Sunday, September 25, 2005

visualize success but don't believe your eyes

Excellent news -- I have a job! I interviewed on Friday and got a call with an offer not twenty minutes later, so starting tomorrow I'm a temp-to-perm computer geek at a technology investment firm in midtown. I'm surprised and excited and happy beyond the telling of it, because finding a job is the first step to me really being able to stay in the city long-term. I need to make sure, but I was told that taking time off for the Witching Hour won't be a problem. I really just can't believe how lucky I am. :D

The weather has finally cooled off in New York. I love the fall, because it means I can show off socks and scarves and sweaters. I've spent the weekend in sweatpants and sweaters and it's making me so happy. Hopefully the cold will stick, because I think everyone's gotten over the Indian summer we've been having.

I started Kiri last night, and so far it's coming along swimmingly. I'm working on US3 needles, which might be a bit small now that I'm a couple repeats into it, but I'm okay with a slightly denser shawl. I think it'd go faster if I didn't stretch out the work after every WS row to admire it, if only because my tension is pretty tight right now and the join on my needles (Crystal Palace bamboo) isn't too agreeable with laceweight.

The Katrina Hermione hat is close to decreasing -- it's been my carryalong project recently since I'm out of yarn on my current String project (a chunky cabled cardigan in their private-label cashmere, wah wah). I keep dragging my heels on the sweater for my landlady -- she has six 100g balls with no marked yardage. Assuming they're similar to Blue Sky Alpacas' sportweight, it's about 220 yards/100 grams, so I'm looking at 1320 yards, which seems like it's cutting it close for a heavily-cabled sweater. Basically I need to sit down and do the math, but wah, lazy.

Anyway, this is just me padding out a RL entry with knitting talk. Someone nag me about updating the GoF reference page! There's so much now that it's a bit intimidating.

Lauren posted at 14.10 on 09.25.05 comments (0)

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

making the best of what you have

It's been a while again, hasn't it? Last week was crazy for me, between having a social life and knitting frantically and trying not to stress out over those bits of real life that happen between stitches.

For starters: my financial aid fell through/never happened for the fall semester, so I'm now 11 credits short of finally earning my degree, with no foreseeable way of paying for those credits (~$11,000) out of pocket. Since I'm not in class this semester, I lost my job, so now I'm trying to resolve that as well. (Psst -- if anyone in the New York area needs a receptionist/admin assistant/photographer/IT geek, or knows someone who does, my resume's here. Yarn awaits anyone who gets me a job. ;)) My last day was on Friday, and all the explanations and goodbyes had me choked up all day.

On the topic of Katrina, I don't know what to say that hasn't already been said. My heart goes out to anyone who's been affected. I'm planning to destash by knitting for kids being taken in by a friend of a friend of my mom's in Jersey -- I've never really had the opportunity to knit for kids before, so I'm looking forward to it -- and I ordered another four balls of Andean Silk to do a Hermione hat/mittens set to auction either through MissionFish or Katrina's Keepers, in the same vein as the R2D2 hat that's currently at $360. I haven't got much to donate besides time and blood, both of which I intend to do, and knitting for a cause is such a warm, fuzzy feeling.

I, um, might've deviated from my yarn diet to order 4 skeins of Alpaca Cloud in Stream while I was making a Knitpicks order. I feel no remorse, or at least not much, because I'm itching to do a proper lace project, and I've been really good with finishing things this week. I've averaged 1 finished project every night for the past week, as follows:

Tuesday - Jon's mistake rib socks, since I thought I'd see him that night
Wednesday - String's Ab Fab poncho, which was an absolute delight aside from the degree to which it ate my brain
Thursday - the left TWH Hermione mitten on my morning commute, and the film Ravenclaw PoA scarf I cast on at the book release at night
Friday - worked on Soleil all day and would've finished had I brought an extra ball
Saturday - Soleil (it's just about done blocking now), and weaved all the Ab Fab ends (which is a project unto itself)

So, I think I deserve a bit of a treat, don't I? Aside from the fact that I'm about to dive into piles of cashmere (for String) and alpaca (for my roommate's mom) for my next several projects -- the blue laceweight can just sit and be petted for a while. Not that it'll actually happen, but let's pretend that it will.

eta: Might I just say? Sesame from the new MagKnits would make the perfect house sweater. Substitute your favorite house-colored DK yarn with the darker shade for A and the lighter for B, and it'd be all sorts of cool. I guess it's a blessing in disguise that I'd need a 44" to have decent wearing ease. ;)

Lauren posted at 1.53 on 09.06.05 comments (0)

Thursday, August 18, 2005

when fandoms collide

Yeah, so Franz Ferdinand fandom ate my brain for a few days there, sorry about that. It was due mostly, though not entirely, to this - the video for their new single, which used several dozen New York-area fan extras in the dance scene at the end.

You know where this is headed. Fourth row back on the right side. Look for shoulders; that's my Cleaves I'm wearing there.

If I've done little knitting this week, I think I preemptively made up for it last weekend. It was absurdly hot in the city so, rather than run my ancient A/C, I grabbed my iPod and my Knitpicks (it came on Saturday) and hid out in a coffeehouse in Park Slope. I also put in a few hours at Knit New York, where I chatted with a couple older Indian ladies, one of whom was teaching the other to knit. I got most of the TWH Hatmione done, and quite a few rows of Jon's socks when I needed a change from cabling.

And can I just say? Cranberry Andean Silk is perfect for the Hermione set. It knit to gauge on the first try (on 7s, per the pattern). I haven't checked it against the DVD just yet but I think the color is spot-on, and the yarn itself... oh my god. It's so posh and lovely. Y'know how I'd been worried about the cables showing? Well the alpaca fuzz does obscure them a bit, but the silk adds enough shine that the contours are still quite visible. It's really subtle, and I loves it. My only beef is that the dye isn't sticking in the yarn - it'll stain fingers and (more seriously, I think) porous needles. Bamboo's been fine, but my birch cable needle is pinkish now. So, prewashing is probably not a bad idea.

I finished the hat as I was walking from the subway to work this morning (can now add gathering stitches to the list of knitting things I can do while walking), and it's so gorgeous. Probably gonna start the mittens this afternoon while I'm waiting for a concert (Death Cab/Decemberists/Stars in Central Park, sweeeet). I'm not sure if the three skeins I ordered will be enough, but I guess I'll find out, won't I?

Animal Cracker is coming along. I finished the full adult hat and it looked great; adult beanie is knit just past the Fair Isle. I'm torn about the earflaps - they certainly seem black, but it looks funny. I'll probably just do them in green.

I'm behind on updating the GoF reference page again. Got my wireless DSL working at home last night, finally, so it'll be easier to update from here on out.

Lauren posted at 12.43 on 08.18.05 comments (0)

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

how responsible!

I think I'm the last knitter on the face of the Earth to give them a try, but I just placed my first-ever Knitpicks order. I'm proud of myself, too - I stuck to my yarn diet (which I think I never blogged about, but give me a second) and only got three skeins of Andean Silk in cranberry for the Hogsmeade!Hermione set for the Witching Hour auction.

Originally I was planning to use 1824 Wool or something similarly easy-care and practical, but I think poshness (alpaca/silk/merino guhhh) outranks washability in this case, and the Knitpicks was way cheaper anyway. The only thing I'm worried about is whether the cables will look right in the blend, but for $13 and change, I'm alright just giving it a try. ;)

The yarn diet - I realized while moving just how much yarn I have for a person who doesn't have a real stash. Most of it is odd single balls that I bought on impulse, rarely enough for a good-sized project. There's not a lot that I have plans for, but I'm trying to knit my way through what I can before buying much more. And, considering that I've been two four different shops in the last five days and come out of it with only a ball of Fixation, I'd say I'm doing pretty well. :D

Lauren posted at 14.28 on 08.09.05 comments (0)

Thursday, August 04, 2005

various and sundry

Okay, first off, omg I want one. I'm fairly suspectible to the charm of gadgetry as it is (zoom in on 2 PDAs, sexy cellphone, iPod...), but knitting gadgets? Sign me up, baby.

Secondly - and I'd sworn to myself I wouldn't do it this time around - meet the Goblet of Fire costume reference page. I'd hoped it wouldn't be necessary, but two new, wholly different schools and twelve competition uniforms, not to mention a slew of new adults, mean there's actually so many new costumes that I can't believe no one's beaten me to the punch. As a bonus, my hosting package is now so beefy that I can spare the resources to host the full-sized high-res images that Warner Bros has been so generous with, this time around. I may be a bit slow in updating it, due to my limited internet access, but I'll do my bestest.

Thirdly, I've hit a new impasse with the animal cracker hat - I need to find a superbulky (~2.5 st/inch) forest green and yellow twist or tweed yarn for the top of the hat. Two colors of 220 held together just won't cut it, no matter how many times I try it. Yeah, I know. Good luck.

But! I've made some ridiculous headway on Jon's Koigu socks (nicknamed "Breakup Sox", haha). I've ditched the purl ridges in favor of a mistake rib, which looks really excellent in the brown/olive/burnt orange colorway I'm using. I started on, uh, Monday I think, and I'm already two inches past the heel. kasgofjsadhuio I love Koigu, especially after using Lion Brand for a few weeks.

And for anyone who doesn't knit but is itching for a Hatmione/Hermittens set nonetheless, I'll be knitting a set for the Witching Hour's auction during the Fall Festival. Be there or be, well, a bit chilly all winter. ;)

Lauren posted at 15.52 on 08.04.05 comments (0)