Into the Void

This may or may not help, Barbara, but I remember watching this program on television a long time ago. It could have been a CBS Sunday Morning or something on PBS. In any case, the part that stays with me is an interview with a concert pianist. He talked about how his career was in two parts. He started out as a prodigy, if I remember correctly, so the first part of his career was like a rocket. After a while it stalled, and he had to do the hard work of relearning how to play the piano. He had to go deeply into his own personal process and also the mechanics of playing, whereas the first part was in many ways automatic and intuitive. I remember how inspiring and matter-of-fact it was the way he put it.

Bob ;-)

Slippers v. 2... or 3?

I just want to say I'm sick of spending my Tuesdays off with the dentist.

Finished slipper #1 of the Dorm Boots, slipper pattern #2. Actually it's slipper pattern #3, since the Cozy House Socks are slipper-like. This one's more like what I had in mind. The Guinea Pigs are a bit low on the foot for Wisconsin winters, but would be adequate for summer. One more Dorm Boot to go then I can try the other pattern I printed off. All feet should be toasty warm at my house in the future. Unless people flash puppy dog eyes and then I let them take them home.

The Great Void

I have to say this is the absolute driest, most desolate writing block, or more accurately, blank I've had since I stepped onto this odyssey almost 10 years ago. I look at my notebooks, magazines, and how-to books and can't for the life of me figure out what I found so fascinating about them. I hope that the accomplishment of the nuptulation on May 17 and the attendant craziness surrounding it, I will rediscover my writer self and get back to being able to put words on paper. I'd better, or the 2k I'm spending at The Clearing this summer will be wasted. This driest of dry spells can't be the end. It just can't.

Thanks for the kind words about my poem, Bob. I'm determined to stare at a blank page for a while today. Maybe one of the poetry prompts will spark a response. Anything, even a haiku. Please?

--Barbara :-(

You the Poet...

Thanks for Love Work, Barbara. The line Love, real love, sets in/ soon enough has the weight and rhythm of real poetry. I didn't want to comment on the rest of it too soon, because I wasn't at all sure what I wanted to say. It had to do with advice part. I may be way off, and feel free to ignore this, but it seems too abstract. The words you need need to hold closer to real situation and experience. Think of it as talking to the person you were thirty five, forty years ago. Thanks.

Bob ;-)

Turning Frogs Into Guinea Pigs

Remember those House Socks I was making out of that Super Bulky Lion Landscapes yarn? Well, I was decreasing the gusset stitches on my way to the foot and realized that I had nearly 55 yards (an entire skein) in it, which would mean that I'd use 4-55 yd. skeins of fairly expensive yarn to make a pair of slippers. Slippers, people, something you wear around the house to keep your feet warm. Seemed like a lot of yarn for not a lot of output. I wanted to make the yarn last longer, plus my hands were aching from knitting super bulky yarn on size US 6 DPNs. Off to the frog pond went the slipper. Ribbit!

I still wanted to make slippers, though, and I wanted to use that yarn so I went to my favorite free pattern site and found 3 patterns using thicker yarn and bigger needles--Dorm Boots, Three Strand Slippers, and Bulky Yarn Booties. Yay!

I immediately made a pair of the Three Strand Slippers--fast and easy on size US 11s, although I thought they looked like Guinea Pigs when I was making the toe so that's what I'm calling them--they used about one and a half skeins for the pair. And I also knit the first 18 rows on straights rather than try to cram 24 super bulky stitches onto a DPN and keep them from sproinging off the other end.

I cast on Dorm Boots (size US 10s) next and am just past the 10 rows of garter stitch that forms the bottom. Next comes the stockinette body with every row decreases up the foot.

I think it's safe to say I'm on a slippers jag.


Oh, and this morning? It's snowing. Ugh.

I Love My Job...

And last Monday proved it once again. I work in a scuba shop selling dive gear and certification classes. I work 3 days a week and I never have to be there before 10 AM. Most of my customers are in a good mood and happy to be there; they're interesting people, have interesting lives and are, therefore, fun to talk to. Sometimes it's very quiet there. Sometimes when the economy is a little shaky, people keep their money to pay rent and buy food and other non-luxury things, and the dive shop is a bit deserted. My boss doesn't mind if I read or write or knit while I'm there, as long as I get my work done and jump up and wait on customers when they come in, I'm conscientious about doing just that. It's been very quiet lately so I've been getting a lot of crossword puzzles and reading and knitting done. Last Monday I hit upon the perfect non-busy work activity--I watched a DVD while knitting at my desk. Getting paid. Seems a bit like stealing and makes my Germanic work ethic self feel slightly embarrassed about it, so I won't do it too often, but damn, it was fun.

Spring Flowers & Knitty Stuff

It was overcast but warm and humid yesterday, and last night it rained and blew like crazy. I went out this morning (in the overcast, chilly and windy front yard) to make sure the daffodils and tulips survived. They did--and they don't look too much the worse for the experience. Whew.

Mom and I spent most of the day yesterday gathering supplies and cutting out the tartan cummerbunds for both "Father-of-the"s, and FOG's (aka DH) tartan bowtie (the FOB will wear a long, non-tartan tie) for David & Abby's wedding 3 weeks from today!! Yikes. It took a whole lot more time than either of us thought it would, mostly because cummerbund hooking-together parts were nearly impossible to find. We got things that will be adequate but I will continue the search once the stores open today. *Mom found the cummerbund buckles at some place in Newark, so they should be on the way early next week. The shipping's more than the cost of the notions. sigh* Mom's a really good sewer so I'm confident she'll do most of the work and I'll fetch and carry and give sage advice. Oh, and pay for supplies and buy lunch, stuff like that.


My adventures with yarn continue. Remember last week I got that Lion Landscapes yarn on sale? Well, I couldn't not cast on something with it, so I decided to make more Cozy House Socks with the lighter colored one. It's super bulky weight, not regular bulky like the pattern calls for, and while the ball band recommends using size 13 needles, I'm using size 6, but I thought that it would be okay. My forearms ached when I was knitting the k2, p2 cuff ribbing but I always struggle with knitting ribbing. I tried to put it in time-out for making my arms sore, but I can't seem to leave it alone. When I read the directions for the heel flap, I realized that I'd forgotten to knit the cuff on one size bigger needles but, pfft, so what, right? Right. The cuff seemed quite a bit bigger than the previous ones made with the recommended yarn, but I held them together and they seemed to at least be shirttail relatives. Then before I picked up the stitches for the gusset, I thought it was just too big and maybe I should just frog the whole thing and find something else to knit with my 4 skeins of sale yarn. I kept knitting. I will say that the house sock seems almost pre-felted because the fabric's so dense. I love the colors and it's really soft. I'll keep going and see what happens. And you know I'll make it a mate, a person can't wear just one. Can you say denial?

I will say that as hard as it is to knit that thick yarn on such thin needles it's making working on the Red Licorice Sweater sleeve a breeze. Rows just seem to effortlessly stack up in groups of 8, which is when I have to increase so I see it in 8-row segments in my mind. See?

And for nearly totally mindless knitting I cast on a Silk Road Bias Bag from some of my eBay-bought reclaimed silk yarn. I could stare at the colors all day. So rich.

I still also have the Accidental Sock OTN for waiting room and dentist's chair knitting. I'll have the pair finished by next fall when I'll need wool socks again, I promise.

Finally, I used my Barnes & Noble member coupon for April to purchase a copy of Charmed Knits. I'm such a Harry Potter fan, it's a bit embarrassing.