Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Blood Demons

Sorry for the relative silence. Brother and SIL were in town last week, so I wasn't able to update much. We went to see Wicked. It was yay. Did the Seattle Underground Tour, which was amusing (no photos allowed).

Started back up on my regular schedule for work yesterday. Got up at 5 am and walked to the gym. Worked out after getting my locker assigned. Then went to bum around campus til it was time to clock in. Nothing has changed at work. It is the stocking/being bored as per usual. Got off work, had a voicemail from Mom.

Dad had been complaining about being short of breath for the past few weeks. Originally it was thought that maybe his bout of pneumonia had caused some scar tissue. And then the docs decided that since he just turned 60, it must be his heart acting up (it wasn't.) Dad went back in yesterday for some more tests. He called Mom at about 6:30 and told her that he would be spending the night in the hospital. He has pulmonary embolisms. Little Blood clot demons in his lungs. He is on blood thinners for the moment.

But: The treatment for said thing is lowfat diet and exercise. If you can't breathe to exercise, how does this work? He is already on a low fat diet. (my mom lived through 2 kids and the 90s. hello) What else can be done to treat it?

Mom was a lil freaked when I talked to her. I was a little freaked, but decided to steel my nerves, since it was caught before it caused *REALLY BAD* stuff. But still. And to top it all off, I am still going to work today.

*sigh*

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Please HELP!

Due to some personal stuff that has happened, I am calling all knitters and readers of this blog to come out and support Miss Violet (yes, of Lime n Violet fame) She needs money and support to be able to get out of a bad situation, and it's our job to help.

For as long as it takes, I am putting 100% of the sales from my Etsy shop towards her fight for independence.

Please, if you can spare it, help her out. She's brought so much joy to us knitters, that we need to pull together to make sure she can keep doing it!

Remember, pandorasslave.etsy.com There is a link on the sidebar as well (maybe two)

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Happy Sunday!

Hello everyone.

Unfortunately, this is a really short post, as I race around trying to get ready to go.

This week my brother and sister in law visit from Japan. I will be otherwise engaged in entertaining them, and also working (nope. didn't take any days off for while they are here...what? They will sleep til noon anyways...)

I have made progress on the Classic Hooded Jacket for the test knit. I love Ultra Alpaca. It is so squooshy. And the slight halo it has will make it feel even more cozy.

Did anyone go to WWSIPD? I did not, but at least I got my hair dyed, and cleaned up the house for the visit of the siblings.

back to the race. Have a wonderful week!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Mags and Bags

September is always a great month for knitters and spinners everywhere, because the new Fall magazines hit the stands. Case in point:



Do you see that? 6 magazines! 6!

-The Knitter Issue 9
-Knitting September 09
-Interweave Knits Weekend
-Simply Knitting Issue 58
-Yarn Forward Issue 17
-Spin-Off Fall 09

And to top it all off? I got my new tote bag from Twist Collective!

It's soooooo cool!

Oh yeah. And there was progress on the Test Knit:



Ribbing done, now onto crazy amounts of decreasing and then some plain knitting.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

WWSIPD!

Holy Crap. They've thought of everything! World Wide Spin in Public Day

Is it bad, that I want to go just to play on other peoples wheels? I would go, but I have this thing about A) Being a crap beginner spinner B) Not wanting to risk getting roving wet in Seattle Sunshine

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

OMFG Best Spinning Toy EVAR!!!!!

Check this out. Spinning in a car, or on a plane! Freaking cool. Spin N'RIde!

The original video is on Susan's Blog. I have uploaded it here merely to spread the joy...not to invoke copyright infringement. (i love you Susan!)

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Candied BACON!!!




Guess what we did last night?

Yes, candied bacon. Pig candy. Nom nom nom. Granted, it's for a house warming party, but...still tasty.

FO: Central Park Hoodie





The Stats:

Started: December 26th 2008
Finished: August 30th 2009
Pattern: Central Park Hoodie (rav link) from Knitscene Fall 2006, also available from the Interweave Store
Yarn Used:BunkyBoBos' BunkyBoBos Worsted Wool in the Poseidon Colorway (a special request) Browse BunkyBoBo's Etsy Shop.
Yardage:I ordered 8 skeins, totaling 1760 yards, and still have roughly a little less than 2 skeins left. Of course, I did do a few modifications. (skeins were 220 yds)
Size Made: I did the 42" and then had a 1/2 stitch/inch larger gauge for the tiny amount of positive ease I wanted.
Modifications: Are all outlined on my Rav Page. Here are the highlights:
-1/2 stitch/inch larger gauge to allow a little bit of positive ease
-lengthened the ribbing sections to 5"
-lengthened body before armhole shaping to 15" instead of the 14.5" (partially because I felt 14.5 was a silly number, and partially because I knew I wanted the hoodie to be longer, so I was adding length in the place that made sense.)
-Continued the central back cable all the way up the hood. Found instructions to adjust shaping here. (Look at Feb 27th post "Hood Accompli")
-Zipper instead of buttons (a two way separating zipper)
Would I do it again?:Yes. The pattern is easy, interesting enough, and well designed. I think I would do it again, but this time, not make the sleeves so long (I wanted to wear them cuffed so I made them really long, but for general use, I think the ribbing is nice enough). I would also go back and do some pockets. Hoodies need pockets, and Ravelry has a few free patterns for pockets for the CPH.

Thank you, thank you, I DID make a sweater. (*cough cough* so much for NaKniSweMoDo, huh?)

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Photographing Lace

Elemmaciltur (if Knitters Uncensored fame) has blog posted the most amazing analysis of how he photographs lace! If only he would do a full set of these posts explaining how to photograph other knit items

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Jeremy Clarkson and the Sheep

"I was then distracted by the sheep. I’ve always thought that a sheep was a sheep. But no. There was one that had been fitted with the head from a buffalo. There were vicious wolf sheep with spiky horns for stabbing ramblers. (I’m definitely getting some of those.) And then there was a sheep with quite the largest testicles I’ve ever seen. They would have looked ridiculous on even a brontosaurus. I swear each one was 2ft in diameter. If the RSPCA wasn’t looking, you could have used them as space hoppers."

-Jeremy Clarkson (as forwarded to me by Librarian Boyfriend)
Times Online Post

Friday, September 4, 2009

Wisdom on Ravelry

”I will be told by no-one how a woman has to behave. Not by a man and certainly not by a feminist.” -DannyKay

Damn skippy. That's all I've got to say.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Later, I Promise

There will be FO photos of the Central Park Hoodie later. I promise. I need to get photos of it before I go posting. In the meantime, I would like to share this cute vid with you.



Oh, and I cast on for the Luna Moth Shawl for my mom's Christmas present. I have to say, either I am reading this pattern really *REALLY* wrong, or it is the easiest shawl pattern EVAR. (I like charts....*beam*) It inspires me to cast on a shawl for the MIL....after I complete this one, of course.

Yarn from WEBS should be arriving soon for my dad's Gansey (Martin Storey) It's the 4th picture down on the sliding bar of photos, the man holding the.....canteen??. The pattern was included as an extra with the August 09 Simply Knitting Mag. My brother will be getting an Escher-esque scarf, the Cubic (Rav link). I haven't exactly decided what the in-laws will be receiving. Well, I know my sister in law will be getting either yarn or a felted bag. But the rest of them I have no idea.