I Hate Nupps Like They Called Me Fat

So I just finished the Echo Flower Shawl.  I was blitzing through it (I did the shawlette version) and then got to the part where the nupps were involved.  And then things ground to a halt. 

According to the interwebs, "A 'nupp' is a small 'bobble' made out of one stitch for a small flower. To make one, you knit a stitch, do not take it off the left hand needle; and then follow the sequence *yo; k1* into the same stitch as many times as desired. On the next row all the nupp stitches are knit or purled together."

According to me nupps are something that was created by the devil.  Bascially you go along and birds are singing and you start the front part of the nupp, no big.  Just a few extra stitches in one stitch.  Then you get to the purl row.  And then the crying starts.  And shortly after that the cursing.  Because those 7 or so extra loops that you've added in that one stitch?  Are smashed together.  And getting a needle through them to purl?  Is nigh impossible. 

I tried w/ a crochet hook.  I tried w/ a smaller needle.  Eventually I was able to get through that purl row (only taking - literally - about 5 times as long as it would w/ out nupps).  So I figured I'd do the loops much looser this time.  Same thing happened somehow.  I manage to mush everything back again.  I finally figured out how to get them to work, using this video but it was too little too late.  They still ended up looking manky and I cursed them every step of the way. 

So nupps?  Can just piss off.

Wool and I have decided to just be friends...

So wool and I just had our first big fight.  You see, I have been knitting shawls and wraps using sock yarn.  And throwing them in the washing machine to loosen up the yarn has been A OK.  I pin them and block them as normal, (I don't put wool in the dryer... I'm not a philistine.) no problem.  However I got some Bamboo and Ewe from the lovely people at Stitch and Bitch Nation and decided to do a shawl in DK weight.  (Idea gotten from 198 Yards of Heaven). 

I finished the shawl rather quickly (yay DK weight!) and threw in to washer as usual.  About 10 minutes later I pulled out a ball of fuzz.  Apparently wool does this thing called "felting" otherwise known as "making me cry."  Having cut my teeth on acrylic (which is totally besties with the washer AND the dryer) this was a rather unexpected result.

I cannot possibly start gifting family in cold climates things made out of ornery and difficult.  And while I personally LOVE wool and am willing to work for it's love, it's going to have to be for things I make for only myself.  I know superwash will resolve this but since I have PILES of supercry wool laying around I cannot justify replacing it all.  So in the mean time, wool and I are still hanging out, but I'm sad to say the love affair is over.

Blasphemy!!!

Ok so I realize this is going to end up w/ people w/ knitted pitchforks and torches outside my blog, but I officially HATE top down socks.  I decided to knit an easy pair Earl Grey from the amazing Yarn Harlot but it kinda blew goats doing the pattern.** I was really happy starting out, the cuff flew by, but when I got to the heel everything went off the rails.  I did manage to succesfully execute the sock and will be finishing the pair.  But arg.  The heel was all fiddly and guesswork and using magic 8 ball.  (Should I decrease here?  Outlook fuzzy.  Ask again later.)  And then I don't know if this is my fail or what, but the toes from where I had to graft together have an annoying ridge.  I hate the idea of re-engineering patterns for top down socks to toe up, but it's so much easier at this point than having to break out calculus to get a heel right.  (I use Priscilla Wild's short row heel for my toe ups and I can basically turn off my brain and I always get the exact right number of stitches.  It's pretty much magic.)

** Note the pattern was great, the socks turned out lovely.  Just not going to be getting on board the whole top down thing any time in the near ever.

Cuff Down Socks

So now that I've mastered toe up socks (read : they feet on people feet.  mostly.) I've decided to start trying cuff down socks.  On the one hand I much prefer the entire idea behind toe up (go as long as you want, no running out of yarn, no grafting or kitchner stitch) however I feel the need to learn to do the stupid things.  One I tend to jump up and down and say I'll never "x" then do "x" all the time later.  The next issue is a lot of amazing sock patterns are top down, and rejiggering them is a pain.  So I'm about 3/5 done with a cuff, of course I know the nightmare starts when the heel comes.  We shall see...

Damn Ewe!

So I'm seeing even more of a shift towards natural fibers in my buying habits.  I've started doing a circular shawl in a bamboo / ewe mix (so stretchy!  lurve that!), and found myself today buying a skein of Bamboo Ewe from Debbie Stoller "just to try out."  On the one hand I do still love me some acylic (Caron Simply Soft lives in a special part of my heart), it's easy to wash, less expensive and has a gazillion colors.  My main issue is outside of sock yarn, it's mostly DK weight and heavier.  It's muuuch eaiser to find lighter wieght yarns made of natural fibers.  Also the self striping sock yarn is good for socks, not so much other projects, I think it tends to look a bit wonky even in shawls and scarves.  However I'm still working on a passel of stuff for family in Missouri, so easy wash thicker yarn has a large part of my stash.  But if they come out with more colorways of Bamboo Ewe, there's going to be trouble...

Un-named Unvented Toe Up Sock Cast On

Step One
 Pull out your trusty crochet hook.  I use a medium small one, size F (3.75MM).  Size isn't massively important but nothing huge or tiny.

Step Two
  Using the yarn you're going to use for your sock (there is no waste yarn in this cast on) chain 1/4 of the total number of sock stitches you will need plus one.  (EG for 60 stitches total in the sock you will cast on 15 +1 = 16).

Step Three
  Using the loops on the right side (rather than the bumps on the back as most crochet related cast ons use) pick up and knit (knit up) 15 stitches.  (The chain should look like this (|) You will pick up on one of ( to knit into.

Step Four
  Using another needle, pick up and knit the loops on the other side of the chain, to 15 stitches. 

Step Five
Knit one row across on each needle.  Then you can start your normal toe increases.

Cat Religion

Ok so apparently I "unvented" a toe up cast on method.  Woots me.  Will post instructions and pictures later today.  To me it's much easier than the Magic Loop method, but of course I'd say that since it was basically my idea.  Also once I finish the second sock in this set I'll be posting a pattern for some socks.  No on to whining about work. 

I do internet tech support for a medium big name ISP.

Customer : I can’t go online.
(we do troubleshooting)
Me : Can you see if you can go online now?
Customer : How do I go online?
Me : Your password is sdfk111.
Customer : Is the 1 caps locks?

Also I’ve learned to never ever ask what website a customer is having problems downloading from. Because he will be 900 years old and he will say playboy.

Then there was this gem:

“The last tech that went out stole the 42 karat gold cross from around my cats neck.”
A) Really!??!
B) How do you even know your cat's religion?  What if it's hindu?
C) REALLY?!