Hearts Abound and Travel Yarn

I finished my February Knit Picks Hearts About socks last night and I'm very glad that they are done now. While I like the way they look, I did not enjoy knitting them all that much. I found the lace bored me after a little while and I'm not too into girly designs in general (read: hearts all over the place, pink, stuff like that) so the pattern wore on me after the first sock was done. Here's the finished product on my new wire hanger sock blockers that I'll be using to photograph things to make for better pictures for you all:Instructions for making your own coat hanger sock blockers can be found here if you clicky.

So what did I learn from these socks and why did I continue them if I was hating the knitting? Well, these were my first pair of toe-up socks that I've done and I wanted to have a pair under my belt finally. I've been knitting socks for over 2 years now and I had yet to try anything other than a standard cuff down design with a heel flap heel. I was given the Knit Picks Kettle Dyed Essential sock yarn sampler in the fall/winter colorway for Christmas and I decided that I would actually follow the patterns and make the toe up socks just so I could say I finally did something different.

I also picked up some travel yarn. It's actually crochet thread, but that was all I could find aside from Red Heart and while I could use some tough afghan yarn, I was not going to buy that as my souvenier yarn from traveling. So here's the crochet thread:Also picked up the steel crochet hook while traveling. This will become some sort of Christmas colored doily in the future.

That's it for today. Tomorrow, I guess I had better decide what to work on next!

Knit on...

I Knew It...

As sent to me by Kathy:

Kindle xkcd

Three Years!

It really has been three years now since I started this blog. It's actually three years to the day when I started this on March 1, 2006. So much has happened in these past three years that I felt I would honor the blogiversary with some of my favorite posts from the past three years. And for those wondering, I am back home now, so blog posts will resume as normal and should happen daily during the weekdays with the occasional weekend post if I have time. I'm planning on putting some real effort into the blog this year by working on better knitting photography and more detailed posts. Since I'm still getting stuff organized for the UFO update tomorrow, I'll leave you today with the three best posts, according to me, of the last three years, starting with the most recent first...

2008
An Intervention
A Finished Shawl and DF Speaks
Not Knitting Fiber Goodness and Some Travel Pictures

2007
Korea Day 8: Temples and Kimchi
Priceless
Push Through

2006
A Weekend of Magic
Petting a Celebrity
Welcome to My World aka, the first blog post!

I hope that you all enjoy these posts as much as I enjoyed writing them over the past three years. Look for some better pictures soon, so more thought out musings and writings, and a lot more fibery goodness in the year to come! And if you feel like it, leave a comment and let me know you're out there!

Knit on...

Leaving...again...

:oP

Yep, time for another two week vacation. Sock in progress is packed, so is Kindle and PSP and mini laptop. I'm heading out, so I'll be hit or miss on the blog sphere for a couple of weeks. I promise normal blogging when I return!

Knit on...

A Day of 12's

Ok, today has been an awesome day and it has all revolved around the number 12. First off, it's February 12, so there's the first one. This morning, the art teacher who I had brought back knitting needles for decided to repay me by giving me 12 pounds of laceweight! Yes, it's 12 pounds, looks to be German, and by my knitter's eye, bears a striking resemblance to Jaggerspun Zephyr:That is a normal toilet paper tube to give you scale. The color is actually pretty dead on in this picture, but it does have a little more gray in it. 12 pounds! How many freaking shawls will that make?

Today was also graduation day at the school and one of my students who is mentally slow came over and brought his parents. We took some pictures together and then his mom kept shaking my hand and gave me these:12 roses (ok, on closer inspection, looks like more, but for the sake of the 12 thing, we'll say it's a dozen).

It was so sweet of them to give those to me.

I also finished the first sock after throwing the chart out the window and just "reading" what the lace was doing and finishing it that way:Only down side of today was that I think I really hate picot bind off edging:
It just rolls more than I like. Anyways, if that's the worst of the day, then I'm doing damn good!

Knit on...

Pause

The sock is in time out for the moment after I ripped out the final heart edging five times today. Going to check and see if there is errata for this pattern, but it may be my lack of knitting mojo today. On the bright side, the sock is only 12 rounds away from being done if I can ever get it to work out correctly!

Knit on...

Past the Heel

Well, the sock continues even though I didn't get that much done on it yesterday. I was in a major funk all day and thankfully am better this morning. I realized before going to bed last night in a moment of clarity that I had forgotten to take my stupid vitamins since I got back to Korea. I get B vitamin deficient which makes me go all depressive because of a medication I'm on, so I have to take that B series I'm on every day or else I go into funks. Anyways, that's more info than anyone probably wanted/needed to know on here, so back to the sock:I'm hoping to have the sock finished by today. I'm really trying to have these heart socks done by Friday so I can wear them for Valentine's Day. Yes I'm a dork, shutup :oP

Knit on...

Back to Knitting

It's also back to work, but since I seem to get a lot more knitting done there than I normally do, it was definitely back to knitting. Today I started my first ever toe-up sock. It's the Hearts Abound pattern from the Knit Picks kettle-dyed essential sampler. I made it about 3/4 the way through the foot today:The pattern is really well written and has been easy to follow so far. I'll let you know tomorrow about the heel, which is the only part that has any confusion at all for me right now, but will hopefully work out as I make it.

That's it for today. Hopefully I'll have a finished heel to show you tomorrow!

Knit on...

Catch Up Part Two

Ok, sorry for the delay in the next post. After posting the first catch up, we had a little ice storm in Kentucky that a lot of you might have heard of. I did find one bright side to losing power for the last three days I was there though: lots of spinning time:I managed to spin up a whole pound of roving (Llama, Angora, Romney blend, yum) in those three days and brought it back to the land of kimchi with me. I also picked up some more yarn while in the states:Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Color Commentary in the Gerry's Roadside (I think that's the name, but I already put it away or I would double check).Yep, that's Malabrigo. Yep, that's enough for a sweater. Yep, I still keep petting it...

Needless to say, I am back at my apartment now. I have to be at school for a week and then will have a nice 2 week vacation with DF. It will be nice to see him again since it's been 5 weeks and will be almost another before I get to see him again! We're going to the Philippines for those two weeks, so it should be a fun Valentine's day in Manilla!

Knit on...

Catch Up

Ok, I know I've been away from here for a couple of weeks now, so sorry about that. Let's see what I can do for a catch up on here:

Jan 15: Flew to Lex, crashed asleep soon afterwards
Jan 16: Ran over to former workplace and saw people, dinner with family that night, hung out to Renee later that evening.
Jan 17: Spent day with Erica
Jan 18: Church, hung out with Erica, then hung out with Renee, Kim, Jane, and SB
Jan19: Great-grandmother went into hospital. Ran up there to see her
Jan 20: Went to SnB, saw all kinds of people I like
Jan 21: Uncle had colon cancer surgery. Spent all day at hospital, except to have lunch with Erica.
Jan 22: Hospital visits (noticing a trend here?)
Jan 23: Hung out with Renee almost all day and finally did something I had wanted to do for a while (if you are supposed to know, you already know :oP )
Jan 24: Hung out with Erica in the morning, went to future in-laws and hung out with them in the evening.
Jan 25: Went to church, SnB, then to see Zabet and Spooky. Bunny was pissed at me at first, but warmed up soon afterwards
Jan 26: Took lunch to my great-grandparents, saw my great-uncle, had dinner with my grandparents, prepared for today.
Jan 27: I'm watching it ice outside. Roads are terrible and it just figures that I'm supposed to have lunch with Kim. Twice now we have tried to have lunch and both times it has blasted iced the roads!

That's the catch up for the visit to Lex. I'm heading back to the sunshine state on Thursday, so hopefully I'll warm up there! There have been yarn purchases, some spinning, and some work on a baby blanket, so I have also squeezed some knitting, crocheting, and spinning into the hospital visits and friend visiting. I'll try to be better with the updates for the next week until I head back to the land of kimchi!

Knit on...

The Bleat Goes On

The fleece is still drying. Mostly the problem has been the extreme humidity and the rain that we had the past few days down here, but today was a nice, sunny day with a slight breeze. It appears that most of the fleece is dry now, so maybe by tomorrow it'll be ready to bag back up and pack for the trip back to Korea. In the meantime, I swear that the sheep is growing. I keep fluffing the stuff up to help it dry and in the process, it has taken over my parents' back porch. See?:

This is only about a 1.5 pound in the grease fleece too, but man I think it is growing! I'm about to go check it again, so we'll see how the sun and wind helped speed along the process.

Knit on...

A Little Late

Blatantly stolen from Dana's blog:

Where did you begin 2008?
Sitting on my bed, being woken up by a phone call from DF

What was your status by Valentine's Day?
Engaged to DF

Were you in school (anytime this year)?
Online stuff

Did you have to go to the hospital?
I always seem to end up in the hospital at least once a year because of the stupid stomach. I hate chicken...

Did you have any encounters with the police?
Not that I can think of

Where did you go on vacation?
This is the fun part. Let's see, Korea, Japan, and Thailand! Come on 2009, bring some more!

What did you purchase that was over $500?
Oh geez, let's see...airfare, airfare, airfare, and airfare

Did you know anybody who got married?
Yep, the secretary at the school. It was a fun wedding

Did you know anybody who passed away?
Yes, DF's dear aunt. She was the kindest person I think I've ever met.

Did you move anywhere?
Yep, when I move, I really move. Went to South Korea

What sporting events did you attend?
School sports day count?

Describe your birthday:
Talked on webcams to both my family and DF, some other English teachers came by and threw me an American food birthday party, with the exception of the cake which was definitely Korean. We had fun.

What's the one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2008?
Finally got to go to Japan

What has been your favorite moment(s)?
Traveling some of the side streets of Bangkok (DF knows which ones!), Geisha watch 2008, Christmas with DF and playing with the dinosaur tops, surprising my grandmother for her 80th birthday.

What's something you learned about yourself?
That I am not always as dependable as I thought I was. It was hard to realize, but I think and hope it makes me more mindful of others now.

Any new additions to your family?
There were a few in extended family

What was your best month?
The summer months were good while getting to travel.

What music will you remember from 2008?
Disturbed's Indestructible album because it pretty much wrote my book for me.

Made new friends?
Yep, I met people from all walks of life over in Korea

New best friend?
I think my best friend has stayed the same!

Favorite night out?
The Geisha Watch 2008 night with DF and the most expensive meal we ever ate :oP there may be another involving Bangkok too.

Any regrets?
I regret not buying good sunscreen before going to Thailand...

What do you want to change in 2009?
I want to be a kinder person and not be as pessimistic as I always seem to be.

Overall, how would you rate this year?
It was a year of changes. I'm glad I made the changes and good and bad, would do it all over again (just avoiding the bad :oP )

What would you change about 2008?
More vacation

Other than home, where did you spend most of your time?
Work

Have any life changes in 2008?
See all of the above!

Change your hairstyle?
Yeah, I got it chopped and have vowed not to do that again. I desperately need to get it shaped though since it looks like a big red triangle at the moment. Don't worry, DF, I'm not killing the length again!

Have any car accidents?
DF hit a bicycle that rolled in front of him while I was on the back of his motorcycle, does that count? No one was hurt, but the bike had a dented wheel. We saw the kid again, still riding the dented wheel. I think she now knows to be more careful. At least it was us who dented it and not a Korean who would have probably killed her by ripping through that street.

Buy a new car?
No

Get a new job?
Yep, now teaching

Got a New Year's resolution?
I will run a 5k by the end of the year again. I want to travel more.

Do anything embarrassing?
I fell flat on my face in front of DF, but that's fairly common...

Buy anything new from eBay?
Not that I can think of off the top of my head.

What was your favorite purchase of 2008?
airfare

Get married or divorced?
Nope, not in a hurry to get married and speed up the prospect of divorce :oP

Get arrested?
No

Be honest - did you watch American Idol?
Nope, not a fan

Did you get sick this year?
yeah, I hate chicken and the sun :oP

Start a new hobby?
Don't think so

Drank Starbucks in 2008?
Yeah, in Thailand even

Are you happy to see 2008 go?
Not much I could do to make it stop, now is there?

New Computer

So all day today, I've been working on downloading everything to my new shiny laptop. I've now got word processing on here, itunes, and all the myriad of other programs that populated the last computer. I was going to post a rather dorky webcam picture from the new built in webcam, but I currently can't seem to figure out how. So no terrible pictures of me on here for now.

The new computer is an Acer Aspire One 8.9 inch laptop. It's tiny. It's tiny and light. It's the opposite of the monstrosity of an Acer that I currently have. The only complaint I have with the computer is that it's so damn shiny that it shows every little fingerprint, scratch, or anything else within five feet of it. If that's my biggest complaint, I think I'm doing pretty good.

I'll get some knitting done tonight while my mom is in the studio recording. She's working on her third stand-alone album now and it's rather fun to see how the bits and pieces of recording all go together. Considering I have zero musical talent, the whole process fascinates me.

Knit on...

Fleeced

For Christmas, my grandmother bought me a fleece, but I didn't get it until Saturday. She has been interested in how someone cleans, cards, and spins a fleece. So imagine my surprise when a nice, Jacob sheep fleece from a sheep named Dee Dee was handed to me. Since she wanted to learn how I prepare my fiber, I decided to show her. Here's the fleece in the bag:Very nice crimp which you can sort of make out in the picture. Well, the sheep was a very greasy one, so it took a lot of washing. Here is a soaked fleece:

It's a soapy fleece too since that was its first wash. It turned out pretty clean after four separate baths, so I decided to stick it outside to dry on the screened in back porch. This of course meant that the humidity would skyrocket and it would rain off and on today. Needless to say, the fleece is still damp and will hopefully dry completely by tomorrow.

I knit on some squares and forgot to take pictures of them. I also am doing yet another pair of mittens. I'm rather sick of knitting this pattern now.

Knit on...

At least it's something...

Yeah, sorry I fell off the blogging wagon again this week. Here, look at yarn:That's Clessidra in progress. I haven't been knitting as much as I had hoped on that because instead, I have been crocheting:

Dishcloths. Buttloads of dishcloths. I think I made 20 something. Some are for mom, some are for my grandmother. But it was a lot of dishcloths regardless. Now I'm working on Noro squares, and after that, I'll be making a pair of Broad Street Mittens for my grandmother who has now requested a pair before I leave. Then I'll start working on a batch of 3 baby blankets.

I had already made two children their baby blankets 4 and 1 years ago, but due to a house fire in which everything being used by the kids was destroyed (as well as most of the house, save one closet which thankfully had family pictures and other non-replaceable items). Well, I go over and visit their mom and the 4 year old comes up and says, "I really liked my blue blanket. I miss it."

Damn...now I guess I have to make him another one :oP His sister will be getting a replacement pink one (hers was originally blue and pink, but given how princessy she seems to be at 1, she's getting pink). And they just found out they have an indeterminable fetus at 8 weeks old, so there's a green blanket on the way for the unknown kid to be.

I better get to work!

Knit on...

I'm Here!

I do still exist! Sorry I haven't posted in a week now. I'm over the jet lag now it seems for the most part and I've been getting lots of knitting and crocheting done. I'll try to have some pictures tomorrow if I can get them on here. Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's celebration and that your new year has been filled with all kinds of yarny goodness.



As for the Lexington crew, I'll see you guys in about a week!



Knit on...

Ladies and Gentlmen,

Please fasten your seatbelts and observe the no smoking sign.

I'll be back in the states pretty soon. Hopping on a plane on New Years and heading back for some Western culture and logic. See you guys soon!

That is after I get over the jet lag!

The Christmas Haul

Christmas Presents
Originally uploaded by magicknits

I decided not to post the other presents (most of which are video games, but also an awesome Spam shirt) since this is a knitting blog and I know that you're all more interested in the fiber content. So without adieu, here is the haul:

8, yes, count them, 8 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi.
2 skeins Noro Silk Garden
1 skein Noro Kureyon
12 skeins Knit Picks Essential Sock (the fall sampler packet)
Digital Knitting Counter
Stitch Markers

Yeah, I cleaned up!

Thank you to my family for all the yarn! I was completely surprised to see this much show up here in Korea! Woot!

Knit on...

Better Pictures

Sahara1
Originally uploaded by magicknits

DF took some better pictures this weekend of Sahara, so here is my favorite one of the bunch for your viewing enjoyment. Up next: The Christmas Haul.

Knit on...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all! Happy Holidays!

May they be filled with yarny goodness....
Needles that never break....
Family you love....
Friends who will be with you, whether near or far away....

Merry Christmas, everyone!

The Voodoo Parade

Sorry there was no post yesterday. Somewhere between the massive amount of snow, the freezing temperatures, and the class schedule, I forgot to take a picture of the massive amount of voodoo wrist warmers. I finished the seventh, yes, seventh pair last night and here they are:I have one more pair to make today and I know they'll get done. I have to make one masculine pair for the one guy I'm giving something to, so I'll knock those out today and get working on DF's presents.

It snuck up on me this year for sure!

Knit on...

That Voodoo That You Do

That's the Christmas present that everyone is getting around Naju this year from me: Voodoo wrist warmers. They're fast, easy, and I can meet my goal of one pair a day until Christmas Eve to get them all finished I think. Anyways, here's pair number one:Yarn is some German superwash that I've never heard of from the LYS in Naju. They got comments at work yesterday which is good since that's who all I'm making these for. I'm hoping to get two pair done today between work and after school, so we'll see if I can meet that goal.

Other than that, I gave up on knitting presents this year for people. I just let time slip away from me here. I had wanted to make house socks, but I wasn't feeling the worsted weight sock love this year, so that one stalled and never made it past the first finished sock (I should probably finish the second just to get it over with). So, voodoo is such an easy pattern and the ribbing keeps me slightly entertained, which is why it's the present of choice now.

And thank goodness it's Friday!

Knit on...

Finished!

Without further adieu, I bring you the finished Sahara:Another nickname for this sweater is Boobs. When I showed it to my neighbor, she was like, You have boobs! Guess everyone is used to seeing me in the baggy sweatshirts and what not which hides my belly fat, and in turn the boobage. Here's the side shot:It shows off the boobage and also the belly. This is a sweater that's only going to look better and better as I lose some weight, so I'm excited about that.

Today is our school festival and to celebrate, I'm wearing the newly finished Sahara sweater. I'm looking forward to how everyone likes it. Hopefully they'll think it looks nice and not think that a fitted sweater is too tight, even though I tried to explain to them the concept of fitted yesterday and that didn't seem to work out well. Oh well!

Knit on...

I Give

Yeah, so I keep forgetting to post anything at work, so I give up and I'm posting from home today before I even get into school. Anyways, here's Sahara so far:Only thing left now is the neck edging which I'm really hoping I can finish up today so that I can wear this thing to the school festival tomorrow. I also had a bit of an earring fiasco this weekend.
Here are my new 16 gauge captured ball earrings. It only took about an hour to get the stupid things in. It wasn't because I was going up gauge, it was actually because of those stupid little balls. DF had to get them in for me and after an hour, we both agreed that I'm not taking these dumb things out! :oP

Knit on...

Almost There...

Sahara
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Sahara is almost completely done now. I finished the first sleeve last night and started the second one. Now I've just got to get that one knit and the neckband knit and the sweater is all done. I've even been good and have woven in the ends as I go so that I don't have to worry about the finishing at the very end, aside from two or three neckband ends.

Come on, Sahara! I'm ready to wear you!

Knit on...

PS: I'm starting to feel more human now. Still coughing and snotty, but no more fever and I went back to work.

We Interrupt This Knitting Blog...

To bring you Korean Flu 2008.

Yes, I have the flu. Yes, it sucks. Yes, I called in to work today because I felt like crap.

No, I have not knit much. I think I am about to remedy that now!

Knit on...

Now I Really Want It Finished...

Sahara try on
Originally uploaded by magicknits

I made the mistake of trying on Sahara this morning and man, does it fit like a glove! The measurements are perfect right now. I really want it to be finished now that I've tried it on. I still have two long sleeves and a neck edging and stitching to finish before it's wearable, but I think this very well may become one of my favorite sweaters. I like the fit so well that I am contemplating buying Labyrith from the same designer so that I can get another nice hourglass-shaped sweater under my belt. I'll probably pick up Wendy's book Custom Knits too so that I can make all my sweaters fit my odd measurements!

Today I didn't bring the sweater to work. It's just so big that it's hard to travel with it, so instead I brought dishcloth cotton to crochet a couple of cloths and a skein of the Shepherd Worsted to wind into a ball so that I can start the neck edging as soon as I hit the apartment, assuming I'm not so tired that I just crash and fall asleep. Today is one of my long days at work, so we'll see.

Knit on...

Sahara Progress Report

Sahara
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Here is the sweater after knitting all the hip increases last night. I should be done with the body of the sweater tonight and then can move on to the sleeves. I am hoping to get some spinning done tonight, so if I don't get the neck edging done on the sweater, I won't be too worried. I will be trying the thing on tonight though once I get the bottom diamond edge ribbing done. I'm rather excited.

Yeah, it doesn't take much, does it? :oP

Knit on...

Noro Socks

Noro Socks
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Well, I finished the Noro Socks yesterday and after wearing them today, I have to admit that they are one of the cushiest and nicest feeling pair of socks I own. No, they will not be replacing my Lorna's Laces by any means since that sock yarn is by far my favorite so far, but I think that if I am ever gifted more Noro, I will probably make another pair. It is thick and smooshy and I didn't have much of an issue with knots (only one) or sticks and twigs like other people have had. I made this a 56 stitch sock instead of a 64 stitch because the yarn is very thick compared to my normal go-to sock yarns. Still, it made for a very enjoyable pair of socks, even if the yarn was a little tough to work with. Up next: Sahara.

Knit on...

Some Days

Yeah, so for some reason my computer at work decided that it would be a great thing to run REALLY slow. Hopefully it was just for today, but everyone was having issues with their computers, so maybe someone managed to get a virus into the servers or something. I don't know much about viruses other than they suck and I really don't want them on my computer, be it work or not. So you're getting a late blog entry today until I see if I can blog easier from work tomorrow. Here's the state of the Noro sock as of this morning:I tried to make the socks match, but as is normal Noro for me, there was a knot tied in it, so the color changed a little quicker than it did on the first sock. That's all right though since I still enjoyed the color changes and knitting the sock. I have since finished it, but I'll leave that for tomorrow's blog post since I'll be wearing my nice, new, very warm silk garden socks tomorrow to work.

The kids have really enjoyed my socks. They see me knitting socks in the teacher's room when I don't have class and then look at my feet when I come to class to see if they remember me knitting those socks. It has become a sort of game with some of my third years as to what color socks Leah will be wearing today. Kinda cute actually.

And on one last side note, I was called a vampire yesterday my one of my students. I had straightened my hair and had on some darker lipstick than I normally wear since I'm now out of my normal shade, so I chalked it up to that. Well, today one girl goes, "Oh, teacher! Twilight! You look!" So, I'm guessing that straight, dark-red hair with dark lipstick means that I look like one of the characters out of twilight. I'll try to post a picture tomorrow and you all can decide for yourselves. I personally have not read the books or seen the movie, so I really have no clue.

Time to go knit some more on Sahara.

Knit on...

The Weekend

Sahara
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Ok, so post 3/3 for today. I'm really going to have to start blogging from home so that I can just go ahead and put all the pictures in one post, but I'm also lazy and mainly use my computer at home to watch DVDs and call people :oP Anyways, the weekend was good. I headed west to go visit DF and spend the weekend lazing around his apartment, finishing up the Nano book (I won, I won!), and knitting on Sahara until I ran out of yarn. I knew I should have brought another skein with me, but this gave me the chance to finish the Noro sock (see post below). I'm completely in love with the Sahara pattern and tonight I should get close, if not arrive at the short row shirttail shaping, so I'm quite excited about that!

Tonight Barbie and I are making a bunch of food. We decided that we wanted some good food this week, so we're going to both cook tonight and share the different foods. She's making homemade clam chowder and fried oysters and I'm making scalloped potatoes, and possibly chili if I can find some decent hamburger around here.

I'll let you know how the cooking spree goes!

Knit on...

One Sock Down...One to Go

Noro Sock
Originally uploaded by magicknits

I did manage to finish one of the Noro socks this weekend. I am actually already about 1/4 through the next one too, but stupid me forgot to take pictures of that one. Ah well. I like the color changes of the yarn, but I really do think that this will be my only pair of Noro socks. I'll use the rest of the sock yarn for scarves and other projects that can show off the color changes, although the feel of them is quite nice after trying on the first one. We'll see how they wear.

Knit on...

The Tree

Naju Tree
Originally uploaded by magicknits

My parents sent me a Christmas tree in the mail so that I would have at least a Charlie Brown tree to decorate my apartment. I had fun decorating it on Thanksgiving, as per my family tradition, and discovered only after decorating the whole thing that only half the string of lights work (it's a pre-lit tree). I did however buy more lights this weekend, so now I have a happy multi-colored twinkling tree decorating the tiny apartment!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Japan sea36
Originally uploaded by magicknits

It's pretty much over for America now. Last night I had a Thanksgiving dinner with some of the American native speakers in Naju and we had quite a feast. There were fried oysters, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, asparagus, green beans, and rice pudding with vanilla ice cream. All in all, it was a good time. After dinner, I decorated my Christmas tree that my parents mailed over to keep with the family tradition.

There has also been knitting, but I forgot to take pictures of it. Hopefully I'll have some decent pictures of a finished sock and other knits on Monday. Everyone have a great weekend!

PS: for those who are wondering, the random picture is from the Japan Sea when DF and I went this summer. I needed to use a picture for the blog feature to work on flickr :oP

Knit on...

And Here's Sahara

Sahara
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Part two of the blog post for today! Sahara is about to be joined for work in the round, so hopefully I'll make some more progress on that. I'm also hoping to get in some spinning tonight since the alpaca roving has been sitting out taunting me to do something with it. I am still in love with the Sahara pattern right now, so the two of them will have to battle it out for who will get the most time.

I did get some writing in today. I'm hoping to work some more on the book for the next two periods and then after my last class of the day so that I can be just that much closer to finishing the darned thing. Then I'll let it sit and try to edit it sometime in January. Fun times.

knit on...

The Sock Progress

Noro Sock
Originally uploaded by magicknits

Yep, I'm still blogging via flickr right now because blogger is still being banned at the school for some reason. At least flickr does allow me to blog, albeit with just one picture at the top. Anyways, here's the progress on the Noro sock. I have since turned the heel and am about to start working my way down the foot. The next post will have the Sahara progress!

Knit on...

And Here's Noro

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Originally uploaded by magicknits

And here's the Noro sock in progress. I'm working on it a little more today, but I really need to make myself write. I've fallen behind the past few days and since I only have five days left to finish this novel, I need to get cracking. I'm hoping to be very close to 50k by the end of the day today. I don't have much time between classes today, so instead of knitting a few rounds on the sock, I figure I can make myself type and get the word count flowing again!

Knit on...

Finished Ziggy

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Originally uploaded by magicknits

Well, the school has blocked blogger again from the computers, so until I get that fixed again, I'll be blogging from flickr or from home. I finished the Ziggy scarves this weekend. I ended up adding more length to the first one and then using the leftover yarn for the second one. I gave the two scarves to their recipients today at school and they are both modeling for everyone around here, so I take it to be a sign that they like them.

I also started the Noro sock yesterday and I'll have pictures of that in the next post since I haven't figured out how to get flickr to allow me to post multiple pictures into a single blog entry from their site. Oh well!

Knit on...

Stash Enhancement

My stash nearly tripled this weekend when DF brought back yarn I had ordered and that had been given as a gift to me. My stash was really quite low though...I only had two skeins of Lorna's Laces which I was saving for a desperate sock knitting moment and the rest of the skeins for Sahara and Donegal. Poor Donegal. The sweater is sitting in its box, hanging out because I've become obsessed with the Sahara sweater pattern now. Donegal will have her day again soon though. Anyways, here's what DF brought back:Six skeins of Lorna's Laces. That's Franklin's Panopticon, Amy's Vintage Office, and Mt. Something that I can't remember its name.Four skeins Malabrigo laceweight. Can you say dragon shawl?3 skeins Noro Silk Garden sock. One will become socks, but I have other plans for the remaining two.
Two bags of hand-dyed roving by Jessi. I also had two skeins of kitchen cotton, but forgot to take pictures of them, so imagine blue and yellow cotton here :oP

Knit on...

You Know It Was a Good Weekend...

When it involves the purchase of a sheep hat:More tomorrow...

Knit on...

Uh, Yeah...

So it snowed yesterday. I don't mean that it just flurried some, I mean that it dumped a nice white blanket all over the place:There's a good three inches on the ground as I write this and it's still peppering down, so who knows how much will accumulate.

I did knit some last night too. Here's Sahara:I'm almost to the front armhole shaping now, so it's growing quite steadily. I would have knit more last night but I had a headache from the blasted weather changing so suddenly.

I also have been crocheting at school when not writing:This is the Ziggy scarf pattern. It's a very easy crochet lace pattern, but it certainly flies. I should be done with this one by the end of the day since I don't have any classes to teach.

Hopefully there will also be some writing today! :oP

Knit on...

Sahara

Let me just say that I am in love with this pattern. It's very simple, but the construction is keeping my attention. This is my first top-down seamless sweater in the round, so it's some new stuff for me, which is always nice. I love the color of the Devon Shepherd Worsted, I love the feel of the yarn, and I love how well this pattern is written.

Here is the current state of the sweater after knitting 20 rows of the front tonight:I did write some more. If you'll notice, the word total is getting very close to the 50k mark. I'm really hoping to have this finished by the end of this week so that I can spend more time with Sahara and the stash. I've missed the stash. Good thing they had that intervention for me yesterday :oP

Knit on...

An Intervention

I spent most of this weekend writing, hoping to hit 40,000 words by the end of the weekend. I was at almost 39,000 when I realized I needed milk if I was going to eat cereal for breakfast in the morning, so I took a walk to the store. When I came back, this is what I saw:I was concerned because I had not placed the yarn there. In fact, I have been intentionally neglecting the yarn stash this month because of the novel. I also saw that my novel was no longer on the screen. I read the letter and this is what it said:I started to get very concerned. The stash was now talking to me. Had I really neglected knitting and fondling yarn for 15 days now? Was I in need of an intervention? Had my novel really taken over all my free time? I picked up the skein of yarn and pressed it against my face, feeling the uber softness that is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted. I looked at the needles and the pattern and said what the hell. I'll knit for a little while and then get back to writing.Yeah, it's horribly curled up because of it being plain stockinette, but this is the back of the sweater to the armholes....yeah, no more writing was going to be taking place this weekend.

It's 10 PM here, so it's pretty much my set bedtime here, but I can't...put...the...sweater...down...

I'm back!

Knit on...

PS: I intend to be close to finished if not completely finished with the novel by the end of this week. I can't travel with the sweater, so work time will be writing time. Don't worry, the novel is not going to be neglected :oP

This is a Knitting Blog!

Look, before I go any further:Knitting. There, I proved that I do actually knit. This is the feather and fan scarf of abandon. I call it this because I started it, thinking it would be nice and easy to work on while nano-ing, but no. I abandoned it, threw it aside as the writing muses took over and forced me to be a slave to the computer as the words just seemed to flow. Yesterday I had the day off work, so I knit some, albeit still not very much. I was more interested in cooking two huge pots of vegetable soup and freezing one. Now I'll have some nice, hot soup for dinners now that the weather has turned pretty cool.

Maybe I'll knit some this weekend too. Of course I'm at almost 35,000 words too, so maybe I'll just see how many more I can crank out and just how close I can get to the story's end.

We'll see :oP

Knit on...

I Will Knit

I want it to be known that tonight and tomorrow I will knit. My fingers are twitching involuntarily now and the book is about half way done. Plus I just found out that I get a day off work tomorrow. So help me God, I will knit tonight!

Anyways, here's the current stats:

Words: will be at 32,000 before I leave school
Chapters: 14
Favorite line in Chapter 14: Several wrong turns, some strong cursing, and two hours and a purchased map later, the unlikely group arrived at the city limits of Baysan.

Tomorrow...knitting...must...knit...

Knit on

Uh, What Knitting Pictures?

Uh, did I promise pictures of knitting yesterday? Clearly my mind if warped from this novel writing thing. I would take pictures of the knitting normally, if my mind wasn't thinking about weaknesses of certain main characters and how a certain bad guy is going to exploit those. I would normally knit if my head wasn't churning out plot ideas on how my main character is going to save his friend.

So instead, I give you more novel info! I do solemnly swear that this blog will go back to its usual pictures and knitting content once the novel is finished. I intend to let it sit for at least a few weeks before I go through and read all the craptapulous stuff that I have now written.

Word Count: 28,000ish
Chapters: 12
Character Deaths: 1
Flashbacks: 2
Near Death Experiences: more than I care to count.
Favorite line from chapter 12: Being almost killed in uncountable ways in the course of forty eight hours really puts things in perspective, he thought as he ate the piece of tasteless bread.

Knit on...

The Autosummary of my Book

I was reading the nano forums from the procrastination station and found this thread about autosummary in Word. For fun, I decided I was curious enough to see what words were being used way too much in my book. Here is my 10 sentence summary:

Brennan cringed. Brennan asked. Brennan asked. Brennan asked. “Brennan. Brennan nodded. Brennan nodded. “Thanks, Brennan. Brennan shrugged. Brennan nodded.

As you can see, Brennan nods and asks too much stuff :oP If Brennan were not the name of my main character, I would also be even more horribly frightened of this :oP

Writing, Writing, Writing

That pretty much sums up the weekend aside from a trip to an art show in Gwangju. It was a nice art show, but for the most part, I don't get modern art. Sure, there was some stuff I liked, but there was a lot of stuff that looked like stuff I might have drawn when I was two. Oh well.

The book is almost 28,000 words now, so it's growing nicely. I'm in the middle of a flashback with my main character, so that's giving me room to expand the story some more.

Knitting pictures tomorrow!

Knit on...

Knitting? You Mean She Still Knits?

Yes I Do! I do still knit people. Some things never change, even if they slow down a little due to writing a book and catching a stupid cold on my birthday. Thank you to everyone who commented about the birthday on here yesterday! The gathering at the apartment was nice, even if I felt a little like death warmed over. The good news is that I feel quite a bit more human today and my appetite finally came back, so that probably means that the worst of this is over, or at least that the leftover pizza and cake will be devoured tonight...

Anyways, look, here's my progress on a feather and fan scarf:Ok, I said I still knit, I didn't say I had been knitting a lot! I'll try to work on it some more this weekend, but I really need to sit down and get the word count up on my NaNoWriMo. We'll see which one wins out now.

Knit on...

Ahem

I do actually have to clear my throat to say this since the zicam has not cleared up the bug I have managed to catch. I am not as sniffly as yesterday, but I am really wiped out and tired. But on another note:

Today is my birthday, or well, it's the day of my birthday over here. I was born in America, so I still have about 4 more hours until it's my birthday over there :oP

Ahem :oP

There may actually be some knitting content on this knitting blog tomorrow. I know, it's hard to believe, isn't it?

Knit on...

I Do Still Live

Hey, everyone. Just popping on to let you know that I still live, but I might be catching a cold. Tonight when I get home, I am hitting the Zicam in hopes that if this is a cold, it will wipe it out. Right now it feels like my sinuses have a life of their own, so we'll see.

I have been knitting some on the scarf, but due to brain cells possibly joining the party in my sinuses this morning, stupid me forgot to bring the picture that I promised yesterday. If I am able to function when I get home, I'll try to post it. If not, just imagine a whopping three inches of feather and fan lace in knitpicks turquois splendor.

And it looks like we have a new president now. My blog is a politics-free zone, so I won't share my thoughts about it on here, but it looks like there will be a lot of change coming for sure.

Lastly, the word count on my novel is almost 16,000. I hope to get to 17000 by the end of tonight, but who knows how well I'll be writing when I get home.

Knit on...

OtherKin Random Update

My favorite line from the book so far:

All Brennan wanted to do was to have a cigarette and sleep and hope that when he woke up, he would be back in his dirty apartment without any voices in his head or things randomly catching on fire.

We Interrupt This Knitting Blog....

With a writing blog. It's November, which means for thousands of people, it is also National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. The past couple of years, I have watched as Renee and Kim have been writing, sometimes competing in nano. Well, this year, I had a story that really needed to get out of my head and onto paper. I'm really good at coming up with decent story ideas, but I never get around to finishing them because I tend to write as if going down the rabbit hole. This year is different though.

This weekend, I managed to log in over 10,000 words on my story. So far at school today, I have logged in almost 1500 words and will probably have more by the end of the day if I am still feeling the story grow.

So, yeah, this is a knitting blog, right? I did knit a little on Friday, and I have knit two repeats today on a feather and fan lace scarf. That's the extent of my knitting right now. It's been at a stand-still since last week when I was writing the last parts of my outline so I know where to direct this story.

I'll have pictures of the two-inch long scarf tomorrow though. And probably more word updates!

Knit on...and write some too.