The MiniChic is complete! I look absolutely awful in these photos - post-gym, post-shower, no-makeup. Goes to show how excited I was to show off my latest project!





Now I guess I will be focusing on HoJo for a while.

Well, I made it to the 3rd-to-last row of the branching cable rib before my head started to spin and I put it down. I get all edgy with the "increase in pattern" thing. I think I'm OK, but the pattern is complex and lazy me didn't actually think it out COMPLETELY. So I am worrying that in 2 rows, when I switch back to the regular rib, it'll be messed-up on the edges and I'll have to figure it out again.

So I put it down and went back to the MiniChic. I finished the front and back and sewed it all together, then started on the collar. I followed the directions carefully and that thing looks way the heck too short to fit around the whole neck opening. I can't tell if I perhaps did the neck decreases too early (don't think so, because the pieces came out perfectly matched in length, which means I followed the pattern AOK) or what. Or maybe there's some mysterious secret I am unaware of that makes the collar fit in that space. I think I am going to just add some rows into each piece of the collar until it fits in there. Hopefully I can get that done tonight. I want to wear my cute little poncho soon!

Look at me, getting the branching cable rib chart right! OK, don't look because I haven't taken any pictures yet. But I'm on row 20 and I've got it figured out now. Just was making stupid careless errors before.

I decided to start on the HoJo sleeve even before finishing my MiniChic. I was fine until I got to the branching cable rib chart. I have the left twist just fine, and I feel like I was following the chart to a tee, but 12 rows in, it just doesn't quite look like it's supposed to. Boy am I glad this is the sleeve rather than the front - it'll be less painful to frog!

I think what's messing me up is increasing while working the chart. You're supposed to increase in pattern, but the damn pattern changes every row, so it's hard to fathom. I'm going to go rip it back to row 1 and try and concentrate a bit harder. Maybe having had something to eat and drink will help.

I'm an assclown for not mentioning how nice it was to see Liz at S-n-B last Tuesday. For heaven's sake, we sat next to each and chatted half the time, and left together to go jump in cabs. I suck. Liz, you must know I adore you. If not, hopefully you know it now.

HoJo yarn arrived today!

And before I start, a few questions:

1. Is 2.5 inches larger than my bust a good size to make for a sweater that fits the way this one does in the picture? The next size up is 5.5" larger and that seems far too loose. I think I'm nervous because this would have me making the smallest size, and lately I've been making the second-smallest, but I've never made anything from Interweave before.

2. Am I interpreting this correctly? The pattern says:

• Left Twist: With right needle behind left needle, skip 1 st, knit second st through back loop, insert right needle into back of first and second sts, and knit them tog through back loops.

I am thinking "skip 1 st" means leave that stitch on the left needle, rather than slipping it. I am also thinking I am supposed to leave the next stitch on the needle after I knit it, even though it doesn't explicitly say to do so. The instructions for the Right Twist say:

• K2tog and leave sts on left needle, then knit the first st again, and slip both off of needle tog.

Please weigh in and tell me if I've interpreted the left twist correctly!

I actually have a little time before I start HoJo, because I am still finishing my MiniChic. I started that on Sunday night with the Gedifra Dandy yarn I bought on eBay like 2 years ago. Bonne Marie is just such a delight, answering my stupid random questions about her pattern with aplomb. I am so happy to finally have found something I want to make with this gorgeous yarn, and hope to finish it tonight or tomorrow. Then it's on to HoJo - my knitting challenge of the century! (Besides knitting 4 relatively simple bridesmaid tank tops while working and planning my own wedding) ;-)

Just for fun, Ryan digitized a bit of our wedding video and posted it for me while I was working this weekend. It's in quicktime, but there's a link to an .avi version, too. It's a 2-minute "highlight film" they put at the end. Have a look if you're into that sort of thing.

Well, this is a shitty week/end workwise. It looks like I am going to have to go in again today, and maybe even tomorrow. Some long holiday weekend, eh?

Luckily, it's been an excellent morning yarnwise! I have had a bug up my butt since Fall of 2002 to make the Interweave Knits Hojo Sweater. I decided today to find out how much the Classic Elite Follies yarn was going to run me, and lo and behold, it's at Elann.com for 2.97 a hank! They had all the colors except for the lime green, which is used for a teensy weensy bit in the fair isle pattern and the top of the neck, so I substituted with chamois, which I think will be fine.

While I was there, I also came across Tahki Cotton Colori, which I've been liking since the summer before last, too. I cleaned them out of the turquoise mix colorway, which, in person, has looked to me like a cool swimming pool made out of yarn.

I also discovered that although their standard shipping is USPS Priority mail, when you get to a certain point of heaviness, UPS Ground is cheaper. I like UPS because their tracking is updated in real-time, whereas USPS tracking is only updated at night. When I only had the Follies in my order, USPS was cheaper. When I added the Cotton Colori, suddenly UPS was a buck or so less than USPS. Yay!

This somewhat makes up for cruddy weather and having to go to the office in it later. I only wish I had the yarn now.

Too much work makes Betsy sad. And tired. The last time I got out of here before 10pm was Tuesday, when I went to Stitch-n-Bitch. I was here until 11pm last night, and back at 8am today for a conference call. This is our big push to get pieces printed, now that we got FDA comments/changes on our materials (that happened Thursday and we were on a call with the client for 10 hours yesterday hashing it all out - Oy!).

Back to happier thoughts of Stitch-n-Bitch. It was a lot of fun to go again! The best part was seeing some of the lovely ladies I've missed, like Deb, Jackie, Meema, Susi, Jessamyn, and I'm sure other people whose names are escaping my lack-of-sleep-addled brain right now.

Knit NY was an interesting place. As a store, they seem to have some nice stuff, though I don't love the way it's displayed. I understand that it's a teeny space so that's why they only display one ball of each color of each yarn, and the all-white walls/cabinets are cleanly designed, but it feels so sterile. And yarn stores are supposed to be warm and lush, not sterile.

I also love the idea of having a little cafe and tables and chairs, which is a plus. And they have cool-looking clear plastic stools filled with yarn. But they are horrifyingly uncomfortable to sit on for more than a few minutes. I left with a terrible backache after 2-3 hours on one of those stools.

It was also (not their fault) terribly crowded, with no place to put my coat or bag where it wasn't underfoot. I know the S-n-B has just gotten super-popular, but I don't know that I have the stamina to deal with that every week. No, I know for sure that I do not. Especially when things are so stressful here at work. I will have to save it for special occasions, unless the group ends up shrinking or finding more comfy quarters. I loved the cameraderie when we all took over big sofas in one corner of Java-n-Jazz. Maybe someday we'll have that sort of feeling again.

Of course as soon as I go and buy yarn to make myself a scarf, my father-in-law sends me one. He went to Spain for Christmas, and sent Ryan and I beautiful cashmere scarves. Mine is a red knit, just the right length, and has some pretty lace detail on the edges. His is a camel colored weave, with a silk foulard pattern on the reverse. They're more for "dress-up" (especially his) so I think I am still OK with making one for myself. Scarf variety is good, especially in a long winter.

Momentous night for me as I am going to attempt to return to the Manhattan Stitch-n-Bitch. It really kills me that Knit NY, where the group now meets, is 2 blocks from my old apartment. Argh! But I'm excited to check the place out, and see who's there. I've been wanting to go for a while, but an email from the fabulous Deb Stoller pushed me over the edge. I've been working late so much, but today I made a deal with the other writer on my account (a good friend) that if anyone stays late, it'll be him. Yay!

I'll be working on a hat to go with Alex's Quiz sweater. I was hoping to see Lisa and deliver the sweater in person, but it's not going to happen soon enough, so I am going to mail it. But since I have waited this long, I figured he really ought to have the matching hat.

I'm also hoping to find some intriguing project for myself while I am at Knit NY. I'm excited to see what they have!

Another day, another late night at work.

Christmas was wonderful. Everyone in Missouri was so nice to us, including my mother-in-law, which is a nice turn of events. (I still don't entirely trust, but I'm willing to work on it.) We were run ragged a lot of the time there, but enjoyed it all. I even got to meet an internet friend, Amy, and her husband in Kansas City. We all got along great and had a fantastic dinner.

New Year's was also nice. We went upstairs and had dinner with John and Amy and a coupe that they introduced us to sometime earlier this year. Good food, good friends, and generally a good time.

I finished Ryan's scarf the other day, and damn I wish I had a picture of it here! I took one but it came out badly, and it's at home anyway, where I wish I could be. I loved his scarf so much that I wanted to buy yarn to make one for me, but I didn't know when I'd find the time to get to Morehouse Merinos. As luck would have it, I went down to Union Square with a friend from work, on a totally unrelated errand, and realized as I got out of the subway that it is Wednesday, and that they were right in the square at the Greenmarket!

I walked out with a beautiful clear aqua and a pretty celery color. I plan to do mostly aqua, with random stripes of celery. Sort of how I did Ryan's, except I did his so that one half was mostly dark with light stripes, and the other was the reverse. It's subtle, but cool. Can't do that with mine because I needed 3 skeins (I like long scarves) and thus would not have an even amount of each color.

Now I am wishing I had bought some damn needles so I could start that scarf right now! I am also wishing I had bought enough to make myself a hat that matches, because this will SO clash with my magenta and purple stripe!

Long time, no post for me! I can hardly believe that the post below (with the giant stocking) was over a month ago. Work went all-out-crazy and I've hardly had time to blow my nose since then. Luckily, I finished the stockings before it went too nutty. And stupid me didn't take a picture of the second, but imagine it like the first, with the colors reversed (his starts green and has a green heel/toe, hers red). The friend I made it for loved them, she said her husband told her they were exactly what he had envisioned. Yay!

Now work seems to have calmed down a touch, and I've been knitting a scarf for Ryan. I am using two different shades of green from Morehouse Merinos, using their two-strand weight because anything heavier makes too warm a scarf for my hot-blooded husband. No pictures yet. It's not exactly a surprise, since it's hard to hide the fact that I am knitting for him when the only time I have to knit is at home and he's always here. Still, I'd rather not post progress and made it any easier for him to see. It's cool though - I am striping the lighter and darker yarns randomly, using a 2x2 rib. It's very soft and I think once I block, it'll look fantastic.

Yesterday I made some peppermint bark, very similar to this stuff from Williams-Sonoma, which is a gajillion dollars a tin (though I see it is on sale for only three-quarters-of-a-gajillion). Sure, I could afford to buy it, but charging that much offends me when it is SO easy to make - first crush some candy canes in a ziplock bag. Melt some semisweet chocolate (I guess you could use milk, but I like semisweet), spread it out on a Silpat (you could use parchment but the Silpat is soooo nice). Chill it for a bit until it's firm, do the same thing with the white chocolate, and then sprinkle the candy on while it's still melty. I found it helped to press the candy bits in a bit with the palm of my hands so they'd adhere better. Chill it again, then trim off the excess with a chef's knife, and cut or break into pieces. I preferred cutting it into semi-irregular trinagles - it isn't quite brittle enough to break cleanly.

Speaking of brittle, I also made peanut brittle today. I used this recipe, taking into account the changes suggested by one of the reviewers. It's cooling now. Mmm, I just broke off a teeny piece and it's yummy!

All of this candy is to go in pretty decorative boxes which we will bring to Missouri and give to relatives as we go visiting for Christmas. I'm looking forward to seeing Ryan's Mom's side of the family. We're staying with Aunt Rosemary and Uncle Dwight, who are just the nicest people ever. We'll get them a "real" present in addition to yummy candy.

Thank you Wendy, Marney, Shetha, Lisa and Melissa for your suggestions on the stocking pattern! Turns out that yes, there was a bad bad typo in there, and the 17 stitches for the instep should've been 27. I did that, and it worked out just fine. It's not blocked and I still have ends to weave in, but check out my friend's big-ass stocking! If her husband gives her a woman-leg for Christmas, it'll fit in the stocking!



Now it's happily blocking in the livingroom. Ryan wanted to add something to the pic to show the scale, so that white rectangle is a standard-sized credit card (upside-down, so don't bother trying to get the numbers!)




Now I have to make her husband's, which will be the same except green at the top, heel and toe.

ARRRRGH!

Work hell has abated for a while, after my 72-billable-hours week. Now I am in Xmas stocking hell. Someone help meeee!!!

I am using this pattern, courtesy of the ever-fabulous Wendy via my comments. I'm not doing the applique stuff - just using it as a basic framework, and I'm doing it in stripes. I figured working flat would be easier for me than in the round, since I'm not a sock maker and don't feel like figuring out everything when I'm doing a project for someone else under a slight time crunch.

So, I'm merrily knitting along and have a nice looooong piece of knitting, when I get to the Divide for Heel section. Let me call your attention to the previous direction, and then to the Divide for Heel direction:

Dec Row: K1, SSK, k to last 3 sts, k2 tog, k1—59 sts. Cont to work in St st, rep dec row every 10th row 3 times—53 sts rem. Work even until piece measures 13-1/2" from turning ridge, ending with a WS row.

Divide for Heel
(RS) K13 and sl to holder for right half of heel; k17 and sl to 2nd holder for instep; k13 for left half of heel. Work on these 13 sts only.

OK, so if I have 53 stitches remaining (which I do), and I slip 13 of those to a holder, then another 17, that's 30 stitches slipped to a holder - which leaves 23 stitches remaining. But you'll see that the last piece of that says I have 13 stitches and I'm working on those 13 stitches only.

Um, what happened to the other 10 stitches? Yes, that's right - they're SITTING ON MY NEEDLE MAKING ME CRAZY! Am I crazy? Am I reading something wrong? Is there an egregious error in this pattern? How do I fix it? (Assuming the answer is not that I am crazy)

Heeeeeelp meeeeee wonderful knitting-blog-readers!!!

Merlin is doing much better. He's a good patient, easily taking medicine once it's ground up into his food. And he's good-natured, so that makes things easier, too. I feel bad that when we are sleeping or not at home, we have to keep him shut up in Ryan's office. He hasn't peed anywhere but the litter box since Thursday night, but we're not taking any chances until he's much better. And can have a bath. He's kinda icky right now.

I'm icky, too. I was at work from 2pm until 2am on Saturday. That made Sunday a blurry day. Now I'm back and waiting for a job to route to me so I can go. Hope it happens before 7. I also just found out I need to be back here at 8am for a conference call.

I'm tired of work.

Wow, what a week. As I write this, I'm sitting in my office, not exactly thrilled to be here on Saturday night, but resigned to it. I put in 60 hours before today, pretty much not leaving the office until 8, 9, 10, or midnight, depending which day you're talking about. Whee.

The worst was Thursday night, though. At 11pm, I called to check in with Ryan, and he told me Merlin - our fattest cat - had just started peeing all around the apartment, and it was bloody. He called our vet and they said they were still there (until midnight, apparently - good to know) and bring him on over. I met them there around midnight and we had to leave the poor boy overnight (the cat, not the husband!).

The next day they confirmed (via ultrasound and x-rays) that he has a mass of crystals in his bladder - Feline Urologic Syndrome. The blockage is bad, but not total, so they said it can be treated non-surgically. He stayed 2 nights there, and came home this afternoon with special food (Hill's S/D), an antibiotic, and a urethral relaxer. He's home with Ryan and is going to have to stay in Ryan's (rugless) office until he's back to normal a bit. They said it'll be about 6 weeks before he's fully better.

Poor Merlin. I feel bad that he's in such pain. Ryan said he'd seen him straining sometimes in the litter box, but I had never noticed it, and it wasn't until the past few days when he suddenly started exhibiting real symptoms. Poor little kitty. At least Ryan was home and able to catch it before it got even worse.

We did get a good excuse to replace our old, ripped up (by Merlin, who is too heavy to make it up on the bed cleanly and occasionally grabs on and falls anyway) down comforter. He peed just enough on it to make it unsalvageable. Actually, any pee on it is pretty much enough for me.

So, he's home with the kitty, I'm here at work, and no one is having any fun this Saturday. I hope tomorrow will be happier.

I was so excited about the Quiz sweater that I didn't get to tell you about my fantastic Saturday. First, we went up to the Dia:Beacon museum (which I mistyped as Dia:Bacon so many times that I now call it that). The museum is built in an old box-printing plant, so the space is just tremendous. Lots of white space, and lots of light.
 
I'd say it was about 50/50 interesting work and pretentious crap. I like the way it's organized. When you enter a gallery, there is a little box on the wall with 8.5 x 11" laminated cards discussing the artist and the work. Much of the work was actually more interesting to read about than to look at.  I did love some of it, including this hard-to-describe string sculpture by Fred SandBack. It looks like mirrors and solid space, but it's just friggin yarn (yay yarn!) Apparently, the artist committed suicide back in June of this year. Sad. His work was really interesting.

I think my favorite piece there was this really amazing piece made from painted metal scraps. The artist is John Chamberlain.


 
As you can see, it's tremendous and so colorful - one of the few colorful pieces in the museum! It's called Privet but it looks like seaweed floating up from the ocean bottom to me.
 
The thing about contemporary art is that a lot of it doesn't beckon you to stay and stare at it for hours, to study it. (Not that I often feel that urge anyway, but Ryan does quite often.) So, we were done in about an  hour and a half, and headed for some lunch. I had read on chowhound.com that there was a good restaurant called Cathryn's, in nearby Cold Spring. I had the most delicious gnocchi with gorgonzola-walnut sauce. So rich, so good.
 
After lunch, we wandered the quaint town a bit, but found it very yuppified, and thus too pricey for our desires. A few miles down the road, however, we discovered a cute yarn shop called Knittingsmith, and stopped in for a bit. The woman who runs the place was very friendly. I was wandering through the bookshelves and found my goal - Deb Stoller's Stitch'N Bitch!

As I was thumbing through it, my name caught my eye, which was awfully nice. It made me really miss the whole group. I haven't been to the NY Stitch'n Bitch in far far far too long. Once I moved to Brooklyn and we had a ridiculously cold winter filled with work and wedding-planning madness, I got out of the habit. I would like to start going to the new Brooklyn edition, but we're in the midst of an insane product launch at work so I don't know if that'll happen before Thanksgiving.
 
Continuing down the road, we realized we were just on the other side of the Bear Mountain Bridge from shopping nirvana, so we headed to Woodbury Common for some outlet shopping. We got there around 5, and had 4 lovely hours to spend. Holy crap, we discovered the evening is the best time to be there! The crowds are gone, it's much quieter, and you can actually get up close to the stuff you might want to buy. I got a shirt and a sweater at the BR outlet, as well as a cute-as-a-button pink sweater with an intarsia bunny face at Lucky Brand. and Ryan scored some great pants and a shirt at DKNY. We also got a really cute lasagna pan, platter with a cute fruit print, and a new bath mat at Williams-Sonoma, using only about $45 of a $140 merchandise credit.
 
You think this is over? No way, Jose! It's only 9pm and we're only an hour from home. What better time to go to Dave & Buster's? I hadn't been there since I met Ryan, and he'd never gone. Dinner, then we played lots of games. I beat 5 people at the Daytona racing game! We paddled down whitewater rapids, played basketball and skeeball, and got briefly obsessed with that game where you drop the coins down and hope they knock other coins over the edge so you get tickets. We're suckers for that shit. Dinner cost us only $25 and a $25 game card lasted us until half-past midnight, at which point we turned our tickets in for two D&B water bottles and a D&B thermal coffee mug. Ryan even got them to pour him a coke into his water bottle on the way out.

So, we saw some art, some pretty fall scenery, had a great lunch, discovered a new yarn store, bought a fantastic knitting book written by a fantastic person, went outlet shopping AND played hours of video games. How are we going to top that next weekend?!

I'm thinking I probably shouldn't be all that proud of this.



But I kind of am. Fun quiz, courtesy of Jackie. Go ahead and take it yourself

On the other hand, what I am immensely proud of is this.



I finished the knitting and seaming last night, and picked up the buttons today at M&J during lunch. (The best thing about my new office is its proximity to fabric and trimming shops.) I was even thinking ahead and picked up an extra button, which I will enclose for Lisa, for the inevitable moment when one pops off or breaks. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's even done that, but I felt pretty smart when it occurred to me.

Here's an odd note - Meredith, if you're reading this, I can't seem to get email through to you. I got the "your email is delayed" note from Verizon. But I really appreciate your offer of a stocking pattern and would love to see it if you can find it!

OK, a friend has asked me to make her a pair of Christmas stockings. She wants something like these - the striped one on the left. I've never made a stocking or a sock or anything like that, so I'm wondering how to proceed. Does anyone have a pattern? Or any advice on how to find a pattern? Is it easier than making socks? I am totally looking for advice, so please weigh in no matter how big or small your tip is!

Oh, and before you ask why she doesn't just buy that one for 19 bucks, she wants different colors, and she wants their names on them, and she wants them about a foot longer than that.

I'm back to working on the Quiz sweater. The sleeves are striped so they go just slightly more slowly than the rest did, but hardly a difference. The big question is whether I will be able to deliver the gift in person or just have to ship it up to Lisa. We're all so busy and holiday time just makes that worse.

Ryan and I have developed an amusing morning tradition. He's been working at a freelance gig a block away from my office for about a week now. Every morning, we come out of the subway, and into the Manhattan Mall, where there is a player piano. On Monday it was playing "Our Love is Here to Stay," and we got goofy and danced a few bars to it. It's continued every day, including some mean swing dancing from Ryan (I was laughing so hard I could barely follow) this morning. Then he goes off the the exit, and I walk a few feet over to the super-secret entrance to my office building, where the security guard is always amused. It's a very sweet way to start the day - I hope it lasts as long as his freelance gig does.