Knitting Keeps Me Sane

The doorbell rang, and the postman handed me, quite unconcerned, a smallish package. Certainly not large enough to be my Dell Laptop, so might it be...
Lots of stickers on it, semingly coming from America, and in the edge it featured a little sign: Sock Pal.

SOCK PAL!! SOCK PAL SOCKS! Squeeee!! Quick quick, open up, shaking hands, are these really my socks? How will they look? Rip rip, ooh.. Fire-truck-red socks, very bulky, quite long, and certainly roomy and long enough :) They are in fact a bit too long, but hey, it _is_ hard to guesstimate when knitting with such large needles and thick yarn.
They are not too long anymore! *Bwhahaha*


They will be house socks from now on, I already adore them because it really is less-than-warm today in Northern Germany. :)

Phew... I am so happy.

Also in the package were four postcards, "WeeWonderfulls" by Hillary Lang, featuring patchwork dolls, each with a title describing the mood in the postcard.
I got "Meticulous", "Ingenious", "Industrious" (The doll is knitting! Awwww) and "Mischevious". There is a website too:Wee Wonderfuls.

Thankyou a bunch Sock Pal, and I hope you did not put too much of a strain on yourself.

Have a nice day everyone!

Lene

75 of 121 repeats are done, 17848 stitches and three corners, two long sides. (121? Yes, the revised number. When I was knitting Rainbow Pi I revised the total number of edging repeats 4 times). I still need 11636 stitches, sounds doable.
The comes the moment of grafting the edgings together in lace - and then comes what I like to call "The Moment of Freedom", when I may start something else. I rarely turn back to completed knitting projects and give the pattern another go, thus the title. I MAY, however, do it with this pattern, using another yarn (Silk? Cashmere?) and changing the patterning ever so slightly.

When i finish major projects, I have a hard time starting anything, but just plod along on socks and maybe another toy, but when the post-project doldrums are over, I want to knit a sweater with waist-shaping, slits in the sides, sleeves with garter-stitch edging and a square-ish neck opening framed with garter stitch in This wonderfull yarn.
It is so mean. She has new colours of that yarn coming, and I just really really dont need more yarn :-) Especially mean because last time, she sent her brother with the yarn to hang it on my doorknob, obliterating postage. Argh! Too easy to get by to resist!


Have a really nice day.

Lene

PS: I finished a polar bear in dead-white syntethics. It really looks dead. Next up: Knitting a toy with built-in clothes! Wee!

Yesterday yielded 19 repeats while today has brought 7, bringing the total up to 79% finished. I had not expected the border to be such a substantial part of the knitting as it seems to be. However, I now have enough of the edging to lay it out flat and watch the wonderfull shawl unfolding.
The more I knit of this border the larger and prettier this shawl seems. it is possible for me to stretch the one side where the border is completed out between my two hands, meaning that it might block out to at least 6 feet. Works mightily fine for me, standing at 6"1' and needing a large shawl.


Have a really nice day

Lene

Rosebud is progressing swimmingly, but I wouldnt be me if I hadnt sat and crunched numbers all the while knitting her.
Care to be let in on it?

Well, let us start with the beginning. I CO 119 stitches and knit 117 ridges = 234 rows. This means I knit 27846 stitches for the center square! Now, on a good day I can average 5000 stitches (because daily living is a good bit more complicated for me than others - when I was in school I would do school and sit exhausted in front of the computer for the rest of the day). I could have knit the center square in 6 days, but it took me more like 6 weeks (I blame the Rainbow Pi and.. uhm... a knitting slump).

Next came picking up 118 stitches for each border, of which I have 4. I knit 94 rows on the border, adding 4 stitches every row in average. This leaves me with: 15000 stitches in each border, or 60.000 stitches in the whole border. ( I triplechecked this number. It is astonishing).

After almost choking on this large number (The Rainbow Pi had 76.000 stitches in the wole thing, Rosebud is on 88216 and counting), I now have knit 25 border repeats of 124 = 12 rows for one repeat and 21 stitches in average = 252 stitches for one repeat, and 6300 for 25 repeats. I will need 31.248 in all, leaving me with 24.948 stitches still to be knit.

When I am finished, this shawl will have 119464 stitches in it, beat that!
Enough numbers, I just want to point out that, if counting stitches, i am at 73% :)
Not further? Ashaming.... (I must knit the planned 10 repeats more today, then I have 76%! And one side of the shawl, of course.) Of course I didnt get anything knitted! The rest of the day somehow went down the drain, but luckily the shawl didnt run away, and is still there to be knitted on tomorrow.

Later, when my mother came home, I informed her of all those numbers - from memory - and she just laughed at me, insinuating that I might have a slight obsession with numbers (except for "vital" numbers like Phone numbers and Birthdays). Harumph... Obsessed... Nobody needs to be obsessed to know that numbers are damn usefull.


Have a really nice day

Lene

Everyone else does it, so why not I... :)

1) Rosebud is starting to bloom! I dont know how I could phrase it otherwise, because all the roses are knit now and only the edging, the beautifull edge on my bouquet of roses remains to be knit. I need 124 repeats (almost same as on my Rainbow Pi!), and have turned my first corner (I cheated and started 3 repeats prior to the corner), totalling 10 repeats right now. 114 to go.


2) Life is good. I have dropped from 105 kgs (231 lbs) to 92 kgs (200 lbs) which means I have gone from a US 24-26 to an US 14-16. It feels SO GOOD! I have purchased two hanks of 250 grams of Evilla yarn: Grey-Green wool running 300 metres on 100 grams. This will be a sweater in size 40 inches (M). Indicating that my goal still is in the future, at a size 8-10. It just feels SO good to be within the normal size range. I just need to get over one more problem: My bust is (again) so large that cheap clothing fits funnily. *contemplating face*
Well.
I can live with that.

3) I have found a funny place in myself that craves toys and all kinds of soft things. I am satisfying it by knitting toys every time I start to envy babies for their soft toys - and then I give the dolls away. The lady organizing the Tombola last sunday told me to keep the toys coming, which pleases me. Life is so good.


4) Life is good. Back in March I passed the exam to the Organ-player school I was hoping to spend the next few years now that the university is out of reach for me (I did study for 1 and a half year, but my Aspergers made it impossible for me, sadly).
Yesterday I got a letter that I was admitted into the school. YESSS!!

5) My computer has died beyond repair. I need a new one, was looking at laptops, but with the wrong person I think because no matter what laptop I was looking at, there was always a problem with it (slow processor, bad graphics, wrong chipset etc.) This is also the direct reason for no pictures. I tried uploading pictures here, but to no avail. I only succeeded in crashing the computer.

6) Jean the Pig did leave home, but did not go to a random person because his number blew off of him so nobody won him! One of the other women selling tickets, in fact the older sister of one of my oldest and best friends, had taken such a liking to him that we all agreed she should just take him home with her. But wouldnt you imagine, the little piggy defied me and 1) changed gender, and 2) took my name!
The piggy is now Lene-Piggy :) Doesent bother me at all seing as how I was born in the Year of the Pig anyhow. (Which means I will turn 23 this year, more accurately, in 10 days)


Have a really nice (random) day

Lene

Who would normally go into the kitchen and bake a cake to celebrate the sunshine and the shawl, but who will refrain for the sake of her plans for the Evilla yarn.

(I have edited this post 5 times now to eradicate spelling mistakes etc, I hope it is readable now)

Due to some TaiWan-blues, I rebooked my ticket to fly hom Tuesday, June 6. It was an uneventfull flight (Finished a LL sock, cast on another one, sat at the emergency exit from Amsterdam to Hamburg, had exactly 20 kgs baggage, and, most excitingly, my two bags came as number 7 and 10 in Hamburg!)


Well home, there was a book waiting for me (but no socks, boohoo, I have written my sock pal but no response yet). It was Jean Greenhowes Knitted Toys. Printed in 1986 but in as-good-as-mint state. It is so lovely that I could not resist casting on for a Guardsman right away with some black Lopi Lite, red Karisma from Garnstudio, pink Wool of the Andes and ome fat white wool I have inherited. He looks so cute it is almost unbearable, and as soon as his face is finished he will be not-so-cute, but fierce and ready to not only rescue queens, but everyone in need, especially pretty princesses that come with half a kingdom.

The pig I posted about before leaving has a face, but has left home to live with a lucky someone. I donated him to a drawing (along with a pair of socks from my grandma and 9 other assorted things ranging from shawl to doily) which will benefit a group of scouts from Zambia coming up to our large scout camp in July. My donation will enable them to raise another 100 euros if all tickets are sold! :)

There is a little story going with this too. About God.
One of our scout leaders who is a very outgoing person (and someone who trusts in God) was almost despairing because donations came so sparse and she feared she would have to ask some of the Zambians to stay at home. She prayed to God that he would help her, because she had no other to turn to in that case.
The next day she is coming home from work when her husband is at the phone talking to someone - "oh wait, she is coming in the door right now, so you can talk to her!".
It was a lawyer from Copenhagen who was representing a fund, a very unknown and small one, that had had very few people asking for money in the past year. Since they were obliged to give out a sum each year, they had been doing some searching to find groups worthy of a donation, and now he was calling her to ask if she wanted 20.000 kroner (2.500 euros) for her cause.
I could feel my hairs rising on my arms when I was told this story... It MUST have been God who had a finger in this! It was all so perfect, and she ha already recieved the money and bought the plane tickets for all of the wonderfull ladies from Zambia, which I am very much looking foward to meet again (for what will be the third time :)

Have a really nice day everybody.
lene

This time, I blame it all on my mother and her wish for "2 Yards of mid blue not too heavily patterned silk fabric".

I certainly did get that! Not only that, but I also got two yards of blue rabbit fabric, twoandahalf yards of blue/natural fabric to back a quilt with (100% cotton and made for beadspreads... should hold up) and last, but not least, 9 30x28cm pieces of (pinkish) fabrics that have a good chance of fitting in with the squares I got from my friend some time back. All in all I spent 1110 NTD on fabrics - thats only 28 Euros!

I got 6+ yards of wonderfull fabrics for only 28 euros, imagine that. It is cheap, not INSANELY cheap, but it would not be possible to get it that cheap in Germany, for example.

I did see some yarn yesterday, but it was not cheap at all though one was 80% Merino / 20% Alpaca, and another was 100% silk - this was a man sitting at the street with his wheelbarrow, not a regular shop.

I also bought Pashmina Shawls for 100 NTD yesterday, 70% Pashmina and 30% Seta - even if it is a lie and they are 100% Acrylics you cant beat the price, and there were hundred of choices, meaning I wanted two shawls, one for each grandmother, but ended up with three and a yearning for the red-and-black-faded one, for example.

Now, have a really nice day and enjoy yourselves :)

Lene

I finally got my camera cleared, but had to face the reality: I am a crappy photographer. I really want a course or two in photographing, but the ones offered at the place I bought my camera were offered while I am here in TaiWan! Such unlucky coincidence.


Anyways, first off, my Lornas Laces sock, much too light, in the plane as we are descending upon TaiWan:


I am making up the pattern myself based on a wide rib as I couldnt be bothered with all those cable crossings when it came down to it.




A woman at the hostel where I am living - because my friend lives here - borrowed me a small magazine with articles about TaiPei, and I found this article about the "Fabric Road". Whoa! I went there next day and found hundreds of shops, both in a shopping house and right on the street. This picture illustrates what really caught me: Silk fabrics. I bought 2x3 and 1x2 yards of nice fabrics, at 180 NTD/yard. I might be back for more!!


A few days after that I went to the "ShiLin President Residency", where Chiang Kai Shek lived most of the year until his death. The house is off-limits - i believe it is used for housing official guests - but the gardens are wonderfull and accessible for free.
I was amazed to get to know a fun, but annoying, taiwanese tradition: A few weeks before the wedding the bride and groom dress up - some as mogolic warriors, some as typical western brides and grooms, some like they were on the Court in France around 1650....
Then they take a lot of photographs, to use in a wedding album. Apparently the gardens I was visiting are a VERY popular place to do that, and I had to constantly stop or move because I was standing in the background or foreground of a wedding picture. Pshew.....
I got a much better picture than any taiwanese bride or groom could have yielded me:


So beautifull.


The last picture is from TaiTung where I roamed a small park with tall mountains - I dont think I really know what i was doing, but I climbed all those mountains and might have left a pound or two while doing that.
There was an amazing wildlife considering that the park was in the middle of the city, just look at this animal I caught with my camera:



Have a really nice day, everybody!

Lene

I forgot to write about Samus, the nice litte cardigan I was knitting for my friend.

I gave it to her when I came over here, and she immediately decided that it was just perfect for winter! No sweater for my mother, which is perfectly fine... mother can knit for herself! The sweaters arms are a tad too long, but it is not bad and can be remedied with blocking.


I am still waiting for news on my socks and the Jean Greenhowe book I ordered from Ebay.co.uk, hoping I will not be one of those needing a sock savior - after all, my sock fairy sent me an email saying she was sending them off!! :)

Have a nice day
Lene

First the knitterly news: The Socks Are Back In Progress!
The Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Potluck Earthtones progressed well beyond the heel on the train ride from TaiNan to TaiPei tonight (which means, by the way, that I have conquered all 2654 km. around TaiWan on train! Go Me!), and am so enjoying knitting again even though I was tired.


The TaiWan Travel News: I "saw" a Buddha Tooth today - it was hidden in a box and behind closed curtains - but I got to put my hands against each other, to sacrifice 10 NTD (New TaiWan Dollar - roughly 1 euro to 40 NTD) and recieve a red envelope with a picture of the tooth, pretty taiwanese writing and quite a handfull of candy.
We were at Fo Guang temlpe between TaiNan and GaoXing, which is probably the largest buddhist temple in TaiWan. It is incredible! Art abounds, and the food they serve for a few NTD is some of the most incredible vegetarian food I have ever tasted. I even got to try to Calligraph in a large calligraphing room - very serene, and very hard.

Have a really nice day! :)

Lene (Dubbed "Helen" because Japanese only can pronounce Len....)