Work has been terribly frustrating lately. I can't seem to get the simplest reactions to work. My cloning projects are stalled at one step or another because I either planned it poorly or something didn't work for whatever reason. I haven't gotten anything accomplished in the last two weeks!

Knitting on the other hand has been going well. My Inga Hat has performed beautifully during the last few days of below zero wind chills and sideways snow. It was a little tight initially, but it has stretched a bit and fits nicely now. I have started some Pirate Mittens in purple and white, but the first one is sooooo tiny. I guess the problem could lie with my gigantic hands, but I am going with the pattern on this one. I think I will be adding a total of eight stitches, going up a needle size and adding an extra skull and cross-bones so they will fit me. Now I need to find someone who wants purple pirate mittens and has small hands. Of course they will have to wait a bit as I stopped at the thumb of the first small mitten. Oh, and Hat Attack starts soon! It's like Sock Wars but with hats.

My second Sockapalooza 4 pal received her package. Along with the socks, I included two skeins of sock yarn, a little bead like the one I use for my stitch markers and other stuff, a pencil box, a candle and some soap as well as the yarn remaining from her socks in case repairs are needed.

In other Chelsea Knitting News, I have volunteered to teach some Girl Scouts to knit next Friday night for TPP's Craft-A-Thon. I have yet to ever donate anything to TPP, but I have made stuff. I am forgetful and often lazy. I do love teaching people to knit though. If you are in the area, go check it out. It's an all day even and details are in the link above.

Ok, I think I have decided on the camera I will get. In the interest of saving some money,instead of the Canon PowerShot Pro S5 I will get the Canon PowerShot SS100 IS It's $100 cheaper and still has many of the features I want in new camera.

For your viewing pleasure

FO: Stripey Socks
Pattern: My own, YO short-row heel, plain stockinette
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici Aurora
Needles: Knit Picks 2.5mm circs

They will be sent to a Sockapalooza-4-er that did not receive socks from her pal. They took me entirely too long to knit so she is getting some extra goodies including a candle, soap, and couple hanks of sock yarn.

A very late Christmas present is this little scarflet. I am lacking buttons, but it is washed and blocking. It is part of a set that includes the red cabled hat and Peekaboo Mittens in the same yarn. I am so slow about getting Christmas gifts out this year. I think all my traveling threw off my schedule.


Yesterday I started a pair of Monkey socks. They kept me sane during a football game and little conversation.

I still can't get used to the idea that I have to work for a whole 5 days this week. I know some are now moving to longer work weeks, but after my last three partial weeks I don't know what to think! I also have to teach tkd tonight.

I didn't get a lot getting-rid-of-stuff done (one box to Goodwill), but we did reorganize the computer room and it's closet. The storage room off the kitchen also saw some changes for the better. I cleaned out our little pantry and put everything in it's place. The new magnetic knife bar from Ikea didn't get put up, but that's a quick and easy project that will hopefully be done this week. I feel much better. My closet will be tackled sometime. I already have a basket of clothes that I don't wear a lot, but I need to do a deep cleaning of the closet. The bookshelf is still a mess and I need another magazine thingy.

I did finish a few things from the knitting basket which makes me happy. Wicked and the Zeebee hats are done and drying on a towel in the living room. I just need to weave in the ends of the Stripey Socks and send them to their recipient along with some goodies. Pictures of all to come when the sun comes back. I think I have a good lead on some eyes for Norberta.

I started a little scarflet for to include in some belated Christmas gifts due to a possibly too small hat. Since I want to do some colorwork this year as part of the Fearless Knitting KAL I decided to teach my self to knit carrying the yarn in my left hand to I can have one color of yarn in each hand. so far it is going well except I tend to twist the stitches in a decidedly combined knitting way. Not bad, but could get confusing when I knit with yanr in both hands since I don't twist them when I knit with the yarn in the right hand.

Josh received another call from his sister yesterday while we were out shopping. He had left his phone at home charging so was not able to answer it. His sister left a message ending with a remark about how he probably didn't answer his phone because she called. That didn't make Josh happy and he almost decided to not visit her next weekend. I talked him into going, but he really doesn't want to. I don't either, but I really think we should. It will most definitely be awkward.

It's 50 degrees right now...in Iowa...in January. There may be thunderstorms.

The FO:

Pattern: Fetching
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers #7811 purple jewel heather
Needles: 4.0mm Brittany DPNs
Mods: added two rows of ribbing after the thumb and two rows after the final cable; bound off tightly in knit. I moved the thumb on the right hand mitt to mirror the placement of the thumb on the left mitt.


The WIP:

Pattern: my basic toe-up sock w/short-row heel using YO short-rows
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici Aurora
Needles: Knit Picks 2.5mm 16" circs
Mods: Ummm...since I am not following a pattern I doubt there are any.

In other news, my flu shot made me a little queasy last night. I was not the only one. The PI for our lab also received his shot yesterday and also felt queasy. I was not sure if it was due to giving blood, the flu shot or both. At least I felt well enough to go to the gym this morning, though I was lacking energy and the last few minutes were not fun. It's a good thing I had a magazine to distract me.

A walk, UFC, chocolate cake, no boots, no socks and a sweater

GuluWalk was fun! My toes were a little numb and my feet a little sore afterwards, but it was a nice walk and the weather couldn't have been better. I think I need some new running shoes or better circulation in my feet. More people participated than I expected and they were a fun group. I am really glad I was able to participate.

We had a few people over on Saturday night to watch the latest UFC. It wasn't a bad one. Not as exciting as the last UFC and a couple disappointing outcomes. I made the chocolate stout cake and it was rich. I didn't have enough pans in the same size to make a a three layer cake, but I think two is plenty. A normal size slice is too much for me even when i dilute it with vanilla ice cream. I think it's partly the ganache I used for frosting it. Maybe next time I will just make it with a chocolate frosting. Josh told me if I keep making stuff like that I need to make sure he has a gym pass.

We went to the outlet mall in hope of finding Josh some new boots. He decided he deserved new shoes since I just purchased some. They didn't have the pair he wanted in his size, but I did get a new silicone covered whisk to use with my enameled Dutch oven. For some reason I keep misspelling "whisk".

I frogged the stripey socks for the second time because now they are too tight. I may just go with toe-up so I have a better idea of fit as I go. I don't really like toe-up though. I have about 12 more rows before I get to the sleeves on Wicked(sorry for the bad pic). I ordered the wrong zipper for my Ribby. Doh! I misread the description so I will be ordering again today. I think I may prefer the collar a little longer anyway, so maybe it isn't so bad. I have back-up zippers for other things. Yeah, that's what they are.

First of all, a big THANK YOU to all that donated to GuluWalk! I really appreciate it. It looks like we are going to have some nice weather on Saturday for our walk.

I started Wicked last night. I wound the 5 skeins into some cakes using a laundry basket as a swift because Josh didn't want to be my human swift. I am in the middle of the second row of the pattern, but I think I am going to frog and do the collar on smaller needles so it is less likely to stretch out and because I want it a little smaller. At least I started it.

I need to get some socks done too! I have three pairs yet to knit for Christmas gifts and one pair should have been done last month. I also have the Sockapalooza socks which I restarted to change to a smaller needle and fewer stitches. They were too big for me and my pal has smaller feet!

The zipper for Ribby should be here tomorrow or Saturday as well as some sock club yarn. I washed and dried Ribby and it didn't fall apart!!! I call that a success. The sleeves are still looser than I like, but at least I will be able to wear it over long sleeves shirts without a problem. I doubt I will get the zipper in until Sunday because I will be tired from a 7km walk and 2 hours of UFC, but you never know!!

Soooo close!

I honestly want to do some seaming! I am so close to being done. I just bound off the second sleeve and the other pieces are blocking. I don't have the floor space near the fans to block the other sleeve right now. It would go faster if it wasn't so damp today. The stitches evened out so nicely. All that's left is seaming the fronts, back, and sleeves then adding a button band and, and installing the zipper. My mom keeps offering to do the finishing for me, which is tempting, but I would rather do it myself. Now it's time to knit some socks while the pieces dry. The next one I make will combine the fronts and back into one piece and knit the the sleeves in the round.

Josh is reformatting his hard drives and may do my compy next. I am just trying to stay out of his way. Mine has so much crap on it anymore that it barely runs sometimes. Of course, it is over 6 years old, so that could have something to do with it. I would do it myself, but I would much rather have him do it so I can play Guitar Hero or knit socks.

Lookie what I did!

I made a picture for my header. Whaddya think?

The yarn for Ribby Cardi should arrive tomorrow! No idea on the arrival time of the yarn for Wicked. I am not going to have both pairs of socks done for the end of Summer of Socks on Friday, but I should have Fawkes done. I haven't even started the second Anastasia sock. I hate the toes on toe-up socks for some reason. I offered to test knit a pair of really cool and complicated socks for Kelly at kelp! knits. I think it they will be a fun challenge and I have some perfect yarn for them in the stash. I also need to start some socks for my new Sockapalooza pal. I have a car ride coming up soon so I am going to devote that time to those socks.

Heather, my PI, and I are taking a class on microscopy. We are not officially enrolled in the class (we worked out a deal with the head of the department), but we are still doing all the homework and have to do presentations at the end. I am really not looking forward to that part. I enjoy microscopy, but I do not enjoy homework and especially not giving presentations.

Why did I bring a can of soup for lunch when it is going to 85 degrees outside today? Too hot for soup! Well, I think it's too hot in general. I need fall weather soon!

Don't forget it's Talk Like a Pirate Day!

It's a pair, right??

They don't match, but two socks is a pair! Left is Fawkes and right is Anastasia. The colorways look kinda similar knitted up, but completely different in the skein. Fawkes is for me but Anastasia is a Christmas gift.with matching headband included.

I better cast-on for their mates before I go to sock club. I also signed up to be a sock savior for Sockapalooza. I am going to go on a hunt for some perfect sock yarn for my new Sockapalooza pal and for my mom. I think the yarn I got has too much brown in the red. I have another option in my stash, but that one seems a little too orange. She's pickier than I am so I am being more picky than usual.

I have two sweaters planned for myself and yarn has been ordered for each. One is a zippy cardi and the other a pullover. One is a cotton blend yarn and the other is wool. One is knit seamless, in the round while the other is knit flat. I think that's some good variety for first and second sweaters.

I am still shocked that I made socks that fit someone. My downstream sock pal showed off her pal's Sockapalooza socks and the ones I made for her. She made some gorgeous socks also out of Koigu, but her Koigu wasn't as friendly as the Koigu I made her socks from. I didn't have a problem with the color bleeding or fading like she did.

Oh yeah, I have made some sock progress and hope to finish this one tonight. Free time is amazing. I also have more evidence that my cloning may have worked. The brownies turned out really well and now I need to figure out how to entertain my mom if she comes on Saturday. I think trip to the yarn shops may be in order. The "check engine" light came on in my car on Saturday and I really don't want to deal with whatever the problem is. I really wish the college students weren't coming back so I don't have to kick them out of my way and watch them buy cheap canoe beer*.

*Ask if you want to know what it means, but I will warn you that profanity will be used.

from my sockapalooza pal

I forgot to post this! This is the socks and the extra goodies that came with them. There is a journal with a "C" on it, beaded stitch markers, a mini sock blocker and pattern for mini sock, some pencils including a frog pencil, Soak wool wash and a blue metal box with my name painted on it.


Edit:

My downstream pal emailed me and to say her socks arrived!

Socks for me!

My Sockapalooza socks arrived today! I wish I could show them and the goodies of with some of my wonderful photography, but my camera batteries died and I can't find my other spares. I will take pics tomorrow. At least I will have better light then! My pal blogs here, if you want to see a pic of them (scroll down). I have had fun emailing with her and interested in getting to know her through her blog and Ravelry.

Today Josh and I went to Davenport to drop off the Impala in preparation for selling it. One less car and a little more money is not a bad thing. We don't need 4 vehicle for the two of us. We stopped at the farmers' market and came out with a zucchini, eggplant, blueberries and two pies, strawberry rhubarb and peach caramel. After that we dropped our purchases off at his parents place and we went to The Simpsons Movie. I knitted the River Rapids socks during the commercials and trailers, but then they turned off the lights and I switched to the Aurelie socks. I dropped a stitch and was laughing to hard, so I gave up on the knitting and just enjoyed the movie. It was definitely worth seeing.

Ok, back to knitting and watching Josh play video games. I want to turn the heel on the River Rapid socks tonight.

Aurelie #1

Aurelie #1
Originally uploaded by chelsealynnw.

Here is the first Aurelie sock. I finished it on Tuesday night and then started the second one. It's just a little short for me so I may frog the toe and add a few more rows, but otherwise I love how it turned out.

I realized one of The Burrow socks is longer than the other. Luckily it's the one I haven't bound off yet so I will rip it back to the correct length and redo the ribbing. I guess that's what I get for knitting while reading.

I also started the River Rapids socks as my first socks for SAMKAL4 and the Sock Knitters Anonymous KAL. I love the pattern so far. It knits up quickly and easily. I packed up my Sockapalooza pal's stuff last night and I just hope I have time to drop it off before I go the GymNest tonight.

Oh yeah, as for how I can knit and read at the same time, I think it only applies to books I can get to lay flat and stockinette stitch. I haven't tried reading while knitting anything with a pattern stitch except when listening to an audiobook, and I am still not sure if I count that as reading.

I am a sock knitter

I am admitting it. I have knit toe-up, baby size, cuff-down and am working on some sideways socks. It's not a lot of socks by any means (7 total socks), but other things don't scream at me to be knitted right away. Sock yarns suck me in and I can't help but stare at them. when I get bored or have extra time at work I stare at sock yarn on Etsy or at all the sock patterns on Ravelry and the Sockapalooza socks. I have never knit a sweater or gloves or mittens or... Ok, so there are a lot of things I have never knit.

I am currently working on two pairs of socks, both of which have been frogged at one point. I joined a sock club at my LYS and just joined another sock club from a favorite Etsy seller because her yarns are gorgeous and so soft. I plan to make socks for Christmas gifts this year, therefor I am not buying sock yarn and knitting for myself all the time.

I am leaving for a week long vacation to my family's cabin (I will get outside pics when I am there)in northern MN in one week. I am planning which sock yarn and patterns I will bring a long and lining up audiobooks to put on my iPod so I can spend my days on the dock knitting socks and listening to books. I am also bringing regular books, a couple swim suits and some running shoes so I have something to do when my wrists and hands get sore. I also must have my camera so I can take some pictures of the sunset on the lake and any sock progress.

My mom and Lex are leaving tomorrow for the cabin and I really wish I was going with them. It is best for me to wait until next weekend to leave due to current work obligations, but I want to get out of here. Sadly, Josh isn't coming with me since he needs to stay to teach tkd since I am leaving. He is being too nice to me.

I will miss the arrival of my new HP book and the opening of The Simpson's Movie but I can always catch up when I get back. I don't think Josh will wait to go to the movie with me though. He called me today and sang a song from the trailer and I think that was pretty much the only reason he called me.

My Sockapalooza pal's socks are done. After finishing the second sock I ripped back the toe of the first one and made it a little longer so it fits a little better. I haven't taken pics yet because I have been too lazy to weave in the ends. I also haven't finished grafting my first Sidewinder. I tried to on Friday night, but Josh kept talking to me and I kept losing my place so I gave up. I need an hour w/o him around to get it done, I think.

I don't have the energy to teach tkd tonight. I don't like teaching when I am tired. At least we don't have large classes. I think all Josh wants to do anymore is teach tkd and kickboxing. He talks about it all the time. I wish I had half his enthusiasm for it because I would enjoy teaching a lot more if I did.

My upstream sock pal is torturing me. She told me my socks are done and they are on Ravelry. That means I may have looked at them or could possibly find them and not know it! I just want to look at all the socks on there and figure out which ones are for me. Not that I think it's really possible, but you never know. We also have some of the same things in our queues so I could easily stumble across them while looking at other people's stuff. Torture!!!!

I meant to take pictures of my socks yesterday, but my camera batteries died and I didn't have any charged ones lying around. My computer is also driving me nuts. I need a new one but am not quite prepared to spend that much money right now.

I am so glad I took the 4th off. I almost started a project at work that would take 3 days, i.e. through Wednesday, but decided against it. I got to sleep in, play Zelda, and get a modest amount of knitting on my Sidewinders and Sockapalooza pal's socks done. I just need to graft the Sidewinders, and I am on the heel flap of the Cable Twist socks. I think I will wait to do my second Sidewinder until Maia writes her tutorial on how to eliminate one of the grafts by using two circs.

A lot happened this weekend. It was good, but also sad.

Josh and I got into a coaster fight Friday night before tae kwon do class and this is what happened.



I couldn't hit him, but apparently I can get coasters stuck in picture frames. It's still there because it's too funny to take it down.

After tae kwon do we went to The Vine for the second time in three days to see a friend who moved away about a year ago and was back for a night. It was good to see him and hear how he and his wife, also a good friend, are doing in Texas.

I am now co-owner of a motorcycle that doesn't run. It's an '83, good year by the way, Honda Shadow. It doesn't look that nice, nor does it run, but getting it to run, I believe, is a fairly simple fix and eventually we will get it all fixed up and shiny. We traded a new PS2 and a couple games and other accessories for it and I think it was a good deal even though the previous owner offered to just give it to us.

The sad part of getting the motorcycle was we got it from a good friend that is leaving today for Virginia. His wife a kids left for Virginia last month and he stayed behind to sell their house. Well, it sold and he is off to see his family and hopefully get a tae kwon do club/school going and find a new job that he likes better than the one he had here. I wish them luck even though I will miss them a lot.

Amanda and I went to the Iowa City Jazz Festival on Saturday afternoon and had a great time. The weather was ideal for sitting outside and doing a little crocheting and knitting. I made some progress on the Sidewinders and am almost back to where I was (I was actually a little farther than when the pic was taken) before I frogged back to the beginning of Act II. I also ate a lot of tasty food while I was there. Oasis had a stand set up and I got half a falafel pita then Pizza on Dubuque had their Pizza on Wheels set up, which I ate at all the time on RAGBRAI, and I got an excellent slice of their veggie pizza.

I finished one Sockapalooza sock before I went to the jazz festival, and I casted on for the second one yesterday afternoon. I might redo the toe graft because I messed it up a bit.





I have been to The Vine 3 time since Wednesday and to Old Capitol Brew Works once. That's a lot of beer.

Thank you Emily!

Emily (AKA E to the M) of Say What? kindly swatched the reverse of the stitch pattern for the Cable Twist socks and shared it with me. I found her very-similar-to-mine Cable Twist sock on Ravelry and commented on hers. We both want to make the other sock twist the other way (ahhh...symmetry) and she figured it out today when she had some free time. Less thinking for Chelsea!!

As for my sock pals' pink Koigu Cable Twist socks, I am past the heel and about 2 more inches to go before I start the toe decreases. I will finish the other green one someday. I still have the Sidwinders, but I managed to add couple of stitches to the foot. I should probably figure out if I miscounted when I casted on before I start frogging. I hope that's the case so I can continue. It's such a quick knit that I almost wouldn't mind doing it all over. It would give me a chance to improve my increases and decreases.

I must make brownies tonight. It's cooler and I need to bake. I am also going to try a recipe from The Best 30-Minute Recipes I checked out from the library.

I am not a fan of summer weather in Iowa, except for the thunderstorms. I pretty much hate when it gets over 80 degrees and the humidity drives me crazy. I grew up in a house without air conditioning and I remember spending summers sitting on the couch in front of the fan trying to figure out the best position so the fewest parts of my body were touching anything. I have air conditioning now and I don't think I could stand a summer without it anymore. I feel like such a wimp.

Cooking during the summer can be frustrating unless a grill is handy. I hate turning on the oven, so I am not doing as much baking as I would like. I want to make some brownies as a thank you gift for my uncle, but I don't want to turn the oven on! Luckily it should be cooler tomorrow and I essentially have the night off, so I may make them then. I also would love to make a birthday cake for a friend, but I am not sure that is going to happen. Our kitchen is usually warmer than the rest of the place so spending a lot of time in there is not pleasant.

Hopefully it won't be too warm at tkd tonight. It's supposed to get less humid and slightly cooler this afternoon and hopefully the room we workout in will catch up to the outside by the time class starts.

I made progress on my Sockapalooza sock last night; I turned the heel. I discovered I a mistake in the Sidewinders and ripped back a few rows, so no progress on them. I am ready to start Act II though.

Oh, I never posted this pic of my practice sock.



or this one...



or this one...which was kinda hard to take



I must have been doing laundry at the time.