Crafting Update

I've been working on some socks, but they're just not that exciting:

I had wanted to start the CTH Birches sock yarn, but didn't manage to get it balled before I had finished the previous pair. This yarn came balled, plus it was summer yarn, so I started on it, even though I wasn't that excited about them. (How could I be, when I've done several other Regia Cotton Surf socks, and had exciting new yarns in my stash?)

Well, on Friday, I got mail! I'm making a pair of socks for JanKnit out of yarn she dyed herself, on the left in this photo:

She sent the KnitPicks Essentials for *me*! Thanks JanKnit! (Mmmm... gifts of sock yarn!) The yarn on the right is the CTH Birches balled... I needed to finish balling it before I could ball JanKnit's yarn.

I decided to put my not-so-exiting sock on hold, and started JanKnit's socks:


In other news, I've started replying the silk that loopykd sent me:

Mmmmmm.... purdy! See that thick twist off to the right? That's accumulated excess from one ply that was looser than the other. The excess has gotten to be a real pain, but I'm nearly done with the replying of the plyed yarn. Then I'll attach the singles, and continue plying. (The small ball at the bottom is all that's left that needs replying, the large ball is the singles.)

Found on Flickr

Not a Kraken

What a great octopus! And don't miss this photo of it knitting!

Sockapalooza 4 Socks Done

Well... what do you think?

My Great-grandmother's Crochet

Doily

This doily was crocheted by my mother's mother's mother, Olive Fortune. I thought I was a good crocheter, but my great-grandmother's work is much better than mine.

The doily had gotten stained and crumpled, so I washed it and laid it flat to dry. I don't have blocking pins or a blocking board (and I don't want to pin it to my bed, because I don't want to puncture the dust cover on my mattress), but finger-stretching it while wet has gotten it fairly flat.

Mom gave this to me. I need to find somewhere to display it. (All my flat surfaces are covered by many layers of junk that I haven't put away.)

Dragonfly

Dragonfly

There seemed to be several dragonflies resting on the sidewalk this morning. I like dragonflies: every mosquito they eat is one that can no longer eat me. ;)

Oops.

I ran the tapestry crochet hat I made through the washing machine. The brim looks like it will block completely, solidly flat. However, it shrunk. It does *not* fit any more.

If you are interested in having it, leave a comment with your head circumference. If I give up on it (very likely), I'll pick someone whose head it will fit.

Ow.

My knees are hurting today. They started hurting last night. Come to think of it, my head hurts a bit too... and my fingers, and my shoulders and neck. And my arms. But my knees are definitely the worst.

For the record, here's the current stats at environment Canada:

Temperature 21°C
Pressure/ Tendency 101.9 kPa↑
Visibility 24 km
Humidity 68 %

(My allergist suggested I keep a diary indicating both when I hurt, and what the weather's doing.)

Found on Flickr

i so fuzzeh.

Awwww!

Doily Hat "Pattern"

It starts off with the first five rounds of the petite pineapple doily, then sixth and following rounds are nearly the same as row six in the pattern, but (dc, ch 1) in the tr is replaced with just dc. Then I did four rounds of sc (still in white), followed by fourteen rounds of sc in blue with six evenly spaced increases per round.

The yarn I'm using is Elann Endless Summer Collection Lara (I think it's discontinued, in the variegated if not the solid) and a D hook.

I still need to weave in the ends, but I think it's otherwise done:

Weather Magic

Here's the hat I'm working on in order to get the heatwave to break:


Here's another photo (taken before I started the brim) that shows the top:


And my weather magic worked (or, coincidentally, the weather broke). Last night was a dark and stormy night. Well, it was more like late afternoon or early evening, but the clouds made it as dark as twilight, the wind was crazy, and it *poured*. It didn't rain for long, but dad's rain gauge said we got half an inch in that short time. Parts of the city got hail, and there was lightning too. There were tornado warnings, but I don't think we got any of those. Here's what it looked like after the worst abated and it occurred to me to grab my camera:


Today the temperature is *much* cooler, although it was still rather damp out this morning when I left the house.

More Rocks on Walks

The geology building was on our walking tour again the other day... here's a few more photos for your enjoyment:

Getting There...

Crochet Sockapalooza Socks WIP

I'm nearly out of yarn, but they aren't as tall as I'd like. So I'm thinking of gettng another colour (cream or white) to add a wide band, and then finish off with the toe colour. Then I'll add a bit of green/blue embroidery to the cream/white/whatever-looked-best band.

What do you think?

Found on Flickr

Blue flowers pincushion - sold!

Gorgeous!

Miscellany

I got to sleep in the living room last night, which is much cooler than my bedroom. Downsides:
1. B's computer made an extremely loud alarm-like sound at exactly 12 midnight.
2. I could barely hear my alarm this morning over the ac.

Today I had a nut challenge... I'm allowed to eat almonds again!!! However, at the last time I was told to eat nuts as part of the challange, I was told to eat as many as I was comfortable with. I took that to mean as many as I could manage. I'm now kind of sick of almonds...

I think I gave myself heat exhaustion while catching the bus from the allergist to the univeristy. (I'm feeling mostly better now.)

In order to scare away the hot weather, I'm working on a new aerated sun hat... photos to come tonight or possibly tomorrow.

Found on Flickr

Linen Tote

I love the simple, elegant syling of this bag... and look at that hint of fun *colour* in the lining peeking out! :)

Found on Flickr

Beads - so far

Oooo... neat! Pretty paper beads. :) Hmmm... I wonder... if you coated these with enough sealer of some sort, would they be machine washable? (I'm thinking they look rather like toggles.)

5:45

Why is it that lately I keep waking up at 5:45? I'm (normally) able to get back to sleep okay, but it would be nice to not have that wake-up.

Of course, this morning (and last night) I had an extra-hard time sleeping. Besides being 26 C in my bedroom, my uncle's car broke down on the way back from Flin Flon, so he had it towed into Winnipeg and spent the night. He didn't arrive until after 11 pm, then was fed, showered (in the basement, where it disturbed me), and stuff. (Plus it meant that I did sleep in my bedroom, instead of on the couch where it was cooler.) Then, because he wanted to be at the dealership bright and early, they were all up and making noise around 6 am. *sigh* I love my uncle lots, and know that he didn't choose to have his car break down... but it sure would have been nice had I been able to catch up on sleep like I was planning. :P

Found on Flickr

Hedwig

Adorable! (And little Hedwig could be yours!)

Rocks on Walks

With the heat, H, C and I are doing indoor walks for exercise. (Although we're also avoiding the tunnel that gets *really* hot!) We ended up in the Geology building.

Dang! This spot was *such* a good spot for napping when I was an undergrad, and now they've gone and posted this:

C preferred this version of the sign:


The geology building has displays filled with really cool rocks and minerals. Although they didn't have one of these, I'm posessed with an unreasonable desire to have one:

A gem whose colour depends on the type of light? How cool is that?!? (Don't worry... I don't plan to do anything about actually aquiring one. I'm guessing they're tres expensive!)

But here are some of the cool rocks they *do* have:

New Tuque

Well, I finished off the tuque.

Earlier tonight I realized I had messed up the number of decreases (too few), and was contemplating what to do. Mom asked me why I was staring at my knitting, so I told her. I asked her if she thought I should rip back or keep going. She said she thought it needed a tail. Genius!





I had idly wondered if I should make this as a gift for someone, but it's too ridiculous for that now. However, I think it's perfect for quirky me.

This tuque is begging to be called "huffalump hat." So I will. (Not heffalump, huffalump.)

Oh... and mom has asked me to switch from knitting cold-weather items to warm-weather items. (I had previously told her about my magical ability to affect the weather, causing it to be the opposite of what I'm knitting for.) And since it's 25.8 C in the *basement* (where I sleep), and the windowbox AC units are struggling... I *agree*! (Hmmm... but I really want to finish off Durrow! Perhaps if I work on warm-weather stuff at home, between that and the really slow lunchtime progress on Durrow, that will be enough for lovely, not-too-warm days?)

Durrow

Durrow is temporarily my lunchtime project, so I've gotten a few more rows done. (I think somewhere around six or seven.) However, there was a bunch of progress on them before that that I never got around to photographing. So here's the current state of Durrow's sleeves, with flash:

and without flash:

Found on Flickr

LOTR elven brooch-inspired bottlecap pincushion

Prettyprettypretty! (I *love* those LOTR elven brooches!) I wonder if my embroidery skills are up to making something like this?

Which reminds me... I haven't made any Felt Wee Folk yet. Soon...

Harry Potter

I've read the book, watched the movie, and am back online. I don't intend to blog about it (except to say I really enjoyed both), so as not to write any spoilers for those who are slower readers. Anyone who wishes to e-mail me to have a discussion that way, feel free to do so. :) (But be warned... I've gotten to be a rather lousy correspondant.)

Handspun Rescue

I was browsing Flickr the other week, and loopykd was having a yarn emergency with her handspun silk. She thought there was no hope. I begged her to send it to me for untangling, rather than throw it out. She sent both the tangled singles and what she had plied so far. They arrived today:

After about an hour of intense concentration, I had rescued the singles:

They're recuperating now... I need to reball them into a center-pull ball and then ply them, but they're definitely out of the woods!

Anyone else have yarn that needs rescuing?

Colonial Skeined

Colonial Skeined

I think I will try using this to finish off my hat. I've wound it into a center-pull ball now, and will give it a go tonight. I'll let you know how it works out. :)

Wow

I saw this link at Deneen's... Faye shows how to move a buttonhole in crochet. Wow. I am *amazed*!

The The Impotence of Proofreading

Aside: strange... Blogger's create-a-post page is now back to how it was.

Finally!

Bloglines is finally showing new posts from my friends on LiveJournal! Yay!!! (Hopefully this isn't a temporary glitch...)

...On an unrelated note, the page for writing blogger posts seems to have changed. There's a bunch of formatting stuff along the top, whether or not to allow comments at the bottom, and when I type the first few letters of a tag, I no longer get a choice of matching tags. (The first two are just observations, the third is annoying.)

Flowers from my neighbour's garden

I have several neighbours with stunning gardens. (My efforts *pale* in comparison!) We had a bit of a tour the other night. Here's some photos of a few of the amazing flowers:

Handspun

Handspun

I've started attempting to spin for my tuque... this roving is *lovely* to spin (thanks Jess!!!!), but I'm still spinning thinner than the Manos. I thought I was doing okay, but after washing it and setting the twist, it looks more like a sportweight than a heavy worsted. Perhaps it will puff up a bit when it dries?

Well, I only washed what's shown on the spindle here... I have the rest to make a second attempt at spinning a thick single.

This roving produces such lovely, squooshy singles! (Perhaps it's because I'm purposely putting less spin on them? I don't know.)

Jess has told me several times what breed this roving is, but I stupidly keep forgetting to write it down on the paper I keep it wrapped in, so I can't tell you. Well, perhaps I can look it up in my gmail... (off to search gmail)... nope, didn't find it.

Woo hoo! Thank goodness for blogs! I found my original blog post, and the fiber is colonial. :)

Anyway, to set the twist, I abused the singles a bit. I tried to felt them slightly by rinsing with both hot and cold water (alternating), agitating it a bit (hand plunging), and then giving the hank some tugs to straighten the singles before laying them flat to dry. The yarn is laying nice and flat, so I think it must have worked. I'll post another photo when the yarn is dry.

Sockapalooza 4 Socks

Crochet Sock WIP

The sockapalooza socks are moving right along.

Found on Flickr

"Thoughtful Monkey" Quilt

Look at those adorable details!

Found on Flickr

BigSkyMind Sock

Cool!

Found on Flickr

Pretty flowers! I *love* blue and yellow used together. Orangey-yellow seems to pack extra punch! I think I know what I'll paint on my little canvas from the dollar store... I think a blue fish on a golden yellow background is just what I need. :)

Docs... of one sort

Once again, I arrived home too late to call the shrink. However, I did have a doctor appointment today... with my allergist. Twenty-four "mosquito bites" revealed that yes, I still shouldn't eat sesame seeds, eggs are still a problem, but nuts didn't register much. Yay! I've signed up for a nut challenge next Wednesday. Mmmm... almonds! Here I come!!!

The wheat-bite did welt (once again), so I was sent to the vampire to check if I'm celiac. If nothing else, hopefully this will be one less thing for mom to nag me about. (She thinks if I go off wheat, my joints will feel better.)

Since I was having a date with a vampire anyway, the allergist wrote down to check for West Nile antibodies... so soon I shall know if I did indeed have WNV last month. (Probably not... but might as well check.) Given how mosquitoes love me (allergist aside), I expect I'll get WNV at some point in my life. (Barring them wiping out either the desease or the mosquitoes that carry it.)

For the viewing pleasure of sadists, my itchy allergy tests:

Click to flickr page for notes.

As if my arms weren't wounded enough, I raided the raspberry bushes on the way home (as usual), and managed to slice a small gash in my finger while preparing dinner. Whoops!

Well, it's past time for bed. Hopefully tonight I won't have trouble falling asleep!

Sockapalooza 4 Socks

Crochet Socks WIP

These colours look much better on the ball than in the socks, but H says they still look cute in the socks. What's your opinion?

I'll be doing the swapped-stripe-colours socks for my pal. :)

Crochet Socks

Crochet Socks

I'm looking forward to actually *showing* these to you soon. ;)