skittermagoo!

Slowest project ever.

I may not have been the last person in the world to cast on for Clapotis, but I'm pretty sure I'm the last knitter on earth to finish. I had the realization last week (thanks to Aubyn's keen sense of time passage) that I've been working on this thing since March. Yep, March. And not even late March, but more like March 3. That's what, just about 6 months ago!!?? ACK!

So once I finished the Sockapal2za socks (those were on the front burner, remember?), I decided to make a concerted effort to make it past the black hole of straight repeats and make some actual progress. This was just about a week ago, and I was right around 2/3 of the way through the interminable middle section.

And then, after making some deals with myself (work a bit on Clapotis every day before working on anything else), I became completely and totally . . .

Claposessed.

I've knitted nothing but Clapotis since last Thursday, and when I close my eyes to go to sleep at night, I swear I see it burned onto the insides of my eyelids. I've even put off starting the next pair of socks!!

And here we are today:

Finally! Finished! With the ends woven in, even! Did I already say "finally"?

In the photo, it looks like a solid green, but actually the yarn is 4 different colors (green, teal, a goldish color, and brown) all plied together, so closeup it's kind of varied and mottled.

See?

I think it turned out beautifully, and the pattern is really ingenious, despite the amount of time it took me to finish.

There's one problem . . . I will never wear it.

Not because it's not clever and charming and really nice. It is all those things, and it is in a color that is one of my very favorites and most flattering. Nope, I won't wear it because I'm just not a shawl person at all -- I can't imagine myself actually wrapping it around my shoulders and going somewhere.*

So, I'm going to gift it to someone who will wear it. And who requested a Clapotis of her own, made by me, in a "neutral, off-white color that will go with everything".

Yeah, Mom, I even bought the perfect champagne-colored yarn to make you a Clapotis, but I can't imagine another 6 months of this. So you're getting the greenybrowny one. And you better like it. Otherwise, you can knit your own damn Clapotis.

*I will probably wear this thing to knitnight just to prove that I actually finally finished it. Hah!

Tagged

Argh, a certain Purse-Ho tagged me with a meme . . .

My 23rd post, 5th sentence reads:

Tried to get Abby to join in the Kodak moment, but she's having a bad hair day, poor thing!

(Ah, the ongoing saga of the nonphotogenic cat . . .)

Here are the rules for the meme:

1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five people to do the same.

Hmmm, who to tag? Lessee . . .
NanC, both Purling Ps, Stalker Angie, and Steph. Why them? Because they're the least likely to hit me, I think. Tag, you're it!

Socks 'n stuff

So, there are these socks, right? Yeah, those -- the ones that I'm sending to a complete stranger in September for the Sockapal2za extravaganza* . . . well, I've been a bit stressed about them in the last couple weeks, because I realized how incredibly close we are to September. And I tend to be a deadline-driven person, in the sense that I drive right up on a deadline and almost crash before I see it looming, and then I'm in a scramble. But I didn't want to do that this time. So I set aside everything else, and didn't knit on anything but the socks. Socks, socks, socks, must finish the socks. Perhaps it is telling that I spent yesterday's SnB working on Clapotis.

Okay, that's a way-too-wordy way of telling y'all that the socks are done!

Here they are reclining wonkily in my backyard (again with the outdoors).

don't worry, pally-o, I'll wash 'em before I send 'em! And the heels aren't strangely deformed, it's just because they haven't been blocked yet! Promise!

For some reason I can't seem to capture the actual color of these on my camera . . . they are actually a yummy tomato bisque color, but the photos always come out too pink or too orange.

Yay! Finished socks!

And I realized two minutes after I finished them that I only have two items on the needles right now (other than dishcloths -- they don't count, right?) . . . which set off a bit of panic, as I can't think of a time since I've started knitting that I've only had two projects going. EEK!

So what did I do? Well, ever since I saw Kathy's gorgeous Kristina bag (24 August entry), I've been obsessed with it. Obsessed, I tell you! So I went right out to the Ewe and bought the yarn and the pattern.

blogless Aubyn helped me pick out the Noro color

I haven't cast on yet . . . the reason for that will be revealed shortly. But it will be cast on for SOON!

And just because I can't quite believe it myself, look!

For the first time in about, oh, forever, it's below 100F! Wheep!

(And how cool is that temperature/barometer/humidometer? It's a most excellent gift from NanC and Matty!)

And just because I can't shut up tonight, lemme give another shameless plug for the IKEA chair. If you want to knit faster, go get one, 'cause I swear I knit faster sitting in this thing! To the point that I've got everyone around me calling it the "magic knitting chair". Seriously!

*I keep forgetting that a total stranger is going to send me some socks, too!

p.s. I spent the day glued to the news of Hurricane Katrina hitting the gulf coast . . . I hope everyone out there in knitblog land is safe and evacuated! I was racking my brains all day trying to think of people to call and check on.

Time's flyin' . . .

Wow, I can't believe it's been another whole week (almost) between posts! What's up with that?

Oh, wait, I was out of town for part of it. And if you're thinking of going canoeing in 100+ degree heat in Texas in the middle of the day, don't. Really. You'll end up with a horrible headache and almost passed out afterwards. But then, y'all probably had the common sense not to even consider doing something so crazy. Uh-huh.

"Why canoeing?", you ask? Well, Mr. Skittermagoo and I decided that would be a fun thing to do on our yearly trip to celebrate our anniversary (12! Years!!). And it was fun, but I think we're going to enjoy it more in the fall when it's cooler, like in November.

I also had today off work as a bonus, so NanC and Aubyn and I planned to go to the new IKEA that opened earlier this month (we wanted to wait for the crowds to go away a little bit first).

I'd planned to document the whole trip, but as you'll see, I got a little distracted by all the great cheap deals to be had. So, not many pictures.

Don't they look excited?

We shopped and said "wow!" a lot, and looked at just about everything in the store (I'm sure we missed a bunch, it was just so much sensory overload!). Aubyn bought a lamp (knitting lamp!), and NanC got some little stuff, and I went wild and bought some extra-seating type footstools and wineglasses and trivets and stuff. Oh, and this:

POANG! That's really it's name!

My new knitting chair! The girls helped me put it together (it was sooo easy!), and I've been sitting in it ever since except to take the picture. It's just the right amount of lower back support for knitting, and I can take advantage of the lighting in my "knitting room" (which is so much better than in the living room).

And the best part? The chair and footstool together only cost just over $100. Woot!

I also have my eye on a coffee table and a loveseat and a new dining room table/chairs, but that'll all have to wait for payday and Mr. Skitter's input.

IKEA, I lurve you.

Just a quick note

This has to be fast 'cause I'm at work . . .

But I had to let y'all know that Mr. Skittermagoo has a new web comic, Greenbriar. I know I'm biased, but I think it looks great!

Socks and dishcloths and beads, oh my!

Wow, how a week can fly by . . . I guess that's what happens when work gets crazy and I can't remember where I stashed the camera!

Anyway, just to show how much I love you people, I braved the mosquitoes that seem to have colonized my backyard* and got you this:

I love arty garden knitwear shots!

Yep, I finished sock #1 for my Sockapal2za pal! In the photo it looks a little long of foot and narrow of leg, but that's not really true -- it's just the camera angle. Actually, the leg does look a bit narrow in real life, too, but I think/hope that's because it's cabley and ribby and all that.

In other recent news, NanC and I visited a new bead store that opened up here recently, and I went a little stitch-marker crazy:

this is the nice, crisp "against the stairs" shot

and this is the blurry "hold it up in the air" shot

I just lurve those kitty head beads!

And last but certainly not least here at Skittermagoo, gifts! NanC made me an adorable dishcloth

cute citrusy goodness!

She then called me a wuss (or something similar) for making the same old "granny" garter stitch dishcloth over and over.

Okiedokie, I'm off to find the calamine lotion now!

*I have looked everywhere I can think of that might have standing water or whatnot for the Mosquito Breeding Project going on back there, to no avail. I'm thinking it must be because we have a creek nearby or something. In any case, every time I go outside, I get at least one bite, usually more. The other morning I went to take out the trash, and I swear three of the little f**kers purposely divebombed me from around the corner. I think I actually heard little buzzy strains of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries a la the helicopter scene in Apocolypse Now.

I'm a big dork

As I was driving to work this morning, I listened to a broadcast of the space shuttle landing . . . and I ended up having to wipe tears of joy from both eyes as they landed safely!

Ever since I was in high school and watched the Challenger explode live on TV in class (and then later the Columbia tragedy), I've held my breath every time they launch or land a shuttle . . . add to that my undergraduate research fellowship (which was in honor one of the Challenger astronauts) and the NASA grant I had in graduate school, and I've turned into a total sap for the shuttle.

I'm so glad that Discovery made it back okay . . .

Yarn diet? What yarn diet?

Okay, so I broke the "yarn diet" today (I still despise that term). But it wasn't my fault, really! C'mon, don't look at me like that.

Here's what happened . . . this afternoon the Woolie Ewe called, and told me that the yarn I'd ordered had arrived. Huh?? I ordered yarn? Oh, OH. The Noro. That I ordered a year ago or more? Color 126, right? Right. 5 skeins.

Okay, so I didn't really believe them, because about a month ago they called me for the same reason, and it turned out to be totally the wrong color. Plus I think color 126 was discontinued. But I humored them, and went this afternoon to see what color they'd picked out for me this time.

But it turned out to be the right color.

I walked into the store and went straight to the counter and bought my ordered-a-year-or-more-ago yarn, and didn't even stop and peruse the books or glance at the clearance section (50% off!). It was hard, y'all. Really hard. And made even more difficult by Jill (one of the owners), who actually taunted me! She was all, "Don't you want to see all the great stuff I just put on the clearance rack? C'mon, Chris!". Lucky for me that Sue (the other owner) had my back -- she shooed me out the door. Must've been the pained look on my face.

What? Oh, you want to see this magical yarn that I waited over a year for and that I need in order to make the Retro Prep sweater? Oh, okay!

mmmmm, I love me some Noro!

And bonus! I came home to find this in my mailbox:

This is especially good because I had no intention of braving the crowds at the grand opening of the new local store this morning. The news has been covering it for weeks, and apparently one woman camped out for ten days to be the first person in line to get into the store. Whoa. Yeah, I'm so not into that whole mob scene. Instead, I'm going to wait a few weeks and then go in the middle of the week (I'm taking a day of special for it!). After all, I do have a knitting room to furnish!

p.s. Somebody kept bugging me incessantly that my links to blogs I like was outdated and some of the links were broken . . . so I figured out how to get a list automatically from bloglines. That one's just for you, chicken!

The summer of my discontent

I hate summer. Hate it, hate it, hate it. It's hot, humid, and sticky, and it makes me growly and cranky.

You know that thing called Seasonal Affective Disorder? That thing that happens to people who live in northern climes where in the middle of winter there isn't enough sunlight and it causes depression* and forces sufferers to wear goofy full-spectrum headlamps a la that episode of Northern Exposure? Well, I have the opposite of that: the hot sunny days of summer really affect my mood and energy level and make me generally unhappy.

And adding to this crankiness is my current state of nonbuying of yarn. Yeah, some call it a "yarn diet" . . . about a month ago, I quietly decided that I really really REALLY need to knit up a good portion of the yarn that is in my yarn closet, and that I don't actually neeeeeed to be buying any more yarn before I work through some of the stash. It's not a "yarn diet" per se, because I can pretty much change my mind at any time when confronted by Cascade Fixation or some other un-pass-up-able yarn. It's more that I'm trying to be resourceful and save a bit of money for the knitting room furniture I'm going to buy at the new IKEA that is opening this week in my area. Oh, and the spinning wheel that I know is an eventual inevitibility. And yeah, this month's yarn budget was pretty much spent on the plumber I had to hire last week and the vacuum cleaner I had to replace on Sunday. (not that I'm complaining . . . the ownership of my house is totally worth it)

ANYway, I digress. Where was I? Oh. Yeah. Yarn Diet. Which I'm enforcing by just generally not putting myself in the position to buy any more yarn. Because I have no willpower, of course . . . if I were to step foot in a yarn store right now I'd probably go apeshit and buy one of everything, even that scratchy easter-basket-grass-looking stuff.

I just realized that I forgot the whole point of this post. Probably because it's so hot that I'm distracted. And I'm going through yarn buying withdrawal.

Oh, wait! I was going to say "I meant to bring you a fabulous, photo-filled post with all my latest projects and some finished socks, and pictures of a cat or two, but it's too damn hot to find the camera".

*Before I lived Up North, I didn't believe that the Seasonal Affective Disorder thingy actually existed. Once I'd gone through my first 8-month-long winter, I became a believer. No more naysaying from me, nosiree!