I went to Peru this summer and all I came back with were these balls of yarn:

Ok, that’s not really all I came back with. I came back with a ton of pictures, great memories, an Inca Cola tshirt and possibly the swine flu. But this is all the yarn I came back with. It was surprisingly hard to find yarn in Peru. I ended up finding these yarns at the Pisac market at the very beginning of our two week trip. I thought surely if I am finding yarn this early on in the trip, I will find even more of it later. Wrong-o! This was it. Oh well. Really this is all I needed – some sport weight yarn for mittens and some lace weight yarn for a scarf or shawl.

Look what I’ve been working on:

Yarn : Tahki Yarns Cotton Classic

Pattern : Hexacomb Cardigan, Interweave Knits Spring 2008

I’ve been working on this f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I really don’t like purling because it takes me 4 times longer to purl than it does to knit. For that reason I really do not enjoy working on sweaters that are not knit in the round. But I really enjoy wearing cardigans. So I am slowly, slowly working on this cardigan.

I signed up for the Stash and Burn Single Skein September ravelry group, fully intending to knit up 3 hats, 2 pairs of mittens, 3 scarves and a bunch of socks. I had a 2-week trip to India lined up (for work) and I thought I would be knitting through the 24 hour flight, the 1 hour commute each way to work every day, a weekend roadtrip, plus in the evenings at the hotel.

Here is the grand total of my knitting during the trip:

The top bit of a Foliage hat.

And the start of a strangling vines scarf.

The only knitting I did was on the flight to India. Once I got to India I spent every waking moment at work, shopping or sight-seeing with coworkers, or at the hotel sick. Road and traffic conditions in Bangalore (paired with my tendency to get car sick) were not conducive to knitting while commuting. I had a fantastic trip though, despite being sick and the lack of knitting. It was really productive work-wise, I got to know my coworkers better, see some amazing temples and palaces and eat some great Indian food. And I shopped. A lot. I hope I get to go back next year.

So, my new plan is to knit up just one single skein during the month of September. I think I can manage to finish the Foliage hat by the end of the month.

Canning season is here again. This year I made the same two batches of peach jam as last year: peach lavender and peach, pear, lime. Both turned out great. I chopped the fruit into much smaller bits than last year so it’s much less lumpy and spreads better on bread. I also made two new jams: strawberry margarita jam and kiwi daiquiri. Both are fantastic. The kiwi jam is super, super easy and the strawberry jam, although a lot of chopping, is so delicious that it’s worth the work.

I also canned grape juice for the first time. I sprinkled some fertilizer around the grape vines this spring, and boy, it paid off. There are so many grapes in our garden. I canned 7 pints of grape juice, plus had a pitcher of fresh juice in the fridge. And that was maybe 1/4 of the grapes on the vines. I don’t have enough quart canning jars to make another batch of grape juice, I think I will have to invest in more.

I got the spring cleaning bug earlier this month. I scoured our house for things that we’re not using and made three piles: trash, goodwill, and craigslist. I like to think that the craigslist pile includes some gems: an Atari 800 and a ton of accessories, a 5 year old digital camera and accessories, a 55 gallon aquarium plus accessories, a super cute bike bell and old Ray-bans. 

What I’m hoping is that my trash craigslist pile is another man’s treasure. I’ll certainly not be offended if I have to downgrade items from the craigslist pile to the goodwill pile. I’m just trying to make a buck while hopefully finding a better home for some items, one where they will be used and appreciated instead of just collecting dust. 

The responses I got for my craigslist posts are varied and amazing:

• I’ll take that off your hands for free. >> Perhaps you misunderstood – I am asking $50 for this item, not offering people $50 to take the item off my hands. 
• i have a pretty big mans head do you think they will fit? >> yes, I can totally tell how big your head is via email. The sunglasses will definitely fit. 
• Hello do you still have the set up?  >> the ’set up’… yes… 
• I can come pick it up on Saturday. How far is Concord from your house? >> Concord is 90 minutes from my house. I’m glad you’re so serious in coming to pick the item up that you already google mapped the route. I’m sure I”ll see you Saturday. 
• I have $40 cash and can do business today from 2-4. >> Well, I was hoping for $40 in Chuck E. Cheese tokens, but I’ll settle for cash. Also, I’m doing business at my day job from 2-4, can we arrange another time? 

While I do find these responses hilarious, I also find them a little bit irritating. I’d like to suggest some craigslist etiquette: 

• Be very specific about the item you’re inquiring about – realize that folks often have mulitple listings. Don’t use words like set up / thing / item / stuff – I cannot tell if you’re talking about the Atari or the bike bell. 
• When you inquire about an item include your name, contact method, a range of dates and times you could pick the item up and all your questions. 
• I am not a retail outlet, I am not willing to do business 24 hours a day. Send a reasonable spread of dates and times where you can come pick the item up. Also, come ready to buy. This isn’t a garage sale where you can come, browse, and come back the next day to make the purchase. I do not do lay-away or hold items. And no, I do not take credit cards. 
• Be realistic about your questions, folks!  I cannot guess the size of your head, or tell if the sunglasses will look good on you via email. Also, I do not want to exchange 20 emails with you about the color. And style. And when I bought them. And where I bought them. And yes they are indeed authentic Ray-bans. Keep the transaction short and sweet. 
• Do your homework! Figure out where you live in relation to where I live and whether you are willing to make that drive before you contact me. It’s not my responsibility to map a route for you. Also, if you know that the item is large, bring appropriate transportation. Realize in advance that you will not be able to lug a 55 gallon aquarium home on your scooter. 

So far I’ve had a moderate amount of success with my craigslist postings – about half of my items have sold while the other half languishes in the classifieds. I’ll be posting another batch of stuff today.

I have spent over 4 hours trying to seam the shoulders of my Aleita vest. I’m really good at kitchener stitch over stockinette stitch, but somehow kitchener stitch over ribbing eludes me. Here’s the latest unsuccesful attempt on the right side: 

And the different, but equally unsuccesful attempt on the left side: 

Somehow no matter what technique I use, the further I go the more ‘off’ the ribbing gets. Ugh. Things go awry after the first 8 stitches. The pattern has you bind off 8 stitches every row for 4 rows; it’s hard to accomodate for the extra rows after those first 8 stitches. I’m going to give it a couple more tries tonight. 

On a different note, check out how well the super-marco function works on the new camera! It’s a bajillion times better than the old one.

I spent a good chunk of my early childhood playing Atari games. My parents gave me their old Atari 800 and I’ve been meaning to hook it up to the tv for years, but I never got around to it. This weekend I decided it’s time to find the Atari a new home, one where it will actually be used. Because, believe it or not, it is still in working condition. I dusted the thing off for a photoshoot (with my new Canon 200SX – hopefully it has the lifespan of the Atari) before posting it on craigslist.

My parents even saved most of the documentation. This stuff is great!

Bounty Bob, the star of my favorite game ever – Miner 2049er. I don’t think I ever got past level 8 of 10, despite hours and hours of trying.

Super Breakout, my second favorite game ever. This was the only game I played that used the paddle controller.

A Basic programming guide for the Atari. I never used this. It was news to me that the Atari was actually a *computer* and not just a game console. Turns out it is still one of the most powerful 8-bit home computers available. Check out the Atari Museum for more fun facts.

I started another pair of socks:

Pattern: Leyburn socks (ravelry link)

Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Crazy Color 4-ply / 4-fädig

Needles: US2

The left / right socks are finished!

It’s not obvious in the picture above, but for a better fit the socks are tailored differently for the left and right feet.

Yarn: Crystal Palace Maizy

Needles: US2

Pattern: I used the Knitty magic cast on to cast on 28 stitches for each sock using one long circular needle. On odd numbered rows I increased 1 stitch (by knitting in the front and back loop) at the beginning and end of each side of the sock – so 4 stitches total per row. On even numbered rows I knit all stitches. After a few increase rounds I stopped increasing on the inside of the socks and increased only on the outside.

The toes of the socks fit really well, but the ankle is a little baggy. If I make my husband another pair of socks I would decrease a few stitches around the ankle.