Go Twins!

Can this get any more exciting?! One game for all the marbles. I don't know if I'll be able to take it tonight. I'm a little concerned that it's Blackburn on the mound, but I'll be sending good vibes toward Chicago all day. Ozzie's going down.

I would post a picture of my progress on St. Brigid, but I still have no laptop, and my camera is missing. (My husband better have it with him on his trip!) Picture lots and lots of brown cables. There you go! I cast off the front Sunday night and got going on the sleeves yesterday. As usual, I am going to try and knit them both at the same time. You've heard of second-sock-syndrome. I suffer from second-sleeve-syndrome. It might get to be too much after a while, but for now, it seems to work. Knowing when to quit might be a bit tricky. I need to stop after a full repeat. Will that be too long for my stubby little arms? Oh, to be taller!

Now I'm off to more of my glamorous life. Window washing. Can it get any less exciting?

Still Waiting for the Geeks...

So, I'm not so sure on the smarts of a Geek. The laptop saga continues. They actually called and left a message on my machine yesterday wanting to know if I will approve a $1,000+ repair on my laptop. Does this make sense? Does someone actually say, "Yea, go ahead. I'd much rather do that than go buy a new one for less money." I'm distraught. I don't want to buy a new computer. Windows Vista? Arrrgghhh. Is it time for a Mac?

St. Brigid is going much better than my computer dilemma. I have one more repeat of the large cable pattern on the front panel before I can begin the neck shaping. For a little while last night I was afraid that I might get off track. Knitting and watching the Twins in a close one with the Sox was very dangerous, but I think I did it, and I knit so furiously in the top of the 9th that I probably got more done than usual. Nathan is the man! Going for the sweep!

Waiting for the Geeks

"My name is Kathy, and I'm a laptopaholic."
"Hi, Kathy."
"I have now gone five days without my laptop."
Applause.
"Oh, I'm still using my desktop and my iPod touch."
Murmur, murmur.

Knitting and Computers

What's better than having the Internet available when you're thinking about starting a new knitting project? You can check out different yarns, you can learn from everyone else who may have already made your project, and you can sometimes even see the finished item on a "real" body--everything looks good on someone who is 6' and 100 lbs. As someone who knit for many years in near virtual isolation (remember when knitting was only something that your Grandma did?), I love the resources available to me through my laptop. Unfortunately, my poor laptop suffers from my craft.

As I'm typing, it sounds as if a small aircraft is landing on my desk. I try and keep the fuzzies out. I faithfully blow out the dust balls that get sucked into my computer, but I think we're past that now. I think it's time for the professionals. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I get anxious at the thought of being separated from my laptop for a few days. After all, we do have other computers in the house, but it's just not the same. This one knows what I like.

If my laptop is gone next week, I should be able to go great guns on St. Brigid. At this point, I have the charts pretty much committed to memory, so even though I haven't had a lot of knitting time this week, when I have had a chance to get to it, the knitting has gone fast. I should be able to cast off the back this weekend. Last night I decided to measure my progress against another sweater I own that is a similar style, and now I'm certain that seven repeats of the large cable will be enough. I even debated about six, but this is a pattern that is meant to be boxy and over-sized. This is a Minnesota sweater--not for the menopausal.

Pesto Pronto

With cold air moving in, it's time to take care of all the basil I have growing in my garden. Basil is so cold sensitive, and I'd hate to loose an opportunity to preserve a summer treat to enjoy when the snow is flying. Just a few weeks ago, I trimmed the whole works back and made my first batch of pesto to freeze, but it's come back with gusto.

I've got about a half dozen plants--most of them in the vegetable garden and one in a pot by the back door for quick snipping while I'm cooking. Once I've cut the plants back, I pick of the best leaves and throw them in the food processor. Having perfected this over the years, my own preference is to use the fresh basil, toasted pine nuts, a little salt and pepper, and then the olive oil drizzled in with the processor running. I have the best luck with saving the addition of garlic and parmesan just as I'm about to use it in my recipe.

The next step is to get out that kitchen gadget from our past--the ice cube tray. (It's like trying to explain to someone under 25 what a typewriter was.) I spread the pesto evenly into the tray and pop it inot the freezer. Then once it's frozen, the individual pesto cubes can be stored in a freezer bag, or I prefer an canning jar to keep them from getting too beat up. Then come this winter, just thaw a few out for pasta or a panini spread or throw a couple cubes in a pot of vegetable soup. But please, save a little of the fresh to enjoy on a plate of pasta as a reward for your effort.

Sweater Weather

There's definitely a nip of fall in the air this week. Welcome relief after the hot and sticky weather that we had over Labor Day weekend. It might not be a bad idea to sort through my sweaters and see which ones could use a little freshening up. I will never publicly admit to how many sweaters are in my closet. It's kind of a uniform thing. Jeans--or khakis--tee shirt--short-sleeved or long, and a sweater. Add Crocs, Borns, or Tevas, and I'm set. How fashion forward.

St. Brigid is on the needles. When I did my gauge swatch a few weeks ago, I was able to get the best gauge with a #5 needle, but as I started knitting up the back this week, it became obvious that it was going to end up being way too over-sized for me. I started over with #3 needles, and I think this is going to be much better. My concerns about having a bulletproof sweater don't seem to be an issue.

The first few rows in a new cable project are always the toughest. You can't see the pattern yet, and you're not too sure what all those symbols are telling you to do. It always helps me to make cheat sheets. Once I've copied the graphs, I cut them out and tape them all to one sheet of paper along with the key for the symbols. I put them on my magnet sheet and into the sleeve of a page protector, and I'm ready to go. I've even gotten into the habit of making spreadsheets so that I know which row I should be knitting for each cable pattern on any given row in the sweater. This is especially helpful when the cable patterns have a different number of rows in the repeat of the pattern--which is the case in almost every cabled project I've ever knit. Once I've taken the time to do this prep work, it's about as mindless as I can make it. Now that I've gotten through the entire repeat for almost the second time on, the knitting is going much faster, and I can actually talk to my husband and/or watch TV simultaneously. The cables have a new twist (sorry) this time, too. Stitches are increased and decreased at the beginning a again at the end of the repeat. I wish I could dream up this stuff. I guess I should just be grateful that I can at least reproduce someone else's creativity. On with the KAL!