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Yargh…

I am *this* close to joining Sock Wars.  Perhaps I will take stock of my sock yarn this weekend and if I can get something finished within the next week, then I will join.

I’m up to 7 pages of charts for the Hidcote shawl!  And I’m REALLY not done yet.  I still have another pattern to put in there, plus probably a border chart too.  This is going to be one VERY large pattern!

And just so you all know how amazingly dumb I can be, last night I slept on the heating pad.  Yes, I know you’re not supposed to SLEEP on top of them, but I have routinely done so, and usually it can be the difference between being able to move in the morning and not.  So I slept on the heating pad without enough between me and it, and now I have a burn on the top of my bum.  The part where it meets my lower back.  No, I will not show you pictures.  Just imagine a nasty burn, complete with graying skin and blisters.  OUCH!  It hurts.  I’m unhappy.  But luckily I have tea tree oil and bandages, so I can keep it covered so it doesn’t rub on everything.  I may spend the entire weekend naked on my stomache, perched with my arms over the side of the bed so that I can read or knit.  Blah.

Have a good weekend, and make sure there’s some knitting!

M

Posted 28 July 2006 † Mim § Designing § Knitting ‡ Comments (11) °

One more quick thing…. SOCK WARS!

*sings* dum dum DUMMMMM!  Have you all SEEN THIS!?  I am so torn!

Pros:

  • You get SOCKS, but they Kill you!   How cool is that!?
  • You get to challenge yourself by knitting socks at lightning speed.
  • You get handknit socks!  I have NEVER got handknit socks.  Only ones I’ve made for myself.
  • It’s a WAR! and I love assasins.  You could earn the title of Sock NINJA.

Cons:

  • You may end up having to knit a pair of socks for EVERYONE who joins.
  • Wrist pain… ‘nuf said.
  • I don’t think I could happily part with any of my sock yarn.  We’ve got a deep and soulful connection.
  • I have a million things I’m knitting right now, some of which have deadlines, and while I hope to be done with them before this starts, I can’t guarantee that I will be free.

But it sounds like so much FUN!  HELP!

Posted 27 July 2006 † Mim § Knitting ‡ Comments (12) °

The Stash Enhancement Experience

First off, have you ever wanted Addi Turbos to have pointier tips? Read Grumperina’s post and then send in your thoughts to the Skacel company! I’ve already sent my e-mail.

Second off then, here’s the STUFF. I bought a 2+ pound cone of 2/4 Highland Tweed from Webs. At the price it was, it was worth it even if it was scratchy. It’s not bad, but it’s also not Merino. But it’s still “in the oil” so it should soften a lot when washed and make a great cardigan or something for ‘outer’ wear.

I also bought some Lorna’s Lace’s Shepherd sock in the color ‘Cedar’ from Linda at Birds’n’Yarn. Grumperina linked to Linda’s e-bay store and I can’t tell you how pleased I am! She has a great selection and reasonable and FAST shipping. I will certainly be buying from her in the future.

I also got 2 pairs of Llama Llama Duck stitch markers from Mousie Masala (edited to add the link, sorry!). One pair for me and one for someone else (shhhhh… it’s a surprise).

Also in the first picture and in the one right above, you will see my tomatoes 🙂 They are the Early Girl variety and they SURE ARE EARLY! Tomatoes before the end of July! I’m quite pleased.

I also have some yellow pear tomatoes growing, although they are nowhere NEAR as close to being ripe. But there are a bunch of little clusters like this one. They should add nicely to home-canned salsa and to salads later in the summer/fall.

The Hidcote Garden shawl is progressing as well. I’m about 3″ short of having 6′ from point to point across this shawl, and I’m still a ways from being done, so it will probably be a larger shawl. I’m really excited about it! It’s going to be beautiful!

M

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Check out Grace’s finished Icarus shawl! It’s beautiful Grace!p.s. Don’t forget the sale on patterns and the new books up in my etsy shop. There are a large and small wrap journal as well as a cute little yellow flower book.

Posted 27 July 2006 † Mim § Acquisitions § Designing § Gardening § Knitting § Others FO's ‡ Comments (11) °

I put up some more journals on my etsy shop. Go take a look! The link is also in the sidebar under “places to shop”. And if you are new, or haven’t visited this week yet, don’t forget to check out my sale! If you are NOT new and know about the sale, don’t forget to enter the code and UPDATE your shopping cart, or the sale price won’t go through.

Man oh man, have I been KNITTING! I’ve got a ton done on the Hidcote shawl, and I really like where it’s going. I didn’t get to take a good pic today though. And I have some acquisitions to show you. YAY! YARN! So I’ll have to take all those pics tomorrow (or go outside and take them now since it’s still light out).

So there’s an owl that lives near my house. Every morning before 6:30 I go out to water the garden and every morning I hear him. He has a little rhythmic hoot. But today it just struck me how soothing it was. I was listening to it and I physically relaxed. My hands in the earth, the wind on my face and the hooting in my ears. It was really nice. Can you leave treats for owls? I know they eat mice and bugs, but do they eat anything else? I’d like to say thank you.

M

Posted 26 July 2006 † Mim § Bookmaking § Designing § Knitting ‡ Comments (9) °

Pattern Sale!

In honor of starting early with the Christmas knitting, I’m offering a sale on patterns. Now through Friday, August 4th, I’m offering a 15% discount on all of the patterns for sale on my site. To receive this discount, you need to enter this code “53322O73” into the discount box. This includes

This does not include The Adamas Shawl (available from KnitPicks for $1.99), or the Icarus Shawl (available in the Summer 2006 Issue of Interweave Knits).
If you’ve been waiting until you’re ready to knit the pattern, this would be a good time to buy it. If this goes well, I may have another sale in the future, but for now, this is the only one planned.
Happy knitting!

M

p.s. if someone is willing to test this, I can refund your money, but it won’t let me “send money to myself” so I can’t test it myself.

*FINAL EDIT* OK! It’s working, and I have tested it. So just be sure that you refresh the page before you click the buttons!

Posted 24 July 2006 † Mim § Designing § Knitting ‡ Comments (13) °

Fo and A Plunge

So I’ve FINALLY got an FO for you. Is it just me or does it seem like it’s been a REALLY long time since I finished anything?

Jawoll Socks

Yarn: Lang Jawoll Superwash sock yarn (75% superwash wool, 18% nylon, 7% acrylic) in color 8364 (Denim and Light Blue Ragg)

Pattern: Basic Toe up sock done with an easy toe, and a short row heel (thanks so much to Sensational Knitted Socks!), and k3p2 ribbing on the cuff. I used the stretchy sewn bind off found here which worked VERY well.
Needles: US Size 1 (2.25 mm) bamboo doublepoints. Knitted 2 at the same time on 2 sets of needles.

Gauge: 9 spi.

Verdict: They were a bit finicky, being my first pair of toe-up socks, but I can see the appeal of the method, and C likes the way they fit so well that I think all of his socks will be made this way from now on! We were both skeptical about how the foot was going to fit when he tried on toe portion, but it looks good and feels good, so why switch things up when something is working! I didn’t manage to use EVERY inch of the yarn. I probably still had about 6-8 yards from each skein, but I convinced myself I didn’t have to knit any more of the GODDAMNED ribbing because I needed some for darning… right? But C says he likes them a lot, and even if they were a little higher they’d be better. So NEXT time. And he declared these the best-fitting socks I’ve ever made for him. Woot!

And that, my friends, is an application for AKD membership. I have heard tell of people applying for Associate Membership and being told that they should just apply directly for Professional Membership, so maybe I’ll ask first and find out if that’s possible. I know I’ve got the design experience, as well as teaching experience.

And this is the shawl I’m working on (you can also see it posing on top of the application). It’s going slowly because I keep interrupting it with other projects, but it’s basically the only project on the needles until the rest of the yarn comes for the Renaissance Wool scarf. I really like the way it’s turning out though. It’s pleasing.

M

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Mandy finished a modified version of the Simple Trekking Socks, check them out! They look Great!

Posted 20 July 2006 † Mim § Designing § Knitting § My FO's § Others FO's ‡ Comments (13) °

Knit and DESTROY!

The lovely and talented Kim (who hasn’t posted for a week *pout*) sent me a birthday present!  Yes, it’s a month and a half after my birthday, but totally not her fault.  Lookie!

Knit and Destroy Journal & sock

The journal comes from BookJournals.com, where they make journals out of interesting old books.  Mine was originally Away All Boats by Kenneth Dodson.  It has spiffy maps as the end papers and some of the pages from the book surrounding the blank pages in the middle.  The logo is hand screened on the front.   I like it a lot 🙂

Also pictured with the new journal is one of the neverending  jawoll socks.  I had determined that I wanted to knit these from the toe up so that I could get the most out of the yarn, and now I’m kicking myself for that.  I’m just so bored of k3p2 ribbing.  A good bout of movie watching and they should be done though.

So I’ve opened an Etsy shop to sell my books at, and I was cruising around seeing what other shop owners have placed in the different categories, and I saw this.  You MUST click that link.  I am in total awe!  I have a new level of art to reach, people.  That is just stunning.

And other random news, someone found my blog by searching for “fingering weight bitches“  Sadly, judging by the other hits it generated, I don’t think they were looking for hip women who knit socks.  Ugh….

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The nimble knitter has finished her Icarus shawl and it’s absolutely GORGEOUS!

Posted 18 July 2006 † Mim § Acquisitions § Bookmaking § Knitting § Totally Random ‡ Comments (7) °

Jam, the Photo Tutorial

Yesterday I made more jam, but this is not just ANY jam. This is the jam that my sister craves and the entire family knows it as “Liquid Crack”. It’s something I came up with last year and it’s become something I think I will HAVE to make every year or Laura will kill me. It is Purple Raspberry and Peach Jam. So since I was making it, I thought I’d take some pictures and maybe convince you all that you should be making jam too. Besides a how-to with pictures, I’ll go into what I’ve learned about why you need certain ingredients and how the whole process works. This is going to be a very picture intense post, so the rest of it is behind the cut if you’re interested.
So, you start by gathering your ingredients. You will need fruit, pectin, sugar, and sometimes (depending on which fruit you are using) some form of acid, such as lemon juice.
Posted 17 July 2006 † Mim § In The Kitchen § Tutorials ‡ Comments (28) °

Hmm….

I’ve had this window open for about 2 hours hoping to be inspired on what to write.  I’ve still got nothin’.  OK, I take it back.  I like apricots.  How’s that for content?

The scarf was progressing, but I’ve got a shooting pain in my left elbow from a nerve issue in my neck that I can’t fix until I’m done with the working day, so I don’t even feel like taking out the scarf to take a picture.  I’ll just feel bad if I do.

I wanted to post my “M” entry for the ABC along, but I forgot to take the picture when I was at home (as I have forgotten all week long) so no go there.  Similarly, I would also like to post my “N” entry, but I don’t want to do that before I do “M” or I will never get back to M.  The desire to do N-Z is what’s keeping me motivated on M.

Thanks for all your kind words yesterday.  I’m still feeling a bit whacked out, but one thing at a time, and my tomato plants are staked up now, so that precious 15 min. that I spent every day wondering if my tomatoes had fallen over, can now be spent on wondering how I’m going to get patterns printed, and how I can knit the scarf when my elbow is twinging….  Off to ice it again.

Oh, one last thing… if you live in Salt Lake City, GUARD YOUR BACON!  Link via Blurbomat.

M

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Quiddity finished a modified version of the Simple trekking socks.  check them out!

And Marlana finished an Icarus shawl!  It’s BEAUTIFUL!

Posted 14 July 2006 † Mim § ABCalong § Knitting § Others FO's § Totally Random ‡ Comments (1) °

I’m absolutely crazy. Thought you all should know. If you’re interested in why, keep reading, I’ll cover it at the end so you can skip it if you’re bored.

I keep sniffing my wrists. I got some lovely perfumes from an etsy shop and then realized when the package came that the artisan was in the same city as me! Her name is Tiffany and her shop is Blackberry & Co. I got 1 Pomegranate Rosewater and one White Tea & Ginger. I love them both, but if I had to choose I’d say I like White Tea & Ginger better. It’s just soothing and lovely to me.

C and I were driving through downtown yesterday and we saw this crazy truck! I had to take a picture. First the back of the truck said this:

And then it switched and said this:

WTF! Shouldn’t that be illegal?! Like, distracting to drivers and all that? The whole truck was covered in these switching billboards. It was all a mobile advertisement! It was crazy!

So on to why I am insane…..I was knitting – like a maniac – on my scarf design last night. C suggested I just put it down and enjoy watching a movie with him. I said frantically “NO! I have to work on this scarf!”. He asked me why and even though it sounded stupid even as I said it, I told him why. This has a deadline. Yes, it is a deadline that’s 2.5 months away, but frankly, I’m nervous about it. With this scarf I have to come up with a printed pattern because the pattern will be the basis for a kit that Andie will sell at the Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate, England. Maybe I’m off my rocker, but I think this is a big deal. This is a whole different country where my patterns will suddenly be sold in hard copy. And along with the patterns to include in that kit, I figured I might as well start printing out patterns to try selling wholesale to yarn shops. Whoosh! Load off my back. I haven’t written about that here because I was worried about jinxing it, but I feel better now that it’s out there.

That’s the craziness that is all surfing around in my head and making me INSANE! I feel like there are so man things all in flux right now, and I don’t know where the tide will take me. And in a way this scarf is symbolizing that. I’ve got this irrational belief that if I finish the scarf and finish it well, then everything will sort itself out. I’m trying to take it one step at a time and figure out a business plan… decide if I want to invest in a printer and print them myself or invest in a print RUN and have a bunch printed professionally. If I want to find a distributor for paper patterns, or just distribute myself. And then yesterday this wacked out thought came to me to offer this service to other designers to print their patterns so that they can go paper without the initial investment.

There’s so much to think about and so much to nail down, and right now I sort of want to go hide in a hole and knit things that other people have designed, but alas, I don’t think I’ll let myself start anything (Green Gable? Chuck’s Cable Socks? Spearfish? I have the yarn and the patterns and the desire to be knitting any or all of those) but Damn it! I have responsibilities! I don’t just NOT go to work so that I can stay home and knit all day (even though I may fantasize about it sometimes). Anyway… there it is… if any of you have a Color Laser printer sitting around that you don’t need anymore, please drop me a note. I could use one right about now.

M

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Look at Tina’s finished Seraphim shawl! It looks GREAT Tina!

And Monica finished her Adamas shawl! YAY! (and in the same post, check out the Blessing socks she’s making! They’re fabulous!

Posted 13 July 2006 † Mim § Acquisitions § Designing § Knitting § Others FO's § Totally Random § Uncategorized ‡ Comments (0) °