Snow Day!

Another snowy day in Seattle. I don't remember having this many "snow days" off from school when I was a kid growing up in Seattle... this is our third of the year. It really couldn't have come at a better time, though. I really needed the rest. I got to sleep in just a little today and I'm still in my pajamas. Feeling much, much better.

Discovered a few weeks ago, thanks to Almost Felted Lauren, I believe, that Knitty Gritty is now being re-run on HGTV. I don't have DIY so I'm enjoying these episodes. It's fun to see familiar bloggers and designers, like Marnie, Jenna, Kristi, Shannon, and Candi. I haven't seen very many projects on the show that I must knit. Hello, fun fur steering wheel cover and matching dice? However, I'm a mostly self-taught knitter -- a friend helped me with casting on and the knit stitch a few years ago and I hit the ground running with my Stitch 'N Bitch in hand -- so watching these shows is fun. In many of the episodes I see how someone does a technique quite fluidly (like picking up and knitting stitches, something that for a long time I did really awkwardly), or shows a different cast-on than I'm used to using. So it's a fun, quicko, 22 minute thing to unwind with after work while I cuddle with the peanut and the Mr. gets dinner started.

Speaking of picking up stitches, I'm seaming up Jemima today and looking forward to wearing this pulli in the wintry weather.

Did you see Sarah's finished Lucky cardi? It looks so cute on her. I didn't finish mine. I started it without really thinking about how the dimensions would work for me... and put it down about halfway through when I realized that I should have made it longer and done a few other minor adjustments. So it's nice to see one that's Mission Accomplished in the true sense of the word, not in the GWBush sense. heh.

Just watched An Inconvenient Truth last night. Holy shizzle. I knew things were getting serious but the film was quite eye opening. Please see it soon if you haven't already. Melissa at Neoknits has been talking about global warming lately and SuperGirl's Blog featured links from Slate last month about steps we can all take to help out our poor planet.

Must get back to seaming, adios!

No, You Won't.

I saw this meme going around and decided to look mine up just for fun.

Here are the "rules"
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five people to do the same.


"I wonder if I'll be done with Mariah in time?" (to start the Lucky Clover Along on March 1, 2005).

HA! Good one.

Anybody want it? You're it!

Back and Undefeated!

First off, thanks to everyone who sent a supportive comment about the miserably unattractive Ribby. After a day or two of supreme funk, I understood that the sweater could either be fixed, donated, or saved for future maternity wear (ha!), and to hell with it, I'm going to keep working on Lucky.

So that's what I've been doing this week, knitting Lucky and becoming chemically dependent on Jack Bauer and 24 on DVD. (Also, Mr. and I went to see Hitch at the cheap theater the other night. It was a cute, funny, romantic date movie. Kinda predictable, but the actors kept it fresh.)

My luck is changing, though, which makes me feel all cosmically good. I'm buying a great car from a friend who's leaving with her husband and 3 year old to teach in Tanzania. I'm moving to 4th grade next year with an awesome new teammate. I'm looking forward so much to going to Hawaii with my husband next month, where we'll also be celebrating our 5 year anniversary.

Now back to the mundaneness of home ownership: scrubbing the kitchen floor while hubby blasts Mars Volta from the basement as he stains the new wood cabinets he built in our laundry room. I don't know if I'll drop first from the fumes, the noise, or the shock that I'm scrubbing my kitchen floor. :)

Geez, how many times is Law and Order on in one day?

I had a gloriously uneventful weekend, no plans, so hubby and I got lots of house and yard work done, and I got to knit a lot. Especially on Saturday. There were a couple of times when Mr. Goodkarma came upstairs and noticed that I was watching Law and Order and knitting. After a few hours, he huffed, "geez, how many times is this show on in one day???" Come on! You know it's a great show to knit to! All that snappy dialogue is great for those times when I have to look down and just listen. And besides, I *finally* finished the back of Lucky. Here it is in its unblocked and side-curly glory:

Binding off Lucky's back felt like hitting a major milestone. Lucky is not a quick knit in any stretch of the imagination. The fabric that elann's Baby Cashmere is creating is soooo yummy. I can't wait to wear this. And the rich teal peacock color is so beautiful... hard to photograph, though.






In sad knitty news, one of my coworkers' mothers passed away recently, and I found this little bundle on my desk the other day with a note asking if I could use some of her knitting needles:

Of course I accepted, and then later remembered how much more I love using circs than straights. So if anyone out there is fascinated by vintage pink packaging and aluminum 14" straights the remaining pair of #5 vintage aluminum 14" straights, sans packaging, let me know. Our dear friend, Grumperina, who really isn't grumpy at all, in my opinion, was the first to respond to my offer. There's also an interesting wooden pair of #35s that I will probably hold on to for now, just because I don't have anything nearly this size and I might want to knit a scarf for Shaq someday. haha!


Finally, I submitted to the Cotton Ease craze a few days ago. Here's what happened:
1. I saw this Scoop Du Jour pattern by Bonne Marie.
2. I saw a picture of the pattern, knitted up modeled by Heidi in Vanilla Cotton Ease (she's started her own in Manos and is hosting a KAL, too!) and thought, wow, that looks so cute and comfy on her.
3. I started hearing about Cotton Ease being discontinued, and folks were going out of their way to buy up whatever they could get their hands on.
4. Even though I usually go for natural fibers -- even way before I became a knitter -- I suddenly HAD to have 6 skeins of Cotton Ease.

Isn't it funny how we suddenly want something we never wanted before, just because others want it and it's not going to be easy to get anymore?

I picked up Blue Popsical (sic), mostly because it was one of the only colors the local Joann had that wasn't a (as Jodi says) sucky baby color. It's really intensely turquoisy summery blue:



I figure, the Rowan All Seasons Cotton I got for my Rebecca Aprikot Jacke is a cotton acrylic blend, this is similar but cheaper, no? So we'll see how I like it after all!

Finally, I got my color card in the mail from Zipperstop. I need to order zippers for my Ribby Cardi and my Mariah; I figured I might as well pay for a color card to have on hand for all the future cardis I'm going to knit, right?

Kickboxing and Socks

Busy, busy day. I have a student teacher who is very eager and wanting to do well, which is fantastic, but it takes a little more energy on TOP of the energy it takes to actually do my job. Whew.

So it was really nice when the library notified me that some knitting books that I'd requested had come in!



I've been trying to take advantage of my library tax dollars lately (can you say stacked iPod?) and thought I'd preview some knitting books before buying them. Lately, I'm interested in socks.

I also got a Kathy Smith Kickboxing DVD. Gotta sweat regularly to counteract the couch/knitting time, eh? I like Kathy Smith. I have this one on VHS but our VCR isn't connected right now... Mr. Goodkarma has set up some elaborate media connections that are so complex, he doesn't even know (want to deal with?) how to connect the VCR. Riiiiiiight.

And then I checked my email and received this message from Daily Knitter, a site that I stumbled upon just days ago:

Hi Good Karma -

 One of our readers recommended your blog. Great site!

 Have you visited the Daily Knitter?  http://www.DailyKnitter.com

 And if you are interested in adding a link to our site from yours, we are offering a giveaway right now. On May 20, 2005, we will randomly select a linked site to win three skeins of yarn. To enter, email us with a link to the appropriate webpage.

Sincerely,

Corinne
The Daily Knitter
http://www.DailyKnitter.com

How sweet is that? Someone recommended my young little blog. Wow. Now I feel like I'd better get some knitting done so I'll have something quality to write about. I ripped a few pattern repeats back on Lucky the other night. I'm back up to where I was and then some. I found out the hard way that Lucky isn't the best portable project after all. Once I got flowing, I got cocky about how easy the lace pattern was, and brought Lucky to work with me. Unfortunately, I have a very short lunch break and only got in a couple of rows at a time. Lucky is better to work on when you have a good hour (or more!) to *really* flow! Like right now!!

Progress Report

It's been a long week since I last posted. I got over a disgusting cold/flu thing, worked on my students' report cards, went to the annual Sock Hop at school, went to a 1st birthday party, visited a friend and her 2 week old baby girl on Vashon Island, saw Meet the Fockers at The Admiral, etc. etc! Loads of work and socializing, not a lot of time for knitting. However, I do have something to share, including a dirty little secret.

First up, progress on my Ribby Cardi. This poor little guy was put on hold as I started Mariah and then Lucky. I had it all seamed up except for setting in the sleeves and knitting up the collar, and just kind of put it aside. Why? My husband keeps asking me why I start new projects when I have some that aren't finished yet. I've definitely become a *process* knitter, too excited by all the projects I want to make to finish up the ones I've started. I know, I know, my mother would give me that look. So last Sunday, while feeling quite flu-y, I camped out on the couch, watched Steel Magnolias, and got 'er done. Ribby still needs a zipper and some ends to be woven in. This picture makes her Aubergine sleeves look quite dark. Also, I realized after all my seaming that I stretched the ribbing too much when I blocked it originally, so it turned out a bit boxy. I'll be reblocking Ribby this week before getting a zipper. Soon, I hope to post a finished-and-modeled pic!

Here's my progress on Mariah. I've got about 4" of the yoke finished. At this point, I'm finally starting to feel like the rows are getting shorter. Whew! And what's that safety pin doing there, right near the raglan decrease line? Well.... after doing many, many rounds of the yoke, I noticed that I'd dropped a stitch right near the decreases. ACK! There was no way I was going to frog back thousands of stitches. I'm going to carry it back up as far as I can with my crochet hook and then tack it into place on the backside, carefully. I suppose a more dedicated or perfectionistic knitter would have ripped back the two or three inches (we're talking over 300 stitches per row), but not me. I am determined to make it work.

Next, I've been plugging away at Lucky now and then. It's the best project I have right now for portability, so it comes to work with me for lunchtime stitching. It's good to have different projects going at once, especially if they're at different gauges so your hands don't get bored! I've got 6" of the back piece done. That's all. But for a busy week, I'm satisfied with what I was able to accomplish.

Finally, here's my dirty little secret. I've had this Surplice Cardi on my "Current Projects" sidebar for months. I started it in October on a train ride to Portland, and of course it's been *this* close to wearable for months and months. The original pattern called for 3/4 sleeves, and I lengthened them to full length sleeves... in fact, I went overboard and need to rip back some length! I need to reblock it, too, though, and that's just not as exciting as the cables of Mariah or the clover lace pattern of Lucky, so it's been sitting in my knitting basket for all this time. Poor thing. Also, I hate the thin crocheted ties prescribed by the pattern, so I want to take the sweater out on the town with me and find a nice ribbon replacement. By the way, the color here is really flashified (washed out). Lichen Cascade Lana d'Oro is a really rich olivey foresty color. It's heavenly to work with, too!!

Finally, I leave you with a little something cheerful and springy from my back deck. It's impossible to be gloomy when these happy daffs are smiling at you! Have a great week, everyone!




.

Show and Tell!

I've spotted a couple of goodkarma pieces around town and I thought I'd share...

First up, we have a lovely picture of my sis, bro in law and niecie Alyssa at bro in law's swearing-in ceremony for the police department. We are all so proud of him! And then we notice that niecie is wearing her Christmas pressie! Look at the yummy Karabella Aurora 8 yarn and how it matches her cheeks. Holy cow, I want to pinch them as I type. Lucky for her, she's walking all over the place now, so even if she were here she would be able to run away from auntie.

Then, while I was looking through photos from our school's Lunar New Year Multicultural Parade, I noticed that Luna was wearing her Haiku! Here she is with her gorgeous mama.

So, okay, neither sweaters fit their intended lovlies just yet, but they're growing so stinking fast that the next time I try to get a picture, the sweaters will be too small.

More sharing to come this weekend, I promise. I have a yucky cold and all I want to do is stay in and knit. I'm a bit stalled on Mariah (want to re-check my math before I get too deep into the yoke), so have got a bit of progress going on Lucky.

You Must Be Yoking!

This has been a really sucky week. I'm a teacher in the public school system and we've been having yucky, horrible budget talks all week, which have been stressful, emotional, and frustrating.

Although much of my stress was relieved with great workouts, I can almost scientifically attest to the wonders of therapeutic knitting. Exhibit A: Mariah. In the past week, I've finished up all of the pieces, connected them, and knit a couple of inches of the yoke. Much of this was done during American Idol (Why did Mario have to drop out?!), I must admit, and various and sundry DVDs, thanks to Netflix.

So far, this has been a really interesting project. I've become very comfortable with the cabling pattern and doing it without a cable needle. It's the first project I've done like this, knitting the pieces from the bottom up and then connecting and knitting the yoke as one. At first, each of those rounds felt like it was 8 miles long (and the thing weighs 50 pounds!), but the raglan decreases are helping to speed things up, I promise. I hope to finish the yoke this week and then I'll have to make a decision about the hood. Do I want a hood? Do I want a collar? I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them, Sam I Am!

I also cast on Lucky and have knit the ribbing for the back. That's all. I really want to finish up some of my other projects before starting something new, but all of them are so ginormous that they're not practical for bringing places, like awful budget meetings.

So I bring you my lovely friends, Julian and Lennon. They make me happy when skies are grey. Truly. They follow me around the house -- well, Julian does -- and we have kitty conversations. Meow? Meow!

Julian says, "Hey, mom, put that camera away
and play ribbon tag with me some more!"

Lennon says, "Hey, why ya gotta wake me up?"

I'm sure this week will be better!

Baby Cashmere

I just noticed that elann has more Baby Cashmere.

The peacock color I'm using is more of a blue teal; on this page it looks more greeny.

I feel Lucky tonight.

I think I'm suffering from Start-itis.

Ever since the Lucky Along started and everyone began talking about the pattern, showing their pictures, etc., I've been eyeballing those 18 balls of Peacock Baby Cashmere set aside for my own Lucky.

I swatched tonight. The pattern calls for #3 (3mm) needles. My #3 (addi turbo) needles are 3.25mm. So I gave 'em a try. It felt loose and baggy, like the way your fat jeans feel on you after you've lost a bunch of weight. So I switched to my #2 (3mm) addis... so amazing what a difference .25mm made! That felt much better.

Lace pattern? Fun! Baby cashmere? Delicious! It's so soft and yummy, I want to kiss it. I think my husband would give me weird looks though. Ah, what's new?

Here's a scan of my swatchie.
The top part is knit with the better fitting #2 addi. Too bad the scanner doesn't fully appreciate the beautiful color of this yarn. It's more of a dark teal, hence the name (Peacock). That's okay, my digi camera understands my sense of color much better and I'll take photos later as I progress.

So Lucky Together

Lolly just started a Lucky-A-Long. I'm so excited! I bought elann's Baby Cashmere for this a month or two ago, which was smart, 'cause it's all gone now. The KAL starts officially March 1. I wonder if I'll be done with Mariah in time?