Still no time to really blog. Drowning with thesis stress right now. Just want to write here a bit, so that my Upstream SP12 doesn't think I've been sucked through the floor (although I really feel like that right now).
Peepz, tell me whether you hate the automatic numbering thing on Microsoft Words or not. It's driving me nuts right now because it's not doing what it should do. I got the sequence like: 1., 1.1, 1.1.1., 1.1.1.2, etc. Then suddenly I got 4. instead of 2.!
What.The.EFF?!
And it wouldn't let me change it. When I got around to change it, it consequently effed up the whole thing.
ARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!
Oh, yeah, just got off the phone with Dr. D. He's the one in a good mood right now (usually it's vice-versa). He laughed a bit when he heard about how down I am right now. No, no, I didn't take offense (his laughters did cheer me up a bit...exactly what I need right now). He said that it's because he really believe me now when I said that I understood him when he didn't have time for me because of his stuff at work/university. Apparently he didn't totally believe me before. LOL. Oh well, it's nice to know that he believes me.
Anyway, I'm absolutely knackered. My brain's just about to explode and I don't think I ever want to hear about Thai politics ever again after next week.
Drinking a big glass of Vintage Port right now and then I'll hit the hay.
I'm not even going to start about what's going on at the hostel at the moment. *sighs*
Hope your week has started off better than mine. Take care, y'all.
Current Mood: ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!! *meh* Food for the ears:
I'm still here...just not really saying much. There are things that have been bothering me so bad and I have been on edge about whether I want to write about them or not and ended up chicken out and not blogging about it. There's some stuff on the internet and then there's some personal stuff. I'm not sure where to begin.
Let's start off so: Yes, I've been busy with work, boyfriend, thesis, studying, life....yeah, kind of in that order...and so I haven't been blogging. I skim through my bloglines, but I could hardly find inspiration to say something. I'm the kind of person who goes by the motto of "if you haven't got something nice to say, then just don't say anything". Lately though, I've come across so many things that just totally tick me off and I'm finding it harder and harder to hold back. I'm not a fan of critics, I don't like getting any (who does?). I know that constructive critics are good, but still, they will make you feel bad. I don't know whether it comes from my studying and writing my thesis that I've become more critical in most things I see. I start to analyse what people do and say....and I'm not sure whether I sometimes forget to analyse myself.
So, I'm laying my cards on the table and I'm open to the critics that definitely will ensue after this post. I'm sure that I'm bound to offend someone, if not a lot of people with what I'm about to say. I'm sure that people will turn the stick around and say that I'm doing the same thing, too. Perhaps, yes....but I'm just going to be dickhead and tell you that this is my space and I'm going to say what I want to say. I need a space to vent and I'm not going to do that in secrecy anymore.
Let's start off with the internet...or more specifically, Podcasts. In the past month, I found myself deleting some podcasts off my listening list, because I just can't stand the content any more. Yes, there were knitting podcasts that got scrapped because of the same reason...but there is one particular podcast that's not knitting related. I'm not going to do advertisement for this podcast and link to it. Here's the scoop: I started listening to this podcast back from its first episode. It is now up to its 476th episode and I must say that the content has deteriorated so much from when it started. It used to be about technology, news, movies...basically fun stuff and the host - I'll refer to the host as "he" - did a great job at presenting it in a fun way. Problem is, he started to expand and created several different podcasts based on the same line but on different stuff. All of them are well produced and entertaining. What happened was, he would do about 5-6 episodes and then just leave it off....whilst announcing in his main podcast that he will definitely continue doing those other podcasts. Yeah, that was like two years ago. He keeps doing that, i.e. creating new podcasts and then leave it. For goodness's sakes, follow up with your work!
I wouldn't rant about this, but thing is, the expansion doesn't go to just new podcasts. But all the time, he keeps recruiting other podcasts to join up in his "network"....which IMHO is pretty much like a little empire. He got other podcasts to join him, whilst he himself is neglecting all the 10 other podcasts he created. He keeps those neglected podcast online saying that it's a good resource for newer people to find. Sure...but when you listen between the lines, it sounds pretty much like: "I'm leaving it up there like a fishing net, so that people would end up coming to me in the end." Sure, there's nothing wrong with doing that...but how he says it in the shroud of his sliminess is sickening.
Towards the end of every year, he would start this donation marathon, so that he would get money in for the podcast. Let me state here that he's doing the podcast as part of his job, but he's not getting paid for it. His employer tells him that he needs to come up with his own funding for it. Great, isn't it? In my case, I would do it, but I wouldn't go around begging for money in such an offensive way and giving reasons that just don't live up to what it's worth. I got so pissed off and disgusted two years ago at listening to 45 minutes (on a normally 30-minutes podcast) of why the heck we should "donate" the money to the podcast that I ended up writing an email to the podcaster telling him that I find his method ridiculous and that he should be ashamed of what he's asking. No answer. Last year, the same thing.
The only thing that happens now in his podcast are emails and messages that he would broadcast because they glorify his "success" and "how great the podcast" is. He says that he answers every email....yeah, so what the fuck happened to mine? He hardly comes up with new content for the podcast any more, apart from using listener's feedbacks to fill up about 90% of the podcast. The 10% left is used to glorify himself and advertise for his other hibernating podcasts and his minion podcasts.
Second thing on the internet involves knitting....more specifically stuff that's been going on in Ravelry. I'm amazed at how many bad stuff has been cropping up in the knitting community (Keywords: Mystical Creations Yarn, HipKnits, MagKnits to name just a few). Perhaps it's just the perception because with Ravelry, everything got thrown out in the pot and everyone can see them in one place....so that probably makes it more visible to me.
What I'm getting at though is about the craziness about Wollmeise yarns. Don't get me wrong here, I'm really happy about people loving Wollmeise. If you know me long enough, you know that I support her wholeheartedly and wouldn't give any second thoughts about doing advertisement for her. But what's really getting to me are 1) people who are trying to make profit out the demand from Wollmeise right nowm, i.e. eBay and 2) people who can't seem to know when it's enough and stop asking for more..
Let's make this clear here: I have enough Wollmeise with me. I hoard them. I have access to Wollmeise easily enough for you to tell me that I'm not in the position to say things like this. However, let me state that I'm not the one asking for more more more. I have them and I'm happy with what I have. I don't mind having more, or every colourways...but I don't go around trying it get it with every chance. I know there are people out there wanting to try some but weren't lucky enough to get some (yet). And that's why it adds to my loathing of people who got the Wollmeise and put them up on eBay to get profit out of it. Don't you dare tell me there are other reasons like you need the money immediately and need to de-stash. Because in that case you can just put it up on eBay for immediate sales and not for auction. I wouldn't argue either if you put it up for immediate sales and add your shipping costs that you've paid originally to your price. Oh, and yes, I know who you are.
I kept having to tell people that they need to realise it's just one person doing all this and that they should cut Wollmeise some slack. But no, all they want is more....never mind that the one person doing it might just as well drown and die.
I try to accommodate for everyone on the Wollmeiseholics group on Ravelry. I do realise that I can't please every single one of you....but I'm also getting vibes that all you want is more. Sometimes, I just feel really left out and lonely there. I'm still a human being and I do want some kind words and some recognition for organising things. But lately it seems like I'm being commandeered around to do this and that. Seems sometimes people don't realise they're actually dealing with a real person on the other end who is doing this thing in his own free time and getting nothing out of it apart from seeing some people being happy about it. I'm not asking you to write an apology in order to ask me to do something....but some nice words would have been nice.
Lately, I've been hearing more and more critics about Lanaiolo. Yeah, I know you guys read my blog, so please, do note of how I feel about all this. The shop is relatively new, we still need to acclimatise on how to run the shop most effectively. Yes, the yarns are over-priced in some views, but it's still only some amount. Yes, I know you can get probably the same yarn elsewhere for cheaper and I'm not going to say anything about it. However what I'm going to say here is that you've said all those things to me once and that's enough. No need to hammer it in on me. Do realise that I'm just an employee there and I'm not the one running the shop. I can mention it to my boss once, but that's all I can do. I can't tell her how to run the shop because I'm not in the position. You, as a customer, are in the position to criticise constructively to her. But it doesn't bring anything to try getting me relaying all those things to my boss, because I'm not going to do that and put myself in such an awkward position. Sure, I don't always agree with my boss and I'll tell her my opinions...but still she has the last word. If you've never run a shop yourself, then I would suggest you not to start telling other people how to run their shops - yes, constructive criticisms and suggestions are still welcomed...but don't just go right out and say that what she's doing is wrong, unless you really know better because you're in the business yourself.
I'm also feeling left out by some real life "friends" around here. Sure, I'm busy with other things and I'm doing a lot more with Dr. D than with you. But it just seems to me that I'm being left on the edge with things that you do. I've addressed this issue a couple of times now and I don't want to nag about it. But it's making me extremely sad that I'm not being included. Sure, mea culpa for always saying that I can't join...but at the least, I would appreciate the fact that at least I was asked. I do put on a brave face when I get to see you, but really, I'm wilting inside. I'm not sure whether it was because of what I've said or done in the past that you stop including me. I don't know whether you don't realise you're doing it. I don't know whether you don't see it as I do. But yes, it hurts.
Lastly, I'm terrified about the prospect that Dr. D might have to move away for his job. It's nothing specific yet...but still the thoughts just terrify me to no ends. I mean, it's not like he's going to be out of the picture....and it's not like I can't move with him. But at the moment, I can't imagine living in another city apart from Munich - although admittedly, I've been getting fed up with Munich lately. It's just that I'm the kind of person who needs a lot of close contact with my partner and I just can't imagine doing distant relationship.
I'm really grateful for having Dr. D...coming to think of it, he's actually the most considerable of boyfriends I've ever had so far and he's patient with me. I've learnt a lot about myself in the past 6 months that I've been with him and I notice changes in myself and my attitudes, however gradually it is. Even though I might not have said it or show it blatantly to him, but he's one of the very few things right now that really makes me happy and I sure hope he knows it.
Anyway, sorry about the gloomy, ranty and venting post. I've got fibre/knitting related stuff to show you, too...and that will come. My 4th blogiversary is coming up and I'm thinking of doing some kind of contests. I'll see.
Please, people, don't hate me for what I've said above...I've just come to the point that I can't hold it in any longer and need to make room for other things in my head....I just hope that I won't be regretting this post afterwards.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Current Mood: Pensive...I guess Food for the ears:
I don't know why exactly, but I think that I just have been avoiding writing a bit because thoughts have been accumulating and I just couldn't be bothered.
I'm turning 26 in a couple of weeks and it got me thinking. I don't have anything against growing a year older. But for some reasons, I'm over the 25 threshold....and now turning 26 means that I'm only four years away from hitting 30. It's kind of weird. I can't really put it into words....I guess it's about taking the responsibilities, being grown-up and all. I had been thinking about the fact that here I am, on my way to being 30 and I still don't feel like I've really achieved anything in life. Well, to be honest, I think a lot of this has to do with the pressure and expectations my parents are putting on me. I just wish they would get off that trip. I would feel a lot better if they would change their "encouragement" strategy by encouraging me positively instead of using the reprimanding side and scare-tactics that I'm going to turn a loser if I don't start getting ambitious and try to "reach to the top".
What's with it with being successful and having lots of money? I doubt that would make me happy for long.
Anyway, I better stop there before this post turns into a very long rant. Bottom line is I'm turning 26 soon. *nudge, nudge, wink, wink*
Nothing happened much last week. I went to the Deutsches Museum with Dr. D on Saturday. It's kind of our first day-out alone and it was great. :-)
Not much to report on the knitting/spinning front. I've been doing it on and off...probably more knitting than spinning. But nothing major....well, apart from the fact that I can also now properly knit English style, i.e. throwing, without much of a struggle and my gauge seems even.
Sorry, I'm just feeling uninspired at the moment. Have to get back to reading up for my thesis now.
BTW, thank you so much for the outpouring of comments on my last post. I think that's the very first time a post has generated more than 30 comments!
Well, then, have a nice week, everyone!
Ps. I haven't forgotten about the PIF survey...like I said, I'm just pretty uninspired at the moment.
ETA: Yeah, sorry people, but I'm in one big time fucked up mood today. I promised my co-workers that I will bake something today and bring it into work tomorrow morning. The base of the slice worked out okay...but I fucked it up while doing the icing. I thought: "Fine, I'll make a new one". I also realised while making the first batch that I actually needed vanilla essence. So, I went out to this small supermarket near my place, instead of going to the bigger one which would take a longer walk. Got everything I needed but couldn't find the vanilla essence. So I asked someone there and they told me: "Sorry, we don't have that kind of thing. We only order it in during Christmas baking time."
WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! I mean, are you expecting people to bake only during Christmas time?! WHAT KIND OF A FUCKED UP LOGIC IS THAT?!!!!!
Sorry about that...but I really need to vent. I think it's the Föhn in Munich today that's driving me totally nuts.
So, this is what you do when you work in a LYS...you go around posing with yourself in the photo because you have been waiting for this moment for the past two years.
I was there today because I had to fill in for someone. The owner had to go to a funeral and the other lady who works there couldn't come in today.
Anyway, it's good for me because Dr. D's not here this weekend and I would have been lost by myself. Besides KnitLady came and knit with me and kept me company. Today was the fourth time I've worked there. FYI, if you feel so inclined to come visit me, I work part-time there Thursdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m....
Up until this moment there's nothing much going on. I mean, the shop's new and so it still needs to be noticed. There is going to be a Knit-Night next Friday (15th February 2008) from 7 p.m. on. The catch is that, the owner's asking for a participation fee of EUR 10. There's a free soft-drink included....and also a surprise. ;-) I know part of the content of the surprise. Anyhow, she's offering non-alcoholic drinks and toasted sandwiches. If you're new to knitting and want to learn, you can on that evening. You need to register for it, the contact info is as follows:
When you register to come, you'll also receive a 5% discount on the yarn you buy before and on the Knit-Night. We stock the most GGH in Munich and we also carry Gedifra, Lang, Schachenmayr Nomotta, Regia and On Line.
(Rant in)
Anyhow, the only thing that happened today was a lady who came in with her husband. It was obvious that the husband didn't want to come...but she probably had dragged him in.
She came in and wanted me to help her fix her short-row heel ("Boomerangferse" in German) which was full of holes. I asked her whether she did the wrapping ("Umschlag" in German, which also means YO), she said no "because it's not in the instruction". So, I tried explaining to her that she needs to do this wrap-and-turn in order to prevent the holes, instead of just do a k2tog.
She looked at me and blinked.
And then she asked me whether I have never heard of the "Boomerangferse" before. I said, I know exactly what it is and how to do it and that there are variations on how you do it.
She looked me up and down again and blinked. The husband started huffing and shuffling around.
She gave me her socks on the needles and told me to frog it back and pick up the stitches for her.
I told her that the best way was to insert a life-line where the heel knitting begins and then frog down to that part and then pick up the stitches, do the short-row with W&T.
She looked at me, blinked and repeated her last sentence....slower this time. She also pulled out the copied page of how to knit the sock with short-row heel sans W&T. She jabbed at that piece of paper and said that there is nothing about the "Umschlag" on there and looked at me angrily as though I didn't understand a damn word she had been painstakingly enunciating to me. The husband opened his mouth but didn't say anything...so he resorted to shuffling around again.
I told her calmly that I can try tinking it back for her and show her. And so I tinked back a stitch, and showed her how to do the W&T....
....she snatched the sock out of my hands and stuffed it inside her bag and said that she would do it herself and that I don't have any idea about knitting socks and that she reckons that I don't even know how to knit.
I just smiled, said sorry that I couldn't help and showed them out.
After that I just sat there fuming and cursing her under my breath. How dare she?! If there was a person who had no idea, then it was her. If she reckons she can do it better herself, then fine. Suit yourself. But don't come accusing me that I didn't know how to knit. That was absolutely rude of her.
(Rant out)
So, that's what happened today. I better go knit a bit. :-p
Come around and visit me at the shop when I work there...or come to the Knit-Night!
Okay, I just got a phone call from work a moment ago. Apparently, a guest I checked in last night hasn't paid. But the fuck? When I was checking him in last night, it said in the system that he had paid via credit card already when he was doing the booking.
Maybe it was my fault. It might have been better had I just charged him again and refund the money if he had already really paid. I should also have checked for the receipts, etc. But I didn't think of it. I knew that I asked him whether he had paid with the credit card already, because it said in the system that he had...and he said yes. He was giving me his credit card as identification for the reservation....so I just compared it.
I don't mind taking the fault. It could have been a faulty work of mine. But the fact that I'm writing this right now is that I need to vent.
The workload at this place is huge at times and it's not that great a job. However, the problem with the place is that they totally underpay all of us. Those who work full-time especially (I do part-time). So, nobody has the incentive to do their work well. A whole load of things go missing in the communication. When I just started out and was learning from my colleagues, I come across a lot of situation where my colleagues would say: "Oh, don't worry about it. Just let the next shift deal with that" or "If they want us to do it properly, then they should just pay us more". I've never done that and always tried to do my work as best I could. But why does it seem that all the shitty stuff just falls on me?
Like on Sunday, when I was supposed to be working at the bar. I told them that I can't work on Sundays already, but they still put me on the roster. So, I put up a notice saying that I need to change around my shifts. One colleague told me that he could take over that shift, but that I have to talk with the boss first, because the boss doesn't allow him to work at the bar any more (even though he's the only one in the team who has real bar experience). So, I left the note for the boss asking whether it would be alright. The boss rang me up and said that everything is okay and set up and I don't have to worry about it.
Sunday came, I just got to the knitting group and my phone rang. My colleague from the reception rang me up to ask where I was. I told her that I wasn't supposed to be working on that day and that it was the other colleague who was supposed to be filling in that shift for me. My reception colleague then rang up the manager to ask what was going on. The manager told her that the bar is closed. I rang my colleague up again and she told me not worry about it. Fine.
On Monday I got a phone call from the boss (i.e the owner of the hostel) reprimanding me for not having told my colleague that he had to fill in for me. WTF?! When she rang me up the week before, the way she said it to me was clearly interpretable that the colleague knew about it already. And now she said that it's my responsibility to tell my colleague that he has to fill in.
Communication...or rather the total lack thereof.
The same with this guest who supposedly hadn't paid. If my colleagues had prepared the receipts and done everything accordingly instead of going with the let-the-next-shift-deal-with-it-attitude, then there wouldn't have been a problem.
This is so fucking frustrating that I could just cry right now. I have always tried to do things to my best effort, but it's always destroyed because of the carelessness of others!
ETA: Oh, and the system? Yeah, we got a new internet-based system. And the damn workplace isn't even giving us proper training on it. They just printed out the instruction and everyone has to go through it themselves and just deal with the new system.
For fuck's sakes! How can you manage this hostel? I mean, you're expecting us to get acquainted with a whole fucking new system without giving us any introduction at all? It's like throwing a baby in ice cold water and tell it to swim back to the shore by itself!
Today didn't start out so well. Things chugged along well enough...up to the point when I was going to leave the house to become EUR 400 poorer due to the university tuition fee that they've just introduced this semester. *Urgh*
Anyhow, I put my earphones in with my iPod as I usually do when I leave the house...but the sound only came out of one ear-bud. Bloody hell, does that have to happen now?! If I remember correctly, I bought these new earphones back in April...and guess what? I can't find the receipt anymore. *sighs* And because I just paid for my tuition fee, I don't have any money for a new earphone either. So, no podcasts/music on the road for me for a while.
But well, that seemed to be just it. The day could only get better, right? And it did. First, I received an Amazon package. I was pretty perplexed at first...until I opened it up and saw my copy of Teach Yourself Visually: Handspinning! I heard Kelly reviewed this book on her podcast a couple of weeks ago and I just went straight to order it....and I promptly forgot about the order. And so it was a bit of a surprise at first.
Anyway, flipping through the book quickly, I really have to say wow! This book's really good for comprehensive information! I'll have to go through it thoroughly though. I really like it because it offers both hand spindle as well as wheel techniques. It also talks about fibre preparation, different types of fibre, plying techniques, making novelty yarns, dyeing, etc. etc.! GREAT book!
Then as I was just about to make my way out again, the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, I was greeted by the hottest delivery man EVER! Seriously! I was considering putting down my phone number on the signed slip for him, too....but I thought better of it. :-p
Anyway, I got another package...of which I had absolutely no clue about. I looked at the sender's name and it rang some kind of bell...then I caught up with the facts and just ripped the box open to find these:
Back in April, I was egging on Bockstark Knits to do the subscription with me to try out the Handgefaerbt.com yarns. We sent in the order...and again, I totally forgot about it. :-p
I have to say that with the exception of the very first one, I like all the other colourways. The first one is just not very me...although it's very Christmasy. ETA: It's growing on me though...
So, yeah, that's all I have to share...two packages in a day really made me happy (I'm still waiting for some rovings to come in from Australia, as well as two new hand spindles I ordered from Etsy - yeah, I know, I went on a bit of a splurge there).
Before I go: Swallowtail is finished and blocked. Hopefully I'll get some nice photos tomorrow. ;-)
I was feeling so down yesterday because of some thing I don't really want to talk about here....and I'm pretty sure that I'll feel like a total jerk when I discuss it with someone and it'll just turn out that I'm being plainly stupid.
So, what else to do when I'm feeling down? I wanted instant gratification...I didn't want to buy yarn (although I was extremely tempted to buy a whole load of Noro Cashmere Island...but thought better of it, since I think that EUR 16.95/hank is going to get me the kick-start right off in the deep-end of depression)....so that left me with making yarn myself.
I had been wanting to spin something thicker now, just to know that I can still spin thicker singles. I was a bit afraid, since I've been hearing stories of how when you can spin very fine singles, you don't seem to be able to get back to spinning something thicker again.
So, I ended up just getting 100 g of the rovings at Roedel (I know I can get it somewhere cheaper, but I couldn't wait for shipping - remember: Instant gratification). And set about my evening to spin with some DVDs (FYI: The Day After Tomorrow and The Incredibles).
I set out to spin and was working through the 100 g very constantly. I knew that I wanted this as a single, so it took out the time-factor of plying.
I finished some time after midnight last night (and I had to work at 7 a.m. this morning), washed and hanged the yarn with some weight to set the twist....and here's the result:
Yeah, if I could write a diploma thesis on that topic, my life would be a lot more easier...but alas, I'm not studying designing and so I have to face the music and dance as best I can and write a thesis on politics. *sighs*
Hi...I'm still alive. Having quite an ordeal this week. The only thing I'll say here is that I had a huge fight with my parents over the weeked about my studies and things are just not going that well. The only positive effect on this is that it has kicked me into gear about working more on my studying and just to get it done and over with. Even though I'll first be finished in March 2009, but I can't do anything about it.
So, yeah, I'm not feeling that great at the moment. Had quite a fitful sleep last night and had weird dreams about alien attacks on earth and giant polar bears (the result of all the stress plus the fact that I watched the trailers of 1-18-08/Cloverfield and The Golden Compass before going to bed last night).
Vinnland's chugging along...even though things will go slower now on the knitting front as I have to re-direct my focus back on my studies. I first thought about frogging the Vinnland because I thought that the pattern wouldn't show with the yarn, but after having tried it on, I came to really like it and will keep on with it.
If you've listened to the last episode of the KU-podcast, you'll know that I had been having quite a Stash Enhancing eXperience. What you see above is the wanked version of the Fleece Artist "Pinata" we got from Peech Purls and which I took. :-p
Start: 10th July 2007 Finish: WIP Needles: 2.5 mm / 80 cm Addi Lace, MagicLooping with two socks at once Yarn: Regia 4-ply, colour #324 (Solid Navy Blue) Pattern: Charlie Brown Blues (My own)
Do you know how hard it is to take photos of very light or very dark colour? Yeah, well, that's navy blue in the photo, just believe me. :-p
Anyway, see? I finally cast-on for the Billy Reid socks! It's my own simple design. Maybe you might get the idea from the name already, but I won't say anything more about it at the moment. I ended up having to put one side on a thread last night and frog the other side, because I did something wonky to it and couldn't fix it. So now I have to knit that frogged one up again to the same place as the one on the thread and then re-insert both of them back on the needles. Again, this will be going slow due to my seminar papers and thesis preparations.
The early Christmas feeling hasn't yet stopped at my place....
...yesterday I received a package from Socktopus, with whom I did a swap with. I sent him some sock yarn from Wolle Roedel and he got me these two gorgeous hanks of Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Socks That Rock"!
I seriously think that I need to get on a yarn diet again, since I haven't the time to knit up everything at the moment, but my stash has grown exponentially in the past weeks. Not to mention the fact that most of the hand-painted sock yarns had somehow migrated to live permanently on my desk now.
Well, that's all I have for now. Have to go do laundry and then run off to the library. Good vibes are welcomed that I'd make it through this difficult part at the moment. I'm sorry that I haven't been visiting all the blogs and leave comments...but you know how it is.
English: If your Yahoo! ID is based in Singapore, Germany, Hong Kong or Korea you will only be able to view safe content based on your local Terms of Service so won’t be able to turn SafeSearch off. In other words that means, that german users can not access photos on flickr that are not flagged "safe" ... only flowers and landscapes for germans ...Copy and upload this picture to your account - show flickr who we are!
Flickr sperrt uns aus! Und auch dich! Seit gestern werden für deutsche Nutzer keine Bilder mehr angezeigt, die als 'moderate' oder 'restricted' markiert sind! Es gibt keine Moeglichkeit das umzustellen - das ist eine grobe Unverschämtheit und Frechheit von flickr!
I've got my pro account as a gift, and was really happy with it, to the point that I'll pay myself for the extension of membership. But by the look of things, if Yahoo doesn't come to senses, I doubt that I'd be happy to pay for being censored out of things.
If you're on Flickr, please go to my photos or one of the links and copy and upload this photo to your Flickr account! Support us in our fight against censorship!
There isn't a picture....and I'm not going to take a picture either, because it's just too horrific to look at now.....
The Boyfriend Sock is no more. No, it didn't just go to the frog-pond, but it went to the shredding machine.
What happened? Okay, first I have some thing to say and please, don't be offended. I think that this is more of a constructive criticism.
Recently I received/won the toe-up sock pattern from Stitch Stud and His Bride. I was jubilant, because it's a pattern that teaches you how to do heel-flap from toe-up. I had been desperately wanting to learn how to do this ever since I knit the Widdershins (I followed the instructions for that and it worked okay, although I didn't like the look of the heel). I had tried JayWalkers toe-up and crashed at the heel as well.
So, I decided that instead of doing the short-row heels on my BF sock, I'd do the heel-flap. I like the look of heel-flaps and they do seem to fit better than short-row heels (although short-row heels fit okay, too).
I proceeded to work through the leaflet from Stitch Stud....and here come the criticisms. First I had to say that up to the point before I took the scissors to my sock, I tried it on for the bit and everything was perfectly at the right place (saying this loosely because it was actually extremely lopsided). The critic? Well, I was faced with having to do a lot of calculations. They're however simple calculations and I could do them without problems. They will give you the perfect fit. I won't argue with that. However, what I want to say is that there are just too much of it! You end up with a whole sets of numbers.
Not only the numbers, but the fact that there are also a lot of abbreviations that are used to substitute this part and that part to the particular sets of number really got my head whirling every time I started to look at it. Just to give you a taste, you have BC, IN, AC, HB, AP, X, T, J. All these abbreviations are assigned to numbers that you have calculated...and then all these calculations have to be calculated together when you start doing stuff with the heel.
Confused yet?
Yeah, I was, too.
I am not blaming the formulae for my mistakes. I'm sure I had contributed to those myself, too. However, the fact that there are just too many numbers and abbreviations just threw me completely in the whack. So, Stitch Stud, please don't take this in the wrong way. It's wonderful that you have all these worked out....but there surely must be a way to simplify all of this.
I actually tried writing out the index of all abbreviations and assigned all the formulae that went with them as well as the numbers and the short explanations of which thing goes where. But the sheer amount and inter-connectivity of each number set just really....well, plainly, it didn't help.
I will surely attempt the formulae again. I have a stockinette toe-up sock in hibernation that I could use to experiment....or maybe I might attempt the Iris Sibirica JayWalkers again. I'll see.
Lastly, I think I need to explain why I shredded the BF sock to pieces. I think I've frogged this sock back about four or five times now....the yarn was Regia 4-ply...which was okay. But from the excessive frogging and sliding over the needles (I was doing MagicLoop using an old kind of Inox which has cable joints that would drive any knitters nuts. I decided to swap the needles to my new Addi Lace mid-foot), the yarn first started to halo....and by the time before I shredded the thing, it was resembling mohair.....
....I was extremely frustrated at having spent so much time working on it as well as patiently fixing every mistakes, frogging back, re-insert the needles, tink back, frogged the whole thing, started again, frog back, pick up stitches, correct the cables, started the heel, frog back, re-start the heel, etc. etc. *lather, rinse and repeat*....
Do I need to say more?
Anyway, as I was frogging the thing back for the umpteenth time I just couldn't take it any more and I knew that I can't be friend with this particular project any more...and so I took the scissors and shredded the damn thing right in the middle of the foot and stuff whatever that was left of it in the bin.
And thus is the end of my bf-sock. So long.
EDIT: In answer to Mel's question about the Widdershin heel. It wasn't the heel-flap itself, but the little triangle that goes under your foot right at the heel. I find it to be too squared off and not as rounded/pointy as I would like. That's what I didn't like about it. Sure, I could modify it somehow, but it seems that I just can't wrap my mind about this whole business just yet.
Yes, you! The one who left that anonymous comment in my last post. Apparently you didn't read my post very well: I don't like anonymous comment. Sure, I didn't disable it, but that's because I want to give people a chance to say things and it seems you're using that, which is okay. But I really feel that if you want to constructively criticise something, then it's better to do it honestly with your name or at least your screen name.
Okay, now to your comment. Sure, you might find it frustrating waiting for an invitation to Ravelry, so did I. But like Tini said: Life goes on. You're not going to die from not being on Ravelry. Anyhow, what got me going here is the fact that you were saying that there are users who were given invitations to issue to whomever they want. To my understandings, this was the case in the beginning, but I don't think that it is now anymore. So, scrap that, please. Sure, I could be wrong and if that is the case, then sorry. But I still don't think that it's unfair at all...and it does in absolutely no way contributes to the elitism you were referring to.
In the end you were saying that you completely understand that Ravelry has to protect itself from not being overwhelmed, but why were you then immediately taking jabs at "popular podcasters or A-list knitbloggers"?!
FYI, I am NEITHER an A-list knit-blogger, NOR was I a podcaster before getting the Ravelry invitation. So, please, don't just throw your disappointments around at other people who happened to be in such position. Just be patient and keep doing other things and you'll get your invitation sooner or later. And again, like Tini put it: Your joy will be even greater.
The things I've been telling people who want to join Ravelry but are waiting for the invitation was that they should just start taking photos of their FOs, WIPs and also photos of their stashes, i.e. each different yarn individually and upload them onto Flickr. One more tip, sort those out into sets. Believe me, it'll make your life a lot easier once you join Ravelry.
Okay, now you might hate me and stop reading my blog. That's okay, I don't mind (even though I'm such a comment-ho). I don't think that that many people read my blog anyway, remember, I'm no A-list knit-blogger. ;-) But if you want to throw your disappointments around, then please do so somewhere else, but not on my blog. You can start trashing me on other blogs or somewhere else, too, if you feel like it. I don't really care. Coz I reckon that people who have been reading my blog a long time would know how I am, not to mention those who know me personally. So, take your pick. Either be honest with yourself and constructively criticise openly with your name, or just hide behind a facade and keep going on like that. Last thing I want to say here is that I do not intend to offend you in anyway here, but if it came over as an affront, then sorry. I just felt the need to point this out and put things right.
Yeah, well, the title. It was going to be a rant, but I don't think that it's worth it. If it bothers me again, I might post about it. ;-) I was going to re-title the post, but I actually quite like the title, so I'm going to leave it. *LOL* (Oh, there'll be a little rant later alright, but not on the same topic)
Anywayz, as you can see, I received my Moo Mini Cards!!!! They are sooooo purdy and fun to play with! I can't wait to start distributing them around...and since I'll be sending off some yarns for swaps, a card will be going in with each package! Right now, I'm using one as a book-marker for my EZ's Knitting without Tears! (I could rant about Amazon and Deutsche Post here, but no)
Now, before we get to the real knitting content, I need to let out one real rant here. So...*rant on*
This morning, when I got on the computer and logged on to I saw an update by Casey, the Fairy who created the site. (If you don't know what Ravelry is, go and take a sneak peek HERE).
The update tells us that some dimwit a certain "particularly upset" person sent them an email expressing his/her unhappiness that he/she still hasn't received an invitation to join Ravelry. By the tone of how Casey wrote, it seems that the email wasn't very nice at all. When are people going to understand that they can't just go ahead and open the floodgate and get all the people in and just let the site go boom?! Be patient, people!
Sure, I'm already in, so I can talk how I like. And also, if you know me, you know that I'm very impatient about some of the stuff. But let me tell you this, I understand totally why Casey and FreckleGirl is going slowly at this: They want to make the site ready before opening the gate. Think about it. Aren't you going to be even more unhappy if you just joined up and the next day the site crashes? Besides I can tell from experience. I waited for my invitation, very impatiently. Bockstark Knits even got her invitation before I do, and I was sure that I signed up before she did. So, I wrote a nice email asking FreckleGirl about my invitation and she got back to me promptly and said that I wasn't far down the list. Now, I didn't go around barking at them and sent them an anonymous email! If you're going to get angry at them, then do it with honesty and don't go through the back door and bark at them anonymously. Bloody coward! *rant off*
If you've listened to the first episode of , you'd have heard me talking about my woes with my sock-knitting-mojo at the moment, particularly with the Boyfriend Sock at the moment. You see, the first time the cables travel to the outer edge, I ended up twisting that set of cables one time too many. I hadn't touched the sock since I noticed the mistake. Only when I started talking about it on the podcast and then saw MondayLunchCrew's finished pair did I had the courage to rip out the needles and frogged back to the offending point. I succeeded in that, but I still haven't knit any further. Right now I'm too engrossed in lace projects....
My fav at the moment is the Clementine Shawlette (for MEEEEEEEE!!!!). This first half had been completed like a week and a half ago and had been sitting there waiting to pose for a photo until yesterday. I've already started knitting the second half and half of that is already done. I just can't wait until this one's finished! Then I can have fun with blocking lace for the first time and pinning out everything. I haven't got blocking wires and the thought at pinning out everything with hundreds of little pins kinda make me want to go cower in a dark corner. So, anybody out there has any tips for me? Bockstark Knits, how did you block your Tiger Eyes scarf?
Lastly, the Icarus for my mum's coming along, albeit slowly. I actually got hooked on knitting it on Saturday evening and got a bit done. Yeah, I know it doesn't look as though it had grown at all...but it had.
It's going to be my Christmas '07 present for my mum...so I still have time to do this one, but I shouldn't leave it off for too long. ;-)
Well, I guess that's all I have for the moment. We're recording the second episode of this coming Thursday...and it's going to jam-packed with loads of fun! So, keep a look out for the second episode coming soon!
I'm not going into details here, but those of you who have access to my other (filtered) blogs, you know where you can read....
I broke up with S. last night. No, he didn't do anything wrong. I didn't do anything wrong. It's just the fact that my feelings aren't there any more. He's devastated. I'm sad, but I'm doing okay.
Just want to give you the heads-up.
...might as well crash and go boom on some yarns, I hope that the Knittery has already re-stock thank goodness the Knittery is still very out of stock. Wollmeise it is then....
Take care.
EDIT: Just went boom and bang on Wollmeise....5 hanks of sock yarns. Mind you though, two of them aren't for me.
Have you signed-up yet? If not, go and sign up NOW! The last sign-up date is on 26th May! Bockstark Knits, go and sign up, you know you want to join!
And no, this is not an attempt to de-stash....but I'm just going to knit socks...at my own pace.
On other news, I'm heading over to IKEA tomorrow. Last Friday, my desk lamp just died out of no apparent reasons. I thought it was the bulb at first, so I went and got a new bulb on Saturday. I put the new bulb in, but the darn thing was totally dead. So, I'm going to go get a new one tomorrow. In the mean time, I had been using the desk lamp that my landlord left here when I moved in....and well, it just died. And you know how? The lampshade, which is made out of plastic, melted on to the bulb and is now stuck to it. *facepalm* So, yeah, I'll probably have to replace that one, too. Thank goodness both lamps are not expensive.
Apart from that I'm getting a couple of other stuff from IKEA, too. I'm limiting myself to EUR 50...so let's just hope that I'll be strong enough. :-p
Started: 21st April 2007 Finished: Going to the frog-pond for the 2nd time (or 3rd, depending on how you look at it) Yarn:Rohrspatz & Wollmeise superwash sockyarn, colourway "Iris Sibirica" Needle: 2.5 mm/ US #1 Addi Turbos circs Pattern:JayWalker by Grumperina on MagKnits Modification: I'm doing this using the toe-up version modified by Natalia Knits and I'm also using the Magic Cast-On instead of the provisional cast-on suggested
*Lacrimosa dies illa*
Yeah, it's a sad day indeed. I spent last night and this whole morning working on my Iris Sibirica Toe-up JayWalker. I'm not sure whether I've mentioned already, but well, this is the third time I'm frogging this particular one. The very first time I was doing the gusset increase and did something wrong, so I frogged back to the toe and started again (so this might not count as total frogging). The second time I found that the thing was going to get way too long and frogged the whole thing to start over again.
This time? Well, before that second frogging I measured my row-gauge (yes, I did) and did all the maths to calculate the length after the toe at which I'm supposed to do the gusset increase so that the sock won't get too long. I cast-on again with a new fervour and started the gusset increase early enough. I then neglected the project for almost a whole month until I picked it up again last night and actually knitted 2/3 of what you can see in the picture...well, up to the heel flap which I did this morning.
As I completed the heel flap and tried the sock on....well, you can see the heel in the picture. It turned out too long...and if I pull it, it will go well over. I didn't get angry, I didn't cry, I didn't throw the project across the room. I just felt....defeated.
This is the fourth time I'm knitting Jaywalker. The very first pair I had to frog the whole thing because it was too tight to even go over my ball of foot. Then I knitted it too long and the first ball of yarn wasn't enough for a second one, so I had to hunt for another ball, which my LYS luckily got in for me (even though it wasn't the same dye-lot). The second pair went okay, but my gauge got tighter by the time I started the other side. So one was kind of sloppy and the other was snug.
The third one is now in hibernating mode...since I started the toe decrease too late and it turned out too long, so the toe's being frogged and will have to be re-knit.
Then there's this one. Not only am I having problem with the length, but the fit isn't as snug as I would like it to be.
*sigh*
I'm just going to leave it rest for a while and will re-start it again doing the smallest size (I knitted - yeah, I'm using the past already - it in the second smallest size) and will have to re-calculate for the gusset increase and re-do the heel flap (this one's too wide for my taste). And no, I'm not going down in needle size. Knitting with 2 mm / US #0 is hell for me.
So, I guess that for now, I'll pick up one of my hibernating socks up again (and no, I won't be doing JayWalker #3. I need a break from Jaywalkers altogether).
Started: 31st March 2007 Finished: One down, one to go (if there's enough yarn), halfway on 17th May 2007 Yarn: Zitron's "Trekking pro natura" sock yarn: 75% New Wool, 25% Bamboo; colourway # 1640 Needle: 2 mm/ US #0 Addi Turbos (using MagicLoop method) Pattern:Universal Toe-up Sock using Magic Cast-On Note: Test knit for [Maschenkunst]
Yes, I finally finished one side of the Pro Natura sock and I can tell you, I don't want to knit with 2 mm / US #0 again. That just takes way too long. But anyway, at least I have one side down and for the purpose of test-knitting, I think that suffices.
As to what I feel about the yarn. In the beginning I didn't really like it. The yarn feel somewhat more fibery than usual, almost kind of like paper. But after a while, the lightness of it grew on me. And when I tried the sock on, it felt light and warm, but not stiflingly warm as 100% wool would do. I could imagine that this might even be wearable in summer, well, not when it's like 40 centigrade out, but when it's still a bit milder. In spite of the fact that it's 75% wool, it feels really light. I would give this wool 2 out of 10. Two points deducted from the papery feeling to it and another two points for turning out so thin that I had to knit it with 2 mm / US #0.
Well, that's all I have to report. If you're on , then make sure to add me to your friend! Have a great start to the week!
