~ the blacklist ~

For all of you who have been anxiously awaiting another thrilling post about bicycle riding, I am sorry to disappoint. You see, Josh and I had been planning a ride up near Idaho City on some fire roads, but then it rained. Due to the infrequency of rain and the quantity of this particular rain, we had to abort the mission. At about 8:30 on Saturday morning, I texted Josh to see if he would be interested in a Nampa experience instead. Affirmative.

Around noonish, we loaded our persons into the automotive vehicle and went to Nampa. What fun! As it was around noonish, we were both in the mood for a nutritional supplement. Somewhere along the Nampa-Caldwell Boulevard, we stopped at a joint called "Blazin' Burgers" and we each procured and subsequently consumed a 'blazin' burger'. Instead of normal fries, I opted to spend an additional $0.60 for the sweet potato fries. Yum! While we were waiting for our food, we noted a number of religious prayers, psalms, and other sayings posted around the place. From this we deduced that the owners were believers. After wolfing down our yummy nonsecular food, we went over to the Flying M Coffee Garage for some coffee and mental contemplation. I believe that we also conversed about topics of great import. We each had two entire cups of joe which caused us to feel a little jittery and over-caffinated. After the second cup of joe, we decided to stroll around downtown Nampa. The rain had temporarily subsided and it was quite pleasant out. We ended up spending a bit of time and money at this new clothing shop, which of course I totally forget the name of...something like the White Pine... The shop featured affordable fair trade and organic clothing, and we both found its selection quite fashionable. Because I am a seasoned shopper, I went directly to the Sale Rack and located some discounted items. During my browsing, I noticed that the shop was selling Toms. Many moons ago, I bought a pair of Toms and have really loved them. Unfortunately, they didn't sell very well and the store ceased to carry them. Which lamed me out because I have wanted another pair. It also lamed out Josh because he has been wanting a pari. So of course, we both went bananas over the Toms. As my previous pair were brown corduroys, I decided to go with something a little more silly. Here they are on some astroturf....

The duration of my weekend consisted of mellow social engagements and BBQs. I attended two BBQs in a single weekend and ate a month's supply of protein and yellow mustard. Also, beer. A BBQ on Friday evening at Amy's featured the cute puppy being extremely ornery, which I was relieved he had gotten out of his system by Sunday morning when Amy and I took him for a pleasant hike in the foothills. Of note on that hike is that we saw a unicycling mountain biker, which I thought was pretty impressive. I've heard about people who mountain bike on unicycles and have seen photos on the blessed internet, but never witnessed it in reality. It was very cool! The other BBQ was at Elizabeth's on Saturday night and it was very mellow. To Elizabeth's chagrin, the torrential rain had pretty much ruined her plans of being outside and the barometric pressure had caused everyone to feel particularly subdued.

The remainder of this post will focus on my latest knitting adventures.

To begin, I am compelled to go on and on about my failure at being a library user. I blame the hours of operation, as the library seems to never be open when I feel like going...like, 2:00 a.m. This is similar to my feelings about going to the gym. I don't understand why more establishments aren't open 24 hours a day, that would be a really good idea and I'm certain would not be an inefficient use of resources. Of course, several of my friends are frequent library users and they occasionally opt to tell me about their latest library borrowings. One friend in particular has borrowed a number of knitting books containing patterns I would like to get my hands on but haven't been able to justify purchasing the entire book. Now, I remember scouring the library's knitting books a few years ago and determed that the selection was total crap. And I haven't really been back. But from what I gather from aforementioned friend, apparently there has been some book acquisitions of the knitting variety in the past several years. Who would've known!!!

Over the weekend, I took some time out of my day to peruse the library's online catalog, and noted a number of titles which I am extremely interested in. My primary interest is a book which I believe is out of print (because the general asking price for used copies is around $220) but contains some intricate stranded designs, called Norsk-Strikkedesign. Contained within its pages is a pattern called 'Season of Darkness and Winter Light' (it is the design featured in the cover photo) and it is one of those designs that makes knitting seem magical. I am thrilled to tell you that I have placed a hold on the book, and am so excited about borrowing it (hopefully in a few weeks).

Speaking of stranded knitting, I am slowly making headway on my Selbu mittens.

For reasons of wanting to avoid the 'second mitten curse' and of wanting to knit matching mittens, I am knitting both mittens concurrently. So obviously, I have twice the knitting completed as featured in the above photo. I have temporarily set the mittens aside, however, so that (1) I can practice my stranded knitting, and (2) to acquire a certain gadget. After all, stranded knitting takes skill. Skill which I currently lack. In my previous stranded projects, I have employed the "drop and grope" method, which is a good method to use if you like knitting to be slow and tedious. It's also a good method if you prefer to have really bad tension. So clearly, I am in the market for improved skills.

Before I really get going, I'd like to mention that I've found a lot of really helpful information about stranded knitting on this blog. If you scroll down, on the right sidebar there is a section where she has compiled her posts about techniques. For anyone else who is a novice strander, I would highly recommend them.

To acquire better stranded skills, I have taken up a new project with easy colorwork (see below). I had been practicing the two handed method, but have frustratingly concluded that I am the opposite of ambidexterous. As a result, I am practicing a number of single-handed methods, some of which are working out for me better than others. In my reading about technique, I have stumbled upon a yarn guide gadget. While it is normally used by continental knitters, I have learned that some throwers (like myself) have had great success with it. And so, I have set down my Selbu mittens until the arrival of my yarn guide in the mail.

The project that I am currently working on is my Tweedy Waistjacket. The yarn is the Jo Sharp I bought in Seattle, which I have tried working for a number of projects but have not found anything very suitable until now. The pattern is in the Fall '08 issue of Interweave Knits, and I am delighted at how perfect it is for this yarn. It shows off the tweediness of the yarn quite well. Also, this is one of the faster projects I've worked on in some time.

I'm sorry to leave you all hanging with such an incredibly brief and short post. I know that you were hoping I'd write at length about all of these rather insignificant topics, but I clearly just don't have it in me. I wish that I could just go on an on, until most of you cease skimming this post and just close your browser, but obviously I am in the mood for sticking to the point and not rambling on about whatever comes to mind. Until next time...

Posted by jennifer at 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)