Knitting Angel

Ode to an empty home

Somehow it got done.

For the last three days I have been in a total frenzy of packing. To make matters worse, it was in the 90s here, and my old house has no a/c, so I was a sweaty, packing mess for days....

But now it is all done. The cubes came yesterday, the men came today and packed them, and the cubes were taken away this afternoon. Tomorrow they will be loaded onto a freight hauler and head towards Texas. We (JCap and I) follow on Monday morning.

I have the cleaning left to do, and tomorrow I am giving away most of my leftover food that sits in the kitchen, but the hard part is done. Or, er, halfway done. We still have unloading and unpacking to do, but we also have that 2 1/2 day drive in front of us. Jcap is real road warrior, so I am not worried too much on that front and the car had a mess of repairs done to it, so hopefully that will mitigate any problems (it has new brakes and tires now.) Hopefully it will be okay.

So now I sit in an empty home for the next few days.

All that I have in the way of furniture is a papson chair (I am tossing it out- it is old and broken) an air mattress and a dog bed. so mainly I am spending time in the papason chair.... Milo and Chloe are a bit beside themselves with everything gone. I think Milo is having a harder time than Chloe. My guess is that the 3 day ride will be hardest on him.

For now, I have only a few books and my knitting to keep me company. I finished a gift that I cannot post on the blog last night so I have started a new project for the trip. This is the Net Duffel bag from IK Spring 2009

Lots of mitered squares. I figured it will be good car knitting for when I am not driving. That and I need to figure out how to best secure woven in ends with linen yarn (how do I keep them from slipping out?)

 My internet gets turned off tomorrow, so I will be off-line for a few days, at least until we get to the first night of the hotel. I will document as much of the trip as I can, and I will try to blog along the way if I can. If I cannot I will update from Texas once I have internet there. 

My year in this small Northern Ohio town has been a blessing. The people, the school, and town just charmed me and it was a wonderful year. I will miss this little town and all its quirks- I will miss the good people of the Midwest. I will miss all the knitting friends I made this year (lots of them- this is a town of knitters, lemme tell ya.) Goodbye little town. Goodbye little red brick house. Goodbye Amish parking at Walmart (yes, our Walmart has hitching posts and feed buckets). Goodbye friends.

It is onward to the next part of the journey. From Ohio through Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and into Texas. To the state where my grandmother immigrated over the border almost 100 years ago now when she was a small child, and the place where my father was born. So I guess maybe it is a home-going of sorts. Who knows what is next, but I am excited, and looking forward.

Stoopid Socks

Packing has commenced... I have gotten lots of books in boxes and have been sorting papers, etc. Hoping to have all books, yarn, random desk stuff and my winter clothes boxed tomorrow. That will leave me the knick-knacks to box, and the kitchen to clean out (that will be packed last.) Will get there somehow...

Meanwhile, I have sorted the yarn that will be going in the car with me, the yarn that will be passenger side knitting while my friend drives and I started a new project (I gave up on finishitis. It left me. The Cable 8 top will be completed in Texas.)

So I started a toe up sock from the 'Socks from the Toe-Up book." I am working on a sport-weight sock, knit in Reynolds Soft Sea Wool. WIth the help of You-Tube, I findangled  Judy's Magic cast-on (it was a little rough at first but I got it going) and started knitting away. So I knitted and knitted following the chart (or at least, that's what I thought I was doing) and was creating the gusset for the heel while on the phone with my mother and said to her "You know mom, these socks don't look like the picture in the book." And she said to me- "did you read the chart right?" and I said "of course I read the chart right mom- I know how to read charts." Then I paused and re-read the pattern... and realized that the it was charted only for the odd rows and that the even rows were knit, and I was not doing that, and that is why the socks were looking so wrong.

Silence. Mom says "So did your read the chart right?" And I say "no. I screwed up. And I have six inches of sock knit." Then I said "Well I could just keep knitting with my screw up and make them like this." And she said "But you'll know, and it will always bother you. Pull them out."

So I yanked out the needles and frogged.

Now I am back at the toe, re-starting the pattern. Cursing the chart that does not show the even rows (although it is there in the notes- yes my own stupidity.)

Mom to her credit did not laugh at me. She let me get off the phone so I could curse and frog and re-read the pattern. Mom makes lots of socks- (only plain ones though, with no patterns) so she gets it.

So I will start the green sock again. And pack. And oh yes, I got a new haircut- I got bangs, which I have not had in twenty years, but people tell me I look cute- I think  they make me look young, but they do hide my huge forehead, so there is a plus.

Anyway- moral of the sock story. Double-check your chart.

Back to packing.

Monkey-ing around

I came to a revelation today.

This recent bout of finishitis? Its really just a mode of procrastination.

I have a house to pack up and I haven't started and the moving cubes are coming in a week and a half. I am actually moving in two weeks. It is time for me to get rolling on all that. So I am slowing down this bout of finishitis. I have one project left that I would like to finish before the move, but then after that I need to focus on the MOVE. And I need to find an easy project for car knitting (my friend JCap is  helping with the driving- it will be a three day trek. And then she is staying with me for a week and a half. A good friend that JCap)

So the latest finished up former UFO.

My monkey socks.

You can't see the lace detail too well in the picture, but you can totally see it in person. Loved the pattern, loved the Tofusies sock yarn (a gift from friends) that they were knit it. Really fun and these are great socks. These are also my first pair of socks that are patterned that I knit for myself (my other pairs were for swaps). I have printed out more Cookie A patterns and I think more fun socks are in my future. 

I also just got the new "Socks from the Toe Up" by Wendy Johnson. I love it- I am totally going to try a pattern for the sport weight socks in there- I think it is a great book, and it is very clear and well written. I also like that the patterns are fairly straightforward. Bonzo sock patterns seem to be exploding on the internet, but frankly I tend to only knit socks as my mindless knitting, and while patterns are fun, I prefer ones that I can memorize.

So I only have the Cable 8 shell left on my finishing up list. Will try to get that done this week sometime, in between packing downtime, but I do think that the packing is going to suck up a lot of my time now. Ugh. I plan to have books, winter clothes/coats/shoes/knick-knacks packed by the end of the week. That will just leave the kitchen for next week.

In some sense I never unpacked (the stash is already packed in tubs, so are my sweaters and handbags- some books never came out of boxes) and I didn't acquire much this year- so very little needs to be sorted and tossed out (unlike last year). I just need to decide what will go in the car and pack everything else. I don't actually have to pack the cubes myself- I hired men to do that for me. So that is a relief.... but its also very "here we go again."

I will of course have pictures from my great North to South/Southwest journey... I have a few weeks, but I think it will come sooner than I am expecting! 

Can't.Stop.Knitting.

Finishitis continues... although I am slowing down a bit.

I usually always have a pair of plain socks going. These projects get finished whenever they get finished. Usually at some point when I feel like a lot of plain knitting in the round. I started these socks last fall I think.

And this past week, during my massive finishing kick, I finished them up.

The Yarn is Paca-Peds Heels and Toes by the Alpaca Yarn Company in Mixed Berried. Yes, it is a blend of wool and alpaca, and yes I will probably never wear these socks outside the house once I move to Texas, but hey-- I love 'em anyway. They are super warm, thick, squishy and and soft. Love them!!

I still have my monkey socks to finish up on the finishitis list. I am slowing down now, and I started a gift that cannot be shown on the blog at the moment because I was getting tired of the little needles and teeny sock yarn (when I started the gift it was like "ahhhhh- size 7 needles and worsted weight yarns! Whoopeeeee!") I am waiting for the swift to get here because I need to wind a mess of yarn to finish another project that I want to get done-- but lately I have been thinking about what projects(s) to start next. I am leaning towards a sweater, but not sure which one to start. Maybe I will launch into a crochet project. That might solve my indecision.

Meanwhile, I thought I would flash some Wollmeise 

These are from the last two sock club shipments. The colors are so amazing- I have yet to decide what I am going to do with them (I am thinking that the gold/red will become an Ishbel shawl/scarf) The purple is amazing. Frankly they are all amazing. I am going to miss being in the sock club. It was expensive, but so worth it. 

Next week I start packing. Mostly stuff that I don't need at the moment like winter clothes and books. This year's packing won't be as onerous as last years--I cleared out a lot of stuff last year and did not acquire much this year, so I just have to suck it up and pack it up now. I hear it is like permanently stuck in the high 90s in Texas now and it will stay that way until September.  Here in Ohio, it has been cool and in the 70s. I probably should just enjoy it because it won't be like that for long. I can't believe I have to start packing now. I cannot believe my year in Ohio is just about over. It seems like I just got here.

Meanwhile with my spare time I just knit, knit and more knit. Oh and watch basketball- Go Lakers!!!! (Remember- I am originally from L.A.)

More shawls

The finishing tear continues. 

I blocked my maja shawl the other day and took pictures. Unfortunately those pictures did not come out very well (the colors are washed out- and I had to do it using a timer, since there is no one to take the pictures for me). But here it is.

The shawl is maja from Knitty. The yarn is manos silk blend- it used up 4 skeins. The yarn is incredibly soft, and feels so good against the skin. Love it, will use it a lot I think, and the colors are much brighter than the photo.

Meanwhile I re-organized the yarn stash. My goal was to get everything sorted. I wanted one bin of summer-weight yarns, one bin with the wool yarns that are left, a bit that would hold yarns for baby projects, a bin for socks, and a bin that would hold lace-weight and toy projects.

Oh, and one bin to hold crochet thread and kitchen cotton, and  a bin for blanket/afghan projects.

Well we got there- as you can see, it was complete and utter chaos, but everything is in the bins now (no random projects out in tote bags, unless it is stuff I am working on right now) so it will be much easier to move. I have too much yarn and really need to reduce the stash by half. So Its time for a big knit-down, because I have no idea where all these bins are going to go in the new (and much smaller) apartment in Texas. 

I also have three bins of random balls of yarn. I am deciding on how to knit that stuff down.... lots of hats, maybe for charity? Or for friends who live in northern climes. Hmmmm. Everyone might be getting mittens this winter (I have an unholy love for mitten knitting.)

I also got a surprise in the mail yesterday. My mom and dad sent me a little birthday gift.

A ball-winder, sock blockers and the knitted teddy bear pattern book (so cute!) The swift is still on its way (there was some confusion over the fact that they are sold seperatly, so Dad ended up putting in another order for the swift.)

Anyway, I am so excited by the ball-winder and swift!!! And sock blockers!!! So much fun.

I am now working on my monkey socks- they are the next in line among my UFOs that need finishing during this finishitis kick. Hope to have those done soon. And once I clear out the UFOs, I can start new projects for the summer. I already have plans for a knitted crocodile from the latest Twist collective (got pattern and yarn- love). But what else should I start? I have a bunch of baby knitting that is in progress that I cannot show on the blog until gifted, but I also have other projects I want to start. So what should I pick?

A short-sleeved cabled Cardi in Berroco Comfort

A long-sleeved lace pullover in Ella Rae Silkecence

An entrelac bag (the one in IK spring designed by Vivian Hoxbro) in a linen yarn

A lace shawl (could start any number of designs)

Complicated socks (again any number of designs)

Any ideas?

(And yes, I do always have about 10 projects going in the pipeline... its just how I roll.)

Finishing

Things have been a bit slow on the blog the last few months because I have mainly been focused on finishing my dissertation, and have been knitting very little.

Well that changed on Friday.

The dissertation is done-printed, and ready to go. All 318 pages of writing, footnotes and appendices. Done. Complete. 

I don't defend it until August 31st (the summer break got in the way- rounding up the committee over the summer turned out to be a disaster- so we have to wait until early in the new semester.) But it is done. 

On Saturday I woke up, and sat up and thought "What am I going to do today?" For the first time in three years that dissertation was not lurking in the back of my mind.

So finishing- I have gone on a knitting/crocheting tear the last few days, and I have a bad case of finishitis.

I think it is partially because I have so many projects in the pipeline that just needed to be completed.  Over the last week I have finished two shawls and one sock (sock still needs its mate) and have made some big summer knitting plans.

First...

I blocked one shawl this weekend. Plan to block the other soon. This shawl is "Eva's shawl." It was crocheted with one skein of Wollmeise Sockenwolle. I used up the entire ball.

Here is another picture that captures the amazing wollmeise colors better. This colorway was from the sock club (now sadly over- I got my last package last week)

This was and easy, and almost boring crochet project. I started it on the plane to Texas during my last trip and it grew quickly. Like socks, it was the perfect travel project and required little brainpower. The pattern is a bit crazily written, but if just fiddle with it a bit, you'll get the hang of it quickly. Love this shawl. It is the perfect size.

Now, Sunday was also my 30th birthday. So I also finished up with my 20s. Over. Done With. Entering another decade now.... a bit surreal. I can't say this is how I would have imagined myself at 30, but hey, my dissertation is done, so everything else is gravy as far as I am concerned.

Anyway, my old friend E from Iceland (who, for those of you who don't know, was my college roommate) sent me a fabulous gift.

I LOVE my "I'm saving up for Knitting Lessons" bank- and my little wooden sheepy keychain and a fun book to read, and a fabulous magnet (I laughed so hard, that I was sobbing when I saw that magnet) and stickers! Such a nice gift, and it came all the way from Iceland!!! Thanks E!

Anyway, the next few days will be quiet. It too early to pack yet, so I think I will just take it easy. I have to start making lists for the move (addresses I need to update- things I need to do- etc, etc) but today I am doing one thing.

I am organizing the stash.

Yup. All 12 bins.

Will let ya know how that goes, what with me on this finishing kick and everything.

Wooster

My friend J and I set out for towards the siren call of the Great Lakes Fiber fest in Wooster, OH yesterday.

I was resolute- I would not break the yarn diet for this festival. I would only buy unique stuff- and I was looking for a spindle to spin lace-weight on.

As we hummed along in J's Prius, I counted all the Amish in their buggies that we passed along the way, and J remarked on the flowers and trees that were in bloom. We passed conventional farmers in tractors plowing fields, Amish with draft horses plowing fields, and in one instance, saw a German shepard happily chasing birds away from his field.

It was a bright sunny day, and clothing floated on the clotheslines next to the farmhouses that we passed, and the grass was green and the birds were chirping. The fact that I live in farm country is still often shocking for this city girl, but I thought that I better soak it up before I leave for the heat, scrub, and flying roaches and Texas.

So we found our way to the Wayne County fairgrounds and pulled in.

Wandered our ways through the barns where we were greeted by this:

And these cute guys:

They were freshly shorn as you might have noticed.... and this little guy, who apparently did not like having his pictures taken.

J and I wandered four barns full of vendors, and we were overwhelmed. So much stuff- so much fiber and yarn, so much craziness!!!!! We did our first walk-through and then went back looking for what we thought we might want. Then we took a break and watched some of the sheep showing.

Then we went back and scored more stuff. 

After a few hours, it started to get unbearably hot. I think we were both wilting from heat and being overwhelmed so we had lunch at a cute bistro in Wooster, and drove back, passing through rolling hills, and farmland.

When I got home and unloaded my stuff and looked at it all, I was amazed at how much I had bought- it didn't seem like that much when I carried it to the car!

Two four ounce bags of natural alpaca roving, 1 bag of hot pink silk/wool roving. Three slivers of sea silk roving, one Brittney crochet hook, four little bags of dyed silk hankies, and one skein of tussah silk.  I also got one large handmade yarn container (and out of work tailor was selling them and they were super inexpensive and nice- I kinda wish I had gotten a second one) and one teeny sock yarn container- the green one with the bugs fabric.

The fiber was all reasonably priced, and the sea silk is shimmery and soft and just lovely. But my big coup was this:

A handmade roving basket with a spindle carrying slot and a teeny- tiny Greensleeves spindle- it only weighs .3 ounces an it is perfect for spinning the fussy seasilk with.

Look how tiny this is- here is my "hearts" spindle- a regular sized (I think 1.7 ounce) production spindle, next to my itty bitty greensleves spindle.

And look at that yummy, shimmery seasilk- I am still trying to figure out how to spin it, but my little spindle seems to like to spin it very fast and very fine. (Like thread- I will have to ply it even to get lace-weight yarn.)

Notice- I did not break my yarn diet. Yup. Despite the haul, I brought home no yarn. Now, I have loads of spindle spinning to do. 

Swirly

Today I shipped off a massive box of yarn scraps to a charity knitter in Maine.  I had lots of half-used skeins of acrylic and acrylic blends that I know that I will never knit. I didn't want to take them with me, and I doubted that I would ever used them, and the yarn just made me feel weighted down. Its gone now. I still have 12 bins of yarn to deal with, but I am going to reconfigure the stash again and get everything sorted and figure out what I have. I think at times I forget what I have.

Meanwhile, I am trying to finish up a mess of UFOs this month. Classes are over, grades are in, and while I have my dissertation to finish next week, after that I have a month off, with only packing to do. So time to finish up some projects. 

I have made a good start- last night I finished off a scarf that is a gift for my friend T.

This is a fabulous scarf- although it got a bit aggravating at the end. It is the Swirl scarf- from Shibui knits. The yarn is one skein of Shibui knits Silk Cloud, a super soft silk/mohair blend (it might be my favorite silk/mohair blend ever). I bought it last week at the Yarn Barn in San Antonio, and knit it mostly while traveling back to Ohio. It is a gift for my friend T- she just passed her PhD defense. 

A few notes about the pattern- I bound off two rows before the pattern called for, and I am glad I did because I would have run out of yarn... also the bind off takes forever because you have to bind off 1281 stitches. 

Next- I have two shawls, two pairs of socks, and sleeves on a sweater to complete. I have to pick my next project to work on to knock down all these UFOS- I think maybe the socks will be next, because they are so satisfying. 

Will be going to the fiber fest in Wooster this weekend with my friend JCoop. Gonna get lots of pictures, and I hope we have tons of fun!!!

Everything's bigger in Texas

Yeah- Guess where I was this last week?

The good news: I found a nice apartment close to the school.

The bad news: I discovered that in Texas, some of the roaches fly. And they are almost as big as my hand.

Egads.

So Texas. My trip was mostly uneventful in terms of travel. Had an easy plane ride, met my friends in San Antonio- ended up with a silver rental sports car (that was unexpected- and there is no way a Mitsubishi Eclipse is a "mid-sized" car.")

We drove around town looking at places the first day until I was so flummoxxed and exhausted that I wanted to cry. It was hot, hot and hotter the entire time. I found myself overwhelmed by the highways, the city, all the people and the GPS who we named "Loretta," which occasionally got me lost. And I discovered the roaches fly. Texas. I am moving to Texas.

And I think that is what happened to me. I realize that I am moving to a new place, for my first big job--my time as a student is drawing to an end (this year in Ohio was a weird hybrid of being a student and faculty member because I had a fancy fellowship, but because I also taught and went to meetings- etc.) My advisor approved the final edits on my dissertation and I have to make them next week and submit the thing and I should be done by the end of next week and that is slightly overwhelming. (I have a defense date set for August.) I mean, its all big life change here, and its me doing this all by myself. Moving to Texas. Gotta make new friends, gotta teach classes I have never taught before. Have to be a grown-up now. Shoot.

And the thing is, I got really fond of this tiny little college town I live in. Its so sleepy and quiet and everyone is so nice and Midwestern, that I really kinda fell in love with it over the year. My life is nice- its quiet and not so rush, rush around- which is how things will be in Texas. (The rushing, not the quiet).

Anyway.... I found a place- its a one-bedroom, that is a bit smaller than the one I live in at the moment but close to campus and in a nice neighborhood. I met some future colleagues- all generous souls, that I think I am going to like a lot. I discovered the wonder that is Taco Taco (the best taco in America according to Food Network, and I am thinking that they nailed that one) and I found what will be my LYS in Texas (Called the Yarn Barn and the ladies are very nice.)

Eventually I will get used to the heat and crazy drivers, the trucks, and the city. Its just funny how as a city person, I got so un-used to the city. North Carolina was terribly suburban and the town I live in is down-right rural here in Ohio, so I think I got used to the slower pace of life. Life.Is.Not.Slow. in San Antonio.

All the same I discovered the Central market with its watermelon juice and other goodies (thanks to a fellow blogger- you know who you are). Lots of great dive places to eat, and wandered the Riverwalk with my friends (very pretty- you have to go sometime.) The city shifts very quickly from neighborhood to neighborhood but I liked the working class flavor of it. People were generally nice, and some spoke in a wide Texas drawl. Yeah Texas. And I am moving there.

Lots of birds, roaches that fly and apparently, snakes and scorpions. (Went to a faculty member's house who lived on 10 acres on the edge of the city and as we walked in he casually says to us " Watch out girls, and don't take off your shoes, occasionally scorpions get inside. Don't worry I have Benedryl." Yikes.)

I think it will be okay- but it is gonna be a major life change here. 

Anyway, I have to finish grading my student's finals and I am going to the Great Lakes fiber show in Wooster, OH this weekend. Gonna be fun. Will take lots of pictures there (forgot to take many pictures in Texas.) And will be getting back to knitting soon. June is gonna be dedicated to finishing up UFOS and figuring out what I am gonna do with all that stash, because my new apartment does NOT have abundant closet space. Ack.

Visitin' Texas

Tomorrow I am getting on a plane to Texas to go looking for a new abode. This is both exciting and scary at the same time. The realization has dawned on me that I am about to actually start my real life... no longer a student or a special fellow or anything like that. I will actually be an assistant professor in a department, and making a life in a totally unknown place. Aside from my interview I have never been to Texas, I am unfamiliar with San Antonio and the thought of returning to city life is mildly overwhelming.

My best friend is coming with me- (she is meeting me in Texas- she's flying from the West Coast) to help me grapple with this transition. It is already hot down there- well into the 90s, so packing was an exercise in surrealism, because I packed all my new hot weather clothes that I have not worn yet (it is still cool here in Ohio.)

I am moving to Texas. Weird. My father's family left Texas decades ago because my Grandmother hated it there (back when it was segregated and back when Mexican-Americans counted as "colored") and went to California--to  a place they saw as more liberal and urbane... and now I am moving to Texas. A bit of of a a full circle thing. What I saw of Texas during my interview, I liked, but for the next week, I will have a rental car and the chance to explore. 

And I am a bit sad to leave northern Ohio. Over this year I was charmed by small town life.--totally unlike anything I have ever experienced before. Like last weekend.... Our town had its annual "Big Parade" which is basically an excuse to construct funny floats and dress up wacky. I stood on the side of the street and watched cheered and shouted with the rest of the town.

You see- person in awesome homemade cockatoo suit.

How about the really cool bicycle float?

Or finally- my favorite- the giant Chicken?

I think that one was my favorite.

You see- I will miss the charms of small-town life..... but now its time to move on. Its time to go to Texas.....

More about it when I get back (and more about knitting too! I have started a pair of Monkey socks and they are lots of fun!)