June 2010 Archives

I did finally manage to pick up the appropriate number of stitches (minus 1 because I can't count). It took a lot of picking up a stitch in every edge stitch and then randomly skipping here and there. I certainly can't help anyone else with theirs, or even replicate what I did, but it's done.

The difficulty with knitting on it now is that there are these floppy, bulky sleeves getting in the way. So in the picture I've got the sleeves "tied up" with a needle. That helps, but now I face the daunting increases for 20 inches to leave me with more stitches than I can count. Needless to say, it's a slooooooooow knit at this point. Which isn't too much of a big deal because I have no need for a sweater (even a non-wool one) in 90+ degree weather.

Ugh! I'm working on Kirra Knit. Things were chugging along well. The piece is knit from sleeve to sleeve (basically a giant scarf that is then sewn to make sleeves) and then the lower section is picked up and knit down. I finished the "scarf" part about a week ago. It has taken me several attempts to sew the damn sleeves because there weren't edge stitches and the Berroco Origami is not sewing friendly. But I think overall, the biggest problem with the sewing was the dread of the impending pick up and knit 189 stitches.

There area to be picked up and knit can be divided into four equal parts, so 189 sts around would be 47.25 sts. Hmmmm. Ok, so I picked up around the first quarter and picked up 24. Not even close. Did it again and picked up 35. Ugh!! I calculated that a third time will yield 50. I'm soooooo annoyed.

Over the weekend, I went to my cousin's wedding with my parents and brother. The next morning my dad and I were chatting about psychology related stuff and he started telling me about this workshop/seminar that he attended years ago in which he learned to juggle. As long as I can remember my dad has been able to juggle balls, toys, beanbags, or other three of a kind items (not like chainsaws or anything dangerous). Even after not juggling for several years, he picked up three tennis balls on Saturday and started juggling as if he juggled every day. Anyway, juggling was a metaphor at this workshop and everyone at the workshop basically learned to juggle over the cross of 4 or so days. And I got thinking to myself that the juggling metaphor might be useful in my teaching, especially for my classes with freshman (and also, how cool will it be to have the students like "woah! that's the juggling professor!" why didn't they have a class in grad school on juggling!?!?)

So I've been practicing since Saturday. After three days of practicing, starting with just one ball, then two balls, I'm up to three balls. I'm not continuously juggling. More like right left right. Sometimes I can do a right left right left, and on a few rare occasions a right left right left right. Each day I've practiced for about 60 - 90 minutes. And it involves a lot of dropped balls (A LOT of dropped balls).

It is really difficult to take pictures of yourself juggling. Those first two pictures are the only two in which I actually appear to be juggling (appear being the key word). Most of my attempts still look like this...

In which at least one ball is not in the plane that it ought to be. My first two or three tosses are typically ok, and then I get excited and start throwing the balls wildly. My dad said to practice standing in front of a wall so that you can't toss them too far away. That's been helping, but still...

If I ever get to full fledged juggling, I'll get Kevin to take a video for y'all!

Yesterday I posted some books for sale. Monday and Tuesday, I spent all day cleaning our apartment. Moving items from one room to another and back again. I have two traditions at the end of the semester... first, get my hair cut; second, clean the apartment and reorganize lots of stuff. Things are much cleaner and nicer now. And most importantly, my yarn and books are out of semi-permanent storage and accessible again!!!

First I had to lay out the stash in order to organize it into its new home in a small Ikea closet that had previously held linens and towels (who needs those!).

I don't have a very big stash at all. The biggest portion is sock yarn. All the rest amounts to at best a small scarf or hat.

Then into the closet it went. I also sorted my books and reclaimed a bookcase for them.

Here are some close-ups:

I even typed up an inventory of the yarn as I was putting it into the closet since the computer was right there. Here's what's in there (more for my memory than anything else):

Shelf 1:

• 3.5 Skeins Patons Up Country in Off-White


• 3 Skeins Blizzard in Blue


• 4 Skeins + 1 ball Plymouth Encore in Dark Green (2), Light Green, Tan, Black Heathered

Shelf 2:

• Left over balls

Shelf 3:

• Chinese yarn 4 100g blue skeins, 2 50g blue skeins, 5 50g tan skeins, 3 lace weight (50g) blue, orange, green

Shelf 4:

• Needles and notions


• Glove pack

Shelf 5:

• Sock yarns

Shelf 6:

• 4 skeins plus 3+ skein worth ball Noro Kureyon in oranges


• 4 skeins Noro Kureyon in blues


• 2 skeins Louet KidLin in tan


• 2 skeins Louet Mohair in light and dark yellow


• 1 skein Blarney Woolen Mills in green

Shelf 7:

• 7 skeins Peruvian Highland Wool (4 tan; 3 purple)


• 1 skein Knit Picks Wool of Andes in Blue


• 2 ish skeins Knit Picks Cotlin in Coffee and Kohlrabi (green)


• 3 skeins Rowan All Seasons Cotton (2 pink, 1 white)


• 2 balls Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora in pink


• 1 ball Debbie Bliss Cathay in pink


• 3 ish skeins Knit Picks Palette in black, gray, pink


• 3 ish balls Rowan 4 Ply Cotton in white (1 ball purple)


• 2 skeins Valley Yarns Berkshire in purple


• 3 skeins Sugar and Cream (pink and white; red, white, blue; green, white, brown)


• 3 skeins Yarn for Sox (2 purple, 1 tan)


• 1 skein Butterfly Cotton in red


• 1 skein Berroco Touche in red


• 1 skein Jamieson and Smith Jumperweight in pink


• 1 skein Araucania Nature Wool Chunky in blue


• 1 skein Lamb's Pride Worsted in purple


• 1 skein Euroflax Linen in gray


• 1 ball Filatura di Crosa ZarOne in blue


• 1 ball Lana Grossa Basics in bright multi


• 1 random ball of something rayon

I'm looking to destash some books. I posted this on Ravelry as well so contact me there or via email if you are interested.

All of the books are in very good condition from a smoke-free, pet-free home. I'll ship through USPS media mail unless otherwise negotiated (shipping is included in prices below).

• Simple Knits with a Twist by Knight $13
• Knitting for Peace by Christiansen $13
• Finishing Techniques for Hand Knitters by Crowfoot $13
• Chunky Knits by Clewer $13
• A Passion for Knitting by Thomas & Rabinowitz $13
• 25 Bags to Knit by King $13
• Timeless Classics from the Knit Collection by Blatt $13
• Knitting Pretty by Percival $13
• Maran Illustrated Knitting and Crocheting $13
• Knitting with Beads by Davis $13
• Knitting Yarns and Spinning Tales by $13
• Knit Hats by Steege $11
• Knitticisms $8

I'm willing to negotiate on prices. Buy two and pick a third for free!!

Wow! I know I posted about good customer service from Newman's Own and I was very happy when they sent me two coupons for pretzels to replace the bags I was unhappy with.

Well, last night I came home and found a box addressed to me outside my door. I hadn't ordered anything recently so I was curious. I opened it up and inside were 3 bags of the Newman's pretzels that I love and they were 3 bags from before they changed their baking method. It is the old pretzels that I love!!!

How awesome is that!?! Not only did they take the time to send me coupons and a personal email, but they also found some extra pretzels at a warehouse or store and mailed them to me. I'm definitely a super loyal Newman's Own fan now!!!

So I had several errands to run today--drop off shoes for repair, drop off expense report for reimbursement, fill prescription--and a decision to make.

Do I drive or bus/walk? If I drive, I stay cooler in the air conditioning, but have to deal with the hassles parking at the various errand locations. If I take the bus and walk, I don't have to worry about parking and a get a little sunshine and exercise, but I will get hot and sweaty.

I went with plan B. Which worked out quite well since I would get hot and be able to cool off on the bus or in the various stores/buildings that I had to stop off in. As I was riding the nice and cool bus home, I reflected on my great plan. Ah, but of course, I forgot the one biggest problem with my plan, which is funny because it is what I've dedicated my professional life to studying.

There I was, I had just gotten off the bus. I was walking behind two women who appeared to be walking together (like friends) even though they weren't interacting. One woman was Hispanic, a bit taller than me, very curvy, and wearing jeans and a tank top. The other woman was Indian very tall, thinner than a bean pole, with long black hair, and wearing jeans and a hoodie (I couldn't understand how she wasn't melting). I was right behind them wearing my cute new Express dress (mine is black on top and a red skirt).

I noticed two African American men loitering on a grassy area up ahead, and thought to myself "here we go." As we approached, the one man made comments like "hello, how you ladies doin', good mornin'." Then he locked in on my and said "you've got very sexy hair." And as we all continued on ignoring him, he started shouting "hey shortie come back." Because, yes I'm going to turn around, come back, and chat with some jerk-wad who just stranger harassed and objectified me.

How crappy is it that women ought to factor in the hassle of stranger harassment into their plans?! The effect of the harassment is such that I should hide in the protective bubble of my vehicle and avoid public spaces. ARGH!!!

I'd love for my research material to dry up because that would mean that stranger harassment is eradicated, but unfortunately I don't see that time coming. My friends over at Hollaback got their funding for an iPhone App, so at least there's some good work on the way.