teal time

a lone monkey sock

in Dream in Color Smooshy Sock yarn

US 2 needles (DPN)

I have been distinctly delinquent in blogging, mostly because I couldn't be bothered to take appropriate pictures. Also, because evidently I need to use a tripod, as I appear to continually have the shakes based on the number of out of focus photos I take. However, crafting has been proceeding prodigiously, which means I have all sorts of FOs to share but have not documented. That said, there have certainly been sightings of various items in their native habitats. To wit:

- My first pair of socks emerged from the needles sometime last week, rising from the ashes of marathon Olympic ice skating viewing. Question: since when have all the men skated with gloves on? I don't remember this trend.

- I finally finished weaving in the ends of the Wave and Ripple Kimono Jacket, also mysteriously the second of no less than three different pieces incorporating teal yarn. How odd. The jacket debuted itself both at Stitches West (annual mecca of fiber - to be reported on later) and at the office and garnered its first confirmed knitter's praise.

- And above, the first Monkey sock was born (to date, still no explanation for why it's called a monkey sock), which is earmarked for my mother. Once I figured out the pattern, it actually fairly flew off the needles. I am hoping it is not too big. According to her measurements, it should work, but they may end up coming quite a bit higher on her than expected, as she is a bit shorter. We'll see. They are even remotely loose on me. I am thinking that if I do this pattern again I will size down my needles.

So the current sock count is 3. I can now say that I have no real allegiance one way or another in terms of toe up/cuff down. Surprisingly the kitchener stitch graft at the toe of the cuff down sock was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and looks rather nice. Also, the gusset heel was similarly unnecessarily dreaded. Eh, I guess this means I am more versatile and have expanded my skill set. ~excellent~ (in Mr. Burns' tone)

Also, my devious plan to recruit various victims for my hobbies is succeeding beyond all expectation. Have managed to seduce two people into signing up for the same half marathon, woo another into running with me while I train, and suckered my sister into joining the sock knitting craze. Ah, nothing like practicing my persuasive abilities...

a fledgling's attempt

It's a new leaf again - there was the defunct effort at an iWeb blog for a bit when I first moved out to San Francisco from Chicago, and there was long, long ago, my LJ account (still up, and still used sporadically to keep in touch with basically one web friend). As I re-engage with my own life, I think it's a worthwhile effort to attempt to record it. So here we are.

This year I will turn 30. It sounds like such a milestone, which is odd, because it's not like I feel any real social pressure to do anything "typical," like get married, or have a child, or even get into a committed relationship. What I did feel, at the end of last year, was that it was the right time for me to work on being happier with where I am. To feel less like I was at the whim of the stresses of my day job and do something about un-defining myself by it. To regain control by taking charge of my health, my hobbies, my habits. What is amazing to me is that it wasn't an empty effort, and I think I've done a pretty good job so far.

Thus, the manifesto. This blog will be about, in theory, my adventures in exploring my crafty, creative side, the one that helps me regain my sanity from my alterna-ego. So be prepared to be inundated with more detail than you ever cared about regarding my knitting, my nascent sewing efforts, my dogs, my cooking, and evidently, the new efforts I'm making at becoming a runner. And whatever else my brain comes up with.

******

Enough background then. To celebrate: here is a shot of the roasted brussel sprouts I rustled up tonight.

behold, my sproutyness

Nothing too fancy - rinsed, halved, tossed with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper for 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Easy-peasy. I love roasting vegetables. It's such a painless, simple way to get a deeper flavor out of winter veggies.

I am also in the process of working up a Noro striped scarf, inspired by my sister, via brooklyntweed's blog (http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/2007/04/noro-scarf.html). The major challenge would be trying to come up with harmonious colorways based on vague descriptions when ordering the yarn online. They seemed so...cheery and different.

noro, all easter-y for some reason

Sadly, my colorways started approaching one another in two spots, which suspiciously came close to pooling, but which I have decided to interpret as an ombre instead.

yeah, I'm not sure how this is all going to work out.

Regardless, it's a lovely simple project that is happily mindless, which is a nice break from the cable-filled pieces I've been churning out lately. It's my first time working with Noro (Silk Garden), and I have to say, although I thought it seemed unpleasantly scratchy at first (far from the sweet, soft alpaca blends I've been working with lately), it has really grown on me. It's got a dryness that reminds me of linen, but it's more supple, probably due to the silk. Actually, what it's really made me do is start thinking about looking into a Habu-based project...perhaps the Kusha Kusha scarf? We'll see!