An ode to two kitties I haven’t met…

…yet

Calvin & Ripple Socks

Started: September 20

Finished: Oct 4

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Mediumweight End – no idea what color it was suppose to be but I love it.

Pattern: Calvin & Ripple by Cristi Brockway

Needles: size 1.5US circ – magic loop

Notes:  This is how I got my sock mojo back.

I manged to finish these in 2 weeks, which used to be normal time for me.  Of course I did little else, knitting wise, but these were so worth it.

I may have a new fave sock pattern.

This is a wonderfully unique sock pattern – one toe up, one top down, different stitch patterns for the front, the same stitch pattern for the back of both heels

And believe it or not, I enjoyed the toe-up sock more.  Maybe it was the very fun Calvin stitch pattern (it’s the one on the left in these photos), maybe it was the fact it was the first toe-up I enjoyed (Judy’s Magic Cast-On & doing Magic Loop instead of dpns played a significant reason for that), whatever the reason, I loved it.  While the Ripple pattern is lovely as well, I couldn’t keep the stitch pattern in my tiny brain – even to the very end I had to keep tinking back every other row because I would mess up somehow.  Still they look so lovely together – I never have had so much attention paid to my socks at work.

I didn’t really plan to use similar colors as the pattern – though it makes sense for a couple of orange kitties.  There’s not much more I can say about the yarn that hasn’t been said before by me or others – I freaking love love love Socks That Rock.

And am I over my toe up phobia?  Well I started another pair of Calvins for a holiday gift for my mom – what do you think?  :)  Thank you Cristi for such an awesome pattern!

 

Sewing with the NOPOGal: the crossover blogisode

It was a lovely cool grey weekend (serious…NW girl through & through) and Fabric Depot had a big sale…and I had a long awaited sewing playdate on Sunday with a friend…what do you think I did all weekend?

First, the sale got me.  I seriously roamed around the store for like 2 hours, putting things in my basket, taking stuff out, trying to convince myself I do not need every single Amy Butler fabric they had, even if it was marked down.  Near the end of my wanderings, I ran across this kick ass fabric & knew it had to be a new bag for me.

It is now one of my top 3 favourite things I’ve made, it’s just so funky & fun.

At Sock Summit, I kept seeing these really neat project bags that several people I know bought…but I thought I could make something similar.  A friend found this really fun pattern & showed it to me so I decided to try it out.

I like them.  It’s great for hanging off my wrist to knit from – like at the movies or walking around, but I like my drawstrings better for actually carrying my knitting  - the top of the new one doesn’t close so if I stuff it in my purse, it gets all messy.  And yes, those are my Blue Moon buttons on there – I could not for the life of me find my entire pack of hand sewing needles to put an actual button on them.  I did finally find them, but now I kinda like having a good use for my Sock Summit flair.

Then I made a skirt – it’s from the Amy Butler pattern I made my first one from.  I figured, hey, may as well use some of AB fabric & try it out.

While I do like it, the fraying bit is going to take some time to get used to.  Hopefully it will look better after it actually frays.

I doubt I will actually make this pattern again – I didn’t enjoy it & probably could have done a better job on it.

I also probably should have not drank beer while sewing it up.

Mina still does not approve.

Then on Sunday, Carmel (that would be the NOPO Gal of the title) came over for a long planned sewing playdate!  I’m probably not the best person to show someone how to sew – I only started sewing a little over a month ago myself. But I gave it a go & Carmel made her first kickass rockstar bag.

How fun is this fabric?

She did a great job – I think I have her hooked.

We grilled up some yummy pizza with her boy (who spent much of the time chatting online with my boy – I don’t think he was excited about our girly craft time.) I have really gotten into grilling pizza – it is so much better than trying to bake it in the oven & even more fun with friends.  And beer.

Check one of our creations out (photo by Carmel)

mmmmm....bacon pizza....

You can read more about our creations on Carmel’s blog post!

So all in all, it was a great relaxing weekend.  I still have all this:

So many possibilities to ponder….

 

Sock Summit Madness pt 1 – Friends

Wow.

Where to even begin?  Can I just say I had the absolute best time this weekend?  So much to say & so many pictures to show, I need to divide it into 3 parts.  Otherwise, the posts will be miles long with hundreds of pictures.

So I’m starting with one of the most awesome things this weekend – hanging out with friends either I hadn’t met in person yet or else hadn’t seen for a long time.

First, it’s always a bit of a gamble meeting someone from the internet who may or may not be exactly how they appear (hey, I did internet dating.  I know of what I speak). It’s especially nerve wracking when you’ve invited them to stay with you for the entire sock summit.  I’ve “known” tutlegirl76 for at least 4 years – we’ve read each others blogs & shared a love of knitting (of course) but also of Deadwood, among other things.  We are in pretty much the same groups on Ravelry & a few months ago I offered a place for her to stay.  As the summit drew nearer, I got really nervous.  What if we don’t get along? What if she’s not like she is online? What if I’m not like she expects?  Will it be a long uncomfortable weekend where we will be glad to see the back of each other by Sunday?

I had nothing to worry about.

yes, same picture as the one on Cristi's blog - it's her photo but the only one of the two of us together and seemed to sum up the weekend perfectly

It was a wonderful weekend with her – full of beer, laughter, yarn love, knitting, naked men, and debates of toe-up vs top down socks (I promise I am making a pair of toe up socks!).  I was so sad to see her go on Sunday and even though we live on opposite coasts, I hope we will be able to hang out again in person sometime soon.

I also got to meet several other “internet friends.”

Melanie, my favourite indie dyer who is just cute as abutton and funny as hell.  I even worked her booth for a short amount of time & got to fondle all her yarns.

Carrie & Cristi - somehow I never got a photo of Carrie & me! What the hell?!?!?

Carrie, who I feel like I’ve known forever.  Had such an awesome time hanging out with her & running into her all over at the Summit, teasing each other about the amount of Blue Moon we were adding to our stash (purchases is part 3 of the write-up by the way).

It was also nice to see old friends I hadn’t seen since I came back Portland (I’m a hermit who’s too lazy to drive all the way over to SE, what can I say?)

Nothip Christy is so adorable.  I wish I got a picture of her gorgeous knit dress, but maybe she’ll blog about it.  Hint hint.

Melissa, so funny & awesome.  I’m actually going to get myself out to Abundant to hang out, even if it is the furthest yarn store from me.  After Twisted, Abundant is my fave LYS, but it’s just a pain for me to get there sometimes. Both places have such a fantastic staff, which really makes all the difference.  (not to insult the other wonderful yarn stores in Portland – we have a bunch!)  I even ended up buying from both of those booths, even though it’s not a huge deal to go to those stores here.

Also hung out with my awesome coworkers.  Seriously, not only do I have a fun job, I have the best coworkers.

Me & KpKate - man, i look awful but it was really late at that point.

I actually took Kate’s place after she moved to a different position so we have lots to discuss & commiserate about.  I didn’t get photos, but I also did a little marketplace wandering with Tina and I ran into Kelly & Xena every time I turned around. Speaking of, I’m going to be on Kelly’s podcast this week, so check it out & listen to me dork out about the Sock Summit.

Then there was people I “knew” of on Ravelry & the internet, but only just met.

cristi (again) and Anne (Annimol on Ravelry) dancing to some Abba at the Sock Hop

the famous Jenifluer who is so funny & awesome

Last but not least, The Rubberneckers.

I don’t post a lot on message boards but I will say I’ve been a card carrying RR since day one.  I probably post there more than anywhere else – it’s the funniest, foul mouth bunch of hoars in all of Ravelry.  We have the reputation of being the Mean Girls (and Boys) of the Ravelry, but seriously, we are mostly just laughing & insulting each other.

we like to stay in disguise. Though it's perfectly obvious who I am since I am apparently a giant.

Dinner was a lot of fun, even though it made us late for the Ravelry party.  I did get there in time to see the Rubbernecker Mods meet Casey.

a very blurry but very funny photo that just makes me laugh.

On that note, I’ll leave off for today.  Next post – the knitteratti.

 

Good-bye, Mass.

Today is my last full day in Massachusetts.  While I am excited to go back home to Portland, there are a lot of things I am very sad to leave behind here.  It has been a great experience, living on the East Coast after living in the West all my life and while not perfect, has had more good than bad.

My friends

I’ve known Debb for nearly half my life – we’ve had so many adventures in our early 20s, living in OR – trips to LA, exploring Portland, where I knew I would make my home one day, and just goofy things to amuse ourselves.  After she returned to MA, we kept in touch – my now ex was one of her close friends so I visited a couple of times and her & her husband took a cross country trip and visited me in OR.  So it was a wonderful coincidence that I ended up living near her again.  I didn’t get to see her as often as I would have liked – life gets in the way – but I will miss knowing she is nearby.

I will also miss other knitty friends I wish I could have gotten to know more – Britt, Amanda, and Marianne.  I don’t care what people say – I don’t think the East Coasters are more rude than West Coasters.  Nearly everyone I’ve met out here has been fantastic.

My job

 

my office

I really lucked into my job here – I was a temp & this was the third temp job I had.  I loved nearly everything about it – it was challenging & fun and I worked with fantastic people.  After a year, I got my first office.  I was so sad to leave it – even the chairman as well as the president both sent me a very nice emails saying how much they’ll miss me, which made me feel really good.  Very different from when I left my previous job.  My biggest worry (with good reason) is finding a job that I will love as much as this one out in Portland.

The Sox

Yes, I can be a Sox fan in Oregon.  It won’t be the same – it’s not like I can turn on the games every time they play.  I only wish I could have seen a game at Fenway.  I’ll just miss living in a sports town honestly – I’m really not a huge sports fan (except the Sox) but it has been fun following all the teams.  I have my sports memorabilia – several Sox items, a pair of Celtic sweats (that I honestly bought because I got caught in a downpour in a light coloured linen skirt – oops) and some Pats slipper socks (a Christmas gift).

WEBS

Okay, so I only went there twice & ordered online from once – but just the fact that I lived in the state with the biggest yarn store just made me happy.  If I had a car here, I probably would have made many more trips.  Other places that are just out here I’ll miss – Dunkin’ Donuts (large iced coffee - black), Au BonPain (love the sandwiches) and Windsor Button & Woolcott & Co as well as many restaurants – Ricardo’s, Blue Taleh, Mela, Maggiano’s, Desfina - really it’s no wonder I’ve gained so much weight out here!

The History

I am such a history nut and it’s been really exciting to live where so much US history has taken place (I’ve been reading a lot about the Founding Fathers – especially John & Abagail Adams).  Yes, Portland has it’s own history, but seeing buildings that are nearly 400 years old is very exciting to me, after living in the West.

But, most of all, I will miss my dearest friend & love.  CoffeeBoy will not be joining me for an undetermined amount of time and that makes me dreadfully sad.  When we moved out here, we lived together for a year, but because of opposite work schedules and separate friends, we didn’t seem to spend much time together.  But here, we live a bit far from our friends and our work schedules were the same so 90% of our free time was spent together.  And, after living alone for several years, I never thought I would get used be in the company with the same person day after day but now…I can’t see myself without him.  We’ve never even been separated by more than a week since we met  nearly 3 years ago & I just don’t know what I’m going to do.  :(  I feel so silly saying that but it’s true.

Okay!  No more sad things.  A couple of things I will not miss:

• My neighbors.  They’re not as horrible as some, but I’m so sick of dealing with them.
• The commute.  I spent 3-4 hours getting to & from work each day.
• Most Masshole drivers.  Luckily, I rarely dealt with them while driving, but I’ve witnessed some of the asshole things people do in their cars.
• The super dry winters – my skin gets so dry it hurts – as well as the super humid summers – icky sweaty all the time.
• Lack of excellent coffee – nothing has been as good as the artisan coffee back in Portland.

Tomorrow I get on a plane to Portland with Mina so my internet usage will be limited for awhile.  Wish me luck!

 

WiPin’

I’m off work again today – there’s not much going on in the office as everyone else is on vacation and decided I needed a bit of a break, which gives me a good time to actually upload some photos.  So how about some WiPs?

 

Amelia

First up is Amelia - something I am determine to finish as soon as possible! I even took it to Houston & worked on it during the short breaks in my hotel room (which ended up being just doing a row or two at night, but at least it’s something). Now I’m on the second sleeve, then it’s just the yoke & edging. My biggest concern is running out of yarn – it’s Valley Yarns Superwash in Rosewood (the colour is a bit washed out in this photo) and while it’s listed in the catalog, it’s not on the website.  I think I’ll be okay but I may need to hunt down a lone ball for the edging.

I do have some fun buttons for it, but as I only have 4, I’ll need to hunt down a couple more.  Luckily, I bought them at JoAnne’s so they shouldn’t be too hard to find.

 

button button, who's got the buttons?

 

(the colour is much more true in this picture too)

Next up, I have (of course) a new pair of Commuter socks.

Again, this was from my trip to WEB’s – the Misti Alpaca sock yarn. I love the green stripes!  And they are going to be so warm – which is precisely why I started them.  I’m just doing a plain ol’ top down basic sock with an eye of  partridge heel and I’m on the foot of the second, so I should be done early next week.

Finally, not a WiP but a final unblogged FO from January.

Blingin’ Socks for my BFF

Started: January 3

Finished: January 16

Yarn:  Painted Skeins Silver, Silk, and Superwash Merino Sock Yarn in Graphite

Pattern: Reversi

Needles: Size 2US

Notes:  These were actually originally started back in November and were going to be an edited version of Reversim as Britt can attest to.  But when I finished one, I was so unhappy with it I just frogged it & started over with the real version of Reversi, although I did a short row heel instead of the reverse heel.  Anyway, I had to make these for the BFF – she loved the silver in my other pair of blingin’ socks & when I saw the black, it just screamed her name at me.  Anyway, not much more to say – this is, by far, my favourite sock pattern – and one day I’ll actually have a nice pair for myself – I just need to remember to make them out of superwash yarn!  Both pairs I’ve made for myself have shrank/felted slightly, although one pair I can still wear, just the stitch pattern has been muddled a bit.  Sigh.

And one day I’ll actually give these to my BFF – our timing of get togethers has been all off for the past month!  But I think we might be planning a Chocolate Buffet soon…

 

Amusing Things

Work is kicking my ass this week.  Seriously.  I have plans for some nice interesting posts…but too bloody exhausted to do them during the week.  But I thought I’d share some images of things that have amused me this week.

 

Someone at Starbucks HQ must be a knitter

 

Everyone in MA needs a scarf.

 

 

My oldest friend and me., waiting for our SOs.

 

 

New yarn love.

 

Good things

So I know CoffeeBoy thinks it’s weird I have friends I’ve never met – I’ll mention “oh so-and-so in some state says…” and he kind of looks at me in strange “where dd you meet this person?” way. I don’t care.  I know such awesome people through the internet & I’m perfectly fine with that.

For example, awhile back, I drooled over a pair of Zonda’s socks.  And this wonderful woman I’ve been corresponding with for years totally sent me the rest for a pair for myself!

 

Whee! Halloween socks for me!

How awesome is that?  I’m so thrilled, I am in love with these colours.  Thank you again Z!  It totally made my day.

 

Solitary Crafter

For the most part, I feel like I’m a solitary crafter. I generally knit or do crafts by myself for various reasons – I don’t mind & most of the time like being alone with my thoughts, I can concentrate on what I’m doing, I don’t have to worry about anyone else being bored.  I do like going to Stitch N’ Bitches once in awhile – one day I need to make it back to the Lowell one with Amanda & Marianne - but for the most part I just knit or whatever on my own.

Well this week I branched out a bit.  

As Tuesday was a holiday and the trains into town were on a holiday schedule, I decided to just take the day off of work.  By lucky coincidence, my commuter buddy Britt had also taken the day off and was planning on making her first pilgrimage to WEBS with some friends.  I was invited along…and how could I resist?  I mean it’s WEBS!  

Of course, I did not take any pictures of the roadtrip.  It was a perfect day for a roadtrip too – chilly but clear for the most part.  I worked on my mom’s Christmas socks on the way over with Britt working on her socks & had a lovely time.  WEBS was fairly hopping, my guess because of the holiday. I kept my head for the most part with my purchases because I was concentrating on holiday gift knitting.  I did do the same thing I did last time – carry tons of yarn around before deciding against it & putting it back (in the correct place, thank you very much, I used to work in retail)  I love WEBS.  It’s ruined me for other yarn stores, at least for large purchases.

What I bought:

 

yarn yarn yarn

Most of these are for gift knitting – hats for my nephews, a scarf for…someone.  Sox for my sister.  But I had to get one thing for myself

 

Mmmmmm...stripey green alpaca socks....

I actually was looking for the new Malabrigo sock yarn, but sadly, I could not find it.  After looking at all kinds of sock yarn, I grabbed this at the last minute (literally, I was in line to pay and this was near me).  I love it and after all my gift knitting is done, it will be a nice pair of warm socks for myself.  Or maybe it’ll be a gift, but really, the colours are ME.

My other example of non solitary crafting this week was yesterday.  My best friend of 15 years is a papercraft addict – much like I’m a knitting fiend.  Every few months she hosts a gathering of scrappers (I think that is the correct term) and has invited me each time.  Well, papercraft isn’t really my thing but yesterday I took her up on it.  Glad I did, because it was really fun.  We each made 3 holiday cards.

 

my attempts

I’m pretty pleased with mine – I still don’t think papercrafting is for me necessarily but it was really interesting.   I can see the appeal of it more now but for me to make these on a regular basis would involve buying a lot of items that would seriously cut into my yarn budget.  But now I have nice unique Christmas cards to send out this year.  

I think the BFF and I are going to have a craft night with some other crafty friends at some point where we teach each other our craft and make some things – she has an idea that we each bring a project from our prefer ed craft to show the others how to do and we each take a project home.  I’m trying to think of one I can do – I have a ton of size 7 & 8 dpns but I only use my Harmonies now.  Maybe I’ll put some caps on each of the old dpns and get some worsted weight yarn for each person and show how make…an ornament?   I want something small that can be finished in an evening.  That’ll take some thinking on.

So while I’m still pretty much a solitary crafter, I’m at least branching out a bit

 

My weekend

I did not go to Rhinebeck. I had thought I would until a couple of weeks ago.  I just didn’t have the money, nor, to be completly honest, the desire to buy more yarn.  Am I sick?  Perhaps.  Honestly, it’s begining to stress me out, having all these projects still.  I mean, I’ll still get my sock yarns from my clubs and maybe some holiday project items but really, I need to cut back in a serious way. But my weekend was not spent moping around.   

Saturday was filled with chocolate.

a table full of chocolate!

I went with some lovely ladies to a Chocolate Buffett, I’ve written about it before.  It was a smaller group than usual but still a great time.

One of my (many) plates.

We then did our post-chocolate routine of shoe shopping at Downtown Crossing.

We did not buy this shoe.

And the it was off to Lush, where I spent some of my Rhinebeck savings on Lushy stuff – a nice trade off, I supose.  I will admit I did stop at Windsor Button before the meetup to pick up the Holiday Interweave Knits and I finally found Franklin’s book!

The next day I continued my One Day Project Sunday with a snowman.

Hello there.

Posey

Started & Finished: October 19th

Yarn:  Mission Falls 1824, white and leftover sock yarn (held double) for the hat & scarf.

Pattern: Snowmen from KnitPIcks

Needles: Size 4US for the body, Size 3US for the scarf & hat

Notes:  I actually saw the prototypes of the cute little Snowmen way back in July when I visited Melissa at Knit Picks – she either created them or test knit them – I can’t remember!   Anyway, they were super cute so I had to make one when I saw they were avaiable.  This is the Rosey one, although I just gave her a scarf and hat instead of her little capelet.  I also didn’t realize it was felted until after I picked up some Mission Falls 1824…oops.  Superwash.  So I knit her at a pretty tight guage and I think that worked okay.  I used some left over sock yarn (finally!  Something to do with it!) for the hat & scarf.  Posey will be a gift, but I’llprobably be making more of them.  Super quick project.

So it was no Rhinebeck, but still a nice weekend.  Friends, chocolate, Lush, & knitting…it worked out just fine for me.

 

One day projects & Leaf Peeping

Sundays have turned into the day to do quick projects.  For the past few Sundays, I’ve started & completed one project – I’ve done a couple of Calorimetrys (Calorimetries?) – one I wrote about, one for a swap gift and another one for myself that isn’t that exciting – as well as Boo (I’m actually making another Boo today actually).  So as I was trolling through my blogs the other day, I came accross a cute hat on one that my skein of Alpaca with a Twist Highlander was begging to be made into.  I whipped it up on my lazy Sunday & absolutly adore it.

 

This is my "it's my day off so nyah" look

Highlander Hat

Started: October 12

Completed: October 12 (probably a total of 5 hours)

Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist Highlader, about 3/4 of a skien

Pattern:  Robin’s Egg Blue Hat

Needles: Size 9Us circ & dpns

Notes:  No mods on this hat at all – it came out perfectly.  I love this yarn so much – I made my Panta out of it nearly 2 years ago and a couple of hats for friends last year and it is just so perfect for small items like hats & scarves – soft, warm, and non itchy.  I don’t know if I would attempt a sweater of it  - bulky yarn + bulky body = not the look I’m going for – but it is one of my fave yarns.

I’m also loving how the button looks on it:

I picked this up at WEBS, thinking it would be for a sweater, but decided that it would be better suited for my hat since I only had one anyway.  I think hat will get a lot of use this winter – love the alpaca!

In non knitting adventures, I went on my first Leaf Peeping trip with my dearest friends and CoffeeBoy.  We had a wonderful time, up in the White Mountains in New Hampshire – it was a perfect day, sunny & cool and the leaves were stunning.  I couldn’t stop snapping pictures.  Here’s one I love, even though it doesn’t have as much of the pretty leaves in it.

 

Just a few of my favourite people in the world. And their asses.

You can see all my Fall Foliage Tour pictures here.