Lilacs Socks Update

So Monday was spent at the local Veterans Administration campus, being "orientated" so I become an official VA employee, so I can pay myself off the merit award I earned a year ago for my cancer research. Some system, eh? That was only Day 1 of 3 days of orientation, mind. Due to the fast day Tuesday, I got to beg off the remaining 2 days until next month. I cannot imagine what else they'll come up with to waste time and taxpayer money. Note to taxpayers: I'm now a GS13 civil service grade, please tell that to your congressmen, maybe they'll cut the nonsense down to the 3 hrs it warranted. Proof: look at my sock, finished in the spare time we had (an entire hr between HR reps at one point!) and during some of the pointless presentations (do I need a lesson on how to fill out a W4? I'm only working for 23 years now). Sock #2 is well under way. I modified the foot of the pattern as follows: after the heel turn, I changed the middle RT to a K1 tbl, to prevent sag around the ankles (it worked too). Total reps of pattern = 11, and heel flap was started at row 6 of 6th repeat. French heel (my fav) was used, and double-dec toe; dec every 3rd row down to 14 sts (used Lana Grossa Meilenweit for the toe, just to try it out), then grafted it shut. The modification fits my size 7 foot very nicely.

Last night we saw "Hairspray." Being someone who was raised in Bawlmer (though I never spoke quite the way Edna does in the movie) during that period, I was entranced by it all. When I was very little, my parents and I even lived above the grocery store my dad owned (in a different neighborhood) and our apartment look the same! Our TV was a Zenith, not the Admiral in the movie, but a similar B&W console set. French doors and signs painted on the walls opposite - yep I remember the National Boh guy winking at me every night when I went to bed (I said I was very little). I had a multi-hued crinoline just like Little Ines wore in the final scene, and a doggy pin like Penny wore in several scenes, and my Revlon doll had the sophisticated dresses that the dancers wore (and a fancy hair-do too). Only things I did not like: Michelle Pfeiffer was too thin for the era and the clothes; Tracey's last outfit. Mod Carney Street in 1962? Just about 5 years too soon for those clothes; it cast a jarring note to the period setting, imho. Now I'm nagging DH (whom I met in Bawlmer when we were grad students at Hopkins) to get us some coddies for dinner tonight. Those and Almond Crush soda, and some coffee Breyer's ice cream, and it's a summer night in Liberty Heights in the early '60's all over again.

Denouement Disappointing!

Or some other bit of incantation dribble, that about sums up my take on the long-awaited HP Book 7. I am disappointed. Really disappointed in the writing quality (very uneven), the red herrings (far too many of them, big detraction and distraction from the plot), the parts that didn't jibe with what we've come to know about wizards and witches in JK Rowling's world (there's a scene where Hermione and I forgot after only 2 days whether it was Harry or Ron, but Hermione and male companion #1 drag, yes drag, male companion #2. Did they forget they had wands and could do magic? Levicorpus? Wingardia leviosa? McGonagall should expel them!), the too-rushed deaths of characters we've come to love, the rather bland end to the evil Voldemort wrought (unlike LOTR, where Sauron's end builds to a might climax, Voldemort's was just so expected, really) and the unanswered questions. And the Epilogue! As if from a different book, all cutesy-pie, sweetness and light. What happened in those 19 years? How did the wizarding world rebuild? JKR read a lot of Tolkien, it is obvious. How could she have missed "The Scouring of the Shire?" Oh, maybe she only saw the movie version of "Return of the King," that could explain it. My biggest problems:
1) the picaresque subnovel - the entire "we've got no plan, let's go here, let's go there, kids" in search of the deathly hallows. Deathly? Together they defeat death. Hallows? Coming from the Peverell brothers, maybe unhallows. This entire subplot should have been lost with a capital L. Was James descended from a Peverell? That should have made him a Slytherin. Still do not know how he came to have the invisibility cloak. My guess- won it in a bet.
2) the whole wand thing. In the first book, much is made of the wand choosing the wizard. As the series progressed, this seemed to go by the wayside until Book 7, where it doesn't matter anymore who uses whose wand. Harry repairing his wand with the elder wand? Because we never do find out what happens to Ollivander (tempted by the dark side of the force too much, eh?) and Grindelwald is dead. Speaking of whom, how come dark wizards like the Malfoys and Lestranges didn't buy their wands from Grindelwald?
3) the lack of closure. It's a kids' series, wrap it up nicely. Even the end of Snape didn't satisfy anything. How could someone who was a sentimentalist enough to have a silver doe for a patronus to show his love for Lily acted so beastly to Harry for 6 books? It does not hang at all.
4) the Dumbledore backstory. Did we need this? Couldn't Aberforth have been PO'd over being left with a fragile sister (cursed by some Death-Eater, say) while big brother Albus is courted for Minister of magic and gets to live in the nice castle that is Hogwarts. Muggle boys attacking a young witch like Ariana would have gotten something in return - remember what Harry did to Aunt Marge in Book 3? Fragile baby sister succumbs to curse, Aberforth takes up inn-keeping, no story about Aberforth and goat (as if it was necessary).
I am done ranting and with the non-knitting content of this post. I found a detailed review, almost page by page HERE, if you are interested. Warning: some vulgar and not too nice language in places, but the writing is funny for the most part.

OK, back to knitting. Notice how the "wand" in the photo resembles Brittany walnut knitting needles? If I take one and wave it around, do you think I can enchant my needles to finish all my FOs for me, like Molly Weasley and Hermione? Guess the only magic around here will be the loop on my sock needle.

Counting Down to the Denouement

No knitting this weekend, at least not until I finish plowing through all 784 pages of this tome, and I may have to read it twice for everything to sink in. In preparation, I want to see "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" twice, once on opening day and again on Sunday. And last Saturday I re-read, almost in 1 sitting, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." If you saw the movie, or follow the books, then you know that Mrs. Weasley is an inveterate knitter who knits up Christmas gifts for everyone year after year. And because Hogwarts is in the far north of the British Isles (I'm willing to bet somewhere near Inverness), everyone wears woolies out of necessity. OK, obligatory knitting content done with, back to the theories about Book 7. Here are mine.
1) JK Rowling said in an interview that a formerly non-magical person will do magic in Book 7. She also said that Aunt Petunia is not a squib (a magical person who can't learn to do it properly). My theory - Dudley Dursley is the hidden wizard. Why wasn't he invited to go to Hogwarts? Bonnie Marie on her ChicKnits blog thinks it was a deal between Dumbledore and Aunt Petunia; I think that such persons are rare and not recognized by the Ministry of Magic. Perhaps there is adult education for them, or correspondence courses by the floo network.
2) The 'Net is abuzz with supposed leaks about who dies. JKR says on her website that 2 main characters die in this book aside from either Harry or Voldemort. Ron and Hermione? Wouldn't that make the series so bitter as to end its popularity right now? Just think about it - if Frodo had died along with Gollum, how many of us would have slammed "The Return of the King" shut then and there? I know I would have. Even though I knew Frodo had to die from the wound he suffered on Weathertop. But Tolkien makes Frodo's death a literal voyage to the Western Isles, to dwell with the elves, sad and yet not. Offing Ron and Hermione would be too much, no? How many parents would let their children start reading the series, knowing that this is what lies at its end?
3) So who dies? Hagrid is a possibility. He's one of my favorite characters, the first being who shows Harry kindness after life with the Dursleys. It'll be sad, but it makes sense - Hagrid would do something foolhardy to save Harry, or Hagrid fights Voldemort in a attempt to prevent the army of giants Voldemort tries to raise from fighting. Who else? I can't help but feel a premonition that Luna Lovegood will die. I like her character a lot, I'll be sad, but it won't be the devastation that losing Ron and Hermione would be. Oh yes, Percy Weasley. I think he is marked too, I thought that from when it was announced that another character dies in Book 5.
4) Bad guys who buy the farm and how, aside from the obvious: I think it'll be neat and fitting for Neville to kill Bellatrix Lestrange. If you need to know why, please read or re-read "OotP." I think the senior Malfoys go too, but I don't rank Narcissa as a total bad guy or gal; rather as a proud woman who wants to protect her only son. Think of her scene with Snape at the beginning of "HBP" and you'll see what I mean.
5) Which brings us to Snape. Snape, Snape, Snape. Are you good or evil? Did you really kill Dumbledore? Was Dumbledore begging you at the end of "HBP" to spare him or to carry out part of a pre-conceived plan? I would vote for good Snape (sort of the Gollum-Smeagol dichotomy, no?) EXCEPT that why the heck couldn't a guy old enough to be Harry's father get over the stupid high school pranks from 20 years earlier? Either Snape is the world's best occlumens (hence Voldemort's inability to read Snape's true mind) or Snape isn't as good as he pretends to be in the occlumency-legilimency fields. Isn't Snape who reminds Harry to control his emotions during occlumency lessons? Thought so. Which brings up an aside - how could Dumbledore not figure out how much animus Snape had for Harry? Maybe Snape really is the world's best occlumens.

So folks, only about 36 hours to go until the UPS truck pulls up with the books. Amazon e-mailed me this morning that my books were packed and ready to ship. I'll start tracking tomorrow. Oh for a trusty owl like Hedwig to go and fetch it!

Look What Else Came!

No not the partly-done sock, the needles. Do you know what those are? They are among the last of their kind, Addi Turbo Gold-plated needles (size 2.5 mm). Why were these ever discontinued? I love them, they are a tad less slippery than regular Addi Turbos (a good thing, imo; dropping sock sts off the end of a pin terrorizes me), the cords relaxed without heat, the joins are so smooth, and the size is engraved in the pins. If you want to buy a pair, and I know only small size with 32" cords are left, go here. In fact, check out the Needlepoint Joint's whole website for unusual gadgets and notions and hard-to-find-elsewhere miscellany. I found the row marker for circs there, Margaret Stowe's lace book for a good price when everyone else had sold out of it, and these Addis. And I picked up the 2.75 mm Inox circs too.
Back to the socks here, Jeanie Townsend's Lilacs: The cuff was started with King Cole Anti-Tickle DK on 3 mm Addi Turbos. I casted on in the K-P method on both pins, then started the 1x1 ribbing across for 2 rows before joining and continuing the ribbing in the round. I'm hoping this makes for a stretchy cast-on, sort of like the tubular method I used before. The pattern was modified thus: besides the cast-on, I shortened the 17 repeat to 16 sts by changing the central P1-K1 tbl-P1 motif to a 2 st RT. And I eliminated rows 9 and 10, making the pattern 10 rows in all. The leg is started in Sundara sport merino in Meridian, still on the 3 mm needles to fit my lower calf (I want these to be a bit long; Peach Petals came out a bit too short and slouchy around the ankle (yes they are done!), but I'm wearing them anyway). Now done with the 2nd repeat, the sock is on the gold Addis. At the ankle, I may change the RT to K1 tbl, for a snugger fit. This is a fun and easy pattern.

Look What Came!

Yep, more yarn. To be specific, more Sundara sport merino for socks. These are 2 of her semi-solid colors, which she says will never be repeated: on the left, Blue-Violet over Cotton Candy; on the right, Shell over Cocoa Butter. The blue-violet yarn fairly screams for Evelyn Clark's Lupine sock pattern. The Shell has yet to be decided. Now I'm still looking for an off-white sport or DK weight sock yarn, but not a solid off-white; something more interesting than just off-white. Maybe Lisa Souza hard twist merino in Mother-of-Pearl, which I would have bought but it comes in 500 yds for $25; wish it had a smaller put-up as well for the sock knitters, say 250 yds for $15. Maybe I'll ask Lisa about it; worst thing she could do is say no. And I'm searching for a nice green with character, maybe green with other colors like Yarntini Appletini or Lime Twist, if I could ever get any. If you know about other yarns, please let me know. I've checked a few already, and either no greens or off-whites, or the gauge comes only in fingering/sock weight and the price is too prohibitive for doubling. Thanks.

New Needles Stretch My Patience

I am spoiled. I am spoiled by Addi Turbos. I should have expected it from reading about everyone's experiences with Addi Turbo circular needles and finding out for myself in the short time I've been sock and otherwise knitting circularly. But what's a knitter who needs a 2.75 mm needles to do? Addi doesn't make needles in that diameter, but Yarn Cubby does, with a clever elastic cord between the the pins. A brillian idea, I thought at first, and rushed to buy whatever length I could find. Last night was the moment of truth as I casted on for a new pair of socks using my lovely and now discontinued Sundara Meridian sport merino wool. The Lilacs pattern by Jeanie Townsend (check out her blog, Just Jeanie, to see the pattern; there's a link on my list) calls for more stitches around, so I figured I should go down from a 3 mm to a 2.75 mm, and I still don't have a 2.5 mm set of circulars (whatever was I thinking? I have 2 mm but not 2.5 mm??). Anyway, I casted on using the tubular cast-on I like so much from the Embossed Leaves pattern - and the yarn does not slide nicely from cord to pin. Not at all. The pins are not tapered down to the cord, so there is not as smooth a join as the Addis have. The elastic cord is kind of grabby, and the plating on the pins has more a sand-blasted or matte finish, rather than a smooth finish, so yarn does not glide along but has to be pushed along. I don't mind the pin part; I live in fear of losing sts on the Addis; sometime I think they are too smooth for some yarns. But these stretchy circulars really make it difficult to move sts from pin to cord to pin when I use the magic loop technique. Any others have experiences to share with these needles? Are the 10" long sock needles by yarn Cubby better for sock knitting? I suppose with those you just knit around, but how you do really small circumferences on them is not obvious, at least to me, with the cord being too short for magic loop and my loathing of dpns.

Half a Pair is Better Than None

I'm trying to squeeze in some knitting between everything else. So finishing one sock is now called finishing half a pair, lest I succumb to single-sock syndrome. And I can wear the single sock while I work on its mate, to remind me why I want to finish the 2nd sock so badly. Take this sock- made of delicious Sundara sport merino in Cherry Blossom (with heel and toe of Cherry Tree Hill SuperSock in Java plus Cebelia #30 in Dusty Rose), it looks good enough to eat. Top it off with the wonderful pattern by Jeanie Townsend and it's a winner on my foot. Now with the temperatures in my office and lab hovering in the low 60's, I need to wear wool socks year 'round, it looks like.


Here's Skye in his new shirt. He loves to drag towels and blankets around to lie on, so DD#1 decided to give him a soft shirt to wear. This way he has a towel or blanket with him at all times. He likes it a lot, especially with the sleeves rolled up to show off his white paws.

... Only to Leave Again

This is a non-knitting post. I have not picked up needles in a few weeks because I have been inundated with work at work. I've been training a new lab technician and a summer student at the same time, something I try to avoid whenever possible. Then there was a quick trip to Minnesota to give a lecture and participate in a discussion on cancer research. Last week there was a major crisis over starting my Veterans Administration research grant. The major crisis? The assistant chief of research at the local VA hospital, which administers the grant, decided or was coerced into trying to get the grant rescinded by Washington. Luckily I found out about it, and luckily I keep a paper trail. But it's no fun to fight fires constantly; research is hard enough as it is. Usually knitting relaxes me, but when I'm this keyed up I can't knit. Hopefully, with a holiday break tomorrow, I'll return to my usually state of quiet frenzy. I can knit then. I really need to finish my Peach Petal socks!

On a happier note, we saw "Ratatouille" Sunday. Hysterically funny. Do go see it, you won't be sorry.