The Decorator Crab

Ahoy, Matey's

Bad news, Crab fans.  I'm leaving for my research cruise tomorrow morning, and I won't have access to the internet for four weeks.  Can you believe it?!  I could just about die.  I don't quite know how I am going to handle it!  So, this here blog will be silent for a month - but please don't forget about me while I am away! 

Aside from my own blogging, I'll really miss keeping up to date with all of the lovely ladies (and gentlemen) of the knitting blogosphere.  So much is going to happen while I am away....so sad to be missing all of it.

The ship that I'll be on has a web site.  You can check it out here (link).  Check here for photos once we get under way [but I don't know how often they update this].  I may try to send blog updates to my husband for him to post, but I can't make any promises about that.  Rest assured that plenty of yarn will be heading to the Equator with me, and there will be plenty of photos to share when I get back.  Send good thoughts and good weather my way...

Much love,
amanda

ItsHereItsHereItsHere!

I don't have time for a full post, but I am so excited that I had to put up a few photos (no time for Photoshopping - don't judge!).

Here is the patented "Cara Shot."  These are all Socks That Rock Heavyweight; the colors are Jasper (top left), Carbon Dating (Top right, bottom left), and Spinel (bottom right).  The neighbors saw me dancing at the mailbox, and I almost had a religious experience when I opened the package.  You understand, but I'm sure that the neighbors didn't.

More pictures can be found at my Picasa web album here.  Have a good weekend!

Short Row Hat the Second

I'm one repeat into the second Short Row Hat, and just wanted to post a shot of the colors. I like them even more in person than on screen, and I can't wait to see how the hat works up.  I am not quite one full repeat through the colorway sequence (light blue - cyan - turquoise - dark blue). This yarn feels softer, if possible, than the colorway that I used, but I could be imagining that.

In the first SRH that I made, I happened to start out in a place in the color sequence of the yarn where the color changes were very well coordinated with the diamond blocks. But as the hat went on, the color blocks and the block blocks became out of sequence. It didn't/doesn't bother me, it's just something entertaining to follow along with in the course of knitting the hat.  You can see that this hat started in the out-of-phase place (blocks with half-and-half colors), so I ought to get in phase after a couple more repeats of the pattern.  Fun! This one may be difficult to part with, I'll admit. 

If you can believe it, I bought some yarn to make a third short row hat. This was prompted by a SRH that I saw online in an alternate yarn (Patons Soy Wool Stripes or SWS) that I thought really worked out well. [Some yarns, with longer color changes, work less well] The SWS calls for larger needles (9US) than the suggested yarn (Faith, 7US), so I think it could be a good way to make a larger hat (say, for a man) without having to tweak the pattern.  Just something I'm thinking about.

Still waiting for my STR from Blue Moon - I can't wait much longer!!

On the move

Observe how sad my stash looks, all squished into two plastic bins.  It deserves better, but this is the price it pays for safe transport to a new home. That's right - Chez Crabby is on the move!  It's not happening immediately, but I am trying to get non-essentials packed up before I leave for the cruise. [Note: I realize that yarn IS an essential, but even the most yarnophilic among us should agree that we don't need all of it out all of the time. Yarn for certain upcoming projects was left out, each pile gloriously displayed on its own shelf.] Anyway.

So, the move.  It's kind of a long story, so let me give you the relevant details in brief. My husband and I met in graduate school at Oregon State University.  OSU is located in a quiet little town in the Willamette Valley, in between Portland (to the north) and Eugene (to the south).  We both enjoyed living in Corvallis very much. But, as often happens, my then-boyfriend finished school and left Corvallis for a really good job in Seattle.  As soon as I finished classes and could work remotely, I moved up to Seattle and we "got serious" (i.e. we bought a house and got married). I am still in school, and am working on writing my dissertation from home.

We have enjoyed Seattle very much, but we can not afford to live in any of the really fun neighborhoods where you can walk to pubs and parks and all of that good Seattle stuff. So, we live in suburbia and we sit in traffic any time we want to go anywhere. We think lovingly back on the days when we lived in Corvallis, when we didn't have to get on the freeway to visit friends or go out to eat. At this point, the best thing about Seattle is the group of friends that we've made since we've been here.

So, we've come up with a way to get back to Corvallis. It's more a matter of things falling into place, really. The group that my husband works for has an office in Newport, Oregon, which is a straight shot out to the coast from Corvallis. His bosses have agreed to let him transfer down, which is so amazing and wonderful because I know that hubbo likes his job and the people that he works with. I still have to finish school, but that will be much easier to do in town rather than trying to handle logistics from Seattle. And, when I do finish, I have a post doctoral position ready and waiting for me at OSU.  YES!  YESYESYES!  Now we can move back down to Pleasantville!!  And we'll both have jobs! 

It's an amazing stroke of luck, really, but I have been secretly scheming for ways to get back down to Oregon for over a year now.  I grew up in a big city (sort of), and at first I hated Corvallis. But the place grew on me and I look forward to getting back to the local co-op, local shops, that local feeling, and the ability to ride my bike or walk almost everywhere.  I am so sick of getting in my car!  Well, I digress now, but you get the gist of it.  The inhabitants of Chez Crabby - me, hubbo, Johnny dog, kitties Maverick and Goose, eleventeen million plants, and the yarn stash are packing up and heading south.  I am thrilled! 

Blue Moon Rocks My Socks

Hello lovelies,

There has been a lot going on, so this post is going to wander a bit.  Hope you can make it through to the end...

Thing 1. I am leaving for another research cruise in a couple of weeks, and I am trying to plan ahead for what yarn I will need and for which projects. This is quite a departure from my last cruise, when I was literally shoving yarn in my bag as the taxi pulled up in the driveway.  Well not this time, suckas!  Anyway, I decided that stripes are very necessary in the mitered square blanket, so then I faced the challenge of locating some STR before I go.  I stopped into the only yarn shop in the Seattle area that carries STR (viva Churchmouse!), and looked for some heavyweight shaded solids that would match the Carbon Dating colorway.  We all know how that worked out, right?  Bupkis! 

I want to pick three more colorways to create the stripes: Jasper (purple-ish), the blue color that I boxed on the left, and another one that I haven't decided about quite yet (Obsidian? Blue Moonstone? Something more taupe-y like the color to the right of the band??  HELP?!). Anyway, I emailed Blue Moon for help and what do you know - the lady herself, Tina, wrote me back!!  I didn't even know what color I wanted, just "that bluish one in the photo," and she kindly informed of its name (Spinel), and gave me the blessing to special order it.  I shouldn't be surprised - everyone has been raving about Blue Moon since forever, but I was really impressed with how well they treated me!  So I happily forked over the cash and will have my rockin' stash before I go.  You can see both of the colors, BTW, on Cara's blog here.  If you have an opinion on the third color I should choose, do not hold back.  I know which way I am leaning, but I knit in a vacuum and appreciate feedback on this here blog.

Thing 2.  Two weeks ago I was wearing my Short Row Hat in Home Depot (Grumperina is not the only one who shops there), and a woman approached me about it. 

Her: Where did you find that hat?!
Me: <proudly> I made it. </proudly>
Her: Does it come in blue? 
Me: pause... Uh, I could find blue yarn, I suppose. 
Her: How much would it cost for you to make me one? 
Me: I don't know - I've never made a hat for hire before. 
Her: Well, if you ever make one, contact me and I will buy it. <Hands me a business card>

How about that?!  It turns out that I don't knit for charity, but I sure as shit will whore out my services for a few bucks!**  I sent her a photo of the colorways that AmiAmi's Faith comes in, and she loved one of the blue ones. I ordered the yarn, it arrived yesterday (isn't it gorgeous?), and I'll start on the hat soon.  I think I said yes both because I was flattered at the idea of it, and because it was a really fun pattern to knit the first time around. I am looking forward to knitting it again.  I'm toying around with the idea of trying to turn it into a scarf because I have a bunch of yarn leftover from making my hat. Could be pretty simple, actually.

Thing the Last: I swatched for Central Park Hoodie instead of Camellia. I've been putting off making a whole sweater, but I'm not sure why. I decided that it was time to bite the bullet and do it.  So I got out some KnitPicks Swish and went to it. I got stitch gauge after blocking, but I am one row off on row gauge. I was going to have to adjust the pattern for my Amazonian arms anyway, so making changes on the number of rows is no big deal. The Swish both softened and fluffed up after blocking, and I think it's going to make a nice sweater. I went with 'Red Pepper,' and it sure is RED! This is not very apparent in this photo, but you will see. I wanted to spice up the wardrobe a bit, and we all know that I'm not afraid to wear a little color. NOTE: I didn't machine wash the swatch b/c I don't plan on machine washing the sweater, but I've heard that the row gauge does change quite a bit if you put it in the dryer - be warned! 

So that's all of my "things."

**ETA: Since the pattern of this hat is copyrighted by Interweave Press, and since it would technically be illegal (thanks Margaret!) to sell the hat, I am going to make the hat and give it away as a gift. As far as I can tell, this is not illegal (otherwise - cancel Christmas!).