Kniting, Spinning, and Asperger's Syndrome

I did spend most of my knitting time yesterday knitting up the swatch with my handspun. Unfortunately, I can't get a good picture of it, so, sorry.... I knit the swatch with several needle sizes, starting with a four and working up to a seven. I'd never really done that before and was amazed at how different the fabric was. The smaller needle produced a nice, firm, almost stiff fabric, and the size seven a nice loose usable fabric. I think, even though I didn't really enjoy spinning this all that much, I'll go ahead and work on finishing the rest of the pound of roving. It'll be a relative long term project, but, maybe I'll make myself something nice with it when done. I love the rustic look of the knitted fabric. And I'll try to get a good picture.

I spun some more mohair, too, and although the spindle isn't full yet, I may wind it off today and block. Then again, I just my keep spinning more of it. It's so slippery and soft and easy to spin....

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I know I've mentioned before that I have Asperger's Syndrome and I know that doesn't mean a lot to most people. The syndrome is on the Autistic Spectrum and is one of the more invisible syndromes. People with Asperger's are generally considered weird and annoying. There is a group on Ravelry, in fact several groups, that deal with different aspects of the Autistic Spectrum. Ones for those that have it to those that have friends and family members on the spectrum. There was a link to YouTube on one of the threads which lead me to several things on YouTube. These you might get an insight into my world.

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5

I have Asperger's Syndrome which is on the Autistic Spectrum. It's hard to diagnose in adults, and most information you find deals with diagnosing children. If you are interested in learning more about it from the view point of an autistic individual, read Asperger Syndrome in the Family and Pretending to Be Normal: Living with Asperger's Syndrome by Liane Holliday Willey. A good novel is The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon as well as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon.

I don't expect anything from any of you because I've sent you this. I don't expect you to accept me any more than you do now, nor try to develop a relationship with me. I send you this to give you an idea of who I am and why I am that way. I really want to continue to be invisible.

It would be wonderful, I suppose, to have a group of friends, a family, family reunions, and all those things I see on TV, read about. Friends and relatives interacting with each other and with me just like on those Folger's commercials at Christmas time. But it doesn't work for me. It's never worked for me. I've always been odd, get strange looks, and am excluded for reasons I've never understood in any more than in an intellectual way. I know people don't like me and I know it's because I have Asperger's and I'm weird. But I don't understand it on an emotional level. The only "feelings" I have are those connected to rejection. Yet I don't see, hear, feel, understand what it is that I do "wrong." It can be told to me in a factual way: too loud, appearing to be an authority on everything, disagreeing, correcting everyone, inappropriate topics, but I don't hear the "too loud." I have information and assume others want that information. I have correct information and assume others want correct information. I don't understand the social nuance that makes a topic or a joke inappropriate.

I've lived my life trying to fake being human. I've felt all my life I was on the Wrong Planet. That I was an alien life form trying to pass for human.

One of the nice things about on-line relationships, is they are based on the written word, which everyone makes allowances for, because we can't see facial cues. It makes those with Aspberger's on the same level in many ways. You'd be surprised how much is communicate with facial cues, body language, etc. And if you can't see that, and I can't see it, it puts our conversation on an even plain. And that's nice for me and not irritating to you.

"The [Asperger] person usually has a strong desire to seek knowledge, truth and perfection with a different set of priorities than would be expected with other people. There is also a different perception of situations and sensory experiences. The overriding priority may be to solve a problem rather than satisfy the social or emotional needs of others." - Tony Attwood.

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Knitting Graffiti and Knitted Art
These would make the neatest knitting bags. Make sure you check out all the pockets inside. Not to mention the interior is white which makes things soooooo much easier to find.
If you enjoy Knitting in Color, this is a great blog to read.

Scary

Youngest Son was not impressed by how I spent my weekend. He said he'd not wear it out of the house which, I guess, precludes him wearing it at Disneyland next week...

That is if we go. I did not realize Southern California was on fire.... From the quick searching I did I don't think Anaheim is in any of it, but.....

View Larger Map
F found burnt out and missing light bulbs in the rear end of my car. This may be a simple fix.... If new lights and/or fuses aren't the answer then we'll get an external set of tail lights (as you'd use for towing a trailer, boat, etc.) and hot wire them to the battery. Maybe rig up a switch if we can to turn them off when we don't need them. It's a fix for the issue and one that's doable time wise. Money wise, well, we don't have much of a choice.

Am supposed to go over to F's today to see about starting all the fixes for the car.... Hope his brain is working okay today.

I got a bit more done on the felted Mary Janes and bit more done on the socks for 2nd Son. I was out a good portion of the day with F and getting a pedicure. Gotta have pretty toes for Halloween! And yes, they are orange!

August 11, 2007

Froggies Like Blankets, Too

Or more succinctly, froggies like knitters who can't count. Knit 15, Purl 15. Can't get much easier than that. All the progress I made yesterday had to be ripped out cuz I can't consistently count to fifteen. That's okay, cuz my grand daughter is going to first grade next week. Maybe she can teach me to count...

Other than that, had a fun day visitin' and knittin' with F. He's making me a pair of Fiber Trends Clogs for me for my birthday. He finished up the first one yesterday. Boy, howdy, knittin' those things is an act of faith. They are pretty ugly before fulling, and one really has to trust that the pattern writers knew what they were doing... Can't wait till we can full them to see if it really does work. (Yes, I know, "Oh ye of little faith...") I keep thinking these would make great Christmas gifts for the grands....

Had a lot of nice thunder yesterday and it smelled like rain. Of course it didn't rain. Just raised the humidity.

We bought two "easy to assemble" items yesterday. One a dresser. Only they didn't note in the directions there were two sizes of screws. It's really okay cuz they didn't include two sizes. Only the big ones. Which split the wood of the drawers. So dumpster diving to get the box back to take the thing back.

So we bought a step stool/chair thingie for the baby to use as a high chair. In order to put the back of the chair on, one must remove the seat. One of the nuts or bolts is stripped and it won't come off. That's okay, because the back of the chair got twisted somewhere between the drawing table and our house and even if we got the set off, the back wouldn't have fit.

Do we (1) use the stool without the back? (2) bend the back braces properly, drill holes in the legs and try to put it on ourselves ("ourselves" meaning our favorite Honey-Do, F)? or (3) take the whole thing back and do without, as that was the last one in the store?

We also bought another box fan to help with circulating air. I'm afraid to open the box...

August 7, 2007

Sock #1

Finished sock #1 last night. I think it's too small even though son tried it on before I Kitchenered the toe. By too small I mean the foot isn't long enough. We'll see before we finish up the toe on the second one.

We had a nice steady rain for the first half of the day yesterday. Interestingly enough, F, who lives a few miles east of me, experienced a deluge. We had some stronger rain at times than other times, but mostly just nice steady rain with some rumbling thunder. It reminded me of rainstorms in MN when I was a kid!

YS and I started listening to HP and the Chamber of Secrets. Already we can see the writing in the second book is "older" than in the first.

June 6, 2007

Sock and three-quarters

Baby socks are so much fun. My DIL requested some MN Vikings socks for newest grandson's six month pictures. I finally put down the manly socks for my youngest son with huge feet in order to find a feeling of accomplishment for being able to finish a pair of socks! They'll be done today, washed, blocked and off in the mail in the morning to wing their way to Tennessee.

So that's how I spent most of my day yesterday, between fixing meals for grands, cleaning up the house and all that stuff!

We had chicken for dinner on Monday, so decided fresh rolls would be good with it. My grand daughter decided to help.

She managed to eat the small amount of dough that was supposed to be part of our dinner! It's a good thing I made too much as two of my sons made short work of half a pan of rolls! But, hot bread fresh from the oven is too good to pass up!

Here's the basic formulas <--click for all different kinds of heels. The last time I saw this chart, I didn't have a clue what it all meant. Now I do! Scroll down to see the final results of someone's self imposed challenge to click--> make a swift from materials at hand! Grey Panthers--it IS your grandmother's knitting! <--click If I had $1000 here's where I'd start spending it! <--click Sheer madness <--click that appears to be contagious. <--click A new sideways sock pattern. Looking for some good summer reading? Here's click--> books that include knitting in them. Gorgeous dyeing. Here's a tour of Ravelry.

June 4, 2007

Hats and Pirates

Again, as I sat and caught up on my evening TV the crochet hook and stray balls of yarn were transformed into a baby hat.

When I found a Meez on someone's blog, I had to go look. This one's for you Amy!

I got quite a bit done on my second manly sock. About half way through the heel flap now.

Not too much else went on over the weekend. My son took me grocery shopping. It's really a pain when there is never a car around for me to use.... But it's really expensive to maintain two cars and if I had one, I'd go out much more, spending more money, etc. Anyway, he and my grandson came over and we had a pleasant time doing the shopping. And I got to see my grandson!

Again, wasn't too much on the net today. Must be that summer has finally hit all over and people are out and about more.

Here's a neat sock pattern. And a no gauge mitten pattern for children. Black Purl socks using the Dublin Bay pattern.

June 2, 2007

Bitty Hat

I had a bit more "upstairs" time yesterday and managed to finish a whole baby hat. It's nice to complete a project in one sitting.

We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End <--click yesterday! Wow! It was great. Good story, gorgeous pirates (well some of them, anyway--however all of them were really dirty) and a surprise ending! I started watching Curse of the Black Pearl (Purl???) Last night. Cap'n Jack was comparatively well washed and groomed in that one.

Consequently, not much sock knitting got done. I did CO on the second sock and have about half the ribbing done while the kidlets were gone with their mom in the morning. Knitting while catching up on my click--> Netflix recordings of click--> Carnivale. I'm glad I'm able to watch them pretty much one episode after another. If I had had to wait a week between them, I don't think I could have followed the story as well. It's really creepy, so if you enjoy the supernatural, this is something to put on your list of things to watch.

Had a really bad reading day with my grand daughter on Thursday. Super frustration and all that on her part. We pretty much took the day off yesterday, too, in celebration of mom having a day off work and all. Will try to do some more today. However, on the upside, she's starting to puzzle things out in the "real world." While watching TV she just said, "I know how to spell way...w-a-y!" So that part of her brain is definitely picking on up on the connection and expanding her reading awareness to more than her word cards and readers.

There has always seemed to be this mild to nasty unease between crocheters and knitters. A recent post on a knitting list was entitled: Going to the dark side. The author was apologizing for learning and worse yet, liking crochet. Other authors have said things like: "Can I ask a crochet question? If not feel free to delete this." A few years ago, when a local bead store my daughter worked at was adding yarn to their inventory, the owner asked me about making stuff for display. When she learned I crocheted, she said, "Well, that's your first problem." I've often idly wondered why this is so. And the 1950s, 60s, and 70s had a great deal to do with it. Like this 50s click--> pattern. Don't these 2007 patterns <--click look a bit better? This is a bag I did for above mentioned store display.

It took the store owner several weeks to notice it was crocheted and fulled, not knitted and fulled. The yarn was Cascade 220 in case you're interested.

For any other TV addicts out there...miss any of your favorite shows? Here's the place to find them <--click and watch them again. I did break down and order the Trekking color 100 because of these socks. <--click I ordered from click--> The Knitter as they have free shipping. Have no idea how their service is, but if it's bad, you'll be sure to find out. (Funny how that works, isn't it?) Here is an interesting cable variation. <--click Neat photos <--click from an avid canner turned dyer. Still need almost 500 squares for the Rebuilding Greensburg <--click project. And for the gardeners. <--click

June 1, 2007

Hatz!

I finished the hat, and did another one!

I can crochet so much faster than knit! But that's pretty normal. It's a little bonnet type hat. Am finally finished with all my heel decreases and got quite a bit of the foot done on my man sock. Boy goes to his dad's house today, so will probably stop on this one and CO the next one so I can size them properly with try ons rather than guessing how long the foot should be!

Isn't this one funny!

And this is why I want to move back east! I'm so tired of the dessert!

I remember driving through Tennessee and Maryland and thinking how wonderful it would be to be in the cool greenness! (Yeah, I know there is humidity, heat and bugs....but let me have my fantasy!)

And for some Harry Potter content: A theme park is coming! This pic is from Harry and the Potters. They are a group that sings about books. I'm so excited to find they'll be here this month. I'm hoping I can get tickets for us all to go! You can go here <--click to listen to some of their music! I want a click--> Hagrid! And a pattern for House gloves! <--click

Don't these cookies <--click look good? I've been wanting to bake lately.... These socks <--click are just unbelievable! And here's some more gorgeous knitting <--click not to mention so fantastic photography! click--> Pretty yarn! The importance of checking errata! <--click Recycling yarn <--click can be beautiful!

May 31, 2007

Reading is FUNdamental

Reading is coming along very well. I think she got past the decoding hump and is pretty much able to read. Need to work through a few more basic short vowel sounds and then move on to long vowels, blends, diphthongs, etc. I went to the library and picked up a dozen or so easy readers for her. We read all the ones pictured above, one right after another.

I'd say she averaged about 90% of all the words without too much help. Those she didn't know were multi-syllabic or had long vowel sounds, silent letters, etc. Some she remembered do to repetition, some just were too much. But she puzzled her way through many of them and that's the key, as far as I'm concerned. When I told her to go to sleep last night, she said, "Yup! Cuz I have reading to do tomorrow!"

Consequently, not too much to report on the knitting front. I have about 8 more heel decreasing rounds to do. click--> Renate asked what kind of yarn I'm using: click--> KnitPicks Essentials Tweed; Flint. Did a couple rows on my log cabin scrapghan, too, while catching up on TV last night.

And we've completed day three of no TV during the day!

I'm gonna have to break down and order this sock yarn. It knits up so nicely with subtle color changes....

Not much else on the net today.... just another blog contest.

May 30, 2007

Foot Decreases!

Didn't get as much knitting time as I'd liked, but I am on the downward slide of the sock. I've never made a sock this big before...72 sts and it does take a "bit" longer than my normal 64 sts! And the leg is probably twice as long as I like my socks....

Reading with Grand daughter is progressing. She seemed to be retaining better yesterday than on Monday. Her frustration level is still very low, but.... she is decoding better so perhaps when she sees her progress it'll be easier on her.

I decided that the kidlets really needed some outdoor time and as it's climbing closer and closer to 100 degrees here, the pool is the only thing that makes sense. Fortunately we have a wading pool in our complex as well as the full sized pool. So, we wandered over there in the late afternoon and the kidlets had a grand time. My resolve is to make that a daily outing. Gonna need to buy stock in the sunblock industry though.

Plans are to go see Cap'n Jack (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End) on Friday. May or may not depending on whether F is feeling up to company. Then again, if he has a vehicle and is up to it, he and I could go.... Reviews from family members have been two thumbs up so far! Hard to go wrong when you put Pirates and Johnny Depp together!

It appears the Regia has a Gryffindor Colorway (Color 5393) sock yarn! This is a good price for it, too.

Some really nice pics of newly knitted socks! Over 700 squares still needed for the Rebuild Greensburg project. Scroll down to see the Aran Sam the Ram. Another blog contest with a yarn prize. A nice Irish LYS blog. Gorgeous photos!

On one of the knitting lists there has been a discussion about using Magic Loop, 2 circs, or DPNs for knitting socks. It started out with one knitter saying she didn't like ML. Much discussion ensued with, it seemed to me, proponents of ML trying to convince others how much easier it is. I chimed in saying I loved my DPNs, the historic value of them, and how magical it looks to muggles (non-knitting folk). From the amount of personal e-mail I received, a lot of people agreed with me, but for whatever reason were reluctant to voice their views. I'm a strong believer in "whatever floats your boat." So...what's your preferred method?

I most often knit socks using:

DPNs

5

2 circs

3

Magic Loop

3

May 29, 2007

Sock Progress!!!!

Finally! I can report my normal progress in my sock knitting! I am about half way through the heel flap. If my day is slow today, maybe I'll get it done!

Started "home summer school" with my oldest grand daughter. We really want her to be able to read. She's so used to watch TV to fill her hours and I did really good on keeping it off most of the day. Turned it off by 10 am and it didn't come on again till around 4 pm. I think it was rougher on me than her!

We spent a couple hours working on words with the short a sound. Starfire <--click is probably the most fantastic site for teaching a child to read. I personally think phonetics is the way to learn to read. I know there are other different schools of thought, but this makes the most sense to me.

Anyway, she's running into the typical over achiever frustration. "Everyone else can do it without any effort, I should be able to do it, too." "I can't do it and I'm going to make everyone's lives as miserable as mine is cuz I can't do it." (This is actually a photo of her sleeping, not being frustrated!)

I remember going through the same kind of frustration learning to tie my shoes. I just couldn't understand why I couldn't do it. I'd been shown how and I still couldn't do it. Everyone else could do it.... (See why not being able to make fancy socks is such a drain on me? Everyone else can do it! Accepting shortcomings, even if only temporary, is very hard for me. I used to bulldoze my way through ______ and that generally ruined ______ for me. I never found the enjoyment in doing _____ after learning it that way. Learning to sit down, take a deep breath and try again is not my forte!) Knitting has taught me to do it, but I don't have to like it!

Let's see what I found skipping through the computer cable today:

Here's another click---> Cap'n Jack for Amy! Some of the click--> cutest knitted toys I've every seen! These have to be the click--> definitive Dobby socks if there ever were some! And more socks! Rainbow ones! <--click This is one of the most click-->gorgeous shawls I've ever seen. I have a similar crocheted one

I know the style "stays on" due to the way the front drapes. What's nice about this knitted pattern is it has it's own generator, so you can use any yarn, needles, etc. I can't visualize how it's done, so it may be I need to play with it. (Always looking for an excuse to start something new!)

May 28, 2007

Sock revival

I frogged the sock back to the cuff and started over again. And I got more done yesterday than I'd accomplished in all of it's previous incarnations! As this is for "the boy"

they have to be longer than I like my socks. So these, regardless of giving up the pattern will still take longer.

I worked on the newest hat for Michelle, and I'd say it's just about half done. May finish it tonight, tomorrow night for sure.

There was a plea on one of the knitting boards for help on how to control UFOs. Here's what I said:

Make a list of your UFOs. Get rid of any you really don't want to finish. Now, decide on a arbitrary length of time: one hour, ten hours, a week, whatever. Pick up the first UFO on your list and work on it for that amount of time. Put it aside, and go to the second one. Continue down the list in that manner.

You'll feel better as each one is in line to be worked on and you know you'll do it. Once you get your list down to a manageable number, allow yourself the option of starting a new project every time you finish a UFO.

That way you keep finishing things, and know you'll be able to start something new soon. If at any time during the process you decide you don't want to finish an item, frog and rewind the yarn. No guilt. Just do it so you have yarn for another project.

For some people the joy is in tackling a new project. To learn a new technique, use a new yarn, etc., and they are really not interested in finishing the item. If this is you, accept it. Know that any large projects are probably not going to get finished and adjust your expectations accordingly. No guilt.

And from around the web:

Scroll down to the bumper sticker. Smoking Socks! Sweet Teddy Bear. Really neat idea for a purse handle. Lots and lots of sock porn! I couldn't have made it up! A Harry Potter Read-a-Long. For Kimba: Have you tried dyeing your own fabrics?

And why we have children!

May 27, 2007

Hookin'

I put down my needles yesterday and picked up my hook. These are squares for Rebuilding Greensboro.<--click Crocheting is sooooooooooo much faster than knitting and I wanted to get as many done as I could while watching -->click Carnivale. I've watched four episodes and it's getting weirder and weirder (in a good way).

Not much knitting done, although I finished up another block on my log cabin scrap ghan. I also cast on another hat for Michelle. Just a simple one, bigger size. Right now it's bright yellow, but I'll probably stripe it or something!

I'm trying to decide if I should frog the RPM Sock <---click and just do a plain vanilla sock. I keep finding excuses for not knitting. I think I've discovered that complicated sock knitting (which is anything beyond plain click---> vanilla socks) is just not going to be my forte. Or....it could be a stress producing situation that is coming up in mid-June for me. I obsess on things for a long time before they happen. I think the stress thing is a contributing factor. That's why all the brain dead knitting, i.e., log cabin scrap ghan is working so well for me right now. Let you know tomorrow what I decide.

I found out my daughter is again working seven days a week, so I'm not sure when we'll get to see the new Pirates! :::whine::::

This may have to just hold me over! (You're welcome, Amy!)

I know some of you may find it hard to believe, but 350+ days of blue sky and sunshine can get really boring. Here's some pics of click---> WEATHER! It's gorgeous and I'd love to see it here. We need moisture, but it's so dark. Our worse storms never look that good!

On that same vein.... there has to be something really wrong when one has to wear winter clothes <--click because it's too cold at work in the summer!

You just can't beat click---> good photography--especially when it includes yarn!

Twisted Sisters <---click has a new book coming out. I love their sock book. Now if I only knit sweaters!

Cute socks! <--click Spinners may want to check out click---> this blog! And here's some wonderful eye candy <---click for spinners.

Crocheters! Here's a ton of books and mags <---click for sale or trade!

And here's a bunch of miscellaneous Harry Potter stuff. More than you can shake a wand at!

May 26, 2007

I ran away from home

F called me early in the morning inviting me to run away from home for the day! As it was, I was free and accepted the invitation. We had a delightful day of sittin', knittin' and solving the problems of the world! And one quick trip to a yarn sale! At this time, the proposed use for this is slipper stockings for Christmas presents to be dyed after being knitted. Who knows for sure what it'll really be used for! "Why was I free?" you ask? It was my oldest son's 27th birthday. He's disabled and lives with is dad. And for many of the understandable reasons created by divorce, I don't go to his dad's house. But the birthday boy had fun... As did the grand daughters:

Yesterday was also my granddaughter's last day of kindergarten. So, the long summer begins..... I'm going to have to come up with some kind of loose schedule to help keep her doing more than watching TV.... And I really am going to try to follow my resolve of not having the TV on during the day. Of course that'll only work on the days her mother isn't home....

I worked some on my log cabin blanket yesterday while visiting with F. But it wasn't a big knitting day for me. I hope to get more done on the sock, but am finding having to do the counting to keep the spiral pattern is something I need to do when not too distracted.

So, I picked up a few interesting things today:

Diva Knitting is having a contest with yarn as the prize!

And check out this "Jumper Board" (sweater blocker to those of us not "down under")!

Over 800 squares are still needed to for the Rebuilding Greensburg project! I mailed mine in this week, but may make a few more. And remember crochet squares are welcome.

An answer to the often asked question: How do I count rows?

Today is the last day to sign up for the Summer of Socks KAL! I did. Did you?

This Teddy Bear Sweater pattern is really cute!

Look at this gorgeous yarn....then scroll down to the beautiful stole!

New sock patterns on the market...pay and download! How's that for instant gratification?