Dry Spell

Eek. Four months. The days passed and I was doing things, I was knitting, I was even occasionally taking pictures of my knit things. And yet, I failed to blog. I don't know why. I simply didn't do it. I was recently hanging out with my cousin and he said to me, "Do you blog?" I said no. He meant that I should blog about legal stuff, which, really, I have no interest in doing. I have enough trouble blogging about the knitting, which requires only the emotional connection and no research or substantiated opinions.

So. In the past four months, since the slouchy beret (I will take pictures, but I think I may be frogging it in favor of making a lacy scarf), I made a blanket for my cousin for her graduation party, a blanket for my secretary's son and his wife for their new baby, a scarf, hat and mittens set for the grand-daughter of one of the women at work, a pair of mittens for my friend, and sixty (yes, sixty) sachets for my friend's bridal shower favors. I have loved each and every project in its own way. I especially love these favors, though I will admit that I was exceptionally bored with making them by the end.

Pictures to follow soon...

Spring Star Crossed Slouchy Beret

I started the spring star-crossed slouchy beret. The yarn is yummy, the pattern not too difficult (although I think I may have made a mistake). I didn't have 24" size 11 circulars, so I used size 13s. I think I may have to rip it and make it on 11s. But I think I will finish it first to see if I like it.

This hat will either look amazingly dumb on me, or will be really cute.

Knitting Dreams

So last night, I had a dream that I was supposed to have brunch with my friend at 10 am. I called her to tell her that I was going to be a few minutes late, that I just had to stop into the knitting store. I went into my LYS (which was in a different place and looked completely different, but the owner was still herself) and I stayed there until 7 pm knitting and hanging out with the other people in the yarn shop. I just kept calling my friend and telling her that I was going to be a little later, and a little later. I just didn't want to leave. It was a great feeling. But a weird dream.

February's Charity Project

My February charity project was not very big. Merely six inches by six inches. But it makes me feel really good. It restores my faith in the future, and encourages me that we will be in good hands when the next generation comes along.

Reiley is a 12 year old from New Mexico. For her school's Pay it Forward project, she started a group on Ravelry to collect 6x6 inch squares to be combined into blankets. She has had great success and has collected dozens and dozens of squares and has completed lots and lots of blankets.

Check out her blog here: http://thehookiepookie.typepad.com/

This is the square that I contributed (this is Reiley's picture of it -- I forgot to take one before I sent it off).

And that's the stationery behind it, that I used to write Reiley a note when I sent her my square.

If I had been more on the ball, I would have made more. But I was glad to at least be able to complete one. Thanks Reiley for doing this project!

Sunday Market Shawl

I started the Sunday Market Shawl with the Rowan Cashsoft yarn. I love working with this yarn. It's so smooth and soft. I am a little worried because the shawl says that it should be 65 inches after blocking. Right now, I'm two skeins into the project and I'm at about 44 inches. I am hopeful that I'll be able to get another 20 inches or so out of the last part of this third skein. And then I hope that it will get a little bit longer when I do the drop stitch part and then I may still be able to block it to be a little bit longer.

The knitting itself is getting a little bit frustrating. I feel like I've been working on it forever, although I know that it hasn't really been all that long. I'll be happy when it's all done.

Wow, this sounds like a really griping post... Guess some days are like that. Even when we're doing what we like to do.

Working Down the Stash

As always, a goal is working down my stash... I don't know how I acquired quite so much yarn, and so I am trying to get down to the point where I mostly just buy what I need for projects and then only have a few skeins lying around in case I need to quickly make a gift or something.

Today, I started a blanket for project linus (it will be my January charity project, as per my goals in the Busting Up The Stash Group on Ravelry). Because someone mentioned that crochet takes up more yarn than knitting, and because I don't particularly like having to border blankets in knitting, I decided to crochet this one. I'm using a size J hook, and crocheting six rows of red, two rows of white, and on and on until I am finished. There is something about it that reminds me of Little Orphan Annie, but what I like about the bright red is that it is appropriate for either boys or girls. Of course, now I am worried that I won't have enough yarn to finish it, but I don't mind buying a skein or two to get 10 out of my house. The logic is slightly fuzzy, yes, but I am not only the princess of yarn, I am also a princess of rationalization. I can rationalize almost anything -- especially yarn purchases....

Birthday Yarn

Last week was my birthday. All of the people from work chipped in and got me two skeins of yarn. One is the Misti Alpaca handpainted chunky in a color called delphinium (I have always wanted to try Misti Alpaca) and one is a Jo Sharp Kid Lustre Alpaca in a bright fuchsia. I love them both. Of course, I returned to Modern Yarn in Morristown to purchase the rest of the Jo Sharp that they had in that dye lot because really, how much can one do with one skein of it? Not much. So now I have four of them. I want to make something other than a scarf or a shawl, because I feel like that is all that I do, but I don't have enough to make a sweater with it. I am thinking maybe fingerless gloves, but it's always like a hundred degrees in my office.

With the Misti Alpaca, I am making the Sunday Market Shawl, but I did 30 across and there wasn't enough yarn. I'm now trying 15 across. And if that doesn't work, I will probably give up on this pattern and seek to make something else. Today I had to convince one of the givers of the yarn that it's really okay that I started something and ripped it (I didn't confess that I got all the way through the ball of yarn).

Today, I also had to entertain questions about my row counter. It's a question I get more than just about any other. I get asked how it knows to switch. I have to say, "Um, because I move it." People don't get that. They assume that it's going to move all on its own, and I have to explain that no, what I'm doing is actually making the creation process less automated by knitting by hand. People are funny.

Whackadoodle

One of the women at work keeps calling other people in our office “whackadoodles.” I’d never heard of it before, but I want to make her a whackadoodle. What do you think one would look like? Post your pattern links here or in response to my post on Ravelry. The winning pattern suggester will win a prize (to be determined – I have to decide on the prize yet…)

Seedy Stockinette Baby Blanket

My friend is having a baby, so I made a hat, booties, and wanted to make a simple blanket. I didn't find any pattern that I liked, so I created this one:

Seedy Stockinette Baby Blanket

Finished Size: About 36" wide and 40" long

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver, 7 oz Soft White, 7 oz Light Blue, 7 oz Dark Blue

Needles: Size 6 (4mm). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

Gauge: 18 sts and 24 rows = 4" (10 cm) in St st

Skill Level: Easy

Cast on 130 stitches.

Rows 1-14, Soft White, seed stitch.

Rows 15-28, Do 10 stitches in Soft White in Seed Stitch. On stitch 11, switch to Dark Blue, work in stockinette stitch until last 10 stitches. Switch back to Soft White, work in seed stitch until end.

Rows 29-42, Soft White. Work first ten stitches in seed stitch, work in stockinette until last 10 stitches. Work last 10 stitches in seed stitch.

Rows 42-56, Do 10 stitches in Soft White in Seed Stitch. On stitch 11, switch to Light Blue, work in stockinette stitch until last 10 stitches. Switch back to Soft White, work in seed stitch until end.

Rows 57-70, Soft White. Work first ten stitches in seed stitch, work in stockinette until last 10 stitches. Work last 10 stitches in seed stitch.

Repeat Rows 15-70 until blanket reaches about 38" or desired length. End with 14 rows of seed stitch in soft white.

Knitting for the Office Christmas Party

I finished my knitting for the Office Christmas Luncheon. I put the scarves in these absolutely adorable bags. I fluffed them all with tissue paper. I gave them to their recipients. Only one person even opened hers, although I will say, she loved hers. I was very happy with the way they all came out, and I hope that when the other four people open theirs that they like them. I may be joining the "Selfish Knitters Group" on Ravelry. I really worked hard on the scarves, and it was a little disappointing that no one even cared to see what I gave them. A big part of giving gifts, for me, is the joy in seeing someone open the gift, the joy in knowing that they appreciate the gift and will use it. I'm trying not to feel too snubbed with my gifts...

These are the scarves that I made:

For JC:

For DA:

For MLB:
For DJV:
For TB:
And these are the bags for them:

friday freaky fun fact & foto

Yesterday, Velma tagged me in her friday freaky fun fact & foto post. This is the first time anyone has done anything like this, so I hope I do it correctly! And I suppose mine is really a saturday freaky fun fact & foto, as it were...

Okay. the freaky fun fact: Prior to digital, you could really tell the difference between professional photographers and lay photographers, generally speaking. I find now that far many more people will get really good digital cameras. But before that, if you had really good equipment, people assumed you were a professional. So one time, I went to this balloon festival, and because I had great equipment, I simply walked around the little orange fencing and into the press tent and started changing my film. I was chatting with photographers from the local paper and USA today and the NY Times and Time/Life. No one asked me for my press pass or asked what I was doing there or where I worked. Granted, you couldn't do this now (and in a post 9/11 world, I am glad that you really can no longer do this, but these are some of the shots I got that morning at 6 am before the launch:













And now for the tagging. I tag:
Joanne
Jane (if she is feeling better!)
Froggie
Marie (if she can tear herself away from the oven!)
Mamabear

Naming the Animals

Naming the Animals

by Anthony Hecht

Having commanded Adam to bestow
Names upon all the creatures, God withdrew
To empyrean palaces of blue
That warm and windless morning long ago,
And seemed to take no notice of the vexed
Look on the young man's face as he took thought
Of all the miracles the Lord had wrought
Now to be labeled, dubbed, yclept, indexed.

Before an addled mind and puddle brow,
The feathered nation and the finny prey
Passed by; there went biped and quadruped.
Adam looked forth with bottomless dismay
Into the tragic eyes of his first cow,
And shyly ventured, "Thou shalt be called 'Fred.'"

"Naming the Animals" by Anthony Hecht, from Collected Later Poems. © Alfred A Knopf, 2003.
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2008/06/26

And lest anyone get all copyright crazy, I would submit that I rely upon the fair use doctrine for the printing of this poem here rather than the mere linking to it on the Writer's Almanac web page which did obtain it with permission. The fair use doctrine consists of an inquiry into four questions: (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. As for (1), the use is merely personal, not commercial at all. I derive no income from this blog, and it is being used to educate and illustrate the source of my title; (2) because the poem has previously been published, the author has been able to derive pleasure, notoriety and income from the publication of the poem, and therefore, the nature of the work lends itself to the fair use doctrine; (3) although a complete poem, the fourteen lines of text represent but one page of a 250+ page book and one of countless entries on the Writer's Almanac page, which includes an RSS feed of daily poetry, and (4) not enough people read my blog that it could ever be interpreted to have a negative effect upon the potential market or value of the copyrighted work. If anything, maybe one person might decide to check out the rest of Mr. Hecht's poems, which I encourage greatly.

(If I had the ability to footnote, the above would be footnoted)

And now on to the regular part of the post:

Somehow, I have no problem naming my blog posts. The names frequently present themselves, or are simple, descriptive names. Projects, on the other hand, give me all kinds of trouble when I am attempting to name them. All too often, I wind up just naming them whatever the person named the original pattern. I am attempting to be better about this, but I rarely am able to break away from the original pattern titles. Often, as I am moving through life, I come up with things that I think would make good titles for short stories or songs or would make good band names. I think I may have to start using some of them for my pattern titles. They would be random, but it may just work.

Lesson Learned

There are certain patterns I can do while I am on the phone, and certain patterns I cannot. I know this. I have experienced this before. You would think that I would be able to internalize this and remember it. You would think that I would know that a pattern like this cannot be done while I am on the phone.
You would be wrong. I attempted to knit this while on the phone with my brother. I had to tink back 10 rows because I did something very very wrong. Lesson learned. I promise.

Until the next time...

Living Up to Expectations -- the followup

I received the loveliest thank you note from my friend for the blanket I made her for her wedding.

She writes:

"OMG! We love the blanket! We opened it up in the car on the way home and E kept reaching over and burying his hands in it -- it is so soft and warm and cozy." She went on to tell me how decorating sort of intimidates her, and so she hadn't picked colors but that she loved the color of the blanket, so it will be an accent in the house.

Yay! Success!

And on an unrelated note, I started the scarf I want to make for one of the women at work, but I don't know if I like it. And I was going to post a picture of it on Ravelry, and ask opinions, but i can't seem to take a picture of it that actually looks anything like what it looks like in real life... I might try to get some in-person opinions tomorrow.

Hauling Yarn, or How I Lost Respect for the F150

I have always been a fan of various Ford vehicles. For almost as long as I can remember, my dream car has been the Mustang convertible and if I were to get a truck, I have always said that I would get a Ford F150. But now I'm not so sure.

The most recent Ford ad lauds steps that lead in and out of the cargo space. The voice over implies that it is a big deal for anyone who has real cargo. The voice says, "unless all you're carrying is yarn, it's a no brainer." Oh really? And what if you are carrying yarn? Do you not deserve the steps? Is yarn not worthy of being carried in the F150? Why? Is it not manly enough? What's heavier, a pound of yarn or a pound of cement?

I hope the Madison Avenue geniuses who created this ad never ask the knitters in their lives for hand-knit watchcaps. A big thumbs-down to Ford, and to their ad agency for continuing and promoting negative gender stereotypes.

One of the things that I love about modern knitting is that knitters defy gender stereotypes. Ian Johnson is a hero of mine because he combines crafting and football, two things I adore:

Draft Dodger, an apolitical post

Whenever I think about the fact that I am knitting a "draft dodger" it makes me think about burning cards and bras in the 60s. But no, this is an apolitical post, and I am making a "draft dodger" for my windowsill. I decided that I am using up whatever scraps I can find on it, and if I need to add a smidge of yarn from something larger, I will. But I hope not to have to.

I started it and some of the yarn was slightly thinner than the other yarn, which was pretty much your regulation worsted weight yarn. The thinner yarn came from a project that someone had started in a weaving loom that I bought second-hand. I wasn't a fan of the project and wouldn't have had the yarn to finish it if I had liked it, so I merely ripped it out and decided to use the yarn for something, though I didn't want to throw it out. I had little snippets of the yarn in different colors, so I thought that this draft dodger would be a good project for it, especially because no one would see the inside strands hanging out. I contemplated doing stripes, but quickly gave up that idea. Too annoying to carry the balls of yarn and not get them tangled. If I had just two colors, I might have done that, but I decided to go with the randomness approach.

So the problem with the slightly thinner yarn is that, well, the worsted weight yarn was the end and the slightly thinner yarn then is the next part of the dodger. Pictures would probably help, but I am not so fond of the idea of posting what greatly resembles a brightly colored and sometimes striped portion of the male anatomy.

I am hopeful that when I stuff the draft dodger, it will fill out in all the right places and will resemble a dodger and not the male anatomy...

Living Up to Expectation

So my friend got married, in a small, private ceremony with just family. Her mother decided that she wanted to have a party for her for her family and friends. So on Saturday, my mother said that she thought I should make my friend a blanket. I looked at her and said, "Are you kidding? I can't finish a whole blanket in a week!" But then, well, I did... Granted, I had off for Veteran's Day, but I managed to finish the blanket. I'm pretty excited that I was able to make it on such short notice. AND, I got rid of 8 skeins of yarn doing it! It's just basic -- just a plain single crochet with a size P hook (the big honkin' blue one). But I think I'm sort of happy with it. If I had more time, I probably would have ripped it and made it a little longer and narrower. As it happens, I kind of worked around my mistakes...

I hung it on my couch to take pictures -- I wasn't sure how else to do it...

Knitting Resolutions

In moving, I have learned that I have too much yarn. And yes, sadly, it is possible to have too much yarn. In particular, it is possible to have too much acrylic yarn. Acrylic yarn is the staple of my stash because I don't have a lot of money. I was also never really all that good at knitting, so I didn't know what I was buying. Or I would buy bulk instead of quality. Now that I have gotten better at knitting, I know I want to start using better yarns, and I want to treat myself to the experience. I am still a little nervous about screwing up more expensive yarn, but I know I would like to use better yarn more often.

So my knitting resolutions:

1. Make at least one charity project per month. This can be as small as a chemo hat or a square for a blanket that will be joined together by others.
   
2. Work down the stash before buying new yarn. I know that this is a pipe dream, but I am going to make an effort not to just keep buying yarn. So I am going to try to make at least two projects for any one project's worth of yarn that I buy.
   
3. Make scrapghans out of whatever leftovers I have that aren't really enough for anything else.
4. Finish UFOs.

Anyone else have any other suggestions of knitting resolutions?

Oddities of moving

A few things that I have discovered in moving:

I have too much scotch tape. I understand why this has happened. Whenever I go to wrap a present or something, I invariably cannot find my tape and I have to buy new tape. So I understand why I have more scotch tape than I could possibly use in my life.

I have about a dozen sets of tweezers. Unlike the scotch tape, I don't know where these all came from. I don't use tweezers -- I get my eyebrows waxed. I don't buy tweezers -- or at least I don't ever remember buying tweezers. And yet, there they were. In my medicine cabinet, the drawer of my night-table, one in my sock drawer. I don't know who is hiding tweezers among my possessions, but I don't particularly appreciate it.

And other than that, my big problem is that I just have too much stuff and not enough motivation. I feel like I'm not going to get everything done before Thursday, when the moving people are coming... I am definitely taking Thursday off so I can be here when they move us -- I may have to take Wednesday off, too, if I can't get everything done tomorrow. It's a little intimidating. I mostly worked all day today and got through a lot of crap. I'm taking a little break to watch the Penn State/Ohio State football game (Go Nittany Lions). And then tomorrow, I have to really do the rest of it.

What I Have Learned From Moving: A List in Three Acts

Prelude: The packing began in earnest today. The countdown is 13 days until I have to be completely ready to move.

Act I: Morning

• I have too many papers.
• I have too many books.
• I have too many candles.
  
• I have too much yarn.

Act II: Noon

• I have too many pictures.
• I have too many clothes.
• I have too many pillows (odd, right?)
• I have too much yarn.
  

Act III: Night

• I have too many shoes.
• I have too many dishes.
  
• I have too many CDs
  
• I have too much yarn.

Epilogue: In my next life, I want to be a minimalist. And only to buy the yarn I'm going to use.