Roadhouse Blues

This week isn’t particularly better than the last one. Some things have improved from last week; however, other things have emerged that make me want to bang my head against the nearest available surface.

At least Andi has the early shift at Starbucks this week, so there’s a friendly face and a free extra espresso shot in the morning. I love Andi. He is my coffee god.

Also, after last week and my embarrassing whiny outburst, I’ve decided to channel my whininess into creative processes. I bet you all have a fairly good idea of what that might be. A hint: It’s not cleaning my desk, although that is long overdue, but that would mean untangling at least three skeins of sock yarn from each other. Do not want.

Instead, because today was a crappy day, I made focaccia. I always try to make some kind of yeast dough when I’m impatient and easily irritated, because it doesn’t work without letting it rest. It’s a valuable lesson. Also, I love that warm, yeasty, herb-y smell that reminds me of summer and the beach.

And then I knit a hat. A whole hat. In a day. I’m three quarters done with my Brambles scarf, so I figured I’d make the hat before finishing it. It’s not that I have project ADD,  (alright, I do have project ADD. In fact I’m two seconds away from starting an experimental Norwegian-inspired, merino-lined Alpaca hat for my father. Or… something.) – point being, I wanted to see how much yarn I’d have left over from the hat, so I could see whether or not I could make tassels for the scarf. The yarn I have is from two different lots, since I bought them almost a year apart, but the lots are reasonably close.

Which, it turns out, was a blessing, because my tassel plan kind of backfired: I actually had to use some of the scarf yarn for the last five rows or so of the hat. Oops.

Still, a cute, warm, orange hat in a day. And no tassels for the scarf.

It’s funny, the color is incredibly hard to photograph. I played around with the settings and the lighting just now, and out of ten different photos, there’s not two that capture the shade of the yarn alike. The closest I’ve come to reality is this photo of the scarf from last week or so:

I have no idea why I never got around to posting this before. Incidentally, it was taken the same day I took the new header photo. (Opinions on that, by the way? Good? Bad? Meh?)

Speaking of things I haven’t gotten around to showing off – the new hair! (Recognize the cardi? I knit that!)

So, yeah. Seeing as there isn’t a demo this week to unhinge the entire public transportation system, there’s a pretty good chance I’m gonna pay the Strickcafé an overdue visit. Then Supernatural and cooking with Christian. Even if this week sucked, there’s still the weekend to look forward to. Nice job I did there on putting together my week.

Sales a escena y eres immortal

It’s funny how my life seems to alternate between insanely productive and absolutely lazy days.

The day before yesterday was a really productive day. In fact, I cut my WIPs on Ravelry down to two – though I do have to admit that I moved the HSJBTM socks in the hibernating section. Oh well.

In any case, I finally sewed the buttons onto my Tempest cardigan!

This means that only eight months after I finished knitting the thing, it’s finally done. It only took an hour. I can’t believe I haven’t been wearing that thing for months now.

Anyway. I also worked on the Baktus for my grandma some more:

I believe I’m about halfway done with it, but I couldn’t get myself to get up, which is why I put it aside and instead continued with my slip-stitch socks.

Usually, I’d say they’re too colorful for me, but man… these are the perfect rainy-day socks. Plus, with the slip-stitch, they feel about twice as thick, and they’re all squooshy, and of course them jewel colors… I’m very much enchanted. I love them.

But, here’s what I hate about holiday season. I mean, apart from the fact that I don’t really know what to do with my Fridays, since there’s no new Grey’s Anatomy or Supernatural on.

It’s the vicious cycle of Christmas Knitting.

You start to knit something, and it’s all good, and then you realize you’d rather work on something else. But you can’t, cause you’ve got that deadline hanging over your head like a sword of Damocles, which makes you start to loathe whatever Christmas present you’re knitting. Which makes it harder to force yourself to knit it, and knitting makes you loathe it even more, but there’s Christmas, and oh god, only two weeks, and…

I just wanna knit some socks.

Instead, I finally started the Christmas ornament mini Weasley sweaters for my host family back in the US. Three weeks late. They’re tiny (14 sts wide, 21 rows high), they’re easy, they’re technically entertaining, they’re technically great TV knitting… and I can’t stand the thought that even though I’ve already finished two, there’s four more to go. Ugh.

At this point, I’d rather work on Ruba’iyat. Or, you know, the sock. Or study vocab.Which reminds me, I need to block my mom’s scarf.

I’m so, so ready for Christmas to be over.

Song of Freedom

I got myself the Doctor Who Season 4 soundtrack. It’s simply… gorgeous. Goosebumps-inducingly, spine-shiveringly, staring-off-into-space-dreamily gorgeous. Murray Gold is my new hero. Seriously, the man has got to be a genius. I hope he’ll be involved in the new series, too. And if not… well, at least he’s doing the music for the regeneration scene.

This post should probably be called ‘Song of Captivity and Freedom’ (which is the song of the Ood, basically), because lo and behold! It only took me half the time I anticipated to unpick the provisional cast-on of the Muir. Because just as I’d gotten a decent routine… the pick-up changed, and for no discernible reason at all, the last third of the line was cast on properly. Properly as in just-pull-the-string-and-all-is-well properly. Which was the greatest personal triumph of all. So Song of Freedom it is. Tardis pulling Earth home, me pulling a string, and everything working out just fine – fits the theme, doesn’t it.

All in all, I’m about halfway done with the lower edging – after all, it’s only about ten rows? And I haven’t really had time to sit down and knit for some extended period of time. And then it’s only eight, maybe nine pattern repeats. (Let’s ignore for the time being that one repeat consists of 32 rows of 157 stitches each, yes?)

My mother requested a shawl for Christmas. Brilliant.

Also, as I’ve repeatedly gushed about on Twitter – they have BUTTON SHOPS in London. Not only am I excited by the prospect of having a shop whose main focus are buttons – there are SEVERAL of them. Not to mention the ‘yarn boutiques’. I’ll just abandon the guys for a day or so and do a yarn shopping marathon. I’m hoping to finally find buttons for the Tempest cardi, too. I mean seriously, that thing has been finished since April 13th! And I just cannot find the right buttons. So, London it is!

And all that I can see is just a yellow lemon tree

A day full of Eurekas yesterday.

First, I did up the shoulder seams on my cardigan, and lo and behold – it fits! I did the button band, too, and while it’s still lacking the hem, I wore it yesterday when we were taking the dog out for a quick walk. Doing the hem today in my free period between Portuguese and… Portuguese, on smallish needles because I can’t find my 5mms… which I now discover I won’t need anyway. Good.

Ah, the Tempest… yesterday, when I’d done both shoulder seams, I was so excited I jumped up, pulled it over my neckholder top I was sleeping in, and danced around the hallway in the cardi and my panties. Great moment of humanity, that. Especially since my roomie’s friend with benefits just came out of her room at that precise point.

In between, I made some ridiculously delicious Welsh Honey Veal with fresh green beans and potatoes. It was supposed to be a group effort,  but in the end, I did it pretty much all by myself because my one roomie is helpless in the kitchen and the other one was away with her fwb. THat was cool though – very validating for me, as it proved that I could put together a whole friggin’ dinner. With veal! And, oh, the veal. God, was it good. I swear, that has got to be the best veal recipe out there. The tender, tender meat, the sauce rich with the sweetness of honey and the tang of apple wine… brilliant.

AND I also finished the Swallowtail Shawl!!! Last night, I did a bit while we were singing and playing guitar in the kitchen (I swear, we’re such a bunch of hippies sometimes) and the rest when we were all watching a movie together. 401 stitches! Four hundred and one stitches!

That’s a lot of binding off.

A good day.

Now, today: Blocking.

Always half a step behind

I uncovered the mystery of why the Tempest cardigan had this ginormous off-the-shoulders neckline that swooped down way below where it was supposed to be. I realized what was wrong when I was on the third row of the neckline for the second time, this time on smaller needles, and had just finished all my tidy little button holes, also for the second time.

I missed one simple instructions. And what was that instruction?

Sew shoulder seams. D’oh.

So I’m trying to fudge them in. I did one just now, and I’ll have to find a way to deal with the gaping hole between arm and shoulder seam, but at least now I know what the problem is. Things are looking up.

Plus I got Tyler’s letter today! With my lost class ring in it! I read it in the park, while getting my first real sunburn of the year. Such a special feeling, getting an actual letter in the mail. I wrote my response right there, on my blanket in the grass. The more I think about this whole letter thing, the more I’m positive emails will never completely drive handwritten letters into extinction.

Five rows plus bindoff to go on the European Python.

STARFISH I WANT TO BE WITH YOU FOREVER

Charlie the Unicorn 3 is out!

Comment by our favorite new knitter:

Who is also producing something that looks very much like a sock at this point:

I’m guessing I’m gonna have to rip the button band on my cardigan out again. Sigh. I’m guessing it’s just too loose, somehow the wole thing is just… ngh.

On the positive side, I’m making awesome progress with the second Swallowtail Shawl. One more row to go on the lace border chart, and then just the lace edging, and the 400+ stitch bind-off. I’m contemplating going to the park and doing that outside somewhere in the sun. Mmmh, sun. I’m very much in love with the lacy stuff. Screw the cardigan.

Also, I don’t think I’ve shown off my new friendship dog tags!

Christian, Saskia and me got them together. On the first one, they say our initial and last name, our Captain names (Cpt Obvious for him, Cpt Confused for her and Cpt Clumsy for me), our birth dates, and ‘Translation and Interpretation’ – our major. The other one? Quotes BtVS,  ‘Nothing we can’t face – Except for Bunnies’!

Coffee black and egg white

It’s easter, and I’m away from my family, really away, for the first time during this time. I try to surround myself with my ‘family’ here, but it’s just not the same. I didn’t even color eggs this year. Crazy.

Instead, I knit. It seems like it’s the solution to every situation in life. You’re lonely? Knit. You’re frustrated? Knit. Rocks fall, everyone dies? Knit.

I’m done with the main parts of the Tempest cardigan. I ripped back 40 rows of a perfectly good front piece today because I’m obviously too blind and/or stupid to identify the neck decrease as neck decrease and not as mishappen shoulder shaping. Ugh. BUT I’m done, the body was slightly blocked (ie spread out on a towel and misted) and I already put the first two pieces together. I’m pretty excited. Tomorrow the rest of the sewing and the button band and hem (more sewing, yay…) and then I’m DONE with it. Buying buttons on Tuesday, since the stores are closed over easter.

Worked some more on the sock shawl. Tagging along. It’s gonna take a while still, but the stripes make me feel like I’m making progress.

Dinner and movie with Christian last night, plus knitting galore. Just the right thing to banish the attack of loneliness and saudade I had last night. Plus, you know. I enjoy sleeping next to him a lot, I’m guessing mostly because of the knowing that somebody is there. When he left this morning, he’d just started the gusset decreases and was thrilled to have something that looked like it was going to be a sock. Still proud of him. He grasped the concept of short rows really quickly.

It’s interesting to watch him purl though. I don’t know how he does it, but he sort of lifts the yarn around the needle with his left thumb. Very intrigueing. The Yarn Harlot was right about how differently everybody knits.

Saudade again. But I just had Bailey’s, and I don’t feel like knitting anymore. Maybe I should wind some yarn – I bought two 50g skeins of orange lamb’s wool (two different shades) and a 100g skein of blue-green-ocean of regular wool, handspun and handdyed with natural dyes (cochinea and indigo, if I remember correctly) the other day, on the little easter Renaissance fair in the Marketplace. It was pretty cheap too, 5 bucks for each of the orange skeins and 9 for the blue. Gorgeous, I say. I’ll have to take pictures. The only thing is: I wound one of the oranges last night, and it was slightly felty, stuck together quite a bit. It’s gonna make an awesome hat or pair of mitts though.

I have so much left over from the Tempest. I haven’t even wound the last skein into a ball yet. I’m guessing that just calls for some kind of fingerless mitts or a hat or something, to match the cardi. God, matching accessories – I’ve never had those.

In the summer time, when the weather is nice…

I’m trying to think how many of my headlines aren’t actually song quotes. Can’t be too many.

Today was another entirely too gorgeous day. I’m sincerely hoping this isn’t just Mother Nature playing a very cruel trick with us, giving us this brilliant entry into spring just to have it rain all the way from May to September. It’s happened. But today, nothing could have been farther from that, with a whopping 24°C in the sun and not a cloud in the sky. Everything was so colorful, so bright… so I grabbed my knitting and a blanket, called Christian, and after a very brief pop into Karstadt to buy him a cell phone and some sock yarn, sat down on the first grassy, sunlit spot we could find and ate ice cream.

I took tons of pictures of the roomie socks. (I can say ‘the roomie socks’ because the second pair has not been started yet. Nor do I think it will be soon, because I left Christian my newest bamboo dpn set, and I’m not sure where my other one is. Probably in my yellow UFO gloves. Which are… somewhere here in this room, I’m guessing.)

I also took pictures of my rapidly developing sock yarn shawl. I’m just so enchanted by the whole idea that I can just go into the park and sit in the sunshine, on the grass, while knitting away. Of course, a solid stockinette shawl is the last thing you’d need for this kind of weather, but once the sun goes down, it gets pretty chilly, and I’m hoping for campfires I can wrap myself in when it’s done… someday.

We chilled there for quite some time, precisely until we got hungry. We think we saw a hummingbird, a really teeny tiny one, but it might have been just a fuzzy sort of bug with a really long snouty-thingy. (I’m hoping it was a hummingbird.) No pictures of the fuzzy, but instead, I give you a picture of Augustusplatz, the biggest square (I think) in Leipzig, which fills me with unbelievable joy that I live in this city every time I walk over it. Especially when the fountains are actually… fountaining. They should be running soon, what with all the weather and sun and all that.

Back at Christian’s, we sat some more, ate delicious pasta, and played with technology. In his case, it was his new cell phone, in my case, it was my camera. Which has some really nifty features I was delighted to discover, like selecting one color and shooting the rest in b/w, or other awesome stuff that was commemorated with words like ‘Move! More! To the left! There’s the little square thingy around your head and it follows you around! Move! JUMP!’

And some knitting. (My life is full of surprises. I know.)

I’m tanning! Slowly, but steadily. Just like the shawl is coming along. Actually, I knit like a quarter more afterward, lots of green and then started pink/purple, so… productive day!
Christian also felt the overwhelming need to show off his Vodka bottle cozy he knit… um, the other day, when I taught him how to knit on DPNs.

I have to add: that is not actually vodka in that bottle. We might be young and reckless, but we don’t start drinking until the sun goes down. (This rule might have to be loosened once sunset is almost too late to start drinking) It’s sort of a long story that ends with him him being broke and filling soda into empty glass bottles he had standing around because he was taking the plastic ones to the store to get the money for them back… and the vodka bottle was the nearest. So now it has some sickeningly sweet stuff in there I wouldn’t go near even if it WAS diluted with vodka, but he loves it, and it has a cozy. (Nevermind that it was actually supposed to be a wristband that turned out to be bound off slightly too tightly)

And, I just have to post this, because it makes me irrationally happy: CHRISTIAN KNITTING! And sort of looking like he’s having fun at it. I’m not forcing him, honest. (Not too much.) I failed at getting another picture of him actually in the act, because he does it with the pained and complete concentration of a beginner, painfully forming each stitch around the needles… I love watching him. It reminds me of when it was all so new and exciting to me, that I was making something with my hands. Not that it has gotten old for me ever since, but I kind of miss those times. … and then I remember how long it took to make one row of knit stitches and I’m glad those times are seven years down the past. Holy crap.

He’s exceptionally proud of his new pink and purple wristband… even though, you know, you could pin a pink triangle to your chest for pretty much the same effect. I like it!

The only downside: See, we had this thing, where I didn’t understand his computer games and he didn’t understand my knitting, and we both thought the other one was weird, but we listened to each other gushing about Exciting Stuff and tried to translate it into our own terms and be happy for each other. But now he knows how to knit… and he’s decided that if he put time and effort into learning how to knit, I should put some time and effort into at least trying to play some computer game. It’s only fair, I guess, and I’d be excited to learn a new skill… if I could just understand what people get out of sitting in front of the computer (or Playstation, or whatever) playing a game all day. Christian played some Final Fantasy game 140 plus hours. And what did that get him? He can say he finished it – great. But just imagine what you could knit in the same amount of time, and how you actually have something to hold in your hands after that. So, I guess I’m just gonna have to play along. We’ll see. Maybe it’s gonna be fun. Maybe.

Eventually, his almost-boyfriend finally arrived after 7 hours of waiting in the traffic between Paderborn and here, and I left the two of them to their, ahem, devices. Good thing I put the bamboo DPNs I left him into the plastic wrapper thing, god only knows where they would’ve ended up if I hadn’t. His room isn’t all that big, but I’ve lost multiple earrings there that have never turned up again.

As a goodbye, a picture of the City at night. Or rather, the Opera from the other side. God, I’m so glad to live here.

Also, I’ve perfected the blank look when I say ‘Cardigan? What cardigan?’

It’s astounding…

I did the Time Warp again! *dances*

Yes, indeed, Tyler’s Time Warp socks are done, done, DONE!

With the 2×2 ribbing, followed by 20 rows of stockinette shaft, my standard heel and toe and lots of stockinette in  between, I admit they were a pretty easy, mindless knit. Except for the duplicate stitch embroidery just above the heel flaps. It turned out pretty awesome, but it drove me absolutely fucking bonkers. I hate duplicate stitch. Plus the E in STEP just didn’t want the same thing I wanted and ended up one row too small – which I noticed when I’d just woven in the end. Great.

Good thing I bought that random ball of red Meilenweit the other week just before I left, because for some reason, it seems I didn’t have any other kind of truly red sock weight yarn. Granted, this one has one quarter dark in it, but with the muted colors of the grey… it all goes together quite well, and gay or not, we’re talking about a man having to wear these. Man? Guy. Tyler’s only a year older than me. But he does work in a freaking bank… I’m getting old, if suddenly and unexpectedly people I graduated with are… grown up!

Anyways.  I tried to put a lot of good mojo into these. I watched RHPS twice, I believe, since after all they’re Time Warp socks. And I listened to the soundtrack… a lot. Let’s say a lot. If I hadn’t known the words before, now I probably would. I knit them in the car ride to and from the Sauna, I even knit one needle (16 stitches) in the changing room. Naked. (Heh. Talk about mojo.) Continuing with the naughty theme, I also watched ‘Threesome’, that 94 college movie, which is possibly a rather unfortunate choice, but I was so bored today, and it IS a good movie, except kinda creepy with the whole mojo thing. (But at least there’s a Music Man reference in the movie)

These socks are traveling socks, too… I decided I wanted to knit Tyler a pair of socks in the plane on the way from the US to Germany, I mapped out the first ideas in my head on the train ride from Frankfurt to my parents’. I bought the yarn and started them there, carried them with me everywhere (including the sauna), knit most of the second sock between my parents’ and Leipzig, finished up here, in my own apartment… they’ve been all over the place!

I’m kind of more enchanted by them than I’d like to admit, since I probably won’t be making a pair for myself. They’re awesome, but that duplicate stitch…

(Maybe ON the heel flap. Intarsia. Go shoot me now.)

Also, in a fit of exuberance and altruism, I offered to knit both of my roomies a pair of handknit socks, and had them pick yarn from my endless purchases. More socks, just what I need, but at least they have smallish feet. Yay!

I would have finished the Grasshoppers, but somehow I screwed up the toe decrease last night, and I just didn’t want to deal with them today. Same goes for… other unmentionable projects. I justify this to myself by saying that I didn’t really have that much time today, after all, I unpacked, put everything away, did laundry, put new sheets on my bed plus changed from the thick down blanket to the lighter summer one, spent time with both the dog and my two-legged roomies, made food, and… didn’t set a foot outside of this apartment.

Amazingly enough, I still had couscous, canned champignons, and some kind of sauce in a bag that made up a pretty amazing dinner. This was an especially nice surprise after discovering I had no pasta left, and I had just resigned to having couscous with tomato sauce.

At least the Tempest has its own project bag now.

And I’ve started to collect the hair Wave sheds, formulating a vague plan to spin it up when/if I have enough.

This last note is included because hell, this post now fits into ALL my categories!

Admitting your problem…

So, I’ll admit it: I might have a small yarn problem.

I went to Zitron in Wickede (Ruhr) today, which is just a half-hour drive from my house and TOTALLY worth it. They’re open to the general public on Mondays, they have all Zitron yarns there (obviously) plus quite a few ones that aren’t even in normal circulation yet. I love it. I went in there with the best of intentions, and left 20 minutes later with 1.2 kg of yarn and two sets of DPNs.

I don’t think I’ve ever spent €85 quite as fast as today.

I mean, the thing is, I can’t get Zitron yarns in Leipzig, so I have to stock up while I’m here. Zitron makes amazing quality for relatively cheap (even cheaper like this, right from the source), it’s 100% made in Germany, the colors are gorgeous, it’s a family business, and they’re generally my favorite yarn brand ever. I won’t be buying sock yarn for the next couple of months, or at least I’m going to pretend I won’t. Chances are pretty good. And €85 isn’t even that bad for that much yarn, plus needles!

Still, the haul, especially combined with the yarn I bought in the US, is what commonly could be referred to as ‘a crapload’, and I’m not sure how I’m gonna get it all back to Leipzig.

I’m such a yarnwhore.

This is today’s yarn:

And this is my total vacation yarn (minus two 1/2 balls of Berroco, which are downstairs in the shape of half a sleeve and the left side of the cardi front, and minus a rather unexciting grey ball of Meilenweit that’s turning into socks for Tyler):

To put it in the words of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee: ‘My… you sure have a lot of yarn!’

I’m slowly beginning to realize that getting all that crap to Leipzig is going to be the smallest problem. I might have to clear some shelf-space in my closet. And thus begins the spread from the stash chest of drawers into the rest of my living space. No longer will it be cooped up in a measly three drawers, no, it shall regain freedom and make their fortune in the endless realms of Patti’s room! I have a dream, that one day, one will have given up dividing sock yarns and other yarns; I have a dream that one day, a little hank of sock weight and a little hank of laceweight will be able to be friends, no matter their fiber content! I have a dream!

A few words. The top row is today, starting with Trekking XXL in various colors, including a couple of new ones, and two balls of something called Trekking Maxima. (It looks like XXL, feels like XXL, it just has a different label). Then my beloved HandArt (five skeins) – they have lamé yarns in that line now, too! Plus another one of the gorgeous dark blue I’ve missed since I had to give Adam’s socks away. Last in line, 100g of Nimbus, 100% merino, in the colorway I saw hanging around Mr Zitron’s neck last time I was there and immediately fell in love with. Now I have it. Heh. I’ll probably have it sitting around for a while, since I don’t want to cock it up and fall is still some time away.

And no, they do, in fact, not have anything resembling sock yarn in Leipzig. Why do you ask?

Aaaand, my US haul! Starting out with the Misti Alpaca 2-ply (with the half-finished Python in the back), then the Wildefoote sock yarn, Malabrigo Lace, Schaefer Finger Lakes, and last but not least, the Berroco. I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough yarn, but with only one sleeve to go… I have enough. Way enough. Enough for a hat-and-mitts-ensemble to go with it, probably. Yay alpaca mitts!

My… I have a lot of yarn.