holy mackerel

Not only did we catch Spanish mackerel yesterday, but I also have a few finished projects.

The socks are Helix knit in Koigu that Pam picked out a long long time ago.  I finally got them done after a long hiatus.  I am really pleased even though I am almost sure they will be too big for her.  I like the toe-up-two-at-a-time technique.  But I would be kidding myself to think that knitting socks is a fast project compared to, say, knitting a sweater.  There are a shit-ton of little tiny stitches on little tiny needles in each sock.

The baby blanket is for the latest niece. It is knit in Toto from Artfibers.  According to their website (today) Toto is supposed to be a "chunky" weight yarn that can be knit at 15 stitches = 4 inches on size 9 needles.  What I received was a barely worsted weight yarn that I had to knit up with size 7 needles just to get a decent heft fabric. So much for a fast knit baby project.

The pattern was from Purl for a chunky weight cotton yarn. The border is sewn on.  There has got to be  a better way to do this but I tried and could not pickup just one stitch while knitting the border to attach it at the same time.  A better knitter than me has probably got that all worked out.  Anyway, all of that border sewing and fussing around with how many peaks to make for each side of the border was a pain in the ass.

The finished blanket is adorable though so I suppose it was worth it.

yes I have a lot of catching up to do

But I decided to just skip it and start posting.

There has been tons of knitting going on and my Ravelry project page is fairly up to date with a few exceptions like a baby blanket I finished from my queue but don't have a baby to give it to. Yet.

Instead of rehashing right now, I want to post about my very first Wollmeise purchase.  I can't believe I got sucked into the madness.  I think my curiosity and inner competitor got the best of me.  I bought two Kunterbunt We're Different packages of two semisolid skeins in the 100% merino superwash.

I don't know what the colors are called but I really like them. 575 yards per skein means I can make a pair of large socks with a single.  Nice.

I like the green color the best:

I think I will try to trade maroon:

The bags they came in with German translations of English knitting terms are a nice touch:

 The other night I couldn't sleep and found myself awake at the computer at 2 am.  I conveniently remembered that was exactly the time when the Wollmeise shop gets updated (7 hour time difference and the shop updates happen at 8 AM Berlin time).  I think I have four more skeins coming but I may have dreamed it....


Birdwatching has also been happening.  I put up new feeders in New Orleans and Alabama and I hope to have some good feeder pictures soon.  In  the mean time here is a shot of a Great Horned Owl in a nest with two babies.

The shot is pretty bad because, as usual, I did not have my long lens with me.  I am going to go back next weekend to reshoot, if the babies are still there. There is actually another nest near by with two more owlets. They looked a little smaller so maybe I can geta  shot at them. Here are some lovely Cedar Waxwings on a grey day:

birds on the patio

I know it's fall but we seem to have a pair of Carolina wrens nesting in our umbrella. We also have a lone humming birds enjoying the feeder still.

1. Birds on the patio, 2. Birds on the patio, 3. Birds on the patio, 4. Birds on the patio, 5. Birds on the Patio, 6. Birds on the patio, 7. Birds on the patio, 8. Birds on the Patio, 9. Birds on the Patio, 10. Birds on the Patio, 11. Birds on the Patio, 12. Birds on the patio

I love my camera (Nikon D90).  

oh snap!

We went fishing on Saturday and caught our limit of snapper.  We went out on the Misty:

Captain Gary practically guaranteed that I would catch snapper.  He didn't lie. Once we had our fill of snapper he got us some trigger fish. Here's our final haul:

Meanwhile, there has been actual knitting going on.  I am 75% done with my February Lady Sweater knit with my first purchase form Sundara.  The pattern calls for Sundara worsted merino and, by golly, it went on sale (because they are no longer making this version of it).  

 

 

This pattern has languished in my queue for too long so I was more than happy for the excuse to buy some Sundara yarn and see what it is all about.  I am pleased with the quality.  It's soft and only a tiny bit splitty.  There are no unexpected knots in the middle of it (so far) and the color is richly variegated.  My knitting, however, is a mess but I have decided to adapt and continue on.  So what if I had about 20 extra stitches on the needles when I started the lace part!  I will just increase less!  Also I am now an expert at tinking back down a stitch to pick up a missed yarn over.

Next blog post I will expose my hoarding for all the world to see.

five years ago

This turned out to be a spot on accurate prediction:

 000
WWUS74 KLIX 281550
NPWLIX

URGENT — WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28, 2005

...DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED...

.HURRICANE KATRINA...A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED
STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT
LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL
FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY
DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL.
PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD
FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE
BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME
WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A
FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH
AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES
AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE
ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE
WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN
AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING
INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY
THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW
CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE
KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR
HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE
CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE
OUTSIDE!

stupid pool

Construction is going very slow.  It makes one question the wisdom of installing a pool during the summer. Actually it makes one wonder why this wasn't done about a month ago.  When it was supposed to be done.

The outdoor kitchen has plumbing but that's about it.

The tiles that edge the pool are gorgeous. Chad (WAS Design) pretty much picked them out. He's the man with the vision.















Here's the last sleeve of my Derby shrug sitting on top of the tiles.  They are more blue than in this picture. The glaze has a lot of variation and a touch of gold and brown.

I finished something

 
This should have been quicker and easier.  But my knitting mojo is all over the place lately.  Still needs buttons.  I started this because I am on a quest to use up stash and I have a load of this Vanna's choice left over from making the Cartman pillow.  I didn't really enjoy it then and no amount of thrifty destashing is going to make me enjoy working with this yarn this time.  I believe this very cute pattern deserved much better quality yarn. ("Willie", by the way)

No amount of blocking is going to cure the tension problems I had when changing color but I think that using something more elastic like wool or wool blend would have been more forgiving.

I tried to weave as I went.  I wrapped my colors as described in my Vogue Knitting reference. Yet is still came out lumpy and holey.  The color changes are ridiculous.  I tangled my yarn even though there were at most four bobbins during a few rows.  Usually there were only two or three.

Despite the problems I had, I may try to do this again.  I like the one piece construction and it is really fast and cute. Unfortunately I am almost embarrassed to give it to Preston to wear.  I may have to make him something else.

The rest of my notes about this sweater are on Ravelery.