He makes me dream of David Hasselhoff

Well, in regards to being a knit blogger, I lose. The closest thing was casting on for an attempt at fair isle/arglye and promptly got ticked off with sweaty palms + acrylic + metal needles + sleep madness, so I gave up. I have now added another potential sweater, 'Casual Cables' from the Patons 'Shetland Ragg' booklet. That now brings my choices to three: design my own, Basketcase, or Casual Cables. It makes me realize that yarn is expensive. I have never bought more than three balls of any given type of yarn for a project before, and now I'm faced with anywhere from $80 to $130 for a sweater. That is too big of a portion of my paycheque...

My header says I do crafty things beside knitting. This is as good a time as any to show one off.

























He is my second sewn plushie, the first was an extrememly basic webcomic character for a friends birthday (krakkagar from Scary Go Round). But this little dude was solely of my own contriving. He came to me in a vision... "Fat man in a bellbottomed suit with a big red 'fro". And I knew he must be made. He is far from perfect, and nameless, and may yet be given to my good friend Ms. W. as a birthday gift (she is out of town, so I may mail him away).
I kind of like him, and oy, that chest hair? Tres Smexy!

And a yo ho ho to you too!

So I haven't knit in a spell now, still debating about that sweater thing ("Basketcase" from Tara Jon Manning's 'Men In Knits' is quite likely to get done though. Yarn Shoppe is closed until Tuesdya though. Nuts). But I found something that is really tempting me to do another pair of socks. Argyle Socks. Deliciously subversive Argyle Socks.
Coupled with an old Monarch Knits sock magazine (pre-1945, I forget the precise date right now) which has a load of applicable sock designs, including Argyle Socks (and they are all men's sizes!!!), I may have a back-burner sock pattern in the works. If only I could have figured this out yesterday, BEFORE the Shoppe closed for two days...

Long overdue

So really, these socks have been done for a week, I've also had the photos sitting around that long, but have not had a reliable internet connection until now.
So here they are!
First, there was one...

Then came another...

And, just to prove that there ARE two, and it's not the same sock on different feet...

Tah-dah!
Made using Katherine Foster's 'Easy Toe-Up Socks' method. (available at www.kateknits.com) and "Buttons DK weight" yarn. They were a blast! I learned the method alongside a few older ladies at a class taught by Katherine Foster, and it made a world of difference. They are perfect "footlets", though one could make them as long as one liked (the glory of toe-up). I finished mine with a 'Farrow Rib' pattern, but the booklet includes directions for a few alternate methods.

One the needles now... Nothing. Got a few ideas bouncing around, am toying with the idea of starting a sweater though. If anyone knows of any nice, somewhat straightforward patterns to which I can use an Aran weight cotton (someone is willing to unload a bit of their stash on me, enough to make me get a sweater), I would be much obliged.

Be a mensch

Due to matters beyond my control I've not had access to update this all week, boo. But the socks are done and I've had some encouragement and help which might result in me tackling the creation of a sweater of some sort. There is also a monster actually on the needles. I just spent 12 hours travelling back and forth from the mainland for my great uncle Jacks' funeral, so I'm too worn for photos. And I might not be able to use the internet for a few more days, but I will try and get some up soon.

One down, one to go

That's right, last night heralded the completion of a number of socks in the toe-up sock class. And mine was the first one off! There is one more class, for those who haven't finished, troubleshooting and whatever folks want. I'm hoping I can finish my second one for next week (yes it's possible).


I'm now in need of another project! The ladies expressed interest in seeing some of my "monsters" so I might try and cook up some new ones for next week. But what I really want to do is start a sweater, in the hopes of having it done for the fall. So far Saranac is appealing to me, but I'm more than open to suggestions!


Aww, it looks so lonely! Well, maybe I'll get started on the foot tonight after work (first training shift), as I got the toes worked up last night (and without trouble this time, hurrah!). I'm really pleased with the length, they make perfect "footlets", and I'm still in love with the farrow rib!

Oh. My. God. Look at his foot, it is SO big.

For some reason this photo makes me feel like I have a really big foot... that sock looks HUGE to me. But the sock is progressing, I should have the required amount done by the class on Tuesday. I'm still not sure if the foot is too short, because despite the glory of switching to 4 needles to check the size... My heel doesn't fit through those four needles. This does not bode well.
I decided to go for the 'farrow rib', a two row pattern which doesn't require me to increase stitches for the leg. You just alternate rows of K2P1 and K1P2, gives a neat 'seeded' ribbing. And looking at this photo, I seem to have botched my last row, I guess I repeated the K2P1 row, tsk tsk.

Sockomatoes!

I finished my last high school exam a little under an hour ago, and I have a job interview an hour from now. Some celebration.

I attended the sock class yesterday and was sufficiently braindead to work the whole heel, before realizing I messed up on the FIRST of the short rows. The heel got frogged and I reworked all the decreases there, will probably finish the increases today. I'm thinking about making them into ankle socks for summer.















If you can't tell, I've been eating a lot of delicious tomatoes lately. It's a spell yet before mine are ready though. I suggest sliced tomatoes drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with coarse sea salt and fresh cracked pepper and garnished with freshly diced basil. Some crumbled goatcheese on top makes a nice splurge. If you cna get a hold of red AND yellow tomatoes, it's even better.

mmmm, oh my, yes!

So I went out and dropped resumes around town (hope I get hired at Ambrosia, they are desperate and the girls on staff seemed like a fun bunch), which amounted to an hour or two of walking out in the sun. Upon my return, I was damn thirsy, and I figured, what better way to kick off summer than with a batch of my deliciously green avocado drink?
There is no better way, is the correct answer.
If you like avocado, you'll like this.

-2 avocados (minus pit and skin)
-2 tbsp condensed milk (NOT evaporated, condensed)
-8 icecubes (to be crushed)
-1/2 to 1 tbsp granulated sugar (berry sugar is nice)
-mint, quantity depends on your preference, I used about 8 small-medium leaves of my chocolate mint this timeThat's really it. I suggest blending the icecubes first, get them to preferably not quite 'shaved ice' consistancy. You can hack the avocados into a few chunks beforehand, but the blender will take care of them quite easily. I have a sweet tooth, so I find adding some extra condensed milk on top afterwards makes it into a delightful dessert. Serve in a hefty glass with a tiny spoon and if you like, some mint to garnish it.

Now if you'll excuse me, the green calls.

Molecular knitting?

Ms R.'s gift (the large purple beast) was most well-received, and was promptly named Galahad. Actually, it was an excellent party all around; lots of delicious food and drink, stellar people, adventures, hijinks and swapping of school stories, does not get much better than that.

My sock homework is nearly done, I have somewhere between 5 and 10 rows I think, so I'm going to be measuring frantically to get the size right. And I'm still skecptical. But tomorrow night I learn how to do short row heels, hurrah!

And I have a vision (now that I can knit spheres) of plush molecular models... More to come on this soon I hope, but it promises to be the perfect use for the inordinate amount of vivid, primary coloured acrylic yarn I have kicking around (hmmm, I'll need blue and black as well though).

Ms. R.

So, I have finished Ms. R.'s birthday gift. I think. Who knows, I may add something beforeI give it to the lass on Sunday, we shall see. It needs a name though...