Bear Ears

Yarnesia

2012-01-30T16:33:00.000-08:00

My birthday is coming up and I was informed by my knitting group that I am not suppose to buy any knitting related items until then. I agreed without hesitation. I have a few projects going on and have no need for anything, especially yarn. Then we got a new shipment of malabrigo at the shop. And I forgot I ever made that promise. All I could think about was getting some yarn. I'm not sure if I should be proud or ashamed that I managed to forget my promise in under 24 hours. I think I'll attribute it to "yarn amnesia" or yarnesia. I will renew my pledge to not buy anymore yarn until my birthday... unless the shipment of madelinetosh shows up.

In other news, I'm having difficulty with getting the right fit with my Rocky Coast Cardi. The shoulders are really wide, but I haven't put in the collar yet. After last nights knit and rip session with the arms, I've decided to put in the collar before the arms. I figure that if the collar doesn't make the cardigan stay up, I won't even need to bother with the arms. Of course when I brought out everything this afternoon, Scooter promptly decided that he knew the perfect place to lay down. Scooter's secret power is to get comfy in the most inconvenient place faster than you can blink. He's even using the freshly wound ball of yarn as a pillow.

I removed him from my sweater and he decided that laying on my pajamas would be an acceptable substitute.

Artistic Swatch Organization

2012-01-25T15:36:00.000-08:00

I don't know about the rest of you knitters and crocheters out there, but I have the worst time with keeping my swatches in order. They just kind of end up... everywhere. But I have devised an excellent way to keep current swatches in order. You'll need a little wood crate. Mine held fudge and is 8 x 6.25 x 1.5 inches. You can find small wood crates on etsy as well. Here's a good one. You'll also need some paper clips and your swatches. I personally tie on a bit of paper with swatch information onto my swatches, but that is optional.

Start by bending the inside part of the paper clip down. You now have a little hook.

Use the paper clip hooks to hang your swatches onto the crate and voila, you now have a way to organize swatches. And, if you like, you can always hang the crate up on the wall. It's a great way to see what kinds of projects you have on the needles, or are planning for.

Once I'm done with a project, I use an old cigar box to hold all my old swatches.

Now I need to come up with a project that can use up old swatches.

Best Weekend EVER

2012-01-23T16:20:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I went up to Davis to visit friends and film The Music Video. The first night Jackie and I went over the music video storyboard, then headed over to a house show. Every band was awesome. I have no pictures because I was busy having fun. But I did pick up CDs from Cat Party (s/t) and The Babs Johnson Gang (Alive At The Press Club). La Corde and Burgers also played. I know La Corde has released some material and I'm a bit bummed I didn't get ahold of any of it, but I busy helping break down some stuff between sets.

Saturday afternoon was spent doing lighting tests. Jackie and I spent hours making sure everything would run smoothly. ie, Seeing how well a guitar would fit in the hallway and testing camera angles.

Light Tests

We actually filmed Saturday evening. I had originally said filming would take an hour or two. I know better than that. I always have to multiply my time estimates by three. But it's easier to convince people to help you when it's "an hour or two". Not six hours. So yes, I suckered everyone into a 6 hour shoot. But we shot the whole video in one night, which is pretty awesome.

More Light Tests

Now I have some serious editing to do. I really hope the video comes out well. All signs point to yes, but I'm a perfectionist... so I'll probably not be completely satisfied, but that's ok. (What artist is ever completely satisfied with their work anyways? Probably none.)

Even More Light Tests

Here's a couple "behind the scenes" shots from A.J.

I didn't even realize he was taking any pictures. But I'm glad he did. This one is of me explaining to Nat the general premise of the video.

When Penmanship Was Romantic

2012-01-19T23:35:00.000-08:00

Along with all the other projects I've been working on, I've been seriously considering getting a dip pen and trying my hand at letter writing. After looking at old family photographs, I realized how beautiful and difficult it was to write. There is a little added romance to writing done with a dip pen.
As I was researching pen nibs, I came across this image on wikipedia.

How fun would it be to write with a nib that is in the shape of a hand or eiffel tower? There is only two things that are really keeping me from this project. 1. I don't know who to write. 2. I don't know what to write. I suppose those are two very large barriers, but in my mind I am already blotting the excess ink off my paper.

Anyone want to be a pen pal? (Be warned, this could be a fleeting fancy.)

Genius, Right?

2012-01-17T15:19:00.000-08:00

Does anyone else do many, many things and then feel like they have done absolutely nothing. I seem to be in a constant time warp where I may have done an impossible number of things, but feel like I did them all last week. Things I've done since Saturday: A two day illustration project, massive coordination for the music video, picked up yarn for a prototype, drawn some comics, fixed the armpits of a sweater.

Speaking of sweater armpits, I have decided to do my Rocky Coast Cardi's arms at the same time. The cables change around a bit as the arm decreases, so it is a little easier to remember what I've done if they are done at the same time. I've also come up with a great system to figure out where I am in the arm. The cables are an 8 row repeat, so I'm using the right number on the counter to mark where in the cable repeats I am. I'm using the left number to let me know how many total repeats there are. So I haven't done 32 rows. I'm on the 2nd row of the cable repeat and I've done 3 total repeats of the cable. Genius, right?

I've also continued working on the Druid mittens. I did come to the conclusion that my original plan of shrinking down the mitten wasn't going to work. At least not to the degree of shrinking that would be needed. I mean, look at that. I could nearly get both my hands into one cuff.

I've gone ahead and taken 18 stitches out of the pattern, which results in the cuff on the right. Much, much better. It may need to be felted a little bit, but not very much. Of course all this extra work to make the pattern fit me has sucked some of the fun out of the knitting. I'm going to look on the bright side though, and note that I have learned to make bobbles while making these mittens, and I think I like it. The bobbles do seem to like to flip to the wrong side of my work, and I'm not sure why, but I've decided not to worry about it too much just yet.

Favoriting Oma

2012-01-14T13:25:00.000-08:00

I was reading a bunch of blogs where the bloggers talked about how they have made so many friends while blogging. I started wondering where my blog friends where when it hit me: I am a big fat idiot. I have a bunch of blog friends who I care about and converse with on a fairly regular basis. But the actual friendships have crept up on me. I didn't even realize that I had made friends while blogging. Isn't that dumb? The ah-ha moment came when this package appeared at my door.

I am a big fan of Stansborough and kiwipurler was kind enough to take the time and effort to send me some samples. I felt so loved and appreciated when I opened up that package. I'll be hoarding the skeins until I can come up with a good design for them.

I just wanted to thank everyone who does chat with me! I appreciate all the kind words. And I love reading all your blogs too. I wish I could think of a better way to express my thanks. (Feel free to leave me suggestions.)

On a slightly separate note, the pictures of the Gnarled Oak Cardigan has gotten quite a bit of attention on my blog and ravelry ever since I added the pictures of my Oma wearing it. I wasn't expecting that at all. My favorite comment so far is this one.

Yarn Is The Solution

2012-01-12T22:49:00.000-08:00

On my return trip home, Mum and I stopped by Ashland to visit a buddy of mine. I had knit Aja a little something. When I bought Lorna's Laces Zombie BBQ, I knew it had to go to Aja. No question about it. When I handed the knit to her and told her the color name, she laughed and showed me that she was wearing her zombie shirt.

This hood is a prototype to a design idea I have. The prototype's name is My Body's A Zombie For You. A million points if you get the reference without looking on google.

As promised, I didn't post the picture that made you look like Pacman.

And while we were in Ashland I had to visit the yarn shop. I give The Websters an A+. Everyone was friendly, the selection was great, and the prices were reasonable. I could give it a more thorough review, but I think you should just visit the shop yourself.

I bought a skein of Tosh Light in the Cousteau colorway for a design idea and three skeins of Spindrift in the Ivy colorway as a backup to my Druid mittens. I've encountered some sever gauge difficulty with those mittens, so I panicked and bought the three skeins. I challenge anyone to admit that they haven't thought that buying more yarn was a good solution.

After the yarn shop Mum and I asked Aja about a good lunch spot that was unique to Ashland. We settled on The Black Sheep. Could this day not get any more perfect? Not only was the place named after my favorite fiber-producing animal, but it's a British Pub. I love pub food.

I had the bangers and mash. It was excellent. Everything that we ordered was great! Mum had shepherds pie and Aja had Irish stew. I can't wait to go there again. I think it is my new favorite eatery.

A Favorite Detour

2012-01-11T16:10:00.000-08:00

Whenever I go up to visit my grandparents, I usually try to also visit Jacksonville as well. One of my favorite cemeteries is there, a bunch of the walls around the town have old painted advertisements, and there are lots of fun little shops and places to explore.

Unfortunately the yarn shop closed a few months ago, but my aunt introduced me to some fun new places. The first place we went to is called Jacksonville Barn Co. I predictably found some old suitcases I couldn't live without. The interiors were perfect. And although the bottom one is pretty large, it follows the "has to fit under my bed" rule.

I also saw a cute little book that I couldn't leave behind. I tried to, but it followed me to the register.

We all got hungry after scouring the Jacksonville Barn Co., so we went to our favorite restaurant, the Bella Union. Pictured is the Chocolate Decadence. It's like having a fudgy brownie. Yum! Not pictured (because it was awesome and I ate it so quickly) is the California Street Calamari Sandwich. Mum had one as well, but requested sourdough bread.

After lunch my aunt took us to a little store I hadn't been to before. Pickety Place is one of the most fun little shops I'd been to in a long time. It was filled with all sorts of old knick knacks, but nothing really junky. And all the things I was interested in were priced well.

My aunt treated me to a little plate that had all the animals from the Chinese Zodiac around the edge. I bought myself a set of scrimshaw salt and pepper shakers. Don't ask me why, but I've been wanting a little scrimshawed something for awhile. I just think it's really neat.

Before we had left, I helped my uncle make a loaf of beer bread. So when we got home, there was a really yummy loaf of bread to be eaten.

Mission Accomplished

2012-01-10T13:56:00.000-08:00

Whew! I've been gone for a whole week from this blog. But I assure you it was for the best reason. Remember the cardigan I made for my Oma? Well, instead of mailing it, I decided that I would travel up to Oregon and hand deliver it. It was a surprise delivery. Guess who loves her new cardigan.

And it fits my Oma so well! The neck is the right fit, the sleeves end in the right spot. She can layer another sweater under the cardigan if she wants. I'm just so happy to see her in it. Oma told me that it will be her Thursday sweater. On Thursdays she goes out to the shops with my Aunt. She'd been a little sad to not have something nice to wear outside of the house. But now she has a cute little cardi.

The trip up was pretty uneventful. Mum and I did stop at a rest stop that we don't normally stop at. I'm not sure I'd like to stop there again. I'm pretty impressed with the snake drawing though. The signs were all over. I wonder how many people were bitten before they were posted.

There was a really neat map sculpture at the rest stop. This stop is a little south of Redding.

Normally we don't go up to Oregon in winter. The pass near Ashland is frequently icy and we don't have chains. But it was pretty mild last week. I did enjoy seeing the winter light by Mt. Shasta. This picture was taken at the rest stops just north of Weed. We stop at a lot of rest stops...

I plan on posting a few more bits and pieces of the trip this week. Then back to knitting!

Beer + Yarn = 2 New Projects

2012-01-04T16:13:00.000-08:00

Apparently I'm a bit knitting repressed. I usually only have 3 wips (works in progress) going on at a time. Well, last night while watching From Prada to Nada and drinking a beer I felt the need to cast on for not one, but two new projects! The first is a prototype for a color work design. I thought it would be easier to figure out the sizing before going crazy with color. This will eventually be gifted to a buddy I've know for over a decade. The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepard Worsted in the color way Zombie BBQ.

After knitting on the prototype for a bit, I went ahead and cast on for my Druid Mittens. I've been dying to make these for several years. I've had the yarn and pattern since 2010. It took me awhile to feel comfortable with size 0 needles. And even though I know I'll never get gauge, I have come up with a crazy brilliant solution. After realizing that taking stitches out of the pattern would not keep the mittens proportional, I have decided to knit them, then shrink them a bit in the dryer. Does this have the potential for catastrophically disappointing failure? Yes. Am I going to do it anyways? Yes. I figure if things go really wrong, I either have to find someone with bigger (or smaller depending on how this goes) hands to gift them to.

I did end up ripping out the toe of my Boromir sock and lengthen it. I still have the second sock to do. But the socks require the same needles that I'm doing the mittens on. I figured that it is sock weather longer than it is mitten weather, so these will be put on hold for a little bit.

And for those of you interested, Claire has released her Fellowship of the Socks ebook. Her designs are really pretty. Although the Boromirs are my favorite, I may have to make the Samwise and Gimli socks as well.

My Rocky Coast cardi is also coming along nicely. I finished up the body two nights ago while watching A Long Walk Home and One Crazy Sumer.

Thanks again to my brother for the pictures. Though I'm not putting up the picture that he said made me look like a turtle. I kinda did look like a turtle.

I actually have 5 wips going on right now. There is still the pattern for my book that is being worked on. It should be good car knitting. And all going well, I'll be delivering the cardigan to my Oma tomorrow. She doesn't know this yet.

The Annual Goal List: 2011-2012 Edition

2012-01-01T16:12:00.000-08:00

2011 was a year of new life direction and foundation building. I think that 2012 will be the year of building on the foundation of all the work I did in 2011.
Yesterday I did my knitting recap, today will be the Life recap.

I left my job at the wool mill mid-January and spent 6 months working on pattern designs before starting a new job at my local yarn shop.

I made wine for the fourth year in a row.

I was in charge of crafts at two weeks of camp. I came up with the craft program and put together everything for 180 kids. That's 5 days of different projects plus a service project craft. It was a big job, but worth every minute. (even if I whined a bit while doing the actually grunt work)

Here is a recap of last years goals.
Goals for 2011:
1. Spin enough yarn for a large project. (Sweater or Blanket) Then complete said project.
Status: Incomplete. But my life goals shifted a bit, so I forgive myself. I spent my time designing instead. But I still have some yarn spun up for that big project.
2. In the same vein, knit a sweater. I've tried multiple times, but I've never actually completed a sweater.
Status: Complete. I've actually knit three sweaters this year and am working on a fourth. Sweater knitting has become much less intimidating.
3. Visit the Bonneville Salt Flats.
Status: Changed. I went to Yosemite instead. I'd still like to visit Bonneville sometime, though.
4. Make another music video.
Status: Semi-complete. I have done most of the story boarding for the video done and the concept is pretty solid. I think this would move along a bit if I had an assistant to help me test out the lighting portion of my idea.
5. Own only one carload of stuff.
Status: A work in progress. Although I'm far from having only a carload of things, I did some serious downsizing. Most of the things I have I use regularly. And I'm still getting rid of things as I realize I'm not using them.
6. Make a miniature garden or terrarium.
Status: Incomplete. I never got to it and don't think I will. I'm ok with that.

Normally I'd be a bit miffed at myself for seeing all those incomplete goals, but some of the things I did in their place more than made up for it. I went to Yosemite instead of the Bonneville Salt Flats and I spent time designing knits instead of spinning yarn for a blanket. So even though some of my goals shifted, I still plan on making a goal list for 2012. Plus it's fun to see what happens and what doesn't.

Goals for 2012:
1. Finish designing and knitting the rest of the knits for my book. Figure out the next step in putting everything together.
2. Road trip somewhere. I'd like it if it was the southwest road trip I've been wanting to do, but anything would be fine.
3. Be able to bike up Highway 9 to Santa Cruz. I've seen serious bikers in lycra clothes and carbon fiber bikes going up there. I want to take my t-shirt wearing, commuter-bike riding butt up that way.
4. Knit a pair of sock with my own hand spun yarn.
5. Finally put up my daily comic site.
6. And one rollover from last year's list: Make that music video. Seriously.

What kinds of goals are you guys making? If you have a blog post about your goals, feel free to link me to that as well. I find people's goals really inspiring.

Also, I'd like to thank everyone who reads my blog and those who comment. You have no idea how much it means to me. Your interest in my little corner of the internet validates me.

2011 Creative Recap

2011-12-31T16:59:00.000-08:00

I'd been wondering if it was in good taste to have a recap, but then I decided that this is for me. I have a hard time remembering what I've been up to, so seeing it all in one place makes me feel like I was productive. This year I've decided to separate the knitting into two categories: my designs and other people's designs. I've knit more than what will be shown, but I didn't take pictures of everything and I'm certain I've accidentally left some knits out.

First off are all my designs. The bottom left corner has four designs that are going into the book.
Row 1: Bear hat, Sheep hat, Fox hat,
Row 2: Giraffe hat, Bear hat, Bear hat
Row 3: Giraffe hat, Fox hat, Lion hat
Row 4: Lion hat, Appalachia, Blue footed boobie hat,
Row 5: Blue footed boobie hat, Sprig, Bear hat (with panda colors)
Row 6: Sprig hat, Free bees, Elven hero
Row 7: Silent snow, Scooter's blanket, The Book designs x4

This year I finished knitting my first ever sweater. I didn't stop there, though. I ended up knitting three adult sweaters and one child's sweater.
Row 1: Fireside sweater, Leyburns, Koolhaas
Row 2: Moose, Emilien sweater, Mitered mittens
Row 3: Mini socks, Gnarled oak cardigan

I also started to read more regularly in July. I finally finished the rest of the Anne of Green Gables series (#4-8), the Bible from cover to cover, Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, Hans Brinker, Secret Garden, and Black Beauty.

I do have a few things in progress. My Rocky Coast Cardigan, a pair of Boromir socks, another secret design for The Book, and I'm reading 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

Whew!

Fernknits

2011-12-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

My buddy over at Fernknits is releasing two pattern in the not too distant future. And to celebrate she is offering a quick contest where you can win one of her patterns. So go check it out! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Which will you choose? The Zest Cardigan or the Botanical Doubleknit Caplet? (Does anyone else have the voice from Street Fighters 2 Turbo saying the last few sentences in their head?)

These images belong to Fern. I scrunched them down a bit so they would fit my blog format better.

Second Blogoversary

2011-12-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

This year my blogoversary crept up on me. I've now been posting to this blog for two years! And to help celebrate this milestone, all my patterns will be 50% until the end of today, the 29th (PST). Just type in "bearearsblogoversary" into the coupon code section of the screen when it comes up. And in case you aren't sure where to find them, my patterns are at bear-ears.com.

Even Scooter is excited.

And in keeping with tradition, I'll be at Green Planet Yarn. I just can't help myself. I always seem to end up there on December 29th.

California's Best Kept Secret

2011-12-27T22:32:00.000-08:00

I'm going to tell you all a little secret about California. In the movies you always see people out on the beach in summer. But the best time to go is actually in the winter.

Unless a storm is actively going through, the weather is gorgeous. And there are no crowds. None. A beach during the summer is a nightmare. It's boiling hot, no parking spots, and a bajillion people competing over patches of sand.

Scooter, Mum, and I went yesterday. I love taking Scooter to the beach. He loves the beach. When we drive up near the eucalyptus groves that edge the area, he starts making loud sniffing sounds. He knows where we are.

He makes loud whining noises. And as soon as we park, he paws at the door of his crate. It doesn't matter how fast you open that door. You are too slow.

A quick note about this picture. I'm overdressed. I would have been comfortable without the hat and sweater, but I was too lazy to walk back to the car.

Holiday Cheer

2011-12-26T15:50:00.000-08:00

Christmas went well. We usually have a Christmas Eve dinner and go to a movie on Christmas. (This year we saw Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.) There isn't much done in the way of present or a tree. So I was quite surprised that my brother got me something. He never gets me a present. It was even a thoughtful gift! We'd been watching Venture Bros together and I mentioned that I didn't have the season 4.1 or 4.2 DVDs. He secretly went out and got them, wrapped them, AND labeled them. And while I deeply appreciate all the effort, there is one little thing that confused me. He spelled my name wrong. He said it was because he knows my name is spelled "the weird way" but the normal way looks weird to him, so he spelled it with an E. My personal theory as to why he didn't spell my name right is because he's never actually ever had to spell my name. The gift still made me feel special, though.

Mum has taken to decorating one of the house plants in lieu of a tree. I put Scooter's gift under it.

And he loves it. Or at least he can't tell me otherwise. I've been putting it on him every time he lays down so he might develop a bond with the blanket or something. He doesn't seem opposed to being tucked in at least.

Mum gives us all stockings. This year a donkey was donated to Heifer International on behalf of me. I put some mini knitted socks that she requested into her stocking this year.

I hope everyone has had a lovely holiday season. Does anyone else have any holiday traditions?

Turtle Rock

2011-12-22T22:08:00.000-08:00

For the last two evenings I've gone up to Turtle Rock in the Santa Cruz mountains. Turtle rock is an Ohlone sacred site and it is said that when the sun set through the notched rock and hit the turtle's back, the back cracked open which set the souls of people and animals free.

It is only around the winter solstice that the sun even sets between the notch in the rock. And as the sun goes through the notch, it hits Turtle Rock.

It is only at sunset that the light hits the base of Turtle rock.

My brother was a pretty good sport and went up with me on the 21st. Before we left I asked him if he wanted to borrow a hat or mittens. He said no. But once we got there he decided that he was cold. I had been wearing that hat, but he plucked it off of my head as I took pictures. I think I'll just bring an extra hat next time.

There was a group of people up at the rock and I overheard that if you spread your fingers a finger's width apart and line up your pinky with the horizon, each finger's width represents 5 minutes. It's true. I tried it out and within five minutes of my measurement, the sun had set.

My Mum went up with me on the 22nd. I spent just as much time taking pictures as we watched the sunset. It's simply magical up there.

Burnout

2011-12-20T15:24:00.000-08:00

Moments ago I published a rather whiney blog post about feeling a little burnt out on knitting. After laying on my bed for a few minutes moping, I realized that it is pretty cool that there are people who would like me to knit for them. One of those knitted items is the Boromir sock test knit I did for my co-worker. It is a beautiful socks and the sizing is accurate. Unfortunately my foot is a bit long, so I need to rip a bit out so I can add an extra repeat of the pattern. I didn't realize that the toe was a little short for me until I was nearly done, so I thought I'd just finish the sock up for the test.

Boromir Sock

I have decided to let this sock sit for a little while before I rip. And hopefully I'll stop being mopey soon. There's a been some stressors in my life and I'm embarrassed to admit that I've fallen to pieces. But after getting a wonderful e-mail from kiwipurler, I'm feeling a lot better. And hopefully everything that's been stressing me out gets straightened out soon. (Or at least stops making me cry. This puffy eye thing is getting a little old.)

Christmas Liar

2011-12-17T19:09:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I boasted that I wasn't doing any Christmas knitting. None. Well, I'm going to have to admit to you all that I am a Christmas liar. It wasn't suppose to happen this way. I really wasn't going to do any Christmas anything. I even delivered all my "before Christmas, but not really for Christmas" presents. But then a shipment of Cascade 128 Superwash showed up at work. As I labeled it all I realized that I really couldn't deny one fuzzy little guy a Christmas present.

You see that? He is posing with yarn. I asked him to and he did! No treats, no nothing. I just asked him to be near the yarn for the picture. A guy who is willing to jazz up a yarn photo without incentive deserves a Christmas present. So Scooter will be the recipient of the only "for Christmas" present I am making this year. Note the colors. Does it remind you of a certain project I finished not too long ago?

I already know he likes the yarn. I presented a skein to him and he grabbed it, ran off, deposited it near the dining room table and barked. I'll assume he said, "I love it. You had better start knitting tonight."

Christmas Spinning

2011-12-14T21:20:00.001-08:00

In addition to my "knit before Christmas" knitting projects, I had a few "spin before Christmas" spinning projects. I didn't want to show them off until they were delivered because they were a surprise. (And I know the recipients read this blog. Hi guys!)

I spun up three skeins of yarn for my three regular knit night buddies.

It's silly, but I had been worried that my buddies wouldn't like the yarn. I was of course completely wrong. The skeins were a big hit. I also put homemade cookies in the packages as well. I'm sure that helped.

The labels, as seen below, are organized by: skein name, dyer's name, breed of sheep, yardage, yarn weight, and wraps per inch.

I am now officially done with all things Christmas. I'm now focusing my attention on a sock test knit and a sweater for myself. Go me!

Christmas Knitting

2011-12-12T22:36:00.000-08:00

I swore to myself that I wouldn't do any Christmas knitting. None. And lo and behold, I started realizing that there were requests for knits. I am not going to admit that I did any Christmas knitting, because I haven't. What I have done is knitted things that had to be done before Christmas. It's totally different. I swear.

Last night I finished the very last "knit before Christmas" knit. Originally it was going to be a blanket for Scooter. But then my Dad wanted a blanket and it was pointed out to me that the dog is messy (i.e. barfs in his bed on occasion) and that the alpaca would be wasted on him. So Dad got his lap blanket. What makes this not a Christmas knit is that I left it on his computer chair (at 2AM when I finished it) so that he could be nice and cozy in the morning. He was so happy about the nice surprise that he treated me to coffee.

Other non Christmas knits that had to be done before Christmas include Oma's Cardigan, my stocking pattern, Mum's Mini Socks and Alina's Tam. I don't want you all to think that I am a magical knitting elf. I just happen to have some bizarre drive that won't allow me to sleep until I knit "one more row".

Gnarled Oak Cardigan

2011-12-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

The cardigan is done! I'm pretty excited to send it to my Oma. I'm fairly certain that this project will solidify my position as favorite grandchild.

I'm modeling it here. It is a wee bit tight on me. I definitely would go 1-2 sizes up if it were for me. I only hope I haven't stretched out the cardi too much. The Tosh Pashmina seems to be a pretty forgiving yarn though.

For those who haven't followed the progression of this cardigan, it is the Gnarled Oak Cardigan by Alana Dakos. I made a modification to the button band, which is detailed on my ravelry project page. The buttons are 5/8 inch and are made of carved shell. This is the smallest size and took 4 skeins of Madelinetosh pashmina in the Denim colorway. I think I could have done it in three, but I didn't want to attach the two partial skeins I had to the button band. Plus it give me an excuse to knit a little something with the leftover skein.

Maybe I'm Addicted

2011-12-08T18:23:00.000-08:00

I bought more yarn yesterday. Apparently I can't go more than 24 hours without buying a skein. Reasons it's ok that I bought more yarn:
1. It's for a test knit I promised to do. I found out that the test was being released today. I had to get yarn for it. (The test is for someone I have the pleasure of knowing in real life. Her designs are fabulous, so keep an eye out for them.)
2. It wasn't an extra trip. I had to get the one pair of needles I don't seem to own so I could knit button bands on my Oma's cardi.
3. The cardi is almost done. I can start the test knit within the next day or so.

Of course in between buying yarn on Tuesday and going to the shop on Wednesday, the one skein I was eyeing had been sold. It's even a color AND brand that doesn't sell all that quickly. It took me awhile to find an acceptable skein that I thought I could get gauge in. As well all know, my gauge is crazy loose, so I'm knitting the size small. The yarn is Heritage Silk in color 5674.

Silent Snow

2011-12-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

Meredith of One Sheepish Girl has let me do a little feature on her blog. Have a peek. It involves the release of my latest pattern, Silent Snow.

To get a copy of the pattern, you can either go to ravelry or bear-ears.com. But I'd highly recommend checking my feature first. There's a little bonus in it for you.

Tardis Yarn

2011-12-06T22:17:00.000-08:00

I'd been waiting to see if we would get Spud & Chloe Fine Sock in color 7809 again. I've seen the color way is listed as Navy and Snorkle in two different places. But really it should be called Tardis, because it matches the Tardis just right. Well, it came in and I made a little deal with myself. If I finished the second sleeve of my Oma's cardi, then I could buy two skeins. (The last pair of Tardis socks I made fit my Dad due to my lack of understanding with sock fitting. My knowledge is much improved now.) And I did it! I finished the second sleeve within my self imposed deadline.

Then I did the unthinkable. I resisted buying the yarn. At least I did for three more days. I covered a shift the today and left without the yarn. Actually, I was going to buy it, but I forgot. As I walked back to the car, I remembered and kicked myself. I figured it was meant not to be. At least it wasn't until I reached the car and I realized that I left my water bottle at the shop.

It was meant to be. Does anyone else make little deals with themselves? It doesn't have to be yarn related.

Books And Suitcases

2011-12-05T15:24:00.000-08:00

It seems that there is a direct correlation between how many hours I work at the yarn shop and how much blogging I do. I didn't really turn on the computer for the last few days. I did, however, get a bunch of reading and a little knitting done. Also, a few new things have come to me. I won a contest on over at Forgotten Bookmarks and won 24 children's books! They arrived a week and a half ago and I can't wait to start reading them.

I've also been given two old suitcases that had belonged to my grandparents. They no longer wanted them, and it is widely known through my family that I had been on the lookout for some old suitcases. I like using them to hold my finished knitting projects. They keep the moths out pretty well. And they make pretty good photography props.

I'm still knitting away at my Oma's cardi. Hopefully I'll have something to show you all in the not too distant future.

Polygamous Knitting

2011-11-30T23:28:00.000-08:00

Even though I had been monogamous with my Oma's cardi for three... maybe four days, within an hour of my post about being a monogamous knitter I cast on for something new. I had a good reason though. An opportunity came up and I had to act. So what I cast on for was a new design. I'm hoping to release it within the next week. Until then, here is a little peek.

The actual knitting for this pattern is all done, so I'm back to being monogamous with the cardi again. I'm half way through sleeve #2.

A Tough Decision

2011-11-29T16:00:00.000-08:00

I'm not exactly sure how to say this... but I have some bad news for everyone who has been enjoying the Spring hat and scarf. Sprig has been free since May and the matching Sprig Hat has been free since July. As of tomorrow, they will be pay for patterns. I've been wrestling over this decision, but ultimately, I think it is for the best.

I actually wrestle with whether or not each of my patterns should be free or not every time I publish. Honestly, if there was some way for me to make money and give away my patterns for free, I would. Obviously that is impossible. But for me to continue writing, I have to sell my patterns. But the good news is that even though the Sprig set will be pay-for patterns, Free Bees and Mr. Tumnus will remain free.

Monogamous Knitting

2011-11-28T14:47:00.000-08:00

Monogamous knitting is not something that comes easy to most knitters... Actually, I challenge you to find a knitter with only one project on the needles. I've heard they exist, but I personally think that they are as common as unicorns.

Anyways, I am giving monogamous knitting my best shot right now. I'm currently knitting the Gnarled Oak Cardigan for my Oma. Boy is it difficult resisting the temptation to cast on for a pair of socks. That's all that is on my mind while knitting the cardi. Socks, socks, socks.

I suppose it wouldn't be so bad except that I'm in the sea of stockinette. I've finished the main portion of the cardi and am now working on sleeve #1. Once I'm done with the sleeves I'll be joining them to the yoke, which looks much more exciting.

Even when I'm not being exclusive with a pattern, I'm usually not wild with projects either. My average wip (work in progress) pile has three knits. One easy "movie watching" project, one "complex as hell" project, and an extra for when I'm upset at the other two projects.

Almost done with sleeve #1

But I'm sure we all have the, "this project doesn't count because..." pile. For me that pile usually has to do with designs. All though, at the moment I don't have any designs on the needles, which has made it more difficult to avoid being monogamous with the cardi. It would be cheating if I cast on for another project... but if it were already cast on, it wouldn't count.

The latest temptation

Anyone else being monogamous with a project at the moment?

Tradition, Tradition!

2011-11-25T18:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Thanksgiving for those of us in the States. Everyone has their own tradition. My brother and I have a long standing tradition that includes getting along for the day. My brother has made the turkey for six years now. He faithfully bastes it every half hour.

Scooter holds vigil near the oven.

In between basting, we play video games. The games change from year to year. Usually we'll hook up the Super Nintendo and play a round of Sunset Riders and Turtles In Time. But this year Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword came out. So we took turns playing that instead. (Actually, I let my brother play most the the day so I could get some knitting done.) I insisted that he wear proper adventuring gear, aka the Elven Hero hat. He protested, but didn't take it off. I think it improved his game play.

What kind of Thanksgiving traditions do you guys have?

Pepper Spray Day

2011-11-22T02:59:00.000-08:00

Usually I like to keep current events off of my blog. I much prefer to talk about yarn, adventures, and have lots of pretty pictures up, but this has hit a little too close to home for me not to talk about it. So this might be a little more word heavy. For those of you who don't know, I am a UC Davis alumnus. And right now everyone is talking about the incident involving a UCD police officer pepper spraying students who were involved in a non violent protest. I'm going to leave some videos interspersed throughout this post.

The actual incident.

What has hit me is the lack of ACTUAL reporting that has gone on. I understand that major news networks have a lot of news to cover, but when something this big happens, you would think that they would actually talk to someone who was there. Or maybe someone who has been involved with the protests. It looks like they all just watched the youtube video that everyone else has watched and summerized it. "Police pepper spray non violent protesters" As a student who was there for previous protests, I'd like to share a few things that aren't being said.

First of all, the people who were sprayed were expecting to be arrested, not sprayed. As with previous protests that I had been present for on the UCD campus, there would have been people keeping watch and letting those who did not want to be arrested know when the police were coming. The police could have easily arrested those students. No pepper spray was needed. That is what happened in the past and that is what was expected on "Spray Day"

The second bit that isn't being said is that the UCD police have always overreacted to everything. I will cite a personal experience. I had forgotten my bike light one night while on my way to meeting someone. This is a big no-no in Davis. But I was on a well lit part of campus, which is closed off from traffic other than police, maintenance, and the occasional pizza guy. One of the campus police stopped me. I offered to walk my bike. At this point he accused me of being drunk. I wasn't. Then he accused me of being stopped before. He told me, "I remember you. I've stopped you before." I was horrified. I'd never actually talked to an officer in Davis before and here I was, being accused of being a repeat offender. And for what? Not having a bike light? I ended up telling him in a strong, loud voice, "That is untrue!" At which point he told me that I could just walk my bike. You know, like I had offered to do at the beginning. I'd never felt so threatened in my life.

The rally on Monday. It happened at that same spot the Pepper Spray incident happened.

The big uproar at UC Davis isn't just because protesters were sprayed with pepper spray. It's that everyone in power has supported the excessive police action. At least until now. Now the outside world is telling the administration at Davis that this isn't ok. It isn't fine to bully students. Because that what that incident was. It was the police abusing their power any bullying the powerless.

Professor Nathan Brown spoke at the rally on Monday.

Now the police chief and two officers have been put on leave. But I'm going to bet that they are just waiting for everything to blow over before reinstating them. And that would be the worst thing we could do: letting this blow over.

I could go on, but there have been some excellent articles written by people who were there that day.

An article by Bob Ostertag, a professor of technocultural studies at UCD talks about Militarization of Campus Police and how even prisoners are not allowed to be pepper sprayed if they are seated.
Professor Nathan Brown wrote an open letter to Chancellor Katehi on why she should resign.
And an article about how hot pepper spray really is.
I couldn't help but share the one dumb thing that has come of this. It's a little funny though. There is now a tumblr dedicated to the Pepper Spraying Cop.

Elven Hero

2011-11-20T00:12:00.000-08:00

Going on an adventure? Are you in need of a proper adventuring hat? Never fear, the Elven Hero hat is here.

It will keep your hat nice and cozy when you are off on a quest, beating up bad guys and saving princesses. If you are in more of a marauding mood, the hat can be made with brown yarn. Or if the Santa look is more your style, you can knit the hat in red with a white brim and pom pom.

The hat is $5 and can be purchased on ravelry or on the bear-ears site.

The hat is constructed by provisionally casting on the brim edge. The brim is grafted together, then folded over to make it double thick and well fitted. Stitches are picked up along the edge of the brim to complete the rest of the hat body.

My pattern testers have told me that they found the pattern easy to follow and easy to execute despite it being an unusual construction.

A Smashing Success

2011-11-17T12:41:00.000-08:00

I was waiting until these were finally gifted before posting about them. But the other bit of knitting I've finished recently is a pair of Elizabeth Zimmermann's Mitered Mittens. I made a few modifications. One being that my gauge was wildly off, so I changed the stitch count.

The other is that recipient wanted something with buttons, so I added a garter stitch strip with a one row button hole in it along with buttons made of sliced antler. The yarn is Manos del Uruguay Maxima in the Arctic color way. I thought the antler buttons and arctic color seemed to create a nice theme.

I think it's safe to say that they are a success. I'm basing this on the feeling of, "maybe I can make another pair so I can keep this pair."

Natural Bridges

2011-11-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

After a meeting, Mum and I headed over to Natural Bridges in Santa Cruz. Around this time the monarchs are in the eucalyptus grove. The sun was setting when we got there, so the monarchs were all going to "bed" on the branches. We plan on going again when it's warmer.

Lucky for us, there is also a little milkweed garden by the visitor center. It's been awhile since I've seen a monarch chrysalis.

And this poor monarch was nearby. I think she got a bit too cold to fly after sipping on some nectar. You can tell it's a girl because there are no black spots on the bottom wings. Males have scent spots.

If you turn right rather than left into the grove, there is a little pond. Usually it's clear, but this time around it was really green. And you could hear the ducks eating. They were just nibbling the water.

I thought it was just algae, but when we got closer we found that the green color appeared to be coming from a bunch of green seeds. Weird.

As the sun set, we stopped in the little vista point to watch. Mum remarked how when she was a child there was more than one bridge at Natural Bridges. There is still one left, although it is eroding away as well. So if you haven't been, it's worth making a trip out.

Mum and I also got a bunch of good pictures for my next hat release, which should happen by Sunday. Hurrah!

Stash Busting... Sort Of

2011-11-13T22:10:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty consistently stash busting for the last week and a half. It wasn't really a conscious effort. My yarn bin just got full and I started to pull out a bunch of skeins to give away. But all of a sudden I was able to match projects that I was going to make anyways with the newly discovered yarn. Mum wanted some mini socks, which she requested back in August. They are now done. And quite cute I might add. The yarn was left over from my Appalachia hats. (Mini mochi in lake trail.)

Next up is a tam made of leftover yarn from my Koolhaas. (Which was originally yarn leftover from a failed sock attempt.) I actually ran out of yarn exactly. I even had to go back a little bit an decrease a bit more rapidly in order to run out of yarn exactly. That hat is my own pattern, which I haven't released for some reason. I guess I thought no one would be interested, but the ladies at the yarn shop told me otherwise today. So I will write it up soon. This particular tam was given to a friend today and she was quite pleased with it.

This is going to be another Link inspired hat made from yarn left over from my brother's Grinch slippers.

As good as my stash busting has been I still manage to fill in those freed up spaces pretty quick. I bought four skeins of Madelinetosh Pashmina in Denim yesterday. It's for my Oma's cardigan, which I finally decided will be the Gnarled Oak Cardigan from Coastal Knits. I bought the book, I ought to use it. And it's a really cute cardi.

(I'd rather not admit this, but in between taking pictures this morning and going to work at the yarn shop, I succumbed and bought two skeins of Ella Rae. But it's for the two pairs of socks I talked about last month, so it doesn't count. Right?)

Armistice Day

2011-11-11T14:31:00.000-08:00

In previous years, I didn't even know when Veteran's Day was. I knew it was in November and I knew I'd get the day off. And even though I'd had the various history lessons on how Veteran's Day, originally Armistice Day, was the day the commemorated the end of The Great War, WWI. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, WWI ended. But this is the first year that the magnitude of the end of the war hit me. You see, this year I finished reading the Anne of Green Gables series. The eighth book, Rilla of Ingleside is almost entirely about WWI.

For seven books I had bonded with all the characters. I actually had a difficult time reading the eighth book. So much so that I could only take one chapter a day in most cases. It wasn't just that the characters suffer. There are many humorous bits too. But you can feel L.M. Montgomery's sorrow throughout the book. The war was known to have taken a great toll on her. In Rilla of Ingleside, Montgomery's style perfectly captures the apprehension that the women who were left behind had as they hung on every news story, every battle, and every letter sent to them. There is also a great deal of cheerfulness from those who sacrificed everything because they knew they were doing it for the greater good. The general selflessness in the book hit me hard.

So this year, hearing all the advertisements for Veteran's Day sales has left a bitter taste in my mouth. It seems like today should be a quiet day where we reflect on the great loss of life. Not how fast we can spend our money. Even though I'll be working for a bit today, I still plan on spending most of my time reflecting on the true meaning of Veteran's Day and sacrifices that have been made.

The Last Ten Percent

2011-11-10T15:20:00.000-08:00

Why is it that the last 10% of any project is the most difficult to finish? In the case of knitting, if it's a gift, it takes forever to get around to blocking it. Or in some cases, you get the yarn, pattern, and all the bits you need for a really quick knit... and then it sits there.

A gift knit made with handspun.

No longer! I have been spending the last couple days knitting away at my gift knit stack. I have finished 3 out of 8 with a pretty good idea of what I am going to do for the remaining gifts. I also managed to get another design out of the way. It is in the Free Tester's Pool to be test knit. So if anyone is interested in making a Hero of Time Hat, sign up.

This picture makes my face look fat. It isn't. I was just looking down.

The Zipper Is In

2011-11-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for. My Émilien sweater now has a zipper! And I've been wearing the sweater a whole bunch. It is comfy, it is cozy and it is exactly what I wanted. A sweater to lounge in.

I don't know if I had mentioned this before, but I chose the colors based on my favorite pair of socks. The socks are a bit more subdued, but I really love the color combination on both.

Thanks again to my brother for taking pictures for me. Rather than begging him, this time I told him I loved his style of picture taking. (Which in his own words is the "not giving a rat ass" style) He actually leapt out of his seat and jogged towards the door in order to take these pictures. He really likes the sock ones. I fell over for some of those. He laughed.

Bay Area Talent

2011-11-05T14:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to Nine Rubies in San Mateo. It was Local Designer night. Not only is the store incredibly cute, but I felt really welcome. (Admittedly I had been a little worried that I'd be intruding or something, which is dumb.) What finally convinced me to go was that both featured designers posted to their blogs about their even and said "I'd love to meet anyone who can come out." Honestly, that helped me get over whatever weird not-sure-if-I-should-go feelings I was having.

And who were those designers? There was Carrie of Irish Girlie Knits and Hilary of The Yarniad and Citron fame. Both were incredibly friendly, chatted with me about all the designer questions I had, and posed for two pictures because I looked dumb in the first one. After talking with them I realized that all the things I've been worried about or putting off really came down to my own insecurity. I should just go for it.

After meeting them, Dad and I went for dinner and I reviewed over what I learned. I then realized that I meant to buy a pattern from each of them because their patterns are lovely and I have a deep seated belief in supporting local artisans. But I totally forgot. The shame!

I think I might have to blame Carrie for that oversight though. She distracted me with yarn. I had never gotten to see Plucky Knitter yarn in person before and this has Cashmere. And she let me know that the blend is Plucky Knitters own mix. I got all excited about the mill work that goes into creating a blend. So there you have it. It's a good thing both designers have their patterns for sale online.

This is Primo! in the colorway Barely Birch. So pretty, so soft, and all mine.

A big thanks to my Dad for coming with me. According to Mum, it was "his turn" because she went to four yarn shops while we were on our trip. He noticed that only one other guy was there and that a yarn shop really is a women's den. However, he had a good chat with Hilary and asked questions I totally forgot to. I think he enjoyed the chat extra because she laughed at his "Possums are nature's little speedbumps" joke.

Oma's Shawl

2011-11-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

We last left off with me being bummed about my muddy shoe. Well, I actually didn't take pictures one of my days in Oregon. I was visiting with all sorts of family members I hadn't seen in awhile. I did remember to get a picture of my Oma the morning we left, though. Last year I made her a surprise shawl, the Cedar Leaf Shawlette, but had forgotten to take a picture. I remembered this year. She really looks good in it.

My Oma is the reason I was inspired to learn to knit. She had made an amazing pair of mittens for my Mum. I aspire to be as good as her. (She doesn't knit anymore. She loves her gardening now.)

Oma has requested a cardigan. I'm plan on making it out of superwash wool so that she can just throw it in the washer, but I'm not sure what cardigan to make. I thought about making a February Lady, but I figured the lace would need to be reblocked when it was washed. Now I'm kind of leaning towards a Deco. If anyone has any yarn and cardigan suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Something that is classic, but not boring, and will wash well.

In this picture, Mum said, "What if you took a picture of me doing this?" I took the picture. She shouldn't have said that if she didn't mean it.

After Mum and I left, we stopped in Weed. I got my jumping picture in front of Mt. Shasta. Note that the sweater now has a zipper in it. I put it in with my Aunt's machine. I'm super stoked it's done, especially now that the weather has turned cold. There will be more pictures of the sweater soon, courtesy of my brother.

As we continued south, Mum and I stopped by an old cemetery I had spotted by Arbuckle. It looked really neat and old.

I'm particularly fond of reading older gravestones. There is so much symbolism carved into them. And often you learn a little something about the town too.

Oma is one of the reasons I love visiting cemeteries. When she was a child, she and her friends would take buckets and brushes and clean up stones. When there were graves with no flowers, they would take some from graves with an overabundance of flowers and put a few on the neglected graves. Eventually the cemetery keeper hid to see who was cleaning the stones. Apparently my Oma and her friends spotted him and ran away, leaving their buckets, which they retrieved later.
Anyways, Oma enjoyed stopping by cemeteries whenever she passed by them, and that passed down from my Mum to me. I recall Oma taking me to a pioneer gravesite. The interesting one was where the person died from a bear attack.

After Arbuckle, we passed near Winters. I've never been to Winters, although I've meant to visit for awhile now. I heard there was a new yarn shop called Spin A Yarn. I didn't really know where it was in Winters, but assumed it was on Main Street. (It was.) I dashed in and found out that it was 10 minutes till closing time. I hurriedly found my prizes. A ball of sock weight Schoppel Wolle Zauberball in Fuchsienbeet and a copy of Interweave Knits Fall 2009 (50% off in the discount area!), which I'd been on the lookout for ever since I saw kiwipurler's Clasica Coat. Then we finished the drive home and got the biggest greeting from Scooter. He wasn't expecting me at the door.

Scooter insisted on being in the photo. I think he was claiming his dog pillow.

Bogfoot

2011-11-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

The morning after I returned Hermie, we all left Brookings to go to Grants Pass. However, about two miles past the junction to get from Brookings to Grants Pass is Crescent City. And there is a yarn shop in Crescent City. Guess where we went. A Perfect Yarn is a cute, small, well stocked shop. For being such a small shop, they had a pretty great selection of yarn weights, colors, and fiber. I picked up a skein of Ty-Dy Sock in Panama. It seems I'm still a sucker for variegated even though I don't normally like how they knit up. I'm getting better though. This has long repeats, which I much prefer.

As we worked out how to go back northwards to get to the 199 junction, Mum and I noticed a sign for Brother Jonathan cemetery. I love going to old cemeteries. There is so much history, and the stones have such great craftsmanship. This cemetery was a wee bit different than I expected. While there are some stones, it's more of a memorial for those who were lost in the Brother Jonathan tragedy.

There was a large plaque that included the entire passenger list. There was an asterisk next those who survived. Not many made it, which is why the St. George Reef Light was put in. Even the lighthouse was dangerous. Four keepers were killed and many were injured while serving.

As Mum and I were looking at the passenger list, we noticed a particularly interesting entry. Mrs. Jno C. Keenan & 7 ladies of the evening. They didn't make it...

After exploring CrescentCity a touch more we headed north on 199 and passed by a spot marked Botanical Trail. If you are not in the know, this is where you can see the Darlingtonias, or cobra plants. They live in a bog, and they look really cool. This is not the first time I've been here. There is a sign that says don't go off the trail lest you disturb the plants. I have regularly ignored that sign and taken five steps off the trail to get a close up of the plants. This time, however, the ground was a bit more mooshy than I remember.

I got the bogfoot. I also did not get the picture I wanted, but I decided that I didn't care anymore. Mum noted that I was in a remarkably good mood for having gotten my foot muddy. I was informed that when I was younger, it would have spoiled my entire day. (And I'm guessing everyone else's.) This time I was laughing. After relating the story, Mum said, "Well, I guess it's lucky you didn't lose your shoe."

I realize that it doesn't look like my foot went deep in the bog. But my foot went in toe first and sunk the length of my foot into the bog. It was a bit worrisome. Thank goodness it wasn't quicksand.

The rest of the drive was lovely. But I ended up having to wear the only other pair of shoes I brought for the rest of the trip: Sandals. I had rather cold tootsies.

Hermie The Hermit Crab

2011-11-01T17:20:00.000-07:00

In the previous post, I left off where Mum and I drove up the coast. We stopped in Brookings to meet up with my Aunt. The next day we went to Harris Beach where there are some famous rocks.

I thought that the footprints we saw on the beach were rather interesting. My guess was initially Skunk. I got poo-pooed and the general consensus was Raccoon. Although I still don't think it's Raccoon. Any insight would be lovely.

The reason we were in Brookings was to see the negative tide, which was -1.4. It was pretty amazing. This funny looking rock is actually covered with Anemones.

Mum gets the Eagle Eye award for spotting this guy. It was a Sea Cucumber that looked very much like a rock. I'm really happy I didn't step on him.

We stayed around the tidal pools until dusk. Mum and my Aunt chatted a bit as the light faded away.

The evening became even more magical as the lights of Brookings flicked on and twinkled across the harbor.

Our adventure doesn't end there, I'm afraid. For you see I did a bad thing. I found a bit of driftwood that I thought was funny looking and put it in my pocket and promptly forgot about it. You shouldn't take things from the beach. And in typical me fashion, I got an instant punishment. When we got back to the house, I pulled the driftwood out of my pocket and a little shell fell out a crack in the wood and into my hand. Then the shell started to scurry... across my hand. I screeched and threw the now identified hermit crab onto the bed, where he spent some time scurrying. (Quickly I might add) I felt bad about accidentally bringing the hermit crab home, so Mum took me back to the beach where we walked for 10 minutes to get back to the tidal pools. Unfortunately the tide had come in at this point and the only pool I could get Hermie into (I named him Hermie) could only be reached in the brief time between waves. So I waited for the wave to recede, ran to the pool, dumped Hermie in, and ran back. I earned wet pants for returning Hermie. But I felt like I owed it to him. It wasn't his fault he got jammed into my pocket and taken far from home.

Hermie had better live a bloody long life after all that. I hope he's ok.

The Seagulls Of Clam Beach And Other Adventures

2011-10-31T16:12:00.000-07:00

When I last left off, I had a really strong margarita in Chico. That night I called up Justin to make sure he'd be around for a visit the next day. The next morning, Mum and I had a good breakfast at the Diamond Hotel's restaurant, Johnnie's. Then we packed up. Mum commented that she felt like she was on assignment. Then she said something that had me giggling the rest of the day. "Let's take the elevator. No need to be a hero." Like taking the stairs would have made us heros.... hahaha. (We were on the third floor, so the elevator was nice.)

When we got to the coast, we picked up Justin and visited Knitter's Lane. Neither Mum nor Justin knit, but both have been dragged to enough yarn shops to know the lingo. They spent time giggling over how the could make complete sentences using words such as dye lot and fiber content. Then they both told me to check the dye lots and fiber content. Haha, very funny guys.

The shop is small, but well kept and the prices are good. Mum picked out yarn for her annual birthday scarf, Patons Silk Bamboo in Orchid.

Justin pointed us in the direction of a local sandwich shop called Central Sandwich. Mum had a wrap, Justin had some vegetarian sandwich, and I had the The Big Turkey, which is a BLT with additional turkey and avocado. We took our food to Clam Beach and sat in the sand eating. Turns out there are some rather aggressive seagulls that live on Clam Beach. That seagull is about a yard away from Justin, and he had to duck a few times because it swooped at him.

While I was eating, both Mum and Justin started to laugh. Why, you ask? Well, the stupid seagull (who I thought had finally left) was actually hovering six inches above my head. It had its feet outstretched and was about to land upon my head and eat the sandwich out of my hands. I shrieked and ran off, but it followed me.

And chased me down the beach.

This happened a few times. I'd see the seagull, hide the sandwich in my sweater. When it wasn't looking I'd take a bite. But then Justin took to trying to attract it. Mum thought it was funny. Justin thought it was funny. I did not. Justin got minus points for this. (He later found my lost lens cap in the sand, so he got some plus points for that.)

Before we left, I got my "Jumping At Clam Beach" picture with Justin.

Don't worry Justin. I photoshopped out your butt crack.

We ended the visit with Justin earning a million points. He was able to go to the Natural Fiber Fair in Arcata. (I'd like to point out again that at the moment, he does not knit, crochet, or do any kind of fiber craft) He handed me a box. I thought that maybe he picked up a little roving for me. Justin did so much better. He got me two different colors of Alpaca roving, two skeins of Alpaca, two circular needles, and a cable needle. Justin is awesome. He has earned a pair of hand knit socks. I might even come up with a new design for them. He is that awesome.

From Double Diamond Alpacas

After leaving Justin, Mum and I headed northwards. We passed the Trees of Mystery. They were closed, but I still like getting my "Me and Paul Bunyan" picture whenever we pass by. Me and Paul are buds. However, Paul is much, much taller than I. Let's put that in perspective, shall we.

Much, much taller. I wasn't even next to him. I don't think I even reach his boot. On a slightly separate note, I've done the Trees of Mystery tour before. It's a fun thing to do at least once in your life.

Not pictured: The anatomical correctness of Babe the Blue Ox.

Six Days, Four Yarnshops

2011-10-30T20:06:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my trip, and boy was it lovely. It turns out that I had access to the internet the whole time, but I chose to take an internet break. Honestly, I was so busy I didn't have time for it. In the six days I was gone I managed to visit four yarn shops and five thrift/ antique stores. Mum and I first stopped in Chico, which is where she attended college. She hadn't been back since she graduated. We walked around the campus.

We also went to Heartstrings Yarn. The building looks rather plain, but the inside. Whoa baby. It is full of everything. Yarn, roving, buttons, needles. Sigh. And Laura, who helped us, was incredibly friendly and helpful. My only complaint was that it was a wee bit difficult to find. But only beccause Chico has the most backwards street numbering system ever. There is a 1st Street and a 1st Avenue. One set is in downtown and the other set is just outside of downtown.

Here's the damage. Three skeins of Cascade yarns Eco Alpaca and the 9th volume of the Norah Gaughan Collection.

We found the most wonderful Mexican Restaurant called Tres Hombres. Everything was so fresh. We chose it based on the fact that it was pretty full even though it was a Monday night. I can recommend the fish tacos and the steak quesadillas.

And the margaritas. Unless you are driving somewhere afterwards. Then you might want water instead. (It was a powerful brew.)

And that was just the first day. I'll keep posting more bits of my trip this week. Some rather interesting things happened to me. (I seem to have comically bad luck)

Zimmermitts

2011-10-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the support guys. I feel so uplifted! I've been writing patterns of things I would like to wear, so I imagine that will come through.

On to more knitting news. I'll be gone for a week starting tomorrow (with questionable internet connectivity), so of course I had to start some new projects to work on while I'm away. The first is the Rocky Coast Cardigan. I preordered the book, Coastal Knits. (Which is into its second printing after being out two weeks! Congrats Alana and Hannah!) The Rocky Coast cardi was downloadable before the book was released. I meant to get going on it sooner, but at least I managed to buy yarn before the book arrived. I had bought Malabrigo Worsted in Azul Profundo, decided that it had too much green in it, and exchanged it for Bobby Blue. Much better.

I actually blocked my swatches. I don't know if I would have except I had extra yarn from the recent hat design. What do people do with their swatches once they are done? I'm kind of thinking it would eventually make a neat blanket.

I also got going on my next gift knit. I had promised Marci a pair of mittens for letting me go through some of her button collection. It took me awhile to decide how I was going to make the mittens with the yarn I had, Manos del Uruguay Maxima in the color way Arctic. I've decided on a pair Elizabeth Zimmermann mitered mittens. I am making some modifications so that I can incorporate buttons into the design. They shall be called "Zimmermitts."

Just in case I don't make it back online until next week, have a lovely week! (And if I do find an internet connection, have a lovely week anyways!)

The Ugly Feeling

2011-10-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

I've been reflecting on my book writing, and I've noticed that I have a distinct cycle I go through each month. I have 1-2 weeks of furious writing and knitting where I'll knit from 2PM to 3AM. I end up sleeping in pretty late, except on work days, of course. This has resulted in my Dad and brother believing that all I do is sleep. They only seem to pass by my room when I'm passed out. After two weeks of solid work, I spend a week fretting about what I've worked on followed by a week of recouping (playing computer games, knitting patterns that are not my own).

Three hats, same design. Not sure which ones will be pictured in the book. Hat details washed out on purpose.

This week is the week of fretting. It's a rather ugly feeling of "What am I doing?" "Why am I writing a book?" and the big one, "What if no one cares if it exists?" I think that last one worries me the most. Not because it actually matters if my book changes the world. But because I am pouring so much of myself into it. The rejection of my book is like a rejection of myself. If no one likes the book, then perhaps no one likes me. (Even though I know it isn't true, the feeling still exists) I imagine that is the feeling a lot of people have with their creative endeavors and that is why it is so hard to put yourself out there.

The second in a pair of socks for the book. This is the bottom of the sock. Can't show the pattern just yet.

I try my best to ignore that ugly feeling, but it is a bit paralyzing at times. I think the most important thing to do in this situation is to just keep going on. If I don't feel I can work on my own patterns, then I knit other peoples patterns. I can at least spend my time learning about different construction ideas and garments.

Emilien Sweater. Still needs the zipper. Hope to install it next week.

Working on the book isn't all gloom and doom, though. Even though work feels slow sometimes, I've started to write down everything I've knitted. It's funny how making a list can change my "Why haven't I completed anything" attitude into "How the heck did I have time for all that?"

On a slightly separate note, I'd like to thank everyone who comments on my blog. It makes me feel special and important. I am in the process of figuring out a different comment system for blogger. I want to respond to everyone, but blogger's comment system really isn't friendly in that sort of way. Just know that I read all comments and check out your blogs if you happen to have one.

Smells Like An Orc In Here

2011-10-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

I spent the last week watching the extended versions of Lord of the Rings. Every once in a while I get the urge. And I can't just watch one, I have to watch all of them. Anyways, during one of the riders of Rohan bits in the Return of the King, I started to notice that it smelled a bit like the riders were in my room. Possibly napping right next to me.

He even looks like an orc sometimes. A cute orc.

So Scooter got a bath. He was starting to smell less like a rider of Rohan and more like an Orc. Now he smells a bit more like Arwen.

In other news, watching all of the Lord of the Rings makes me want to knit up Lord of the Rings themed socks. I'm stuck between making Aragorn by Janneke Maat or Rivendell by Janel Laidman. (I'll probably make both if I'm going to be honest about this) There are only two things keeping me from making either. The first is that my sock needles are currently occupied by a sock design. But it's knitting up pretty quick. (To be honest again, I'll probably buy myself another set of sock needles on Sunday, when I'm working at the yarn shop)

Images belong to Janneke Maat and Janel Laidman respectively

The second problem is a bit bigger. No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to get gauge. I never thought I was a loose knitter, but I've never been able to get 8sts/in, and I'm knitting on size 0 needles. The closest I've gotten is 7.5sts/in. I've tried different yarn. I've tried knitting tighter. I'm ok with altering a design a bit, but it's still a bummer. Especially because I want to make a pair of Druid mittens. I bought the yarn in New Zealand last year. I tracked down the magazine. Turns out the pattern is now available on ravelry, but it wasn't when I started this whole thing. The gauge is, you guessed it, 8sts/in. (On size 3 needles no less. Jared Flood must be a crazy tight knitter) Luckily there is some room to subtract some stitches. But still.

Exhibit A. I know that it is important to knit out a large swatch. But lets face it. This will never be the 1 inch it should be. The minute I block it, it will probably grow to be 2 inches.

Boom. Sweater.

2011-10-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

Boom. The sweater is done. I even started work on a sock. It's kind of a relief to have hit a bit of a knitting groove after having a week of blah. I wonder how long it will last...

I'm not normally into baby stuff, but making little clothes does appeal to me. I'm sure the little mooseling it's intended for will be quite cozy. The pattern I added to the sweater is intended to be stars above the moose herd and a river below them. I would have added more white, but it's a baby thing. I though grey would conceal stains more effectively.

I kinda wish this sweater was me-sized

Mooseling

2011-10-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

I had an incredibly productive day yesterday. I went on a hike, finished reading a book, finished a sock, and started my very first baby knit. For a friend, not for me. She hasn't told me if it's a boy or girl, so she gets a grey sweater. I'm using Petite Purls Beach Baby sweater as the base. Although I am making the sweater Moose-themed per request.

The yarn is lovely as well. I'm using Cascade 220 Superwash Sport. It's superwash merino. Very soft, very shiny. Everything has gone reasonable well except that the grey ball has decided to explode. I'm hoping that I can knit fast enough before that becomes a problem.

Well Read

2011-10-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share some of my favorite knitting blogs as of late... in alphabetical order.

First up is AC Engineered Knits. Her writing style keeps me in stitches. (Haha. Stitches. I wrote that before I realized how funny that is) Everything from knitting tragedies to "The Sweater That Is Probably Going To Look Like A Bag" Sometimes, late at night, you can hear me giggling in my room. 9 times out of 10, it's because I think about the bag sweater. Also, you can't beat someone who will "stand close to you so you seem cool by association" I hope that one day I will be cool by association.

AC Engineered Knits:
Blog
Bloglovin
Pattern Design

Next up is Fernknits. Jennifer knits and bikes! And she posts about both. I am certain that if we lived in the same town, we'd be biking and knitting buddies. (Maybe even beer buddies) Alas, I live in a different state. Her adventures remind me not to give up on my own. And maybe, just maybe, I'll be convinced that mountain biking isn't so scary. She also had one of her designs show up in the knitpicks catalogue. I was simultaneously happy for her and a wee bit jealous. She's got several gorgeous designs in the works, so keep an eye out for them.

Fernknits:
Blog
Bloglovin
Pattern Design

Andi of My Sister's Knitter has always got something on her needles. And more often than not, they are socks. I love seeing all her wonderful yarn and pattern selections. And the speed with which she knits. I'm sure that every time she sneezes, a pair of socks fall off her needles. Also, she regularly shares an lovely song. Little gems that I wouldn't have necessarily come across, but really should listen to. She's lovely to chat with to boot.

My Sister's Knitter:
Blog
Bloglovin

Last, but certainly not least is Andi of Untangling Knots. Andi has been posting a bunch of button hole, CO, BO reviews. And even though I was bad and didn't post any comments on them, I have thoroughly loved reading each entry. She also has some wonderful designs. In the picture below is Agatha. Not only do I love that name, but check out the clever decreases in the side of the sweater. I want to make the sweater simply because I'm in love with the way she chose to do the decreases. (And the sweater is attractive as well) I'm going to go ahead and admit that initially I was nervous to even leave a comment on her blog because her designs are so pretty, but Andi is a lovely person. And she has taken the time to answer various questions about tech editing and other intimidating things, in detail, which I have very much appreciated.

Untangling Knots:
Blog
Bloglovin
Pattern Design

Anyone have any fun blogs they've come across? I'd love to know about them. (Even if it is your own blog) They don't have to be knitting exclusive.

Just Keep Spinning

2011-10-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

I decided to spend a day or two spinning to get my mind off of all the problems I was having with some designs. Plus, I had to start using all the knowledge I'd gained at Lambtown.

This fiber is BFL from Twisted Sunshine. The color way doesn't have an official name, but I think I'll call it Merlot. It reminds me of the deep hue merlot grapes have.

I also finished up all the practice yarn from Lambtown. The white yarn I left as singles. They were made using a long draw (aka the beer draw). The other two skeins were made using various different drafting techniques, but I went ahead and chain plied them. They are practice skeins, and I still need to practice my chain plying.

Scooter's Cologne

2011-10-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

My knitting output has been frustratingly low and my creative zen has gone, so here are some pictures of Scooter rolling on a dead worm to entertain you.

First he determines if the smell is worth rolling in. The answer is always yes.

Then he works a back and forth wiggling motion to maximize the smell to fur ratio.

Followed by a good head grinding action to solidify the worm smell in his fur until the next bath. (Those baths have been occurring more frequently as of late)

And one last roll for the sheer joy of it.

He has also taken to trying to roll in bird poop when we are on our walks... as we are walking. It doesn't matter that we aren't stopping. He hurls himself into the concrete for the chance to add Eau De Poo on his shoulders.

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere

2011-10-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

I thought that I would be able to show off my finished sweater today. This is not going to happen. Possibly for a really long time...
I finished blocking my sweater yesterday and was happy to pick up a zipper today. I felt pretty smug over choosing the made in USA rather than the made in China one. The lady at the counter asked if I needed black thread. "Not me. I have plenty."

By plenty, I actually meant none. After digging through all the sewing boxes in the house (We have four. I didn't know that before today.)

I found that I only have navy blue. I'm within walking distance of Hancock Fabrics, but I was pretty mad at myself, so I drove. Quickly. (but within the speed limit, of course) Got my thread, waited in an enormous line, drove straight home.

Only to find that my sewing machine has given up the ghost. That piece in my hand. That isn't even suppose to wiggle in the sewing machine. I've had the machine serviced regularly, but I think that plunking down $100 every time I need that machine has gotten to be a bit much.

I got a bit teary when relating the story to my Dad. I'm trying to finish a sweater, that as it turns out, doesn't stay on my shoulders very well. I hoped the zipper would help out. Usually my Dad's advice is something like, "wait on it" or "don't worry about it". This time his advice was, "Maybe you should have a beer."

It's five o' clock somewhere...

In Order To Finish, You Have To Begin

2011-10-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

I noticed that it's been two weeks since I've talked about any knitting. Two weeks! I have been knitting quite a bit, but it's all been secret knitting. (Or that wretched sweater. I've sworn to myself not to post anymore about it until it's done.) I've been debating whether or not to talk about what all the secret knitting is for, mostly because once I start to talk about it, then I'm admitting to myself that I'm really going through with the idea. So here it goes...

I'm working on a knitting pattern book. And while it is too soon for me to talk about the theme, (unless you know me personally, in which case I talk about it all the time) I will start talking about all the frustrating and rewarding things that go along with creating a knitting book.

Madelinetosh Sock in Graphite, soon to be a pair of socks

The first thing that I find frustrating about writing a book is that everyone seems to be writing a book. I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter how many people are writing books. All that matters is that I finish mine.

Malabrigo Worsted in Bobby Blue, Ravelry Red, and Natural, soon to be a pair of hats

Socktober

2011-10-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

I love October. The smell, the pumpkin themed coffees, the weather. But best of all, I get to pull out all of my Halloween socks.

I've got quite a collection built up.So much so that I've even had to dedicate a drawer to holiday socks. The Halloween socks take up a good fifth of the drawer.

I'm even contemplating designing a pair of Halloween socks. I don't even know what they would have on them, but I sure want to make a pair. Anyone have any opinion on what must be on a pair of Halloween themed socks?

Winemaking: Year Four

2011-10-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth year I've made wine and the third year I've gone to Dennis' place to get grapes. (the first year I lived at a place with an established grape vine) Dennis is a pretty good sport. He wasn't feeling 100%, but still helped me harvest the grapes and pull them all off of the stems.

I much prefer making a zinfandel by hand rather than a merlot. The grapes are much larger, so the number of grapes we had to pull off the stems is much lower. The year I made the merlot by myself it took me from 10am to 1am with a 30 minute dinner break to harvest the grapes and pull them off of the stems. (I'll do the math for you. It took 14.5 hours.) It took the two of us three hours to harvest the grapes and pull them all off of the stems.

It was divine providence that I managed to get a hold of Dennis and harvest the grapes when I did. The next day it rained. I heard on the news that all the wineries in the area were scrambling to harvest. Partially because the grapes would rot from the dampness, but mostly because the rain would drop the sugar content in the grapes. The higher the sugar content is, the more food the yeast can use to make alcohol. Low sugar content makes for watery wine.

I mashed up the grapes on my own when I got home. I used my hands, not my feet. Everyone wonders. My brother commented that I ought to have a cleaner hobby.

Lambtown

2011-10-03T17:43:00.000-07:00

I made it to my first Lambtown this year. I had been signed up for a class by Rebecca Burgess, but it ended up being cancelled due to a lack of students. So I got into my second choice class, Intermediate Spinning taught by Keena Gold. There were 11 students. It was funny that four of us who were sitting together all had a Lendrum DT. It really is a great wheel.

I went into the class understanding a lot about spinning, but I sure learned much, much more, like long draw drafting. It was refered to as the beer draft. Why, you ask? Well, if you are good enough, you can draft the fiber with only one hand leaving the other hand free to hold a beer. Keena is an excellent instructor. If you ever have a chance, take a class from her. She is very clear and patient.

My apologies for not taking a more flattering picture. I was trying to take pictures and learn at the same time...

I perused around the different booths at Lambtown, but stopped at Debbi's booth, Twisted Sunshine. I love all her fiber. I always get a little something from her. Actually, to tell the truth, I visited the booth before and after my class. I had to stop myself from buying something on both visits. I ended up taking away some indigo dyed roving. (I think it's a silk/ wool blend, but I'm not entirely sure. It is yummy, though)

After my class, I met up with my buddy Bryn and circled around the fair. I had such a lovely time chatting with Bryn that I didn't take any more pictures at Lambtown. Whoops. I did get a picture of Bryn with her purchases, though. Two plants that, in her own words, "I can't possibly kill."

After Lambtown, I met up with Jim and Jackie and all of us had dinner together. Then there was the beer run. My favorite beer is by a microbrewery in Davis called Sudwerk. I've managed to find the Pilsner and Marzen nearby my house, but not the Hefe Weizen... of course! It gives me an excuse to go up to Davis to get it. I also got my favorite seasonal beer, Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale. I've tried a lot of pumpkin beers, but honestly, I think they all taste gross. Buffalo Bill's has the perfect balance of pumpkin and spice. I got the Shock Top Belgian White to share. I called it my couch rent.

Looks like I've got plenty of supplies to practice my beer draw.

It's A Mystery

2011-09-30T23:15:00.000-07:00

My buddy Alina and I went to the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot yesterday. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I really had a lot of fun. (That guy behind me laughed at Alina and I while we took jumping pictures. I think he was jealous of all the fun we were having)

At the center of the mystery spot, you truly lean about 17 degrees and it feels upright. I even closed my eyes to see if I could right myself, but in order to not fall over, you really have to lean. Check out Alina's ankles. Definitely leaning.

There are multiple demonstrations on how distorted gravity is there. In this demonstration, the board appears lower on the right hand side. But when the guide,Ned, put a level on it, (which Alina checked out) the board was level. When the tube of chap stick was put on it, the tube rolled upwards. Weird.

Into The Wild Blue Yonder

2011-09-28T15:54:00.000-07:00

Knitters often gravitate towards a particular color when shopping for yarn. Mooncalf likes grey, Ewenique likes Yellow, and Coopknits likes green. I suspected my color, but was able to confirm it once I pulled out the stash. I definitely like my blues. (The four skeins on the bottom left row were a recent purchase and are for my next sweater, which I'm not allowed to start until I finish my other sweater.) I almost brought out my entire stash to take a giant yarn rainbow picture, but then it occurred to me that I could be a bit more productive with my time...

Kiwiyarns was talking about Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting in her blog today. Talk about a coincidence. A half hour before I read that entry, my copy of the book arrived. I've only leafed through it, but I already love it.

Mothra Ate My Wool

2011-09-26T12:20:00.000-07:00

I had been going through my wool box looking for a certain color when I saw evidence of a moth invasion. Needless to say, I felt like a big old idiot for not putting all my wool into ziplock bags like I should have. For those of you not in the know, I thought I'd let you know what you should do if you find moths eating your fiber. First off, you should have all your fiber in air-tight containers. I did not, so I'm paying the price.

How do you know you have an invasion? Well, the first sign is seeing moths. The moth itself doesn't eat fiber. But their larva do. If you see moths around, be extra vigilant. You can tell you actually have a problem when you find larva poo. It looks like little grains of sand.

The fiber will have chunks missing. The larva just bites right into the fiber. There will be a bunch of poo around missing chunks as well.

You may even find a live larva. They are pretty gross.

Put all your fiber in the "infected" bag into quarantine. Even if the fiber appears to be untouched, if it was next to mothy fiber, bag it up. Then put it all in the freezer for 2-3 days. The temperature will kill off all the larva and moths. Conversely, if you have a rather hot garage during the summer, the fiber could be left there for a few days. Extreme heat will also kill off any unwanted pests.

While I was able to salvage a bunch of my fiber, I did lose a bag to moths. It was just filled with little larva poo and every few inches of the roving had a chunk missing. I learned that moth larva have good taste. They ate the angora-wool blend.

Are We Done Yet?

2011-09-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when no one else is around and I need a picture taken, I'll recruit my brother. He's a good sport. And I have to admit that I like his style of photography. (Don't tell him that I said so though.) His style is: I don't care about this, can we be done yet? He holds the camera haphazardly and doesn't even bother looking through the viewfinder... and he gets a kick out of taking a bunch of dumb pictures of me. Eventually we get what I was aiming for, but honestly, his relaxed, "Are we done yet?" style is better than what I ever direct him to do.

In this one I'm laughing because I couldn't get a sock off and ended up hopping on one foot in circles.

He's getting a bit more pushy too. I was informed that if I didn't smile for this one, I'd look like an idiot.

In other news, I finished my Koolhaas. I had planned to give it away, but after adding the pom pom, I've become smitten with it. Maybe if someone really awesome asks me, I'll send it their way...

The Latest Buzz

2011-09-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

The Free Bees pattern is now available and it is free! (Get it... free bees... freebies. Haha.) You can get a copy on bearears.com or on ravelry.

This is my very first sock pattern. The pattern is adapted from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Patterns, pg. 273 : Honeybee Pattern with Faggoting. It's a toe-up pattern with short row toes and heels. No worries if you don't know how to do short rows. I've explained them in the pattern.

I'd never really considered myself a sock knitter, but I may have been bitten by the bug. Socks are just so portable. I love being able to throw a sock in my purse and know that it will continue to fit no matter how much more I add to it.

Twisted Stitches And Holey Armpits

2011-09-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

I've had a bunch of new opportunities crop up in the last month and on Monday one came to pass. I started my new job! And it's at Green Planet Yarn. Green Planet Yarn is the first thing I blogged about. I wouldn't have ever thought that I might work there one day when I started this blog. Anyways, one of the first things I was asked to do was ~~touch~~ straighten all the yarn. I can already predict what will be happening to all my future pay checks...

I also started a new project. I'm making a Koolhaas so that I can understand twisted stitches better. Although I'm not really sure who will get the finished hat, so if anyone is interested....

The sweater is slowly being finished. It took me a week to decide that I was indeed going to put sleeves on it. The number one reason I decided on sleeves (even though a vest would be neat) is that I bought extra yarn for the sleeves and wound it into balls, so the skeins can't be returned.

The only problem I'm now having is that when I attached the sleeve, a large hole appeared in the armpit. I'm not really worried about closing the hole. I left an extra long yarn tail to help stitch it up. But I sure would like to know why it even occurred and what I can do to prevent it from happening on the other sleeve. The stitches for the sleeves are put on stitch holders and knit after the sweater is done. Does anyone know why the hole showed up?

Spirit Guides

2011-09-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

The next morning at Yosemite, Natalie discovered this amazing view right behind our tent cabin. I enjoyed the sun for a little bit before we all had breakfast.

After breakfast we started on another hike. We past right by this doe and her three fawns. It's rather unusual to see a doe with more than two, but all of them looked healthy. I even got a picture of one of the fawns nursing.

On our way up to Vernal Falls, I was taking pictures and nearly stepped on this guy. He actually frightened me a little. I wasn't expecting to turn around and have another little spirit guide staring up at me. He kind of reminded me of Scooter since I'm pretty sure he was begging for food.

The Mist Trail was pretty slick, but it afforded us a lovely view of Vernal Falls. The way the mist was being pushed around at the base of the falls is indescribable. You really have to see it yourself. It was a little hard on my camera, though. I kept having to wipe off my lens.

At the top of the falls there were two baby squirrels playing with each other. The rock was pretty steep, so they would wrestle around and roll downwards, then pause to run back up and wrestle some more.

Instead of descending the million steps that we had climbed up, Mum, Natalie and I decided to take a bit of the John Muir Trail. We climbed a bunch, decided that we might be going the wrong direction and descended. After asking a park ranger we found that we had been going the right way and climbed again. I got a little cranky about going up, down, and up again. Eventually we got to the top and saw Nevada Falls.

It was pretty late by the time we finally headed home. I really love seeing all the orchards around the Escalon and Manteca area, especially when the sky is on fire.

Yosemite, The Final Frontier

2011-09-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

I've lived within 4 hours of Yosemite National Park my entire life, but I'd never been until this week. It truly is a beautiful place. My Mum, Natalie and I went for two days. The first thing we did was visit the Mariposa grove. The trees are just huge. You can see me jumping to the left of the giant tree in the picture below.

While hiking around the grove, we first saw my spirit animal. This little guy was pulling bark off of the stick to make a nest. Over the course of our visit, I saw multiple little guys. They usually showed up when I was tired while hiking and needed some encouragement. And more than once they would sneak up behind me and scare the bejeezus out of me.

After hiking around Mariposa Grove, we headed towards the valley floor. This is the tunnel that you go through right before seeing the most amazing view.

The vista point is to your left just as soon as you exit the tunnel. It's impossible to drive by without stopping. You can see El Capitan, Half Dome, and Bridalveil Falls. A guy near me chuckled when I shared, in detail, the significance of El Capitan in Star Trek 5 to Natlalie and Mum.

It's necessary to stop and high five in front of Half Dome and Bridalveil falls. If you don't do this once in your life, you are most definitely missing out.

In the evening, I was able to take a bunch of beautiful star pictures right before the moon rose. Almost every picture had a shooting star in it. (Check out the streak on the right side of the picture just above the cliff) After stargazing, Natalie got a little bottle of wine, I got a bottle of beer, mum got a flashlight and we all played scrabble at the lounge in Curry Village.

Solace In Solas

2011-09-13T21:23:00.000-07:00

I'd been a little hesitant to buy yarn from people on ravelry because "What if I got ripped off?" That had been my excuse until I found some impossible-to-get yarn that I had to have and someone on ravelry was selling it. Short story, I now have a skein of String Theory Hand Dyed Yarn in Caper Sock - Solas. I don't even know what I want to make with it, but it's 400 yards of awesome. (Feel free to suggest patterns. I'm kind of leaning towards a scarf at the moment, but who knows.)

After breaking the ice, I searched ravelry and got some Malabrigo Worsted in a color that I hadn't been able to find at any local shops. Given the choice, I much prefer to get my yarn at local shops even if it is a few dollars more. It's important to support local shops.

My Oma sent me a surprise package of some craft booklets she had found while cleaning her house.

My favorite is definitely the 1964 sweater collection. There are a bunch of sweaters representing different countries. I may have to make myself the French Jacket. It has subtle detailing which I find quite attractive.

The Paper Kites - Bloom

2011-09-12T23:46:00.001-07:00

I don't post what I'm listening to all that often, but this is too good not to mention. I stumbled upon The Paper Kites while surfing along youtube, and was surprised that I'd never heard this song before. At least until I saw that the album it was from was released in August.

There is decidedly little information about The Paper Kites, but from what I can tell, they are from Melbourne and have been a band since 2010.

Their song Bloom is absolutely lovely and deserves a listen two... or three, or perpetually like I've been doing. I've definitely had it....

Find The Paper Kites on:

facebook

myspace

last.fm

Or get their album, Woodland - EP on:

itunes

Yesterday Doesn't Count

2011-09-10T23:22:00.000-07:00

Mum and I drove past a yarn shop that I frequent.

Me: "I haven't been to a yarn shop in awhile."

Mum: "Didn't you go to a yarn shop yesterday?"

Me: "Oh yeah. But that didn't count."

After all the modifications I made on this sweater, such as knitting a medium instead of a small, and adding pockets, it became apparent that even though the sleeves are striped, half a ball of green and burgundy was not going to cut it. Luckily I was able to get skeins in the same dye lot.

Although now that I have the yarn, I'm very seriously considering adding a little grey ribbing to each sleeve and leave it as a vest. I'd love to have some input on this idea. I've never had a vest, but I'd love a hoodie too. Or I could make one of each..... So yeah, input would be good. (There will be grey ribbing along the outer edge as a zipper band that is currently being added. So whatever it ends up being, it will have a zipper... or buttons. Not sure at this point.)

I also purchased some yarn for a baby sweater. I touched it and just knew I had to get it. Superwash Merino, people. Enough said.

Sock Crazy

2011-09-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit sock crazy at the moment. All I feel like doing is design socks. My first sock pattern is being test knit at the moment. I'm hoping to release it in late September.

My second sock pattern only needs some pattern editing before it is ready to be test knit.

And I cast on for my third sock pattern last night. This addiction doesn't look like it is going away any time soon. I've got two more patterns on my mind and one is already being swatched.

Counting Conundrum

2011-09-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

How many things do you see wrong in this picture? Well, for one, we can see that I have trouble counting when I'm knitting at 2:30AM and I've had a beer. It looks like I gave up counting when I got to the grey stripe. At least the decreases look correct, right?

Wrong. The decreases are going the right direction, but the top of the hood has a kind of short row thing going on. I just put in random decreases. Although that had more to do with misunderstanding what the directions meant than being up late. At least I had enough sense to see that it looked weird. I put the knitting down and went to bed.

Anne Of Green Gables Is Full Of Knits

2011-09-06T16:45:00.000-07:00

I was re-watching Anne Of Green Gables (with Megan Follows) the other day. I'd seen it before and talked about the film and knits in a previous post, but I didn't realize how many knits I had missed the first time. Even background characters just passing through scenes have awesome knitted items! I would totally wear that hat and sweater.

Before I had only noticed sweaters on the female characters, but all the guys have wonderful knits as well. Just look at the cut on the sweater vest Gilbert is wearing. I took a bunch of pictures from every angle that vest was in, but taking pictures of a computer screen really doesn't do it justice.

This scene was full of sweater vests. Of course Gilbert is blocking them, but have a look over his shoulder. The guy with the red/ grey/ white sweater vest was my favorite. Although Gilbert's sweater was excellent as well. It isn't just a ribbed sweater. There is garter stitch in the ribbing.

I would love to have this sweater. The front paneling has a cute grain or leaf pattern. It was a bit difficult to tell because there was never a closeup. Trust me, I checked. I'm really curious about what stitch the back and sleeves are in.

This sweater showed up a bunch of times. I love the seed stitch collar. The seed stitch even extends into the button band. How clever. I might have to do that to a sweater in the future.

And I can't believe I missed Marilla knitting. I guess some one had to make all the knits in this film.

Prototype Retrofit

2011-09-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

I'm quite pleased with myself. I had several other knits that called my name, but I was incredibly disciplined and managed to complete a two-hat commission. I don't normally make copies of my hats, but on occasion I'll do a commission for a friend.

The blue footed booby hat on the right is a prototype. After I made it, I had decided that the hat needed a white brim, so I made another hat for the pattern photograph. But this left me with an extra hat. It's identical to the final product except that the brim isn't white.

I thought I'd retrofit the prototype with a white brim. It seemed like a reasonably easy fix, but turned out to take quite a bit of time. (Doesn't everything...)

Putting the hat back together turned out to be much easier than taking it all apart. Though, the end result was exactly what I hoped for.

Of course I'm a perfectionist, so even when one stitch was a bit off, I'd take everything apart to fix the error. It took until 10pm to weave in all the ends of both hats. But what a good feeling that is! And I'm really proud of how both hats came out.

Sneaky Socks

2011-09-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

I wanted to prove that I've been knitting something other than a sweater, but most of what I've been working on is secret at the moment. This particular pair of socks is made out of Madelinetosh Sock in the Duchess color way, which I talked about earlier. I won't be releasing it in October like I thought I would, but the pattern is pretty snazzy. Not that you can see that in the picture. I'm sneaky like that.

Whirlwind Trip

2011-09-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

I made a quick trip up to Davis on Tuesday and came back Wednesday. The DAM Haus was having its last show after 22 years of being a venue. The show was rad and I got to talk to a bunch of people that I hadn't seen in awhile. I also chose not to carry my camera around and record everything. Rather, I just enjoyed myself.

I walked around the arboretum with Justin for a bit of the afternoon while waiting for the show. We bought a sandwich and ate it there. I love looking for turtles. Although there were fewer this time because non-native turtles were being trapped (and I assume moved somewhere else).

There's never a dull moment with Justin.

We also stopped by the thrift store where I found a hat for an Anne of Green Gables shoot I eventually want to do. It cost $1. I'm glad I held out.... I had found hats for $40, but it seemed silly to pay that much for a prop. Justin also treated me to a bag made from an old sari, which were found at Found.

Living On The Edge

2011-08-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

I ended up ripping out the sweater up to the pockets and reknit it with the correct number of stitches. I also put in the pockets, which had it's own set of issues. But they are in, and it is good.

The question now is, will I have enough yarn for a hood and both sleeves?

Who knows. It seems that I like to live on the edge when it comes to sweaters.

Scooter's Favorite Game

2011-08-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

Scooter has a new favorite game.

It's called, "Find The Treat In The Grass." It involves me throwing a treat into the lawn. Then he snuffles around until he finds it.

Scooter then runs back as fast as he can and waits for another treat.

He isn't very patient though. If I take more than a few seconds he lectures me a bit. The faster I throw, the less he barks.

If I take my eye off the treat pot to, let's say, focus my camera, he creeps closer. And if I really don't keep an eye on him, he sticks his face in the treat pot and gobbles down as many treats as he can before he gets yelled at. He's quite sneaky.

Berry Creek Falls

2011-08-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went on an 11 mile hike at Big Basin, Berry Creek Falls.

We saw 5 falls, four of those being water falls.

The fifth one belonged to my Mum. She and Natalie decided to do a jumping picture. My Mum doesn't usually like being in pictures, but she was game for clicking her heels in front of the camera. What we could never have predicted is that the bridge railing would give out. (Or that I would manage to take the picture as the railing fell) Note the position of her right hand. It had been cupping the railing.

Mum ended up being fine, but she didn't feel like doing anymore jumping pictures after that.

Stop, Sweatertime

2011-08-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

The other night I was enjoying a beer and knitting my Émilien sweater. I got to the last row, did the fancy "decrease x number of stitches evenly" bit and somehow ended up with 50 extra stitches. I checked my math, had my Dad check my math, and still had extra stitches. Weird. So I counted my total number of stitches and found out that I am an idiot.

When I worked on the pocket modification, where you increase stitches and put them on some sort of stitch holder, I managed to knit those stitches too... somehow. Note how the fabric is smooth above the orange yarn and puckered underneath. A tell-tale sign that there was a rapid increase. (Also a tell-tale sign that I'm dumb) I was thinking that rows seemed to be taking longer and that there was less room on my circular needles. The good news is that I won't have to buy extra skeins of yarn like I thought.

Has anyone else had any "Why am I dumb" moments lately?

A Knitter And Her Money Will Soon Be Parted

2011-08-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

I seemed to be very determined to spend all my money this week. I picked up some more yarn (for designs... really) at Yarn Dogs. It was pointed out to me that I managed to match my shirt pretty well. The yarn is a skein of Madelinetosh Sock in Graphite and a skein each of Malabrigo Worsted in Bobby Blue and Natural.

I also picked up Wicked Bugs. I've wanted to read the book as soon as I heard it had been published. It's quite excellent. I also enjoyed the previous book by Amy Stewart, Wicked Plants.

And as usual, I couldn't resist buying a knitting magazine.

Yarn Addict

2011-08-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

Let's start with the loot shot. I picked up 3 skeins of Tosh sock in the Fathom colorway and 3 skeins of Canopy in the Quetzal colorway for future designs. And just for fun, I picked up a skein of Ella Rae merino lace in the 116 Denim/Teal/Violet colorway. (I rarely pick up yarn that hasn't got a design idea attached to it, so this is a real treat.) I also got a copy of Rowan's Homestead Classics and US size 5 and 7, 16inch addi circular needles. Boy do I love those circulars.

I read about Monarch Knitting & Quilts online. I think it might be my new favorite yarn shop. The selection is excellent, the atmosphere is inviting, and the prices are competitive. One customer there referred to the shop as a crack house for knitters. I think that is a pretty accurate description.

While we were in Pacific Grove, Mum and I decided that we would bike to Carmel and back. She said it would be an 18 mile ride, so I wore jeans thinking it wouldn't be a big deal. It turned out to be a 26 mile ride round trip. I learned that it's rather uncomfortable to bike 26 miles in jeans.

We stopped to look at the famous Lone Cypress Tree. It was hard to miss some of the well carved graffiti. They almost spelled my name right...

Fibershed

2011-08-17T22:33:00.000-07:00

I was surprised to see an article about Fibershed on etsy today. Fibershed is Rachel Burgess' project to wear clothing that was made within 150 miles of her house. She happens to live within 150 miles of the Yolo Wool Mill, and I remember her coming through. The article even gave a shout out to the mill.

Swatching At The Snuggly Duckling

2011-08-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

Today I was offered an exciting opportunity. I'll wait until things have progressed a bit more before revealing what it is, but I will show you what I ended up doing as a result. Swatching. Lots of swatching. I watched Disney's Tangled while doing all the swatching.

I've seen Tangled before, but I don't remember there being so much knitting in the film. Not only does Rapunzel knit....

But so does one of the shady characters at Snuggly Duckling. And he's more advanced than Rapunzel. I'm curious about his sock construction. It kind of resembles the Elizabeth Zimmermann's Moccasin Socks from the Knitters Almanac. Or maybe it is a baby bootie.

He's even wearing a knitted sweater! It looks like the basket weave pattern with a garter stitch collar.

Wild Thing

2011-08-13T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hey Scooter, do you know what today is? It's your 9th birthday!

Today we are going to feed you extra treats. No one is going to brush your teeth.

You can rub yourself on whatever you feel like and we aren't going to tell you to stop it.

You can even bark a bunch if you feel like it.

You are just as wild as when we first got you and I wouldn't have it any other way. Happy birthday little bud.

Blue Footed Boobys For Boobies

2011-08-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of July I released the Blue Footed Booby hat pattern. So far we've raised $15 from the patterns towards Kenna's goal for the Susan G. Komen Walk For The Cure.

Kenna has to raise $432 more to reach her goal. I'm super excited for her! If you feel inspired to donate to her cause, you can either buy yourself a copy of the Blue Footed Booby pattern on bearears.com (or ravelry), or if you'd rather, visit her Fundraising Page to donate.

But even if you don't have any spare change around, it would be lovely if the word was spread. You can tweet, facebook, or blog about it. (If anyone chooses to blog about the pattern, feel free to use any of my images from this post, or the July 1st post.)

Kenna has less than a month to reach her goal. I'm really rooting for her!

Sock It To Me

2011-08-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

I would love for this to be a post about how I finished knitting a pair of socks. What I'm actually going to be talking about is how sock ~~inept~~ inexperienced I am. There I was, merrily knitting along, no care in the world. Then it hit me.

After turning the heel, I hadn't done the pattering around the circumference of the sock. I was just knitting the pattern on one side, like you do for the foot. This, of course, is the second sock of the pair. I knit the first one just fine. But the second one has given me nothing but trouble. I had to knit the toe three times before I managed to end with the correct number of stitches, and now this.

At least I've managed to keep both socks me-sized rather than Sasquatch-sized. I imagine that Sasquatch might be a bit disappointed about this. His sock drawer was starting to become quite lovely.

Yarndogs

2011-08-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

I finally made it over to Yarndogs. It's a local yarn shop, but it's a bit out of the way from the places I normally go. It's totally worth the detour though, the shop is absolutely fabulous! Great selection, great atmosphere, and two cute shop dogs.

I almost left without getting anything (the horror), but Mum saw something she liked, so she bought me the supplies.

Mum has decided that she wants some mini socks for Christmas. I told her that I didn't have the right needles or blocker, so she remedied that.

I think that I might make Scooter a pair of socks as well.

It looks like the pattern is for socks in just his size.

Buttons Before Plastic

2011-08-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

I was recently given the opportunity to go through a big metal tin full of assorted buttons. The person who had previously owned them had recently passed away at a ripe age of 96. (or 98... it was up there) I don't tend to be a button person, but this tin had many old and interesting buttons. And one buckle.

I find buttons that are made of things that aren't plastic really appealing. So I picked through and separated out what I consider "the good stuff". I found bone buttons.

And leather buttons. In my head I refer to them as grandpa buttons. I always imagine leather buttons on a grandpa's cardigan.

There was a large grouping of carved shell buttons.

Then I picked out an assortment of other buttons. There are a few plastic buttons in there. But for the most part there are wood, fabric, and metal buttons. I also found two buttons made of antler. They are at the bottom of the picture.

In the tin, there was also a newspaper clipping about the lost art of button making from 1975. Fascinating.

Does anyone else ever wonder what we did before plastic? I'm a little sad about all the neat artisan things that plastic replaced. Buttons being one of those things.

Follow The Yellow Yarn Trail

2011-07-31T22:34:00.000-07:00

I wonder where this yarn could lead...

Oh dear me, have I become a sock knitter?

Breezy Days and Starry Nights

2011-07-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share a few more camp memories before getting back to the usual (knitting).

The first week at camp left me with free mornings. After breakfast and the morning staff meeting, I'd sit with my book and drink one of my secret Starbucks stash. I ended reading the whole 4th Anne of Green Gables book and started the 5th. It's been a long while since I was able to enjoy the breeze, the sun spotting through the trees, and a general sense of serenity. I've incorporated a bit of reading into my routine since I've been back.

Over the first week, we had a heart display. Every day it glowed a different color, starting with a purple/black and ended on white. The last night, the heart was taken from the stage and put up in the grove where we had an intimate worship.

There was a night swim both weeks, but on the first week, I was told that two of the directors had midnight tickets to the final Harry Potter movie and were too tired to go. Jordan, who was lifeguarding, and I jumped at the chance. As soon as the swim was over, we hustled people out of the pool area. We waited for an hour in line and got excellent seats. (Take that people who waited for 12 hours) I'm going to credit the seats to Jordan, though. He spotted a pair of seats and ran up on the non-aisle side to beat out two girls. That's right. He ran up people's armrests. He then hurled his body into the seats with a smug smile that said, "Claimed!" The guys that ended up being in front of us thought it was great fun and cheered him on.

Into The Briar Patch

2011-07-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

One evening at camp, I saw a line of guys running towards the tent cabin. I, of course, did the only logical thing one can do when seeing a bunch of people sprinting in a general direction. I joined them. This was the evening John Lightfoot threw himself under the tent cabin into briars to catch a snake.

The snake was less than happy about it. He spent a good amount of time making angry hissing sounds.

I was briefly worried that John had caught a rattlesnake. I don't think he would have actually caught it if it had been. At a glance, I find that gopher snakes and rattlesnakes have similar coloring. Their markings aren't wildly different either.

With a rattlesnake, you can't always look for the rattle. It is possible for a rattlesnake to lose theirs.

I always look at the head. A gopher snake's head is more of an oval while a rattlesnake's head is more of a triangle.

Camp Memories

2011-07-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

Camp is full of all sorts of fun memories. It was fun to see some of the high school campers become cabin leaders for the middle school kids. Both weeks we went on a beach trip, which included fire pit s'mores and singing.

I had the opportunity to spend time with people I hadn't really seen or talked to while I was at university. Good times were had by all.

I think my favorite memory was when we had an all staff night game of Nine Square In The Air. Kyle (in the center) had gotten himself a sandwich. He played nine square by hitting the ball with his plate all the while raving about his sandwich. At some point he got out and was going back to the first square when Josh (on the left) spiked the ball towards Kyle. The trajectory couldn't have been better. The ball flew over Kyle's shoulder, hit the edge of the plate, and spilled the sandwich into the grass. The highest pitched scream was uttered with high, whiny tones of "MY SANDWICH! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? THERE WERE ONLY TWO BITES LEFT!!!!" Everyone, and I do mean everyone, collapsed to the ground, laughing, for a solid three minutes. People's sides ached the next day from the laughter.

No camp would be complete without John Lightfoot. Everything you've heard about Chuck Norris is true when it comes to John Lightfoot. I saw the guy dive into a briar patch under a cabin in order to grab a gopher snake. Who does that? John Lightfoot. That's who.

If you doubt his awesomeness, just watch this video.

Third Sock's A Charm

2011-07-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

I didn't have too much knitting time at camp, but I did manage to finish up my socks. And they fit! It's a miracle. (The project has been raveled)

The Leyburn pattern is truly an excellent pattern. I was able to pick up the sock at any point and see exactly where I was in the pattern. And it was just plain old fun to knit to boot. The yarn is from Newton's Yarn Country Merino Nylon Superwash that I picked up at Stitches West in 2010. It didn't have a color associated with it.

While at camp, I heard that there was a Sasquatch in the woods. But I never saw him. If I had, I might have handed him the third sock. It was just his size.

Chief Crafting Engineer

2011-07-25T14:30:00.000-07:00

I'm back from two weeks of camp. Man am I tired! But it was so worth it.

When the campers started to arrive, I helped out at the front of the camp. The official dress code for guiding cars: orange visibility vests and lightsabers. We were asked to make lightsaber noises while guiding cars. There was also a discussion about how we would have looked more like CalTrans workers if we didn't have the lightsabers.

At the beginning of each week we did a staff flashmob. (This video is from the second week, which was better rehearsed than the first week. I show up half way through in the back leftish corner. I don't have a blue shirt on.)

Since I wasn't cabin staff, junior staff, or anything with a particular title, I gave myself one. I was referred to as the craft engineer for most of my time at camp. I spent 5 weeks prepping the crafts, two weeks doing them with campers, and two hours cleaning it all up in the end.

I was so busy, I didn't really take any pictures of the different crafts. I did however manage to snap a picture of our lanyard setup. I remember some of those sample lanyards from when I was a brand new camper. (Which was maybe 15 years ago)

The snack shack was open during freetime. Among many yummy snacks, there were snow cones. Mmmm. Lime snow cone.

Taking Summit Road To The Summit

2011-07-16T23:23:00.000-07:00

I've got another week of camp to go, but I drove home to do laundry, which has given me time to write a little something. The day before camp started, a group of us decided to bike over the Santa Cruz mountains. It's a 30 mile route and there is one hill that was so steep that we slid while walking our bikes up it.

And the bikes took quite a beating. The locking mechanism on Travis' bike's high gear shifter gave up part of the way through. Lucky for him it was stuck on 1st and not 3rd.

Two miles from the end, Matt's chain broke. We didn't have the right tool to fix it. So he and Chris walked the rest while Travis and I finished the ride. (Travis had to be at camp to get CPR certified, so we had to finish quickly)

We took the route that Chris and Matt had taken the previous time they biked. Apparently they got a bit lost the previous time. I loved how they were able to figure out where we were this time. Sentences such as, "I remember this part, this is where we had a fight" and "This is the spot where I lied to you" were uttered.

I am proud to say that I was in the best shape of everyone, so I wasn't all that sore at the end despite having done the same ride the week before. (It was a little harder this time though.)

I'm hoping it won't be too long before I get to do the ride again. It really was a lot of fun.

Night Games

2011-07-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

I didn't mention this earlier, but I'm going to be at camp for the next two weeks. I'm the Chief Crafting Engineer. Internet is spotty, so I might manage to get a blog post or two in, but I won't really be checking anything or responding to anyone until I get back. Camp has already been really awesome. The first night, we had night games, complete with glow bracelets.

There were several games. I spent most of my time fiddling with my camera in order to get the glow bracelets to even show up in the pictures. Or I was dodging campers.

It was an excellent night. Everyone was exhausted when it was all over. I don't even remember my head hitting the pillow.

The Sock Saga Continues

2011-07-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

I'm still obsessing over the socks. So far I have made one that fits and one that fits Sasquatch.

I've been rather clever with the second sock. I didn't want keep the overly large sock. That would be a waste of yarn. I also didn't want to unravel it so I could compare the first sock with the second sock. And because I want it all, I chose to rewind my yarn so that I could still have a center pull ball.

I took the two socks down to my LYS (Local Yarn Store). The ladies were surprised to see my giant gauge difference. The left side is done with size 1 needle. On the right is with a size 0 needle. We puzzled over it. I think the conclusion was that I have terrible sock luck.

The second sock fits so much better. (The right sock is the Sasquatch one. The left is the better-fitting one) Only one more sock to go.

Knitting Is Wallet Kryptonite

2011-07-08T19:15:00.000-07:00

I'm usually pretty controlled about yarn purchases, but this last week has been a doozy on my wallet. I got some Cascade 220 for a sweater. If all goes well, it will become an Émilien by Ariane Caron-Lacoste. I'm already planning to modify the number of stripes and I want to have a button up, not a zip up.

This pair of Cascade Heritage is for a shawl idea I have. They will be paired with two additional colors. I realize the combo looks a little Dr. Seuss, but the actual shawl will be a bit more balanced.

I also picked up some Madelintosh sock in the Duchess color way for a sock idea I have. A sock idea I might want to release in October. First things first. I have to actually knit pair of socks that fit me.

Since I've gotten into socks, I also picked up sock blockers. I also got a magazine. Honestly, knitting magazines are my weakness. There wasn't any particular patterns that stood out to me. But I loved some of the photographs. Taking good knit pictures is difficult, so I like to collect good images for reference.

Tree Party

2011-07-07T16:53:00.000-07:00

We have a family of raccoons living in our backyard.

There are three teenagers. But I haven't seen their mum or dad. They might be on their own.

It seems a bit odd that they would be awake during the day. It was late morning when I took these pictures.

I figure that if raccoon teenagers are anything like human teenagers, they stay up way past their bedtime.

They also fight like siblings. One of them stepped on another and there was an argument between the two. It was rather funny.

Sprig Hat

2011-07-06T11:26:00.000-07:00

I was invited to do a little guest post over at Katie's blog, I Go By Katie, today. So you should all check it out. It involves a free pattern! EDIT - As of November 30th, 2011, this pattern is now a pay-for pattern.

The pattern happens to be a companion piece to the Sprig scarf, the Sprig hat.

To download a copy of the Sprig Hat, you can check out bear-ears.com, ravelry or go over to Katie's blog.

Catching Bugs With My Mouth

2011-07-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

On June 6th, I went on my first ride with my new bike. It seems like I just decided not get off. I accumulated 168miles in my first month with the bike. It would have been more, but I got a little heat sick and decided to take a week off from being outside.

This past month of biking has taught me that there are several useful items worth having with you on a ride, such as:

1. Helmet (Safety first!)

2. Lock, if you plan on stopping. When I ride out and back I leave it. No need to lug a few extra pounds.

3. Water bottle.

4. Wallet/ Cellphone/ key combo. Bonus points if your keychain includes a bike themed bottle opener.

5. Garage door opener, which would only be useful if your bike lives in the garage.

6. CHAP STICK! I'm always sad when I forget it at home. I seem to lick my lips a lot when I ride.

7. A nifty bag that attaches to your bike to hold all your nifty items.

Bonus: Sunglasses. I was wearing them when I took the picture. They are great for keeping bugs out of your eyes. Not your mouth though. And if you're like me, you forget your mouth is open and choke on a bug or two during your ride.