Archive for October, 2006Page 2 of 3

Put On Yer Socking Shoes 16Oct06


8 Comments - you know you want to

So it’s Socktoberfest, and I have some recently finished socks, some socks on the needles and more socks planned in my notebook. The only thing that I’m lacking is a sweet pair of shoes to show off my socks. And this is where you come in. :) I’m looking for a pair of shoes that will be good for winter and will allow me to show off my sweet socks in style.

So far I’ve found these “Birkenstock Approved” Clogs (I’m thinking that means they’re knockoffs), but I’m not quite sure I’m a Birkenstock kinda guy. I think that’s more Stephanie’s forte. And these shoes aren’t exactly wet weather ready…

I also like these Merrell Jungle Mocs. They’d be good shoes for wearing to work and campus, and they’d go with my work attire of jeans and nice shirt well.

I don’t think I’m too much of a Crocs guy, they might get worn around the house, but I don’t think I’m up for wearing plastic shoes around town. EDIT (10/17): Just discovered these Croc Endeavors and they actually look pretty nice. I never really dug the whole holes in the top thing on the other styles, but I like this style a lot. I hear that Crocs are pretty comfy, and they’d definitely show off my socks. And they’re in my budget, a big plus.

So do you have any other suggestions? Maybe you have a pair of shoes that you like for yourself (if you’re a guy knitter) or that your husband/son/boyfriend likes for wearing with handknit socks (if you’re a girl knitter). Let me know, you could be the one who picks my winter shoes!

Oh, and Emma wants to show you her new haircut. She actually likes it, she’s just making the face because I’m making her pose. Ever the diva.

"I don't want to look cute for the camera."
"I don’t want to pose! You can’t make me!"
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Revenge of the Oily Wool 13Oct06


5 Comments - you know you want to

Ok, so the bad news first I suppose. I knit a few rounds on the oily project last night, and even though the stain isn’t visible anymore, well the oil is still there. My hands got all greasy and I just couldn’t do it, so with a big sigh I ripped it out. I’m going to be putting a whole lot of time and effort into this project, and I just want it to be as perfect as possible. And I wasn’t that far into the project, so I’m coping fairly well. I’m definitely going by Village Wools today to pick up some Bryspun DPNs, because I can’t stand those blasted bamboo ones I have, they just grip too much. Oh well, I had to learn the hard lesson that wool and food don’t mix well at some point eh?

Now in honor of today being both Yarn Pr0n Friday and Friday the 13th, I present “Attack of the Crinkly Wool Blob!”. The poor dogs were terrorized by this blob of wool all night, it was pretty scary.

he really wants to eat it "you're disturbing my sleep"
(I really tried hard to get them to have looks of sheer terror on their faces, but really all their looks are the same. Kinda like Blue Steel.)

But you know what? I’m not that sad about ripping out the oily wool? Why you ask? Well because it’s Socktoberfest, and I finished a sock! This sock will go into the “Christmas 2006″ drawer…now only 80,000 socks to go. This yarn is my 2400 MHz Merino Superwash, in a colorway that Carole helped name: Steelcut Oats. I dyed this skein a while ago, and decided to keep it for myself, party because I’m selfish, and because I wanted to actually knit something with my yarn to see how it came out. Well here it is!

socks for breakfast?
oatmeal with added fiber
just imagine them cooked up with brown sugar
the colors go better if you imagine the oats cooked up with some brown sugar…mmmm

I’m planning to cast on for this sock’s twin during tonight’s Battlestar Galactica, although I may be way too absorbed in the TV to do any knitting…last week was seriously the best 2 hours of TV I’ve ever watched (at least since the golden days of Alias, before it started sucking…)

Alright, I’m going to sign off now, but I’ll leave you with some more fibery goodness for Yarn Pr0n Friday. These 2 skeins were just dyed last weekend and are up in the shop now, both are 2400 MHz Merino Twist. Barber Pole and Finger Paint. Better hurry up and buy this before I hoard it all for myself!

barber pole - 2 finger painting - 3
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Oil Be Gone 12Oct06


3 Comments - you know you want to

Before I write about my happy success story involving the oil spot on the project that shall not be named, I’d like to congratulate Hazel for being the 300th commenter!. Nothing like winning free yarn just for typing eh? And thanks for all the comments everyone, you guys are awesome!

So last night I did a little more research into detergent, and into all the suggestions that were posted, and decided to give the project a synthrapol bath. I had considered using laundry detergent because I have this Method stuff that’s really good at getting out grease, but I read that laundry detergent isn’t a good choice because it usually has lots of additives in addition to the surfactants (the stuff that actually removes the grease). So I decided on Synthrapol, and figured it’d be best to give the whole thing a bath. So I cut the working yarn and let the project soak in the soapy solution for an hour or so. Then I said a prayer, rinsed it off and let it dry out overnight.

And lo and behold, this morning, no grease! The stain is gone and the wool isn’t visibly oily anymore, so I think it worked. There’s still a faint odor, but I was planning to soak the completed project in a lavender bath before blocking, so that should do the trick. I’m going to knit a few more rounds tonight and see how it feels and smells in my hands, but it appears we’re out of the woods. I’ll probably trash the ball of yarn to be safe, since it got some dressing on it, but I have bought plenty of extra yarn, so I should be safe. And it’s not crazy expensive, so I can buy more if I need to.

Alright, that’s it for now, but keep those comments coming! And it’s still Socktoberfest, and I finished a sock last night, so there’s lots more feet action to come. (I say this knowing that I risk readership of a few friends of mine who are grossed out by feet). But I promise I’ll always show my feet with socks on, I try to keep things PG rated around here.

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Ewwww…Oily Wool 11Oct06


17 Comments - you know you want to

So last night I attended the Albuquerque SnB meeting, to eat some good food and dessert and get my knit on. Those ladies are a riot too let me tell ya. The usual suspects were there, Scout, Carole, Noelle, Beth, etc., and I also met Cheryl, Molly, and a few others that I’m totally blanking on names now. Crap, I always do that!

Anyway, I was eating my dinner, having a nice time, when I looked over to the empty table next to me where I’d set my knitting stuff…and almost died. The project that shall not be named had a big spot of oily chinese dressing sitting on it. When the server brought my salad, the dressing fell off the plate onto the floor, but I hadn’t noticed that a big glop of it went flying onto my knitting. You can only imagine my horror at seeing a week’s worth of knitting sitting there with oily dressing on it. So I went and rinsed it in cold water on Carole’s advice, and then decided to try getting the grease out with some Dawn and hot water at home on Noelle’s suggestion.

Well, it kinda worked. The dawn did get out lots of the dressing, but there’s still a visible oil spot, and it leaves your fingers greasy when you touch it. I’m fearing that I might have to frog it. I suppose better now than 15 or 20 more rows later when there’s a couple hundred stitches in a round. But if you have any suggestions, I would very much appreciate them. I’m thinking about giving the whole thing a dunk in some hot water and synthrapol, since that’s what I use to scour and degrease my yarn before dyeing, and it works pretty well. At this point, I figure that there’s not much I can do to damage it since it seems destined for the frog pond. Cause I certainly don’t want to gift a project that’s oily and smells like chinese dressing.

Alright, enough wool tragedy. I’ll finish off this post with some pictures of my backyard that I took recently, since it makes me happy :) And I better enjoy it now, because soon enough winter will come and turn it all brown. And if anyone needs tomatoes, I have a tomato plant in the backyard that’s cranking them out faster than I can eat em. Really, please take them from me.

there's plenty more where those came from
come on guys, turn green!
my humble backyard - 3 my humble backyard - 9
the grass is receding like my hair line

Oh, and we’re almost to 290 comments, so that yarn will find a home anyday now!

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Delurk for Yarn? 10Oct06


11 Comments - you know you want to

Alright, here’s an official shop business post, but if you read on, you could win some yarn!

In keeping with my geekdom, I’ve rebranded my 3 base yarns with the following names and frequencies:

  • 900 MHz Merino Superwash: My fingering weight sock yarn, 100% merino wool, with a gauge of 8-10 st/in using #1-#3 needles.
  • 2400 MHz Merino Superwash: My sport weight sock (or hat/mitten/whatever else) yarn, 100% merino wool, with a gauge of 4-6 st/in using #4-#6 needles.
  • 2400 MHz Merino Twist: This yarn is the same as the 2400 MHz Merino Superwash, but one ply dyes darker than the others, giving the final product a cool twisting effect. This is my only non-superwash yarn.

In case this isn’t apparent, one definition of frequency is “The number of complete cycles of a periodic process occurring per unit time.” Therefore, I’ve named my yarns with relation to their speed for knitting, which is related to the gauge. The 900 MHz yarn knits at a smaller gauge than the 2400 MHz, so it requires more stitches for a given project, which requires more knitting time. For example, if I was making some socks with the 900 MHz Merino, I’d cast on 64 stitches. But if I was using the 2400 MHz Merino, I’d only need to cast on 52 stitches, which would require less overall knitting time, equaling a fast pair of socks. The tradeoff is that the 2400 MHz yarn makes a fabric with larger stitches, so if you like your stitches small, then go with the 900 MHz. I’m such a dork, but I love it!

So anyway, look for lots more to come as far as base yarns in the future, I’m planning to add a 1500 MHz sock yarn, a 433 MHz lace yarn, and possibly even 4200 MHz bulky yarn!

Alright, next item of business: another contest! yay! That’s right, I’m approaching my 300th commenter on the blog, and that lucky person will win one skein of their choice from the shop. I’m not going to give out too many details, but I will say that there are over 270 comments so far. The best way to win? Comment! (Yes, I know this contest is a thinly veiled attempt at comment-whoring, but I’m ok with that.) Here’s the rules:

  • You may comment on any post on the blog, this one, previous ones, future ones, but repeat comments on a post will not be counted.
  • Although you can comment on previous posts, don’t go toss in like 10 comments in a binge session, I won’t count that.
  • Your comment should be somewhat relevant to the post, no “hi, give me the yarn!” comments.
  • So basically, comment as you would on any other blog, and if you’re 300, you win!

I’ll let you know when we hit the magic number, and who the lucky winner is. Until then, good luck and happy commenting!

Ok, back to the grind…And I think that I might actually go to SnB tonight (I know, pigs must be flying), so if you’re going, I’ll see you there!

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