The Film Noir Experience

Every knitter has a stash of yarn. I don't have a large stash. I have some homespun from a friend (for sock knitting), some of my own homespun, some natural fiber sock yarn from the festivals I visited this fall, some nice acrylic and a large-ish amount of cotton yarn that was the wrong weight for what I wanted to use it for.

And, I've managed to, so far, keep the kittens out of the stash. That is, I managed to keep the kittens out of the stash until last night. I had some tangles that I had to reorganize, so I did. And, that got Kingsley interested. Which got Cooper interested. Now my living room is criss-crossed with yarn from different balls being pushed from one end of the room to the other. They even got into the handspun that was in a freezer bag. I'm going to have to hide some of the stuff in my closet, I think.

Posted by Kate at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I've not done a lot of knitting recently, something about trying to coax kittens out from under the bed. (Although, I have been able to get a few rows of my Guyfriend scarf I've been working on. Its a great pattern that I got out of the Simple 1-2-3 Knitting that I fished out of the Bargain Section at B&N. What a great find that book has turned out to be. But, last night, while I was sleeping, the kittens discovered two things:

1. The scarf I was working on.
2. The article I was reading.

How do I know this? I know this because when I woke up this morning to find my yarn criss-crossed all over the floor. And, I know they found the article because when I went to read it a second time, I noticed tiny little kitty bite marks in the pages. My apartment is not really kitten-proof. I've known that since the beginning. However, I'm starting to think about what that means.

The plus side of this is, they are both starting to decide that I'm pretty cool. Much like yesterday, when I got home from class Cooper was again napping in my bed and he let me pet him. Unwittingly, he is helping me trick his brother into liking me by purring. He starts purring and then his brother wants to know what is so cool that he is purring.

Kingsley came out from under the bed earlier because of this purring trick. He got a treat for it. Yup, I'm still bribing them.

Posted by Kate at 08:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

So, Tuesday I get up and go to school and its frighteningly cold. It would have been unfair, but hey, this is Buffalo and it is nearly November. While I was walking in the cold and the damp with some of my fellow students from one building to another we saw the first snowflake dance from the grey October sky to the ground.

Great.

I took an inventory of cold weather clothes when I got home and realized the following: I have no hats, gloves or scarves. Somehow, all of those things got left in Iowa.

Good thing I'm a knitter who just finished spinning the wool for my very own (although not in those colors) Jayne Cobb's big damn hat. *Sigh* Good thing its nearly November and I'm nearing the end of my first semester as a PhD student.

I figured the easiest thing that could be sorted out was the scarf. So, yesterday after Semantics I collected my friend Lena and we were off to the A.C. Moore (which is no Hobby Lobby) to look for yarn. I picked a skein of Patons Bohemian in Wandering Wines. (Its name is much better in French: Vins Errant. I'm using my 10 mm (US 15) sized needles, hoping that I'll just tear through it. I very well may. I also might have to go back to the store and pick up another skein.

I also picked up a couple of skeins of their new stretch sock yarn. I don't have a problem. I can quit any time I want.

Posted by Kate at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I've been learning to spin. The idea of it was first brought to my attention by E. One can micromanage a project, getting all the entertainment one's air element would desire...one can pick out the fleece, pick out the dye, wash, card, dye, card, spin, ply and knit a project...all while compulsively feeling fiber.

I bought a drop spindle at the Knox Farm Fiber Festival and what I thought was going to be enough wool to make a pair of socks. I'm not sure at the moment if socks are what is going to come of my first attempt at spinning. It seems a little lumpy and inconsistent (read: designer) to make for a comfy pair of socks.

However, it may just make a nice Jayne Cobb Hat. (Although, not in those colors. I was intending to make socks, remember.)

I didn't buy the fleece, I bought roving, which is wool that is all cleaned and combed in the same direction and set to spin. I have this fantastic navy cashgora roving (its a kind of goat. I know this, not only because I looked it up, but because there was a picture of a goat on the bundle.) Previously, I had been spinning this fantastic shetland wool that was naturally grey and white.

My reward for being a good little worker bee yesterday was ending the evening by watching a couple more episodes of Spooks. Not only did I get to enjoy fantastic spy drama, but I also made it half way through the cashgora, which means I'm getting closer to learning how to knit a hat!

Posted by Kate at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It is Yom Kippur and I do not have class tomorrow. I had a fabulous plan for this evening. After Speech Perception Lab and UB Knitters, I was off to the grocery store to get a frozen pizza, some mozzarella, and some mushrooms. I was going to tart up the pizza (with the mushrooms and mozzarella) more myself a glass of wine and watch me some Spooks. (Its on Netflix under MI-5). But, I can't just buy one meal whilst at the shop. I have to get meals for at least three days. So, I did. And, when I grabbed the bags out of the car, the bag with the eggs in it slid out of my hand and introduced itself to the ground.

Swell.

Now, this really isn't that big a deal. I bought the eggs so that I could use the leftover mushrooms to make a tasty egg omelette. I just wasn't planning on doing it tonight. Or, doing it on a nine-egg scale. That's right, I bought a dozen eggs and had to cook three-quarters of them tonight because they were already broken inside their lovely little insulated case.

The good news, I suppose, is that I got to watch the Spooks episode from the first season with Hugh Laurie in it.

Posted by Kate at 07:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm in a competitive Knit Along on Ravelry and a new pattern came out on Thursday. This was perfect timing for me because, even though this means that I'm a whole sock behind the rest of the knit along I had just finished a project and so was in perfect position to cast on.

So, I frogged a scarf that I found when I unpacked my boxes of books (it had some unintentional increases and decreases in places it shouldn't have them) and I sat down to try to make some progress on this new pair while watching the glorious Michael Weston pretend to be a weakling with asthma. The pattern was inspired by The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe and I was very excited about it.

Sadly, I could not get the cast on ( for which I found a online tutorial) using my double pointed needles. I finally gave up, frogged that, too, and decided I would take this opportunity to investigate a Michaels that is near an awesome mall not far from my house (but further than the Michaels at the Mall just practically down the street from my house.)

When I reached my reading threshold for Friday afternoon, I put myself in the car and headed out that way. I wandered around the Michaels (which had a better yarn selection than the one near my house) and filled my basket with some lovely Bernat yarn in some pretty, pretty colors that was on sale! Excellent. I also picked myself up a pair of circular needles that were the same size so that I could make the Turkish cast on work.

I wandered around for a while, looking at their Halloween decor and just enjoying being alive in the Autumn in Buffalo as a first year PhD student ( one has to enjoy such moments as this is only time I will ever be a first year PhD student...or, at least I hope this is the only time I will ever be a first year PhD student.) and then I made my up to the counter. There was one register opened and then the customer service desk. I was in line behind an adorable gay couple buying a floating ghost. The woman at customer service finished up what she was doing and said she could help whoever was next, I deferred to the couple, but they told me to go ahead.

The woman started scanning my yarn and said, "Wow, those are down to a dollar now?" And, we had a nice little chat about yarn and needlecraft. She gave me the total and as I was about to swipe my card, she said, "Wait a minute, I don't work tomorrow." She reached into her apron and pulled out a friends and family coupon. Apparently, it was friends and family weekend and she had them to give discounts to her people. But, she gave it to me! I was shocked. That was so kind.

So, I'm thinking that I may, when I'm done with these socks, pop back over to Michaels (pick up some more yarn) and give her the socks. Unless I chicken out because that's a little weird.

Posted by Kate at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So, I'm sitting down after dinner to turn a few rounds on my sock before settling in to see how much reading I can get done while watching Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal make tennis look easy and there is just something wrong with the sock.

The good news is, I believe there is something further down in my Ravelry queue that I can make in Wasp Woman yellow instead of lime green.

Posted by Kate at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I have three days of school under my belt. I am watching the first round of the US Open, (currently, Andy Roddick is two sets and five games up on Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro) and I am knitting up a wasp woman sock. I am not particularly happy with how its coming so far. The yarn I bought (I went through the Yarndex and picked something different from what was recommended) is an all-cotton yarn and normally I like that for socks. So far, they are a little stiff and there is not a lot of give. But, I am not trying to focus on it because Autumn is arriving. And, I couldn't be more excited about it.

Something that I enjoyed about Iowa was Autumn. You would get up for your morning classes and get to watch the mist rise up off of the river. That is lovely, in addition to the changing of the leaves and the crisp, cool air and all the wonderful fruits and vegetables that come into season. The past few years I've been remembering Iowa Autumn while trudging through the constant drizzle of Cardiff. (Not that I'm complaining now, nor was I complaining then.) I am really looking forward to experiencing the Fall in another part of the World.

Posted by Kate at 02:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I am about three quarters of the way through knitting a pair of socks. It is very gratifying knitting socks. You can see the progress, thirty rows and then you have a heel. Another thirty rows and you have a gusset.

Plus, when all you want to do is sit around and relax and not really do anything, you can knit while you're vegging out and you are still being productive. For example, today I turned a heel. I haven't made lunch and I went out and bought coffee, but I've turned a heel. (Even when I'm taking time off, I'm still a Domestic Goddess.) Once you do that, you're home free when it comes to knitting socks. Now I just have to pick up the slipped stitches, decrease and finish off the puppy. I might even be able to wear them tomorrow.

This pair of socks that I'm knitting have come out of a book that I found in the bargain section at Barnes and Noble. It is knit out of a sport weight yarn that is one hundred percent cotton, so they will be really nice when they are done. This pattern has been really easy to follow, and I already have a pattern picked out for what I'm going to knit next. I've actually added a number of things to my Ravelry queue. I'm pretty excited about everything I've got coming up in the next couple of months. (Including starting my PhD program tomorrow!)

Posted by Kate at 07:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm sitting at my kitchen table, drinking Pomegranate Cherry Crystal Light and finishing off the only blueberry scone I didn't freeze. And, I'm thinking, "They could have used more blueberries." And, "I shouldn't have worked the dough as much as I did." But, given that they came from a Weight Watchers recipe for two point scones. I think they came out pretty well. And, I'm sure that come November when I'm defrosting them for a quick breakfast before I jet off to class, I won't have any complaints. (Plus, the thought of eating a scone that was at one time frozen that isn't going to make me itch with some crazy allergic reaction pleases me to no end.)

I have noticed the last couple of days that I've had a number of Bridget Jones moments. For example, the title of this entry. I find that I've been making statements, typically about myself, without including the subject. (Which wouldn't be odd, except that English isn't a pro-drop language.) Now, if I were speaking to myself in Spanish...things would be different. I've also had a number of moments similar to Bridget's "This is Bridget Jones for Sit Up Britain, Searching for Tuna." Only in my case, its more like, "My name is Kate, and I approve this scone."

Yesterday saw the accomplishment of the following things:

1. I eyeballed the amount of blueberries and decided I could in fact make three more recipes from them.

2. Went to the store and procured the odds and ends that I didn't have to complete these three recipes. (You know, important things like baking powder and buttermilk.)

3. Blueberry Buckle. My Blueberry Buckle didn't actually buckle like it was supposed to. It rose. Significantly. I think maybe my pan was a little too small. But, the bit that I snuck tasted pretty good so I'm not complaining about that, either.

Doesn't that look tasty?

4. Blueberry Scones. A dozen of them.

Mmm...Scones.

5. Blueberry Muffins. These guys came from another Weight Watchers recipe. While I'm not really a big fan of the Weight Watchers program, Weight Watchers dieters have a knack for creating tasty, low-fat, high fiber recipes. (I have a lot of respect for the whole point system. And, I can see where it would be helpful. I just seem to go better when I eat a lot of vegetables as opposed to counting a lot of points.)
There were a dozen of these bad boys as well.

Yummy.

6. Since having a house full of baked goods isn't necessarily good for the waist line (even if two of the recipes were diet recipes) I decided most of the goodness needed to go in the freezer. Not really trusting my quart sized ziploc bags to be seriously freezer proof, I followed a suggestion from my Mother and wrapped everything in foil. The blueberry buckle was easy. The muffins and scones were more of a challenge. In the end, I decided to wrap each piece individually (thus making the easier to thaw one at a time). I also tossed some of the blueberries I had left into the freezer as well. It'll be nice, come December, to have a little taste of summer (even if they are a little squishy.) Besides, frozen berries make the best smoothies.

7. After everything was cleaned and sorted, I finished knitting a pair of socks I'm making for my Father. I had intended to do a bit of the Knitting Olympics this year, even if it wasn't going on officially anywhere else (Which isn't true, Ravelry has been holding the Ravelympics.) So, the plan was I cast on during the opening ceremony, I knit while I watch the games, and I'm done by the closing ceremonies. That didn't quite work out. But, I have been knitting while I've been watching everything from rowing and boxing to Jamaica sweeping the 100m finals last night. Now, these socks that I started in December ( I know! Eep.) for my Father are done!

8. My night didn't stop there. As if all that wasn't enough, I cast on a brand new sock once I was finished. I haven't knit a pair of socks for myself in over a year now. I have decided its time. Plus, this is giving me a chance to check out the patterns in a book I found at Barnes and Noble. Simple 1-2-3 Knitting has a lot of really cute things in it. The sort of things you make and give away to people you love. I'm knitting the "ribby sock" out of it. It took a few rounds to sort out what I was doing (I hardly had to back up at all. Although, I did try to knit needle four as if it were needle one once.)

And, that's where it ends. I was pretty tired at that point, and can you blame me?

Posted by Kate at 02:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So, awhile ago I was talking to my friend Jack about various and sundry things and the topic of knitting came up. Jack has a thing for "arm socks" by which I assumed he meant leg warmers for your arms. Or, maybe long fingerless gloves. This is an ideal project for me, as I am frequently cold and am always looking for extra things I can put on to warm up the bits and pieces that make up me. (For example, right now I'm wearing a cuddle duds top, a hoodie, and extra thick socks while I'm wrapped in a duvet because everyone else seems to run 10 degrees warmer (colder?) than me and I'm the only one that realizes that its actually dropped below 50 degrees.) I've had alot of free time standing around at my job when there were no customers around and I'd run out of things to straighten and dust so I've given this some thought. And, I think I can do it. I think I can make "arm socks" with a skull and crossbones on them and a little thumb whole. And, I think they will be awesome. So very awesome that I'll obviously have to make a pair for Jack, too, as he inspired the project. And, then Jack and I can wear our arm socks out and everyone can be envious of how cool we are.

Or, you can be embarrassed that you are out and about with someone who is approaching thirty and wearing leg warmers for your arms. We'll see how it goes.

Posted by Kate at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

You know how sometimes you finished something, it gets you all fired up to do more? That's how I feel right now, all fired up to knit and podcast about all these different things.

Its a really great feeling.

I have been online drooling over yarn all morning, thinking, "Oh, I can do this for this person's birthday and wouldn't it be nice to do that for Christmas!"

I am very excited. Sadly, most of my shopping will have to wait a few more weeks. However, it doesn't hurt to look, does it?

But, that is just knitting. The podcasting I can get onto right away. I have been working on sorting out the RSS feed for the show, so that I can submit it to iTunes and then you can just download it from there. (If you subscribe to it, every time I put up a new episode, it will download automatically. How cool is that?) A big thanks to John R. for helping me with the RSS feed and for helping find a website to do it for me. Now, if I could just get Yahoo's site builder to fall in line, I'd be sorted.

Now, I will delve back into my research, which I'm hoping will make for some good pieces for my next pod show!

Posted by Kate at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Even though I still have a sock to finish (and I can't remember what I did with the pattern for it, so it is on temporary hold...like everything else in my life right now) I am well on the hunt for a tank top pattern.

There was the one that I posted yesterday, but I was thinking about it overnight and I think what is fun about that pattern is the type of yarn that it calls for....and I also think that type of yarn that is called for might make me look older than I am (and not in the good way) when I wore the tank top. I don't know.

On an unrelated note: This is a recipe for homemade ginger ale.

Back to knitting. I have two other patterns that are now in the running:

The first is this one:

the asana top. It doesn't seem too complicated, it was inspired by yoga (hence the name.)

And, the second pattern, which seems a little more complicated (but I'm reasonably confident I could figure it out) is here: Knitting for Boozehags tank top pattern. First off, the website that its on...how great is that? Knitting for Boozehags? That just makes me want to pour a glass of wine and break out the knitting needles and some swing music. Also, check out the graphics on that page. For those of you that don't know, I have a thing for that style of art work...anything from between like, 1910-1930, or anything in that sort of Glaswegian, Charles Rennie Mackintosh sort of style...I am so there.

So, if you are one of my seven readers, and you also happen to be a knitter, let me know what you think of these patterns.

Posted by Kate at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Recently, while I was listening to Cast On, the wonderful podcast by Brenda Dayne it occurred to me that I will never grow as a knitter if I do not branch out from what I can do into the realm of things that I may be able to do but that I don't know for sure that I can do.

Does that make sense?

So, I've decided that I am going to make a tank top. So, this morning I've started to look for patterns. I think I found one that I can make with fun yarn, that will be in the round until you get to the arm holes and then it splits. The pattern is here.

I'm pretty excited about my new potential project.

Also, this is the first entry in the category "knitting". I'm a little surprised by this.

Posted by Kate at 02:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)