Programming Makes Me Fat

I'm convinced that programming is bad for the waistline. Besides sitting on your butt most of the day, it makes me want to eat.

I am in the second semester of Java programming, so I don't know a whole lot yet. It's really frustrating. It takes me a week or two to get through some of this homework. Especially when all the examples are for int arrays and we are working on String arrays. Besides the fact that I'm trying to make a object and the examples are shown in procedural programming. Have your eyes glazed over yet? Mine did. That's probably why it takes me so long to figure it out. If I don't have coffee before class I want to go to sleep. I've caught the guys next to me napping behind their screens too.

So, if this is so incredibly boring, why do I want to do it? Maybe I'm just weird. I like to figure things out. I like puzzles. I like a challenge. Maybe that's why I picked up knitting, why I'm currently into lace. I guess next it will be entrelac, but I'm not really crazy about the look of the finished product so it will have to be something really pretty.

Ehh, skip entrelac. I just got EZ's Opinionated Knitter and there are some gorgeous Fair Isle sweaters I'd like to try. I haven't attempted Fair Isle yet. I've dabbled in Intarsia. I really need to get into some color work.

Currently on the needles: 1 CounterPoint Scarf (Almost done, but it's taking forever because I only work on it once every two weeks during the video at Bible Study.)

2 Clandestine Socks. I have about 4 inches left to complete. I've made the leg and turned the heel. I'm currently working on the feet, two at a time on 3 needles. Three because for some reason I have one long needle and two short ones. It was easier to turn the heel with the short ones and keep the long one for the top of the foot. Hmm. These are taking a while too. Probably because of the Java homework. Sigh.

She's Come Undone

I'm almost finished with my Herringbone socks from Interweave Knits Winter 2008! Yeah! A couple more modifications and I'll be done. This has taken me a while to finish. Mostly because I had my new grandbaby's blanket to finish. She's almost here too! If DD doesn't go into labor by Sunday evening they are going to induce. Not quite sure why this is necessary, she was 10 days late herself. I guess the Dr. doesn't want an overdone baby, heh heh. Ok, back to the socks. In this post I told you about the modification I made on the heel. I didn't like the way the stripey goodness broke because of the short row heel. So I ripped back and inserted a heel of chocolate brown. I like it. Now at the top, I went up a needle size, 3s, to make sure my ribbing would stretch enough. Instead of using the multi colored yarn I made a contrast with the brown again. I'm loving this. (They fit well too.) Here's a riddle. How do you knit a toe up sock and finish at the toe? I decided to unravel the toe and make them brown too. I love knitting. It's the first craft in which I feel I can be truly creative. I don't know if anyone actually reads this blog especially since I update it so sporadically. Last night we went to see Anivl at the NuArt Theatre in LA.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

What a compelling story! They are the real Spinal Tap. If you live in Southern California, the show will be playing there for a couple of weeks. If not, go see it when it comes to you. Buy the DVD. It's funny and touching and REAL. Lips and Robb were at the theatre to answer questions after the show. Here's a review of the movie. I hope it is huge for them. Sacha Gervasi who wrote the screen play for The Terminal is the director of this amazing documentary. I felt tempted to laugh at times and then I realized that these are real guys and this is their life.

I don't know why, but you really fall for these guys. They are just normal family guys, - following their childhood dream. I don't even like the genre of music. I thought hair bands were silly. My (70s) music was much better! ;) I had never heard of them before last night. Now I'm a fan. I hope they get what they're after. It seems really promising. Gervasi says: “The only way you can fail is if you give up.” I have to agree.

Update on the Knitting

On the needles right now are Herringbone Rib Socks from IK last issue (Winter I think.) It all started with a plane ride to San Antonio. Here I am casting on and watching a podcast of LetsKnit2gether.

As I was working these I noticed that the color was pooling into diagonal stripes. The cool thing was that I seemed to have cast on in a slightly different spot for each toe and now the stripes look like they are moving from one sock to the other:

After working the heel this didn't happen anymore. To continue the coolness I decided to make the heel out of a complimentary color and WALA!

We're back in business! Dang! I just realized that I probably didn't need to go out and buy another skein. I have virtually the same brown in a different yarn. It's just as well though. The socks I made out of that yarn have since felted. The yarn for these socks is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the colorway Roadside Gerry. I didn't even think of going back to the stash for the heels because I originally wanted a color to match the orange. They didn't have that but they did have the lovely brown in Shepherd Sock, so at least the fabric is consistent. Josie's Blanket

Underneath the socks is a baby blanket I'm working on for my future granddaughter. She's due on April 4. I've got to get crackin' on the invitations for DD's shower. Here's what they look like and where you can get them too:

Gina Jane's "Little Cards" Pansy Garden Tea Cup Card

The cutting is a B-word since I sprained my wrist on our snowboarding trip last week. But I think the card is so cute!

Here's the blanket so far:

I've done this one before in blue. I liked the yarn much better for that one. This one's Bernat Baby Coordinates. I should have used bamboo needles for it because my Knit Picks keep catching on the fiber and snagging it. I'm stubborn though, so I haven't changed yet. Happy Birthday to me! Yesterday was my birthday. Before I whine I should say that I'm too old to whine about a birthday. It was no one's fault, but I can't help but feel, um, whiny. There. Hey, it's my birthday and I can whine if I want to! DH put his back out last weekend and had an impossible deadline for work, so we didn't get to go out like he said we would. I had to take my mom to the doctor and it was pouring down rain. At the parking kiosk, the window wouldn't return to it's full upright and locked position, so I had about an inch open with rain coming in. Thank God it didn't stick all the way down. My attitude was so bad He could have made it do that. When we got back to her place I was able to pull it up manually. DD called to wish me a happy birthday and asked what we were doing for it. Um, nothing. Well, we got Chinese food and that was ok with me. I had actually decided I'd rather do that before DH suggested that it was too late to go out. The killer for me was when this comedian, Andrew Dice Clay came on TV. I don't like him. Now I remember why. DH snickered at some of the jokes and I asked him to turn it off. He went back to work and I went to bed. The end. My mom wanted to buy me a card right there in the store with me standing there since she hadn't had a chance to earlier. (I'm her means of transportation.) I wouldn't let her. Too embarrasing. MIL just called to wish me a happy belated birthday. She said she didn't get a chance to go out and get a card yesterday because it was pouring down rain. I said, "I know." DS 1 & 2 didn't call. Probably overlooked it. Can I get a WHAAAAAAAAA!?!?!?!?!?!? or maybe just some WINE!

Happy Socks!

I finally finished my RPM socks last night. They are from Knitty.com Summer 2006. I made some adjustments to the pattern. First of all I made them toe up, two at a time on two circular needles. Then I made them much longer than the pattern. They fit pretty good, but when I went to bind off it was too tight. I originally did the sewn bind off, but it was too tight. So I did some searching and came up with the Russian bind-off. You can view the info here: http://wendyknits.net/archives/1152 This bind off came out much stretchier.

I forgot to mention that I also worked the design opposite on each sock. I thought I might look fun and interesting that way. They are made from Knit Picks Felici, colorway Pebble.

Brown, Brown, Everything Is Brown... During the winter I decided that I needed some brown socks to go with my brown slacks. Now I've got 3 pairs and I'm bored with brown! Not exactly a summer color. Think I'll go buy me some new sock yarn. And while I'm at it I need some yarn for the trim on my Origami purse from Folk Bags. I'm not showing you 'till it's done, but it's made from Noro Silk Garden. It seems a little thick, but we'll talk about that later.

Ambrosia

I just finished my Ambrosia Socks. This is a beautiful sock pattern, carefully designed and documented. I knit them in Knit Picks Gloss in Cocoa which is very soft. The stitches are well defined and make a wonderful sock. Too bad I don't follow directions very well... I ripped them down about 3 times, so I should have been done a month ago. The first time I wasn't happy with my short row heels. They had holes at the turn, so I used a different method that I had used on my MIL's socks. Everyone seems to have a different way to turn the heel. I think I like this one best.

The butterfly rib pattern is so easy, I didn't think I needed to look at the directions after the first repeat. Just knit, and knit, and knit - Oops! I realized that I had not added the 4 additional stitches as I started the pattern up the leg, and I knew it wasn't right, but I kept going... Finally I looked at the pattern. Since I'm a bit of a perfectionist and I do like the knitting, I frogged down to where the pattern starts. Then, I kept knitting and knitting, thinking I must be almost done when, wa la, I looked a the pattern again, and I was supposed to move up a needle size 4 pattern repeats down. Again I frogged. Moral of the story, read the directions all the way through and pay attention! Anyway, I'm happy with them now. They are so comfortable and I love the pattern's detail. On to the next pair...

A Few Finished Objects

Embossed Leaves Socks from Interweave Knits, Winter 2005

Hedera by Cookie A. These were done a while back, probably 2 years ago now. I've just had the pictures lurking on my computer. I'll post some more later. I've got lots more.....

Happy New Year!

I know it doesn't look like I've done much lately, but believe me, I have. Christmas was super busy knitting socks for MIL, a scarf for my mom (on Christmas Day!) I finished the sweater for my SIL. Really it had been done since July, but I never bought the buttons. So I was sewing those on the week before Christmas.

Since Christmas I have almost finished another scarf. Nothing too fancy. I had the yarn left over from the "Homeless Scarf Project" that our church did this year. The yarn is Lion Brand Homespun. I have mostly shunned the fiber available at stores like Michael's but I am discovering that even Lion Brand is producing some nice product. Homespun is all poly/acrylic, but very soft. Unfortunately it ravels a lot. I made tassels for my mom's scarf and it is now getting fiber all over her. Oops. I don't think she minds. She was telling my MIL that she wanted me to knit her something. This was while I was in the kitchen hiding away trying to finish her scarf! I was late on this project because I started MIL's socks 2 weeks before Christmas and there was more knitting than I thought. They were actually a full size sock, but the picture has the cuff rolled. I thought the cuff was just decorative. I hope they are not itchy. I made them from a Lana Grossa sock yarn that I found in Texas. It seemed soft when I bought it, but after working with it for a while it felt somewhat itchy. I also made them rather large because she complained that she can't find socks that fit her. Well, I hope these do. I haven't heard anything about them yet. I'm sure I will. I have also gone back to my Oriel Lace Blouse. I'm working on the sleeves and am almost to the sleeve cap. There's something I want to change though. The place where you add on stitches I have used purl stitches and it looks funky to me. So I think I am going to switch all these stitches to what the pattern should be other than increases and decreases. Knits for the knit rows and purls for the purl rows. Hopefully it will blend a little better then. I got a new camera for Christmas. Now I just got to upload the pics! Pictures uploaded 1/6/08

July Sockfest

Here's what I've been working on this summer. Baudelaire socks for my SIL. I modified the heel with short rows. I don't really like gussets.

Here's another pair I knit with some yarn I found in Boerne, TX. Not quite finished in this photo, but they are now! This picture made me think about making toeless socks - Sandal Socks! Hmm..... This is a top down pair from Interweave Knits Winter '05, Embossed Leaves Socks by Mona Schmidt. Again modified with the short row heels. Did I mention I don't like gussets?

Here's a closeup of the pattern. This superwash wool was from Rosewood Yarns. I discovered this cute shop while I was exploring Boerne when DH was working in San Antonio in June. It's really yummy. I might have to get some for myself the next time I'm in TX. That may be fairly often since DH will be going there every other week or so. I made these socks a couple of years ago in Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK. My SIL was admiring them then, so they seemed like the perfect birthday gift. Happy Birthday Lori!