Who Needs Gauge?!

I read Some Knitting Required’s blog, and she was discussing her lessons learned from her stash, and I loved the idea so much I stand on the shoulders of greatness to share my lessons.

My lesson would be that a dye lot of variegated yarn can be VERY different from a picture on the net. There was an Opal sock yarn in fall colors that I saw on the net and loved! I had to have it! I bought it because it reminds me of fall when the leaves are changing with their breath-taking array of colors; it has red, yellow, and forest green. I was inspired to make a pair of socks from it with a lace pattern that reminded me of falling leaves. I started researching leaf lace patterns before it even arrived.

However, when I received the package, the colors of the lot I got were much more red and green, and hardly any yellow. It just wasn’t as inspiring as I was thinking it would be in person.

On another note, in additional news, I now can post pictures! Yay for the most amazing tech support in the world! Thank you Husband!

So now I can show you my sock.

I have started on the second of the pair, and there is proof!

Also, other pictures I have not been able to share;

 
Pictures from my last String Thing,

Books I have gotten recently, (yay!)

Spring has sprung…

…and cute kitty in a tree!

So I am congratulating myself because I have avoided second sock syndrome and cast on for the second in my paint-box socks pair. I have also been taking my sock around and exultantly modestly sharing my enthusiasm for my sock that is done. (I’m sure everyone loves it as much as I do! They are just so overwhelmed to appropriately express their marvel and awe!)

This book arrived today! I am so excited, I have been waiting like a patient child on Christmas morning!

However, of course, I STILL AM NOT ABLE TO POST PICTURES! Plus, my blog writing tool has changed the appearance of my posts, although, as of yet, it is not affecting my publishing ability. I tried getting a flickr account as well, however it is still saying it can’t post pictures. Is it possible that my blog has turned against me?

Nah, I gave it life. Offspring never turn on their parents.

 

Right?

Yay! Joy! Happiness! I have finished the first of my paint-box-socks! It is so happy and warm. I am impressed by how well it fits. The irritation??

I STILL cannot post picture to my blog to show you! Arrgh!!

I saw this on Bonnie’s site, and I don’t typically like meme’s, however, I like to read as much as I like to knit, and I wanted to see what my list would look like. So here goes.

Look at the list of books below:
Bold the ones you’ve read,
Italicize the ones you want to read (I also *’d the ones now on my bookshelf)
Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.

1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)*
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible (Well, the first five books or so)
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) In English and French
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)*
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)*
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

I think it would be interesting to make a list of all of the books I have read ever.

Plus, as I was going through, I kept thinking, “but I read ____ by the same author, does that count?”.

Also, I am going to make a plug for a site, that if you are like me, and you love to read, visit PaperBackSwap. It’s awesome, see for yourself.

Since I moved, I haven’t blogged much, nor have I knitted much. This has now changed.

To start with, I got my new books last night!

 

I have heard a lot about Elizabeth Zimmerman, and after reading part of Knitting Without Tears, I am sorry that she is no longer with us. She has such an excellent conversational style to her writing, it is wonderful reading. If you are someone who has not read her books, I highly, highly recommend them.

Today, I started off by going for a run, to get myself into better physical shape (not something I have been doing a good job keeping track of in a while). Then I went to Starry Night for some tea and my String Thing. Only three of us were there, which was more intimate.

 

Bri was working on a bracelet in our school colors, and Melissa did a little of the soft fuzzy scarf she was working on. I knit on my Paint Box socks that I haven’t touched in over a month. They are much happier now that they aren’t being neglected.

Then, Bri and I went to the Common Market near Frederick. I love organic food stores, and I wish there was one closer to Westminster. *sigh*

 

This is the loot I got at the store. I am trying to save some of the vegetarian jelly beans, however the outlook for their time here on Earth appears limited.

Anyway, it was a good day. I think I am going to go knit more!

 

***UPDATE: Pictures are still not being uploaded for posting. Post will not go through with pictures in it. I have tech services (ie: husband) working on the problem.

I was on Harlot’s site this morning, and she was discussing her airplane knitting woes. Since I have started knitting relatively recently, and since I don’t fly that much, I haven’t had any experience getting needles or scissors through the security. (I skimmed through and read a few of the shared experiences, and it does seem that security is not really all that secure.)

So it got me thinking about how you could get needles on board or what you could pass them off as to get them on board (I know, devious little minx I am). There is a coffee house I go to frequently in Westminster, and the girl who works there wears a set of 8″ straight knitting needles in her hair frequently, like those thick hair pins that look like chop sticks. When I saw them for the first time, I thought, “Yes! That is so cool!” She said she got them at a thrift shop specifically for the purpose of wearing them in her hair, and since she doesn’t knit, they don’t get used for that purpose. (I am trying to convert her though. She seems open to the suggestion.)

Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I have never seen security ask someone to take hair accessories off. So if you are going to be knitting socks, you could always use your dpns to keep your hair in place, and pull them out to knit with. It would be interesting to see if anyone would comment on them when worn as an accessory.

If anyone tries this, let me know how it goes! :o)

Before I start, Cheryl’s blog link didn’t work yesterday, so you can find her here.

Ok, so here are some of the things that I have been trying to blog about recently, however I have had problems with the internet, so here are my thoughts, after being penned in my head (haha! a pun!) for so long.

First, I am disappointed with my club at school. I have only had about 5 show up after school to do some kind of needle work. The way our system for clubs and organizations works at my school is that the club meets once a month for 20 minutes (yes! 20 minutes! what can you teach a person about knitting in 20 minutes!) during our ‘homeroom’ time. If you want them to stay after school hours, you can try, but between sports, getting a ride, and hanging out with friends, most of them are so busy. They really need something that will make them slow down. This would be great if I could have them for some lenght of time. I will keep trying, however.

Also, to let you know, I have not been knitting much of anything. Too many other thing, packing, moving, unpacking, and such. I am starting to dive back in. I had my first meeting of my ‘String Thing’, and we knitted, sewed, made bracelets, and enjoyed the hot chocolat. (Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures to show the fun!) I am going to have another one this weekend, so if you happen to be in Carroll County, Maryland, I would be happy to tell you where we are! 

Ok, so I don’t have to blow up the tractor! (But I will keep it in mind as amusement for myself one day if I get bored. I will also be sure to blog about it if I do for your amusement.)

Also, I saw this on Cheryl‘s site.

I’m disappointed. (but not surprised.)

Update: After typing in amazon’s site, they are worth $0.00 as well, so now I don’t feel so bad!

We moved. Today I got a desk and finally hooked up the computer. I am going to attempt this blog, as the internet here is sketchy demands patience. We don’t have cable, and from what I understand from the local tech department (my dad) we are trying to use the same type of internet that provides the internet for your cell phone. Wild, I know. I have tried to blog from school, however the firewall wouldn’t let me upload content. I tried to blog from here before, however it didn’t go through. So I’m trying again. I have missed my computer, and the internet. If this doesn’t work, I might have to go out on the 130 acres we live on now and blow something up. Something big. Like the tractor that my grandfather has rusting in our front yard. (You don’t know my grandfather. One word describes him – packrat.)

I have been fairly lazy busy this week, so I have not been blogging. Last weekend I went skiing with friends in West Virginia, the oh so Wild and Wonderful state. We didn’t see much wildlife, except a few wild turkeys. Then Tuesday and Wednesday I had some kind of stomach virus, so I did not feel very well. Then Thursday I had to teach an evening class to substitute for another teacher who was at a conference in Las Vegas (I know, could you pick a more interesting place to have a conference full of teachers? I would love to know what is staying in Vegas this weekend. Then again, maybe it is better I don’t know.) I though about blogging on Tuesday and again on Friday, however if I don’t sit down and type, it doesn’t get done. (go figure.)

There are only two knit-worthy posts from the past week. First, in WV, I took the plunge and unraveled my mom’s sock. 3/4 of the way done, and she says it is too big. No, this was not the first time she tried it on. Yes, I swatched before I started. Yes, I checked my gauge before I unraveled it. Sometime during the black hole of knitting, or before, I got 8 sts to the inch. How different is that then my gauge swatch?? 1 whole stitch! (I was getting 9 sts/in on the swatch) It took me a few days to get up the courage to unravel it, but I had help. Did I mention I went skiing with 5 boys? The one thought it was great that he could help unravel the sweater, and he walked across the room singing, “If you want to destroy my sweater, hold this thread…” It was cute. Another one thought it was great amusement to watch the sock being unraveled, so he helped too. All of them could not believe that I was ripping out weeks worth of work.

The other thing that has happened was yesterday, I had my first meeting of what I am calling my “String Thing”. A few of my friends and their friends met at a local coffee shop yesterday morning and we did things with string. I and another girl knitted, I taught someone else to crochet, and one of my other friends made bracelets from embroidery thread. All in all an eclectic group, but we had fun. There were some husbands/friends that are male that came, and they just enjoyed the company, so it was a multi-modal affair. I’m so happy I got to do that, and we have decided to make it bi-monthly.

And I guess there was one other knit thing. I didn’t think I took pictures of anything, however I was checking my pictures, and I do have one of the boys in WV, who asked to try knitting.

**UPDATE: Thes picture will not post to the site, I will try again later.