Rob and Margot online

I hate Windows XP 64-bit

margot — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:18:28 GMT

<fiber-free rant>

When I purchased my Turion 64 (64-bit) laptop 3 years ago, I discovered that Windows had created a 64-bit version of the XP operating system. 'How perfect', thought I. 'An OS designed specifically for my zippy new processor, sign me up!'. What a mistake.

First, finding drivers for the onboard devices was a nightmare. And I never did find a driver for my printer. Well, that all seemed somewhat reasonable since 64-bit technology was still the new kid on the block on the consumer scene, although annoying. And the printer is OLD. But! My Zune (made by Microsoft) software is not compatible with Microsoft's very own forking operating system! Both the Zune and my OS are currently supported by MS, so why the heck does there not exist software so my devices can talk to each other?!?!?!! There's a workaround requiring an .ini file tweak that I managed the first time, but after making a mandatory Zune software upgrade, I can't for the life of me remember what I did the first time and so I can't synch my Zune. I haven't synched since December. Which means I can't listen to my entire library of Great Big Sea! *tears out hair*

So today, in desperation, I attempt to listen to the tunes I'm missing on Rhapsody. Whose website informs me that my OS is incompatible! Apparently no one is willing to support this freaking OS! I never thought I 'd say this, but Linux is starting to look awfully appealing. And I did have the foresight to partition the drive before installing this POS operating system.

Ubuntu or Fedora??? Definitely not SUSE. Is Debian too harcore? Anyone care to weigh in?

</fiber-free rant>

It's come to this

margot — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:40:00 GMT

I have no inspiration to blog a real entry, but just to prove that I'm alive, at least for the next minute or so...

Web improvements

robrohr — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:27:50 GMT

For one of my classes last semester, we were encouraged to give back some of our tech skills to the community, encouraging the sense of service learning. I had been approached by the Champlain Valley Folk Festival to do some improvements to their web site for them. Since the organizers are good friends, and I believe in the cause, I offered to do the work for them as my service project for the class. Other factors took over my life, and I ended up volunteering at an intro to Computer Science seminar for local scouts instead (Can somebody give me an example of an embedded device? I.C.B.M.s. Correct, but scary.)

A draft example of the new site is up at http://stamper.uvm.edu/cvff/index.html. Not done yet but should go live relatively soon. I’m also providing some CSS and design advice to MacLeod Information Services, and it’s good to flex these particular muscles again. Anyway, nothing too exciting, as I’m rusty from not having bloviated online in quite some time.

big changes

margot — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 01:34:00 GMT

So I run into my neighbor* at school the other day.

Since she spends a good part of every workday (and some nights) on campus, I was surprised I hadn't run into her sooner and said so. Her confusion at that remark led me to realize that I haven't let you all know about my most recent life change.

I quit my job to be a full-time student. Yikes!

Back in June I did happen to mention that I had enrolled in a Computer Science program, but since I hadn't made up my mind yet about full or part-time I just shut up about the whole thing. Sorry to leave you hanging like that. All 3 or 4 of you. : )

The cliff notes version of the decision boils down to two things:

1. It was going to take me ~8 years to finish if I kept up 2 classes/semester.

a. that meant no social life and big tuition bills for the next 8 years of my life.

2. I was working at a dead end job. No training and no hope for advancement.

So now I have no social life, no job and a giant tuition bill. But I'll be done sooner.

Oh, and Calculus? Kicking. My. Butt.

In case you came for the knitting, here's what I'm hoping to finish up this weekend:

It's the Crofter's Cowl by Gudrun Johnston. I *think* the pattern is only available through Ravelry. It's a nice lace pattern, but it's hard to make out with the shade variation in the yarn.

It's Malabrigo. So soft. I was all gung ho on it 2 weeks ago when we had our first cold snap but it warmed up so I lost momentum. There's a slight possibility of snow next week which may have something to do with my newfound urge to finish it.

I'm also plugging away on a pair of alpaca/wool socks.

I <3 this yarn so much. The mill is Gurdy Run from Pennsylvania. I picked it up at the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival last year. I was disappointed to see that they weren't there this year.

But I love this yarn enough to order a pile of it when I run out.

The heel didn't come out so hot. I was working on turning a short-row heel from memory in class. I don't think I've done one in a year - that's my excuse. I will rip it out and try again.

* It's not like we live next door or anything, but a 50 mile radius in Vermont feels kind of like a neighborhood.

Ribbons

margot — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:00:22 GMT

Ribbons... of the county fair kind. Look!

These are a month or so old now, the fair was at the end of August. Rob and I went on opening day to check out the cows, ducks and sheepies, to watch chickens hatch and to count my ribbons.

I had a heck of a time trying to find them all. My most precious knit of the bunch, the alpaca-wool blanket took me at least 20 minutes of ever-increasing panic to find (the homecrafts room isn't *that* big). When I finally found it I was simultaneously relieved that it hadn't been lost or stolen and excited that I was 4 for 4! That is 4 ribbons for 4 entries. Wheee!

Unless you check my Ravelry page (members only linky) two of these you haven't seen. (On account of what a derelict blogger I've been) I wonder if the aforementioned baby blanket might have taken first instead of second if I had used conventional baby colors. Or if I had called it a lap blanket. The winning entry was variegated blue/pink/white. Mind you I'm biased, but I didn't think the pattern or quality was better than mine, I think the judges had a color bias. Oh well.

Pattern: Alpaca Baby Shawl by Marie Grace
Yarn: Cascade Lana d'Oro, 214 teal, 7 sk
Needles: size 6 Addi Turbo Lace

Etc: Extra rounds to compensate for lighter gauge yarn. I have a small pile of this discontinued yarn in my stash and it's hard to find patterns that are good enough to deserve yarn from the precious shrine.

I don't think you've seen the socks before either. I fell in love with the Tyrolean Stocking pattern in last fall's IK. I picked up the yarn directly from Green Mountain Spinnery at the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival last year right after the mag came out.

Except I didn't like them as knee highs. Don't get me wrong, I like knee highs, just not out of worsted weight wool! So I adjusted the pattern to make them hiking sock length.

I also had to adjust the pattern to make them big enough for my feet which are 3 sizes bigger than the published size.

May I take this opportunity to rant about patterns that are written for one size? Especially sock patterns. Hello, designers? Socks do not lend themselves to one-size-fits-all. It's not like I can't make the adjustments, but fer cryin' out loud, if I *wanted* to refactor a sock pattern I'd just write my own d@mn patterns. Which is why I <3 Charlene Schurch (author of Sensational Socks).

Pattern: Tyrolean Stockings by Ann Budd
Yarn: Green Mountain Spinnery Maine Organic, ~ 1.25 sk
Needles: size 3, Brittanys I think
Etc: adjusted pattern for my big feets and to shorten the leg.

hello blog

margot — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 04:04:00 GMT

Remember me? I know we've had an on-again off-again relationship through the years but 2 posts in the last year is really pushing it, I know.

It's not you, it's me. I mean it's not me, it's um, Ravelry.

Please don't hate Ravelry. I mean, just because it has project templates that make it so easy to showcase my projects doesn't mean that I should have ignored you like this. Even though more people randomly stumble upon my FOs there in one day than read my blog in a month doesn't justify my neglecting you like this.

I'm sorry, m'kay? And I promise to, um, er, well I'm busy you see... how about I promise to at least double my posting frequency?

Hmmm. You're right, that's a little lame.

OK then, how about I promise to at least keep up with posting my knitting as it comes off the needles? Deal?

The latest thing to come off my needles is this Coronet that I made for a silent auction benefiting Bike Recycle Vermont.

Though it was actually won by my friend Rebecca, here's Rob modeling it before I dropped it off.

Pattern: the aforementioned Coronet by Alexandra Virgiel
Yarn: Little Turtle Knits, farm wool, oatmeal
Needles: Size 8
Etc. Size large. big enough for Rob's huge noggin as well as Rebecca's pile o' hair.

I'm working on a felted fish for a (former) coworker's baby. It just needs two more fins.

I didn't knit much over the summer. I was so thrilled to have time to read books without schoolwork getting in the way (what?) that I spent most of my free time reading non-textbooks. It was lovely. And now that school is back in session I'm longing for time to read for fun again.

Which is not to say that reading about computer registers, stacks and floating point notation isn't fun...

So this is all I have to show for the summer.

The picture is a bit misleading as I had already made all but 3 of them before summer even started.

I have a few recipients in mind, including the daughter of a coworker from the job I left to go to school. She only worked there for ~2 months before I left, but we really hit it off.

The rest will lie in wait for friends to create recipients. Maybe this will encourage some of them. Seems like great motivation to me. C'mon, I mean just look at that face!

Although I've done some cross stitch and embroidery in my time, I found the faces pretty challenging, even after making several. I like the grumpy one on the lower right.

Pattern: Grrr by Alice Bell
Yarn: KnitPicks Shine worsted, sunflower and brick. Lion Cotton-ease orangeade
Needles: size 5
Etc: a quick and fun knit. I'd more more willing to say I'd make more of these if I hadn't just made 10 this year...

If I can just keep up my promise to blog more regularly, you can look forward to a lace cowl and some alpaca socks. Soon. Ish.

Somehow, I can relate.

robrohr — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:07:15 GMT

I find "We the Robots" to be consistently amusing. Check it out.

More PONG metaphors

robrohr — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:44:08 GMT

I never cease to be amazed by the continued relevance PONG has to every aspect of my life.

Photo Credits: 9 0 0 0 from Flickr.

These curtains are soothing if you are red-green colorblind...

robrohr — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:57:00 GMT

I just got back from a week of fiddling up in the Great White North, or more accurately, the Great Sandy Nord. I attended for the first time the first annual Camp Violon Trad Quebec, where the likes of Andre Brunet, Stephanie Lepine, Martine Billette and Eric Beaudry crammed notes into our skulls by the shovelful. Because there were so many tunes to learn, there was absolutely no time to have any fun.

The individuals in this photo, despite appearances are NOT having a grand old time at a Mardi Gras evening on Tuesday. This is simply a display of the tremendous acting skills of the students at this camp. From left to right, you will find the following serious individuals pretending to be having a heck-uv-a time.

- Carol D. - English teacher and schoolmarm at a private school in southern Vermont
- Joan F. - Law enforcement officer at an institute of higher education in central Illinois
- Donna M. - Research Librarian for a large municipal library in Canada
- Doug L. - High school science teacher in central Vermont
- Rob R. (no relation) - Computer programmer for a large state university in northwestern Vermont

Though the preparatory materials indicated that there would be a Mardi Gras evening, I would like to point out that I came completely unprepared, not knowing what such would entail. I suspected I would sit in the corner, ready to be entertained by the outlandish outfits and antics of the less repressed. Then I walked through the lounge near the entrance to my sleeping quarters. A chorus of angels began singing one of those songs from the Little Mermaid. A silver spear of light pierced the windows, and through my tears of joy, I saw... the curtains. Sheer beauty, I tell you. Other than the color choice, the pattern and the drape. At that moment, I knew I would come to the party as Carmen Miranda (Really? No idea? Check her out on youtube). We had the fruit technology and duct tape in the kitchen, we had the appropriate swathes of material. How could I possibly go wrong? Oh yeah. No frikkin' time. So a few safety pins from the basket on the sink in the (ehem, women's) rest room, an excursion up the wall to liberate a few yards of material, and there you have it: a colourblind Scotsman. I was asked what was holding up my kilt, but I believe the appropriate question is, "Whet's hauldin' her doon, aye?"

I was kilt clad throughout dinner and the subsequent improv show (similar to who's line is it anyway, only with fiddles and a language barrier). The next morning, the only indication of these curtains had gone for a bit of a road trip was a few wrinkles where I had been "settin' ma' wee hiney on the carrick*." You can see some of the curtain hanging loops below my left fist. By midnight, these curtains were back on the rod where they belonged, and only this photo to remind us of the rollicking good times that occurred on Tuesday evening at the first ever Camp Violon Trad Quebec.

* Yes, I know that Carrick is constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons between 1614 and 1800, and thus this statement makes no sense, but I was in the middle of an improv and a carrick sounds like something a fake Scotsman might sit upon, especially if he has a certain red-green color differentiation issues.

Photo Credit: Elizabeth Szekeres, 2008

Googling oneself...

robrohr — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:58:28 GMT

The whitepages.com site allows you to see a geographic distribution of individuals with a particular name within the United States. When I googled myself (Images, specifically), the first hit was from http://names.whitepages.com/Kansas/Robert/Rohr and contained the following image:

I know of another Robert Rohr in Vermont who is a retired attorney with links to Margot's law firm. I think that's about all of the Rob Rohr that people around here can handle.

Philosophy/Gastronomy

robrohr — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:19:45 GMT

I'm a big fan of the web comic, Sheldon. One of the main characters is a talking duck named Arthur, to whom I can particularly relate.

I'm still here...

robrohr — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:29:51 GMT

I've had a whirlwind year and haven't been sharing unnecessary or inappropriate information about the minutia of my life with total strangers, so I thought it was time to grant the internets a glimpse at my deepest, most private insights. Fortunately for you all, I'm not that much of a sadist to inflict that upon you.

Instead I'll give you a short recap of the last year.

Attended the Dance Flurry in Saratoga last January. Awesome experience, with bands like Raz de Maree (Tidal Wave) and Nightingale. The music was great, the contradancing was great, the jam sessions were good too. This was my first opportunity to try out the new lumber. Very exciting.
Another semester of successful, but punishing classes in the Computer Science curriculum. Got A's in both Neural Computation and Wireless Sensor Networks. Glee! Job + Classwork = Grueling. Grueling + Time = Success. Success leads to a celebration dinner and a full tummy. So I guess I'm effectively shutting myself off from the world for four months at a time in order to get a pile of sushi (seriously, folks, try the Tempura battered Sweet Potato sushi rolls at Sakura in Burlington or Williston). Yum!
I finished up my first year as Staff Council representative for the School of Business Administration at the University of Vermont. Because of the massive reorganization of the Staff Council, the Bylaws had to be gutted, and as a Rules and Elections committee member, we had some serious work to do, which was ultimately passed. Sorry folks, no photos of this grim business.
Attended the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA) in Mansfield, MA in April. Again, tons of contradancing and jamming opportunities. Got to play with the folks from Raz de Maree in a kicking Quebecois jam session. Seriously cool.
Started attending a local Irish Session/Seisun about a mile from my house at the Lincoln Inn in Essex. It's mostly mid-speed stuff with some really great people attending. The every-other-week schedule conflicted massively with my vacation & business trip schedule for June and July, so I wasn't able to attend a single session those months, but I should return next week.
First week of June, I went to TechEd (my tenth time there). Ton's of good info as always. The jam session was quite good, though not nearly as frequent as I would have liked. I tried to organize an impromptu Irish session midweek, but there was not sufficient response in time to do so. The regular session in the area (Orlando) was the following week during the IT-Pro conference.
Third week of June, I went to Northeast Heritage Music Camp (NHMC) in Johnson, VT. This was my second time at this camp, as I first attended last year. This year I brought a real fiddle, and the experience was so much better than the phenomenal experience I had the year before. Absolutely stunningly talented faculty, each one so generous with their time & experience. Worth every penny. The Quebecois instructor, Daniel Lemieux, was sadly unable to attend because of a shoulder injury, but Donna Hebert proved to be a capable replacement that introduced me to the music of Louis Beaudoin, from my hometown. Who knew? Dorm living, but you get your own room. Plenty of food, plenty of class options, plenty of jamming, plenty of sleep deprivation. Almost overslept & missed my ride home.
First week of July, my niece and nephew came to town to visit for a week. We took trips to the library for books and strawberry shortcake, went exploring in the gully beneath the hydro dam, biked along the shores of Lake Champlain, saw fireworks from the top of one of the taller buildings in Burlington, and ended with a trip to see Circus Smirkus, a touring circus whose talent is made up of teenagers. They were awesome. The circus performers too.
After the week was up, Margot, Maggie, Robert and I headed over to New Hampshire to go camping with a large fraction of my family. We stopped on the way to visit my Grandmother, who at 91 years of age, was missing her 1st year of camp in years due to a bronchial infection. She was so glad to see us, almost as glad as we were to see her. At camp, there was much swimming, eating, hiking, and catching up with all the parents/sisters/nieces/nephews. It's always a good time, except the parts where everyone is cranky. A good dunk in the lake usually solves that.
This past week I went to Quebec to take part in Camp Violon Trad Quebec (the home page with links to the French and English versions throws a suspicious popup) in Rawdon, about an hour north of Montreal, PQ. However incredible NHMC has been (see above) these last two years, this camp was even better. A little smaller in scope, a little more rustic in accommodations, but even more personal and it would be tough to beat the talent and teaching ability of the faculty. If you are a Quebecois Trad music junky like me, there is no question. There is nothing like this available elsewhere in this concentration, aside from moving to Joliette or St.-Côme and getting adopted by one of these fantastic musicians. At the end of the week, the campers performed the tunes they had learned...
...on the main stage of the Festival Memoire & Racines at Joliette, PQ. The festival was incredible amount of fun. Wall to wall music, dancing, camaraderie, and all-night-jams. I got to teach the tricky bits of St.-Côme Reel #4 to Pascal Gemme of Genticorum. Oh, bliss. Luckily, I had sufficient practice dealing with sleep deprivation the previous week and at NHMC that I was able to survive on only 5 hours sleep combined on Friday & Saturday nights. Returned home on Sunday a functional zombie, but infected with surely illegal levels of Canadian Bliss (TM). If I have to choose only camp/festival to attend next year, it will be this one. I will of course apply a wedgie to the individual that makes me choose between NHMC and CVTQ, but will have to choose north of the border.

Don't make me use my mad wedgie skillz.

word of the day: matriculated

margot — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:33:00 GMT

When I was in high school I would hear the word matriculated bandied about. I knew it had *something* to do with college. It sounded so... important, complicated, and illustrious. I thought it might mean graduating with some sort of honor or perhaps at least making the dean's list. Imagine my disappointment when I learned from my trusty Webster's that all it meant was that you were accepted to a college or university and you had ponied up the enrollment fee.

Said fee is much higher now that it was the last time I paid one *cough cough* years ago. I just paid my $450 to UVM to enroll in the Computer Science degree program. I've been attending the university as a Continuing Education student for the past year; kicking the tires so to speak. I decided that I like it well enough to stick around. Plus it's less than half as expensive as the only other program in the area that appeals to me (Champlain College, in case you care).

So I'm matriculated. I didn't think I'd care this much. Heck, I'm on campus every weekday to pickup my partner, Rob, after work. I've taken three classes. But somehow it's different now that I'm enrolled. I feel more connected. And less like an imposter when I wear the UVM emblazoned gear that I've ~~stolen~~ borrowed from Rob.

My degree is several years off. It's hard to calculate as I haven't even started negotiating with them about what credits they'll take from my earlier educational forays. Probably in the neighborhood of 8 years at my current rate of 2 classes per semester. Yikes!

Lisa is blogging (and running for President)

robrohr — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:30:45 GMT

A good friend of mine, Lisa Cox, has just started blogging, while starting a grassroots run for president. This gives you an idea of her energy level and verve for multitasking. Personally blogging while running for President. That's virtually unheard of, and may be the edge she needs to overcome the Romneyatch political juggernaut that has swept her state.

Lisa's still figuring out the little niggling details, like inserting images, hyperlinking, and universal healthcare, but if I know Lisa, these technicalities do not stand a chance when pitted against the sheer force of her will.

Lisa recently brought my attention to the artist, Alex Katz, who she had "discovered" at the Denver Art Museum. In her stead, I offer an artwork by Alex Katz found at the Neptune Fine Art gallery in New York, titled Cow.

Click the image for a larger view. Now look into the eyes of this bovine. You will not win a staring contest with this artwork. It's unnerving, yet fascinating; disturbing, yet soothing.

Lisa, best of luck with your Presidential bid, and with your blogging. If you need any assistance with any of the more arcane aspects of blogging, I'll be glad to help. If you need assistance getting elected to represent the folks of this fine country, I believe there will be a lot of unemployed staffers for the Romneyatch campaign in the near future.

By the way, anybody wishing to join in my not-so-subversive campaign to give Romneyatch a new, hip, 21st century nickname so he can connect with the younger generation of voters, feel free to ask me how to "juice the google."

Shopping for lumber...

robrohr — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:53:39 GMT

The saga so far:

Had violin growing up. Decent quality. Crack in top plate under tailpiece, glued but not well. Serviceable tone, but low volume.
Started playing again about two years ago, and about a year after I picked up the fiddle again, the repaired cracked stopped being repaired and any note on the A-string would buzz mercilessly. Cost to repair this acoustic instrument? Much more than a replacement instrument of similar value and known tone/volume with no guarantee as to sound quality once the repair is complete.
Solution? Get another instrument. Bought an electric fiddle from Bridge Instruments in the UK, which had good tone, but again, low volume when not amplified, and a bit tinny in the top end (also when playing acoustically).
Went to jam sessions and music camps and had problems hearing myself when playing in groups. Major bummer.

So here I am, one year after spending a medium-sized pile of cash on an electric fiddle to replace the instrument I grew up playing. It's a very nice instrument, but there are times when it's just not right to pull out an amplified instrument. So I had my eye out for an acoustic fiddle with decent tone that wouldn't break the bank.

This past September, I wandered into the local folk instrument shop (Vermont Folk Instruments, Burlington, VT) to see what they had in consignment fiddles. It turns out that they had three new and one consignment instrument hanging on the wall. I tried the two new models (one was a duplicate), both factory-made student models fresh out of the shipping container. The "expensive" model came with case and bow for $225. I didn't have high expectations, and found that I had overestimated the quality of the sound that I was able to produce. I don't usually use the word "dreadful" as that makes me sound like I'm 90 years old and talking about various body-modification techniques in vogue with the youngsters today, but I felt it was fairly applicable to the tone produced by these beasts.

Then I took the consignment fiddle off the wall. I tuned it, and started noodling. The sound was surprisingly full and rich, considering the price tag. The price had already been dropped by $100 from the seller's original request. There was a 2-inch long gouge in the top, running in an arc from the fine-tuners towards the bow hand side. Strictly cosmetic. The ribs in the lower bout of this instrument (see Wikipedia - Violin construction and mechanics for terminology) was made of two pieces of wood, joined where tailpiece enters. In inspecting the join between the two pieces, I noticed about a millimeter gap. Since I had already had issues with a bad repair on an instrument giving way on me, I was not ready to part with the asking price if I weren't sure of the structural stability of a replacement fiddle. The last thing I need is a third instrument that I can't use.

I expressed my concerns to the shopkeeper (lovely plumage, but it's stone dead), he shrugged his shoulders, couldn't tell me anything about the viability of the join. So I put it back on the shelf and walked out.

Margot has told me, and I agree, that pricey purchases should be set back on the shelf, and you go home and think about it for a week (or a month) and if it still seems like a good idea after subjecting the purchase to cold calculating reason, then you go back and buy it.

So I let it sit for a month, then two. Just before Thanksgiving, I was meeting Margot downtown for our daily carpool, and I thought I'd stop by the folk shop to see if the fiddle was still there, and if not, if any other consignment instruments were there. The telltale gouge in the top face greeted me cheerfully from the row of fiddles on the wall. I checked the price. Still no movement from September, but the instrument was still there. I played it a little more, then talked with an instrument tech about my concerns about the lower bout. Once assured that that join isn't structural (there's a block behind the join that connect the upper and lower plates and acts as the seat for the endpin), I made an offer on the instrument that was about 20% lower than the listed price.

After Thanksgiving, not having heard back about my offer, I visited the store, the seller of the instrument was called, a tiny bit of haggling ensued, and I left with a new (to me) fiddle. It ain't the prettiest, but I think it's gorgeous. I brought it to my Gram's for Christmas, and I'll bring it to my folk's for New Year's.

Pictures/audio samples to follow.

For Brennan

margot — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:17:56 GMT

Sheep.

The elusive illusion

margot — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:55:00 GMT

Last week I posted the Counterpoint scarf that I made for Rob. We took a quick but adequate photo on his birthday when he received it and I planned to get a better shot during daylight hours.

Well that turned out to take a long time. Thank the deity of your choice for digital photography. I could not have afforded to take as many shots as it took to get even a decent one.

I'm not a great photographer. I think most of the pix that I post are pretty decent, but it takes from a handful to a couple dozen for me to get a blogworthy shot. Illusion knitting is especially difficult to photograph. I must have taken at least 50 photos of Rob's new scarf to get one that I considered good enough. And frankly, it's not that great.

First, a selection of outtakes.

I'm not 100% pleased with my final pix, but I ran out of patience. They'll do.

Thanks to everyone who left birthday greetings to Rob. He appreciated it lots.

Hats!

margot — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 16:43:00 GMT

The best part about making gifts for people who don't read my blog...

Is that I can show my projects to you right away!

That's Djevellue for Addie, daughter of my friends R & D. I picked up a skein of Socks That Rock from Juno when she last destashed. Since the skein was from when the STR yardage was shorter it was thus not enough yarn to make socks to fit me - unless I wanted short cuffs which I don't. I loved the yarn and the color and so I've had my eye out for a pattern to use it. When I saw some FOs of this pattern at Ravelry, I knew I had to make it and that it would look terrific in this yarn.

I still have over half a skein left and will likely make another.

Specs:

Pattern: Djevellue by Gro, size 2 years
Yarn: Socks That Rock, jade ~40 gm
Needles: 2.5mm & 3mm
Gauge: 7 st/in

I am coveting some STR yarn to make socks for me, but am being good and knitting down the sock stash before replenishing. It's hard though.

Danish Earflap Hat

This one you've seen before. It's the Danish Earflap Hat for my mom by her request. It's been done for almost 2 months except for the ties which I finally finished last night. I made twisted cord; faster than lanyard braid and spiffier looking, IMHO.

Crown detail:

I think the snowflake crown was the feature that drew my mom to this pattern.

Specs:

Pattern: Danish Earflap Cap by Charlene Schurch in Hats On!, size large
Yarn: Plymouth Encore dk, red + ivory
Needles: Size 4 & 5
Gauge: 6 st/in
Mods: I reversed the Main color and contrast color for the charts, otherwise the snowflakes would have been red.
Etc: My mom chose the pattern + yarn.

Sock Progress

margot — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 01:52:13 GMT

Just started turning the heel.

Not that you can tell from this pic.

Rob suggested the name Nightfire. I think it might stick.

Alpaca socks

margot — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 01:55:00 GMT

It may seem like I've been finishing a lot of stuff lately. Not so much though when you consider that yesterday's scarf posting was knit back in May.

Finished these yesterday.

Pattern: My basic toe-up sock pattern with an afterthought heel.
Yarn: Gurdy Run Woolen Mill 3ply alpaca/wool blend. 1.25 sk
Size 3 needles, Brittany dps.
Etc: Made as a Solstice gift for ************. Modeled by Rob. (If they won't fit Rob, they're not for you. Sorry.)

I decided not to tip the cuffs with the dark brown. As I speculated earlier, once the heels were done it would be obvious whether or not to do them. With one heel done I realized that the dark brown edge would look nice, but that the socks looked fine and were long enough without it.

I almost went back on my decision though when there didn't seem to be enough lighter yarn to BO both socks. I ripped my BO out twice on the first sock to use less yarn each time. My BO for toe-up socks is one described by Grumperina in this post. After running out of yarn using that BO, I alternated 3 stretchy BO stitches with one regular BO stitch. It looked fine, couldn't even tell. But I ran out of yarn again. So I used a 2:1 ratio and had juuuuuust enough yarn to weave in the ends of both socks. I had already hunted down the yarn ties to lengthen the yarn. Yes, I was *that* desperate but thankfully I didn't need it.

This was my first time using an afterthought heel. I like the way it looks and I enjoyed knitting it. Didn't like picking up the stitches - I think I knitted the waste yarn in too tight. I'll try it again and when I do I'll knit the waste yarn loosely.

Happy Birthday Rob

margot — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 01:49:00 GMT

You may know him better as my knit model. He's such a good sport. He's modeled knits made for people larger than I, or things made for me when I'm having a bad hair day and don't want to pose.

He's my gaming partner, cycling buddy, yarn hoarding enabler, knitting companion, blog instigator, carpooler, and sweetie pie. He's a lot of other things too but I promised him that I'd maintain some of his mystery.

I spent the weekend spoiling him rotten. Now that he's received his scarf, I can show it to you.

I think he likes it.

Pattern: Counterpoint by Jennifer Crawford, published in MagKnits
Yarn: Cascade 220, 8555 black and 8010 ivory
Needles: size 6 Addi Turbo
Mods: I added 9 stitches to make it wider, distributed proportionately across the center pattern panel.

that was cutting it close!

margot — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 23:34:00 GMT

2 socks from 1 skein of yarn.

13" left for weaving in ends. Breathing can recommence.

Socks, yet again

margot — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 23:06:00 GMT

Don't know why, but I've been knitting nuthin' but socks for a couple two-three weeks now.

Basic toe-up socks. Made with the Gurdy Run alpaca/wool 3 ply that I fell in love with at Vermont S&W two weekends ago. I'm using the misocrafty method of short rows that I mentioned in my last post. I really like it. It's a little fiddly - I don't think it's possible to do short rows without any fiddlyness at all - but I find it much less cumbersome to execute than the techniques that require a P3 tbl (purl-three-through-the-back-loop).

The white/blue stripes mark where the afterthought heels will be knit in. The socks just need heels and for me to decide if I want to tip the cuffs with the dark brown so I can bind of the tops. Once the heels are knit with the darker color, I hope it will be obvious which will look better. Comments welcome - tipped or no?

Another basic toe-up sock. These are for me, knit with Lana Grossa Meilenweit MegaBoots Stretch. I made an identical pair with this yarn (different color) over the summer. They came out great, but the yarn is quite splitty. I'll soldier through another pair, but I don't think I'll buy this yarn again.

The boy's birthday is tomorrow. We're celebrating his birthday all weekend long. I gave him some t-shirts last night. This AM we went to Farmer's Market and the pedestrian mall where we had refreshing chilled tea in a tea shop, purchased local produce; treats (samosas, kettle corn hot out of the kettle!) and books, and then made reservations for tomorrow night's birthday dinner at a Brazilian BBQ restaurant.

The most exciting part of the day was when we got stuck in the elevator at my workplace. I have free parking downtown and we were taking the elevator up from the garage in between shopping expeditions. My first thought when I realized that we were stuck was 'when was the last time I peed?'.

My second thought was that this would be a lousy birthday weekend if we were trapped in an elevator all weekend. My third thought was that this would be a good time to own a mobile phone. That's when I noticed the emergency phone. Yay! But then the woman at the other end of the line couldn't hear me - oh crap. She hangs up and then the phone gets caught in an endless loop of phone company disconnect messages for several interminable minutes. Finally that stopped and I tried again to connect with the emergency operator (I'm not exactly sure where the phone rang to) and talked REALLY LOUD this time.

Within moments of being assured that we would be helped, we heard sirens outside. Seemed a little overkill until they kept going past - er, that wasn't our rescue team. About 5 minutes later the elevator finally went up. And best of all, the doors opened.

We took the stairs for the remainder of the day.

Cinderella Socks, done!

margot — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 22:41:00 GMT

The Cinderella socks are finished. I *think* they'll fit the person I had in mind but I won't know for about a month when I see her next.

The yarn is leftover from a pair of socks that I made for me.

I'm not thrilled with the short rows, the same technique I've been using all along made small holes in these. I'm not taking them out again; I'm chalking it up to my sock knitting learning curve.

Fortunately, I've discovered a new short row technique that not only looks better, it's a LOT easier and faster to execute. Tutorial here, courtesy of miso crafty. I'm using it on another gift pair of socks using the luscious Gurdy Run alpaca/wool worsted I picked up at the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival last weekend. Pix forthcoming.

Cinderella sock

margot — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 21:44:00 GMT

You may recall the Rainbow socks that I completed about a month ago. I had a good-sized pile of yarn leftover, possibly even enough for another pair for me. Weighing the remains determined that I only had ~80% as much yarn as I used for the first pair. So I decided to make an appropriate sized sock to use up the yarn.

My plan has been to give them to the first person whom they fit which is why I've named them Cinderella socks. Of course I will select who gets to try them on; they won't go to just anybody. I started out aiming for a particular pair of feet. As it turns out, I guess I really want these socks to go to that person as I've ripped them out twice to start them over because they were too small for her -- I mean because they were too small to use up all the leftover yarn! Not buying it, are you? This is it though, not matter what size they are I'm gonna keep going this time. (Er. I said that last time too though...)

School's back in session. I'm taking a programming course. I don't know what that will do to my already erratic posting non-schedule, but I thought I'd just throw that out there. The class? It's online which I 'm mixed about. I like the flexibility, but I miss the classroom experience. I'm trying out a new school with this class to help me decide where to enroll for my BA/BS (haven't decided on a school yet).