Rhymes with Mango

<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> 

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...

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... 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.

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.

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!

Sheep.

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.

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.

Just started turning the heel.

Not that you can tell from this pic.

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

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.

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.

2 socks from 1 skein of yarn.

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

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?

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.

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.