And I'm only going across the hall

My roommate is/has moved in with her boyfriend now, officially. They live in the apartment above me, and my new roommate will start bringing stuff over tomorrow night, after work. I am just moving into Anne's old room, because it is a bit bigger, has a west (aka morning) facing window and a better door-closet-radiator arrangement. Here are some ellipses:

My apartment is freakishly empty in large swaths... its gross to use a cobweb duster for the first time in an apartment with lots of mouldings... why don't the built-in drawers have any drawer glide hardware??? I definitely didn't take up a full half of this apartment, do you think that will change?... why do they individually wrap the silverware that I got at Target??? that bin wasn't full of kitchen stuff, I wonder where my pots and pans are... Healthy Choice meals are inferior to Lean Cuisine, even if HC comes with desserts... I'm pretty sure that I don't want these votive holders, but we'll see... I had no idea my living room was so, well, spacious... how do you attach things (like a bookcase from IKEA) to 100yo plaster walls?... maybe I should have packed my room, I don't know where to start... there sure are a lot of dust bunnies... why is the outlet in the closet?... I need a filing system, and "piles all over the place" don't count... where is that towel rack??? sounds like I need to explore the storage space... does Joanne have a step ladder??? I haven't knit in a few days, maybe that would take the edge off... the inferiority of the shower curtain rings I bought is shocking... the fridge is not self-filling, bummer

I've gotten really used to my roommate having the television on pretty much all the time. Its weird to be alone down here, totally by myself, which is reinforced by the lack of television. The internet still works, since the router just moved upstairs. Do they have wireless routers that amplify an existing wifi signal? It seems like they should. I'd buy one. The silence is deafening and the solitude is crushing, I think that I'll listen to my mother and go to bed.

Keep Smiling! =)

One Skein Secret Pal

I have signed up for the secret pal exchange based on the One Skein book, so I need to post my answers to the questions. Last summer I did Secret Pal 5 and it was lots of fun. I signed up for this exchange because it takes a lot of the "did I send enough?" "is it the right kind of stuff to send?" uncertainty out of it. A skein and a letter in June, a skein and a letter in July, a finished product (made from one skein) with a letter in August. Seems pretty simple.

And now, onto the questions: I realize that all of these aren't answered. 14 questions is a lot of question answering. But I'll keep coming back to this post until its complete.

1. Which yarn is most like your personality (you can be specific or general with your answer- brand, type, color, fiber, whatever)?



2. What is your favorite color yarn to knit with?

Definitely yarns on the red-purple-blue end of the spectrum.


3. Have you ever used variegated, or magic, yarns?

Yes, and I love them. Koigu, Lorna's Laces, self-striping sock yarn, I am easily entertained by changing yarn colors.

4. Do you tend to favor certain fibers when choosing yarns?

I tend towards some amount of wool content, and I find softness to be an important attribute (i.e. alpaca and angora). Surprisingly, I don't think that I've ever used yarn with silk in it.

5. Do you prefer to work with center-pull or traditionally wound balls of yarn?

Center-pull all the way baby. I have a swift from Dragonfly Turnings and a standard blue ballwinder and a nostepinne. I have no interest in traditionally wound balls of yarn.

6. Have you ever worked with organic yarns or are you interested in trying them?

I swatched the organic cotton from elann, but in general, I have very little interest in organic yarn. I like supporting small businesses, cottage industries and the like, but organiz seems unnecessary to be a good yarn, so I don't really look for it.

7. How many and what projects have you made in the last year?



8. Will you be knitting any gifts this year?

absolutely. I love knitting gifts, and people keep having babies, so I keep making the baby booties from Last Minute Knitted Gifts using Lorna's Laces Angel yarn. Other than that, its mostly Xmas gifts for my mom, dad and sister, thought I always have ideas for gifts that I don't get to.

9. What is your favorite one skein project?

From the book? Well, I've made the petal bib and I'm working on the bath mat, but what I really want to make in the future are the tank top, cabled footies and well, I like pretty much everything in the book. Other kinds of projects with one skein of yarn? Well, hats and mittens and socks are all fun to make, and if the skein is big enough, just about anything could be made with just one

10. How much yarn do you have in your stash and how do you store it?

It isn't polite to ask a lady her age, so why ask a knitter about her stash? Well, actually, I don't know how much yarn I have, but I am switching rooms in the next few weeks, so I will do a bit of stash-inventory then. I store it in baskety-bins on a shelf and ziplock bags and plastic shoebox size boxes and on those wire "crate"-type snap together shelves. Pretty much wherever it won't get in the way.

11. Do you have a yarn in your stash that you love so much you can never use it or part with it?

That would be a NO. Yarn is for knitting. Even if it won't be knit for a long time. Its a processing and reconciliation backlog. My imagination is a faster knitter than I am.

12. Do you knit less or differently in the summer?

Not currently. I try to have a balance between physical and mental stimulation. When I was in school (primarily brain work) I would knit lots, and then in the summer I would be actually working, so I would read more. I didn't need the physical stimulation before. Now, I work as a project manager, in an office, so I have more of a drive to knit year-round. And in the summer, I can knit on the porch, which is nice. Rambling enough for you?

13. Do you belong to any knitting groups (online or offline)?

I am a member of the Windy City Knitting Guild, knit with friends in the evenings (shoutout to Lacey and Anne) and I read Livejournal Knitting regularly (though I don't post)

If you happen to be in Michigan...

Go check out Nicole Broughton's design at the Boarshead Theater's play, "If the Shoe Fits". It is their educational play, which apparently means that everyone at the theater takes on a new role. It features the interns in the cast, the managing director as the playwright, the PM/TD as designer and the SM as the director.

Bonus for the audience: There is a talkback with the actors after every single performance.

The review is linked in the title of this post.

Congrats Nicole!

Backstage Knitting

I'm not exactly sure who Christine Levin is, but apparently she is a folk singer, who has a song called Cold Pizza for Breakfast, has a knitting circle backstage before all her shows, and she is coming to Chicago on September 25. I might have to listen to her music, because the idea of combining music and knitting is wonderful. Mostly, I am blogging this so that I remember about it later. Thanks Mason-Dixon Knitting for tipping me off.

Knitters Please Print Me For Show Day

P.S. I'll add all the appropriate links later