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.

You ask what I’ve been knitting? Dishcloths!

Plus, I made some catnip mice. I may end up making more, though, so no photo yet! ;)

I don’t have too much Christmas knitting left to do. Really, I just have to finish a scarf for R., and make a few more catnip mice, if I want to, which… I may well not do right this minute. I still haven’t finished my shawl. Shame. On. Me.

Perhaps I’ll work on it once the scarf’s done! Perhaps. Or perhaps I’ll do like I’ve been dying to do, and start my Fetchings. So much yarn, so little time to knit!

So, my second pair of socks knit ever have been finished. They’re fat and squishy and thick and warm and machine washable and inexpensive. And pink. Lady have mercy, they are pink. I’ll have to wait to post a picture until they get to their new home and the recipient, TJ has them in her hot little hands - or on her hot little feet, more like - because she actually occasionally reads this blog, and while she knows she’s getting fat squishy thick warm and machine washable pink socks, she hasn’t actually seen them, and I’d like to keep it that way, you know?

So, TJ has small feet. Like, size 6ish. Like me. Exactly like me, in fact. And like R, another good friend. And like T, yet another good friend. The only friend of mine who does not have tiny feet is A. Oh wait. J doesn’t have little feet either, I suppose. She’s quite tall though, so this is normal. In fact, she’s also the only tall friend I have. But it’s a curious thing, the vast majority of my pals being a) short and b) small-footed. Are just like, magnetically drawn to people our own size or something?

Anyway, next up on my list of knitting joys are small knitted gifts. I also just finished up a dishcloth for my neighbor across the street, which makes two so far, and I’m just starting a third for a trio of dishclothy goodness.

The shawl is still not done. Bad me.

And I need to make up some catnip mice and the like for the little monsters in my life. After that, we’ll see what strikes my interest!

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. :)

You’d think vacation would be the perfect to get some serious knitting done - but it’s just not happening. Maybe because the Luna Moth shawl’s rows are getting a bit longer than my multitasking mind prefers. 199 stitches takes me several minutes to knit through, and I find it hard (read: scary) to put it down mid-row to, say, pet my cat, or drink my tea, or tell someone online something that just popped into my head.

So Luna is creeping along, and will not be done by October 31st. But she’s coming along, nonetheless. I’m just about to start my third ball of yarn, meaning I’m half done, or close to it, anyway. Two repeats left - with longer and longer rows each time.

It also doesn’t help that I only had a 32 inch circ, and aluminum needles (when I’d prefer wood with this yarn), and it’s just so… pain-in-the-ass to work with. The cable is never quite right, never quite comfortable [By The Way: actually boiling the cable needle freaking works wonders to straighten it! Screw steaming it - just toss that puppy in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes!] and the needles just seem strangely heavy an slick and wrong for this project. Wrong, I tell you.

But I’m dealing.

Looks nice and autumny, doesn’t she? Well, here’s an impulse buy that I made with some extra money received from a rummage sale:

Make that two impulse buys:

And the household altar that I’ve put them on.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you - the altar pic was taken before I’d purchased these. Also, before I filled my cauldron with leaves - which dried beautifully in the air.

I’m a regular ol’ Martha Stewart these days, eh? Too bad I don’t yet have a /bit/ of Halloween decor up yet. *sheepish* Better get that done in the next night or two! Really! Maybe I’ll leave it up through mid-November, just to make it worthwhile? Naw.

One last picture today:

That’s the day’s eggs. 12 total, out of 17 chickens. Not bad at all! The fat brown one on top is my favorite. I always like the brown eggs, though. They seem so darned country.

So I didn’t exactly get any photos up as planned. But finally, I got some sockiness for you! The shawl isn’t feeling up to facing the paparazzi today, so no shawl pics. She apologizes.

A sock:

Moving on, I finally got all my gardening finished for the year. Potatoes dug. Onions dug. Carrots dug. Look at all this good stuff. The carrots were huge. The onions were tiny (Underwatering and a whole garden full of weeds contributed to that, I’m sure.)

The potatoes… Well, see for yourself.

What the hell? Spots? All over them?! And doesn’t that black-spotted one look nasty?! Freaky, man. I don’t know what happened. Google did me no good whatsoever. The flesh on the inside is good. But the skin… it’s like got acne or leprosy or some biblical plague. Disturbing.

PS: Hey Janna. You buy me some nice sock yarn, I make you some socks. Deal? ;-) Hey, there’s a shop in Billings called The Wild Purl. Supposedly. Look it up, ne?

Okay, so the socks aren’t finished yet. But number one is! But… I forgot to upload the pics from the camera, so, that’s that. I’ll maybe post later tonight with a picture of that and the latest shawl photo!

But for now, a stolen meme from Chaotic Crafter.

What kind of soap is in your bathtub right now? Some citrus smelling green bar of mysterious origin that I received from my boss as a Christmas gift. I’m hoping it’ll last till the end of the year, because I stole developed a new custom last New Year’s on ridding myself of all (most) of the disposable products like that at the end of the year, and starting fresh at the beginning! Hate to do that with a fresh bar of soap. Though, I have some shower gels I keep just for the hell of it, mostly, that I could use if I run out too soon, though. I really prefer bar soap, though. Wow, I’m tired - what a long answer on soap, of all things.

Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? Gosh, no. Not at this time of the year.

What would you change about your living room? Currently, and most likely to change in the near future, my ‘curtains’. I say that with ‘ ‘’s because what I have now is a very grandmother valance over a dropdown shade, and I’d really like a not so grandmotherly valance. After that, a television bench, as opposed to the gigantic entertainment center that doesn’t suit me anyway.

Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? That is a very good question.

What is in your fridge? Lots of leftovers. Tons of bagged herbs I just cut yesterday and need to work out how to dry. Cheese. Apples.

White or wheat bread? White. Don’t get me near that brown shit, please. I don’t care how healthy it is.

What is on top of your refrigerator? A teapot. My recipe box. A couple empty cookie jars. Occasionally, a cat.

What color or design is on your shower curtain? White background, pink/purple/green/blue dragonflies.

How many plants are in your home? None, currently. I used to have a ton. Then the spidermites came… That sounds ominous. And believe me, it was horrible.

Is your bed made right now? Naw. I hardly ever make my bed.

Comet or Soft Scrub? *cringe* Neither, please. Too much evil harsh bad chemicals for me.

Is your closet organized? Vaguely. Not real well. None of them are organized real /well/.

Can you describe your flashlight? Sure. I can even describe where it is, thanks to a lesson learned during a very long power outage in the middle of the night, during which I tried valiantly to find them and could not. Blue flashlight, heavy and solid plastic, sitting next to my computer monitor, where I will probably /be/ when and if the power goes out. Got a second flashlight by my sliding door, black, with a white button, and ridged.

Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home? Plastic for water (only because they’re my largest glasses), glass for everything else.

Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? Sadly, no. Until yesterday, I didn’t have any room in the fridge. Now, I still don’t have room in the fridge.

If you have a garage, is it cluttered? ‘Cluttered’ is too mild a word for my garage.

Curtains or blinds? Depends on the window.

How many pillows do you sleep with? Four. I surround myself with pillowy goodness. One under my head, one on either side of me to… prop me sideways or cuddle or whatever, and one for my knees.

Do you sleep with any lights on at night? No. But I sleep in the daytime, so my room is definitely not dark, despite all my efforts to block the light from the room. Yes, it’s a bitch. A real, real bitch.

How often do you vacuum? Not often enough, but more often than I used to. How’s that for evasion, boys and girls?

Standard toothbrush or electric? Standard - electric ones scare vibrate, and I don’t like vibratey things.

What color is your toothbrush? I think it’s a faint clear purple, but I could be wrong. Might be a faint clear blue instead.

Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch? No. I don’t welcome people into my home. *snerk*

What is in your oven right now? Not a damned thing.

Is there anything under your bed? Cat hair. Perhaps a sock or two. Maybe a cat.

Chore you hate doing the most? Toilet cleaning. Dishes. Cleaning the kitty boxes.

What retro items are in your home? Eh. I don’t collect much ‘retro’, but I’m sure I’ve got some retro stuff. Nothing comes to mind.

Do you have a separate room that you use as an office? No. Since I live on the computer, that would separate me from the rest of my house for 99% of my day.

How many mirrors are in your home? Five large ones. Probably some small ones.

Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home? Usually, but it’s gone by the end of the week most times.

What color are your walls? They are all the color of ugly. Textured wallpaper, 30 year old wallpaper in the kitchen, poorly painted paneling, more ugly wallpaper…

Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home? No. Not /as such/. But I know right where my pointy knives are.

What does your home smell like right now? Nothing in particular right now. Generic ‘cat’ scent, perhaps.

Favorite candle scent? Spiced scents - like cinnamon and pumpkin and autumn spices and stuff.

What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now? Claussen quarters. Mmmm.

What color is your favorite Bible? My favorite Bible? The heck?

Ever been on your roof? Nonononono.

Do you own a stereo? Not no more.

How many TVs do you have? One. But it’s not hooked up to, you know, tv or anything. It’s just there for decoration, mostly.

How many house phones? Two.

Do you have a housekeeper? I wish.

What style do you decorate in? I’ve been aiming for Asian, somewhat, but mostly, my style is “cluttered”.

Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints? Solid, mostly.

Is there a smoke detector in your home? Supposedly. I’ve just bought a new one, but have yet to put it up.

In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you’d grab if you only could make one quick trip? Cats, and if possible, I’d seize my main computer, slide open my huge living room window, and toss it out to safety, too. Not necessarily in that order. My cats are cowards, and I’d have better luck saving the computer than seeking out and trying to grab hiding kitties. Practical, but true.

Yes! It’s my first Monkey! It’s a nice pattern to knit, though I’m concerned that the sock might be a bit big on me. I can (and will) shorten it to my foot length, but it still might turn out a bit big around. We’ll see. Can always be house socks, if nothing else. Mmm. House socks.

Anyway, I’ve ripped out the last Clay sock (actually, that’s a lie - I have not actually done the ripping yet - I may not need to, with my small feet - may have enough yarn between what’s left of my two balls to complete a second sock without it, so I’m waiting to see) to make these Monkey socks. Why? Because the sock I made before just isn’t good enough. It’s nice. It fits… decently. But I started the toe too soon, and so it’s a /bit/ snug up there in a bad way. And the heel isn’t right. And the leg isn’t as long as I’d like. So hah.

Monkey, here we come.

Also, I’ve begun this:

It’s a Luna Moth Shawl, with Elann’s Callista yarn, in copper. Gorgeous. Soft. I love this yarn. I can’t even begin to say how much I love this yarn. I’m not loving knitting it on size 8 needles, though. They feel huge to me. Especially with this thin yarn. Especially after knitting socks on size 1s. Eep. I’m trying to tame my too-long circ cable by trapping it with heavy objects. I’ve heard rumors that you can like, steam the cables, and make them lay flat, but I’ve never had any success with such things. I hate circ cables. Hate. Especially long ones. Garr!

Was going to knit up a new kitty hat in some lovely Paton’s chunky shetland tweed ~ brown ~ but… I’m not sure how it’d knit up on size 7s (Maybe stiff as iron? Or maybe just cushy and plush? Wil have to to /swatch/ for the love of god….), and I seem to have only a circ (no dpns) in size 8s, and only dpns (no circ) in size 9s. Wtf? *lol* Need to stock up on needles next time I have any spare cash whatsoever, clearly.

In other news, I tried desperately to get a photo of the waning crescent moon last night, as it shone so brightly next to what I believe was Venus, but… I can’t hold a camera steady quite long enough in the dark for that, and my tripod quick release thingie is… missing. Gone. Who knows where?

Damn. Another thing to add to my list - new tripod. Then I can get better photos everywhere, since I live in the dark.