Hamster Pi

Well, Pi is shaping up, although you'd never guess it from this picture. It still looks like a potato sack on the circ's. But I am on row 41 of Gull stitch, having done 10 repeats.
This is all the yarn I have left. After several more rounds of Gull stitch, I will use the remaining yarn to work a simple knitted on border instead of "casting off" the usual way. of sweaters and such. And surprise! Here is Corinne's pet hamster, Leela. She is exploring Pi. She liked going in the sack and poking her nose through the holes in the lace stitches.
Love...love...love...love...love! What do I love??? Jamieson's shetland wool! That's right! I had this in my stash and when I wanted a different yarn from the laceweight I had started with, I knew that my 11 skeins of this wonderful wool that was parked in my stash was going to be perfect for Pi, and it is.
Today is the perfect day for cleaning house as I will be soon going back to work. I have had lots of time "off" because of having a foot surgery that created a DVT(Deep Vein Thrombosis or huge deep blood clot), that created a pumonary embolism. All that said, it meant a number of surgeries and lots of recovery time (1 1/2 years!) and also lots of prayer. The foot trouble is still there, but finally I am able to walk around fairly normally! Yaaay! Anyway, going back to work is going to seriously cut into my knitting time, but I plan to carry it with me and work on my projects on my breaks and lunchtime as much as I can.

7/21/07.....12:01 a.m.

Well, it is time for a bit of off topic chatter. My youngest daughter, Lizzie, is an avid Harry Potter fan. So, today is a significant day to her, being the release of the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I got the brilliant idea for her and I to show up at Walmart at midnight in order to witness the spectacle of such a release and to purchase this last book of the series in record time. On the way to Walmart, we passed by the Borders people, standing in a mile long line...WOW! It takes such dedication to be a Potter fan. I could only muster that up for say,The Yarn Harlot. Anyway...


O, how smuggly I felt as I drove by, grinning and feeling Oh! So superior to the poor Borders people. Nothing against Borders. I myself get LOTS of books there and have a discount card thingy. But not wanting to stand in much of a line, I thought Walmart was probably a better bet. We drove up to the Walmart and got a good parking place right in front. So far so good. Then we WALKED IN THE DOOR. People seemed to be congregating in the middle of the store. Kids with lightening bolts drawn on their foreheads. Little kids in their jammies. Big kids in their jammies. Adults with "Snape will Betray" or "Snape is loyal" stickers on their jackets. This was pandemonium, Walmart style.
I exaggerate. Actually, there it only looked at first glance like pandemonium. In reality, there were a lot of people, for sure. But they were all being good and having a GREAT time! The Walmart people were handing out jelly bracelets that had Gryffindor on them. Supposedly this qualified you to buy a book. Here is some shots of the line we were in.

Yes, we were about in the middle of the line as I took this picture at almost midnight. Back in the electronics dept.
These were the poor folks behind us in the line that stretched back to the far corner of the store and more.

Well, finally the big moment came, that stroke of midnight plus one. Nothing. A guy ahead of us yelled out, "Hey it's midnight! Give us the books!" Everyone else was quiet. Then, slowly, the line began to move. My bad foot gave a sigh of relief. After several more minutes, we were handed our book. The girl in the shower cap was handing out cake. They also had posters and the rest of the jelly bracelets...one for each "house.Then it was into yet another line, to get somehow to the checkout. Ok--I have to say here that it would have really been nice of them to open up a few more checkstands. And the folks that were in line with full carts of groceries, etc? I think they may have thought that through a bit more...but all in all, it went well. Here is Lizzie, happy to have her book and a poster for Danielle. The guy with the tattoo and the lady with the basket seems happy, too.All bagged and paid for by 12:40. Not bad, all things considered. And yes, on the way home we drove back by Borders. All the folks coming out of there looked just as happy as us. All's well that ends well. The only thing I would have done different? Hello! Brought my knitting into Walmart with me! I stood there in that line without so much as a sock to keep me busy! What was I thinking????

Speaking of socks, here is a peek at the Retro Rib Socks from Favorite Socks. It's slow going since I have spent most of my knitting time with The Pi. (I always think of National Velvet when I say that). But this is my new car knitting project, so I will be working on them more. And yes, (hanging my head) they are blue. I know. It is a sickness. Blue yarn seems to attract me like a bug to a porch light.

Sock it to Me!

Here are the socks that have lived in my car for the past couple of months. I gave them to Danielle after the closing ceremonies (also known as the Kitchener stitch)

They look cute, and she was happy about them, but I don't like a couple of things. First of all, the gussets. I didn't pick up enough stitches of the heel flaps. Why I did that, I don't know. Not thinking. I don't remember driving and knitting, just parking and knitting. So really, I should have been completely focused on those gussets. I KNOW you think maybe I sneaked a few stitches in while waiting at a long light, but I really didn't. I am a cautious driver. I only think about knitting while I drive. That is perfectly allowed.

Here. Take a look.
The color is off on this one, sorry. But you can see how the gusset is stretched from too few stitches, and of course that made it shorter, too. Also, there are two bumped out stitches where a hole showed up and I tried to hide it.

Ok, enough whining about my shortcomings and on to the Pi.

This is how I'm doing with the Gull stitch, done on the 576 section of the shawl which is in reality 574 since I had to decrease 2 for the pattern.(# of stitches on each round)
Let me just say, I'm so grateful for markers.
I have placed them every 21 stitches in order to keep things in order and on schedule. I don't trust myself to keep it all straight otherwise. I should really be using a lifeline, too, but I have been able so far to fix any mistakes I have found.

Here is some trivia that doesn't really matter:

I'm a "Thrower". Just for anyone who was curious.

Pi in the Car

I'm back! I've had so much going on lately, and had loaned my camera to someone, so didn't get any posting done. So today I took some pics and will show you some of my day.


It began when I got up early and drove over to the Peninsula with hubby. He was in a golf tournament in Gig Harbor today. I dropped him off, then went in search of yarn. Of course, I drove to Bainbridge Island and got to spend quality time at my favorite NOLYS (not so local yarn store)

Churchmouse Yarns and Teas is such an inspiration to me. Just bought two skeins of laceweight, since I'm trying to budget my yarn purchases, but it is beautiful. I will take a picture of it tomorrow, since I couldn't get the color right today. Ok, the next thing was lots of ck-ing (car-knitting) while waiting at the golf course for Danny

Yep, that's me, parked in a handicapped spot. Don't worry...I qualify. Had me some foot trouble that turned into a real mess last year. I'm doing quite well now, though. But it is still easier to use this.
Doctor and state approved, of course. Here is a look at Pi.
The color here is off...looks too red. It's really a beautiful brown, but I really am bad at using this camera.
Here it is looking like a deflated raisin. The circular needles are unflattering to a project in the works, but oh, how I love them!
Then, on the way home we pulled over when we spotted our neighbor here. He lives in the canyon about 4 miles from my house. He was out on the branch looking over the valley...probably thinking about what he'd like for dinner, making wonderful eagle sounds. Just looking at him makes me feel very patriotic!

Did you know that fish like Pi?

This is Van Gogh.

He is a Betta and he loves me. I named him Van Gogh because of his beautiful color. He reminds me of the colors of Starry Night. He is curious about knitting (as most fish SHOULD be). Van Gogh likes the Pi Shawl.

I sat there in my chair next to Van Gogh today watching Pride and Prejudice (A&E version-all 6 hours) and knitted a total of 8,064 stitches on the Pi Shawl. That's right. That is what I call dedication. I am dedicated to the Pi Shawl AND Colin Firth!
(As most knitters SHOULD be!)

Well, I never said that I'm not crazy

Well, these pictures aren't very good. Maybe something IS wrong with the camera. But anyway, you all are going to think I am crazy. "Why is this girl always re-starting her knitting projects?" Well, it is because I am not satistfied with knitting something that really isn't what I had in mind. So, here I go with the poor little Pi Shawl. Here are the beginnings of the "new" Pi Shawl. Don't worry. I didn't frog the other one. It is still on the needles, and I will finish it. But I realized that I needed to use a thicker yarn and do the plain shawl instead of the lacy one in order to keep up with the KAL since I have company this month for two weeks. So much easier. Remember, there is still the blue plain tee-shirt style sweater, and the socks, and the other socks, and the little matter of *******Icy Blue Shell*******

Camera, Action!

Wow! I was having what I thought were major camera problems, (and what are posts without a few pictures) and my hubby just figured it out for me. What was the trouble? The thingy wasn't plugged in to the do-hicky. Yeah. Anyway, the camera is back to it's old self, so here is a shot of my newest attempt at cleverness:

Blogging is so much fun and I love it, but I have to educate myself about digital photography and computers. I am getting tired of having to ask Danny and the girls when I have trouble!

This is the very beginnings of a Pi Shawl. The pattern is from Elizabeth Zimmerman's brilliant book "Knitter's Almanac". I joined a Yahoo group that Kelley Petkun has begun this month. She has the Podcast on Knit Picks website and I love it. You can click on Knit Picks in my newly begun shopping list (to the right of my posts) and find info there on joining the group should you be interested. We will be going through the Almanac, which EZ brilliantly wrote so that each chapter has a project for a month. This month, is of course, the Pi Shawl, a pattern she designed based on Pi, a mathematical concept that I can't even begin to understand. However, it looks as if the pattern is pretty straightforward and I am glad to have the help of many knitters in the group should I need it!