Our current office looks on to state street. This supplies endless sorts of interest and activities. There are tons of protests happening in the city that I had never known about until I started working here. We hear everything that goes by, from the fire truck sirens to the random crazy person yelling at people, to the endless protesters. Usually the protesters are in a loose group and it's always unclear what they are yelling and what they are protesting.
Just now though, a small group of people, 6 or 7, dressed in bright orange suits went by. I think they were yelling 'stop the torture now'. Two of the people were walking as if they were handcuffed. They had black hoods over their heads, and when waiting for the light to change to cross the street these two people waiting on their knees.
I don't have a tv, and I tend not to listen to the radio news very often, so I'm not certain what torture they are protesting. Is it something happening locally? Or the on-going government torture of alleged terrorists? Maybe something else. Either way, for such a small group of people it was intense, and effective.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
I give up
I knit you up. You were beautiful but oh so wrong. Rip rip rip. I knit you again. I added 10 stitches, I knit so loose the stitches were falling off the slippery needles. I knit all the way to the place of the first rip. Still enchanted by your pattern all was looking good. Trying you on you slipped nicely over my foot. And stopped at my heel. I give up. You win. Rip. Rip. Rip. You get a ribbed cuff, and will jaywalk only for the foot.
Annie commented yesterday that her daughter, also a beginning knitter, had the same problem with the pattern. The only thing I can think now is that I need to use a slightly thicker, stretchier yarn for this pattern. I have some left over from another pair of socks and i'll swatch with that to see. I should probably do a search online to see what people say about this. It just makes me so mad because I LOVE the way it looks with this yarn, but I guess it's just not meant to be. It looks fine with the plain ribbing too, but not as awesome as the zig-zags. At least I know the pattern will work on the foot, so I'll get to indulge myself a little, and maybe even finish the socks while I'm at it.
Annie commented yesterday that her daughter, also a beginning knitter, had the same problem with the pattern. The only thing I can think now is that I need to use a slightly thicker, stretchier yarn for this pattern. I have some left over from another pair of socks and i'll swatch with that to see. I should probably do a search online to see what people say about this. It just makes me so mad because I LOVE the way it looks with this yarn, but I guess it's just not meant to be. It looks fine with the plain ribbing too, but not as awesome as the zig-zags. At least I know the pattern will work on the foot, so I'll get to indulge myself a little, and maybe even finish the socks while I'm at it.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Baby Kimono
Blocked, sewn, adorned and finished. Ready for that July baby to come! Now I just have to knit the peapod set.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Jaywalker, why do you hate me so?
I had to frog it. I hate frogging knitting. It's extremely stressful for me to have all those little loose loops just hanging out, needing to be picked but then before I get the chance to they slip away from me. I was loving this sock, and the pattern, and how the striping yarn was knitting up with the pattern. Enchanting. Then this morning I got the brilliant idea to make sure it fits. After I'm about 2 inches into the pattern. The ribbing was fine but for some reason the pattern was knitting up soo tight with hardly any stretch there was no chance in hell it was going over my hand, let alone my foot. I don't understand. So I snapped a photo and ripped back to the ribbing, only loosing one stitch in the process, I think...
I guess I'll have to increase around to make the larger size, and if that's still too small then I'll have to go up a needle size as well. I just don't understand why it's creating such a tight unyielding fabric. I'll be knitting at lunch time today for sure.
I guess I'll have to increase around to make the larger size, and if that's still too small then I'll have to go up a needle size as well. I just don't understand why it's creating such a tight unyielding fabric. I'll be knitting at lunch time today for sure.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Starts, Finishes, and the Drive Inbetween
Friday night I finished my train socks and cast on a new pair, this one the jaywalker pattern. I also joined a gift-a-long where we will knit 5 items a month for gifts, so when Christmas rolls around there won't be that late-night last-minute rush to get everything knitted in time. I only listed one thing for January since I joined with barely a week left, which is the baby kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting for my future cousin, due in July.
I've recently joined a gym. Since I was young I've always been involved in one sport or another which has kept me in decent shape. Skydiving, though, is not an aerobic activity. You can be young or old, skinny or fat, in great shape or terrible shape and still be a skydiver. The top competitors tend to be in excellent shape because it takes endurance and some muscle to train hard all day long, but if you're not going for the gold in open class it's not exactly a necessity. And so, over the past few years I've slowly fallen out of shape. This past summer living on the dropzone was probably the worst offender on my cardiac health, as I mainly indulged in beer and pizza when I wasn't jumping out of planes. I briefly tried out a gym in the fall, but I find it hard to motivate myself to walk to a gym just to hop on a machine for 30 minutes and be bored. It lasted about a week.
Then one of my friend's sent me a link to the gym she just joined. No cardio machines, no weight machines, the gym only offered work out classes. The classes sounded like a lot of fun too so I went to try out a class and joined. The classes are a lot of fun, and it's easier to get motivated to go, and since I'm not locked into a membership, I'd be wasting my money if I don't go, which is another motivation. Also, the one class I took to try the gym out kick my ass. Kicked my ass in the kind of way that says, 'if you don't start working out you will die of a heart-attack at age 30'.
I had a class Saturday morning and afterwards planned to drive up north to check out a bead store, after which I would then drive south to go to the nearest Michael's to get the yarn I needed to finish the baby kimono.
Energized from an hour of circuit training and equipped with directions to the store I headed out. For some reason the entire north side of Chicago was out and about in their suv's Saturday at noon. I have no idea why. It was snowing and cold and I couldn't see why on earth they would be out at this day and time (my mother has since pointed out to me that most people go shopping on Saturday and noon is about when most of them make it out of their homes). This meant that it took me twice as long to get there, and then when I finally did I simply could not find parking anywhere. For some reason I had it in my head that this bead store had it's own parking lot (i was obviously thinking of another bead store) and confused by the one-way streets, it took me a good 20 minutes just to confirm to my dismay that indeed there was no parking lot for the bead store. At this point I was so fed-up with the streets and the people and the traffic that I said 'screw this' and turned back the way I came. I would get my beads at the craft store. I finally made it to the craft store, walked out with more then I had intended or needed, and headed home. Note to self, no more shopping excursions on Saturday afternoon.
I was able to finish the baby kimono (it's blocking/drying right now) and made myself some stitch markers. So it was a pretty productive weekend.
I've recently joined a gym. Since I was young I've always been involved in one sport or another which has kept me in decent shape. Skydiving, though, is not an aerobic activity. You can be young or old, skinny or fat, in great shape or terrible shape and still be a skydiver. The top competitors tend to be in excellent shape because it takes endurance and some muscle to train hard all day long, but if you're not going for the gold in open class it's not exactly a necessity. And so, over the past few years I've slowly fallen out of shape. This past summer living on the dropzone was probably the worst offender on my cardiac health, as I mainly indulged in beer and pizza when I wasn't jumping out of planes. I briefly tried out a gym in the fall, but I find it hard to motivate myself to walk to a gym just to hop on a machine for 30 minutes and be bored. It lasted about a week.
Then one of my friend's sent me a link to the gym she just joined. No cardio machines, no weight machines, the gym only offered work out classes. The classes sounded like a lot of fun too so I went to try out a class and joined. The classes are a lot of fun, and it's easier to get motivated to go, and since I'm not locked into a membership, I'd be wasting my money if I don't go, which is another motivation. Also, the one class I took to try the gym out kick my ass. Kicked my ass in the kind of way that says, 'if you don't start working out you will die of a heart-attack at age 30'.
I had a class Saturday morning and afterwards planned to drive up north to check out a bead store, after which I would then drive south to go to the nearest Michael's to get the yarn I needed to finish the baby kimono.
Energized from an hour of circuit training and equipped with directions to the store I headed out. For some reason the entire north side of Chicago was out and about in their suv's Saturday at noon. I have no idea why. It was snowing and cold and I couldn't see why on earth they would be out at this day and time (my mother has since pointed out to me that most people go shopping on Saturday and noon is about when most of them make it out of their homes). This meant that it took me twice as long to get there, and then when I finally did I simply could not find parking anywhere. For some reason I had it in my head that this bead store had it's own parking lot (i was obviously thinking of another bead store) and confused by the one-way streets, it took me a good 20 minutes just to confirm to my dismay that indeed there was no parking lot for the bead store. At this point I was so fed-up with the streets and the people and the traffic that I said 'screw this' and turned back the way I came. I would get my beads at the craft store. I finally made it to the craft store, walked out with more then I had intended or needed, and headed home. Note to self, no more shopping excursions on Saturday afternoon.
I was able to finish the baby kimono (it's blocking/drying right now) and made myself some stitch markers. So it was a pretty productive weekend.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Lace, Take 1
Reading through other blogs on the internet and looking at what everyone else is knitting, I was charmed by the lace. I had never tried to knit lace before, but wanted to give it a go, and the branching out pattern from knitty promised to be easy for a beginner. I started it just after Christmas, and I've been working on it sporadically ever since. While not difficult, lace does take some concentration. I've learned a few things while working on this scarf.
1. Lace takes focus. If you get distracted you will loose your place on the chart and mess up.
2. I am distracted very easily.
3. Most of the time I knit, I'm doing other things as well. Watching movie, listening to music or podcasts, talking on the phone, playing with my cat.
4. This does not mix well with lace knitting.
5. Since I do these things most every evening as a way to wind down, I find myself craving something simple like something in plain garter or simple straight stitch socks.
6. That means that the lace knitting gets push to the weekends when I can really sit down and focus and pay attention to what I'm doing.
7. Progress is slow.
8. Sticky notes on the chart to keep my place help, but takes time to move, and if I don't, and get distracted, then I've lost my place anyways.
I'm knitting branching out with knitpicks palette, which is probably thicker then normal, but it's helped with dealing with all the k3tog for the first time. I've since gotten distracted by some kidsilk haze, which I'm finding fiddly to deal with, and wishing my needles were more sharp. The scarf is already riddled with errors, but I refuse to rip and just keep pushing forward. I want the joy of blocking, and can live with errors. Maybe I'll knit it again in the future when I understand lace better and don't have such an aversion to frogging my knitting.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Thursdays are for Transit Tales
It's about a 20 minute train ride for me to work every morning. I used to read a book or magazine or just listen to music to pass the time, but ever since I started knitting socks that is my activity of choice. They are small and convenient and easy to pull our and knit a few rounds on in the morning and afternoon. I carry one in my purse at all time, as it also helps pass the time while waiting in like at the dmv or bank.
Knitting on the train I've had a few unique experiences. Normally people will look at you and then ignore you, watch you out of the corner of their eye, or just plain stare at you. None of this bothers me and I just knit along listening to my music until my stop, and get off. Here is the sock I'm working on now:
Trekking XXL, I forget the color. Plain sock pattern.
I was riding the train home the other evening sitting in one of the seats next to the door that faces the seats opposite me. I had my sock out as usual and was knitting away. A few stops after I got on a lady and her friend got on and sat across from me. They talked for a stop or two while eyeing me and then one of the lady's took some crocheting out of her bag and started working on it. I noticed and gave it a look and smile and continued knitting.
Now I'm not a very fast knitter with less then a year under my belt, but I go in fast spurts punctuated by slower ones when I look around me or get distracted or miss a beat in my rhythm. The lady across from me was a VERY fast crocheter. I haven't been around many other crocheters and she was just whipping along. I tired sending a smile her way without luck. Then I noticed something. As I knit faster she crocheted faster, and as I slowed down she did a little as well. I swear the woman was racing me. Seriously. It was totally amusing. I tested my theory and sure enough, yep. Race on lady.
Knitting on the train I've had a few unique experiences. Normally people will look at you and then ignore you, watch you out of the corner of their eye, or just plain stare at you. None of this bothers me and I just knit along listening to my music until my stop, and get off. Here is the sock I'm working on now:
Trekking XXL, I forget the color. Plain sock pattern.
I was riding the train home the other evening sitting in one of the seats next to the door that faces the seats opposite me. I had my sock out as usual and was knitting away. A few stops after I got on a lady and her friend got on and sat across from me. They talked for a stop or two while eyeing me and then one of the lady's took some crocheting out of her bag and started working on it. I noticed and gave it a look and smile and continued knitting.
Now I'm not a very fast knitter with less then a year under my belt, but I go in fast spurts punctuated by slower ones when I look around me or get distracted or miss a beat in my rhythm. The lady across from me was a VERY fast crocheter. I haven't been around many other crocheters and she was just whipping along. I tired sending a smile her way without luck. Then I noticed something. As I knit faster she crocheted faster, and as I slowed down she did a little as well. I swear the woman was racing me. Seriously. It was totally amusing. I tested my theory and sure enough, yep. Race on lady.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The Knitting
So as I had said, I learned to crochet when I was young. Then I did nothing for many years. In high school I took up crocheting again, and each winter I would make a new afghan and a few scarves. Except for the last afghan (still waiting for one last strip which has been half done for about a year now and needs working on) they were all variations of granny squares. All of them done in cheap acrylic.
Then about a year and a half ago I decided I was going to learn how to knit because I had seen this pair of cabled arm warmers I was lusting after, and just couldn't make them happen in crochet. I went out and got myself a learn how to knit kit, figured out the knit and purl stitches, and then set out to make a scarf. On size 6 needles with LionBrand Homespun. This was the wrong way to start in soo many ways, but I had no idea at the time. The homespun is tricky to knit with in the first place, and I was knitting it with needles too small, and knitting too tightly, dropping and making stitches all over the place, and when i was done I has a scarf that waved in and out and curled in on its self and was pretty stiff. I ironed it flat, and wore it a few times, and that was that. I didn't knit again for a year.
In May of last year I graduated college and my aunt gave me a beautiful cabled purse and it re-ignited my interest in knitting. Shortly after I took a trip to Peru, and while there in a little town called Huarmey, I bought a bunch of yarn and some knitting needles and started back up. From there I'm not sure exactly what came next. Either I had found one podcast or one blog abut knitting, and they in turn talked about a lot of blogs and podcasts about knitting. I discovered the Yarn Harlot and set about reading all of her posts from the start of the blog to the current. It took me a while but I've just caught up. I listen to Cast-On, Stash and Burn, The Knitting Cook, Sticks and String, among others, and many many blogs. I discovered good yarn, Ravelry, my local yarn shop (Loopy Yarns), and a huge knitting community that I love.
And now, a few pictures of things I've knit recently.
Some thrummed fingerless mittens adapted from the yarn harlot's pattern.
Then about a year and a half ago I decided I was going to learn how to knit because I had seen this pair of cabled arm warmers I was lusting after, and just couldn't make them happen in crochet. I went out and got myself a learn how to knit kit, figured out the knit and purl stitches, and then set out to make a scarf. On size 6 needles with LionBrand Homespun. This was the wrong way to start in soo many ways, but I had no idea at the time. The homespun is tricky to knit with in the first place, and I was knitting it with needles too small, and knitting too tightly, dropping and making stitches all over the place, and when i was done I has a scarf that waved in and out and curled in on its self and was pretty stiff. I ironed it flat, and wore it a few times, and that was that. I didn't knit again for a year.
In May of last year I graduated college and my aunt gave me a beautiful cabled purse and it re-ignited my interest in knitting. Shortly after I took a trip to Peru, and while there in a little town called Huarmey, I bought a bunch of yarn and some knitting needles and started back up. From there I'm not sure exactly what came next. Either I had found one podcast or one blog abut knitting, and they in turn talked about a lot of blogs and podcasts about knitting. I discovered the Yarn Harlot and set about reading all of her posts from the start of the blog to the current. It took me a while but I've just caught up. I listen to Cast-On, Stash and Burn, The Knitting Cook, Sticks and String, among others, and many many blogs. I discovered good yarn, Ravelry, my local yarn shop (Loopy Yarns), and a huge knitting community that I love.
And now, a few pictures of things I've knit recently.
Some thrummed fingerless mittens adapted from the yarn harlot's pattern.
Also from the yarn harlot, an unoriginal hat.
Recently my dad slipped on some ice while plowing the driveway and fractured his hip. I quickly knit him up a few things to keep him warm and cozy while he recovered. A pair of fuzzy feet (pattern on knitty.com) made from knitpicks wool of the andies, and a simple ribbed house hat out of lionbrand cheneille.
The Skydiving
Here are a few pictures of me skydiving.
Two of my teammates and myself dressed up and the grinch and two elves for a Christmas card picture jump. Here we are exiting the plane.
Me and the grinch.
The team. Here we are training. I'm the one in purple at the bottom of the photo. Loos like fun eh?
Post #1
Welcome!
So I've tried this blogging thing before, but never really stuck with it. Recently I've immersed myself into the online world of knitting, and have had so much fun reading all the knitting blogs it has made me want to start my own!
A little bit about myself: I am an architect living in Chicago. When it's cold outside I spend my weekends and evenings knitting. I learned to crochet when I was young and have done that for many years, and have recently taught myself to knit and love it! When it's nice outside (from about April to October) I spend my weekends skydiving. I started skydiving almost 4 years ago now and it is a great passion in my life. It's not at all crazy or reckless like the general population thinks, and I am on a (4-way) competitive team. Though you may not think that skydiving and knitting would complement each other, they do. Both are relaxing and can lead to intense focus. For such a small community in skydiving, there are a surprising number of knitters and crafters. I personally know 4 people who knit that I jump with.
This blog will basically be about my knitting, and when the skydiving season starts up, about that too. With maybe a little architecture and everything else thrown in. Should make for a good variety!
So I've tried this blogging thing before, but never really stuck with it. Recently I've immersed myself into the online world of knitting, and have had so much fun reading all the knitting blogs it has made me want to start my own!
A little bit about myself: I am an architect living in Chicago. When it's cold outside I spend my weekends and evenings knitting. I learned to crochet when I was young and have done that for many years, and have recently taught myself to knit and love it! When it's nice outside (from about April to October) I spend my weekends skydiving. I started skydiving almost 4 years ago now and it is a great passion in my life. It's not at all crazy or reckless like the general population thinks, and I am on a (4-way) competitive team. Though you may not think that skydiving and knitting would complement each other, they do. Both are relaxing and can lead to intense focus. For such a small community in skydiving, there are a surprising number of knitters and crafters. I personally know 4 people who knit that I jump with.
This blog will basically be about my knitting, and when the skydiving season starts up, about that too. With maybe a little architecture and everything else thrown in. Should make for a good variety!
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