Knit-Free Weekend

Due to a freak injury in water aerobics on Friday morning I was forced into a knitting-free weekend. That kind of put the new nano necklace and Mittens from Halland on hold. I’m sure those who know me (and didn’t see me last night at SnB) are imagining all the things that could have happened to me to prevent me from knitting. I mean, it doesn’t take much to put me into a spiral of a flare of pain and such.

However, the injury is much less than that. It’s nearly comical really. Friday was the last day of the 4-week session so it was volleyball day. We recently got a real water volleyball set so we now have a net and a non-beach ball ball. It has changed the dynamic of our volleyball play quite drastically. I think it has made us all a bit more competitive as well as changing how we have to hit the ball etc. There are some who are unaccustomed to having an actual net so we have a lot of “net balls” right now - you know, balls that go striaght into the net and you have to play them off the net if you are in the front row. Well, I happened to have a net ball to play when I was in the front and center. And, our “net” is actually two nets and because it is a water set there are big, hard floating legs that stick out in the center of the “net.” Well, I went to play the net ball and somehow eneded up slamming my finger on my right hand *very* hard into one of those legs (or perhaps both).

The result I can only explain as some combination of a really bad hangnail with a really bad ingrown fingernail. I would have never guessed how much I actually use the pad of the middle finger on my right hand. I don’t really use it for knitting, but it was seeping and bleeding most of the weekend and I didn’t want to chance getting that on my yarn. I can’t make myself cereal because I can’t pour the milk. It’s 1/2 gallon in a heavy glass jar and it puts too much pressure on it. There has been improvement and I was a bad blogger and didn’t think to photograph it when it was at it’s worse, but above you can see it as of Monday morning and this morning. It’s getting better. But it still gets in the way. Typing even aggravates it so I’m much slower right now typing without my middle finger on my right hand, LOL!

I did do some knitting at SnB last night as it has finally stopped seeping and bleeding. I’ll share some of that with you tomorrow.

As an aside, since the new year I’ve been having troubles with my web host. Despite their gaurantee for 100% uptime I’ve had downtime almost daily. It was down again this morning which is why this post is so late. I’ve put in a request to be moved to a more stable server. So, you may find a bit more downtime if you try to visit when they start moving me over. I haven’t gotten the word that they will indeed move me, but I was told from phone support that they could. Though they said I had to put in the request on-line. But, just an FYI.

Also, I’m coming up on a landmark number for my comments so I’ll be giving something away this week to the lucky commenter who hits that landmark number. So, don’t be shy! Now is the time to say hi!

FO Monday!

Pattern: DK’s Dimple Sock Pattern, 64 St Version with 8 inch leg
Yarn: 3 balls Lana Grossa Cool Wool Big, #659
Needles: US 3 & 4 (3.25 and 3.5 mm)
Recipient: DH

Notes: I can’t convey how awful I found it to knit two pairs of the same sock back-to-back. I won’t ever choose to do that again. However, I thought the pattern was going to be sold through No No Kitty Yarns and then she closed her doors before that happened. So, I felt it necessary to knit the pattern again in a yarn that would show off the stitch pattern a bit better and knit in a yarn that was still available. DH had been asking for more handknit socks and specifically a thick pair. With his birthday approaching it seemed the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. While I finished the second sock on his birthday I was mean and told him he couldn’t wear them until I had the opportunity to get photos of him modeling them in natural light…

I was excited to knit them in orange during this brown-filled season. I really enjoyed knitting with this Lana Grossa yarn and can’t wait to see how well it holds up to wear and washings. I think DH’s request for the feet of his socks to be 1/4 inch longer than my socks made for a bit snugger sock than I would recommend. Next time I’ll make his foot about 1/2 inch longer than mine before starting the toe decreases. For one, he isn’t the best at keeping his toe nails trimmed so if they are the tiniest bit too short I’m afraid he’ll pop his toe right through there. Not to mention his feet are more than 1/4 inch longer than mine. Yes, I have larger feet for women (size 9.5) but they aren’t my sister’s feet (size 11). But, we’ll see what happens. It isn’t like this pair of socks took a ton of time.

I do also have the pattern formatted and ready to go so if you want a pair of dimples for yourself or someone you love you can order it now! There are 5 sizes from about a 4 inch up to an 11 inch ankle so you should be able to make one for everyone you know who needs to keep their feet warm. Plus, the DK weight makes them great for clogs and are a quick knit (I’d say the average knitter could complete a pair in one week of dedicated evening knitting). I’ve included directions for a patterned clog heel (the multi-colored Dimple) or the standard heel flap (the solid color). It is written for 5 DPNs, but if you are familiar with the magic loop or 2-circ method you should be able to adapt it pretty easily.

EDIT: I forgot to give you a peek at the sock wrapper that comes with this design…

Whew! What a Week!

I’m soooo tired! We’ve been bad “adults” and have been socializing with people until way past our bedtime for a “school night.” I’m EXHAUSTED beyond belief.

For those wondering, I did finish DH’s Dimple sock on Wednesday, though it was at about 11:30pm as the last of the visitors to help us eat cake left. Then, I was a bad gift giver and told him he couldn’t wear them until after a weekend photo shoot. What ya gonna do? So, an FO post will be forthcoming on Monday when we’ve been able to take modeled shots in daylight.

I’m afraid that leaves me with very little to blog about today and no photos to share with you. I was out running around all day yesterday. I had intended upon casting on Halland Mitten #2 in the afternoon while at DH’s work. But, I got a little caught up in finishing a crafty book I had started reading a couple weeks ago instead (full review will be forth coming later today at Culture Catalog as usual).

I plan to cast on for the mitten today. However, this styling little iPod case from iSkin (top rated case from Nano on iLounge) will be arriving on Monday to provide some added protection to my Nano from scratches and bumps. I *love* it, of course. However, it’s gonna clash real bad with my current Nano Necklace so I’m seriously thinking of knitting a new Nano necklace in perhaps a different design with the left over yarn from DH’s socks with perhaps a touch of gray DK I have in my stash… It’s gonna be hard to hold off on that as I know Halland Mitten #1 took me two weeks and I’m kind of in that “instant gratification” mode right now and Nano Necklace 1 only took a half-hearted attempt over a weekend… So, we’ll see. Perhaps I’ll take the weekend off and make a new Nano Necklace design instead. I still think I’ve done quite well to knit birthday socks, and mate up two orphans this month. If the mitten doesn’t get done right this minute it’ll be okay. I love the mitten so I know it’ll get paired soon.

Oh and as a slight tangent, if you enjoy other creative pursuits and would like some quick exercises to get yourself going, I started a new project over at Artists’ Row. I used to run a bi-weekly newsletter called Creation Quotation. I did this for over a year where I presented a quotation and then some related creative exercises that followed the theme of the quote. I also provided some biographical information on the originator of the quote if available. Well, I’m doing this on my visual art blog now. One Thursday I will post the quote and exercise and the next Thursday I’ll highlight the exercises completed by others so you have a week to complete the exercise if you want to be included in the “round-up” post and then a week off. The preimere “issue” can be found at http://www.artistsrow.com/designedlykristi/blog/2006/01/take-flying-leap.html

I’ll be putting together some buttons for people to add to their side bars and such later today, but I’d really appreciate some assistance in spreading the word about this project if you or your blog readers are interested. You also don’t have to have a blog to participate. There is an e-mail address where you can e-mail scans of your completed exercises as well. Thanks!

A Wonderful FO (though not from me)!

Knit By: Ashley
Yarn: DK Handspun, 100% Wool in Burgundy from Lambspun of Colorado, 300 yds (with not a titch to spare)
Pattern: A World Lit Only by Fire from Lavish Lace
Needles: ???
Recipient: Ashley

This gorgeous lace scarf was knit by one of our SnB gal pals, Ashley. These are the specs as I know them. These photos are of it post-blocking, but also post-wearing a few times so I’m afraid the lace pattern doesn’t show up quite as well. But it is always nice to know what something will look like after a few wearings too, right?

Ashley kindly let me borrow the scarf following our Tuesday lunch date (where oddly enough we happened to run into another SnB gal pal who was with her husband and long time friend so it became a bit of party) so I could photograph it to share with you guys since it was knit from my handspun that I gave her for Christmas.

I was very excited about that particular hank of handspun. It is soooo soft though the label gave no indication of what kind of wool or wool blend I was working with. On Monday night we all decided it has to contain some merino, but Lambspun usually labels their 100% merino as such so I’m thinking it must be a blend. I thought it was relatively even, though now in the knit form I see it wasn’t quite as consistent as I had thought. I’d say it has only a touch of rustic quality to it. Enough to keep it interesting, but definitely not enough to detract from the gorgeous lace knitting Ashley did.

Thank you Ashley for letting me share this with the rest of the world!

Happy Birthday DH!

Today is DH‘s birthday. I do not have his socks completed, though there is an outside chance they will be done before bed tonight. We are celebrating with a few friends this evening so DH decided he should open his presents last night. I surprised him like you wouldn’t believe as he thought he was only getting the socks. But I had gotten him a book and CD from one of his favorite bands (as in he owns their entire back catalog) that was released yesterday and he didn’t even know they had a new release coming out! That was AWESOME!

I hope you find your dreams coming true in the next year, Drew!