Brown leafed vertigo

This is post number two with a song lyrics title. Any guessers on the song? Hint: it's topical. Yesterday I got a package in the mail. "Oh no!" thought I, "My time has come and Sock Wars has claimed another victim." But, luckily, the package contained the socks started by my last kill (the blogless Sarah) and now I have a new, relatively mindless knitting project for House tonight. I've killed two knitters! I'm one of the 127 still alive out of 722 total assassins, and I'm hoping that my killer is knitting slowly. Three is a respectable number of victims. And now, a scary story. Grad students don't have offices at my university (well, we do, but they're in the football stadium and incredibly inconvenient for both us and our students), so most of us hold our office hours in the library's coffee shop. It's easy for our students to find and enables those of us who have office hours at the same time to get three hours of socializing in every week. There's a guy -- I'm sure very university has this guy -- who has attached himself to us, but let me be clear from the beginning: we don't know him. At all. He's in his 40s, smells awful, dresses shabbily, is overly friendly in a creepy way, and always carries books. We think he must be a philosophy or history grad student. If there is any free seat at our table (and sometimes when there aren't any -- he's not afraid to pull up a chair), he'll plop himself down and talk loudly to himself for half an hour or so. He's a little strange. Today he walked in to the coffee shop and said hi to a friend of mine who wore glittery devil horns to her office hours. He told her he was wearing a costume under his clothes and she laughingly told him he should go change. You can see where this is going. He left. And we panicked. Would he come back naked? Wearing a sandwich board with "THE END IS NIGH" written on it? Dressed as school girl? A hog caller? He returned, holding his large backpack in front of him and for a moment, each of us thought he was naked. And we each located the nearest exit. Then he dropped the backpack and revealed that he was dressed as a bargin-basement Wonder Woman. I didn't look directly at the costume, but apparently he was wearing blue lycra short-shorts, a red bustier, and a sagging gold belt. I think we exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes before he wandered off, hopefully heading out to fight crime or shower. I think the only appropriate way to react to this is the way the guy sitting nearest to Wonder Woman did: look bewildered and repeat "What the FUCK was that?" once every three minutes for the next 10-15. Happy Halloween guys.

Whoooaaa-ooh we're halfway there!

Sock sock sock sock sock sock sock! Finished sock 1 of 2 pomatomi. As you can see, I'm making them a little shorter than they should be (2 repeats on the cuff instead of 3) because I'm a little short on yarn. Each skein of Claudia has 175 yards and the yarn Cookie used has 194 m per skein. I don't mind that they're shorter than others, but seeing the gorgeous longer pairs like the Knitting Philistine's makes me think there's another pair of longer Pomatomi in my future. Or possibly in someone's Christmas present. You know, because I don't have enough to do between now and Christmas without adding another project. I had a nasty sinus headache today, and as a result will be up until the wee hours of the morning reading students' papers. It's going to be a long, long night and I'm considering wearing the sock to give me strength in face of horrible spelling and improper verb-noun agreement. Because it is a mighty sock. [Imagine there's another sock photo here. For the first time I'm having blogger photo issues.]

The History of a Young Sock

Dearest Pomatomus, How sorry I am that I do not have the pleasure of your company daily! My duties at the time require my complete devotion and force my attention elsewhere. Namely, to that book which is the source of all my woe and your neglect: Mr. Richardson -- whose relationship with me is no choice of mine, I assure you! -- absorbs all of my thoughts during every waking hour. He has buried me in unwanted correspondences and I find myself overcome not with due reverence, but with resentment and a true weariness of spirit. I see no way out of this detestable situation until two days hence, when my weekly duties are finished and a few hours' leisure are open to me. Will your forgive me, my dear, for my absence from your company? Your ever-affectionate friend and servant, Specs

Socks and a History Fun Fact!

Socktoberfest is finally in full swing here at Casa Specs. I should be working on my brother's sweater (last seen on the blog on over a month ago), but the yarn I bought at Loop was talking to me from the yarn bin. And the word it kept whispering was Pomatomus. Isn't it beautiful? Even though the yarn is leaving black dye all over my fingers, I can't put this sock down. I love watching the colors of the Claudia's Handpainted change and seeing the arch of the waves develop. Also making me happy today: it's sweater weather! This means that I dig out my old Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater; one that I made years ago from some WalMart yarn (that's held up remarkably well, all things considered). The temperature is in the 60s (Finally! I've been waiting a long time for Fall to come to Tennessee), the skies are deep and blue, and the leaves are the perfect splashy colors that I've been seeing on blogs from the Northeast. I love driving around and seeing bright patches of color in the mountains. Even going to Target is beautiful. And now for today's History Fun Fact. Did you know that the sails of Viking ships were made of wool? Well, they were! And to keep the sails from doing what all wool does in damp environments (like, say, the entire northwest coast of Europe), the tightly woven fabric was rubbed and saturated with sheep's fat. Class dismissed.

Two posts in two days.

48 Things You Could Care Less About 1. FIRST NAME? Sarah 2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No. 3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? It's been a while; a few weeks at least. 4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes. It used to be very round and girly, but it's gotten spikier with time. I like the spikes. 5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? I've been vegetarian for four years now, but every now and then I get a wicked craving for a turkey sub or a cheesesteak. 6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I think I come across as awkward and distant, but I tend to like open and obviously friendly people, so probably not. I'd think I was weird. 7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? I used to, when I was in high school (and oh, what dramatic reading those make), but now all I have is the blog. 8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes. 9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No, but I reserve the right to retract that statement at any time. 10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Corn Pops and Lucky Charms. Also: Grape Nuts. 11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yes, otherwise Otto would be distracted for 10 fewer seconds than usual. 12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? The past few year have shown me that I am, or can be, mentally strong. But it still took me a good 5 minutes to open a jar of tomato sauce tonight. 13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? I'm with Kate A. on this one -- mint chocolate chip all the way, baby. 14. SHOE SIZE? 8. 15. RED OR PINK? Red. Deep, brick and burgundy reds are one of the few intrusions of color into my usually black and grey wardrobe. 16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I'm a pessimist, which I've only realized in the last year or so might be a negative personality trait (I still think I'm just being realistic). I'm making a conscious effort to be more optimistic. It's hard. 17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My mom. She doesn't travel, so I only see her at Thanksgiving and Christmas. 18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Maybe if we were in ye olden dayes of the internets and this was via email. But yes, I'd like other people to fill it out. 19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Jeans, blue shirt, and no shoes. I usually wear socks at night, but I wore my cute new shoes today and they left cute new blisters and wounds on my feet. I still love the shoes, I'm just glad that years of dancing in pointe shoes have inured me. 20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Chocolate chip cookies. I baked when I got home from New Jersey; it's one of the ways I relax. 21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Otto munching on his food and Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet." 22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Black. So practical. Everyone loves the black crayon. 23. FAVORITE SMELL? Basements. Clean ones, but ones with that laundry-damp-earthy smell. Also: old books. 24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My brother. 25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Hair, figure (I have a thing for skinny guys in glasses), hands, and eyes. 26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? Kate A! Yes! 27. FAVORITE DRINK? Tea, any kind except chai. I chai'ed myself out two winters ago and haven't been back. 28. FAVORITE SPORT? Hockey hockey hockey. Let's go Flyers! 29. EYE COLOR? Blue. 30. HAT SIZE? Small. 31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? I used to, but I've gotten attached to the hiding-behind-things feeling of wearing glasses. I like that they give me an extra layer between myself and the world. And I think they make me look smart. 32. FAVORITE FOOD? Indian food. Give me some kofta or paneer and I'm happy girl. 33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Both. Old monster movies are fantastic, but a well done happy ending is nice, too. 35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter. I hate showing up places sweaty and disheveled. 36. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs. My family isn't huggy, but when I left Columbus I was hugged by friends on a daily basis and I realized that I like this hugging thing. 37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Just one? Here are a few: rice pudding, ice cream, pumpkin pie, and blueberry cobbler. 38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? No idea. Does anyone even read my blog anymore? (The comments have all but stopped! I'm going to assume that everyone's really busy and not that my blog has started to smell.) 39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? N/A 40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? See the sidebar. I'm reading other things, too, but those are the ones I could think of when I was posting yesterday. 41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Don't have one. 42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? I didn't watch tv last night. 43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? TB breathing in his sleep, rain on the roof, and my parents talking downstairs while I'm in bed (although I haven't heard that one in years). 44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Rolling Stones (that's plural, meme writer). 45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Kobe, Japan. 46. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? I can do lots of things reasonably well. But no special talent that I can think of. 47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Washington, D.C. 48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I lifted it from Kate A. And finally, a sock begins! Can you guess what it is yet? It's something I've wanted to make for a long time. In the background you can see my favorite beer: Flying Dog Tire Bite.

There and back again.

Warning: photos ahead. Some (like the one to the left) are linked to larger images because they look much, much better with some extra pixels. I'm back from my short vacation to the East Coast to see family and friends and I have plenty of photos to share. Buckle in and enjoy the photographic evidence of my love for the Mid-Atlantic and Philadelphia. TB lives in southern New Jersey, close to the tiny but surprisingly satisfying Cohanzick Zoo. This was our second visit and we were the only people there. The animals looked bored and came over to say hello when we walked by. Hello, darlings. Could you catch my good side please? Fabulous. "And I tell you, Maude, I couldn't *believe* what she told me next! She has some nerve, sitting there with *that* look on her face - you know the one I mean, and, well, ..." (Guest caption by my mother.) A relative who eats smal namals. On Saturday, we went to Haddonfield, NJ to check out reports of a yarn store downtown. Unfortunately, it was only after I got back that I checked my blogmail and found that Ashley was enjoying her own vacation nearby. A missed opportunity to meet one of my favorite bloggers -- I'm still kicking myself over that. (Well, kicking softly, because I had a rotten cold the whole weekend and was lousy company. I'm already concerned that the yarn stores I visited turned into tiny disease incubators and that anyone who bought yarn there walked away with a small, wooly bundle of plague. Hey! If you were at Loop in Philly or Woolplay in Haddonfield, NJ this weekend, wash your yarn. ) Haddonfield is a lovely little town. Expensive to live in, but charming and even overwhelming on a crisp day in the middle of the Fall Festival. It was almost too much quaintness for me to take. The stores had their Halloween window displays up (the second is definitely my favorite): The yarn store, Woolplay, is tiny. So tiny that I didn't take a photo inside because there was no way to do it without the shopladies seeing me. You can't tell from the outside, but the store is smaller than my living room and wedge-shaped, so this makes it feel even tinier. It does, however, have two large windows that let in tons of natural light and make the yarn look beautiful. The selection is very good; and by this I mean that the yarns are all of great quality. The store just doesn't have the space to offer a wide selection, unfortunately. I eyed some Karabella Aurora 8 and drooled over (see? plaaaague! plaaaaaaaaague!) the A.L. de Sauveterre yarns before I decided against buying anything. I'm looking for a very specific burgundy/merlot/more-red-than-purple color for a present and I just didn't see it there. But it is a great little store and if you're near Haddonfield it's worth a visit. On Sunday we went to Philadelphia. I love Philly, even though it has its problems and is (I think) becoming less of a trendy place to be. South Street has some fantastic murals, great hot chocolate at the Bean Cafe, and of course, South Street has Loop. I love Loop. I didn't think that all of the good things everyone says about Loop could be true, but they are. Loop is friendly. Loop is fun. Loop has well organized yarn. Loop has classes where people laugh constantly. Loop loves you. My cold was in full swing when I was there, so unfortunately I didn't socialize like I wanted to, but I was surprised at how friendly this place is. Most yarn stores are quiet places where women knit in a corner, the owner knits on a visible perch (a seat, not a fish), and conversations are held as a whisper. In Loop, a class on wire knitting (I think) was in full swing and people were laughing and having a grand old time. The storelady spoke to me in a normal voice, customers were talking and laughing, men were present and knitting (TB was impressed), and a family was shopping for yarn for baby's first sweater. It just felt so nice to be there. So nice that I bought sock yarn and scurried out before I contaminated any of those fine people. 2 skeins of Claudia Handpainted sockyarn in the "Argyle Socks" colorway for me (Does anyone know if this knits up as argyle? I didn't think to ask.) and a skein of black Opal for TB's Christmas socks. Let's not talk about how much Christmas knitting I have in front of me right now. As with all vacations, I didn't want to come back home. But at least I have some gorgeous socks in my future to keep me busy. Socktoberfest continues with the next post.

Gomen nasai!

I'm a horrible blogger. I've just run off to New Jersey for the weekend without leaving any message or entertaining update to my sock experiment. Actually, there isn't an update. I haven't picked the socks back up and now I've skipped out for a weekend with The Boyfriend and old friends without any knitting. But I do plan to visit a yarn store in Haddonfield, NJ, so there will be blog fodder when I return. We're off to visit a zoo and some parks in the crisp fall weather. Have a productive and relaxing weekend!

How not to write a tutorial.

1. Do not think that tackling a new technique will be a nice break from studying. 2. Do not attempt this new technique on four hours of sleep. 3. Do not take photos of said technique to create what you think is a much needed photograph tutorial. You will only document your failure and shame. And yet I have done all three of these things. Behold, Wendy Johnson's toe-up sock pattern. Can you tell what I've done wrong? (Click here for a really large version) Yes, I wrapped the yarn around all of the stitches every time. As I was knitting, my thoughts went something like this: This doesn't seem right...but I don't know anything about toe-up socks, maybe this is correct. One more row, then it'll be obvious whether I've screwed up or not. Ok, one more after that. Just one more. Yikes. PUT THE NEEDLES DOWN AND STEP AWAY FROM THE SOCK. This all happened, of course, before I found the toe-up sock guide on Knitty. So tomorrow, I will tackle the sock again -- this time with more photogenic and less embarrassing results. But I like to think I participated in the jolly spirit of Socktoberfest. I tried something new! I learned something! I made something that should have resembled a sock! Hooray, beer for everyone! --------------------------- Here in Tennessee, we get spiders. Not normal, East Coast spiders that are generally small, maybe a little jumpy, but mostly timid. These Southern things are the size of silver dollars, slow, ancient, and cranky. They hang around on my back porch where I imagine they discuss the deep and sinister secrets of the universe and bare their fangs at crickets. And yesterday, one of them was in my bathroom. I panicked. I thought it might eat the cat or begin eating me in my sleep. I couldn't crush it with a shoe -- I was afraid of the crunching sound and the possibility that it would just shove the shoe back at me -- so I got the bug spray. I use the bug spray reluctantly because of Otto (even though it's supposedly safe for pets), but I just couldn't bring myself to get a shoe. The bug spray is for these situations. I turned on the bathroom fan, shut the door, stood on the toilet seat lid, and sprayed the beast. It meandered up the wall a little. I sprayed again. It moved a bit to the left. I sprayed again and it tucked itself into a corner behind the molding around the door. It took me five minutes to get it to drop off the wall, when this spray has defeated all other spiders it's encountered within thirty seconds. This thing is ancient, powerful, and not going down easily. After it finally fell off the wall, I pushed trash can in front of it and ran away. I'd left a good two-foot long spray of pesticide on the wall following it as it wandered away from my attacks. Today, I had the door shut with the fan on all day long, and the smell had finally dissipated by the time I got home at 5. I mention this only because I finally checked behind the trash can a few minutes ago, about 24 hours after the spraying. It was still twitching. If anyone needs me, I'll be on top of the bookcase with all of my shoes and the telephone book. P.S. The Perfect Sweater pattern is up over at Mason-Dixon Knitting.

Socktoberfest Questionnaire

Slightly new blog look today. Many, many thanks to -T and Rob for fixing it for me helping me figure out what was wrong. I originally wrote this post on Wednesday, but something was screwy with the coding on the blog and it refused to show. At least now I have a slight backlog of material. Lolly's Socktoberfest Questionnaire! (And an FO at the end.) 1. When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class? I taught myself by using Homespun Handknit and made a pair of basic, top-down, ribbed socks for everyone in my family and my boyfriend at the time. We broke up, but when we spoke the other day he mentioned that he still wears the socks (Maybe yarn manufacturers could take a page from De Beers' advertising book. Socks: Show him you were once pretty darn fond of him for the next ten years.) 2. What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time? See above: basic, top-down, ribbed socks from Homespun Handknit. This would have been four years ago, I think, and they've fallen apart since then. I wore a hole through the ball of the foot and they were worn thin all over, so I tossed them out. 3. What would you have done differently? Well, not thrown them out -- then I'd have a picture for you instead of all these pesky and boring words. I can't think of a thing I'd do differently in the actual knitting. Using worsted weight made them go quickly and prevented me from taking my eye out with thin needles (I used 5 dpns). 4. What yarns have you particularly enjoyed? Well, I actually haven't knit many socks since then. I made another pair from the same book for myself (twice) and used some sock-weight yarn I found at Michael's. Then I made some Jaywalkers from KnitPicks Scratchy Sock line and wasn't terribly impressed with the yarn. These pairs were nothing spectacular, and I've never been able to afford luxury sock yarns. Well, I can't afford it for socks. I used Cherry Tree Hill sportweight for a Clapotis and loved it, but can't justify putting something that expensive on my feet to meet the same fate as the cheapo Wool Ease socks. 5. Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method? No, yes, no, and no. I've never crocheted (except to cast on), and I've been clinging to my dpns for the last few pairs of socks. One of my goals with Socktoberfest is to experiment with new cast-ons and offs, try circular sock knitting (Hello, student loan check for new needles. Come to mama.) and the magic loop if I can figure it out without the book. NB: until this question, I thought Magic Loop and knitting with 2 circs were the same thing. Clearly I have some reading to do. 6. Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?) I've always used short rows. Tune in to Spectacled this month to see our heroine tackle the Heel Flap! Thrills! Danger! Flappiness! 7. How many pairs have you made? 10? Not many. I have this idea that someday (someday soon, of course) I will have enough handmade socks to wear a different pair every day of the week during the winter. And they will be in colors I will actually wear, so currently I only have two pairs that counts towards this goal. Time to get knitting and buy some more black yarn (because I really don't have enough dark colors in my closet). And now the FO: Scarf from the leftover Cherry Tree Hill. I love this yarn and I think I've finally taken a photo that shows the colors accurately. I also love this scarf and can't wait for the weather to get cool enough to actually wear it. (Seriously, Tennessee? It's 85 degrees in October. Step it up.) But I did wear it outside to take some photos at dusk. While the colors aren't accurate, I like the leaf shadows and the way the direct sun changes the scarf's colors. Also, I'm so tired today that I really just look at this picture and think "colors lights pretty" and paw at the screen. In Sock Wars news, today I got the unfinished socks from my target's target: the lovely SheriO. This yarn is gorgeous. If I wasn't using it to kill someone I'd be tempted to keep it for myself. Game on.