An Open Letter to My Neighbor
Dear Ms. Agoraphobic,
I know that we don't really get along, although you've never given me the chance to prove what an annoying twit I am. I've gotten past the refusing to make eye contact, the waiting in your car until you know we are inside our apartment and the weird desire for absolute silence at all times, including 4.30 on a Friday afternoon. However, this practice of yours of stomping up the stairs and throwing whatever you are holding down on the landing while you unlock your door has got to stop. Whatever it was that you just slammed down made my apartment shake. There is no need for that. Aside from the fact that you nearly gave me a heart ache with the movement and the noise, Fish freaks out. He's very sensitive to his bowl being disturbed and unfortunately the only good place that we have to put him is near the door. However, he's happy there. Except for when you're a jerk and make his bowl upset.
There is no love here for you.
TheBon
It should be noted that neither TheBoy or I have ever done anything unkind to this neighbor. She was doing laundry the day I moved in, I smiled, and she looked the other direction. I said hello to her a few times, but have long since given up since she seems to be afraid of other people. Even the apartment manager says she complains about everyone, mostly without reason. So, totally not me.
Simple.
Simple indeed!
I've been knitting on this since last Sunday. I've done a bit more since this picture. It's the simple knitted bodice designed by Stefanie Japel for Stitch Diva Studios. So far I'm extremely pleased with how this is turning out. The fit is good and so far pretty flattering as well. I'm unsure of how I'm going to finish off the sleeves. We'll have to wait and see how things go I suppose.
Dead Bread.
For some reason this picture makes me laugh for a lot of time. I really think it's the look of sheer joy on the bread's face. At any rate, check out Creatures in my Head. Andrew Bell may be crazy, but he sure does draw pretty pictures!
Around and About.
Bits and pieces for this entry. I haven't posted anything because I have been swamped with reading for school.
Today, I went to a memorial service at the local baptist church. The wife of a professor who is very dear to me passed away last Wednesday and the memorial was today. It was hard, but easy at the same time. I hate to see people cry, and so I did a lot of crying [I would have cried on my own anyway.] I went with TheFabulousKristi and held her hand while she cried. It was good to check in our professor, we've been worried about him. He says he's got to learn to cook now, so she and I are going to teach him. He was obviously sad, but in a much better state than we've seen him in recent months [she had a particularly agressive strain of cancer.] It's good to know she's not suffering anymore.
In less sad news, I started in on a sweater for myself yesterday. I'm knitting the size I am now, with hopes that it will be wearable through the winter. My bust hasn't changed a lot as I've gained weight so there's hope that it won't get that much smaller [although on the flip side of that coin, I would KILL for my bust to be a few sizes smaller!] The great thing about the sweater is that it is knit from the top down so it's easy to try it on as I go. There will be photos once it starts to look like something.
I dyed some fiber for a swap I'm in and I'm not sure if I like the outcome or not. But the house smells like kool-aid. I'm hoping that TheBoy will get me set up with some real dyes for Christmas. I've resisted because of a lack of space but I don't want to resist anymore. I can get a lot more for my money if I buy undyed fiber in bulk and dye it myself. I suspect there will be some near-misses in that case as I dye more. At least I've got a lot of color theory under my belt.
I also finished spinning for another swap I'm doing. As soon as the yarn is dry I'll be packaging it up to ship it off to Italy. Speaking of dry, the rain has finally started, at least for a few days. I spent yesterday dancing about the apartment celebrating the rain. TheBoy is starting to realize how crazy I am...Let's hope that doesn't discourage him from marrying me!
Socktoberfest Pair One!
Fleece Artist Socks
Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino in Rainforst, approximately 3/4 skein
Needles: Brittany 5" Birch DPN size 2 [2.75mm]
Pattern: My own. See notes below.
Modifications: None.
Started: September 25, 2006
Finished: October 8, 2006
Notes: I knit a sock for TheBoy in between these two socks. The second sock was started and finished in less than 4 days, so the pair took me roughly 7-8 days of knitting. I used a figure 8 cast on for the toe, knit to 1.75" short of my heel then worked a standard short row heel. The leg is a spiraling rib done as follows; worked over a multiple of 5 stitches [65 in my case.] The pattern is a multiple of 10 rows
Leg 1:
It's a 10 row pattern repeat:
row 1: *Knit 4, purl1* repeat to end.
row 2: Knit the knits and purl the purls
row 3: *Knit 3, purl 1, knit 1* repeat to end
row 4: Knit the knits and purl the purls
row 5: *Knit 2, purl 1, knit 2* repeat to end
row 6: Knit the knits and purl the purls
row 7: *Knit 1, purl 1, knit 3* repeat to end
row 8: Knit the knits and purl the purls
row 9: *Purl 1, knit 4* repeat to end
row 10: Knit the knits and purl the purls
I reversed on leg 2 so the spirals would mirror each other so the pattern for that goes:
It's a 10 row pattern repeat:
row 1: *Purl 1, knit 4* repeat to end.
row 2: Knit the knits and purl the purls
row 3: *Knit 1, purl 1, knit 3* repeat to end
row 4: Knit the knits and purl the purls
row 5: *Knit 2, purl 1, knit 2* repeat to end
row 6: Knit the knits and purl the purls
row 7: *Knit 3, purl 1, knit 1* repeat to end
row 8: Knit the knits and purl the purls
row 9: *Knit 4, purl 1* repeat to end
row 10: Knit the knits and purl the purls
More photos of this sock here.
All in all I am quite pleased. The socks are sproingy and soft but not bulky. They're mid-calf in height [or thereabouts] on me. The socks are fraternal, with one sock being far more brown than blue but I love them both equally.