Dichroic Reflections

new FO

Look what I did! This pattern is still the most fun to knit, whihc is part of why it goes so fast (for comparison, I'm about 2' into the Trellis and Vine piece - it's just not nearly as much fun).

Up next: this is mostly her fault. We'll see how well it goes when it starts being hundreds of stitches across!

Picovestli

By the way, in case anyone cares, Picovoli makes an extremely cute vest.

Well, you'll just have to take my word for it; this photo was taken after a whole work day and both the sweater and I are a little droopy.

(Also note that when I adjusted for a different gauge and body shape, I appear to have ended up with a lower neckline than in the original pattern. On the other hand, that may actually just be due to different body shape &c.)

correcting errors

I realilzed the other day that I'd done something stupid. When I bought sock yarn at the Jimmy Bean's in Truckee, I bought only 1 skein of each color, and you need two to make a pair of socks. (I'd just finished a pair made from one skein, but of course it had twice as much yardage.) Anyway, I figued it might be too late to get the same dye lot, but that I'd have the best chance if I ordered from the same company. So I placed my order with Jimmy Bean Thursday night.

I got the yarn yesterday, which just blows my mind. Granted they're only one state over, but it's a big state and they're at the other end of it, a 2-day drive away. So OK, not that long a flight, but that says a lot for how quickly they process orders. (Lord knows, I don't get things from Amazon, some of whose warehouses are nearly that close, that quickly even when I don't get Supersaver.) I do love people who save me from my own stupidity quickly and easily.

Ohh, and one skein was indeed the same dyelot. I seem to have mislaid the ballband of the other when I rolled it into a ball, but I can't tell any difference in the colors.

FO pictures

Here are the recently-finished object pictures, finally. First the socks for Rudder:
I forget what this yarn was, but I didn't lilke it nearly as much as the Cascade Fixation or the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock I've used in my other sock attempts. (There are 2 skeins of Shepherd Sock in my yarn box calling me right now, as a result of this experience and my visit to Jimmy Bean's in Truckee.)

Next the Picovoli sweater for me. This is Artyarns Candy, and it was wonderful to knit with.

Yesterday after our little local race (which a novice Outlaw and I WON in the double!!!) I left early, showered then slipped off to Fiber Factory, where I was lucky enough to find that they had a few signed copies of Knitting Rules left over from the Yarn Harlot's visit the other day (which I'd skipped because it was on a weeknight and because I wanted to rest and hang with Rudder, who left this morning to begin a series of trips that will keep him away much of the next couple of months). I also came home with some size 1 needles, because I want to try knitting the socks more densely this time, and with some wonderfully soft alpaca silk for another Clapotis and an Artyarn cotton silk blend for yet another sleeveless sweater. I love sleeveless sweaters; because they're perfect for the climate here and you can wear them with a sweater or jacket anywherre else.

knitting update

I haven't mentioned knitting in a while. That would be because I just wasn't interested in knitting while I was sick. (Also, more than one cup of tea got me thoroughly wired, chocolate made me cough, and beer tasted awful. It's been an odd illness all around.) However, I did knit quite a bit before I got sick, and started getting back to it this past weekend. While we were still at my in-laws, I finished this top. Only problem is, it's a little shorter than I'd like, since I'd like to be able to wear it to work. I'm going to see if blocking helps. If not, I'll undo the bottom (which will be a pain, since it's stitched down) and make it a bit longer. (First I should check whether I have enough yarn to make much difference.)

I'd also finished all but the last few inches of a second sock in a pair I made for Rudder, so I knocked that off this past weekend. I've decided I really don't like the wrap-and-turn style of short-row heels; I much prefer the versions that involve a yarnover instead. Same thing in the final result, I think, but it's easier to knit and I seem to end up with fewer holes in the ankles.

I'll try to get pictures of both projects soon.

My trellis scarf seems to be running much longer than predicted, so I'm going to skip the middle section and just do one pattern repeat there instead. The very soft yarn I'm using doesn't show the pattern nearly as well as the photo on the pattern, and it's slow for me to knit, but it's a gorgeous color and I suppose knitting the pattern is good experience. I want to do another Clapotis just because it was so much fun to knit and this yarn would have been good for that, but on the other hand a pattern that repetitive would be better in a patterned yarn. (I'm thinking maybe this stuff, in the grays or maybe reds.)

Finally, I've begun knitting a wine cozy that I intend to felt. I don't have a pattern for this; I've started from the bottom and am through that and maybe an inch up the sides. This is from the crimson Cascade 220 yarn I bought from the crazy yarn-store lady at the shop I visited with my mother-in-law. I haven't done a swatch (bad knitter!) so I make try to hand-felt this to make sure it doesn't shrink too small. On the other hand I think I'm going to rip it back all the way, because the bottom part that's supposed to lay flat, isn't. I increased 5 sts on every other row. Apparently that wasn't enough, so I'll try 8 or 10 instead. I've knitted one purl row to give it an edge at the border between the bottom and sides, what I intend to do is to crochet navy yarn on to make that ridge more pronounced, then crochet a spiral up the side. I haven't decided whether to knit or crochet the handles. This should leave a lot of leftover yarn, so if it works well I may make another one in navy with crimson trim. And if it works really well, maybe I'll submit the pattern somewhere.

Besides the cozy and the trellis scarf in work, I have yarn for two pair of socks and gloves for Rudder. I have enough Southwest Trading Company Bamboo yarn for a tank top for me, one skein of Kidsilk Haze I tried actual lace with (that would be when I decided I hate knitting lace because it takes too much attention), about 3 skeins of Manos I'm contemplating another Moebius scarf with (the wavy freeform one at the back of Cat Bordhi's book, and various odds and ends left over from completed projects. That's it. Not much of a stash, compared to what I hear from other knitters.

knitting update

I haven't mentioned knitting in a while. That would be because I just wasn't interested in knitting while I was sick. (Also, more than one cup of tea got me thoroughly wired, chocolate made me cough, and beer tasted awful. It's been an odd illness all around.) However, I did knit quite a bit before I got sick, and started getting back to it this past weekend. While we were still at my in-laws, I finished this top. Only problem is, it's a little shorter than I'd like, since I'd like to be able to wear it to work. I'm going to see if blocking helps. If not, I'll undo the bottom (which will be a pain, since it's stitched down) and make it a bit longer. (First I should check whether I have enough yarn to make much difference.)

I'd also finished all but the last few inches of a second sock in a pair I made for Rudder, so I knocked that off this past weekend. I've decided I really don't like the wrap-and-turn style of short-row heels; I much prefer the versions that involve a yarnover instead. Same thing in the final result, I think, but it's easier to knit and I seem to end up with fewer holes in the ankles.

I'll try to get pictures of both projects soon.

My trellis scarf seems to be running much longer than predicted, so I'm going to skip the middle section and just do one pattern repeat there instead. The very soft yarn I'm using doesn't show the pattern nearly as well as the photo on the pattern, and it's slow for me to knit, but it's a gorgeous color and I suppose knitting the pattern is good experience. I want to do another Clapotis just because it was so much fun to knit and this yarn would have been good for that, but on the other hand a pattern that repetitive would be better in a patterned yarn. (I'm thinking maybe this stuff, in the grays or maybe reds.)

Finally, I've begun knitting a wine cozy that I intend to felt. I don't have a pattern for this; I've started from the bottom and am through that and maybe an inch up the sides. This is from the crimson Cascade 220 yarn I bought from the crazy yarn-store lady at the shop I visited with my mother-in-law. I haven't done a swatch (bad knitter!) so I make try to hand-felt this to make sure it doesn't shrink too small. On the other hand I think I'm going to rip it back all the way, because the bottom part that's supposed to lay flat, isn't. I increased 5 sts on every other row. Apparently that wasn't enough, so I'll try 8 or 10 instead. I've knitted one purl row to give it an edge at the border between the bottom and sides, what I intend to do is to crochet navy yarn on to make that ridge more pronounced, then crochet a spiral up the side. I haven't decided whether to knit or crochet the handles. This should leave a lot of leftover yarn, so if it works well I may make another one in navy with crimson trim. And if it works really well, maybe I'll submit the pattern somewhere.

Besides the cozy and the trellis scarf in work, I have yarn for two pair of socks and gloves for Rudder. I have enough Southwest Trading Company Bamboo yarn for a tank top for me, one skein of Kidsilk Haze I tried actual lace with (that would be when I decided I hate knitting lace because it takes too much attention), about 3 skeins of Manos I'm contemplating another Moebius scarf with (the wavy freeform one at the back of Cat Bordhi's book, and various odds and ends left over from completed projects. That's it. Not much of a stash, compared to what I hear from other knitters.

three has to be a roadrunner joke in here someplace...

Today at lunch I bought an anvil.

It just makes me happy to say that. Oh sure, some people might call it a bench block, but if you look at it, it's a perfect miniature anvil and it serves the purpose of one. It's just a couple inches long, and for some stupid reason it's covered with shiny chrome. But it is in fact a real anvil, and I bought it for function, not for its cuteness. I got it because I've been experimenting with making my own earwires, so I don't have to buy them. The ones I'm making are like this, but since I'm making them out of plain wire, when I take them off and put them down, the silver balls tend to roll right off. The anvil is so that I can pound the front part of the wires flat, to keep the balls in shape and make the wires more rigid. I'm hoping the small brass toolmakers' hammer I made in a shop class will work for that, but I'm not sure whether brass is harder than silver. I'm looking forward to testing it out and to getting that pristine chrome all scratched up. It's not actually all that much cheaper to make my own wires (maybe $.50 for the wire and silver balls vs. $1 for a pair of commercially made wires) but it's nice not to have to worry about running out. Also, now if I want to, say, pound a wire spiral flat I can.

I did think it was a bit strange when the woman at the bead store told me she'd bought a tiny anvil too, as soon at the shop got them in - "I don't know if I'll ever use it, but I love all kinds of miniature things and it was just so cute!" Cue Dichroic stepping s-l-o-w-l-y away from the counter.

I also bought a few findings including a clasp for a leather necklace. I've concluded that one soltuion tomaking more jewelry than I can wear is to give or barter some of it away. A few years back I bought a 3" long flat African bead at the local RenFaire, put it on a thing, put it away, and never wore it again. When I thought about it in this new light, it was clear that it's just not my style - but I know whose it might be. So I'll gussy it up with a clasp and maybe a little additional silver and see how it looks then.

sweater pixies

Rudder was able to come home on an earlier flight; he got in late Saturday afternoon. Apparently having him around after a week alone is distracting; Before I left for the airport Saturday, I began making this from this. (New skill: provisional cast-on - which looks way cool when you start with a plain cream colored yarn then knit a multicolored yarn into it. I maybe have to do that sometime on purpose for an edging, and not pull out the crochet chain that begins it.) Of course when I joined the yarn, I checked to make sure I didn't twist it. I checked several times. I even checked as I was knitting it. By last night I'd gotten a couple of inches into the sweater, and done 6 out of 10 or so increase rows. ("Or so" because I'm adapting to a different gauge than the one in the pattern, and since it's top down, I'll be able to try it on as I go. I took one more look at it - and found that somehow it was twisted, and instead of the neck of a sweater what I had instead was a Moebius strip.

I can only conclude that either Rudder's impending and then actual presence was even more distracting than I had thought, or else the Sweater Pixies have come to my house to play mischievous tricks on me. At least, since I have to redo my work, it's a very nice yarn to knit with - Artful Yarns Candy, in a color that's mostly blue with threads of orange and green. I have only four balls; I'm knitting the second size up which calls for five, but then I'm getting 19 instead of 22 stitches per inch. Also, judging by her picture in the sweater's pattern (and mine from yesterday), I will need considerably less yarn for the, er, top half od the body.

ta-da!

Top-down raglan, knitted per barbara Walker's "Knitting from the Top Down". I'm still learning about proper amounts of eas; the body fits well, but I could have made the upper arms smaller and then decreased them less.

Gloves!

All done - well, except for working in the ends in the second one. All I can say is, my Dad better wear them.

That's my hand they're on - they look all bulgy just because they're too big for me.

lap blanket pattern

Apologies to nonknitters; you may just want to skip this entry.

While trying to fall asleep this morning after Rudder left for rowing (and then again after he came back because it was too windy), I invented a pattern to knit a lap blanket with a pocket to keep your feet warm. It's an unpattern, really, adaptable to any yarn and gauge. I probably won't knit this any time soon, what this that whole living in Phoenix thing, but I want to at least record the basic idea. I've worked out the math for two versions, one in garter stitch and one in stockinette with cables. My math skills are somewhat better than my knitting skills, but please let me know if you spot any errors!.

Feel free to use this pattern, but not to publish it elsewhere or sell it. Let me know if you do try it. Once again: I warn you I have NOT knit-tested this pattern!

For both styles:
You'll need a bulky or super-bulky yarn and an appropriately-sized circular needles 40" or so long. I think the garter-stitch version would look good in a chenille, while I'd want a smoother yarn for the cabled one.

Swatch (garter for the garter style, stockinette for the cable style). A flat swatch is fine; it's a blanket and exact size doesn't matter. Measure. Call your stitches per inch X, your rows per inch Y. To figure out the total number of stitches to cast on, which I'll call N, multiply X by 48. Use a provisional cast on of some kind (like casting onto waste yarn or a crochet chain - Google "provisional cast-on" to find instructions) to CO N stitches. PM and join sts.

Garter Stitch Foot-Pocket Throw:

Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl.
Repeat Rows 1 and 2 for 18" or so. When you get to the marker on the next row, instead of continuing around in a circle, turn and go back the other way, going back and forth instead of around. If you want a wider blanket, when you switch to flat knitting, CO 6 times X stitches at the end of each of the next two rows. Knit every row from here out until the blanket is long enough to cover your lap with your feet in the pocket, longer if you want to fold it over for extra thickness. Pull out the waste yarn or crochet chain at the original cast-on and Kitchener graft the stitches together as you would for a sock toe.

Cabled Foot-Pocket Throw

This will be a stockinette throw with one bigger cable in the middle and two smaller ones on either side; obviously, the width of the cable (in inches, not stitches) will depend on the thickness of your yarn.
C4F: Slip 2 sts on a cable needle and hold in front of work. K 2, then K the 2 sts off the cable needle.
C6F: Slip 3 sts on a cable needle and hold in front of work. K 3, then K the 3 sts off the cable needle.

Row 1: K N/2-13 sts. P2, K4, P4, K6, P4, K4, P2, K N/2-13.
Rows 2-5: Repeat Row 1.
Row 6: K N/2-13 sts. P2, C4F, P4, K6, P4, C4F, P2, K N/2-13.
Rows 7-11: Repeat Row 1.
Row 12: K N/2-13 sts. P2, C4F, P4, C6F, P4, C4F, P2, K N/2-13.
Repeat Rows 1-12 for 18".

Switch from circular to flat knitting. From the marker, turn and:
Row 1(WS): K2, P N/2-15 sts. K2, P4, K4, P6, K4, P4, K2, P N/2-15, K2.
Row 2(RS): K N/2-13 sts, P2, K4, P4, K6, P4, K4, P2, K N/2-13.
Row 3(WS): Repeat Row 1.
Row 4(RS): Repeat Row 2.
Row 5(WS): Repeat Row 1.
Row 6(RS): K N/2-13 sts. P2, C4F, P4, K6, P4, C4F, P2, K N/2-13.
Row 7(WS): Repeat Row 1.
Row 8(RS): Repeat Row 2.
Row 9(WS): Repeat Row 1.
Row 10(RS): Repeat Row 2.
Row 11(WS): Repeat Row 1.
Row 12: K N/2-13 sts. P2, C4F, P4, C6F, P4, C4F, P2, K N/2-13.

What you're doing on this flat part is garter-stitching the first two stitches on every row to provide a nice edge. Repeat these 12 rows until the blanket is long enough to cover your lap with your feet in the pocket, longer if you want to fold it over for extra thickness. Pull out the waste yarn or crochet chain at the original cast-on and graft the stitches together as you would for a sock toe.

What I'm doing here is putting cables in the middle 26 stitches, with stockinette on either side.Obviously, this would be easy enough to adapt for different types of cables. If you want to get really adventurous, try one of these. I confess I haven't tried them because I usually read while knitting and I'd have to put the book down and pay attention for them.

sweater girl

Here we go - two poses mimicking the ones from the original pattern and the one in the middle because Rudder liked it.

Banff rides out

Guess what I'm wearing today? It's really more of a casual floppy sweater than something for work, but I had an excuse. I like my boss, but he is undeniably quirky. One of his quirks is that he likes to give us a hard time about the dress code - the company is business casual, but he'll always comment favorably on people wearing ties or skirts, or give us a hard time for wearing "ranch pants" on Fridays. (He just likes giving us crap, basically - if we didn't give him something to complain about he would be bored.) Yesterday, he was telling my cubemate (who doesn't work for him) that she could be "gatekeeper" for our staff meeting today, to make sure no one got in whose clothing didn't cost at least $300 excluding jewelry.

I'd wear a $300 pair of jeans in, just to needle him, except that would require actually spending that much money to buy them.

I told him that just for that, today I'd wear a sweater that, considering the speed of my knitting and my hourly rate, was worth a couple thousand dollars. And I am. Of course, I neglected to mention that the yarn cost me a whole $35 or so on sale.

Though you'd think such an expensive sweater would be a bit more flattering.

back to work

Back to work, feh. Except my email server is down, so there's not much I can do at the moment. (I keep trying to think of reasons to be glad to get back to work, but have not yet succeeded.)

I did manage to finish assembling my Banff sweater and knitting the neck last night, so it's all done except for weaving in the ends. I'll try to get a picture tonight. I like the short body length, but probably should have made the sleeves a little shorter. It's a bit floppier than I think it's meant to be, because I used a very soft wool and knit it at a fairly loose gauge. The latter is a good thing, though, since I live in Arizona rather than Canada (like Jenna, the sweater's designer). It's plenty loose, as it's meant to be, and I think more flattering than some I've seen that came out too tight on their creators, though probably not as much as it would have been if it were a little stiffer. But it's wicked comfortable, which I think is the point of this sweater.

Next I need to finish the gloves for my dad (the pinky, ring and middle finger of each hand are done - two more fingers and two thumbs to do, then assembly of the whole) and to start on a sweater for Rudder. This one will be basic top-down raglan, knitted all at once with no seams. He's asked for ribbed cuffs and waist and a slightly extended neck, somewhere between a crew and a turtleneck.

It's going to be a lot harder to progress quickly with all this work stuff taking up my days.

handiwork

Here are some of the things that have kept me busy this vacation. Actually, the knitting kept me busy; the beadwork has just been a product of today while my sweater parts are drying from their blocking. I had a small sweater emergency last night: as soon as the knitted parts got wet, they stretched out entirely; the knit was see-through and the ribbing laid as flat as the stockinette section. Banff is supposed to be roomy, but I don't want the sleeves to be gorilla-length! I've got it drying outside today to speed the process (it's 65 degrees or so and sunny) with the ribbing squinched together and the rest of it sort of pushed together a bit, and now that it's almost dry I think it's regained some elasticity.

Most of the beads in these earrings are from Elisem's Beads of the Month program; you can't tell, but the top left white earrings are quartz (November, Quartz and its Imitators), and the top right silvery glass ones have a tiger-eye effect (December, Optcal Phenomenon). The middle ones are lampworked (Sepember, maybe), and will go to Bozoette Mary, who won them for her contribution to JournalCon, unless she tells me those colors aren't good for her. (Mary, if you prefer, you could have either of the top pair, but I'm afraid I'm being selfish and keeping the bottom ones. Or I could make you something different.) The lowest ones are a style I haven't tried making before. I'm very happy with the way they turned out. The silver pieces are from a local bead store; I had some of the Swarovski beads, but the others, as well as the inspiration, are from Elisem's Colors of Fire package.

mostly yarn. some family stuff

Um. Oops. Apparently I'm making Rudder a sweater. I was in a non-diligent, holiday mood so I decided to go to the yarn store at lunch to get the yarn for the gloves for my dad. I'd never done that before; it's a little further than I usually like to go. Of the three on my side of town ("town" being a large area comprising the entire Valley of the Sun) this one is my least favorite, but the other two are much further from here. I got the wool for the gloves all right, some Filatura di Crosa 501 (color 1288) plus some size 4 needles because I only had size 5 and they might be too big. (The gloves need to be dense.)

I also got: an extra long Denise needle cable, some GGH wine-colored mohair yarn to make wristwarmers for me because my office is cold aaaand..... nine skeins of Lamb's Pride bulky to make a sweater for Rudder. It would, of course, have been much smarter to say, "Now there's an idea, I think I'll make a sweater for Rudder," and then take him to the store to choose his own colors, but I think he'll like this. It's a denim sort of blue, with one skein of gray to make a stripe across the chest. I plan to make it a top-down raglan, probably plain stockinette, since that much ribbing would take longer and is not really any more exciting to knit. If he's lucky he'll get it by his December 2006 birthday; for this year he'll have to be satisfied with store-bought sweaters.

His birthday is two days before Christmas, so coming up with enough gift ideas is always tricky. Unfortunately when I called his parents to make sure we didn't step on each others' toes (and all buy the same gift), I found out they're busy dealing with some serious health problems of his maternal grandmother's. It's looking like a very good thing that we got to see her this summer, when she was lucid at least part of the time. She's declined very quickly since then, from the sound of it. Her youngest grandchild is in college and the oldest is 40 or so, so it's hard to complain, but this may be a difficult Christmas for my mother-in-law.

meeting friends, new and old

SO: Last Saturday night was Prattbunnymallcon. The other revelers gathered at noon at the Pratt house to see the bunnies. I'd have liked to see them and Mrs. P's lighthouses, but we'd gotten in at 2 AM the night before. My brother had picked us up (useful sometimes, having relatives who are nocturnal) and we'd stayed at his place. Since we were going to be out for dinner with friends our first two nights in Philadelphia, I figured we'd better stop in to visit with Mom and Dad before heading out to King of Prussia. The mall is easy enough to find, and the brother, who's only had his (first) car for a couple of months, did well driving out there. We found the brewpub with no problem and the rest of the group tore themselves away from the bunnies and met us there:

From left to right, that's Wolf, Bozoette Mary, LA and Mike, me, Mrs. Pratt, Mary's Joe, Rudder, Deb, Pratt's forehead, and my brother's right cheek. Art the waiter took the photo. (He wasn't much better at waitering.) The dinner was good as reported elsewhere; the JournalCon alumni were as easy to talk to as before, and none of the assorted spouses, kids or siblings seemed to feel too out of place. I didn't get to talk to Mike much because of the layout of the table, but my brother was at his end of the table and reported that he'd been telling some fascinating stories of his life. I think Deb's son felt a little out of place with all the grownups, but it didn't phase Wolf, who was being charming and so interactive with all the adults (pretty typical, at his age) that I would not have recognized him as the same kid in LA's descriptions of his early years. Mary's Joe was likewise charming and very funny and the attractive Mrs. Pratt put herself out to be a gracious local tour guide (possibly with thoughts of lighthouse gatherings in future compensation!)

Funny, none of us are really the type of female to go to the restroom in herds, but LA, Mary, and I sort of ran into each other there:
. Yes, I have special powers and my true self shows up in mirror reflections.

After the meal, Deb and son had to leave (I thought that was a shame at the time, but reading her explanation I'm sort of glad they did. Kids who mention the possibility of vomiting make me nervous too.) but the rest of us walked around the mall for a while. It was already full of Christmas regalia:

though I don't think Wolf found any toys he liked better than his camera - what a great way to keep a kid busy:

though he did like the rocket ship ride.

Sunday, Rudder and the brother and I met up with an old friend of mine from college days (I was in college, he worked in one of the labs there). I'd wanted the bro to meet him for some time. It was sort of funny: one of my sibling's less endearing traits is a tendency to brag about all the people he knows (many from SF cons) and all the things they've done. One of the cooler things about his apartment is the library he's somehow managed to fit in there. This friend has him vastly outclassed on both counts: the bro got very quiet (rare!) on first seeing his nineteenth-century West Philly house with the mahogany and cherry wood trim, and again when he casually mentioned a conversation with a Big Name Author. (I don't think the story was meant to have that effect, actually). But the best part of the evening was the restaurant he took us to: a high-end Italian place in a small town across the bridge in jersey. The owner hugged him when we walked in. The local Italian teacher (possibly the owner's wife) hugged him. The server hugged him. The service was about as good as you'd expect from those reactions. And the meal was phenomenal: all the authenticity of an Italian place in an Itallian neighborhood run by a guy from Italy, along with the cooking skills of a master chef. My friend brought the wines, plural, carefully picked to go with the various things we might order, and the owner, wife and server sampled each one as well. The conversation sparkled as well, and though I wasn't entirely pleased with either when my friend and brother went out to smoke - I liked that they seemed to bond over the cigs, but the bro was my partner in nagging our Dad to quit for most of our llives, so I hate to see him smoking himself now, and the friend has health conditions that make it seem like a bad idea. I tried not to nag much, but when I did say something they both took it in good part, and I was touched when in response to my comment that I didn't have big-sister nagging rights over him, the friend commented that I had at least little-sister rights. Beautiful place. Great dinner. If you're in the Philly area and you want an excellent Italian meal (fancy, not cheap), I have the restaurant's card somewhere.

Also, while I'm here: voila, the socks I finished on the way home from the marathon, the scarf I finished in Philadelphia, and the blanket I finished just before this last trip with the hat I started on the flight home. The blanket and hats are for twins; they'll have to share the blanket, but the second hat is on the needles now.

either knitting or Harry Potter

If you're not interested in either knitting or Harry Potter, you might want to go read someone else today.

I would like to proudly announce that I am sitting here at work in my newly-completed sleeveless turtleneck! I finished it while reading Harry Potter on Saturday, wove in the ends and blocked it yesterday. It fits perfectly. It's based on the pattern in the Yarn Girls' book. There's a fine line between "based on" and "inspired by"; in this case I think it's the former. I used a totally different yarn with a different edge (Sirdar Denim Ultra Bulky in a denim blue), and did the armhole edges in garter stitch rather than crocheting around the edges, so mine is a little more cut away than theirs at the shoulders (not too much for work, but it does show my shoulders a little more), and I didn't use an accent color at the neck. On the other hand I used their measurements and adapted for gauge, instead of just looking at the picture and figuring it out for my body. In general their patterns are simple to knit; I started this one only two weeks ago, and didn't even take it to Santa Barbara last weekend. On the other hand, they're a little too simple: no shaping or other interesting details. This one is ribbed fairly high up so didn't need any, but I did add a little shaping to the other tank top I knit from their book, which I also finally got around to washing and blocking yesterday. I may wear it to work (with a cardigan) later in the week.


Below are comments, questions, and predictions from and for the Harry Potter books; the following contains the very spoileriest and most blatant spoilers for Half-Blood Prince. You have been warned.


Wormtail's silver hand:
Nuada, a hero of Celtic mythology (sometimes conflated with Lugh) has a silver hand. I'm still wondering if that's deliberate on Rowling's part, though Nuada was a king and warrior, and his hand was severed during a battle.

Return to Hogwarts:
I have some trouble believing that Harry won't return to Hogwarts. First of all, if you look on the flypage where all the books in the series are listed, they are all subtitled "First Year at Hogwarts", "Second Year at Hogwarts", and so on. Rowling has said that her reason for having seven books is that she thought it would take that long to train a wizard. So how does that work if the severth year isn't at Hogwarts? Second, I think Harry would be foodlist not to return. He's not there just for fun; he's learned quite a lot each year. He's going up against one of the most formidable wizards ever, and while it's clear his strength will not be in superior magic skills, it still seems stupid for him not to prepare himself as thoroughly as he can.

Hagrid:
Has anyone noticed that Hagrid's choronolgy doesn't add up? We know from PoA that he was expelled fifty years ago, aged 13; he says in HBP that his home has been at Hogwarts since he was 13 (which might be a mistake; he's been there since 11, though it's possible he's only thought of the place as "home" since his father died, and I can't remember when that was). Yet Molly Weasley, who was at Hogwarts less than fifty years ago (presumably thirty-ish years, judging by Bill's age) remembers someone else as gamekeeper (Book 4). So what was Hagrid doing at Hogwarts from the time he was 13 until he took the gamekeeper job?

Ginny:
I have seen speculation (admittedly from people who are emotionally invested in the idea of a romance between Harry and Hermione) that Harry and Ginny's relationship is not an important one, just a teenaged short-term romance. I don't think so. Teenaged romances, especially short-lived ones, are characterized by great Drama, punctuated by declarations of undying love and ending in weeping, wailing, and ganshing of teeth at their end. Ron's affaire Lavender is a perfect example of the sort. Ginny lets Harry go too easily. I don't believe it. She's too tenacious; she's never let anyone go off into trouble without her before, if she could possibly help it - as witness the invasion of the Ministry in OtP. I do think Harry is right that she understands what he has to do, agrees about its import, and maybe even accepts that he has to do some things alone. But for anything where his friends can accompany him, I think Ginny will turn up again.

RAB: Dammit, I thought I was so smart for guessing that RAB might be Regulus Black - until I found that half the Potter-reading Internet thought so too.

Dumbledore: I agree with others that Dumbledore expected to die, and at Snape's hand. He didn't seem to mind his withered hand; possibly he knew it wouldn't be for long. More important, when he came back to Hogwarts after drinking the potion - and why did he know it would be so hard to drink, and not even consider the possiblity of a ruse? - he asked for Snape. Especially given that Snape would be reluctant to come at Harry's call, Madam Pomfrey would have been a more likely choice. Also, if Dumbledore had only wanted to keep Harry safe from Draco, Immobilizing him is not a great way to do it; it seems more likely that Dumbledore wanted to keep Harry from interfering in what he knew was about to happen. Also, I cannot imagine Dumbledore shouting at Snape simply to keep him working for the Order. It wouldn't have worked, for one thing. An unwilling Order member would be more dangerous than Kreacher. It seems more likely and characteristic that Dumbledore was requiring Snape to do something much more abhorrent: maintain his deep cover at any cost and kill the only man who had ever trusted him. On the other hand, I don't think his death would have been necessary to make him more powerful in the way Aslan's did in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; that would only make sense in terms of a much more explicitly Christian linkage than the books have shown so far.

I believe Dumbledore will be back, though. While Rowing has spent a lot of effort linking Dumbledore to the Phoenix - Fawkes seems to be more a familiar than a pet, Rowling has said on her website that Dumbledore's Patronus is a phoenix, and his body is consumed in white flame without any apparent outside intervention. Given all that I find it highly unlikely that there won't be some sort of rebirth. He may not stick around long, but I do think Dumbledore will come back in some way more substantial than as a ghost or a portrait.

Allusions:
Though I don't think Dumbledore is linked to Aslan, there do seem to be a few nods to other classics, though I can't quite tell if they're all in my mind or if they were in Rowling's as well. The dead people under the water in the cave reminded me of the ones in the marsh Gollum led Frodo and Sam through. In the repeated refrain that Harry is "Dumbledore's man", I kept hearing echos of Hawkin's pledge to his liege Merriman in the Dark is Rising books - though Harry's relationship to Dumbledore is of course more like Will's to Merriman. I can't imagine that JK Rowling readsHP fanfiction, for fear of being drawn away from her own vision (not to mention fear of lawsuits) or I'd think there were a couple other nods in there, between the scene with Narcissa and the fox and the bit about Lupin and Tonks (close enough to Werewolf and Metamorph that the latter could be backstory). I suppose there must just be a lot of foxes in England, and that other authors are, after all, following in JKR's lead.

FO post

Last night I finished crocheting straps on the Rowan Cotton Braid tank top, so it's all done except for tucking in ends. It's based on one in the Yarn Girls' book, but I adjusted it for a totally different yarn and just kept trying it on for length and width. I got the fit right this time, yay. I will probably crochet around the bootm, which will add a hair to the length and, I hope, keep it from wanting to roll upward.

not as far along as I thought

Sigh. I think I'm going to have to unravel the heel and about fifteen rows after it on my Telecon Sock. It's just too tight when I put it on, and better a little more work to get something I'd actually use. I think I'm taking it to Sacramento this weekend (my other next project is much bulkier) so at least I'll get some more done on it. It will be too hot here for socks for a while, anyway.

Last night I finished and bound off the tank top I've been working on, but unbound it this morning; I want the front to be a little higher. (There's a picture at an earlier stage here.) I hadn't cut the yarn, because once the knitting is done I need to crochet on edging and straps, so at least I don't need to start a new strand. It won't be much more to do, only about 2" in a fairly bulky yarn, so I may finish it (for the third time) tonight. The crocheting will go quickly too; it's fluffy enough that I could actually skip the trim and only crochet on the shoulder straps, but I'll probably do the trim just to keep the straps more securely attached and to make the neckline a little higher still.

And this morning once *again* I mistook the day I was scheduled to fly. I went all the way to the FBO at 6AM only to find I'm actually scheduled for tomorrow. (My error, not theirs. Somehow I managed to misremember that tomorrow was the only day they had free when I tried to do the scheduling.) I didn't lose sleep because of it - I'd have been up at the same time anyway - but I did miss a gym day. And now I need to come up with *another* outfit that's both functional for flying and professional enough for work.

Funny thing, though: I can't keep my own life straight, but I seem to be going heavy on the logic and analysis in offering advice to other people today. If you need some, come see me. But if commiseration is what's required, come back tomorrow. Or at least tell me so, so clearly that even I can't misunderstand, and I'll try to be a little more Watson and less Holmes.

quiet weekend

It's been an unusually quiet weekend here. Yesterday morning I flew, eking out alittle more cross-country time and practicing instrument approaches with the autopilot. (It's still easier without the autopilot, if you ask me.) Yesterday afternoon we went to see Howl's Moving Castle, which was good but not great. It doesn't still especially closely to the book, except for when it does. Given all the things they changed - Sophie having no magic, to name one large omission - I was surprised at some of the little things they didn't, like Howl's emitting green ichor in depression over a bad hair day. The animation was wonderful. My biggest complain is that of the parts of the story that got changed, too many of the new story points didn't have enough explanation to make sense. I realize this isn't unusual in anime; however, that may be one reason I don't spend much time watching anime. I am not really a subtle audience, and far less so in watching movies than in reading books. (There are some advantages to this, in the matter of rereading; every time I reread Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy falls in love with Elizabeth earlier in the book. I am on tenterhooks to see what I find when I'm ready to reread Lord of the Rings.)

Today, we attempted to eat breakfast out, but had forgotten it wa Fathers' Day, so we did a few errands and then picked up bagels. (One pleasure of national chains is that Breugger's actually comes up to my East-Coast-Jewish standards , as long as I don't order lox.) Since then I've gotten a lot of craftwork done. Here is the tank top I'm knitting, with about half the lower body redone since I ripped it out:

This is a necklace that's been laying dormant a long while; I've finally fnished it. It's Swarovski crystals wire-wrapped )for one value of that word) and hanging on a silver chain; I'm including two pictures because, though the Cooldeck background isn't ideal, some details show up better against it.

This is a necklace I did a few weeks ago, intended for wearing to regattas - it's in Arizona Outlaw colors. Actually, I made two (the other is blue), but I forgot to take a picture of the other before giving it to She-Hulk.

a visit to the frog pond.

The good news is, I finished the entire bottom and the top front of the tank top I'm knitting in the round. The bad news, I've decided to frog the whole thing and reknit it using a size or two smaller needles. There are just too many holes, and it's probably better to do nearly twice the work if it means I end up with something wearable. Even with the smaller size I'll probably probably end up gettng 3 stitches or less per inch, so it'll be fairly quick, anyhow. (It's this yarn, in the Dali shade.)

Also, I'm working from home today because I feel a little crappy in a no-energy sort of way, so I can frog as I read email or whatever.

sweater girl

Look look look look! My very first sweater!

Guess what I'm wearing to work today?

Those pictures are pre-blocking. I blocked it after that, which didn't change it much. It was still damp this morning but I put it on anyway. I'm not good at waiting. Also, there are some advantages to living in a desert; it's very nearly dry now. Driving into work with the top (of my car!) down helped, too.

I should mention that it's this pattern. Mine is a little roomier because when I adjusted the pattern for yarn with a different gauge, I also added to it a bit. The original was for a 32" chest, which sounded improbably slim but might would have worked after all. I'm still a little scared of overdoing the "negative ease" and ending up with something so tight I can't get into it. Now on the needles: a tank top I'm adapting to knit in the round, in Rowan cotton braid. I've already ripped out once, reducing it from 86 to 60 stitches around because it was huge.

anticipatory stress

I don't know. I'm feeling overextended again and there is NO GOOD REASON for it. I flew on Sunday, the roughest flight yet: not only couldn't I hold altitude, the CFII couldn't hold altitude. ANd meanwhile the whole aircraft was bobbing and rolling like a boxer despite my best efforts to hold it steady. We'd have side to side rolling and small dips and bumps as well as long slow thermals and sinks that I couldn't seem to counteract, so we were moving around on two time scales as well as three axes. Yuck. (At least the CFII admitted he didn't like that shit either, instead of the usual "What? This stuff is fun!" And this was the first guy I'd flown with who shares my views on the header bug used to mark course on the gyrocompass, which is that it's annoying and obscures my view of the compass ticks. Most of the instructors insist I use the damned thing.)

I was sore Monday just from flying with my shoulders hunched up around my ears. I'd considered taking the morning off from workouts but was feeling allright so I did a relatively intense erg piece. Then last night I felt icky (possibly dehydration) - fortunately not too bad since I had to drop my car off for 30000 mile service. (I am *not* convinced 30kmile service is anything but a moneymaker for the dealer, but the car is leased so I feel I should be good about maintenance.) I did take this morning off and slept until 6. Or tried. Between Rudder's 4:30AM alarm and the cats, I wasn't terribly successful.

I think I'm feeling stressed partly by what's to come and partly because the heroine in my current book really is stressed and put-upon. (The first Sarah Kelling mystery.) Work is being relatively calm, but everything else isn't. Tonight I pick up the car after work. Tomorrow morning I ought to row or at least go to the gym. Tomorrow night I fly again. Thursday I work out, Thursday night.... I think it's too early to make matzo balls, but maybe not too early for the torte. Rudder will be injecting the turkey, though, which always means a kitchen atmosphere thick with onion and pepper and garlic, not the best baking environment. Or maybe I'll hit the supermarket for horseradish and apples and whatever else I've forgotten. I'm considering attempting a charoses-inspired Pasadic apple crisp, as if anyone faced with a chocolate torte really needs dessert choices. Clearly is a Bad Influence, though overabundance of food at holidays can reasonably be called one my traditions as well. Friday we'll be registering people for this weekend's juniors regatta, and I need to make the matzo balls so they can sit overnight before boiling. Saturday She-Hulk and I will be dockmistresses for the regatta after which I change clothes in a phone booth and fly home to make the soup and the torte, and set the table and neaten the house. Then later I need to make the asparagus and probably scalloped potatoes. And I need to make charoses, though I won't bother with the whole Seder plate (no idea where to get a shankbone, for one thing.) And then there's the fun of having people for dinner and the drinking wine and eating, and then there's the cleaning, then Sunday morning I have to fly again. I signed up for a slot at 10AM, in hopes I can have at least some wine the night before and not be feeling it by then.

So apparently the stress isn't entirely just rubbed off from my book. But pre-emptive stress is sort of a stupid idea.

oh, dear

I just removed my first attempt at felting from the washer. (I tried hand-felting last night, but wasn't having as much of an affect as I wanted.) It's nicely thick and fuzzy, though slightly more shrunken than I'd wanted, but unfortunately my pretty variegated Manos now looks like a dog's breakfast. Post dog.

With luck the colors will look better when it dries.

trip knitting pics

Finished object pictures as promised - one sock and the beach it was finished on, and two views of the iPod cozy.

unplanned yarn

I think I must be an atypical knitter. I'm don't seem to be too interested in stash qua stash. Right now, aside from the dribs and drabs left over from finished projects, I have wool/acrylic yarn for a scarf (started), cotton yarn for a sleevless sweater (started), DK yarn for socks, sock yarn for other socks (both unstarted), and the Manos del Uruguay yarn shown at the top of this picture. ( The yarn at the bottom became my Clapotis.)

That Manos is still preying on my mind, because I don't know what it wants to be. I have six hanks, not enough for a sweater. I live in a hot climate and really don't need any more scarves. It would make a great poncho, but I don't know if I have enough, plus see "hot climate" above. I wonder if I have enough for a simple sleeveless sweater? I could probably figure out the math well enough to do it in the round with veryvery simple neck and shoulder shaping. Or maybe a small lap afghan? I suppose I could swatch and just measure the yarn used to see how far it would go.

Clap twice

I keep getting a hankering to make yet another Clapotis, because it was such fun to knit. (And because it was much quicker gratification than the tiny stitches on those damned socks!) I wonder how it would look if I made one out of this laceweight yarn, but still on size 8 needles, for summer use in airconditioned buildings and such? Hmmm...

Clapotis completis

The Clapotis, she is done.

Er, well, more or less. It turns out that in Silk Garden, stitches don't so much drop as have to be pulled out, so there are still a few places where I need to finish doing that - but at least it's done enough to wear, assuming I ever figure out how. (But it's going to work this week whether or not I figure out how to wear it well.)

I was so excited to finish that I dropped by Kids' Town yesterday to show it off to Alison - I'd forgotten she's in Durango but fortunately Ilanna was there and she oohed and ahhed over it very satisfactorily. She also showed me two scarves she's just finished. One is done in narrow stripes of two different Noro colorways; it's gorgeous and looks like an escapee from a kaleidoscope.

Next on the needles: I'm about a toe-length into a sock for Rudder, trying to figure out why socks are supposed to be such a quick project. With luck I won't get too frustrated to make a mate for this one.

yarn arrival

Rudder just casually mentioned that when he was home at lunch, my box from Lamb's Ear Farm had arrived and he took it inside. This is in all sensible ways a good thing because I'd been figuring it would arrive just in time to stand out in the rain; however I have to work another hour and a half and then I have to go fly (a simulator, actually). So I won't get home for another four hours or so and now I know I have YARN! waiting for me .... fuzz and shine and color and distraction, rainbowy silky Noro that will let me get on with the Clapotis decreases so I can wear it and look French (or deluded), stretchy Fixation and accompanying sock pattern to learn on, tiny needles and skinny pretty yarn for when I get the gist of it enough to start something I can make for my husband that he might actually wear.

No wonder other knitters seem to finish projects every few days; one woman wrote today on Knitlist that she knits two hours a day but is trying to get much more time for it. I, on the other hand, last night got 7 narrow rows in, one more twist in the cable of the Irish Hiking Scarf I started when I put the Clapotis down pending my yarn order. My knitting time is also my reading time, my eating time, and my talking-to-Rudder time, so it has to share space. On the other hand, I'd probably get extremely bored doing the same thing for two hours every day.

One thing I do plan to do to make sharing my time a little easyier is to buy a bookstand. I don't know yet whether this will work out; I do have a little tray table in front of my chair that it could rest in, but the problem is that while knitting or reading, I don't exactly what you'd call sit in my chair. It's a big cushy chair, and I inhabit it, back against one arm, shoulder leaning against the chair back, legs propped over the other arm, with my book on my thighs, needles in my hand and yarn trailing down to a basket on the floor. A book stand would require me to sit straighter, which would doubtless be better for my back but would feel less like a nest, me and my yarn and my book removed from the rest of the world.

New yarn waiting for me!

Clapotis

Oddly, I got more knitting done during lectures at rowing camp, and on Staurday evening, and less than I'd expected on the way to and from San Diego. The main issue was darkness: I can knit without looking, though more slowly, but it's a little scary when you've invested that much time into a project not to be able to check for mistakes often. I've gotten 11 (of 13) of the repeats in the main body done.

I was hoping to get to the decrease section before this evening, but last night was laundry, tonight is a flying lesson, and tomorrow we're cleaning out under our bed and taking it apart in preparation for having a new one delivered Friday. At least I will be into the decreases by the end of the weekend. I'm losing the race with the weather, though: it's been going up almost into the 80s this week, so I may not have much chance to wear the finished Clapotis this year. Sigh. Oh, well, winter comes every year and someday I will get out of Arizona.

clapotis interruptus

Actually not so much interruptus as in flagrate delicto. Here she is, just short of half done:

A closeup of the colors:

And one more that's neither stretched out nor zoomed in:

It's Noro Silk Garden, colorway 50, by the way. I just hope I finish it while it's still cool enough to wear it, at least a few times.

stitching, with the bitching part later

Last night I went to my first real Stitch'n'Bitch meeting (though I had met a few local members at the not-quite-a-sleepover Alison held a while back). The turnout was pretty incredible, considering there was a tornado warning on the North side of town and there had been hail a little earlier in my area. There must have been forty people crowded into a back room at Changing Hands. Of course people ended up splitting into smaller clusters so I didn't get to meet most of them, but I did meet Ilanna, Shannon, Kimberly, Brooke, Jack, Gina, and Pam's friend Kim, and got to meet Pam again. Too bad Alison couldn't come. It was a good time. I showed Gina how to cast on, knit and purl, or rather refreshed her memory, since she'd known how before and picked it up again right away. I also got about 8 rows done on my Clapotis and learned how to pronounce it properly from Shannon - well, in the interest of full verity I did 7 rows and just enough of the 8th to do the cool drop-stitch part - and got to see Pam's striped scarf, Ilanna's legwarmers, Jen's (?) Ribby cardigan, and lots of other projects. Also, nobody laughed at all the obvious mistakes in my poncho. (Nobody really seemed to notice them, which in a room full of knitters is reassuring.) The Silk Garden I'm using for the Clapotis got a lot of attention, because the colors are so pretty. I really like the weight and feel of it myself; my only complaint is that it breaks every few rows. I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks now I'm up to full width, where the stripes will be narrower (because there are more stitches in each row).

I got to bed around nine; unfortunately Rudder got up to erg at 4. It's hard for me to sleep through the erg, though I should have just put in earplugs. It was impossible this time, though, because he kept hitting the end of the slides it's on. So I complained about that, gave up and got up to go to the gym, came home and we had a bit of a blowout. I think we may have reached the decision that There Will Be Quiet Time Until 5AM - I figure if he can't row on the lake until then (due to lake rules) there should be no reason he needs to erg before that, especially as all the drive time is saved. I really started out just complaining about the wall-thumping sounds when he hit the end of the slides, but the frustrations of being woken up way too early for the last 5 years crept in, I'm afraid. Oops.

learning fast

The beauty part of being a fairly new knitter is that you learn loads of new things on each project. I've just gotten to the point of dropping my first stitch on Clapotis (last night-yay!) and so far I've learned a bunch:

• Choosing yarn: when you're using a yarn like Noro Silk Garden, which has very long sections of each color, when you buy the yarn try to find pick out balls such that each one starts with the color the last one ends in. (I didn't, so some of my color changes may be a little abrupt.)
• Splicing breaks: I don't think I knit all that tightly, but this yarn breaks all the time (about 6 times in the first ball - some colors seem to be more fragile than others.) Thank goodness I'd read about spit-splicing on the Knitlist or I'd have wasted a lot of yarn. I don't think spit-splicing would work on all yarns, but it worked so well on this one that I used it to start a new ball, too, so I won't have any loose ends. You can use water instead of spit if you're squeamish. You just get both ends really wet, overlap an inch or two, and rub them together quickly in your palms. In other words, you're essentially spinning the two pieces of yarn together into one attached piece.
• Counters: For me at least, a clicker counter works much better than the kind you have to turn to up the count. I'm more likely to remember to hit it at the end of each row, probably because it's more fun to use.
• Stitch markers: Those first stitch markers that I bought from Michael's, the plain rings that I didn't like because they're too small for larger needles and can't be removed in the middle of a row, turn out to be much better for this project than the plastic safety-pin sort of things or the beaded ones I made from memory wire. I am using the plastic ones to mark every 12th row, though, so I know how many repeats I'm up to. The lesson for me was that different kinds of counters work better in different applications. (It may be obvious, but it wasn't to me, until now.)
• Yarn-Overs: I saw someone else asking about this on the Knitlist just today. Apparently YO in a pattern may or may not count as a stitch. I've seen it where it meant to wind the yarn around the needle and knit 1, but in this case (I figured out from counting stitches) it just meant to wrap the yarn around then do whatever it called for next. Or for all I know, maybe it never implies taking the next stitch, but sometimes you can't tell (for instance, if a pattern says "YO and k to next marker") and as I say, I'm clearly not the only one confused.

So that's what I've learned in school today while knitting Clapotis, and I suspect I'll know more before I'm done.

If you're wondering, I'm not writing about rowing because I'm not doing it much, though we did go out one day last week. Not only is there my retirement issue to consider, but the lake is closed. We've gotten so much rain that they've lowered the dam to let the Rio Salado flow as a river, for the very first time since the lake was created, about 5 years ago now. This is a very good thing for this drought-ridden state.

I am flying a bit, or trying to - yesterday I was supposed to do a cross-country to our airpark property, but ater much struggling with the planning I had to cancel due to weather. That is, it was a perfectly nice day for most purposes, but there were warnings of mountain obscuration. 8000-foot overcast cloud ceilings are not a good thing when you need to fly at 9500 feet to avoid mountains. I'll try it again this Saturday, weather permitting, which right now it's not forecast to do.

decisions

Today I bought what can fairly be described as "a shitload of yarn":

What happened was I went to store#1 looking for yarn for Clapotis. They didn't have naything I liked in a silk/wool blend so steered me to the Manos del Uruguay (top row). I love the colorway but am concerned that all-wool will be too hot and heavy. (It's just a scarf, not sex, so there is such a thing!) I had a little more time so headed to store #2, which did have a decent selection of Noro Silk Garden. I like this colorway but not quite as much as the other. So the options are:

1) knit up one yarn and return the other (but which?)
2) knit two Clapotises (Clapoti?)
3) knit one and save the other yarn for some later hypothetical project
4) swatch both to see which I like (which means I won't be able to return at least one ball of each).

I'm not terribly good at inconsequential decisions. Then again, I'm not terribly good at knitting, either (see poncho in previous entry) so whichever yarn I pick, I'll be looking at it for a long, long time.

more FOs

Just in case I sound all happy about my low-gift ratio, I should point out it also had something to do with Rudder having gotten me few stocking things and no Santa gifts. I had so ridiculously many little gifts for him I gave some to other relatives and even wrapped up some peppermint bark (yum) and a mini zero fog blaster for myself - so I did have a coupl ecool things to unwrap. And Rudder's been playing with the fog blaster ever since, incidentally.

Me? Bitter?

Anyway, in happier news, here's the obligatory tree photo:

and not one but two finished objects:

First, a mini-Weasley sweater (top-down seamless raglan). The body is about as long as my finger and I'm still debating whether to duplicate-stitch an initial on it. I'll have to check whether Molly Weasley put initials on all her sweaters or only Fred's and George's.

And next, the poncho, with front and back views. Lots and lots of mistakes, as you can see, but at least it was a good learning experience.

knitting - nearly done and what to do next

So now with all the knitted presents finished last night I got back to the poncho I've been working on pretty much forever (where "forever"=since early September, not including the time since October when I've been working on hats and scarves for gifts). Rudder's parents and grandparents got here around 5 with no problems other than being a little stiff from 2-3 days of driving. His grandmother seemed impressed with both the poncho and the Gryffindor scarf I wore when we went out to dinner. She was also much taken with my set of Denise needles, which is a shame because we actually talked about getting her some but didn't know if she already had them or would like a set. It sounds like she has a Boyes set but doesn't like them as much.

I don't really know if I'll ever wear the poncho; it's very lacy and open so will onlky work over certain shirts. Also, when unstretched it's only 13" wide instead of the 16" it's supposed to be. It is very stretchy, though (which has also made measuring length to see if I'm almost done difficult - it's a different length every time I check). I might try blocking, but I don't know if that would help on cotton.

Anyway, I'll definitely wear it at least a few times just because of the work I've put into it, and it's been good practice. It's nearly done. What I'd really like to make next is a Clapotis, but that's a little silly for someone who lives in a hot climate, knits as slowly as I do, isn't terribly good at keeping track of rows and stitches. Still, it seems to be very wearable according to the many bloggers who've made one, the majority of it is a simple pattern (k1, k tbl, k3, k tbl) with purling on alternate rows (I don't mind that part because I can *see* whether it's a knit or purl row instead of having to remember) and it would be good practice.

What I should work on instead is the sleeveless shell I've started, which is simpler, requiring only knit or purl rows with a few increases/decreases, and which I could wear all year 'round out here, with a blazer over it in winter. But then, the majority of knitters do see to have multiple projects at a time.

spawning ideas

Given that I went back to bed and slept for two or three hours this morning, and that napping during the day is something I generally can't do unless I'm sick or exhausted, I think staying home from work was the right decision.

Since waking up for the second time I haven't done anything more athletic than knitting and reading (oh, and I made another snowflake ornament). I also got around to reading Stitch and Bitch Nation, having previously only looked at the patterns, and of course it gave me ideas. So far the tally is one good and one bad idea. Good idea: Trying out lace patterns by knitting coasters, the only thing in the world that should be quicker than dishrags. (At least I think that will be a good idea; I haven't started yet because...) Bad idea: threading beads on ribbon yarn. Way too much work because the beads had to be forced on (I used a beading needle and loop of thread to get them started) and a quarter of the beads wouldn't go on at all - there's a lot of variation in inner diameter. Still, they should look nice on the coasters, assuming the coasters look nice at all.

Next question: would a set of four handmade knitted beaded coasters be acceptable for a present exchange? I have one for a party on Saturday and it's supposed to be $15-20 value. I liked the idea of something handmade but not gender-limited (not too many men of my acquaintance wear fuzzy scarves, though I have known a few who might).

FOpic

FOs! I've got FOs! (Finished Objects) I haven't got a very good picture of me, but oh well. Better to get sleep and really minimized those bags under the eyes than to stay up late Photoshopping them. (Confession: OK, I did. Just a little.) The hat seems to have stretched a little. It is a bit small; I was thinking of doing yet another one but determined (by weighing the hat and then weighing my remaining yarn, after an epiphonic realization that I could use a scale instead of eyeballing the ball of yarn to see if it looked big enough) that I don't have enough yarn left over. I might try washing it to see if that helps, but it's superwash wool so won't really block.

The hat seems to have stretched a little. It is a bit small; I was thinking of doing yet another one but determined (by weighing the hat and then weighing my remaining yarn, after an epiphonic realization that I could use a scale instead of eyeballing the ball of yarn to see if it looked big enough) that I don't have enough yarn left over. I might try washing it to see if that helps, but it's superwash wool so won't really block.

domestic pursuits

It's been a busy weekend. Yesterday was rowing, flying (actually, a lesson on the flight simulator because the plane we were supposed to fly had a broken turn coordinator) and some shopping. Yes, more shoes. Another sports bra. I guess I'm always looking for perfection. (In the sports bras - in the shoes, I just like variety.) Also batting gloves, which I may use if my hands shred while rowing the marathon. (Less than two weeks now!) I'll try them out tomorrow morning.

Today was more domestic: food shopping, cooking, cleaning up therefrom, and knitting. Rudder is sick. It's only a cold, but they tend to hit him hard and it's especially worrying because he's got a regatta next weekend in whih he's slated to do three (!) 5000 meter races, and then the marathon the week after that. So I did what any good Jewish wife would do: I made chicken soup. I even tried to tailor it to his taste: I skimmed less fat off the top than normal and put bits of chicken meat back in the soup after I took out the parts of chicken. They shredded nicely. I also tried a couple of ideas sprred by Egret's chicken soup: I added celery and green oninos in addition to the usual carrots (not bad, but they didn't add the spring-vegetable flavor hers had, so it much have been the squas she included) and I cooked the matzo balls in chicken boulon instead of plain water, because Rudder said hers were "more flavorful". (She used the mix instead of plain matzo meal.) I don't really like the shreds of chicken all through the sould but I may include the celery in future and will definitely keep using the boullon (or the mix, but I have quite a bit of matzo meal on hand to go through first).

As for the knitting, the scarf for my mom is FINISHED! Here's how it looks on, in shadow and bright sun (the funny expression is because I'm squinting into the sunlight) and in closeup.

I've also gotten a start on the Moebius scarf for Rudder's mother. I was a little worried about this because I couldn't quite understand how it worked and had to follow the instructions blindly, which is not my favorite way to work. It seems to be working out well, though. I'm about 3 rows into it, but since this scarf has only one edge and you're knitting form the middle out, that actually translates to 6 rows wide. She's blonde and blue-eyed and wear a lot of light blues and turquoise, so I think this will suit her - don't know how well the yarn shows in the photo but it's variegated blue and turquoise. Off he needles, it should be roughly 48" in circumference.

done and yet to do

It's been a good weekend, by our standards: we got exercise (rowing for videotaping), socializing (had people over to watch tapes from the morning video sessions, as well as some from Masters Nationals and some from the Olympics), and outdoor time (flying this morning).

Also, I finally got around to taking pictures of works finished and in progress. Here's the Gryffindor scarf:
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My only regret is that I almost wish I'd used Ravenclaw colors; around here, assuming it ever gets cold enough to wear it around here, people are more apt to assume the colors are those of the ASU Sundevils.

Here are the two new projects I've started. The top one is meant to be Turkish stitch (I mention this because it may not be immediately obvious). This is a simple pattern with only a three stitch repeat (or two or four, depending how you look at it - yarnover, slip, knit, pass slipped stitch over, repeat) but I stilll have to concentrate while doing it, which means I can't read at the sae time effectively, dagnabbit. Also, it's hard to see what I've done with the big stitches and the bumpy yarn, which means I need to be especially careful not to make mistakes. Considering how much more complicated patterns can get, I can only assume the need for concentration is because I'm still so new at this and that it will get easier. I think it would be a lot easier in a smooth wool than this bumpy cotton.

The bottom one will become the front (or back) half of a sleeveless sweater. This one is more portable and blessedly mindless; the only pattern comes from horizontal ridges in a Fibonacci series, so the only consideration is whether a row should be knit or purled and I can see what I've just done - in fact, I got most of what you see here done in the back seat of a Cessna 172 this morning. This is all a good argument for more than one work in progress at a time. Also, I'm beginning to think that though I like both Clover bamboo and Addi Turbo metal needles to work with, the Addis really are a lot faster and much easier to move fiber along. Some of that may be the smoother and slightly stretchier yarn, however.

expensive hobby

Drat. I thought I'd be done with my scarf now, but it appears to need two more stripes (a total or 36 rows, 32 stitches/row, so that's still not too daunting).

I'm a bit disappointed to realize that knitting my own sweaters may be more expensive than just buying the darn things. Yesterda I spent $75 at the local yarn store: 1 red skein of a tape yarn for a small scarf, to hang around the collar of a jacket (I'm envisioning only about 3" wide by 36" or less long); 3 pink-and-red skeins Rudder liked, in a cotton for my sleeveless sweater, and one long hank of undyed cotton yarn (500 yards, and what a pain it was to wind into a ball) for a poncho. Also one button to finish off my purse and a set of size 9 needles. At least with beading it was usually cheaper to make my own for most things.

A quick check of the Gap and J. Crew websites cheered me up a little, though; for one thing, to buy the same items thee would cost a little more, and for another I don't like the Gap's ponchos as much, at least not for my climate.

dizzy knitting

Bleah - I'm on my second day of being dizzy. I think it's probably a minor sinus infection, htough I don't really have any other symptoms. At any rate, it's not quite as bad as yesterday and at least today I don't have to row, drive to work or sit through an all day class, all of which conspired to make yesterday a bit too interesting.

I've been reading the Knitlist and I think it's being a bad influence. I'm beginning to feel lke maybe I should try having a couple of projects going at once, instead of one and ideas for the next. On the other hand, newbie that I am, I'm mindboggled by a few of the questions that come up there - some of them, from people more experienced than I am, seem like the obvious answer is either "think it through" or "try it and see". I'm beginning to think a ot of people just have a respect for patterns that's a bit foreign to me, though some of that is also because I seem to be most attracted to projects that are fairly free-form. I'm gathering my courage to try a sleeveless sweater, bolstered by the realization that each side is only twice as wide (in number of stitches) as the scarf I'm more than halfway through, and is much shorter. On the other hand, the pattern is for a 32" bust, so I'm just figuring on adding enough stitches to make it go around me. I don't think that will hurt anything, though I will have to guess on whether and how much to increase the armholes. (Given the trouble I have with armholes in purchased sweaters and my fall workout plan, the answer is probably yes, a bunch.) I also want to try a poncho, a lacy short scarf, and the Big Sack sweater from the Stitch and Bitch book, not necessarily in that order. Then I can figure out where and when I'd actually wear the BSS. I suppose I could give it to my mother or MIL, but it doesn't really look like either of their style. Maybe I could just do it in a lighter weight but still bulky yarn that could compress easily for travel.

finished purse

I like the way this came out technically and I really like each of the yarns I used; I'm just not sure of the color combination. (If anything looks a little weird it's because I had to Photoshop the image to keep the purse from being too dark and the background too light.) It's all finished except for the lining.