I finally finished the socks from my handpainted yarn! Now I can move on. I started a sock with the Ja Woll cotton, have most of the first Embossed Leaves sock done, and need a mate for my Knitpicks Simple Stripes sock. I'm sadly behind in 200Sox.

In kitty news, we took Cuba to the vet for the first time yesterday. She was very lethargic and seemed to be gagging or coughing. It turns out she has a cold and we got some meds for her. She's already done a 180 in terms of mood...she's playing and talking and affectionate again.

The vet asked us how old she is; we told her what the shelter told us, 9 months. The vet disagreed and aged her at close to 2 years, according to Cuba's teeth. After looking at the papers from the shelter's vet, it indeed estimates Cuba's birthday to be January 2004. So she's a teeny, full-grown cat. Jeremy told me that one of the women at the shelter said she assumed the vet made a mistake because Cuba is so small. Why wouldn't they just believe the vet? I don't know. They also told us that Jonah was 6 months old but after looking at his papers we see that he's actually 8 months, which makes sense because he does have all his teeth. Not a big deal in the long run but it's good to know the truth. Also, Cuba's been eating kitten food all this time and I think she must have been missing out on adult nutrition, so we need to take care of that.

Continue reading "For Sebastian"

As soon as the cats decide it's time to nap, I'll be finishing the cardigan for Astra's baby. All I have to do is put it together, weave in the ends and lightly block it. I'm also almost finished the second of this pair of socks, and I hope to get that done later this evening. I've only finished one pair this year so far...sad sad sad.

For dinner tonight I'm making Jamaican Rice and Peas along with some fried plantain and roasted jerk-seasoned chicken legs. I haven't made the rice and peas in ages so I'm really looking forward to it. The beans have soaked and I need about two hours to cook it, so I guess I'll start around 3:30.

More kitty pictures? This way, please.

Continue reading "Waiting for Naptime"

Yesterday while Alex was at school we took Nicci's husband to the dentist to get drugged and butchered. While he was there, Nicci took us to breakfast (thank you!) then we checked out a couple of yarn shops I did not know were nearby.

On Yonge St. in Aurora we went to Needles and Knits which is a huge shop with lots of rooms and a huge selection. Not having much cash but being unable to leave empty-handed I got some sock yarn, Jawoll Cotton in colour 88173. The shop is in the same building as the York Region Knitting Guild, which I didn't even know existed. I'll definitely be back there. They had Garnstudio Silke Tweed in some really great colours, which I've been meaning to try.

The second shop we went to, Unwind, was on Main St. in Newmarket. Very small, but cute and the owner told us she was moving to a bigger shop with parking (very important!) in April. She has a Stitch 'N Bitch there on Wednesday nights from 7 to 9, which I'll have to check out. I couldn't leave there empty handed either, so more sock yarn. This time I got Opal (Owl colourway), which I've also been meaning to try. On sale for $13.75, can't go wrong with that.

We still had time before the dentist appointment was over so we hit Zellers for pyjama pants and we made all the Elmos in the toy section sing and dance at the same time. Coffee from Tim's, and the morning was over. After all of this I needed a nap before my usual SNB at 7. It was a lot of fun. Natalie was the only one there who hadn't given birth yet and I think our discussion pretty much ensured she never would. Graphic? Maybe a little. But hysterical! And speaking of childbirth, we may have a birthday today. Astra says she thinks today is the day for her son to finally make an appearance! Yay!

This morning Jeremy called Dell about our computer and solved the problem - the ram was loose. After tightening it up everything worked just fine. Guess who is going to spend the next couple of days organizing backups?

After sitting through all that, who wants to see kitty pictures from the weekend?

Continue reading "Okay, Now I'm Tired"

Continue reading "Cardamom is Finished"

Our desktop PC seems to be in self-destruct mode. I went into the office just now to dump my camera, and when I turned it on it scared the shit out of me. The monitor wouldn't go on (we leave the main power on all the time and allow the computer to power it up or down upon start or shutdown), the computer started beeping and the fan began whirring insanely. The beeping was coming from the computer itself, and it was more like an alarm, get out now and run for your life sort of thing. If you've ever played Goldeneye and were caught by the security cameras, you know what I am talking about. I turned it off. I turned it back on. Same shit. I turned it off. I don't want to die! What the hell is it doing? It was fine on the weekend, and now it wants to explode.

Continue reading "Noooooooooooo!"

Cute Overload has a little What's Cuter? battle game where you choose which of two photos is cuter. The game allows you to upload your own cute photos. Believe it or not, people are uploading photos of their children.

Now, I love babies. I really do. If there is a baby in the room I will hold the baby and coo and generally act like an idiot, because I really do love the babies. But in a situation like this, where some random baby is pitted against an animal in a "what's cuter" contest, the animal will win every time. Unless I know your baby I am going to be more interested in the animal. I am not a monster, I am the mother of a former baby whom I think was the cutest of any that ever lived on this earth. Even so, I've got to side with the kitty in a mug or the twin bunnies over Chubby Chubberson in a Halloween costume. I'm sorry. That's just how it's gonna be.

And I am not alone. If you check the loser page, you'll find it's filled with children. Poor little children whose parents felt the internet should decide between them and a hedgehog weighing himself. Parents, if you don't want to know that your baby is not cuter than a hedgehog I suggest you don't ask the internet. I hope you never tell your children what you've done.

Please, think about the children.

Last night I defrosted an assload of chicken breasts for today's dinner. I'm making roast chicken with stuffing and everything, I even have fresh sage, it's a whole big thing. However, I completely forgot that Alex was spending the weekend with my parents and Jeremy is working until late, so now it turns out that I will be enjoying a big family dinner for one. I decided to just prep everything and I'll cook in time to have it ready when Jeremy comes home at 11. Duh.

Otherwise, I had a really great day today. Astra and her daughter came over to meet my kitties! They brought us little valentine chocolates which was so very sweet, and a fantastic sisal scratching post which was so very needed. Thanks guys! Ingrid, who is three, loved the cats. She loved them fiercely and with every fibre of her being. She told them all of her secrets and was heartbroken when they decided to spend the rest of her visit hiding under the bed. She then moved on to Jeremy and Alex and bonded with them. Lots of running, laughing and catching. Then the poor thing was heartbroken again when Jeremy had to go to work and take Alex to my parents' house. She is so sweet and confident and bright. I adore her and the way she throws herself right into everything.

I showed Astra my secret projects, which no longer need be secret because they are for her and her new baby who is almost here. I suppose I could have waited until they were done and wrapped them up all gift-like, but I couldn't wait. The blue project is a teeny hooded cardigan which is missing only its sleeves, and the ivory one will be a baby blanket, knit in a knit/purl checkerboard pattern. She said she loved them and I'm so happy; I hope they keep him (the baby) very warm. During Astra's first visit I deftly swung the conversation over to colours of baby clothing and lured her into telling me she didn't like the traditional pastels (neither do I) which gave me a starting point for the cardigan. I am sneaky like that.

He Whose Name is Pending's name pends no longer! I woke up yesterday morning humming My Name is Jonah by Weezer and realized that Jonah, in fact, was his name.

Who's hand is that? That is my father's hand. What is he doing? Yep. He's playing with a CAT. I no longer understand my world.

Continue reading "Hell Hath Frozen Over, Dudes"

As I was saying to a friend in email, my mom thinks Valentine's Day is a family holiday so the fam is coming over for dinner tonight after work. I think she just misses us a lot so she's inventing holidays and excuses to see us. I told my mom and sister about the cats last night, but they've opted not to tell my dad in case he decides not to come. My dad is very anti-pet. He loves animals, but even after a million years he still hasn't gotten over losing his dog back in the old country and refuses to get attached to any animal. He sneers and snorts and pretends he thinks we're all stupid for loving the pets. But I know the truth...he's just too much of a softie.

The kitties are doing well. Cuba has been getting braver and even hopped up on the couch with me for a while today. She's much more feral than No Name. She was found a couple of months ago at a worksite (I'm guessing a construction site?) and has only been with the shelter for two months. This could mean that she has been on her own and fending for herself for seven. She's skittish and plays differently than No Name...she's more gentle with the toys because she's timid with humans, but watching her play with her buddy is a different story entirely. She really looks like she's hunting, whereas No Name is like, "Duh, what's that? Whee!"

I'm so happy they like the litterbox. However, and I'm sure cat owners everywhere will laugh at me, we tried using a plastic liner in the box. That got torn up in a matter of minutes, so that's the end of that.

Knitting is much more difficult. If I'm already going it's okay, but if they see me pull out the needles and yarn they think it's play time.

Speaking of knitting, I finished Cardamom on Sunday and have already worn it. I didn't have a chance to take any pictures yet, but I will tonight. At Family Valentine Holiday Dinner. Also, secret project #1 is reaching the home stretch. A few good hours of knitting and I'll be ready to seam.

God, No Name really needs a name, poor thing.

We've been planning on getting a cat for a long time. First we couldn't because we lived with my mom and she wouldn't have it. We waited until we bought our house, but with renovations and carpenter ants...we thought it would be a good idea to wait until we were done with most of it. Today we went to the shelter and got two!

Cuba is a girl and she's nine months old. She's very shy and spent most of the evening behind the washing machine. She startles easily and panics at the slightest thing. But she's loosened up a bit, and now comes out of the laundry room to see us. She gets along very well with her friend, No Name.

This is No Name, playing with his catnip thingy. He's six months old and very outgoing. He's watching tv with us on the couch right now. He's still a bit uncomfortable here, but he loves us and likes to try to climb into my sweater. His name is actually, Playful. Yes, finish vomiting...I'll wait. We haven't come up with a replacement that fits him yet, so we've been calling him a million different idiotic things. Cuba's name seems to suit her and we're going to keep it even though I had planned to name her Vendetta from this cartoon.

Sandra, I'll be taking that covered litterbox, please!

I love the idea of the Harlot's Knitting Olympics. How can you not? As it stands the number of participants is somewhere around 4000. I'll be cheering from the sidelines instead of casting on for my own project today. I've got too much on the go already and while knitting something challenging in 16 days is right up my alley, I'm already overextended.

While everyone is watching the opening ceremonies, I'll be watching Arrested Development's closing ceremonies. The last four episodes are airing tonight and I'm fanatically excited to see them. I'm also depressed as hell because the thought of no new episodes of the greatest, most brilliant sit-com ever produced makes me want to cry.

And while everyone is casting on for a project, I'll be finishing one. Cardamom is ready to seam! I won't be able to knit the button bands today because I want to use washed yarn for that and I forgot to wash it yesterday, duh. Anyway, all seams will be sewn and I have very few ends to weave in because I spit-spliced everything.

While my fronts were blocking last night I made some progress on the first part of my secret project. I should have it done in a few more days.

Right now Footloose is on tv and the sinning school dance is about to begin. I love this movie.

Jeremy will be home from work early tonight, which is nice because he usually doesn't get home until 11pm. Tonight he should get here by 7:30, so we're celebrating by getting some Chinese take-out even though we really can't afford it. But it's not often we all get to eat together on a weeknight, so we're splurging. I'm happy because I really, really don't feel like cooking today. And I really, really do feel like eating deep-fried things covered in various sauces.

I still haven't finished knitting the last bit of Cardamom. I haven't got much left so I should be done in a couple of hours, provided I can read my own notes about the neck shaping. I'm definitely blocking the fronts tonight...I know, I've promised myself that before, but this time I actually have the time to do it (thanks to the take-out). If all goes well, seaming will be done tomorrow and I'll have my first completed sweater of 2006. Then it's back to Durrow, I promise! Ha ha.

A long while back when I was actively working on my Lucky cardigan, I mentioned that I'd made a worksheet that helps you calculate even spacing between increases or decreases on a diagonal. I needed it to help me adjust the pattern for size and gauge, and the plan was to make it available on the site. Of course, I totally forgot but I got an email the other day (Hi Kristal!) asking me if I still had it. I do. So here you go (PDF). It's helpful for spacing the increases or decreases for sleeve or raglan shaping, and also for v-necks and the like. I hope it's useful. I'll be putting a link to it in my sidebar, too. If you use it and it helps you out, I'd love to know.

Jeremy has been lucky lately with his requests for certain days off. It's his birthday on the 25th, and it's free and clear. He confirmed he also has March 5th off, so we'll be at Rabsy's Oscar party for sure. Maybe I should watch at least one of the nominated movies, lest they make me sit outside. Nah, they wouldn't do that...I'm bringing cheese fondue!

Today has been a lot less productive than I would like. Usually when I get up I think about all the stuff I mean to do during the day and somehow it never works out that way. I let time get away from me just fooling around online and chatting with friends; before I know it Alex is home from school and I've got to start the crap job of cleaning up the kitchen so I can make dinner and my day is gone. At least the place is clean so I don't have to feel guilty about that. After dinner I'm parking my ass in the corner of our sectional couch and I'm not putting my knitting down unless there is a fire.

Yesterday was our SnB and on the way into town I stopped at my LYS to pick up some yarn and a pattern for a new project. I've been planning this project for a couple of weeks but didn't get started because I couldn't decide between two things. In the end I still can't decide so I'm making both. Unfortunately I can't really discuss it because it's a secret sort of project, but I will show you the yarn.

The yarn I bought yesterday for the first project turned out to be a bit thinner than I liked when I swatched it up, but here I'm doubling it with a strand of sock yarn and now it's perfect. The difference in colour of the two strands adds to the heathered yarn and I just love it. It's Sirdar Country Style DK in Highland Blue. The sock yarn is this, the blue one.

This is some Pengouin yarn my sister had but hadn't used, and it was exactly the colour I wanted so she sold it to me. I haven't swatched it up yet, I'm concentrating on the first half of the project first.

My cousin has just opened a flower shop and she's having an open house this afternoon so family and friends can come by and check it out. She's promised refreshments, so I'm going! We won't be heading over there until around 3pm but since Jeremy's going to work, Alex and I are hitching I ride with him to my parents' house, where we will be spending most of our day. This means I have to pack some knitting because I don't know what the hell else I'm going to do while I'm there.

Instead of starting the other front for Cardamom, I tried to go back and work on Durrow last night. Going from a 5mm needle with the Rowanspun Chunky to a 4mm needle with Pengouin Le Yarn was surprisingly impossible. Each of those yarns require me to tension in a specific way to get gauge and I ended up knitting Durrow way too tightly. I'm just going to have to cast on for a sock (the second of a pair) to knit in between, kind of like eating sorbet between courses.

The back and sleeves are blocking right now and they've grown a whole inch in length. The crazy thing is that they've grown only from the underarm down; the raglan area is exactly as it should be. Now, I knit a swatch, blocked it and took my gauge from it, so I'm kind of pissed off. I can deal with an extra inch of length in the body, but I'm worried my waist shaping is going to be in the wrong place. The sleeves are a different story. They're going to be way too long and I'm probably going to have to pick out the cuffs and reknit them downward to get them to fit.

I think that what I should have done was wash the yarn first, then swatch, then knit. The Rowanspun Chunky is similar to Peace Fleece (although it's much softer), and bloomed a lot after washing. When I knit my Everyday Cardigan I washed the yarn first because it was filthy, and there was no change in size when I blocked my pieces. The Rowanspun was really clean and not at all oily or sheepy, so I didn't bother. I wish I had.

I decided on a crewneck for the cardigan. I'm going to go for a basic 1x1 rib for the buttonband and once that's on I'm going to edge the neckline with applied I-cord. I've never done that before, so I'll get a new skill out of this sweater. But holy hell, what a pain in the ass trying to get the neckline properly rounded and still match it up with the raglan decreases. Rip, knit, rip, knit, rip, knit. Let's hope I can read my own notes for the other side. Let's hope once the I-cord is attached the neckline isn't too tight.

I've been trying to take my photos lately without the flash, usually near the window when the sun's out. This time I had to resort to the overhead light with the camera balanced on a shoebox, so the colour is a little off. Who wants to buy me a tripod? Anyone? Bueller?

Alex had no school today and when I woke up he made breakfast for me. Well, he tried. He had set the dial on the toaster a little too high.

Jeremy doesn't start his shift tonight until late, so he and Alex are playing Xbox while I'm trying to decide what to do to Cardamom. I finished the back last night, and now all I have left to knit are the fronts. I still haven't decided what I want to do. I'm torn between a crewneck and a high v-neck. I don't have to decide between the two until I reach the shaping at underarm, but I do have to work out my buttonband before I cast on. Nothing is coming to me.

My second bag of yarn finally arrived yesterday. As it stands, I completed the back piece with just over two hanks so I will have enough to finish the whole sweater without touching the new bag. Which means I'll have enough for an afghan as well. Or a second sweater.

As I've mentioned before, I had to add an extra repeat of Chart B to my sleeve in order to get the cable pattern to reach high enough up on the shoulder. I determined that while my stitch gauge is pretty much correct, my row gauge was a little bit tighter than 6 rows per inch. As it turned out, that was the only way I would have been able to achieve the correct number of increases over a span of 18 inches. Had my row gauge been correct, I should have been increasing every 6th row instead of every 8th like the pattern says. From my email to Jodi:

Now after looking at it and thinking about it, it's obvious my row gauge was way off, and that ended up being a good thing because when I did some math this morning, my calculations said I would only have been able to increase a total of 11 times before hitting 18". This is what I figured, and I'm not confident about my calculations at all, so take it with a grain of salt:

Row gauge = 24/4" or 6 rows/1"
18" of sleeve = 108 rows
Begin sleeve increases at 4" from cast-on, or on 24th row.
84 rows remaining to complete 12 more increases every 8th row
84 / 8 = 10.5 increases possible

I managed to make all of my increases because I ended up knitting more rows to get the same length, and as a result the correct number of rows of cabling take up too little length, causing the end of chart C to be positioned too low on the upper arm. But when working at the correct gauge I think the increases should be spaced every 6th row to fit them all in before you hit the underam bind-off with a couple of rows to spare at the end.

My conclusion is that if you are achieving the correct gauge, for the first two sizes of Durrow the sleeve increases should actually be placed every 6th row. 12 further increases at this interval should leave you with 12 or so rows to work even at the end before beginning the shaping at underarm.