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BSJ stands for Baby Surprise Jacket, and while it seems a simple knit, this would be precisely the kind of wrong thinking that has you sitting there, looking at your hands, wondering why the hell you’re not actively knitting on it.

I have had to tink it back once already.  Now I’m at the point where I stop knitting the whole garment back & forth & only concentrate on the middle 90 stitches.  So close to the end, for those who have already knit this intriguing little piece of Origami.  It is at this point that I realize that after the second stitch marker, I’m short by about 4 stitches.  The regular increase-by-one will get me a little closer to my goal, but there’s still 3 extra stitches that I have to make up for.

Add to that the frustration of realizing that these sure aren’t the kind of colours I would choose on my own for a baby jacket.  They may be “insipid” colours, but I do like purple, and blue, and pink, and green for baby swag.  Really.  Particularly nice, bright colours.

The BSJ has been re-cast in a Lorna’s Laces colourway called “Childsplay” that has all these pretty colours in it.  Since I only had the one skein, I’m swapping in some “stripes” in black.  The mother of the pending baby likes black, so I think it will go over well as the primary neutral.

In other news….I finished my Koigu Yule Socks of Stripey Goodness!

I think they may be a little big for me, but that’s ok…it gives them a little room to shrink in the wash, if that’s what they’re going to do.  Otherwise, I think they’re absolutely beautiful.  You really do have to see them up close to really admire them…pictures just make them look like these weird pink & green striped socks that just look annoyingly loud.  They’re much more awesome than that.  Definitely.

Have been working on sock #2 of the yule presents that will be going out of the house this year.  I think I’m about halfway down the calf. Here’s hoping.  It’s a bit fiddly to have to knit, so I hope it goes faster.  If it starts getting tedious, I may just switch over to another sock on the go, or to the Noro striped scarf that can’t decide whether it belongs to Chelsea or Zoe.  I’m pretty sure that Chelsea would prefer to knit her own scarf, but every so often this one whispers her name while I knit.  The colours are such that it could go either way.  Both of these fine ladies would look wonderful in it.  I guess I’ll just have to wait til it’s done (or until Chels tells me that she’s already got her yarn & is merrily knitting away).

Sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone to do something nice.  Usually, if you suggest going to a resteraunt to someone, they will choose somewhere close by, generally only a few minutes away.

Of course, standing in line, waiting around at Red Lobster with the little pager-thingy proved to be a boring endeavour.  When we were quoted a wait time of about 1/2 an hour, we accepted it, but soon Robin was asking “Are you sure you want to stay here?  We could go somewhere good like Big T’s.”

Big T’s is a BBQ joint, and it’s excellent.  Try the brisket.  Seriously.

Sure, it took us an extra fifteen minutes to get there, but once we were headed west on 16th, it didn’t take long.  Plus, there was no lineup when we got there, and the place wasn’t over-crowded.  There were only a couple of folks with small children (a family with kids old enough to know what a dessert fork is, and a table that I inwardly called “boys night out” because it was a 1-yr old with his Dad & Grandpa), so the place was pretty quiet.

After that?  Grabbed a couple of movies at Blockbuster & settled in for the night.  Yay!  Reminder to self: Horror movies before bed are probably not a good idea.  Yay for comic relief afterwards…

Finished up work on Yule Sock #1.  Cast on for Yule sock #2.  Yay for picot edging!  Also have a pretty red vintage sock off the needles as well.  I’m going to have to cast its mate on fairly soon.  Only thing that’s holding me back is the fiddly-ness (is that even a word) of the pattern.  Sure, it goes quick once you get going, but I really had to make myself work on it towards the end.

Also put a few more rows on the Baby Surprise Jacket.  I’m finding that, of all projects, this one is the most challenging to do with my new knitting style.  For those who don’t know, I recently switched the way I knit, mainly for ergonomic reasons.  I knit English style, feeding the new yarn over the fingers of my right hand, and carrying the knitted work under my palms.  I switched to a style known as Irish Cottage Knitting, most notably done by the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.  Again, it’s a matter of getting out of one’s comfort zone in order to get a better result.  I still carry the yarn on the fingers of my right hand, but it’s wrapped in a different way (over the middle & ring fingers instead of over the pinky & pointer fingers), and I carry the right needle between thumb & forefinger instead of under my palms.  There’s a video on The Anticraft that shows this method wonderfully.

Apparently the ‘Harlot teaches courses in ergonomic / production knitting, but I have yet to be able to get myself to one of ‘em.  Possibly someday I’ll get wind that she’s in Calgary and doing a course.  Might be able to pick up some of the finer points.   Til then…well…I can’t knit the way I used to anymore.  I started using the new method almost a month ago, and it’s stuck.  I’m almost as fast, if not faster, than I was before I switched it up.

(Actually, after re-watching the video, I’m going at about the same clip she’s going.  So that’s pretty good.  I think she’s holding back a bit, but hey).

As to the BSJ, the reason it’s a challenge is because you wind up draping the knitted fabric of larger projects over your thumb.  The BSJ is just large enough to be a bit unwieldy.  Hopefully this will change as the sweater gets bigger.  If not, I might be screwed

Originally published at inkyblack.net. You can comment here or there.

This is probably going to be the last post cross-referencing to LiveJournal. I never look at it anymore unless I’m going there to read a few specific journals, and those have been plugged into the previously-mentioned Google Reader/feedly aggregator. Thems who still want to read bloggy/journally-type things from me can do so on inkyblack.net. You’ll also find all my other stoopid social-networking crapola there (here).

I’m also going to the trouble of adding other things to feedly/google reader as a bit of an experiment.  I’ve mentioned before that the vast plethora of microblogging/web2.0 stuff out there is not only compelling, but really annoying to try and keep track of.  I fell behind on reading livejournal when I cluttered it up with different LJ groups.  I tend to fall behind on Twitter (even with only a few folks on the list!)  because I hate having to install software specifically for that one application.  It’s part of the reason why folks very rarely see me logged into any of the IM accounts I have.  I started trying to use FriendFeed, because it makes sense (you sign up for it, tell it what web apps & services you use and it aggregates everything for you), but it’s only really useful if your friends actually sign up.   Instead, I’ve wound up with a Firefox window dedicated to Facebook and the resultant continuous unsolicited requests to adopt virtual pets, plants, and various farm machinery.  I really don’t like Facebook, but it seems to be the one place that everyone seems to want to post all their crap.  Heck, even my mother uses Facebook!  The weird thing?  Facebook acquired FriendFeed.  I have mixed feelings as to whether I want them to blend the two.

Really, all I want to do is have everything located fairly centrally so that I can keep up with what my friends are doing & respond in a timely manner if needed.  I’d also like them to be able to access the things I’m willing to share with them.  Here’s hoping that turning everything into a newsfeed does the trick!

Originally published at inkyblack.net. You can comment here or there.

Obligatory sock shot!

This is that yummy Koigu that I mentioned in my last post.  I couldn’t help casting on.  They’re going to make a wonderful pair of Yule Socks, methinks.  I’m just turning the heel now (toe-up), so we’ll see whether I got the measurements right soonish.

New feature on ye olde blog: a link to a new page labelled “lifestream”.  For those who aren’t aware of what a lifestream is, it’s the feed of information generated when you use microblog (Web 2.0) applications like Facebook or Twitter or Flickr or whatever.  It may seem somewhat egotistical, but I include it as a stream-of-consciousness page for folks who would like to see what I’m prattling on about when I’m not blogging.  Since it takes comparatively less time to twitter or upload a photo to flickr, this includes the generated content in a relatively easy to follow format that keeps it all in one place for thems who are interested.  Those who aren’t can just overlook it and keep on going.  No harm, no foul.

I checked out a few Firefox addons today, as I realized that there was a potential to get rid of some of my various windows and/or extraneous applications.  Well…to make a long story short, out of a bunch of applications, I pared it down to a feed reader called “Feedly” that presents the sites I want to read in an attractive, easy-to-follow format.  Much better than Google Reader or bloglines (ah, how I disliked bloglines).

So yeah.  Slowly, but surely, the windows are coming under control.

Obligatory sock shot!

This is that yummy Koigu that I mentioned in my last post.  I couldn’t help casting on.  They’re going to make a wonderful pair of Yule Socks, methinks.  I’m just turning the heel now (toe-up), so we’ll see whether I got the measurements right soonish.

New feature on ye olde blog: a link to a new page labelled “lifestream”.  For those who aren’t aware of what a lifestream is, it’s the feed of information generated when you use microblog (Web 2.0) applications like Facebook or Twitter or Flickr or whatever.  It may seem somewhat egotistical, but I include it as a stream-of-consciousness page for folks who would like to see what I’m prattling on about when I’m not blogging.  Since it takes comparatively less time to twitter or upload a photo to flickr, this includes the generated content in a relatively easy to follow format that keeps it all in one place for thems who are interested.  Those who aren’t can just overlook it and keep on going.  No harm, no foul.

I checked out a few Firefox addons today, as I realized that there was a potential to get rid of some of my various windows and/or extraneous applications.  Well…to make a long story short, out of a bunch of applications, I pared it down to a feed reader called “Feedly” that presents the sites I want to read in an attractive, easy-to-follow format.  Much better than Google Reader or bloglines (ah, how I disliked bloglines).

So yeah.  Slowly, but surely, the windows are coming under control.

Originally published at inkyblack.net. You can comment here or there.

So tomorrow I go back to work.  Actually, both of us do.  We’ve actually had a week off together, which happens so rarely that it’s mentionable.

It started off with Hallowe’en.  I carved a punkin while Robin scurried around downtown, trying to get his fixie repaired (long story)

Got together with Chelsea and did some yarn madness (more Noro than you can shake a stick at), and got in some rock band action.  Her evaluation of Rock Band: Beatles?  “Girls, you’re both pretty and you’re BOTH going to the prom!”  Yep.  She had recently sorta-finished a Kureyon sweater of her own design.  I managed to get a photo of her wearing it, but instead of posting it here, will direct you to instead head over to my flickr site if you’re interested.  Mainly because she wasn’t too keen on having a photo op at the time.

We also managed to make it downtown.  I’ve lived in Calgary for over 10 years, but for someone who used to practically live at the ROM (tuesday cheap nights for students; I had a collection of lapel pins from attending), I had never  really been to the Glenbow.  I had been there for the Bog Bodies exhibit a few years ago, but not to see the rest of the museum.  There was a heavy emphasis on local history, as well as the political climate in Alberta.  I have to admit that I’m not much for western art — bronzes of cowboys on bucking broncos tend to get tiresome after awhile.  The really bright spots in the exhibits were the Real Life, Faces of Asia, and Warriors features.  They also had some Group of Seven paintings that were absolutely wonderful.  I’d have taken pictures, but that’s generally frowned upon in museum settings (and I forgot the camera).

We took another trip downtown yesterday and did a little wandering.  Went into Campione’s bike shop (Robin owed his mechanic a sixer.  Again, long story), and went to Pudding Yarn downtown.  Yarrrn!  I came home with some Koigu and some Shibui.  Yum!

Today being The Last Day, I suspect we’ll likely stay in, do some laundry, and get set for the long haul ahead until Yule.  Luckily, we’re ahead of the pack, in that some (most?) of our Yule shopping is done for this year.  Yep.  We did that on our vacation too. Sometimes it pays to vacation in town

Originally published at inkyblack.net. You can comment here or there.

(well, almost four months…)

We’re pretty much moved into the house.  There are a few things still in the Garage, but since there’s enough room in there for my car, I figure we’re doing pretty well.  Still trying to figure out where all the small things are going to go…like what pictures to put on the wall and all that stuff.  There’s also the fact that while the amount of stuff we had seemed to crowd the old house, it’s just the right amount for the new house — though we could use more bookshelves.  This is a no-brainer; we’re bibliophiles.  We’re always going to need more bookshelves!

(Though I maintain that we definitely need more shelving if we’re going to get all our books out of boxes.  Seriously.  We may need to make a sojurn to IKEA soonish.  I’m getting tired of boxes. They tend to pile up.  I’m afraid we might have to eventually dig out the cat.)

I wanted to be able to informally compete with the Yarn Harlot for the Furnace Wars this year, seeing as we have a much more modern home that doesn’t have all the leaks and creaks of a 1970’s/80’s Calgary “Handyman’s Special”.  Unfortunately, the weather around here decided to go bipolar.  We had a huge heat wave a couple of weeks ago that had us thinking that we’d be saving enough money on our gas bill that we’d be able to splurge on Yule (like that would ever happen, har!).  Not so lucky.  We went into a deep freeze.  Snow.  There’s actually snow on the ground.  I had to shovel the driveway yesterday.  Sure, it wasn’t much, but it was still enough to shovel.  We turned the heat on last week.  It was either that or freeze.  Snuggling the cat just didn’t provide much in the way of warmth-sharing (and she was a little pissy with us due to being recently spayed).