3 Levels of Sickness

It’s been a long week. Lots of coughing and sneezing as I struggled through a severe cold. Based on my 20+ years of experience with colds and flues, I submit that there are three levels of sickness.

• First Level of Sickness: you are sick, so sick that can’t work or go to school. But you are able to take medication, to dull the symptoms. You can focus your attention allowing you to read your book report book you are behind on, or knit complicated patterns that will take your mind off of the unpleasantness in your body.
• Second Level of Sickness: not only are you too sick to work, but you are too sick to concentrate. You feel achy and the medication isn’t enough to relieve your suffering. You can watch TV and may be able to knit stockinette for short bursts but are frequently frustrated by your constant need to blow your nose and take Tylenol. (This by the way always upsets my stomach if I take it for more than 4 hours, so I get the added bonus of stomachache!)
• Third Level of Sickness: you sleep. You can’t do anything except sleep. No TV, no knitting, no reading. Barely any eating because you need to sleep.

I spent the majority of the last 7 days between the second and third levels which means scarcely a stitch was knit. There is no way I can make it to a mile by the end of the month.

I did finish the Melaine socks. They are thick and tall. I like them but am no longer crazy about the color. It goes well with jeans though.

I also started a bag for my new laptop. It’ll be felted when I’m finished and knit on size 11s it’ll be a quick knit. I’m using Berroco Jasper and Oak Grove Studio Kid/Merino Blend that I got at Rhinebeck.

I’m also working on another sock pattern for the J.Knits Fall 09 line. It’s the first man’s sock I’ve ever knit. I love the pattern and of course am a fan of the colorway.

Clear the Sock Needles Update

I’ve completed three pairs of socks this month. I was aiming for four but I feel like that’s just not going to happen. I have 5” leg and 3.5” leg. For the sake of the challenge I could make them 5” socks and say I’m done. But that would compromise my vision for the socks. Knit on size 2s & 3s they are going to be thick and boot sock-ish. I want to use more of the yarn than I normally do and I want to make them 6.5” with at least 1.5” of 2x2 ribbing. I’m certain that I will finish these socks this weekend but with a busy day ahead of us, I won’t be able to finish them today.

Warning: The rest of this post is for my sake not yours. Not an entertaining entry. There I've placed the disclaimer, now it's your own fault if you read on about my savings and stash reduction plan and find it less than riveting.

I did take a 3 day break from socks this week and knit Na-at-tay two hats. He’s shipping out and I wanted to be sure he has a good washable alternative to the Zissou hat, which is hand wash. I don’t want to be a slave to my monthly challenges. I just want goals to work towards and attempt to achieve. To that end, I’m thinking it may be time to knit a mile in a month. I have some felting projects for Mum that need my attention and a few more non-sock gifts that should be attended to.

For the record I have not purchased yarn from a store since, 2/8/09, ok and from an online vendor since 2/20/09. I know it’s not long but I’m going to make a conscience effort to pare back the yarn purchases until Rhinebeck. I’m not going to give up buying yarn (I don't think that would be possible) but I am going to start squirreling away my yarn allowance so that I have plenty of funds. I’m thinking something like every time I go into a yarn shop and don’t spend the usual $50, I pocket the remaining money towards Rhinebeck. I know, you may not be a knitter and may not understand what I’m saying here. But the Seacoast Knitters in small or big groups frequent 1-3 shops a month. That’s 8-24 trips between now and Rhinebeck…that’s a $200-$600 in savings if I can limit myself to $25 per trip instead of the usual $50. I’ll be keeping track of my progress. 64.8 miles.

But, my yarn spending habits are not the purpose of this post. I’m going to knit a mile out of stash yarns. Knit a mile and not buy a replacement mile. Knit a mile, and make room for more? Knit a mile, that’s 1760 yards. Knit a mile, that’s about 5 pairs of socks for me. Knit a mile, that’s about half of the chunky wool bin.

Do you know what this face is saying?

It says, You did what with a bird!?!?!

Let me backup, the Lovebird, Charlie, spends the days at work with us. There’s more activity than at home alone and his singing fits right in with our chatter.

Charlie actually sits across from me all day and we have blinking conversations. Julie says that blinking a bird reassures it that you’re not a preditor since you’re not staring at it. And the birds will actually blink back to show you they are confortable. So Charlie and I have been blinking all week. Today he came out of the cage for a while. He’s been adjusting to his new home and we thought grabby hands might stress him out.

Once he was out, he needed a place to be where he'd feel safe and secure. Since I had on the sweatshirt, guess where he went? Yup! He went in my zip-up sweatshirt over my heart and t-shirt. He snoozed for a bit. I think the bra strap gives him something to clasp onto. Although he kept trying to sidestep into my armpit, because it was warmer I guess.

It was great!!! I was so excited, walking around all stiff backed so I didn’t disturb him. And then do you know what that little S&%T did? He did just that, he pooped on me! Julie warned me that it would happen but you know it still surprised me. Needless to say there was a bird hand off and some cleaning. We all agreed that bird poop is far less offensive than cat or dog poop.

I actually thought Mac or Linus would smell the bird on me but neither seems to have noticed.

But really, this picture was taken to show off my new socks! The Ricky Morneaux Socks are finished. That’s the third pair. I’m right on track to get all four pairs finished before the end of February. Although I must confess, I have cast on two new pairs of socks since I conceived of this challenge. Ok three. But it’s not my fault. I just love sock knitting! And one of those pairs is for a loved one…honestly, I don’t think my sock needles will ever be clear.

Correction!

The Boyfriend and I did not buy a bird. Julie actually bought a bird with my help. I seem to be a pet pusher, first the Pamtastic and Lulu adventure, and now the Bird Excursion with Julie.

Also, I bought the CTH yarn in that wonderful red and yellow color. Yay!!

And lastly, I'm at about 85% on the Ricky Morneaux socks after I dedicated knit night to nothing but the socks. It was virtually painless. I really like the yarn, Knit Picks, fingering weight with 30% silk, very soft and the socks fit nicely so it hugs my feet.

Oh and one more thing, the Melaine socks, are about 45% done. It's such a nice mindless pattern that looks great. The first sock is a little big and the second is a little wide. Things like this happen with too mindless knitting. I forget to pay any attention and just knit straight ahead.

Ok time to make the bed, so I can get it in, and go to sleep.

Colors wanted!

Today I finished the second pair of socks for February. I’m right on track with finishing a pair a week to complete the four pairs for February and The Clear The Sock Needles Challenge. As previously mentioned this is a color way that is in development for Fall 09 so the actual color is confidential, apologies for black and white photos. This yarn is a dream to work with and zips right along although it’s on size 1 needles. The J.Knits Superwash Me Sock Yarn has come a long way from the first pair of socks I tried to knit with it. These may be the longest/tallest socks I’ve ever knit. They have a 4 stitch cable running up the foot and leg accompanied by a 3x4 rib around the leg of the sock. Sorry VS, I’m sure this is trilling for you to read. I am however, very pleased to have these finished, ribbing is not something I enjoy. Although I sense another potential color way is looming in my future. I like to test knit the new colors but I’ll be wiser next time and do them for smaller feet.

In other news, the Seacoast Knitters are having a St. Patrick’s Day swap. I selected a yarn that my recipient will love and cast on only to find that for my desired project, I really needed to design something myself. Ohhhh I bet you’re all hoping I got you! I’m a little over half done and love the result. I’m sure it’ll be even more special for the recipient that I designed and made it special for them.

I’m feeling a real lack of red and yellow in my life. I really need a bright red or yellow or both to knit with. Miss K, hand-dyed some amazing sock yarn and it’s haunted me for months. I can’t seem to find this vibrant colorway anywhere. The closest I’ve ever seen to it was Cherry Tree Hill’s Sugar Maple color way but that’s much more washed out and pink rather than red. Woe-es-me, I can’t find any yarn in the color I dream of that would be a perfect way to break out of the winter doldrums.

One needle Cleared

There are four weeks in February, so as long as I finish one of the four pairs a week I’ll complete my challenge.

Today I finished the second Aviendha sock. Ok I still need to sew in the bind off yarn, but you know, it’s 99.99% complete. I’m happy with the alterations I made to the pattern. The Regia Stretch is a bit itchy but machine washable.

Last week, J developed a new colorway. We looked at it all day. It’s definitely not part of my regular blue pallet but it is a pretty color none the less. At the end of the day she slyly asked if I’d be interested in test knitting some socks. Hello, this is the Samurai, the girl who is totally into socks…that’s a no-brainer. She played me like a fiddle. I ran home and had knit 2 inches for the next day at work. I decided that the color really doesn’t go with my wardrobe so these will be my gift socks. Of course I’m going with the Riverbed construction. I added a cable to the outside of the foot and will do three cables up the leg alternating with wide ribs. Black and white photo due to color confidentiality…

The Ricky Morneaux socks are crawling along. As I said before, they need to be tall to accommodate the shrinkage of the silk so probably going for a 7” cuff. 3.25” on one and 0.5” on the other. I’d say 70% complete.

As for the Melaine socks, holding steady at about 30% complete. I didn’t really have time to knit them this week, being busy with the test knitting.

Sock Needles Are Flying

The Complete Christmas Challenge was a success. Saturday I had a marathon knitting day and finished off the last gift. They are completely sewn, just need to be felted. The intended recipient is a size 7, so I’m putting The Seacoast Knitters on notice, I need a fit model for these things. I’m afraid to felt them down too much. Heather would’ve been my fit model, wrist warmers and gloves for the petite women in my life were all tested out on Heather. But with her gone, I’ll have to turn to Joan or Anne as I suspect they also have small feet.

It’s already the second day of February and I’m without a challenge. A Samurai without a challenge is like a dog without a bone. I’m lost, what’s my purpose in life? VS informed me that this is a very sock heavy blog. I couldn’t argue. I only seem to want to knit socks, and buy sock yarn, and drool on sock yarn. So perhaps I should go with it and challenge myself to clear the needles of socks. Right now I have 3 pairs on the needles and the sock blanket. No way I’m finishing that blanket, but I do need to get back to it. I’ve been a total slacker and haven’t worked on it since the end of December. I’m at least 30 squares behind at this point. But that’s not what we’re talking about here.

For the Melaine socks, I just turned the first heel and have the toe done on the second sock. About 30% done.

For the Aviendha socks, I’m finished with the first sock and at the arch expansion on the second foot. About 65% complete.

For the Ricky Morneaux socks, I’m just past the second heel, the photos a little old. These are going to be as tall as I can make them since I know they’ll shrink (30% silk). About 65% done.

But in all honesty I could easily finish these off in a month. So lets add a fourth pair to make it interesting. And since I’ve been trying to do gift knitting, lets say I have to finish these 3 pairs and knit a 4th pair for someone else by February 28th to be successful! I’m feeling motivated. I have a goal. Now watch those needles fly!