I took a yoga class last night at 5:30 (meaning I went there immediately from work). It was probably the easiest of the three classes, though the instructor was the same as the killer Friday class, and the poses were the same too- but the heat was pretty much non-existent. (Well, it was there- I still left looking like I had been in a swimming pool, but I bet it didn't break 100, and the owner was there and being very generous with the fans). Since my "trial" week is over I will be going once a week now, and I am going to try this class again- if it is always this 'easy' then it will be my regular class. I say 'easy' because the poses are still very difficult and getting through is still a challenge, I just at no point thought I would die. There are many poses where I am still stuck on the prep stage, and can't even do the correct thing yet.
I am looking at signing up for a class through kirkwood community college, but they all have scheduling issues. The first class is an "intermediate" class, which meets on Mondays and works the best with my schedule but I worry I'm not ready for it (I don't want to do inversions due to my neck) and I also worry it will be cancelled for low enrollment. The second class is a "beginner" class and meets on Wednesdays - I could still skate a bit before hand, but a shortened session- however, two of the classes are rescheduled for Tuesdays and are at 7:00- meaning I would have to either skip my lesson or would have to really really rush between the two places. The third class is Monday and Wednesday, but only for 8 weeks. The Wednesday class means I would have to miss skating entirely, and the 8 week session means I'd have to supplmenet the last month of the year with a private studio like the hot house yoga, and that would really add up. I am leaning towards the beginner Wednesday night class...
First day of work went well. I have an office with a door (but no key so I have to have someone let me in until that gets straightened out) and a window, though I can't see out of it if I'm working on the computer. It also has an AC control, though I need to figure out if that affects other rooms too, because I tend to like it warmer than most. My computer doesn't have a log on yet, so I just get an "account is expired" message- because I am a rehire, I think. They need to fix that soon, because I am currently logged in as my boss and if I let the computer sit for a few moments it locks up and it's annoying to ask her to resign in. And one of my coworkers is an Aggie :)
I finished Clapotis Sunday but have not yet had time for a photoshoot. I think it will be a perfect three season scarf.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
YAWN
Isn't yoga supposed to make you feel energized? I just feel exhausted...
I did my second hot yoga class this morning at 9:00. This was a 90 minute class, so 30 minutes longer than the other one I did. I drank a bottle of water before bed last night and had another this morning at 6:30 when the dogs woke me up- so I went into it hydrated.
It kicked my ass. The heat was horrible. I didn't feel like I was hot- though I was drenched with sweat (seriously, looked like I just got out of a swimming pool) - and my head was pounding. I had to not do quite a few poses because I just couldn't get the strength in my body to move, and I felt like I was going to collapse. Usually in yoga when I need a break I rest in child's pose, but I had to just stand or sit straight up, because leaning my head down caused even more blood to rush and the pounding to worsen.
Looking around the room I wasn't the only one having issues, and even the seasoned veterans with perfect poses took many more breaks than I saw in my first class (in fact, I don't think anyone ever out right stopped the first day. Just take a second to towel off to take a drink, but no one ever laid down during standing poses). Midway throug the class a regular asked for fans, and the instructor turned them on, but by that point my body was way too fatigued. Later I heard someone telling the front desk that the class was fine but "she lost us all by letting the heat get too high"- so it seems that this instructor is new, and hopefully it is not always that bad.
I also managed to hurt myself during the "easy" part. There is a pose called locust pose that we did preperations for before doing the actual pose. This is kind of like "superman" that you do in gym class put with the hands beside you instead of in front. During the preparation the instructor had us lay flat on our stomachs with our hands under our thighs, I placed mine with my palms holding my thighs, but then realized her direction, and everyone elses hands were palms down. While rotating my right shoulder I had a painful pop in my shoulder, and had to stop the pose entirely, I couldn't even lay pain free with my arms down at my side- I had to put them out or above my head. It still hurts now, but more in my shoulder blade.
I'm going to keep trying to go- just once a week because I start work on Monday (!!!) but will probably not do hot yoga once the kirkwood yoga class starts. It probably won't have the same benefits- but is going to be a lot cheaper.
And the best part of the class today- Mona, a friend from skating who I taught adult classes for was there! I knew she did yoga, but it was such a nice surprise to see her. Sadly, I won't be able to do the day time class again and probably won't see her for a long time :(
I did my second hot yoga class this morning at 9:00. This was a 90 minute class, so 30 minutes longer than the other one I did. I drank a bottle of water before bed last night and had another this morning at 6:30 when the dogs woke me up- so I went into it hydrated.
It kicked my ass. The heat was horrible. I didn't feel like I was hot- though I was drenched with sweat (seriously, looked like I just got out of a swimming pool) - and my head was pounding. I had to not do quite a few poses because I just couldn't get the strength in my body to move, and I felt like I was going to collapse. Usually in yoga when I need a break I rest in child's pose, but I had to just stand or sit straight up, because leaning my head down caused even more blood to rush and the pounding to worsen.
Looking around the room I wasn't the only one having issues, and even the seasoned veterans with perfect poses took many more breaks than I saw in my first class (in fact, I don't think anyone ever out right stopped the first day. Just take a second to towel off to take a drink, but no one ever laid down during standing poses). Midway throug the class a regular asked for fans, and the instructor turned them on, but by that point my body was way too fatigued. Later I heard someone telling the front desk that the class was fine but "she lost us all by letting the heat get too high"- so it seems that this instructor is new, and hopefully it is not always that bad.
I also managed to hurt myself during the "easy" part. There is a pose called locust pose that we did preperations for before doing the actual pose. This is kind of like "superman" that you do in gym class put with the hands beside you instead of in front. During the preparation the instructor had us lay flat on our stomachs with our hands under our thighs, I placed mine with my palms holding my thighs, but then realized her direction, and everyone elses hands were palms down. While rotating my right shoulder I had a painful pop in my shoulder, and had to stop the pose entirely, I couldn't even lay pain free with my arms down at my side- I had to put them out or above my head. It still hurts now, but more in my shoulder blade.
I'm going to keep trying to go- just once a week because I start work on Monday (!!!) but will probably not do hot yoga once the kirkwood yoga class starts. It probably won't have the same benefits- but is going to be a lot cheaper.
And the best part of the class today- Mona, a friend from skating who I taught adult classes for was there! I knew she did yoga, but it was such a nice surprise to see her. Sadly, I won't be able to do the day time class again and probably won't see her for a long time :(
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Clapotis update
This is after straight repeat #5. I THINK I have enough yarn to do all 12 repeats. Having laid this out, now I am very worried that it won't be long enough.I'm still back and forth whether I like it, and whether I think the fabric is to lose. Clapotis hasn't ever been my FAVORITE pattern, just one I always knew was there and that some people picked really pretty yarn for it. I chose it because I knew a lot of people succesfully knit it with Wollmeise, but I'm going to wait until I finish to decide if I'm keeping it.
I keep thinking if I run out of yarn it's going to be like 5 inches and I'm going to have to go on Ravelry and beg for it. So with that though in mind it cracked me up when someone PMed me asking for 10 yards of Knitpicks Essential sock yarn in Timber- she ran out of ya
rn doing the second toe.I also had a very nice person in Ravelry's Loopy Groupy group offer to sell me (at cost) a skein of purple Wollmeise- so now it turns out that I'm NOT completely out of it! It's nice to think that another skein will be waiting for me- I think that one will be socks, as this one wasn't socks just because I didn't want all my WM to be "worn out". Scarves tend to not wear out as much as socks.
I didn't go to yoga today. I am still quite sore from yesterday and I was quite hungry when it came time to go. So I decided to not go. I know I'm lazy, but it's not like I completely gave up. I'll go tomorrow, and once this week is out I'll only go once a week.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Yoga
I have been noticing lately that I have lost a TON of flexibility. My spirals are lower than they were when I started skating. For the first time since middle school I can't go into right splits. Since I am not going to be doing synchro this year, I decided that I would take up yoga. I really loved the Pilates I did in Dayton, but I have not been able to find Pilates instruction that I like/can afford here in Coralville.
When I first started at ACT, I took an "intro to Yoga" class with a co-worker. I learned basic poses and enjoyed it, but the place was not close to me, and it was a pain to get to. The only yoga studio in Coralville is a hot yoga studio. Although I swear their sign used to say Bikram, it doesn't anymore and this was not a bikram class.
I decided to start with a 1 hour class, the majority of the classes they offer are 90 minutes, and if I go tomorrow it will have to be a 90 minute class. (They have a 1 hour yoga/pilates class, but as stated before I'm enough of a Pilates snob to believe that if you are mixing the two you aren't getting the true benefit of either.)
The class went really well. The instructor fiddled with heaters, humidifiers, and heat laps the whole time, and while I was sweating profusely - (actually dripping with sweat. I have never ever dripped with sweat in my life. The instructor who was mostly talking but did some demonstrating looked like she had just got out of the swimming pool. It must be exhausting to teach, as she would frequently go and stand in the doorway barely cracking it open to cool herself while we held poses.) -oops lost my train of thought. While I was sweating profusesly, I really didn't feel like it was unreasonably warm. I guess all those years of dancing outdoors on blacktop in Texas summers makes 105 seem comfortable (of course I never used to sweat then. I was chronically dehydrated).
The only discomfort I had was coming up from positions like downward facing dog where my head would throb for a moment or so as all the blood rushed from it, as it tends to do on a very hot day when you suddenly move position. And occasionally my legs would twitch uncontrollably. Though I think that was from the stretch and not the heat.
The only pose I did not try was camel- I stayed in the preperation pose with my hands on my back arching upwards. I though I would probably injur myself if I tried to lean back into the backbend like position.
My arm still really hurts today, though it didn't hurt much during the class. At one point it felt like it was burning- on fire burning- while the heat lamps on, which was very weird, as no other point of my body felt like that. I really wish I knew what was wrong with it. The PT did not seem to help more than temporarily. When I have my insurance back again (I do have insurance, I just don't know anything about it.) I will go and see if I can get imaging done.
If my legs can take it, I'm going to try class tomorrow. And skating tonight.
When I first started at ACT, I took an "intro to Yoga" class with a co-worker. I learned basic poses and enjoyed it, but the place was not close to me, and it was a pain to get to. The only yoga studio in Coralville is a hot yoga studio. Although I swear their sign used to say Bikram, it doesn't anymore and this was not a bikram class.
I decided to start with a 1 hour class, the majority of the classes they offer are 90 minutes, and if I go tomorrow it will have to be a 90 minute class. (They have a 1 hour yoga/pilates class, but as stated before I'm enough of a Pilates snob to believe that if you are mixing the two you aren't getting the true benefit of either.)
The class went really well. The instructor fiddled with heaters, humidifiers, and heat laps the whole time, and while I was sweating profusely - (actually dripping with sweat. I have never ever dripped with sweat in my life. The instructor who was mostly talking but did some demonstrating looked like she had just got out of the swimming pool. It must be exhausting to teach, as she would frequently go and stand in the doorway barely cracking it open to cool herself while we held poses.) -oops lost my train of thought. While I was sweating profusesly, I really didn't feel like it was unreasonably warm. I guess all those years of dancing outdoors on blacktop in Texas summers makes 105 seem comfortable (of course I never used to sweat then. I was chronically dehydrated).
The only discomfort I had was coming up from positions like downward facing dog where my head would throb for a moment or so as all the blood rushed from it, as it tends to do on a very hot day when you suddenly move position. And occasionally my legs would twitch uncontrollably. Though I think that was from the stretch and not the heat.
The only pose I did not try was camel- I stayed in the preperation pose with my hands on my back arching upwards. I though I would probably injur myself if I tried to lean back into the backbend like position.
My arm still really hurts today, though it didn't hurt much during the class. At one point it felt like it was burning- on fire burning- while the heat lamps on, which was very weird, as no other point of my body felt like that. I really wish I knew what was wrong with it. The PT did not seem to help more than temporarily. When I have my insurance back again (I do have insurance, I just don't know anything about it.) I will go and see if I can get imaging done.
If my legs can take it, I'm going to try class tomorrow. And skating tonight.
Monday, July 20, 2009
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY
I got a call today with a job offer. I am so excited about this. It's with my same company, but in a different division. I am very excited about the program I will be working on.
YAY!
YAY!
Dog sitting...
This seems to be the summer of dog sitting. Earlier in the summer Basie came and stayed with us, then I spent 2 weeks walking Merlin, and now Merlin is staying with us.
Elsa has never expressed any concern over Basie- he is so small we think she might not know that Basie is a dog. But other small male dogs she has met have never been any trouble, so we figured Merlin wouldn't be either. For the most part, we were right, however, I think Elsa feels threatened that we are replacing her. She is fine with him being around (they mostly avoid each other, but play in the yard) but she gets very upset if he plays rough (he can chew on, but not shake) her toys.
Bedtime last night was where the real fun was. Elsa had NO intention of letting Merlin up on the bed, and Merlin had no intention of sleeping on the floor. After holding Elsa down on the other side of the bed, and having Merlin come lay down as far away as possible, then petting and calming Elsa- it was all alright. On a normal summer night, Elsa stays for about 30 minutes, then leaves to sleep on the couch. Kevin guessed that she would stay all night. He was close to right.
At midnight the idiot who gives our neighbor a ride (to? from?) work pulled up into the driveway and honked 6 times. Then the wife of our neighbor went outside and yelled for a few minutes, and both of these things bugged the dogs (well, and me) they both sat up and listened. After a few moments, Merlin jumped off the bed to go investigate- completely out of character, Elsa did not. After Merlin did not return, then Elsa- apparently confident she had "won" the battle of the bed, jumped down, and went to the couch to lay down. Later in the night when Merlin came back to sleep on the bed, so did Elsa...
So how do I know all this- I barely slept at all last night, and it wasn't the dogs fault. I went to bed at 11:00 and laid there until 3:00. I slept a little bit but remember the clock saying 4:30 and then the dogs woke me up at 5:30. I went back to bed around 6, slept until 8 when I heard a giant dog fight, which was apparently in my dream, because the dogs weren't near each other. In fact, now, they seem to be doing just fine and have mastered the art of ignoring each other.
Elsa has never expressed any concern over Basie- he is so small we think she might not know that Basie is a dog. But other small male dogs she has met have never been any trouble, so we figured Merlin wouldn't be either. For the most part, we were right, however, I think Elsa feels threatened that we are replacing her. She is fine with him being around (they mostly avoid each other, but play in the yard) but she gets very upset if he plays rough (he can chew on, but not shake) her toys.
Bedtime last night was where the real fun was. Elsa had NO intention of letting Merlin up on the bed, and Merlin had no intention of sleeping on the floor. After holding Elsa down on the other side of the bed, and having Merlin come lay down as far away as possible, then petting and calming Elsa- it was all alright. On a normal summer night, Elsa stays for about 30 minutes, then leaves to sleep on the couch. Kevin guessed that she would stay all night. He was close to right.
At midnight the idiot who gives our neighbor a ride (to? from?) work pulled up into the driveway and honked 6 times. Then the wife of our neighbor went outside and yelled for a few minutes, and both of these things bugged the dogs (well, and me) they both sat up and listened. After a few moments, Merlin jumped off the bed to go investigate- completely out of character, Elsa did not. After Merlin did not return, then Elsa- apparently confident she had "won" the battle of the bed, jumped down, and went to the couch to lay down. Later in the night when Merlin came back to sleep on the bed, so did Elsa...
So how do I know all this- I barely slept at all last night, and it wasn't the dogs fault. I went to bed at 11:00 and laid there until 3:00. I slept a little bit but remember the clock saying 4:30 and then the dogs woke me up at 5:30. I went back to bed around 6, slept until 8 when I heard a giant dog fight, which was apparently in my dream, because the dogs weren't near each other. In fact, now, they seem to be doing just fine and have mastered the art of ignoring each other.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
I swear I'm not stealing QoTD from you Kristen.
(If you are interested in Question of the Day, the link to her blog is on my sidebar- my questions will only be when I want to take a break from working, but don't have anything blog worthy.)
So, I'm sure you can tell from the complaining that I am sucked up in freelance work and don't have a ton of time to for me. When the webpage really starts acting up (which is a lot) I take a few minutes to surf the net or to knit a few rows, but what I'd really like to do is sit on the couch, put in a DVD (sorry Linda- subtitles won't work, since I watch TV and knit) and knit, more than a single row. If I had a larger bathtub, I think I might even want to take a nice long scented bubble bath, while reading a book. Stupid small tub...
However, my shoulder injury from earlier this year has peaked again (I think it's from using a computer mouse...) and the pain is spreading up through my shoulder blades/back and down to my elbow, and my right hand is kind of feeling a bit numb. So I'm not knitting more than a row at a time- although I don't think knitting affects this. (When I wasn't doing computer work and knitting 8 hours a day before I picked up the freelance work, it didn't bother me at all.)
So today's question:
If you have 4 hours to yourself at home, what do you do?
So, I'm sure you can tell from the complaining that I am sucked up in freelance work and don't have a ton of time to for me. When the webpage really starts acting up (which is a lot) I take a few minutes to surf the net or to knit a few rows, but what I'd really like to do is sit on the couch, put in a DVD (sorry Linda- subtitles won't work, since I watch TV and knit) and knit, more than a single row. If I had a larger bathtub, I think I might even want to take a nice long scented bubble bath, while reading a book. Stupid small tub...
However, my shoulder injury from earlier this year has peaked again (I think it's from using a computer mouse...) and the pain is spreading up through my shoulder blades/back and down to my elbow, and my right hand is kind of feeling a bit numb. So I'm not knitting more than a row at a time- although I don't think knitting affects this. (When I wasn't doing computer work and knitting 8 hours a day before I picked up the freelance work, it didn't bother me at all.)
So today's question:
If you have 4 hours to yourself at home, what do you do?
Friday, July 17, 2009
Clapotis
I am perhaps the last knitter on earth to knit one (there are 11,964 projects on Ravelry, which I believe makes it the most knit pattern- with Fetching in a close second at 11,522... I think I'll skip Fetching, as I like other fingerless mittens better), but I have cast on for Clapotis
I am making my Clapotis with my Wollmeise sock yarn - in Gewitterhimmel. Even though I lucked int
o 4 skeins, I've only ended up with 1 1/2 of them. In a long story short version- I sold one because I meant to get only 3, and in the strangest case of WM cart jumping ever (they tend to jump OUT of carts) I somehow ended up with an extra. Then I sold 1 because someone asked very nicely, and I still felt guilty about the cost (which is stupid, since per gram WM is a pretty inexpensive yarn). Then I knit a pair of socks, but after losing my job I sold the leftover half of that skein (that's where the per gram thing comes in- there is enou
gh yarn for me to get 2 pairs of socks per skein!) for the price of a full skein, and used the money to buy like 4 pairs of socks worth of Knitpicks yarn. So that leaves me with 1 skein. And I realized, that if I make a pair of socks, and it gets a hole in it, I would break down and cry. Although I don't really REGRET having sold the yarn, I am aware that I will likely never lay my hands on it again. So I need a project designed to last- socks, they are designed to be worn...
The Clapotis is a simple pattern that can be made with 1 skein of Wollmeise. I'm not sure how that works because it is originally knit for Lion and Lamb, a much heavier yarn, but many many people have done it and it looks very pretty, so I too will try it.
I am knitting on size 6s (I thought about 5s but I tend to knit tight. I forgot to take in account that I purl loosely...) the fabric seems VERY loose. However, I can't really tell if I like it or not because a) I imagine once I drop the stitches it will look quite different, so it's tough to eye ball it now and b) I've been knitting socks for 6 months. Socks at 9-10 stitches per inch. And since I am using sock yarn, anything that is not a firm, dense fabric is going to look weird. I had Kevin look and he thinks it looks okay. I'll reevaluate after dropping the first set of stitches, and I might go down to a size 5.
This picture is my progress after day 1. My shoulder is starting to bother me again, and I have a lot of freelance work, so I expect this to take a LONG time.
I'm hoping for a wide scarf/small store that is about 60" long. Who knows what I will get!
I am making my Clapotis with my Wollmeise sock yarn - in Gewitterhimmel. Even though I lucked int
o 4 skeins, I've only ended up with 1 1/2 of them. In a long story short version- I sold one because I meant to get only 3, and in the strangest case of WM cart jumping ever (they tend to jump OUT of carts) I somehow ended up with an extra. Then I sold 1 because someone asked very nicely, and I still felt guilty about the cost (which is stupid, since per gram WM is a pretty inexpensive yarn). Then I knit a pair of socks, but after losing my job I sold the leftover half of that skein (that's where the per gram thing comes in- there is enou
gh yarn for me to get 2 pairs of socks per skein!) for the price of a full skein, and used the money to buy like 4 pairs of socks worth of Knitpicks yarn. So that leaves me with 1 skein. And I realized, that if I make a pair of socks, and it gets a hole in it, I would break down and cry. Although I don't really REGRET having sold the yarn, I am aware that I will likely never lay my hands on it again. So I need a project designed to last- socks, they are designed to be worn...The Clapotis is a simple pattern that can be made with 1 skein of Wollmeise. I'm not sure how that works because it is originally knit for Lion and Lamb, a much heavier yarn, but many many people have done it and it looks very pretty, so I too will try it.
I am knitting on size 6s (I thought about 5s but I tend to knit tight. I forgot to take in account that I purl loosely...) the fabric seems VERY loose. However, I can't really tell if I like it or not because a) I imagine once I drop the stitches it will look quite different, so it's tough to eye ball it now and b) I've been knitting socks for 6 months. Socks at 9-10 stitches per inch. And since I am using sock yarn, anything that is not a firm, dense fabric is going to look weird. I had Kevin look and he thinks it looks okay. I'll reevaluate after dropping the first set of stitches, and I might go down to a size 5.
This picture is my progress after day 1. My shoulder is starting to bother me again, and I have a lot of freelance work, so I expect this to take a LONG time.
I'm hoping for a wide scarf/small store that is about 60" long. Who knows what I will get!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
I've got nothing...
Let me sum up my life:
wake up, start freelance alignment work, eat lunch, continue freelance alignment work, (go ice skating on Tuesday or Wednesday), eat dinner, continue freelance alignment work, go to bed.
Do you see the reason for blog neglect?
Oddly enough, when I left livejournal to start this blog, it was because I no longer update in the "journal" format- multiple times a day, just the little things. The blog was going to be more about my knitting - but most people who read it aren't knitters, so I started doing more about me, but it turns out I have nothing to say. However, now that I am home all day, I've found myself wanting to do the quick livejournal type entries...
So this one is going to be more like that:
I found last night that I was very very disappointed that I don't like SYTYCD this season. I'm so bored by it. I don't care about any of the dancers. I actually turned it off midway through last night. This is my favorite summer show. Now I have NO TV for the summer. I guess that's not a bad thing, but I kind of like having something to watch.
What's your favorite TV show? If I took your cable away, do you think you'd watch much TV?
wake up, start freelance alignment work, eat lunch, continue freelance alignment work, (go ice skating on Tuesday or Wednesday), eat dinner, continue freelance alignment work, go to bed.
Do you see the reason for blog neglect?
Oddly enough, when I left livejournal to start this blog, it was because I no longer update in the "journal" format- multiple times a day, just the little things. The blog was going to be more about my knitting - but most people who read it aren't knitters, so I started doing more about me, but it turns out I have nothing to say. However, now that I am home all day, I've found myself wanting to do the quick livejournal type entries...
So this one is going to be more like that:
I found last night that I was very very disappointed that I don't like SYTYCD this season. I'm so bored by it. I don't care about any of the dancers. I actually turned it off midway through last night. This is my favorite summer show. Now I have NO TV for the summer. I guess that's not a bad thing, but I kind of like having something to watch.
What's your favorite TV show? If I took your cable away, do you think you'd watch much TV?
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Indian Food!
And so much of it- I feel like my stomach is going to explode.Kevin made (from packages) Dahl Tadka (lentils) and Pav Bhaji (vegetable cury), and then (no package) made a pork/apple curry, naan and basmati rice.
It was a feast! So much to eat. I don't do pork, so that was just his, but the rest made for an awesome meal. The Pav Bhaji was very spicy and the Dahl was not my favorite flavor, but since it was mild it complimented it very well. The naan recipie he uses always rises too much, but this time he didn't roll them flat enough so they rose a TON. Still- they tasted exactly right.
MMMMM!
I'm thinking about becoming a vegetarian again. There are only a few meat dishes I like (hot dogs, turkey bacon, chicken tortilla soup, mini hamburgers) and for environmental reasons I think it would be good to cut meat out of my diet. I cannot stand soy milk, so I'd keep milk/eggs (especially since most egg substitute has real egg in it now...)
I just need to find a few more non-meat dishes other than pasta so I have a base to start experimenting with...
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Sigh...
It seems I unknit more than I ever get to knit.
This morning I had a rare morning off and decided I would finish up the zombie sock. With just the toe left, I tried it on... hmm, seems bigger than the other. I measured the gauges- one is 8.5 spi the other 7 spi. Urgh.
Checked the Ravelry notes- yep, sure enough I DID go down to size 1.5 for the foot, like I usually do. For some reason, I remembered these socks being big, but it was just a loose cuff, not a loose foot, so I didn't change needle sizes, thinking I hadn't the first time around.
I tried to rip out just the foot, but the ribbing was so difficult to pick up (especially due to the dropped stitches) that I couldn't save the cuff :(
So I'm back to having 1 completed sock, and 1 sock to go :(
I debated ripping out the first sock too, and just making something else, but these are now my Alissa Czisny socks, so they need to get finished!
This morning I had a rare morning off and decided I would finish up the zombie sock. With just the toe left, I tried it on... hmm, seems bigger than the other. I measured the gauges- one is 8.5 spi the other 7 spi. Urgh.
Checked the Ravelry notes- yep, sure enough I DID go down to size 1.5 for the foot, like I usually do. For some reason, I remembered these socks being big, but it was just a loose cuff, not a loose foot, so I didn't change needle sizes, thinking I hadn't the first time around.
I tried to rip out just the foot, but the ribbing was so difficult to pick up (especially due to the dropped stitches) that I couldn't save the cuff :(
So I'm back to having 1 completed sock, and 1 sock to go :(
I debated ripping out the first sock too, and just making something else, but these are now my Alissa Czisny socks, so they need to get finished!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Sock Post
Last night when people came over one of them asked why there were socks everywhere. In my defense, there weren't socks EVERYWHERE. Just one in the "sock place", one hanging from our calendar peg (that should be put away, actually), and one that I was knitting on (I didn't join game night because when they started I had to do a job application).
This is the sock place:
My sock in progress hangs in the sock place when one is finished and the other is not yet. (So far this has proved a successful strategy in being a monogomaus knitter, only one sock- the one shown, has languished while I went on to other ones. Plus an unmatched Spring Forward, the first sock I took on when I started back on sock knitting, but that's waiting to be ripped out. So it doesn't count.)
The sock place came to being when Kevin was trying to clean (which means taking things off the kitchen table) and put a sock there. Since I envision a house covered in socks on blockers as a good decorating scheme, I've left it there, and he seems okay with the one sock.
For the record, I do not yet have enough socks for socks to be EVERYWHERE. I believe this picture shows all the socks I've made. All but 2 of these have been made since December.
Clearly I still need many more of these before the sock craze can finish. (Though I'm really getting an itchin' to do some lace.)
This is the sock place:
My sock in progress hangs in the sock place when one is finished and the other is not yet. (So far this has proved a successful strategy in being a monogomaus knitter, only one sock- the one shown, has languished while I went on to other ones. Plus an unmatched Spring Forward, the first sock I took on when I started back on sock knitting, but that's waiting to be ripped out. So it doesn't count.)
The sock place came to being when Kevin was trying to clean (which means taking things off the kitchen table) and put a sock there. Since I envision a house covered in socks on blockers as a good decorating scheme, I've left it there, and he seems okay with the one sock.
For the record, I do not yet have enough socks for socks to be EVERYWHERE. I believe this picture shows all the socks I've made. All but 2 of these have been made since December.
Clearly I still need many more of these before the sock craze can finish. (Though I'm really getting an itchin' to do some lace.)
I've got to start bring my camera...
... when I go out to eat.
Now, normally Kevin and I do not go out to eat very often. We are darn cheap, and now that I'm unemployed even more so. But this week was his birthday, so Thursday he and I went out and Friday, we went out with friends.
Thursday we went to Jade Sister's. Jade Sister's is my favorite Coralville sushi place. Three Samuri is more of a tepanyaki place and is kind of a weird set up for sushi (I don't like to sit AT the sushi bar), Sushi Popo annoyed me when they changed prices without changing menus (though Jade Sisters now charges 1% more tax than they should...) and just wasn't as good. Takanami was SO good, but expensive and in Iowa City. There were a few more we haven't tried.
But for now, Jade Sister's is my favorite. We usually start with Crab Ragoons- this is the only place I will eat them, somehow they just get them RIGHT. A perfect crisp fried shell and the best filling I've ever had. But then we are always so full, because 5 is a lot to split between two of us, so we resolved not to get them. Our resolve was a bit silly, because we got lettuce wraps instead...
The lettuce wraps were excellent. They have a bit of a smoky taste to them, and I've never figured that out. Then, for dinner, I got the two rolls I always get. A california roll and a another roll that is essentially a shrimp tempura roll with sweet potato and cream cheese, but the shrimp tempura roll here is more expensive than this. So odd, but the extra flavors are YUM. The CA roll is pretty standard but I like it. Kevin got a Mexican roll that was extremely spicey, and another roll that is large and all over fried- I tasted it and thought the texture was smushy and the flavor bland, but he completely disagreed with me.
Then last night with everyone we went to Exotic India. The service here left much to be desired, it was an hour wait until we got our food (and another 40 minutes for Erin when the server forgot hers.) For the first time I got the Thali- a kind of sampler of all kinds of things. I got dahl, Vindaloo, Saag Paneer, and there was rice, a salad, a kind of dressing sort of thing, a dessert that was like a dough ball in honey, a roti and a piece of naan. Possibly something else. Everything was VERY yummy. I'll get that again, though it does mean you get a smaller serving of the curry at the trade off of being able to sample everything else.
Now, normally Kevin and I do not go out to eat very often. We are darn cheap, and now that I'm unemployed even more so. But this week was his birthday, so Thursday he and I went out and Friday, we went out with friends.
Thursday we went to Jade Sister's. Jade Sister's is my favorite Coralville sushi place. Three Samuri is more of a tepanyaki place and is kind of a weird set up for sushi (I don't like to sit AT the sushi bar), Sushi Popo annoyed me when they changed prices without changing menus (though Jade Sisters now charges 1% more tax than they should...) and just wasn't as good. Takanami was SO good, but expensive and in Iowa City. There were a few more we haven't tried.
But for now, Jade Sister's is my favorite. We usually start with Crab Ragoons- this is the only place I will eat them, somehow they just get them RIGHT. A perfect crisp fried shell and the best filling I've ever had. But then we are always so full, because 5 is a lot to split between two of us, so we resolved not to get them. Our resolve was a bit silly, because we got lettuce wraps instead...
The lettuce wraps were excellent. They have a bit of a smoky taste to them, and I've never figured that out. Then, for dinner, I got the two rolls I always get. A california roll and a another roll that is essentially a shrimp tempura roll with sweet potato and cream cheese, but the shrimp tempura roll here is more expensive than this. So odd, but the extra flavors are YUM. The CA roll is pretty standard but I like it. Kevin got a Mexican roll that was extremely spicey, and another roll that is large and all over fried- I tasted it and thought the texture was smushy and the flavor bland, but he completely disagreed with me.
Then last night with everyone we went to Exotic India. The service here left much to be desired, it was an hour wait until we got our food (and another 40 minutes for Erin when the server forgot hers.) For the first time I got the Thali- a kind of sampler of all kinds of things. I got dahl, Vindaloo, Saag Paneer, and there was rice, a salad, a kind of dressing sort of thing, a dessert that was like a dough ball in honey, a roti and a piece of naan. Possibly something else. Everything was VERY yummy. I'll get that again, though it does mean you get a smaller serving of the curry at the trade off of being able to sample everything else.
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