Which way to Walton’s Mountain? July 9, 2008 ~ 8:39 pm
Posted by Julie in : Craftiness Is Next To Godliness , comments closedBoston stories in the next post, promise. Really. But now, for something entirely different. We all know I am a joiner. I joined Plurk, I joined Twitter, I joined Facebook, Ravelry, MySpace, you name it, I’m on it. But for as much as I like the tech, I also love being connected to the “old ways” of doing things. I like to spin, knit, cross-stitch, etc. ad nauseum, knowing that these crafts have been practiced by generations of people before me. I like to see my part in the chain of humanity - I suppose that’s why I was a history major in undergrad. I would like to learn how to cook, how to really cook, instead of just the meat/veg/starch combinations I throw together. I like to make things grow. I’m really interested in becoming greener and helping the planet to recover for the next links in the chain. And I love sharing these interests with others (which is why I’m in a Stitch n Bitch, among other things). Yes, I am a 21st Century Laura Ingalls Wilder living in Brooklyn. I was just in need of a Walnut Grove (perhaps without that bitchy Nellie Olson, though).
You all know where this is headed. I joined something else. Miss Violet, from the Lime & Violet podcast, started a Farmgirl chapter on Plurk. Go ahead, read it, I’ll wait. Basically, a Farmgirl “A farmgirl believes in the strong arms of friendship, community and the just plain fun of being together. A farmgirl takes joy in the quiet satisfaction of making things with her own hands. She exudes kindness, grace, humility, gentleness, patience and generosity, and loves the simple pleasures in life. A farmgirl is loyal and caring, especially when it comes to her family, friends and community. She gives generously of her time and talents. Farmgirls love to get together to share their ideas. She can be with or without fields and stock. Farmgirl is a condition of the heart.” While I haven’t decided if I’m going to pay the $20 and join the Farmgirl sisterhood, I have joined the Plurkette Henhouse, which is a virtual Farmgirl chapter. We are a community of mostly fiber-minded people who met on Plurk, and since I spend much time each day conversing with these people online, it wasn’t much of a stretch to join them in something else.
I’m looking forward to seeing where this can lead me. And you know I like the idea of merit badges. It’s just a good match.
Definite yarnivorous behavior January 28, 2008 ~ 2:58 pm
Posted by Julie in : Craftiness Is Next To Godliness, Da Cats , comments closedWhen Joe the cat was little, he was a hellion. Destructo kitty #1. During his young life, he was notably responsible for breaking a Depression glass punchbowl (valued at $200 at the time of its demise) and destroying an entire freezer full of meats and frozen goods because he accidentally unplugged it. In July. And if you don’t know what rotting meat smells like when you discover it after the freezer has been out of commission for three days in high summer, consider yourself blessed. I will never forget that smell as long as I live.
Fortunately for Joe, we allowed him to live after these escapades and he outgrew his youthful antics. Or so I thought until Saturday, when I put down the sock I was knitting for a quick trip to the bathroom. When I returned, it was to this:
Click on the photo for notes, but the breakdown is as follows. The little fucker chewed through the yarn while I was taking a piss. Note that he kindly left me with about fourteen inches, a full eight of which was covered with slime which had obviously gone down his little kitty esophagus before being horked back up. Since I know how to do a Russian join and could fix this pretty easily, it was more of an inconvenience than anything else, but one little black cat in Brooklyn nearly lost his life this weekend. As it is, I cut off the slimed yarn, fixed it, and Joseph Thomas and I had a little Come to Jesus talk. I don’t think he’ll be touching yarn again.
So, last week I promised finished objects. Here they are (behind the cut):
Finished by the skin of my teeth January 15, 2008 ~ 3:00 pm
Posted by Julie in : Craftiness Is Next To Godliness, Rick, The Girls , comments closedLast night I learned something. Sea Silk that has been dyed red? Bleeds red when you wash it. After three soaks and a final bath with a bit of white vinegar, I think I’ve stopped the bleeding. I wrote on the little note that accompanied the shawlette that it might need another vinegar bath and maybe she should think about not wearing it over white shirts at first as a caveat. Wouldn’t want to ruin any clothes with it.
As far as the fuck-up I wrote about yesterday goes…I don’t think she’ll notice it. She is not a knitter, and the chevron pattern combined with the variations in hue and the drapey nature of silk mean that it’s not as easy to see the fuck-up as it might have been had I used another yarn.
So, without further ado, I give you the project that went out in the mail this morning. Behind the cut, of course, because there are pictures. (more…)
Vacay! January 14, 2008 ~ 12:54 pm
Posted by Julie in : Academic Office Monkey, Craftiness Is Next To Godliness , comments closedI spent the weekend knitting. And knitting, and knitting, and knitting. My sister-in-law’s birthday is today, and I wanted to give her a nice lace shawlette to wrap around her shoulders. It’s still nice, I just fucked up part of the pattern and knit it backwards. If I had the time to rip half the bloody thing out and re-knit it, I would. But alas, I’m going to Florida on Wednesday and I want to get this thing in the mail tomorrow, and um…only Allah is perfect. *sigh* Rick said something that he meant to be sweet this morning when I told him: “Well, that’s how you can tell it’s homemade.” And I, who can be utterly psychotic about my knitting when I want to be (I know, it’s hard to believe) said “But I don’t WANT it to look homemade.” And then he got really quiet and changed the subject.
And so tonight I will go home, weave in ends, wash it (it bled red all over my hands while I was knitting it, not a good sign), and block it. And tomorrow send it and the necklace I made for her. And then…then? I will only have to finish the socks I started for Lori for Christmas and I can knit for me. True vacation!
(While I was typing this, I realized that vacation is good for another reason. If I weren’t getting away? Someone in my office might die. I am that fed up with them. Happy vacation to ME!)
The holidays revisited. January 2, 2008 ~ 12:30 pm
Posted by Julie in : Craftiness Is Next To Godliness, In Da Hood, Urban Family , comments closedThey’ve implemented a new phone system here at Some College that includes an integrated computer program. Basically, Big Brother is at my work place. I have to tell the computer every time I’m leaving my desk, even if it’s just to pee. All the stress that I felt leaving my body over the past five days that I had off? Back. Also, Maynard The World’s Oldest Cat (the 25 year old cat Rick inherited when his brother Jeffrey died last spring) has gone to meet his maker. We’re not sure exactly when, since we left Pittsfield on Monday afternoon and Rick just got back an hour ago, but I prefer to think of him as the last casualty of 2007 rather than the first of 2008. I just can’t deal with another clusterfuck of a year like 2007 was.
So to try to recapture some holiday zen, I will show you pictures. (Behind the cut, and there are a lot of them. Sorry, dial-up friends!) (more…)
I love Thursday night football. December 20, 2007 ~ 12:51 pm
Posted by Julie in : Craftiness Is Next To Godliness , comments closedTonight there is a Steelers game on. I was looking forward to a long spree of uninterrupted knitting on Puggy’s mittens during it. However, since Rick told me we’re going up to Massachusetts for the weekend and I don’t have any of the presents that weren’t shipped wrapped, I’ll be doing that tonight. They fill a rocking chair, so I think it’s going to take a while. Crap.
Oh well, the drive to Massachusetts takes three hours. Plenty of time to knit. If we go up in the daylight…the yarn I’m using for the mittens is dark, and I don’t think my booklight is any match for it.
Effin’ the o’s December 19, 2007 ~ 10:53 am
Posted by Julie in : Craftiness Is Next To Godliness , comments closedI have training for our new phone system in about ten minutes (yeah, we need training. Because apparently there’s something where they’re logged into the computers were on. Or something. It’s vaguely reminiscent of 1984.) But, in the meantime, I give you something cool to look at:
Pattern: Rockin’ Socks by Gail Marracci with modifications for a diabetic recipient
Yarn: Fleece Artist Sea Wool (wool and seacell)
Needles: Knit Picks Harmony DPNs, US Size 1 (for heels) and 2 (for rest of sock)
Size: Women’s size 8 1/2 or 9, I think. Bigger than my feet and Judy’s - she likes things loose on her feet.
Made For: Rick’s ma, Judy
Would I make this again? Not this pattern, no. Because I have a sneaking suspicion that the instructions for short row heels are off, and that’s the whole reason I bought this. But the yarn is lovely, if a bit unevenly spun at times, and I think it might bloom more after washing. I think she’s going to like them a lot.
Newsflash December 18, 2007 ~ 12:03 pm
Posted by Julie in : Craftiness Is Next To Godliness, Random Insanity , comments closedThe socks were finished at 11:44 PM last night. Now onto the mittens.
Admit it, you guys are all tired of the knitting content, aren’t you? Just for those of you that are, I will add that Pepperidge Farms Chessmen suck. No other shortbread cookie leaves me with a weird aftertaste in my mouth. As a matter of fact, the only thing I expect an aftertaste from is cough syrup.
Which reminds me of when I worked at a grocery store on breaks during college, and there was this one woman who would buy two bottles of NyQuill every week. Every week, people. And she never had a cold. How sad do you have to be to drink freakin’ NyQuill for a high? And how high was her NyQuill tolerance that she was going through two bottles a week? I mean, one dose and I’m on my ass.
Also, when I worked at the grocery store, the owner’s son worked as a stockboy and used to get high doing whipits off of cans of whipped cream. Ah, life in small town Pennsylvania.
Check it out! I talked about something besides knitting!! Now that’s a newsflash.
Christmas miracles. December 17, 2007 ~ 11:29 am
Posted by Julie in : Craftiness Is Next To Godliness, Daily Grind , comments closedSome missions were accomplished this weekend. For instance, I got everything wrapped, packed, and shipped that needed to be. And for a pleasant surprise, even though I had six packages to ship (well, four boxes and two padded envelopes), I was in and out of the Kensington Post Office in fifteen minutes which is a land speed record. The Post Office manager has obviously learned his/her lesson at this time of year and had three windows open instead of the usual one, and one window was devoted to stamp sales and money orders, the other two free for package mailings. If only they were this efficient the rest of the year…
Rick’s ma’s socks weren’t finished, since I spent Saturday afternoon/evening with Lori, watching the play she’s in, and then going to the movies to see Atonement. (Which was wonderful and now I want to read the book - the Oldest has been telling me what a brilliant book it is for a while now, so I guess I have to give in and buy it.) Yesterday I spent a very windy day inside cleaning house. Not fun, but it needed to be done. In the evening I picked up the knitting and made it through the heel of the socks, which means I’ll finish them today. Then the mittens, then Rick’s other present, then Lori’s present (Lori has been warned that she will not get hers until after Christmas, and she’s cool with that, especially after I told her I would make her earrings as well and let her pick out the stones.)
And so here we are, a week out from Christmas Eve, and I might well still be fucked. But at least I’m resigned to it.
Christmas knitting hits everyone. December 14, 2007 ~ 2:46 pm
Posted by Julie in : Craftiness Is Next To Godliness, Daily Grind, Urban Family , comments closedHow I know it’s crunch time for all knitters - I get a call from Aimee:
Aimee: Hey, did you knit the (some pattern) with (some number of stitches)? Because I’m doing it, and it doesn’t look right. Too small.
Julie: Yeah, I did that. I added 10 stitches to make it bigger. And you have to knit it longer than the pattern says or it won’t fit.
Aimee: Cool.
Yeah, then later, I realize that the number of stitches Aimee had mentioned (protected here because the recipient of (some pattern) reads the blog occasionally) didn’t sound right. So I texted her and told her maybe I fucked up and cast on too many stitches, so don’t listen to me and just cast on however many the pattern calls for plus an increment of stitches. And then I got back from lunch and looked at my project page on Ravelry and realized that I had not in fact knit (some pattern). I had knit (some other pattern). So I just texted her that.
Since when does staying up until 12:30 and wrapping and packing Christmas gifts like a mad dervish screw with my mind like this and make me into a space cadet? I must be getting old…
