Friday, July 11, 2003

 

It's a cool rainy day today, just right for knitting. But...I have a meeting of my Governmentality Reading Group today so I'll be showing off Able instead. In case you're scratching your head, we're a group of grad students and recent PhD's who get together in a pub, over beers, and talk Foucauldian theory. Sounds high-faluting, and it can be, but there's beer, so things generally degrade.

Smooch is coming along nicely. The pattern is not very clear (not only because the British knitting jargon is different) so there's been a bit of ripping, but I'm happy with the results.

Incidentally, I'm making the extra large. It's not my normal size, but the finished measurement is only 37.5" and I'm 38" around (it's due to a wide ribcage unfortunately), and I'd prefer the fit to not be skin tight. I'm still worried about it actually fitting since all Smoochers are making bigger sizes. Fingers are crossed.

And, sorry to anyone who went to look at my pictures and found a bunch of broken links. I'm still new to this and made a silly booboo. It's fixed, and I've learned something new.

Smooch is staying home this weekend. Instead I'll knit the second Broadripple sock--the weather doesn't look great for dock knitting, but will be just right for snuggling up in a big deck chair in front of the fire knitting. Have a great weekend.

9:53 AM

Thursday, July 10, 2003

 

Turns out I'm Able!

I'm really happy with how it looks. It was a bitch to stitch up though because the yarn is pretty fragile and breaks easily. Hopefully it won't fall apart!

Also great is that it's pretty cool today (less than 20C) so I can even wear it with capris or a skirt. I think I might grab a cold-coffee-treat and do my reading outside today. If I ever get going. I don't want to go to the gym and it's keeping me getting dressed and getting going (I usually gym before showering etc.) So maybe I'll just skip it today...bad...sigh.

The best thing about finishing Able is that I can concentrate on Smooch. I've done a bit more than the last picture, but nothing of note. That's for tonight.

Also worked on my picture gallery yesterday. I've changed the layout for those who don't have high speed connections. Inspired by Wendy's Gallery I've added a page of links to individual pictures. It took a while and I'm not done, but I like it much better. I'm doing this html stuff self-taught, so you're seeing my grade 1-ish work!

Met with my thesis advisor yesterday and all is well. We're in agreement about my plans for the next chapters and I'm happy that she's happy. Now I just gotta get writing. I'm doing a literature review on women's magazines right now, so it's not all bad. It feels good to know that in the not-too-distant-future I will actually be done.

11:38 AM

Tuesday, July 08, 2003

 

I gave myself a big kiss and started Smooch last night (instead of sewing up Able). It's a fun pattern, though I had to undo things a few times until I got it figured out. I'm using Gedifra Wellness from Elann and it's perfect. It reminds me of the ocean in Mexico.

I'm also totally in love with Cleo one of the Knitty summer surprises. It looks like a fairly easy pattern that can be knit for about $20--and it's super funky looking (though I am nowhere near as endowed as the model). It's now on my to do list.

I am so starting to understand knitters who say they won't be able to make everything they want before they die!

9:47 AM

Monday, July 07, 2003

 

This was a great weekend. Craig and I had lots of social time. We had great fun with the kids. My youngest seems to be getting the hang of toilet training and I completed lots of knitting. Able is all knit up and the sleeves are drying on the blocking board. I'll start seaming it up tonight. And I finished one broadripple sock.

It's hard taking a picture of your own foot, so here's one sans foot:

I didn't swatch (bad girl!) so the heel is a bit long (my row gauge is off). They look short (I wear size 9.5 shoes) but due to the stretch in the fixation they fit me great. I actually had to rip out a number of rows after starting the toe decreases because they were too long. They're supposed to be for my same-sized-foot mom, but I'm rather liking them even though I do not wear socks in the summer--ever. I'm ordering more fixation from Redbird Knits (they have a birthday club that I took advantage of) to make more socks--they're great cottage knitting. With all this done, this means I can start swatching for Smooch really soon woohoo!

I also submitted a design for the knitty book. I found out I could swatch with the yarn in any colour so I dug in the stash and did it. I feel good for trying my hand at design even if it doesn't go anywhere (except making it for myself). The process really helped me think about knitting from the design side instead of the merely-reading-the-pattern side.

11:03 AM