Progress Report

Great googly moogly. Where the hell does the time go? I have been completely slammed at work lately, there have been a good number of late nights put in this month and it sure doesn't feel like it's going to end soon. We went live with a new accounting system to replace QuickBooks, the fun with that is never ending. Some days it seems like the new system is nothing more than a steaming pile of poo. Then there are the new auditors (we fired our old ones, what a bunch of monkeys they were) that are working very diligently to finish our 2005 & 2006 audits (yeah, the old ones couldn't get their shit together to finish our 2005 audit let alone start 2006) in a 3 week time period. So when they give us a pile of stuff to put together for them, we have to jump. And it is the end of the quarter, so there is always fun associated with that. Let's see what else. Oh yeah, we're moving offices at the end of next week. Yippee. At least I get a 3 day weekend! Woohoo. No rest for the wicked until then though, ugh. So yeah, it's been fun. At least delivering my annual reviews for my employees got pushed out to next week. Oh yeah, and I have bronchitis (though I do at least have antibiotics now). Yippee.

Anyways, there has been knitting despite the madness! I posted these a few days ago on my Flickr but I am only now able to scrape together the time to blog about my progress.

I finished the first of my waving lace socks. I really love the Smooshy yarn, it is yummy stuff. The pattern is pretty too, though I was struggling to photograph it.

Here it is though on a sock blocker:

And on my tootsie:

The color is so yummy. Here's a little closer pic of the pattern:

I so have not cast on the second sock, there just hasn't been the time for that. And oh man, I am dying to cast on the Marigold Socks. I will have to cast on the second sock just so it gets on the needles even if it sits in time out while I knit the Marigold socks. Sandra really got me aching to knit them with her beautiful socks! (though she turned the toe up sock into a top down one, wtf is wrong with you Sandra!! teehee, I so totally *heart* you still, I forgive you!)

Anyways, still making progress on the second Koigu Monkey sock.

Here is a little closer pic of the sock:

I really love the colorway. It's gorgeous. And god I love how the Koigu feels. I know that it isn't necessarily the most durable of sock yarns but god it is nice to knit. And the dyes in it are gorgeous. I can hardly wait to finish. Since I took these photos, I have managed to turn the heel so I am now on my first repeat on the leg. Woohoo. Just 5 more pattern repeats to go!

I also somehow managed to bang out a dishcloth for my hubby's boss. It's not like I'm sucking up to her, I used to work with her when I worked for the consulting firm my hubby works for now. I was on the internal staff for a year, so I got to know her. She's a peach, I adore her. (I got a really sweet thank you card from her today. That was lovely after the day I had today.) Anyways, I knit her a dishcloth using the lacy round dishcloth pattern from Rhonda K. White at Knitting Knonsense.

I used Peaches 'n Creme yarn in the Gumdrops colorway. I love how this pattern turns out with variegated yarns. It is so fun.

Oh, and great googly moogly. The kittens are getting quite not-kittenish in a hurry! They tag-teamed hubby the other day and I snapped a pic:

(Please to be disregarding the crapola in the background!)

Saylor has much to say about me not being home much lately:

(How hilarious is this pic. As Kristi points out on Flickr, this pic is so ripe for lolcatesque comments!)

Before I go, I have to quickly comment on my Bunco night last night and what a blast it was. Who could turn down fine eats like this:

It was an awesomely fun evening. A nice break in the rigorous workdays I've had this month! More pics from the evening over on my Flickr.

Anyways, that's how wonderful the world of Teenuh has been lately. Here's hoping your world has been more wonderful!

Pfft Second Sock Syndrome

Hey there Ms. OCK... there is no SSS here!


This is sock #2, cast on tonight (I have included the completed sock #1 to avoid threats of it being a decoy photo from sock#1's progress) (and no, it's not some Photoshop trickery. I'm not that skilled. =P) with one repeat completed. I'm sure I would have had more done but I was busy sleeping my Sunday away. Damnable sinuses of mine. Headache seems to be gone now, but of course it prevented me from both getting any work done this weekend and from going to Bobaknit today. Sigh.

Here is something else I forgot to blog about in August. My hubby went to see his parents last month and this was what he brought back for me:


Ok, so it's a free paper. But omg it's a free paper with an lolcat on the cover!!! How awesome is that?

Today's kitten cuteness is a story of how cleaning your sister turns into a wrasslin match. Have a looksie.

It all starts innocently enough. Saylor starts preening Xi Xi:

Xi Xi being the loving sister begins to reciprocate:


As it turns out, they discover they're at the perfect angle to start wrassling!

Oh, it's on!

It's chompin time!

And that is how cleaning your sister turns into a wrasslin match. =^_^=

(Stay tuned, I will definitely catch the tub match action soon and put them on YouTube.)

Oh yeah, one more thing before I go. We found the battery charger. Sigh. It was knocked off our kitchen table into our newspaper recycling box. Hubby found it tonight when he was taking out the newspapers to our recycling bin.

Hooray for Camera Battery Chargers

Well yippee. We didn't manage to locate the MIA battery charger, but hubby went over to Fry's Electronics today to pick up an expansion for a video game he just got and he picked me up a new charger for my camera. We searched high and low for the damn thing, but we have zero idea where it went. I'm sure we'll find it just after we can't return the new one. Although I doubt we will, the one he bought is pretty slick, it even has a car charger adapter so my camera battery can be charged on the go!

So when I wasn't blogging in August, I was really knitting some stuff. I finished the first sock of my third pair of Monkeys. I really really love the way the Koigu feels. Have I mentioned this before? Anyway, here it is on my blocker:

I love how nicely variegated the dye job is. No pooling to be had here! Woohoo! The scrap of yarn that is next to the sock is all I had left of my ball when I finished. I was worried about running out while I was doing the twisted rib cuff so I opted for a garter stitch finish. I think it works out alright with the Monkey pattern. Also, this is my first pair of socks that I haven't knit on size 3 needles. I started the sock with my size 3's but they looked hella wide (even for my fat feet) so I moved down to 2's. They've still got ample room on my foot (I am sure the stretchiness of the pattern helps with that) so that made me quite pleased.

Now that I'm using a variegated yarn with this pattern that doesn't totally cause the pattern to disappear, I can really easily see how the Monkey pattern is turning out. The SSK's and K2TOG's aren't lining up all pretty like they do when you're knitting the pattern from the top down, so I am holding off casting on the second sock. I'm going to finish them, I think I just have to take a little time out and get over myself.

So, as a result I started the Waving Lace socks from Interweave Knits Favorite Socks book. I am using my Dream in Color Smooshy yarn that I have in the Ruby River colorway. I think they are beautiful:

That is a pic of where I currently am at. These also are not knit on size 3 needles, I'm using 1's for these. This also seems to be a stretchy pattern as the number of stitches is the same as I use for my size 3's but it still fits. I made sure to check this while I was working on the foot:

It may be because I'm not knitting quite as tightly as I do when I am using 3's. Kristi has been pestering me about this lately so I'm trying to knit looser. We'll see how long that lasts!

I also started a bag that I want to felt but I have neglected to take any pictures of it. I'm using SWS in Natural Geranium. I'm feeling mighty lazy at the moment so I haven't taken the time to re-Google the pattern I printed from the internet. Having a raging headache might also have something to do with it but I blame my sinuses for that.

Anyways, that's all of my knitting adventures for the moment. I have picked up some fabulous yarns recently (Yarntini and Shibui Sock and Vesper Sock Yarn among them *slurp*) so it is extremely hard to remain focused. It is extremely tempting to cast on the Marigold Sock pattern like Sandra is knitting...

Oh! Omg! I totally forgot! Speaking of Sandra.. she was my total hero recently! I gushed about her fabulous slippers and how I felt my life would not be complete without a pair of them... and she went back to where she got hers and BOUGHT ME A PAIR! Wahoo. I so totally *heart* them:
So so cute. And quite comfortable, actually. I so totally *heart* Sandra for picking these up for me!! Thank you again!! xoxo

And finally before I go, a dose of cuteness:

They really need to stop this growing up! They are getting so huge! We totally got the kittens we were meant to have, I can't imagine being without these naughty little sweeties.

How in the hell did it get to be September?

Can someone please tell me where August went?! Seriously, what the hell. I have no idea what has been going on with time, but it is screaming by.

I'm working on two sets of socks, I have my first sock complete out of my third pair of Monkey socks that I am making and I am about halfway done with my first sock on a pair of Waving Lace socks. The Monkey is made out of Koigu (yes, another variegated pair. I have learned nothing yet, though this pair you can actually see the pattern on) and the Waving Lace socks are out of my Dream in Color Smooshy yarn I got not too long ago. Both are very very yummy yarns, though I think I love the Koigu slightly more. So so delicious that Koigu, I was totally right to keep it precious.

I would post some new photos but it seems that the charger unit for my brand spanking new camera is MIA. We charged my camera when we bought it and haven't needed to charge it again since (we got it in July, it was my anniversary present). So who the hell knows where that has gone in six weeks.

Sigh.

Finito!

Woohoo, I finished my Embossed Leaves socks! I am very pleased with the results.

I did these toe up and I did the chart as written, so my leaves are going in the opposite direction. I tried flipping the chart but the yarn overs didn't seem to line up correctly and it was just a big yarny mess, so I frogged and re-knit them with the chart as written. And I am very pleased that I did, I am really happy with the results.

I used Panda Wool for these and I am very happy that I did. The shine on these is amazing, it really sparkles. I am a wee bit concerned how long they will last, the yarn seems to break fairly easily (yes, Saylor did chomp through the yarn on sock #1 halfway up the foot) but maybe that is just when there are sharp kitten teeth gnawing into it.


It will be hard to keep these off my feet, they are delicious. And did I mention the stitch pattern is beautiful? I wonder why it is that leaf patterned laces are so interesting to my brain. Maybe it's my childhood in the wilds of Wisconsin.


Xi Xi says, "Did someone say yarn?"

Catching Up

I have been a bad bad blogger of late. I don't think I quite realized how much I was thrown off by losing both the girls so fast, but I've been trying to get back into the swing of things.

Before too much time goes by, I want to thank everyone that has sent me an email or left a comment here. Your kindness and sympathy has been a huge help and I wanted to just say thank you to all of you. The kittens are adjusting to living in the house. I cleaned up my yarn stash area in the living room last weekend, so they have been having free reign of the house. They have liked it very much. I still feel pangs of sadness when they do similar things to what Bratty and Chubbo did, but they are doing their darndest to keep our spirits up.

The Chubbo is home now. I burst into tears when I saw her urn (hubby picked her up). I was expecting something more plain, but I was surprised at how beautiful the urn was.

I swear that the Chubbo angel is whispering in the little ones ears. Instead of just one watermelon fiend, I now have two:

They aren't quite as into it as the Chubbo was, but Xi Xi tends to be more into it than Saylor. (I think Xi Xi listens to the Chub a little more, she's pretty naughty like the Chubbo was when she was small and she hangs out with the watermelon a bit longer than Saylor does.)

I'm knitting a bit. I finished the first of my embossed leaves socks (like a week ago now, sheesh), but for whatever reason I haven't been together enough to remember to actually take a picture of it. I started knitting branching out using the Fiesta Boomerang I picked up at Calistoga Yarns a couple of months ago on the Bobaknit retreat. I have to say, the Boomerang is a really nice yarn to knit with. It is very smooshy and soft. It is making a very pretty scarf. I can't wait to finish it and get it blocked, I think it will be gorgeous.

Oh, one thing I have photographed and uploaded the pics for is my Adara Rainbow Shawl! I have yet to block this, but it is still pretty nice unblocked.

My camera did some weird shadows in the pic, I'm not sure why. Maybe because I was so strained to try to fit it all in. This is supposed to be 60" wide, I don't think it is right now unblocked, but it is alright. I did the ruffle edge which was an interesting challenge for me. It was my first 3 needle bind off, not hard at all. Plus it looks pretty cool with the ruffle as a finished edge:

I would say that most of the colors of the 12 colorways used in this shawl have enough yarn in them to make 2 shawls, but the last couple of colors I used have hardly any yardage left at all. I am happy I made the project though, it is beautiful. I originally made it for myself, but I am considering giving it away. I don't think I will though, I do like it. I might consider just buying 2-3 skeins (actually it might be closer to 4-5 skeins) to make up for the ones that were depleted with this project and knit another one to give as a gift.

I got this a little bit ago now, probably nearly a month ago, but I managed to place six orders with The Loopy Ewe and I became a Loopy Groupie! When you become an LG, you get a gift from Sheri. I got this lovely TLE bag and two skeins of Regia yarn and "Loopy kisses":

Pretty fantastic to get a reward from a seller I love to spend money with! So now with every order, I get more Loopy kisses. It's a very cute treat to get. It really isn't that hard to get to six orders if you have a sock yarn fetish, Sheri carries some fantastic yarn.

I will now leave you with a cute pic of the girls. I think the camera caught their true inner selves with their demonic glowing eyes:

One Sheep for Amy Singer

So yesterday I went and met Amy Singer at Purlescence Yarns in Sunnyvale for her No Sheep For You book signing. It was a nice event, we even got time to hang out with her in the shop. The best part I think was getting to take her to Tapioca Express to get some boba. No, wait, I'm wrong. The BEST part? Easily this (baw chicka baw baw): Yes, Hannah, you really are putting on THE costume again. Oh yeah baby, it's sheep time! After dressing in the back of the store, she headed into the back to say hello to Amy: (Tell me Amy didn't turn to Emy and say "What the hell, who let the sheep in?!") (Oh, and check out Jeni taking pics with her sexy iPhone to my right!) As with many Hannah events, there was much laughter that ensued. There was even a sheep hugging by the sheep free knitter: I eventually remembered that I was there for a book signing, so I got my book signed and got my picture taken with Amy: (I swear it's a bad angle, I'm much thinner in real life.)

Nathania was having a good time playing with my new Canon SD800 is camera, she snapped this deer-in-the-headlights pic of Amy:

But I avenged Amy's bad pic with a goofy one of my own, caught when I bobbled the camera trying to take a pic of Nathania:


The awesome end to my day? Winning some Claudia Hand Painted Linen Yarn in the raffle drawing:

Yay free stuff! (That pic is the reason this post has been on ice for a week, it is now liberated. Woot.)

Great day over all. I finished my day off with some time at a luau at another Bobaknitter's house that was loads of fun. But that requires more pics to be uploaded, so maybe I will do that tomorrow!