Throwing sticks

Can one make up for a two year gap?

2008-12-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

Have just spent the past hour reading blogs that have brought great happiness to me in the past. And I wonder why I ever stopped? Something about moving to LA, changing careers, a difficult year commuting between Santa Monica and Los Gatos, little time to blog and less time to knit... All excuses.

I have had time to knit, but small projects and mostly in the evenings. I have been focused on getting my family resettled in the Bay Area and starting my own business. Now there seems to be time to return to reading and writing about knitting. I feel like I have been left behind in many ways, the projects that I see, the gorgeous gorgeosity of the blogs these days. I feel a little bit like a relic, but what the heck. Here it goes again.

Projects that I am currently knitting include (pictures to be posted later):

Kim Hargreaves "Erin" - a lovely cabled cardigan knit in Rowan Calmer (for the mom's Christmas)
Noro socks in a great brown colorway (for the hubby's Christmas)
Various cabled scarves for random gifting.

I'm not too worried that Mom or Hubby with read this post since neither of them knows that I am back at the blog, and I am pretty sure that none of you out there will breathe a word.

Happy Holidays!

The years fly by...

2007-02-27T22:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I am back. Ensconced in Santa Monica, CA, and colder than I ever was in Los Gatos. Has something to do with central heat and modern architecture... The transition has been by turns exciting and devastating, but in the end we are all here and in good emotional stead. I am not working, which has been a great part of my depression, but two good friends from the Bay Area have just arrived, and TJ's office mates are stellar. So slowly but surely I am finding my place here.

Then there is the fact that I can't really be that depressed since there are knit shops up the wazoo and within walking distance of me! Fantastic knit shops, famous knit shops where stars by yarn (and no I have yet to see a star in LA - might have something to do with the fact that I am nearsighted, and more probably because I am uninterested). However I am near Wild Fiber and Compatto. Now Wild Fiber has the whole Tracy Ullman connection, and it is a nice shop if a bit overpriced. But Compatto! Wow, Nancy is a wonderful and warm woman, and Gracie the shop dog is a love! And I am knitting. Fewer sweaters these days, but a slew of purses, hats and baubles. Photos will follow in the next day or so.

The major push in my life these days has been to finally make that career move that has had me spooked; office manager to photographer. I have had my first success and paying job, creating the holiday card for a local company! And I am enrolled in one of the most rigorous photo programs in the nation (Santa Monica College, a community college is ranked 19th in the nation, and the only community college on the list!!! And if you want me to back it up, I will.... )

Sadly backdated updates:
Heather is still languishing without a neck as I can't decide how to finish her
Garland is FINALLY finished, and has the incredible stretching neck... has anyone else had this happen with Rowan patterns - far wider than they are tall?????
Iris is frogged and will never live in the yarn that I chose. By now, after 6 to many reknits I HATE that denim blue. I still long for the bolero, but she will manifest in a different color and a different time.
Many wee projects have flown off the needles: dog toys, Christmas stockings, apres surf hats, and purses galore (Noni patterns are wonderful! There are a few camellia flowers drying in the laundry room as I write...)

Photos will follow tomorrow, and life resumes at TS.

Yikes

2006-05-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

A month and more goes by and I am finding less and less time to write or read blogs. Sad to say I think that my time at Throwing Sticks might be coming to an end. In the year that I have had this blog I have met some really wonderful women, seen some wonderful knitting, completed some of my own projects. My blog sustained my creativity through a very bleak period in my life - the soul sucking job that I left last September. It is hard to imagine that it has been that long. In the intervening time I have re-acquainted myself with my friends in the theatre, have been working steadily, and have found a new passion. I threatened well over a year ago to become a better photographer. To that end I enrolled in classes at the local community college. A whole new world has opened up. It hasn't replaced knitting, nothing can, but it is taking up all that time previously spent bored out of my skull eight hours a day. It is quite possible that Throwing Sticks will morph into something more like a hybrid between knitting and photography... My sticks and stash have been my models on more than one occasion. Until such time as I get myself organized, thanks all for stopping by and reading.

All apologies...

2006-04-26T00:10:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy, busy am I. I am in hell week (although I am told that it is no longer PC to refer to Tech/dress week as hell week - oops who knew).

I was hired by Palo Alto Players to ASM (assistant stage manage) their current production of Urinetown. Now before there is a collective "eeeeewwwww", let me tell you I am decidedly anti the discussion of bodily functions, however, this is a really fun show, and really only has one lurid peeing scene. Trust me, its fun. But the really good news is that I have been hired to direct a project for the SF Fringe Festival. Working a local community theatre production gets my feet back in the busines, but directing in the Fringe is what I really want to be doing!!!!

I have finished Heather. Well, I lie just a little... all but the neck is knit, blocked, sewn... now I am having a design crisis. I don't like things touching my neck, Heather is a funnel necked sweater, so I am debating making her a crew neck. I have actually been wearing her with an unfinished neck (and a big scarf), just for the sheer joy of having my camel colored sweater before the warm weather sets in... Pictures and links will follow tomorrow.

In the interum I am working on Iris - and old friend whom I had a major altercation with last spring. Since then I have learned how to short row, I should have a denim blue bolero within the week.

Promise, pictures tomorrow.

There is much afoot

2006-04-03T21:17:00.000-07:00

And I can't talk about it... grrrr... Suffice to say there was a meeting in Berkeley today regarding a theatre festival in which I very much want to participate. Last week there was an interview with a prestigious theatre company for whom I want to work. Yikes!

And I knit.

Hey, did anyone know that babies the best recipients of knit work? Damn! They are small, and very small amounts of yarn are needed. A classmate of mine is expecting next month and I went on a bootie rampage! I didn't take any photos as I was in the middle of finals (and a huge resume push), but I knit my ass off in a bootilicious frenzy. Let me just say - all of ya'll who want to breed, befriend yourselves some knitters, 'cos that is some fun and satisfying knitting! Bring on the babbies, Tia Godiva is here to knit their world!

And Heather continues Given that our weather is crap (I admit not as horrible as the weather that the folks in the mid states have experienced), I am a knitting machine. This weeks is spring break, I have a few meetings with potential gigs, two lunches with former co-workers,and that is it, so I think that I might actually have the time to finish Heather before the season it out... keep fingers crossed!

Pictures tomorrow

PS Did I mention that I have a photo commission with a local LYS? More on that when and if it all works.

Corsa Update 2

2006-03-16T22:12:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who sent out those good thoughts for Corsa Chili. All that positive energy worked. His surgery was a fantastic success. The final biopsy of the leg revealed that the cancer had not progessed beyond stage I, the upshot being that he will not need any further treatment. He will be with us for a long time. You would never know that he had ever used four legs, he is so good with three! We love our boy-o!

Premature...

2006-03-13T21:37:00.000-08:00

SNOW!

Ok I got a ration of shite from my good friends in snow country for my measly snow pictures of Thursday. Things took a turn Friday midday, and on Sunday morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. I present snow Santa Cruz Mountain Style.

Snowing on Friday afternoon.

Godiva considers snow, and is, well, confused.

Sunday morning, the farm across the road, could be Montana (maybe?)

Later on Sunday, the snow melts off the the driveway, but the yard still looks gorgeous.

Corsa loves the snow (he is totally unaware that he lacks a leg - this is four days after his surgery).

The back deck.

Wow!

You're no bunny...

2006-03-11T16:47:00.000-08:00

'till some bunny loves you.

(pre-felted looks a little like a pig)

(felted funness!)

The pattern is called "Bunny Fun" designed by Bev Galeskas from Fiber Trends. Miguel von Bunny is made of stashed alpaca left over from Angelina. I don't know what brand it is, but it is worsted weight and just lovely yarn. I used size 8 dpns, but the project works with just about any weight yarn and needle. Once felted the bunny was easy to shape. His ears are a little floppy so he must be a lop. It was delightful (and fast) to knit, and I am off to knit some carrots.

This constitues proof positive that I still can knit and finish projects....

SNOW!

2006-03-10T07:57:00.000-08:00

Brrrr, now knitting doesn't seem like such a silly hobby! Wish that I had made a greater push to finish Heather, I really need her now!

Our Boy is Home!

2006-03-09T12:43:00.000-08:00

Not much to say, he went in for surgery yesterday, we picked him up this morning. He is a little trooper. We will know after the weekend what stage the cancer had reached, and if he will need to undergo any further treatment. For now, we are thrilled to have our Corsa home, and in good form. I know he is in good form, the sound of the butter wrapper, the opening of the cookie jar... he is right there sporting his fancy bandana patterened pig collar.

Corsa Update

2006-03-03T21:02:00.000-08:00

Well the news is good, or as good as can be with a cancer diagnosis. His ultrasound, X-rays and blood work came back clean and clear. This means that the cancer has not moved from its location in his leg. Sadly it means that the leg has to go. The good news is, after the amputation he may not have to undergo chemo. I suppose it is all relative. I know that we will do everything we can in our power to help him stay healthy and comfortable. His comfort is our greatest concern. And really, you would never know that he was sick, aside from a little limp, this dog is as vital and frisky as he was when he was a pup (although when you are speaking about labs that is either hurricane force or asleep...)

Again thanks for all the good thoughts.

Heather is on the back burner. I am working on some easy felted pieces, and am about to cast on for a sweater for my friend's son. I guess I can wait until next year for my camel colored sweater, even though this is the one week that I need a big sweater - we have snow on the ground!!!!!!

I leave you with Corsa romping at Davenport last November.

Short and sweet

2006-02-27T21:02:00.000-08:00

Thanks for those of you who sent wishes for our Corsa. As of yet there is no news. He is going in for more tests this week. We should have a clearer understanding of his health by next week. That said, it was a real joy to have my cousin and her girlfriend with us this past week, as my cousin is a vet, her partner is an animal ecologist... These ladies know animals and how to talk to people about them! The two of them were able to reassure us, and help us feel as though we were taking the right steps for our "boy-o".

Knitting? Well I plod along with Heather. I am marooned on freaking sleeve island. WHY!!! Why are backs and fronts so easy and sleeves are torture? I must admit that Heather has been a less than exciting knit. I need (erhm, I want) a camel colored sweater, but at what cost? Cleeves, Butterfly, countless other knits are passing me by and yet I plod along at Heather... Not to mention that I spent the weekend with a most adorable young person for whom I would knit the world!!! My next project will be a sweater for a young boy aged 3 - please send suggestions!

I am tired (in school all day), worried (about my pup) and most of all ready to read a book and call it a night (just my selfish self).

Please think good thoughts

2006-02-10T22:09:00.000-08:00

Today our beloved Corsa had a bone biopsy. He is eight years old. I know some people might chide me for being so attached to our dog, but he is our child. I gave Corsa to my husband for his birthday almost eight years ago to the date. He was a crazy, anxious puppy, but all love. He is a constant and faithful companion.

We love him so.

Little Fuzzy Friends

2006-02-01T19:31:00.000-08:00

I would like to introduce you to Mrs. Beeton, or at least my approximation of her warmness.

Both yarns I used are Rowan; Kid Silk in Majestic of course and the other is CashSoft (I threw away the tag!!!) with a little sparkle. I did not use beads. Why? Well, I'll tell you why, I was having an all out championship battle with Kid Silk. I threaded my beads, cast on my stitches and found that I had cast them on such that not even the Governor of California could budge them! I literally had to cut the cast on stitches off the needle. I tried again with a larger needle, same problem. So, as I am pretty much a newbie with this yarn I decided to try it solo without the added headache of the beading. The pattern is great fun (when you aren't fighting with your yarn). And, I have had more compliments on them. They are great conversation starters, just today I was asked about the cute sweater peaking out of my jacket, astonishment and mirth followed when I pulled off my Mrs. Beeton's.

I have enoooooooooooooooormous respect for those of you who have knit anything more than a tid bit with Kid Silk. A little bird told me that Gromit intends to knit Butterfly, I certainly say she deserves a gold medal for taking on that endeavor. (Ms. Gromit helped me translate the pattern into American knitting directions, and to my eternal shame I have yet to even attempt it, my shame is compounded by the fact that I have yet to repay her for her kindness!)

On another front was anyone else as deeply disappointed by the latest Interweave and the Vogue winter issue? Not a thing I was moved to knit. Frankly I think Knitty presents some of the most innovative and unique patterns I have seen in a long time.

Off to gnitt some more!

A meme, an excuse

2006-01-23T23:12:00.000-08:00

It is past my bedtime. I have been neglecting my spouse in favor of finding appropriate nasty rap for pre show music for my upcoming show (and re-entry into the theatre world). I love my husband, but I am so keyed up I can't go to bed right now...

And so in an attempt to cool down before flinging myself into bed I was doing a little blog reading. Rabbitch has just completed a fun "meme" (yah yah I know all about the ME ME ness of the memes, and possibly I just wish that once I'd be tagged, but I know I have to participate, and POST, and KNIT...) so I grabbed it, cos its fun, and its late, and I need to blow off some steam...

4 Jobs I have held:
1. Deli worker (fired)
2. Stage Hand (contract work)
3. Petting zoo grunt - animal poop duty as well as feeding (loved it - moved)
4. Costume designer (still do when I get the chance)

4 Movies I'd watch over and over and over and over....
1. Franco Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet
2. Julie Taymor's Frida
3. Persuasion
4. A Clockwork Orange

4 Shows I watch
1. Lost
2. 24
3. Rome
4. Arrested Development

4 Places I have lived
1. Chile
2. The Philipines
3. Spain
4. San Francisco, CA

4 Vacations
1. Waikiki (every Thanksgiving - with family - always wonderful)
2. Bocas del Toro, Panama (visit family - see post dated )
3. Bangkok (Biz trip for spouse, amazing time for me)
4. Italy (honeymoon, and can't wait to do it again)

4 Websites
1. Rabbitch
2. Supperstarra
3. Grommit Knits
4. Yahoo

4 Foods (and really must I???? This is ridiculous! ((despite the fact that I took on this "meme" myself))
1. really good sashimi, especially hamachi (of course with a nice daikon salad and a bowl of miso to start)
2. big, bloody New York steak with LOTS of horseradish
3. arugula salad with perfectly ripe bosc pears and toasted pecans
4. a nice smelly camenbert with a perfectly ripe Fuji apple and a rich, rich cab (ploughman's fantasy)
4. Duck
4. my mom's flan
4. Contents of most gourmet grocery stores....

4 Places I'd rather be
1. on a chaise, on a beach with a Mai Tai in hand
2. Via Spiga, Milan
3. Isla Bastimentos
4. in bed with spouse

Ca, c'est tout.

Knitting goes at its pace. I HATE Kid Silk, but that is another post, and will follow with pics in the next day or two.

PS If anyone has any suggestions for really nasty rap that is Latino and possibly with a female vocalist...I need 30 seconds worth.

Super Secret Project Revealed (better late than never)

2006-01-17T14:57:00.000-08:00

I know that I had mentioned that I was working on a top secret project before Christmas. I had wanted to photograph it and post about it before we left on our trip. I did photograph it, but the photograph was hideous.So here it is in a more flattering light, sans body unfortunately, but well photographed.

And a slightly closer view of the cables. Very yummy! Spouse loves it, but it is almost too heavy to wear in our climate. We're just going to have to go skiing soon!

Details: Stocksmoor from Rowan's "A Yorkshire Fable"; knit in Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Chunky in Stout and String, on Crystal Palace Bamboo Circs. The pattern does not require circs, but it is a massive sweater and easier to control on circs. It was an easy knit (except that I had to knit it on the sly, and when caught one day I said it was a blanket... for my mother...), and I highly recommend the pattern. It is the first time that I have knit anything using the recommended yarn and the colors from the pattern book. Not surprisingly it turned out just as it looks! Yowza - might try that again. Oh, and may I just say, I am mad for cables!

I am trying my hand at these darling wristlettes, using stashed yarn. When I first started knitting I went on a mad spree of buying little bits of expensive yarns and as a result I have a pretty big stash of Kid Silk Haze and other mohair varietals, and yet not enough of any one to make anything significant. So a project like this is great. It will be my first attempt at using beads in knitting. Bring it on Mrs. B.

Sigh

2006-01-05T21:10:00.000-08:00

Last week we were here...

Wizard's Beach on Bastimentos Cay in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama.

Now, with my blood thinned out by the heat and humidity I am too cold to knit! Actually my biggest problem is that I want something facinating to knit and I am stumped for ideas! Tomorrow I will work on this problema. For now I will enjoy my tan and dream of parrots.

¡Feliz Año a todos!

Visions of Rawhide Candycanes

2005-12-22T08:04:00.000-08:00

dance in their heads.

Its raining

2005-12-18T09:55:00.000-08:00

and that means its perfect knitting weather.

Super Top Secret Project will be revealed this weekend, so I will finally be able to share it. But I won't be able to share it for a few weeks as its debut coincides with our trip to Panama to visit my father!

I am working on Heather, and here is a picture of her progress.

In all that calm cabling I needed a quick project. Something colorful, something easy... something acrylic! Yes it is, and I just love the color. I am knitting this based on caculations I derived from The Knitter's Book of Handy Sweater Patterns. It might be a cowl neck... then again it might be a disaster! But its pretty and soft.

Am I going to be a better poster in the new year? No clue. I am taking two more photography classes, and I fear that a J-O-B might be in my very near future - yech. I can hardly hope that the next J-O-B will afford me the same computer time generosity that my last job did - so sad. But it will allow me to buy more photo paper and yarn.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah,Happy New Year and Joy to all!

Woe betide...

2005-11-13T20:32:00.000-08:00

the knitter who cannot manage to post on a weekly basis. I have been knitting, oh yes I have, although since I am engaged in "super top secret project" it is hard to post about it. It is true, I have not been knitting as ferociously as I have done in previous months as I have been a great deal busier.

Odd, I used to work 32 hours a week, worked out at least an hour a day after work, had a full day off mid week, knit, engaged in knittinng fantasy, blogged and engaged in blog reading at least two to three hours a week. And there was still time in the week to complain.

Now I take class twice a week, spend between 9 and 14 hours a week in the darkroom(at school), spend countless hours a week composing photographs (both on paper in a conceptual manner, and by actual shooting in a practical manner). I also spend time in museums and galleries looking at photos. I work on the play that I am directing. Research on the web and in libaries. And those 3am wakeful times when all my good ideas come flooding into my brain. Guess what - there are not enough hours in the day to be, do, think, and still knit, let alone complain about anything!

But I still knit. I those in between times. Knitting does allow me a time to think; think about photos that I want to take, think about blocking and characterizations, beats and lighting cues (Christy will understand).

I hope to continue to post in a timely fashion. Perhaps when these new enthsiasms sink in and become part of me I will find more time to blather about knitting. But now as we head into the holidays, and finals, and casting, and rehearsals... I may be doing more knitting and less writing about knitting. Garland might even stand a chance - after all stockinette is great for thinking.

Bad Blogger!

2005-10-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

it has been over a week since my last post, this "retirement" sure is cutting into my blogging time. I have been knitting, top secret project that cannot be photographed until after the deed is done!

A few days ago I had the pleasure to go to visit Communknity again. That store has it all, great staff, huge stock of Rowan yarns, and best of all completely natural lighting. No worries about getting home and finding out that you bought three different dye lots! Never happened to me, nope, no way, ahem. They also carry an extensive library of Rowan books. Have I ever mentioned how much I am in love with Kim Hargreaves, Martin Storey, Sarah Dallas, Kaffe Fassett, Kim Hargreaves, did I mention Kim Hargreaves? I wish I lived on a wild and windy moor, where I could waft around with my messy hair, big lips and gorgeous hand knits!

Anyhoo I picked up Rowan's A Yorkshire Fable and Kim Hargreaves A Season's Tale. Yum. I'd say that I want to knit each and every one of the designs. Here are a few that I plan to make (at least in my head I fantasize about making them).

Kim Hargreaves' Renaissance. Need I say anything? Just lovely.

Kim Hargreaves' Dunoon reminds me of Teva Durham's Tartan Jacket from Interweave Fall 2004 (another designer whom I just love love love!). I still want to knit the Tartan Jacket. Now I'll have to make a choice.

Kim Hargreaves' Heather. Heather is the camel colored cable knit. Although I was unable to join the Cable KAL (due to bizarre blogger issues, and quite possibly my own inability to follow directions), I choose this as my project. I have cast on three times... again issues with reading the pattern before you start to knit. I know that the fourth cast on will be the charm. I am using stashed Kid Classic for this project.

On a sad note, Garland ist tot. I just don't have the patience to spend my hours knitting stockinette on teeny tiny needles. I haven't frogged her yet, but she has been relegated to the back of the project drawer in a Walgreen's bag. Sigh, what a shame.

And I am sure that everyone is dying to know how my photography class is going, given the artistic quality of the photos in this post... Well its just groovy, but it is a class in black and white manual photography, so the benefits have not manifested themselves in my digital world just yet. Not only that, these pics were taken at 8am, inside on a dark and rainy morning. But the quality of photography on this blog will improve! That is my promise.

So much to do

2005-10-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

so little time.

How is it that when I was employed I had hours to read blogs, to work on my blog, to plot my next knitting coup, to shop knit stores on-line, and now, while unemployed (or as my husband likes to quip "she is retired!"), I have no time to do any of it! My days seem to be packed to the gills. I still get up at the same time. I spend an hour or so working on my resume, poking around on job boards, drinking coffee, reading the paper, and then the day starts to gather speed.

Twice a week I am in class, one of those days I have a lab that takes up most of the afternoon. Boy howdy, photography is magic. I tell you developing the first role of film is magic, you start out in the dark, swish around some chemicals, trust that the clear liquids that you are using are indeed the liquids that you think they are, play in water a little bit and ta-da! You have negatives.

I have been reading plays like crazy. Working on revitalizing this stalled theatre career of mine...

During my other days I have been working on a secretive little project. Today is the day to out it. I have opened a small (wee, teeny tiny) store at Etsy.com. As you all know I am for the felt. I have been felting up a storm. A storm of felting does not make for a whole lot of inventory, but it is growing. I have also put my fabric headbands up for sale. I get head aches from the plastic ones, and the fabric ones I have found in the drug store are butt ugly, only a mother could love 'em, hair holding sweat bands. So here it is GodivaBacci and a preview of the wares...

Please stop by the store, comment on the wares, I need help with the descriptions. Normally wordy as all get out, my verbosity dries up when I try to write about my own work.

I'm off to shrink some more stuff in the washer!

p.s. Garland is terribly abused. Haven't knit a stitch on her since my "retirement". Also starting some top secret pressies that will have to remain under wraps for a few months... cos too many nosy peeps read this blog, and you all know who you are!
p.p.s. Spellcheck always cracks me up, for one thing it replaces my name with Cholera, and secondly although it is embedded in a "blogging" application, it does not recognize "blog". Silly.
p.p.s. you can also get to my store by typing in godivabacci.etsy.com

Happy blogiversary Mim

2005-10-10T21:30:00.000-07:00

As I have a ready made pic of da feets, here they are.

If you are curious (and I know you are) please refer to Rabbitch's entry of 10/10/05. Love the silliness.

"FO" is for folly

2005-10-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

or foolish, or foolhardy... woe to me who blithely substitutes yarn. The gauge widthwise was perfect on my 4x4 swatch, it was one row longer lengthwise, which I did not worry about so much as I have a long back, and like my sweaters to reach the waistband of my pants (and with waistbands falling as they have recently this sometimes leaves me with a big patch of flesh bared that I'd rather have covered). So I knit for a 36 inch bust. Oh well, my tiny mother will have a nice new sweater to keep her warm in Colorado's winter.

Here it is, in its tiny glory

And a shot of the collar, which I love, love, love!

And the sleeve, again, love!

Details: Drop-Stitch Cardigan from Interweave, Fall 2005. Knit with Manos in colorway #109 (on a side note, you would think that Manos might be able to name their colorways - 109 is just so bleh. This colorway reminds me of wonderful berries, leaves, and twigs, perfect fall colors - "berries and chocolate with mint garnish", or "Autumn walk in the woods", even "Yum" would be better.) Knit on size 8 bamboo circs. It was a fun fast knit. Its great fun to drop and pull out stitches when you are supposed to do it. I recommend this pattern, and will knit it again, but might try it in the wool suggested. The zipper is a bit messy, but to tell the truth when I realized that it wasn't going to fit me I lost interest. In fact the front is finished with an i-cord zipper placket, which I did not do. Can I just say that making i-cord is about the least fun you can have with two sticks and string. How horrible am I to admit that I am going to give this away, and that I didn't do my best work on it. So smack me.

I am on a finishing streak. Next on the list is Garland. And I have my suspicions that I will be able house a small family in this one... looks big...

FO, toe, doh!

2005-10-04T14:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, a soon to be FO.

What happened to my toe?

Grape stomping, I kid you not. Ok I realize that the toe does not look that damaged in the photo, but trust me it hurts!

Doh!

Didn't know that they came apart so easily...

This not working is killing me, I am so crazy busy. Need to find me a job so I can slow down a bit.

Ta-da!

2005-09-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

Yet another FO "Ruffles"

Details: purchased as a kit from the Knittingbag.com. Yarn is Meunch Serpentine, knit on size six bamboo circs. I purchased the kit because I could not find a purse frame anywhere!!!! I seamed it on the sewing machine as I though that would help it with a little rigidity. I sewed the purse frame casings on the sewing machine as well. The seam is a little wonky, but barely visible. Plus: cute as all get out. Minus: Serpentine is fiddly and horrible to work with, it sticks to your hands and snags very easily. I'll knit this one again, but in some other yarn.

It has been an exciting first week without work. Last Thursday the mum and I went to LA to see The Boy King! I bought the tickets way back in March, so it was a much anticipated trip. There are not that many artifacts from Tut's own tomb, but some very spectacular pieces nonetheless. I especially loved the "imitation folding stool with tail", a gorgeous wooden stool inlaid with a design to resemble an animal pelt including a wee tail! If anyone gets a chance to see it, don't pass it up. We also spent a good long day at the Getty. What a spectacular facility. I love that the galleries are small, and only hold a few works, makes the act of viewing more intimate and more accessible. There was a great exhibition of one of my all time favorite photographers Weegee. Just love his gritty, noir, and yet innocent photographs of murderers, whores, and just plain old people.

Then I started school again yesterday! Me, at almost 40, taking an intro to basic photography. Me, sitting in a class room with 50 kids just out of high school. Talk about feeling OLD. I think I might even be older than the instructor. I can't wait to get started.

Today I got an e-mail from an old friend with a lead on a directing gig. Its just a reading, but its also a place to start getting my artistic life back on track...

And a parting shot just for good measure.

More FOs very soon.

Meet my leetle friend...

2005-09-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

Flora!

from Knitty. Details: the three yarns stranded together are Lang's Venezia, Lang's Pearl and GGH's Soft-kid. The resultant variegation looks like peppermint candy to me! The pattern is delightfully easy to follow, and the flower was great fun to make. The button is from my vast array of buttons that I have collected over the years.

In the flesh the flower looks terrific and very three dimensional.

This gives a better view of the color, but the flower is still a little fuzzy. The flower has stamens! The center of the flower is made with a twisted loop; you loop about three inches of yarn, twist it until it twists back on itself and then slide the top of the loop back over the needle. What you are left with is a big boucle like nub and a new stitch! Genius!

***

A sweet side story; Husband is out of town on business, and it had put out older dog into a state. He was panting uncontrollably last night, which worried me terribly. So I did what any right minded hypochondriac would do, I went on-line! Excessive panting in a healthy dog is often an indicator of stress. So I went back to comfort my stressed dog (should add that I know he is healthy, we were just at the vet a week ago). About 11 Devil Dog and I fell asleep, but I knew Angel dog was still up and panting. I vaguely heard him go out the dog door, and when after a certain amount of time he didn't come in, I woke up and decided to hunt for him. Looked out the back door, called for him, no dog. So I looked out the front door... and there he was curled up in the drive way, looking at the gate, waiting for his master. ! Awwwwwww!

Uh-oh

2005-09-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

Seems that I have a problem...

A seriously bad case of repetitive startitis or is it chronic non-finishitis syndrome. Lets see; starting with the lavender pile on the far left we have the endless stockinet sea of Garland- back completed, sleeves in progress, front and ruffles... ugh; next the Drop Stitch cardigan from the Fall Intereweave in the variegated Manos- back and sleeves complete, fronts just itching (literally) to be cast on; light blue is the second Eowyn that I am knitting on dpns - having issues with the ugliness factor; brown ribbon is being knit into the ruffled hand bag from Knitting On the Edge; the light royal blue is the badly, sadly flawed Iris; the pile of color in the front is my latest experiment with handmade felt.

First step is admitting you have a problem. Right? I am assuming that this can be remedied by low doses of cabernet (a Chianti will do in pinch as pictured above) and a strict yarn diet. Yes, I am not buying yarn for another project until I finish (or frog) these. Starting right now...

Right now is of course after yesterday when I finally got my grimy paws on Rebcca issue 30, and spent a delicious hour in Imagiknit* squeezing balls of yarn, choosing the yarn and the button to knit Flora from Knitty.

On a closing note, Friday September 16th is my last day at my job. A huge burden has been lifted from my shoulders. It is the right move, and yes I am a little scared... but I'm also a little excited. I mention this because my last entry was more than a little bitter, and contained a vast amount of complaining. In addition to my yarn diet, I am going on a gripe diet. Starting... tomorrow... what follows is a wee gripe, so if you are not up to it you can stop reading here.

*Just a little side note, I have always felt welcomed at Imaginknit until yesterday. I guess they were very busy, as evidenced by the woman who was at the counter when I approached with my magazine and my small (really and truly it was small) pile of yarn, she dashed away blurting out as she dashed "I have three things in my queue". Apparently I was not one of those things. The wan looking young woman who was seated next to her behind the counter resignedly wafted my direction (a staggering 2 feet, but it might as well have been a mile) and vaguely waved at my small pile, "Is ALL this yours". Yep, all three skeins, and that button, and that magazine. Lordy, sorry to disturb your finger nail polish chipping. Now there are days when I have been less than a joy to be around, but I try to strap it on in public - I have smiled through hang-overs, PMS, back spasms, cramps, the like... If I worked in Yarn Nirvana I would probably be grinning from ear to ear the long way round morning, noon and night. Wan girl I am sorry if you were having a bad day, but it wasn't very much fun.

A rant, a plea, and some knitting

2005-09-08T16:00:00.000-07:00

RANT

Last week I was employed and unhappy. Last Friday I learn that my boss dislikes me as much as I dislike him. Although I have not been fired, I have been "kindly" asked to look for employment elsewhere. He offered to allow me to stay until I find another job, condescendly telling me that it is "easier to find a job while you have a job". As if I am totally unaware of how the job market works... Humph! I am gave him two weeks. That leaves the other employees, who I quite like, in the lurch, but fuck it - I have hated that job since the day I took it.

The boss man said to me, upon hiring me, "I am hiring you despite the fact that your resume is funny". "Peculiar" not "haha". Possibly the Master of Arts threw him. Possibly the fact that my entire career up until that moment in time had been in the arts threw him. I took this job because it paid more than any non-profit arts job could ever imagine paying, and my husband had just been laid off. We had a mortgage, two car payments, not to mention groceries, electricity, gas, water and the like to pay. And yes, I stagnated. I was great on the phone, trained actors often are. But after the forty eleventh time I had to correct a numerical mistake I had made on a spreadsheet, my charisma started to wear thin. This past Friday it split down the middle. It has been a three-year run, not bad for off off off off off Broadway.

Fact: I have not been fired. Fact: I am no longer welcome at my job. Course of action: leave and finally do what I want to do. Problem: don't know what that is. Opportunity: get to find out. I don't do numbers, detail or coffee - beyond that I am pretty much game to try anything. Ideas are most welcome! Anyone want to look at my resume?

***
PLEA

Humane Society, Red Cross, click the links above.
****

KNITTING

There has been knitting, albeit kinda weird looking knitting.

Doesn't this remind you of a cast? I think I may have been my choice of color, plaster cast white... I think I might enjoy them in the winter. Although now there is really no danger of me developing carpal tunnel, as I won't be typing poorly crafted letters any more, I wonder if I will have a use for them. (No, not bitter, not me... just a little case of "boss got there before I did" Fucker!).

Pattern: Eowyn, Rowan 38
Needles: Crystal Palace Bamboo Circs size 10.5
Yarn for gauntlet: Blue Sky Alpaca Sport Weight in colors #000, and #004
Yarn for lace: 4 ply Alpaca purchased at Stitches West 2005 - brand unknown.

Another view

I am disappointed with the bulkiness of the seam. I have started another pair, this time knit in the round with double pointed needles. I'll post the specs as soon as they are done.

Rowan 38 is a home run. Bonnie and Clyde actually are knitted items - who knew! Clyde is a purse and Bonnie is a wee felted flower! Sweet.

Now need the new Rebecca. Rumor has it that a number of Bay Area knitters are in possession of it... I guess Saratoga is the knitting Bermuda Triangle.

The Red Cross and the Humane Society

2005-09-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

Friday November 25th, 1994 I learned first hand of the generosity and incredibly organized responsiveness of the Red Cross. You see the meth lab in the apartment next door caught on fire, took out half of a San Francisco city block (the corner of Pierce and Haight for those of you who want to know). 150 people were displaced.

The Red Cross was on the scene shortly after the site was declared a disaster. They had counselors on hand, provided temporary housing in hotels, and provided help locating lost pets, provided clothing and food vouchers. They helped us take the steps to rebuild our lives. Without the Red Cross my life might not have come back together so easily.

We lost everything. But we didn’t lose our community. That I cannot imagine. My heart is breaking for New Orleans, for the communities lost, for the lives lost. The Red Cross is there, and doing for those folks what they did for me.

I’d send yarn, but I don’t think that will help. So I will send money, knowing that the Red Cross needs it and will use it in the best possible way.

The Humane Society helped me locate my cat Jack. He had been badly burned, but was alive and in good care at their facility. He lost a few lives that night, but lived another ten years. If you can, help them too.

Baby Steps

2005-08-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

Garland's seemingly endless sleeves look much nicer photographed with my passion flower.

I am also contemplating frogging the sleeves of the Drop Stitch cardigan. I see a HUGE mistake in one of the dropped sections, namely I dropped too many stitches. See...

It might just drive me nurts. I am hardly a perfectionist, but I might not be able to hide this one.

I think I broke my dog...

2005-08-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took the dogs to visit some friends who live on a ranch in Pescadero. There is a small pond on this ranch, Corsa and Godiva did what any right minded labradors would do, they swam until they coulnd't swim any more. Corsa sprained his bum (tail doesn't work so good right now) and Godiva is still tuckered out, three days later! Below is the Chiefmessmaker with Corsa. Godiva was too busy being the underbrush-jump-in-pond-smell-coyote-scat dog to stand still for a photo op

Our friends board a sheep at this ranch. Heidi, the poor sheep, has not been shorn in 13 months or so. I have never seen such an overloaded creature in my life. As a knitter I have never seen so much potential in once place at one time. I really did feel like Elmer Fudd looking at Bugs Bunny all trussed up like a Thanksgiving Turkey, except I was seeing Heidi dressed in all the potential sweaters that she could become...(being the bright girl that I am, I did not take a picture of this amazing sight).

There has been knitting, and not just the imagined kind either, but honest actual knitting, however it is all pretty boring. Next project has got to be lace or cables, or have weird short row shaping, because this stockinette knitting is driving me crazy!

I have been alternately drooling and questioning the newest Rowan designs in Rowan 38. Aside from the unique (cough) names that some of the projects have, some of them look really fascinating, and some are interesting (in "my isn't that ... interesting" way).

River, truly a lovely piece. And who doesn't need a lacy knit shawl (at least I think its a shawl).

Eowyn, fun funky, just what I need lacy, cabled teacher gloves*. Satisfying both as fashion accessories and a fun knit.

Bonnie, now did I miss something? I don’t see the knitwear…

Clyde, just as much of a rebel as Bonnie (those two), again looks lovely, but where is the knitting?

Armi, is well, interesting in that way that things are sometimes.

Felting is mentioned. And ya'll know how I am about the felting!!!

I have to get my grimy paws on this magazine! Some of the photography is very dark, I can’t make out the details. Has anyone see it up close and personal? Any thoughts on it? My LYS can't tell me when they will get their Rowan winter shipment!

*My high school, in Chile, lacked central heating. Imagine a large rectangular building, maybe the length of a football field, there is no central hallway. All the classrooms face out, and have large metal and glass doors. Paint the whole thing orange and black and you have Nido de Aguilas circa 1983. Each classroom is a equipped with one steam radiator. It was cold in the winter, cold and damp. Santiago’s climate is much like northern California, and Santiaginos always act indignant that winter comes upon them with such damp ferocity. Inside and out we wore our fingerless gloves and ponchos, not today’s frothy concoctions, but big, heavy, woven blanket like garments, very practical, very warm. Our teachers made fingerless gloves popular, easier to write on the board, hand out papers, run the ancient mimeograph machine. They were usually made of brown, grey and white alpaca, often decorated with an intarsia llama or alpaca. I miss those ponchos and gloves, but not those cold classrooms.

The name game

2005-08-16T12:05:00.000-07:00

I imagine that it gets old sitting around dreaming up names for your knit designs, but somebody might want to talk to Rowan's marketing department about this one...

Snork

Names not withstanding, I think I must have this magazine.

Bland Progress

2005-08-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

Garland is resting for the moment as I concentrate on the Drop Stitch Cardigan from the Fall Interweave.

I will either love the Drop Stitch Cardigan, or hate it with a passion known to few. I love the variegated Manos wool that I am using. I love cardigans... so the risk is minimal. However (and didn't you just know there was going to be a caveat), when I gauged the sweater I had to go up a needle size to get the correct gauge width, but in doing so the lengthwise gauge was increased by a row. I am more concerned about it fitting around me properly than I am about length; besides, I have a longish back so a little extra length is welcome. The worry comes from the sleeves which are turning out to be apishly long. I do like a longer sleeve, but will I be frustrated by the drop stitches catching on everything I touch?

Here are the sleeves in all their glory. This photo does not do justice to the yarn, in fact it is much, much less pea green colored. The blanket that they are photographed against is a lush grass green (not dead lawn green as the photo would lead you to believe)

I do plan to wet block this sweater, and in that hope to compensate (read tug, pull and otherwise bend to my will) for my slap dash attitude toward following gauge. My swatching gauging issues can really land me in hot water since I tend to favor more fitted styles that are not so terribly forgiving when knit slightly off kilter... maybe I should stick to felting.

After I finish the Cardi and the endless Garland, I must find a project that is not so stockinet heavy. Maybe some pretty lacy thing, like the great shame of Spring 2005. Or maybe the fabulous Weekend Get Away Bag from the fall Interweave.

Exsqueeze me?

2005-08-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

Today I shall discuss fashion, and share a wonderful fashion tip that I received (like a blow to the solar plexus) at the hands of sales person at a certain department store (originally based in the Pacific Northwest, with a reputation for excellence in shoes and customer service, name begins with an ‘n’… ). Ok I don’t know why I am protecting the store, it didn’t do anything to me, and it wasn’t even the sales clerk that I was dealing with that handed me the little tip that has me all aquiver. But don’t let me get ahead of my story.

Saturday my lovely spouse had to stop by the above-mentioned clothier to pick up a pair of trousers he was having altered, so I opted to go along for the ride. I had had my eye on a certain pair of boots, which I wanted to try. (For some inexplicable reason I am craving winter clothing – summer clothing is such a bummer, always seems to be cheaply made, never seems to fit right, often is made out of fabrics that don’t breathe – hello, who wants to wear synthetics when its hovering near 98 degrees? Perhaps I should start buying my summer wardrobe at the store I am not naming in this little flame rather than Old Navy!) We arrive at the mall, I am dressed in my Saturday best, consisting of a bright green tank and a fetching pair of ratty cut offs (very Daisy Duke – I am so pop culture). I stop in ladies shoes; Spouse goes off to fetch his trou. I assume he is going to come back after he gets his pants to see me in my glory with the objects of my chocolate boot lust. The sales guy, who is helping me quickly learns that I have no dignity and love a good joke, and comments, “Now that is a look” as I am waltzing around in my shorts and OBVIOUSLY wintry boots. I spy Spouse lurking in men’s shoes (Spouse is as big a shoe ho as I am), and my sales guy suggests that I go over to show him. I take the suggestion and prance over to men’s shoes. Now I am fully aware that the look I am sporting is not in the trade rags this season, in fact I think it came in and went out the same day that Barbarella was released. NOT THAT THERE IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT MIND YOU, and should you choose to walk around in public dressed in such a fashion more power to you. Spouse spots me, and I call out, “What do you think”? Before he can answer me, a sales woman in men’s shoes says to me “Those boots are supposed to be worn tucked into jeans.” Gobsmacked I tell you!

How many things are wrong with this, let me count them:

I didn’t ask you

The customer is always right

SUPPOSED! When did shoes, or any other garment for that matter, come with a manual of dos and don’ts . I was well aware that I was a walking Glamour Don’t, but then again I was only trying the boots on!

Unsolicited advice is rarely welcome

Tucked into jeans? Hello, did that in 1982, don’t need to and won’t do it again.

SUPPOSED!
Did I ask you?
Let she who has never committed a fashion faux pas cast the first stone Miss “I dressed in the dark” sales person
Hello, were either of us addressing you?
SUPPOSED?

Now perhaps she felt that she was saving me from a life of fashion faux pas, but rillly! And if so, there are a thousand other ways to offer the suggestion such as ; “Those boots look great tucked into jeans.” SUPPOSED? So the fashion police will prosecute me if I wear them in any other way? It is not my right as an able bodied adult to dress in any way I choose? If I choose to dress like a trashy ole ho, then I will bloody well do it! If I choose to wear Manolos and drape myself in Lion Brand “Fun Fetti” yarn and ride through town barebacked on my horse then I will do it!

Needless to say, I bought the boots.

The boots will look stunning paired with Garland, if I can ever finish knitting this vast landscape of stockinette:

And just dreamy pair with the Dropped Stitch Cardigan from the fall Interweave that I am knitting in variegated Manos:

For the love of dog!

2005-08-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

Really? Now I would never buy Cat Fancy, but this? And for those of you who choose not to click:

Yep I am a big ole suckah when it comes to my dogs. And this magazine bills itself as "the modern dog culture magazine". Hey, I am modern and so are my dogs, and we care about culcha!.

On the way home this morning we spied this guy. He is into car culture.

(Sad lack of knitting content due to a bad case of stockinetteitis. Garland is a loverly girl, but she is entirely knit in ss, which does not make for thrilling photography or content)

Getting into hot water....

2005-08-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

I like to felt. I like knitting big ole things and watching them shrink up into nothingness. I was always envious of kids who had Shrinky Dinks kits, I am making up for this lack by playing with my own grown up version of Shrinky Dinks, I like to call them "Smelty Felts"; nothing beats the odeur of wet sheep pervading your home! (On a side note... the Shrinky Dink website says you can make a "whole variety of useable plastic items". Huh? These are not your grandma's Shrinky Dinks kids! These are the Shrinky Dinks of the new millennium! Useful! Bright! Bizarre!)

So anyhoo, I like to felt.

Witness these cute reverse checkerboard slippers that I felted last Christmas

Cute my ass! They were never given as gifts because they are butt ugly. Only a mother could love these half assed excuses for cleverly crafted gifts. They were destined to make the short journey from gift to church rummage sale in seconds flat. But I digress. I didn't have the heart to toss them out, nor did I want them polluting my knitting basket with their hideousness. I plopped these beauties on top of my washer. They floated around for months, falling on the floor, one of the pair migrating upstairs with the clean laundry, gathering dust and dog kibble, falling in the paper recycling only to be fished out because they were not paper. Slowly they gathered a life of their own, they became the personalities of the laundry room. You could always open the door to the laundry and find one or both of them lurking, on the floor, apart, together, but constant hairy little mirror images of each other.

These little buggers really do have a life of their own. While I was doing a load dog towels {for those of you just dying to know what a dog towel is: we have a generous back stock of old towels used to dry wet dogs. Those of you who own water dogs already know.} one of these cretinous hairy monsters decided to explore the inside of the washer.

number one, the normal sized felted slipper

and number two, the super felted, felted slipper!

Snork!

The Harlot knits darling little people shoes. I just shrink 'em into oblivion! This little slipper is dense; it might knock someone out if you threw it at his or her head at just the right angle.

I love felting, it is such a random act! When I am not making a "whole variety of useable plastic (ermmm, wool) items", I am busy making useless, turdlike objet d'art! Oh Martha me!

Oh yah, in case you hadn't already figured it out, the first photo is a clever exercise in perspective, and was taken after the crazy hot water incident, with the super felted slipper in the front...

*****

In the event that anyone was worried about last week's radio silence. I was here:

Cool, colorful Colorado.

Visiting my spectacular Momkat.

We engaged in all sorts of pursuits from alpine driving in Rocky Mountain national park, to visiting yummy little yarn shops in Denver and Boulder.

Good time was had by all two of us!

Pieces

2005-07-22T15:59:00.000-07:00

TOP

MIDDLE

BOTTOM

WHOLE (OTHER DOG)

Too. Hot. To. Knit.

It can be done!

2005-07-18T13:20:00.000-07:00

July 15, 2000

2005-07-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee—and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love rememb'red such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Sonnet 29

Doldrums

2005-07-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

Etymology: probably akin to Old English dol foolish
1 : a spell of listlessness or despondency
2 often capitalized : a part of the ocean near the equator abounding in calms, squalls, and light shifting winds
3 : a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or slump

I am becalmed in the wide Yarngasso sea, without a breath of air to lift my sail... It's hot. Yarn sticks to my hands and my lap. Some of my crew have taken to eating my bamboo needles for lack of proper chew toys. My imagination is parboiled. I am listless, and my crew lies on the ground barely lifting their heads or wagging their tails.

And yet I feel a sea change in the air. The fiber currents are starting to shift. Yesterday I was moved to buy this gorgeous hank (since wound on my trusty ball winder) of mercerized cotton for a special secret project...

I cast on for Garland in the lush and lustrous Cashcotton.

You will notice that I have decided to use a provisional cast on, since the garment is finished with a picot edging and requires you to pick up 274 stitches on the hem edge to do this... why pick up those stitches if you can keep them live sez I!

There is also a great deal of excitement in the literary department; two days and counting until HP!

The likelihood of knitting this weekend: 23%
The likelihood of hammock swinging: 100%

Dig

2005-07-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

Or the archeology of a knitting basket.

In the center of my living room, in front of my spot on the sofa is an unassuming ottoman with a Peruvian saddle blanket thrown over it with artistic carelessness. The saddle blanket is alpaca, warm browns with several wee strips of cholo pink running down its length. It has been with my family since my birth in Miraflores, Peru, it is an old piece, and quite subdued by Peruvian standards, but I love it. To the untrained eye this little tableaux is not the focal point of the living room, just a place where one might rest a foot, a book, or a nice glass of Cabernet (or as pictured below, freshly brewed Cafe Americaine).

***
But the trained eye will notice that the saddle blanket conceals a form that might well be hollow, a container if you will. Upon removal of the blanket you will notice that the top of the ottoman is a lid. When you open the lid you will find a squirming multitude of bags, yarn, needles, books and the other detritus of a knitter.

Lets examine this find layer by layer shall we?

On the top we find a ball of rich blue alpaca attached to a three and half inch knit on #8 circulars. It appears that the #8s have been gently gnawed by a large omnivore of some sort of another. On this same layer we find a ball of chartreuse wool (Cascade 220 we assume, but since the labels have long been lost we may have to send a sample off to the LYS to have it verified). We also find a tattered notebook of graph paper, the first page of which is covered in some sort of code or hieroglyphs. Two threads of the above-mentioned yarns are taped to this page, so we can safely assume that this layer should be grouped together.

Our next layer is a self-contained unit; a Walgreen's bag. It appears to be 6-8 skeins of GGH Samoa in a pretty twilight blue, a finished back, and a partially finished left front on a pair of dark wood #8s. There is a crumpled paper, stuffed in this bag revealing a Rowan pattern for a light summer bolero called Iris. These items appear to have been shoved in this bag in haste or disgust. We realize that it is unscientific to make assumptions of this sort, but we notice that the needles have punctured the bag, and the balls of yarn appear to have been knit and frogged several times. Is this a project that caused the knitter undue distress?

Our next layer reveals another self-contained unit. A bag or basket knit in the very same colors as the yarns revealed in the first layer. This bag contained three balls of smoky, pale blue alpaca, a completed back (?) of a short sweater, a pair of Crystal Palace #10.5 circulars, a wound ball of smoke grey silk (possibly Lorna’s Lace, again we will have to wait for the lab results for positive identification). An Altoids tin filled with tapestry needles, pins, and short loops of yarn. Finally a tape measure that depicts a dog and its bone. This bag does not appear to relate to any specific project, so we can only assume that the knitter had something in mind for these beautiful fibers.

Our next layer reveals a ball of orange yarn and a ball of grass green yarn. These do not appear to have any relation to the above layers. Again they may or may not be Cascade 220. Under these possibly "ceremonial" balls of yarn we find a compartmentalized plastic box filled with beads. This might be viewed as an incongruous item to be found in a knitting dig, however upon inspection of some of the printed material we have noted that beads are used in some of the knitted items. It does not look as though there are enough beads of any one type to complete any of the projects outlined in the printed material, so it maybe that the knitter was begining to apprentice in this technique.

Finally we turn our attention to the vertical layers (not pictured, but you can see them in the edges of some of the above photo documentation), comprised of primarily printed materials and tools. In this layer we find titles such as Loop-d-Loop, sevearl Rowan Magazines, and Knitting on the Edge. There is also a stack of index cards held together with a binder ring; some of the index cards are covered in a similar code to the graph paper pad, some of them are blank. There is a small jar wedged in the corner that holds a variety of knitting needles, safety pins, and a pair of pink handled children’s craft scissors, which are terribly dull.

It is clear that this site was abandoned in haste. All of the items appear to have been in use at the time that the site was abandoned except the ball orange yarn and the ball of grass green yarn, although it is possible that they had some ritual significance. We will submit a full report when we have had time to review this dig further.

Choices

2005-07-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

My crafting week has been dry due to an overwhelming desire to start forty eleven new projects at once.

I am so disgusted with Iris (the Bolero) that I stuffed her in a plastic bag. Normally I do not stuff my beloved projects into plastic Walgreen’s bags, but when they incur my disfavor there is no better place. Perhaps the lack of oxygen will cause the stitches to reorder themselves and wonky decrease to sort itself out… I will frog it again, and start over. Counting counting counting to make sure that I don't decrease too many times!!! Grrr.

The Kid Silk Haze that I purchased for the lovely Butterfly floats around in a nice heavy paper bag with cloth handles. My kid silk rage has subsided, hence its promotion from Walgreen’s bag to sturdy bag. I am truly on the verge of casting on for that project.

I want to knit this , and this, and this.

So rather than actually knit something that would take time, thought, concentration and commitment, I have been knitting scarves! Nice gifties I suppose.... and very satisfying to complete, but soon enough I will be up to my eyeballs in corkscrew scarves! And then what!

(Grumble, there are no pictures with this post as I did not finish downloading them last night.)

Oh WOW!

2005-06-24T14:37:00.000-07:00

This woman's workwork is out of this world! Look at her designs for The Trojan Women, and her Commedia costumes.

What could it be?

2005-06-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

As promised (or threatened) I am knitting scarves. I thought it would be a good exercise in re-learning everything I have never learned about knitting.

This is the Corkscrew Scarf from the Loop-d-Loop book, knit in Manos de Uruguay in a fantastic colorway (so yummy I want to eat it), on size 10 circulars (although only because I don't have any size 10 straights).

A dear friend who lives in Grand Rapids has asked for a scarf, somehow I don't think this one will fit the bill. Not much in the warmth department. I will have to find something larger for those long cold Michigan winters.

My avatar and me.

2005-06-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

We are so alike, yes?

And this is what happens when you point a camera at me for too long...

A good day to dye

2005-06-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Well I did it. I mixed and mashed and steamed and here are my first attempts at dyed roving.

I'd give specific details, except that I don't have any. This is the first time that I have used this type of dye. I have used Rit dyes in the past; they have a limited color range, and are not very saturated at all. The .5-ounce size of the Jacquard dye is sufficient to dye 2 pounds of fiber! I had about 3/4 of a pound of roving on hand, so I had plenty of dye. I mixed about 1/2 teaspoon per cup of water, and then added a 1/4 of white vinegar. I laid out long swaths of Glad Wrap, laid the roving on top of that and poured on the dye, randomly. I then steamed each bundle for 15 minutes. When I rinsed out the bundles I was really surprised that more color did not wash out! Next time I will put a little more thought into my colorways (oooo get to use big $10 crafting word). But since I am not going to be spinning this, I really can just dye hunks in colors that please me.

I really do need to find some better fiber to dye. The roving that I purchased is really scratchy and doesn't felt very smoothly.

Next stop: get out the soapy water and get to felting!

Just dyeing to try...

2005-06-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

just trying to dye!

This arrived yesterday...

Wanna guess what was inside? Ok, I'll show you...

I am undeterred despite my previous disastrous attempts to dye roving with Kool-Aide. Now if I can just find some nice soft merino roving. The stuff I have is pretty scratchy. And in case anyone was worried that I am about to jump on the recent spinning craze, don't. I am strictly a felter! This may just be the antidote to my recent "decrease" set back.

Confiscate my sticks

2005-06-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

Clearly I am incapable of following the simplest increase and decrease instructions.

Notice how half way up the decreases move abruptly to the right? This is wrong, it should be a smooth unbroken line! I have to frog this(O$@#%&*&^%# again. Is it worth banging my head against a wall again, and again, and again?

I have knit this:

and this:

So why can't I knit this:

I cannot get the number of stitches to decrease according to the pattern. My decreases are incrementally larger than the ones called for in the pattern! The only thing that I can think is that the picked up loop at the lead edge of the front should not be Ptog on the purl row!!!! But the pattern specifically says "do not count the picked up loop" followed by "purl first stitch and picked up loop together" on the very next row! I attempted to add stitches sneakily on the armhole side to compensate for my dippy decreases, but as you can see it breaks up the line of the front (and would probably add a weird extra pooch). Part of me is ready to throw this monster in the frog pond, but I really want it! Perhaps I should just find another bolero/shrug to knit!

I give up. I am going to knit scarves from now on...

****

On another note, does anyone know what a wahoo is? This man does:

This is my Pop-Wop, looking like a kid in a candy store (or a wet kid who just caught an 18 lb wahoo). He is one of my favorite people. All of my friends have at one point in time or another compared him to Indiana Jones. He is adventure and fun and bad jokes and my very own Pop-Wop. He lives in Panama, and probably doesn't even know that Sunday was Father's day. But he sent this fangtastic picture, so I thought I'd share one of my best friends with you.

Ich bin so in der Liebe (or too much time on my hands and a wee love affair with Babel Fish)

2005-06-20T16:06:00.000-07:00

Hallo, ist was dieses?

Dieses ist ein Hüftegürtel. Hallo Hüftegürtel, sind Sie so reizvoll!

Und dieses ist ein erstaunliches Armreife

Und was haben wir hier? Ein gebürtiger amerikanischer Beutelbeutel? Nein, es ist ein Anhanger!

Tee hee. I love Burda. I love Germans (I should, its a good half of my ancestry). I apologize to any Germans out there who are offeneded by my obvious lack of language skills or the ablity to locate the umlaut on my keyboard. I apologize to any knitters out there who are disapointed by lack of actual knitting content - this is a less than obvious attempt to distract...

Dahlias

2005-06-20T09:20:00.000-07:00

are my favorite flower.

This is the first bloom of the year. They never fail to impress me with their size, color and logevity. I LOOOOOOOOOOVE dahlias!

Of Goddesses and little monsters

2005-06-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

There is a new goddess in my knitting universe, Teva Durham. Truth be told, the name Loop-d-Loop does nothing for me, or did nothing for me until I looked at her book at Yarndogs (and was subsequently complelled to purchase it). I was frankly uninterested her sweater pattern in the last Interweave. The book has made a convert out of me! Her take on knitting is fun, funky, historical, practical, storied, spiritual, and just damn good! Still not crazy about the leaf sweater (featured in Interweave), but that is just one project in a book of over 40 that doesn’t fire me up! What are the odds? Not only that, she managed to convincingly persuade me that Loop-d-Loop is a pretty good name for her approach to knitting and design. Her background is in theatre, so what is not to like about this woman! She has made manifest the many things that I thought you could do with knitting, but that I have yet to be able to do!

The patterns are structural (and leave me weaping with desire):

vicious (if she can wear it so can I, if only I can find my Sex Pistols t-shirt...):

funky (great sweater although the model has a baaaaaaad case of 'baby chicken head'):

fun (this is the antidote to the overly popular shrug, and first on my list):

And I want them all. Now.

On the other hand; Rowan patterns in general, and Kim Hargreaves in particular are really chapping my hide. My wonderful slipstitch wrap twist increase is all WRONG! It is not as I had previous thought an increase at all, it is a short row instruction. How did I find this out? Last night I was sitting and knitting on Iris and it just wasn’t working, it was getting wider and less shapely by the minute, in short it was beginning to be a knitting monstrosity, something that would be tossed in a bag, shoved in the back of the closet and never discussed again. I decided that I must be a knitting dunderhead, scrapped the whole project, threw it in the back of the stash drawer and stomped off in a huff. Chalk one up to experience. Its not as though I don’t have a number of little monsters lurking in the closet, waiting to be frogged and knit into something worthwhile. But I am a compulsive knitter, so I decided that I needed a simple project, something that would knit up quickly and restore my own faith in my abilities. I chose the Corkscrew Scarf from Loop-d-Loop. Lo and behold the whole principal of this scarf is based on the wrapped stitch short row. The clouds parted, a chorus of cherubic heads began to twinkle and sing , the scent of rose wafted on the air, the grass grew green beneath my feet… (my interpretation of an epiphany if you were trapped in a Victorian greeting card…)

Here is what she has to say about the wrp-t or wrap and turn:

“With yarn held in front (purl position), slip next stitch from LH needle to RH needle purlwise (when you slip purlwise you do not change the orientation of the stitch on the needle [insert cherubic singing here]; turn piece so WS is facing (the sts just worked, plus the slipped stitch are now in the left hand): bring the yarn to the front between the needles (purl position), return the slipped stitch to the RH needle purlwise…” then continue as pattern directs.*

Hellooooooo! How simple can that be? I am a blithering eeejidit! That said, I am casting on the left front of Iris at lunch, and we shall see how far I get by the end of the weekend. If I am unable to get it going with this sort of clean instruction, my needles should be confiscated!
* Italics are my own.

Oh frabjous day!

2005-06-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

I did it! I figured out the wrap and turn all by my lonesome! It is a stitch increase! I am not a blithering idiot! And it doesn't leave annoying little holes, like my first attempt did! I can knit! I am allowed to run and play with pointy sticks!

I have not had a chance to take pictures of this most marvelous miracle, since I discovered the key to the wrap stitch increase at about 10:30 last night, but in the spirit of learning new applications, I have used Microsoft Painter to create some faboo illustrations of my new found talents!

Illustration #1*

Here the red stitch illustrates the slipped stitch.

Illustration #2

Here the green squiggly shows the yarn passing to the front of the slipped stitch. OK so it looks like scrap yarn, but trust me its attached to the ball. Now you pass the slipped stitch back on to the left needle.

And herein lies the difference between making a hole in your knitting and actually make a new stitch! Instead of looping the yarn all the way around the stitch, the yarn goes over the top of the right needle:

Illustration #3

You then knit the stitch you passed back to the left needle, keeping the "wrapped" stitch over the right needle. Magically you now have two stitches where there was only one!!!!

Please forgive the unevenness in the lengths of the needles, the varyng number of stitches, the wavering length of the "knitted fabric", and the randomness in the size of the ball of yarn. I consider it a feat to have created these illustrations at all! Gives y'all an idea of how busy I am at work...

* Please note that although I am inspired by Kristy of She Just Walks Around with It, I am in no way attempting to poach her sensational line drawings. In the words of C.C. Colton, "Imitation is the sincerest flattery" (who knew? I just learned that the quote I have always misquoted {sincerest form}and long assumed was Oscar Wilde is actually C.C. Colton. And I don't even know who he is!) So despite the fact that I was trying to cleverly work Wilde into this, and can't other than by mischance, I hope that my illustrations are viewed as flattery. Enjoy them now; I won't be putting myself through that kind of fiddly torture again any time soon. Drawing is HARD!
******

More CC Colton:

"Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end and aim of weak ones". (Commenatary about bloggers from beyond the 18th century grave? Hmmmmmmm)

"It is always safe to learn, even from our enemies; seldom safe to venture to instruct, even our friends". (I guess I won't be teaching anyone to knit anytime soon, someone might lose an eye)

Craft Week in Review

2005-06-12T19:21:00.000-07:00

Tales of near disasters, crafty crimes, and one emergency amputation.

1) Crime or Disaster (Jury is still out):

I started above pictured project on Thursday. I finished the back yesterday evening. I cast on and completed the first four rows of the left front and hit a dead standstill. The directions read "K 4 slip stitch to right needle wrap and turn". I am stumped. Is this a short row direction? Do I then knit back and repeat? This goes on for 34 rows. I cannot imagine that it is a short row instruction. Initially I proceeded as though it were not a short row and ended up with a hole in my knitting where I had wrapped the stitch. This does not look good. These wrapped stitches are spaced 4 apart on each right side row. I think it is supposed to add a stitch, but how???? Why do I have such problems with Rowan patterns. I can read. I am articulate. I taught myself to knit. I can even do passable regional British accents (Yarkshere, Saf Lunnun, BBC speak). And yet these patterns trip me up. Gah! I will make another attempt to tackle this pattern this evening.

Then of course there is the lettle problema that I might not have enough yarn to finish above-mentioned pattern. I am using stashed yarn. When I first started to knit I would go hog wild at the LYS. Piggily buying up colors and fibers that I liked. I had a rule of thumb - "buy 6 and that should be enough". This was before I discovered that yardage/fiber width and weight/needle size (ummm that pesky little notion called gauge) are critical to having enough yarn to complete the project. Ha! I am trying to use my stash, but I find that in general 6 of any given fiber is 2 too little. I figured that a bolero would be a perfect use of 6 skeins of GGH Samoa, but I have already used up 2.5 on the back... Will a bolero vest look too dorky? Sounds like the perfect top for a pair of corduroy culottes, and reminds me far too much of 1979 and many a 6th grade fashion faux pas. I guess I will only find out if I have enough yarn when and IF I figure out what the wrap stitch is all about!

2) Natural Disaster:

Well I felted the bag for my friend B. It looks horrible. I deviated from my original pattern. I wanted to make it bigger, better, faster. Mistake number one, the proportions are all out of whack. Ugh. Mistake number two, I used two different Cascade yarns; basic 220 for the main color, and an alpaca/wool blend for the contrasting color. The wool felted like a dream, the alpaca felted up like a big fuzzy, angry, spitting Camelidae, all tight and gnarly (Ok I know that I am stretching the limits of analogy suggesting that spitting mamal is also tight and gnarly, but I have worked with the alpaca's larger cousin the llama. Believe me Maggie, the llama of my aquaintance, was uptight and when she was busy spitting munched up carrot in your face it was pretty gnarly - STREEEEEEEEEETCH). Yech. I knew I didn't like alpacas!

Back to the drawing board, and back to using one kind of wool to felt per purse.

3) True Crime:

The Perp:

Method: eviscerating plush toys. Even as a tiny pup his goal was to get to the squeaker as fast as possible. His method: tear up the toy, scatter filling everywhere, ingest some of it, destroy and eat squeaker. (Only once did this result in a 4am trip to the emergency vet, where in we learned that not only did our four-month-old puppy eat a large quantity of stuffing, but he had also consumed a whetting stone. Apparently the whetting stone was the cause of his discomfort, not the polyfill. We were told, "it will pass"... and so it did. But I digress)

The Victim:

Adores her plush toys and treats them as tenderly as a four year old whirling dervish of a chocolate Labrador can treat a plush toy. She carries them with her everywhere, plays with them, and even brings them to bed. It is heartrendingly endearing. Makes me think that she might have been a very good mom dog (again I digress, and there really is no point in speculating about what can never be... )

The Crime:

And another view of the Crime Scene:

Godiva's beloved Lamb torn asunder, bits of foam and stuffing littered around, squeaker nowhere to be found. We gave her a substitute toy, which she played with dutifully but without a lot of joy, clearly she missed Lamb. So I performed surgery using my trusty surgical tool kit; gathered the stuffing and re-stuffed the lamb, amputated the nearly severed leg. Here is Lamb in recovery:

That is the craft week in review at Throwing Sticks. We hope that your week was better, that your crafting was satisfying, that nothing shrank to unsatisfying proportions, and that your family did not eat and destroy objects of value. Tune in later for more news from the yarnside.

I Just Don't Know...

2005-06-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

You choose the yarn (translation: run hog wild at CommuKnity, snatching Rowan Denim off the shelves as if a ravenous pack of Yarn Snatchers were nipping at your heels. I was alone in the store mind you, but you never know when the Yarn Snatchers might swoop down and take the last skein/ball/hank of the dye lot you are eyeing). You swatch (translation: knit small square, much smaller than recommended swatch size, determine in vague way that everything will work out well enough.) You start knitting. You stop. You frog. You determine, based on your very scientific approach to swatching, that the resultant camisole, if knit in the largest size, will only fit an emaciated German tooth pick model named Jutta (translation: eyeballing swatch, picture of Jutta in magazine and own size 10 frame you note that it just won't work. Very empirical data!). You move up two needle sizes and fearlessly plunge into knitting (translation: you move up two needle sizes and fearlessly... you get the picture). And amazingly, surprisingly, you are pleasantly surprised. It doesn't look half bad, despite the fact that you knit far longer straps than needed (and have fixed the strap length issue by tying big knots at the tops of the shoulders).

But I just don't know. I am just not in love with it. I like the color, sorta. I like the shape, sorta. It was great fun to knit, sorta. I am just not that into it. I think it makes me look lumpy. And since I moved up two needle sizes the eyelets are humongous! To go without proper support, in this case nothing less than one of those super padded, iron clad Gap tee shirt bras, you will be airing your nipples in a very public peep show! Mein Gott im Himmel! Not a good thing.

Details: Chevron Camisole from the Summer '05 Issue of Rebecca; six balls of Rowan Denim in Memphis; knit on US size 7 needles (up from pattern recommended US size 5).

The upside is I can now start a new project! Oh who am I fooling, I am always working on two or three things at once. I do tend only to have one large project going at a time. I just want to knit everything!

I have been working on a few small felted projects. I made this little quickie bag for a friend who needed a pick me up.

I am about to finish the purse that I promised my friend B. And I have been working on a needle felted teddy bear. I'll post more pictures tomorrow.

What dogs do...

2005-06-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

they retrieve.

A-Roving we will go

2005-06-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

Carin Engen's beautiful,hand dyed roving arrived at Yarn Dogs yesterday, and I had pick of the litter! The merino is wonderfully soft and the colors glow. I brought it home and compared it to my home Kool-Aid dyed roving. I think my roving came from a derelict sheep, with a serious dry skin problem.

Carin's roving glowing in the early evening sunlight, lovingly posed on an age kissed bistro table.

My skanky roving, reeking of orangeade and berry, writhing scratchily on a dried up teak table.

See them together. Note how the lustrous black roving recoils with disgust from the proximity to the shocking, limeade roving.

The merino roving is so... voluptuous. That is the only word for it. Working with it is a tactile sensation! Even my bizarre first attempt at hat making was a joy to create.

Pinhead cloche displayed on pilates body rolling ball.

I really would like to make hats, cloches in particular. I am having a real urge to revisit the 1920s. I adored the '20s when I was a girl. My grandmother told me great tall tales of dancing the Charleston and drinking bathtub gin. A particular story stand out in my mind where she told me that her date spilled his drink on her and the plaid lining in her coat ran - gotta love that prohibition era hooch. One of my first and most favorite records was a recording of hits from the '20s, including "The Charleston" and "Yessir, She's My Baby". I was in love with 1923. I have a wonderful picture of my grandmother and grandfather standing in front of their house, possibly Denver or Grand Junction, my grandmother is wearing a cloche and what looks like a raccoon coat. It must have been about '26 or '27, she was 22 or 23. She looked fantastic, and the hat! Oh my! I love the clothes, the shoes, the hats, the music. I loved that hints of the '20s that were showing up on the runways last year. Since I don't have a waist, and never have had much of a waist, those styles are perfect for me (don't have much in the boob department either, also very good for the flapper effect).

Anyway I have been looking at a lot of my old costuming books, especially Poiret, Worth, and Erte. I know they are all a little earlier than the Flapper era, but that is what I have lying around, and they really informed the looser, shorter styles that came about in the '20s. The hats are great fun. I think I can make them. I just need to get a hat form (is there such an animal?) and go to. I suppose I could knit a cloche and then felt it, but there is so much more control when you work with roving. I say this like I am an expert... what I really mean to say is that I have an illusion of control!

Flickr

2005-05-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

Hi all, I have two, "one free year of photo hosting" with Flickr going a-begging. If anyone would like one, or knows of someone who would like one, please let me know. I have been really happy with their service, and it is in my best interest that they succeed!

Fear the Yam

2005-05-31T14:48:00.000-07:00

Did I mention that I am a member of the fearsome and dreaded Sour Yams Motorcycle Gang? Husband will have to fill me in on the real details, which I will pass on in a later post. I am only a Yamette at present, but I hope to achieve full Yamhood soon. And then I will be privy to all the rights and privilages of the Yam.

The Yams had no mascot. As my first act as a Yamette, I decided to design the official Sour Yam mascot. They are felted out of Orange Koolaide and Berry Koolaide dyed roving. The google eyes are glued on with Elmer's Wood glue (didn't have any white glue), and the eyebrows and mouth are embroidered with high quality embroidery floss.
A Yammering of Yams

The Yam rides alone.

Fear the Yam, for it is sour.

Messy measuring and grafting gone wrong...

2005-05-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

(WARNING, there are no pictures in this post because my Camera and I had a minor disagreement on Memorial Day)

I did finish the Chevron Tank top. But I some how lack the capability to accurately translate 25cm into something that I can understand. Yes I have a tape measure that measures both in inches and centimeters. Yes, I understand the need to measure twice, knit once. Yah yah yah. The pattern "suggests" that you knit 25cm of strap for the tank top. This translates to boobs somewhere around my waist. Not a good look. Those German models must be rail thin and ginormously tall! I do not span 12.5 cm from the top of my boob to my shoulder! Silly me, I asked the Husband to eyeball where the straps fell, and accepted his, "looks about right" (this is the man is always befuddled by the shape and size of my clothing, this is also the same man who bought me the most beautiful cowboy boots - four times - because he thought my feet looked like a size six, or seven, maybe eight... try ten???) Doubly silly me I grafted the straps to the back before I tried it on!!!! Scheiße! I may not be a German Giantess with low-slung boobs, but I can swear like one!

All is not lost; I will just cut the straps on the tank top, unravel 2 inches (or 5cm, see I can do the math...) of strap and re-graft the straps at the shorter length. I will measure this time. I could even use Dolores, my dressmaker's dummy, instead of the spouses' eyeball, which would be a better use for her than presentt gig as creepy headless office mate...

To top off the low boobage debacle, my camera ate all the loverly photos that I took prior to blocking, sewing and grafting! There is a little button, set far, far away from all the other little buttons on the back of my camera. This little button looks like a trash can. When you repeatedly press this little button in an attempt to get a menu to pop up, you apparently delete the contents of the memory card. Again with the reading instructions! I am beginning to see that there may be an advantage to reading manuals.

I knit, really I do, but last night I got LOST

2005-05-26T16:08:00.000-07:00

Oh my oh my oh my, its good to know that I am not the only
knit blogger out there who is consumed with worry for Walt's safety! And Sawyer? And Jin? And Sayid? Ack. It really should be called Lost; Island of Hot Men. Is it just me, or does anyone else wonder about the connection between JOHN LOCKE 17th century ideologue and philosopher who believed in the essential goodness of man and the inalienable right to freedom, and DANIELLE (Jean Jaques) ROUSSEAU 18th century philosopher who contended that man is naturally good, that man is corrupted by his engagement in society? hmmmmmm? Ok so our John Locke is not exactly demonstrating his faith in human kind by blowing up the hatch when it so clearly disturbs Hurley. And Danielle is just plain whacked, but maybe deep down she is the the noble savage... or maybe she is the antithesis of Jean-Jaques' belief that society corrupts, and that in fact it is only through our society with our fellow man (and by man I mean humanity in the academic sense, not to offend or present a gender bias). Or maybe she stole Claire's baby in order to save him from the offences of society...

I didn't even realize that Sawyer was such a hottie until last night when Walt caught him reading the notes from the islanders. The camera panned in on him in his jerry-rigged glasses, and well my knees went all jiggly. Shivers. He has that bad boy mystique; a thoroughly reprehensible man, and yet, irresistible. There are glimpses of humanity in him. Is he Tom Sawyer all grown up and gone bad? Yah, I think so. But will he be back? One of Popeye's crewmembers shot him!

Why did Claire name her baby Aaron at the last minute? What mechanical boogey man got Locke? And despite the plane crash is Hurley/Hugo's luck changing? The nice Oceania crew member said to him, "Its your lucky day", as they let him on the flight back to Los Angeles. Irony? Or maybe something more? And the spooky, snaky smoke?

This show is ripe with symbolism, just ready for the picking. I am just so terribly bummed that we have to wait an entire summer to get
LOST again! I guess I'll just have to re-visit the TiVo'd shows and work up my theories over the long, dull, sunny summer. Humph.

And TV induced anxiety is hell, HELL I tell you, on tension. Witness the mess:

It’s a good thing that the purse I was working on during the season finale of 24 is going to get felted because it is all wonky. (Not to get back on the TV horse again, cos really I don’t watch that much. Really I don't... but wasn’t it nice to see Tony and Michelle back together? I got all teary. And heart pounding when we thought that Jack was dead, for that brief moment in time. But now he is poised to be Jack Baur, Super Duper Undercover Secret Spy Man. ‘Nuf TV for now.)

Now that all the good TV is over I will be able to get down to the serious business of paying attention to my knitting again. I fully intend to finish the camisole this week, and start Butterfly over the weekend. I am a little apprehensive about starting Butterfly. I really, really, really want it, but I am so worried that I am going to bollix it up, and the kid silk is so finicky. Also after the generosity of a certain knit blogger, who translated the pattern for me, I really feel the need to succeed!

I promise, from here on out there will be more knitting, and less TV. At least until next season…

Does anyone know when the new season starts…(feeling a little like Charlie before he discovered the stash of Virgin Mary statues…)

A sunny weekend and...

2005-05-24T14:24:00.000-07:00

…very little knitting happened. It was comprised of riding these around the hills and valleys of Santa Clara. 'Cowboy', my wonderful bike is in the foreground, and 'Max', Husband's new ride is in the background…

The weather was glorious, the sun was shining, and the open road was calling. And so we heeded that call.

Now you might wonder at the names. I have long held that all modes of transport are feminine. I think this comes from some old wives tale that ships are given women’s names, some where along the line in childhood I came to believe that this extended to all forms of transport. 'Cowboy' is a girl, don't argue with me, she is! 'Max' on the other hand might be the very first vehicle that I have met that is decidedly masculine.

‘Cowboy’ also provides handy storage…

I rarely see gear that I covet, but on Sunday I saw this
helmet. Click on the helmet pictured at the bottom of the page called "Flowers". I long to make my practical silver helmet into something more, well, feminine and sorta sassy. I thought I might find some nice stickers to jazz it up. Any suggestions? Perhaps a few decorative knit flowers? Here my practical helmet is loafing in the garden with the very little progress that I made on B’s purse.

On a side note; Gina Lola Cat is disgusted with the dog bias of this blog. If she were bigger she would eat the dogs and rule the world. She is working on the “getting bigger” part of her master plan by eating all of her kibble for "Cats in Active Maturity”, as well as as many unguarded pork tenderloins as she can find.

Details, details

2005-05-20T18:08:00.000-07:00

Being new at this blogging thing, I forgot to list the details for my hoodie. But I am happy to babble about its details!

The yarn is Trend Collection Linie. I purchased 8 100 gram (approx 166 meter) skeins. I appear to be a "prepared" knitter as I have a skein and some left over. The yarn is a fairly heavy cotton with a little bit of a sheen to it. It is not as splitty as some cotton yarns, but still has that annoying tendency.

The pattern is the Hooded Pullover with Two Sided Frost Flowers from the Spring/Summer 2005 Vogue Knitting.

It took me just under three weeks to complete. The most complex part of the pattern is in the switch from the right side to the left side of the front as it is knit in one piece. It took a few trys, but once I figured that out it was smooth sailing!

And just in case you wanted to see it again....

The Politics of Dancing...

2005-05-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

the politics of ooooooo feelin' good...

Huh? Wha? Me too. I walked into Trader Joes to pick up some lunch, and smack dab into 1983 (or thereabouts). I got a little giddy while picking out my yogurt flavor, I was trying not to dance while I chose my soup, by the time I got to the check out I was only able resist waving my arms in the air like a bleeding idiot because I was loaded down by a basket and a purse.

But what the hell are the politics of dancing? I think I'm down with the politics of oooooo feelin' good. But dancing? And now the song is burned in my brain. Sugar sweet boppy silliness. Get me some shoulder pads, some 3-inch pumps in turquoise, and a strawberry blond fall and I am set to lobby for the politics of dancing.

And speaking of turquoise....

…late Tuesday evening

…some sewing took place...

and this made its public debut on Wednesday!

I was practicing the politics of ooooo feelin good during my photo shoot.

BOO!

2005-05-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

And there was finishing, too. Stories and pictures manana...
(Disculpame por el enne, my key board only speaks Ingles)

Our Little Brown Otises

2005-05-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

[What follows is a shameless plug for a favorite animal of mine]

You will notice that I have added another button to my links "Adopt a Bat". This will link you to Bat Conservation International.
BCI does wonderful things in the world of bat conservation and education all over the world. I won't go into my limited knowledge of bats, instead if you are interested, visit them. Adopt a bat if you wish. We did.

After reading Diane Ackerman's The Moon by Whale Light I fell in love with bats. Living for so many years in San Francisco I disparaged of ever seeing a bat out side a zoo. Then I moved to the Santa Cruz Mountains. One spring evening while Husband and I were sitting on our deck, we saw a bird swoop by, its flight pattern was erratic, zig zagy (? should be a word if it isn't), and then it disappeared. And then came another, and another and another. Slowly it dawned on me that these were not birds, but bats! In my own back yard! I wrote to BCI describing the flight pattern of my "birds", their approximate size, and where we live. BCI wrote back to tell us that we share our home with California Brown Bats (Myotis Californicus), or as we like to call them Our Little Brown Otises.

They are back. It has been a wet spring, so not as many of them are out yet as in past years, but they are back! Quietly eating up mosquitoes and other flighty, bitey night bugs.

Go Bats! Bats are cool!

There will be knitting this evening.

Travest y and Triumph

2005-05-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

First the travesty.

Have you ever believed that your prowess as a craftswoman was so all encompassing that you believed that you could teach yourself a skill overnight? No? You sure? Ok, maybe I am the only one with the arrogance to believe that I am so smart that can teach myself to crochet in a few short hours. I signed up for a crochet class, I won't say where, but I will say that I was told that I needed to know how to chain, double and treble. When asked if I had those particular skills I blithely answered "Of course!” as if to say to the person who was helping me 'cha, don't we all know that.' Two weeks go by, I am still confident that I possess these skills, although I don't know where my one crochet needle (hook?) is. Friday night I decide that I need to hone my crochet skills in preparation for this class. I pull out my one lonely crochet book. I demonstrate complete mastery of the chain stitch. I attempt the double. And I attempt the double again. And again. I crochet a small round thing, not at all approximating the picture. I drop the hook, I tangle the yarn. I attempt the treble. I attempt to unsnarl previous attempts. I cannot get the hang of it. Geez, knitting has got to be more difficult, you are juggling two sticks. How can one 6-inch stick beat me? I concede defeat at 11pm, vowing that after a good night's rest I can teach myself how to crochet before 2pm the next afternoon. WRONG. I slink away in defeat. In shame I postpone my participation in this class until such time as I can learn how to crochet. I will be taking crochet classes under an assumed name this summer...

Now the Triumph

Sunday I took a class in felting at the newest LYS on the block Yarn Dogs! I have always been attracted to felting, but I have never worked with roving. I learned that what I do in my washing machine is technically not felting, it is fulling.

Deborah of Yarn Dogs invited fiber artist Carin Engen to teach this workshop.

It was held in the lovely courtyard outside the back of the shop, in the shade of a gorgeous Japanese maple. Carin gave us an engaging demonstration on the art of felting with roving, and then let us go to it on our own. We first learned the technique for creating 'faux pots' in felt. Then she taught us a technique for making scarves (or banners such as the one posted above), but it could even be used to make table runners, or place mats, or drapes! Some of us even made purses. Well I didn't, I was too enthralled with the pots.

Carin is such a personable and joyful instructor, that I am inspired to do nothing but felt for the rest of my life. Carin hand dyes all of her rovings, and the colors are so lush. She had some examples of large scale felted pieces that she makes. Wow! There is nothing you can't felt. Not only that the resulting fabric is really sturdy. Sturdy enough for the wear and tear of labradors retrievers. (On a side note, Godiva was terribly interested in the felted vases, from her vantage I am sure they look like brighly colored tenis balls...)

Here are some of the crafty ladies making purses:

and one of the purses ready to be sewn up:

,

The process is time consuming and wet, a pefect antidote to knitting a heavy wool sweater in summer. Some more crafty ladies intent upon their work:

The class was a perfect size; there were ten of us. A great mix of women with different backgrounds, but each of us has our own love of fiber, and particular niche. And this technique is so freeing. You can't screw it up!

I'm afraid that my picture taking was somewhat limited because I was so engrossed in turning out my little genius works of art. I saved the best picture for last... all of our little pots sunning themselves under the maple.

Hello blue, blue sky!

2005-05-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

Today there was this:

And this:

Which made us feel like this:

After what seems like an eternity of blah weather there is today! The air was cool, the sun was shining, and there was promise in the air, and smiles, and a happy home!

Ventured into YarnDogs, Los Gatos latest yarn store addiction, umm, addition. Great light, great atmosphere. And a great class in felting roving. Which I plan to sign up for since I learned this evening that we are not going out of town on Sunday as we had planned... Yay!

Never One Tattoo

2005-05-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

Falling in love again,
Never one, but two,
Oh what am I to do?
I canhhhn't help it.

Sung in my best Marlene Dietrich (who incidentally I do very well; might have something to do with the fact that neither of us can sing. Also always thought that the chorus to that song was "never one tattoo" it all made sense. If you are constantly falling in love, it would stand to reason that you might have a list of your lovers’ names tattooed on your various appendages. Yes? Well I think so!)

But I digress.

I am falling in love again with the latest LYS on our block. The gorgeous CommunKnity in San Jose; beautiful natural light. And soon they will have a terrific, well-lit classroom in the back. Can't wait... might even get up the courage to take a class or two and met other actual knitters! Yikes! So far, my knitting obsession has been a fairly private affair. I share it with my husband, who oohs and ahhs richly, wondering how I can do what I do (honey, I can't figure out how internal combustion works and you can take a car apart and put it back together - that is your knitting, this is mine) and my mom, who oohs and ahhs richly, because I am her daughter, and she is a knitter, and we are both so thrilled to share a hobby.

I am falling in love with more Rowan yarns. I was prepared not to like the denim yarns. I am not that interested in jeans, not that interested in yarn that behaves like jeans. Hello, fading and shrinking are not things that I am all that in love with... or so I thought. A visit to CommunKnity changed that, all that light, all those colors, and I was drawn across the room to the rich blue denim yarns.

Being an inveterate stash-o-holic, I bought enough denim yarn to knit this "Chevron Tank Top" from Rebecca...

I have been eyeing this skirt from the same issue of Rebecca, so I bought enough Rowan cotton glace to knit it up, in a rich, rich red.

(please note that cute German-Sarah-Jessica-Parker-like model has a bit of a belly - rah rah!)

Then I made the dangerous mistake of touching the Cash Soft line. I had my own little fondle fest... did the dusty lavender feel softer than the grey? Yum Yum Yum. I suppose the lavender did feel softer than the grey because somehow this came home with me as well.

On top of this I am still in love with my hoodie, which is nearing completion. I did have to set it aside last evening in order to play with my new yarn... or rather I chose to set it aside in order to play with my new yarn. As you might have noticed I did start on the Chevron Tank Top. Ooops. But I did make a great deal of progress on the hoodie before I set it aside. The back and the sleeves are blocked (no photo - booooooring). I have finished the right front, and am about half way up the left front. This pattern is very clever, almost so clever it nearly defeated me. The front is knit in one piece; starting with the right side of the hood, down the right front, then up the left front to finish the left side of the hood. The turn from right side to left side was a bit of a trial, had to frog it three times before I finally got it right. Don't ask me how I did it, I had already gone to my happy place...

And lastly I am still in love with Butterfly and the Kid Silk Haze. The wonderful doyen of "Gromit Knits" translated the pattern from "propah" English to "Amurican" for me. I am utterly blown away by her kindness, to help a fumbling newbie on the other side of the country. I am practicing the lace pattern in heavier gauge cotton before I start with the Kid Silk Haze per her suggestion. I can only hope that the stash fairy smiled on her with great favor in MD this past weekend.

Hie thee forthwith

2005-05-05T19:42:00.000-07:00

to Tilt-a-Whirl, if not for the fiber fantastickness* and spinning (wow, I really need to not be interested in spinning... at least for the time being) then for the gorgeous labs Sasha and Tank!

Corsa and Godiva give their paws up!

*A word that really does deserve a place in the OED.

Kid Silk Rage

2005-05-04T18:48:00.000-07:00

WARNING - POST CONTAINS VIOLENCE AGAINST YARN - WARNING

Admire the lovely Rowan Kid Silk Haze.

It wants to become the lovely Butterfly from Rowan #37.

It makes me feel unstable. I don't like to feel unstable. It is uncooperative. It misbehaves. It sticks to my bamboo needles, it sticks to my plastic needles, it even sticks to my metal needles. Who knits with this ridiculous yarn? I must punish this yarn.

If I didn’t believe that my life would be made much, much better by owning and wearing “butterfly” I would throw the lot of it out window. (I am reminded that I would be throwing roughly $75.00 out... gah!) Please tell me that there are some tricks out there for working with spider-web thin merino silk blends....

And what up with the English patterns? I am a pretty fearless knitter, but everything that I have taught myself to date has been in “Amurican” english. “Butterfly” is written in 'propah' English. I am confused by “yfwd” and “yon” - am I to assume these are two ways of writing “YO”? Or is this something that I have not encountered in my vast (two years) experience of knitting? And also how does one read “(K1, yfwd) twice”? Does this mean knit that pattern two times? Because as I read the next row and come to the corresponding stitches I come across “(K1, P1) into double yfwd of previous row”. Seemingly that would mean that the first “yfwd” is a double “YO”? Is there a conversion chart out there in the knitting universe somewhere...

Help me before I do other unspeakable things to my Kid Silk Haze involving Aztec Gods and popsicle sticks...

Les quiero presentar mi muy buen amiga...

2005-05-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

La Dolores II Desnuda

And La Dolores II

Dolores II is pictured above wearing a dress that I will never finish. Its a loverly dress, but cut on the bias, which is a pain in the ass cut successful. She is also sporting one of my first knitted projects, skinny scarf in black gorilla, um, eye lash yarn. Once upon a time there was a Dolores I. She was not adjustable, but she was dependable. She perished in flames years ago in the infamous 'Day-after-Thanksgiving-Haight-Street fire' of 1994.

Dolores II came into my life about a year ago. She had been working as a lingerie model in a friend's bedroom for nearly eight years. The friend was downsizing, and so Dolores II came to me. I should add that Dolores II was named in honor of Dolores I by said friend. Now Dolores II is in my steady employ as a knit wear model, 'cos really its easier to take a picture of* your finished projects on a person (object) than to juggle a camera, compose a shot and take a decent picture front of the mirror. (I have proof positive that some of you can do it, and with good result, not me).

Corsa and Godiva feel that it is not fair that Dolores II gets a whole blog entry to herself. They also would like everyone to visit their Dogster pages. They would like to go on record that they had blogs long before the author did. So there!

* (05/04/05) Good grief, I really can finish my sentences. Apologies to all who read this post last night when my editor was on VACATION!

Move over Kate Spade...

2005-05-02T21:13:00.000-07:00

there is a new bag lady in town!

"Should I line my bag?", I mused aloud while doing the dishes. To which Husband replied, "Yes, of course!" Now I had thought that I was musing to myself, but I was not. Husband is quite the cheerleader for creativity. I rummaged through my scrap trunk and found a 1/4 yard of Op art-ish fabric that fit the bill. And so...

Failing my dastardly plot to unseat Kate Spade as supreme ruler of the hand bag business, I might try to unseat the hat king of the world...

Can anyone tell me who the hat king is?

PS Flu bug has gone! Twas a 24 deal. Thank dog!

Felting on the edge...

2005-05-02T17:05:00.000-07:00

Firstly, many thanks to all who responded to my plea for help regarding the YO dilemma. I think I am on track now, and will post pictures as I go.

I am laid low by a flu bug at the moment. Thing seems to have come out of nowhere, not a soul I know is sick right now, and I have the sturdiest constitution known to womankind! So I am deeply distressed by this turn of events; deeply distressed, achy, stuffy, sore and cranky! Lovely combo! To top it off, our workplace has instituted a "if you are sick, don’t bother to show up" policy, which is fine if you are salaried, but for me, it means I don't get paid. Oh well. Less yarn for me this month.

A few weeks ago I started a felted bag of my own design. I decided that I wanted a little summer bag, in pink and yellow. I fearlessly began knitting. I did, in a moment of clarity, write down my steps as I knit the first side. Lucky thing that, as yesterday I decided to knit the second half of the bag. I finished the bag while watching Neverland (sobbing hysterically, Johnny Depp and a Scottish accent... had I died on the sofa yesterday, it would have been as a happy woman!).

Here is the bag pre-felting:

And post:

I am very pleased. Contrary to my last foray into felting with Cascade 220, this bag is not bizarrely shaped, it is exactly as I had envisioned it. Honestly I don’t know why or how it turned out as well as it did. I did write up the pattern which I am happy to share with anyone who is interested. I am thinking of needle felting a flower on to the front. Any suggestions?

Now I go back to the Hoodie, and Godiva goes about her business in the garden....

YO dilemma

2005-04-29T10:05:00.000-07:00

In working on the lace pattern for the Hoodie, I think I may be making a critical error in my yarn overs. I am fine when I YO knitwise, but when I YO purlwise I seem to have a larger loop. I think I may be creating YO and half in the purlwise YOs. Is it possible?

I think I've got the YO to the knit side down. Here is my YO knitwise:

Here is my YO purlwise:

It is hard to tell from the photographs, but when I YO to the purlside the yarn starts in the back, so I end up making an entire loop over the needle. When I YO to the knit side the yarn starts in the front, and I simply lay the yarn over the needle to make the knit stitch in back. Am I YO'ing to much on the purlside? Or too little knitwise? Will it tighten up in when I block it? I should add that I am knitting with cotton, so I don't hold out much hope for shrinkage.

Aside from my YO confusion I am loving this pattern. And now that the boooooooooooooooring sleeves and the endless back are finished, the rest is gravy. Can't wait to sew it together. I actually enjoy finishing ever since I purchased The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques.

Dear Mr. Bird,

2005-04-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

Please note that this:

Not such a good place for this:

I poke around in this, deadhead the flowers, fertilize it with Osmocot, drench it with water. Do your young need that?

What were you thinking? Just because the basket looks like nesting material, and is easy to get to, does not mean that it is a good idea. You placed your nest above the dog door, were you just going to let your baby chick flop out into the waiting mouth of a hungry Labrador? Or worse, be dragged into the house by one of the miserable cats in a sadistic, feral moment?

I do not appreciate you scolding me from on top of the fig tree, nor do I appreciate your shrewish partner dive bombing my shins.

You are a very lazy bird. Next time try real estate in say.... oh.... any one of the many trees in the Santa Cruz Mountains, there are one or two, here and there.

Respectfuly,

The Gardener.

(This little story ended in tragedy, hence my cautionary tale for future bird parents in my neighborhood who are eyeing my hanging baskets as potential real estate booty: DON'T. Last Saturday I went to deadhead the pansies in the basket. The basket exploded with baby birds, seemed like hundreds, turned out to be just one. Mama bird and Papa bird started flying at my head and shins, scolding me furiously, Junior fled into the veggie patch, and then into the blackberry brambles. I moved their "nest" into the brambles in the hopes that Junior, nest and parents would all find each other. The chick was not at a stage where it could fly. The photographs were taken yesterday after I had assured myself that the birds had not moved back into their nest. The egg pictured in the nest did not hatch; I have to think that maybe the Osmocot and the regular waterings had something to with that. I am truly traumatized by the whole event, knowing that I am the likely cause of that chick's demise.)

WHY??????

2005-04-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

Why????? Waahhhhh!

I have developed an acute case of chronic Sunday night insomnia. Last Sunday night I slept nary a wink, but I attributed it to the large chocolate sundae and the double espresso shot (albeit decaf, I am sure it had a psychological impact). So yesterday I was really careful, nothing remotely chocolate or containing caffeine hours before bed. Was it the decaf latte at 2pm? Did I get caffeine by mistake? Was it the shopping buzz? Crammed in a small dressing room on Union Street with my friend AMB trying on poorly made peasant skirts that we decided we needed RIGHT THEN? Was it working on the reversible frost flower lace too late into the evening? Is it my re-reading of 1984? Aggggh!

At 11 I finish swatching the reversible frost flowers lace pattern.

The swatch looks great. .I decide to go to bed, even though I am not terribly tired. I get in bed, frozen solid because I have been sitting in concentrated knitting pose, barefoot, for several hours. I weasel my feet over to the husband's side of the bed and place my Popsicle toes on his warm legs. Diva dog glares at me as I disturb her sleep trying to get in near the husband's radiant calves (it never seems to occur to her that I don't take kindly to the 6 am ear shattering wake up barks, so I figure a little dog jostling is not out of question, but the looks that dog gives when she is disturbed - wow!). I start to read 1984. Winston is about to go to visit O'Brien. I know how it ends, but for some reason this reading feels like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The book is affecting me a little too much this evening. I put it down. I decide that a little light creative reading is in order. I pick up Knitting on the Edge. It’s too cumbersome to read in a prone position. I put it down. I get up, go downstairs to get water. Return to my office and pull out the latest Rebecca and Interweave magazines. I flip through Interweave, and realize (again) that I wasted my dime on this issue. Put it down. Make the mistake of looking at the clock. Shit, its 12:36am. I have to be up in 5 1/2 hours! Ok, ok. I'll pee, again, and see if I have any of those Exedrin PM's left. Pee, pop the Excedrin PM, and pick up Rebecca. Read a couple patterns, make mental lists. Look at the clock! Agh WHY did I do that???? 1:09am. Decide that a shot of bourbon is the only way to make it work. Go downstairs, pour healthy shot of bourbon. Go back to bed, worm re-popsicled toes over to warm side of bed, stick tongue out at pissy dog. Turn out light. Close eyes, and immediately begin to hallucinate reverse frost flower lace pattern. Glare at clock with one eye... 1:25, 1:52, 2:36, 3:02. 5:30 rolls around and some guy starts talking loudly about traffic in Fremont. Husband gets out of bed and showers. I pull all of his pillows and pile them on my head. This will make me sleep. He leaves the house at 6:15. I need to be up at 6:30 to get to work on time. The pillows do their magic. I wake up at 7:24 after 69 minutes of sleep, not a one of them refreshing. My tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth, my hair is dirty, and it feels like someone has poured sand in my eyes. I can't get to work by 8 and not look like I spent the weekend on a bender. So I am late. Hopefully the artful application of blush and mascara has tricked my co-workers into thinking I am awake today. I'm not.

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? Do I have this Sunday night disease? I don't even have a particularly stressful job.

On a completely different subject, is it ok to put up a link of a blog that you read without first having contacted the author? What is the protocol? Since I am so new and all....

Beginning my studies the first step pleas'd me so much *

2005-04-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

Photographs from the rock garden in late evening

Right now I am a menace with my digital camera. I am making a practice upon returning home for the evening of taking photos of anything I can. I clearly have issues with composition, focus and exposure. But I figure if I practice daily, I can only get better... right? I am really frustrated with the focus issue - the composition looks focused when I get ready to take the picture, so what happens? Dunno. Any hints? I am using a Pentax Optio. I really do love it, and when I take good pictures they are out of this world, its just that is a 300 to 1 ratio right now.

I am going to take a few classes this summer. Promise

And now for knitting content

Godiva thinks that sleeves are reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllly boring

I am plugging away at the Hoodie. I only wish that sleeves would knit themselves. These sleeves are particularly tedious, as they have NO shaping! Just big ole rectangles of endless turquoise cotton! Bleh. This brings up a question that has plagued this newbie knitter - why are sleeves always listed last in patterns? Is there some reason that we should knit our sleeves last? If so I am screwing myself by knitting the sleeves second? I think that the front is going to be great fun to knit. More on the hoodie later.

The choli pattern came in the mail on Monday. I have swatched for the choli project. This weekend I will take the swatches and the pattern and try to figure out how to make a flat pattern into a knitting pattern. Has anyone out there done this? Any suggestions?

These are the yarns that are candidates for the choli.

*Walt Whitman from "Inscriptions" Leaves of Grass.

Alpha and Omega

2005-04-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

In the begining there was darkness and a banister.

And then, after the miracle of the Internet and WEBS, there is light, time, well wound and stacked balls of yarn.

Goddess Bless the UPS man!

No knitting, just photography

2005-04-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

I love Bugs, they are so cute!

From the Volkswagon Show and Swap Meet at Kelly Park, San Jose.  April 17, 2005.

Unreasonable? Arrogant?

2005-04-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

...of me to think that I can knit a choli? I just purchased "South Asian Tops and Wraps" from Folkwear, which includes a good, basic choli top. I have made the pattern a number of times... out of fabric. With summer coming, it just seems like a good idea. I assume I will need a fiber that does not have much give - silk? cotton silk blend? Any ideas?

Anyway how hard can it be? Shaped pieces for the front cups, under bust panel, and side boob framing pieces (like my technical language?), a fairly basic back, some additional shaping in the sleeves. Since it will be knitted I think I can forgo the underarm gusset, the knit fabric should have a little more give to it, and I think gusset seams might add too much bulk in the pits.

Did I mention that I have only been knitting for about two years? That I am fairly incapable of following directions? That all of my projects are deeply personalized with little love flaws? That I am generally very driven to finish things so I can get on to the next project, hence I rarely frog unless it is the only recourse? And for my next trick, I'll knit a farthingale! HAHA!

I am sure you are wondering why I purchased the pattern if I have made it in the past... well, the pattern wasn't mine. I used to work for a designer/costumer at a small shop in San Francisco, Labyrith Phassions and Costumes, where the choli top was one of our staples. We made them up in traditional sari fabric, printed velvets, brocades; you name it we pretty much made it. I had a lovely one for a number of years, made of vintage sari silk, which smelled like onions (most of our sari fabrics did) and finally shredded along the seams.

I finished the back of the hoodie, but it hardly merits a photo. Looks like a big 'ole greenish/blue cotton square (dish cloth, perhaps?). Instead, I leave you with a photo I took in the ancient royal city of Ayutthaya, Thailand, August of 2003.

Mating Rituals of Pom Poms

2005-04-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip down the stairs I was lucky enough to observe and photograph the pom-pom mating ritual.

Here we see the lonely male pom-pom. Note how the male pom-pom is grey in color with two long "feelers" or antennae.

An interesting characteristic of the pom-pom is the additional "neuter" sex. Note that neuters can be of any color, but lack the long, waving antenna of the male or the short, pert antenna of the female. We see a neuter pom-pom passing by the male. Note that the male pom-pom does not exhibit any reaction. Pom-poms react by waving and bunching their antennae.

Ah, we see a female pom-pom approaching. Note her deep purple color. Her antenna are neutral at present.

The male and female pom-pom engage in the age old dance of love. This female does not appear to be very receptive to the male's advances.

Male pom-poms are not easily discouraged, but they know when to move on. This male has spotted a large blonde that strikes his fancy. He will start his courtship ritual again...

"The Learning Curve", or "Why it is wise to follow directions"

2005-04-12T12:44:00.000-07:00

I have just learned how to lose a post! Oh joy!

A number of weeks ago I was loading the dishwasher, in my own style, when the husband suggested/pointed out/kindly advised that my placement of the wooden spoons in the flatware basket would interfere with the free movement of the spinny/washy thingie. He went on to ask why I was doing this when it had not worked in the past, and that since he had told me this on several occasions, he did not understand why I persisted. To which I replied, " 'Cos, I don't listen".

This illustrates one of my more endearing personality quirks. I don't listen, I don't follow directions, I don't like to swatch, I don't like to save. Hence I have lost a post due to my unwillingness (blithe disregard for the kind suggestion "SAVE AS DRAFT" staring me in the face from the bottom of the screen?) to save. I have knit more than a few oddly shaped objects. To wit the oddly shaped French Market Basket (from Knitty) pictured with the laborious, boring progress on the back of the hoodie. (This photo does not do justice to the irregularity of the market basket - looks kinda groovy from this vantage)

The Market Basket is really cute, but weirdly shallow and the handles are not easily placed for carrying. I attribute this to the fact that it is one of my earliest projects, and the first that I felted (this is of course my excuse and a cover up for the whole unwillingness to follow directions/swatch/listen thing).

How about that tape measure!

In an effort to free myself from the fetters of patterns and directions in general I am attempting to whip up a felted summer bag of my own creation.

Love those colors! And I have found that Cascade 220 felts up like a dream (a small, tight dream, but a dream nonetheless). Will post bag if it turns out (and perhaps even if it doesn't).

This is what Corsa thinks about following directions, and vegetables.



Disclaimer: I have since listened to the sage advice with regards the dishwasher, and our dishes are cleaner... and lest anyone think ill of the husband, he is the most wonderful guy out there!

Testing the photo posting waters

2005-04-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

IMGP0488
Originally uploaded by chelajanenoto.

My inner ludite is rearing her ugly, truculent head. I am lost with this photo hosting business. Why can't I just drag and drop... Oh well bear with me as I figure out how to post, format, move about etc.

I suppose that I might have more success if I read the directions, but I am very, very, very resistant to reading directions.

On to the photo: I just completed this wonderful sweater (and no that is not a tarantula crawling across the waistline, but an ornate purple rhinestone broach). The pattern is from White Lies Designs. I used about 1200 yards of 4 ply baby alpaca that I picked up at Stitches West. The yarn was in two unmarked hanks, so I don't know who produces it, only that I am totally in love with alpaca, and now want to knit everything in alpaca.

Currently I am working on the Norah Gaughan's wrap front hoodie from the Spring/Summer Vogue Knitting. So far the back is extremely uninteresting, just an episode of Seinfeld and last Monday's 24 worth of 2x2 ribbing and stockinet stitch (translates into 10 inches... with variations in tension based on proximity of Jack Baur to the bad guys... will President Keeler survive??? Yikes. Will my hoodie be all discombobulated? Will summer ever come to Los Gatos?) But I am looking forward to working the two-sided frost flower lace on the front. (Will summer arrive? Please tell me that it will!)

Ahem...

2005-04-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

...the best laid plans have an uncanny way of falling to the wayside in my life.

I am sure, dear reader (that being the Oosband so far), that you're waiting with baited breath for pictures of projects past, guest appearances by the cast of characters from my previous post, and of course Dolores II. I promise this post will not disapoint. My darling Oosband gave me a snazzy digital camera for Christmas, so I have been digitizing and cataloging madly ever since.

A final note, I did dress my friends and family in caplets and ponchos for the holidays. Sadly they all hightailed it out of town in their fancy new garb before I was able to get any nice digital photos (read - before I read the directions for my new camera and stopped taking picutres of my thumb).

PS just picked up my own copy of Yarn Harlot's "At Knit's End". Laughing butt off! Thank you!

PPS this post did disapoint with regards to photo posting. The learning curve is steep, and I just highsided.

Joining the fray

2004-10-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

After several months of reading other blogs about knitting, cooking, gardening and other general craftiness, and frankly feeling a little bit sneaky about it all, I have decided to cast my needles into the mix. I was taught to knit in the fourth grade when I lived in Canberra, Australia. Something about preparing us for life as wives in the outback, or some such other nonsense. I knit my father a large aqua blue wallet with a ginornmous bone button - I think my intention had been to knit him a sweater... but at age 7 or 8 my attention span rivaled that of a gnat with ADD. 30 years later, during the scarf craze of 2003 I found a set of plastic needles that I had used as a prop in a show. I hightailed it down to the nearest Michaels (yuck) and promptly bought myself enough black eyelash yarn to knit a gorilla. I knit scarves for my family, my friends, my cousin, my cousin’s wife, my co-workers, and the gas station attendant... And I got bored. In my frenzy I decided to knit the "oosband" a sweater. Armed with a copy of "Stich and Bitch", enthusiasm and fearlessness go a long way. I had no clue what I was doing, but it turned out pretty well - aside from the pinhead neck. The addiction hit hard and fast. I did replace the blue plastic needles. My needles have not had much of a rest since last October. And now as we are facing the holiday season, I plan to dress my family in ponchos and capelets.

I know it is a bit of a cheat, but over the next few posts I want to share the objects that I have already finished. This blog will also be interspersed with guest appearances by my sidekicks Corsa, Godiva, Gina and Jack, occasional spots by the "oosband", and of course the shoes, without which a knitted ensemble is not complete. I nearly forgot Dolores II... you will meet her soon.