Craziness

I feel like I've been going non-stop since my last post. Last I wrote, I was anticipating the movers' arrival to pack up my stuff. Well, they came, they packed, they took, and I slept on the floor for several nights. In the interim, I also got some hands-on experience with car audio components (I had a good time soldering), and saw the Bolshoi Ballet's production of Cinderella (which was even more fun than soldering). Over the weekend, it snowed, rather a lot for Arlington. I was worried that I was going to be in for a completely miserable drive to Pittsburgh (my car really doesn't get on well with wet/snowy/icy/anything other than dry roads). Fortunately, on Monday it was warm, the snow mostly melted, and I was able to load up my car and drive to Pittsburgh without incident. Tuesday, the movers came to unload and unpack my stuff, which was still mostly, but not entirely, in the same number of pieces that it had been in when they packed it. Today was exciting because I started exploring, and made it to the grocery store and back without getting lost. Also, today, the cable guy came and hooked up the internet! Yay for the internet!

On the knitting front, not so much has gotten done. I've hardly knit at all on the Bayerische sock, and I didn't start the second sleeve of the grey Lopi sweater like I'd intended to. I did finish the Cable Mittenettes, though:



Yarn: Ram Wools Inca Silk
Pattern: my own (coming soon)
One of the cool things about these is that the pair took only ball of yarn. This is how much was left when I was done (miscellaneous knitting tools included for scale):

Now that I'm done with the craziness of moving, I should have time to knit again. :) I've got great plans for a lace stole...

Moving

I'm moving to Pittsburgh at the end of the month. On Wednesday, the movers are coming to pack up my apartment. Though I have little to pack, I feel like I have a mountain to go through in figuring out what needs to be thrown away and what I need to keep with me instead of sending with the movers. In general, I hate the process, and until yesterday, the only part of Pittsburgh I was looking forward to was being settled and not having to move for another six months. Yesterday, though, I discovered that Yarnharlot is going to be in Pittsburgh at the end of March. Since I've been trying for well over a year to see Yarnharlot, and been betrayed by the universe on every previous occasion, I'm simply ecstatic that I'll be able to see her in Pittsburgh. Now, I have something to really look forward to.

In other news, the knitting has progress apace. I finished the Argosy washcloth:


The Bayerische sock is coming along, too. I'm rather pleased with the progress, since this has been my metro, lunch-time, and waiting-in-line knitting and has not received any of my evening knitting time. It's beginning to look remarkably sock-like, as opposed to a beautiful, intricate, but misshapen tube. (My apologies for the awkwardness of the photos. It turns out that one's own feet are not much easier to photograph than the back of one's own head.)




My evening knitting time has been spent working on a pair of fingerless mitts. On Tuesday, I found myself tossing the stash, looking for something new, and not too large to work on. I came upon the Ram Wools Inca Silk that I got for Christmas and was caught by the softness of the alpaca and the soft sheen of the silk. I wanted to knit something besides just a scarf (nothing against scarves, but I wanted something a little more complex), and was struck by the thought that it could make a lovely pair of fingerless mitts. The practical application, however, got off to a rough start. Two pages of scribbled math and scribbled charts, three swatches, and four false starts later, I am happy to present the cuff of my cable mittenette.

Six wee socks

I finished the baby socks - three pairs: one navy and grey, one blue and white, one red and black. I even got them done in time to give them at the shower. I did not get them done before the shower - I showed up and hid in the hostess's craft room to finish weaving in the last three ends. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera with me, so I don't have any pictures of the finished socks. All I have to offer in way of proof is this picture of ends (I'm sorry).


Despite loving Baby Ull and being thrilled with how the socks came out (the mom-to-be liked them, too), I'm so excited to not be knitting with a deadline for a while. Argosy's coming along - I still don't know if I'll have enough green to finish.


And the bayerische sock is doing all right, too. I'm especially excited to going back to working on it, since I've neglected it since last weekend in favor of turning out baby socks.

Long time, no internet

The internet in my apartment isn't working. It hasn't been working since some time Tuesday night. I have no real reason to hope that it will be working when I get home this evening or at any point this weekend.

It's slowly driving me crazy. There have been several humorous moments that were great blog fodder, but their hopes to shine in their very own posts have been dashed by the lack of internet. The best, though, is still worth relating: I was knitting on one of the baby socks on the Metro home yesterday. Standing on the platform, waiting for the train, the woman next to me is watching and says, "Those look like tooth picks!" I just smiled and agreed that they were small needles.

There's been knitting. I think I'm even going to make the three pairs of socks by Sunday goal. The green washcloth I'm not so enamored with, and I'm not quite sure if I'll actually have enough green yarn. I'm even less sure what I'm going to do about it if I'm short. I suppose I'll find out when I get there...

You remind me of a man...

What man?
A man with a power.
What power?
The power of hoodoo.
Hoodoo?
You do.
Do what?
Remind me of a man...

If you haven't seen The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer, you ought to. It's just so funny. Plus it's Cary Grant, so you really can't go wrong there. Another good movie? My Favorite Wife. And now you know about the interesting, non-knitting part of my weekend. I won't bore you with the uninteresting non-knitting. Unfortunately, I'm not at all sure that any or all of the knitting is particularly interesting, either, but you get it any way.


I finished the purple washcloth (Manos cotton, size 6 needles, 1 skein). I *almost* finished a pair of baby socks - I just have to weave in ends on one of them. I don't like weaving in ends, so I'm putting it off, in hopes that the deadline will inspire me to go on an end-weaving frenzy next weekend before the shower. I'm still hoping to have three pairs, but we'll see how that goes....


And I made some nice progress on the Bayerische sock. In fact, I got further than that picture suggests - I knit the heel flap, turned the heel and started on the gussets. Unfortunately, it isn't in a very photogenic state right now, so this is the only picture you get. I really love the patterns, and the way the split nicely around the leg and flow down the foot. Eunny did a really great job with this. And it would be even better if I carefully read the charts... But it's further credit to the pattern that small goofs don't show up easily, so I don't feel the need to fix them.

I also started another wash cloth. This one's out of a dark mossy/olivey green Manos cotton. The pattern is a variant of Argosy.


Finally, I had a realization this week. I don't knit nearly quickly enough to post every day about knitting. At least not with interesting, useful things to say, and to do otherwise would be insulting to you, the reader. So, I'm going to do my level best to post twice a week with interesting or entertaining bits about knitting. Anything more than that is a bonus.