Stella Knits

I'm doing my favorite Saturday morning stuff - watching the cooking shows on KQED, catching up with my blogs and thinking about what I'm going to do with the rest of the weekend. It's foggy everywhere around here today. I'm tempted to cook Pasta Al Forno Con Salsiccia E Zucchine.

Yesterday, I did a little anarchist thing - the Critical Mass. It was my first time and way fun. I can't wait to do it again next month for Halloween (Stella is going to be Hermione). The feeling was a little like on a march or demonstration, peaceful, but it also pisses people off big time - those stuck in traffic, of course. But that's the point. Drivers should be more aware of bikes and I did it mostly because I'm tired of cars whizzing by me giving me 2" of space between my handlebars and their car. There were about 3 city blocks of crowded cyclists - a LOT!

Back to knitting: I finished the first sock I mentioned and started the second one right away. I mean, I didn't even get up from the couch in between! The yarn is called Lane Cervinia, Forever Jacquard - 75% wool, 25% fake stuff.

And to finish to today's blog entry:

That's the brown yarn I'm working on - click it for larger visual indulgence. It will be either for a Ribbie Cardie or the Blue Cable Cardie you see on the right. I'm also waiting with bated breath on this from Rob at Threadbear (has it come in yet?):

I like both yarns & both patterns, I just to have decide which yarn is for which sweater! Make a suggestion, why don't ya?

posted by Stella 12:07 PM

Work suddenly got so busy I have CAD brain. I almost feel to tired to blog but I don't want to get out of the habit. I started spinning the brown fleece I got from ebay on 9/19. It is very very nice and soft. I want soft, light & airy yarn. So I'm trying to put less spin on it than before. I used to be concerned that it wouldn't hold together, and I was nervous so I'd treadle really fast. I think that overspun my yarn and made it wirey. Now I'm spinning much slower, but the yarn on the bobbin seems softer.

Here is a little skein from a nice Suffolk sheep named Clarice:

I spun it to warm up and get back into spinning. Besides that, I'm working on an early Xmas present, a pair of socks for my sister-in-law, and every once in a while, the Saffron sleeve.

posted by Stella 3:56 PM

Stella is still in the Happy Hippie mode though it was nearly ruined yesterday via coworker immaturity. I did some retail therapy and bought some new earrings. One pair is amber (6 gauge), the other black glass (4 gauge). I think I also need some Birks - soon. Just in case there are more Dead nights in my future.

So I finished the waffle socks! I waited so long to do the second one that it is slightly different, but unnoticeably so once I have them on.

Anyway... today got really busy at work, and I have more to say but I'm too tired. I wanna go home and have a drinkie and spin.

posted by Stella 6:11 PM

Nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile...

Stella went to the Dead show with a very cute Deadhead and she is soo happy. Jimmy Herring can play the guitar for me any time. Jerry would be proud. I'm still in that happy space and I'm going to let it last.

Yesterday (and I still can't believe it) I did this huge bike ride from Fairfax to Bolinas to Olema, San Geronimo and back to Fairfax. We climbed over 3000 feet. I am not a Fairfax-Bolinas Road virgin anymore. It was hotter than 90F for much of it, and I did it on 6 hours of sleep... I came home at 5pm yesterday, took a bath and slept 14 hours.

I don't think I'll make it to Booneville today... and that is sooo okay. My fiber came in the mail on Friday, too! So today I foresee more naps and spinning, and finishing the 2nd waffle sock. And maybe I'll make it to the hardware store and buy some more flowers for out front.

posted by Stella 10:23 AM

I am PSYCHED. I am going to see the Dead play on Friday at the Shoreline. I haven't seen them since Jerry passed away. Everytime The Other Ones or The Dead or Phil Lesh & Friends played around here, I wanted to go. But either my friends didn't want to see them without Jerry, or I had no friends interested in them at all. Now I'm walking around with permagrin. I swear. One day I'm going to quit this job, sell my belongings and start life over as a hippie girl / massage therapist / tie-dyer / sheep raiser in Marin.

Yesterday, I went to City Spinners. Had a great time as usual. I mentioned that I had no fiber to spin (I'm waiting for my ebay delivery) and everybody said I had to go to California Wool & Fiber Festival in Booneville this weekend. I think I should, too! I don't think I'm ready for a whole fleece, or, God forbid, bidding on one. I have no idea what makes a good fleece or a bad one. But it sounds like a great get-away from this rut I'm in. And it depends on what shape I'm in after the concert!

Knitwise, I turned the heel on the second waffle sock last night. I've contacted Rob at Threadbear in my quest for some Cascade 220. color 9407. I've been looking for it in LYS' but nobody carries it (I know - WTF, it's a staple, IMHO). By the time it gets here, I'll have no WIP's left. Right now, all I have is the Saffron sweater and these socks, so I'm in good shape.

posted by Stella 3:48 PM

One good thing - the old blog version was still on my compi at work, so that's fixed. Man, that was bothering me. (It's just a blog, dear.) I know, but it reflects my LIFE and we can't have that in disarray.

Three people have asked me so far if I watched the bike race we had here yesterday. No. Did I see Lance? No. Did I race in it? Hell no. I went on my own ride, and I took my neighbor, Jane, and we rode from our houses through the Presidio (where they are building Starfleet Academy, Caroline!) and across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was foggy & windy and a major oxygen infusion. Ahhhh.

Besides that, I obsessively knit this. Ain't it cute? (click it)

This is my very first handknitted & handspun piece! The pattern is by Anne Norling, a top down raglan, knit all in one piece, kid size 2. I have no more yarn for a buttonband, so I'm thinking about binding it like quilt with a little satin tape and a zipper.