The Loopy Swap project is DONE. The only thing left is washing and blocking! Hurrah! I worked like mad tonight to finish it, and have just a tiny bit of yarn left - perhaps enough for a wee tiny sock or a miniature sweater. Maybe two wee tiny socks - one for pal, one for me?

We’ll see. At any rate, I’m quite happy to just have the swap project off the needles so I can work on something else!

I’ve been working for a month now (on and off) on a very special item (yes, a knitted one) for my Loopy Ewe Swap partner, and the end is at last in sight. To be honest, I haven’t heard from her in a while, and it worries me a bit - especially since she doesn’t have a blog and is only somewhat active on Ravelry. Hopefully, she’s doing fine! And hopefully, she loves her gift when she gets it! I know I love it!

Also, coming up on halfway through a Very Long Week at work. I’ve worked three 12-hour shifts in a row, and have two more to go before I go back to working regular 8-hour days. Yes, that’s right. Five 12-hour shifts in a row, and then I don’t even get any days off for another two days. And all this after getting only one day off before it began . That’s the day in which I spent doing laundry like mad, and making The Most Horrible Swedish Meatballs Ever, otherwise known as Swedish Allspice Balls, because that’s what they tasted like. Allspice - and lots of it. Gah. (It wasn’t my fault, to be fair - the recipe demanded that much allspice, and like an imbecile, I just didn’t question it.) So instead of eating tons of yummy meatballs all week while I have no time to cook, I’m eating Hamburger Freaking Helper, greasy potato chips, and bar pizza. Urgh. Not exactly food to fuel you for a week of hellish hours.

Luckily, all the tons of overtime should make up for it. Here’s hoping.

In the meantime, to kill sometime at work, when the hours get really really long, I’ve been hunting down podcasts and listening to them. So far, Faerie Knitting is my favorite. Go have yourself a little fairy tale now. Enjoy.

They’re done! My Serendipity socks are FINISHED! Have been for about a week now or more, really, but I finally got the pictures online. And got around to blogging about it. For the last week, I’ve been sick-sick-sick, and it’s been no fun at all. This last year has been rather poor, healthwise, for me. Would be nice if that’d change! But I’m loving these socks like crazy! :) Makes all those hours spent worthwhile.

Also, I’ve been knitting two other pairs of socks. One, the Ampersand Socks I’m knitting for my friend R., have no photos yet, since a) it’s supposed to be a surprise, and b) uh, I’m lazy. Get over it. I’ve only got one sock done, though, and am waiting to do the other until I can confirm it’ll be the right size. :)

The other pair is the March Mystery Entrelac Socks, which are… yes, socks with entrelac.

They’re lovely socks, in bright springy colors. Jury’s still out on whether I like the top entrelac portion or not. I figure I’ll give it some time to grow on me before I really decide. Everyone except A. (and me, yes) likes it a lot.

Also, started my new kitty hat, but I’ve barely begun that at all. I figure that’s a good project to take along with me on my weeklong vacation next week! Another thing I’ll be doing on my vacation? Mailing out my Wee Tiny Sock Swap Sock! I just signed up this morning, and due to my vacation, am already knitting my tiny sock! This’ll be fun!

Another swap I’ve signed up for is The Loopy Ewe Swap, which not only involves a great swap of stuff, but also, of knitted items made from one of the many yarns available at The Loopy Ewe! I’ll probably make my pal socks, but we’ll see. I’m in love with that store, though - The Loopy Ewe? Great shop, great service, great stuff. I even managed to get Mom to order me some yarn for my birthday from there!

Haven’t done one of these in a while, so… here I go. This week’s Friday’s Feast.

Appetizer
If you could be any current celebrity for one whole week, who would you want to be?

Celebs? Gosh, I don’t know. I have a vague phobia of the entire celeb ‘class’ in general and like to scoff at anyone like that… but I do think that being The Yarn Harlot would be kind of fun. Celeb status in a certain circle, but not too celeb for my tastes!

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you enjoy talking on the phone?

Five, maybe six. I don’t really like to talk on the phone - it just happens to be the only way I can actually have conversations with certain people that isn’t either a) on the internet, or b) without major interruptions from other people.

Salad
Name a charitable organization to which you have donated (or would like to).

This winter I donated (not much, granted) to Feed the Children, but have swiftly been irritated by their continual harassment for more and more money… and their religious slant.

Main Course
What is a food you like so much you could eat it every single day for a month?

Cheese. And I DO eat it every day. Seriously. Or potatoes. In any form. Both together? Even better.

Dessert
Have you or anyone in your family had the flu this year?

Nope! Not yet, anyway. Sinus problems, allergies, maybe a cold - yes. But the flu? No. And no flu shot, either.

Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? This week’s FF wasn’t really that inspiring to me, so let’s talk about something else. Like the fact that I’ve embroidered my first tea towel ever! And actually, it went faster than expected. (Certainly faster than my socks are going, though at least I got the first one done and have finished the ribbing on the second!)

I’ve been going through old Workbasket magazines, finding ancient history (Okay, since 1964 anyway… ancient enough, well before I was born, anyway) embroidery transfers (so cute!) and the ugliest knitted and crocheted and otherwise crafted things EVER. Fun to look through! And gah, the hairstyles! And, as A. would say, THE TEETH! (She’s a bit of a teeth fanatic, to be honest, and those unperfect, unstraightened, non-bleached teeth shocked her a bit, I guess.)

I’ve been sorting out the ones with transfers, wondering whether to use them (and risk destroying them, maybe? I don’t know…) or do some copying of them with tracing paper and a transfer pen before I touch them. Hard to say. But I’m anxious to start embroidering something else! Heck, this is an even more portable project than knitting - it doesn’t require me to carry around magazines, books, or copied sheets of patterns!

In other news, I’ve finally finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Great book, truly great, and it would’ve been finished ages ago if I could’ve put down the knitting long enough to read it. Erm. You might say I have a bit of a problem, yes? Anyway, though the author is definitely passionate about her family’s food choices (all local food, with few exceptions, for a full year) the book is really just the story of one family’s year of “living on the farm” with a little political and environmental data thrown in. It reminded me oh so strongly of the Little House series - one family’s living with nature, for better or for worse, part story, part inspiration, part instruction manual, part values. The best part? It describes the sort of life I want to live perfectly.

I’ve always been attracted to stories like Little House on the Prairie - stories about independence, a connection to the land, making do with what you have, creating something from nothing, survival, sacrifice, and warm, happy home with good, fresh food. Stories like that have always tugged at my soul - and in the past few years, the idea of living as independently as I can - growing food, raising animals, owning not just a house, but a home. I want that for myself. I want that life; I want those stories to be mine.

But how do I get there from here?

I realize that my birthday is still a month away, March 26. But in the event that anyone who’s interested in getting me something absolutely spectacular, here’s some things I’ve been lusting after lately:

Notice a lot of knitting things? A friend said I needed a 12-Step program, but… I think those are for people who want to quit, aren’t they?

However, much as I want most of these things, it’s highly likely that I won’t be getting any yarn from anyone I know. I’ve never gotten yarn as a gift before, except from two special out-of-state friends. I guess people who are around my yarn habit don’t feel the need to feed it? Who knows. People don’t buy me books either, or they haven’t, anyway, since childhood. Sad days!

But, speaking of gifts, and especially generous ones at that, a friend of my father’s, RL, has heard on the grapevine (aka, my father must’ve mentioned it) that I want to learn to spin. I told the parents once that if they came across a spinning wheel ever, to get it for me…

Minor tangent… This sounds bizarre to everyone, I know, the whole “if you happen across one…”, but you wouldn’t believe the weird and random shit my parents have just “happened across”. Once, we were in some little antiques shop, and I’m like: “Oh, look at that super old camera! How neat!” Mom: “We have a couple of those… just like that!” Rinse and repeat for nearly everything in the place. Likewise, I was looking for a nice little plain cast iron cauldron. You know, for witchly things. And what do I find in my father’s garage? Not one, but /three/ miniature cast iron cauldrons hanging on the wall. I took them. off tangent!

So anyway, I’d mentioned that if they happened on a spinning wheel, I wanted one. Because those things are freaking expensive. I’ve got cheaper computers! And here, it turns out that this friend, RL, has not one, but two very antique spinning wheels just collecting dust. He doesn’t spin, some Hutterites in the area were selling him some things, and they tossed in a couple antique spinning wheels, also! One is from the 1800s, and one from like, 1903 or something. And he’s going to give me one! Just like that!!

No word yet on whether or not they’ve got everything they need to, you know, spin, but we shall see, we shall see. I’m thrilled to death! I can learn to *spin*!

So what’s up? Long time, no see. I haven’t been feeling well - sinus infection seriously doing me in - and a lack of sleep certainly hasn’t helped. I guess I just haven’t felt like popping on to say so… or much of anything.

It isn’t that I haven’t been busy - sinusitis and all. I’ve (finally!) finished up my peppermint socks. Check this out:

They were finished up on February Eve. Er. January 31st. At about 7 a.m. I had a deadline to finish those that day - and through a miracle bestowed upon me by the knit-like-fucking-hell gods, I managed. They fit great, despite my gut-wrenching fear vague worry that they would be too small on the size 0 needles I’d decided on, and I do not (thank heaven) have to rip them all out and start anew. The only thing I could’ve done differently in the end was make them a bit shorter in the foot. Due to the change in gauge due to the needle size change, I miscalculated the number of rows I’d need for the toe and knit the foot a bit long. But they still fit!

(Before you ask… yes, that is my yule tree still standing, a month and several odd days past yule… I sucked it up and tore it down about a half hour after taking this photo, and barely beat that “have it down before the 1st, or A. will mock you forever and ever” deadline.)

So now what am I doing? Knitting more socks, of course - this time for A., with the most gorgeous and softest and most luscious sock yarn ever - Blue Moon’s Socks That Rock, in the color Blarney Stone. (Pics when I get the first one done in a day or so, I swears!)

And… I’ve been amusing myself with a new game for my Nintendo DS - Harvest Moon DS. This is such a stupidly addicting game I’m almost embarrassed to admit it. The point is this - you’re a farm boy, and the Witch Priestess has accidentally cast a spell on her rival, the Harvest Goddess, making her disappear. Now you, the farm boy, must work real hard to get her back. No, you’re not doing any special “retrieve the goddess” work, you just have to be a farmer, and miraculously, if you do really well at it, all the harvest sprites will return, and then so will the goddess. Or, uh, something. Okay, the plot really really sucks. But the gameplay is damned cute. You grow things. You mine for ore and gems and minerals. You raise animals. And of course, you romance the cute town girls. It’s not, admittedly, really supposed to be a linear plot-driven game. It’s supposed to be a game about farming, and gosh darnit, it is.

The only thing that could make this better (besides, er, plot… was that really the best they could come up with?) is a little more choice in el farmboy. Can’t I be a farmgirl? Or better yet, can’t my farmboy romance the local dudes as well as (or instead of?!) the girls? C’mon, yaoi makes everything better…

But anyway. I’ve been playing for a few days now, and I’m… er… hooked. Like a crack addict. The worst part? It’s one of those games where you’re playing happily, and then you think: “Gosh, I should totally be doing this in real fucking life instead of pretending to do it on this little game…”

Tonight is the February new moon. (Also, for those who care, it’s Ash Wednesday today.) I realize that I didn’t put up January’s New Moon Tarot Card - why? I had it done… - so belatedly, I’ll just say that it was the reversed Five of Pentacles, and it was a very good reading.

Tonight, with luck, I’ll actually put up February’s reading. And tomorrow, ladies and gents, we officially enter the Year of the Rat. Four or five days ago, depending on which calendar you use, was Imbolc, a winterly pagan festival to call spring forth. Usually, it’s set on February 2nd - groundhog day - or February 1st. You may also know it as Candlemas; way back in time, the Irish people worshiped a goddess named Brigid, a goddess of healing, and hearth, and smithing - healing, home, and craftsmanship, she did it all. When the good Christians of the Europe came to show them the way, they convinced the Irish people well enough to convert to Catholicism, but convincing them to stop worshiping Brigid was such a lost attempt that they canonized her as a Saint, downsized the fire festival to candles, and called it Candlemas. Hey, if you can’t beat ‘em…

So anyway. The festival typically marks the very beginnings of spring - deep in the earth, under all that winter snow, things are stirring to life again. The days are gradually lengthening. In another six weeks (the spring equinox), signs of life should be everywhere. Many pagans pay homage to Brigid this day, and I did with a candle in her honor and a bit of a tarot reading (that, unsurprisingly, considering the origins of the festival, focused very much on craftsmanship.)

Merry Imbolc to all, belated as it may be.

I’ve been enjoying my latest knitting projects. Slowly (hands hurt, excema, tendonitis, dry skin, grah!!), but surely.

In order, the above photos are my peppermint socks in some yarn from Gypsyknits, my first chevron scarf, in a couple beautiful STR colors (and oh, how I am in LOVE with this yarn! so soft!), and a snowflake ornament that wouldn’t take me a half hour to finish, if I’d just do it….

However, my Fetchings were finished just before midnight on December 31st, so I have finished something recently! Here’s a blurry photo. Maybe I’ll get a better one later, if I think of it later. I made these in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, on way smaller needles than called for so they’d fit my tiny hands. Love them. Here they are:

In other yarntastic news, I’ve received my second shipment of Sundara’s Seasons yarn club, which is as gorgeous as the first… And also, I’ve joined the Rockin’ Sock Club!!! I didn’t think I’d make it in, but hallelujah, I did!

That whooshing sound you just heard? That was all my spare cash.

Remember, remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder Treason and Plot
I see no reason that Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

It’s November again, and the 5th, no less. A toast to Guy Fawkes today, please. I see no reason for the spirit he showed to be forgotten either. We live in a mad world these days, and sometimes, I think a plot to blow up parliament (or congress, as it may be here in the states) is a marvelous idea.

But I’m a bit radically leftist, I suppose. Or would that be rightist? Or perhaps I’m just a bit of an all around anarchist at heart.

Speaking of rebellion and the like, I rebelled against my own promise not to buy yarn until the socks and the shawl were both done, and in fact, I failed to complete either before I broke down and went insane enrolled myself in Sundara’s Season’s Yarn Club, which is way too friggin expensive for my budget, and way too pretty and mysterious and lovely to pass up. I chose winter for my season, and every month for the next six months, I’ll be getting gorgeous hand dyed yarn from Sundara herself in a wintery theme. This includes 3 skeins of sock yarn, one skein of silk lace (*droooooool*) and a couple other yarns, too. So yay. Yay for the yarn stash, anyway. Big fat nay for the wallet, which is curled up sobbing in the corner of my purse right now.

I may or may not have mentioned before that I have no money. Now I have even less. Congratulations, Katia, welcome to welfare!

Moving on, moving on…. You want to know about the socks. Right? Well, here they are.

Lovely, ne? I agree. I liked them so much that I broke my promise a second time in the same freaking week and bought this:

Yes, oh yes, that is more sock yarn. Where did I buy this? Pam’s Knit and Stitch, in Great Falls, where I shopped myself down to the pennies a couple days ago with Mom, who was also inspired to take up cross-stitching again while we were there. (This shop, fyi, has the most awesome ever cross stitch patterns and kits.) So, I had Mom pick out some sock yarn (the dark Regia Galaxy yarn there - surprise! I never would’ve picked that out for her in a billion years!) and I picked out some for myself (The Tofutsies, which is gorgeous and soft - SOFT, I tell you) and picked up the Interweave Crochet Summer 2006 issue, which has that Babette blanket in it that I so badly want to learn to crochet in it. Grand total? Too. Much. Money.

But that’s life as a knitter, I suppose.

The shawl is also moving along. I am midway through the 4th of 5 repeats and going strong. Good news: it will be finished before my first shipment from Sundara ever arrives, which makes me warm and fuzzy inside, like I almost-maybe-kinda didn’t break my promise after all, except for that blasted sock yarn splurge at Pam’s Knit and Stitch. Rawr. Anyway, I’d take a picture of that (the shawl) but it really doesn’t look any different than it used to, except bigger, so what’s the point? See this if you’d like a reminder shot.

Also? I’ve begun a Christmasy dishcloth for my neighbor, Barb, who deserves some knitted goodness after all the help she’s been. But gods, I hate this yarn. It’s gorgeous, but it’s got this silvery strand of something EVIL in it, and it makes my fingers raw.

I’m using the DW Dishcloth pattern, by Rhonda White, which is gorgeous, easy, and perfect for yarn like this. What yarn is it? Lily’s Sugar and Cream Christmas something or other. I don’t have the ballband anymore.

I needed something simple and easy to knit tonight. So that was it.

My list of things to finish by Christmas:

So there you are. Christmas gifts and Christmas stuff to be done. Also, need to get a gift list together and start on that - will probably do baked goods/gifts in jars for most people again. Huzzah.

Halloween came upon me too quickly this year. I vow not to let Christmas do the same!

The Monkey socks have been finished! I wore them around this morning a bit, and found them to be quite warm. Also… quite… stitchy. As in… I am rather used to wearing the TINY gauge socks you buy at the store, and these, though definitely small for knitting, have rather large stitches and my feet seem to feel every one of them. Also? A bit on the itchy side. Not much - and only when I’m thinking about my feet, generally, but a bit.

The washing I’m about to give them oughta soften them up some. Speaking of washing, remember this sock? I still have it. Did not need to frog it for extra yarn, and in fact, still have lots of yarn left. Not enough for two pairs of socks - at least, not enough for two pairs of Monkey socks - but close. So, I’m considering that extra third sock to be my ’swatch’. Uh, yes. The swatch I actually did not make, but hoped begged the gods it would magically fit my feet.

I confess to being, in general, a bad swatcher. If I swatch at all, I look at it and say, nicely, “Gee, that looks like a nice little square of fabric.” And I pretend to measure my gauge (I have a hell of a time counting stitches for no good reason) and then I say: “Hmm… close enough.” whether it is or isn’t close enough, and knit it anyway.

So it’s really lucky that anything fits at all - though granted, I have not dared knit too many things where gauge is actually an issue. Scarves? Shawls? dishclothes? Kitty beds? Yeah.

But, lucky me, the socks fit perfectly so evidently, I did something right by making them on smaller needles than called for.

Pictures coming once they’re washed up and all. :)

The knitting goes on and on and on…

That’s my first sock. It fits… mostly well. Not perfectly, but it’s my first sock. Sue me. Still waiting on needle replacements, since I somehow LOST one somewhere between work and home. Joy. Then I’ll start the matchy matchy sock! Actually, I am almost positive that if I make my next sock slightly longer, and slightly better, I could probably get three socks out of my two balls of yarn, and, like, hang this first, not so perfect sock up for Santa this year. But maybe I won’t bother with that. I don’t know yet.

That’s the Lacy Kerchief Scarf in progress. I’m knitting it with Elann Sonanta (100% Mercerized Cotton, a nice sheen, but kinda stiff - hopefully it’ll soften up in the wash!), and Size 6 needles. Not bad to knit so far, but the cotton doesn’t stretch, of course, and… that’s hard on the wrists.

And last but certainly not least, my yarn and beads for the upcoming Mystery Stole 3! I’m so excited! The yarn is JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk, in pewter, and my god is it gorgeous. It looks like spun silver and feels like my Persian cat. Really. Actually, looks like my Persian cat, too. Hahaha. Moving on. The beads are all from The Beadwrangler (and oh, the yarn is from Sarah’s Yarns) And I would recommend either in a heartbeat. Ordered both this weekend (Saturday & Sunday). Received the yarn on WEDNESDAY, and I know it didn’t ship until Monday - holy cow, the service!) and the beads arrived today! So hoorah - buy from them! (Oh, and the prices on both are excellent - especially the Zephyr. Love it. Sarah also added in some color cards - for free - for all of her personal lines, and for the Zephyr.)

Anyway, I’ve decided to use the bead jar on the far left. (In the beads-in-the-yarn sample, this is the second bead from the left.) While the camera doesn’t showcase the glorious glimmer, let me just say that those beads look like raindrops on my yarn. Sooo pretty. But I really wouldn’t mind using the dark rainbow beads on my spare ball in some smaller project sometime! Wonder what else I can do with these beads…?

Now I’m off to put the chickens in for the night. Gotta take care of my babies!