I'm busy now...

This is the second time I read my husband's dissertation. It could be called the third time, because after reading it once and making some changes, I went back through all 270 pages to make sure all changes had been  made. And this is not counting the times he's asked me to read some parts or asked me a grammar question. This is the same dissertation my husband defended back in December 2004, when it was only 220 pages long and I thought it only needed a few "finishing touches". One whole chapter has been added, and each time anyone reads it it keeps growing. I call it the dissertation of Achilles and the Tortoise.

I try to knit a few rows of my sock once in a while, but the broad ripple pattern does not always allow me to read and knit.



That's why a started a new project in simple stockinette. It's a baby cardigan for one of my friends, who is 18 weeks pregnant.



But I was foolish and forgot how boucle yarn requires more knitting attention that regular yarn. I still need to look down once in a while. So of course I switched to another project: The doggy rug.



This new section is knitted using a two-ply yarn. Still lumpy, but it feels great to knit with your very own homespun yarn. ¿Can you see some white doggy hairs in it already? The pooch is lying down on it whenever he has a chance.

It's all about the socks

First, the solid socks I've been dragging for months. They were all finished but I didn't go back to weave in the ends until this weekend.



And here's another sock. I'm quite pleased with it and I hope it gets warmer soon because I already casted on for the second one.



I also finished blocking all three squares for the afghan, but forgot to send them off today. I'll do that tomorrow.  I've also been spinning that shetland wool and my singles are getting thin enough to ply them and get a similar gauge. Or so I hope.

Someone likes his new wool

The black shetland wool for the doggy rug is here, and  the pooch took to it immediately.



I confess, I  don't like this shetland wool that much. My merino fiber is softer and easier to spin. This particular batch of shetland also has bits of vegetable matter, but that's not such a big issue. My problem actually is spinning evenly. My first yarn was too bulky to be plied, so I knitted the singles with seed stitch. I do hope to get thinner singles as I get more practice. They will all end up as part of the rug, which is really going to look weird, but at least I'll get to knit what I spin, regardless of the results.



By the looks of it, the pooch will love the rug, no matter what.

You're a square, remember?

This afghan square kind of forgot that it was supposed to lie flat and look like a square. I believe it was trying to be a bowl. So I pinned it down and blocked it into what I hope looks like a good enough square to be included in the Rainbow of Heroes agfhan. One other square is already blocked, I just need to block one more and I'll be able to send in all three.

My flip-flop sock has a heel now:



I've been working with a student from Mexico. For now all she wants is to learn English so that's what I'll be helping her with. I was hoping to coax her into the GED program but she's not interested in it. Why come all this way to improve your way of life if you're not also willing to get an eduaction? That makes me think it's not a bad idea to study something myself. It's not like I'm too busy for that.

Flip-flop socks

Yes, I need to finish a few things aroung here, but I started another project simply because Spring is almost here and soon I'll be wearing flip-flops. I know you're not supposed to wear socks with sandals, but if so many other people do it, why shouldn't I?

Flip-flop is also an appropriate name for a sock that has made me change courses so many times. I started almost a year ago with a swatch for the broadripple socks. But Cascade Fixation is a really unusual yarn. No wonder Jennifer renamed it "Vexation". Her efforts produced a wonderful sock, which inspired me to keep trying. I had to make three swatches until I was satisfied with my gauge, going from 56 stitches with 3.25 mm needles to  44 stitches on 2.25 mm needles.

And then, of course, was the problem of the toes. I knitted the outer toe section from the toe up. I then separated  six stitches for the fourchette between the big and second toe and used a crochet chain to make a provisional cast-on for the rest of the stitches. After a few rounds of pattern I went back to the big toe, which required another three trials before it got good enough. It's still not perfect, See how the big toe is pointing outwards? But that's not an issue when trying the sock on, so I'm keeping it.




If I attempt this again, I'll change the outer toe section so that it curves a little more between the toes. Also, I'll use four stitches instead of six for the fourchette. I believe that's the cause of the slanted toe.

I thought it was a joke!

And it was, but after the comments on last post I looked around and found that book in amazon.com. I didn't know whether to take it seriously or not, so I got it from the library to take a good look at it first. Don't worry doggy, no one's planning on depriving you of your beautiful coat (and I don't mean the red one) just to make yarn. I'm totally against making poodles look like topiary, so it's unlikely that I'll be shearing the pooch soon. He will need a haircut when it's warmer, but meanwhile I can use what he sheds.  One of my weekly brushings produced the following 18 inches of dog yarn:



I'm using these instructions to knit a square from the center out. I was increasing with yarn overs, just as the instructions say, but the square was "wobbly". It looked like I was knitting a saddle. So I ripped it and used a different increase, knitting from the stitch below. It looks more solid (the yarn overs create holes), but I believe it is slightly curving inwards. ¿Could I later block it into submission?



I went to an estate sale today. I'd never been to one before, though I'd gone to plenty of garage sales and I didn't expect it to be any different. But offering for sale stuff that you don't need anymore is quite different from selling whatever your loved ones left behind. It was depressing. I got the following needle case  and its contents for ten dollars. I had thought about getting some needles in US sizes (mine are all metric), so getting all these needles seemed like a good bargain. There were at least two (sometimes three) pairs of needles for each needle size from one to ten. There were also three sets of double point needles sizes one through three, a few crochet hooks and two stitch holders. There's only one needle that has lost its mate. I'm keeping the case, one stitch holder, the dpns and a pair of needles of each size. The rest (what's outside the case) I'm donating to my knitting group today to keep the good karma flowing.

Two squares

I love the softness of that cashmerino aran. I wish I could personally thank whoever donated this yarn, because knitting with it is a great pleasure (not that I have any complaints about any donated yarn, last year's yarn was beautiful and soft, though not as soft as this one). I've completed two afghan squares and I'm planning on making a third with what is left. This wonderful yarn should not be wasted.

             

Those squares come from Katharina Buss "Big Book of Knitting". The pink and blue one is a slipped stitch pattern, the green and white is embossed knitting. Both look complicated but are actually very easy.

I've decided to knit a small rug for my pooch with my handspun yarn. He's the one person in my life that won't mind that my yarn is so uneven (heck, he's not even a person). But I don't want to use up all my merino fiber in this, so I'm ordering some cheap shetland to spin with. And I ordered it black, simply because I believe a black rug goes better with a white dog. Otherwise it might appear that I'm spinning my own dog's hair.

Cashmerino and plying adventures

This lovely Debbie Bliss Cashmerino is what we're using this year for the Rainbow of Heroes Afghan.  I can't believe I'll be knitting with it (and without paying for it). I cast on for a blue and pink square and took it to my knitting group. I'm using slipped stitches, which look a lot like intarsia or fair isle but are much easier to work with.

I was also able to ply my singles (but not at the knitting group, there's no way I want to be seen in public with this hideous spindle). I started with the center pull ball. It was almost intact after removing it from the needles, and pulling out the rubber bands from the inside.




Plying was more or less easy. I had to keep the pull-out ball in my right hand at all times because as soon as I let go it would get tangled.



And this is the final product, along with what's left of my humble spindle.


What could I knit with it?

My two conflicting sides

- I want a Turkish spindle.
- What for? You already have a spinning wheel.
- Yeah, but look at those singles. They're lumpy and ugly. I need more practice with a spindle.
- What's wrong with your dowel spindles?
- Nothing, but I want to learn how to ply and I believe it's going to be easier if I ply from a center pull ball.
- Someone's being lazy...
- And someone's being cheap...
- So let's be creative, shall we?




-That's an ugly spindle. Does it work?



-It does! Though I must admit it's not very balanced (unlike those neat interlocking wood pieces that work as a whorl in a Turkish spindle). Nothing a  couple of AOL cds cannot fix:


So there you have it. My cheap side and my lazy side have reached a compromise. Wish me luck with plying!

Done with those socks!

Well, at least the knitting part. I need to weave in those ends and block them, but  that second sock is finally off the needles. 



My interview yesterday was very interesting, and they are willing to have me volunteer with them. They'll call me as soon as they can pair me up with a student. My spinning wheel has been neglected for too long now, so I started spinning again. I've been trying to get thinner singles but I'm not being very successful. I still need a lot of practice, but I enjoy it very much.

Feeling better, thank you

I've re-read my last entry and my, I do sound kind of bitter, don't I? I appreciate all the supportive comments/emails I received. Things aren't really that gloomy. If my husband were not making enough money we might be worried, but that isn't the case. This Friday I joined a knitting group.  It was a little impersonal but but just being there made me keep working on that long blue sock.  This Monday I have another interview, but this time it's different. I'm applying as a volunteer tutor for an adult education program. My first teaching experiences were also in adult education, so this is not going to be new to me. And volunteering is really a positive experience. When I first came to the U.S. I was a volunteer at a middle school, and in my last job I also volunteered as a hospital interpreter. I was hoping to get a job before volunteering for anything else, to avoid scheduling conflicts, but those worries are becoming less and less founded as I realize how difficult it is for an employer to sponsor a visa. Apparently, they would have to prove that there is no way they could find someone else with my abilities in the U.S. in order to get me a worker's visa. There is a limited number of those visas issued each year,  and most of them go to the computer science field. I should feel lucky that my husband got one of those and that I can still call myself legal, even if as his spouse I'm not allowed to work. I'm sure that staying busy will keep me cheerful enough to keep on knitting and blogging about it.