Happy Birthday to meeeee.....

But first, thanks for the advice about Las Vegas. We did have lots of fun with my parents, taking pictures of the kitschy architecture, and we loved the two shows we went to (KA and Love, both by Cirque du Soleil). We even visited the  Grand Canyon, which was truly breathtaking.



We came back home to face a punctured tire, followed by a lost hubcap and two broken valves while installing new hubcaps, leading to replacement of all tire valves. Considering the unexpected expenses, I'm extremely glad we didn't waste any money gambling in Las Vegas.

Another problem was that the pooch went on a hunger strike as soon as we left according to my poor neighbor, who tried very hard to feed him and keep him happy. I feel really guilty, knowing how worried she was, because even if I warned her that the pooch is picky and stubborn, no one expected him to stop eating altogether. My neighbor is a very kind lady and she even cooked some chicken for him, but he would only eat it if she put it in his mouth. Can you believe that? Of course, I finished knitting the doggy sweater for her, and I hope to have an opportunity to take a picture of it later on.Meanwhile, I've been working on the spouse's socks:



But today I'm going to the beach with my parents and we'll all have dinner in a vietnamese restaurant. They'll be staying with us through Christmas and past Epiphany (does anyone celebrate that here in the US?), so I'll be quite busy. I'm very lucky to have low maintenance parents who are also willing to help out with house work. It makes me enjoy their stay even more. The best thing is my father's camera. That will improve the pictures in this blog for a while, though I won't be posting very often.

I should take the opportunity to wish a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, since I probably won't be posting tomorrow.

Finals are over...

...and I'm exhausted. I  managed to turn the heel of the sock.



I will now start a simple bass-relief pattern. I also finished the hem of the doggy sweater. the picots are sticking out and the edge is rolling, which tells me I did not join the hem to the correct row. But I don't dare to undo it, so I hope  my neighbor does not mind:



Next: Finish the legs! I'm going tomorrow to Las Vegas and I hope to finish before then. This is the same neighbor who'll keep the pooch while we're away. If I finish this doggy sweater on time I will not feel so bad abot making her take care of him.

By the way, what's there to do in Las Vegas? We're not gamers. We're curious about the different hotels and may want to watch a show, but after that, what? I should have asked Vaxgirl.

I should also mention that the stitches are off my pooch and he's doing great.

Finals are coming...

Does that mean it's time for a new project?



Yeah, I thought so. These are socks for the spouse. I saw Marlena knitting socks made of KnitPicks' Gloss and decided to try that yarn out myself.

Thanks for the nice wishes for the pooch. He really doesn't seem to care at all about his stitches. He might when they remove them this Monday, but so far so good.

Four Ugly Stitches

These are not knit or crochet stitches. They're the kind of stitches you can find on your doggy after the vet removes a wart. Here's  a blurry picture, in case you're curious, but skip it if you're squeamish.

Anyway, because of said removed wart, my pooch isn't modeling the mystery project, but lying next to it instead.


I am not allowed to cover his stitches at all, which means taking him out in the cold without a coat or sweater. Luckily, the weather is better now. He might hate the cold, but I don't think he minds the stitches at all. He doesn't even try to scratch or lick them.

This navy blue sweater is not for him, it is a present for my neighbor, who owns another mini poodle and has the same wardrobe issues. It's almost finished. I'm making the same picot edging I learned to make with my mittens, and I also need to make edgings for the front leg openings.

Fun with the webcam

Well, at least we have the webcam, so I shouldn't complain. But seriously, can you believe this is the best picture we could manage of my finished fingerless mitts?



But the funniest pictures are those of my new project. It's just impossible to get a picture right:

            

Next time I'll choose a darker background, maybe then you'll be able to figure out what it is.

They're so unique...

You know what they say about handmade things: None two are alike. Well, that applies to my fingerless mitts:



Both come from the same merino roving which I dyed using purples and greens and that I spun and plied with my spinning wheel. The yarn was very uneven regarding gauge and colors, so I was not expecting identical mitts. Still, I was surprised to see that the second mitt turned out smaller. I could rip it and knit it again with more stitches and rows, but the difference in size is not noticeable when I put them on. I still need to finish the thumb.

I also finished my socks using Jody's cast-off. I discovered that my twisted stitches, which I thought of as a hindrance, were actually very helpful. Here's what happens: On step four, you have to bring the yarn to the back and insert the needle between the first and second stitches, and then you insert it knitwise into the second stitch. In Katharina Buss's method you drop the first stitch to do this, and then picking it up again is a nightmare.

Well, thanks to my twisted stitches, I can simply bring the yarn to the back and insert the needle knitwise directly into the second stitch. And to think that in previous attempts I had de-twisted my stitches back into submission!



I wore my socks yesterday without blocking them and they stayed up without the need to add elastic thread, which is a first for me regarding knee-highs.

Three tutorials

I have completed both socks except for the ribbing and the cast-off.



Luckily, Jody published a tutorial on the tubular bindoff. It's not that different from the kitchener bindoff in Katharina Buss's Big Book of Knitting, except  that it does not require two rows slipping every other stitch (1st row purls, 2nd row knits). I never figured out what was the purpose of those two rows, except maybe make the edge even stretchier.

I'll be trying Jody's method this time. I think I'm more confident now about my twisted stitches, and hopefully I'll figure things out.

Which means I will not be using  Andrea's  picot edge bindoff tutorial for this pair of socks. Ist'nt it a pity? I really felt like giving it a try. That's why I started yet another project:



Which gave me the opportunity to also try out  Melinda's  picot edge cast-on tutorial. Now both edges have picots. That's probably way too many picots but it was an interesting learning experience. Plus, I put some of my easter egg handspun yarn to some use. The problem, of course, is that now I have to knit another mitt. My list just keeps growing, maybe that's why I haven't gathered the courage to update it yet .

Almost Knee-High

The Jaywalker pattern is pretty, but it sure takes up more yarn compared to regular stocking stitch. I was able to increase  without disrupting the pattern (much). I wanted to add some ribbing but I ran out of yarn:



I have some of that patons yarn that I dyed red brick and orange because I wanted to make socks for my husband. But I ended up not liking the colors much and I never got to knitting another pair of socks for him, especially after he complained that the Lion Brand hand-knitted socks were scratchy and he's never worn them again. But I digress. Here are the two skeins that come from that former food color experiment.



The picture's horrible, but what matters is the color. I'm planning on doing the ribbing of the socks in brick red. I don't think I should use the orange. A third option would be to use the original yellow color, but that would be even worse.

I'm thinking it's time to give the spouse a second chance and see if he'll wear a pair of hand-knitted socks made of a better yarn. We'll see.

Silly Quiz

People across America are going to the polls today, but of course I am not. I'm not a citizen,  though I apparently could have passed for one because people kept asking me to register to vote. It must be the grammar:
               

True English Nerd       You scored 76 erudition!

Not only do you know your subjects from your objects and your definite from your indefinite articles, but you've got quite a handle on the literature and the history of the language as well. Huzzah, and well done! The English snobs of Boston salute you.

    

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 99% on erudition

Link: The Are You Truly Erudite? Test

Dog sweater

It's finished! It's long enough on the back, but the belly is still bare. It stays in its place because it curves inward near the rump. And, most important of all, it fits snuggly around his chest. None of the sweaters I've ever bought for him ever fit him so well. I should have thought of this before. The turtleneck was my husband's idea.



I can now get back to my pair of socks. I've decided I'll make them knee-high, which means I have to figure out how to increase stitches without messing the pattern.

Funny doggie

I've been making progress with the doggie sweater. I'm making it up as I go and therefore have to keep trying it on the pooch to see how I'm doing. He seems to like it already. I tried to explain that the sweater is not finished yet, that he should let me take it off, but he ignored me and went straight to bed, looking quite comfortable in spite of the circular needle coiled around his neck.



He's so appreciative... I know he will love the sweater when I'm done with it. It's a pity the picture is so blurry. I managed to break our camera and until we get a new one or get the old one fixed, all my pictures will be taken with the webcam.

A possibility

I had a test last Thursday and another one yesterday, so  both my knitting and this blog were ignored for a while.

Just as I was debating about what to do with the sock cast-off I came across Andrea's tutorial. With this method, you create a "hem" on the sock without casting off. The instructions are in Spanish, but the pictures are self-explanatory and I don't believe a translation is necessary. I'm not saying I'll use this cast-off method with the current pair of socks,  but id does look like something worth trying.

You'd think I would get back to that pair of socks, but today I came across an interesting knitting challenge.

First, let me tell you that my pooch has an eating disorder. Yeah, I know, he's weird. Dogs are supposed to have an insatiable appetite but not mine. He's very picky about his food and he refuses to eat unless he has an audience. Both his vet in Mexico and his vet in the US say I shouldn't worry about him being underweight, since he is very healthy for a 14 old dog. Still, his lack of heft causes a little clothing problem:



That's my dear pooch wearing his size XS raincoat. Can you tell it is not long enough? But I had to live with that because the S size is too wide and wobbles from one side to the other, making him dirty the sides when he does his business. I just got him a new coat with velcro straps, and I thoght I'd be able to adjust the width. But take a look and notice how the velcro flap is hanging between his legs:



Of course, I'm planning on returning this coat to the store, but if I get the XS size it will be a very short coat. And this poor doggy needs all the coverage he can get, not only because he doesn't have much body fat, but also because he grew up in the tropics and he absolutely hates the cold! With the raincoat, I had to settle for the short one, but why should I settle for a short coat when I could knit one that actually fits? Hmmm, because I have a bunch on UFOs waiting for me to finish them? Oh, that's not a good excuse, is it?

Two unfinished socks

I interrupted work on  the first sock and started making the second one while deciding what to do about the cuff. The original pattern calls for 2x2 ribbing, which I don't know how to cast off with the kitchener method. I could do single ribbing and do a kitchener castoff, though I'm not good at it, or I could cast off the way I usually do, which is not as pretty, but then I can do whatever I want at the edge.



The truth is, I don't like the kitchener bindoff. I've tried it with two pairs of socks and while I can say that it's stretchier than my regular bindoff, it's also wobbly. It's also a lot of work (due to my twisted stitches) and I'm not sure it's worth my time.

Green yarn

I was asked what type of yarn I was using for my jaywalker sock. It's something called Paton's beehive from my grandma's stash. I still have lots of it.



The stuff must be at least 20 years old, long before beehive became an acrylic  baby yarn, recently discontinued. This is wool, that's why it's not yellow anymore. I dyed it almost two years ago using powdered drinks.

Remembering how fun that was,  I felt the urge to dye some more of that yellow yarn, this time using food coloring , a used tea bag and vinegar. Of course, the winding around a plastic bottle  into three connected hanks was more or less the same as before.



I was aiming at teal, pale green and olive (thus the tea bag). But I didn't do a test first, I was happy to get to work hoping for nice results.



As it turned out, the teal section is almost undistiguishable from the pale green, and the olive green turned out a little too brownish. I should have been more careful with that tea bag.



I'm still going to use it, but don't ask me when. Probably within the next couple of years.

My own foot

It's never easy making these pictures, but using a webcam makes it even more challenging. Please forgive the bad quality and admire instead the beautiful jaywalker pattern that I kind of adapted from MagKnits eons ago.



It seems that I only get inspired to work on this sock whenever the spouse goes on a trip (that's the reason I cannot use the good camera). If that's the case, I should hurry up, because he'll be gone only for three days.

Socks

Yes, I have a pair of finished socks to show. I'm ashamed to see the amount of wonderful projects so many other knitters have finished in the time I took to finish this particular pair of socks. But the weather is still nice enough for flip-flops, so I shouldn't complain.


I find it funny that there is now a pattern for flip flop socks available in knitty.  I wish I had had that when I started.

A month!

Yes, I know, it's been more than a month without blogging. What happened? Well, nothing. Literally. There has been no knitting during the last month. That's because classes started on August 28 and I've been very busy. So busy, in fact, that I hardly found time to buy light boxes for the two lamps I made this Summer. But I finally completed the lamps and took a picture, just so I would have something crafty to blog about:



I need to find a better place for them, I believe the effect will be better if they are separated a bit more. I'll try to get back to knitting and blogging, though I know I will not  be posting as often as before.

Visitors from Spain

We were finally able to convince someone (beside my parents) to come and visit us. Since we want them to tell everyone back home what great hosts we are, we kept them really busy and took them to all sorts of places around the bay area.



The poor pooch had to spend many hours alone each day, and the neighbors complained about him howling while we were away. Who would have guessed that such a little dog could create such disturbances? Our guests have left and things are back to normal, but we are being extra nice to the pooch to make up for all that loneliness.

Done!

Whew, I didn't notice how overwhelmed I was with this test until it was over. Now I wish I had done it sooner, I could have enjoyed the Summer a little bit more. To celebrate the test, I sewed on the buttons of the baby cardigan. Sadly, I forgot about the pooch and his funny rag habit. Whenever he finds a piece of fabric on the floor or the sofa, he'll "burrow" around it. Usually all I have to do is make sure I don't drop anything when hauling clean laundry, and never leave the laundry basket on the floor. (If left unchecked, he'll even burrow inside the laundry basket). So I wasn't very surprised a about this:



I just stepped away to get the camera and he rearranged things to his convenience. Should I worry about this? My pooch is usually clean, but still, I assume you'd want your baby items far away from any animal. I was going to wash the cardigan by hand anyway, but now I'm thinking of throwing it in the washer: after all, the label says I can.

I rescued the cardigan and placed it somewhere safe to get this picture:



If I ruin it in the washer, I can always send the picture instead.

Apples

I know this blog has slowed down a bit, but that's because I've been  working on this. My test will take place this Monday and after that I hope to get more crafty time. I'm grateful for all the nice ideas and suggestions, but I ended up not following anybody's advice.

I had already decided on green (not being sure about the shade) for the buttons, but once I got to Michaels I couldn't resist these apples:



They're pretty, aren't they? They certainly cheer up an otherwise boring yellow cardigan.

More math stuff

I know. I should be knitting. Or studying for my test. But I could not resist trying out the new Google Page Creator. Here's the result:

Barron's Precalculus Errata
http://fdpioggia.googlepages.com/barron%27sprecalculus

I thought that creating that webpage was better than including algebra blabber in a knitting blog. Also, who knows? Other frustrated souls like mine could find it useful. I did manage to knit a bit:



Yes, that's an almost finished baby cardigan. It needs some buttons and I'm thinking of Smurf blue, to contrast with that chicken yellow. Would that be too much contrast?

More ceramics stuff

I read about these a long time ago. My first attempt is so ugly I will not even show it, but these are better. Anyone knows what they are?



Here's a hint: They're used to create a two stitch cord:



Of course, you're supposed to use only one end of the yarn, but I was eager to test both of them without wasting too much yarn. That's some of my Easter egg handspun.

Taking too long

I don't know why, I have not been in a knitting mood lately. It's taking me forever to finish this baby cardigan. I think the problem is that I've decided not to work on anything else until I'm done, but I hate the boucle yarn and I'm tired of the pale yellow color. Remind me not to knit anything yellow in a long time.




I'm not far away from the finish line, but I'm really dragging my feet.

One sleeve

I picked up the baby cardigan because, among all my UFOs, it's the one with a deadline. Here's a picture of it with a sleeve, knitted as a tube using two regular needles. I don't recommend using this technique with bouclé yarn. Also,  casting off is a pain and it is better accomplished by separating  the stitches into two separate needles.



The pooch took the opportunity to show off his new Glampyre button.

The spoils

I was finally able to take a picture of the Sinfonía yarn I got in Mexico City. I also got to dig into my mother's knitting supplies and, with her approval, brought with me some metric needles. The aluminum ones used to belong to my great aunt, and the wooden ones to my grandmother. I also got some stitch holders and a set of 3.0 mm double point needles, which so far I had not been able to get in the US. That blue thing is a needle holder. It's not very pretty, but it's useful.



Of course, I brought many other non knitting things, most notably nine bags of spicy peanuts which my husband begged for.

Back home!

What could possibly improve a perfect, flawless trip? Why, finding out that your husband just vacuumed, cleaned the refrigerator and did the laundry, including the doggy bed and even the sofa cover. But wait, there's more: While I was away, I got an e-mail from Glampyre letting me know that a package was on its way and sure enough, it was here when I arrived:



Sock yarn, stitch markers in a pretty purple box and some other glampyre goodies. I got all this because she liked a design suggestion I made. Golly, I'm in such a great mood I feel like singing. Thank you!

Vacation

Here I am, in Mexico City, with a very slow dial-up connection, so
there will not be much blogging around here. The pooch is here with me,
happy to be back home where he gets spoiled by my mom. I'm trying to
see as many doctors, family members and friends I can. I already went
downtown and got some Sinfonía yarn in a deep purple shade, but I
forgot to bring my camera so I cannot even show it here. I regret not
buying more, I got 600 grams for less than ten dollars.

No knitting content

Sorry, but other priorities have taken over. Still, I feel the need to blog about my current headache: Barron's Precalculus. I'm talking about this book. I wish I had read the reviews before buying it, because it really contains too  many mistakes. I searched for an errata page on Barron's webpage, and though they do have errata for some of their books, they don't for this one.

But I'm too stingy to get yet another book, and I'm not going to get one from the library because I like to write stuff on my own copy, so I'm sticking to this stinking book. In the meantime, I'll publish here the errata I come across, since no one else is bothering to do so. I'm skipping all the parts that require a graphing calculator since I won't be allowed to use a calculator during my test. Also, I do most of the checkup exercises, but not all of them. And finally, bear in mind that I'm not a math whiz and no one else is checking my own mistakes. That said, here I go:

Chapter 1:
Checkup exercises, No. 26:   0.2a ²-1.5ab

Chapter 2
Checkup exercises:
No. 3: 1/2√3
No. 10: (x-3y)/4
No. 15: -4
No. 41:4(x-2)

Chapter 3
Checkup exercies, No. 21: (9,2)

Chapter 4
Pg 92, division of two functions, I get 3x/(x ²-1), the domain is {x|x ≠1 and x≠-1}
Pg 102, factoring higher degree equations, I get x=2, x=-2, x=-1/3

This is as far as I got, but I'm sure there's more to come. I still vent some of my frustration by ocasionally spinning wool for the doggy rug, and there might be some knitting when I'm done.

Still here!

Yes, although I took a little blogging break. I didn't mean to, but you know how life is. First of all, I've been busy preparing a math test. I thought it would be easy, but I'm finding out my math is all rusty after all these years away from it. We also went to visit a friend in Miami (and surroundings) and had a great time.



But I got sick when I came back. I don't know what's wrong with me I usually get sick on airplanes. Which worries me, because very soon doggie and I are going to Mexico. That means the spouse will get a break from both of us because he's not coming.

There is very little progress with my knitting, as could be expected, but I will eventually finish a few things.

Socks and Rug

Thanks for all the nice comments on my hashi-oki. I am taking a ceramics class and will continue to take it during the Summer, but if everything works out I'll start a professional certification program in August. I've been getting ready for that, which involved a bunch of tramits. The fact that I'm an immigrant who is changing her status (student's wife to worker's wife) creates more headaches, but things are working out. In June I have to go back home to get my passport stamped and all will be settled. Meanwhile, there's not much knitting progress around here. I started a checkerboard pattern on the doggie rug but ran out of yarn, and I need to spin more in order to continue. I finished the ribbing of my second sock, but still have to work on the  big toe:



I haven't touched the bouclé baby cardigan, but my friend is 23 weeks pregnant so I'd better hurry.

Trying a different craft...

In in addition to volunteering with the literacy program, I found something else to do with my time. This is a sample of what I've produced:



I've made other things but trust me, you don't want to see them. These are hashi-oki, or chopstick rests, which can also be used as fork or spoon rests.

I'm working again on the yellow socks, and I also added a few bands of white merino to the doggy rug:

            

Little rants...

What would we do without a little rant once in a while? This is a short one. I needed to make an appointment for Something Important. The SI phone number has one of those ubiquitous answering services that let you choose a language. As I always do, I chose Spanish, because I like to hear my native language as often as I can.

After the usual wait listening how wonderfully SI works, I got a bossy lady who gave me tons of useless information and finally gave me an appointment for a totally inconvenient date. Nope, there was no way to change it, she insisted. I had no choice but to accomodate to the SI schedule because really, there was nothing she could do.

Five minutes later I called again and chose English. I got a different representative who actually offered two more choices for my appointment. Yes, the SI schedule was pretty busy but hey, I got a better date and that suits me. Now tell me what you think. Was the Spanish speaking representative simply incompetent, or was that discrimination?

No picture

I finished the scarf yesterday night, and I washed it and lay it out to block. By 12:30 today it was, of course, still damp, but I had to take it to the recipient, whose birthday we celebrated today. She didn't mind that it was a little damp and she liked it a lot, but I totally forgot to make a picture of it. It's not hard to guess what it looked like. Same as Monday, but it ended up being 160 cm long.

Scarf progress

So how long must a scarf be? It's already 120 cm long (that's about 47 inches). I said I needed to finish it by Wednesday, but actually I need to finish by tomorrow so I can block it and have it ready and wrapped on Wednesday.



I leave you with this picture. Feel free to come up with a caption: