Getting off the Couch

Seriously. It is harder than you think.

This cold has kicked my ass. Finally today (that's SIX DAYS after I initially got sick) I am starting to feel better. I only made it through half a day of work yesterday and slept most of the afternoon. No one talks about it, but it is really hard to come back to 8 hours a day at work from being prone for 5 days. I slept all yesterday afternoon. Then I finished the apple turned orange, turned back into apple because I found some appropriate red yarn hat.

I was so pleased with it, that I am going to make a pumpkin hat to go with it, and send them off next week!

I have also discovered Ravelry. (I sound like I am a pioneer who has made a breakthrough here, but no...I am a bit late to the game.) Ravelry is a knitting social networking website. Let's just heap another one on the pile, shall we? I'm already on facebook, twitter, and have an old, decaying page on MySpace. I also have an account on Good Reads, where I keep track of the books I read, and now I have Ravelry. I don't use MySpace anymore, and I have decided just this week that I am decidedly OVER twitter. I don't need to know what you are doing right now, and my life is so boring that I would be completely vain if I thought you wanted to know what song I have running through my head. I used to follow a bunch of people, but my phone was dinging every time a text came  through, and 99 times out of 100 it was something so inane, that I started wondering... do others feel the same about my clever little snippets of life? Surely not! Well... um, maybe... But I digress.

Ravelry is cool because it isn't just a social network, it is an organizational tool too. I am able to keep track of all of my knitting needles, stash yarn (which has almost outgrown it's container, thank you very much), and keep track of projects. I can post pictures, and keep track of details. It is pretty nifty.

I am wondering what I am going to do next. I think I might make something for myself. I desperately need a knitting needle case, and I thought I would make one. There is a neat pattern in Fabulous Felted Hand Knits that I thought I would try. Right now my needles are in an untidy pile in my craft room. A jumble, more like. Also, I need a better way to store my circulars. There is a pattern in Stitch N' Bitch, but I don't know if I like the idea yet.

I still have to felt the hotpad and coaster set. They lie there, limp and languishing. I am waffling over how to do them, by hand or in the machine? Having never felted before, I don't know which one would be more suited. The book recommends the machine, so I'll probably do that.

Book Review: Knitting Rules! by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee


Okay, so I finished it late last week, but I've been siiiiick. (Yes, that was indeed a whine.) Anyway, I chose this book over most other knitting books that we have because Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is none other than the Yarn Harlot. Yes, that Yarn Harlot. I started reading her blog way back from the beginning, She has been doing this online blogging thing for going on six years now, and I think she's a stitch to read. (Horrible pun intended.) I know she has published several books, and this was the first one I could get my hands on, though not the first one she wrote.

I didn't know what to expect with this book, other than I knew it would be funny. And funny it was. Stephanie has a self-deprecating humor that has almost made me snort Diet Coke out of my nose on more than one occasion. If you are a knitter and you haven't read anything by her, go to her blog. Now. You're welcome.

The book is broken down into chapters about categories of knitted things, or knitting knowledge you must have. There is a chapter on hats, socks, scarves, and one chapter just about swatching, and its importance. I have already learned my lesson. The first hat I knit I did without swatching my yarn and checking my gauge. My first hat is lovely, pink, and would fit a watermelon. A jumbo watermelon.

Stephanie also talks about easy in-your-head patterns for things like hats and socks. I will make a pair of socks, but I think I will hold that off for this month. But it is nice to know that there are things you can make without any set pattern. I like that. It's like the brownie recipe I have in my head. I've made it so many times that it is indelibly engraved on my brain.

Thank you, Yarn Harlot, oh wise and wonderful knitting goddess, for bestowing your words of wisdom down upon lowly beginners like me. It is all good to know for the future.

Stay tuned for my forthcoming review of Knitting Lessons by Lela Nargi.

Crap...here's a dilemma

So I went to the yarn store tonight. I drove up to Gabriella's Yarn Shop. It is a good half an hour from my house, but I got good vibes from the website, and I had emailed Gabriella herself earlier in the week to see if she was offering any classes soon.

So when I pulled up tonight I was a little surprised to see an ambulance and police car in front of the store. There didn't seem to be anything going on inside (I could see in the windows and saw two women talking), so I went in. It turns out the husband of Gabriella had an allergic reaction to some kind of food and wasn't doing so well. They were all in the back room with the paramedics. I felt instantly awkward and made to leave. But Jill (one of the ladies I saw in the window) told me that he was doing all right and that I should look around. So I did while they were finishing up with Mr. Gabriella (can't remember his name, or their last name at the moment). I picked out some yarn, and Gabriella herself came out and talked to me for a few minutes. She was really sweet and encouraged me to come back next Thursday night for the group knit.

The store had lots of beautiful stuff, and a I bought a few things. Here is what I am going to make my hand warmers with:

Pretty, huh? This is Noro Silk Garden Light, color #2027. It is beautiful with blues, greens, purples and browns. I am starting on them tomorrow morning.

And then I bought some other stuff too. I don't have any definite plans for it yet, but the colors are so pretty, I might make a ribbed scarf out of it.

This is Galway Pure Wool, worsted weight in 149 (turquoise), 145 (lime), and 15 (dark periwinkle). My mother would call the last color blue, and I would call it purple. We always disagree about blues and purples.

And finally, here is a picture of the teapot hot pad I am currently working on:

And herein lies my dilemma. What on earth do knitters do when they are in the middle of a project and they buy new shiny yarn that is begging to be used?

Tomorrow morning: The Keys!

Knitting Weather!

Baby it's cold outside...

So it is really cold for Southwest Florida. Yesterday the car thermometer read 41 degrees on our way to work, and 48 this morning. And I know I will catch a lot of flack from Northerners, especially all my relatives in Minnesota for mentioning it. Yes, it gets very cold in Minnesota. I heard it was 2 degrees in Minneapolis last night. That is mighty cold. It is what my father calls, "colder than f*$%." And he's right. And if one is properly dressed for such weather, you can survive just fine. (You won't have fun, but you won't die of hypothermia.)

When the temperature gets down into the 40's here in Florida, most locals freak out. Especially if they are Florida natives. (Incidentally, Florida natives are rare - most people are here to escape the cold.) The reason we have problems is because we are not properly dressed. When I moved to Florida I had lots of sweaters, heavy shoes and coats. Not to mention scarves, mittens (my favorite being a pair of red angoras knitted for my by one Miss Sally Watkins of Seabrook, NH), and hats. I gave most things away to the Goodwill because even the winters here are usually in the 70s and 80s everyday. I have lots of sandals. I wear flip flops almost exclusively when not at work. I don't own any pants that are appropriate for work. And then a day like yesterday comes, and I freeze all day because why? I am not dressed appropriately.

And add to the fact that it is like a meat locker in the back room of the library where I have my desk, and I was an ice cube by the end of the day. Kosta, my husband, made a strangled squealing noise when I put my hands on his neck.

So what does all this mean to a blog about knitting? I can actually knit something for myself that I can wear now! And I am going to make myself some arm/hand warmers this weekend! I am using this pattern from Crazy Aunt Purl. I am all jacked up because I am going to a yarn shop on Thursday night. There is a place here in Naples called Gabriella's Yarn Shop. They have a drop-in knitting group on Thursday nights from 6-8. Anyway, I am going to pick up the necessary yarn needed for this project, because the next day we are headed off to the Keys for a long weekend! I have never been to the Keys, which is a travesty, considering how long I have been living here. So the hand warmer project will go with me. I don't know if I will be able to knit in the car without getting sick, but we'll see.

Yarn Porn
I can't take credit for coining the phrase, but I love it. I said I was going to review knitting books, and I already have two in my possession that I am going to read. The first is Knitting Rules by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Stephanie is the woman behind the blog Yarn Harlot, and she is a true obsessive knitter. She knits everywhere, including the subway and bus. (Oh, that I could take public transportation to work! Think of all that uninterrupted knitting time!) 

The other book I got (so lovely working in a library) is Knitting Lessons: Tales from the Knitting Path by Lela Nargi. I don't know anything about it other than what it says on the book jacket. Lela Nargi seems to be not a knitter, but she sets on a quest to find out about it when she notices everyone around her is knitting. Neither book has patterns (at least, it is not a book of patterns) but more essays on the ways of the knitter. I'll let you know when I finish them.

Current Project
You probably want  me to put my money where my mouth is, right? All this blathering about knitting, but am I really putting forth the effort? Actually, I am! Right now I am working on my first (and hopefully very easy) felting project. I am making a hot pad and coasters for my teapot. I got the pattern from Fabulous Felted Hand Knits, and I had to slightly alter it a bit. I needed felting yarn, and couldn't get to a real yarn store. So last weekend I went to JoAnns and bought a skein each of Lion Brand Classic wool. My teapot it pink and green, so I bought the following colors: petal pink, jade heather, and taupe (which is closer to a chocolatey brown). I am using the pink and green for the stripes, and the brown for the main color of the hot pad. The pattern in the book called for chunkier yarn, and this is worsted weight, so I just cast on the right amount of stitches (I hope) to get the finished size. I will post pictures tomorrow. I keep forgetting to put my camera in my purse. I am almost halfway through the hot pad, and will make the coasters afterwards. The knitting is pretty easy, just counting colored rows. The yarn says on the label it is good for felting, so I hope it works! I'll keep you posted.