Back from the swamp

Okay, it really wasn't a swamp, but the thermometer said it was 110 and the humidity made me wish I had gills. Ugly, hot, nasty.
The Bug LOVED his first plane ride.



We got to sit in the first row for most of the Going, and when we stopped in Albuquerque, Bug got to watch the guy load the kitchen stuff from the cool truck. The kitchen guy even walked over to the edge of his loading platform to knock on Bug's window, which thrilled the little guy to no end.
The Bug also got much love from his older half-sisters, one of whom hadn't even met him yet. They hit it off right away.




Before we knew it, it was time to go, so we climbed into the car we bought and drove away. It is a long boring drive through western OK and north Texas. It only started to get interesting after we got into New Mexico.
Did you see Contact? When she hears the alien signal on the Very Large Array? We drove right through it. It was the coolest thing. We popped over a hill, and suddenly there were 20 or 30 of these monster satellite dishes out in the middle of a field of daisies and mallow. I wanted to take a picture, but the Bug was sleeping and DH didn't want to risk waking him. Four states is a long long way for a little guy to sit in a car seat.

Remember when I said I was only taking three projects and expected to make progress? NOT. I got a few rounds on the sock, and a couple inches of Tendrils. That's it, that's all. I need some serious knitting time to finish even the Christmas knitting I've already started. ...sigh...

Oh yeah, and YEEHAW! On behalf of women and girls everywhere, BITE ME, WARREN.

Sooner and later

Tomorrow we are off to the Sooner State. (That's Oklahoma.) I don't have the foggiest idea what a Sooner is. Okay, I looked it up - it's basically a cheater. I guess the U of O people don't really want to think of it that way, though. Anyway, I don't really care, I'm going there to see two of the Bug's half sisters. We're buying a car while we're there and driving home, so that's the part I'm looking forward to. I love a road trip with the DH.
For the occasion, which entails 1000 miles and a whole lotta Bug breaks, I am packing two pre-beaded balls for Tendrils, Frill, and the Sonnet sleeves. I will probably bring the green sock on the plane, although we're holding the Bug on our laps, so I don't know how much knitting I'll really get done. I hope to get a good portion of the other projects done in the car. The two Tendrils balls are only 96 yds each, so I can see that I might get those both knitted up. Sonnet is stockinette, so I can probably do that in the dark. I just need to buckle down and work on Frill. I associated it with exercise once while thinking about riding the stationary bike, and I haven't been able to pick it up since! It's for Haiku's mommy, though, so I need to get it done and out of my psychic space. It's weighing me down.
And on a different note, should I be worried that my horoscope for the day says I'm not saving enough money and I'm going to need it soon?

No more Saturday

Well, I blew off my Saturday Sky duty. I did take a Sunday Sky pic, just seconds before it started to rain. Aaaaah, rain.



This is the tree in my back yard. I always thought it only bloomed during monsoons, but amazingly, it started blooming when it started raining. Amazing what a little water does to a plant...



In knitting news, I have little. My beads arrived from Earth Faire the day after they were shipped. It seemed like such a small package to hold so many beads. I spent a little time running my fingers through them after I put them in a tupperware. I strung two balls today - I am using balls half the size of the ones called for, so I strung 300 on each. I think that's way way too many, but I'd rather have too many than too few, right?
Haiku sleeve 2 is going. Same ol', same ol'.

In Bug news, because you care, he's having a weekend of firsts! First balloon, first tantrum over a toy (he was shopping with Daddy), and, ta da! First steps! The Bug has decided that he must go faster and get into more trouble than is available to him while crawling. My baby boy isn't such a baby anymore. Damn, soon he'll be a toddler. ...sob...
I have yet to get a picture or video of the walking, because he likes to stop whatever he's doing and stare blankly at the camera whenever I have it out.

Partial FO?

I finished sleeve one of Haiku last night.



I have a sleeve, some blocking and some making up to do. Since I've never put a sweater together, I find myself a little trepidacious. (Oooh, big word. I've always liked that one. Say it out loud, it's kinda fun.) Anyway, I have my Montse Stanley and my Encyclopedia of Needle Crafts or whatever it's called, so I shall be fine. If not, the recipient of the sweater will have outgrown it before I finish it anyway, even though I added an inch to all the measurements.

My Bug is 11 months old. ...sob...

No pictures today

Sunday I did very little knitting, but it was still a pleasant day. Lots of running around with DH, a little nap-time, and dinner with good friends.
Yesterday when I woke up, I felt like death warmed over, and DH convinced me to stay home after running the Bug to daycare. I had most of a day to relax and knit. It was glorious, even with the cough, headache, and leftover cold guk. I knit a good portion of one of the Haiku sleeves before realizing that it would be much too long, so I ripped and reknit that too. I'm about 1/3 done with it. I hope to finish the sweater before we run off to Oklahoma next week to visit the Bug's sisters. We're driving back to AZ (about 1000 miles) so I plan to take Frill, Sonnet and Tendrils (plus the green sock) for the trip home.
I just ordered the beads for Tendrils today - that was a nightmare. Even the shop that Sivia Harding pointed me to didn't have the beads she called out, and they were out of the beads they'd substituted. I had to substitute the substitute. None of my local bead shops had anything even close. :-( I figure I'll string a couple of balls of yarn and cast on while I'm home, then take it with me. No way I'll finish all the projects I'm bringing (maybe the sock and Sonnet's first sleeve) but it will be nice to have a selection.
(ETA: the shop does have the beads, just in bulk. You have to write and ask them, instead of buying a bunch of little tubes. You even get a discount because they sell the big bag by weight, instead of taking the time to parcel them out into said tubes. If you're doing Tendrils and you want the beads, use the Contact Us form and ask for them. Very accomodating, even switching out my other order for the real substitute.)

Saturday sky

A short little post with one little pic.



It's only 72 degrees this morning at 6:45, but the humidity seems like it's going to be ugly today. The perfect day to sit under the AC vent and knit, yes?

Ennui-free!

I guess it was just SnB that did it, although I was feeling pretty gross on Tuesday. (Actually, I have a head cold that keeps getting worse, and I'm pretty durn tired of it.) I don't even remember what I worked on during SnB, although I suspect it was Haiku. That little sweater is just zipping along, even with the ripping I've had to do. That's my own fault, too - it's an easy pattern so I've been knitting from memory and counting rows to match the other side, and I missed a whole 2" section of garter stitch.
Anyway, last night DH had to work late, and the Bug nursed himself to sleep immediately after we got home, so I ended up with several hours of all-to-myself time. I ripped and rewound and knit, and cooked dinner in shifts (brown meat, knit 10 rows, add sauce, knit 10 more rows...) The only sound was the occasional snore from one of the dogs, and the click of the Knitpicks needles. It was blissful, even with the drippy nose and stuffy head. I'm (re)approaching the second armscye on Haiku. I'd like to finish the body and start the sleeves this weekend, and I think that's entirely possible. I suppose it depends on how nice the weather is - DH will finally be home for a whole weekend, so we have plans to take the Bug to the park for his first ride on the swings. I can't wait. We race him up and down the hall in his wheeled high chair, and the look on his face is pure bliss. I hope he enjoys the swings that much.
Hey, what's the best way to sew up seams in a sweater?

ennui

Boredom.
World-weariness.
Languor.
Tedium.

It hit me. That something that wandered around Blogistania (I love that) several weeks ago. Everyone complained that knitting didn't excite them, their spinning was boring, they felt blah... I didn't feel it then. I felt peppy, ready to knit mountains out of mohair and make wonderful things and spend my free time industriously wrapping my loved ones in knitted warmth.

Now I have it. Last night I felt too lazy and blah even to go to bed. DH and I sat in the dark and watched one of those motorcycle shows on Discovery. No knitting, no cleaning, no blogging, nada. Maybe it's the humidity, finally getting me down. Maybe it's the pain-imposed knit-free week I had. Maybe it's just my body telling me I need a break. Maybe my brain has moved on to fall and my body is still stuck in summer.

Whatever it is, I'm not a fan.

What ho? A FO!

--Sid the Sloth

Yes, another FO. Amazing.
Here it is.



This was the quilt that I intended to give my aunt two years ago for Christmas. She was out of town, so I gave her sister, my other aunt, the terra cotta one I'd made her, and figured I had a little extra time to finish the green one. Well, I finished almost all of it - all I had to do was hand-sew the back of the binding, clip the quilting threads, and wash it. It took me 18 months to get around to it. You can see why Christmas knitting doesn't worry me so much - I don't give a flip about deadlines.

Here's the vine-y free motion quilting I did down the green bars. I'm particularly proud of it.



Some news that more closely relates to knitting:

The Yarn Goddess claims another as her own.

My dirty window

My window is extremely dirty. With all the wind, dust storms, and rain (followed by more wind and dust storms), the large window in my living room is extremely dirty. This is a shame, because I love looking out into the back yard, and the dirt obscures my view, just a little. I have not washed it, though, because of this (as Cate says, click to embiggen):



DH tells me he was present when this bird hit the window, and that it flew away unharmed. It cracks me up every time I see it. You can tell that the bird realized it was a window milliseconds before impact and tried to turn.
There's another one directly above it that shows a perfect head-on image of the dove that hit. (Yes, it's clear enough that I can tell it was a dove.) Right down to the outline of the beak. It's high enough on the window that the light is never quite right to get a good picture.
I'm afraid that if I wash my window, the birds won't stand a chance.

Incidentally, the closeup photo was not retouched at all - the only change I made to it was to add the text. That is really and truly how clear the little birdie's outline is.

Saturday again?

At this rate, Christmas will be here in no time. (ducking and running now)
Regardless, it's Saturday, and this is what my sky looks like:



It's either bright clear blue or cloudycloudycloudy. Right now it's warming up a little, but when I got up this morning it was only 68! Yeehaw! This is the only time of year when we get dew on the grass, which I love too. We're supposed to have a bit of a chance for rain, but even without it, the weather station is predicting only the high 90s for temps through the end of the week. Yeah!
My shoulders and wrists continue to feel better, through a combination of chair massage (yum), PT exercises, and no knitting. To make them all better, this is what my day looks like:





Eddie can't decide whether piano or percussion is more fun.

A whole lotta nuthin' going on

At work these days I have been doing a lot of formatting. Happy happy joy joy. The kind of formatting where you go *scroll, scroll, highlight, click. Repeat from *.
This has made my poor little hands and arms feel terrible. Crampy, sore, achy, tired, and nasty.
I can't even knit.
Did you hear me?
I said, I CAN'T EVEN KNIT.
Ouch.

Short Saturday Sky

Here's my sky.



Can't see it? Too many clouds in the way? Yup. Rainrainrainrainrain. We are under flash flood warnings and downtown is accessible by one and only one road. (All the other ones have an underpass.)

Norma posted about people having the doldrums. This is how Fluffy feels about it.



And another baby pic, cuz it's my blog and I can.

Gratuitous baby photos

So, the Harlot described me as the mother of a beautiful baby. (I gotta say, I beamed with pleasure when she said that IRL. Cuz she's seen a lot of babies.)
Anyway, since I have no knitting to post, and since I didn't take a picture of my bombyx top yet, and since I need very little excuse to show off my little man, here are some Bug photos.

(New skill - making thumbnails that open a larger image when you click them. Actually, my new skill was identifying the code source in someone else's blog, copying it and modifying it for my own use. Anyway, click for bigger photos.)


He's a standin' fool.


Paper crinkles in such a satisfying way.


Mama, I just love spaghetti.


Being cute is exhausting. Hmmm, this pillow smells like Daddy.

Even when he's grabbing my knitting, he's my little joy.

The Harlot came a-calling

And I got to see her! Hooray!
What a great experience. She's funnier in person than she is in text, and I think that's sayin' something. Of course, this isn't anything that hasn't already been said, but I'm adding my voice to the chorus.
I took the afternoon off, and my buddy Lynn and I drove up early and had dinner, then wandered over to the shop. What a GREAT shop! They had looms and rug weaving equipment, roving and spindles and wheels, and more yarn that you can shake a needle at. There was one bit of bombyx top that called and called to me. I couldn't put it down. I petted it all night. (It came home with me. I will learn to spin later.)
My favorite part of the evening was when I incited her to say "arse". I am easily entertained and apparently a bit puerile.
And now, for some pictures.

Blogging the blogger:


The requisite sock photo

Having my books signed:


I was so excited that she recognized me that I still haven't read what she wrote in them

Mutual sockitude:


My sock is now two degrees of separation from Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Blogging while being blogged:


I hope the leaning back thing was her eyesight, and not her thinking, "Damn I need a wide-angle lens."

All in all, a great time was had by me and everyone I talked to. Next time she comes through, assuming she's not coming to Tucson, I will make plans to spend the night, or at least take the next day off work, so I can find that woman a good Arizona beer or six. And some margaritas.

Thanks for a good time, Stephanie! I hope Arizona treated you well.

A FO and a half

Yes, contrary to what DH thinks, I do occasionally finish things. (And if he ever mentions it to you, ask him about the trim in the office.)
Here is the half FO:



One green sock down, one to go. Please note in the picture how much yarn is left of the ball. I love it.

Here is the whole FO:



Ha ha, I got you, you thought it would be a knitted thing, huh?

Everyone is making or buying or swapping for these cute little knitting bags, and I always think, "Hey, I could make that!" So yesterday, I did. I would have liked a drawstring, but since I didn't have anything handy that I wanted to use for a drawstring, and I thought it sounded complicated, it's just open on top. The wrist strap



will allow me to knit while I'm riding my stationary bike. I'm slowly whittling away the excuses about riding. (Now I'm down to the biggie: arse pain. That, and the whole laziness thing that got me all flabby in the first place.)
It's shaping up to be another hot nasty day. Fortunately, I have no place to be, no errands to run, and just a few chores around the house.

Now, I must run. The Bug is making that chirping noise that I have come to realize means, "I'm going to get that keyboard this time!"

Elton John

This post has nothing to do with Elton, but I have that stupid SaturdaySaturdaySaturdaySaturdaySaturday song stuck in my head. It's Saturday, and that means Sky Time.

This is the photo from this morning:



Here is a photo from this afternoon:



Looks like a nice day, right?

WRONG.

In Arizona, "sky blue" is a HOT color. I have been running errands with the Bug for the last three hours, and we're melted. The sign on the bank near my house said 115. It feels like it. Then, at my last stop, the power went out. It was hot and sticky in the yarn shop. The lights were out down the street. And the cops came. I would personally like to have my taxes raised about 10% just to give compensation to the guys who stand on the hot asphalt in Arizona in July at 2pm in black uniforms with long pants and direct traffic, which then blows hot exhaust all over them. And they manage to look like it's no big deal. Crikey.

Anyway, this is all to smokescreen the fact that I have no knitting to show. I have been working on that green sock for days. The leftover ball has been 1/2" in diameter for about a week now. I'm in the black hole. Only this time, I'm making visible progress on the sock, but the yarn never diminishes. It's killing me.

pr0n

Isn't that how the spammers spell it?
My innocent little (or not so little) box of yarn came yesterday. The rest of my binge is here. I managed to nurse the Bug before I ripped it open, but as soon as I finished and Papa got home, I abandoned them both for The Box.
Here it is, in all its glory:



I just realized I should have included something for scale, but it's too late now!

Here is a pic of the contents of that pile:



From left to right:

• Shine Sport in Hydrangea, to make Haiku for Harper


• Shine Worsted in Terra Cotta, to make Bombshell for me


• Andean Silk Twist in Prairie, to make Tendrils for an aunt


• and Andean Treasure in Embers and Shimmer in Maple Leaf to make Clapotis for me

Is it a little scary that I noticed there were six new yarns on Knitpicks before they were marked as new? Should I worry that I know their product line that well?

Anyway, I can't start any of these projects until I get it together and finish some that are in progress already. It will be so hard to wait!

Why oh why?

Why am I so fickle? Why do I always need something new, when in reality I love working on (most of) the projects on the needles right now? I have been nearly salivating over the rest of the binge box that should arrive by tomorrow. I have daydreams about casting on for everything, and rolling around in the alpaca (I saw Fluffy do it once in a skein of acrylic, and she looked like she was having fun) and knitting with no interruption. Yeah.
Yesterday, I was home with a sick Bug. He wasn't actually sick anymore - his fever had broken Tuesday night - but daycare rules say fever-free for 24 hours. So, I thought I'd get a nice day to knit and play. Well, he wasn't feverish anymore, but he was still crabby and clingy, so it wasn't until after he went to bed for the night that I actually got to knit at all. My hands had been cramping a bit, so Tuesday at SnB I put down the tiny sock yarn and worked on the sleeves of sonnet. After a little bit of confusion (I was on autopilot and blew past the increase rows) I got into a rhythm. My hands felt great, so I continued on those sleeves last night while listening to an old Cast On episode. I LOVE this project. LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE. The yarn (Patons Fresco, sadly discontinued) is soft and generally easy to work with, the needles (Addi turbos) are slick and wonderful, and the pattern is easy enough that I can actually stitch without looking. I had about an hour and a half before I really got tired, and I enjoyed every stitch. I will actually be sad when this project is done, but then I will get to wear it! Can't wait.
(Someone remind me of this post when I am complaining about the never-ending sleeves...)

I like 'em!

I haven't played with my new needles much (that whole limiting-projects-on-the-needles thing) but I did switch the HPT to a longer cable and knit a row or two this week. Here's my take:

• The cables are soft and bendy. They have a little more memory out of the package than Addis seem to, but they're still pliable enough that they don't bunch up in my knitting.
• The joins are really smooth, both where the cable joins the metal and where the tip screws to the cable.
• They seem to stay screwed together well for the little bit of knitting I've done with them.
• The surface of the needles is slick like Addis, which I love. (I will stick with bamboo for lace.)
• The points are super-sharp. I am not a fan of sharp needles - I like the blunt tips on the Addis. I will get used to these, though. Hopefully that will happen before I pierce a hole in the tip of my finger.

So far I am enjoying them. This is a good thing, as I've organized my little case and thrown away all the packing materials. I like the zippered inserts, although I wish a few more were included with the set. (Enough for all the tips and cables, anyway.) What I'd really like to see Knitpicks create is more tips: blunts for those of us who like Addis, and bamboo for situations where you want a stickier surface.
All in all, and assuming they wear well, I think it was money well spent.