[pattern] Basic Toe-up Sock Recipe

The following links are where I originally got the techniques. My modifications, if any, are written out after.

-Shallow Figure 8 toes, increasing every row (m1r and m1l)
-Stockinette foot
-Short row heel (Wendy Johnson)
-Stockinette leg
-EZ bindoff

SET UP
Figure out how many stitches you will need by measuring around the ball of your foot and multiplying by your gauge. If you are going to swatch (haha) knit up 5" worth in either direction, so you have slack in case you miss calculated.
I am working on 60 st socks on 2.5 mm needles.

TOES
This is a modified toe up sock with a figure 8 cast on, of 1/3 your total sts (10 loops on each needle, with 10 rows of increases for 60 sts). Increases are every row instead of every other row. Work is done in spirals.
1) Cast on 10 sts on two DPN needles in figure 8. Knit first row all around.
2) K1, m1r, k8, m1l, k2, m1r, k8, m1l, k1. 24 sts around.
3) K1, m1r, k10, m1l, k2, m1r, k10, m1l, k1. 28 sts around.
4) Continue the (k1, m1r, kx, m1l, k1) set until you have enough stitches to go around your foot.

If you want to make an "anatomically correct toe", where one side slants more than the other, increase one edge on every row, while the other edge increases every other row.

If you are incorporating a cable or pattern up the sides, you can also move the m1 over (i.e. My Vampire Boyfriend was started with k2, m1r, k6, m1l, k2).

TIPS
-You don't want to keep the ends of the yarn on the edge of the 8s, because your stitches won't catch (for lack of a better word). Flip your first and last loops around so that the ends are inside the 8's.
.................no..............................................yes.................................


-It doesn't really matter if you have leaning increases, but if you only do m1's, you will have little gap.

[WIP] Attack of the killer sock needles

So I've been working on my VB socks, and finally managed to turn the second heel yesterday during D&D. Of course, since I fail at knitting in a constant tension, my second sock is this time half an inch shorter than the first. It was interesting when I tried them on and my addi turbo decided to solve my problem, by cutting half an inch off my big toe. The best part was that I was explaining the back story of the socks earlier, and my friend said something about vampires with a foot fetish, and how it must really be annoying having your toes hurt all the time.

So now they are going to the corner to think what they have done, and I'm cracking out the Skews and frogging the first one (which is 1/2" narrower and 10 rows longer than the second, for the same length). Or should I grab the zauberball I started in september and only knit up 3"? Will I ever finish a pair of socks for myself?

[recipe] Dan's Jambalaya

There is a great bonus to living with someone of Cajun descent, is the access to great food! It always looks like shit, but damn is it yummy ^_^

3-4 onions, diced
2 green bell peppers
2 celery stalks (blej)
2 lbs chicken
2 lbs shucked shrimp (larger the better)
4 c dry wild rice
8-10 c chicken stock
hot paprika!
crushed red pepper
old bay
black pepper
sage

Throw rice in pot with broth and chunky chicken. Set aside while lightly sauteing chopped veggies. Throw veggies and spices in pot, boil for a while, add shrimp. EAT!

Roll Call!

If you look to the lower right, you will see I have added a blog list. Yeah, there's like 50 of them, and my computer hates me when I open them every morning. Most of them are from LSG and of the knitting variety, some cooking, hippie or assorted crafts. I try to keep separate my (drama)llamas from my (crafting)alpacas, so to speak. So if one of them belongs to you, which one? And why don't you update more often??? Also, is there any other blogs you recommend I read?

Have a happy almost-spring friday! Don't sneeze on the yarn, it might stain.

Happy Birthday Dory!

Yesterday was isilzha's birthday, and I made her a rainbow cake! This time, I actually made it in cake form, using Betty Crocker Super Moist Party Rainbow Chip mix, seltzer and food coloring, and the Omnomicon recipe I love so much. It came out very fluffy and moist (teehee, moist!) but seriously lacked structural integrity. Next time, I will include a bit of egg white.

So this was real easy. I poured the powder in to a 5c measuring cup, and slowly incorporated the 12 oz of seltzer with a fork. Once mixed, I poured one cup at a time into a smaller measuring cup and mixed in the food coloring. This was then split among both, very well buttered cake pans. After scraping as much as possible out of the cup, but without obsessing, I poured another cup of batter and mixed in the yellow. Minor color mixing doesn't really matter. I did the same with the remaining colors, adding a tad bit more seltzer to the last batch (I seem to not have mixed it as well as I thought the first time) and tapping the pans on the counter once pouring was done. I baked at "350" for 22 minutes, let cool (well, the second pan, after the first one completely crumbled out of the pan), flipped and frosted.

I'm very proud of how the colors came out, though, and how both layers lined up very nice when the cake was cut! Remember, all of the calories drift to the center, so beware the tip of the slice. Not using the oil and eggs also dropped the calories for 1/12 of the cake from 230 to 160. Pay no attention to the lemon icing that was the only thing keeping the lower layer together...

Gratuitous Johnny Depp picture

Yeah, I'm a fangirl, what can I say? I was looking for a new bag to carry my knitting in the other day, and found this at walmart for $3!!! Yes, it is cheap plastic and will probably fall apart within a month, but I will enjoy that month! I've been binging on 21 Jump Street whenever I get some time, and I had a panic attack last night when I finished the 3rd season and found that that was all they had on Hulu :( Luckily, I managed to find the first episode of the fourth season (in eight pieces) on youtube ^_^

As far as my knitting, I finished the third heart on my socks this morning and will probably be turning the heel soon. I have yet to decide if I'll do it at 3.5 or 4 hearts, but I'm not that worried. Ideally, I'd like to turn the heel at a half heart, so that I can include the point of the heart in the short rows. (I like to make socks toe up, with a figure 8 cast on, increasing on every row, and then a short row heel and EZ super stretchy bind off).

So I've gotten a couple of messages from you, my dear readers, and have no idea who you are! So please to be leaving a comment here, with your name and number blog, and I can get back to wasting even more time every morning before work. Have a happy thursday, and for anybody else that works in a college town, enjoy the last day of a student-free campus!

[WIP] My Vampire Boyfriend socks

So I was flipping through Knitty last december, looking for the necessary yardage for Quadrat, when I noticed these socks. Wow. The description was so cheesy, yet awesome at the same time! And I immediately knew what yarn I was going to use! A wonderful merino/tencel from Spinning Bunny I bought at Mad About Ewes last fall in Autumn Sunset, with Addi Turbos in 2.5 mm (foot on left).

Well, after three false starts last week (uuu, yeah, the background is purl, not knit) I realized it just wasn't working out. So I went to Knitter's Underground and bought this wonderful JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk Yarn, 2/18 Lace Weight, triple plied garnet/garnet/sable (foot on right). The combination is a beautiful cranberry color that I instantly fell in love with.

Here's to me actually finishing a pair of socks for myself!

I'm lazy

Yes, I know! I owe you several posts, since probably december:
Recipes for marshmallows, lemon cream pasta, kings cake, garbanzo and kale chips, and biltong (it is awesome!!!)
FO for loofalike lace gloves and I'm dumber than snake mitts
Review of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

and probably several other things I've already forgotten >.<



Hubba hubba!

They played Imaginarium at the State Theater last tuesday, and boy was it gorgeous! I went with the oh so lovely Leah and her fiance and had a blast. I love Gilliam, he is so talented! And now that I think of it, I would have killed for Alice to be even a fraction of how good this movie was. You have the stunning visuals, the beautiful Depp and Ledger, and the ever so fucked up vision of Gilliam. I'm just stuck in a state of awe! The story is a bit convoluted (and it had another case of bad CGI at the beginning, but it was a bird flying into a cave, so you could easily ignore it), but it made sense (mostly) by the end. I think it will be greatly improved by a second watching, a la 6th Sense.

So Ledger died in the middle of filming, but this didn't hinder the final product at all! He had managed to finish all his scenes from "the outside", and then they cast Depp, Jude Law, and Collin Ferrel to mimic him on "the inside". And boy did they do a wonderful job! They captured all of his quirks and mannerisms to a tee (and I didn't even hate Ferrel!).

Yes, must watch again!

[review] Not so curiouser

Oh lordy lordy lordy. Alice. Hrm.



I love Tim Burton, like you have no idea. And Johnny Depp? Don't even get me started! All my knitting for the past month has been inspired by 21 Jump Street on Hulu. I love that man. He is absolutely gorgeous! But for some reason, the more those two collaborate, the worse it gets. Edward Scissorhands is probably one of my favorite movies ever, but once they hit Charley and the Chocolate Factory, it was all downhill from there. It's like Burton is only banking on well established franchises, how hot Depp is, and how he is able to embody quirky characters.

The movie was absolutely beautiful! (as long as you don't pay attention to the crappy-video-game-like horse riding CGI) But it was devoid of any story. It just assumed you already knew it, so why include it? Like those wonderfully ornate display cakes they have at the bakery, made out of spackle and cardboard. I did enjoy it, mind you, but... meh. Not good, not bad. It just was. It had so much potential :/

And don't even get me started on the CGI dancing. The world did not need to experience that >.<


(he knows he did wrong)


(but he can make it all better!)

It's raining meat, hallelujah!

So my roommate and I decided to make biltong yesterday. So far, we marinated the meat all night in vinegar, worchestershire sauce, soy sauce and herbs, then laid them on cookie racks all day in the fridge, and came home to dredge them in brown sugar, garlic and pepper, before hanging them up to dry. My craft room, a.k.a. the basement, now has a curtain of meat! If this produces a good jerky, I will post the recipe. For now, I leave you with meat!!! Can you tell I'm excited?

Can't sleep, yarn will eat me!

I am so glad the Ravelympics are done! I have not had a peaceful night's sleep in the last two weeks, getting to sleep around 2 am and waking up at 7 am, always having knitting on my mind. What if I use this pattern, or this yarn, or make this mod??? AAAAA!!!!!! MUST KNIT!!!!!

In the end, I finished Hawaii A Goth-O (a present I owed a friend since last january), the Three Leaf Hat, and Loofalike Lace Gloves (which should be my next post), and I frogged some mittens that were knit too open.

Now I can get back to my previously abandoned projects. My Dumber Than Snake Mitts are approaching the thumb, so I'm within 30 rows or so on the second one. My Skew socks are, well, different. I need to frogg the whole first sock and redo it at the gauge of the second. Both had made it to the heel... I cast on My Vampire Boyfriend, like, three times. Did you know they are done in purl stockinette, with cables? It would have been a good idea to notice this before I knit up the first toe, tried to drop the middle stitches, frankenknit the cables on, frog, reknit the toe, this time trying to incorporate the pattern half way in to the increases, noticing the purl part, frogging back, and recasting on. But now I have the whole first motif done, and it rocks! I also have five inches of my Quadrat done, and am thinking of joining a KAL, if and when they settle on a pattern. Flighty, much?

Oh! Nanonukie gave me a gorgeous braid of merino that she dyed herself, in the blue-purple-aqua range. I can't wait to decide what to make with it!!! I was recommended the book The Intentional Spinner, which I should probably get, since I always just dive in to spinning and don't really know what I'm doing. And then have no idea if the end yarn will match up with any projects I want to make.


Ahhh, peaceful and quiet knitting from now on! Or at least until I panic and give myself a deadline for something else!

Oh! And my mom called me this morning to tell me how much she's been loving her Christmas slippers ^_^