So, I am very lucky to have terrific friends. Really. So take the next part with a bit of salt (or sour grapes, whichever you prefer). Two of my close friends (one of them being my best friend) are miraculously blessed with FANTABULOUS metabolisms. Both of them have DHLS (double hollow leg syndrome). What does this stuff have to do with knitting you ask? I present you with...



that's the greek pullover from Fall IK 05. I'm making it using 4 balls of Rowan Kid Classic. Daring you ask? No. My friend is only 5' and weighs about 87 lbs. Luckily, she's pregnant, so I didn't have to do TOO much math to make a size to fit her. I adjusted some to make it 32" bust, and gave one more increase to the front compared to the back. This sweater has got to be one of the quickest knits ever (in that size).

Next up:

SOCK DOWN SOCK DOWN!! I've finally finished ONE sock for sockpal2za. Here's hoping that SSS isn't horrible b/c I've only got 2 weeks to churn out it's identical mate.


here's the promised yarn porn:

On the left, we've got some Koigu (from the Yarn Studio in Vail), Cherry Tree Hill (on sale at Colorful Yarns), and some Rowan wool cotton (i got 6 skeins at 60% off). On the right: Garnstudio's Silke-Tweed (52% silk/48%lammeull), of which I bought 4 balls, and the Cascade Yarns Indulgence (70% superfine alpaca, 30%angora), only one ball. all at 60% off.





Here we've got the blue patagonia fleece (2 skeins), and the blue sky alpaca in a luscious chocolaty brown/dark dark maroon color (4 skeins). On the right, there's 2 skeins of lorna's laces shepard sock and 2 addi turbo needles. All the yarn in these last two pics were 60% off, and the needles were 20% off. My partner in crime had TWO bags of yarn, but is more generous than myself. She bought 6 skeins for a friend, and 5 skeins for her mom. I'm too selfish when I hit a 60% off yarn sale to be thinking of other people.

In other news (i know, there's news besides knitting and yarn?) in my life, I met with my mentor at school on Tuesday to talk about my chances at getting into a PhD program... and she says she can't imagine why I wouldn't get in. I know I'll have kick ass recommendations (is it obnoxious to admit most of my professors love me?), and she says my GRE scores are terrific. I'm not too ashamed to admit that my transcript couldn't really be much better, so I'm pretty positive about my chances of getting into a program. Will I get into the ONE I really want? over 200 apps a year. 4 slots. Hmmm.

Back that A** Up!!

No, I'm not blogging about Juvenile's song, but I have to go back in history to share some stuff that I've been hiding.



These first two are of the girls (left:Stacey, Jan, & Wanda. right: Marilyn (of blackwater abbey yarns), Marsha, and Michelle).



More knitting by Cathi & AmyB. Then a few of the usual suspects during our almost midnight yarn crawl to Wal-Mart.




We've got the reason why knitting progress is slow at home, and my RAOK from Julie!! Isn't it a beautiful blue? I know how difficult these cranes are to make, and it totally brightened up my day. Thanks Julie!!

I'll leave us with this confession:

details later. (see Stacey's blog for more info on the bulk of those purchases. Pic does not include the recently purchased swift or ball winder. Sigh.

The mid-winter blues...

Oh. It's only end of summer, so i'm a couple seasons early. Let me try to sum up so I don't bore everyone to death (me included). I've been struggling with the decision to continue my education. The graduate program I'm in, successfully completed, gives me the ability to work in CO as a mental health therapist. However, the degree does not neccessarily transfer nationwide. Additionally, I have always been attracted to the field of research. So, I've been seriously considering getting a PhD in some sort of psychological field... which means... I might have to move out of state. Even more depressing... if I move for school, I'm probably not ever coming back. You develop so many professional connections in school that most graduates stay in the area from which they matriculate. That's the big reason for the moody blues I've had lately.

I've been so pessimistic lately, I can even make a terrific knitication into a bad thing. Cathi and Stacey have already shared some pictures of our knitterly weekend in Vail. I had the BESTEST of times with my knit friends who have become dear friends. I worked lots on my Rogue and Sockpal2za sock (yes, sock. singular). We ate, chatted, and crafted early in the morning until late into the evening (or early into the morning depending on your definition). Wal-Mart was involved. The Yarn Studio was raided and pillaged.

Where are the pictures you ask? Stuck in the camera with no means of transferring to the puter w/o the cord.

When I got back to Denver, I had to face the real world. SCHOOL. I started working in the counseling clinic this week, and actually had a client on Wednesday!! The client didn't run away screaming or anything, so I think I did alright.

My mood greatly improved when Stacey and I went to Strings, a new LYS in Metro Denver, to check it out. Lovely customer service and aesthetically pleasing b/c it is arranged by color (which means I can, in the future, avoid the pink section quite easily).

A post of pics to come this weekend.

A quick pick me up

For anyone who's in need of a pick me up.
It's an audiofile... just in case you're at work.

Click here.

It's a play by play commentary about a car accident (no one was hurt in the
actual collision).

Da da dum. the dumb being me.

So. in thinking over this 'contest' about how many subscriber's I'd lose after ranting and outing myself as a serious ass liberal? Not like I had tons of interest, even though I offered up a skein of Koigu... but hullo self? Subscriber info is available to anyone on bloglines. Sheesh. What a dumb-a.

I met up with AmyB, Jenifer, Cathi, and Amy at Flatirons for mommy knitting. No, I did not magically have a baby in the last 2 days, but I wanted to go see Jenifer and Cathi. Jenifer b/c I knew she was working furiously on Rogue, and Cathi b/c it's just been too long. Let me state, emphatically, that I can not begin to express how freaking impressed I am about how these mommy's knit. And finish many projects with children to care for... and not have glaring huge mistakes in their knitting. I think mommy's DO have eyes in the back of their heads!!!

I've pledged to work on my sock for my sockpal2za and scarf for the scarf exchange instead of working on Rogue. I'm about a third of the way done with the scarf, and have started the heel on the sock...

progress pics on Thurs night or Fri morning...

Because I'm easy....easy like Sunday morning...

I was intrigued by the interview on Lori's blog, especially about her struggles in career choice. Psychology just isn't up there in the 'respectable' category for Chinese parents.

anyway.

for your convenience i've copied the rules here, followed by your
interview questions :)
The Rules
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview Me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone
else in the post.
5. When others asking to be interviewed comment, you will ask them 5 questions.

Interview Questions

What are your favorite dim sum dishes?

good thing you didn't ask which ONE was my favorite. I couldn't possibly narrow it down to just one. for the squeamish of stomach, please skip to next question.
1) chinese chive and shrimp dumplings
2) pot stickers
3) chicken feet
4) turnip cake


Which test qualified you for mensa, and what was your score?

I qualified according to my IQ test (Stanford Binet), which I took to get into my high school, the ACT, and the SAT. If you look around on the Mensa site, it tells you how the ACT and SAT scores equate with IQ scores. I scored 1360 on my SAT. Click here to see the list of qualifying scores.

Boy Lori, where did you dig that one up? I don't remember mentioning that I qualified for mensa on the blog! ::blush:: That feels boastful, so I'll temper
it with this qualifier: I think I barely qualify.


What is your tattoo of, and why did you choose it for your tattoo?

I chose an Orca (killer whale). If I was to be reincarnated as an animal, I'd chose either the Orca or the dolphin... i love their sense of play and their intelligence...plus they seem graceful and happy, don't they?
I drew my own tattoo in college (during abnormal psych lecture, if you want to be precise) and got it put on after I graduated. There's a reason I only have one.
Needles? pain? NOT my friends.

When are you most happy?

When I'm surrounded by my closest friends, when Roman tells me he loves me (Roman is my best friend's 3 yo son), after buying quality yarn, shoes, or bags,

If money were no object, what yarn would you buy (single type) and for
what project?

oh no!! I'm not qualified for this question yet! I feel like I need to know more about yarn and patterns before I answer this question. I mean, if it was shoes, I'd say I need a pair of either Jimmy Choos or Manolos. Handbags...I'd want either a large Hermes bag or a large LV. Yarn. hmmm.

DOH! (a la Homer Simpson). The crack of all yarns, of course!! Brooks Farm Yarn, enough to make a bed spread (that's a lot of yarn, and gee, if I get overhwhelmed thinking about knitting a queen sized bed spread, I could just make some sweaters and shawls instead, now couldn't i?)

Promised pics

The accursed sock. I'm getting much better at cabling without a needle, courtesy of this link and Michelle.


I love this yarn by Nature Wool. The slight variegation in the depth of the blue is oh so pretty. Cathi has agreed to help me test out new cast on methods that work best for this scarf.


I was much further along in the sweater a few days ago. TINK TINK TINK b/c I hadn't read the instructions thoroughly, which meant I forgot to start the kangaroo pocket back on row 14. I had gotten up to row 22. Sigh.



Isn't the cabling beautiful? I love it. The tinking did allow me to correct a few mistakes, so I'm not that mad that I had to TINK and reknit.

Are we ready to rumble?

I'm housesitting for a professor, so sorry I don't have pics uploaded of the progress. I've got the hem facing stitches finished (they were PAINFUL) and am up to row 8 of chart A. I'll try to post pics by Thursday.

We had our Littleton Meetup tonight, and I met Kim. Instantly envious of her, b/c she's finished Rogue, but was oh so glad to meet her...someone who could hold my hand as I braved the scary charts of Rogue. Stacey, Michelle, and I met early for some dinner, then met up with Kim, Tamara, Shirley, Linda, and a few other ladies for our monthly knit group. Stacey's mom popped in for a few minutes, and then there were FOUR of us working on Rogue.

I've also been having fun gathering stuff for the last SP5 package... so much stuff I want to give! So little time, and $$$.

Last, I do need to chat about the ANONYMOUS comment about the ethics test. You know it was a JOKE, right? *I* found the joke amusing. If you didn't, fine. My blog is NOT the news. I don't have to be impartial. Especially about a president I didn't vote for in either election. (umm...anyone think ANONYMOUS will be coming back after this post?)

Dear readers, let us clear up something here and now. I am a leftie. Both handed wise, and politically. If'n you care to take a peek over on the left side of my blog, you'll see that I am the proud alum of a LIBERAL college, where there's the largest annual gathering in support of legalizing marijuana, Hash Bash and where the end of the academic year is celebrated by running the Naked Mile? I also have an ALLY OF QUEER KNITS logo on my page, and support the right of the GLBTQ population to have civil/legal unions when/if they're lucky enough to find someone with which they would like to spend the rest of their lives, or not. If I haven't already offended you even more, then let me say that I am ASIAN, my area of study focuses on multicultural counseling and social justice, and oh yes, I'm nice to animals. I don't usually post controversial stuff on here, but the person is political.

(hmm. prize to the person who guesses how many bloglines subscribers I'll lose after this post)...FYI, I have 70 as of tonight. How about a skein of Koigu to the winner?
We'll end the contest at this time next week (Tuesday evening, MST). Please leave your guess in my comments... oh. and um, just to practice reframing stuff, i suppose I should also mention that perhaps subscriptions will go up (yeah, right) so you can guess either + or -.

back to knitting content. The scarf for the scarf exchange goes along slowly, b/c it's straight stockinette after the beads. Cathi had some suggestions for a different cast on, which I'll try on the second half. We've got minute progress on the sock for Sock pal-2-za, not even worthy of a picture.

I'll leave everyone with a pic of Roman, pushing the cube at the University of Michigan.

Ethics test

I just got this ethics test via email. thought I'd share it with everyone.
If you feel comfortable doing so, please post your results in the comment section.


This test only has one question, but it's a very important one.



By giving an honest answer, you will discover where you stand
morally.

The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation in
which you will have to make a decision.



Remember that your answer needs to be honest, yet spontaneous.



Please scroll down slowly and give due consideration to each line.



You are in Florida, Miami to be specific.

There is chaos all around you caused by a hurricane with severe
flooding.

This is a flood of biblical proportions. You are a photojournalist
working for a major newspaper and you're caught in the middle of this epic
disaster.



The situation is nearly hopeless.

You're trying to shoot career-making photos.

There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing
under the water.

Nature is unleashing all of its destructive fury.



Suddenly you see a man floundering in the water.

He is fighting for his life, trying not to be taken down with the debris.

You move closer . somehow the man looks familiar.

You suddenly realize who it is. It's George W. Bush!


At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to
take him under ... forever.

You have two options-you can save the life of G.W. Bush or you can
shoot a dramatic

Pulitzer Prize winning photo, documenting the death of one of the
world's most powerful men.



So here's the question, and please give an honest answer:



Would you select high contrast color film, or would you go with
the classic simplicity of black and white?

First Friday Knit Night

Any english majors out there? I love alliteration, I like the texture of the words in my mouth when there's alliteration somewhere...but does knit and night qualify?

Thursday night, instead of cleaning and doing some cooking in preparation for Friday night, I went to the movies with Ms. Sheep in the City. Since we've both loved John Cusack since Say Anything, we went to go see Must Love Dogs. What a cute, funny movie!!! If we were any younger, we would've been shouting "Jinx! you owe me a coke" because we'd both have the same comments about certain scenes.

Anyhow, I had the MHCknitters over on Friday for First Friday. I had a full house, with Wanda, Stacey, Lesley, Shirley, Natalya, Theresa, Tami, Carrie and Anna. We ate and knit for awhile, then headed down Santa Fe for the art galleries. We got separated in the mayhem, but everyone keeps track of where they left their yarn! Some of us got back to my apartment earlier (too focused on knitting to stay and enjoy all the art, or in my case, feet hurt too much from cooking all day to keep walking), while others enjoyed more art and free wine.

Wanna see why I love my knitting crew?


Wanda had called me last week, sharing her find of some cotton ease. She knew I was on the hunt for the purple color, both for myself, and to use to make baby clothes for my expecting friends. The blueberry and white skeins were also for me...b/c you all know how discontinued yarn that's affordable becomes as valuable as platinum to us crafters.

Today, I went to go pick up my PACKAGES. Who doesn't love getting the package slip in their mailbox? Ok, I'd rather have the packages IN my mailbox, but you gotta sacrifice some luxuries when you live downtown.



Catherine gifted me with some beautiful wool, which she felt was too scratchy for wearing, which becomes my prize to felt. The color of this wool is so deep and rich. Thanks Catherine!!

The second package was from Angela, my needle exchange pal. Looky what she got me!



That's a tealight candle (green apple scent), some coconut lime verbena hand cream, and that cute CD case that's going to hold all my circular needles. But wait! There's More! (a la Ronco infomercials).



Inside the cute CD case that she personalized with the Hello Kitty iron on patch, the cute button pins (don't you love the mint green with sewed pink stars? even me, the pink hater, LOVES this button), I found a cute dog zine, a little rock star charm, the soundtrack to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and TWO pairs of circs (size 11s in 16", and size 4 in 29"). Seriously. Angela went a bit overboard spoiling me, but I'm not giving ANY of it back! it's all MINE MINE MINE!!

I sent off some packages myself today, and have a couple more for Monday as well. I hope the recipients like their packages as much as I love mine.
I'm looking forward to next week, since I'm house sitting and I get to pretend I have a dog! An AWESOME dog, that walks herself (seriously...she goes w/o a leash, b/c she'll stop and sit at all the intersections). The house has a great deck, with a grill, outdoor fireplace, and a HOT TUB for me to enjoy for 2 weeks while the owners galivant about Canada.

How was everyone else's weekends?

Scarf style crap a-long

I joined the Scarf style knit a long last fall, submitting my Backyard Leaves. While that project has yet to be finished, I've managed to cast on and finish Blizzard, and last night, cast on for Bead of the Earth.



Do you see the problem? I'm probably going to rip this out and start over. Anyone have a suggested cast on method for this scarf? I wish that the book stated that a long tail cast on wouldn't work out for this particular pattern.

I went to Border's Saturday morning, meeting up with Michelle, expecting Wanda (but she had to work!), and met Mary Anne, Joanne, Sheila, and...um, DARN. Help, Michelle! I worked prodigiously on my Sock-pal-2-za sock, which I'm using Cherry Tree Hill yarn with the rib and cable sock pattern from interweave (Fall 2005). I've chosen, unwisely I might add, to have this sock pattern be my practice for cabling w/o a cable needle. EEK!! So...some cables are going the wrong way. Good thing I joined the beginner's group.



Joanne insisted that I take a pic of the beads I went to go purchase at Bead It!, which is right next door to Borders. She didn't believe that I would only buy the beads for the scarf... for some strange reason, she thinks that *I* have a problem with willpower. Huh.



Now I've started on an OSW for my best friend. It's a dusty rose/almost lavendar color, which I know she likes. It's Dive Cotton Club, with Crystal Palace Shimmer (white) as stripes b/c neither skein is large enough for an OSW.



Tomorrow, I've got to get needles for the Needle Exchange (sounds like a drug rehab program, no?) and some size 7 needles, 32" for my Rogue. We were supposed to cast on today... frustrating that you get gauge on the only size needle you DON"T have in 32" (ok, not the only, but the only ones between sizes 2-9).