Weekends are for knitting

Ishbel is blocking.

She is a LOT bigger than I expected.

Blocking is also not my strong point. I periodically consider getting blocking wires, but the truth is that I'm just kind of sloppy about edges. I ran string through the top edge of Ishbel, but it didn't really help me out much.

I also finished a pair of socks for the husband. These are a pair from Favorite Socks.

He's pretty happy with them. I was so close to being done with them when I forgot about them and moved on to something else, I don't remember what...
When I was sorting through my yarn and picking out the losers, I also cleaned up my projects and re-discovered some of the socks I had left to complete. I worked on another super simple pair for him for a while, but it's not my favorite yarn. I also rediscovered my Primavera socks, and managed to turn the heel and make it partway down the foot this evening. I'll probably work on wrapping those socks up this week. I'm really hoping to concentrate on finishing some things off for the next month, although I'm contemplating the next sock to be started.

Time for changes.

I'm feeling like a lazy blogger, but I want to get back to blogging. Hence, a collection of random bullets.

• It's Friday, and since my ersatz boss is a) on vacation for the next 2 weeks and b) as of 2 weeks from now no longer my boss, I'm taking some extra time this morning. I have almost nothing to do for the last period of time. Mostly cleaning up, documenting things, and transferring a little bit more of what I know. In general - as little as I can possibly get away with.
• I'm not going to say anything more than I'm glad that it's over.
  
• I have a whole weekend ahead of me, and a little less than a month before I start my new adventure. I probably need to get going on the packing.
• One of my biggest tasks has been checking to see that I have PDF files of all the research articles I own and recycling the paper copies. I have 1 file drawer left to go through, but I have reduced my paper weight by at least 1/3 already.
  
• Summer of Socks '09 has started, but I haven't knit any socks recently. I completed another garter stitch square for my ever-growing afghan. I'd like to finish 3 more, then it will "just" need to be put together.
• On my list of things I would like to accomplish before I leave town, I have a sweater that needs seaming, and my tangled-yoke cardigan could easily be finished in a week.
• I'm planning on giving away some of my yarn, either to Goodwill or to the school district for using in art classes. I have some single balls of stuff that I will never knit, don't like, and don't want. And no, it's not stuff I'm going to gift away on the blog - I'm terrible about going to the post office, and trust me, you don't want this either.
• I don't really feel like going to work today, despite knowing it will be much much less stress than usual.
• Thanks to the tutorial on Yarn Harlot's blog, I realized I have been picking up stitches incorrectly in garter stitch. Makes much more sense her way, but I'm completing my blocks the way I've been knitting them anyhow.
  
• I'm running out of things to say, but I've got some ideas for other posts (and photos) that I'll try to get to this weekend.
  

Aw! I got tagged...

Bells tagged me, so I had to answer these.

What Is Your Current Obsession?
This is a hard question. A better question for me is What Are Your Current Obsessions... So I'm going to answer that instead. I'm currently obsessed with my garter stitch log cabin blanket. I dropped everything else to work on that. I've also developed an obsession with Animal Crossing on the Wii. Oh, and playing Scrabble on Facebook.

What Are You Wearing Today?
Jeans and a deep v t-shirt in navy blue over a wine-colored camisole. It's hot as blazes outside.

What's for dinner?
(I want to eat at Helen's house.) Salmon, rice, and spinach, with a hot dressing of soy sauce, oil and chili oil on top. Mix, then add avocado and cilantro. Yum.

What Would You Eat for Your Last Meal?
Ooh. That's a tough one.

What's the Last Thing You Bought?
A bag of Sun Chips from the vending machine. I was hungry yesterday at lunch. Before that, books.

What Are You Listening To Right Now?
My very loud washing machine and my son who is talking to himself while driving blocks around the living room.

If you could go anywhere in the world in the next hour, where would you go?
Florida. I don't like the heat, but I'd really rather be with my mom and sister tomorrow. It's 9 months after my dad's death, and cruelly, also my parents' wedding anniversary.

Which language do you want to learn?
If I could learn another language, I'd like to learn Chinese. I am, however, hopeless with languages. Plus, although I can hear that I'm doing something wrong, I can't figure out how to make the changes to make the sounds correctly.

What do you love most about where you currently live?
Uhhh... I like my house. It's the first home I've ever owned, and there are many things about it I will miss. I'm particularly fond of the front room, which has a beautiful bay window. It's a great room to sit in to knit or read or just relax.

What is your favourite colour?
Green.

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
A thin, stretchy v-neck black cardigan. I actually have 2. I loved my original one, which I found in a discount store and have worn it past the point where it looks nice. I got a replacement sweater last year, and I love it almost as much.

What were you doing ten years ago?
Preparing to move from California to Wisconsin to start grad school. Planning my wedding. Completely freaking out. (Not much changes.)

Describe your personal style?
Sloppy. I'd like to say casual and comfortable, but I think that's a stretch. I'm working on cleaning it up, but I've lived in the lab too long. I wear jeans 99% of the time, and only in the last 3 years have I made an effort to wear ones without holes in them!

If you had $300 right now what would you spend it on?
I would get stuff in preparation for my move. I need some household things. If I'm supposed to spend on fun things, I'd splurge on myself instead and buy a Nintendo DS, a game, and some pretty circular needle and dpn cases. Or else I'd hire a babysitter and go out on a date or two with my husband.

What are you going to do after this?
Play with my son, make dinner, possibly make cookies, watch TV and knit, play scrabble, read a little and go to bed far too late.

What inspires you?
Passion for what you do, no matter what it is. Being excited about something can bring artistry to the simplest things.

What are your favourite films?
Boogie Nights, Soapdish, Better Off Dead, The Usual Suspects, Lost in Translation

Whose work/designs are you inspired by?
I think Wendy Bernard has a great eye and wrote my favorite new knitting book of the year. Cookie A isn't always to my taste, but she has crazy math skills and makes me think. Ysolde has some pretty patterns. Stephanie Japel (Glampyre) doesn't design for me, but I love to look at what she does - she's got a unique style. Finally, Nora Gaughan does some really wild things, and I want to look at more of her patterns to see how they're constructed.

Your favourite books?
I have many loved books, but these are always on my list.
Italo Calvin: If on a winter's night a traveler. Invisible Cities.
Norton Juster: The Phantom Tollbooth
Mercer Mayer: Professor Wormbog in Search of the Zipperumpazoo

Do You Collect Anything?
Not really. I buy a lot of books, cds, games, and yarn, but I think I play with those things too much to really consider any of them collected.

What makes you follow a blog?
Beautiful photos, good writing, or interesting projects. Sometimes something just amuses me.

What was the most enjoyable thing you did today?
I left work early. The good part of the day has just started.

What's one thing you dream of doing?
Running my own lab.

Passing it on:
Julie (I can't wait to see how you answer #1.)
Kim (Hamsterball!)
Acornbud (If you aren't reading her, you should. She knits pretty things and has beautiful photos from Hawaii. Isn't that more than enough reason?)
Anyone else want it? I don't really know who's left reading anymore... Please let me know if you take it. I like to read responses.

I see squares.

Lots of squares.

At last count, there were 14 of them. I'm knitting #15 now.

I'm shooting for 20, which will require a lot of seaming. This may wait until after I move.

Have I mentioned the move? Slightly more than a month away. I'm ignoring it as much as I can. Did I mention I was knitting squares? I watched North and South, the one with Richard Armitage, not anything starring Kirstie Alley. He's not hard on the eyes.


Does that make up for a not that exciting blog post?

I'm not a golfer

But I know a water hazard when I see one.


(Golf course at Hilton Head, photo taken from path behind condo we were staying in with husband's family for a weekend.)

If I were more focused

I could probably have more finished things to show off on the blog. But, instead of finishing a sock or three, instead of finishing Ishbel (did I mention I started that?), instead of finishing a sweater or a lace scarf or 3, I knit square things.



This is one of those very polarizing projects - you're either going to love it or hate it. I've noticed that Noro is a yarn that people have strong feelings about. Sort of like posts on Ravelry about dpns vs. magic loop. Right now, this is the best thing ever for me to knit. Yes, all garter stitch. Log cabin blogs, from the instructions in Mason-Dixon Knitting. Gauge? Approximate. My tension is variable. The last 2 days, I was clearly more tense than the first 2 days I was knitting this. The blocks are smaller. Decidedly so. I'm not going to explain why, I'm just going to keep knitting square-ish things.

I originally was planning to make the Lizard Ridge afghan. I have the yarn for it, but I like it better this way. It's not subtle, it's not delicate. It's a large-scale project, it may look very home-made, and I don't care. I know the seaming is going to suck. I know knitting and quilting are different media, and perhaps should stay separate. Regardless, I'm totally entertained by watching how the colors play out in each block, and thrilled by the fact that I can crank one of these out in a day or so, with little time or brainpower invested. I need something bright, cheerful, and simple right now. This puppy fits the bill.

More later, but for now, I'm back to making square things.

ETA:(Oh, and the color here? Totally wacky. This thing is so bright it blasts out my camera. I'll try again in the daytime.)