Recent Adventures: Photo Recap

My friends, my friends. Друзья!

It's getting to be the end of June, the end of Pride month, and I haven't managed to post anything yet! So, before I throw sequins at your computer screen, let me give you the non-Pride related photo recap of weeks past:

First off, I'm going to pretend I'm a knitblogger by showing you some socks I've made. They started out as a Cookie A pattern (Devon), but then I realized I didn't want lace near my heel. So I ripped back and recast-on for these puppies.

Pattern: Gentleman Socks, by Kristi Schueler. Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in Botticelli, a gift from the lovely Cory Ellen at indie.knits.

/knitting content.

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First, this showed up in the backyard. It felt like spring for about a week, and then it was summer.

Then Linden's brother graduated from Macalester. So, to celebrate, Amoeba and I took his sister out for bowling and drinks.

The ceiling at Midtown Global Market, the night I was confused about which week Game Night was.

Amoeba's birthday: bowling and (mostly) gluten-free pizzas with friends.

Amoeba bought a hat! Twins won; Ethan's 3 for 3 this year at Target Field.

Donated blood and convinced Amoeba that the Red Cross was probably experienced enough to find her veins. Turns out they did! She was dehydrated and lost consciousness for a few seconds, but I'm still very proud.

January in a Five-Item List: 5-1-11

1. Told really terrible jokes to sixth graders by having them crack codes:

• What do sheep do on sunny days? Have a baa-baa-cue!
• Why couldn't the skeleton go to the dance? He had no body to go with!
• Where do aliens keep their sandwiches? In a launch box!

And my favorite:

• How much do pirates pay for their earrings? A buccaneer!
  

2. I thought they were funny. No one else agreed. So Peter wrote his own joke in code:

• Peter's joke: What's the best thing to come out of Iowa? I-35.

3. Coffee and knitting date with the Amoeba! By which I mean, I drank some hot chocolate.


Also, Amoeba is working on her first sock!


4. Turns out the second, third, and fourth graders in the afternoon didn't think the jokes were that funny either.

5. Modern Family and sock finishing. Amoeba has since turned her heel and is almost at the toe!

Reviving the Tradition: January in a Five-Item List: 1-1-11

1. Rang in the new year at the fabulous Coale's Bar and Grill in St. Paul. I spent the evening hanging out with the Amoeba and falling in love with drag kings. Note the residual green and orange in my eyebrows in this photo:


2. The Amoeba and I met her parents for lunch. They're both psychologists, which is slightly terrifying. I was kind of (irrationally) worried that they were analyzing my every behavior. (Really, I've probably just been watching too many crime shows.)

3. Several episodes of NCIS and SVU accompanied the knitting of the Devon socks from Cookie A's Sock Innovation. Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in Botticelli Red (a gift from the lovely kirinlemon, who is back in the country!). Knit the heel flap, heel, gusset, and some foot. Such progress!

4. My mother made me what might have been the most delicious grilled cheese sandwich I have ever eaten.

5. West Wing, with my dad. (Episodes: Ellie, and Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail.) I freaking love this show.

Crafty Developments

Alas! This is not the post in which I tell you about Laminaria. Tomorrow, maybe.

But behold! The many knittings that have transgressed since we last communed in yarny goodness:

Five FOs! Count 'em.

1. Those teal socks! The Knotty or Knice ones, from Interweave. Cute and done.


2. Commencement Socks: Done. Such a simple, pleasing pattern.



3. Experimental Halter: quite the adventure. Released on Knitty, knit, reseamed to make it fit (it overlaps quite a bit in the back), all in the space of about a week. Not the best thing I've ever made, but surprising in that it kind of worked. Me! In a halter! What a notion!


4. The Gentleman's Half Hose/Lumberjack Socks: Done. Also, simple, yet gratifying. Haven't worn them yet, as it's July. But come October, I shall walk to work and have toasty feet.

5. Knucks: my third set, started on an impulse. I ended up somehow sacrificing a US 4 dpn to the Fearless Knitting ExCo last semester, so I had to get a new set of needles. Then I proceeded to knit them in bulky yarn. On 4s. So they're a little stiff, and I made them in the smaller size, since they were kind of big. There were a few modifications near the wrists. But I'm still head over heels in love with this pattern. I want to make more.

Then I had to decide what to embroider across the knuckles. So I turned to the Completely Pointless and Arbitrary Group on Ravelry, and they voted on ПЕРЧАТКИ. Which in Russian means... gloves. Hah!

So, then, Bethany, what are you working on currently? Well, two (stil unphotographed) things.

First of all, as soon as I finished Laminaria, I was itching to cast on more lace. So I did. I'm making this cute Estonian scarf in this delicious bright green alpaca yarn that Kathryn brought me from Chile. I've been amazing the local knitters by working on lace charts in public. It's close to half done, but I'm a little skeptical about how long it's (not) going to be. So I might add some more repeats somewhere.

Then, a couple of days ago, another impulse struck. I had this skein of TLC Lustre that I purchased several years ago at the Ben Franklin in Oberlin. (They have a knack for stocking yarns that get discontinued.) I really wanted to make a little off-white shruggy, thing. I wasn't sure how far one skein could get me, so I stuck to short sleeves, but I poked around online, and my knitting books, and finally found this shrug (Ravlink). I'm working it in a smaller gauge, and I kind of winged the proportions. So it's kind of experimental, too. So we'll see how it turns out.


So, if you've processed all of this correctly, you will notice I have no socks going at the moment. This will soon be remedied. I might cast on a pair to take with me to Chicago early next week.


A note on recent laundry experiences:

The dryer at my parents' new house only has one setting: hot. The halter knit of cheap cotton yarn may have shrunk a bit, which would not be terrible. Unfortunately, the pink/yellow/orange cotton-blend socks that I knit this spring are feeling a little shorter than I'd like them to be.

Friday 23-01-09

1. Learned about my eyes. Turns out I'm so near-sided that my vision with contact lenses will be slightly over- or under-corrected. When the St. Paul Eye Clinic people have said 'you have slight astigmatism but not enough that you should be able to notice a difference', what they really meant was 'dude, you are so near-sided, it's probably not the astigmatism that bothers you'. Turns out they were wrong, and that's why I don't like my left lens so much. So we'll be trying an astigmatism lens in that eye. Also, every time I type 'astigmatism' I keep forgetting the 'g'.
2. Last minute decision to go the yarn store with Mary, Linden and Julia. For the sake of my budget and my sock yarn stash, I probably should have just stayed home. Two skeins of Panda Soy and a skein of Sockotta later, I have an announcement:

BETHANY WILL KNIT FIVE PAIRS OF SOCKS BEFORE PURCHASING ANY MORE SOCK YARN.

Hold me to this, guys. Even you, Cory, even when I tell you I really want to buy it and need enabling.

3. Happy hour at the Feve and dinner at the Mandarin with Linden, Julia, Becca, Connor, and a couple of other folks who I can't remember at the moment. (Sorry, people I'm forgetting.)
4. Contra dance in Fairkid basement. Embellished with one figure of an Irish set dance. Fun times.
5. Fun times with piano, guitar, fiddle and mandolin with some awesome contra people.


ALSO ON FRIDAY: The most amazing email from a professor ever.

ALSO: Not a concise list at all. Here's the concise version.
1. Eye doctor.
2. More yarn.
3. Drinks and dinner.
4. Dancing.
5. Music.
Isn't it more interesting with the details?

Tuesday 13-01-09

1. Cooked (and ate) a potato.
2. Potluck dinner at Peace Community Church, followed by a Mormon film, 'Baptists at Our Barbeque'. I never knew such a self-depricating side of the Mormon community.
3. Started Knotty or Knice socks (from Fall 2008 IK) with Knit Picks Palette in the colorway Calypso Heather. Pretty. Fortunately, they're toe up, so I can make sure they fit...
4. Went to 50 cent beers at the 'Sco to support Franny's first night as a DJ. It was pretty great. Danced a bunch, saw some folks, heard 'All the Single Ladies'.
5. Decided to write a euro pop song with Linden, which will be entitled, 'Tonight (Move it to the Rhythm (of Love))'.

Bonus: Fact of the Day: Aqua is the best-selling Danish band ever.

Bonus: Follow-up Fact of the Day: The judge in the Mattel vs. Aqua lawsuit (Mattel had issues with the song 'Barbie Girl') dismissed the case in 2002, saying 'The parties are advised to chill.'

Fact du jour credit goes to that reliable source of all wisdom and truth in the universe. Thanks, Wikipedia.

the Math of the Moment: in prose

Thanksgiving was awesome.

Wednesday, I spent a good chunk of time playing music with San, which was great. I really rely on other people to make me bust out the instruments and actually play music. I'm so fortunate to know so many musically-inclined people. Also, San is really cool for putting up with my gradual shift away from songs in Rise Up Singing and towards R.E.M. and the Cure. The new strings are fun and jangly; and they've been on my guitar long enough that it stays in tune now. Also realized that I need to play the mandolin more. (I had to look up all of the chords.)

Wednesday also marked the beginning of the serious knitting progress. I worked on the body and an arm of Blaze while I watched 2 episodes of the X Files (4-D and Badlaa), South Park (Lice Capades) and Firefly (Ariel). By 4:30 in the morning, I was starting the yoke!

Thursday I woke up obnoxiously late (see above paragraph), and went to Thanksgiving dinner at the Andrews', who I know from church. They're moving to Kendal (local retirement community) sometime in January, so it was the last Thanksgiving dinner at their house. Some of their family was over, including an adorable 2 year old named Timothy. Dinner was nice.

Around 6, I went over to Holly's. Holly works at the yarn store in town, and I know her from knitting circle. I arrived just after they had finished eating dinner. Holly and couple of the other guests went on a short walk, and Cory and I sat around and knit. Cory was about an inch above the heel of her second Gentleman's Fancy Sock. Size 0 needles. Teeny. Not long after Holly, John and Elsa returned, these two other guys from town (also Oberlin alums, I think), stopped by. We played Yahtzee (there are too many people who seem to have never played this game, which makes no sense to me at all), and drank wine. We played the game where you tell three things about yourself and only one of them is true (and everyone guesses which one). We drank more wine. There was a really good Shiraz that Holly had us guess the price of. Our guesses ranged from $9.98 - $25. Turns out it cost $3.39 at IGA. We ate pie. And more turkey and stuffing. And drank more wine. Cory and I left around 12:45. She had turned the entire heel of the sock by that point. I was a couple of inches into the yoke of Blaze. I walked with her to Firelands, and she fed a friend's fish.

Friday, Cory came over around 11:30 to work on a paper. She was far more productive than I. Around 2:30 we went to the bead store on our way to knitting circle. We split a sandwich at Subway, and spent a good chunk of time knitting at Smith's. Then Holly said, "So, here's what I'm thinking of doing this evening: I'm going to go home, take a nap, and then wake up and knit and eat leftover and watch junk television. You two [Cory and I] are more than welcome to join me." So we did. More progress on socks and Blaze. Got to see Fisher (Holly's cat) again, who has the most beautiful green eyes. Drooled over Cory's copy of the Winter Interweave Knits. I really want to make the Woven Bands Pullover. (I can afford two skeins of Cascade Ecological Wool, right?) Watched the end of Star Wars: Episode IV, House and Forensic Files. Left at 2:30 a.m.

Saturday, I don't really know. I'm sure I got nothing important done. I walked to IGA and got dumpling ingredients (potato and meat dumplings!). Got a burrito at Agave. Cory came over and we watched the X Files (Field Trip and Improbable) and listened to the latest Stash and Burn podcast while Cory finished her sock (which fits like a glove, except not like a glove at all. Fits like sock. In silly accent). When I say listen, I actually mean that we listened for about 10 minutes, and then started our own conversation on top of Jenny and Nicole. Really, it's better that way. I have a hard time with all of the IK bashing that happens every time a new issues comes out.

Oh, wait. Saturday afternoon, I watched the first half of Pride and Prejudice. I watched the second half after Cory left. I went to bed at 6:30 a.m., but had Blaze totally off the needles. Worth it. Also made a chart for the illusion part of the Dark Mark Armwarmer.

Sunday. Woke up late. Took nap. Ate some cereal. Worked on armwarmer pattern. Did not make dumplings. Did not read Река Потудань. Did not do laundry. DID do underarm bind-offs on Blaze. (Only ends to weave in now.) Did poke around on Ravelry. Did greet returning housemates. Did get another burrito from Agave. Also: blogged!

Well. That's about it. I'm leading my Russian class on Tuesday, and I'm hoping that I won't spend Tuesday morning gnawing my hands off as an expression of nerves. All in all, it's been a good weekend. And I TOTALLY will have a new sweater to wear this week. Heck, I bet by this weekend, I could have some more socks...

the Math of the Moment

My Thanksgiving break =

2 hours of folk songs with San + 13 hours at Holly's + 7 bottles of wine + 4 episodes of Forensic files + 4 episodes of the X Files + 1 episode South Park + 1 episode Firefly + 300 minutes of Pride and Prejudice + 1 trip to IGA + 0 dumplings + 2 burritos at Agave + 7 ends to weave in on Blaze + 3 days in a row of knitting with Cory.

yeah-heah!

The week is DONE! Well, I have a seminar on Stalinism this afternoon, actually, but the assignment was due at noon. Know what that means? I can cast on for the матрёшка mittens!

Today is still hectic, though. I really need to head over to Tank and get some lunch, and after that, I'm sticking around to lead my first crew training! I happen to be the only current PoCo (People Coordinator) in Tank, as my CoPoCo was accepted into Old B. But as of last night, I'm fully trained, so I can actually do my job now. Sweet!

Also! Monday I start working at the Religious Life Office!

But back to today. After lunch/crew training, I'm coming back to plan some worship for tonight's ECO retreat! Which leaves Oberlin at 5:00! Which is only 40 minutes after my seminar gets out!

Which means no knitting circle today. But who cares. I love my socks and am starting mittens.

ps. It's raining. I hope it clears up by the sitting on the dock watching the sunset part of the retreat. But hey, I have a raincoat.

sweater update and a mite of sadness

So! I have just spent the larger portion of the last 36 hours on the OSCA Board Retreat. It was good times. Not the most academically productive of times, but who really expected it to be that, anyway?

What I did accomplish was the three-needle underarm bind off (without the US 4 dpns I knit with), the weaving in, and embroidery of the 'C' on my new little gray and maroon phone sweater. Now, my phone is all cozy. Of course, it doesn't need it as much right now, since the snow and ice are all melting in the rain. But my phone is adorable, once again.

The sadness began this morning. When I woke up, I realized that the toe of one of my Gryffindor Quidditch socks (the one that happened to be on the right foot) had a small hole, near the tip of the second toe. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DARN SOCKS! Perhaps I'll see if anyone at Smith's knows how. Once I remember what size needle I knit the socks on... If worse comes to worst, I can always reknit the toe, since they were done top-down.

...Were they really top-down?

...Yes...I'm pretty sure...