Halfway Down the Stairs

Sci Fi Geek Mourning.

So, this morning I watched the final episode of Stargate Atlantis. I am saving the first episode of Battlestar Galactica's final ten episodes. David Tenant will no longer be my Dr. Who and I'm a ways away from any new Torchwood. I've been saving up this season of Heroes, hoping it would be good, but I've not heard great things. Aaah, Jericho, Firefly, where did you go? I've watched every episode of Farscape (although I'm still not sure what order they should have been in...) I've been re-watching Buffy too. What do you think, will Joss' Dollhouse be any good?

(ETA: Here's a link to some spoilers about Dr. Who Season 5.)


Where will I find my next fix, a series to love?

Sigh.

The Teen has had Influenza-type symptoms all week - we are waiting for the results of his test. He had such a high temperature on Wednesday, the doc went ahead and prescribed some Tamiflu, so we are hoping for a speedy recovery.

Ingenue is nearly finished - I hope to have photos for you tomorrow - but look at the finished product over at Red Dog! Nice!

Finally, have you checked out the Daily Coyote? So much cuteness!

Sshhhh!

Okay. Here it is. My big boy playing his Tuba in the Wind Ensemble. They are playing a piece that is supposed to describe what it feels like to be a Hawk flying. The video is abysmal, but the sound is pretty good. Enjoy!




Sock yarn scraps:

One of my old SP swap buddies put out a Ravelry call for sock yarn scraps. OK. You KNOW I have leftover sock yarn. Those little, cute, leftover yarncakes that you can't bear to throw out, right? So, I packed up a box of my favorites and sent them to Megan. Look at her progress already! (I can recognize a yarn or two in there!) I found another box of leftovers last week, I spent some time weeding through them and getting them ready to send out to her this week.

Hmmm,
I was going to post a video of Teen's Wind Ensemble playing a pretty famous piece by a local composer/conductor; Timothy Mahr - The Soaring Hawk. I'm pretty proud of Teen and his Wind Ensemble, but I'm just not sure of any copyright constraints so I decided to err on the side of "let's not make anyone angry."

So, do you think I'd get in trouble?

THUJA!


Pattern: Thuja by Bobby Ziegler. Knitty! Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug and the colorway is Blue Parrot. Needles: Knitpicks Harmony DPN's US 3.0/2.5 mm Started: December 22, 2008 Completed: December 29, 2008.

Note: Not much to say about these socks. The yarn is great, the pattern is a breeze. The Teen loves his socks.

The boys have Finals tomorrow and then another three day weekend. Lots of Hockey for Puck (much to his chagrin), we actually have to drive to St. Michael tomorrow evening for an 8:45 scrimmage. Hubby is heading out to the cabin to play at ice fishing this weekend, so hopefully he'll come home ready for another awful week with the Markets. I plan on wielding the needles most of the weekend.

Teen gets to attend a concert put on by St. Olaf College Band this weekend. Teen's Wind Ensemble had a concert on Tuesday and performed a piece by St. Olaf's Conductor (and reknowned composer) Timothy Mahr; The Soaring Hawk. I made a very amateurish video - but if I can upload it I will share it with you later.

Cowl for a Friend.

Wow, first of all, thank you all for the support and advice. Let me say that a couple phone calls were made, a whole lot of rationalizations were made, coach admitted he "made a mistake" and apologized to Puck! (Funny story - the Coach was benched for our game this week because he got kicked out of last Saturday's game by the Referee! Nasty temper, there.) Puck got to play a little more Wing and skated his hiney off.

Anyway, some knitting progress has been made.

The cowl I knit for my Hockey-Mom friend:

Pattern: Good Luck Cowl by Christianne Gerstner at dropstitchknitter.com. Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Silkie Socks that Rock in Walking on the Wild Tide colorway. Needles: Knitpicks Harmony DPN's US 4 Started: January 18, 2009 Completed: January 20, 2009.

Note: This turned out beautifully - I cast on ten extra stitches (110 total) and then after the border I increased 1 stitch every ten stitches to bring it up to 120 total stitches on the needles. I then reduced the same amount right before the cast-off “cuff”. She has another very simple broken 2x2 rib cowl on her web page right now and I have some Silkie left over, I may just keep going until it's all gone! I really like this yarn for this project as opposed to socks.

Ingenue now has a body I'll be picking up the stitches for the sleeves this weekend. This truly is a pretty no-brainer of a sweater.

I cast on Ann Budd's Diagonal Rib Socks for my Swap Sock buddy and I am liking the look of it very much. I've also got some pictures of the Teen's Thuja's (FINALLY! He had to let me wash them!) I'll get those rolled out tomorrow.

I admit, I admit!

I have been ignoring the blog. Figuratively, it has been standing in front of me, jumping up and down waving it's arms, and calling my name. I have not acknowledged it's existence, not even once, all week long.

(sigh.) Sorry, blog!

I have been busy, however. Monday, I had to replenish the huge quantity of groceries my boys plowed through over school break. On Tuesday I had to replenish our bathrooms and cleaning closet so our home could recover from the constant presence of multiple boys in our home for two weeks. I got invited (via Ravelry) to join a local knitting group on Wednesdays so I was out making new knitting friends on Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday I really, really needed to sleep because at the end of every day last week (did I mention that every day was freaking cold?), my boys had to be somewhere. There was Hockey, Lacrosse and Wind Ensemble concerts and I was just exhausted. Exhausted and cold.

Non-knitting Topic (Sorry - the knitting is coming.)

Question for Hockey Moms out there. What would you say to a coach that asked your kid to "fall down and fake an injury" so the coach could get a timeout. Then, when the kid wouldn't or couldn't do it, he doesn't get put back into the game for the remaining eight minutes of the game. What would you say to this guy? (I'm not saying the non-performance of the task resulted in his not playing the rest of the game, but he was short-benched, nonetheless.) Just curious, because I have been raising holy h***, and I don't think the coach is going to give Puck the apology I have been asking for.

All right, the knitting:



Pattern: Wadi by Terry Ross. Scroll down, it's in there. Yarn: Cosmic Fibers Tencel Sock in the Ice Truck Killer colorway. Needles: Knitpicks Harmony DPN's US 1/2.25 mm Started: January 1, 2009 Completed: January 15, 2009.

Note: I actually finished a pair of toe-up socks! This yarn is fabulous - silky and shiny, but splitty as only Tencel can be. Do you like my pretty short-row heels? I'm finally starting to get the hang of that heel style.

Ingenue is plugging along and I started a cowl for a Hockey-Mom friend who admired mine. I should be able to finish it this weekend!

My new knitting friends are doing a sock knitting swap, so I'll be starting my pair of socks next. I'm nervous to knit for someone who has actually given me their foot measurements. I'm actually going to have to knit with some sort of gauge. Sheesh!

I promise to try and stop by more often - if I even have any readers left!

Hat Trick Preemie Hats!


I'm not really cheating, am I? I figure that if I knit six more - that will equal three adult hats! I've got a little bag of stash I've acquired here and there that I just couldn't find a use for...they've made some fabulously cute little hats. Seriously, I started these on Wednesday!

Makes me feel a little bit better about the Christmas Booty that is now marinating in my stash room.

Sweaters, you say?

(So, really, I uploaded these pictures four days ago - now I finally getting around to narrating...sheesh. I am having a very hard time getting back into the "blogging" saddle.)

Someday I will be able to photo red and have it come across as rich and scarlet as I want it to look. Um. I bought some Beaverslide. It was on sale and I've really wanted some of this for a very long time. Now, just to pick the pattern for this!

There's a sweater's worth of this Tweed in my yarn closet now. I received Tweed by Nancy Thomas for my birthday last year, and I have been price-comparing tweeds ever since. This is Plymouth Tweed from Webs. I love the rich color - it really almost matches the wood of the table.

A few of you commented on my little blue case on the table - the Namaste Buddy Bag. I bought two of them when The Loopy Ewe got them in before Christmas - I had a $20.00 GC to use up and these were perfect. TLE is out of them right now, but they're all over and I'm sure TLE will be getting more soon.

We've had a little hockey-break this week, but Lacrosse picked up so the boys have been running here, there and everywhere. In the meantime, I have been picking away at my projects making a little bit of progress here and there. Then, I got a Rav message from an ex-blogger, Jeanne, and the Preemie Knit Hat project is kicking up again!!! That is a Rav link, but feel free to join in if you want! I started my first one tonight!

The End is Always the Best

My sock yarn clubs are finishing up. I got two shipments in the last week.

This is Scout's Swag: red pear tweed. I think this may be my favorite colorway that she's sent out.


Madelinetosh sent me some Tosh Sock in Norway Spruce and some Tosh Worsted in Faubourg. Hmm, if I was participating in the Hat Trick Knitalong, this would make a great hat.

The MN Semi-Pro Box Lacrosse Season Opener was Saturday night, they played in Portland, but it's never televised. The Youth Winter season started today too so the sports overlap has begun in our house.

There's a little Vikings game to watch this afternoon, look for me later to rant or celebrate.

Hello? (tap, tap, tap) Is This Thing On?

I have been so absent. What can I say, kids at home, holiday preparation, way too much hockey (I know, I know, there is such a thing as too much hockey). The Holidays were lovely, but they flew right on by. Poor DH is living day by day through terrible markets and comes home shaking his head every day. Six months ago, he spoke daily about needing to find a new job, now he's just happy to have the job he has. We give thanks daily for our luck. Let's hope we all weather this storm.

New Socks (of course).

I started this sock last night. It's going to be my hockey/football knitting for the weekend. This is Terry Ross' Wadi. It's knit toe-up. Not my favorite way to knit socks, but the pattern is easy to follow so it should be relatively painless.

A sweater, you say?

In the meantime, I have finished Baby Cables and Big Ones Too (still no photos of that...it's finally blocking so; soon). I finished a pair of socks for the Teen (I promise - no more SAT questions), Thuja's. I knit Teen's socks from Jitterbug in the ETA: Sorry - I meant to say Blue Parrot color - I was impressed at my own ability to stretch this yarn for a full pair. I had a couple of yards left when I was finished. Teen absconded with them and I've not seen them since, so no chance to take a picture of them. However, a significant quantity of yarn has entered the house and I should be able to get some nice pics of the pretty.

Progress


Progress has been made on Ingenue, I'm using Berroco Peruvia and I'm really liking the raw softness of this yarn. The website has a better representation of the color - I am using Azul.

Op Ed

Adrian Peterson was robbed. That's all I have to say about THAT.

Also? I highly recommend the new Robin Hood TV season from Netflix. (Have I mentioned this? It's really engrossing!)