And a hot and sticky day. But hey, it’s August, in the DC area. Hot and sticky with air quality somewhere in the wheezy crud zone is to be expected around here. The thermometer hit 99 and I had to chew my air upon inhaling. I would have stayed home in my air conditioning but I’d be afraid my office would think I’m allergic to Mondays. So I toughed it out.
But, even on the crappiest summer days, there’s always something about summer to appreciate. For instance, this:
Summer garden salad
My dinner. Isn’t it lovely? One of the things I love about summer is the vegetables. They’re fresh and flavorful. And pretty to look at! There was not one bite of my salad left, and it made me feel so much better about the crappy weather and the otherwise mundane leftover slice of cheese pizza I was eating.
And you know what else? I’ve decided to start a new project. I am bored, bored, bored with the scarf. It’ll still be my takealong project, but for at-home knitting, I’ve decided to take on a challenge.
Tam book with yarn surrounding itIt’s a knitted tam. I’m using the book, Knitted Tams, by Mary Rowe, as my guide. It’s more of a guide book, than a pattern book. Normally, this would excite me. But this time, I’m feeling a little intimidated. I don’t really understand all of the steps, but I’m hoping it will all become more clear as I go. We’ll see! I don’t know if what I see in my head is what is actually going to happen. I guess I’ll find out! Wish me luck!
For now, I’ve gotten this far:
First few stitches
That’s the cast-on edge. The waste yarn cast on edge. Yes, I’m setting up for my first tubular cast on, too. Thank goodness for Lucy Neatby’s video on the subject! I watched it a couple of times, and decided to just dive in. Wish me luck!
I leave you with this tad bit of wishful thinking, on a night when it is 85 degrees at 11:00 p.m.:
Call me nuts, but there was a HUGE honkin’ box from Knit Picks on my porch today, and THIS is what was inside:
Big pile o’ yarn
That’s what 72 balls of yarn looks like, people. SEVENTY-TWO. Am I crazy? Waaaaaait. Don’t answer that.
Knit Picks introduced a bunch of new colors in their Palette line, and what can I say? I’m a sucker for having lots of yarn in many colors. The thing is, when I nonchalantly clicked to order two balls of nearly every new color, I had NO IDEA, and I really mean that, NO IDEA how much yarn I was actually buying.
My name is Trish D. and I am a yarnaholic.
Except I don’t want to be cured.
Squee! This winter I AM going to learn how to do colorwork. I want to make tams. And selbuvotter mittens. And lots of other colorful things. Now I have a whole crayon box full of colors to play with.
Did I NEED more yarn?
Define need.
I’m gonna go roll in it a while before I go to sleep.
It’s been a really stressful week. The kind of week where it all seems to just get sucked right out of you. So when the chance came up to go with a group from work to the baseball game this afternoon, I took it. (We’re right across the street from the Washington Nationals.) None of my friends from my immediate office went today so I was by myself, pretty much, with about 75 other co-workers I don’t know that well.
I was alone, but I didn’t care. I had my knitting, the skies had cleared, it was cool and breezy and just a glorious afternoon. The Nats even won! That was a rare treat but they are currently on a winning streak. I somehow managed to capture a home run with the only video I shot all day:
Baseball. And knitting. A much-needed perfect day.
closeup of two knitting needles, one wood, one clear acrylic
When Knit Picks introduced their new Zephyr needles recently, well, I had to be the first on my block to get some! They came today, so I haven’t had much time to play with them yet. But here are my first impressions.
They’re pretty. I’m sitting here at my computer desk, which is brightly lit with an LED light strip, but these babies sparkle in the light. Not in a bad way, that causes too much glare. But in a good way. Like, in a do diamonds ever cause too much glare? –sort of way. Haha. Maybe that’s overkill, but the aesthetics do please me.
As promised, they’re extremely lightweight. This is a good thing for those of us who have pain in our hands. Less stressful, for sure. But then again, all of Knit Picks’ needles feel light to me. But, I think these are even a bit lighter than the others.
There is a touch of give. The needles are slightly flexible, which makes it easier to bend and “pick” stitches. I suppose this would be especially good for continental knitters. I throw, but from the left not the right, and even so I found this bit of give feels good.
They’re a bargain. This is really good news for someone who would want a nice needle set for less money. They are the cheapest set in the Picks line, and they sell for less individually as well, especially in larger sizes.
There is a bit of “squeak.” This is the one thing that I’m finding I don’t like. It’s not an annoying audible squeak, but you know that “feeling” you get when something sort of squeaks? That little bit of friction? I definitely felt it. I was using a size 7 needle, and Socks that Rock Mediumweight sock yarn. Perhaps my results will vary with different yarns. We’ll see. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a terrible issue that will keep me from loving these needles. It’s just something I noticed right away.
I haven’t spent enough time with these yet but I wanted to give some first impressions. I think I’m going to love them, especially for certain projects where picking at the stitches could be helpful. Lace? Cables? Probably a good choice.
Knit Picks did a nice job with these. I do like them so far. My Harmony wood needles are probably always going to be my favorite, but these are good. Really good.
Today was the August meeting of our Bowie Knitter’s Group, and we had lots of fun and several new folks visit us today. Below are my photos from today. As always, click to make with the bigger:
Yvonne and Alice take advantage of the sunny window
Marie shows explains to Trish about different kinds of increases
Tammy is knitting a beautiful shrug
Sylvia is knitting a shawl on Speed Stix
My pink scarf that will not grow
Kristin is learning entrelac while Rhoda admires her work
Livia takes a break from her sock
Marie models her new shiny hat
Leslie shows off her sweater in progress
Jennifer joined us with a sock and a scarf in progress
Jenn and Heather show the progress on their sister shrugs from Vogue
April has a shawl in progress, and right now it resembles a stingray!
We welcomed some new folks this month, and we hope they enjoyed their visit with us! Jennifer, Olivia and Sylvia came for the first time. I hope they had fun and will come back again!
We also had three or four visitors from inside the store who spied our knitting group and will be joining us in the future. How fun!
Knit group was varied and really fun today with so many people working on so many cool projects to talk about. I had kind of a sleepy day today and had a bit of trouble staying focused on my scarf. I had a long nap this evening though, which explains why I’m up late at night updating the blog!
Dina from knit group asked me to post new photos of the den, now that I’ve got all the pictures up. I’ll do that tomorrow. The kids have been home from vacation for a week now and so far, no one has dared to mess up this room. That’s a really good thing.
Next meetup is September 12, due to the Labor Day holiday. Can’t wait already. Goodnight for now!
It’s been ages since I’ve blogged, and I have a good reason. We’ve been busy! The kids have been on vacation with their grandparents, and John and I decided to undertake a cleaning up/redo of the most used and messiest room in the house–our den. We’ve still got a few little tweaks here and there, but it’s pretty much done and I wanted to share the results before it looks too lived in again. So…. drum roll, please:
Desk, beforeDesk, after
My desk was the biggest challenge. Getting rid of clutter, having the important stuff where I can reach it, having it well lit and the right height and all of those other ergonomic considerations… this was the best solution. We used elfa shelves from The Container Store. The printers are at differing heights so I can reach the glass on the all-in-one, and we have under-counter kitchen LED lights over the monitor so the bleary-eyed blogger can see what she’s doing.
Bookshelf, beforeBookshelf, after
The bookshelf we had in the den was a sorry little thing that could not hold all of my knitting books and magazines. So, they tended to pile up on the floor. Now, the elfa shelves cover the entire distance under the window, and I have room to spare.
Sofa, beforeSofa, after
The sofa area was also an issue. It’s where I sit to do most of my knitting, and it’s always cluttered with stuff, and usually, no one could sit on it. But, even if they could sit on it, it was looking worn and old. So, rather than buying new furniture just now, I bought slip covers and pillows to dress it up. Oh, and the ottoman? It was a last minute find at Target, and all the yarn for my active knitting projects is safely hidden inside (instead of being all over the sofa!).
Last but not least is the media area:
Entertainment center, beforeEntertainment center, after
What can I say? It was time to bring the media center into the 21st Century. The old media furniture had been with me since college. And our TV was old and broken… with horrible lines in the picture. So, it was time to redo. Once again we went with elfa shelves with storage bins for the huge collection of DVDs. We pared these down a lot (for example, no one here watches Sesame Street anymore, so all those videos have gone to a new home), but of the plethora that was left, there was a place for every one. And we still have an empty drawer, because we know there will be more. How cool is that? Room for growth!
So THIS is what has kept me away from the blog for so long. Hopefully regular knitting will resume soon and I’ll settle in to my new clutter-free zone.
Much thanks go to Lynn from Clutterbusters, who helped us organize, sort, pare down, and find a place for everything. This was all SO wonderful, and I’m glad it’s done!
Now, if you’ll excuse me… I’ve got some relaxing to do.
