Tuesday, January 17, 2006

let's make a deal

I'm a sucker for a good deal. Some of you may remember my Knitting Without Tears purchase for $1.75 at the Friends of the Library book sale last summer. I think I did a jig heel-click when I found that morsel nestled amongst the other dust covered books in that 25-year old dank and mildewed box. I probably inhaled mold spores up the wazoo dusting that puppy off, but for $1.75??! Well, plague be damned! I also regularly test the bounds of E. coli and Listeria, buying reduced-price- about-to-expire beef and pork at the market. (But never, ever expired chicken. Campylobacter is horrific crap. Literally.) So far, we're all still kicking and we've certainly saved a bundle. But in terms of dining savings, you just can't beat Chinatown. And as blog luck would have it, my dad was in town this past week for work meetings. Oh yes, my dad and Chinatown!

Of course, my dad couldn't leave Honolulu without dining on his favorite Chinatown dim sum for breakfast. The poor waitress had barely managed to wheel the dim sum cart to our table before my dad anxiously blurted out, "Chicken feet, please!" I could barely repress the giggle as my jasmine tea threatened to spray out of my nose. Watching him contentedly gnaw on the talon webbing did my heart good. After breakfast, we took a stroll through town and you should've seen the way my dad's eyes positively lit up when he saw the "Live Animals" sign in the butcher's lane. The man could barely contain his glee as he pushed his way through the crowd. I think he was a little disappointed to find that there were only frogs and lobsters in the macabre aquarium of sorts. I'm honestly scared to know what he had hoped to see, but he took consolation in a couple of splayed pig carcasses and duck heads. Yeah, my dad's wired a little different than most.

So as I was saying, I love a good deal. And what could be better than a 4 for 1 KAL deal?? Well, that's what this little pair of footlets in Knit Picks Sock Garden Geranium is giving me! This humble 4 day knit counts toward the Sock-a-Month KAL, Count Your Socks KAL (bringing my total to a whopping 2!), It's NOT a Gift KAL (because they're definitely for me, me, selfish me!) and What's Your Skein KAL, since they were knit out of less than one skein of yarn (What did I say about good deals?)! I adore these socks! I've barely taken them off since casting-off a few days ago. And the whole time I was working on the second sock, I wore the first one by itself, a la Diddle Diddle Dumpling. This was my first (successful) toe-up knit, and my first short row heel and toe. I also gained confidence with provisional cast-on and I have to say....I think I may be a toe-up convert! At least for stockinette or self-patterning yarn. I love how no pattern is necessary with toe-up, once you understand the general principles and construction. Since I vowed that 2006 would be the year of rut-upheaval, I think I'd like to up the ante and try 2 circs or even Magic Loop toe-up for my next self-patterning sock. (But don't anybody call me out on that one!)

One of my other knitterly resolutions for 2006 was to stop being such a wuss and tackle more challenging knits. On that note, I dragged out ye ole Kiri. Some of you may recall how I got dumped by Kiri last fall. I refuse to be dumped by my knitting anymore! It's far too humiliating to get rejected by a pile of yarn. Acting desperate by constantly frogging and crying, however, is just as humiliating, so I'm playing it cool this time around, using lifelines and stitch markers to keep Kiri in line. With our tenuous past, I'm scared to jinx myself, but I think we may have a future together. Right now, I'm 6 pattern repeats into the 2nd chart (about double what the picture shows), which puts me at almost a third of the way through the shawl. I know the variegated Knit Picks Shimmer was not the best choice for this lace, but this is more of a 'process knit' to help me overcome my fear of lace. I'm using Clover Size 7 circs, but I'm definitely investing in Addi Naturas if lace remains in my future...that snaggy join with laceweight yarn is driving me bonkers! I'm resolute about not posting again until I'm done with the pattern repeats for Chart 2. I'm estimating that should take me somewhere near a week, but if you don't hear from me in 8-9 days, someone send in the Search and Rescue Squad!
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I was tagged with two memes by Jennifer and Sonya- thanks, girls! I'll do one now and the other on my next post, assuming I make it out of Kiri alive. ;-) I was asked to list 5 quirky habits about myself....hmmmm....things you wish you never knew....

1) I don't do runny eggs. Ix-nay on the sunnyside-up, over-easy and poached. Major double blech on those nasty soft-boiled eggs that they present all genteel-like in those china egg-cups. Chicken periods are not meant to be eaten runny!! Once that yellow goop touches my pancakes or french toast, it's game over. Scrambled HARD, please. The rubber-ier and browner the better.
2) I can't sleep facing the open end of my pillowcase. I need to be facing the enclosed end. Or something very bad will happen.
3) When washing my face, I need to splash an odd number of times, never even. Or something very bad will happen.
4) One of my guiltiest pleasures is watching really bad infommercials late at night. The E-zee Rotisserie, The Pasta Maker and The Food Dehydrator- all hail Ron Popeil!!
5) When riding in an elevator, I will shove little old ladies over to make sure I stand in the corner of the elevator. Because, you know, if the elevator should ever start free-falling 45 floors (seriously, am I the only one who thinks about these things??!), the corner is clearly the safe spot to be.

Let's see, who to tag....if you're willing to bare all, Laura, Olga, Lolly, Myra and Cathy, you're it!

39 comments:

Laura said...

Love your socks! And the whole "dumped by Kiri" totally cracked me up, because I am having a similar experience with Jaywalker. Which makes me feel like a real loser. I mean -- this is NOT a pattern to get all worked up over. But as yet, I have attempted two pair of Jaywalkers and neither one has really worked out. Waah!

Thanks for the tag...I'm thinking about what I should reveal. LOL!

Jenn said...

Yea for selfish knitting! Your socks look great, and so does Kiri. Can't wait to see her in a few days! :)

Stephanie said...

Dude - Ron Popiel is clearly an under glorified genius. But how could you forget the Flowbee? Or the Pocket Fisherman?

amylovie said...

Don't let Kiri bring you down!! You can do it!!

Your dad is hilarious.

Amy

Karen said...

Your dad sure makes for some awesome blog fodder!! It sounds like you had a wonderful time with him - chicken talons and all!! Those socks are so beautiful - I love that color. And hurrah for bargains - although I must admit, I've been venturing into overly expensive yarn since receiving my Christmas money. Thanks for reminding me I need to get back to my KnitPicks roots - the $$ will last longer that way. I do remember when that mean Kira dumped you - good for you for getting her back. I know you can show her who's boss!!

Karen said...

Oh yeah, forgot I wanted to tell you KnitPicks has a FREE two at once, toe-up on two cirs pattern you can download. FREE FREE FREE!!! Thought you might be interested because you mentioned learning the two cirs thing (which is my next goal too!!)

FREE pattern

Terby said...

Cute socks - I'll have to try toe up again, but my wraps have holes out the wazoo.

I'm with you on the eggs. Hard scramble. Only.

Good luck with Kiri - I'll have to pull the lace leaf shawl out - she was kicking my butt, but maybe the lifeline will help out a bit...

Jenn said...

OMG, chicken periods, too funny!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who scours the stores for 'about to expire' beef...

Your new socks are cute! Love that color.

I'm the same way about elevators, have to be in the back corner. If am in stuck in the middle, bad things will happen.

Good luck with Kiri!

Lynda said...

I have matching sock garden footies in Geranium! Love mine too. And, I'm totally with you on the eggs - hard scrambled... I have to leave the table when my son and hubby start with the runny eggs, and toast, and egg gook running all over..... ewwwww, literally have to leave the table.

jennifer said...

oh my gosh - i do the pillowcase thing, too. it's like something scary will crawl out of it and "get me" in the middle of the night.

Anna said...

Love the socks!! They look great!!!

jessica said...

Love your socks! Congats on going toe up and short rowing! I converted not to long ago to toe up... its great! I must say when you try the magic loop you'll never look back! *grin* Only one skein of knit picks... hmmm. Before I was an educated sock knitter I placed an order from knitpicks and only bought one skein of a coulple different colorways... It is comforting to know I don't have to get more to knit a complete pair of socks! Somehow I find myself watching Ron too:)knit happy!

Jennifer said...

The socks are wonderful, and they're getting so much KAL mileage! You can't beat that.

I hear you on the whole runny eggs thing. I can barely watch RM eat them poached. El Disgustingo!

Kim said...

The socks look great and I love the color you are using for Kiri(it looks like Happy Dance?). I'm all about varigated lace colors. I know it doesn't always work for lace, but, darn it, it makes it more interesting :)

Agnes said...

I guess you can always make one-skein pair of socks ... living in Hawaii means you don't always need very long socks. The same for me, my socks are seldom much higher than half the calf.
You are killing me with that "chicken periods are not meant to be eaten runny!" It took me a whoppig 5 seconds to get what you meant! LOL!

msubulldog said...

Good luck with Kiri--you can do it! Fabulous socks, too, by the way. :)

And, um, Chris--I do those things, too. Well, except the elevator. Really.
HARD eggs--especially when fried. I tell people, "Like a boiled egg, but flat." :) And the edge of my pillowcase has to be facing the edge of the bed--never the middle. And (I feel like I should hang my head in shame for this one) I OWN a Ron Popeil rotisserie AND dehydrator. . . (both gifts, mind you, but it still must run in the family)
Too funny! Thanks for sharing! :)

Sonya said...

Love those socks! Rise above the Kiri; you are human, Kiri is yarn. You are in charge.

Just so you know, I'm pretty sure I'll be splashing my face an odd number of times and sleeping facing the closed end of the pillow tonight. I do not want anything bad to happen.

Anonymous said...

We just had dim sum last week and my Father in law ordered chicken feet. My son of course was absolutely fascinated by it (the grossness factor I think) and ate a ton of it. Bleh!

I hear ya on #1 and #4!

Jen said...

Aah, chicken feet. I'm so glad that my family doesn't do chicken feet for dim sum anymore. Or raise live chickens anymore either. They are darned tasty when they're that fresh, but after I found out what happened to those cute little furry yellow chicks...

I love it when one project counts for four things! Hoorray! I'm slowly becoming a toe up convert too, except that to be a convert, you'd have to have done it some other way for a while, right?

Olga said...

Wow, check you out--knocking out four KALs at once! That may just be the way to bring me into the KAL fold, although I have to admit, I still suffer from committment-phobia and still avoid even low-demand KALs like the Sock-a-Month (because hello? been knitting the same damn sock for three months now!).

Which I just finished last night! Hooray! Am about to blog about it, but I laughed at you sharing that you wore one while knitting the other, because I did exactly that! My roommate laughed at me, but I refused to take it off, because it felt so sprunchy and good (Cascade Fixation yarn, it's so awesome!).

Looks like we have some of the same goals (Karen too!)--master two circs, toe up. This may possibly be the trick that gets me more interested in sock knitting. I always get stuck on that darned cuff.

Cathy said...

I LOVE THE SOCKS! Toe up is my next goal on socks - I've seen a tutorial on the Turkish Cast on that looks really great. Your stories about your Dad, crack me up! I can just picture him sitting there having a grand 'ole time with his "webbing" lol! Dad's truly are the best - mine used to do things just to try to gross me out! Hooray for you on your Kiri, you'll have to let me know how you like doint two circs. I LOVE my dpn's but I'm always open to a new challenge.

Acornbud said...

Yikes chicken and feet and runny eggs...ugh!
I do love those socks!

Sayward said...

I like those socks! I've been craving red lately, and my eyes are enjoying admiring them. I especially love reds with that shade of apple green.

When it comes to non-visual types of appetites, I've tried every type of dim sum but chicken feet (including tripe and strange fungi). If you write a paragraph telling me how delicious chicken feet are, I promise to try them once. But you have to mean it. ;)

(Really, it's not that I'm squeamish about food. It's that I can't figure out where the meat is on them, or what I think is meat looks so insubstantial I imagine it would be a lot of work for little food.)

Sayward said...

Really, really like, I meant.

And your dad does sound awfully cute.

knittinmom said...

Okay, you're gonna give Karen and Jen a run for their money in the OCD department... I am just the opposite with eggs - I love, love, love them nice and runny. And there's nothing better than pancake that has been contaminated with egg yolk. Okay, are you nauseous yet?

Nice footlets! And I'm sorry, but if you want your J, you're gonna have to be outed on my blog. That's just the way it has to be! Don't be ashamed of your footlets. I think they're adorable, and any sock that you start wearing before it has a mate is a champ in my book!

Anonymous said...

I'm going to try the toe up sock soon. Yours turned out so cute. You must have nice small feet :)
When I was a kid, I had to eat half-boiled eggs where the white was so undercooked that they were still transparent. Being the good little girl that I was, I would dutifully eat the egg at the sink, in case I threw up!

Jillio said...

cute socks! i wish mine would cooperate. then i could have them count toward the two KAL's i'm in :( haha. i can relate to wearing the lone finished sock while you work on the second one...gives me motivation to make the second one that way! and way to go on the short rows! revolutionary, aren't they? makes you rethink the whole heel flap thing, but still, heel flaps are great for socks you have time to spend on.
you go chris! beat that kiri into submission! funny, i saw a fire truck with a boat attached to it and the words "search and rescue" emblazoned on the side; i thought of you :) and then i saw the cute fire fighters...and thought of sandee. hehe...
ugh, i don't like eggs at all! i think it has to do with having seen my bf "terminate" the chicken embryos he had to use for a biology research project. ugh...i can't eat scrambled eggs, and i have to have a LOT of gravy on my loco moco to be able to eat it with the egg on top. you should've seen the fuss i made over wanting to order hamburger steak at kakaako kitchen! it's on their lunch menu, and they were still serving breakfast. "can't you just give me a loco moco without the egg? i don't want the eggs, and i don't want to be charged for the eggs." the girl had to ask around how much they charge for a hamburger patty?! hello? $5 for a hamburger patty? you must be JOKING!? she should've just rung me up for the hamburger steak plate. what a ripoff...i hate going there, sometimes i'm too desperate and hungry to walk to L&L. :(
and btw, i have to stand by the buttons. i know pressing the "close doors" button doesn't make it close faster, but i just HAVE to stand by the buttons--just in case. hehe...
take care!

Cat said...

I agree with everybody else - those socks are great! I am on my way home after a day of hard(?) work, outside there is a strong wind and snowfall... Hats, scarfs and mittens ON..

Anonymous said...

Oh how proud I am of you! You did toe up, short-row toe and short-row heel all in one sock!?
You are a natural, I tell you! May I bow at your feet now? I'll have a gold statue made in your honor to which I will pray every night. I'll have to sell my car, kids and husband to pay for it, but you are worth every cent. :)
Love your socks. Good luck with the lace. The way your knitting, you'll be kicking my bum in no time. Uh oh! No wait, you did kick my bum with those socks.

Danielle said...

Love your red socks. Your tootsies look so happy :)

Debi said...

Love your new socks Chris! But next time, you NEED to try the Turkish Cast-On....brilliant, so easy and perfect sock toes every time!! (And I do it with one needle a la Magic Loop rather than the 2 in my tutorial)

I know you will master Kiri and you must invest in some addi naturas cause you have the lace bug now :) I love mine for lace!

Your dad is a hoot but yikes, chucken feet...I can barely stomach an egg, I'm gonna gnaw on what a chicken walks on? EWWW!

Must be something in the Y chromosome...the "I'll eat any old thing" gene, heheh!

SAM said...

Once again I am blown away by the socks everyone is knitting. Yours are gorgeous! I vow my next cast on will be Jaywalkers for me. I, too, want to tackle toe up, 2 circs and maybe even magic loop. This is the year of the sock! Ditto again on the well cooked eggs!

Ragan said...

Love the socks! Geranium, huh...I will have to check that one out next time I make a Knit Picks purchase!! Your projects are great! Have a great day!

Cheryl:) said...

I do enjoy the stories about your dad! :)
Funny, I do the same thing with my pillow...just not comfortable the other way...
and btw, I got my swift for christmas....

Jo said...

I commend you on not letting yourself get bogged sown by difficult projects... I am going forward with that mindset as well, which is why (at your prodding) I am going to attempt Veste Everest for my Olympics project :)

Jo

Olga said...

hey, i'm replying to your last comment to my blog here b/c i don't have your email address!

YOU are so funny! i was just writing laura that I should knit fun fur scarves (or dishcloths) and be totally dead serious about it, taking lots of pictures and chronicling each step. do you think that would be funny or highly offensive? just kidding....i don't have the time, but personally, i think it would be funny as hell. kind of like a "see eunny knit" parody.

Catherine Kerth said...

good luck on kiri! i just started birch shawl and i got dizzy casting on for 299 stitches!!!! i love the footie socks way cute! i joined the one skein blog to get ideas too :) the stoy about your dad had me in stitches! how funny, i enjoyed reading it :)

Sandee said...

The Chinese markets here are always an adventure for me! If you're ever in my neck of the woods with your dad, I would LOVE to go along just to see the look on his face when you hit Chinatown! lol Plus, you may need me to help you hold him up when he faints out of sheer joy at all the various live animals displayed!

Jillio said...

Hi Chris!
Thanks for always leaving such lovely comments on my blog :) SO! How is Kiri coming along? I'm sure you've totally whacked that thing out by now and it's lying out and blocking as we speak...with insurance against interference by Bossy and Stinky notwithstanding. ;)
Those non-KAL's you're in sound like sooo much fun! I've definitely got lots of single skeins lying around from leftovers and "sampling," and I'm definitely going over to the ME knitting this year. However, I think I've reached my limit for KAL's (even though all the sock knitting could count for more than one KAL).
But man, I am ALL OVER socks right now--especially after reading up on the heel flaps in that Vintage Sock book by Nancy Bush! It's so inspiring because I usually follow the directions per pattern for the heel flap and could never get past the heel without them. I thought I was a short-row evangelist once I learned short rows, too! But now I'm totally rethinking the whole heel flap thing...I even turned the heel without looking at the book (it's at home, even)! *sigh*
Okay, that was a bit off topic. And this seriously turned into a longer comment than I initially intended. Oops! Anyways take care, Chris!