Golden Compass Fun!

More on the Badgerlicious Sock

So you can't see Mister Badger (Señor Hufflepuff) yet, but you can see progress.


















And beyond the progress (I'm going to do these on two circs, so I'm starting both on dpns, then I'll switch) I've finished the designs. I think I'm going to have to increase the guage on these though, as the stitches per inch are more than I thought. But aside from that, here are my plans.


k4, p2 rib across the instep.
When I turn the heel, I'll put the badger on the heel flap.










The leg I'll use the houndstooth pattern for, I think, keeping the k4, p2, putting the houndstooth pattern in the k4.











Then, I MIGHT break the houndstooth and put Hufflepuff on the cuff, starting at the back. It should fit...still not sure. Might be too busy...






Then I'll do more of the k4, p2 ribbing around the cuff. Maybe in black...I'm not sure. More to come on that one.

Right before working on the Badger sock, I finished a pair of the Horcrux Socks for The Six_Sox_Knit_A_Long. It uses a dutch heel, which I think was too narrow on this particular pattern. There are 60 stitches total, the heel used 30 and went down to 8 at the turn.

That's all well and good, but I found myself having a hard time "seeing" the heel structure before I actually did it...which makes planning a heel (as I'm doing with the Hufflepuff sock) a little harder.
http://www2.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
So...for my own record-keeping and without further ado, I give you—a Dutch Heel turn.

Here's the start of the heel flap. Normally I don't knit top down. Normally I don't move stitches to waste yarn. Something in me said "do it...it's a new heel...you'll be happier".

I was.

















Inside the heel flap (I didn't do slip stitches).





And outside the heel flap.












Then we start the bitchen' heel turn. My sister was sitting next to me when I did this and I told her how even the Yarn Harlot gets all jazzed about how cool it is to turn a heel.

Here's pics of the beginning.

Again, for newbies, you just do knit and purl rows, adding a K2tog or a p2tog at the end of each row, connecting the middle of the heel (this one is 8 stitches across) with the edges of the heel flap, in effect, wrapping the heel flap around the unsuspecting heel. Enfolding it ina casing of yarn love.

Yeah, yeah...here's what it looks like, in two steps.

First


Then

Psych!

So...here I am at 5:53am. I'm exhausted, Andrew's leaving today, I loathe this...yet...the birds are singing, the trees are lovely, the pool is still as glass...if only it weren't for the dreams.

HAMLET
O God, I could be bounded in a nut shell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams.

GUILDENSTERN
Which dreams indeed are ambition, for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.

HAMLET
A dream itself is but a shadow.

ROSENCRANTZ
Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy and light a quality that it is but a shadow's shadow.

HAMLET
Then are our beggars bodies, and our monarchs and outstretched heroes the beggars' shadows.

I know nothing of ambition, but I had many many bad dreams last night--and knowing they're shadows doesn't help...in fact, it kinda makes it worse... They're the kind of dreams that make me not want to be alone in the house with the kids when Andrew's gone. Those horrible 'almost us, almost here' alternate reality dreams that relentlessly roll by, changing into something worse and worse, that make you panic in the middle of the night. Maybe I'll ask Mom if she'd mind spending the night tonight...

On the up side, I got sick of working on the hoodie last night and cast on for the Hufflepuff sock. If I can ever figure out how to manipulate the chart I made into a jpg I'll post it here. For now, though, this is the beginning of the pattern (I'll post it all at once and neatly when I'm done, using this incredible site to generate charts for my fun patterns).

Cast on in contrasting toe color using the awesome Knitty Cast-on for toe-up socks. After a number of socks I've found that I like to have at least 7-8 stitches on each needle (14-16 per side of the cast on, 28-32 sts total). Less makes for too pointy a toe, and I'm not sure what my secret pal's feet look like, so I thought I'd rely on the socks to stretch into pointy-ness if necessary. I was rather limited in sock yarn choice, though (bright yellow was easy to find, but a matching weight in black was a little tough this time of year), so my toe is less stretchy than I'd like...at least it is now.

I'll alternate knit-only rounds with
Needle 1: k2, right increase, knit across
Needle 2: knit across until there are two sts left, left increase, k 2
Needles 3-4: repeat 1 and 2

Continue increasing until 60 sts are reached. The sock will be knit in a continuous patterned ribbed stitch, so unless the foot is huge, 60 sts should be fine.

Enough for now. I have to get my son's schoolwork ready.

Oh!
And look. Here he is! Ridiculously early for him. We'll both need naps today.

Tomorrow we demonstrate spinning (and he'll be doing...stuff) at the Pima County Fair! We'll need our beauty sleep tomorrow...maybe I should call mom.

Another Attempt

To lose weight.
Scroll to very bottom of blog page...

Socks and Shirts

I promised pics.
I now have them.
; )

These are my Six Sox KAL Sprintime in Paris Socks.














One of my Horcrux Socks
















And my Craftlit T-Shirt= WWMDfK? (What Would Madame Defarge Knit?)

Pain: Two Kinds

First: Oral Surgery. Ouch.
Drugs—Niiiiiice.

But enough of that.

My mind is with Virginia now, not in some sappy "I feel your pain" way, but more like, "the horror...the horror..."

Having lived through my little corner of 9/11 and the aftermath, I can honestly say how sorry I am that these kids will forever measure their days by this moment. This blip on an otherwise lovely life. This is their own little corner of hell, and many, too many of them are going to wrestle with survivor's guilt and "what if" and "if only" and there's a huge part of me that wishes I could take that away from them.

Then there's Keith Olberman...

Last night Olberman talked about the disconnect between mourning the kids who died at VT and (the lack of mourning for) the kids who died in the last ten days in Iraq and he made me think...

There are too many of us who think, "well, the kids in Iraq knew what they were signing up for. They KNEW they might die...I mean, they're in the Millitary fer chrissake."

But that isn't true. I mean, they know they're WILLING to die for their country. But I cannot believe any of them signed up TO die. Nor did they sign up for this war. Rememeber what we of the hubris said back in the '90s?

The next war will be all buttons.

There won't be another war.

You should join the military! You'll get some discipline and some good training and think of what you can do with all that experience.

I think we're jaded these days in some really ugly ways.

Jaded and mean.

And I'm including myself in there. I've gone there too.

WWMDfK?

Makes me sick...

And So It Goes...

Rest in Peace, Kurt Vonnegut.
I miss you already.

Sorting-hat.com says you're in Ravenclaw!

Sorting-hat.com says you're in Ravenclaw! For the Harry Potter Sock Swap!



I'm a Ravenclaw! My first swap ever!

Oooh! And look

Sort Me!

A DIFFERENT sorting hat said Ravenclaw!

A third said I was tied Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff (at least I'm not in Slytherin!)

---

And my questionnaire:

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?

Lo, unto me has been given the honor of the house of Ravenclaw. (Thank God it's not Slytherin...)

2. Shoe size?

My shoe could kick a Basilisk's butt--it's a 10 women's.

3. Foot Length?

A sprightly 10 inches (that's not always true, is it?--size same as length)

4. Foot Circumference?

REDONE MEASUREMENT: A svelte (for a size 10) 9.25".

5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.

a. I am a sucker for Lantern Moon anything, and I'm a sock knitter, so anything size 2 or smaller.
b. Inox, 8", steel, size 000 (not only killer for fine sock yarn, but killer needles in general!)
c. size 0, 00, 000 any brand circs longer than 20" (I know, they're not DPNs, but I often do two socks at once...)

6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?

I am always up for adventure (as anyone from Ravenclaw should be) and therefore, I'm thrilled with a surprise...or challenge...or...anything. I've been good in DAtheDAs.
; )

7. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?

Blue/Bronze (book) and Blue/Silver (films) are both lovely. No preference at all. Just...you know...no woosie powder blue...I'm in Ravenclaw for goodness sake! What would Rowena say???

8. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?

Heck yeah! Bring it on!

And evidently my HP name is:

Everyone see here,
Heather Anne Hutchinson Ordover done it! Splendid!

You have succesfully transfigurated yourself into
Lavender Caerphilly

According to the Random HP Name Generator!

In Love with a cell cozy

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O how I love thee, Ron Weasley (and Molly too!)