Pix This!

My weather pixie was annoying me.

Sure, she had a cute cat, but the b-- left the cat sitting out in a thunderstorm the other day, hogging the umbrella. Plus, she was way too perky, smiling over there in her sundress in 100 degree weather. It was like she was mocking me for dealing with the heat so badly.

I want a weather pixie that turns red and lies there on the ground when it gets above 90.

Barring that, I found one that appears to be dressing more realistically, in jeans and tee shirt. I'll have to see how she deals with tomorrow afternoon before deciding to keep her on. If she sprouts a gin and tonic at 7 p.m., she's definitely staying.

The best thing about Saint Louis this summer is RetroJams. It's on channel 51 on Sunday evenings. Weeknights are first-season excruciatingly bad Happy Days or Brady Bunch episodes, Saturday night tends to be these ultra-violent, ultra-bad action films from the 80's, but on Sundays there is this video call-in show out of Little Rock, with all sorts of old videos. I saw the Thriller video all the way through for the first time yesterday. I also discovered Keanu Reeves was in a Paula Abdul video.

Knitting Only

Here are Tiff's socks, using a solid and a varigated of Koigu KPPM, #2 needles, and "rpm" from Knitty.com. Very cute. It is difficult to find a good pattern for a varigated, and luckily rpm appeared just when I needed one. That's my fancy blocking board in the background, leftover styrofoam from insulating around the window AC units. Don't really need to upgrade, except possibly get a towel to go over it with stripes, instead of the swirly print I'm using now, to help me line up edges. I used the grafted toe and the short row heel. The short row heel, I'm not a fan of it. I usually do flap but it wasn't going to give me the effect I was looking for. They're alright, I just don't think they fit as well. Tiff lives in a cold and damp climate so they should be useful. The colors are inspired by some awesome hot pink and teal sneakers she had on Memorial Day. P and I went to Fine Points in Cleveland (no trip to Cleveland is complete without a trip to Fine Points), P got the yarn, and I made the socks. Now to send my brave little swatchlet through tomorrow's laundry to see if Koigu can handle machine wash and dry like I've heard. The socks will get a handwash, regardless.

I'm back working on the Mountain Colors sock I posted earlier. I had to take a hiatus because I only have one set of #2 dpns, and my #2 Addy is .25 mm larger than the double points. The sock is really beautiful, and I'm so glad I got two 2 skeins so I can make another pair later. I think they will be done in time to go in for Winter Knitty. It is a good pattern for gifts, super stretchy so one size fits all and needs no chart or cable needle, good for airport lines.

Still too hot to work on my almost-done sweaters, so of course I started a new one. This sweater was in Winter Vogue Knitting last year, on one first pages of ads. Poor VK, full of lovely cabled sweaters and I get hung up on an ad on pg 5 or something. The yarn is Karabella Margrite Bulky, which is 20% cashmere and 80% merino, like buttah, and not as expensive as you might think. I considered using Aurora Bulky, but the price turned out to be the same. It looks a bit yellow in the photo against the dead white foam but it's really a creamy white, almost like natural wool but not quite. I had a bit of a scare when I washed up my swatch and it came out looking like a drowned rat. And when I say that, I know of what I speak. But the stitches plumped back up nicely when it dried and it evened the stitches out.

This is the first time I ever used the yarn the pattern was written for on purpose (I have a couple pairs of socks where it just happened to work out that way). I have been knitting worsted and smaller all summer, and forgot how fast one can cruise on a 6.5mm needle (though I think I'd use wood for this yarn if I had one, it's very slippery). Unfortunately the pattern is only written for 32" and 36"--it's the same but with an extra purl stitch between the leaves. It's good to be petite sometimes, as I do wear a 36" sweater, and I calculated I'd get an extra leftover ball and a half from shortening it. Maybe I will make a matching cap. It would be very soft against the forehead.

%@$%@#%**

Really tired of the heat. The Mister got to shave his head. Actually, I shaved it--first we did a mohawk and took a picture for a friend, then we finished. He is much more comfortable. I, on the other hand, am not. He's planning on keeping it shaved until it cools off. When he ran this by me (I think wives are supposed to freak out about this kind of thing? maybe?) my reply was "Who am I to complain? I'm four drinks away from a shaved head myself."

It's damn hot.

We did an awesome job on our electric bill last month, using the same amount of electricity as we did in November. Today I looked at fall knitting stuff online, to remind myself that someday it will be cooler, and I'd rather spend my money on yarn, glorious yarn.

Fall is my favorite season. All these years on an academic calendar, and September is what feels like a New Year to me. The possibility of meeting cool new people, learning new subjects, setting new routines. I love beginnings (just look at my shameful unfinished projects down there). Tonight as I left lab there was a touch of cool in the air--probably just a mini cool-front--but it reminded me of fall.

Now I'm a knitter, it also means new projects, gorgeous new yarns, new magazines and patterns to mull over, and being cool enough work on and wear wool again.

I'm trying to dwell on the positive parts of it being halfway through August, because I'm extremely frustrated about some other things right now, and I'm really trying hard not to get bogged down in the negative.

How to Lose 20 Lbs Without Diet or Exercise

I'm averaging 2 thesis-induced freak-outs per week. It's great, no really, grad school is great.

I did my last weekend taking care of the critters ever, which is really nice. What a way to go out, though. The colony is enormous now, and we had several hundred that had to be weaned and assigned to new cages, with new friends and new grownup diets. And of course, all have to have their sexes carefully checked so there aren't any . . . wild teenage parties (ahem). So glad there were no power issues over there after the storm. All the people in the city are hot and dragging, but they were frisky enough to make up for it. Now's there nothing for them to do but eat, drink and be merry until November. Wish I could say the same for myself.

Today I got to go to the new Knitorious. Very spacious and light. Looking forward to going back next month for fall projects. Too hot to think about sweaters still. As usual I admired the Blue Sky cotton, color Honeydew. A pretty pale green. I showed fortitude and did not buy any yarn, but I think Honeydew and I are meant to be together.

I got an Almighty Handy Reeling Machine. There it is modelling the Koigu for Tiff's socks. Yes, my dining table is also my desk. We have 2 computer desks, and I use the dining table.

And in other news, Sizzle is done! I'm very pleased, especially considering the craptastic knitting I've done most of the summer. I'm striking a little pose there, I know. But I just got a swift, so I'm happy.

Recently on KR there was a thread about why people do knitting blogs. Mine is for 2 things: to show pictures of my knitting (and hopefully someday exciting travel pictures) to a few friends, and to help me keep track of my projects, including pictures and a few notes.


So now I move to the Knitting Notes part:
I distributed more of the bust increases to the front instead of evenly between front and back (learning from the Picovoli problem) and also added some short rows at the bust so it wouldn't creep up in front. Had to redo all the math because 1) I was between sizes and 2) I like SouthWest Trading Co Bamboo at 6 sts=1 instead of 5. It also got standard Petitification: slightly narrower bands, shortened length and neckline, placing waist in right place, narrowing shoulders and neckline. It's a little lose in waist and hips, but I think it makes it a bit more comfortable in the heat. I also think the deep V lengthens the torso, though to wear out I'd put a camisole on underneath.

Here is what the yarn was before it sizzled. The previously mentioned, very unflattering Lotus Lace tank. A cute pattern, but not for me. I look 20 lbs heavier. There are so many problems with this, I don't know where to start. Shoulder straps too wide in general and too far out on shoulders--which is bad considering I reworked the neck to be narrower in the first place. Lack of waist shaping makes entire torso look as wide as bust. Dividing short body into 2 segments with lace makes torso look short too, especially with the waist length. Creeps up in front.
I'm putting this here as a reminder to myself to choose patterns based on reality, and not what looks cute on a cover model.