Christmas in January

My Christmas gift from Tracy arrived this past week!!












Do you see that? She knit up a blanket for me! And felted slippers! The blanket is so beautiful and soft and big ... the slippers are very comfy. Details on the blanket: Knit with three strands of Homespun held together on Addi Turbo circular 19's. Colors are Grape, Fiesta, and some red they don't make anymore. Details on the slippers: They're spongier than I expected. ;)

I did not measure the size of the blanket, but in the picture where it is mostly spread out on my bed? My bed is a Queen, so that should give you an idea. If you want REAL measurements, you will have to let me know, then wait for me to do it...

Ice

20 degrees this morning, 18 degrees yesterday morning. And my coffee maker still hasn't arrived.

Organizing!

I was at Target yesterday shopping for a baby shower, and decided to see if there were any suitable shelving unit things for my "Et cetera Closet". I found shelving! I bought two units (they are stackable), and four cloth drawers. (I bought the pink ones because they were on a super reduced sale, a "two-fer" deal, and I really don't mind pink at all.)

All four bins are full of yarn. On top of the shelving units sits a plastic bin (which has most of my straight needles in it), and on top of that is the orange Pandora's Box with all sorts of various knitterly things in it, then on top of THAT is a knitting tote thing that my mom found at Walmart (?) so picked it up.

And the best thing about all this? My skiis and golf clubs still fit alongside the unit! Everything still goes in the space, but in a much more organized way. Love it.

Sunrise

From exactly one week ago, looking from our front deck...

Yarn and Puppies!

Jury Duty, Schmury Duty. We're just not going to talk about that.

First, I give you a Puppy Shot! Miss Stella *loves* to launch herself off the top of the two steps going down into the living room. Here she is mid-air, chasing after her tennis ball.



And during my lunch hour today, I wasn't hungry, so I decided "Oh! There'a a Yarn Store up the street that I never have time to get up to!" I have never been in this store. Looked in the windows when I've been up there after they were closed, but never stepped foot in there.

I came, I looked, I bought.

Buying ban? Wha'? I don't unnerstand... b... ban?

(Right. I know. A knitting-stuff-buying-ban. I completely forgot about it once I entered that store. I use the Twinkie Defense! Even though I haven't had a twinkie since .... well, it's been many years.)

This is the yarn I bought today. It's called 18 Carat (or Karat?). One is a silver sparkly one, the other is a pink sparkly. The photo doesn't nearly do the colours justice, but there you go. One of these will go up the cable of the scarf I mentioned waaay back when (you know, the one out of the pink baby alpaca? That one.).



This was my last purchase before my knitting-stuff-buying-ban really went into effect. Two blue laceweights from HPY. One is Azul Bolita, the other Oceanos. I'm not sure which is which, and I don't really care enough to figure it out...



Jury duty at 9a. Bed calls.

I Need Another Vacation.

I was happily on vacation from October 21st - 29th. Went to Indiana to visit a dear friend and, I think, I need to go back!

See, I got back late late late Sunday night, the 29th.

On Monday after work, I picked up my puppy. She's 5 months old, she's a Jack Russell, her name is Stella.



On Tuesday, I was to report for jury duty (jury selection). My group was postponed until Wednesday. So, Wednesday I go in, and lucky me - I was chosen to sit on the jury. Say hello to Juror Number Three.... Jury Duty is Tues-Thurs from 8:30a to 4:30p until the case is done. So you know? This is the most boring thing I have ever done in my life. EVER.



The small town where the court house is has a parking garage. Three floors. With narrow-ish tight tunnels going from floor to floor.



What happened on Thursday, you ask? Well, on the TWO HOUR LUNCH we were given (wasting my time, thank you), I was leaving the parking garage to go home and let the dogs out. I scratched my truck on the parking garage wall. (I took my dad's Honda car back - it fits much better!).



I don't want to be on jury duty again. I'm glad I got to experience it this once, but from now on? I will tell the judge and attorneys that I don't have the ability to stay awake when things are this boring. It's a very honest statement. It doesn't matter that I just had a double latte. It just doesn't! (I did try the "I have a very close family friend on the Sheriff's Department, my uncle's a retired cop, and my neighbour was a retired cop." That didn't work.)

1949 - 2006

Godspeed, Aunt Denise.

May you be forever free of pain, full of joy, surrounded by love.

The family you leave behind is well loved and will always be taken care of.

Saturday Baking

Today is a "Wash the Truck" day. (Which I still haven't done, but will before the day is over.) While waiting for the driveway space to pull my truck up, I decided to bake.

In order to bake, I need music. Unfortunately, XM radio is in the kitchen (as opposed to Sirius); they don't have the good oldies stations I like! (I prefer late 50s - early 70s, but there wasn't a choice to listen to that segment of music.)

Classical it was. Veracini performing Violin Sonata #6.

The cookies? Well, I was going to make the classic Nestle Toll House Cookies. Chocolate chip. But digging through the drawer with the 'chips in it, I found about 1/3 to 1/2 bag of both Mrs. Fields choco chips, and Nestle Vanilla Chips.

So that's what I used. Then my mom piped up with, "Why don't you go ahead and use those Heath things too?" So, in went a full bag of crushed Heath bars.

And let me tell you. They were wonderful. :) (And there's a lot left. Which means some of them are going over to Tracy tomorrow.)

Progress!

See? I am still knitting. I know it's amazing, but there we go! It is a crappy picture though; I didn't realize until I put the card in the card reader on the computer. I did learn, however, that pillows make nice things to pin into. The bed would've been good, but I'm not gonna do that to my bed. (It's a Select Comfort bed by the Sleep Number people. LOVE the bed. Sharp pointy things being stabbed into the air chambers could be Very Bad.)

Swatches

I did swatches of the Lime Blue and Amazonas hpy's. The Amazonas is looking to be more like a camouflage colour, and the Lime Blue is just kinda fun. Never know how they will pattern themselves when knit up for reals!

Handpainted Yarn. (i.e., The Result Of My Knitting-stuff Buying Ban)

I do think, though, that I set my Self Imposed Knitting Stuff Buying Ban after this batch of yarn-buying.

I bought a few skeins of lace yarn from HPY several weeks ago; the Sapphire Magenta, Black, and Sealed Wax (I think that's what the red was called). Now I have added three more to the mix because I love "knitting little" and the yarn is beautiful and, well.


I'm addicted.



"Hello? My name is Kalah? [... silence ... ] Hello? HELLO!?"



Right, I see that nobody else is in this meeting. Or at least willing to out yourselves as complete addicts. I'm FINE. Really, fine. [As in, F*cked up, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional.] Super fine... ;)

Knitting In Lace.

And let me just say that I enjoy it a lot.

Talent, They Say

I'm a Talent!

You're a risk-taker, and you follow your passions. You're determined to take on the world and succeed on your own terms. Whether in the arts, science, engineering, business, or politics, you fearlessly express your own vision of the world. You're not afraid of a fight, and you're not afraid to bet your future on your own abilities. If you find a job boring or stifling, you're already preparing your resume. You believe in doing what you love, and you're not willing to settle for an ordinary life.

Talent: 62%
Lifer: 31%
Mandarin: 41%

Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.

Socks! (Well, Sock. Sockette, really.)

This past Wednesday I took a sock class at our local knitting store, Sierra Knitting Co. The class started at 4p, but with work and all, I wasn't able to get there until 5p. (I had warned everyone ahead of time! I think the only time I can make a weekday 4p appointment is if a) I have horses to do or b) I have a massage scheduled.)

So, the Sock Class. It was taught by an outsider, not Debi or Donna. I think this gal teaches quite a few classes there though.

We did a mini-sock pattern so we could get the idear of casting on (with the german long-tail something-er-other cast on), dividing sts for the heel flap, picking up sts, doing the kitchener st at the toe. When I left the class I still had the whole toe section to do, but another girl had gotten down to that part so we were all able to see how it was done. Easier to go back to the written instructions after you've seen it.

I used US3's on this little sock. The class callout was for US2's, but a) I already had 3's, not 2's, and b) I'm a tight knitter and knew I'd be able to get away with it.

So without further ado, I present to you a Finished Object. (Thank God.)





Just so you know the size of the sock... the top picture was taken with Sock sitting on the nose of my bicycle seat. It's 2" from toe to heel, and 2" from heel to the top of the cuff. See? Little.

I do want to knit REAL socks at some point, but I think I would like to wait and get some Addi dpn's. They make lil ones with the Addi "turbo" coating. (I actually went to the skacel website and checked....).

For now, I'm on a self-imposed knitting-stuff-buying ban until I finish a scarf from lace weight yarn (from hpy), and the pink scarf out of baby alpaca. Once those two projects are FINISHED, then I will look into buying the Addi Turbo dpn's in size "really small".

Here's What I've Learned.

I need sharper (think KnitPicks) needles before I knit up my lace yarn.

I found that out on row three of swatch.

Good thing I have my light pink baby alpaca yarn as a backup to knit, eh? How's that for thinkin'!!

(No pictures though. I'm too lazy right now.)

It's a ... What IS that??

Did I mention I was going to try something new (to me)?

I'm trying something new.

I decided that I wanted to do something with a cable in it. A simple basic cable. And I wanted each half of the cable to be a different colour. I can see it in my head ... I can see it completed in my head, and it looks pretty snazzy! Now I have to figure out how do do it, exactly. I have a good idea, and it will get done, but it may take awhile.

Mainly because this isn't something where my mind can wander. I have eight strands of yarn hanging down ... 4 are live, 4 are ends.



Please understand: I am a baby knitter. I don't know how this looks to you, but for me?

I need a drink.

Hello, My Name Is Kalah? ["Hi Kalah..."]

For those of you who don't know, I suffer from yarnaholism. (See, this is my way of saying, "I have new yarn.") If I have a bad day? I need yarn fumes. If I had quite the time with CtE at work? I need to fondle yarn. If I had a frustrating day, get off work early, AND have a COOpun to use? I buy yarn.

[If you wonder, "COOpun" comes from comedian Ron White. In normal english, COOpun is coupon.]

I didn't need any yarn. I never need yarn. But... but, you see, there's this yarn that always sucks me in. I always have to touch it. Not because it's soft or anything (because that would be baby alpaca, which this isn't), but because the colours draw me to them.

This, my friends, is how I celebrated Independence Day.



Picture is smaller than I expected to make it. Must be the lateness of the night...

The grouping of five balls? Those are from Cascade Yarns. "Rio" is the yarn within Cascade.

The blue at either bottom corner? Those are both Berroco ... and I totally forget what type from them. Mmmm.... yeah. My brain is off the thinking mode. Softouch? Something like that.

I had a few people ask what I was going to do with this yarn. First? I'm going to admire it. I am going to be happy that I have it home. I am going to add it to my stash (my yarnstuff is becoming a stash!). I'm going to save it until I see a project that needs a little hint of colour, and then! Then, I will use one of these yarns, because that's what it will be perfect for.



I love yarn.

"But wait, I have PLANS!"

"What has she been doing?" perhaps you wonder. Well, no, it's not knitting I've been doing. You see, some of you read about the mudslide we had a few months ago. We decided to rip up all the carpet, which meant moving everything either outside or upstairs depending on what it was, and move the damn dreaded pool table. (Anyone want a pool table? Bar sized, 1 piece of slate, heavy mo'fo. You want it, you have to move the bloody thing. Currently it resides in a garage in Folsom.) We are now having tile installed (Tile Guy is very nice, though I'm not sure why you need to know that.). Friday entailed sanding the cement that was under the carpet and painting this noxious stuff on it. Saturday the tiles started going down. Today at 7am, the tiling resumed. MAYBE by the end of the week, the tile will be complete, which would mean we could start moving stuff in, which means my Knitting Chair would come back in. In the meantime, I do have several projects planning themselves in my brain - one of which is a pair of socks!

So, here's some of what I have been doing.



This is my horse. Blondie. The Blonde One. Thursday morning the front shoes went on, Friday morning the hind shoes went on, Saturday I clipped his legs up, and now he's ready to work.





He's pawing the air in these photos. He knows he'll get yelled at if he paws the cement.

This week is a busy week with family birthdays, then Father's Day on the weekend, so ... maybe knitting will resume Sunday evening? I DO need to swatch up my KnitPicks Parade yarn with those little US3 dpns I got awhile back....

Happy Birthday to ME!

So what if it's a bit more than a week still until my birthday! Tracy sent me a birthday package, which arrived on Thursday. A happy addition to a beautiful sunshine-filled day! I opened the box, and inside I found several wrapped items. This is the box with everything in it, no longer wrapped... ;)



There on the upper left side is a ball of Knit Picks Parade yarn, currently being swatched on the included #5 Addi Turbos. There are five balls of that yarn for me to play with! I love how it's going to stripe itself - FUN!! And those Addi Turbos ... Oh. My. Gosh. I LOVE them! So fabulous! (So you know, on the package for the Addi's, there is a warning which states "if used by untrained persons this tool may cause bodily harm." I'm not THAT much of a klutz!



On the lower left part of the box is the brown leather (or leather-like) zip case, which contains ...



Tadaaaa! The Boye Circular set! (The proper name is something like "Boye NeedleMaster Interchangeable Needle Set" or ... something.) All sizes I'll ever need to try stuff out, apparently! How utterly rad is that?!

Now, this yarn. This yarn I absolutely love. LOVE! The colours are so wonderful! Tracy included two, er, hanks? (knitterology totally escapes me right now) of this yarn. What am I going to do with it, you ask? I am going to admire it.



See? It'll be very easy to just admire this yarn for awhile. It doesn't need to be made into anything yet. It only needs to exist.

Tracy also included a hank of Malabrigo Worsted Merino Wool. The card says Emerald, but it looks more Seafoam in colour. I think it will need a pink/purple/blue type of colour with it.

That baby blue yarn you see underneath everything? That wasn't part of my birthday present; it was just yarn that nobody down Tracy's way wanted. From how T talked about this yarn with such disdain, I think I am either going to hate it, or be stubborn enough to make it work for SOMETHING. It is a very furry yarn that appears to tangle quite easily. "USE LARGE NEEDLES" is what I was told. We'll see what happens!

Also included in the box is a cute stationary (or is it stationery? I really don't remember... to the horror of all those years of schooling I've had.) set which includes a small spiral-bound notebook, a pencil, the cutest holepunch I've ever seen, a lil' stapler, and little clips to clip papers or anything else you may want to clip! Also with this is a cute pencil holder which MAY be used to hold things other than pencils...

Now for my Wednesday and Friday evening shopping experiences at Sierra Knitting Co., located in Cameron Park. (I have to keep plugging these guys - they're wonderful!)

On Wednesday I went in looking for a soft something to make a new hat out of. I felt up a lot of yarn... and found Misti Alpaca's 100% wonderful Baby Alpaca! It's so amazingly soft ... I'm just in heaven! It's a medium-dark green with tiny slivers of orangish throughout. And so soft. SO soft!



THEN, on Friday, I had to go back to the store again (oh darn!) to pick up the dpns I'll need for the size circs I bought on Wednesday (to go with the yarn...). And then bought more dpns to round out the sizes I will likely need in the not-too-distant future.



(See the bag? Sierra Knitting Co. Have I told you I like them? And? And?! They may be expanding their store, which may include an area to just come in and KNIT!!!)

Oh, I also bought new stitch markers, because I am housesitting and left that kind of stuff at home. I bought them for their colours ... bright green and purple. How could I resist!? But now I'm home posting pics for y'all, and will grab my stitch markers (I think they may be more flat than the ones I just picked up, which will be perfect for the Knit Picks project; I'll use my new ones for the baby alpaca project.), my measuring tape, and anything else I may need for my 9 remaining days of housesitting. Whew!

(And so you know, this is a record for me. Two projects kind of going at once. WOW! I feel the need to do aran-style cables on the knit picks yarn/hat. I am looking SO forward to seeing how that yarn stripes up in a hat, and am also looking forward to using the Addi's!)

Another quick note: Sierra Knitting Co. is hopefully going to start carrying those Addi Turbos pretty soon. Yay! As if I don't spend enough money on my horse and for gas for the truck...!

:) I'm so happy with these new additions to my Knitting Stuff. Don't I have one of the best cousins ever?! Tracy, thank you SO MUCH!!! And see, I may take a long break from knitting, but I come back! ;)

Finito!

My hat is done! I had the last part of my class yesterday (transfering to dpn's and finishing the hat). I felt like I had grown an extra five fingers that kept getting in the way, but at least I didn't have to worry about the dpn's falling out of the stitches since I knit tightly. I had fun doing this hat ... my first time using circulars (which I accidentally left at the knitting shop ... they called and told me that, so I guess I have another excuse to go in there sooner than I was planning), my first time using dpn's, and my first time tying in a new ball of yarn the way Tracy recommended (which worked really well, btw).

So, here it is. Many thanks to my model, a Kirkland roll of paper towels.





And while at my friend's house last night, I started working on a practise run of the Aran Cable. It doesn't show up as well here as it does in person, but it still doesn't show up greatly in person either. I started it a few rows up, and instead of using just the 12 st width in the pattern, I should've made it wider just so there was more run out along the sides. I think that would've made the cables stand out better. But there you go, live and learn!