Eye Candy Friday, and I want to set up an epistolary club but may be too unorganized and/or lazy

It's always nice to get flowers for no reason every now and then, isn't it? When Duck remembers this rule, he stops by the local flower shop after work, where the nice lady florist likes to come up with a medley bouquet such as the one above. Roses, hydrangeas, tulips, irises, orchids, apple blossoms...anything goes! Although I'm not sure if they do go. Hm. Anyway the flowers are still very lovely and very much appreciated, particularly on a day like today when we're getting yucky, wet snow.

Did you know I once aspired to be a florist? In fact I quit my first job to do just that. My aspirations died the second I realized what I was going to be paid. Or not paid. Former co-workers still laugh at me because I'm so good with the follow-through.

Just as I'm not surprised that most knitters own at least one cat, I am not surprised that most knitters enjoy paper goods. Duck doesn't knit and therefore does not understand the hoopla surrounding paper, and I cannot explain it to him. But there it is, and as a result of my last post, I have many letters to write, to send off to all parts of the U.S. and even Australia! I am so pleased. I will definitely follow through with writing letters, don't you worry. (If anyone else out there is interested in a handwritten letter, drop me an email with your address and I'll get write to it. Heh.)

I was very very intrigued, however, by a very intriguing comment left by blogless reader Dana, who suggested that

It seems like a great idea! A penpal club for knitters! I love those ideas! Only, who is this mysterious Someone that she mentions to jumpstart them into motion, that's what I would like to know. I would do it except, and there's no getting around this, I am horribly, UNBELIEVABLY PASSIVE. It is my greatest weakness. That, and bacon. If you have not yet noticed, I have joined no clubs, no knit-alongs, and worst of all, I barely leave comments. I am so ashamed! But no matter how I try, it is just not my nature to participate. It's an odd thing I have this blog, isn't it. But maybe now you wouldn't be too surprised to learn that I was Girl Scout for all of 10 minutes before dropping out - couldn't stand it! - and one of the most hateful activities you could ask of me is to play boardgames with you. Especially Monopoly. I will play Monopoly for no one, under no circumstances. Not even if you were Br@d Pitt and as Br@d Pitt your dying wish was that I play Monopoly with you. While naked.

Here's a more recent example of my reticence to participate, and this one even got me laughing at myself for being such a twit. Last weekend the cable guy paid us a visit. I was in the middle of watching a recorded episode of Jane Eyre from Mahstapiece Theatah, and just getting to one of the steamier scenes in the story: Jane had just seen Mr. Rochester for the first time in his night shirt, a very thin and gauzy and wide open down the front night shirt, revealing bare English skin and curly English chest hair. Also, he was on fire. It was all very sexy.

Anyway they were just getting to putting out the flames when the screen went blank and the cable box froze, and I did what any rational, educated adult person would do, and that is to press every single button on the remote control, then press them at the same time, then with increasing speed and pressure, and then to do the same on the cable box when the remote stopped working.

So the cable guy paid a visit. I was upstairs working on some stuff while Duck watched the cable guy in the basement. I don't know how much time passed before I realized that a lot of it had, and the cable van was still idling in the driveway. So I went downstairs to check on the progress.

And can you believe what I saw? Down in the basement? I saw Duck. Playing video games. With the cable guy.

For how long the cable box was fixed, I don't know. He still had on his little tool belt and everything. They were in the middle of their second? third? match when the cable guy turned around and called out to me, "Hey came and join us! Come and play!" And you know what I did right? Because a stranger just asked me to Participate in Something, I instinctually hesitated. I demured and I turned red, I wanted to get out of it, run up to my room and hide just like I did when I was 10-years old and my parents had people over and demanded that I play and talk with their children, as if socializing with other people my own age were a normal, enjoyable thing for me to do!

Unfortunately I'm not 10 anymore and as I was watching him jot down his personal phone number on the invoice (so we could call him to come over and play, haha!) I finally got a grip on myself. I just got asked, by the cable guy, the so not shy cable guy, if I wanted to play my video game in my house, and here I am shaking in my boots. IN MY OWN HOUSE. Pathetic! Get over it and grow a pair! He's not going to bite!

But right as I was on the verge of participating, his mobile rang and the client on the other line wanted to know where the hell he was, so he had to go.

Ah well. I tried.

And at long last we get to the point! I want get over this passive attitude of mine and attempt to organize this penpal club thing for knitters. Even if it's just a handful of participants, even if only a couple of letters are swapped. Like me maybe you're a little nutty and you're just dying to write a letter, about anything, to anyone, but especially to someone who enjoys receiving letters as much as you enjoy writing them. Maybe.

Hmmmmm.

While I ponder about this some more , another commenter wanted to see another sketchbook doodle. Here's one I did a couple of weeks ago for Duck. He had to get up outrageously early one day for work, so I left him this scribble to find in the morning. And in case you were wondering, I really do address him as "Duck." I follow-through with that cat/duck metaphor of ours and take all the way.

Comments [24]
Filed Under: Life

The other stash

I have this collection of Japanese silkscreen paper. The collection is small, but the immediate, visceral feelings it illicits from me is anything but. Is it just paper? No way. For me this stuff is like my favorite sock yarn dipped in platinum and then encrusted with diamonds and covered in hot fudge and then placed next to a kitten.

What is that odd sound of a word that I've been seeing lately on blogs? Is it "squee"? If you've ever encountered Japanese silkscreen paper face to face, maybe you've squeed too (but probably not), and wonder why people don't just wallpaper their entire house with them, as I've often pondered about doing to mine. On the outside too.

Love love love you all.

But since just a single sheet isn't exactly economic, I have so far just had to make do with smaller projects, such as these handmade journals, which I fill with doodles of my boys.

I've also wallpapered the office cubby holes with them.

Before and after of my Very Orange Office.

But THIS is my greatest most prized collection ever.

With these paper goods I will build Shangri-la!

My coveted stash of Crane paper goods. And I don't even have anyone to write to! Nevertheless, my goal is that this stash just gets bigger and larger and wider. Even though I hardly write letters anymore, I can never get enough of stationery. It is my #1 Achilles heel, even more so than sock yarn by a mile. Just looking at that mountain of paper - all 100% cotton! - makes my little eyes well up with tears. 99% of this stash is courtesy of Duck's mother who used to work at Crane. As my dealer she feeds me paper crack every Christmas, birthday, anniversary, Easter, Flag Day. (By the way, Crane's is also responsible for producing the U.S. paper currency and I believe the Euro as well. The company has a very fascinating history.)

The obsession with paper goods has been lifelong. I have more stationery than friends to address them to, and more blank journals and more sketch books than any inkwell can fill. And I want more!

Hey! If you want help me go through my paper stash, I'd love to write you a little letter! (I love the physical act of writing too - and conveniently enough I also LOVE PENS!) Forget emails and text messaging and comments and whathaveyou - how about receiving a good old-fashioned honest to goodness handwritten letter? Honestly, when was the last time you received one that wasn't from your great-aunt Betty on your birthday?

Squeee!

Squee?

Comments [43]
Filed Under: Letter-writing | Life

Hitching a ride on the bandwagon

I have had this annoying, inexplicable habit of buying single skeins of sock yarn, the ones that are no more than 175 yards and obviously not enough to make a full pair of socks. See this. And this. And also this. There are more bachelors and bachelorettes hanging out in the stash. When I approach that wall dripping with those Koigu colors, fighting the urge to grab every skein and stuff them in my mouth, I think to myself: Why buy two skeins in one color when for the same price you can have two skeins in two colors? More for your money! I'm so smart! Not a bad shopping practice in general, but when the whole point of buying sock yarn is to uh make socks, full-grown socks, which you now can't do because you don't have enough yarn, well then really how smart are you? I tried justifying my single purchases by convincing myself that I only wanted to knit anklets. But again. Wool anklets. What's the point? In the end you end up wasting. These Spring Anklets I made in that buttery Sundara yarn has been worn maybe all of five times in the last year.

So I'm totally loving this Chevron Scarf craze. It's the perfect way to use up the single skeins of sock yarn, and to pair up colorways that are not particularly matchy-matchy. In fact the less matchy the colors are, the better! I'm also trying to wean myself off of making socks, and the Chevron Scarf is the perfect in-between project. Still using yummy sock yarn but not making socks. Yay!

I'm using Sundara yarn in "Troubador" + Louet Gems Pearl in the lightest green. Instead of the fan-and-feather pattern I'm using this simple chevron pattern with eyelets:

Across 33 stitches:
RS rows: [k4, yo, k, yo, k4, double-decrease] twice, then k4, yo, k, yo, k4 (35 sts)
WS rows: p2tog through the back, p to last two stitches, p2tog (33 sts)

Double-decrease is: slip 2 stitches knitwise together, k next stitch, pass the two slipped stitches over.

This makes for a skinny scarf. For wider chevrons increase the 'k4' part to your liking.

After the first foot of the scarf I switched up the height of the chevrons by knitting 4 rows of one color and then 4 rows of the other. So it'll be 4x4 for the middle, and 2x2 for the ends of the scarf.

I'm using US3 needles on the fingering weight yarn, and as a result the fabric is loose, but not lacey, and the sides aren't curling in. Woot! Very pleased with how this is turning out so far.

P.S. I also finished the back of Kooch. Just the sleeves left...I see the light! Slow and steady wins the race, right?

Comments [31]
Filed Under: Chevron Scarf | General Knitting | Rowan | Kooch

Eye Candy Friday

Look at us, so romantic and glamorous in the glow of the setting sun.
Oooo aaaah.
Why don't you knit us already? 

Here is a skein of Sundara Yarn in "Troubador" on top of a skein of GEMS Pearl in a light green. I bought the Sundara Yarn waaaay back when pureknits was selling them. It's definitely vintage, and I still don't know what to do with it, having bought just one very inconvenient skein. I attempted this awhile back and decided I didn't want to knit socks with them. I still don't. I think it's about time I knitted something other than socks for a change.

I smell the heady scent of a Chevron Scarf...

Comments [11]
Filed Under: General Knitting | Yarn Stash

Dorothy meets Yarntini

Pattern: None, just a 54-stitch stockinette sock with gusset heel and wedge toe
Yarn: Yarntini self-striping in Pure Fall
Needles: US2 for the top half of the leg, US1 for the rest

I just rediscovered these shoes while cleaning out the closet. Oh my god do I have a lot of shoes. Anyway I bought these four years ago in a San Francisco boutique for 75% off. Ah the thrill of a good sale! But strangely I have not worn these as much as I should have. I mean how does one just forget that she owns awesome tomato-red pointy-toed shoes with cylinder heels like these?!

Especially ones that go so good with new stripey socks, no?

Comments [21]
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks

A stroll through Boston

Spring was in the air today, so we took advantage of the mild temps, and a stroll through Boston. Here we are in Beacon Hill, my most favorite neighborhood in the entire universe.

Dottie too finally gets out of the house!

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Filed Under: Life | Postcards from Dottie

Monkey!

Pattern: Monkey socks
Yarn: Fleece Artist merino sock yarn in Autumn, one skein
Needles: Size 2 dpns

It is damn near impossible to decently photograph so much red, and in such dismal, rain-drizzled lighting it's that much trickier. I tried every setting on my camera but each time the reds came out super-saturated, so much that it obscured the pattten. At the same time the poor lighting muted the surrounding colors. Wacky combination! I ended up desaturating in Photoshop to subdue the reds.

This was a very fast knit, despite the fact that I haven't been knitting much in the last couple of weeks. I'll be honest, at first glance I wasn't really excited about this pattern, but it is very flattering knitted up and looks much prettier in person.

That Cookie. That mad genius of a Cookie. It is almost unholy the things she comes up with.

Some mods:
1) 2-stitch garter stitch gutter on either side of the heels.
I think I might start doing that with all my heels. It's pretty.

2) Very long toes.
Not intentional, until I decided to leave it the way it is. I tried a more rounded toe instead of the usual wedge toe by decreasing every 4th row for a couple of rows, then decreasing every 3rd row for a couple of rows, then every other row until there were 16 stitches total left. The result of that was a very long toe. The sock still fits just fine - it just looks a little goofy with the toe starting so early. But since my BFF is even less of a perfectionist than I am (right?), I'm OK with leaving the them the way they are. No sleep lost over that!

3) Cat-hair infused yarn.
Creates a lovely, soft halo around the socks.

A quick Soak and a dry, and off to NYC they go!

Comments [21]
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks

A Day in the Life

I saw this "day in the life of" post several weeks ago and thought it would be fun-ish change of pace from all the knitting talk to give a glimpse of what I'm doing when I'm not knitting or talking about knitting.

So here was my Monday, yesterday:

7:15AM - 9:00AM: I am not a morning person, by the way
Morning wake-up call from Duck as he leaves for work. I stay in bed for 15 minutes to 1 hour longer. If I don't get up by 9:00am, then I either have no gigs or I am not caring much about the gigs I do have, heh (shhh). I really really wish I were the type of person who gets up at 5am, jogs a hundred miles, finishes writing a novel, and bakes a wedding cake from scratch before the sun breaks. But ALAS.

Today I get up at 7:45am, and the first thing I do is fire up the laptop and brush the teeth. Sometimes I will even start surfing before I brush. I am so addicted to the Internet that I would choose surfing over brushing my teeth after a whole night of drooling.

Depending on whether I will be seeing people other than Duck during the course of the day, I may or may not shower. But I will get dressed, even if the tempation to remain in one's pajamas is overwhelming. I do have standards. Despite the fact they are very sub-standard sort of standards.

I will definitely make a cup of coffee though. This is our coffee maker. For the last five years, we (as in Duck) buy raw coffee beans, roast them by hand (in an orville redenbacher popcorn maker), and use this fancy pants coffee maker to grind and make the perfect cup of joe with just a push of a button.

 8:00AM - 9:00AM: Breakfast
I have the same breakfast everyday: coffee, juice, and a bowl of yogurt with granola and fruit, sometimes bananas, sometimes peaches.

The yogurt has to be Brown Cow brand vanilla yogurt with cream on top (actually, we can't get it any other way). The granola must be Honey Gone Nuts from Whole Foods. The banana must not have any bruises.

I take my coffee with two spoonfuls of sugar and half 'n half, and I have to drink them from the mugs I bought in Santa Fe.

I take my breakfast upstairs to the office and officially start my day...

Office Space
I work from home, and this is my office. We painted it several years ago and I am rather regretting my choice of color. I wanted something bold and unconventional, but did it have to be so orange? We didn't even paint the trim a contrasting color to break up all that boldness.

One day this house will be futon-free.

The cats hang out with me here most of the day. They sleep in that comfy plush-filled wicker basket when they're not on the lookout for the neighborhood black cat who likes to visit our backyard.

Office Desk
We only put the shelving units (from IKEA) up this past weekend. There will be another long shelf that will run below the cubbies, and hopefully when that's in place the blocks won't look so goofy and free-floating. I also plan on "wallpapering" the white backs with some pretty Japanese silkscreen paper. And add a lot of plants. I also want a beta fish.

The desk, chair, and rolling cabinet I bought from my former company when they were liquidating an office they shut down. I like it. Spacious and ergonomic.

Office supplies
I listen to Howard everyday. He's totally my cup of tea...but not always. Sometimes the on-air shenanigans are too distracting, too annoying, and when that happens, I like to flip to over to the jazz/standards channel.

When I really have to zone out, I pop in the iPod earbuds and listen to Mozart. When music is directly plugged into the ears, I'm able to concentrate more.

I can't concentrate when it's quiet.

1:00pm - 2:00pm: Lunch
You know, I love to eat but I absolutely hate lunch. I will gladly spend 3 hours preparing dinner, but more than 10 minutes for lunch is a pain in the ass. More often than not I don't eat til 2 because I'm just too busy stop, or too lazy to figure out what the hell I want to eat.

In any case, lunch is either leftovers (I've been cooking dinner for 12 lately to ensure leftovers) or a sandwich. Today I make my favorite sandwich, the BLT. Depending on how busy I am, I will eat lunch in the office, or I will take it to the basement and eat it while watching a recorded television show.

View outside the window
I look to my left and, hi bird!

5:00pm Sunset
Must break for sunset. Sometimes they're eh, sometimes they're spectacular.

6:00pm - 9:00pm: Clocking out
Today I don't clock out til 9pm. That doesn't stop me from busting out the nightly glass of wine while I work. Duck gets home at around 5:30pm and today he makes dinner for me: another BLT sandwich that I eat while working.

I have had six to seven slabs of bacon - extra thick - and two avocados just today. And I have barely moved from my seat. Shoot me.

When I finally do get up from my desk, I mosey downstairs and spend another more couple of hours sitting on the basement couch while knitting and watching TV.

I sit until I have to haul myself up and go to bed, usually around 11:00-midnight.

It's been a tough, relatively immobile day. But my brain, my big big brain, it's on the move constantly.

Comments [35]
Filed Under: Life