Blog Delayed Due to Technical Difficulties

This blog seemed to take forever to get to the web. My digital camera decided to be difficult and like everything it's done so far, it did difficult well too. At first I thought I just needed a new camera. I wasn't happy about that prospect, as I've had this one a bit less than two years. I checked at the camera store and described the problem. The manager suggested just getting a card reader because the camera appeared to be taking pictures.

Good guess, but wrong. The card reader worked about the same as the cable. Then it dawned on me that it might be the memory card. So after a number of trips to the camera store, the camera is now working and able to download the photos to the computer.

An interesting thing the manager of the camera shop mentioned, is that digital cameras do not last as long as the old fashioned film cameras. At least now, I have a head's up to save for a new one.

Off the Needles: Given the extra time between blogs I was able to finished two pairs towards the 52 Pair Plunge III. Pair No. 30 is the Embossed Leaves pattern by Mona Schmidt from Favorite Socks by Interweave Press. I used Good Grrl hand-painted yarn from Tempted in the Zombie Grrl colorway. Great pattern, great yarn!

Pair No. 31 is based on an Ann Budd infant sock pattern out the new Interweave Knits Accessories magazine. The pattern is written for double-pointed needles and since I do two-at-time I made some significant changes in the pattern. I used my own Sheepish Fibers Big Foot yarn in the Brock's Truck colorway. It's actually leftover from a pair I made for myself earlier in the 52 Pair Plunge Challenge. Also, off the needles is my moebius scarf. It's still a little shy and needs to have the ends woven in and a good blocking before it shows itself. This was made using my handspun and I am very pleased with how the color worked out. Photos next time.

On the Needles: Pair No. 32 is a derivation of a Wendy Knits pattern, Dead Simple Lace Socks from her book, Socks From the Toe Up. I've finally figured out that my feet are much smaller than most of the sock patterns, so I need to do a lot of adjustments to pattern stitches to make the finished socks wearable. I'm using the Festivus colorway in another skein of sock yarn from Tempted. Incidentally, I joined her sock club this year, after wondering what sock clubs are like. It was a good decision on my part as I've received some wonderful sock yarn, some fun patterns and great bags. I'm doing it again next year.

On the Wheel: I've been experimenting with color, as well as the creation of worsted yarn. Right now I have a fuchsia/royal blue blend on the wheel. I'm very pleased with the results and hope to have a skein completed by my next blog post.

Great Reads/Great Listens: I listened to the Mammoth Murders by Bill Crider from my Audible account this week. I wish I understood why I enjoy mysteries involving sheriffs from sparsely-populated counties, but this was another one. This one takes place in Texas and involves the possible finding of Sasquatch, feral hogs, archaeological digs and a long-missing child. Hopefully, that description was not a spoiler for the book. Probably not great literature, but good characters and a good plot.

One Challenge Done/One to Go

Off The Needles: I probably should have worded the title the other way round as I'm covering the remaining challenge first. I finished Pair No. 29 in the 52 Pair Plunge III. They're made from Creatively Dyed yarn in a women's small. (That's Greta snooping in the packages.) This was wonderful yarn to knit with and the yardage was wonderful (much like my own Big Foot yarn!) It's still fun to try out yarn from other folks!

On the Needles: I'm currently working on a pair from Tempted at 3 am's Good Grrl in the Zombee Grrl colorway. I'm using the Embossed Leaves pattern by Mona Schmidt from the Favorite Socks book by Interweave Press. I've made some significant pattern changes to accommodate my smaller than average feet. Even so, it should still look like the pattern in the book when I'm done.

I haven't forgotten Herbivore, by Stephen West. It's still going, it's just going slow.

52 Books in 52 Weeks: I am finally done with this challenge. The final book was Cat Striking Back (A Joe Grey Mystery), by Shirley Rousseau Murphy. Joe finds a body in an empty swimming pool, but it's gone by the time the police respond to his report. Naturally, he has to prove there was a body and then find the person who perpetrated the crime. This installment of the series dealt more with the cats and their feral counterparts, than the humans. It seems like this series gets better with each installment. Highly recommend.

52 books in 52 weeks was quite a challenge for me. I'm looking forward to my future reading when I can choose what I want to read, simply because I want to read it and not because of the added factor, I could read it quickly. I have a Wally Lamb that calls out to me each time I pass the shelves. But because of it's size, I've been waiting to read it until after the challenge.

Finding Time

This week has been a struggle to find any time for myself. That includes even a short entry into this blog. I am looking forward to working regular hours in the coming weeks, even though every day has been interesting and certainly not dull.

Off the Needles: I finished the bamboo socks about this past weekend. These were made from On Your Toes bamboo/nylon sock yarn. It's a beautiful colorway, but I was not pleased with the quality of the yarn. I purchased this in a yarn shop and I paid a bit more than I like to pay for it. My biggest complaint? Huge knots, lots of them! The big advantage to getting a big ball or skein of yarn is so you don't have to do joins - or at least not a lot of them - but I had to with this yarn.
These are Pair No. 28 in the 52 Pair Plunge.

On the Needles: I'm still working on my Herbivore. I ripped back because I wasn't happy with it. The second time through it's looking much better.

On the opposite spectrum from the bamboo yarn is some one of the Monday Night Sock Knitters purchased from CreativelyDyed.com. I'm doing 2-at-a-Time Socks, toe up. I'm well into the leg of the socks and still no knots - nunca. Great yarn, great colorway. Can't wait to finish and photograph.

Recently, I've been intrigued by moebius scarfs and decided to give one a try. I'm using some of my own hand spun. More on this one next time.

52 Books in 52 Weeks: At long last, the challenge is winding down. I hoped to be done by now, but I'm moving right along.

Book 49: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Wonderful characters, great story. Nobody Owens escapes death at age 2 or 3 by toddling into a graveyard when his parents and sister are murdered nearby. He is then raised by the long dead inhabitants of the graveyard. As one might imagine, the person who murdered his family, really wants him dead and returns to finish the job when Bod is about 15. Considering the author, it's not surprising it has a bit of a comic-book flair to it. One of the best I read this year.

Book 50: Death by Cashmere, by Sally Goldenbaum. I wish I could say the same about this book, but I can't. The worst disservice done to this novel, is the blurb on the back summarizing the characters, plot was wrong. It had the owner of the knit shop as the protagonist, not the owner's aunt, who only knits occasionally. Very disappointed.

Book 51: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Fortunately, with this challenge one could re-read a book read previously. I lost track as to how many times I've read this one. This version was from Audible.com and was brilliantly read by Tim Curry.

I'm currently reading the Shirley Rousseau Murphy, Joe Grey mystery. I'm about a third through it. So, I'm confident it was be Book 52 - if only I can find the time!

Today on Cat TV . . .

We've had a wonderful growing season in eastern South Dakota this year. The corn field behind our house is the highest I've seen for some time. Unfortunately, the fall has been too wet to go out and harvest it. The farmer got out before Thanksgiving and made a few swipes, but finally got out in force today. This was wonderful news for my oldest cat, Hans. He loves watching large machinery. He's been at the back window most of the morning watching the harvester. If I talk to him he turns politely to acknowledge I've spoken and goes right back to watching. His partner in crime, Greta, is not at all interested and is sleeping in a sunbeam.

Off the needles: I've been working a ton of hours (enough that I wish I was paid hourly instead of a salary!), so not much knitting has been accomplished. Buffalo Gold yarn company asked me to test knit a pattern for them so they'd have enough product for upcoming trunk shows. I was more than happy to help them out. The shawl above is the Wildflower Lace Scarf designed by Evelyn Clark and made out of the Wichita Mountain colorway of Buffalo Gold Lux Laceweight. It's a great pattern and wonderful yarn with which to work.

On the needles: I'm working on socks (I know, big surprise) using bamboo yarn and my own design. I'm not real pleased with the bamboo. It's starting to look shopworn just from knitting. But I'll post a photo when they're done and washed. Hopefully, this is just a temporary thing. I think this will be Pair No. 27, or maybe 28 in the 52 Pair Plunge III.

Also on the needles is the Herbivore shawl by Stephen West. I'm through the first section and into the second. I hope to have this finished this week, as it sounds like the super-cold weather of winter is going to hit later this week.

On the wheel: A few months ago, I drum-carded some of the colorways which did not sell in my Etsy shop. I coming to the end of that and I'm very pleased with the results. I used blues and purples and greens and turquoises - very cool eclectic mix in a three-ply yarn. Film later.

52 Books in 52 Weeks - so close and yet so far. I'm on Books 49 and 50, but not quite done with either. Hopefully, next week, they'll both be ready to review.

52 Books in 52 Weeks Update

I've been having some problems uploading photos to blogger tonight, so I went in through a back door for the sock photos. I apologize for the change in format. I hope I figure out the problem before my next post.

Since I finished two more books this week one excellent/one not so good, I wanted to post anyway.

The first book I finished was Murder List by Julie Garwood. This is book 47 for the year and a real disappointment. Fortunately, I got this book for free on a special from e-books or I would be angry I wasted money on it. I understand this author usually writes romances, which are not my cup of tea. It may be that influence on the plot of this book that made it just about unbearable for me, but I "gotter done". The plot revolves around a wealthy, good-looking young woman who makes out a list of people she'd like to see murdered, she loses the list and guess what happens. Of course, she gets the man of her dreams at the end and a lot of people she doesn't like get eliminated from the face of earth. This plot just hit me wrong on so many levels.

But the second book I finished was probably one of the best books I have ever read. Book No. 48 is The Thirteenth Story by Diane Setterfield. There is a thread of Jane Eyre and the theme of being an outsider which runs through this story. So if you love the Brontes as much as I do, you'll love picking this thread up, losing it, and picking it up again. The story is set in modern day Yorkshire, but tells a tale of twins which covers a good part of the 20th century. It is fascinating to the point I felt guilty if I didn't have time to read some every day. This book called out to me like a good friend to open it up and sit down with a cup of coffee and spend some time catching up. The marvelous thing about this book is that the author leaves no loose threads at the end. One leaves The Thirteenth Story knowing what happens to every character, however minor, with the exception on the storyteller's mother, which is telling in and of itself. I highly recommend this book. I usually take every fiction book I read to the used book store to trade - but not this one. It's a keeper. I'm going to visit again.

Taupe is the Color of My Life

Labyrinth Socks
Originally uploaded by bruggerknits

Taupe seems to be the color of my life, whether I want it to or not. This pair of socks is a prime example. Incidentally, this pair is Pair No. 27 in the 52 Pair Plunge III. The pattern is Labyrinth, designed by Wendy Johnson (aka Wendy Knits) and the yarn is Luxe Grrl by Tempted in the BonJour colorway. These are sport-weight, so are a bit heavier than I usually make/wear.

But it's the color that's important. I got this yarn as part of the Tempted at 3am Sock Club. I groaned when I saw the colorway. Because like it or not taupe is the color of my life. This taupe, mixed with a little pink, immediately brought me back to the bathroom of the house I grew up in. Even the fixtures were taupe (as was the outside of the house). As you can see from the photo the walls of our current house is a little different shade of taupe (as is, again, the outside of the house). Every house, with the exception of one, has either been taupe or was painted taupe after we lived there. Currently, our entire house is taupe. It was that way when we bought it. One would think I really liked taupe, but I don't.

Incidentally, great pattern, I made it a bit smaller than the women's small and great yarn. I usually don't use sport-weight for socks, but the cashmere in this yarn will make it all worthwhile.

Baby Lace Socks

Baby Lace Socks
Originally uploaded by bruggerknits

I apologize for blogging this way; but there seems to be a problem with loading photos into Blogger this evening so . . . This is Pair No. 26 in the 52 Pair Plunge III. It's made from my Sheepish Fibers Big Foot in the Lemon Drop colorway and it's based on a knitted baby sock from a crochet book from the 40s. Given the confusing directions in that book/leaflet, I can understand how people became disillusioned with needlearts.