Quilty Thursday: Fireworks Edition

The assembly line ended today. The fireworks are in honor of a special occasion -- finishing the damn Postively Painful Pineapple top!


Last night, I trimmed the 11th round on the Painful Pineapple blocks. I got up this morning and sewed the squares onto the corners, trimmed and laid the damn thing out.


I contemplated doing something a little different than I had planned … negating the blue and red secondary design squares on the corners. But I didn’t.


I sewed the damn thing together, pressed it out, laid it out on my mom’s bed for a photo-op (the “official” sewing room and ironing board are upstairs. I’ve been sewing at the dining room table). Then I folded the damn thing up, took a shower, threw some stuff in my car and headed to Akron. When I get back to the Lake on Saturday, I’ll put the three borders on (white, then red, then blue) and get a backing figured out so I can drop the damn thing off at Quilted Memories. I am not going to quilt this monster, I’m going to get it quilted on a longarm and will be happy with it.

We did go to our final Pineapple class on Thursday. Thanks to last week’s SNAFU with my fabric and I in different states, I was not at the point documented above when I went to class, which was my goal.


But mom was. Grrr … She got half the borders on during class and finished the other half yesterday. I forgot to take a “totally” finished photo. Oh, and she had her sample block plus the 30 she did assembly line (same as me), so she made a second “extra” Pineapple block and made a pair of pillow shams to go with the quilt. Overachiever. Grrr…


We also had a TRUE overachiever in our class. I suck because it’s now two days later and I’m not 100% sure I remember her name, but I think it’s Nancy (please don't hate me if I got it wrong. It's late and I should have written down your name on Tuesday!). Anyhow, she had this top done AT OUR SECOND CLASS.


On Tuesday, she was working on a second set of miniature blocks. Yes, I said miniature. I think I’m gonna hurl. (actually, they’re very nice blocks. I just couldn’t have hacked making a second set of blocks). If I remember right, she used 1” strips, which means each “layer” of the block finishes at about a half-inch. Yeek.

So that’s it for the Pineapple. I’m not sure what my web access is going to be while I’m in Akron, so bear with me if I’m a little slow on the posting or commenting front over the next few days. I’ll do the best I can!

WiP it Wednesday: Alarm Clock Edition

Why an alarm clock? Because that’s what you’ll need after reading this sad post.


I actually got a pretty decent chunk of knitting done “at work” on Sunday. Lots of down-time. Lots. And I haven’t knit a stitch since leaving the big ketchup bottle at 12:30 am on Monday morning.

But look! A pretty decent chunk of work got done between last week and this week. That’s good, right?


Over the weekend, I threw part of the I-cord handle onto the 12:01 bag. That’s it. Different couch, same pumpkin. Yawn.


It may be a “Sometimes Food” to Cookie Monster (gawd does that make me ill!) but I’m seeing my best friend tomorrow, and dammit, I made him cookies.

Lots of quilty stuff for tomorrow. Hopefully I can post before I go to Akron. Meanwhile, I’m going to watch this and trim Painful Pineapples. Only one round left. Wish me luck.

Tevas Rock, “Jennifer” Sucks*

I left the Lake to go down to Pittsburgh a week ago. When I arrived back here at about 2:30 today, it was like I came back to a different place.

Why so different? Well, for most schmoos, school either started today, sometime this week or there was some reason to be “home” instead of at the Lake. Almost exclusively grown-ups around here. It’s so peaceful and quiet. I’m actually listening to crickets as I write this post.

We’ll start with the second half of my post title. *Now, just to be 100% clear, I am NOT referring to Jen or Jenn.

When I was able to come up for air at the end of the “scramble for your life and transcribe as fast as humanly possible” portion of last night’s work experience#, I checked my email. It was 12:20 am, and I had a new comment. On the post I wrote two weeks ago today.

Check out the last comment on that post. Yep. It’s a spammer probably paid by the network that airs MB. Enjoy the show. Yes, it has made me laugh tonight. Am I pissed that they spammed my blog with crap like that comment? YOU BETCHA.


I took my first swim of the year this afternoon, and used the opportunity to break in my brand new Teva water shoes. The water in the lake was Perfect, and my new shoes ROCK.

Do I wish they were … well … ANY color other than pink? Yeah. But I got them for about 60% of “full price” at REI two Fridays ago, and there’s a lot to be said for instant gratification and being able to skip delivery charges. Is there anything else I’d change about them? NOOOO!!!

Great sunset tonight. The lake was very calm


And the sun reflected off the water’s surface like it was glass.


Then I noticed a pair of sailboats waaay off on the horizon. Cool, huh?

Sunset was at 8. I hate that. It was setting at 9 when I first got up here for the 4th. *sigh* I guess this is part of the change of seasons that I love and missed so badly when I was in California.

# Don’t want to get into detail on the work stuff here. If you're just dying to find out, you know where to find me.

Bingo!

I watched two movies today, and I finished quilting my Picnic Plaid. Yay! I was a little worried about bobbin thread when I realized that I had 2.5 bobbins of thread with me here in Pittsburgh and the spool was at the Lake.


This is the grand total of how much bobbin thread I had left when I finished quilting the last green stripe. Yup. A whole foot of thread. Perfect! It also reinforced my decision to not quilt the white center squares :) They are only 4" finished with Warm and White batting, so it shouldn't be a problem.

I’m probably going to pack this thing back up and take it to the Lake, where I will get around to hand-sewing down the binding. I know I should do a label, but I doubt I will. I just want to get the damn thing washed and in use. I’m never sure what to put on a label for something like this that has been a “back burner” project throughout its lifespan. I know I started it after I sent Bill his quilt, and I’m not even totally sure when I did that. *sigh* I should do a better job of documenting my quilts in a fashion that I’ll keep!

I had a bit of a crisis of conscience earlier on Thursday. Had a lot to do with not working and contributing to money going out, but not back in. For mental health reasons, I’ve spent a bit too much on yarn lately (it makes me feel better, and I'm not going OVERBOARD, just being a little less responsible than I'd like to be). I really appreciate that the Hubster understands what incoming yarn and fabric does for my mental health, but sometimes I get the guilties.

So I needed an immediate gratification project and cast on 12:01. I started on Thursday night and as of this afternoon at about 3, was done with everything but the handle. I’ll knit the handles next and take it to the Lake for felting this week.


I added two extra rows in the middle to make it a little bit taller, then kept going in the pattern because I was worried about running out of yarn. I guessed right, since each cake of orange Cascade 220 Heathers wound up with a leftover piece that rolled to about the size of a cherry tomato.

I used my food scale to divide the hank of green yarn into three semi-equal cakes and was happy that I had done the technique for the rolled top before (on my purple V-neck). Now it’s just I-cord City with a little grafting thrown in.

I’ll keep posting as best I can, but it’s going to be a bit of a topsy-turvy week coming up. My part-time job has a 4 pm call time tomorrow (Sunday) and I’m expecting to get home around 12:30 am.

I leave for the Lake on Monday morning and need to get a good chunk of piecing in both on Monday and on Tuesday morning so I’m ready for Border City at class on Tuesday night. Lake on Wednesday, then on Thursday I’ll leave for Akron to visit my best friend, who will be in town for the weekend with his employer’s volleyball team.

I’m guessing Bill will head back south on Saturday night, but whenever he leaves the state that's round on the ends and "hi" in the middle, I’ll head to the Lake for the remainder of the holiday weekend. I will probably stay until mid-day Wednesday, when I’ll head southward for Hurricane Knitters. Hey, I can’t miss that first Wednesady meeting … gotta hear the recap of SJ’s big day!

YPF: Black and Gold Edition

I took a bunch of pictures today, but I’ll probably save some for later.

In honor of my new minimum wage job, which I start on Sunday, we’re going Black and Gold today.

During my field trip to Bloomin Yarns on Wednesday, I wandered the store a bit. I went back into the “felting room” as I think of it, and I reached out and touched a quite colorful line of yarn.


The feel of this yarn immediately made me go OOOHHH!!! Lemme tell ya – this stuff feels LIKE BUTTAH! It’s awesome. So soft! I was shocked when I looked at the label and saw what it was: 50% Super Fine Nylon, 50% Super Fine Acrylic. Super Fine, indeed! This yarn is going to grow up to be Pasha the Penguin. Probably multiple Pashas, but wish me luck!

Onward!

I first saw this yarn at Bloomin Yarns. I resisted.


Then I saw it sitting on a table at the Lake for about two weeks. Mom had bought it at Bloomin Yarns.

When I went back next time, they were out. Then I did a dumb thing and browsed The Loopy Ewe. ACK!

In case you haven’t figured out who has hired me for a minimum wage job, there’s a clue in this last close-up. Have a great weekend!

Quilty Thursday: Censored Edition

Why censored? Well …


I got myself set up in the basement to do some sewing today while I watched this (FANTASTIC movie, btw). A large chunk of running around the house was necessary before I wrangled the following items into the basement:
* Surge Protector (in order to plug in sewing machine)
* Key to Koala cabinet (since the cabinet was locked for transport and the key wound up in the master bedroom … why? I don’t know)
* Items living on top of the compacted cabinet were moved to their proper homes elsewhere in the house

Then I moved the cabinet out of its spot on the wall and went to pull out my Pineapple stuff.
* Pile of blocks on rotating cutting board. CHECK!
* Pineapple ruler and 6x12 Omnigrip ruler. CHECK!
* Bag from Quilted Memories with all of my strips pre-cut and extra fabric. UMMM ...
* Rotary Cutter. RUH-ROH

I have searched high and low and can’t find those last two items anywhere in this house. I looked EVERYWHERE in the house and in my car at least twice. And I swore. A lot. That would be the censored part.

This is why I always had my big blue crate full of stuff. Then I just put it all in there and was ready to roll. *sigh*

Fortunately, I found one of my eleventybillion other rotary cutters, so I can at least get all 30 blocks trimmed down so I’m ready to sew like a crazy woman when I get back up to the Lake on Monday. Between now and then, I pray that the stupid bag is up there waiting for me, and work on this:


This is my Picnic Plaid quilt. It has been in various and assorted stages of “in progress” for over a year. It’s the second time I’ve made this quilt, as the first one went to Oxford, Miss., to my friend Bill.

I quilted the borders probably a year ago at Bearly Stitchin on a series of Friday nights. I did the blue and yellow stripes at the Lake just before I started the Pineapple class. The two green stripes on the left and the three green stripes are all that are left to quilt on this thing. Then I need to decide what I want to do about a label and work from there. Truthfully? I really want to skip the label and get this thing washed and in use on a couch near you. Well, near me. You know what I mean.

Back to sub-cutting. I want to watch this, since it’s the last Netflix movie that I have “at home,” but I can’t find that either. Insert more swearing here. I’m hoping that damn thing is at the Lake too. I suck.

WiP it Wednesday: WTF Edition!

You see this?


It’s the “Shop ‘till you Drop” bag in the new and improved 150-stitches cast on version.

There’s one problem with that.

Remember the pattern I was emailed on Sunday when I couldn’t find my pattern? It said that the larger bag in the 150-stitch size would require a third skein of yarn. I went to Bloomin’ Yarns today to pick up said skein. Unfortunately, they don’t carry the color of yarn I’m working with in allhemp6.

She did have another kit of the same bag. I got curious. I pulled the pattern out of the kit.

Larger size, cast on 125 stitches. Only needs two skeins of the yarn.

WTF!!!?!?!?!!!

This thing is going to spend some time at the bottom of my knitting bag. I can’t even look at it right now. Oh, and I have no idea how I’m going to proceed. Frog again and cast on the original 125 stitches? Somehow acquire another skein and proceed with the 150 I’m currently working with? Give the whole damn thing to the first person who asks for it? I don’t know.

Onward!


My Fleece Artist sock is almost ready for me to stockingette along to the toe. A few more decreases and I’m through the heel gusset. Whee!


The Steelers/Harry Potter scarf is cruising right along. It’s very fun and perfect on the mindless schedule. I’m a fan, and could probably be convinced to make another one without much effort.

So that’s about it from here. Today was errand-heavy. Maybe tomorrow I can start knocking stuff off of my “home” list and get some quilting or knitting done.

Changes

On days like today, the world I’m living in reminds me that I’ve made some major changes in the last few months.
In the year from July 1, 2006-June 30, 2007, Los Angeles received less than three inches of rainfall. Pittsburgh had 1.27” of rain YESTERDAY. Another 0.91” today and 6.11 inches so far in August. July saw 3.01” of rain. Lemme tell ya, though. It was monsoon season here last night. Oh, and at Kennywood while we were there! Not fun. Oh, and I wound up being there with Captain Cranky, who looked a lot like the Hubster. It was OK, though. I wasn't exactly itching to weather another dump of rain in the park, since we got pretty soaked when we first arrived.

More dumping today, mostly after I got home from my mini-interview field trip. I’ll know the outcome tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me, please!

In addition, I talked to my best friend today. I hadn’t realized that his school started classes yesterday. I kind of knew that volleyball season started this weekend, but it’s still kind of a reality check. My weekend plans involve a surprise party for my next-door (Pittsburgh) neighbor on Friday night and hopefully a busy Sunday with a 4 pm call-time for an eight-hour “work day.” For the first time in about 15 years, the weekend plans do not include waiting for results, posting stats and sending out boxscores. I wonder if I’ll miss it?

I actually spent today fighting a monster headache. I took some Advil on my way to the SouthSide and took a two-hour nap when I got home. We had essentially no food in the house, so I had to suck it up and do the grocery shopping thing today.

Pathetic as it is, that’s all I’ve gotten done today. That and about an inch of heel flap on my sock. I need to have a productive week. I want to finish my Positively Painful Pineapple blocks in advance of Tuesday’s class, and I want to have an easy knitting project to take with me if I’m working on Sunday. I should be able to accomplish those goals if I work smart.

Since photo-free blog posts are lame, here’s a photo from the backyard of the cottage where the Hubster and I stayed last weekend. I didn’t manage to get an exterior photo and I won’t be back up at the Lake until Monday morning, so I’ll try to post some of my other shots then. Happy Hump Day (tomorrow!)

Felting Frenzy

It has been a busy weekend here at chez DPUTiger/North Branch. I picked up the Hubster at his work on Friday and we drove to the Lake. We were actually staying at a cottage down the street because “our” house was full of relatives in honor of the big party my parents throw every summer at the local country club.

It’s a kick-ass cottage, but I forgot to take some exterior shots. I’ll try to do that tomorrow and will post … eventually.

Anyhow, we were displaced for most of the weekend, but are back in the “normal” home tonight. Why are we still up here on a Sunday night at 11:30? Because the Hubster kind of has the day off tomorrow. He’s required to go to Kennywood, but doesn’t have to go to the office. We’re going to go to Kennywood straight from here. He’s never been before, so it’s a major bummer that it’s supposed to thunderstorm all day.

Anyhow, we had a happy intersection of things going on today. A top-load washing machine, the Hubster’s huge ski feet and several objects in need of felting were all in the same house. Here’s the result:


From top to bottom, it’s my Booga Bag, three pairs of Fuzzy Feet (green and blue are gifts, gray is for the Hubster) and a pair of Slipper Socks for yours truly. All of these things have been knitted since at least February. It feels really good to have them all drying overnight on the front porch YAY!

In slightly sadder news, I frogged my “Shop Till You Drop” bag tonight. I was cruising along on the damn thing and kept winding up with the incorrect number of stitches at the end of the round (should have “last three” on the knit side, “last one” on the purl side).

Actually, let me back up a bit. The thing had been languishing in the bottom of my knitting bag. Driving up and down I-79 with me. And on this rainy Sunday, I really, REALLY wanted to make some hay on this thing. And I couldn’t find the pattern.

So I would like to give a public commendation to LanaKnits. I emailed their info address asking for help. I provided links to where the project had appeared here and she was kind enough to send over a PDF of the pattern. I was back in business! Yay!

Anyhow, after doing about six more rounds, I still wasn’t finishing up with the correct number of stitches at the end of either round consistently, so I counted. On the small size, I should have either 81 or 83 stitches for the larger size, either 121 or 123. I had something in between.

So I counted my cast on stitches. I should have cast on either 100 or 150 stitches. How many had I cast on? 125. CRAP!!! I put it down for about three hours and while at dinner with Hubster made the decision. It had to be frogged. I had a second wound skein with me and started over with that, and got cast on tonight around the felting party.

Time to wrap this up and get to bed. I’m sleeping less like a vampire and more like a human, so progress is being made. Happy Monday! :)

YPF: Not Mine Edition

Sorry I didn’t get a post up yesterday. The day flew by, then I was late getting on the road to Akron, then I got home to the ‘Burgh at 2 am. We’ll do quilty stuff next week, OK?

On to Yarn Pr0n Friday!


Isn’t this nice? It’s not mine.

It is 16 oz/1450 yards of Weavers Wool (100% wool) from Mountain Colors. Colorway is “Lodgegrass”

Mom bought it last week at Woolgathering in Brocton, N.Y. They had a whole mini-wall with hanks of this stuff, and of course, mom picked my FAVORITE one.

Where she is taking a weaving class today. I am so afraid of getting sucked in by the weaving that I left the state entirely.

Anyhow, this is more than enough for a sweater, and mom said that if she doesn’t get around to doing anything with it that I might get it for Christmas. Woo-Hoo!

Since I know I’ll need to figure this out whether it becomes mine or not, any suggestions on how to wind a 1450-yard hank of wool? Please don’t say “by hand.” Please!

And since Yvonne asked so nicely …


This is what was under the foil. My Aunt Sylvia’s world-famous Sour Cream Coffee Cake.


I have the recipe and make it occasionally, but it’s always best when Sylvia makes it.


Breakfast of the Gods. I just hope there’s still some leftover for breakfast when I get back up to the Lake tomorrow, but since my dad and brother weren’t there today, I have a fighting chance. YUM!!!!!

WiP it Wednesday: Mindless Edition

Yeah, I’ve been working on stuff that’s completely and totally brainless. As of this morning, I’ve almost even lost the mojo I need for that. I’m still working on sleeping more like a human and less like a vampire. Plus, two full days of the Pineapple … well, here’s what I’ve been working on


The Harry Potter/Steelers scarf is fantastic knitting for me right now. It’s 100% brainless. It has more than doubled since last week. A few rounds at a stop for a train, a stripe at a deck party, a few more rounds during at TV show or a movie? Perfect!


With the Jaywalkers finished, I did a million swatches with “Basic Merino Socks” kit by Fleece Artist in the Seastorm colorway. Wound up with US2/2.75mm KnitPicks DPN. Pattern is the Yarn Harlot’s generic cuff-down pattern.

Sorry about the totally crappy photo. I’m too lazy to take a new one since it’s late.

I watched this last night. It was pretty good. Made me want to buy a concert ticket. Watching this now. So far, it’s OK (at best). Or it was until I realized it’s practically a PR piece for a league that has been dead for years. Oy. Mostly just wanted to cross it off of my list. Netflix is good for that.


This is what’s in store for breakfast tomorrow. YUM!!! Unveiling will be in the morning. Any family members who are reading will see that pile of foil, wonder if my Aunt Sylvia and Uncle Bob are here, and when they find out the answer is YES, they’ll know what kind of yumminess is in store tomorrow. I’ll have pictures. I can’t wait.

Socks on the Beach

Today has been a day of highs and lows. We start with the fact that I seem to have become severely nocturnal, and didn’t get to bed until almost 2 am.

Bad: Alarm went off at 8:15. I’m attempting to flip my body clock back to something resembling normal.

Good: Got two whole rounds finished on the Positively Painful Pineapple before lunch.

Bad: This meant that I didn’t get down to the beach until later than I had planned.

Good: It was a perfect beach day. Warm enough to sit in my swimsuit and read, cool enough that I wasn’t melting into a giant puddle of sweat.


Good: Mars made a new rock sculpture. I’m kind of bummed that he and Alice are leaving tomorrow. I also finally looked at this driftwood sculpture. Pretty cool, huh?

Good: When I went (back) down to the beach to take the above photos, I noticed these two


Yup. They’re knitting socks on the beach.

Bad: Got chatting with the knitters (well, that was good) and was running behind schedule when I got back up to the house

Good: Had a voice mail on my cell phone from my best “job” lead yet. I have an interview for game-day work once they break camp and get back to the ‘Burgh early next week. This should be enough info for true Pittsburghers to figure out what I’m talking about. Don’t get too excited. It’s just for gameday work.

Bad: Got back from quilting class and checked my email. The proposal that I was hoping would help pay some bills got turned down by the NCAA. This makes me sad. I was pretty psyched about that one.

Good: We had quilting class tonight, even if it was the Painful Pineapple.

Bad: Teacher wasn’t there (???). Still got a full round done in the two-hour window, but might have gotten more done without the schlepping to/from the store.

Good: Mom took me out to dinner on the way home and I’m about to watch a Netflix movie. Haven’t decided which one yet. I’m also going to knit something other than the Steelers/Harry Potter scarf for the first time in days. Woo-Hoo!

Oh, and it was a windy day, so we had to block open the door to the front porch. Our high-class doorstop should look quite familiar to several of my regular readers.



So that’s about it from here. Can’t believe it’s Tuesday night already. Where has this summer gone?

Oh, and if anyone has good Flickr expertise, I’m trying to figure out how the heck to do the photo gallery thing. Apparently, I'm even too dumb to figure out how to get the coding off of Flickr so I don't have to post each photo in-duh-vidually through Blogger. What I really want to be able to do is that cool "collage" thing where nine photos can be posted like they're one? I know it's easier than I've made it. Help!

Finally, we have a "StormTracker 783658 Update." Tropical Storm DPUTiger will be unable to join forces with the Hurricane Knitters tomorrow night. Sorry, kids. I'm in New York now, have to be in Akron on Thursday and the 'Burgh on Friday. Getting to Pgh. for Wednesday night before the Akron trip is just too much driving. I'll do better next month, it has nothing to do with a fear of crossing multiple rivers/bridges in the same trip. I promise! :)

Happy Monday!

Hi! I’m back! Sorry about the long weekend break. There really wasn’t much exciting going on.


On the way south on Friday, I had to take the detour on Rt. 5 because the bridge was out. And I had to wait for a train to go by. Two rounds of Harry Potter accomplished while waiting for the pair-o-trains (it’s a double track).

I made it to Bloomin Yarns 20 minutes before close. One of these days, the owner is going to see me walking in just before close on a Friday and tell me to get the hell out. Until that happens, though, I got enough O-Wool Balance for a sweater at 20% off, and got an “extra” sock knitting mini-bag. Yes, I have a problem.

Saturday’s adventure was a new deck christening party for a co-worker of the Hubster. In true Pittsburgh fashion, we got a little tangled on the directions because the first turn off of 88 didn’t have a sign.

It was OK, though. We recovered nicely, and as we trucked along into some serious boonies, all of a sudden, I was thinking hey, this looks REALLY familiar.

Then I saw this


And this


You see, that first really crappy building was a tack shop. And Bonnie Dell is the barn where I started riding. And where I leased my first horse. It was a hike from there back to the destination we were headed for, but it was a neat little trip down memory lane.

Saturday night, I finished my Jaywalkers. HOORAY!!!


And that’s about it from here. Today has been more quilting sweatshop stuff on the Positively Painful Pineapple.

Took a little break for sunset and for my current favorite show. Here’s my best photo from tonight

Yarn Pr0n Friday: Twizzle Edition

Remember I said there were a few other yummy options at the Woolly Lamb in East Aurora, N.Y., after our field trip there on Tuesday? Well, this jumped into my hands and stuck:


Meet “Twizzle” from Mountain Colors in the Wilderness colorway. It appears to be worsted weight or a tiny bit lighter. Label suggests 4-5 sts/inch on a 4-6 needle.


Fiber content is 85% merino and 15% silk. It is incredibly wonderfully soft and I can’t wait to do something with it. It's so amazingly soft and pretty that there was no way I was leaving this stuff in the store, no matter what.


Of course, there are problems with this plan. First and foremost, they only had four skeins of the stuff. I bought it all, but that still means that I only have 1,000 yards. Definitely not enough for a sweater unless I decide to starve myself into a skeleton (not gonna happen)


So if anyone has ANY ideas as to what this stuff can be when it grows up, I’m all ears!

Happy Friday! Gotta get cracking on the packing up and organizing. I’m leaving for Pittsburgh today. The fact that I’m just going to be gone for about 48 hours usually means that I can leave a semi-mess, but we’re on the Cottage Tour on Sunday, which means that the place has to be head-to-toe spotless and EVERYTHING has to be put away.

Remember yesterday’s sweatshop photo. Remember that I’m a slob. Let that sink in … don’t you envy my day now? (ugh!!!) Happy Friday, everyone!