Month of stuff

I am still knitting. The last month was busy. Hopefully this one will be better.

I finished a pair of socks!

Pattern: Pomatomus
Yarn: Collette Jitterbug in Velvet Damson
And a second!
Pattern: Snowflake Lace Socks
Yarn: Wildefoote Luxury Sock

The husband's sister is having a baby. Unfortunately for me they aren't going to find out what the sex is, so GENDER NEUTRAL KNITTING! (This may change. We have another friend with child, and while we also don't know that one either, my odds are good that ONE will be a girl and I can use my girly scraps.)
Pattern: Mitered baby blanket
Yarn: James C. Brett MarblePattern: Two Round Baby Hat
Yarn: Debbie Mumm's Transitions

I also started a project to eat up my bigger stashes.Pattern: Apres Surf Hoodie
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss

A day of tears and knitting

Tuesday started out normally. I ate my breakfast of oatmeal, and sat down with my computer for the half hour before I had to get going. I had a cold a few days ago, and am still dealing with the "left-overs", so to speak. When I blew my nose, I noticed my lower abdomin hurt. I assumed it was my intestines digesting and left it at that.

I got ready, and walked a mile to work, knitting as I went. Once I arrived at work, I needed to blow my nose again. The pain, very faint, was still present. So, being the obsesser I am, I pushed on my groin, right where my leg attaches to my hip, to see why it hurt. I screamed.

I assumed it was a lymph node. The husband was already coming by work to drop off some Splenda for my tea, so I used the time to look up lymph node pain. Websites said that they swelled when they were fighting an infection nearby. Not anything I would normally worry about, even thought the pain was immense. Except, I had an abnormally large node under my chin over the weekend, and two swollen nodes in two different parts of my body were not a good sign.

The husband concured, especially after I screamed in his ear when he poked it. He called the hospital, who had no appointments that day. Urgent care it was.

Bottom line, I spent the day getting tests taken. Some rather innoculus, like a urine anallysis. Others, scary as hell. At then end of the day I had two Ultrasounds, and a CAT scan, and had been told I would more than likely need surgery that day, or the next. I spent the day bouncing from doctor to doctor, knitting and appologizing to the husband for making him miss a day of school.

When we finally got to the surgery consultation, he said that the previous diagnosis was ridiculus, and it was a swollen lymph node, possibly made worse by the fact I had been stressed about losing my job the past three weeks. He also said that next time I shouldn't go to Urgent Care. Oh yea, that's a great thing to say. I was literally screaming in pain and I should have waited until I could get an appointment the next day.

Now, I am just dreading the medical bill. I wish medicine was like other services. If they make a mistake, they have to fit the bill. I had three major tests done, all for nothing. I have decent insureance, but I know they won't cover everything. The kicker? I got a percription for Vicadin for less than $4. Now I am a VERY law-abiding citizen, but I find it hilarious that I could sell those extra pills and earn more than enough to cover the bill.

At the end of all this, I find three things very amusing. 1: I joked that I wanted to meet Dr. House, and with the incorrect diagnosis, I was the talk of the hospital and just might have. 2: I really was afraid at first they would make me get a Tetnus shot. TWO IV's were instead my fate. 3: There was a pie-shaped candle in the CAT scan room. I liked looking at it as the machine scanned the radioactive liquid running through my allegedly leaking veins.

What was accomplished on my 2nd day off.

I spent most of the weekend at a cabin on the Russian River, where I finished the first Pomatomus sock. (I cheated with the picture in a few posts back.) The rest of the weekend was spent casting on and frogging a Kiri shawl, knitting a swatch or the Apres Hoodie, and knitting most of a Dumpling Bag. As for the Kiri, turns out the yarn I had was cobweb weight and looks awful on size 3. But of course, I'm using my 2's for a million other projects, and I don't own a circular 1. The swatch is complete, and drying on my table. Since I don't turn on my heater, it should be dry by next weekend. I really ought to knit that Hoodie; it will eat up a lot of my stash. Not to mention, I could have it in time for the cool spring in a couple weeks. The Dumpling bag. Ahhh, it is everything they say it is. Quick. (I knit it in a day) Cute. (It is totally perfect for more weekends.) And a beautiful canvas for creativity. (I spent an entire day just embellishing it.)FO: Dumpling Bag
Yarn: 1 entire skein of Berroco Peruvia in black
Needle: size 13
Other: Two glass rings, one clear, one black, from Micheals
Mods: I only made one mod to the main pattern, and that was to skip the last plain knit row and just decrease straight to the last 24 stitches. I had enough yarn or one more row, so that was it. As to the embroidery, I didn't have any colors in the way of flowers and tree branches, well, most no tree branch colors, so I took a look at what I had and went with it. I had half a ball of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Cloud from a tam, and Patons Classic Wool in Grey from the Turn-a-square for my brother. There were other scraps I considered using, but I'm going to try to make another tam out of the rest of my Karaoke. Now, I bought two skeins in black and red, thinking I would need 2 for one bag. I definitely will make another in red, but I'm not sure about making 3 more. I am tossing around the idea of a checkered bag, but I think it would get too complicated trying to math out the size of each square between decreases and a major change with felting.

Pomatomus Progress or Alliteration Attempts

My last pair of socks came out to big for a number of reasons, so I am determined to have one pair of socks I can wear. I knit these on size 0 needles, since all the others gave me too big of a gauge. As this pattern is very stretchy, I figured less stretch the better. I mean, really, I buy 9 packs of generic socks that fit size 6 to 12. My sock should be more snug.

Wow, is it ever snug. The leg and foot are tight, but I think it is a good tight. Now I just have to make sure I only knit the foot small enough to fit when stretch rather than make the mistake I did last time and start the foot when it reaches my toes relaxed.

I finished the toe, but it was too short, so I ripped back and added about an inch. After blocking (though it is not completely dry), it fits pretty well.

What was accomplished on my 1st day off.

The hemlock ring was what I worked on the most, but I pulled out a UFO and added some to it.
Also known as the I-wish-it-was-Noro scarf. I had stopped during my trip to the snow last month, as I had to join new skeins, and I was getting tired of it. I am determined to finish it, so it is back in the rotation. I want a long scarf, so I probably will knit another 6 inches or so.

The thing that kept this going at first was I liked to see the color changes together. Then, on a particularly long wait for the Matterhorn, my affections began to turn. The pink strand wasn't changing. I knit and knit and waited and waited. No change. The brown changed, but not the pink. I became angry and wanted to throw the scarf down for it's betrayal. However my logic prevailed. I saw there were more colors in the ball; it would have to change eventually. A foot, I had to knit a foot before the pink changed. And while logic did a happy dance at knowing I was right, the relationship had changed. My trust had been lost. Oh, I stayed, but only because it was the status quo. New beginnings can be frightening and can bruise your ego. "Can I do this? Am I worthy? This is more complicated than my last one, can I manage?" I just couldn't let go. However, as soon as the status was no longer quo, I dropped that scarf like a bad habit.* I was no longer in love with the scarf, heck, I barely liked it. It was only a poor man's imitation anyway. Joining a new skein was like admitting I cared about it, and liked it.

My dislike for UFO's won out. And I might like it more when it is done.

But I still wish I could afford Noro Silk Garden.

My sil is having a baby, the first in our family, so I'm thinking some of the brown left-overs may go into a hat. I'm not fond of the yarn, but it is machine washable, and brown is gender-neutral. I'll probably have enough yarn for a few, so I'll whip one up and see how it does in a cycle of washing and drying machines before actually giving it away.

January Socks (WIP)

My goal for 2009 is to buy NO* new yarn, knit up my stash to only 50, and knit at least one pair of socks a month.

So far? 100% success! I CO a pair of Pomatomus for the Sockaholics Anonymous, thought I didn't post until February so it doesn't count for the contest.

This year could be a very trying one. The husband is over a year away from graduating with a BS in Civil Engineering and Structural Engineering, and I may be laid off. I don't talk about my career, as this is a knitting blog. However they are connected, as the job allows me the funds for knitting. Hopefully my job will be safe, and the yarn buying will commence! (OK, not really, but I can pretend.)

*There are three exceptions. 1) I got into the Loopy Ewe's sock club for 2009, and this was stipulated before I made the promise. 2) Any gifts that require a purchase is allowed. 3) I earned one exception from the husband on a bet. I don't plan on using it.

Hemlock Ring Blanket blues

91 stitches. That is how many stitches I had left too bind off before I ran out of yarn. I have a couple lines on the same dye lot on Ravelry, so I just have to be patient.

I am NOT buying yarn this year, so this will have to be the exception. Actually, I won a bet with the husband that allows me for one exception up the $50. Hopefully he won't consider buying someone's partial skein to be that exception.

I finished a pair of socks! They turned out too big, but I should have expected that. The pattern in lacy and the yarn has a good deal of elastic in it. They fit my mom's size 9s! FO info
Pattern: Ribbed Lace by Charlene Schurch
Yarn: Patons Stretch Sock in Plum
Started: January 15th
Finished: January 27th
Modifications: I made one on the first sock. The pattern says to have an extra purl stitch at th beginning on the foot, but I accidentally made it at the end.

Notes: I had to get used to not pulling the yarn completely. The colors really hide the pattern, but I knew it would happen on anything but a plain vanilla sock, and I really wanted a pattern. These socks actually stay up, and you can see the pattern when I wear them over trouser socks. Because of my calves (I consider them heifers), these socks won't stay up by themselves. They slip to just below the swell of my muscle. I have large calves, 14 inches, compared to my ankles, 8 3/4 inches, so I will have to add increases (decreases) to make over the calf socks.

My vacation knitting

So, it's been about three years since my last vacation and we went to Disneyland and spent some time in a cabin in South Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, over one day was spent driving. I knew I would be spending a lot of time myself in the cabin so I brought some yarn. And by "some" I mean enough for 7 projects. I had an easy project for Disneyland.

I'm currently debating adding the other two skeins. The scarf is fairly long, but not quite as long as I'd like. However, there are only so many Turn-a-square hats I can stand, and I currently have enough scraps for at least 3. The yarn is atrocious. It is a thin layer of color repeating nylon strands wrapped about a black core. The nylon is only on in one layer, and it bunches easily, so the core shows though. There is a lot of comments on Ravelry, but I don't have access to the net when I'm in store debating a purchase. Well, it is half the cost it would be for a scarf in Silk Garden. (Which is what I really want.) So I actually have enough for two scarves. I will be gifting one. I was going to gift both, but I don't think I can after knitting it in Disneyland.

Right before I left I had finished a tam, but took it off the pate before it was dry and it unblocked.
The main thing I wanted to work on was a Hemlock ring blanket that I bought yarn for about 6 months ago. Of course, I went to cast on and found that I had only brought half the pattern. With a bit of cajoling I got the husband to take me to a close enough wifi connection and I worked it off the computer.