Wednesday, April 28, 2010
No-so-quick Socks
I thought I'd whip up a quick little pair of socks, as a bit of a break from my larger knitting projects. They are, however, taking a little more effort than I'd estimated...
"On-hold Socks" - the pattern is by Wendy D. Johnson and it's from a book called "Socks from the Toe Up. I figured I'd make them two-at-a-time, and I thought I'd only wind up spending a few short evenings on them.
The pattern calls for 2mm needles (which a pretty tiny - the smallest you can get locally) and fingering-weight yarn. I thought it would be fun to knit this lovely "Somoko" by Fleece Artist (65% Merino, 20% Mohair, 10% Nylon,5% Silk) that I'd picked up at my LYS, Cricket Cove...
Except that it knits up a wee bit larger than the pattern calls for. This means that I had to back up and adjust the pattern. I backed up to the toe increases and did not add on the last set of 4 increases. It still seemed loose but I still thought they would be fairly wear-able.
Last night I spent the evening making the heels. I wasn't sure how the pattern would knit up, so it was interesting to see the construction. I'd modified things to take into account my slightly smaller pattern. They looked all right, but by the time I finished and tried it on, I realized that I have rather narrow heels and I didn't like the extra bulk and width that was there. This means that I will have to back out and put in a couple of decreases on each side before I re-do the heels. If I don't fix them, I will never wear them.
As it is, I'm already questioning if I should finish them. I'm not terribly fond of the variegated pattern that the yarn makes. Its such an intense variegation that you cannot see any of the pattern that is knit into the top of the sock. Perhaps they really should just be frogged...
Labels: knitting
Posted by Dre at 7:55 AM
2 comments
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Sunning Hunter
As I walked over to Hunter with my camera, I asked him if he was enjoying his spot of sunlight. His response was a loud purr. :-)
Labels: cat
Posted by Dre at 11:39 AM
1 comments
The Gray Silk Scarf
Last year I picked up some lovely Habu Textiles A-1 2/17 Tsumugi Silk and I found a great pattern for it...
Labels: knitting
Posted by Dre at 11:16 AM
0 comments
Cat-approved Ficus
The other day, I finally got around to picking up a plant for my empty plant pot that lives in my kitchen window (which is a south-facing window). It used to house some herbs, but they had gotten infected with something, so I had to dispose of them.
Alas, the poor ficus did not last the day, despite being sprayed down with bitter apple cat spray as soon as it was planted...
Labels: cat
Posted by Dre at 11:11 AM
0 comments
Friday, April 23, 2010
Updated blog
After seven years, it's time for a bit of an update. Now that I can post images in my blog, I no longer require a separate photos page. My portfolio desperately needs updating so it's put on the shelf for a while. And of course, this page has a new home, due to some Blogger/Google changes.
Posted by Dre at 12:59 AM
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Thursday, April 22, 2010
This blog has moved
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Posted by Dre at 7:19 PM
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Thursday, April 08, 2010
Pottery Class
We learned how to do plates tonight but I opted to do a couple of bowls instead. My first one took me a while since I wanted to make something that I'd actually want to use. Thanks to Anu for holding it up so I could get a photo of the bottom & exterior...
I had about 40 minutes left so I made a second bowl. I decided to stick with a bit of an organic theme and made wavy edges, etc.
Labels: pottery
Posted by Dre at 9:29 PM
0 comments
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Repairs and Rennovations
So I came home from pottery last week and my bathroom ceiling was raining. I quickly cleaned things up and put a couple of buckets down, and headed upstairs to talk to my neighbor. She wasn't having any issues. I then called the landlord. Middle of the night, I hear a sploosh in my bedroom as the water comes into the ceiling over my closet area. Turns out her tub drain and tub surround had both been leaking. Contractors, plumbers and carpenters have been in and out all week. I've moved my bathroom and bedroom's contents into my living room and kitchen and have been working at home (thank goodness for VPN!) and keeping my cats barricaded in the living room. Thankfully there's an empty apartment on the upper floor so I can use that washroom during the day while they are working on mine.
Unfortunately, they manage to leave a huge mess at the end of each work day and I wind up having to spend time sweeping and scrubbing things down. Also unfortunately, when it rains, it pours. It happens to be one of my busiest work weeks in eons. I've been working evenings too. Well, besides having to move my bedroom out on Tuesday night (thanks for the help, Jay) and spending a couple of hours at Jay and Lisa's to use thier shower, have a nice home-made dinner and unwind a wee bit.) I'm still working. This is my break and as soon as I've posted this, I'll be getting right back to things. I should be enjoying the beginning of a long weekend now. Hopefully I'll come up with a brilliant design that I can whip up before midnight...
Posted by Dre at 8:52 PM
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