Knitting and Tea Pretty Much Saved My Life This Week

This past week was pretty awful. By the end I was physically and emotionally exhausted, and it was a rough weekend on. However, I had my knitting, I had chai, I prayed a lot, and I am now coming to a place of peace with the storms around me. Also, I got my birthday box, and there were some things in there that helped a lot. Like these fun bits of media!

I also got these fun bottle toppers to make my on hand oil more elegant.

Probably one of the best things in the box in terms of this week was the wild colored hair extensions. Green, pink, and blue hair in the evening helps for some reason. Here I am modeling my finished Pogona shawl (much in need of a blocking) and some green hair.

Here is the shawl drying on my oh so glamorous towel after it's bath today.

While down at the river I got some good work done on my Groovy Socks. I found an interesting 'forethought heel' in one of my sock knitting books; if I had two balls of self-stripping yarn I think I would have gone for it, but as it is I'll just do a classic afterthought. Measuring for the foot length will be a bit interesting though...

The other big news for this week is that I have not finally seen The Force Awakens! Some initial reactions:

* BB8 is adorable and I want him.
* That being said, how does he work?
* Finn is adorable too!
* Why does everyone look at the Falcon and say, "Junk!"
* I love Sci-Fi mechanic/tec jargon.
* Why was the Falcon conveniently fueled and charged? It was parked a scavenger depot! Like no one would have checked it out?
* Since when is light sabar fighting intuitive?
* What is wrong with the Skywalker boys?
* Why did R2D2 randomly wake up at the critical moment?
* Whatever they paid Mark Hamill, it was too much. Talk about being trolls!
* Did they let Josh Wheddon get at the script? Really? Han?

All in all, it was a fun ride, and I think they did a great job of bringing in thrills for fans of IV-VI, and I thought the score was particularly well done. Unlike The Hobbit where they quoted too heavily from the original trilogy, this one used snippets of old themes beautifully, and had a fresh, new sound for the rest. Watching this 'with' my mom was one of the best parts of the weekend.

Oh, the other fun thing this week was 'falling down' at Knitpicks and socking up on 5 socks worth of their self-striping yarn Felici. I got more Time Traveler, and a few other colorways that took my fancy. It really is a great deal on sock yarn, and I look forward to knitting it up.

Well, I need to look up some pictures for my history lesson tomorrow, so I'll sign off. Things can only get better, right?

Parting shot:

A Gift of a Weekend

This week has been quite busy, and one of the reasons I pushed so hard was that I wanted to be able to *breath* a little this weekend. Saturday night was a real treat—while waiting for my mom to be ready to watch The Decoy Bride with me, I worked on my birthday Pogona and listened to my audio book of Neil Gaiman’s The View From the Cheap Seats. I have been a fan of Gaiman’s for years, and listening to his speeches on the importance of writing and books, and his thoughts about life is such a treat. Why aren’t more people like him teachers?

I am so glad that my mom came up with the idea of watching movies ‘together.’ Yes, we are separated by 7 time zones, but to be able to enjoy the same films together and text our snarky comments back and forth (everyone in my family is a chronic movie talker) is a great way to celebrate a weekend off. I really enjoy that movie as well; it’s not a typical RoCom. I love the witty lines, the unexpected twist, and that the main leads are awkward human beings who make ‘complete twats’ of themselves and talk of going ‘man vegan.’ Plus, the accents don’t hurt either!

An exciting thing that happened this week was that I won a skein of beautiful “Proud Lady Mary” sock yarn from One Twisted Tree in the Stitch Sister’s Downton Abbey trivia contest! I am so tickled; I have been drooling over most of One Twisted Tree’s stuff since I looked them up, and of all the prizes in the contest, that is the one I most hoped to win. One of the really cool things about OTT, is that she gives pattern suggestions for her yarns, and so, since most enablement is always a good thing, right? I checked them out. Now I know exactly what socks I want to do with this yarn, Tintern Abbey. I’m wondering if there is a way to incorporate some beading into those arches now… I shall have to get the pattern and explore! Also, speaking of Downton, I realized that two episodes of Jeeves and Wooster take place at Highclere Castle, and when checking out their website I learned that it was the seat of Lord Canarvin, as in King Tut! They have a collection of minor antiquities that he brought back from Egypt that was cataloged by Carter himself! As if I didn’t want to visit Highclere enough already…

One of my knitting goals this weekend other than to do as much of it as I could, was to get a pair of socks past the forethought gusset stage. This is the first time that I have attempted the whole process—forethought gusset and afterthought heel—on a full sized sock, and so far I am quiet pleased with the results. I am so pleased with the neatness of this solution, and just need to figure out a way to make it available to other sock aficionados. I’m not sure if I should just make up a ‘how to’ and post it to my Ravelry store, or if I should build it into a sock pattern. Which would of course mean that I need to design a sock pattern…in all my spare time. I do have a pretty cool idea involving beads kicking around in my head; maybe in December I’ll be able to make it a reality. So, here is the sock with it’s odd looking forethought gusset ready to return to being river knitting—mindless and enjoyable.

I have also made some good progress on the second Blink sock; the chilliness of my floors has provided excellent motivation to turn out more socks, and while I have decided that these will wait till December to be worn, I’m still excited.

I had to put my Names of the Doctor scarf into a bag because my cat has started running over and attacking the cakes of yarn while I’m sitting there watching her; such subtlety, eh? Once I get my birthday scarfette done—hey, I like that name!—I plan to pick that back up again. Call me crazy, but I find myself contemplating doing another double knitting scarf; maybe the Sherlock one or one of the Regency patterned ones. I think this holiday I might try my hand at charting a few nerdy things to double knit into hotpads, and one of these days I need to make myself my own gates of Moria and banner of the king. It’s just a matter of how much suitable yarn I have left. After two years of almost exclusive ‘knit from my stash,’ my options are getting quite limited. I foresee falling down quite a lot in yarnstores next year…

Well, that’s me for this week! Enjoy your summer, you in the Northern Hemisphere, and keep knitting!

Parting shot: This rosebush is amazing; I wish you could smell the loveliness through your screen!

A Tribute

I am unspeakably grateful for the parents God has given me, and today I want to take a moment and shine the spotlight on my dad. My dad taught me to work hard and well, to lead by example and service, and how to plan. My dad shared his music with me—The Beatles, Roger Whittaker, and Enya. My dad modeled sacrifice and integrity for me—to swear to one’s own hurt and the value of your name. My dad shared his books with me—Asimov, Tolkien, Forester, and O’Brian, and takes the time to read books I love as well. My dad’s life is an example of giving in secret and being the unthanked person who makes things work. Daddy, I can’t thank you enough for being a such an awesome dad. You have set the bar impossibly high for the other men in my life!

Big socks and mini socks!

I have a few finished items to show off, despite the decided lack of knitting time this last week. I need to work harder on finding those marking fairies...

I got the three luggage tags one only finished including their ties, but I even gave them a bath and gentle blocking! I love making these, the the using up of not one but TWO odd bits of yarn was an extra plus. I'm just waiting for day day I'm on the same flight as half a knitting convention when my luggage will then be hard to distinguish...

The other big thing I finished this week was the Stitch Surfers. These are toe up, so I tried out my 'forethought gusset' with the neat new way to do a short row heel; I think it might be my favorite to date. This was a fun knit, and I totally plan to do it again, and I even am kicking around plans for a fingerless glove version around in my head...

I was sent an Amazon gift card by a good friend for my birthday, so I have been enjoying the Poledark soundtrack this weekend. I just wish the had more of Demelza's singing, and that the tracks were in order. Great music, great story, and stunning photography all make for a great show.

Another accomplishment this past week was finishing another Great Course--How Great Science Fiction works. I got some ideas for new books to read, and found it interesting to see the history of the genre which stretches back to Frankenstein, as well as a good discussion on what science fiction actually is. I love getting a nerd fix!

I've been trying to decide what to cast on as a reward for finishing those socks... I want to get my Pogona finished off so I can wear it, but I also am feeling the urge to knit something purple. I'm debating about what to use some yarn I got for Christmas for; scarfy-shawlette, or socks? Aren't possibilities delicious?

Recent interesting idea that turned up while doing research for science--colonizing Venus, instead of Mars first. Floating cities? Cool! Practical? Surprisingly. Would I sign up? No!

Parting shot: Java being adorable...as usual!

May Picks

I usually allow myself a few extra indulgnces in May, and as this was a ‘big’ May, I decided to splurge on some yarn as well. So, here are my entertainment picks for my birthmonth!

First of all, in yarn, I heard about this Star Trekkie yarn from Fibernymph Dyeworks, and I went online and bought it so fast that my keyboard was almost smoking. This will be to be a delayed gratification, but I can’t wait to knit up some socks in the colors of the classic Trek uniforms! And sorry, no, she doesn't have anymore just now.

Also, I decided to splurge on some yarn from Round House, a little alpaca farm in Onterio run bu some good friends of mine. I’m coming round more and more to the idea of brown, and this sparkly yarn called my name. http://www.roundhousealpacas.ca/store/

For books, I thought I would just read the first of a two part series this month, Blackout by Connie Willis, but I clearly forgot what an outstanding writer Connie Willis is and how gripping her time travel novels are, because I finished the first one and knew that it was not going to work to wait a month for the next one! So, All Clear was quickly purchased and downloaded as well.

I also indulged in the first of the Nero Wolfe mysteries. While there is no real chronology, it helps to choose the next read. I just wish they were cheaper in both print and Kindle versions…

Last month’s music indulgence was the delightful The World of Jeeves and Wooster, the soundtrack to the brilliant show. The only problem with this album is that the silly songs Wooster sings totally get stuck in your head; I’ve had “Nagasaki” in my head on and off ever since I listened to it the first time. I have to say that I’m a growing fan of Hugh Lorrie’s music, as you’ll find out in June’s picks!

So, that was May! Happy knitting, reading, and listening!

Less productive on the knitting front than I might have liked...

Despite having a weekend off, I was actually pretty caught up in a) trying to get caught up on school stuff so I could function this week, b) sleeping, and c) taking care of some pressing personal business. Oh you know, little things like paying your bills. Such an exciting life I lead...

I have had time to make two luggage tags. They were both supposed to be gifts for short-termers, but the one on the left turned out so lovely that it is MINE. So I'm making another one...

In addition to making some small progress on both the second Blink and Stitch Surfer socks, I also got some more done on my birthday shalette/scarf.

Speaking of that second Stitch Surfer, I need to figure out how to do the heel turn properly (I did it the first time!) so I can get on with the rest of the leg. Gotta love not being able to brain...

Parting shot: Java is very cleverly camouflaged on my bed. The wild look in her eyes is one of both triumph, and mischief. I love my cat...