Alterknit Universe

Trip to Pennsylvania and "Daphne and Delilah"

2011-10-02T21:18:00.000-05:00

Well, I am back home from a week long visit in PA. Ron and I went down to visit my parents. Our original intention was to be there for the Bloomsburg Fair which is a favorite attraction of mine, ever since I was a kid. Ron has come to like it too and we were both looking forward to it. However mother nature had other plans.

A few weeks before the fair was to begin the rain started and then the flooding. And Bloomsburg became one of the hardest hit towns in the whole state. At one point twenty five percent of the town was underwater. While it was thought for a while after the flood water started to recede that the fair might still take place, the fair board made the wise decision to cancel. This was, I am fairly sure, the first time in the 157 year history of the fair that it was ever cancelled.

We still made the trip and got to visit family and friends which was great. But we also got to witness the damage that was done. Not only were basements and first floors flooded, but some of the hardest hit houses were actually swept right off their foundations by the force of the water. Some families abandoned their houses altogether while others have started the process of cleaning, repairing and rebuilding. It was really a sad sight to see and I am very thankful that my family was spared.

On a lighter note I got to make a fun present for a co-worker of mine. Well, actually for her daughter. I had been saying for a while that I wanted to make something for her so with her first birthday coming up the time was right. I decided to make her a "Daphne and Delilah" which is a momma and baby monster as designed by Rebecca Danger. My co-worker told me that her daughter's favorite color is yellow, so I made sure to incorporate a lot of it. I actually thought that the baby monster would probably be her favorite since it it all yellow, but she said that she actually carries the momma monster with her most of the time.

If you take a look at the original pattern on Ravelry or on Rebecca's site, you'll see that both of the monster's have pointier teeth than what I decided on. I just figured that for a one-year old, rounder teeth might look a little more friendly!

Well, I guess I'm off to bed. I have to head back to work tomorrow. While I have a little bit of that end-of-vacation blues I must say that I do really enjoy my work and it will be nice to see my co-workers again (yes, I consider myself to be one of the lucky people who actually has nice co-workers!).

LISTENING TO: Blondie - "Panic Of Girls"

One of Ron's favorite bands is Blondie. I myself have enjoyed a lot of Blondie's hits over the years, but before I met Ron I wasn't one to rush out and buy their albums. The one exception to this is Parallel Lines which was one of their most popular and one that I still really like. However in the five years that Ron and I have been together I have heard a lot more of Blondie than I would have on my own and I've come to like them even more. So we were both excited to hear the new material. The good news is that the new album is quite a nice surprise. The band sounds refreshed, full of energy and ready for the airwaves again, some three decades after they began. The first single off the album is "Mother." I've linked the video below so you can take a listen for yourself. It's hard to believe that Debbie Harry is 65!

Geet! Claude!

2011-09-22T22:11:00.000-05:00

A few projects ago I knit what has become one of my favorite "toy" projects. It's a "Geet" monster from Rebecca Danger's awesome Big Book Of Knitted Monsters. Now granted, I am an adult man, almost forty years old, but I love this little guy! What can I say, he just has so much personality! He has gone on road trips and camping trips with us. Here you can see him on our last camping trip having breakfast...

And later that night we snapped this shot of him warming himself by the fire...

He was such a big hit that I decided I better make one for Ron, as I think he was feeling a little left out as far as pet monsters went. So I had him look through the book and he picked "Claude." So I went to work and here's the final result...

The two of them get along well and recently went on a bike trip with us in Acadia National Park. Here they are on the way to the park in their cupholer/carseats...

And finally, here's a shot of Geet on the trail, safely strapped onto the back of the bike. He wasn't wearing a helmet, but the way he's sitting under the seat I guess that could work like a helmet?...

All in all, very fun little guys to knit. FYI, the only modification I made from the original patterns was to stitch the eyes on instead of using safety eyes...the eyes that I had would have looked too small on this size monster so I grabbed some black yarn and stitched these on in place of the plastic ones. But I think they came out quite nicely anyway!

Testing, testing...

2011-09-21T05:40:00.000-05:00

In an effort to expand the ways in which I can post to my blog I am trying out the ability to post via email. The thought is that if this works, I will be able to post from anywhere, at any time, and hopefully that will encourage me to post more frequently! Let's see...

Sent from my Palm Pixi on AT&T

The finished shawl...

2011-09-18T21:12:00.000-05:00

Well, the shawl has been done for a bit now, but I just haven't gotten around to posting the pictures, so here we go. This first shot is a mostly-over-all-view of the whole shawl.

This next one is a close-up of the top edge...

...and then the bottom "point."

This last one is a detail of the "lily of the valley" pattern.

I hope you enjoy seeing the pictures of the finished project and I hope it was worth the wait to see them! I have actually made 4 other items since then so I'll have lots of reasons to hop on here much sooner than later and get them posted!

LISTENING TO:

VEDA HILLE - "This Riot Life"

This album is a real beauty by one of Canada's finest singer/songwriters. It came about after a year of personal tragedy, the details of which are left unidentified by Veda herself. However following the impact from that year, Veda found her attention turning to her grandmother's copy of The Hymnary, a collection of traditional hymns printed in the 1930s. Six of the final album's tracks are based on hymns from this book. Most of them as they are altered in some way, though some are almost verbatim. While she defines herself as non-Christian, she found a power and intensity in the way that these songs channel ecstatic feeling. This may all sound a bit heavy or artsy, however it is handled with such skill that there is a real sense of joy and wonderment about the whole affair. Well worth a listen...click the image below to check out "Book Of Saints."

More On The Shawl

2011-06-07T07:50:00.001-05:00

The work continues on the Triangular Summer Shawl. The time that I've spent working on this has been busy, so the progress has been a little slower than I'd like. But unlike the previous shawl I made, this one starts at the top (shoulder) edge. So I am working on the longest rows first and decreasing my way down to the bottom-most, narrowest portion. I think that this makes progress feel slower, but in a sense I have gotten a good percentage of my total knitting done in this part.

I am just finished with the first of three charts for the main body of the shawl. After the next two charts, all I'll have to do is create a lace edge that will then be sewn (kitchener stitched) onto the lower body of the piece. Hopefully I'll make some good progress tomorrow which I have off all by myself!

The picture above shows where I'm at right now. It's interesting to see the lace in this state because it really doesn't look like much. But I'm excited to see how it looks when all is done and it's been blocked. It should be quite amazing!

For the love of "nupps"

2011-05-11T18:18:00.000-05:00

So I've already started my second shawl. It is the Triangular Summer Shawl from Nancy Bush's "Knitted Lace Of Estonia." I am making this as a gift for my partner's Mom, Nancy. Below is a picture of what the finished shawl will look like...

What I'm discovering with this project, and the last one, is that I'm really loving knitting lace. This is coming as a revelation to me as I avoided it for so long. I thought it would be too involved or fiddly. How would I keep track of where I am in the pattern? What if I drop a stitich? But by taking my time, learning the techniques involved and picking up tips from other knitters sharing their experience, I'm now wondering why I waited so long to try it?!

Part of what I'm really having fun with on this shawl is the inclusion of the "nupp" (rhymes with "soup"). A nupp is a bobble-like feature that adds depth and texture to the shawl. They are used frequently in Estonian shawls. In the case of this shawl in particular, it makes up part of "lily of the valley" pattern.

A traditional nupp is started on the front and finished on the back . It is made by knitting into a stitch but leaving it on the left needle. Then do a YO. Then knit again into the same stitch, then do a YO, etc. Your last stitch will be a knit stitch and you will end up with either 5, 7 or 9 loops (your pattern will tell you how many) on your right needle, all originating from the one stitch on the left needle. Then remove the stitch from the left needle and continue with the pattern as usual. When you turn your work and purl across the back you will be faced with those groupings of loops. You will need to "close" the nupp by purling all 5, 7 or 9 loops together. This can be a tricky maneuver if you've made those loops too tight. That is why you need to take care when making the nupp on the front side to not only keep the tension loose but actually pull the loops a little with your right needle. This will assure that they'll be loose enough to allow you to purl them together. Nancy Bush demonstrates how easy the technique can be in this video.

My first attempts at making nupps were not very fun. In fact it was plain time-consuming and frustrating. I found that is was almost impossible to get my right needle into all the loops. So I looked into how others were doing them and found that people have come up with all kinds of "cheats" to making nupps in different ways. Some use crochet hooks to close the nupp. Some close the nupp on the front side instead of waiting to do it on the back. Some slipped the first half of the stitches to the right needle, purled what was on the left and then slipped the remaining stitches over. These all produced similar looking nupps. But after watching Nancy's nupp lesson, I found that I was able to purl them together easily. And now that I can make them without any trouble, they have become a fun element that I look forward to. And I like knowing that I am making them in the traditional Estonian way.

Here is a sneak peak of where I am on the shawl now. I sorta sloppily pinned it out to show the pattern a bit and you can see how the nupps are beginning to form the lily of the valley pattern.

You will no doubt notice that I have two lifelines across the work. I suppose there is really no reason to have two, but it's a habit I've gotten into. When I get to the point that I am ready to add a new one, I take out the one that is further back and make it the newest lifeline. Though I hopefully will never suddenly realize that I had so many mistakes that I'd need to frog back to the second lifeline, I figure it certainly doesn't hurt to have that double protection...just in case...

Leaf Pattern Lace Shawl

2011-05-05T14:59:00.003-05:00

Hi there! Sorry it's been a while since my last post. But things have been busy, life moves at a fast pace, time flies when you're having fun, etc, etc, you know the routine...grin. What I've been doing with myself, knit-wise anyway, is working on a shawl for the last two months and it is now finished!

The pattern is the "Triangular Scarf in Leaf Pattern" by Nancy Bush from her book "Knitted Lace Of Estonia." It seems to be way too large and triangular to be considered a scarf to me but what do I know? In any case I made this for my Mom for Mother's Day and can't wait to deliver it to her. We are heading down to visit Mom and Dad in just over a week, so it will be a little late, but I'd much rather be able to give it to her in person than mail it down.

This is the first lace project I've worked on. I must say that it made me a little nervous at first. All those yarn overs, increases and decreases...how do you keep track of them all? But I found that with a little patience and practice I got pretty good at it and my comfort level increased. One thing that I would recommend is using a lifeline. It isn't mentioned in Nancy's book (unless I missed it...), but putting in a lifeline every six or eight rows was a life saver on a couple occassions.

As I was knitting along it was hard to imagine what the final project would look like. Granted, I had the pictures in the book, but my blob of bunched up yarn looked nothing like that. So I kept on knitting, keeping the faith that mine might end up looking like the beautiful piece of lace pictured alongside the pattern.

And lo and behold, it did! The blocking process was actually pretty cool and made much easier using the blocking wires I got from Knit Picks. I imagine it would have been much more time consuming and a harder task overall to have to pin out each individual point. But using the blocking wires, t-pins and some foam interlocking flooring squares that I got at a local discount store, I had it done in no time. And what a transformation! Actually I enjoyed making this shawl so much that I've already started on my next one. I'll post an update soon to show you how it looks so far. Til then...

Penelope!

2011-02-10T15:01:00.004-05:00

Well, the quilting and patchwork is still something I'm playing with, but I took a step back to knitting to make a present for a co-worker. She didn't really give me any clues as to what she would like so I chose to make her a Penelope monster by Rebecca Danger over at Danger Crafts. Mostly because I've just been wanting to make one for awhile now!

The monster turned out really nice and I didn't go off track too much while making it... Usually when I make something I do something wrong that I end up having to work around or fix in some way. It happened again with this one and was a simple mistake of not following the directions closely. I was supposed to work on placing the eyes BEFORE closing the bottom of the monster. Well I closed the monster up, put on the ears and feet and then said to myself, wait, how am I going to attach the safety eyes if I can't put the backs on them. D'oh! So I just decided to use embroidery thread to add the eyes. I also left off the round patch around one of the eyes because the brown color would have been too close to the black that I used to make the eyes. All in all I think it turned out pretty well. I especially like the bow that I made up out of some of the material I had for quilting.

So now that Penelope is finished and on her way to her recipient, I'm off to work on some more quilty stuff. I hope to have something to show you soon!

Trying something new...

2011-01-13T08:37:00.008-05:00

My great aunt was a quilter. Her work was beautiful, hand-pieced and hand-quilted. She made one for all of us nephews and nieces for our graduations plus many more that were given to friends and family. It was always something that I was interested in when I saw my great Aunt's quilting, but as a young boy I knew that I shouldn't be interested in it, that it was certainly something only girls did. Well, I'm an adult now and just like my knitting I have decided, to hell with it, if I'd like to try quilting I'm going to.

I'm starting with some small patchwork projects with the thought that someday I may tackle a whole quilt. So I got myself a couple of books. I found a few on Amazon, used and cheap, that were for quilting beginners. And I found a few at Joann's that were new but 40% off. And I found one more at Borders that I had a 50% off coupon for...what a deal! After reading through a lot of the information I decided to take my first project from this book:

And actually, the first project I made is the very one featured on the cover, a set of patchwork coasters. I started out by hand piecing all the coaster tops. I wanted to do this instead of machine piecing them to get a feel for how things are done by hand. Hand piecing was easy and enjoyable to do, but definitely more time consuming. For something of this scale it was not really an issue but I imagine that hand-piecing a whole quilt top would take considerably longer than doing it by machine.

The rest of the project I did by machine. This included sewing together the three layers of the coaster (the pieced top, the batting and the linen backing) and the quilting of the coasters themselves. I also used the sewing machine to make the coaster tray. This was a fun re-learning process because I really hadn't used a sewing machine since middle school Home-Ec class and it allowed me to figure out how everything works before moving on to something bigger.

The "I Love Patchwork" book is a great one for beginners as it is very detailed and teaches you everything you need to know along the way (with the exception of how to use a sewing machine). Though I will certainly not make even the majority of the 20+ projects presented, I know of at least 5 or 6 that I want to tackle. Not only are they well thought out and beautiful to look at, but they are also practical household items such as a placemat, napkin, pincushion, pillow, table runner, kitchen towel, etc...

So I may be taking a bit of a break from the yarn for a while, but I hope that in taking up patchwork I have found something that will not replace knitting but be a nice compliment to it. And I'm hoping that after a few smaller patchwork projects that I will be able to say that I am about to take on a quilt, one that would make Aunt Sarah proud...

Post-Christmas post

2010-12-28T22:22:00.002-05:00

How was everyone's holiday? We had a really nice one, spending time with Ron's family both Christmas eve and Christmas day. We managed to keep the gift exchange to a minimum which was great and just spent a lot of our time together visiting and eating...a lot...like everyone else. Next year we'll head to PA to spend the holiday with my parents which is what we did last year. It's kind of nice to alternate the holidays like that and that keeps all the parents happy!

We ended up getting both sets of parents a silly little gift that ended up being a big hit. It was a scalp massager that we got at Bed Bath & Beyond for a whopping $4. It looks pretty much like a whisk with the bottom end cut off leaving a bunch of wire hanging down from the handle. The ends of these wires are coated with rubber.

You then hold it by the handle and press it down onto the scalp. It opens up as you press down and you use it to 'tingle' your scalp. It's actually a pretty fun little gadget and for what ended up being a last minute addition to their packages it was the one that got the most attention. If you're interested in checking them out they do sell them on Amazon as well. Just click here... (and no, I am in no way affiliated with Amazon, nor do I get a kickback...in case you were wondering!)

Knitwit!

2010-12-18T12:20:00.002-05:00

The other day Ron and I headed out to the grocery store and on the way there I mentioned that I had just been emailed a 50% off coupon for Borders. Borders is right next door and I hadn't been to browse the knitting books in a while. And a 50% off coupon is pretty rare, so I thought I might as well at least take a look. Well, it definitely paid off as I found the new toy book "Knitwit" by Katie Boyette (FYI: the following images are not mine. They are all the property of Katie Boyette and have been used by me to show what can be found in the book).

Katie's designs are great. They run the gamut from traditional creatures such as a bird (albeit a make-believe one)...

...a lobster, an elephant, owls...

....and a ninja...

...to totally original creatures like a vampiric panda...

...a cyclops dressed in a bunny suit...

...and numerous monsters including a rather forlorn-looking yeti...

As you can see she makes a lot of the creature's faces using felt that is cut out and then stitched on giving them a lot of expression. I can't wait to get started on one of these guys, but can't decide which one to pick. Stay tuned to find out which one it'll be!

New music...

2010-12-15T18:19:00.004-05:00

I've gotten interested in a new, up-and-coming artist. Her name is Aly Spaltro but she goes by the band name of Lady Lamb The Beekeeper. She used to live in the next town over from mine but has just moved to NYC to pursue her music full time. I knew her, kind of, because she worked at the independent DVD store in town, but sadly I didn't even know of her music until after her move.

In a time of such artificial and label-dictated music, she is refreshingly herself, real and sincere in what she does. If you HAD to give her music a label I would lean towards folky-rock with some similarity to Cat Power, more by chance than design.

If you would like to check her out, you can find her on Youtube, her website, and for a limited time you can buy her first two albums here. They are titled "The Tingly Circus" and "Someday We Will Levitate." She has decided to post these for only two weeks, so get 'em while you can!

Here are a couple of videos you can check out...enjoy!

Maddox

2010-12-04T23:55:00.000-05:00

Well, there's been a slight delay on the aforementioned project so that I could make a house-warming present for a friend. The present just so happens to be a monster by the ever-talented and lovely Rebecca Danger. I've added a picture below so you could see what I've been working on...I've been busy, really I have!

Maddox was very fun to knit and I'm sure he'll be welcomed in his new home.

Tomorrow finds Ron and me helping a different friend move, so probably not much knitting on the horizon until next week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!

Mystery project

2010-11-21T22:54:00.004-05:00

Today I started work on a new project. Like the Mini Banana, it's a two-piece pattern. As of this evening I have one of those two parts done and I couldn't be happier with how it came out. Now I'll need to do a little brainstorming on how to make the second part and make sure it fits with the first. Sound mysterious? Well hopefully it won't take too long to complete and the mystery will be over soon.

In other news, Ron and I took a trip to some of the local flea markets late this morning. We both enjoy poking around and seeing what we might be able to find. Though today's trip didn't unearth any treasures, we still had a good day browsing and had some great pizza for lunch. Fun!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

This is just bananas...

2010-11-14T17:14:00.009-05:00

Well, I had so much fun with the Mini Eggplant that I decided to attempt designing something else. But I was fairly stumped and unsure what to make next. And then it came to me and what I ended up with was this Mini Banana. I'm really happy with how it turned out and hope you give it a try. Just follow the link below for the pattern. By the way, if you do make one and you are on Ravelry, please post a pic of your project...I'd love to see it!

Here's the pattern for the Mini Banana

Mini Eggplant

2010-11-11T09:40:00.009-05:00

Well, after a long period of inactivity in the blogging world, I'm back. Guess I can't stay away!

I've recently developed a sudden interest in developing my own patterns and would like to share them with other interest knitters. In fact, I have one to share with you today for a mini eggplant!

Here's the pattern for the Mini Eggplant

I hope that you give it a try. If you do, please let me know how you make out. Is the pattern easy to follow? Are the instructions clear? Are there any mistakes that I missed in typing it up? Please let me know your thoughts and comments, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Vespergyle Mittens

2010-01-09T18:06:00.005-05:00

I've been working on a pair of Vespergyle mittens. The pattern is by Elinor Brown and they have a two-color stranded "argyle" pattern. This is probably only the second pair of mittens I have made and maybe the second or third colorwork project I've done.

At this point I have one mitten finished and the other one started, maybe 25% done. I’ve learned over the course of the first mitten that something very simple can make a dramatic difference in the look of your finished fabric. Let me explain how this relates to these mittens…

I haven’t done too much two-color knitting yet, but when I do I hold one strand in each hand. While knitting this mitten, I didn’t pay much attention to what yarn I was holding in what hand and didn't imagine it mattered. The pattern started out great, showing the “X” in each diamond of the argyle pattern very well. However somewhere along the way, things started going wrong.

If you take a look at the pictures of the whole glove, you can see there are some dark colored diamonds where the “X” is almost non-existent, having sunk into the fabric (see the orange circled area for a good example of this). I couldn’t figure out why this was happening and decided to do a little research. And at my local bookstore, I found the answer.

I picked up Margaret Radcliffe’s “The Essential Guide To Color Knitting Techniques.” On pages 152-153 she discusses positioning the yarns. She shows how something as seemingly trivial as which yarn is held in which hand can change the outcome of your finished work.

By reading this and with a little experimenting, I learned that I need to hold in my left hand the “foreground” yarn, or, in this case, the one which will be forming the “X”s in each diamond. That allows the “X” to show up boldly and not to disappear into the design (See how even the pattern looks on the upper third of the glove). I’m not totally sure I understand the technical side of it of why this works, but I’ll type in the paragraph that really helped me.

“The stitches made with the lower strand (held on the left) are just a bit taller than the stitches made with the higher strand (held on the right). When the foreground pattern is worked with the lower yarn, these stitches are more prominent and stitches neighboring each other diagonally actually touch so the pattern looks continuous. If the foreground color is worked with the higher yarn, then it is less prominent and diagonal stitches appear to be slightly separated. Be careful not to change the yarn position in the course of your project, because the change can be very noticeable.” Also see the accompanying photo below.

This was great info, however I realized that with this pattern of alternating foregrounds (“the X”s that I need to stand out) I DID have to change the hand I was holding the yarn in. So each time I finished working on the “X” of one color, I would need to switch the yarns to opposite hands so that the new, opposite color “X” would stand out prominently. This was one of those great knitting “A-Ha!” lessons that will stick with me and surely come in handy as I continue my color work.

What I’m doing to make the “X”s work for me, may not work for everyone working this pattern. There are most certainly some other small factors coming in to play too. But I did want to pass this information on and make others aware that some fine tuning to your technique can clearly make or break how things will look when it comes to two-color knitting.

What this all means, though, is that I may decide to rip out the first mitten back to the top of the thumb gore so I can ‘fix’ the sunken “X”s. I don’t think I’ll be happy with them otherwise. It’s a bit of extra work, but something I’ll certainly appreciate once all is said and done.

That being said, onward ho!

New Knitting Bag!

2009-12-14T19:56:00.002-05:00

A week or so ago, Ron and I were at a local discount/salvage store called Ocean State Job Lots (it's similar to Mardens, Ollies and other such stores...). While we were there Ron noticed that they had a knitting bag. Well, not technically a knitting bag, but a "General Tote" that would work really well as a knitting bag. I checked it over and it looked pretty nice, not to mention the price was right at $10. So I snagged it and I'm really glad I did. It has so many pockets, inside and out, that I'm still finding them! I like that I am able to fit everything that I need in it. While it would make a nice take-along crafting bag, I imagine that I'll use it mostly at home, to contain all the yarn, needles, rulers, etc, that are usually floating all over the coffee table. Here's a pic of what it looks like.

I was going to take some pictures of it, but took the lazy route and looked online instead. I found the one above. The actual bag is identical to the one I have, though the box in this picture is labeled as a Quilter's Tote. Now that I have mine, I was thinking it would be nice to get one for my Mom who has gotten involved in sock knitting recently, but has been knitting in general for a long time. However, it seems like they aren't making these bags anymore. Damn. If I get back to the store and they still have any, I'll be sure to get one more.

LISTENING TO: Elizabeth Fraser - "Moses"

I was very excited to find this single on iTunes a couple of days ago. It has been such a long time since Cocteau Twins called it quits and despite some guest vocals here and there, Liz Fraser has been pretty quiet. Which is a shame as she has one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard. So it was a real treat to find out she's still making music. Could this mean a solo album could be in the works? I've got my fingers crossed!! Hit the Play button above to take a listen...

The finished Octopus!

2009-12-05T17:27:00.006-05:00

Well, the octopus is now complete. It didn't even take all that long. Probably the most laborious part of the whole process was making the eight tentacles, but even those weren't hard, just a bit repetitive by the time you get to the last couple. I love that he has the pipe cleaners in his legs making him pose-able. I think he might actually look kind of limp and sad otherwise!

I have made a lot of different crocheted (and a few knitted) Amigurumi, but never kept one for myself. So this was going to be the one. However, he kind of decided, all on his own, that he wanted to live atop the water tower on Ron's train layout. That way he can wreak havoc on all the unsuspecting citizens there. And that's ok with me. I can go visit him whenever I want.

On a non-knitting note, I have been totally drawn into the web of pop-hooks spun by non other than Lady Gaga. I managed to resist her for about a year now, but finally gave in and let The Fame into my psyche. I must say that it is a catchy disc and her follow-up, The Fame Monster, while a bit darker, is just as good. Now if I could just get the songs out of my head!

Speaking of music, I used to do a "Listening To:" thing at the end of each post, and with my extended break, got out of the habit. That being said, it was fun for me to share what I had going in iTunes or on the iPod at the moment. I often heard from others who had similar taste in music and got a few tips on bands that I ended up really liking. So, I think this may be the time to resurrect that little section. Here goes...

LISTENING TO: MANSUN - "Kleptomania"

Mansun was a great band from the UK. They started out in 1995 and ended up releasing a series of four EPs before their first proper album, "Attack of the Grey Lantern." The single "Wide Open Space" was the first thing I heard from them and I was hooked from that point on. They eventually disbanded in 2003 after 14 EPs and 3 albums. They were in the process of recording their fourth album when they decided to call it quits. Fans petitioned and those recordings were finally released as "Kleptomania." Here's a live video of the song that started it for me...

Octopus

2009-11-25T18:40:00.003-05:00

Well, after a bit of a delay with being down sick with the flu for a week, I'm back with an update! I'm currently working on the Octopus pattern by Hansi Singh. It appears in her "Amigurumi Knits" book. Now I am making it quite a bit smaller than called for in the book after seeing it done that way by a fellow Ravel-er. So instead of a worsted weight yarn on size 5 needles, I'm using sock yarn on size 1 needles. It should be quite cute when it's done. Here are some pics of the progress so far. This first one shows a few of the tentacles knit, but not seamed.

This second picture shows the tentacles all knit, seamed and with pipe cleaners inserted. The pipe cleaners will make the legs fully pose-able!

And here are the tentacles all joined in the round. This is the view of the bottom.

This is all I have to show so far, but I'm working on the head, so it shouldn't be too long til this little guy is done.

Well, off to the kitched to start on the holiday cooking, but before I go, here's a wish to all of you...hoping you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Little Sky Sock

2009-11-08T21:15:00.002-05:00

Well, I got Cat Bordhi's "New Pathways For Sock Knitters" a while ago and I decided it was time to try something from it. So I did the logical thing and made the first project in it, the "Little Sky Sock," which is a small-scale learning sock. It is meant to teach you the basic techniques you'll need to know in order to make a full size version of the same style sock.

This all seemed fine and good but then I wondered what I would do with this one, lone sock. Then it dawned on me that my co-worker/friend's brother is having twins. So I have made a pair of these socks. I will also be making a pair from the "Little Coriolis" pattern, which is another learning sock.

This will work out well since I will get plenty of practice on two diferent types of "sockitectures" and I will have two gifts when I'm done. Nice!

So here is a look at the first pair of socks. It's not the best picture because I took it under artifical light. But I wanted to get this posted while I had time tonight, so it'll have to do for now. I made these both today and they were very fun to make, different than other socks that I have made and knit up quickly. I'm looking forward to making a full-size pair with some of the new sock yarn that I just got!

Spooky!

2009-10-23T20:45:00.000-05:00

Here's a scary (well...) Zombie that I made for Ron, the biggest Zombie fan that I know. Though he's not very frightening, he is awfully cute...the zombie that is...well, Ron too!

Sock #1

2009-10-17T20:21:00.001-05:00

Here is one of the socks that I'm knitting currently. That is to say, this is the first, finished one. I have the other one on the needles now and am about half way done with it. The yarn I'm using is anyones guess. It some that I've had around for well over a year and the labels are gone. The pattern is the Simple Sock from Cat Bordhi's "Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles" however I decided not to carry the ribbing down the leg and left it as a simple cuff.

In other news, I've become fairly active on Ravelry...finally. I was signed up before, but never even filled out my profile. Mostly as a way to look for patterns. So when reminded by Amanda to check it out, I decided to! So now I've got pictures of a lot of my projects, have my 'library' of books listed, and have joined a couple of 'groups.' If you'd like to find and/or 'friend' me on there, look for me as KenInMaine.

Amigurumi KNITS

2009-10-13T08:05:00.002-05:00

In response to Dave's wish that there were more Amigurumi patterns for knitters...there are! They're gathered together in a book called Amigurumi Knits by Hansi Singh. I just picked the book up on Knit Picks for 40% off during their fall book sale. In actuality this is probably technically more of a knitted toy book than Amigurumi, which tend to be much smaller and less complex. Nevertheless, the patterns are incredible. The jackalope pattern alone is worth the price of the book. Though I haven't gotten a chance to make any yet, this is already my favorite knitting book (of the moment anyway...). I hope to delve into some of the projects soon, though I have a couple pairs of socks lined up first. So for any knitters who've been wanting to try their hand at Amigurumi, or toys in general, here's your chance!

A great weekend...

2009-10-11T22:05:00.001-05:00

Just wrapping up a nice weekend off.

Yesterday Ron and I took the convertible for one last spin and got some leaf-peeping in while we were at it. It was slightly chilly, but overall, very nice. Today was spent on yardwork and getting the roof tapes on the front of the house. Last winter's snow lead to ice which lead to ice dams which lead to water in the house. So we're hoping this will take care of things. And with the potential for snow at the end of the week, we got it done just in time!

Here's another present I made for a co-worker, our beloved Dr. Lyn. I decided to surprise her on her birthday with this little guy.

Has anyone been following the innovative knitting work of Cat Bordhi? I've gotten a few of her books recently and am excited to dive into some of her patterns, especially those from her two most recent sock books. I'd be interested to hear any feedback if you've tried either.

More critters

2009-10-06T07:38:00.004-05:00

Because we all like to show off our work, I wanted to post a few more pictures of the Amigurumi that I've made over the past year. Two of them are the Amineko, or crocheted cat from the original Japanese pattern. I've made three of these now in different colors as presents for people. It's a fun project and while most Amigurumi are fairly rigid due to their tightly constructed gauge, I like that this one is poseable due to the long floppy appendages.

The one that I've made most recently is a seen below. He went to my good friend Karen who collects giraffes. She LOVED him which made us both very happy! He was very fun to make due to the unique way the legs are made separately and then joined together in a round to start the shaping of the body. The pattern for him can be purchased on Ravelry.

The Toy Society

2009-10-04T22:23:00.002-05:00

Has anyone heard of The Toy Society? Here is a description from their website:

"The Toy Society spreads the love throughout the streets of the world. Nothing to it really just a bunch of handmade toys looking for a nice home.

What started as a small street art project in Australia is slowly spreading around the world.

Should you come across a member of The Toy Society on your travels collect them up and take them home with you! But don't forget to let us know about it here."

I guess the premise is that you make a small toy (knit, crochet, sewn, etc...) and leave it in a public place. You attatch a sticker to it that says "Take Me Home" with The Toy Society's web address. The person who takes it is then asked to go online and post that they've picked the toy up and given in a home. It's a kind of feel-good project for you and them. I'm thinking I'll give it a try and see what happens. Anyone with me?

Amigurumi obsessed!

2009-10-02T19:25:00.007-05:00

Well, in the time that I've been away I've ended up making a lot of amigurumi. In case you haven't yet heard of them, they are small crocheted/knitted toys. I think technically to be called amigurumi the item should be crocheted, but the term seems to be becoming less restrictive and includes knitted toys now too. Over the next couple of posts I'll share some of what I've made.

One of the first things I made was a penguin. My coworker's Mom collects penguins, so it was a nice first item and gave me some practice before moving on to the bigger (though actually not harder) cat (which you can see in a post below).

To make these I had to learn how to crochet, but that was actually an easy task. To make amis you really only need to know one stitch, a single crochet...and then how to increase and decrease. That's basically it. A few of the patterns I've seen call for a few other stitches, but they are easily learned.

Another little guy that I made was for a coworker who loves frogs. I scoured the internet in search of a nice frog pattern and couldn't find one. But what I did come across was a set of pictures for a teddy bear with a frog hat. It was really cool, but the person who posted the pictures didn't include a pattern. So I thought, what the heck, I'll try coming up with my own version by using the pictures as a guide. And this is what I came up with. Pretty cool!

Currently I'm working on some socks (for me) and a hat for another co-worker (hmmm, it seems like my co-workers are keeping me busy, doesn't it?). And I just got some of Cat Bordhi's books and am very excited to dive into some of the projects, socks and otherwise...her patterns are very interesting, new perspectives on traditional items.

For now, a good night to you all!

Testing, testing...

2009-10-01T13:35:00.001-05:00

Is anyone still out there? Should anyone still be, since I haven't posted anything in a year! Jeez, what's wrong with me? I've been working on some fun stuff and would like to share, so I'm thinking it's time to get posting again. I hope there's someone left out there to see it! See you again very soon! Ken

Hi All!

2008-10-27T07:15:00.009-05:00

Wow, I've been absent for quite a while now! The last few months have been busy with camping, kayaking, work, life. Haven't been blogging...shame on me. Blogging seems to come to me "in fits and starts." I've actually thought about just stopping, but came to the conclusion that I'll just post when I can and hopefully you'll still be here to see!

I have recently taught myself to crochet. I have always been drawn to knitting and never really liked the look of crochet. I remember seeing my grandmother crochet afghans, and true to the 'granny' squares she was making, I've always had the idea that crochet looks very granny-ish. But something changed my mind.

I was looking for a pattern for a knit animal to make as a present for a friend. I search online and though there are quite a few, the ones that were the cutest (which was the goal in this case!) were the crocheted Amigurumi. These are small crocheted toys with origins in Japan and tend to have the low, wide set eyes and overly cute features seen in a lot of Japanese pop culture (think Hello Kitty...).

So I taught myself to crochet and it was really just to make some Amigurumi and that's it. I don't think I'll use it for anything else, but I will use it quite a bit for making these cute little toys.

I did end up making a penguin. The pattern was taken from Ana Paula Rimoli's book, "Amigurumi World." (You can see what the penguin looks like in the upper right hand corner of the book cover)

After that I got a little more ambitious and made a bigger toy, an Amineko (toy cat) from a Japanese designer. He is a present for my Mom for her birthday and is winging his way (via the USPS) to her as I type this. I thought I'd share a couple of pics so you could see what I've been up to.

Hope all is well with everyone and I hope to be posting again soon!

Not much knitting...

2008-06-26T20:39:00.009-05:00

Well, as the title of this posts suggests, there hasn't been too much knitting going on. The weather here has been pretty warm/hot and we've been spending a lot more time outdoors working in the yard, going hiking, etc. I do have the sock started that I mentioned in my last post, but I haven't gotten a pic of it yet. I'll try to do that soon as I'm quite pleased with the Fair Isle.

So other than the knitting, we have been quite busy. Here are some pics (presented in no real logical order or fashion) to show what we've been up to. This is a shot of our two cats in their new outdoor enclosure.

They used to be outdoor cats but we were worried about them being out near the road and traffic. So we decided to build them a 'pen' that they could access whenever they wanted through a window in our basement. Though I don't have a shot of the whole thing, you can see that they are adapting well to their new outdoor experience.

This is a shot of a butterfly that I took in Newry, Maine which is near the New Hampshire border. It's where we were when we were visiting Grafton Notch State Park (for a second time!) and this little guy was just posing there, waiting for his picture to be taken!

Here is another little creature. He was running around while we were taking a break on Table Rock which is the summit of the mountain we had just climbed. He apparently has quite a racket going on, begging from hikers who stop here for a bite to eat before descending.

Not to mention that this is his view...not too bad, eh?

After the hike, we drove in to Rangeley to take a look around and the town was covered with lupines! To see them covering huge fields, all that deep purple, dotted with pinks and whites is pretty breathtaking! I had to stop and take a couple pictures, of which this is a favorite.

And speaking of flowers, I have recently gotten pretty interested in orchids. I have actually had two orchids for a while now, a phalaenopsis and a dendrobium, both of which I got at Home Depot on clearance. The were marked down because they had both just bloomed and I decided I would take them on and get them to bloom again. Well that was about a year and a half ago. And though they haven't done too awful much during that time, I never gave up hope that they would one day bloom. Well today, all that patience was rewarded with the first sign of a flower spike peaking out from beneath one of the large leaves. I was beyond excited which I know sounds ridiculous if you haven't gone through it yourself, but trust me, it was a big moment! Here is a shot of the new growth, but you'll have to look closely, it's very small. It shows up in the picture as almost white against the green, between the stalk and first leaf on the left side.

I'll surely post more pics of it as it's growing for any other orchid enthusiasts out there. I'll also show you full shots of the two orchids that I mentioned above along with my two latest additions, both Cattleyas. I know I still have a lot to learn about them, but I am enjoying reading about them and (at least for now being good and only) visiting them at the local garden centers.

LISTENING TO: THE CARDIGANS - Super Extra Gravity

I've been a fan of The Cardigans, ever since I first heard "Carnival" from their excellent Life CD. Though they've gone through quite a few changes in direction through the years, showing growth and maturity, they continue to deliver solid melodies and smart lyrics along with Nina's smooth-as-silk vocals. Here is a favorite from their newest album called "I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer."

Grafton Notch

2008-06-07T20:28:00.020-05:00

Hi everyone! We had such a fun day today! We decided to go somewhere neither of us had gone before, which in this case was Grafton Notch State Park in western Maine. Ron read about it in the literature we got with our State Park Pass which is what prompted our interest in the first place.

We started the day out with breakfast here at home (veggie omelets!) and then packed up a cooler with food and water. We recently got a GPS while we were on our visit to my parents in PA so we didn't even need a map...just plugged in our destination and away we went! The ride there was nice, very scenic and took about two hours.

The first place we stopped when we got there was Screw Auger Falls. It was basically a picnic area situated along a beautiful stream with cascading waterfalls such as the one below.

After that we headed up the road to Mother Walker Falls where we did some off-path exploring of our own. It was a lot of fun and we probably got to see a lot of things that the average person wouldn't. This is a cool waterfall that ran kinda behind and under some large boulders and this is where it came out.

The next place we stopped at was Moose Cave. There was an actual cave there that had a river (well, creek...) running through it. It was so named for the unfortunate moose that fell into it long ago. You couldn't enter the cave but you could look down into it and see the water. At that same stop they had an area you walked through called the Moss Garden. It featured a couple different kinds of moss including this cool Reindeer Moss which was very stiff and in a way resembled coral.

The last part of our visit was to take a hike though the beautiful forests of Maine. The path that we took started with the Eyebrow Trail. Let me state here that we rather foolishly didn't look into the difficultly level of this trail before starting it. And if we had we might not have done it. But we did do it, and at least in this case, all's well that ends well. It started innocently enough as a level path through the woods, very nice scenery. Then we come to a stone staircase...

...which we head up. The incline was a nice change of pace from the beginning part of the trail. But as we're going along we realize that the incline isn't leveling out. We just keep heading up! And not only that, but it's getting steeper! Here's Ron as we've come to an area so steep that there is a guide wire to grip.

Then there was the next part with the ladder(!)...

..and then the oversized metal staples that someone helpfully pounded into the stone.

At this point we were about an hour into the hike and were were wondering if we had bit off a bit more than we could chew! But we had food and water with us and the weather was beautiful and being two moderately fit young(ish) men, we decided to trudge on.

We're really glad we did, because not too long after that we were rewarded at the top of the mountain with some extraordinary views...

The path then headed back down the mountain and at this point joined the Appalachian Trail! So we got to walk a mile of that which seemed very cool in a historic kinda way.

Here's a shot of Ron crossing one of the foot bridges along the trail...

After all the hiking, which took us two hours, we were pretty hungry. So we headed back to our first stop and made use of the picnicking facilities. And from there made our way back home. Overall it was a great day and we'll surely be heading back again for some more hiking...maybe some easier trails this time, though...

On the knitting front, I am working on a pair of socks from Charlene Schurch's "Sensational Knitted Socks." These are my first big intarsia project and I'll have more info on that including a picture or two in the next post.

LISTENING TO: GOSSIP - "Standing In The Way Of Control"

I was first introduced to Gossip on Charles' blog. This trio from the northwestern US rocks. An awesome mix of punk ideals and soulful vocals...something you might think wouldn't work well together, but they manage to pull it off. Check out the video for the title track.

Skull cap!

2008-05-22T05:34:00.008-05:00

Here is a quick picture post...this is a Skull Cap that I made for Ron. I wanted to make something that I could do in one or two sittings, something quick and satisfying after the long process of making the sweater. So I combined two patterns and made this hybrid hat. Not too shabby, eh?!

I haven't had a chance to post any pics from vacation yet, but I'll do that soon, hopefully during this long holiday weekend. More soon!

The Sweater...It's Done!!!

2008-05-09T18:22:00.003-05:00

As I type, we're in the process of packing for a trip to PA (we leave tomorrow morning for a visit to my Mom and Dad), so I'll keep this one short. But I couldn't help but take a moment to let you know that, at long last, the sweater I was making for Ron is done! I've posted some pics below (of Ron modeling, nonetheless) so you could see how it turned out. See you when we get back on Thursday!

This a close up of how the sweater fits together...see how the sleeves carry up over the shoulders and even onto the front and back? Pretty cool, huh?

Beautiful Weather

2008-04-27T10:59:00.012-05:00

This past week was a gorgeous one here in Maine. Ron had off the whole week (he has tons more vacation time than I do) but I was able to take Friday off for a long weekend. On Friday we spent most of the day working on the small "pond" in the backyard. The pond is a simple round tub of black plastic. Though it's not much to look at on it's own, it was already in place in the ground and we thought we'd see what we could do with it. That basically meant landscaping around it. Though it is not done yet, here is a look at what we have been able to do so far.

This is pretty much the blank slate we started with. However you can see the first part of the rock garden to come behind the pond.

This is a closeup of the first piece that we constructed for the rock garden. It has a mini rhododendron in the middle with some moss fitted into the cracks as well as some 'hens and chicks.'

This shows the same corner, but expanded to include some more plants including a curly-needled mugo pine to the left along with some more moss. There is still some more work to be done, like adding some flowering and/or trailing ground cover. But we'll have to wait until we're sure we're out of frost danger to do that which may be a few weeks yet.

On Saturday, with the sun and blue skies above, we hopped in the convertible and headed a short distance to the nature trails at Bradley Pond. This was the first that either of us had been on these trails even though they are just a few miles from home. It's a nice walk, some of it in the woods, some along hay fields and some along the shores of Bradley Pond itself. Here's a pic I took of Ron resting along the way.

Since it was such an exceptionally nice day and we wanted to get outside a bit more, we headed down to Popham Beach. Well, not to the beach itself, but right 'next door' to Fort Baldwin. The fort, to quote the Wikipedia, is "a coastal defense land battery near the mouth of the Kennebec River" which "was constructed between 1905 and 1912." It was the first time I had been there and it was very cool to see.

Here is the sign that welcomes you to the fort itself. No horses allowed!

Battery Cogan is the first building that you come to after climbing up hill. The room/tower at the top of the structure allowed soldiers to overlook and keep watch on the water below.

Here I am taking a rest. Though the sky was a beautiful blue, the weather was still a little cool, hence the sweater.

Battery Hardman is the third of the buildings that comprise the fort. You can see the chimneys that rise out of the top of the grassed-over roof. Most of the rooms in the fort had a nice brick fireplace.

The tall and imposing looking building below is the Fire Control Tower. While this is usually open to the public, we were there a few weeks before the official open of the site, so we didn't get to climb to the top.

However the picture below was taken from ground level, at the edge of the hill, looking down on the mouth of the Kennebec River and Popham itself.

LISTENING TO: Belly - "Star"

My friend Barb and I played this one to death when it first came out. It compiled most of the three EPs that Tanya Donelly released as Belly after her exit from Throwing Muses. They were all a great indication/teaser for the direction she was taking for the ultimate release of "Star." Despite the consistently high quality of the songwriting and overall catchiness, most people only remember the especially radio-friendly "Feed The Tree."

Looking for Veda Hille

2008-04-19T06:40:00.004-05:00

I am sending out a quick post today which is a pleading request for help finding Veda Hille's first two releases. The first is called "Songs about People and Buildings" and was released on cassette. The second is called "Path Of A Body." Both of these are out of print so I am unable to simply purchase them. If anyone happens to have one or both and is willing to do some kind of trade for a copy of one or both, please let me know! Thanks for any help!!

Busy Beavers!

2008-04-17T20:18:00.007-05:00

Well, it's been well over a week since my last post, but not without reason. We have been very busy with spring cleanup and some light construction on top of all the normal day-to-day stuff.

To start with, the weather has finally turned warmer (high 50s, low 60s) so we've been out cleaning up the yard...picking up some fallen branches that were knocked down by the winter storms, raking up the last of the leaves from last fall that got buried under the early snow, and clearing the salt and sand that got deposited on the edge of the lawn from all the winter storms. With the exception of some "scars" from the plow digging up some sod here and there, things look pretty good! We also made some changes, like moving the compost pile to another area of the back yard and arranging some low stone circles out front to be used as flower beds.

Last Sunday was especially nice (considering the time of the year anyway...) so we decided on the spur of the moment to tackle a project that we've been thinking of for some time which is adding stairs to the back porch. Well, it already had some, but we removed some things, added others and generally improved everything! Below is a picture tour of what we did on Sunday.

This is the first picture I took, but before it was taken the railing was removed from the edge opposite the door and a set of steps was removed from where Ron is standing.

Here goes the addition of the first set of stairs, the width of the whole porch...

Here they are, complete. Notice the empty ground where Ron is kneeling...

...which will soon have this unfinished extension of the deck on it...

Here it is in place with the new and improved stairs on the narrow edge of the porch.

And here you can see where we ended. All the stairs are done including the diagonal edge which was a pain. Today we put the final touches on the stairs by adding kick boards so you can't see through to the space underneath. Our next warm day off, we'll be power washing the whole deck and giving it a fresh coat of paint. We're very happy with how it turned out and know that we'll get a lot of use out of it...not only for its intended use, but also as extra seating when company visits this summer as well as spots for plants and flowers!

As for the sweater, it's coming along, a little slow but sure. I am probably 80-85 percent done at this point. My goal is to have it done before our trip to visit my parents in PA in three weeks. We'll see how I do!

LISTENING TO: Jill Sobule - "Underdog Victorious"

A great little album from Jill. More of her fantastic melodies mixed with her tradmark wit and melancholy. I love what she does with Chicago's "Saturday in the Park" to make her own song "Cinnamon Park."

Saturday Workday

2008-04-05T05:37:00.009-05:00

Today is Saturday, one of the Saturdays that falls into my every other week rotation of having to work. I actually don't mind this and Ron happens to have the same Saturday-On, Saturday-Off schedule. On the weeks where I work Saturday I get a day off during the week which has it's own charms. This has it's advantages and gives me time to pay bills and do errands with businesses that are closed on the weekend. It is also a nice day to go for groceries instead of during the weekend rush.

Then tonight we have been invited to our friend's house for a bonfire. They own a campground on the coast of Maine and during the spring they clean up brush and fallen branches from the campsites for the upcoming camping season. Then in order to get rid of it all, they have a bonfire or two. While it's still a little crisp, it'll be fun to hang around the fire and catch up with friends, maybe have a treat (er...drink) or two...

LISTENING TO: Paul McCartney - "McCartney II"

My friend and co-worker Sandi is a big music fan like myself, but she is especially and without a doubt a huuuuge Paul McCartney fan. She has loved him since she was a wee lass and The Beatles hit it big. She's even gotten to see him live three times! Over the months that we're worked together we've gotten to indulge in lots of great music talk and music sharing. So it was inevitible that I would eventually give Paul a try. She recommended I try listening to a couple of his solo albums. So I started with "Ram" and "McCartney II," two of her favorites. I'll be honest with you, I wasn't sure I was going to like them as I usually tend to steer away from anything overtly commercial (with a few exceptions, of course...). Plus I have tried listening to The Beatles many times and have never gotten into them. I certainly appreciate their undeniable impact on music as a whole, but sitting down and listening to a Beatles album isn't for me. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much I'm enjoying these two albums. They both feature a lot of experimental and just plain odd tracks which is right up my alley. I imagine songs like "Temporary Secretary" and "Check My Machine" annoying the hell out of the general public (which is always an endearing quality for me when it comes to music. Hence my fascination with music that would generally be considered Uneasy Listening and would send your average Joe running from the room...artists like Diamanda Galas, Melt-Banana, Happy Flowers, Droop, and God Is My Co-Pilot are long-time favorites in this category!).

Update...

2008-04-04T05:11:00.004-05:00

Kylie did not show up on Ellen yesterday, but I've heard that she will be on April 7th instead...we'll see... And she is apparently going to be on American Idol on the 9th! Her appearance on Craig Ferguson by the way was great. She and Craig bantered playfully and "All I See" sounded much better (and she looked more comfortable) than she did on "Dancing With The Stars."

Ron and I made a trip to Bangor yesterday to go to the dentist. For those of you unfamiliar with Maine, that's almost two hours from where we live. But when you find a good dentist, one that has a great demeanor and staff, you're willing to travel! All went well, and from there we had lunch at Bagel Central and did a little shopping before heading home. Then we took a nice walk in the sun(!), did yoga and settled in for a movie, "Monster House." A nice day off!

Kylie all over the place!

2008-03-31T20:44:00.018-05:00

(the above picture, from the Homecoming tour, is not a great shot of Kylie per se...however it does show off some of her scantily clad male dancers, and was therefore chosen as a nod to Sean...if you frequent his site, Wool Gatherer, you'll get why...hehehee)

Well, this is a big week for Kylie fans as she is in the states promoting the US release of her tenth album "X". For those fellow fans out there, I've done a little research and found the following shows that she'll be appearing on.

3/31: The Today Show: This one's a little late, but Kylie was interviewed this morning by Matt Lauer. Why she didn't sing we may never know...

4/01: Kylie performs on tonight's "elimination" episode of Dancing With The Stars. I don't regularly tune in to the show, but from what I hear the musical guests get to do two songs? If that's the case I'm betting on the first US single, "All I See," and hopefully "Wow."

04/02: In what seems to be her only Late-Night appearance, Ms. Minogue will be on The Late-Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Yeah, it's on late-late, but he's funny and she's worth it!

04/03: On Thursday Kylie shows up on The Ellen Degeneres Show! Should be big fun!

If you know of any other places she'll be showing up, please leave us a note in the comments!

LISTENING TO: The B-52's - "Funplex"

In other music news, I picked up the new B-52's album, "Funplex". It's a nice return to form for the B's, and as a long-time fan, it's SOOO nice to hear Cindy back in the mix, harmonizing with Kate!

Moviemania

2008-03-21T04:40:00.008-05:00

Has it been two weeks? Wow, time has certainly flown by.

So what all has been going on since then? All kinds of things...from the usual work-sleep-eat routine which takes up most of our time...dentist appointments, visiting friends and relatives, projects around the house including cleaning out the basement (and it's a big basement!), making old furniture new again (more to come on that soon...) and knitting...to our favorite cold weather activity, movie watching!

Though we are not TV watchers at all, it does seem like during the winter months we both really enjoy sitting down after dinner and watching a movie, either from our collection or a rental. Over the past two weeks, we've watched quite a few. Here a couple of the most recent.

I AM LEGEND: This one we saw in the movie theater when it was first released. We had both read Richard Matheson's short novel on which it was based and the book was better...surprise!...but that being said, they did a pretty decent job of making a movie that for 80% of the running time has one character and almost no dialog. We just watched it again with the "controversial" new ending which Ron liked better. I guess I just saw it as a different end to the story, not better or worse.

AUTOMATON TRANSFUSION: We were shopping at Bull Moose Music in Brunswick and came across this one. We are both big zombie fans so this was an easy choice. It was heralded as "One Of The Best Zombie Movies In Decades" across the front, had a disturbingly creepy cover and was hyped as being a truly disturbing zombie experience, so how could we lose? Well, we lost because we spent $13.00 on a dumb movie that looks like it was made by a bunch of high schoolers that we'll never watch again. Ughhh!

INTO THE WILD: This is another adaptation from book to film and another one that Ron and I both read before seeing. I actually thought they did a great job with this one, capturing the feel of the book and therefore the life of the young man on which it was based. Even the soundtrack which features Eddie Vedder on vocals was the perfect backdrop for the spirit of the movie. I'd definitely recommend this one.

We've also been watching episodes of DRAWN TOGETHER. This show is terribly wrong in so many ways and yet also incredibly smart and funny. If you're not familiar with it, it is a cartoon version of a Big Brother type show, bringing together different types of cartoon characters to live in a house and be "on camera" all the time. There is an egotistical Superman-type character called Captain Hero, a Josie and the Pussycats-type character called Foxxy Love, and a Disney-type Princess named Clara among others. The show tackles all kinds of jaw-droppingly, politically incorrect topics and frequently has us rolling with laughter. Thanks Royce for the recommendation!

And though we've been having a lot of fun with the video watching, we are both definitely ready for warmer weather so we can get out and hike, bike, go four-wheeling, etc... Here's to no more snow!

The Sweater in Progress

2008-03-07T05:42:00.010-05:00

Thought I'd share another pic of the sweater. I'm well over half way there, in fact maybe 65% or so. Having finished both front and back panels, I started the first sleeve a couple of days ago. Since Ron had to go to the dentist yesterday, I spend that time working on this...

The picture is a little dark since I needed to use artificial light to take it. But you can see the ribbing and the stripe that will carry up the length of each arm. While at first I wasn't sure I was going to like working the stripe, it turned out to be ok. Especially after I decided to detatch myself from the main yarn and make some of these center-pull "butterflies" which hold yards worth of yarn at a time.

LISTENING TO: The Wolfgang Press - "Queer"

This band is an old favorite. They are no longer around, but were a fairly notable part of the British 4AD label's roster for quite a few years. This is by far their best, drawing on the best parts of their obscure back-catalog while showing us the direction in which they were headed. "A Girl Like You" was the first single from this album.

A fun and relaxing night...

2008-02-29T06:28:00.003-05:00

I guess Ron and I were feeling a bit stereotypically gay last night, so we sat around and knitted and watched a Kylie Minogue concert video! LOL... As for the knitting, Ron finished up his first sock and started on number two and I came close to finishing the back piece of the sweater. I'll finish that this weekend and hopefully get a good start on one of the sleeves. As for Kylie, we watched the Live In Sidney video which was from the tour to support her Light Years album.

A note: I feel almost guilty about my newfound love of Kylie because she is not my usual cup of tea musically. I am usually drawn to the underdogs, the alternative music crowd, the dark and dreary. But in learning a bit about her, I respect the fact that she is involved in the creative process (she writes or co-writes most of her stuff), she isn't too cool to have fun with her image and camp it up, and her stuff is just plain catchy as hell. So I have come to terms with the fact that I don't have to give up on my alterna-roots to make room for a little Kylie in my life!

Tonight we'll be heading to some friends house for a visit. We haven't seen them in a few weeks, so it'll be good to catch up. Just have to watch out for Misty's drinks...she's a little heavy handed when it comes to pouring!

LISTENING TO: Meat Beat Manifesto - "Original Fire"

A long time favorite...Jack Dangers is certainly the creative mastermind of the MBM sound which is big, danceable, electronic music. They don't happen to be all that radio friendly though with their music usually having an ominous, nosiy and/or dark quality to it. They are effectively the anti-Kylie...hehehee.

Much better...

2008-02-28T06:51:00.004-05:00

Well, it's been a week since I was off sick and I'm feeling a LOT better than I did. That being said, I still have some lingering bits hanging on...sore throat being the worst...and a bit of a cough. But if this is the worst I end up with this winter, I'll consider myself lucky!

Ron's doing well with his socks...they became a joint effort with me turning the heel for him, but he's currently working on doing the decreases at the toes with minimal coaching from me. How cool is that?!

And I'm moving right along on the sweater. I'm closing in on finished the back piece. Once that's done, it's just the sleeves and then piecing it all together. I never thought I'd have the drive to finish a sweater. I imagined starting it, getting less than halfway through and thinking, I want to work on something else now. But the only other project I'm daydreaming of is another sweater, one for me this time!

Sicky McSickerson PART 2

2008-02-20T12:09:00.004-05:00

Well, here I am, home sick again. Whatever fluish-type-thing that's hit me has knocked me right out. The weird thing is that I definitely felt like I was improving last night and even went out for a bit with Ron. But I woke up this morning feeling worse that I did yesterday. Hmmm. The good thing is that tomorrow is my normal day off for the week, so if I'm still feeling ooky I'll be able to rest and not have to worry about calling in again.

On a totally different topic...

After watching me knit for a while, Ron decided that he'd like to learn too. So a few weeks ago he picked up the knitting needles for the first time and taught himself (from a book) how to cast on and how to do the knit stitch. I was surprised but excited at this development....would I end up with a knitting partner?...how cool would that be!

To keep the scale of his first project on the small side, he ended up making a garter-stitch scarf for a stuffed bear that we have. I thought that might be the end of his knitting career. But a few days later he cast on again and kept practicing, not really having a projects in mind, but just to practice his knitting. I finally said to him, you should probably learn how to purl, too. So we got him going on that as well.

Then a few days ago, he said that he wanted to learn how to knit in-the-round and asked if I would help him cast on for a sock. I said sure though I was a little apprehensive. On one hand, I wasn't sure if he was ready for socks yet, but since making a pair of socks was the second project that I took on after learning how to knit, how could I say no? So up to this point he has cast on, distributed the stitches and has knit a good inch and a half of the leg of a sock. Pretty impressive for a guy who is usually out tinkering with one of the cars or the 4-wheeler!

LISTENING TO: BLONDE REDHEAD - "23"

Blonde Redhead's sound is similar to a mix of My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth (at their most atmospheric and dreamy). Listening to them makes me go all weak, from the gorgeously off-kilter melodies to the unusual, girly voice of lead singer Kazu Makino. Sample a bit of "Dr. Strangeluv" to see what I mean.

Sicky McSickerson

2008-02-19T08:29:00.007-05:00

I've been fighting off a cold/flu/sinusy type thing for a couple of days now and I had to give in, stay home and rest. So what better use of my time than to post a new entry!

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I'm in the process of making a sweater, which is the first I've ever attempted. It will be for Ron, but I'll have exclusive borrowing rights! I didn't want to make anything too fancy for him, so it's very basic, mostly one color with the exception of a stripe down each sleeve. The pattern is the "Speed Racer" from Debbie Stoller's "Son Of Stitch 'n Bitch."

Here's a shot of the progress I've made so far, which surprisingly has gone much quicker than anticipated...

This shows the front panel about 75-80% done. As soon as I'm done with that, I'll start another identical panel for the back, and lastly, both sleeves. That being said, I suppose I should wrap things up here so I can go get curled up on the couch with my knitting and a good movie!

LISTENING TO: Camera Obscura - "Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi"

Though often labeled as a Belle And Sebastian knock-off, repeated listens reveal that Camera Obscura are very much their own band. From the sweet vocals to the depth and humor of the lyrics, there is so much to like about this band. Give "Eighties Fan" a listen and see for yourself!

Painting the weekend away...

2008-02-11T06:07:00.000-05:00

Over the past couple of weeks, Ron and I have been talking about how we would like to change the color of the kitchen. It has nice white cupboards and a sharp looking faux-granite counter, but the walls were battleship gray and it made the whole thing feel very cold. This picture shows the wall color right before we started to paint, after we had spackled and as we were taking off the cupboard doors.

So after much discussion on what color to go with (we started with shades of blue and then yellow), we settled on one called English Toffee. There are flecks of this same color in the counter and it give the kitchen the warm feel it had been missing. And despite the fear of "am I really going to like this color once it's on the walls" syndrome, we do both really like it! Whew!

Ron installed a new light fixture with three pendant lights as well. You can just see one of them on the left in the picture above. Here's one more shot so you can see them, and another view of the kitchen (and all the junk in our cupboards!).

So next weekend it's one more coat of paint and we should be done. At this point everything is taped off which takes a lot of time, so the last painting session should go pretty quickly. With all this going on, I really haven't done much on the knitting front, but I have started a sweater that I will show you the progress on soon.

LISTENING TO: Kylie - "X"

For those of you that know my music taste from past posts, you may be surprised at this choice. However, when you want to hear some pure dancey, sexy pop, you just can't ignore Kylie. As the title suggests, this is her tenth studio release and it served as the soundtrack to our painting this weekend. If your only recollection of Kylie is her kitchy 80's cover of "The Loco-Motion," clear your mind and take a listen to her new single "Wow". It's catchy as hell and will be going through your head for days!

Pillow Talk

2008-01-29T06:42:00.000-05:00

I recently took a little break from knitting to tackle pillow making. We needed some accent pillows for the black couch we have and while perusing Joann's, we found some nice, canvas material on sale. The last time I sewed anything was in high school Home-Ec class, but I rememebered most of the basics of the sewing machine (that was gifted to me by Ron's Mom). So after a little online video help (Expert Village), I was ready to go. I'll ultimately end up making a pair of these, but here is the first of the finished pillows...

This past weekend we went to see Cloverfield. We had been meaning to go before this because I didn't want anyone to spoil the plot! All I really knew was that it was filmed on hand-held cameras and that people were getting motion sick! I ended up really liking it. It had a good number of scares and there was one point where I almost jumped out of my seat!

LISTENING TO: KELLY - "Shoes"

I was JUST introduced to Kelly by watching some videos on uTube (linked from Wool Gatherer's blog, thank you!). They were funny enough that shortly thereafter, I ended up heading over to iTunes and downloading the album. It's totally silly, has a good beat and it's a lot of fun! Go get it!

Robbie

2008-01-27T09:21:00.001-05:00

Here is a quick post to show Robbie the Robot. I finished him up a few weeks ago for Ron, who collects robots. The pattern for him is from Jess Hutchinson's book "Unusual Toys for you to Knit and Enjoy." He was a lot of fun to knit and didn't take long to do, at all.

Too much going on!

2006-12-16T19:11:00.001-05:00

I've been hesitating posting lately as I've fallen into a sorta non-knitting routine. I'm not exactly sure why, it's just happened. It's not that I don't have the desire, I'm just lacking the follow-through. One culprit could be that we've made a couple of new friends recently and have been spending time hanging out with them. And with the holidays there's always less time, plus work has been exhausting. I've just finished working the third of four 8-hour shifts in a row where I'm manning our optical department by myself. The office I work in is just not conducive to one optician taking care of a four-doctor work-load! Ah well, what can you do? Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Tomorrow should be a fun day. We're going to drive down to Belfast and have breakfast at a cool vegetarian resaurant. We'll check out the shops in downtown Belfast, too, along with heading to Ocean State Job Lots which is similar to a Big Lots, Odd Lots or Ollies. Lots of cheap junk to sift through and hopefully lots of bargains to be found.

A friend has recently introduced me to the Happy Tree Friends. Have any of you seen it? It's shown on the G4 network (which I'd never even heard of!), but thanks to the internet we can all enjoy this super-twisted cartoon. Yes, it's a cartoon, but it's for NOT children or the faint-of-heart in any way! People I've shown it to have either thought it was hilarious or totally sick. Think of the Itchy and Scratchy cartoon on The Simpsons, but more violent and gory. Each episode starts out with one of the cute Happy Tree Friends characters (Giggles, Nutty, Cuddles, etc...) doing something as innocent as attending a magic show, getting a hair cut, or going bowling. But in no time at all, things go horribly, horribly wrong. If your interest is piqued, head over to the website and watch an episode or two. But don't say I didn't warn you! Hehehehee...

LISTENING TO: OVER THE RHINE - "Snow Angels"

Over The Rhine are a wonderful, down-to-earth, super-talented group headed by real-life couple Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler. They live in a big, old farmhouse in Ohio where they recorded this album of original "Christmas" tunes. Though this album is about Christmas, it doesn't always sound like it. Which is why I think I like it so much...it's not preachy about it's holiday-ness! Karin's voice is a revelation and a welcome relief from the traditional schlock out there this time of year. Take a listen to the beautifully melancholy "All I Ever Get For Christmas Is Blue."

Christmastime is here...

2006-12-02T18:37:00.000-05:00

Well, we've finished all of our Christmas shopping for friends and family, with the exception of one person. What a big relief that is! And as a present for each other, we're going to take a step into the present (or maybe I should say past...) and get cell phones! We've been putting it off for years, complaining everytime we see someone in a restaurant, a movie theater or in their car gabbing away like there's not tomorrow. But I think we just can't deny the sheer convenience of it anymore.

We got our Christmas tree up and it's lit, but undecorated. We are in no rush to decorate it because we both love the simplicity of it as is. But the decorations will no doubt find their way onto the tree eventually! Our house is a gambrel style and has vaulted ceilings over the living/dining area, so we were able to get a fairly tall tree. We weren't, though, able to get one with much width. We managed to find one on our land, out behind the house...after much trudging through the woods and hoping we hadn't crossed onto the neighbor's property!

Ok, well I'm off the do some knitting (gasp!). Yes, for the first time in a couple days I'm going to sit down and knit and hope to show some actual progress. Keep your fingers crossed that I'll actually have something to show by next post!

LISTENING TO: KATELL KEINEG - "O Seasons O Castles"

I first heard Irish-born artist Katell Keineg when I worked at the record store in the local mall back home in PA. We had gotten in a copy of her first album "O Seasons O Castles" for in store play and I was hooked. She has an amazing voice and is one hell of a storyteller. She falls into the folksy singer/songwriter category most easily, but is much more than just that. Get a taste by listening to "Hestia"

A late, post-Thanksgiving post

2006-11-30T19:31:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving!... Being vegetarian we had everything but the turkey. All the good stuff that would normally go with it (and a few non-tradional things) became the star attractions instead. We made stuffing in the crockpot (thanks for the hint Mom!) which came out gloriously tasty and moist, cranberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, corn, sauteed kale from our back yard, veggie gravy, and a yummy butternut squash and apple bake. Oh, and pumpkin pie! How could I forget dessert!

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, our friend Diane came over for "Movie Pants Night." What's that you ask? Well... I'm not exactly sure how it started, but somewhere along the line, we started calling our flannel PJ bottoms "movie pants." It had something to do with changing into them to be comfy for watching a movie. So "movie pants night" involved Diane coming over for pizza, some beer and then movie pants and a movie! However, by the time we were ready to watch a movie we had all had a little too much to drink. So instead of a movie, we settled for the Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special which is always a treat. The whole thing is so campy and laugh-out-loud hilarious that we often watch it two or three times each Christmas season.

Not much to report on the knitting front. I have been super busy with work and therefore neglecting the knucks. One is completely done so if I can set aside a few hours I can finish the other one. It's getting to be that time of year so I better get on the ball!

I'll leave you with a picture of one of our dogs, Tully. You can see that she's thinking "ME?! Digging in the yard? What makes you think I was doing that?!"

LISTENING TO: BELLY - "King"

This is Belly's second and, sadly, last album. It wasn't as radio-friendly as some of Star was and didn't have a copycat single to match "Feed The Tree." But there are plenty of great moments here such as "Now They'll Sleep." Plus Tanya Donelly has carried on as a solo artist and has a new album coming out in December called "This Hungry Life."

Baby, It's Cold Outside...

2006-11-19T19:24:00.001-05:00

...or at least it's getting there. We went from warm and rainy last week to dry and cold this week. Which is why I've started myself a pair of "knucks" as seen on knitty and popularized by Matt and Micah. This pattern is made from the fingers (which only go to the first knuckle to allow you to use your fingertips!) down to the cuff, the opposite of the only other pair of gloves I've made. So far I like this method much better.

The first thing the pattern calls for is making all the fingers individually and putting the stitches on scrap yarn until ready to use. So here is a picture of my hand with only the "fingers" in place.

Doesn't look like it'll add up to much, huh? From here you have to take each individual finger and place it on two needles in preparation to join them all together. Here's what that looks like...

From here you knit in the round down the length of the hand, stopping along the way to add on the thumb that's been waiting patiently on the side this whole time. Here's what mine looked like a few rounds after adding on the thumb. (Look Jaci, I'm using the lovely stitch markers you made and sent my way...thanks again!)

I just started this one last night and hope to have it done before bed tonight. Then I can start on the other one tomorrow and hopefully have the pair done by Thanksgiving weekend. If you're looking for a slightly challenging (but not hard) and fun to make pair of gloves, I'd definitely recommend giving these a try.

LISTENING TO: TYRO - "Audiocards"

Tyro is made up of Katie and Skip, both originally from the now-defunct, but ever-terrific Toenut. Tyro carries on the basic themes presented by the first band with a bit more electronic manipulation thrown in for fun. If you like early B-52's, you may like these guys too as they have a similarly twisted sense of humor and off-kilter harmonies to boot. Here's a sample of the Tyro track "Blameless."

A Celebrity In Our Midst!

2006-10-31T18:53:00.001-05:00

Congratulations must go out to Michael for the fantastic job he did on his book...what an accomplishment!

Everything, from the well written text to the layout, from the knitting instruction to the illustrations and photos, looks great! I haven't had a chance to actually sit down and read it from cover to cover (yet) but the patterns look super and I know I will be making many of them. But which first? Hmmmm...

On this Halloween night, I thought I might watch a scary movie. Now I don't crave the gore-fests that my friends and I used to live for back in high-school, but I do still like the occassional, well-done, scary movie. And tonight seems perfect for just that. I have a few that I was thinking of popping in, but I think I'll settle on "High Tension."

This is one I haven't seen before and I really don't know much about it. But after hearing some good buzz, and seeing it on sale for a mere 5 bucks, I decided to pick it up.

My only hesitation about watching this by myself relates to the time that my friend Royce was up for a visit over Thanksgiving. Royce is one of the aforementioned friends from high school with whom I used to watch scary movies. So even now when we get together, we easily fall back into that pattern. He brough a bunch of movies with him and we started off with the easy lead-in of Shaun Of The Dead, which, if you've seen it, you know is more comedy than anything. Then we jumped into the new version of Dawn Of The Dead. This was actually pretty scary in parts, especially the opening sequence. Right as this was ending, we hear a loud couple of thumps on the front door. We both looked at each other and froze.

Now we're both sensible adults, but with it being dark out, living in a very rural area and our adreneline pumping from the movies, this all added up to zombies trying to get in! So we made our way over to a window where I could peek out and see two individuals dressed all in black waiting at the door. Yikes! I motioned for Royce to follow me to the door for "back up". I worked up the nerve to answer the door and the indivudual on the right launches into his pre-rehearsed speech on the Kingdom of Heaven. I have to tell you I have never been so happy to see a Jehovah's Witness in my entire life. I politely declined any further information or pamphlets and Royce and I headed back to the living room for a good laugh and our next movie, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

LISTENING TO: SONIC YOUTH - "Bad Moon Rising"

Sonic Youth's sound started to gel on "Bad Moon Rising", their third proper release (not counting the strictly-for-the-rabid-fan-curiosity, "Sonic Death"). The songs are full of dischordantly chiming/grinding guitars and Thurston's pseudo-beat poet lyrics. Kim takes lead vocals on a few tracks as usual, including the apropos "Halloween."

Windy Weekend

2006-10-29T15:25:00.000-05:00

The weather made a bit of a turn this weekend. We went from relatively mild weather to down in the low 40s with really strong winds. They were calling for gusts up to 65 MPH, but I'm not sure that we actually reached that. Though it was strong enough to knock over a stand with a heavy potted plant in the back yard!

I avoided catastrophe just a while ago with my new socks. Actually, let me back up just a little. I started the socks in the same way I always do, thinking that after the leg was finished I would make a heel flap, turn the heel, pick up the gusset stitches, decrease back down to my normal number of stitches and carry on with the foot.

Well about halfway through knitting the leg, while perusing my "Sensational Knitted Socks" book, I decided maybe I should try a different heel. I decided on the traditional turned heel without the heel flap. So this afternoon I started working on the new style heel and didn't get very far into it before I figured that I had made a few mistakes. Plus I realized that I wouldn't be able to carry on with my K2 P2 ribbing down the top of the foot like I wanted to without some extra fancy figuring that didn't seem worth it. I was instead going to go back to the original plan.

The only problem is that this meant I'd have to either tink or frog back to where I had started. I chose to frog. I must say that I am no expert at frogging and then inserting my needle back into the loose stitches. In fact I have a huge phobia about doing it! But I tried it. I got about half of the stitches back on the needle when the other half, from me manipulating the fabric, started slipping/pulling through the previous row. Here I stopped to take a breather...

Then it dawned on me that I had seen a video on Amy's site. It's an alternative to what I had tried to do and it's titled "Inserting a needle into destination row, before unraveling" (look under the "Fixing Mistakes" header...) She basically shows how you can insert your needle into the fabric below the active stitches. Then when the needle (or needles in my case) is in place, you can frog back to where you inserted your needle(s) and you're ready to go.

Well, I tried it and it worked like a charm. Woohoo! A big thank you goes out to Amy. Without that video I fear I would have been frogging the whole thing and that would have made me very sad, not to mention cranky!!

So anyway, here's the sock as it is now, back to how it looked before the heel fiasco...

If you get a chance, head over to my friend Ruth-Anne's site and say hi. She just started a blog of her own and has some shots of the hats and socks she's been working on lately. Very fun stuff! Ruth-Anne and I used to work together here in Bangor, but she's sinced moved out to Colorado...even though I told her she wasn't allowed to go! Can you imagine the nerve?...

LISTENING TO: SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES - "Juju"

I've been listening to this a lot lately with Halloween right around the corner. Siouxsie's dark and icy voice is in top form and musically and lyrically it's definitely one of their darker albums. A perfect fit for the season! Take a listen to the terribly appropriate "Halloween."

Another visit down, one more to go

2006-10-18T11:09:00.001-05:00

Well, the visit with my parents went really well. We had a nice time touring around Bangor, Ellsworth and Bar Harbor. We also knew that my Dad, hating to be still for too long, would need a project of some sort. So, he helped us with the bathroom that we are re-doing. We ended up getting the new sink on (a lovely 'beige' granite top) and the new lights installed.

Though we probably would have preferred a whole different set up for the lighting, we decided not to worry about re-wiring anything and just replaced the two old lights with newer, more modern looking ones.

Not too much to report on the knitting front. I'm all done with Sock Wars, having gotten my socks out to their intended target. I had a fun time and met a couple of really nice people in the process. So, having one war under my belt, I look forward to next year's. I just hope I'll get a little further next time!

LISTENING TO: SEVERED HEADS - "Under Gail Succubus"

The new Severed Heads disc is finally out AND it comes with a bonus disc called "Over Barbara Island." The sound of the first 9 tracks varies but seems to be taking a cue from some earlier SH albums like "Cuisine" and even "Come Visit The Big Bigot." The last 5 tracks are an instrumental 'suite' as are all eight of the tracks that make up the second disc. Great stuff all around, I'm very impressed! Definitely for fans of electronic music with a sense of humor and a bit of patience! Try them on for size here...

Super Busy Week

2006-10-12T06:06:00.000-05:00

Well, Sock Wars is now behind me, but despite the fact that I don't have the pressure of a pair of socks needing to be knit, I'm still having a really busy week. Work has been crazy and we've been getting the house ready for my parent's visit. They will be coming in tonight and staying through Tuesday. So I probably won't be able to knit during that time as we'll be too busy running around, eating and playing games! But I hope to have some kind of update here next week. Hope you all have a great weekend! Ken

It's official, I'm "dead"...but oh, the goodies!

2006-10-05T19:35:00.001-05:00

I made the walk to the end of the drive to get the mail this afternoon and there was the package I've been waiting for. My Sock Wars socks! I had fair warning that they were on their way and therefore knew of my impending doom. But this sealed it. So while that's sad news, the good news is that Jaci from Wisconsin, who was my assassin, sent me all kinds of goodies along with the socks she made! So without further ado, here is a look at the wonderful care package that she put together.
First, here are the great socks that she made. The color is super and I was even wearing a t-shirt of that same color today!

And here's everything that accompanied them...a bar of scented soap this is so yummy you could eat it(!), a bottle cozy (which Mark immediately took from me and put to use on a bottle of Sam Adams!), some "orange citrus" lip balm (all from Leinenkugel's Brewery in Chippewa Falls, WI), Silver Springs honey dijon mustard/mayo spread (from Eau Claire, WI), a ball of yarn that I can't wait to cast on for some socks, and some wonderful stitch markers that Jaci made herself!

I can't begin to tell you how excited I was, like a kid at Christmas! Thanks Jaci for being so thoughtful, you made my day!! I really appreciate all the trouble you went to! Oh, and I still have about a third of the second sock that isn't done, so according to the rules I guess I'll be sending them your way to finish...that is, assuming you're still in the game?

In other news, I worked on the bathroom today. Last weekend I tore down all the wallpaper. Surprisingly this task wasn't as terrible as I had been warned it would be. There were definitely areas that were troublesome, but all in all I was pretty happy with how it peeled away. Today I went back and did some patching and cleaned the walls and ceiling in preparation for the paint. A much needed facelift for an outdated bathroom.

As an aside, a while ago I got an audio book from Mardens, which is a large surplus and salvage store up here. Kind of like a Big Lots, Odd Lots or Ollie's if you're familiar with any of them. The book is called Clubland and is a well-researched, journalistic look at Michael Alig, his rise to fame as the "King of the Club Kids" and his eventualy involvement in the murder of Angel Melendez. This lead me to rent Party Monster which is a movie based on those true events. It's all a pretty interesting, though sick and twisted, story. The movie was fairly entertaining and it was fun to see Macaulay Culkin all grown up and back in action as Alig, but Seth Green as James St. James really carried the movie. Plus, Dylan McDermott was in it and he's just plain hot!

LISTENING TO: DEAD CAN DANCE - "Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun"

Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry fill their third album with a sense of foreboding, mystery and beauty. They've made many stylistic changes since their debut and by this time have set aside most traditional rock instruments in favor of classical ones. The Gerrard-sung "Summoning Of The Muse" is a particular highlight.

Corn Chowder... And My Imminent Demise

2006-10-01T18:32:00.000-05:00

Matt has requested, on behalf of his vegan wife, the recipe for the yummy Vegan Corn Chowder that I mentioned in the last post. So without further ado, here it is!

CREAMY VEGAN CORN CHOWDER

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
3 1/2 cups water
2 cubes veggie bouillon
3 cups corn, fresh or frozen
6 medium red potatoes, cleaned and cut into 1/2" cubes
2 cups soy milk
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 to 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onions and celery; cook until just slightly golden. Stir in carrots and garlic. Cook until garlic is slightly golden.

2. Meanwhile, bring water to a boil over high heat. Stir in bouillon and reduce heat to medium. When bouillon is dissolved add corn, potatoes and the vegetables from the skillet. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Add more water if necessary.

3. Reduce heat to low and pour in 1 cup soy milk. Stir soup well, then stir in remaining 1 cup soy milk. Quickly whisk in flour. Stir in parsley, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until chowder thickens, about 15 to 20 minutes.

NOTES:

-The potatoes could be peeled, but I chose not to. The red skins looked nice with the yellow of the corn and the green of the celery.

-I used 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes which made a pretty hot soup. If you don't like a lot of heat, cut it back to 1/4 tsp. But if you really like heat, kick it up above 1/2 tsp.

I really liked this recipe and if you try, I hope you will as well!

I got news from my Sock Wars 'assassin' ('Hi' to Jaci in Wisconsin!!) that she has finished my socks and they will be sent out soon. I am only about 75% done with my 'target's' socks ('Hi' to Joanna in Texas!) which I'll continue with tonight. In any case, I know that I am ultimately 'dead.' But that's ok, I wasn't in it for the glory...just for the fun, and of course, the consolation prize...a pair of socks! Oh and Don had asked what kind of yarn the socks were made with. Both colors used are Sirdar 'Country Style' DK weight yarn. The shot above is of the progress so far. As you can see from the picture, the instructions for the "International Sock Of Doom" make a sock with a short leg. That isn't something I'd normally chose in a sock, but it was actually a nice feature in a knitting contest!

LISTENING TO: THE DECEMBERISTS - "Castaways And Cutouts"

This band from Portland, Oregon makes catchy pop music that some might think is a little too smart for it's own good. Colin Meloy leads the band through a great album of what could best be described as 'literary pop.' Who else could fit a line like "Medicating in the sun with pinch doses of laudanum, longing for the old fecundity of my homeland." into a modern rock song? Listen to a sample of the lead track from the album, "Leslie Anne Levine" and see what you think!

The War Is On!

2006-09-25T12:16:00.001-05:00

I got a late start on my Sock Wars socks. But I happen to have today off which works out well. So I have gotten a little over halfway through the first one and have actually started a bit on sock two as well. Below is a pic of sock one in progress. I'm doing this one on two circulars (like the last pair I made) and it's coming along nicely.

When you have a moment, head on over to Mima's site. He has some pictures of the incredibly involved and detailed sweaters he has done. Very beautiful work. He mentioned that I inspired him to try his first pair of socks! In likewise fashion, I hope to start a sweater soon and take some inspiration from him!

Yesterday was a cool and rainy day and I decided it would be a good day for soup of some sort. I found a couple of recipes for Corn Chowder online and picked what looked to be the best two. I then took what I liked from each of them, combined and modified them and made a new recipe which turned out to be a definite keeper. It's even vegan! (I'm not vegan, at least not yet, but I am a strict vegetarian that has considered, and is leaning towards, veganism. So anything that I can make vegan is that much more appealing!). Now I just have to see if I can remember how it all came together so I can type up a copy of the recipe to keep!

Well, back to sock-ing. More later!

LISTENING TO: SUNFALL FESTIVAL - "Monday 23"

This great little band from Utah have been around for over ten years now, mostly and unfortunately slipping under the radar. They have a wonderful frontperson in singer/songwriter Amy Greetham who bears a similarity to The Sundays' Harriet Wheeler. Check out the sublime "I Walked Away" and see what you've been missing!

Sock Warrior!

2006-09-14T14:36:00.000-05:00

I am a Sock Warrior! I sent in my request to join Sock Wars a little close to the deadline so I wasn't sure if I made the cut, but it looks like all's well and I'm 'in.' This bit of good news made it neccessary to make a trip to the LYS. I headed over there after work and was browsing around a bit when I was approached by one of the ladies who works there. I've only been there a few times and had not yet met this employee. Her name was Marlene and she asked if I needed help finding anything. I told her I was looking for DK yarn to be used for socks. "I need it for this online contest I've joined," I said. Her head spun around to look at me and she said, "Sock Wars?!" "Yes! You, too?" I asked. "Yes!" she said. It was such a funny moment. It felt like bumping into a long-lost sibling and having this instant sense of recognition. So I told Marlene that I'd check back with her once the contest started to see how we're both doing. I imagine I'll get killed off pretty quickly, but in the end we are all rewarded with a pair of socks and you can't beat that!

LISTENING TO: DANIEL JOHNSTON - "Songs Of Pain"

You could easily dislike Daniel Johnston for his lo-fi music, his akward phrasing, or his often tuneless singing. Or you could say that he's only gotten attention because of his bouts with mental illness. But if you dig a little deeper, behind all that is a talented songwriter who courageously expresses himself with raw honesty and a sense of humor. In my book this earns him as much if not more respect than all the "professional" singer/songwriters out there. Here's a snippet of the first track, "Grievances."

Knitting, Uploading, Stacking, Etc.

2006-09-10T16:01:00.001-05:00

I must say that I had a really good day today and decided to stay home and work on a couple things. So I broke out the second clog and knitted away at that while sitting in front of the computer, loading CDs into iTunes for use on my iPod! Here is a shot of it in it's cool iFrogz skin, which I would highly recommend.

I must say that I held off on getting an iPod for a long time, but now that I finally got one, I love it. I use it on the way to and from, and even at work. So today I got all my Shonen Knife, Magnetic Fields, and a good portion of my Fall CDs done. And in doing all that I got the clog done...yaaaayyy! Here's a pic of one knitted/felted and the one I just knitted.
After that, I had lunch and relaxed a little before heading out to work on the woodpile. Last Tuesday we had three and a half cords of wood delivered for the upcoming winter season. So now we have to find a place for it all! We have an area that the previous owners set up just for that purpose. It has a roof that is built off of the back of the garage and holds a decent amount of wood.

Then I started a stack between two trees in the backyard. The work went pretty quickly and we ended up with a pile as tall as me.

But as you can see from the pic below, we still have a lot of wood left! Not that that's a bad thing! Even with all that wood, I'm sure we'll need to order some more before the winter's over.

Here are a few shots of some of the goodies that we grew ourselves. Along with the peppers...

and sungold tomatoes...

we also grew a lettuce mix, kale, jalapenos, squash and cucumbers.
I want to take a minute to say "Hi!" to Ruth-Anne. I've gotten a few emails from her letting me know that she has made it safely to Colorado and even has a few interviews set up already...woohoo! Good luck Roofy, I miss you!

LISTENING TO: SHONEN KNIFE - "Happy Hour"

If you've never heard of Shonen Knife, they are made up of three Japanese women who play Ramones-ey punk/rock with a twist. Their songs are full of references to Japanese culture and are usually pretty silly in nature. This, their 8th album, is full of fun songs. This time many of them are about food such as "Banana Chips," "Sushi Bar," and "Hot Chocolate." And they end it all with a cool version of "Daydream Believer!"

Dorodango Danger!

2006-09-04T08:12:00.000-05:00

Well, my unplanned but exciting exploration into the world of dorodango is done for this weekend. I had such a good time playing in the dirt and mud and learning the process. By my third attempt, the shaping got much easier and I fell into an easy rhythm that was really quite meditative in nature.

There were only two bad sides to this. One is that I got almost no knitting done over the past two days! But I will get some done today and am still hopeful about getting the rug done. The second bad thing is that none of my dorodango made it through the whole process without cracking...argh!

Above is a pic of my third attempt, the best one. Here it is looking lovely before any cracking had started. At this point I thought it was finished and would possibly just need to cure a bit over the next couple days. I set it aside on a soft "bed" of cloth to do just that. But when I looked at it late last night before going to bed, I noticed this...

I'm not positive what caused this but from what I can gather it is most likely one of two things. The first reason could be that I didn't allow enough time between some of the steps to assure that enough moisture was drawn out. If you finish the process with too much moisture inside, it will still eventually dissipate but the inner core will shrink, leaving a gap between it and the outer layer which can lead to something like the pic below (not mine, thankfully, but an extreme picutre of what can go wrong!).

The second reason why the cracks might have formed is from polishing the outside too much. I know this is what happened with my first one since it cracked while I was polishing it! It might even be what happened with the second one. But I made a special effort to do a very minimal amount of polishing on number three. So if I had to guess, I'd say the reason it cracked was from too much moisture trapped inside. Since these were my first attemps, I was eager to move along to each next step and probably rushed the process a bit. But I will definitely try these again as they were big fun. I actually found myself thinking about where I could get some different kinds of soil that would produce different color dorodango. Hey, if any of you have interesting soil near you (very pale, very dark, red, etc...) and want to send a little my way, let me know!

As for the knitting, I don't have too much to show you, but I will anyway, just to prove that there has been some progress! Here is one of the two sides of the bear head, in progress. It doesn't look like much now, but we'll see what happens when all the appropriate parts are sewn together!

I guess it for this update. I shall now head off to do some cleaning which will leave me free to concentrate on the knitting. Hopefully more progress pictures later in the day (fingers crossed!)

LISTENING TO: TRAILER BRIDE - "Whine De Lune" I'm not much into any kind of country music, but along with Tarnation, this alterna-country band are an exception. They create some of the most atmospheric, spooky, back-woods music you'll hear. Melissa Swingle leads the band with her lilting southern voice singing songs of love, loss and death...plus she plays the saw! How cool is that?

Saturday, Part 2

2006-09-02T16:09:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in this morning's post (see below), Sean the WoolGatherer is in big trouble. I not only put aside my knitting to try making a dorodango, but I actually tried three! I figured I'd probably screw one up (which I did), so I'd wanted another one (or in this case two) as a back-up. So I spent most of the afternoon in the yard with a shovel and a bucket, digging up dirt, making mud and forming it into balls. Why, you might reasonably ask? Well, when I first read about them on Sean's site, it reminded me of something I would have done as a kid. I had a great friend growing up named Julie. She lived across the street from me and we both loved trying fun stuff like this. Kind of like when we used to take hammers, pulverize different color stones and make face paint by adding water to the dust! If we had heard of dorodango as a kid, we would have certainly spent days on end making them. So it was just fun to feel like a kid again, sitting out in the yard with a pan of dry dirt, rubbing it into the surface of a ball of mud! And I did have a lot of fun doing it.

As for the pictures...the first shot shows three of them in progress. The one on the left is two steps into the process, the one in the middle was one step further, and the one on the right was one step further yet. The one on the right is also the one that I screwed up during the second to last step of the process. While lightly polishing the surface a huge crack started and then it split in half. I guess I was rubbing too hard...argh! But the other two have successfully made it through that step and are just awaiting the final "capsule" which I'll do tomorrow. After that is done, they'll have a lot more shine and will gain even more over the two following days. Or so the instructions say! I'll post more pictures as they progress.

So now I'm off to do a few errands, then back to work on the knitting for sure! Oh and Sean, you're off the hook...but only because I had so much fun!

Knit-a-Thon

2006-09-02T07:41:00.000-05:00

It's a beautiful, sunshiney day here in Maine!

Today begins what I hope to be a very productive three-day knitting weekend. As mentioned previously, the goals are to finish the Bear Skin Rug and the second of the two Clogs. I'm feeling good about it and think I'll be able to get it all done...woohoo!

Thanks to everyone for their encouraging comments about the spinning. I've by no means given up on the learning process, just set it aside for a little until I'm able to get some hands on instruction. And actually, I'm sure I'll still pick it back up before that and play around some more.

Well, Sean "tagged" me so below is my version of the book list...

1. One book that changed your life: Reiki: The Healing Touch by William Lee Rand. Being a Reiki practitioner and knowing the effect it has had on my life, this indispensable guidebook would have to be the one.

2. One book that you've read more than once: Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. One of the most bizarre, disturbing, and funny books I've ever read. I've read it three times but feel like I'm due for another trip back to the carnival.

3. One book you'd want on a desert island: House Of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. I don't think I could ever get bored by this one. Not only is it a long and involved book, but it's one that grabs you and doesn't let go. Plus it's scary as hell.

4. One book that made you laugh: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. He's the brother of the hilarious Amy Sedaris (Strangers With Candy). Enough said.

5. One book that made you cry: The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman. An unusual choice for this category perhaps, but there is a scene of such heartbreaking loss that I remember openly weeping while reading it.

6. One book that you wish had been written: The Complete Illustrated Guide To Life And How To Not Fuck It Up.

7. One book you wish had never been written: Scientology by L.Ron Hubbard. Call me crazy, but I tend to think that a hugely profitable and powerful "religion" based on the musings of a modern day science fiction writer is a little silly, not to mention scary. Plus it involves aliens! Though one good thing has come of it....Tom Cruise's career is looking shaky. Thanks L. Ron!

8. One book you're currently reading: The Secret Life Of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Well, actually I'm listening to this one, but I did originally read it a few years ago. It's such a wonderful story that it's worth revisiting.

9. One book you've been meaning to read: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: A Novel by Haruki Murakami. I picked this one up at a used book sale at the local library. Oddly enough I had just read a review of it that same morning so it seemed like fate.

10. Tag 6 people: Ok guys, I picked some of you that I thought might actually try this yourselves (though what do I know? NO pressure by the way): Matt, Don, Jason, Mel, Sean (WG), and Dave.

P.S. Sean of WoolGatherer fame is in big trouble. He mentioned on his site about this Japanese technique of using mud to make these shiny spheres called Dorodango. Why is Sean in trouble? Because he's given me something new that I'm going to need to try! It looks like a very interesting process and I think I'll enjoy playing with the mud, just like I did as a kid!

LISTENING TO: THE FALL - "Fall Heads Roll" Probably my favorite band...well, at least in the top three (it's so hard to commit to just one favorite!). These guys have been around since the late 70's and their music is a valid and important today as it was then. Mark E. Smith has been the only constant through 40-some different lines ups over 30-some albums (and that's not counting the compilations and live albums). His obtusely poetic lyrics and distinct Mancunian-accented singing are the defining feature of this amazing band.

Giving up already?

2006-08-28T21:24:00.001-05:00

Not quite yet...I'm speaking of course about the spindling. So far I've tried it three times, devoting about 4 or 5 hours of practice over three nights. My first attempt went fairly well and despite a lot of 'first-try' mistakes I was pleased with the almost immediate results. I was actually able to spin some yarn...lumpy and uneven yarn, but near the end there appeared to be hope. The second try (see pic) was more of the same except for the last 5 to 10 minutes when things seemed like they were starting to click...the drafting was feeling smooth and natural and the single I was working on looked pretty uniform. This had me excited for the third session which I was sure would go as well or even better, but didn't. In fact that only lasted about 15 minutes before I got too frustrated. It was like everything that had started to come together at the end of the second session was nowhere to be found for the third. At that point I decided to lay it all aside and work on some knitting instead. So I think it's time for me to seek some outside help! I was in touch with Cityside Yarn and they gave me the number of a local woman who gives lessons in spinning on a drop spindle. I'll give her a call soon and see if I can set something up. Until then I'm just going to concentrate on the knitting.

In fact that leads me to my plans for Labor Day. My big goal is to finish the bear skin rug. I've been dragging this project out forever and it's time for some closure. I'll have three days to do it which is much more than enough. And if I have some extra time, I'd also like to finish the last clog. That would then allow me to pick up the yarn I got a while ago and start the lace shawl! But I'm getting ahead of myself... if nothing else, I will finish the rug... I will finish the rug... I will finish the rug...

So Ruth-Anne has left me. Some of you may recognize that name as one belonging to my co-worker, friend and knitting accomplice. She has always said that after both of her kids were graduated from high school she'd do something for herself. And that apparently has to involve her moving to Colorado! Not that I blame her. She has the freedom to make the move and the help of a friend who already lives there. He's even invited her to stay with him while she settles in and and looks for work. Hell, I'd do the same thing if I were single and in her situation. Though I'll really miss her, I know that she's going to have a great time out there. And of course we'll keep in touch. After all she did promise to buy me stuff at Lush and mail it to me to save on their own super high shipping costs!

LISTENING TO: GENE LOVES JEZEBEL - "Immigrant" This is GLJ's second album which was in my opinion largely underrated. Granted, it was hard to top "Promise" but there were plenty of great songs here..."Stephen," "Shame," and "The Rhino Plasty" are all GLJ classics. If only the brothers Aston could have kept the momentum going and the group together!

Socks and Spindles

2006-08-22T17:31:00.001-05:00

As you can see by the progress bars on the right, I am now finished with the Alpaca socks! It took me forever, not because they were hard, just because I was being bad and neglecting them. But they're done, they're on and they're keeping my toes toasty as I type. I ended doing them both using only continental knitting. This is the first project I've felt good enough about my continental knitting skills to do so and I'm quite pleased with the results. I ended up really liking the fluid nature of it and will likely continue on with it.

I've also gotten a head start on the second clog. If I'm lucky and can sneak in a bit of knitting here and there, maybe I'll get them done this weekend. They really don't take too awful long, they just require quite a bit of concentration, especially for the soles.

Over the last weekend I was reading through Sean's blog and about how he's taking spindling classes and learning to spin yarn using a drop spindle. The whole idea of that sounded really interesting and fun, so I did some research online about the process, the many variations of spindles and kinds of yarn you can spin on them. It was then then I got that all too familiar feeling, that feeling of no turning back, the tiny pangs of pre-obsession building in my belly before I'd even held a spindle in my hand. My curiosity has been piqued and I knew I'd have to give it a try myself (I'm guessing a few of you are probably wired similarly...).

The first thing I did was contact Sean to get some advice on how to begin. Let me tell you, he is the nicest guy and offered all kinds of helpful tips to start me on my way. While at work I called the LYS (Cityside Yarn Co. here in Bangor) to see if they had any inexpensive wool roving I could experiment with. They did and I headed over after work to buy some. Though I had planned on making my own spindle to play with before investing in one (thanks for the suggestion, Sean!), they ended up having a kit that had an inexpensive bottom whorl Ashford spindle, an 8 oz bag of wool roving and instructions. After talking for a bit with Cheryl at the shop about spinning and the possibility of getting hooked up with a spinner there for some lessons, that's what I ended up getting. So after wrapping things up here, I'm headed off to play with my new spindle! I hope to have some pictures to share with you soon of my first attempt. It will most likely be laughably bad, but that's part of the fun of learning something new, right? Anyway, wish me luck!

LISTENING TO: ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN - "Ocean Rain" Arguably their finest album, it serves as a kind of bridge between their early and later styles, while leaning a bit heavily on Ian McCulloch's overly dramatic vocals. This was the Bunnymen at their creative best. Full of great playing and unusual instrumentation, it's a cohesive, daring record with nary a clucker on it.

Frustration

2006-08-14T21:24:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling like I never have time to knit anymore. Maybe it's just a summer thing. We've had some guests and visitors which take a lot of time away from such personal pursuits. Plus outdoor projects... gardening, resealing the driveway, painting the back deck, etc... I know that I'll have more time in the fall and winter. And being in Maine, that's a l-o-n-g winter, so that's a plus for knitting, if no other reason. But for now I feel like I'm lucky if I get one night a week to knit at all. And when I do, I feel guilty, like I should be doing some other household chore. Arghhhh!

Here's a picture of our other dog, Tully. Though many find it hard to believe, she isn't a black lab. She is part Golden Retriever and part Bull Mastiff. She's a real beauty with a personality to match and we love her to pieces!

Hope you're all doing well and I hope to return soon with a post that's actually about knitting! Til then...

LISTENING TO: ULTRA VIVID SCENE - "Joy 1967-1990" A highly underrated band on the 4AD label, UVS features great songwriting from one man band Kurt Ralske. UVS's style is probably most easily lumped into the "shoegazer" category and though there is an element of that style, it's not really a fair assessment. This CD has "Special One,"a really fun duet with Kim Deal of Pixies and The Breeders.

The Visit

2006-08-11T07:09:00.000-05:00

The visit with Royce has been lots of fun...we're doing our usual things...movies, card playing, eating and lots of laughter! Last night we went with Diane to a nice new Greek restaurant in Brewer called Kosta's. Everything was wonderful (especially the spanakopita!) and we'll definitely be going back.

On Wednesday we went to see The Descent. For those of you who haven't seen this and are fans of the thriller/horror genre...you have to go see it! I would absolutely rank it up there as one of the scariest and smartest horror movies I've ever seen. The story follows a group of thrill seeking women who go caving and the majority of the action takes place underground. From the moment the group enters the cave there is a feeling of dread, the tension starts building from there and it doesn't let up until the final moments of the movie. Oh, and it's worth mentioning that there are moments of truly panic-inducing claustrophobia which could be an issue for some! That being said, I must also say that this movie is really well done and has as much (if not more) psychological horror as it does blood/gore which was nice for a change...as I'm getting older, I am appreciating that more! All in all, highly recommended! If you see it, let me know what you think!

LISTENING TO: THE AUTUMNS - "In The Russet Gold Of This Vain Hour" A great CD that I found in the cut-out bin. And boy am I glad I did. This band has traces of Cocteau Twins-like beauty, but with a darker edge and a great male singer. Not quite goth...a pretty, dark album.

Company!

2006-08-04T15:48:00.000-05:00

My friend Royce is coming in tonight and staying with us through next weekend. I probably won't get much knitting done nor do I think I'll have much time to post during that time. But I did want to give a quick post here so no one thought I went AWOL. And I'll still be checking in from time to time through the week too, so I won't be totally absent. To keep you company, here's a picture of one of our pooches, Parkyr! Hope you all have a great week.

LISTENING TO: THE LONDON SUEDE - "Coming Up" A great record from this British band. Combines the best stylistic elements from their previous two records and melds them into what might just be their best outing. Brett Anderson has a distinctively cool voice, lots of character and a fine falsetto. Plus lots of gender-bending lyrics thrown in for good measure.

Yarn Condo

2006-07-31T21:45:00.001-05:00

Here is my new knitting storage space...yay! For a while there I had a couple of canvas bags with projects and supplies split between them, plus a box of yarn upstairs. Things were pretty much everywhere but where I wanted them. So I decided I needed to find a better storage solution and searched all over for the right one. I ended up with this which I got at Target. It came as the shelf unit on it's own and the cubes seperately. I couldn't decide what colors cubes to get, but after much deliberation chose these. The top cube is a bit more eggplant than the picture shows and the blue is darker as well. I'm able to fit my two current projects in the top cube (which I can take out and sit on the floor by me while I work) and in the bottom cube, yarn for upcoming projects, needles, etc. I wasn't able to fit all my yarn in this, so some of that is still in a box upstairs, but all the exciting stuff is downstairs and readily available. I may actually end up getting one more of these units and two more cubes and attach them into a square of four cubes to allow for some (inevitable) expansion! We'll see...

LISTENING TO: CAKE LIKE - "Delicious" This three-girl band was lead by Kerri Kenney. You might know her from her stint on MTV's sketch comedy show The State or most recently from Reno 911. But aside from her comic roles in these shows, she plays bass and sings...cool! Fun fact: Cake Like was formed without any of the band members knowing how to play!

Clog Blog

2006-07-27T19:02:00.001-05:00

The first of the clogs is done! Yayyy! I really enjoyed this project. It was challenging enough to keep things interesting and it was very fun to pull the felted end-product out of the sudsy depths of the washer. As it was my first felting project, I was especially excited to see the transformation.

I have two pictures up, before and after felting. I included the remote control for size perspective. The only thing I did differently from the instructions were... 1) I didn't put the clog in a bag, I just let it float loose. And 2) I threw a pair of jeans in to add agitation. I got this idea from some instructions for a felting project by Patons, which is the brand of yarn that I used for the clog. I don't know how different the end result would have been without these changes, but I'll do the same with the second clog to make sure number two looks the same.

LISTENING TO: THROWING MUSES - "Throwing Muses (2003)" The last of the Muses albums and the only one to feature Tanya Donelly since she left the band after the amazing "Real Ramona." Tanya went on to greater fame with Belly but Kristin Hersh kept the Muses records coming, keeping them challenging without ever compomising her vision of the band's unique sound. This last album, it it remains the last one, is a fine goodbye, full of the usual twists and turns, never predictable, yet terribly catchy.

A VERY NON-KNITTING POST-SCRIPT - PART 2:

Due to multiple requests (and because I'm a closet exibitionist...isn't that an oxymoron?) I'm posting a PIC of the new piercings (pay no mind to the pale, skinny upper torso!). I took this just a few days after they were done. They seem to be healing really well, no issues there. I'm doing 4-times-a-day cleanings, at least for the first three weeks. Then I'll probably go down to 3-times-a-day for another couple weeks. And honestly, there has been very little discomfort which has been a pleasant surprise. All in all, a good experience...I'm glad I went ahead with it after just thinking about it for years!

Upcoming Lace Project

2006-07-23T09:11:00.001-05:00

Along with the needles, my last order from Knit Picks included some new yarn... Shimmer lace- weight in Turquoise Splendor. My intention is to make the Candle Flame Shawl as a present, maybe for Mom. Now I haven't done too much with lace yet, but I have tried this pattern out with a sock weight yarn and it looked pretty good. So I think I'll practice some more with that before tackling the real thing.

Not a whole lot to update on the other knitting. Ruth-Anne and I did meet on Thursday though and I got most of the left-side panel for the head on the bear rug completed. I also got a few more rows into the clogs, but haven't really found the time to sit and concentrate on that as needed. The last half of the second sock seems to be on the back burner for whatever reason, but I'll get back to it eventually.

Today is going to be a lot of puttering around the house. Which, being the homebody that I am, I rather like! So hopefully in between the cleaning, laundry and cooking I can find a little time to knit. We'll see...

LISTENING TO: MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO - "99%" This album, years ahead of it's time when it came out in 1990, still sounds as fresh and important to the electronic scene today as it did then. Though they have gone on to make other great albums, this for me was/is their finest hour.

A VERY NON-KNITTING POST-SCRIPT:
(THOUGH IT DOES INVOLVE NEEDLES) I GOT PIERCED!

If you have no interest in piercings, read no further...

Last Friday a few of my female co-workers went to get piercings done. They all decided to get their tragus pireced which is the small flap of cartilage that sticks out in front of the ear canal. I wanted to go along but wasn't able because I had to work that night. And even if I could have gone, I wouldn't be able to get anything above the neck pierced since I work in a conservative medical/retail environment. That pretty much left me with the option of either the nipples or a genital piercing. The latter was definitely out for me, so I decided that if I were to get anything done it would be my nipples.

The next Monday one of those same co-workers mentioned that she was going to go back to get her navel pierced that coming Friday...AND that I needed to go along and get something done since I missed out the week before. I told her I would do it if it didn't cost a fortune (which I thought it would). She called the place and it turns out it was only $20 per, jewelry included. So after work on Friday we headed down to the shop in Brewer.

My co-worker went first and was done in no time...which means that before I knew it, I was up next! I filled out my paperwork, hopped in the chair and removed my shirt. He disinfected the area, marked where the piercings would be and applied the clamp on the right side. The first one was really quick and relatively speaking, not too bad. I had prepared myself for much worse. The second one was more like what I was expecting, the pain lasting longer and it was more intense, though STILL not as bad as I had expected. As I was cringing through the second one, the piercer said, "the second one always hurts more, but I didn't want to tell you that before doing it." Which I suppose was a good thing, really.

It's only been two days, but all's going well. And I am VERY pleasantly surprised that despite some discomfort the first night, there is almost none now. I do have 6-8 weeks of 3-4 times-a-day cleanings to do, but that's to be expected. So despite some initial reservations (mostly pain related ones!), I must say I'm happy with the end result (they look great!) and for anyone out there contemplating doing the same, I'd say to go for it!

The Clog-Along has begun

2006-07-18T19:19:00.000-05:00

For those of you who aren't up to speed, Chris organized a clog-along over at Men Who Knit that was set to start on Monday the 17th. I had all my materials together and wholeheartedly planned on starting my first clog last night. And in the end I did start it...but just barely. I began the evening by working on the fourth (and last) leg of the rug, which I did finish (leaving just the head to complete!). By the time that was done it was getting late, around 11:30. I almost talked myself into skipping the clog for the night and starting it on Tuesday instead. However I really wanted to get something done, so I managed to cast on and then knit the first row. Though it wasn't much, I did get to start with everyone else which was good!

Tonight I worked more on the clog and got the sole done (see above). I didn't start knitting until late and that seemed like a good breaking point, before changing colors and starting the top. Right now it doesn't look much like a clog, so it will be cool to see it take shape. I keep hearing words of advice from my very early days of knitting... "trust the pattern."

On the left is the bear skin rug in it's most recent state. You can get an idea of the size of it by comparing it to the coffee table and the ottoman on either side. The head will be at the end nearest the bottom of the picture. The sides of the head will be knit and attached and then the whole thing is made three dimensional with stuffing. Hope to have more progress on that soon.

LISTENING TO: THE INNOCENCE MISSON - "Birds Of My Neighborhood." Karen Peris leads this lovely trio from my home state of PA. Those familiar with early 10,000 Maniacs should find this to their liking. This CD makes me think of childhood, winter and yes, innocence.

Just a quickie...

2006-07-16T22:30:00.000-05:00

This was my weekend to work. There are three of us on a rotating schedule which works out pretty well. I was there Friday evening until 8PM and Saturday 9-2PM. I really don't mind it all that much, it just makes what's left of the weekend go by really quickly!

I did get a little work done on my sock...I'm on the gusset decreases. And I dug the bear skin rug out and got some more done on that. When last I left off he only had one leg. As of today he has three and a half. I hope to finish that last leg tomorrow (and post an updated pic) which will leave only the head to complete! The rug has really not been a hard project, just a long one. And one that I haven't managed to devote enough time to. So it's coming along, just a little slower than originally anticipated!

I'll sign off for now with a picture I took out in the yard on Saturday. Hope you all had a great weekend!

P.S. Thanks to Kenny for the help with the great progress bars!

LISTENING TO: LISA GERMANO - "Geek The Girl." Lisa is one of my top ten favorite artists. She is an incredible songwriter who has a penchant for making beautifully sad and lonely music. That isn't to say that listening to her work is depressing...but she is able to tap into some dark places and emotions we often leave unexplored. Highly recommended if you're game for that kinda thing!

The Options have landed

2006-07-13T14:08:00.000-05:00

Upon arriving home from work last night I discovered a package from Knit Picks...my order had arrived! Woohoo! I've spent a good bit of this morning trying them out, so let me go over what I think of them. Here's what my order consisted of:

- 1 set of 24" needle cables which also includes 4 cable cap screws and a cable key to tighten the joins
- pairs of needle tips in sizes 4, 5, 6, and 13
- two of the Classic circulars in size 2 (the Classics are a one-piece, non-interchangable circular)

Cable Ends

The cable ends seem very sturdy. The area where the cable joins the metal is smooth and will withstand a vigorous tug. The length of the post with the threads on it seems like it will add a lot of stability to the join.

Cable Key

The cable key is rather unexciting, but that being said, it does exactly what it's supposed to do. I found that the pieces can be screwed together about 90% of the way by hand, but you really need the key to finish the last bit. Which is good because it makes for a tight join.

The Join

The join itself is very clean. This is a trial piece that I knit this morning just to try out the size 13s with the 24" cable. I had no snagging and no loosening of the join.

Cable Caps

Here's an example of a "straight" needle made by using one needle tip and one cable cap end. The caps screw on just like the needle tips

Takumi Bamboo Vs. Options Part 1

I've used the bamboo circulars before with no problem, but in trying the Options I must say the the join is even better due to a smoother and longer taper.

Takumi Bamboo Vs. Options Part 2

The Options win out here, too, due to the extra amount of needle length (4.5 inches from join to tip). The short needle on the Takumis made them a bit akward to handle and was my only real complaint about them at the time. However I now have another complaint which is illustrated in the picture above. The Takumis have a very tight cable. I couldn't get it to straighten out any more than it is. The Options cables are very soft, pliable and easy to work with.

Takumi Vs. Options Part 3

This picture shows the difference between the tips of these two brands. The Options tip is much pointier! I don't know that I have a preference as far as that goes (yet anyway), but I thought I'd show you how they compare for your own reference.

My Sock!

I've transferred my sock over to the two Classic circulars (size 2). I had it on a set of bamboo DPNs, but figured I'd not only try out the new needles but a new technique (for me)...a sock on two circulars.

And this last pic is a shot of the sock in progress on the new needles.

So though I've only had them a day I'd have to give them a thumbs up all around. They are comfortable to use, attractive, fairly inexpensive and seem like they have been made well with a lot of thought put into them. I'll continue to use them and give one last post about them in a week or two as a follow up. But if you have been looking at them and trying to decide whether or not to take the plunge, I'd say go for it!

LISTENING TO: MUSE - "Black Holes And Revelations." Anyone who has listened to Muse in the past and thought of them as mere Radiohead wannabes, take another listen. This is one kick-ass album, adding in some Middle Eastern and Latin influences...even a little funk. But have no fear, the signature Muse sound and Matthew Bellamy's trademark vocals are in place.

MenWhoKnit rocks!

2006-07-09T09:29:00.000-05:00

I want to say a big thank you to the guys over at MenWhoKnit for their gracious welcome and kind words. And especially to Chris who badgered me into joining in the first place (I mean that in a nice way...). Not that I didn't want to join, mind you. I can just be a bit lazy at times and despite Chris mentioning that I should go check out the MWK site, I just hadn't gotten around to it yet. But now that I have, I'm glad I did and look forward to getting to know the guys there.

My KnitPicks Options needles should hopefully arrive this week! I'm very excited to give them a try. At first I debated as to whether I wanted to get them at all. Up until now I've been using bamboo needles almost exclusively. I've used bamboo DPNs for socks and a hat and bamboo circulars for the sweater sampler I made. I actually liked the fact that they have a little grab to them, especially in the beginning. As someone fairly new to knitting and who's paranoid about dropping a stitch, they were a perfect solution and I still really like working with them. So the thought of trying metal needles felt akin to cheating! However I have gotten to the point where I can see some advantage to the metal needles, mainly increased speed! (Sounds like I'm going through a midlife crisis, but instead of trading the mini-van in on a sports car, I'm going from the dependable bamboos to the sporty, speedy metals!)

As far as the interchangeable vs. classic circular issue, I have no opinion on that...yet, anyway. This will be my first experience with interchangeables. I am optimistic that I will like them. From all the reviews that I've read from people who already have them, people with much more knitting experience than myself, they seem to be a huge hit. Once mine arrive and I have a chance to try them out I'll post my own review for those interested.

Still working on sock #2. I haven't had the time to just sit and get much done, but I'm a little over two inches into the leg right now. On the left I've posted a pic of sock #1 completed. I ended up doing the ribbing just down the leg and the rest in stockinette. Tallguy had posted a comment that the alpaca may tend to stretch a bit so he was hoping I had continued the ribbing down the top of the foot as well. Argh, I didn't! However, the fit on them is comfortably snug, so even if they stretch out just a little, I'm hoping they'll still be fine.

LISTENING TO: COCTEAU TWINS - "Treasure." Between Robin Guthrie's ethereal guitar work and Liz Fraser's beautiful, angelic voice, Cocteau Twins were an amazing band. If you haven't heard anything by them and are interested in checking them out, I'd recommend "Four-Calendar Cafe" or "Heaven Or Las Vegas" as a good starting point.

Check out your Options

2006-07-04T18:56:00.000-05:00

Has anyone else checked out the new needles by Knit Picks? (Hope they don't mind that I "borrowed" a pic from their site!) They've come up with their own line of interchangeable needles which look fantastic.

This weekend I got their most recent catalog that featured them on the cover and after a quick peruse of that I headed off to do some online research. I ended up at Knitters Review where a lot of people who have already ordered and received theirs have given them the thumbs up. The only real negative I've heard so far is that the needles aren't marked with the sizes. But if that's the biggest complaint, it's a minor inconvenience.

Things that people have praised them for: The join between the cable and needles is said to be extremely smooth. The cable is very flexible, thin, strong and lightweight. The needles are hollow brass with nickel plating for a very lightweight feel and a smooth surface. I'll stop here since I don't want to sound like a commercial...especially since I haven't even tried them yet! But after reading all the available information on them, I have to say that I'm very excited to give them a shot. So much so that I placed an order today!

I ordered a pair of the Classic Circulars in size 2 for socks (the circulars in sizes 0-3 come in a non-interchangeable, one piece unit due to their small size) and a 24" cable set with a pair of size 13 needle tips (I needed these anyway to make the Fiber Trends felt clogs that I learned about from Chris over at the Tex Knitter site.). When ordering, they have a disclaimer that due to the high demand for the needles there is a one to two week backorder. But once they come in and I have a chance to use them, I'll let you know what I think. If you've gotten them and have any thoughts, please let me know in the comments section.

Well, that's it for now. I hope you're all having a great holiday today. Be safe and take care!

LISTENING TO: SEVERED HEADS - "Gigapus." Tom Ellard is the brains behind this fun Australian electronic band. They've gone from the early days of creating sound collages with odd samples and drum loops to a string of great electro-pop albums. But even at their most pop sounding, they still don't sound remotely Top 40. However, for the adventurous out there, they have a lot of smart music to offer...including their upcoming "Under Gail Succubus."

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig

2006-07-01T19:35:00.000-05:00

Well, after 11 hours on the road, I am back home from my trip to PA. I am exhausted, even after my 7 hour 'nap' this afternoon, but I'll have the rest of the holiday weekend to recover and recoup.

The trip was really good. Some of the highlights of the trip were: Seeing Mom and Dad and the old house, getting to see my sister and niece who flew in from Florida; visiting with my old co-workers; the family reunion at my cousin's house; visiting with two of my best friends, one which I hadn't seen in four years...and lots of good food!

One bad thing about the trip is that I managed to pick the week of one of the worst floods in the area. In fact it was second only to the Agnes flood in 1972. The picture I've posted shows a street that is just over two blocks away from the river.

My parents live one block away from the river. Luckily their house sits high on the far side of the street so we were spared any flooding. But most of the neighbors on the other side of the street did get flooded. We spent a good part of Wednesday helping people across the street bring things up from their basements. And if the flooding itself weren't bad enough, the whole town lost water service for four days, there were power outtages and due to large areas of water on the roads, many people were unable to leave their homes or to get to their homes depending on where they were when the flood hit. But despite all that, it surprisingly didn't put a damper on the trip and I was glad I was there and able to help.

I didn't have much time to work on my knitting, as I expected. However I did get a little more work done on my sock. I got the heel turned, the gusset decreases finished and I'm halfway down the foot. Hopefully I'll be able to finish that and get started on sock two this weekend!

LISTENING TO: LAURA VEIRS - "Year Of Meteors." Think of a slightly more off-beat Suzanne Vega, less folky and with a more electronic edge. I bought this CD having never heard her, but was drawn to it by the album cover. It's rare that I'd do that, but I'm glad I did!

Vacation, all I ever wanted

2006-06-22T14:36:00.000-05:00

Well, the knitting has been a little on the slow side lately. I have the first sock over half done...here's a sneak peek of it in progress. And I got some more work done on the rug while at Ruth-Anne's for our semi-regular, sorta-weekly knitting night. I finished one of the three parts of the head and one of the four legs is done. Actually, laying it out on the floor as is, it's looking like a bear that's been through some sort of industrial accident, but it's taking shape.

Tomorrow I'm headed back home for a visit with the folks, family and friends. I'll be traveling with my dear, long-time friend Diane which should be a lot of fun and will definitely make the long trip go much quicker.

Here's an example of our humor through a recent exchange about the trip. After some finagling, we finally had the trip all set. She was excited because she usually makes the trip home by herself and was happy to have me along as a travelling companion. "Oh good, I'll have a big, strong man along in case something goes wrong," she said. (I replied with "Really? Who are you bringing?") I later told her how I was pleased to discover that, though I get car sick when reading, I can somehow knit in the car without any problems. So when I told her excitedly that I would be able to work on my sock on the ride down she said "Well, there goes the big, strong man theory..."

I'm looking very forward to not only the visit, but the time away from work. Though I enjoy my job and my co-workers are great, I haven't had an actual get-away-from-it-all type vacation for two years. So, it's a much needed break from routine.

LISTENING TO: TARNATION - "Gentle Creatures." Paula Frazer's wonderful voice and songwriting are the heart of Tarnation. The band has now split, but Paula continues to record as a solo artist. If you are a fan of "alterna-country" music, this is probably right up your alley. You may also want to check out Paula's site to see her work as a weaver of beautiful wool fabrics.

Sock it to me

2006-06-15T19:12:00.000-05:00

I have put the bear rug aside for a bit. It was getting pretty warm to work with and I was running out of Chocolate Fun Fur. But, I just got the AC Moore flyer and the Fun Fur is on sale this week. So I'm going to buy the last couple of those that I need.

In the meantime I've started my socks with the Top Print alpaca. I am making these on size 2 DPNs, with 64 stitches. And Chris, since I have still not answered you as to what pattern I am doing the sock in, let me do that now! I started with a 2 inch cuff of K2 P2 ribbing figuring that I would try something different down the leg. But after trying a few patterns with the yarn I decided that most of them hid a lot of the beauty of the yarn. So I'm doing a simple pattern I saw in Nancy Bush's "Folk Socks." The whole of the leg is done in the K2 P2 ribbing with a number of heels to chose from. Then the foot of the sock is done in stockinette with a couple choices on how to close the toe. I have about 4 inches of the leg done on the first sock and it really looks great.

This sock is the first project that I've undertaken completely in continental knitting. I've practiced it here and there but it took me a long time to feel comfortable with it. However now that I've done it for a while I'm finding that I like it just as well if not better than English knitting. There is much less movement for the right hand and it feels more balanced. If you haven't yet tried it and are interested, head on over to the Knitting Help site where you can learn how with some helpful videos provided by the lovely Amy Finlay.

LISTENING TO: SONIC YOUTH - "Confusion Is Sex" I just heard that the new SY album came out this week. Though I haven't picked it up, I thought I'd get in the mood by putting in one of my favorite SY classics. Noisy, angry and essential NYC DIY post-punk.

Paca... Al Paca

2006-06-09T07:12:00.000-05:00

Well here is what I ended up with from the sale at Cityside. I love this yarn...it's 100% alpaca and is going to be knit into a lovely pair of socks...for me! This was only the second time that I've gone to Cityside. The first time I was by myself and I felt a little out of place. I went in and there were quite a few ladies, all clustered in a group, knitting and possibly spinning (can't quite remember). I just remember feeling very self-conscious and didn't end up buying anything. This time, going with Ruth-Anne, was a whole different experience...and I don't think it's just becuase I was with someone. Certainly that helped, but I didn't feel like we had stepped into someone's clubhouse and interrupted their meeting. One of the women who worked there asked what I was making and complimented me on my choice of yarn. She even mentioned how many male knitters they get in there. So that was nice and I feel much more inclined to visit them again. Especially if they keep running that 40% off sale!

Yesterday I was off work altogether. I get Thursday off when I have to work the the Friday night and Saturday morning shifts. Though I don't love working the weekend, the break in the week is very nice. It also allows me to get to some stores that I might not normally get to during their normal business hours. So yesterday I took Ruth-Anne to work early in the morning (she's having car troubles!), then headed out for breakfast at Bagel Central. After that I ran around doing a lot of errands and a little shopping. Then home for dinner, some laundry and enough time to knit a swatch with the new yarn. It looks great and I can't wait to start on the socks. I think I'm actually getting too many projects lined up. I guess I'll have to toss the names of the items into a hat and pick one randomly to see what to make next!

LISTENING TO: JILL SOBULE - "Underdog Victorious" I hadn't heard anything of Jill's for a while so it was a very pleasant surprise to find this at Bull Mooose Music a few weeks ago. Another fine album from the "I Kissed A Girl" girl. Her lyrics are always clever, usually a bit self-deprecating and often laugh-out-loud funny.

Sensational, indeed

2006-06-06T17:40:00.001-05:00

Well, the Sensational Knitted Socks book came today! It looks very well thought out and full of interesting patterns and tips. I can't wait to get started on some of these. I have some sock yarn that I bought from Knit Picks a while back that I never did anything with, so I'll have the yarn ready to go once I narrow down which one I want to try first.

Went to Ruth-Anne's last night for some knitting. I worked on the rug and she worked on her cool, stripey socks while we watched "The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe". She mentioned to me that her niece called her just before I got there and mentioned that City Side Yarn Co. is having a big sale on a lot of their wool yarns. So she and I are going to head over there on Thursday afternoon to see what they have left. Hopefully it won't all be picked through by that point! I'd love to find just the right yarn for a sweater. The problem is that I still don't have the pattern for the sweater picked out yet, so I wouldn't know how much I would need to buy. I guess I could take an educated guess and maybe add 20% just to be safe.

Guess that's about it for now. More later!

Making progress...

2006-06-01T18:55:00.001-05:00

I wanted to give you an updated shot of the 'bear skin' rug. The body is almost complete. Once I finish knitting the length of it (just a few inches to go!) I have to add the front and back legs and of course the stuffed bear head! As mentioned in a previous post the body is knit using four pieces of yarn held together... three pieces of Fun Fur and one piece of Wool-Ease. Wasn't sure how easy that was going to be to maneuver, but it's gone pretty smoothly. All in all it's been an enjoyable and surprisingly quick moving project.

I have a new knitting book ordered and am very excited about it! It's the "Sensational Knitted Socks" book by Charlene Schurch. It was between this book and one called simply "Socks Socks Socks" by Elaine Rowley. I figure I might eventually end up with both as they have both gotten really good reviews and socks are, at least at this point, my favorite knitting project.

This afternoon my friend Diane stopped in to see us at work. She had the day off to get her car worked on and it took a lot less time than she had originally planned for. So she wanted to see if I could join her for lunch which I did. During lunch she said wouldn't it be cool if I had the afternoon off so we could run around. I said, well that may be a possibility as we weren't overly busy and I have a lot of personal time saved up. So upon returning to work I asked if they would mind if I took off for the rest of the afternoon and got the ok from my co-workers. I'm so glad they were willing to let me take off because Diane and I had the nicest afternoon, not really doing all that much, just spending time chatting and catching up. A very nice day and much needed.

Oh, and a shout out to fellow male knitter, Chris, of the cool Tex Knitter blog for his recent help with the felted clogs! Thanks guy!

LISTENING TO: THE CURE - "Faith" An oldie but a classic. A masterpiece of minor chords and somber moods. The perfect soundtrack for a rainy evening.

Bear and Deerhoof

2006-05-27T17:01:00.000-05:00

Here's a little guy that I made a while ago from a pattern I found on knitty. I used Patons wool in color "Dark Natural Mix." This was my first attempt at anything like a stuffed animal. I'm pretty pleased with how he turned out, with the possible exception of his arms. The way that I attached them, they seem to stick out and a little up. I suppose I could always remove them and reattach, but that seems a little barbaric to rip him apart! And as he's not a gift and will just be hanging around the house, they'll probably stay as they are. But I'll know better next time, should I choose to make another such creature. Something else I didn't do was give him a face. He was certainly meant to get one in the beginning, but now the longer that he's been without one, the less it seems like he needs one. There's something very stoic about his lack of expression. With him, it's all in the body posture!

LISTENING TO: DEERHOOF - "The Runners Four." I got this from my friend Gary a while ago and have to say it's pretty great. This is one of those discs that I can put on when Mark is around and just watch his jaw drop! The thing that usually makes him do that is the singing, which in this case is due to the little-girl-like voice of the Japanese lead singer. He can't believe I listen to stuff like this, but to me, it's cute and the music is fun and quirky. Always good in my book!

Change is a good thing.

2006-05-23T18:59:00.000-05:00

So after only one week of the old template, I decided I needed a change. I like this green one much better. Hope you do too!

On the knitting front, I'm working on finishing up a snake for my co-worker's grandson. It's a quick and easy little project and something I know he'll love which is always nice.

Work was very frustrating today and I'm feeling like a bit of a cranky-pants. To cheer myself up I bought the first season DVD of Dr Katz: Professional Therapist on the way home. That should make me feel better...laughter is the best medicine, right?

The infamous "What is it?"

2006-05-21T17:00:00.000-05:00

Here are two pics of the sweater sampler I made from "The Sweater Workshop" by Jacqueline Fee. The one on the left is the '"front" and the one of the right is the "back" although I doubt that designation is really all that important.

The sampler was done on circular needles and was my first attempt at using them. Though I had knitted "in the round" when doing socks, those were done on DPNs. The sampler takes you through all kinds of techniques, some of which I'm not sure I'll ever use. But having tried them I'll at least be familiar with how they would look in a finished piece.

Today I worked a bit more on the "bear skin rug" and I'm about halfway though the "body." I thought that making it would be a bit boring (82 stitches, all garter stitch for a finished piece that measures about 5' by 3') but it's actually been pretty fun. Since there is so little attention needed, I find that I can throw in a DVD and work away. Lately I've been doing that with Season 2 of The Kids In The Hall, a very funny show indeed.

LISTENING TO: BETH SORRENTINO - "Nine Songs, One Story" A nice return from the former SUDDENLY, TAMMY! singer. This is only available online at iTunes, at least for the time being. I understand that she's also working on getting S,T!'s long-lost third album "Comet" released. From what I've heard of it, we can only hope she succeeds!

The Sweater Workshop

2006-05-21T00:06:00.001-05:00

A while ago I borrowed "The Sweater Workshop" by Jacqueline Fee from the library. It's a great book, very witty and well written, that teaches you how to make seamless sweaters, in the round, from the bottom up. In order to teach you all the steps and techniques that go into creating a sweater, Ms. Fee takes you step by step through making a sweater sampler. Ruth-Anne and I both made one of the samplers on our occassional knitting nights (I'll post a picture of the finished sampler tomorrow. A funny looking thing, it is!). By successfully completing the sampler I feel like I could tackle a sweater with confidence, which for a relative novice is a pretty cool thing! So I think that the sweater I make will be made in this manner...in the round, rather than seamed. My biggest decision to make at this point is what yarn to use - color, fiber content, etc...

LISTENING TO: LETTERS TO CLEO - "Go!" It's a shame that these guys (and gal) broke up, but at least Kay Hanley's carrying on solo.

Let's go back in time...

2006-05-18T10:23:00.001-05:00

Here I'll show you a couple of the things that I've already completed. The first thing that I made, aside from some practice 'squares' was a pair of socks. Now everyone told me how I should probably try a scarf as my first real project. Looking back on it I can see what they meant. However I was full of enthusiasm and I just plain wanted to try them!

So I got Betsy Lee McCarthy's "Knit Socks!" book from the local library. She goes on the assumtion that you know the basic knit and purl stitches and shows you how to proceed from there. I chose the Starter Stockinette sock and off I went.

Whenever I told anyone that I was going to try making socks, they all had the same thing to say..."turning the heel is so hard." If you are under that impression and want to try making socks, get the above mentioned book. She does an excellent job of explaining it step by step and before you know it you'll have turned your first heel. After all the apprehension and doubt about even being able to do it, when I began to see the heel form, it was like a religious experience with the angelic choir singing in my ears!

So here is a shot of those first pair of socks, with one of them still on the needles.

I enjoyed making that pair so much, which were a present, that I decided to make a pair for myself. Since the first pair went off without a hitch I decided to try something a little spicier. Using the same book I chose the Best Foot Forward pattern. This sock features a Cable Twist Rib Pattern stitch. It's a 7 stitch repeat that is easy enough to do and just involved enough to keep things interesting. The finished sock features alternating vertical rows of K1, P2, a 2 stitch twist, P2. Below is a shot of them. They were made with Wool-Ease which is a wool/acrylic blend. Though this is a machine washable yarn the sharpness of the stitches, and therefore the ribbing/twist pattern, has dulled a bit over time.

I also did end up making some scarves as Christmas presents for our friends Diane and Julie. One was a simple ribbing pattern (I think it was K4 P4, but don't quote me on that.) and the other was a pattern for a Worm Scarf (that I made into more of a snake) from Kris Percival's "Knitting Pretty." The scarves were a big hit which was a very nice feeling for a beginner!

LISTENING TO: LOVE IS ALL - "9 Times That Same Song." A great album that is reminicent of Bow Wow Wow with a little Bjork thrown in.

The Beginning

2006-05-17T18:02:00.001-05:00

Hello all and welcome to my first blog. I named this blog 'alterknit universe' for two reasons. I hope to share my knitting with you and at the same time show my support for all the other male knitters out there. Secondly, being a huge alternative music fan, I'll also be throwing out some names of artists that I think are worth a listen. If you take me up on checking any of them out, let me know what you think!

My name is Ken and I'm a male knitter living with my partner Ron in Maine. I started knitting last September when Ruth-Anne, a co-worker and friend of mine, brought in a mitten she was working on. She showed me how she was knitting it in the round on four needles and I was pretty fascinated. Though I had toyed with the idea of learning to knit before, I never had the nerve to actually try it. But with some moral support from Ruth-Anne and a 'teach yourself to knit' book and I was on my way.

Though I did receive help and encouragement from co-workers (who have all been very supportive, by the way!), I basically hunkered down with my book and taught myself. I've been having a lot of fun and so far have managed two pairs of socks, two scarves, a hat, and one glove...yes just one but hey, I've got all summer to finish the other one!

My current project is the 'faux bear skin' rug that was featured in Knit1 magazine. There's some weird irony that I wanted to knit this since I'm both vegetarian and anti-hunting. I think it's more about the challenge of tackling such a large project than the end product. I'm not even sure what I'll do with it when it's done! You can see the pattern and a pic of it here. Though I'm pretty sure the beefcake doesn't come with the rug, I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

The pic I've posted shows what I have done so far, the tail and the rear of the body. The legs will be added on later at the corners. It's knitting up quicker than I thought, but I guess that makes sense since it's done on size 15 needles with four strands held together! I'll keep you posted on the progress as I keep at it.