The Yarn Path

Did you all have a fine and satisfying Thanksgiving? We have a TON of turkey in the freezer and I am looking forward to making it into everything I can think up including curry. I've never attempted curry, though I dearly love the stuff, and I figure it's time I learned how to make it for myself :) Besides that there will be turkey and rice, turkey omelets and massive turkey sandwiches! I probably won't add any to the strawberry ice cream, though :)

I finished the first hand towel yesterday whilst recuperating from Thanksgiving dinner :)





I debated about putting a border on it and actually gave it a go. It didn't look right somehow so I ripped it off and am happier with the towel just as it is. One down, one to go! Here it is all neatly wrapped with a little braided cord, waiting to be tucked into it's basket.





Pursuant to our discussion of the marvelous Tweed Mock Rib (TMR) stitch (the name of which I completely forgot to mention when I first posted about it - thanks Lisa!), I started a practice project a couple of nights ago.





This is being worked on size 10 (US) needles with Red Heart TLC Heather yarn in Spruce. This acrylic yarn has a nice feel to it - not rough at all - and comes in a wonderful array of colors. Though it is labeled as worsted weight, I would call it heavy worsted or even, maybe, aran. Even on the #10 needles, (and this isn't being worked tightly at all) the fabric isn't lacey or gappy. Note the three pattern repeats of the TMR at the beginning of the piece? It tends to pull in a bit - not as much as a regulation rib stitch would, but a slight amount. I'm not entirely sure this is what I want, but as this is a practice piece only, I'll probably leave it as is for now and see how things work out. This probably won't see much work in the immediate future but when I need a break from the Christmas gifts for a little while, this will fill the bill nicely!

I'm getting ready to start this shawl for a friend in England.





This is from Nancie Wiseman's Shawls, Stoles and Scarves - can you tell I like this book? Her model was made up in linen which I imagine makes a fabulous and luscious shawl. I don't happen to have any on hand, but I do have some eggplant colored, DK weight alpaca that I think would fit the bill. I should finished the pattern swatching today and perhaps even be able to get started on this tonight.

We are gamers. Well, Myria is a gamer. A good one. I am an assistant puzzle-solver, shouter of warnings - anything that doesn't involve manning a controller. The set-up is moderately serious as we derive a great deal of entertainment this way. But you need to know that as a reporter, I am pretty much an observer here. In addition to a 24" flat screen TV and a Sony home theatre system, there are Playstation 2, Nintendo Game Cube and X-box consoles - not to mention the Gameboy systems that each of us has.





When we acquired the Nintendo Game Cube, we bought "The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker" at hideous full price. This happened for two reasons. One, the reviews of the game had been highly laudatory and gave us the impression that this was a worthy successor to reason number two. Two, the N64 title "The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time" was about as perfect a gaming experience as you could ever wish for and is possibly the best console game ever created. (Note: Ocarina is now available for the Game Cube. If you have this console and are looking for something thrilling, absorbing and utterly immersive and amazing - get this game!)

Initially, I was mildly disappointed in Windwaker's change in graphic style, from a more detailed, semi-realistic style, to a far more flat, cartoonish style. I was willing to shelve that issue, pending discovery of the story line, the action componenets, the characters, etc.

Sadly, none of it came up to snuff. The story is thin (well, the story is thin in a lot of console games), the characters are ridiculous, the requirements of acquiring all the necessary game pieces (to open the final battle) are extensive, tedious and boring and the action is practically non-existant. There are only four dungeons in this game (5, if you count the final big boss) and the boss-battles of those dungeons are repeated at the beginning of the final battle sequence. That's right - the game writers couldn't be bothered with creating more than four major battles and figured that making you go through them all again at the end of the game would be sufficient. The final battle itself is a joke - an endless, nonsensical go-round with the big bad that seems to terminate for no particular reason.

There is never any sense in this game that you are accomplishing anything significant. There is never the feeling that what you do matters all that much. Really, if you're going to create a game about saving the world, shouldn't there be some sense of awe at the enormity of the task? Some sense of dread at what the villain(s) are capable of? Some feeling of elation at the completion of a successful battle? There are none of those things here.

Myria tells me that the camera is a severe pain in the tuchus as well. Awkward at best, when a cut scene is triggered, camera control is lost. This is a major matter, especially during a battle sequence.

In sum, this game was a grave disappointment and not worth anything like the obligatory new game fee of $49.99. If you just have to play this game, wait until the price has dropped. It really isn't worth what's being asked for it. Then again, I suppose you could see the price as another tedious task you are required to perform to get to the final boss - though it seems to me there are enough of those already.

We finished this game a few days ago and only barely managed to stick it out to the end because the lack of depth and scope. It was hard to care enough to see it through.





This was next on the roster. Kingdom Hearts is a Playstation 2 game and one of the oddest concepts you're ever likely to run across. It is a joint effort between Squaresoft (creators of the very successful Final Fantasy series) and Disney studios. Yes, Disney! The result takes the form of a typical Final Fantasy RPG (Role Playing Game) centering around Disney worlds and characters.

The main character is Sora, a 14 year old boy (voiced by Haley Joel Osment) and the real action begins when the "Heartless" open a door into his world and Sora, with two of his friends, are sucked into the void. The doors between worlds are meant to remain closed, otherwise everything falls into chaos. The Heartless have been opening all the doors. People are disappearing and worlds are disintegrating. Sora finds himself on a sort of nexus world called Traverse Town. His friends aren't with him and part of the future action of the story revolves around his attempts to find them. There is, of course, something special about Sora and he is selected by the Keyblade (which becomes Sora's principle weapon) to fight the coming battles and, hopefully, restore proper order to this universe. Sora learns about the Heartless and what is happening to the various worlds and is joined by Goofy and Donald Duck; Donald is actually comprehensible for once! They are searching for the king of their world who has, like so many others, vanished. They join Sora and the quest begins to defeat the Heartless and close the doors to the worlds.

Sound preposterous?

On paper, it does. But on screen, it's another matter entirely. The characters are wonderfully drawn and voiced. In many cases, the Disney characters are acted by the original stars of the films. James Woods reprises his schmoozing Hades on the Hercules world and Tony Goldwyn encores his Tarzan performance. In addition, there are characters from the various Final Fantasy Games sprinkled about, notably Leon (Squall Leonheart) in Traverse Town, voiced by David Boreanz and Cloud Strife, voiced by Steve Burton.

The graphics are rich and detailed and if you grew up with Disney films (and most of us did) visiting the various worlds is like seeing old friends. Their representative styles are true to their origins (notable especially in Wonderland - Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" was released in 1951, long before computer animation was available). Visiting the deep jungle of Tarzan's world is like watching a few scenes from the movie. Well, not quite, since the story line is different, but the graphic representation of the world is absolutely true to the film and you're left with the feeling of this being a place you've seen before.

The play style is very much along the Final Fantasy line, lots of mini-bad guys, lots of small battles from which money, health and special items are procured. It's more fluid than FF has tended to be, though. When Sora is fighting, Donald and Goofy are fighting as well (and sometimes getting in the way) instead of hanging back and waiting their turn. On some worlds, there is additional help to be had such as Tarzan or Aladdin.

Like Zelda (which has a long history with Nintendo - there have been 11 Zelda games from 1987 to the present) Kingdom Hearts deals, substantially, with characters we already know but it does so to much better effect. This game takes our familiarity with these characters and builds on it rather than pissing it away. We are also familiar with the Disney villains - always a strong point of Disney characterization. Maleficent, Hades, Jaffar and others form a sort of cabal of evil that are trying to use the chaos fostered by the dissolving boudaries between the worlds to their own ends. They are not the Heartless, however. The Heartless lies beyond even them in power and malevolence.

Best of all, this story is complex and involving. There are plots and sub-plots which are logical in context and keep you interested and eager for what comes next. This is not just a graphical exercise to see what kind of nifty special effects can be produced (though there is plenty of that sort of eye candy), you care what happens to these worlds and these characters.

We haven't even reached the mid-point of this game yet so I can't tell you how it all ends - and you probably wouldn't want me to anyway. But I can tell you that I look forward to the next gaming session far more than I ever did with Windwaker.

Kingdom Hearts has become part of Playstation 2's "Greatest Hits" line and is available for $19.99.

I will probably not be posting tomorrow, so I want to wish you all a happy, peaceful and enjoyable Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading :)

I can't tell you how cruddy a day yesterday was. Everything I tried to do came apart, wouldn't work or just dissolved into thin air. It was bad enough trying to shop, but it was the chicken that completely unhinged me. See, The place where I used to work is having their annual pre-Thanksgiving pot luck lunch today. I had planned to make a chicken with rosemary and garlic and cous-cous with red onions and mushrooms. So yesterday morning I got out the crock pot, cleaned the chicken, stuffed garlic cloves and fresh rosemary sprigs under its skin and set it to cook all day. Then we went on, possibly, the most disastrous shopping spree ever which ended with us deciding to have lunch in our favorite Mexican restaurant only to find that it was closed :(

Home we went. We were both so tired that we napped for a while and it wasn't until 4:30 or so that I thought to check the chicken.

Stone cold.

The outlet had died at some point much earlier in the day and the chicken had sat there at room temperature since about 10:00 AM. Well, I just lost it. It was the final straw to what had been an extremely trying day, and I stood there in the kitchen and bawled as I realized that the bird would have to be trashed. Of course reason reasserted itself eventually and I went back out to the market and bought another chicken. Of course, the day wasn't finished with me yet - the store was completely out of fresh rosemary. I wound up getting a bottle of the dried stuff.

The upshot is that as of 8:00 this morning when I turned the crock pot off, everything was fine. Better than fine, even - the kitchen smelled heavenly, and the small bite of chicken I allowed myself was wonderful. The dried rosemary doesn't have anything like the presence of the fresh, but overall, it looks as though things are going to work out after all!

Sorry...that was a long, non-knitting ramble :) However, it does pertain to the following...

Given the way things were going, I didn't dare to pick up any knitting I cared about last night. So I wound up playing with Martingale & Company's 365 Knitting Stitches a Year calendar.

Lo and behold, I discovered a truly nifty stitch!





This is a really simple way to get a very pretty, very neat, non-curling pattern stitch that could probably be used in any of the same ways that seed stitch is used. It makes a lovely overall pattern and, because it doesn't curl, can be used for both horizontal and vertical borders. It goes like this:

• Cast on an even number of stitches


• First row: K1, *sl 1 purlwise, K1, YO, psso both the K1 and the YO*; repeat from *, end K1


• Next row: Purl

That's absolutely all there is to it. Even over a large number of stitches, it just hums along. Bind it off firmly, though, or it will spread all over the place.

This was just what I needed last night - to find something new and cool that turns out to be both easy and useful. And I didn't wind up destroting anything in the prosess!

Yesterday Lisa asked if the towel was entrelac and if entrelac was difficult. Yes the towel is entrelac and no, while it can be confusing to look at, the execution of entrelac isn't difficult at all.

There is a tutorial at About.com and I would also recommend the following two books:

Knitted Shawls, Stoles and Scarves by Nancie M. Wiseman
The Encyclopedia of Knitting by Lesley Stanfield and Melody Griffiths

Both of them have excellent entrelac explanations and tutorials, though their takes are slightly different. I have seen the Wiseman book in both Michaels and in Borders. I bought the Stanfield/Griffiths in Borders, but haven't seen it anywhere recently. Check your local library - both books are worth a long look.

Finally, you've heard me rave about the benefits of backwards knitting (as opposed to turning your work around entirely and purling). I finally tracked down the link to the page that taught me how to do it! To the left of the paragraph, click on "Knitting Without Turning". Check out the other "technique" pages too.

I just love it when generous people post useful information! :)

Yesterday, I decided to pull my yarn out of all the places it's been stashed in the apartment (sanctioned and not-so) and try to get it into some semblance of order. As of about 3:00 PM yesterday afternoon, this is what my kitchen looked like...





...as though a rather eclectic yarn shop had exploded all over the table and the counters.

There's a plethora of not-very-expensive stuff because it suits my purpose most of the time and there are some special gems as well, some Madil Seta, some Cashmerino, some Indiecita DK Alpaca, etc. I have to get over my fear of using the nice yarns. I'm always worried that I'll start something and then not be able to figure something out, or get bored with it, etc. When I'm working with the less costly stuff, this isn't a consideration.

Anyway, I got a look at everything I have, all in one place. I found things I'd forgotten about and you wouldn't believe the number of FOs (in this case, found objects) that resulted from the sorting - at least four pairs of needles, many packages of tapestry needles, holders, etc. I put things together with others of their ilk - that is all the cottons went into one area, all the chenille into another and so forth. For the next week, at least, I'll be able to find what I'm looking for. Further in the future than that, I'm not prepared to speculate upon! :)

I started this on Saturday morning.





I had been trying various washcloth patterns with an eye to putting them into a couple of luxury bath baskets that I'm putting together for Christmas gifts. But I couldn't find anything that either suited me or that wanted to work out in a presentable fashion. As I was trundling along, noticing that things were coming out reasonably well, I realized that a couple of balls of cotton would make a nifty little hand towel. There's already a loofah in the basket - what do we need washcloths for? So that's what I'm going to do. I'll finish this one, edge it in something fun and contrasty, perhaps, make another and bob's your uncle!

Finally, having overlapping interests results in some amusing things. I am nobody's idea of a musician, but I have played at several instruments and still mess around on the piano from time to time. I found myself counting rows on the entrelac exactly the same way I'd count rests in the music. 1 (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12), 2(2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11, 12), etc. And I'd get to the end of the row and wonder why there were 12 stitches in the measure!

Also, I like to play with 3D graphics (well, graphics of any kind, but 3D especially) and wound up with this:






Ah well...if the mind is turning slowly into tapioca pudding, there's not much I can do but relax and enjoy the ride!

We like candles - there's something intrinsically warm and lovely about them. Myria was up before I was this morning and, observing that we had another grey day in the offing, went around and lit all the candles. This is what I woke up to. For a few minutes, I just basked in the warmth of the quilt and the glow of the candlelight. Talk about a nice way to start the day!

I had a long talk with the bears and they told me that they appreciated my efforts but they really didn't want sweaters.





So now they both have caps and scarves. I know I kvetched yesterday about scale maybe being the problem and, in a way it was - just not the way I was thinking. I had been working the sweaters with worsted weight yarn and US 7 or 8 needles. I worked the caps and scarves with mohair on US 2 needles. The resulting fabric is a lot finer, as you can imagine, and works a lot better on the little guys. I'd also like to point out the diamond of bobbles at the ends of the white scarf. I know they're not too obvious in the photo, and I know I'm patting myself on the back, but they were exceedingly awkward to do on size 2 needles and I'm very pleased that they came out so well. In fact, I'm quite pleased with things over all. The bears seem happy about it too :)





I tried the "knitting together" thing last night, first knitting a strip of pink (garter stitch, slipped stitch edges) and then knitting a strip of teal and joining as I went along, trying out several methods as I went. This is what finally worked out to my liking. The method would be this (having the first strip complete and beginning the second strip):

• Cast on the required number of stitches and knit the first row. Maintain the slip-stitch edge of the right-hand side.


• Work the second row up to the last stitch. Slip this to the left needle


• Insert the right needle, going front to back, under both loops of the first edge stitch on the first strip.


• Knit this through the back.


• Pass the slipped stitch over.

This seems to create a nice, tight join with no gaps. It is, however, a bit bulky. I did the sample with acrylic worsted but what I've been using for the scarves is bulkier than that so I'm not sure how that's going to look. I might try dropping the eyelash yarn to make the join and then picking it up again to knit back. I guess I'll have to try it and see :) Maybe over the weekend :)

I'm having lunch with friends today and really looking forward to it. I haven't seen them in a while and I always enjoy their company so I'm psyched. In fact, it's for these two women that the bears are intended. They don't know that though!





Think I can declare this fellow as a dependent on my tax return? Him and the rest of his family of 2,000!

Have a great weekend, folks :)

...well, it's not that bad. The temperature is sufficiently above normal that I have a window open in the living room but it's grey and raining and windy. I can live with it, though I'm definitely a big sunshine fan. Myria likes grey days and tends to hiss in bright light :)

I finished the snowy scarf yesterday and made yet another in a more incendiary tone.





This one is made with a strand of Woolease and a strand of Fun Fur (both Lion Brand yarns). These seem to be a really popular item this season as this is what I keep getting requests for. I know I'm supposed to find this silly, stupid and boring, but I don't. I'm constantly enchanted by the way the yarns work up and the ease of execution means I'm less likely to make mistakes. No, it's not brain surgery - but I can't do brain surgery. This I can do! :)

OT aside: Most of this scarf was worked during the viewing of the enhanced version of "The Two Towers" which I highly recommend. The additions are not in the least gratuitous and help to explain some points that might have been unclear with the theatrical release. And, though the viewing length now runs to 3 hours and 43 minutes, the pacing is superb. If you don't have to, say, go to the bathroom, you'll never notice that you've been sitting for that long.

One of the things I like to do (and it's just a matter of taste) is to slip the first stitch of the row purlwise (with the yarn in front) and then knit the row as usual. This action gives you a pretty chain-like edge - underlined in turquoise in the picture below. Some folks like to also knit the last stitch of the row through the back.





I was looking at this nice row of edge stitches last night and wondering about making an afghan this way. The fabric works out to a width of about 5.5 inches and to a length of about 6 feet. That uses about three quarters of a ball of Woolease and two balls of Fun Fur on size 10.5 (US) needles. The fabric is very thick and cushiony and it ocurred to me that several strips hitched together would make a wonderful, funky afghan. The strips are simple and fast to do and the resultant blanket would both look and feel absolutely sumptuous. What I was wondering about is if, once the first strip is complete, could the second strip could be knitted on as you work? Say, cast on your stitches, knit a row and then, when you reach the end of the next row, slip the 1st edge stitch from the first strip onto your needle and knit it together with the last stitch on the second strip, continuing this way on up until the second strip is complete. The you'd just do the same for subsequent strips. Do you think this would work? I'm going to have to try this. If I can find a way to neatly join strips as I work, this would be a really fun project!

The bitty bear sweaters aren't coming out so well. Partly I think it's the scale - I'm not used to working on teeny things. Being a big girl and being used to making things in extra-plenty sizing probably has something to do with that :) I'm thinking about scarves and hats now. I know, it's a wimp-out, but sometimes, especially when holidays are looming, one has to sacrifice some cool-factor simply for efficiency's sake.





I always feel sorry for the birds on days like this; they always look so ruffled and uncomfortable. Myria tells me that the male downy woodpecker was out there this morning partaking of the suet but, of course, by the time I arrived with the camera, he had flown the coop...er...feeder. Goldie is keeping watch for me and will let me know if the woodpecker returns :)

I never had a scone before my last trip. On board the Silver Whisper, tea is served every afternoon and, while I certainly wasn't lacking for good food and hardly needed another meal, I attended on the last couple of days I was aboard.

They had scones. Wonderful little concoctions served warm with thick cream and jam. Naturally, being the restrained individual I am (as if), I slathered both on my little biscuit and went straight to taste bud heaven. And, naturally enough, when I got home I searched for a recipe. This was something I wanted to be able to make myself and have whenever the mood struck me.

This is the recipe I've been using. The ship's scones had raisins in them - which are okay. I prefer currants so that's what I use - you can find them in the supermarket where the raisins, prunes and other dried fruit live.

Currant Scones

1/2 c currants
4 c flour (all purpose)
1/4 c sugar
2 tbl Baking powder
1 tsp salt
8 tbl cold butter, cut up (1 stick)
1 3/4 c half-and-half

Put the currants in a bowl and pour boiling water over them to cover. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease a cookie sheet (even if it's teflon).

Sift the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a large mixing bowl.

Add the butter and blend (with a pastry blender or your fingertips) until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Drain the currants, pat dry and add to the dry ingredients. Mix well.

Add the half-and-half and stir just until the dough comes together. This will be very soft.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead gently for about a minute.

Roll or pat the dough into a rough square about a 3/4 - 1" thick.

Using a very sharp knife, cut into 9 pieces (or however many you like - we like big scones :)

Transfer the pieces to the cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until puffed and golden.

Remove to cooling rack and drool while they cool down enough to eat :)

These are fairly plain treats, but the butter and the half-and-half make them quite rich. I don't do the cream and jam thing at home, I just use butter. A scone is a wonderful thing to have with your morning coffee! Just put it on a paper towel and stick it in the microwave for about 20 seconds to warm it up nicely.

Of course, I've been thinking about other variations. I probably wouldn't mess with the sugar as I like them just barely sweet. But I might, on future scone-making ventures, substitute any of the following for the currants:

Grated orange (or lemon) peel and grated ginger
blueberries
grated orange peel and cranberries
dried apricots, cut up finely
figs, cut up finely
tiny chocolate chips and finely chopped walnuts
cardamom, black pepper and cloves

I might even be tempted to try leaving out the sugar entirely and making a savory version with:

grated cheddar cheese (add 1/2 a tsp or so of dried mustard) and a bit of dill
grated cheddar cheese and some finely cut up ham or bacon.
chopped, sun-dried tomatoes and basil
chopped turkey and sage

Your taste buds and imagination are the only requirements!




Bon appetit :)

Sorry this is so late, but I had an early appointment this morning and errands to run afterwards. I am now the proud owner of new glasses and the prouder owner of - for the first time in almost 30 years - sunglasses! YAY! I also now have a 26 pound turkey in the refrigerator that's going to take at least a week to defrost but which will keep us, happily, in turkey for a considerable time :) Also YAY!





I am nearly finished with the snowy scarf and I'm getting close to the end of the purple sweater for the bitty bear. I picked up stitches along the sides for the first sleeve last night, but there are gaps along that pick-up row that don't look so wonderful. I'm going to take a slightly different tack when I pick up for the second sleeve and see if that remedies the situation any. If that works better, I'll rip out the first sleeve and redo it.




This seems like it should be simple and it probably is. Complicated stuff doesn't faze me. Simple stuff whacks me upside the head every time! I need to get this picking-up-stitches-for-sleeves thing down because that's how my sweater is going to handle the sleeves. I really, really want to get this right. That is, I don't want my first sweater to look like...erm...my first sweater :)

The Homespun shawl is kind of on hold while I ponder whether I mighn't rather have a poncho. That sounds like lots of fun and God knows, I have enough yarn to make one - even though I'm a "fluffy" type person. It's just a well that project be shelved for a while since I have Christmas presents to work on and when I'm working on the Christmas stuff, I can ponder the shawl vs. poncho thing. Decisions, decisions :)





I'm beginning to wonder if these guys don't qualify as pets! This fellow is somewhat smaller than most of the ones I see - this years crop maybe?

There are carpenters and an electrician working in the apartment upstairs today and the cats are freaked. When we got home from running around, Fluffy was in my lap almost as soon as I'd sat down, nervous about all the loud, unfamiliar and unpleasant noises. I soothed him as much as I could, but both cats are currently hiding in the bedroom as a drill whines upstairs. Ah well, it should be over soon...

I love playing with stitch patterns and am an absolute, unregenerate, unapologetic sucker for collections of them. I can bypass the lastest coffee-table masterpiece by the doyen of color, walk right past the new, hip, ultra-cool collection of trendy togs and blithely ignore the traditional, time-honored manuals. Just show me a stitch pattern collection and I am helpless. I know, I know, it's an addiction. I could tell you I'm trying to taper off and that I'm keeping my eyes on the cool, green future where I'm no longer enslaved to the myriad manipulations of stick and string...but I'd be lying.





This book divides stitches into sections by type - Twisted Stitches, Knit and Purl stitches, Lace stitches, etc. It's biggest and best section is devoted to cables. There are cables here that I've never seen anywhere else and it's great fun to go through the patterns, imagining what some of them would look like on a sweater or jacket or, perhaps, on a very funky shawl!



I was playing with a couple of patterns last night. I don't think these two look bad together though a little juggling (as well as a couple more purl stitches between the cables) might improve the balance and visual harmony :) The border cables are very elegant, in my opinion, and they are awkward as all get out to do. But the tricky part only occurs on the 9 rows amongst which the actual cabling takes place. It's a 24 row repeat, so most of the time you're just knitting and purling as usual.

The center panel is a cable-bobble hybrid and, yes, I messed with it :) If you look at the bobbles at the bottom of the piece, you'll see that first motif has bigger bobbles than the following repeats (and is probably a bully on the playground as well). That's because it was made, as per the instructions, with 5 stitches. I cut it back to 3 stitches on the next and subsequent repeats which I feel works better.

The other weekend project was a simple scarf, mohair blend (Lion Brand Imagine) and eyelash (Bernat Boa) to make this:





It almost looks as if it were made out of snow - a very neat effect.

I'm planning on getting to the stash this week, sorting and organizing so that I actually have some kind of accurate idea of what I have on hand. It's been piling up in three cupboard cubbies and has spilled into my closet, the bedroom and the living room. Myria is so good about this and I don't want to abuse her good nature. Also, it would be nice to have things in some kind of order so that when I'm thinking about a project, I can lay my hands on the yarn I want without having to hire a search team and two German Shepherds to find it!





Finally, this was playing on Kitty TV (Channel 1) this morning. The squirrels are very clever little buggers when it comes to getting at the seed. It's okay - there's plenty of seed for everybody! And, although you can't see them, the cats are sitting just below the sill, practically wetting their fur :)

I have a horrible confession to make.

(Cue melodramatic organ music...)

I read about knitting as much as I actually knit. Yes, I actually take time when I could be working those needles, and read - just about everything I can get my hands on. I read books, pamphlets, magazines and every web page I can find that has something even slightly useful to contribute to my knowledge and understanding of things. Today I thought I'd share some of the places I have found useful.





Sweaterscapes has some beautiful solid sweater patterns but their specialty is intarsia, specifically, landscapes. They create patterns with beautiful vistas for both sweaters and socks. They also have a page of teriffic knitting instructions and tutorials. It was from these people that I finally learned to do the matress stitch ("Invisible Seams"). When the right project strikes me, I will come back here to brush up on intarsia basics.





The Knitting Fool has several types of sweater calculators and a very long list of stitch patterns that are absolutely worth exploring. The take on this site is somewhat mathematical (which is tremendously appealing to me) and the page also offers links to a few pages with some rather esoteric knitting. There are pages to help you decipher both chart symbols and knitting abbreviations. The site is pretty comprehensive and really worth checking out.





Berroco offers a huge library of free patterns. As written, the patterns are designed for use with Berroco yarns (understandably) but are easily adaptable for use with other yarns as well. I've been drooling over several of these for some time now. Most are aimed at women but there are some very cute kids things there as well.

All these sites are worth bookmarking as they have tons to offer and, if you're anything like me, will be places you'll want to go back to again and again. Useful resources, all of them!

The little red, bear sweater that I posted about yesterday made me spit and swear last night so it now resides in the trash can. Sigh. I did, however, start another sweater - purple this time, and that seems to be progressing well. I'll keep you posted.

Stay warm folks - it's cold and windy here, though the sun is shining brightly. I hope you all have wonderful, comfortable, knit-filled weekends!

Yesterday I got my hair cut. I committed a horrible, blonde mistake a couple of months ago and am trying desperately to get rid of the evidence :) My hairdresser didn't think I had enough new growth in my natural color (dark grey, light grey and white mixed in a random, unattractive fashion) to cut off all the offending platinum matter (what was I thinking?) and then set about giving me a cut that mostly camouflages the dark roots. The man's a wizard with those scissors of his and I can live with this for another few weeks. Hopefully by the end of December - that will be the pre-cruise cut - we can get rid of the remnants of the blonde stuff.

Anyway, he gave me and Myria each one of these before we left. They're about 9" tall and had a yucky nylon bow around their necks which I promptly disposed of. Other than the bow, they're pretty cute!





I am in the process of creating bath baskets for a couple of friends for Christmas. I thought I would make a couple of washcloths and include some fancy soap, some body lotion, a loofah and a candle - you know, for a nice, pampering bath time. When I saw these bears, I knew they had to go in too. I co-opted Myria's bear (it's okay - we have some stuffed animals that we love, but our apartment's so tiny, there isn't really room for any more - these will go to good homes !) and decided to try knitting bitty sweaters for them both.

Do I know what I'm doing? Nope - but I'm having fun figuring it out.

Knitting until 2:00 AM got me this -





I'm going to see if I can finish it today. The neckline is way big, but I think I've figured out how to work around that. This knitting by the seat of your pants (isn't that an amusing image!) is both fun and frustrating - in about equal measures.

This bear has dark fur and his sweater is, as you can see, red. The other bear is more caramel colored and will get a green sweater. Maybe hats, too? Scarves?

We have a couple of birdfeeders right outside the kitchen window which I love to watch. A couple of days ago the male downy woodpecker showed up to partake of the suet (the sidebar photo is the female; Myria took that splendid picture a couple of weeks ago) and the first junco dropped in to have a look around. Juncos aren't uncommon winter birds in this area, but it has been years since I've been able to have a feeder, so I haven't seen them in a long time.

This morning, a squirrel parked himself by the kitchen window to stuff his face with corn and sunflower seed (put out intentionally to dissuade the squirrels from jumping into the feeder). We sometimes call the kitchen window "Kitty TV, Channel one" because the cats spend so much time there, watching the outdoor activity in, on and around the feeders. Channel two? The fish tank, of course!

I had the thought (yes - it was painful) that in the interest of keeping things...er...interesting I might take one day a week and do something entirely different. I kind of like the idea of varying things once in a while, so I'm going to experiment (with your kind forbearance) with making Wednesdays a day to play with other topics. I have lots of interests and passions as, I expect, do you all. Knitters we may be - but that's not all we are!

I have been a crystal collector/amateur minerologist for about 10 years. There is something fundamentally powerful about the beauty the earth produces. What can I tell you? These pieces get to me and I have them all over the apartment (yes, the bathroom too).





This piece has two layers. The rusty colored material is hematite which is mostly iron. The white material is quartz which has overgrown the hematite crystals. The quartz crystals covers the entire piece - it's just that they're so clear and so perfect, they're difficult to see. The piece is small-fist sized and one of my favorites.





This is celestite (sometimes known as celestine) and it is very soft, as rocks go. It's not an uncommon mineral and also occurs in a colorless version. It is this version, this incredible, pearly, heavenly blue that appeals to me and I have several pieces of it. This was part of a larger piece that, unfortunately, fractured. Still, there are lots of beautiful crystals in this specimen which are the exact color of the sky when the weather is beginning to turn from sun to rain (sleet, snow, etc.)





Recently acquired, this is my first piece of amethyst. The crystals, though somewhat irregular, are beautifully colored and very lustrous. They are attached to a massif quartz matrix. They are not gem quality crystals, but the piece has it's own beauty.

Some of the following sites may be of interest.

John Betts Fine Minerals (updates every Tuesday)
Artistic Colored Stones (updates the 1st of every month)

The two above sites are worth looking at even if you don't want to buy anything. The sheer variety is wonderful to see. The first site deals with minerals and the second site deals with cut or carved stones.

Athena Mineralogy
Crystallography

The above two sites are databases of information. The first talks generally about chemical composition, crystal structure, varieties of minerals, etc. The second homes in specifically on the crystal structure of various minerals but includes other information as well.

Happy rock hunting!

More knitting tomorrow :)

My yarn finally arrived yesterday, a bit late, breathing hard, but offering no apologies.





At first I was a bit disappointed that it's a bit more "tan" than the pictures I had seen of it. However, in photographing it myself this morning, I begin to understand why that might be the case as it is darker than my photo shows too. After examining it closely and looking at it for a while, I've decided to love it after all :) It's a sort of ecru/beige with tiny slubs of yellow, rust and red running through it. It is lovely, soft yarn - the first wool I 've run into that I think I can wear next to my skin without the itchies and it ought to be lovely to work with as well.

I've mentioned that it is slated to make this sweater and I'm really looking forward to the project.

A note about the sweater design... There's nothing to this really, just straight pieces for the fronts and the back. The sleeves are picked up from the shoulder and knitted down and the front/neck border is knitted separately and sewn on afterwards. This border is knitted at twice the width you see in the photo and then sewn along the right side of the garment, folded over and sewn along the inside. The foldover bit is especially clever - at least to me, since I haven't seen the technique before. The middle stitch of the piece is slipped on all WS rows and only worked on RS rows. This makes the strip naturally fold along the center line and leaves a nice, single line of knit stitches along the edge of the fold on the RS. Way cool! In the picture, the border is multi-colored; I haven't decided yet whether I want to do it that way or just keep the whole thing the same color as the body.

I probably won't get started on this until after Christmas, much as I'd like to just dive in and cast on. I'd have a never-ending case of the guilts if I started it now so I'm thinking it will wait until January.

I'm going on a cruise through the Panama Canal with my father in January. Warm weather, a gently rocking ship and a room with a veranda - doesn't that sound like the perfect set of circumstances for starting a new project?

Yesterday, Lisa asked about ordering yarn on-line and what were my favorite places. Well, this yarn was my first order and I got it from KnitPicks. These folks are worth watching because they have some teriffic bargains. I am, so far, very happy with their service.

I also keep an eye on the offerings at Elann. These folks deal with oddball and closeout lots, but their prices are very good and while I haven't ordered anything from them yet, it's only a matter of time!





The big fella was feeling frisky this morning and it's amusing to watch a nine-year-old, 15 pound cat scoot, bounce, jump and tear around like a 6-week-old kitten. Worth his weight in chuckles, I tell ya...

I was thumbing through Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls and ran into this picture. It's called the Stora Dimun Shawl and is a Faroese type - absolutely splendid, especially in that eye-catching red. I thought - That doesn't look too tough. I could do that!





And then I read "CO 449 stitches..." and promptly had an attack of the vapors! I've had to tink back or frog significant portions of everything I've ever made and the thought of trying to keep track of that many stitches makes my eyes cross... I know that's the entire width at the top of the shawl and that it just decreases from there but 449?!?!? I can barely count that high and certainly not on a Monday morning. This one will have to wait until I'm feeling reckless :)


I finished the mohair scarf last night and am very pleased with it. It looks nice and will be very snuggly and warm.





One Christmas present down, innumerable presents to go :)





I found this pin at one of the concession tables in the Jamaica Plain VA hospital. It was only a few bucks so I grabbed it. Not what you want to hold your cashmere/silk shawl closed over your ball gown, but seriously cute with a sweater and jeans.

As I go on, I find that, more and more, I prefer wooden needles. I have needles in birch, black walnut and ebony and I love them to distraction. I have tried bamboo but I find them a bit...sticky? I do use regular old aluminum needles for some things and wouldn't want to be without that option. Partly, I admit, it's a matter of esthetics. Metal needles are utilitarian. Wooden needles, in addition to being useful, are beautiful and they feel good to work with.

ACK...my Tahki New Tweed yarn for the Crystal Palace kimono sweater isn't here yet and I'm beginning to get anxious!

Here is the scarf in its current incarnation.





I got some work done on it yesterday, including transferring the thing to straight needles. The Addi circulars may work out in the future but wrestling with the recalcitrant cable was making my hands ache. Not long after I started working on it, I discovered that I didn't have nearly the quantity of mohair that I thought I had. That necessitated a trip downtown to the Hub Mills Factory Store (Black Sheep Wools) where I knew they carried this yarn in this colorway. The dye lot didn't match, but after I joined the new ball last night, I couldn't see any line of demarcation so I'm quite satisfied.

I pondered turning this thing into a seaman's scarf, working the pattern for 14" or so, ribbing for another 18" and then going back to the pattern for another 14" before binding off. I decided the mohair didn't lend itself particularly well to that interpretation, nor did the density of the knitting (this is very thick!) so it will be a standard scarf after all.

Joining the second ball of mohair last night reminded me of something I'd read about, but had never tried. It's called a "spit splice" and it only works on wool. I haven't used a lot of pure wool so far in my knitting, but mohair certainly qualifies so I gave it a try. It goes like this. You "moisten" both ends of the yarns you want to join. I understand that saliva is critical to this operation (as opposed to plain 'ol tap water) but I can't testify to that as I didn't try it both ways. I leave it to your imagination to supply the method - I used my fingers as a transfer agent because putting the yarn in my mouth would have resulted in immediate projectile unpleasantness all over the scarf :) However you choose to do it, get both ends of the yarn wet - not sopping, just wet - then lay them against one another going in opposite directions for a few inches. Roll between your hands for a few seconds (30 or so?). Test the splice - a gentle tug will do it.

This worked like a charm! What happens is that the rubbing action of your hands, combined with the "moisture" in the yarn creates a slight fulling action and gently "marries" one strand to the other. Mohair is particularly susceptible to fulling so this is a useful method for joining ends of this kind of yarn. When I tested my splice, I started gently and gradually increased pressure to moderate. It held just fine and there is no knot in my knitting and no evidence of any kind that there's a join anywhere. Cool beans!

While I was at the yarn shop, I found this in a mark-down basket.





I'm not terribly fond of grey but this has a real sheen to it and is as close to silver as I've ever seen in a non-metallic yarn. Of course I had to have it! It is an acrylic microfiber yarn and is as soft as a kitten's ear. As it is also many-stranded, I suspect splitting might be an issue but, with care, I should be able to overcome that. I'm going to save this for something special!

However, as this shop often deals in oddballs and discontinued lots (they are an outlet for Classic Elite who's mill is here in Lowell), I have to warn you that this might not be generally available. I couldn't find it mentioned much on the web and it does not seem to be included in Katia's current offerings. Keep an eye out in your local mark-down bins, baskets and shelves. You never know what might turn up!





The Fluff monster is fond of this quilt (as am I) which was made by one of Myria's grandcestors. It had some visible wear by the time we received it and had spent a lot of time subsequently wrapped in plastic, living on a closet shelf. We decided to use it. I had never had a quilt before and was amazed at how warm and comforting such a thing could be. I'm trying to figure out a way to bind the edges as they are becoming a bit ragged.

We're out to do some shopping today as (at least in our area) Christmas shopping has begun in earnest and it's worth your life to try and get anything done on the weekend!

Have a wonderful weekend, folks!

Double pointed needles, alias DPNs. We all know about them; some love them, some hate them. Me, I just finished my first ever DPN effort and this is the result.





I'm pleased with the attempt as there are no ladders (loose spots where one needle meets another during the knitting) and the tension is firm and even. These were knitted with a double strand of Lion brand Woolease in Cranberry on US size 8 DPNs. I made my first mittens last winter using the two-needle pattern from Lily Chin's The Urban Knitter. They came out pretty well and I don't mind sewing things up so that wasn't an issue. But I wanted to be able to make the traditional, knitted-in-the-round mitten. So this year, that's what I tried. I used Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns to establish the pattern based on my hand size and the type of yarn I was using. That worked out beautifully and I highly recommend this book as an essential basic.

Then I cast on, and oh boy - those first few rounds of ribbing were a pain in the patootie - but it got easier as I went along. Eventually - and it didn't take an awfully long time - I wound up with a finished mitten and I learned a couple of things. I don't like the ribbing creeping up over the base of my hand, so I need to work a few rounds of stockinette before starting the thumb gusset. Also I, apparently, have a long thumb. No problem, I'll just work another couple of rounds on the thumb before decreasing.

What I am less than thrilled with is this.





Inside the turquoise circle, you can see a triangle of GAPS. Pout. Now I have to figure out how to make the non-air-conditioned variety. There is an article in the Winter issue of "Interweave Knits" about thumb gussets that I'm looking forward to reading. Hopefully, that will give me some tips!





Goldie will even permit picture-taking if you give him a good tummy rub first!

Well, I got up the nerve to try working up that chenille yesterday afternoon, and guess what? It's hard to handle and it worms like crazy :( I'm trying to be philosophical about this, and I haven't done experimenting with it (it also frogs very badly) but I'm kinda disappointed. If any of you have experience with this type of yarn, I would be very grateful for any tips you might have.





I started this scarf this morning as a gift for a friend of ours. It's a strand of Caron Perfect Match in Deep Violet (a nice, soft acrylic) and a strand of King Cole Mohair (really, luxurious, English mohair) in Florence (all their mohair vareigates are named after cities). It's being worked up on an Addi Natura bamboo, circular needle, size 10 US.

CO 25 sts (I like a cable cast-on)

Rows 1-4: *K1, P1*, repeat to end, K1
Row 5: (K1, P1)x2, K7, P1, K1, P1, K7, (P1, K1)x2
Row 6: (K1, P1)x2, K1, P5, (K1, P1)x2, K1, P5, (K1, P1)x2, K1

Repeat Rows 5 and 6 for desired length.
End with a repeat of rows 1-4.
Bind off and fringe or trim as desired.

The instructions look more complicated than they actually are. You start with 4 rows of seed stitch. The body of the scarf consists of alternate, vertical bands of seed and stocking stitch and it ends with 4 more rows of seed stitch. I think it's going to be pretty nice and I think our friend is going to love it. (I hope....)

I haven't worked with the Addis before and I'm undecided about them. I know they have many devoted fans but I am finding them a bit awkward to work with - the cable is very stiff. This may be just because they're new or even, partly, because it's cold in the apartment this morning. I'll work through the scarf and let you know how I feel about them once that's done.

Myria has watched me at my various crafts for a long time and has some observations she'd like to share. I could have said this myself (and probably would have eventually), but I couldn't have expressed nearly as well. Have a look...

Crafty 'tude

I'm not really a crafter. I've dabbled in this or that craft from time-to-time but, at least to date, none have sufficiently interested me to cause me to spend the time and energy necessary to really become proficient. That might change someday - who knows? - but if it does or doesn't, no biggie. I have my own skills, my own interests, my own unique proficiencies. In the end, whether one writes or draws or knits or crochets or beads or, well, or whatever, it's all about doing your 'thang'. It's all about doing what amuses or interests you to whatever degree and amount pleases you.

I'm not really a crafter, but I've spent a lot of time around crafters over the years - friends, my sister, Robbyn. I've spent more time in craft stores, bead shops, and yarn shops than I really care to think about. I've a good memory, so I've picked up on the relative advantages and disadvantages of various stitches, threads, yarns, crochet hooks and needle types and the various materials they come in. I've also picked up on the culture. Like any group that shares a common interest and a specialized body of knowledge and language to describe that knowledge, there is a kind of culture that builds up around those who participate in various kinds of crafting. Along with that culture comes a lot of good, there are a lot of people out there who are very helpful and supportive of others engaged in their craft. Along with that culture also comes some bad.

As something of an outsider looking in, it is perhaps easier for me to see some of that bad and perhaps easier for me to say something openly and honestly about it. I see it in some of the online e-mail groups, some 'blogs, some web sites, sometimes in the stores or IRW groups, and I've seen it sometimes hurt people I care about. Those who will happily disparage anyone lowly enough to work with Red Heart Yarn. Those who look down their noses at anyone who would deign to enter a Michaels or AC Moore. Those who will happily aim verbal bullets of sarcasm at anyone who makes something they feel is beneath them or unworthy of their craft. Those who enjoy making sport of someone who feels pride at making their first pot-holder using garter stitch rather than being able to knit a full ball gown using number two needles whilst hanging upside-down as they apparently can. Those who will not share or help crafters not as skilled as they, apparently for fear someone might learn their 'secrets of the ancients' and perhaps become as good as they - begging the question of why such people are involved in groups at all.

Some of those whose crafting skills seem to primarily be made up of looking down their nose at others are, perhaps, as skillful as they make themselves out to be. Others or mere posers and wonnabes with naught but sharp tongues to their names. Whichever it is, it doesn't matter, no one has the right to set themselves up as the high priestess of yarn and from that lofty position do little save toss barbs at the lowly. People forget where it is they came from. Anyone who knits started out using simple stitches and simple yarn to make simple things. Rather than make fun of that woman who is so very proud of her first pot holder, that pride should be celebrated - in the end it is what crafting is about. There are those who will never much move beyond that first pot holder, there are those who will, no matter their skill, never be able to afford expensive yarns or ebony needles.

Crafting, like so many things we do, is about doing what entertains you, what makes you happy, what makes you proud. It's about that pride and sense of accomplishment you get when you figure out a new technique or finish a piece you like. Whether you're the most skilled knitter on the planet making the most gorgeous of sweaters of your own design from angora you spun and dyed yourself, or you're the most new of newbies still unsure of what 'purl' means, the goal and desire are the same.

Words can hurt, they can discourage, they can dissuade people from ever wanting anything more to do with a craft. Why do that? Why make someone feel bad because they can't afford the things you can, don't have the same tastes you do, aren't - yet - as skillful as you? And why do people stay silent or, worse yet, applaud the sometimes clever but still hurtful stinging barbs of sarcasm and contempt? It is not just the hapless target of such words that is hurt, but the entire community of crafters. What might that person have accomplished, what might they have contributed to the whole, if instead of sarcasm and contempt they had been met by support and advice?

That's not to say that there aren't a lot of crafters giving a lot of support and advice, there are, and they have my admiration. But there are others - too many, I feel - who seem to do little more than look down their nose at all and try and knock down anyone they can. Those people have naught save my complete and utter contempt.

Myria

The landlord is restoring the building. An old Victorian house, it was split up into apartments sometime in the forties and has pretty much been left alone since the initial changes. Last year, the landlord decided to restore the building and the renovations are taking quite a bit of time. Today, they're working in the apartment above mine and in the hallway right outside my door. Sawing and sanding and drilling, oh my! . Incurable, endurable...

Still mulling over the best thing to do with the gorgeous Blue Heron chenille. I purchased this book last night after realizing the every time I went into the book store (almost as dangerous a financial proposition as going to the LYS) I took it down to look through. Finally I decided I was done admiring it and was now into owning it :)





The book is nicely presented with lots of beautiful color photos and all the items therein made out of the kind of yarns most of us can't afford :) Thank goodness there are reasonable substitutes. The garments are nicely designed and the instructions are clear. Wiseman has an interesting take on Entrelac so I spent a couple of hours working up this sample last night to see if entrelac might be something to consider.





I think this looks promising - even my yucky practice yarn doesn't look too shabby handled this way (though it still feels like I'm knitting with stranded corncob).

A couple of things...

I'm still relatively new to reading charts. When I first saw them, though I could recognize what they intended, I couldn't read them to work from. It has taken a long time for me to acquire this new symbol system and get comfortable with it. It will never be my favorite method because so many designers seem to make up their own symbols for various things. This means when you pick up one of their charted designs, you have to learn yet another symbol system.

Doable? Certainly. Frustrating? Absolutely.

About backward knitting...I love it! I had read about it many times, but being an awkward sort, figured it would be forever beyond me. However, the idea of being able to do the purl row without having to shift my hands, the yarn or the work really appealed to me so I kept looking into it. It works very well for me and, for entrelac, it's indispensable. There are many sites out there with directions for this technique. Try putting "backward knitting" or "knitting backwards" into Google. Both terms will net you many places to go, some with photos and a couple with animations.

The cats aren't one bit pleased with the noise. I caught Fluffy before he hid himself away, but he is not a happy camper. I couldn't get Goldie to come out from under the bed which is probably just as well as he would have been mortally offended had I done so simply to take his picture.

...and the weathercritters in the area seem to think most of the week is going to be like this. While I would prefer sun, I can unequivocally state that I'm glad it isn't snowing! That will come soon enough, I'm sure.

I hope you all had a pleasant weekend and I'd like to thank Marcia, Ryan, Sarra and Tami for their kind welcome to the blogging world. I have found it an amiable and hospitable place so far and hope to be able to contribute something useful along the way.

I have some beautiful yarn, I mean, drop dead gorgeous. It was hideously expensive and I couldn't live without it. I purchased it at "Ewe'll Love It" in Nashua, NH (about which I'll write more in a future post) and it comes from Blue Heron Yarns in Easton, MD. The colors are spectacular (the photo is reasonably accurate) and the hand is so lush and rich that I keep expecting it to start complaining about being confined to my (comparatively) shabby apartment. However, if it will be a little patient, and if I can screw my courage to the sticking place, I may take it on a cruise in January :)






There's about 550 yards of this slinky, bulky, rayon chenille in "Copper" and I both desperately want to make something with it and am afraid to touch it (other than the requisite fondling, of course...). I have in mind a stole sort of thing based on this pattern. I played with a couple of samples last night and it does seem appropriate for a hand-painted yarn. This yarn is some scrap stuff that I try new stitch patterns out in. When the time comes to actually make something out of the chenille, I'll be tortured by the Swatching Specter because I don't want to waste a millimeter of this stuff!




What do you think?

I also purchased, on that memorable shopping day, about 1500 yards of very fine rayon yarn in the same glorious, hand-painted colors. I have no experience with knitting doilies and to say the prospect intimidates me would be putting it mildy! I crocheted for years before being seduced over to the dark...er...learning to knit so that's another option.

Hope your collective Mondays aren't too burdensome!