August 31, 2005
Uhm... so yeah... right now I want to crawl into a hole and disappear.

These are pretty, lovely, anklets I knit over the weekend.  On size 3 needles, these just zoomed.  Too bad the weather went back to being so hot and humid, they won't be worn for probably another month.  Oh... why do I want to crawl into a hole?  Well... in order to take these pictures, I walked outside and first ran into the mailman who was probably thinking, "why is this crazy girl walking around outside with socks in one hand and a camera in the other?"  When I thought the coast was clear and the sun came out, I sat quickly on a chair and snapped these pictures, only to look up and see my new neighbor walking out of his apartment with a "WTF" expression on his face.  Oh, the embarrassment we endure to post pictures on our blogs!

That's all for today.  My laptop got infected with some EVIL spyware and I've spent the past 4 days trying to fix it.  I think I finally solved the problem this morning, so now it is time to get some work done.

Thank you all for the great comments on Katy!  (Katy prizes will be mailed soon. Consolation prize winners, yours might take a bit longer.)  And I'll post that meme next time!  Oh... and my order from Knitpicks, and the yarn I got at the Knitting Gallery, and maybe my order from Joann's and Herschenners if they show up.  (Ok, yes I went on a little binge, but a lot of it is for my knitting class in the fall and I'll be reimbursed.)



August 29, 2005
Here she is, Miss Katy!

I officially finished her Friday night.  Sewing yarn containing angora is a pain in the nose.  Yes, nose.  The angora just fluffs off at unbelievable rates and inevitably goes right toward your nose. I haven't washed and blocked Katy yet, but she fits very well. While, I have a tank on underneath in the pictures, I certainly don't need to. I know others who made/making Katy were worried about the "flashdance" effect in the picture, but mine isn't like that. I have a suspicion that the model in the picture is wearing a sweater a size or two bigger. The small fits me like a glove, and I had been hoping for a bigger, snuggly sweater. But I do love the way it turned out. The only thing I would do differently is make the body pieces about 2 inches longer. I can't wait for some cool weather to show this sweater off!!!

In the contest, there were 6 entries...

• Carrie guessed 80 yds
• Kim guessed 246 yds
• Vicki guessed 220 yds
• Kimberly guessed 24 yds
• Sarah guessed 147 yds
• Pam guessed 150 yds

Tomorrow... I was tagged for a meme by Terby and another FO.



August 25, 2005
The bathing beauty...

Don't forget the contest...

Email your guess of "how many yards of Cotton Angora kim will have left over" by Sunday at midnight (NJ time).  The person closest without going over will win a knitting prize.

(see post below for more details and hints).



August 24, 2005

So, I was going to have a "when will kim finish Katy contest," but I've been moving along so quickly that it would more likely be "what time tomorrow will Katy be finished" and that doesn't give y'all enough time to enter.

So the contest we'll go with instead is the "how many yards of Cotton Angora will kim have left over?"  To help you out some, I purchased 14 balls of Cotton Angora and each ball has 90 meters.  I made the smallest Katy and didn't add or subtract any significant length.  Oh, and for a little more help... a sleeve was approximately two balls.  (Yes, I realize the contest requires you to pull out a calculator to convert meters to yards, but I got to make you work little!)

Email your guess of "how many yards of Cotton Angora kim will have left over" by Sunday at midnight (NJ time).  The person closest without going over will win a knitting prize (I promise it won't be the leftover Cotton Angora!  That would be cruel... having a contest just to offload leftover yarn!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks all for the compliments on my class website.  I'm surprised y'all actually checked it out, but that's totally awesome.  And y'all are totally awesome!

I'll definitely make sure to NOT be in the bathroom and to be in my seat for Arcade Fire.  I didn't mean to off-handedly dismiss them because I've never heard of them.  It has been a really long time since I've incorporated new music and new artists into my "circle of music."  In general, I'll listen to just about anything, but I'm totally stuck in the 80s (pop, rock, metal).  Since I have a CD player in my car, I never listen to the radio so no exposure to current music (I hate DJ prattle and commercials... I stay more cool and relaxed singing along to Bon Jovi or Lita Ford's "Kiss Me Deadly").  The only "recent" artist that I've fully incorporated into my "circle of music" is John Mayer.  Maybe I'm weird, but when I get a new CD, I listen to it repeatedly (and with the lyrics on the computer) to learn all the words so I can sing (poorly) along.  Anyway... enough rambling... I will check out Arcade Fire!

And Rhinebeck in October... hmmm... I don't see anything else on the calendar... so hopefully, I'll be there!!!



August 23, 2005
I've been spending too much time on webpage creation the past two days (check out my page for my Social Psych class if you're interested, it still has some flaws depending on your screen dimensions), so I don't feel very creative for today's post.

So here are a few random things...

• I was surfing the net looking at yarns (like we all do) and I just stumbled across this site.  Yarndex is apparently a yarn directory that has tons of information on... what else... YARN!
• In regards to the harassing employee at Target, I emailed Target's customer service on Friday and received a reply this morning that the corporate office has contacted the store and will be investigating the employee.  I'm very impressed that they 1) replied and 2) are looking into the situation.  Hooray for Target!!
• I just realized this morning that Stitches East coincides with United for Peace's Anti-War Rally.  Kevin and I made plans a long time ago to head down to DC for the rally with some friends.  Of course, I could still try to get to Stitches on Friday or Sunday...
• And finally... Kevin and I are so hip and cool that we're going to the Fashion Rocks concert at Radio City Music Hall to kick off Fashion Week in NYC.  Ok, we are going, but we're not hip and cool.  Kevin's brother's girlfriend is in the fashion biz and since they were going, they asked us if we wanted to go.  Strong selling points were that David Bowie, Duran Duran, and Billy Idol would be performing. (Lesser selling points were Gwen Stefani, Rob Thomas, and Destiny's Child.  I think I'll be in the bathroom during Joss Stone, Alicia Keys, Nelly, Shakira, and Arcade Fire [who?]).
• Did y'all take the 80s music quiz that Karma linked to yesterday?  I scored a 107 and found out that "the 80s are my life."  (Which would explain why I'm psyched about Bowie, Duran Duran, and Billy Idol and not so much the rest of the concert.)

Late Saturday night after the last party guest left, I checked the blog and nearly spit my drink all over the computer.  10 comments!  And now up to 12!  Hahaha... I don't think I've ever gotten that many, even on a finished sweater post.  I think this once and for all solves that continuing blog dilemma... do I only post knitting and be a "true" knit blogger or do I include other randomness of life?  Since y'all liked kim's shoe blog so much, I'm giving you a part 2 and addressing your comments!

Terby... I'm torn between the pointed and the rounded toe.  On the one hand, pointy toes hurt like hell, but when worn under pants, I love the way the pointy part sticks out.  On the other hand, rounded toes are more comfortable, but under pants, it looks like I have no feet!  Maybe, I'll have to stick with pointy and pants and rounded and skirts.  (Thanks for the cloak idea too!)

Kate... we can be shoe twins!  Hahaha!  There was another pair there that I NEEDED, but they didn't have my size.  Although, considering they were nearly identical to the pair I got but in a different color, I shouldn't complain too much.

Hi Sockpal!  Small feet are hard to find shoes for, but great for sock making!  The foot portion is over before you know it.  Although, I'm sorry Ingrid that the universe beset you with the opposite problem!

Karma... Target has lots of cute shoes and so affordable.  (Such a deadly combination).  My other favorite for affordable shoes is Kohl's, although they tend to be a bit more expensive and less frequently have my size.  I should admit though, that I have had a few unfortunate shoe purchases at Target.  Mostly because I tried the shoes on and despite them feeling uncomfortable, the cuteness factor won.  The worst experience with that problem was a pair of awesome boots that I wore once to a concert and never wore again because the boot pinched my right foot so bad my foot was numb for about 4 days, and I even considered calling the doctor because the numbness was so bad.

Lolly... I know!!  Shoes and yarn are unavoidable purchases.  Lately yarn has been winning over shoes... but they might be opening a new Target even closer to me, which might cause that balance to shift!  Because, Sarah, Target's shoe department is the best!

Jacey... Kevin and I had a discussion once about foot fetishes (a primarily male thing) and shoe obsessions (a primarily female thing) and decided that they are really very similar addictions.  I think this came about after I watched that episode of Sex in the City in which Charlotte goes shoe shopping and the salesmen gives her the shoes for free in return for letting him stare at her feet.

Jaimi... how exciting, teaching your first class!  Email me and we can chat!

Cordelia and Wendy both mentioned an inability to wear heels and asked how I do it.  My reply... very carefully!  No seriously, I rarely wear heels.  Just ask Kevin, I basically live in jeans and sneakers the majority of the time.  In the winter, I wear boots that have a slight heel, but are as comfortable as sneakers.  While I love being comfortable, I also love the look of heels.  The shoes I bought at Target only have about a 2 1/2 inch heel, so they're not that high.  Not compared to these... my most favorite shoes ever...

Want to see a comparison between these shoes and the Target shoes?

The favorite shoes were purchased probably more than 7 years ago from some store in the mall for too much money, but I couldn't resist them.  How many times in my life have I worn these?  Twice!  (This is why I don't shop for shoes at the mall).  I wore them once in college to a formal dance.  I looked so tall for the pictures, but they were taken off once the dancing started.  I also wore them in college in a sketch show that the honors dorm put on (maybe someday I'll share more info about this) in which I impersonated Pamela Anderson (let's just say there was a big blonde wig, these shoes, a too tight thrift store dress, and balloons stuffed into panty hose for the full Pamela effect... oh, and really bad acting).  Since college, I've kept these shoes around, I don't know if I will ever seriously wear them, but I can't get rid of them.

Well, I guess that's just about all for kim's shoe blog for now.  I am in the market for new sneakers because my current ones are probably going to fall apart in the next couple of weeks.  Sneakers are probably the hardest of all shoe purchases.  Because I wear them so often, I get very picky about them.  My current ones are slip on Skechers (that link is to shoes similar to mine, they don't make mine anymore) that I found by some miracle in my size after my previous pair of slip on Skechers disintegrated.  Unfortunately, sneaker sizes, even within the same brand and especially for the slip ons, are not consistent enough for me to just order them online (even though that link shows that the black ones come in size 5... it is there to torture me!).

Should I close with some knitting news?

On a whim, I decided to sign up for Secret Pal 6.

I'm also very tempted to sign up for the Kepler Knit-along.  I think after I finish Katy and start on River (and maybe a few other things), I might sign on for this.  I really like the sweater, but if I make it, I'll probably alter it to be a raglan.  For close fitting sweaters, I think I like the shape of a raglan better.  I'd also make the sleeves full length.

The weatherman has promised a bit of a cool down (mid-80s and lower humidity) for this week, so I'm hoping to make some good progress on Katy.  I'm working on both the front and second sleeve.  I decided to start them both and switch back and forth between them.  Why?  I don't know.  It just seemed like a good idea.

Next post, I'll recap the weekend's BBQ and beer ponging.  I think (for myself at least) it would be a good idea to make a list of current knits, on hold knits, knits waiting in the wings, and future knits, so I don't go too crazy signing up for new knit alongs!



August 20, 2005
We interrupt this usual knitting blog to bring you a special edition of kim's shoe blog!

I went to Target yesterday to get supplies for the party.  Aside from being sexually harassed by an employee (I was wearing a "Motley Crue" t-shirt, and he found it necessary to stare at my chest and say "Motley Crue's never looked so good."), it was a successful trip.  When at Target I can never avoid the shoe department.  I have a hard enough time finding shoes that I like in my size (I have tiny feets) that I typically avoid real shoe stores because I don't want to pay tons of money for shoes.  But shoes at Target are never more than $30 a pair and most are $20 or less.  And I typically can only find one pair in my size that I like (I find many I like, but not in my size), so I only come home with one pair, not 12.  (Kevin and I went to DSW once to find shoes for him... if he hadn't been there I probably would have come home with 25 new pairs of shoes).  So along with party supplies, these came home with me...

Maybe this is just me and I'm weird, but ever since I was a kid, whenever I get new shoes, I wear them around the house constantly for the next day or two even if I'm just sitting around on the couch.  New shoes are fun!!



August 19, 2005
My class is over!  While it was a great class, teaching 4 days a week is draining.  I don't know how elementary/high school teachers do it.  I wish I could take a few days off, but I need to prep for my class in the fall which starts in two weeks, and of course now that I've passed my quals, I have to start getting things together to propose a dissertation.

Saturday is designated fun day.  Kevin and I are having a bunch of grad students over for a BBQ and to christen the beer pong table (I'll try to get pics!).

Knitting has been concentrated on Katy.  I finished the first sleeve and have cast on and started the second.  Here's an artsy photo I took the other day:

I finally got my Rowan mag and "free gift" the other day.  And immediately joined Jody's River Along.

I'm glad y'all are with me on hating vague patterns.  Maybe if I get some time (or am bored), I'll write up a petition for better pattern instructions!



August 15, 2005
A (blog) letter to Debbie Bliss...

Dear Debbie,

First off, I love your Cotton Angora book and Cotton Angora yarn.  However, I'm a bit annoyed at your Katy pattern.  Now, the criticism I have (and I'll get to it in a moment) is not entirely your fault and you are not the only pattern author guilty of this.

I understand that extra pages in a book means extra cost and in order to keep costs low, pattern instructions are written with abbreviations to conserve precious page space.  What I do not understand is how you can sleep at night after including the instructions "keeping pattern correct, increase 1 st ... working all increase stitches into pattern."  I'm 99% sure that you actually knit the sweater pictured in the book, and it appears to have sleeves that are properly done, yet you could not take the time or space to instruct the knitter on how exactly to increase the stitches and work them into the pattern.  Fortunately it is not a difficult pattern, but I had to chart out how to do these increases "properly."  As I was charting, I realized there are at least 7 different ways to incorporate the increase stitches and none is more "proper" than the others.  Why can't you share how you did it?  I'm not a dumb knitter, but if I wanted to waste knitting time charting and planning, I would have designed my own damn sweater.

So to you, and other knitting pattern designers, please keep in mind that from beginners to experienced knitters we HATE vague instructions.  The directions "knit as for left side reversing shaping" make us want to stab our size 2s deep into our eyes.  Playing with and altering patterns can be fun, but only when we choose to do so ourselves, not when we are forced because you couldn't be bothered writing up a full pattern.  (And if it is the fault of the pattern editors who cut pattern length because of space constraint, please forward this message to them as well).

Sincerely,
Kim, Annoyed Knitter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quick update... lots of knitting accomplished over the weekend.  Another square finished.  The back of Katy finished, and if I keep up this pace, I should have a finished sleeve (despite cursing at the pattern for a long time yesterday) by Wednesday.  Pictures tomorrow if the sun is out at a time other than when our creepy new neighbor is outside.



August 10, 2005
Thanks for all the well wishes about my finger!  I was surprised it elicited such concern, but I guess we can all sympathize when it has implications for knitting.  Last night I was able to knit some by putting on two bandaids to cushion it.  Today it is feeling better (although looking uglier) and is being protected by a superhero!

I promised you pictures of Katy and here she is:

Prior to the cut I had been making some good progress on Katy.  I finished the ribbing on the back and have crossed the cables a few times.  I'll try to remember to take a pretty, sunshiny picture tomorrow.  But let me say, the cotton angora is sooooooo soft, although the fuzz does tickle my nose (maybe I should stop rubbing the yarn on my face!).

Ok... let's see if I can convince Kevin to walk to the store to buy me cookies because my finger hurts.



August 7, 2005
Yesterday Kevin and I travelled out to Allentown, PA to see a Drum Corp show and meet up with Kevin's parents.  Kevin's mom got me a gift for passing my quals.  Can you guess what it is?!

Then we headed over to Pins and Needles which is in the shopping/town area of Princeton.  The store was so cute.  And they had a fantastic sale area.

(I was a little disappointed that both stores had very little in the way of sock yarn).

Did we leave Pins and Needles empty handed?  A better question might be, did we leave any yarn at Pins and Needles for future customers?

I tried to be very good, and I had my list of what I want to make.  It didn't help much that my list was full of Rowan and Debbie Bliss patterns (not cheap yarn).  But I did have gauge and yardage listed, so I could find substitutes.

Well, while scouring the sale section at Pins and Needles, we noticed that they had Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora for 50% off.  YES 50% OFF!!!  Well, I had a Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora pattern on my list every since seeing these two beauties.

Kelly and I pulled out nearly the entire stock of Cotton Angora trying to find enough skeins of the same color (I needed at least 13).  Dark blue, aqua, and pink all had 14 or more skeins...  (don't you love how I'm drawing this out!)

Since one of the keys to Katy is the cables, dark blue wasn't a good option, so I picked this...

I even did a gauge swatch of this yesterday.  I hope to cast on very soon.  (Don't worry I'll keep up work on the squares, 5 are now washed and drying and number 6 is 1/3 complete).

But Kim, you say, is that all you got?

I also got this...

So I think the majority of my knitting attention will be on the squares and Katy.  At some point, Elspeth will be picked up again (I think I need to wait until Kevin goes away for a weekend).  And of course there's Flirty and the wristers.  And a couple of more pairs of socks.  Cloak planning is on going until the weather starts getting cooler.  I think I'm at a good knitting point until Stitches in September.  (Of course I'm going to be buying a lot of yarn at the end of the month for my knitting class and if some for me falls in the cart, you won't tell will you?)



August 3, 2005
Heehee... Kevin and I haven't tried the soup yet, but when we do, we'll let you all know!

I've still been pondering the cloak idea and may have found another possible pattern to model it after.

From the pictures in the magazine, it appears to be a simple design (it's listed as Very Easy Very Vogue).  I think the sleeves have the correct hugeness, and unfolded would be nice and long.  There is also a large collar that could probably be turned into a large hood.  Of course I wouldn't do seed stitch.  This is knitted in Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick on size 11 needles.  The sample here is a size small knit with 12 skeins.  Since a cloak should be big, I'd probably knit a medium or large, which would mean 13 or 15 skeins.  Of course I need to lengthen it as well, about 13 inches, so that's several more skeins.  And I will need yarn for the hood, too.  To be safe, IF I used Wool Ease Thick and Quick, I'd guesstimate 25 skeins, about 2700 yds or 150 oz or 9 lbs!  Wow, that would be a heavy coat.

How would the yardage change if I switched to a worsted weight yarn?

Ok... it is late and I'm hot.  Time to go to bed in the air conditioning.  Maybe I'll dream up some inspiration.



August 2, 2005
Thanks all for the congrats on passing my quals!  I'm very glad to have them finished and out of the way.  I'm confused as to when I am officially A.B.D.  I hear from some that it is after the quals and I hear others that it is once the dissertation proposal is accepted.  Either way, it is now time to hunt down my committee members for signatures, a process sure to take as long as quals writing.  And then I can start thinking about dissertation type things.

I promised you all knitting content, and here it is...

Hopefully I can finish a 4th square tonight.  I plan to block them 4 at a time because I think that will fit nicely on my blocking board.

So Kevin and I went to Wegman's to buy groceries last night (we got more lamb to celebrate with!) and we found an interesting product that we had to buy and couldn't stop giggling over:

August 1, 2005
August?!  Where is my summer going?  Anyway, it has been a mood swingy kind of day and it isn't even 5pm.  Let's review...

7am: Wake up.  Squint at clock and try to read the time.
    Mood: Pissed.  I don't need to be awake until 8am.  Attempt to fall back asleep.

8am: Wake up just before alarm goes off.  Must remember to rewire internal body clock.
    Mood: Annoyed and sleepy.  Consider cutting my own class.

8:30am: Showered and dressed. Time to read through the day's lecture.
    Mood: Meh.

9-10am: Watching Charmed.  Ok, this is my new guilty little pleasure.  I never watched Charmed when it originally aired, but since my class has started, I've been watching every morning at 9am.  I think their fantasy world of witches and demons is pretty cool.  Alyssa Milano is kind of annoying, but I like Shannon Doherty, but then again I liked her on 90210.  When is 90210 coming out on DVD?  I totally need to purchase that.
    Mood: Mildly happy.  Off to class.

10:15-11:15am: Blah, blah, blah.  My poor students.  At least I only droned on for an hour and was nice enough to let them leave 45 minutes early.
    Mood: Happy to be finished class and going home for lunch.

1pm: After previewing the video the class will be watching tomorow, I eat lunch.  Of course I eat some chocolate cupcakes and my stomach hurts afterwards.
    Mood: Cranky from bellyache.

3pm: Stop over at my office to make some copies.  I have a big envelope waiting for me in my mailbox.  Inside is a note from my advisor saying my committee passed my quals!!
    Mood: Elated!!!  (Doubly elated because the Xerox machine was cooperative.)

3:10pm: Also in big envelope is several pages of comments from committee member X.  Sitting in the car reading comments by committee member X, who I was most afraid would fail me.  Comments amount to "you suck, your idea is dumb, but I passed you anyway."
    Mood: Crushed, depressed.

3:30pm: Try to obtain replacement tuition remission form (I lost my original one).  Apparently there aren't any to be had right now, I'll have to go back later in the week and unfortunately the due date for the tuition bill looms closer and closer.
    Mood: Frustrated.

4pm: Bike ride.  As I'm riding around the park minding my own business, two nasty men ask me if I want to race (and not in a friendly or kind way).
    Mood: Angry, sad.  I wish I was wearing more clothes so nasty old men wouldn't harass me.

4:40pm: End of bike ride.  I rode 7.2 miles!
    Mood: Tired, but feeling that post-exercise high.

Yeah, so that was my day.  The rest of my day will include taking another shower (I'm still sweaty from the bike ride), grocery shopping with Kevin, prepping for tomorrow's class, dinner, and maybe some knitting.

I'll post some knitting content tomorrow!!