For Julie...

...who continually wants something new to look at, but never answers my Facebook remarks ;)

The Game, on Flickr

I got this idea from Blue Garter, who got it from Kristen.

And, lifted directly from Sarah, who seems to have lifted it directly from Kristen:
The rules:
Using fd’s Flickr Toys,

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker).

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

If you play, post it in my comments!!! I think it's bitchin' and I want to see it.

Monkey Socks

Long ago, I received my amazing Sockapalooza 4 socks from a very prompt and gifted Nelda the Knitting Nurse.

Monkey Mosaic

In a word, they are perfect. The colorway couldn't be more my style. They are impeccably knit. They are a very hot pattern that I haven't had a chance to try yet. Nelda also sent a tub of Knitter's Little Helper hand balm from Blue Sky Alpaca. As a nurse, I think Nelda has some insight into how much I would appreciate this. We have to wash our hands (with water and/or harsh chemicals) about a million times a day. The balm is much needed, and it smells heavenly.
The yarn is Pagewood Farm Hand-dyed sock yarn from San Pedro California. The colorway is Bird of Paradise, and it is superwash (my only Sockapalooza request). When I was visiting family in the Midwest my mom picked up the socks and said, "Where did you get these!?!" I told her, and she couldn't believe that a stranger (kind-of) had picked such a perfect color for me and that hand-knit socks could look so finished and professional.

Thank you so much Nelda. You obviously put a lot of thought and care into these, and I treasure them!

Quickie

Ruby's back, due to popular demand. I'm so sorry to have abandoned my loyal readers, who clearly depend on me alone for entertainment, for lo these many months. Each year of this blog so far I have pledged to post every month, and (similar to my flossing New Year's Resolution) I fall off the wagon every time. I do pledge to floss more than once a month, though.

So, here's a quickie, as a little warm up.

My cuñadito (dearest brother-in-law) wanted (nay, demanded) an iPod cozy for his new tune-monger. THEN demanded that it not be too "girly." Okay.


iPod Cozy

Seek and ye shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened. Ask and ye shall receive. Such is the way of Ruby.*

My reward?

My charming cuñadito:



is learning from my brother:



how to be a dork:



Specs:
Pattern: Pirate Chart from Hello Yarn. I basically just measured the iPod, measured my gauge and fit the chart accordingly. I didn't think too hard about it, and it worked out. My BIL has added velcro or something as a closure.
Yarn: Unknown, from the stash.
Needles: Un-remembered DPNs.

*Ok, I never said when Ruby would deliver. Keep that in mind if you have requested, say, knitted guitar straps or other such nonsense.

Disclaimer: Today's post brought to you by a post-call haze.

April Flowers

Did you know

tulips
looked like this?

My friends gave them to me for babysitting their very fun kids, and I was astonished at how pretty they became. Can't beat a

peony or a tiger lily
though.

Laurel is a Knitting Savant

My friend Laurel is a knitting savant. I recently taught her how to knit while we were watching the Oscars. I don't know about you, but I didn't learn to knit while watching anything other than my needles from about 2 mm away. I taught her the long-tail cast-on. She did it. And even taught me some trick about how many inches of a long tail you need per stitch, which I promptly forgot. Then I taught her the knit stitch and look what she did:


Click for the Big Photo to see how EVEN HER STITCHES ARE!!!

She knit a freakin' hat. For a baby. I myself knit nothing proper for human consumption for MONTHS after I learned how to knit.

The teapot is courtesy of someone in Ike's family, or maybe Ike, I'm not sure. They're all artists and live this totally bohemian lifestyle in Iowa. Ike's mom goes to Knitting Camp, and she's a knitting goddess. I think she knows Elizabeth Zimmerman by maybe a degree of separation or two.


Click for the Big Photo to see how SYMMETRICAL AND EVEN HER DECREASES ARE

Laurel decreased on her first project! Do you have any idea how many scarves I knit before I had the balls to decrease?!?

And to add insult to injury:


Laurel is smokin'-hot

Laurel looks way hotter than I did when I shaved my head. And while I did it for teenaged rebellion, Laurel did it to raise money for kids with cancer. And she's smokin' hot, even when post-call and I'm springing the flash on her.

For further evidence that Laurel is a knitting savant, moments after she finished her first project (which only took her two weeks, maybe, including time for me to finally show up and teach her how to use double pointed needles, which she did on her FIRST PROJECT EVER), she launched into her second project, a super soft hat for her lovely and newly bald head. She demonstrated supreme taste by choosing a lovely shade of Cascade Chunky Alpaca. I told her "Cast on 72 stitches." She did it, without me having to remind her how. I showed her one purl stitch. She purled a few rows, without me reminding her how. I said, "Knit 6, purl 2 around." She did it, deftly switching between knit and purl.

She's doing a truly amazing job AND enjoying it. I'm super proud of Laurel, and her new-found talent in knitting, and I'm very lucky to have Laurel and Ike as my family in Portland.

Qué lástima

My boots are leaky.







And it's rainy.

Socks 101

My March socks for Sock-a-month3 are done! With a few weeks to spare. Admittedly, they're kind of cheaters, a fulled footie pattern written by Larissa for her upcoming book instead of my regular fingering weight calf-length socks. I knit them in order to test-knit them (a test-along, if you will), but I stalled halfway through, and decided to rip the first out and reknit them as mediums instead of smalls. They're for my granny for Christmas, a little late. Also, my granny turned 94 last week (holy crap!).


Pre-fulling


After fulling, on location in Laurelhurst park, while walking The Trickster

The Specs:
The Pattern: Socks 101, by Larissa. Attempted as a test-knit for her new book, but due to re-sizing I did not finish in time. However, when I started the better size, I knit them in a day. It's a lovely pattern, and a great way to use one skein of a luscious yarn. They're super super cozy, and I'm planning on using this extensively as a gift knit in the future. I think they're more comfy than Fuzzy Feet, and from the sounds of things, much more straightforward. I can't wait to buy Larissa's book; I think it's going to be a keeper.

The Yarn: Less than one skein of Manos del Uruguay in color 118, Mulled Wine. The pattern calls for two skeins, but it looks like most people have made it with one. I had a fair bit to spare. I bought it at the Yarn Garden. Perhaps you've seen their ad in Interweave. Brief Yarn Garden review: I know a lot of people view Yarn Garden as the end-all-be-all of Portland yarn shops. They certainly have the most yarn. If I can't find it at other shops, I'll find it at the YG. And their cafe is very charming. However, I've found their staff to be a little arrogant. They're very pushy about their classes, and they've treated me as if I have no knitting knowledge, which is irritating. Maybe they are just accustomed to new knitters, but a lot of people do know how to knit already, and know what they're looking for. And, why don't they carry Blue Moon Fiber Arts, especially since it's an Oregon yarn? The staff I talked to didn't even know what it was, even when I mentioned Socks that Rock. Do you live under a rock? In my several visits there, I have had one delightful staff member: the guy working the espresso machine who wound my yarn.
Anyway, I'd never knit with Manos before, and it was luscious. However, (warning: heresy ahead) I prefer Malabrigo. It's much softer. I'll be happy to knit these socks with Manos, or Malabrigo, or Rio de la Plata (from Abundant Yarns), or whatever.

The Needles: Chiao Goo Bamboo DPNs, size 10. Purchased from Yarn Garden. They're fine. I'm not too picky about DPNs.

Thoughts: Great pattern. The only mod I made was too make them a little bit and full them a little more. I haven't sent them to my granny yet, so we'll see what she thinks.

I'm already working on my next pair of socks, another pair of Jaywalkers. I anticipate them taking until April, so they'll be my April socks barring catastrophe.

In other news, today is the last day of my vacation, and Oregon is rewarding me with lots of rain. Maybe I'll get a little house cleaning done. At least the weather was nice for the Shamrock run yesterday. It was a great time, thanks to my hard-core coworkers who rolled out for the race.