WIP Wednesday: A Plea and Gloves

Knitting:
The chocolate socks seems stalled, perhaps permanently in this iteration. I did indeed find more yarn, ordered it, and gleefully began knitting with it. In the poorly lit room I knit it I could tell it was a little lighter but that didn't seem to be too much of a problem. The next day I took it with me to fighter practice where I could work in the sun. There I realized just how light the new yarn was. Even Lynn commented on it. He also pointed out, as I sat there contemplating, that I needed to be happy with the final result. I realized I wouldn't be happy with the color change, and I'd probably never wear the socks, so I ripped back all the new yarn and set it aside. I do have various plans for the new yarn as I 2 skeins of that and thus plenty of yarn to make a pair of socks. In my mind though, the cubes pattern, for me, really needs to be in a dark brown. You know how it is when your heart is set on something.

So ... I have a request for my friends that have knitting stores somewhat close to them. Would you be willing to call them and see if they 'happen' to have Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Chocolate, Dye Lot 6094? You can contact me via ShadowsKnits@gmail.com. I'll pay the cost for somebody to purchase the yarn and ship it to me. I'm well aware it's a last ditch hope and that it may not pan out. But I've contacted Lorna's Laces and the yarn stores here that carry it and none of them have that color. If this doesn't work then I'll pull the socks out and set the yarn aside for gloves for me or something and move on.


(The finished sock, the half done sock, the lighter yarn)

So since I can't work on that I've been working on other things that have been patiently waiting for me to have time for them. Case in point, a pair of wrist / arm warmers for myself. These are working up super fast, just a couple days for the first one to be finished.



Writing:
Fey Led - More Edits.
Thanks to Kathy and her incredible notes as well as a bit of help from Kara, I've got some really good feedback and I'm working my way through those.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNo) is coming up and at first I wasn't sure about participating this year. I was considering focusing on my editing and getting my current stories cleaned up. And then a voice pipped up in the back of my mind with a question ... so I may have an idea after all. We'll see. If nothing else I do have a fantastic background that will surely inspire me to write courtesy of  Dragon.

Reading:


World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks. I'm 'really' not a fan of zombies, honestly can't stand them. I'm a fan of cerebral horror, not the blood, guts, and gore horror. But, this was one of those books that was a big hit and I like to grab those and read them when I can. So far, and I'm about halfway through, it's not focused on the ew factor. Between the writing style, the layout, and the focus of the subject matter, it's more about the collapse of society, how it happened, and the aftermath. It makes it a story of humanity and how humans deal with everything falling apart. Certainly there is the ew factor there, as the zombies are described, but with it being a sharing of other people's stories it's not an immediate feeling with the guts shoved in your face, so to speak. I'm really enjoying this book, which is a happy surprise.

WIP Wednesday: Colorfully Skewed Socks Part 2

Knitting:
That tiny little toe I had last week? It's all done with and has been put aside for it's sibling. Between the construction and the desire to see how it affected the colors the knitting on these has just flown by.



Reading:

Dune by Frank Herbert. Progress on this hasn't been quite as fast. I'm past the halfway point and still very much in love with the story. There just needs to be more hours in a day.

Writing:
Fey Led - another round of edits. Of the 5 or 6 people that said they'd gladly read it and make editing suggestions, only 1 ever replied with anything. So, I'm going through and working with their suggestions to make things more readable.

WIP Wednesday: Colorfully Skewed Socks

Knitting:
I was happily knitting along on my chocolate socks, fairly certain that I'd finish them by Friday since I'd just started the foot on the second sock. And then the end of my yarn popped out of the bag. :( Apparently going up a needle size and losing a repeat from the leg does affect the amount of yarn used that much. *sigh* So I've hit up Ravelry to see if anybody there that has it marked as "willing to sell / trade" will reply. If you happen to have Lornas Laces Shepard Sock in Chocolate and are willing to sell, I'd be interested.

So, yesterday when I had my little yarn disappointment I was frustrated. Nothing else in my stash really appealed. I didn't want to start a new project, I wanted to finish the one I had. But picking through my stash I finally came across the yarn that Dragon bought me for my birthday last year. Seeing it made me remember the smile he had when he handed it to me. "Yarn, lots of colors, colorful socks for you." So I pulled the yarn out of stash and started a pair of Skew socks.



They shall be 'very' colorful socks,

Reading:

Dune by Frank Herbert. This would be a delightful story if I could give it more time. I've been so distracted with other things lately that I just haven't had a whole lot of time to sit and read like I'd like to. I did end up taking it to the bath with me one day just so I could relax and read. I need to get a move on though because the rest of my to read list is getting antsy. Plus I 'might' have fallen down and bought 2 more books last night ... I submit that it's not my fault since I 'had' to buy one since the author was there to sign it and since it was the second in the series I needed to get the first one as well, for completeness sake.

Writing:
Nothing just yet. But, after a good talk with a friend yesterday .. and the realization that I've let a rude, mean person stop me from something I enjoy ... I will start again. So this is a note to say that if I don't have something going in the writing section next week you should offer, and follow through, with beatings.

WIP Wednesday: Chocolate Socks

Knitting:
With my Knitting for Other People queue currently empty I'm working on a pair of socks, all for me! I picked up the yarn nearly a year ago and knew that it had to be socks for me. It's been patiently waiting in my stash for me. I grabbed it as soon as I cast off the last project I was working on.



Book:

Dune by Frank Herbert. I passed that magical point of the story were things start making sense and the new words he uses finally mean something to me. I'm getting drawn into the story more each time I sit down to read a bit. I'm very glad I stuck it out through the rough beginning.

WIP Wednesday: Bear Sweater

Knitting:
Mr Bear's sweater is almost done. All the parts are knit up, now I need to give a border to each one, connect all the pieces, and give it a neckline and a waist. Huh ... it sounds like a lot when I actually type it all out. *laugh* Oh well! I didn't want to give a single overall shot just yet, since it's so close to being done. So instead you get a few pictures of parts.



You may recognize some of the colors from various other projects. Dragon only wanted me to use left over yarn.



And to try lots of different things with the yarn.



Reading:

Dune by Frank Herbert. It's a little rough to get into but the story is starting to pick up and move me along. This is one of those books that I feel everybody (particularly those interested in science fiction) should read.

WIP Wednesday: Creative Freedom

Knitting:
I'm working on a sweater for a bear ... a stuffed bear. I have no direction on making said sweater, other than it is to be made completely from scraps. So, I get to play around with the color book I got last year for my birthday and try out new ideas. Currently I'm planning for the sweater to be made in pieces and seamed together, with black being the uniting factor. We'll see how that works out. So far, this is the back. I could change my mind though and do something else, or Dragon could ask for something different.



Reading:

The Dragon DelaSangre by Allan F. Troop. It's written in first person which is something I haven't read all that often. It's also a take on dragons I haven't seen anywhere else, other than in my own novel that I've been working on for several years. It's a very interesting read and you get to see the main character struggle a bit with his heritage versus how he's been raised. I'm looking forward to seeing how that spins out.

WIP Wednesday: Think Spring

Knitting:
The Piano Scarf is still in the works. It doesn't look much different from last week, other than being longer. I'm over halfway done with repeat 5 of 6 so it should be done fairly soon. So instead of showing pictures of that again I'll share my current traveling socks.



These are the socks that are worked on in the car or in line. I've about an inch left before I begin the toe. I tried them on last night and I'm thrilled to report that they fit me. *grin* I probably wouldn't have started these now but when I finished my last travel project I pointed Lynn at the stash and said pick my next project. He sifted through things a bit and came up with one of the skeins of Paton's Grace. The other skein is sitting in my purse waiting to be called for the second sock.

Reading:

Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I knew going into it that I probably wouldn't agree with parts of it but it's been sitting on the shelf for a few years now. Lynn and I collect various religious books, though generally not of this type. While cleaning out our shelves I decided to finally read the first book of the collection, particularly since we've managed to collect the first 6 or so of this series, all through free boxes of books. I don't know if reading this will change my religious views .. but at least it's readable and I'm not feeling beat about the head and shoulders with religious ideology as I have in a couple other books.

WIP Wednesday: Piano Scarf Part 2

Knitting:
The scarf grows. I've finished 2 repeats of the pattern so only 4 more to go plus an additional 8 rows. I'm not quite as far along as I'd like to be but spending the weekend with Dragon here was well worth the lost knitting time.



Reading:

A Caress of Twilight by Laurell K. Hamilton. I do love my silly romances and this one has fey of all kind in it. I've read it once before but not as part of the series, so now I'm trying to read the series in order. This, the second book in the series, is just as much fun as I remember it being.

WIP Wednesday: Piano Scarf

Knitting:
Since I have a pattern for this and I know how to juggle my yarn more effectively it's going much faster this time around. I've already finished the first repeat of 7. I should be able to get a lot done this weekend as weekends are high movie watching times for us.



Reading:

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury. I'm not sure what I expected ... but this isn't it. It's not a bad book, it's a very well told story. I suspect I simply would have appreciated it more at a different time.

WIP Wednesday: Tri the Force

Yeah yeah .. horrible joke. Moving on ....

KnittingCrochet:
As I complained on FB earlier 1 pillow takes 1 skein of yellow and 1 of white but 2 takes 3 skeins of yellow and 1 of white? I'm confused. Though, in retrospect, because I did all the triangles first and semi sewed them together before I did the strip around the edge I could be wrong in that. It could require 1.5 skeins of yellow, which would make more sense honestly. I think my issue is desginers not being clear about how much yarn a project requires. But! Enough of that, on to the picture!



We have both front and back for 2 pillows and 1 full strip to go around the outside of them. The other strip is short by a third of the total length. And here you can see the locking markers I've used to hold the triangles together, since I didn't fully sew them together, I just used the ends to join together where available. On the plus side it's been a good (and enjoyable) lesson on peicing things together, getting things to line up, and making sure the right sides are all facing correctly.

Reading:

Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury Having just started reading this morning I have not read enough to have an opinion. It's certainly a different feel from the last book so I'm still trying to swtich gears

WIP Wednesday: Eggy Edging

Knitting:
With only 10 rows left on the shawl I'm well and truly into the edge of the piece. I suspect I will get it finished this weekend (yep, along with herding cats, er volunteers at Space City Con).



Reading:

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters, with Jane Austen credited as co-author. I'm about halfway through and still just loving the story. It has amusing pictures scattered through it. Sea life grows bigger in this world with lobsters that can easily kill a man and jellyfish that find women to be a tasty treat. I'd really recommend it for anybody that enjoys whimsy in their Lovecraft ... or Lovecraft in their whimsy.

WIP Wednesday: Finish Line in Sight

Knitting: It won't be this Friday, since I have physical therapy today and a full check up with the doctor tomorrow. But I'm only a couple rows away from finishing Chart D and then just 37 rows of Chart E and I'll be binding off so I'm hoping for next Friday. I'm really thrilled with how the edge is coming along. I love the pattern that's appearing and I love that I can somewhat predict what my next stitches should be. It's so good to feel like I have a handle on the pattern again.


Reading:

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters, with Jane Austen credited as co-author. This is such a fun read! The feel of Austen has been captured and alongside it is a twist of Lovecraftian quirkiness that's delightful. I'm really looking forward to seeing where the twists take us in the story.

WIP Wednesday: Blues over the Blue

Knitting:
I skipped posting last week because I was just so frustrated with this pattern and myself. I took the shawl with us to the park to watch 4th of July festivities 2 weeks ago. After a long day of knitting I found several counting mistakes that I simply couldn't brain my way around. For the rest of the evening I worked on my travel socks. Once home I realized that I'd made mistakes so far back that there was simply no answer but to rip everything out and start over. So, by the time last Wednesday rolled around, I was just a little past where I'd previously been the week before.

This Monday I finally gave into my feeling of "there's something not right about this" and counted my stitches. I'd just finished 6 repeats of chart b and a full chart c. I know I'm not the only one to occasionally ignore the inner knitter when something doesn't feel right, even the Yarn Harlot has posted about it. I'd had that niggling feeling since repeat 2 of chart b and yet I'd kept on going. So I give in and count my stitches. 155. Wait ... what? The pattern says that if I did 4.5 repeats of B then I should have 269 stitches and I did 6.5 repeats.  

I'm looking at the pattern, at the charts, at my knitting and slowly I realize my mistake. I'd read each line of the chart (with it's repeated block in the center of each line) as though it went all the way across the row rather than as what to do with the stitches in each of the 4 sections of the shawl. That explained why the outer sides had grown and the two inner sections hadn't. That explained why I wasn't using the yardage I'd expected to use.

Gods bless my poor Husband. He held me, offered me chocolate, and helped to unravel all my hard work and wind it back into a ball. Had this been for myself I would have tossed it into a corner, buried it under yarn, and never spoken of it again until I was ready to deal with it.

The pattern really isn't that hard. I don't want to scare off anybody that's kind of looked at the pattern and thought about knitting it. It's really not that hard. I promise. The reason it's been so difficult for me? I started this in a time of high stress and new medication for pain management, the two combined meant that I didn't eat for practically 3 weeks and I was so brain fogged that I couldn't think straight. I'd been clearer when I started the pattern the second time but I just kind of blindly followed what I'd done previously, thinking that I'd just lost count somewhere along the way. I probably had ... I would have been hard pressed to tell you my name a few of those days.  So, here I am, 3 weeks later, basically exactly where I was before. I'm going to knit my fingers to the bone to get this finished soon as I feel bad about it taking so long when I know it's been eagerly looked for.



The purple line marks the end of Chart A. Previously I did a lifeline for the end of each Chart B repeat .... I think I'll do every other one this time. Please ..... if you see a mistake in the knitting now ... Tell Me. Be gentle though.

Reading:

Stephen King's The Dark Tower Graphic Novel: The Fall of Gilead as written by Peter David. I am a huge Stephen King fan girl. I've been collecting these for a bit now and waiting to read them. Because of their location on the shelves I seemed to always miss them so I started keeping a To Read List that held only the next 4 - 6 books I was going to read. Each of these graphic novels have only taken a couple days to read. I'm in awe of the gorgeous coloring of the art, the fantastically done writing, and the faithfulness to the feel of the original works. I would have loved them for being a part of the Dark Tower world, but it's a delight to also love them for being so incredibly good.

WIP Wednesday: Blue Shawl

Reading:

Ganymede by Cherie Priest. I've been really enjoying the Clockwork Century books and the world they're set in. My 'only' problem with them is the referencing of people from Texas as "Texian(s)". I've always heard people of Texas labeled as "Texan". I know there was an Texan army during the time of the Alamo and Civil War that was called the Texians, so I think that's where it's coming from as most of the people in the books we meet from Texas are military. All in all I can deal, it's just a little jarring at times. And really, that's the only nit I have with the stories, everything else has been an incredibly fun read.

Knitting:
It's grown so much! I think this'll be the last spread out on the needles picture I have since it was barely on the needles this time. I almost have 3 of the 4.5 repeats of chart B completed ... and I think I need to add a couple repeats to that for size. I'm looking forward to new charts though, and seeing a new pattern develop in the lace. 

WIP Wednesday: Blue Eggs

Reading:

Ganymede by Cherie Priest. I'm only a couple of chapters into this one but I'm already enjoying it. There's been new characters added and a glimpse of some old ones that we didn't get to see as much of in older books in the series. I'm sure it's going to be a fun read, just like the others have been.

Knitting:
The first time I started this pattern I got to Row 3 of Chart B and then became convinced that I had a counting issue. This is standard since I numbers and I aren't exactly best buds. So I ripped the row back and started over. That changed nothing. I ripped back to the last row of Chart A since I 'knew' that one was correct, nope. I counted and recounted my stitches ... that didn't give any insights. I even slid stitches over as I verbally worked through the pattern, no change.

Sighing in defeat I ripped it all out and started over since by then I'd convinced myself that I didn't really like the density of the yarn and went up a needle size, plus my 4 has a smoother join than my 3. Two days later I was back to Chart B. Huh .. I hadn't had a counting problem, it just looked different than I expected. Last night when I finally reached  row 7 I did have a counting problem. (I should probably not knit as much when I'm tired.) Soon the end of the shawl looked like this:



And 40 long minutes later .....



After that though it went to time out while I took a break.

WIP Wednesday: Blue Dreams

Reading:

Dreadnought by Cherie Priest. I'm about halfway though and loving it. It's a continuation of the story she began in Boneshaker, but not as I expected it to be. I was thrown for a bit until I saw the connection and in this way she shows more of what's going on in this fictional America she's created. It's a very interesting and fun read.

Dreamcatcher:
I'm taking a couple days off from knitting so I can work on the two dreamcatchers that were ordered. I have the smallest one nearly done, though the hangings at the bottom are giving me fits since I didn't tie the knot right. I think I need to take it off and redo it. Other than that and cleaning up the stray threads, this one is done.



The larger one is further along than last week, but just barely. I still need to do the small one that will hang in the center of the 7inch ring after I web and bead the large ring. I always forget how much thread it takes to wrap a large ring ... and how long it takes.

Gloves & Dreams

Reading:

Dreadnought by Cherie Priest. Okay, technically I'm not reading it since I finished my last book last night and haven't actually started this one, but it's next on the list and I'll start later today.

Knitting:
Once I managed to get it through my head that I just wasn't going to be able to do what I wanted with these and simply went back to the basic pattern it's nearly flown off the needles. This is mostly yesterday's work; I started the day with the cuff (white portion) only about half done. I'm already up to the fingers. I had wanted to do some colorwork on the cuff but that's just not possible with acrylic in such a small space. I have some plans for wool though. *grin*



Dreamcatcher:
I probably would have finished the wrapping on this one had I not ran out of thread. I need to dig in the thread box and see if I have more and get Lynn to help me unbury the sewing machine so I can spin it on to the bobbin. Otherwise I'll be making a trip to the store with the ring in hand to find the matching color.

WIP Wednesday: Beret & Bloodshot

Reading:

Hellbent by Cherie Priest. I love reading about Raylene and how she gets herself into, and out of, various dangerous situations. I love Priest's writing style, it's almost like sitting down to chat with somebody. It's good to see the returning supporting cast as well and getting to know more about them. 

Knitting:
The beret finally settled down and allowed me to knit it correctly .. or I finally started following *gasp* the pattern. I thought I was to begin with but apparently I kept forgetting small details like change needle size. I'm up to (down to?) the decreases now and love how it's looking.

WIP Wednesday: Head and Feet

Writing:

Magic Balance (Working Title) - Rewrites

Previous Word Count: 21,391

Current Word Count: 21,391 (Up 0)

Two weeks in a row ... the brain is just not having it. I think I'm going to take a break from this and do some of the suggested edits on Fey Led instead. Perhaps then my mind will be more willing to go back to this world.

Reading:

From Dead To Worse by Charlaine Harris Over halfway on this one and still enjoying it. I love her writing style and it's nice to see Sookie again. I'm gleefully looking forward to the return of True Blood soon. I also managed to catch the Q&A Panel with Kristin Bauer at Comicpalooza this past weekend. It was a very ... amusing time as she shared what she could with us about story lines and antics on set.

Knitting:
Not a Decepticon Scarf!!! I almost finished it at Comicpalooza but had left half of it at home (no sense in carrying it around after all). So earlier today I finished that up and grafted it together (would have 'never' been able to do that at con). Final pictures of it soon! However ... that meant I needed something to work on. Naturally I'd planned ahead and grabbed the yarn and stuff for Fi's beret that she's ordered. Except I didn't have her measurements. Doh! Ever the over planner I also had sock yarn and I happily cast on a pair of socks.

Caprica Circles


I think they're incredible! I'm in serious love with them. They'll be moved to my travel project since I managed to get Fi's measurement today and started on her beret.

Fi's Beret


Such a simple looking thing .. and yet it took me 2.5 hours to cast on and knit the first row. Insanity I tell you. I'd started with a circular like the pattern called for but all of my stitches fit easily on one needle because my needles are far too long. I love my interchangeable set but the tips are quite long and not at all suited to smaller projects. Good thing I had DPN's on hand.

WIP Wednesday: More Decepticons

Writing:

Magic Balance (Working Title) - Rewrites

Previous Word Count: 21,391

Current Word Count: 21,391 (Up 0)

My mind has really not been able to get into this lately, just way too much stress in other areas.

Reading:

From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris. I love the Sookie Stackhouse books and simply eat them up. They're like brain candy. I'm also a fan of True Blood, though it's interesting to see where they diverge. I haven't forgotten about the book I was reading last week, I just have no comfortable way to read it at the moment.

Knitting:
So much progress! The hardest part of these types of projects for me is to Knit for X Inches. I need a goal, an expected # of rows. When I don't have that it feels a little endless and seems to drag on forever. But! I have the number I need for the second half of the scarf now and I'm almost halfway there after just one night of chatting with friends.