D is for.... Dolly

Taken while having her tummy scritched, of course.

Did I mention....

...that there's a new yarn shop in downtown Iowa City? It's called Home Ec Workshop (website not up yet), and carries yarn and fabric, and also serves coffee, muffins, cookies, and other yummies. It's got a nice little sitting area as well as a classroom equipped with sewing machines. I was there last Saturday morning, and although their target audience is definitely college students (downtown Iowa City is right next to campus), I felt very welcome there. I'll definitely be back!

They carry a nice selection of yarn, including some not carried by the other two LYSes in town. I was thrilled to see a variety Lorna's Laces -- not just Shepherd Sock, although that is what I bought. Oh, and a couple skeins of Malabrigo Worsted.

That's 2 skeins of LLSS in Douglas Fir and 2 skeins of Malabrigo Kettled-Dyed Worsted in Cactus Flower.

Speaking of yarn, I finally got the extra skein of RPM Pink Lamb's Pride yesterday, and finished the second Very Cabley Mitten. They're going for a little Soak right now -- pictures to come.

And finally -- Sissy, be watching your mail!

"-8 is the new 20"

Remember when this was cold? Now, we're looking forward to this weekend, when it may actually get into the 20s. Last night, a friend mentioned how an acquaintance had joked that "-8 is the new 20." I wish I had thought of that, because it's SO true. 20 would be practically balmy!

In case you're wondering, the normal highs here for this time of year is in the low- to mid-30s low 40s!

And for you Celsius types:

• -8F = -22C
• 20F = -7C
• 35F = 2C

Truly Finished Honeybee

Now I just need to get it in the mail....

Specs
Pattern: Honeybee Stole, by the amazing Anne Hanson. Cast on November 1, 2007; finished February 17, 2008.
Yarn: Wooly Wonka Merino Laceweight in Northern Lights. I used every bit of the 1800 yard skein.
Needles: US 5 circs from Jenkins Woodworking -- Bolivian rosewood and extremely pointy!
Notes: I am a loose knitter (I just now realized how that sounds... you know what I mean, though!). Actually, I've decided that I'm more of a loose purler, and this pattern has lots of purls. Although I blocked very loosely, this shawl is 11 feet long, not 7 feet as specified. Luckily, this is for my 6 foot tall sister! I actually left out one repeat of the honeybee-and-honeycomb pattern (above) on the second end, plus a couple of plain-knit rows in the edging, because I ran out of yarn.

Although this took twice as long as planned (I had hoped to be done by Christmas) and although I ran out yarn, I'm really please with this project. It was both challenging and fun, and the pattern is extremely well-written.

As I said, I blocked this loosely -- I soaked it in cold water and Soak, and then spread it out on a couple quilts on the floor. I made sure I pulled the pattern out, but I didn't pin down all the little picots along the edge. I don't have that many pins or that long of blocking wires! When I picked it up off the quilts, this is what I saw:

Lots of little blue dots. I knew that the water had been blue when I took it out, but this really surprised me. I'll have to warn my sister not to sweat while wearing Honeybee!

While Honeybee blocked, I cast on (again) for Wisp. This time I'm happier.

This is Kidsilk Spray in Tea Rose. It's a little pinker than shown in the picture, but I love all the colors in it. I cast on 66 stitches instead of 46, and plan on making it longer, too (unless, of course, I get bored first!). Luckily, I have 4 skeins of the yarn, for a pattern that calls for 1 to 2 skeins!

FO: Honeybee!

Finished at 11:45 Wednesday night, but not yet blocked -- all 8 feet of her.

Harley likes her, too. When I block (probably Sunday, during the next predicted snowstorm), I'll try to pull the sides out, to make her a bit wider.

See the few inches that need to be woven in in the picture below? That's ALL the yarn I had left!

I'll post specs with the blocking pictures in a few days.

So last night, I cast on Wisp with some beautiful tea rose Kidsilk Spray. I knit a few rows, decided it needed to be wider, and frogged. Except, of course, Kidsilk Spray doesn't frog so well, so i just cut it off. Luckily, I have 4 skeins of yarn for a pattern that calls for 1!

Tonight, because I'm no longer in a Wisp-y mood, I think I'll cast on for my Bird in Hand mittens. Of course, I could work on my hat... But I think my hands are colder than my head!

Denial

Too bad it's not quite "D is for...." week, because mine would be for Denial.

This is Honeybee, just 6 rows and a bind-off from being done.

This is how much yarn I had left.

I knew that, thanks to my loose knitting, I was going to be cutting it close. But after the miracle of more yarn, I had faith that there would be enough.

Oh, well. I was apparently wrong. I've frogged back a little ways (thank god for lifelines!) and will be omitting one repeat of the Bee and Honeycomb section and a couple rows of the hem edging. And then all that's left is blocking this 8-foot long shawl!

Dolly says, "I'll just be waiting here on the couch."

C is for Cake Plates and Candlesticks

Bet you thought C would be for Cats, right?
It would have been, if I could get the two of them in the same frame!

C could be for a lot of things, since I am something of a Collector. One of my Collections is of Cake plates. It began with the one at the bottom of the picture above, which belonged to my Grandma. Shortly after I received it, I found the top one in an antique shop in Lebanon, Illinois. The two are exactly alike, except that Grandma's doesn't have the gilt edge. I don't know if it ever did, or if it wore off from use.

Now I have a small Collection of Cake plates lined up on my sideboard, which was also Grandma's. Behind them are some colored glass Candlesticks, which I found in a dusty box in a little shop in Boerne, Texas. I think I paid $5 for the group of 7. I don't know anything about them, except that a couple of them have a "made in China" sticker on the bottom. So they aren't old, but they're pretty!

The four Cake plates on the right are old, although not antique. The two on the left are new. I like them all!

C could have also been for Candles, since I almost always have candles lit while I'm at home, especially in the winter. I'm particularly partial to warm scents like Cinnamon, Cloves, ginger, and vanilla.

I guess it also could be for Cascade 220, since some followed me home this morning. It's all destined to be Bird in Hand mittens -- a white pair with the design in raspberry for me and a pink pair with white design for my niece.

I've resisted winding up the hanks, because I've got a bad case of startitis, and I really need to finish Honeybee. I'm so close!!!

Snow -- and lots of it

I'm tired of winter. My co-workers tell me that this is the worst winter in years, and I hope it's not starting a trend.

We got between 10 and 14 inches of snow, most of it during the day today, although it began last night. I had already planned on going in a couple hours late this morning, and I ended up staying home all day. Waiting for the bus in almost blinding snow didn't sounds like fun.

Isn't this tree pretty in the snow? I'm amazed at the size of this evergreen tree, across the parking lot from my place. I wish I had taken a video of it -- the slightest breeze makes the branches bounce up and down.

Meanwhile, there's an uneasy truce in our house.

Hello, Dolly!

On Saturday, Dolly came to live with Harley and me. Dolly belongs to a friend who has developed really bad cat allergies in the last few years. My friend also has two dogs, who Dolly hates. So we thought the quieter, dog-free environment at my house might be better all around.

Dolly is about 7 years old -- the same age as Harley -- so totally breaks the "new cat rules," which say that ideally, a new cat should be a kitten of the opposite sex. So far, though, things seem to be going okay. Neither Harley nor Dolly is very agressive, and mostly they've just been ignoring each other. There was one dash up and down the stairs, which I heard but didn't see. (It sounded more like elephants than cats!) I'm not sure what caused it or who initiated it.

Dolly has spent most of her time so far under the sideboard, but did sleep on the foot of my bed last night. Of course, that meant that Harley wouldn't even come into the bedroom!

Dolly looks amazingly like my late cat Charlotte. I'll try to find a picture of her to scan. And while I'm at it, I'll try to take one of Dolly that's not blurry and laser-eyed...

You Make My Day!

Wow! Helen gave me a "You make my day" award! That is so sweet! However, it comes with a great responsibility -- to name 10 bloggers who make my day. Specifically: Give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times.

This is hard! I read lots of blogs! I like all of you! So I decided to give this award to my San Antonio (or former San Antonio) blogger friends. I actually know these people, and I miss them all.

Susan
Kim
The Other Kim (who should post so I won't worry about her)
Bezzie
Amy
Mary
Michelle
Amanda
David
Courtney
Enid
Knitting Eileen

Okay -- I know that's twelve, but who could I leave out???

B is for Books

I know what you're thinking -- she's a librarian; of course, B is for books. But the truth is that in an academic health sciences library, books aren't our first concern. Journals (professional-level periodicals), usually in electronic format, are much more important, are the prime source of information, and use up most of our budget. I even know some librarians who don't like to read for fun!

Despite that, books are important to me. And, despite the fact that the public library has pretty much everything I need, I like owning them. I own a lot of them, in fact.

You've already seen my cookbooks.

However, they're only the tip of the iceberg.

The paperbacks are shelved two rows deep.

Not included here are most of my knitting books (although you can see a few of them on the top of one of the bookcases up there) and the computer and home-maintenance books.

To answer some questions:

• No, I don't know how many books I own.
• Yes, I gave a lot away when I moved (probably about 25% of my collection).
• No, they aren't cataloged, although they are sort of loosely arranged by topic.

Thank god (or whoever)!

Otherwise, my undergrad degree in rhetoric/creative writing would be a real waste.

Your Language Arts Grade: 100%

Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).

Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz

And this is good news, too.

You paid attention during 97% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

And good things come from the USPS, too!

No, the Green and Black didn't come with the Rockin' Sock Club shipment!

Good Things Come from Blogs and UPS

In her post today, Chris asked what unexpected benefits have come from blogging. This was easy for me, because I had already thought about it -- last May, I moved over 1000 miles to a city where I knew exactly two people (neither of whom was a good friend, although they're both very nice). Unless you count going away to college, I had never moved anywhere alone before. But I didn't feel alone, because I brought all of you with me! Even though I've never really met the majority of you IRL, I knew you'd follow me to Iowa City. And you made the move easier. So -- thank you so much for hanging with me! You've really helped!

Before I get all sappy -- good things also come from UPS! I came home for lunch, just in time for the UPS man to leave this on my doorstep.

hmm..... I should have turned it on for its picture....

That's a new 80gig iPod -- 20 times bigger than my old one! Although the cute Nanos tempted me, I decided to go with the Classic (with room for 10 times as much stuff!) for just $50 more. And the fact that I had $50 in Amazon gift certificates helped! My old 4gig 1st generation pink Mini (btw -- why would anyone pay that much for what was old technology when I bought it three years ago?) was 100% full, but that barely scratches the surface on this one. Plus, if I should want to watch a movie on a two and a half inch screen, I can! And my Mini will have a good home with my 11-year-old niece.

For $9.95, I added this to my shipment.

It's basically an old-style portable radio. I've been concerned that my one, ancient battery-powered clock radio would die during bad weather (remember, I live in tornado country!). This one is small enough to carry around with me. However, it's not nearly as cute as the pink transistor radio, with its single earphone, I got for my 8th birthday!

It's a yarny miracle!

Remember how Honeybee was in time-out, while I tried to figure out how to deal with the shortage of Wooly Wonka Merino Laceweight in Northern Lights? Well, I pulled Honeybee out this afternoon and decided that I would do half as many repeats of the two end sections at this end and just not worry about it. Honeybee is worked from the center out, but no way am I going to rip out the other end to make it match!

I finished a repeat of the first end section and started fishing around in the knitting basket next to me to find the lace-weight cashmere (left over from my sister's Wine and Roses Mitts) that I've been using for lifelines. And instead of the cashmere, I pulled out --- more Honeybee yarn!!!!!

The little ball in front is what I thought I had left.
The one in the back is the one I found. Missing is the "cigar-shaped wad," since found.

I had totally forgotten than when I wound the giant skein, it broke! I've never been happier about broken yarn! And when I was looking up that post -- because once I saw the little yarn cake, I was sure I had blogged it -- I was reminded that there was also a little "cigar-shaped wad." I just found it, too!

It's a miracle!

Not what one wants to see....

So I was in the craft room (aka the front guest room) hoping to find another skein of Lamb's Pride Worsted in RPM Pink, since the skein I'm using for my Very Cabley Mittens apparently wasn't a full one (my Ravelry stash tells me it's 3/4 of a skein -- wish I'd looked there first!), when I heard something large pull up in front of my townhouse. I looked up and saw this.

Luckily for me, the firemen strolled leisurely to one of the townhouses across the street. Peering down to the left, I saw an EMT truck. I guess the firemen were just there for moral support. Eventually, they brought a person out on a stretcher and transferred them to a gurney and then into the EMT truck. I don't know the people who live in the condo they went into.

And I forgot to keep looking for the yarn....

Saturday

My brother and niece (the one who's learning to knit -- actually, she's my only niece!) came in for a quick visit yesterday evening. Did I take any pictures? Well, no, except for this one, which my brother took as we drove home from the mall.

3ºF. That would be -16º C. I imagine that was the high for the day; Weather Underground says the high was only 2º. And frankly, that's a few degrees higher than they were predicting for today! The good news is that it was sunny and clear and really a beautiful day, if you ignored the fact that your nose hair froze in the two minutes it took to walk from the car to the mall!

Luckily, my head stayed warm in my earflap hat, even if it is a little big.

My favorite part is the "tail."

In reality, the main color is a bit grayer than this, but it definitely has a lavender tint to it.

Details:
Pattern: Ryan's Hat
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza (50% llama/50% wool) (one skein each of 030 gray/lavender, 042 lime green, and 031 periwinkle winkle)
Needles: US 9 (DPNs and a 16" circ)
Comments: When you knit scarves and shawls and even socks, row gauge isn't that important, but now I'm beginning to knit things where it's more important. My loose stitch gauge was actually an advantage for this pattern, since my head is a little bigger than the predicted result, but my row gauge makes the hat hang a bit low in front. So my loose knitting is affecting the outcome and I need to figure out how to fix this. I'd like to learn to knit to gauge, not just adjust needle size. Although I've already begun adjusting needle size for socks so....

Knitting News

Look what came in the mail a few days ago -

I didn't crop this picture, so you can see how the keycap on the letter c is missing.
Obviously, I need a new MacBook Air!

It's an absolutely beautiful skein of A Piece of Vermont Superwash Colonial sock yarn, in Shell. Isn't it pretty? Pink, with faint streaks of blue/lavender/gray. It's nice and squooshy, and smells good, too. I love Jessie's yarn -- this is the third skein I've bought from her -- but when she posted it right before Christmas, I told myself I could not buy it. I told Jessie this, too, and she came up with the perfect solution: she put it aside so I could buy it after the New Year!

In actual knitting news, I've finished the earflap hat. I'll try to remember to take a picture tomorrow morning. I'll be wearing it tomorrow, because it's cold! (Although not as cold as they're predicting for the weekend, when the high Saturday is supposed to be somewhere between -4º and 0ºF. I have to say that I have a little trouble wrapping my brain around the idea of 0 as the high!)

The earflap hat is a little big. It fits fine around my head, because I've got a big head, but it's a bit long. My loose knitting seems to be getting looser! And that's a nice segue to the next topic: Where's Honeybee?

Honeybee is in time-out, while I face the fact that, due to my loose knitting, I'm going to run out of the beautiful hand-dyed yarn. I know what I'll do - I'll just make it asymmetrical, with the two ends different. But it's so annoying!

Oh -- and the baby for whom I made the hat and booties was born yesterday. I saw pictures of her on her grandma's computer today. She has lots of dark hair, but even so, with these temperatures, she'll definitely need a hat!

Stealth knitting

Thursday afternoon, I ran into the mother of the realtor who helped me find a place to live when I moved. (She -- the mother -- works at the Main Library, so this wasn't a real surprise.) Talking to her reminded me that my realtor's baby is due next week!

So, that evening, I came home and cast on for the Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap. I wasn't happy with my first choice of yarn, so Friday evening, I cast on again, this time with a mystery sock yarn found label-less in my stash. It feels like Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock and, looking at the Lorna's colorways, I wonder if it's Sassy Stripe. No idea where it came from, though....

I finished the cap yesterday, which is some kind of record for me. I'm still not crazy with the way the orange pooled, but it's cute, and any baby born in Iowa in January certainly needs an earflap hat. All that's left to do is attach the I-cord ties.

So, with lots of yarn and some time, I decided I should do a pair of booties, too. With Ravelry's help, I found several free patterns, and decided to go with this top-down pair from Megan Mills. This will teach me to read through the pattern more closely -- it looked like a sock and it was knit from the top down. It would be a snap!

Actually, it wasn't really very hard at all, but instead of grafting the toe, you graft the whole length of the sole -- 48 stitches to Kitchener.

Y'all may remember how I dislike Kitchenering, even after a very good lesson by my friend Becky last summer. However, I got out the post-it note with the instructions from Becky, and grafted the first bootie at 12:30 a.m. this morning. And I think I've got it -- Kitchenering that many stitches, over and over, may have set it in my brain for good. I did the second one earlier this evening, with almost no panic!

I like the finished booties better than the cap -- less orange pooling. I went to Joann's this afternoon and bought both pink and orange ribbon, so all I've got left to do is decide which color to use.

A is for.....

Armadillos!

After I took the above photo for the ABC-Along, I realized that I also have a couple pairs of armadillo earrings plus an "armadillo crossing" sign in my office.

My armadillo collection does have a purpose, though. The majority of the armadillo pins above (all except the two in the top left) were bought to support the SCC/MLA scholarship fund.

SCC/MLA (the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library Association) was my regional medical library group for 21 years. MLA is a national group, with regional chapters. SCC consists of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Now, since I've moved to Iowa, my official regional group is the Midwest Chapter. I remain, though, a member of SCC -- they'll take my dues no matter where I live! I just can't hold office or anything like that (although, since I was president a couple years ago, that's really not such a big deal).

Through SCC, I've met some of the best people I know. It's a great organization, full of bright, funny, caring people, most of whom are health sciences librarians. The idea of leaving SCC when I moved was painful. All of the MLA regional chapters are great, I'm sure, but I think SCC is maybe a little closer-knit than most of the rest. We like each other and have a lot of fun together. At the annual national meeting, SCC sponsors the Armadillo Ball. People from other chapters work to get invited to it! (okay, okay -- there's an open bar....)

You might ask -- what does the armadillo have to do with a bunch of health sciences librarians from five states west of the Mississippi? The story goes that, back in the 1980s, when there was discussion of what the party being planned for MLA should be called, it was suggested that, although our five states were pretty different, we all had the armadillo in common. With that, the party became the Armadillo Ball and the armadillo became our "chapter critter." We have encouraged other chapters to adopt critters, but so far none have. Personally, it seems to me that that indicates a lack of whimsy/light-heartedness/levity on their part. I'm thinking that maybe, now that I'm a member of another chapter, too, I'll try to influence Midwest Chapter to adopt a critter.....

This is the official SCC armadillo.
I'm thinking about getting it tattooed somwhere...