Socktober 2006

socktober2
Originally uploaded by acornbud.

Pattern: Conwy, Nancy Bush, Knitting on the Road
The Knitting: Size 1, two at once, magic loop, Koigu. I started from the sixty stitches after the calf shaping as I wanted a shorter sock.
Comments: Fun pattern and very classic. It has a pointy toe which is different then I'm used to, but I haven't washed them yet.


Finished in time:)

Rogue and the Coffee Bean Man

My cousin sent me a link to the The Man in the Coffee Bean Brain Test and I tried it out on several co-workers after personally taking way over 3 minutes to find the man. Only one other person took a while and everyone else was under 3 seconds, and one just spotted him immediately. I am trying to fixate on the fact that the test is unproven rather then that my right brain is broken. But sometimes I wonder.
Case in point. Take Rogue hoodie. I have grafted the top of the hood and after the first try I realized I twisted the last row incorrectly. I decided to redo it. And, there it is! One unruly stitch. The overactive left brain has created guilt! The right brain is saying "whateveh, whateveh", "there is beauty in im-perfections", and "if you frog that one more time, your yarn will fall apart" but the left brain is telling ,me "it just doesn't line up neatly and so everything is ruined!" "Everyone will notice!". "How can you even think to give that as gift when it ain't perfect!!!"

Whew, no wonder I get tired sometimes...all this drama going on. I'm trying to change, honest I am. I like to take a lesson from nature. If I examine these flowers carefully they are not "perfect". There are spots on the leaves and the buds are not uniform. But they are beautiful nonetheless, and unique, like every creation.


And there it is, one of those irrational ideas I have about myself and perfection I just have to let go! Now that I see the coffee bean man, I will never be able to not see him:)

Leia's Family Album

I am thankful to Leia's cousins who allowed me to photograph the Leia hat. I used a little over two skeins of Plymouth Yukon, the only bulky yarn I could find. I ended up casting on 60 stitches instead of the 66. This made for a very warm head cover. May the force be with you!

Socktober socks are at least started in Koigu using Conway from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road. I like my socks shorter, so I started after the calf shaping with 60 stitches, and started two with magic loop in hopes of actually finishing two by the end of this month. The color did not photograph well. The ever Fabulous Ms. Lolly interviewed Nancy Bush for the Socktober festivities.

I finished a ChemoHat using Inside out Hat from Head Huggers in Plymouth Oh My. This is a very soft yarn but it shed a lot while I was knitting it and the ends came apart like serger tails do before I finished the hat. I sewed them in so I hope they hold.


The Hawaii International Film Festival starts tomorrow for me. I have tickets to 7 filmings over the next week, but may attend more. I hope to do some knitting in between movies.

Thanks for the comments and emails:)

On Sunday, I was sitting at my computer finishing some work when the house shook and for a brief moment I thought it would never stop. Then the computer shut down and there was an island side black out. My power did not come back on until 1 am the next day. It was inconvenient but I'm so grateful there were no people lives lost. I knit a bit, did some Sudoku, watched Galaxy Quest on my Palm Pilot, read some, and slept.
I appreciate all the comments and emails I recieved. Bloggers are the best!

The next part is sad, so some of you may want to stop here.


My only casualty here was my son's fish. We tried to figure out how old they were. Mr. Manini was about 1/2 inch long and grew to 7 inches. Mr. Aholehole was 3/4 inch and grew to 13.5 inches. He caught them at the beach when he was 8, like so many kids do here, but his fared quite well under his diligent care. He is 22 now. I have not been able to find out how long these fish live. Perhaps in the wild it is shorter due to predators. We are sad. Many times during their stay with us we thought of returning them to the sea, but then, they were used to having regular meals and knew they wouldn't know how to fend for themselves.
Lesson learned: If you have fish, make sure the back up pump is battery operated.

Yesterdays sunset.

Rogue Excuses and woolarina Wonders

Rogue is resting again at the hood level. It is darn hot and muggy here and it's Socktober. A few meager rows happen occasionally if I'm in AC. The plan is to work on it more during November and have it done by December 18. Anyway, that's the plan.
(The color is difficult to photograph)

So far during Socktober I have managed to buy yarn, such as this cushy, colorful Raspberry Bramble woolarina superwash merino and roll up two balls of Koigu for the proposed Socktober creation.



While Totoro and his friends admire the yarn I am still amusing myself with STR "neck sock", and have started a Leia hat, after being amazed by Michelle from Aloha Knitters glow in the dark Hallowig. Hope to get some pictures of that! I want to make one ore Chemo Hat, too.

Rogue Interrupted

A friend came over to make baskets with me. I had not made any for awhile but cleaning out the craft room has resulted in all the supplies being out and available. It's been a while since I made one and I think hers, her first one ever, came out pretty nice. It's the one on the right.

Jen new to blogdom has drummed up the Aloha Knitters to make Chemo Hats. This is my first attempt. It's very purple, but its stuff I had in my stash. It's Sue Thompson's Ringed/Ridged Hat off the Head Hugger's site. My long tail cast one was short 14 stitches so I had to wing the decreases on the top as I was too lazy to frog the cast on. I'm not sure it's appropriate for a chemo hat unless the person is very devoted to purple or maybe a child.

It's muggy, hot, stick to your seat kind of weather today. Too hot to work on Rogue;)

Today's Sky

Driving to Aloha Knitters tonight from work was very inspiring. On the East side, the moon over Olomana was peaceful and idyllic. Looking toward the Pali was a show of clouds and perhaps a jet trail. I'm not sure the streaks are natural, but who knows? On the West side the sunsetting clouds appeared to be moving toward the eye of a maelstrom.

We had a lusty discussion of religion, knitting chemo hats and cow bags. I just know we are on the verge of solving the issue of World Peace:)

Spinning for Totoros

I got to try out Jill's wheel once and also tried my hand at drop spindle after reading a book and visiting online sites such as Interweave Knits . After trying out the beginning Spinning class at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, I decided I on another drop spindle kit. I also purchased a niddy noddy. (I have some notion I will skein some Paton's cotton I have in my stash and dye it...but then that's another story)

Spinning was fun and I will probably keep trying. Using the wheel involved too many things at once for me to pick up quickly, rather like playing the piano.
I finally finished the rest of my roving from the class, then soaked and dried it.
According to the instructions, the yarn may "bloom" some in the bath. Well it sure did!. I have thicknesses from extra super bulky to cobweb, all in one ball. So what can a girl do? I was reassured at Aloha Knitters, that "thick and thin" is in! So I present, Thick and Thin Totoros.


I finally picked up Rogue and I'm working on the hood. Socktober starts today. I'm thinking Conway from Knitting on the Road in Koigu.

Waah, I have to go back to work tomorrow. What is it I used to do for a living? I have had so much fun this vacation, I want to be on vacation permanently;)