolyn's apartment. Dre and her boyfriend were there (now the number of people fitting into the apartment was 8). Most of us played poker late into the night. Skittles as poker chips worked well until they started getting sticky. Sticky skittles with slivers of serviettes. I, of course, knit socks :) Em, Karen and Mike took off around midnight or so for Long Island.

The next day I did the touristy thing on my own since Carolyn had to go to work. I went all over Manhattan and seemed to walk most of the way. Course I walked everywhere because I got confused on the subway, took the wrong stop, and decided to walk from 14th St up 5th Ave to 59th St. Yeah, that was nuts. Later, I walked around Central Park. Way too much walking! It was really nice though to walk along 5th Ave and see all of the shop windows.

I also went to the NYPL but, as it is now the Humanities Library or some such thing, it was closed on Mondays. I did take plenty of pictures of the lions. Then I wandered over to the Mid-Manhattan branch (sort of across the street) to sit down and look through my guidebook. I happened to sit at the table where all of the city guidebooks were located so I was able to do some more research. Then I wandered over to the Grand Central Station and ate lunch from the fresh air market in it. Later, I wandered over to Central Park and had a very nice walk. I'm really glad the weather was so good.

I did, however, have a goal for the day; visiting a yarn shop. It was on Ave A so I took the subway to a stop nearby and walked. In my walk, I went by a restaurant, 7A, that Carolyn, Greg and I had eaten at on Saturday. It was kind of nice to be able to recognize landmarks. The yarn store, Downtown Yarns, was really nice. They even had a store dog! I sat there for a while and began a sock with some beautiful yarn I got there. Here that sock is at the Statue of Liberty.

Later, I met up with Carolyn and Greg to eat in Little Italy. That makes it sounds like I knew where I was going. No, I did not. I got horribly lost and ended up in the completely opposite direction of where I was supposed to be. Ugh. I hate getting lost. Luckily, I had my map (and it screamed tourist) and I was able to navigate my way back. We had a pretty good dinner and made our way back to Carolyn's apartment. My stomach was upset so I stayed in when Care and Greg went to karaoke. Later, I watched Heroes with Dre and her boyfriend.

The next day, I wanted to be at the airport 2.5 - 3 hours before my plane left around 5. I figured it would take me a longer time to get there than it would Care (because she actually understands the system). So that meant that I wanted to be leaving Care's apartment around 1 -1.30. Decided to go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in the morning, meet Care for lunch, then head to her apartment to gather my stuff. Let me tell you, sitting on a boat with an upset stomach is NOT a good thing. I felt very green.

I decided to not go into the Statue because I didn't have much time. Walking around the Ellis Island building was really neat. The 3-D representations of immigration graphs were interesting. The part I liked the most was the pictures of the island before it was rehabbed. It was just pictures of the empty buildings. The best one was a picture of a chair in a deserted room, captured in a light shaft.

I easily met Care for lunch. Then I made my way back to the apartment and headed to the airport. There, I was able to check in easily (yea!) and met with Em and Karen at the gate.

Wow, that was a lot of info! I will put pictures in later.

still alive in austria

right now in vienna. already visited a couple of yarn stores in feldkirch and new york. going to try to find one in vienna

NYC

I made it to New York safely. There was absolutely no problem with the knitting needles through security. I turned the heel and completed a couple of inches on the heel during the wait and the flight. The worsted weight yarn and larger needles really makes it easy to make progress.

According to the guy at US Airways, I was scheduled on the 3.15 flight (he was telling me this at 3.30!) even though my e-ticket said I was on the 5.20 flight. Everything did work out though. I was able to get on the plane and everything went smoothly. The flight left late but we arrived early, go figure.

I met up with my cousin in LaGuardia. She and her boyfriend picked me up and we went to her appartment in Brooklyn. We hung out for a while at the appartment, met her roommate, her boyfriend and some of Carolyn's friends. Then we went out to a bar called the Alligator Lounge (?) where you get a free pizza with every drink. It was really good and just around the corner from Carolyn's appartment. As you can tell from the time of this posting, we were out for a while.

I think we are going to be going to see a play (Spamalot) on Sunday. Tomorrow is going to be full of a lot of touristy things. Definitely want to visit some yarn stores. (They think I am crazy.) I am hoping to meet up with Mike, Emily and Karen on Monday to go around the City. That reminds me, I need to plug in my phone tonight.

Finished Objects!

This is about to be a whole lot of pictures of FO.

shawls pre-blocking, click on the picture for a larger image
This is a picture of the forest canopy shawls on which I have been working. The dark green one is the "test" yarn that I used before making the same pattern in the light green mohair.

This is a close-up of the leaf pattern in the mohair. You would not believe how warm this thing is! The pattern will be much clearer once I block the things.

This is the purse I have been working on for Christmas/Thank you gift for my cousin. I am going to be staying with her for a couple of days before leaving for Austria. This picture is of the purse before felting. The handle and bottom of the bag are re-enforced by garter stitching them with two strands of yarn. The handle and the flap are beaded.

The second picture of the bag is it in the felted state. Surprise, surprise, it looks like the before picture! ;) The inside pocket has beads across the top so you can feel it easily. I realized as I was felting it that a black purse might not have been such a good idea. They are black holes anyway so this one will be a super black hole. Oh, well!

Testing Bloglines

So I am having fun figuring out my feeds for this blog and am testing to see if I have the settings correct. I'll see if it is right once I subscribe to my own blog in Bloglines. I suspect that this might be a very, very sad thing.

I am getting ready for my trip to Austria. I can't believe I leave on Friday for New York! Not having packed anything, I am starting to get a little nervous. I just need to make sure I have my camera, batteries, and knitting. :)

Quote of the Day

Steven Colbert talking about his being named as a sexy man with glasses. This quote came from the bottom of the article. "Note: Glasses can make ladies sexy as well, but only as they are taken off, followed by a slow-moation shake of head to let her hair down out of that librarian bun."

OK, not thrilled about the stereotype but the quote is funny.

Going crazy with the posts today

Have fun with this little quiz

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
North Central
The West
Boston
The Inland North
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

OK, the link to the website is deciding to be white and I don't want to wade through the XHML to find out why. Just click under the last box thingy to go to the link.

Right! Knitting
Almost forgot to talk about the knitting. I am almost finished with my gift purse. It is a black felted bag with beads on the bag flap and handle. I hope it will turn out really well. In order to make the bottom of the bag and the handle stronger, I used two strands of yarn together. Even before felting it feels like nothing could go through it. Can't wait to see it after felting. I swear, I will talk a picture of it!

I have darted off to another project: Very Tall Socks. They are very fun but I think I want to do them in a bigger needle size. Making them on #2s would take FOREVER. And, if I have a bigger needle size, those needles could be bamboo. Then I could take the bamboo on the plane to Austria. The only thing is, do I want to take all of that yarn? Hmmm. Might have to do some smaller socks with needles that I buy over there.

I am still working on the mohair shawl. I still love the yarn and the pattern is still (cross your fingers) going well but I have just gotten distracted by all of the other stuff.

Next Friday (ack, 6 days!) I am flying to New York to visit with my cousin before leaving for Austria on the 28th. My friends and I will be over there for 2 weeks and, boy, am I ready! Somehow the date crept up on me and suddenly I have so much to do before I leave. Definitely need to get the passport out of the bank vault. Have to get student discount card. Have to pack (ugh). Have to call the credit card company. Have to call the bank. *Pant, pant* Whew. Somehow it will all get done. Somehow.

Finally, Blogger!

I tried to get onto Blogger all day yesterday and it was doing something very odd.

I am going to be a huge library dork and talk all about the OCLC tour I went on yesterday. Someone from Kent State arranged to have a tour there. They had to drive down to Kent and I didn't because I live near Dublin. I've also taken a class at OCLC with the woman who gave the tour (I heart Nancy because I am basically her mini me.) We never got to have a tour there during class because it was held in the evenings when most of the people have already gone home.

Anyway, Nancy gave a brief talk about the history of OCLC and a little bit of what they do there. Then we went on the tour. We got to see the usability lab and talked to the man who runs it. One of my papers this month was about website usability so I definitely knew what he was talking about. The amount of cameras in that room was amazing.

Then we got to see where they manage/observe the 200+ servers. In a way, it kind of reminded me of a NASA control room, lots of monitors and projected images. If there is ever a problem with one of the servers no matter where it is located, they know about it in a couple of seconds and track down what is the problem. The people who work there work in 12 hour shifts (!) and the room is staffed 24/7, 365 days/year.

We took a tour of the OCLC library. (Talk about a special library.) They had a lot of periodicals and books available to the staff. The library is open round the clock, too, but it is not staffed around the clock. Any of the staff members can pick a book of the shelves and check it out themselves. They don't have any due dates because they figure it is easier to purchase a replacement.

The one building on the campus was built around the original hulking computer systems. It used to occupy 3 floors of the building. With the new technologies, they need a whole lot less space for the computers so now they rent out the space to other people. We were able to go to an observation room and look at the OCLC computers. It was kind of freaky all of the white space, computers and no one around.

We got to see where they print the catalog cards (yes, some libraries still use catalog cards). I think the noise of the ribbon printers would have driven me crazy very quickly if I worked there.

**Lunch Break** :)

We went to one of the other buildings and got to see where they do cataloging. The number of languages they can catalog in is staggering. They have specifically hired people with cataloging experience and who speak at least one other language. We met one of the Russian specialists.

Then we saw the foreign language collection. If a library discovers they have a need of a foreign language collection, they can call OCLC and will be sent a ready-made collection. All of the cataloging is already done and there are a variety of books in the collection. Amazing!

It was funny that, in all of the public areas, the grounds, and (most) work areas, the architecture and interior design was very nice. The hallways, however, made you think of an underground bunker. No joke. Kind of narrow, few doors, no windows and painted a beige-ish color. The places where the public can go (which isn't far without an escort) are simply amazing. The courtyard of the Kilgour Building is an atrium with a grove of live trees in it and plants all around the walls. They had white Christmas lights all around the tree trunks. Very pretty. It kind of reminded me of the Seattle Public Library plant beds which are inside the building.

It was a fun day all in all.

Jinxed!

I did jinx myself yesterday by saying I felt confident working with the mohair. Last night, I just did silly things with it. I had to rip it out a couple of times (talk about fun). Today, I just seem to have my counting off. Over lunch I got so frustrated with it that I had to stop. I think I will start (or continue) one of the other projects to give myself a break. Arrglyes anyone?

OOOOOOOOO, Pretty

Aren't these shawl pins georgeous? They were featured today on Scout's Swag and are in her store.

V-day

Did you remember to vote today? FINALLY the election adds will be over and Dogpile has a cute logo today. I don't know about the other states but Ohio has been lousy with the ads. If you watch TV, there is a little bit of show in the middle of lots of political spite. It doesn't matter what politics to which you subscribe, everybody is slamming everybody else. It amused me to no end that I could vote on Saturday. No lines, no hassle. Pretty simple process.

Knitting stuff (sort of)-- Java was featured on Romancing the Yarn. Isn't he cute? :) OK, real knitting stuff. I keep meaning to charge my camera batteries so I can take pictures of the stuff I have been doing recently. I felted a couple of purses in a denim-like blue wool. I like the way the one turned out but the other was waaaaaay too short and too wide. I cut it apart and am sewing it together again. The cat has decided the strap is her play toy and won't let me have it back. So that means the purse is going to have to be finished later. I am still working on finding a purse pattern that I like.

I finished the Forest Canopy shawl in my test yarn. (I wanted to do the shawl in mohair that I picked up from DeStash but wanted to learn how to lace with an easier yarn.) I am going to block it tomorrow and take a picture. I started on the same pattern with the mohair and I looooooooooooooooooooooooooooove it! :) The mohair is a light green almost like lime sherbet and looks perfect with the pattern. The green is just the right color for new spring leaves. I am very happy that I practiced the pattern first because I feel very confident now. Hopefully I haven't jinxed myself!

Sock news -- Well, nothing really. I found some more sock yarn that I love at my LYS, The Needling Yarn. I really like the colors of the Cherry Tree Hill yarns. This one is called "Peacock" and how perfect is that? :) Now I just have to find a pattern for this gorgeous stuff. Perhaps Pomatomus?

I am still working on the Lonesome Skein KAL but I only seem to be adding to the stash recently. Not enough time and too much wonderful yarn.

Well, off to school tonight to turn in the last paper of the semester! Yea!