FEAR!

As you read in my last post, I got myself a sewing machine. It is pretty. It's shiny. It has lots of different types of stitches or whatnot.



I'm frightened of it. I... I just don't know what to do with it. I've gotten some cloth to play with. I've played with stitches. I'm going to take a small class in it at the place where Paul bought it. However, it still scares me. I look at it and feel like I'll never know how to use it well, no matter how much I want to.

I've read some Craftster threads about using sewing machines, but it's not taking the edge off. I want to do stuff now, and it's basically telling me -- wait, look, play with the machine's different functions, and then read about it some more.

I talked to Beth, one of our friends from high school who is also a designer, and she recommended a book to me. I really hope she emails the name of it to Paul like she said she would. She also told me that after I'm done making squares and aprons, I should make a pair of pajama pants as my first real project. Is there anyone out there who sews who can talk me through this terror of my own sewing machine?

On the positive side, I went to my mom's house and started going through my mom-mom's (great grandmom on my dad's father's side) old sewing machine (a Singer) looking for various things I could pilfer from my mom. SCORE! I found an excellent pair of pinking shears that probably just need a bit of WD-40, and I found a lot of bias ribbon, zippers, and a seam ripper. Things I'd like to get after more experience include: rotary blade, self-healing cutting mat, several patterns, see-through ruler, and sewing chalk.

Perhaps A New Blog Name

I might have to rename my blog very soon! For my birthday, yesterday, I received a new sewing machine! When you combine that with the fact that I want to try my hand at card-making, and the fact that I already cross-stitch, I'm not sure how accurate "Ninja Kitten Knits" is. Perhaps, "Ninja Kitten Has Too Many Crafting Hobbies" would be better.

Anyway, I'm actually going to start this entry with my plans for future entries, which is weird, but helpful to me. One, Kitten, get pictures of your sewing machine, and your card-making supplies, and post them in Flickr, and in here! Two, find out what a Bernette 66 is capable of and figure out what I need to get started with sewing some pillows. Three, find out what I need to get started with my card-making that I do not already have.

Now, on to my knitting content which shall be fairly lengthy. I am *only* covering two things today, podcast reviews will come later this week. Let's start with the most important thing, what I am knitting and how is it coming along...

I'm still working on socks, socks, socks... My latest pair of short row anklets are still coming along. I'm working on the heel of the second anklet now and it is moving fast. This is the pair of socks I drag around with me everywhere in case I have an extra ten minutes to knit somewhere, so they obviously get worked on as time permits. I have to say that I love the Koigu colorway when I see it in the sunlight, but not so much indoors. Koigu KPPPM knits up much nicer than I recall from my previous venture, and I definitely plan to make some more anklet socks out of it for myself. I'd also consider using it for friends or family if I find out if I can wash it in the washer and dryer. For those who are curious, I test this out by simply tossing the pair of handknit socks into my washer and dryer after I wear them. This has led to some heartbreak in the past, but I have no time in my life for handwash socks normally. It's why I refuse to buy many 100% merino sock yarns.

I'm also working on Helen's Knee Socks. Whew. They take a long time to knit, which makes sense since it is the first time I've ever knit patterned socks and the first time I've ever knit knee socks. I'm only on the seventh repeat of the leg spiral pattern. This sock is being knit with Lorna's Laces, and I'm not loving Lorna's sock yarn as much as I have in the past. I think I'm used to softer sock yarn nowadays, but I'm still going to continue to knit with LL. Why? Because I know that softness matters less to me when I'm actually wearing the socks, and because I know they machine wash and dry beautifully.

So, the second thing I'm going to blog about? I'm going to Rhinebeck!! OH EM GEE, folks! I'm so excited. A few weeks ago, slightly depressed due to the fact that I was giving up work to stay at home with Nathan, I asked Christy if she'd want to go. Christy, who is an awesome awesome awesome friend, said, 'Let's do it.' She managed to get us a place to stay, and now we're headed up for the weekend. I'm excited to be spending time with Christy, to be seeing a lot of the yarns I've only heard or read about, and to see what goes on at this huge fiber festival.

I have no idea what vendors will be there, but some things I'd like to purchase include: US #8 straight needles (Montego Bay), US #10 1/2 double points (Feeling Fuzzy), US #11 straight needles (My So Called Scarf), US #1 sock needles (all kinds of socks!), US #7 16-inch circulars (Harry Potter Scarf), Malabrigo worsted weight yarn (My So-Called Scarf), Handmaiden Fine Yarn Sea Silk (Montego Bay), Dream in Color Smooshy, Shibui Knits Sock Yarn, Schaefer Yarns Heather, and eight billion other sock yarns! I obviously will not be buying all of this, no matter how tempted I am, but I hope to get at least some of it. I might even have to add more to this list so I don't forget what I want when I get there. The worst part is that I plan to make sure that all new needles I buy are Lantern Moon and any new circulars are Addi Turbos. I know... What is up with that?

Books, Yarn, and Podcasts

As an advance warning, this post is going to be all over the place.

Let's start with the recent purchases. As some of you might be aware, I'm desperate to make Helen a pair of knee high socks, and I now have the yarn, the pattern, and the needles. I was pretty thrilled when the Interweave Summer 2007 issue got to me, but I can only see about four patterns in it that I'd ever really make. The issue is worth is since I really want to make those patterns and I am terribly grateful for the toe-up sock instruction.



I did start the socks tonight, but for the first time out of all the socks, mittens, scarves, and hats I've made, I twisted my work when I joined it. I was horribly disappointed and I set the yarn and needles aside to work on my other simple anklets. My anklets are a simple stockinette sock with a short row heel. This is my preferred sock for myself. It normally requires less than 200 yards for me as I have relatively small feet. The Koigu I'm using for my anklets is nice, but I'm tired of blue. How is it that I fall in love with yarns when in skein form, but then hate them when they get knit up?



I also bought Custom Knits recently. I follow Knit and Tonic pretty faithfully simply because I love Wendy's patterns, so I knew the book was coming out. Wendy's patterns are often classically beautiful or truly fashionable. They are the type of sweaters that I'd buy if I were to go to a nice store at the mall. Now, I love to knit, but I'm not one to just knit a sweater to knit a sweater. I need to know that I'm going to at least think I might like the ending result of my knitting prior to starting to knit. (This is why I knit so many damn scarves and socks and hats and mittens. No matter what, I know I'll wear these things. It's also why I knit for other people who are less picky than me such as my mom.) This is why Wendy's patterns are perfect for me. I know that I want to knit them because they look cute or pretty or classic. I've already decided to knit Pink, the Karma Tank, and Tang from the book (eventually). I just need to buy some yarn for this first and then finish all the other projects I have queued up already. I hate to have yarn for more than five or six projects around the house.

I know, I only like to knit on one thing at a time normally, and I hate to stash. I'm an abnormal knitter in the internet blogging world, aren't I?

Let's get to the Podcast Reviews. I'm still working through old Podcasts, but I can tell you that I've decided I kind of like Knitting at Night. Even though I have a hard time identifying with the podcaster, Casey, I find her voice nice and the balance she has between personal stories and knitting information to be quite good. I'm glad that I gave her a try after her first several episodes which had sound problems. Because she has a lengthy backlog of episodes, and because she podcasts pretty much weekly without fail, I have not gotten to any new podcasts this week. I've barely kept up with the ones I love that have come out this week!

YarnCraft came out with episode 23. It was all about yarn based crafts for or with children. Well, that effectively killed me giving YarnCraft another try for a while. I have listened to three episodes and I just have not been impressed. It seems, largely, like an advertisement for Lion Brand Yarn, and I don't knit with their yarn. I don't get much out of the episodes, and I don't have the time to dedicate to them. I might give them a try another half year or year from now. Remind myself -- try Cast On in two months and YarnCraft in a year. I also got the latest episode of Yarn Thing due to her comments on my blog. I'll give her Season Two a try.

Knit Pick's Episode 62 was another interview and I loathe when she interviews, so I just deleted it without thinking about it further. I've got too little time in life for crappy episodes of her podcast. It's a real shame too, because I normally love the Knit Pick's podcast and I want to hear about their yarns and her knitting queue. Bah!

Pixie Purls put out a new podcast, episode 19! Unfortunately, I listened to her episode while extremely tired, but she had a new feature that I loved. She highlighted other people's Finished Objects that she had liked. I couldn't resist looking at the posts she linked. She also discussed whether Ravelry and Flickr have killed knitting blogs. This was an interesting topic, but she's had better.

Manic Purl put out a new episode as well. Her episode 10 was okay, but she too has had better.

I was going to talk about sock yarns I've fallen in love with recently, but this post is already hideously long. It'll wait until next time. As some of you don't know me very well, I'm going to be giving up my job very soon, which is causing me a lot of depression. However, this might mean that I'll have more time for posting. I might try to enforce a twice a week posting schedule if that occurs, to be upgraded to three times a week if twice a week works well.

Talk to you all later!

More Podcasts Reviewed

So, sometime in July, when I had a lot more free time on my hands, I promised I'd review some more podcasts. Well, I went back to work and my free time went to hell. I could choose to either blog or sleep. I normally choose sleep nowadays. I did, however, have a LOT of time to listen to podcasts over the last month since my commute jumped to two hours each way normally. That left me time to go through podcast after podcast. Since it is still before 23:00 right now, I'm going to review a few of those podcasts.

Yarn Craft is... Well, I'm not really sure what it is. I've only listened to two episodes, and I haven't really got a feel for it yet. This is one of the few I've listened to that I haven't started near the beginning. It's two women who work for Lion Brand Yarns chatting together. I don't know if I have a feel for their personalities yet, but I am going to give it more time to grow on me. Since they always talk about yarns from Lion Brand, I'm often not thrilled since I haven't used Lion Brand yarn in about five years now, but I am still willing to give it a few more listens.

I loved, loved, loved the early episodes of Manic Purl. She speaks about things I find interesting, she loves to review various yarns, or give me knitting news. Thanks to her, I know there is still a chance to join one of those Mystery Shawl things. In the last few episodes, she's gotten a little bit disorganized. While I do appreciate some impulsive moments in podcasts, I really do like highly organized podcasts better mainly because I think that a lot of disorganized podcasters end up 'um'ing a lot and forgetting what they say in the middle of their podcast. She's indicated this change is permanent, but I'm still going to listen to her future episodes.

However, folks, my new favorite podcast might be Stash and Burn. These two friends have a natural flow and ebb to their conversation which is fantastic. Even when they are clearly showing each other things or going to the computer to find information, they are still interesting and on topic. It's both clear that they love knitting and yarn, and that they are friends who discuss it even when not podcasting. I can't recommend them enough to people who like to hear podcasts between duos.

I'm still making up my mind on Knitting at Night, but I should review this podcast soon. I hope to add another two or three podcasts to that review list as well. I expect I'll have a chance to give Doubleknit a listen, so they might be on that list. I also hope to start reviewing individual episodes of each podcast I listen to.

I wanted to add one thing, however. The podcaster for Yarn Thing, a nice woman called Marly, thanked me for my review even though it was not a positive one. I'd like to thank her for commenting, in turn. I would never have assumed any podcaster would see my blog, since it is not highly public and I'm not a well known knitter. Since she commented, I thought I'd explain, in further detail, why I didn't continue to listen to her podcast.

As I said in my last post, her podcast was simply not my thing. I do not crochet. The best way to describe my crochet attempts would be: "Epic Fail!" I have attempted to do blankets, scarves, squares, and every single damn last time, I end up with a slowly widening or shrinking fabric. Thus, listening to podcasts regarding crochet remind me of this failure on my part. Additionally, I would often get angry when Marly described her husband's exasperation about yarn prices. While logically I know that a lot of yarn is super expensive, I'm very defensive for womankind and I'd like females in a relationship to spend as they want to spend and without guilt. (Not that I spend without guilt, but I'd like other women to. Plus, I feel guilt over everything.)

Now, after saying that, I'll admit that Marly's podcast was the only one in recent memory to make me openly weep due to a story told in it. One day, soon after my own son's birth, I was listening to Marly tell a story about her friend Valerie's publishing attempts. Apparently, Valerie had won a Jimmy Beans Wool contest for patterns with her pattern the Presto Chango. The story behind it is at Valerie's site and the summary is that her child had leukemia and she attempted to make a pattern that would have made a baby who had to go through chemotherapy more comfortable. Two things about this made me bawl in bed:

I pictured my own baby having anything wrong with him, and I felt so horrible for any mother who had to go through watching her child or baby be in pain. I don't even know if I could be strong enough for my child if something happened to him like that. I admired her for thinking about other mothers and how she could make life easier for them.

I remembered how miserable my step-father had been while going through his own chemotherapy. I never appreciated Ed while he was alive, but he was a very good man in his own way. I ended up going to his alma mater, Drexel University, and it was widely acknowledged how thrilled he would have been. My step-father died from his cancer.

Some Matching Socks

Okay, I'm going to start this post with how I made some socks for Nathan, and end with how I'm a giant moron. Follow along.

First, let's start with the good. After more than a month of knitting, I've completed Nathan's socks. They fit him perfectly, which is worrisome since they are fall/winter socks and it is summer. But, he looks good in them.



I made Paul go outside with him, in the heat, and made them both wear wool socks so I could get a photo for Ravelry. Since I've been so depressed and exhausted recently, Paul humored me.



The cat in the background is Jade. She's staring hatefully at Nathan who she considers an interloper. Sometimes, when I cuddle Nathan, she tries to climb into my lap as well.

I rather like the socks. They are adorable and especially cute for being matchy-matchy with his daddy's socks. I am looking to buy some kind of cashmere sock yarn and make him several larger pairs of socks for the upcoming year. Perhaps I could knit myself some cashmere socks while I'm doing so. I told Paul when I finished making Nathan's socks that I could not picture a situation where I had enough yardage after making another pair of socks where I would not make Nathan socks. Handknit socks for Nathan!

Now, for the stupidity. Perhaps it is because I'm very tired recently, but I've been looking all over for Interweave Knitting Summer 2007 Issue. See, I really want to make Helen a pair of the boot socks, and I'd like to make myself the Montego Bay Scarf. So, logically for an old magazine, I looked on Ebay for it. And I kept bidding and getting sniped. I was so angry with the last one that I vowed to look around online for other stores that might be selling it and just buy it outright.

Turns out that Interweave is selling it and for cheaper than it has been on Ebay. Why didn't I check interweave first? What the hell is wrong with me? Either way, it is winging its way towards me as we speak. Now I just need to get gauge with either size 0 or size 2 needles with the proper yarn, and I can knit her socks up! Oh...

Wait, while I was waiting for the magazine to come on, I cast on for new anklets for myself with some Koigu. Unfortunately, my knitting speed is basically nonexistant now, so Helen might never get these socks.

fictional confusion

Things I find confusing about television, books, or movies I'm mentally invested in:

1. Why does anyone live in Gotham?

Sure, it seems like a perfectly pretty, if dark, city, but... Well, if I were living in the DC universe, I wouldn't even take a frickin' plane if it had a layover in Gotham. Other cities in the DC universe such as Edge City or even Metropolis just seem so much safer and nicer and brighter. There's crazy villains in those other cities, I guess, but Batman's city is just creepy. I never understand why the populous doesn't move en masse.

2. Why is Slytherin allowed to exist?

Honestly, if you were the Headmaster of Hogwarts, wouldn't you have gotten rid of Slytherin ages ago? It seems to foster malcontents, troublemakers, and plain ol' evil. I mean, I like the Slytherins and find that to be either the best of the houses or the second best (I've got a fondness for Ravenclaw), but I think a smart leader would make sure that people sorted into Slytherin instead got sent to another school.

3. In the Potterverse still, two related questions. Why does Hermoine like Ron? And why was Hermoine sorted into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw?

Admittedly, I haven't read the last two books, but Ron seems a bit like an incredible doof. Hermoine could do much better, if you ask me. Also, I never believed that she was Gryffindor material. She has Ravenclaw written all over her.

4. Why wouldn't you tell Veronica Mars the truth?

She'll just get to the truth anyway, and then she'll be pissed at you for not telling you the truth in the first place and she'll get revenge.

5. Alternatively, why would you get involved with Veronica romantically?

Dick is right. She's rich boy kryptonite. Her boyfriends have been drug dealers, gotten fired from their jobs for selling evidence, have been arrested for murder multiple times over, and have been forced to leave the country with their illegitimate child. It just seems like a bad scene.

6. Why would you get involved with a vampire if your whole job in life is to kill them?

And not just one, but two different vampires. Buffy? Vampire Slayer, not Vampire Layer. Just clearing up the confusion for you.

7. Why does anyone trust Ben?

It flies in the face of all reason to believe him or trust him, yet every moron on that island appears to. If you ask me, if everyone besides Ben gets massacred on Lost, they all fully deserve it. I hope you win, Ben. I really do.

before i go any further

If any of you are here because you used to read my blog posts regarding knitting, I've separated my knitting off onto a new blog -- Ninja Kitten Knits. It is filled with pictures, opinions, and quite a few posts now. I recommend giving it a read if you care about knitting.

More Knitting Podcasts

As you might remember, I've recently become knitting podcast obsessed. Though, honestly, I'm more just podcast obsessed nowadays. I doubt many of you knitters care, but I'm also listening to D&D podcasts like they are going out of style.

Here's an update to detail what I think of each podcasts. Let's start with what I've already told you.

My favorite podcast so far is probably Pixie Purls. She likes to knit tank tops, she loves non-variegated yarn for projects, and she is a techie. She's an easy fit into my knitting lifestyle. Additionally, as a new mother, she's fascinating to me, because I love to hear stories from other women with young children. She's also back with her podcast after a year break to my delight! I've listened to all the shows.

My second favorite podcast is Knit Picks, very oddly. I have nothing in common with Kelley, the host of the podcast. However, she has a good speaking voice, she is calm, and she has a focus and show layout that I understand. She starts with the theme of the show, goes to book reviews, and finishes with her personal knitting life. Love it! I don't understand her lifestyle at all, but I don't give a hoot. I'd listen to her podcast until the end of time. I even find that everything she discusses about Knit Picks is interesting rather than sounding like a constant advertisement. I've listened to almost all but the most recent shows. I skip the interviews now, because I've learned that I don't enjoy them.

I didn't like Lime & Violet. I found the show very self-indulgent, and I was tired of the oddness. I found their laughter at their own antics annoying, and eventually, I felt like they weren't even talking about knitting so much as just chatting with each other about their lives. I understand that they are popular, but I am not really sure why. I listened to seven shows before giving up.

Yarn Thing was not my thing, but she wasn't a bad thing. I didn't seem to have much in common with her, and, overall, her show didn't interest me, but I think I can see why others would find it interesting. I listened to several shows before giving up. I might consider sampling her show again in the future.

I've just gone through a ton of Socks in the City. I like her show, but I don't love it, and I think if I wasn't such an obsessed sock knitter, I'd probably give up on the show. As it is, I think when I finish with her current episodes, I might not have a choice about whether I give it up. There hasn't been a new show since May! I'd recommend this show for the sock obsessed.

I'll be honest, I listened to only one show of Ready, Set, Knit. I hated it, just hated it. It seemed like a huge advertisement for Webs combined with a boring interview. I normally hate interviews on podcasts, anyway, as most people are interviewing people I'm not interested in. I couldn't bring myself to listen to more when I saw that they have a lot of the talk of yarns they sell and lots of interviews. Where as I felt that Knit Picks' podcast was simply a podcast that mentioned Knit Picks more often than most, I felt that Webs' podcast was one giant advertisement.

Cast On is an old podcast (several years now) and a steady one, but not one that I particularly liked. I listened to two episodes, then gave it up. I'm not quite sure why I didn't stick with it, and this is another I might give a try in the future, but, for now, I don't want to listen to any more. The host should have been fascinating, but there was just something missing.

When I next blog about podcasts, I'll attempt to cover Yarn Craft, Knitting at Night, Stash and Burn, Manic Purl, and Doubleknit. I've already given a listen to Yarn Craft and Knitting at Night, but I want to see if my impression on those two sticks before I give my final say.

In my own knitting news, I managed to finish the ribbing of the first sock of Nathan's Matching Socks. I think that tomorrow, if I have the energy, I will finish one sock, and then cast on for a Slytherin scarf!

Paul's First Socks Done

After more than a month of knitting, Paul's socks are finally done. Finally.



Since they are wool socks, and my husband is almost always too warm for the weather, he will probably not wear them until the middle of December, at least.

These socks were made using the Sleeping Dragon yarn in the Mossy Frogs colorway. It was a nice yarn to knit with, but I didn't love it. I found it a tiny bit splitty, and while a nice smooshy yarn, I'm a bit more used to a thinner sock yarn when I knit. I'd buy it again, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to, if you know what I mean.

The socks are a simple stockinette cuff down sock with two by two ribbing for two inches at the top. I did a short row heel, which is my preference in general for knitted socks. I kitchenered the toe, which is also my preference.

My husband's feet are a bit wider than normal (maybe a fair amount more than just 'a bit') and he wears size 11 mens shoes, I believe. Out of the 440 yards of yarn that the label states existed, I have a fairly small amount left. To get a feel for his size feet, here is one (with sock) next to my size six and a half foot.



I plan to use the bitty remainder of the sock yarn to make my son, Nathan, a matching pair. I've already cast on! Either before, or directly after, I finish these baby socks, I plan to cast on for my Slytherin scarf as well.

Babies Are Hardwork

I started this blog with the best intentions of blogging continuously, but if I had been smart, I would have done this several months prior to having a baby and then my entries would have been a lot more interesting.

As it is, what I mostly do nowadays is wake up every several hours to feed a baby, fall back asleep, and eat. It's not very exciting. I do listen to several podcasts through the day (something to do at four in the morning while Nathan takes thirty minutes to eat) and they've all been knitting podcasts so far.

I've really been enjoying the KnitPicks podcast. It's not exciting or something I really relate to, but Kelly's voice is so calm and everything she talks about is relatively interesting. I put her podcasts on when I want to be calm and relaxed, which is normally what I like from roughly one to four in the morning.

At six or so in the morning, I'm generally falling asleep during the feedings, so I put on something a little more energetic like Socks in the City which I just started. I had been listening to LimenViolet or Yarnthing, but I found LimeNViolet to be a little silly after repeated listens (loved the Yarn Porn segment and tired of everything else, plus it was repetitive), and I didn't identify very much with Yarnthing though her podcast was NOT repetitive and was fairly good, simply not for me.

I have been knitting a tiny bit. I finished one of my socks for Paul's First Pair of Socks. It took forever once I got to the foot and when he put it on, it was much greener than it looked in the skein or when I first knit up a small swatch. I've decided to make him a second pair of socks out of Blue Moon Fiber's Thraven after a bit so he can have a pair of hand knit socks to wear to work. That'll be a while in the future, however. The first sock that I knit him did fit him beautifully, and I'm already getting to the heel of the second sock, so that's well and good.

That's all the news for now. I suspect that the next time I blog will be either when this pair of socks is finished and I have pictures, or when I start my Slytherin scarf. I do not know which will come first!