Warped

Where have I been?
Warping.

I'll have pics here later, but for now, know this: I'm an idiot.

No really. I found out from Syne Mitchell of Weavecast that I took on a ridiculously difficult first project. This surprised me not at all. I had some linen on cones just sitting around so I thought I should use it. I warped with that

Then I wove four placemats--plain tabby, then twill (1/3 and 2/2) and had a ball.













I had no one to tell me that I was insane to start with linen. Probably why it came out just fine. If I don't know it's impossible I won't know I can't do it. I started the same way with knitting. It Is My Way.

And I think the placemats came out pretty well, all things considered. I would NEVER have chosen that color on my own, but like I said...I had cones lying around, so...

Now (again, becasue I'm an idiot) I'm warping 22 epi crochet cotton into a double sleyed Huck Lace table runner.

Um.
We'll see.

But that's where I've been. I've actually had to organize my nights, and I try to weave only when Andrew's out of town because it's (a) not silent and (b) not something I can do on the couch and, you know, I kinda like being near him.

On the knitting side of my life I'm fixing the length of my "Springtime in Paris" socks from the Six Sox KAL. I love these socks. I love that they're Tofutsies yarn. I hate that they're too big. So the night I started Harry Potter x7, I did a little experiment and tried pulling the toe out to see if just stretching the sock would make it fit better.

It did.

So now I've inserted dpns, ripped out the toe of one of the socks down to the dpn, and am reknitting the toe. I'm already excited.

I've also started on my Pomotomous sock again. I think the beast will last forever.

I've also GOT to work more on MS#3. Sigh.

Oh, and then there's the day job. And soon there will be homeschooling too.

And the Philosopher Podcast that's taken me forever to edit. Because I laughed too much. A good reason to edit, but also a good time.

Soon.

Off to that day job.

Why I'm no further with the mystery shawl. . .

Horcrux socks, part two (for Syd)
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Balanced three ply!

A night's work
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'Why Do They Hate Us?' - washingtonpost.com

'Why Do They Hate Us?' - washingtonpost.com

Perhaps the calmest discussion of said topic I've ever seen.

Testing a new Blogger Widget

LOVE the Mac. 
This is a test run for a new widget...

Harry Potter Socks!

From my sock swap buddie!
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AND MORE!

More Taylor Mali

Now I know his name!
Courtesy of J. Damany

Victorian sock progress

Just a little more. . .
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Definately not a thong!

row eighty four
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From a Student

Here's why I love my NYC kids. This is what they send me:




And there are two more GREAT videos here.

Love the Sock!

victorian sock with flap.
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Andrew

I don't usually post about books here, but I need to send out thanks to my NorCal buddy Madame Liederhosen who sent me the book The Time Traveler's Wife

I've been in a very weird zone for the last 36 hours since finishing the book.

I know I'm far from the first to be affected by the book...the word "haunting" comes to mind...and maybe it's just because I recently turned 40 and that age seems to be something of a turning point in the book, but, there's something else too.

Part of the book is taking on the problem of fate and free-will. Part of it is just a rockin' love story. My personal weirdness is with the latter. I'm down with fate/free-will.

See...I'm one of the lucky ones. I married the man I was supposed to marry--not that there weren't some great guys along the way (there were) but I wasn't supposed to marry them. I think they would agree.

So, knowing that I'm one of the few, and feeling the affects of age, and now reading this (truly wonderful book) I'm reminded quite viscerally that every time this man I love gets onto an airplane I'm pretty-well terrified until he's back home with me.

His grandmother used to admonish the family not to talk about being happy or lucky too loud for fear the evil eye would take it all away from them. It's something akin to that.

And the weird funk isn't because we're "so much like Henry and Clare"--we're not (though he does run every day, and he does dance as though he were in a mosh pit), but we're also the same ages now that they were at the end of the book, born roughly the same years (she's younger than I) and so we shared much of the same cultural markers, etc.

Anyway.

It's a great book.
Everyone should read it.

And mostly, I'd be really interested to hear how it affected you, since it really, really affected me.

Birthday Meme!

I've been tagged by RogueTess via OneTwoManyProjects. This one doesn't require too much effort apart from deciding which three events you deem worthy of mentioning. I think I'll be tagging NaptimeKnitter, AccordionGirl, and Agathon but if you feel like playing along, here's what to do: go to Wikipedia and type in your birth date (omitting the year). Then share with us (at least) 3 events, two births, and one holiday that share your special day. It's easy and fun and we might just learn a thing or two...


Here's mine.


EVENTS:

• 1260 - Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire.
• 1809 - Mary Kies becomes the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weavingstraw with silk and thread. (YOU GO GIRL!)
• 1891 - The Music Hall in New York (now known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor.

(It was really hard to pick! Of course, Cinco de Mayo* is kinda ubiquitous, but Gandhi was freed from prison, a stock market crash in the late 1800s started...lotsa cool stuff!)

BIRTHS:

• 1813 - Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher (d. 1855)
• 1818 - Karl Marx, German political philosopher (d. 1883)

HOLIDAY:

• International Midwives Day.

*1862 - Cinco de Mayo in Mexico: Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla.

Row 37!

On row thirty seven. . . not bad for two hours sleep last night . . .
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addendum: It's absolutely obscene how much these pics look like THONGS! As If!

For those who notice, you'll see that I'm up at 1:15am...this is the second night this has happened. I am completely (I can't think of a better word) exhausted but can't sleep at all. Perhaps I'll try reading.
Perhaps a Benadryl?
Perhaps a mallet on the head?

And here I was planning to get up early to work...HA!

Yeah, I know...but it's not a thong...HA!

One night's work on mystery stole three!
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HOGWARTS SOCK SWAP--SECOND YEAR!!

It feels so good to graduate! And so many things at once! SAWP, Hogwarts. It's all magic.

And now!
The New Gig!

But first--the homework:

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire—Second Years

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?
Ravenclaw

2. Shoe size? Foot length? Foot circumference?
Shoe 10
Foot length 10
Circumference 9-1/4"

3. List your three favorite sock yarns.
a. Socks That Rock
b. Socks That Rock
c. Tofutsies

4. Would you like to try a new brand of sock yarn? If so, which brand?
Absolutely, I'm actually not that picky, but I do live in AZ where it's HOT during the summer and in the 40s-50s during the winter (down into freezing at night)

5. Do you prefer variegated or solid sock yarn?
I'm easy. Now that I'm getting into lace socks I find that my variegated looks lame.

6. What colors would you like to add to your sock yarn stash? I'm generally a bluesy/purpley/green kinda gal, but the only thing I can't handle is orange.

7. What kind of sock patterns do you gravitate toward? Lace? Ribbed? Fair Isle?
Lace lately. I need to get back into Fair Isle. For my person, I'm into ribbed and lace (they seem to fit better on me)

8. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, animals, etc.)
Yes and yes (cats).

9. Will your socks be exposed to cigarette smoke or animals as you knit them?
No and no (though I love cats in person).

10. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?
Heck yeah! We are the world!