half done
Man-sock number one: finito! Now, as with all sock/bootie/glove/mitten projects, I wish I didn't have to do the same thing all over again--seems like this ought to count for something more than a measely 50%!

Also, I'm just gonna say it: I absolutely hate grafting. I don't regularly knit enough items that call for it to remember how to do it without instruction, and the only book that has instructions that make sense to me is the Vogue Knitting On the Go Sock book. Grrrrr. One of these days I'll do a left-handed grafting tutorial, so I won't have to go find that book every time I have to graft.

For those of you who have knitted a few socks and would like to refine your sock-knittin' skills, I do recommend Cat Bordi's book. She covers much more than the two circ needle technique--for instance how to make a smooth join at the beginning of a tubular project, how to avoid the little "horns" on the end of a line of grafted stitches, how to avoid the hole on each side of the ankle when picking up the gusset stitches, and more. And although I haven't tried it yet, there is a beautiful leaf sock pattern that is worth the price of the book alone.

drivin' tunes
I continue to be impressed by the high-quality of the songs that have been submitted to the list. I am just now getting around to listening to Route 66 by Depeche Mode (thanks Maggie!), America by Simon and Garfunkel (well, OK, I had heard it before but didn't remember the driving connection--great suggestion Rose!) and the awesome I've Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash (recommended by Richard, whose website is a must-see). A couple of other songs were suggested for which I could not find the recommended artists: Cadillac Car from the Dreamgirls soundtrack (suggested by the super-talented Annie) and Six Days on the Road by Earl Montgomery (suggested by Vanessa). I found the Clash's version of Cadillac Car and the Flying Burrito Brothers' rendition of Six Days on the Road. What do you say ladies--will those versions do in a pinch? For the rest of you, especially those who have NOT submitted songs--please go ahead and do so before the end of the week. I venture to say that if you have a few ideas rolling around in your haid among the knittin' needles but you don't share 'em--well, let's just say you might wish you had when it's all said and done! Thanks to everyone who has shared song ideas.

a present idea
Runnin' out of ideas for handcrafted gifts? Get your teeny stocking on with my free pattern. It's easy to knit using any sport weight yarn, and is a great way to use up extra stash. You can work one up in just an evening or two! Hang it on the tree, or use it to hold a gift card on each of your presents this year. Have fun and send me a pic if you decide to make one (or more). xoxo

I'm thankful
I do have a lot to be thankful for--including my delightful family, my (mostly robust) health, my (mostly fun) job, and of course the fact that my boss let us out early today, yay. Tomorrow the turkey (oops, I'm a vegetarian) feast, and fellowship with my mom's side of the family. Maybe I'll even get in some knittin' time.

knitting sox on two circs
Maggi asked me in the comments to talk a bit more about this technique--basically you knit one half of the stitches with one circ while the other needle rests. Then you drop the first needle when you're done with the first half of the sts and pick up the other one and knit the other half! Lather, rinse, repeat and pretty soon you'll have socks. Of course I don't know how the heel/instep/foot/toe is gonna go, 'cause I haven't made it down there yet, but I'll update as soon as I get there.

Have a great turkey day, everyone! xoxo

round and round
My first attempt at knitting sox with two circs has been successful. Like any new technique, it takes a bit of getting used to but is worth the trouble to learn something new.

drivin' songs
You guys are turnin' me on to some rockin'! tunes! Rose introduced me to two new (to me) songs: Driving Sideways by Aimee Mann and Contact by Phish. Loved 'em and added 'em! And the funky Be Thankful for What You Got by William DeVaughn I had heard of, but didn't know what it was called and didn't remember it until I heard it again. Great choice, Marcia! Keep 'em coming, knitters! And polite note to de Yent: what does Boot Scootin' Boogie have to do with drivin'? It's been so long since I've heard that one, I can't remember anything except a country line dance. Of course, I don't live in Texas, now, do I? xoxo

leaf-less blankie
Here's the blanket, waiting patiently for the leaves. And the crib, waiting patiently for its occupant! Speaking of adoption, I did speak with our social worker yesterday--it's starting to look like things are picking up again in Ecuador. So we may hear something sometime soon, although I imagine it won't be until after the first of the year. I will definitely keep you guys posted.

photos are back
Silly me, I didn't read the fine print on my Earthlink account--apparently you actually get up to five sub-accounts, complete with e-mail addresses and webspace. So I just created another account (bruxknits@earthlink.net) and opened up another free 10MB of server space and 1GB of bandwidth, heehee. I'm still considering using spatterdash tho--because I'm thinking of doing some fun other things that I probably can't do with a free Earthlink account (like selling affordably-priced original designs--what do you think?).

nice for the ego
Went into the LYS yesterday looking for a longer Addi Turbo in size 2 for doing the circular socks thing, and the sometimes snooty ladies in there just went ape over elle. It was nice to see that a casual jeans-wearing gal from the decidedly middle-class part of town can penetrate their snooty barrier. Hah! One interesting thing they said was that sometimes colors will run during felting, especially if dyed with Kool-Aid. I was surprised to hear this, and I hope it doesn't happen to any of you who decide to make elle.

hoo boy
Well, I've done it again--exceeded my bandwidth limit at Earthlink. At this point, I am seriously considering moving over to spatterdash because it seems like such a great deal and of course it's run by the consummate weblog class act, Mary. I love the annual pre-pay option--you can't beat a year's worth of mega-bandwidth and server space for thirty smacks! Maybe my cheapskate days don't have to be completely over, heh-heh.

knittin'
I've completely sewed the leaf border on the baby blanket--so now all I need to do is add a few more leaves and sew 'em all on! WOW, I can't believe I'm almost done! Also, I've started my man-gift socks using Cat Bordi's two circ method. I have never tried this before (even though I've had the book for a couple of years) and because it's a new technique for me, I'm still not sure if it's faster yet. I suspect it will be. I may have to wait until the month is up (grrr) to post the photos to Earthlink so youse guys can see, because they claim they're gonna limit my FTP access until Dec. 1. We'll see.

song list
Thanks for all the great song suggestions! However, as you can see from the total, we still have a ways to go. How 'bout it Sandy, Kerstin, Deb, Uli? Can you guys think of any drivin' tunes to add to the list so I can start sending out CDs whoops, I mean CD? It won't be much of a compilation without you guys, hint hint. xoxo

drivin' tunes!
The song list is UP! Check it out under the links heading at left. Fun, fun, fun (thanks Joanna)! Note about the songs: I have thought of a few others but want to give you guys a chance to think of 'em so I can give you credit! I hope you enjoy.

knittin', what's that?
Actually, I have been knitting. I'm now finished with the leaf borders on the baby blanket and they await seaming. Also, I've made more progress on belle but am afraid I'll run out of yarn, which means switching colors. We'll see what happens. Pics when I've made just a bit more progress. Happy Monday everyone!

sorry guys
After spending a couple of hours last night and today trying to upload my blog photos to GeoCities and trying to get them to work, I have reluctantly removed all of your blog buttons from my sidebar (but not the links). I got the 75% warning again from Earthlink yesterday and the month's not even half over. This bums me out, not because I'm upset that I have lots of visitors (I'm GLAD about that!) but because I'm a cheapskate and don't want to pay anyone to host graphics for me, and I LIKE graphics.

drivin' tunes
You guys are great and have suggested some awesome songs. Tonight I'll post 'em all on another page with a form for submitting more ideas. I can put about 130-160 songs in mp3 format on a CD, so keep 'em comin'! My BIL suggested a good title for the CD: "Built to be Driven." What do you guys think?

gallery
Finally got my gallery set up--check it out (see link at left under complete) and let me know what you think. Have a great Saturday! xoxo

drivin' tunes
warning: today's post is NOT about knitting!

ok bloggin' buddies: sandy has inspired me (see tagboard entry at left): I wanna create a monster mp3 mix of driving songs. Specifically, I'm looking for names of songs that are:

1. about cars, driving or traveling
2. mostly rock songs (this means no country except for Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again" which was a crossover hit anyway)
3. not overly profane, mostly family-friendly
4. fun and energizing and not sleepy--I have enough trouble staying awake on long trips

So whaddya think? Wanna help me think of some cool songs? Tonight or tomorrow night I'll get my ass in gear and post a link to a playlist, (along with my gallery, I've been working on that too). And, the person who suggests the most songs (titles and artists, in case I've never heard of it) that get used will get a copy of the CD, which of course I'm creating only as a backup copy, to be used only in case my house burns down. Right? Tell me about YOUR favorite driving songs!

baby booties, v.2
Now am halfway done with the second pair--more subdued than the loud Regia of the first set, but fun to knit just the same!

dreamland
Making these baby booties might be a subconscious way for my not-so-patient self to deal with the unbearably long wait for our referral. The last news I heard is that the president of Ecuador needs to sign some adoption decree papers, and then maybe on Nov. 20th there will be a meeting, and from then, who knows? I'm already resigned to the fact that we won't travel before the end of 2003, but would love a referral for Christmas this year! Hey, a girl can hope, right?

I've been bad
yesterday I skipped town with my li'l sis and we drove to Raleigh. First stop: Great Yarns. I remember shopping at this LYS long ago before its current ownership, and even today I try to make an annual pilgrimage. And of course, even though I have plenty of other WIPS and projects waiting in the wings, I bought the above. Quiz: what do three skeins of Kuryeon symbolize? It can only mean one thing!

The Regia I bought to make a pair of gift sox for the upcoming holidays. I've noticed that the LYS's don't usually seem to stock a lot of man-appropriate colorways, but I think my lucky gift recipient will accept the fall-flavored tones in the flavor above.

And when I showed my DH what I'd picked out (the socks aren't for him) he made a cute little pout and said "What about my scarf?" Stupified, I responded "scarf? what scarf?" To which he informs me that he's always wanted a scarf (even though he's already got a halfway decent store-bought one that he's had ever since we met). So, I guess I'll be working up a scarf this year too. GAK! What are the rest of you working on for gifts this year?

I love new boox
Just got this yesterday in the mail--yayay! It's chock-full of good stitch ideas. All the stitch patterns are represented by nice photos and charts though--no written instructions. This isn't a problem exactly, but I've noticed over the years that even though I'm a visual learner, I like to use written instructions first when learning a new stitch pattern, and then refer to a chart from time to time once I'm rolling. Do you guys prefer charts or written instructions?

bootie fever
For some reason I actually can't explain, I've started another pair of baby booties in a different yarn from my stash, instead of working on holiday presents and finishing belle. I know, I know, it doesn't make sense, but they're so quick and easy to make and so darn cute! Pix when I'm done, probably tomorrow. And then it'll be on to socks on two circs, a technique I've never done before!

reduce, re-use, recycle?
what the heck is abby doing?! Make your guesses below:

1. waiting to pounce on a sanitation worker
2. catching up on the financial news with mommy's old copies of the wall street journal
3. practicing her lookout skills
4. just chillin' while waiting for dinnertime

I'm a little melancholy today. Call it a blue monday. How did everybody else's monday go? xoxo

i'm a messy person
...as evidenced at the above photo of my nightstand. See if you can find:

1. baby booties
2. regia yarn for booties
3. beginning of last border for baby blanket
4. beginning of base for belle (hint: it's in pink)
5. yarn in all three colors for belle
6. pins used to hold zipper in place for elle that now need to be put away
7. two egg shakers (for percussion) that were at one time stored in my knitting bag
8. beautiful doll my DH gave me for our anniversary (her name is Solara)
9. chip clip for some long-gone chips
10. two hair elastics (in black)
11. green coaster
12. alternate zipper for elle which I did not use (also needs to be put away)
13. more than one pair of circs in various sizes
14. scissors
15. pencil
16. bamboo set of dpns in size 2 used for baby booties
17. a post-it note with somebody's phone number on it

sheesh, I think it's time I did some cleaning up. :::sigh::: How is everyone coming on their elle?