WiP Wednesday: Boring Edition

So I really only have one thing on the needles, and it’s the same Monkey sock as on Monday. It just has a heel now. Not particularly interesting.

I did do some blocking earlier this week, which brings my official Christmas knitting to a close. Here’s the second Jaywalker scarf, ready to wing it to Mississippi and become a Christmas gift for my best friend’s mother or sister.

And here’s Joe, modeling the as yet un-fringed Steelers Scarf 2.

Once that gets fringed, it is all ready to be given to my dad in 13 days or so.

I was over at my parents place a little bit earlier today, and my mom found a great scarf from my kid-hood. I totally remember this scarf, modeled by Bax.

It’s a kids-length scarf for sure. It’s actually just 40” long, excluding the scraggly-looking fringe. Oh, and how did my mom know that it was my scarf and not my brothers?

Yep. Somewhere in all of my quilting stuff, I have a whole zippy bag of those labels. How fun is that?

WWE Are The Champions

I’m being forced to watch the 15th Anniversary of Monday Night RAW, so please bear with me. And welcome to my 200th post!

Today was full of little to-dos. Took the first steps towards getting blinds on the upstairs windows. Did some minor cleaning up.

Got Steelers Scarf II and Jaywalker Scarf II blocking

Got bothered by door-do-door religion saleswomen (THEM: we’d like to share something positive from the Bible. ME: No thanks)

Put out a holiday decoration or two


Yep. Just 15 days until Christmas. Hard to believe!

Went out with my mom and acquired a Christmas tree … our first one! It’s the first time we’ll spend the holiday in the city where we live, so there really wasn’t a reason to get one before now

It’s still naked. It’s busy slurping up water, “relaxing” and drying (it’s been raining here for about 36 hours). I’ll start putting lights on it tomorrow and Scrooge and I (uh, I mean the Hubster and I) plan to decorate tomorrow night.

But the outdoor decorations are up and running


My grandfather made that Santa. My sister-in-law got it “restored” about two years ago and after a year’s hiatus, he’s back on the front porch roof here.

Oh, and I’m through the leg on my first no-purl Monkey sock in Yarn Love. I need to tink a round and a half because I thought I was through five repeats, not six. Oh well.


In other news, I burned the crap out of my tongue on dinner … not the tip like you’d do on hot chocolate, but the middle. It was lasagna. Good (frozen) lasagna but, obviously, too hot. What to do to make it feel better?

Eat ice cream, of course! So I went downstairs (it lives in the downstairs freezer so it’s not so convenient. Helps with the self restraint). It’s not as good as the similar composition Panda Paws I can get at the Lake (what would you expect from something partnered with the Pirates? Excellence?), but it’s made by Hagan and that family is OK with me b/c they had excellent taste in homes/architects. Anyhoo, my bowl of ice cream came back upstairs with me, and now I’m mildly ill because I’ve eaten too much.

But my tongue feels better!

WiP Wednesday: Scarfs R Us

I tried to blog yesterday, and it was a disaster. I started with a post that would make Eeyore proud, then re-wrote something else that would rival Beaches in sap-factor. Seriously enough to give you a cavity. They were both awful, so I spared you the carnage and decided to wait for a nice, boring WiP Wednesday.

Today’s agenda is to post this blog entry, run to Staples for printer ink and then get my sorry behind out the door in time to go see Bruce and the E Street Band at the Igloo. RT will make the trip. We’ll see how the ‘ol camera phone performs in its first use. I haven’t listened to the new album (Magic) as much as I would like, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy the show regardless. Woot!

On to the WiPs!

First in line: My second Jaywalker scarf.

The color changes are very subtle, but the more I knit this, the more I think it becomes apparent that Javajem had the correct idea when she did her scarf – as many coordinating heavily variegated yarns as possible. I started this scarf as a good traveling project, and it’s going to jump into the starting lineup tonight. Because I finished Jeweled Steps last night.

I’ll try to get a sock photo shoot tomorrow. More blog fodder! Yay!

Second is the scarf I was mocked for last week at Hurricane Knitters. Yes, I swatched for a scarf. The only reason I did that is because it is knit lengthwise, and I wanted to make sure it wasn’t going to be insanely short or long.

This is an intentionally average photo.

And this one better shows how far into the scarf I've climbed. Yes, it's intentionally a shot of the "wrong side." Better photos will follow when it’s finished. I’m loving this scarf, but because it’s lengthwise and has color changes, it’s not particularly portable.

So that’s about it from chez DPUTiger. The Hubster and I have been taking turns not being home for the evening. He got home at 9 last night after having to work late and tomorrow will be similar. Tonight, I’m hangin’ with The Boss. Oh, and due to tomorrow’s late work night for Hubster, I plan to head on over to knit night at Bloomin’ Yarns, where I hope to finish the second armpit sleeve on the purple sweater!

Two Scarfs Are Better Than One

With apologies to The Boss, who I will be seeing up-close and in-person on Nov. 14 …

I went out walking the other day
Seen a little girl crying along the way
(Someone must have stolen her scarf!)
She’d been hurt so bad said she’d never love again
And you’ll find once again
(It’s warmer when you remember your winter accessories!)
Two scarfs are better than one
Two scarfs girl get the job done
Two scarfs are better than one!

Steelers scarf
Pattern: Year 1-2 House Scarf from Charmed Knits by Alison Hansel
Yarn: Cascade 220, 2 skeins each of black and gold
Needles: US8 (5.0mm) 16” bamboo circs from KA. These were GREAT needles and I would certainly recommend/buy again. Finish and joins were great.
Started/Completed: 6 Aug/25 Oct 2007

This was a great project that I could easily be convinced to do again. It’s longer than the pattern (90” including fringe) because I just knit until I ran out of one of the two colors (unsurprisingly, that turned out to be the black). I wet-blocked the scarf sans fringe and put the fringe on last Friday. The fringe is what really makes this scarf. I’m probably going to wear it to work tonight where I can show it off :) Hubster took a pic of me modeling the scarf, but Derf is a much better model.


Jaywalker Scarf
Pattern: A hybrid of Jaywalker Scarf patterns from Javajem and Turtlegirl

CO 44
RS: K4 (garter border), *K4, KFB, KFB, K4, DD* twice, K4, KFB, KFB, K4, K4 (garter border)
WS: K4, Slip 2 knitwise, put back on left needle, P2tog, Purl to last 2 before border, P2tog, K4

Yarn: One orphan skein of ShiBui in Marine, one skein of Claudia Handpainted in Limeade
Needles: US6 (4.0mm) Lantern Moon ebony circs 36” (I love the ebony so much, I didn’t care that they were 36” circs
Started/Completed: 14 October/1 November 2007

A great traveling project, but I don’t love the colorways, so it’s headed to Mississippi so my best friend can gift it to either his sister or mom (his choice). Project started with a lone skein of ShiBui that was discounted because it had no mate that would allow it to be a pair of socks.

As I have previously mentioned, I can’t abide yarn overs in most patterns, so I used the “true” Jaywalker increases of KFB rather than the YO used by Javajem and Turtlegirl. It blocked to 60" and I'm extremely happy with the fabric of the scarf.

I’m swatching for a new scarf, have started another Jaywalker scarf (border-free) in the Yummy yarn. But really? I need to start attacking the 11 (!!!!!!) sweaters in this house that need only finishing or a little knitting-plus-finishing to be wearable. Yikes.

WiP Wednesday: Gimme Some Candy!

Careful when you open your front door tonight

It might be Crazy Newspaper Face guy

Our house isn’t totally tricked out for Halloween, but I did make some effort (NOTE: The pumpkin at the top is hidden in the shade on the front door in the second photo)

We’re ready for Trick-or-Treaters. Probably have a little less than an hour before they start showing up at the door.

So what about my WiP’s? Glad you asked.

Up first, is the opening Jeweled Steps sock

I’m happy with it … except that I overcompensated a bit since I was worrying that it was going to be too short. And now it’s a little too long. I pondered pulling out the toe and re-knitting it shorter, but I don’t think that will work. Anyone with experience?

Pattern is ridiculously easy, and the fit is certainly playing nicer than its predecessor with this yarn. Of course, if anything, this is a bit too loose. Damn if I can figure out those gauge numbers on socks. What’s up with that? *sigh*

Next, the Jaywalker scarf!

This was my primary car knitting on the round-trip to the Lake on Monday and Tuesday. I kind of wish I had measured it before I left, but I’m guessing I knitted at least a foot on this thing. It is obviously going to need some blocking, but I seem to have blocked the Steelers Scarf successfully, so that gives me hope.


Off to throw some fringe on that bad boy (the Steelers Scarf, not the Jaywalker scarf) before kids start ringing my doorbell. TRICK OR TREAT!

TGIF/YPF: Frustrated Hausfrau Edition

It’s Friday, so I’ll lead with the Yarn Pr0n.


When I said I’d gotten some yummy yarn for the next Jaywalker Scarf, I wasn’t kidding.


It’s 80% bamboo, 20% merino, 100% soft and pet-able.


Who knew the lighting in my basement would make such good pictures. And that my Macro function would be happier here than anywhere else I’ve tried it. How ‘bout that?

Dove met its fate this morning

The Steelers yarn is ready to tackle its next task. Most likely Jeweled Steps from New Pathways. It was the runner-up pattern when I decided to go with Dove for this yarn. The gauge I was getting on Dove actually matches the gauge for this pattern, so let’s all hope for a happier ending, m’kay?

I have also been cranking on my Steelers Scarf.

I’m basically at 62”. I’m past where the “pattern” says I should bind off, but I like longer scarfs and I’ve already cut the tassels for it, so I’m going to go until I run out of yarn and will re-evaluate at that point.

The Jaywalker scarf is also getting a chunk of attention.

It’s perfect portable knitting and fits wonderfully in a sock knitting pouch or the like.


After the first few rows, it’s very easy to read the pattern so you don’t have to refer to anything, you can just look at it and know if you’re still doing the right pattern or if you have screwed it up.

In other news, I finally accomplished one of my long-standing house goals. Making the guest bed.

But first …


If you leave a bottle of Windex lying down on an absorbent surface, it will make a puddle. I used the hair dryer to dry it out a little bit, then went ahead with the bed-making


There is still some not-quite-organized junk in this room, but if you want to come visit, we now have a place for you to sleep!

But seriously. How pathetic that my big accomplishments for the day are laundry and making the guest bed. *sigh* Maybe next week I'll be able to get more stuff DONE, since the only thing on my calendar is to meet up with Sandy and Deb somewhere in W.Va.

I have a post prepared for over the weekend, so hopefully I’ll get something up over the next two days. Tomorrow I’ll be at the Big Ketchup Bottle all day for a Pitt game. Hubster and I are both working for The Worldwide Leader In Sports (espn). I’ll be in an open-air booth, so please send warm thoughts to me. If this cold front finishes coming through, I’m afraid I’ll be part popsicle by the final gun. Brrr!

Seriously Scarf Sity*

Thanks to everyone who chimed in on my hand-wringing on Tuesday. It was appreciated.

Dove I and II are going to the frog pond. The pattern just isn’t playing nicely with the Steelers yarn.

So I’m going to re-skein the yarn and do it again with a different pattern. This is the sock yarn I want to be working on. I’m wondering if the yarn, after its recent adventures will be too “kinky” to re-knit. I don’t want to wind it, wet it and hang it unless I really have to. Anyone with experience like to chime in?

I got a bunch of stuff done today, but didn’t take any pictures and don’t really want to get up and deal with picture-taking in the dark, so please forgive the text-heavy photo-free post.

Among other errands, I stopped at Trax Farms this afternoon and got some Halloween stuff, since they had crap that I liked and it’s all 25% off. Got a cool Jack-o-Lantern for the front door and a tub I’ll use for candy distribution in two weeks. Oh, and some apple cider. I haven’t had apple cider in … well, at least eight years!

Meanwhile, it has morphed into Scarf City (*the “sity” above was just for alliteration purposes, of course) out here. I’ve added three more bands to the Steelers scarf and will most likely work on that for the remainder of tonight’s baseball game. How long will it be? Well, I don’t think it’s long enough at its current 56” length. The plan is to knit until I run out of yarn, a la Jen's Lady E, and re-evaluate.

I’ve also been working a good bit on the Jaywalker Scarf. It is now about 14” long and it will certainly be the project that goes with me to the Pitt game on Saturday. Very small/portable and repetitive enough that I don’t have to pay much attention to it.

Oh, and I got some Yummy worsted weight yarn to do it all over again. :)

My old boss called today. There is no question that moving home was the right move, but I miss the high-energy environment of my career. And ooohhhh boy, do I miss my friends.

I’m quite lucky to have found the Hurricane Knitters. But I don’t have any quilty buddies out here yet. I signed my mom and I up for a class at the most convenient quilt store to where we live. I’m hoping for the best, but I just don’t get a good vibe from that place. There is no question that I will continue to buy fabric there. They have a good selection and a large amount of stock. But a Bearly-type hang out? I’m not gonna say for sure before this class and maybe a second class (that’s on a weekend or evening), but I dunno. I'm not hopeful.

So when Marc called, I had an attack of homesickness for the people back in LA. With one exception, I really liked everyone I worked with on “our hallway” at UCLA, and I miss them. And oh boy, do I ever miss my quilting buddies. But Sandy and her daughter are in Charleston (W.Va.) right this very minute, and I’ll see them at some point next week. Hooray!

Sorry again for the photo-free post. I’ll try to get back on the horse tomorrow, around the Costco field trip, laundry and some critical house-weeding tasks. And I wondered how my mother could be sooo busy once she retired. HA! Joke is on me!

Gauge Wars

Ever have a day where you’re so mentally scattered you can hardly see straight? Welcome to my life. Here’s a rundown:

1. My photos suck tonight, and I don't feel like re-shooting them, so they're small. Cope and adjust, m'kay?

2. Dove is pissing me off. Dove I is on holders waiting for me to decide what to do with it. It’s a little too tight, and a little too short in the foot. If I had gone to the ribbing when the pattern told me to, it would have been an anklet.


So I cast on the toe for Dove II in the next size up. It’s too big. So I tried bigger needles to get a looser gauge (which would match the pattern’s gauge), but I hate the fabric because it’s too loosey-goosey. So I’m trying smaller needles to see if I like that fabric, or if it will be too dense. I doubt it will be too dense. I’ve never met a dense fabric that I didn’t love. I’m crazy that way, and it probably explains why I’m a pretty tight knitter and part of the reason why I hate Yarn Overs (they make holes! I hate holes!)

3. Starting the Jaywalker scarf almost killed me, and it certainly disrupted my sleep schedule. I think I tried at least a half-dozen variations and hybrids of Javajem’s pattern and Turtlegirl’s pattern before I settled on something I didn’t loathe. I was swatching and starting and ripping and re-starting until about 2 am on Sunday night.

I do like what I am cruising with now. However, I’m thinking I may give this to my best friend so he can gift it to either his mom or sister for Christmas. Or maybe my new sister in law would like it? Who knows. I just don’t think it’s me, but it’s a perfect travel knit.

And, in news of a different type of gauge, how do we measure what should be kept and what should be tossed?

I threw out a ton of stuff in Los Angeles, but there’s more! Yeah, a lot of it is papers that I can’t seem to throw away unless I’ve at least skim-read them. Which takes forever. And brings Captain Cranky to the forefront if the Hubster is around. Understandable. And I’ve thrown out a lot! It just takes time. A lot of time that I would much prefer to spend on other things.

Like figuring out how the hell to get Dove to fit my feet. Maybe the Hurricane Knitters can show me the way tomorrow night. 7-10, Barnes & Noble Waterworks. Be there or be square!

Did I mention that I can’t find my cell phone? (found it! On vibrate, in the back seat of my car, under about three sweatshirts) Let the fun begin.

I Got Nuthin’

Well, I have some minor stuff. But no clever title. I’m sure you can deal with that.

I’m still cruising on Dove.



Have to say … I feel like something about this pattern is just the tiniest little bit “off.” Yeah, I kind of faked the swatch, but I DID measure once I had enough of the toe finished to see if I needed to start over. I did all the math that I was supposed to do (twice). I still feel like my foot should have been about 1/4 inch longer and that it’s a little too tight around.

Oh, and my RPI (rounds/inch) must be a lot higher than whoever knit the sample. When my diamond ended on the top of the sock, I was supposed to knit two more rows then do the ribbing and bind off. Nope. It would have been an anklet. Plus, I had a bunch of yarn still left in that hank, so I’m a few rows away from starting that ribbing. I’ll finish it soon, but I seem to have over-poked my left pointer finger with the little needle, so I’ve switched projects for a bit.

With that said, I'm still enjoying this book, and want to make more socks from this book. I just need an active portable project on larger needles (Steelers Scarf is larger needles, just not that portable any more).

I had a great little field trip to Bloomin’ Yarns on Friday (I can't WAIT for their website to be up!). As always, it was wonderful to see Michelle and chat for a bit. I found an “orphan” skein of ShiBui sock yarn (marine colorway) for 20% off and immediately thought of Turtlegirl’s Jaywalker scarf which is based off of Javajem’s masterpiece.

So I grabbed a coordinating skein of Claudia Handpaints limeaid and I’m off to the races.



It seems reeeally wide. [NOTE: Yes, that swatch is funky-looking. I cast on 30 and that was way too wide for a swatch, so I decreased it down to 20 because I'm lazy.] And my adaptation of their combined pattern seems kinda wonky. But I’m working on my ebony Lantern Moon US6’s and I’m enjoying it, so I’ll keep chugging tonight while I watch football and baseball.

There was one other gem that came home with me



A Lola Bunny Love kit!



It’s actually a very comprehensive little package … yarn (Schafer Lola, which is available at The Loopy Ewe), a darning needle, embroidery floss and poly filling. I’ve seen two of these bunnies in action and they are both adorable and easy!



Nice pr0n shot, huh? :)

I’ll get to Lola eventually, but right now my Jaywalker scarf is calling my name.

Oh, and does anyone have any freakin’ clue where to find the toggles that people use on drawstring bags? Or on the Everlasting Bagstopper? Talk about frustrating. I can’t even figure out what to call the damn things to Google them properly! Help!!

A little extra eye candy … this caught my eye as I was leaving the gym on Friday, and I had my camera with me.



And finally, this may be the coolest thing I've heard about the Stanley Cup's whereabouts since it spent the night at the bottom of Mario Lemieux's pool. Click that first link if you don't give a crap about hockey but enjoy all things Disney.