slowknitter

This is the Yarn Emergency Long-ass Post system. We interrupt the usual silence on this station to bring you a post. This is only a post. In the event of actual knitting content on this station you will be instructed when to sit and what to drink to minimize the shock of seeing photos and/or words on your screen. This is only a post.

The Move

The move went very well. The movers were fantastic. Nothing was broken or scratched or missing at the end of the day.

In fact, the only two things that went missing or just wrong were my own damn fault. I lost my favorite (and only) pair of sling backs. Sadly they went into the big “give away” pile which was right next to the much smaller “keep” pile. They are most likely on a slow boat to Honduras right now. Goodbye beautiful shoes. I loved you.

The other “mix-up” was the clothes dryer. I have a gas one, and on first true inspection of the laundry room there did not seem to be a gas hook up. Notice that I said “seem”. We finally figured out that there IS a gas line (extremely well hidden), though it took my boyfriend and the electric dryer delivery guy to figure that one out.

It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Right

I like it. I like it a lot. I am constantly surprized at how much I enjoy sharing the same space with J all the time. I do the cooking, he cleans up the kitchen. We split the cost of the housekeeper. There is a lot of joy here. And for that I am grateful. I know this is the honeymoon period, but we’re trying to keep that space, that emotion around us sacred. And that is pretty hard work sometimes.

J and I used to talk on the phone to each other for hours. Working really long hours far away from each other we got into the habit of discussing everything on the phone. Even if we were only ten minutes away from each other. That kind of communication is easy-you’re removed the immediate physical and emotional response to something unpleasant. The trick for us now is to communicate honestly and effectively in person, without finger pointing or judgment. But that’s the trick for everybody, isn’t it?

We had a little skirmish a few days before my parents arrived to stay with us. Some words were said followed by a long period of silence while I fumed in the guesthouse and pondered how much autonomy I had signed away with the new lease. As with such small arguments, we talked it out and made up pretty quickly. Though, I do wonder if Kant had something to say about autonomy and picking the color of sheets for a guest bed…

Open For Business

Two weeks after we moved in my Mom and my stepdad came out to visit us for their 30th wedding anniversary. Which meant that we had only two weeks to get the house unpacked. And to get this:

And this:

To look like this

And this:

I think the guest house looks pretty awesome now. And it was really nice to have my parents go to bed in another building. The kids could be as noisy as we wanted as late as we wanted!

It was great to have them here. And a little bittersweet. I’ve missed them a lot. And Pop…well, he’s getting much more frail now. He’ll be eighty this year, and while a battery of tests has determined that he does not have Alzheimer’s, he does have prolonged moments where he is forgetful or lost in a fog.

I’m struggling with that, struggling to remain calm when I realize that the man who re-wired my Volkswagen more than once, pirated home my first computer while he worked for the Itty Bitty Machine co., and didn’t kill me even when he had seventy billion reasons (and the law on his side to do so), is slipping. That this man, who raised me and my brother and loved us as his own, is getting closer to twilight while the rest of us are still standing in the sun. I think I might understand now why they call it the long goodbye and I don’t fucking like it.

He still very often has his sense of humor about him, though. I made them a special dinner for their anniversary and while they were waiting for it to be ready my mom very sweetly snuggled up to him on the couch and said ” 30 years ago today we were getting married. What do you think we were doing at this time back then?” My Pop’s response?

“What I hope we’ll be doing later on tonight!”

Tales from the Unemployed

Those of us residing at Chez Slowknitter are currently looking for work. It’s a quiet time here in town. People say it’s busy but pilot season is over as well as tv season and most of my friends aren’t working either. The BF has had 3 jobs fall through. So to say there is some mild anxiety here regarding cash flow is putting it mildly. We’re keeping a lid on things for the most part. But there will be no yarn shopping for awhile (well. not much anyway). It also means:

The Yarn Fairy is on Hiatus

After a rather eye opening tax season (yes I did really spend more on yarn last year than I did on my first two cars combined) and a few things about the last KFYS giveaway that I didn’t care for I’ve decided to suspend the free gifting. I am now going to try and knit from my own stash for awhile. (like Kimono? My mom’s been asking for it. Sigh). I have half finished projects all over the place (cashmere slippers anyone?), I have a ton of yarn in the studio (aka the guest house) that I fell in love with for some reason (hello Sea Silk) and I have promises made in yarn that I do intend to keep.

That said, I know there is some yarn in there that I bought that I’m not going to use. And I have a plan for that too.

Anti-Social Knitters Meet up June 23

My house in Sherman Oaks. 1 o’clock. Potluck, knitting, gabbing, gossip and… YARN SWAP. Everyone has some fiber they want to break up with. To that end I think a yarn swap is in order. I’ve never done one, but I think if we bag them (I have a million ziplocks bags courtesy of my last employer) tag them with a name, content, yardage and price people can swap and feel good about it. Also, I know there are still some KYFS’ers who might want to swap but are unable to do so until after their deadline. I am perfectly content to swap and wait until their deadline passes to trade the yarn. Anyone else think this is a good idea?

Also, my house and yard is dog friendly. We don’t have dogs, but we love them and if you are so inclined to bring your pooch please do. The yard is completely gated so there are no worries if we’re inside and the dogs go out. Or we’re outside and the dogs go in. All I ask is that the dogs be well socialized with other dogs and with small and big humans.

More details about ASK and an e-vite to follow.

Here be Monsters

And by monsters I mean actual knitting content.

First let us have a moment of silence for the Scout J socks. I continued to knit on them to see if the pattern would sort itself out:

It sorted itself out all right. I have two words. Gleefully ripped. This yarn will be in the yarn swap. And possibly the other Scout sock yarn I bought. I loved the colors, but the yarn thickness, or rather the lack thereof is making me think twice about knitting them up.

I started knitting Childhood from Knitty Summer 2003 for some friends that adopted a baby girl a few months ago.

That last photo shows where I tinked it back and then twisted the dumb stitches when I put them back on the needle. I will be ripping that back and knitting it properly. I’m also about 3/4 of the way through the first sleeve. This knit is fairly simple and I like that it’s small enough that it feels manageable. Did I mention it’s my first sweater?

The yarn is this yarn from the Delicious but Evil Empire (aka Purl Soho). It doesn’t seem like it would be soft with the linen in it, but the 50% merino content softens it up quite a bit. My swatch was very soft after I washed it in a Soak bath. Also? The green color matches her father’s eyes.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Meaning I joined Sockapalooza 4. I’ve never joined anything like this, but I always felt so jealous when I would come across someones blog with the wonderful socks knitted for them by a stranger ( I have exactly zero pair of handknit socks. Zero. What I have knit that fit me I have given away). So I joined up. Me and 1004 other greedy little do-gooders. Anyway, I got my sock pal. And in the nicest way possible I would like to sock her in the head.

She wants knee socks.

I went around for a few days feeling nothing but steamy indignation that this stranger would dare ask for so much knitting on what is/was supposed to a fun little jaunt into sock pal land. Especially when I have as yet to crank out a finished pair of regular socks for my BF’s size 12 feets. Really, I was very pissy about the whole thing, complaining to anyone and everyone (ok, pretty much just the BF. I haven’t been out much since I found out) about this ridiculous request.

Then I started to read her blog. And I felt a little guilty that I was being so bratty about the whole thing. She seems nice, and she has alluded to a bad Secret Pal Experience (though I couldn’t find it when I did an archive dive). Also, I may have been really really close to my period when I was all Crankypants about it. I gave it another think. And then realized that we so seldom get to ask a stranger for something we truly want with a good possibility of getting it. And that this was an opportunity for me to grow as a knitter. I was going to say person, but I’m pretty sure that I’d never see La again on Second Life because she would have thrown up on her computer rendering it useless. And also? I would have thrown up on my own computer. People, I’m just not that deep.

I made up a chart with a leg for my sock pal to record all her leg measurements and sent it off with a hello sock pal email. I got a very nice response from her, and I ordered her sock yarn ( Lucia’s knee sockulator estimates that I will need 776 yards of the Panda Cotton I’m going to knit it with !! Kids, that’s 5 balls…) Anyway I made a pattern, did a whole mess of math and came up for air to check it against the Sock-u-lator and the measurements and stitch increases were correct. Yay me!

Thank god these aren’t due to ship until August 2nd, though.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, Chapter Two

I still haven’t heard from my sock pal. I had some email issues earlier in the week which caused all my email to bounce back to people who were sending it. I’m sure that in addition to my sock pal’s email to me there was also an invitation to Ravelry, some good email, an invitation to help a Nigerian doctor get his millions, and I’m sure many many fabulous offers to increase the size of my member and home refinancing loans. Sigh. I miss all the good mail. And I’m not so secretly hoping I don’t get hosed on this.

So…If you’re my sock pal email me or leave a message in the comments. And I’ll make you a promise…I don’t want knee socks.

Speaking of Pants

I got a last minute invite to drive down to La’s house for the hosting of a very small knitters lunch with Deb of Stitchy McYarnpants.

Deb was lovely and funny. I’m sad that I had to bolt right after eating (no pie for me) to go and do my friend’s hair and makeup for an event, though I left at 5.25pm and made it to my friend’s place in Hollywood by 6.05pm. That must qualify for some sort of land speed record I think. La, as always, was an excellent hostess.

Here’s a shot of us celebrating

La making a point

I have a drinking problem

I had a great time. And maybe next time I won’t blather on so much about my job that I actually get to see some interesting things from MOKS.

I Has a Garden

One of the nice things about moving into this house is that there is green stuff and flowery thingys everywhere. I don’t know a damn thing about gardening, or even what half of these flowers are, but they’re pretty. Example: (also please feel free to point things out if I don’t name something. Chances are I have no idea what it is)

I was going to pull this out

I’m lazy though. Good thing too. It became this:

This I do know- Star Jasmine. And it is the smell of my childhood. There was a huge bush that grew outside my window every summer until I moved away from home. It grows like wildfire at this house and I am so happy.

Pretty purple flowers along the back fence

A lonely rose also growing along the back fence. I don’t know how it does it, There’s almost no sun back there where it lives.

Roses in front of the house- there are a lot more now

These are gone now, but for a week there it smelled like orange blossom heaven by the trash cans

There’s more…but you’ll see it when you to come to ASK in June.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Okay, maybe not kill. Maim? We have lots of birds here too. I like that. But there is one bird that needs to shut the hell up. It’s the only bird in our hood that insists on making his calls all. night. long. Loudly. And outside our window.

Hate him. And? There’s a guy coming out tomorrow to get the family of opossums out from under the house. It’s like living in the country here. Thanks god there’s an english pub two block away.

I Has a Cat

Well. I have an avatar on Second Life that is a cat. (I’m desperately allergic to real cats) Her name is Violet

She’s pretty cute. And she’s fun to dress up.

One of the things about SL that I love is that there is so much there to see that was built by other people. Amazing things. Funny things too. I liked this:

There’s a place there devoted to selling things for tiny critters called Raglan Shire. She’s riding the train there

Mostly what I love to do is fly around and look at stuff. You never know what you’ll find. As I was flying around In-world I got Im’d so I set down in a sparsely populated region known as Balramyuk to “talk” to the person who was im’ing me (I can’t fly and IM at the same time). I could see this guy from far away, not moving. When I finished my conversation I walked over and this is what I found. (Photo not retouched or photoshopped in any way)

I don’t know why he was wearing that sign above his head (he wouldn’t talk to me). All I know is there should be a law that fucktards in real life should be required to wear these.

And with that, I’m out.