The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

I have been much inspired by Monkeemaven's rooftop pictures of her WIP's and FO's so I hauled some of my WIP's and almost, practically FO's to the pump house for their photo op.
I am still working on two entrelac scarves from Gedifra Highlights 042. As you can see, if this were a race, scarf number two would be winning.
I am two repeats into the Fall 2005 Interweave Knits Cabled Shrug. It took me quite a while to copy the charts and enlarge the charts and cut the charts and tape them to cardstock and color-code the stitches and slip it in a plastic jacket. Phew! I need a nap just thinking about it. Everyone doesn't have to go through this piffle, I'm sure, but this allows me to leave my knitting and return to it without (hardly) ever going awry--'cept for the occasional tinking of half a row here and there necessitated by the occasional short trips to the Zone I experience from time to time.

This Lucy Bag just needs to be kitchnered and felted.

This is the unsheared Satchel made with White Buffalo. It needs its strap sewn on.

I have finished another short row project, the Mezza Luna Bag in Classic Elite Gatsby in color way I Forget. Gatsby has been discontinued but the pattern calls for any worsted, Aran or other weight that will give 4" to 4 1/2" sts/inch in stockinette. Since I am a slovenly swatchless individual my finished bag is larger than the pattern's dimemsions of 14" high overall and 7" at the lowest part of the center opening. Mine is 16" and 9" at the center opening. Let me stick a picture here so you can see what I'm talking about.

I love the bag part but I'm not crazy about the strap. I may cut it in half lengthwise and refelt it and add another thin strap in a contrasting color and twist them together. This is a fun pattern and, as the pattern says, it is deceptively easy to knit. Aside from the shape, I especially like the strap tabs.

They are knit during the bind off and attached using a three-needle cast off. They could also be bound off and sewn after felting and since I am no good at describing anything just skip this part because I'm sure it makes no sense. The tabs need to be stuffed with plastic bags or some such to prevent felting them closed. It's not written in the pattern and I wasn't thinking when I pitched mine in the washer and they did felt together a bit but I inserted a large pair of scissors and opened and closed them a few times and all was well. I'm going to put it in a neighbor's washing machine that has a Serious Agitation setting and see if it won't felt down to a smaller size.
And finally, the really not good looking Inky Dinky Bag made with Cascade 220 in colorway Once Is Enough--I dyed it myself and, believe me, this color ain't ever going to happen again.

It measures 4 1/2" by 8" and is just something I made up as I went along. I am going to sew some small D-rings to attach the orange-brassy looking chain I will use for the strap. I made the buttonhole because I want to use a really cool orange-brassy-looking button that I found. I am waffling over making a bag that will be more worthy of the hardware and just make a thin strap out of the yarn and throw on another button for the Inky Dinky. The bag is only slightly better looking in real life, by the way, but the dear brat things it's cute.
Okay, I think that's enough for this episode. Happy holidays to all--I know it's early for some of them but I never know when I'll get back here.

WIP's, Yarn and SEX!!

Normally those are three of my favorite words but they have kept me so busy I have no time for posting. Poor blog--I do miss you so.

On the needles:

Fashion Trend Scarf I
Fashion Trend Scarf II
Lucy Bag
Booger-ish Bag
Pair of socks for a mouse (Long story but suffice it to say it's not a real mouse.)
Cabled Shrug from the Fall 2005 Interweave Knits
To-be-frogged-Clapotis (No glitches, just don't like the colorway.)

No pictures, no time, sorry.

I organized the stash Saturday...hmmmm...yes, it was just Saturday--it seemed like it took a week to finish--and I discovered some White Buffalo I didn't know I had. Actually, it was more of Damnation-I-thought-I-had-swapped-all-of-you!! moment. I tell ya, if you buy twenty-three pounds of White Buffalo the SABLE Fairy will not let you forget it. (It was a SALE, I have repented, I have shared the wealth, I have made several Buffalo projects, don't I deserve some peace now?) Anyway, after the stash organization, I took my patterns in hand, parceled out yarn for each and placed a pattern and the yarn required in a ziplock bag. I then paused for a Martha moment of patting myself on the back for a good thing well done and realized with a shock that I hadn't had SEX in nearly a MONTH. (This realization occurred, by the way, after a recent balancing of the checkbook and the happy discovery of a larger balance that I had thought available.) Well, the fever was upon me. I will spare you the crass details of my binge.

O! SABLE Fairy, tortureth me not for yea, verily, I promise I shall shareth thy bounty. Speaketh thou with Fairy of the Paid Bills, for he hath been mollified. Verily.

This has been the BEST SP round

I received my last parcel of the SP5 round from Lainch this morning. I must type this now as she sent me a bar of Green & Black's and I will shortly be very ill because I have no will power AT ALL and will eat the whole thing today.

She sent three skeins each of Rowan dk tweed and Jo Sharp's Silkroad dk tweed, the Green & Black's, an audio cd of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, some tiny little hanks of cotton, silk cocoons, which I have never seen before, silk ribbon and tiny wood ornaments for my Top Secret Projects, and a very, very nice card, which I forgot to put in the picture.

She also made this for me.

Four and one half feet of a silky-soft lace scarf. *sigh* She made lace for me. It's beautiful; a dusky lavender, and my photography skills do not do it justice. Here's a close-up.

Not only am I overwhelmingly happy she made it for me, I am also purple, red, yellow, and green with envy that she makes lace so beautifully and I can't even make lace uglify.

Peri, you have been the best pal anyone could have, and I too feel like I have made a friend.

The Off Yarn

I had some time off over the weekend. Some much needed time off, I may add. Of course I had all sorts of things planned and knowing that everyone has been waiting impatiently for an account of the festivities, here goes.

Account of the Festivities.

Things didn't go as planned. Quelle suprise. (But everything turned out all right.)

My neighbor inveigled me into accompanying her to the "Y" for a little exercise. Since one of my New Year's, Easter, May Day, Birthday, Fourth of July, and Halloween resolutions was to get in shape, I thought it would be a good time to begin. My neighbor, Lynn, went to the weight room and I went to the pool to do some laps. (There seems to be some discrepancy in the definition of "a lap". Personally, I believe from the shallow end to the deep end is one lap. There are people who believe from the shallow end to the deep end and back to the shallow end is one lap. These people are wrong--it's my blog, my definition.) Since I hadn't lifted anything heavier that a fork in months I decided it would be prudent to use a kickboard so I wouldn't drown if I ran out of gas or caught a cramp, or both. A tribe of little kiddies, the Diving Dolphins, were perched on the bleachers awaiting a lesson. (Diving Dolphins do not dive, they swim--probably named by the wierd lap-definition guy.)

I was glad to get in the water ahead of the DD's because children that age have a tendency to pee in the pool water and I don't care how much chlorine there is in the mix, pee is still pee. It's sort of a phobia of mine. I eased into the water--heated but you couldn't prove it by me--and kickboarded my way to the deep end--one lap. I made my way back to the shallow end--lap two. My goal was six. I was a bit puffy, a nice euphemism for "sucking wind", so my next trip to the deep end was much slower. I decided midway that my next lap to the shallow end would be my last. But, hey, I had made an effort and I felt pretty good about it. When I reached the deep end I was so tired I figured I better quit before I had a heart attack. I was very, very tired. I had reached muscle fatigue. How does one know when one has reached muscle fatigue? Ah, well, when one can't haul one's fat arse out of the pool, that's how one knows.

I was stuck in the deep. My whole body was on strike except my lungs, which graciously continued to take in air. I couldn't get out, couldn't kick to the shallow end where the steps hung out, and I would not call out to the Diving Dolphins to get an adult to help me out. (Half of you are thinking, "I understand completely; I would be too embarassed to ask for help." The other half who are not thinking that go away.)

I don't know if you have had occasion to appear nonchalant while gasping for air as you clutch a kickboard at the deep end of a swimming pool but it's not as easy as you may think. There was not much to look at, no one I could talk to, and no Musak to hum along with. When the DD's got in the water I pretended an interest in them while oh, so slowly scooching my hands along the side of the pool trying to make it to the Other Side before one of the DD's decided to "go" in the pool. The pool at our Y is the olympian-approved size, a mile and a half long I think, but it took forever to get to the 3 1/2 ft. marker. Meantime I was getting cold--heated pool my great aunt fanny--and I had a nearly debilitating cramp in my left pinkie toe.

Time passed. A long time passed and, yes, Virginia, help did come. Lynn came to see what was taking me so long and towed me to the shallow end and helped me up the steps. She refused to haul me out in the contraption they have for people who are unable to walk without assistance--claimed I didn't need it. She did agree to massage my foot because my pinkie toe was killing me. She did agree it was a shame I had been stuck in the water. She did laugh until she got cramps--hah! She did say she would pay for lunch since she had been so entertained, although she said it was because I had had such a hard workout (plus she knew I was too tired to eat).

My new New Year's resolution this time will probably be to get in shape, but I think I'll just buy a girdle.

And a by the way...ya know, sometimes I don't think how odd things must appear to non-knitting non-blogging personnel. While I was off I made a pair of socks (from yarn sent by my wonderful no longer Secret Pal, Lainch). They were stunnin' but I forgot my camera so I asked an in-law if I could borrow his so I could get a cd made at Wally World allowing me to upload them when I returned to work. He said he didn't lend his camera out but he would be glad to come and take the pictures I wanted. **reword that sentence so it makes sense** When he arrived I had my socks artfully arranged atop a cloth-covered patio table awaiting their photo-op. In-law wouldn't take the picture. He thought it was a joke. I cooed and cajoled and told him about the world of knitters and blogging and almost had him convinced until my darling person cracked a joke about it. In-law thought we were setting him up for some horrific Halloween prank and wouldn't be pursuaded otherwise. (Can't say I blamed him, my darling person did put a biggish turtle in his toilet one year.)

Any way, like Yogi Bara sort of said, "It just goes to show ya that three-fourths of the world just doesn't understand what the other half enjoys and a third of them won't try."

Backwarding better

I thought I had nailed it but...

Since I am new to reverse knitting and I started the scarf from my previous post before I was proficient--sounds better than "didn't practice enough"--I ran into some technical difficulties. Well, perhaps aesthetic difficulties would be more apropos. My tension changed dramatically **tension walks on stage and shouts, "I have changed!"** so I frogged the scarf and started over. I considered this a sign of (pick one) my maturing character or sheer lunacy. Persnickety perfectionism is SO not me and at first I balked at the idea of frogging and tried purposely knitting loosely, which did not work. Then I changed to larger needles which worked but didn't improve the beginning crappethy part of the fabric. So *sigh* I started over and have become a saner woman in the process. (Snicker and I will find you.)

See the differences in stitch quality , not to mention size, of my scarves done with the same yarn on the same needles but with much better control of the working yarn.

It is not perfect but I think it's much better looking and *gasp* it is the correct gauge. There are occasional wonky stitches but usually these result from putting my work down mid-row or not paying attention because this pattern it not something to zone out on. Nope, it's definitely not a knit-while-steering-with-one-knee WIP but I do enjoy the entrelac technique and I'm having a good time with it and that's what matters, eh?

I'm backwards

After much aggravation and cussin' I have mastered (mistressed?) reverse/backward knitting. I am really more of a reverse purler as I haven't yet done a pattern requiring the reverse knitting. The actual making of a single stitch is not a big deal in itself. It's speeding up and developing a technique that insures even stitches and tension that nearly caused me to snatch myself bald-headed. I have nailed it and I am ridiculously proud of myself. I am now the Backward-Knitting Clap-Queen Bag-Hag and Short-Row Junkie. Feel free to kowtow .

Sue, yarn-junkie enabler extraodinaire, at Little Knits told me about this scarf pattern in Gedifra Highlights 042

She made me get the book and yarn Gedifra Fashion Trend Stripe in colorway 16 which just happens to be soft and beautiful and which I had never seen before but she assured me I would love and I do and I hate when she's right.

I have two on the needles right now.

The first is actually my second start on the pattern. I knit four rows in some scrap yarn to see if the pattern needed any tweaking, frogged it and started the two you see. The first is made with Wool Ease on size seven needles and the second is made with the Gedifra mentioned above on size tens. You can see more clearly in the second picture that I have three sets of twelve live stitches on one needle. The pattern calls for the live stitches to be placed on a stitch holder but I find they can be left on the needle even if I turn the work. When the fabric got longer and too cumbersome to turn I still left the live stitches on the needle and used a DPN to knit the stitches currently in use. I'm no good at describing things and I'm sure that last bit made no sense so just skip it. Of course, reverse knitting makes the whole pattern much simpler and faster.

Now, a month ago, if I had read that sentence written by someone else I would have scoffed. I am, after all, fifty-two years old and I have been knitting a long time and after a token attempt I thought the technique was beyond me--the whole new-dog-new-trick thing, ya know. But I was wrong--and there's three words I don't say/write/type often. I practiced, cussed, practiced, cussed, and finally something clicked in the brain to hands transmission and I was backwarding up a storm. I'm not bragging, it was really hard for me to learn, but I am so proud of me.

I may be growing a fennel bush

I received a package from the illustrious Ms. S. Pal. Behold.

There were wonderful new-to-me-yarns: A skein each of Rowan Big Wool, Rowanspun, Wool Cotton, and the magnificent, heard-about-it-but-WOW! Kidsilk Haze. (Pardon me while I put on my dribble bib.) I started swatches of each immediately, except the Kidsilk Haze. There should be a warning on its wrapper, "Froggeth ye not for, yea, verily, I ain't gonna do it." I am petting it so much it will soon be be unknittable if I don't stop.

I also got a poem, Widecombe Fair, a kit to make a star cushion (?)--I'm not sure what it is exactly because I don't want to open it yet. I'm sure to lose the bits and pieces. There was also an elegant card with elephants on it. Miz Pal included a stick of rock candy, which I am not going to eat but keep on my desk shelf as a remembrance so I can get the warm fuzzies when I see it, and some beautiful ruby colored English Rose soap--smells heavenly but tastes terrible (and how would one know if one did not try it?). And I got a sweet little tin of comfit. Do you know what comfit are? They are confections made of a small piece of fruit, a seed, or a nut coated in sugar. (One had to look it up. One was not schooled in comfitture.) When I saw it I stripped it of its plastic wrap, opened it, saw some pink Tic Tac looking things and popped one in my mouth. Hmmmm. It was naive little tidbit but amusingly presumptious with a nicely focused hint of cinnamon. Quite nice. However, it did have a very small piece of wood at it's core and I spat this out. (Translation: I went, "Blaaaah!" over the trash can.) I had another. Same small bit of wood. I picked up my tin and read "Cinnamon Comfit", ingredients: sugar, starch, fennel seed, cinnamon oil, color #120. I didn't know what a comfit was so I thought perhaps it was not meant to taken orally and grabbed the Webster's to look it up. Turned out that the bit of wood was the fennel seed, duh, which was what made the candy a comfit and not a Tic Tac. I have had several since and I have decided I like them. I chewed a few of the fennel seeds and some I swallowed whole--not really up on my Comfit Etiquette. Someone must let me know the proper procedure. (I did discover, however, that I can not spit them with any degree of accuracy.)

I like trying new things but I was a I-never-had-it-and-I-know-I-won't-like-it person for a long time; afraid to try anything new. No more. I enjoy new taste experiences and look forward to more--Ms. Pal has been asking about chocolate and tea preferences. Can't wait to taste them.

But I still don't like the soap.