Five Years, 3302 Yards of Yarn, and Untold Hours Later ... I Present the Sampler Afghan!

Holy moly, I thought this took 3 years. Turns out now that I check the date, it took 5! Oh well, I also was knitting socks, bears, and suchlike so I took many a break.

The pattern worked absolutely perfectly and it went together like a charm. Kudos to Melissa Leapman who wrote Cables Untangled. It worked! (click the image to see it larger)

It is absolutely gorgeous and I want to make one for myself now. (You should have seen the look Tom gave me when I said that. A look that said, "you're nuts!")

I have entrusted it to FedEx to get it to Rose in L.A. Nervously. But I did entrust it. And she got it! Woohoo!

A Tight-Knit Community: Why Facebook can't match Ravelry, the social network for knitters.

The best social network you've (probably) never heard of is one-five-hundredth the size of Facebook. It has no video chat feature, it doesn't let you check in to your favorite restaurant, and there are no games. The company that runs it has just four employees, one of whom is responsible for programming the entire operation. It has never taken any venture capital money and has no plans to go public. Despite these apparent shortcomings, the site's members absolutely adore it. They consider it a key part of their social lives, and they use it to forge deeper connections with strangers—and share more about themselves—than you're likely to see elsewhere online. There's a good chance this site isn't for you, but after you see how much fun people have there, you'll wish you had a similar online haunt. The social network is called Ravelry. It's for knitters (and crocheters).

Ravelry's success is evidence in favor of an argument that you often hear from Facebook's critics: A single giant social network is no fun. Social sites work better when they're smaller and bespoke, created to cater to a specific group. What makes Ravelry work so well is that, in addition to being a place to catch up with friends, it is also a boon to its users' favorite hobby—it helps people catalog their yarn, their favorite patterns, and the stuff they've made or plan on making. In other words, there is something to do there. And having something to do turns out to make an enormous difference in the way people interact with one another on the Web.

A great article on Slate that Ravelry users will love. I am on Ravelry but only use the forums, my knitting being of the on-again, off-again, strictly-amateur sort ... which means that I not only finish projects slowly but I forget to update my info most of the time. Thinking it over, I believe that is actually the only place where I read the forums. Which, in and of itself, is something amazing.

Via Kindle Review, where there are not only frequent listings of free and discounted Kindle books, but thoughtful commentary on the eBook medium, Kindle, and Amazon.

I Haven't Written Much About Knitting Lately

Mostly because in the very little time I have for it, I've been dedicating myself to a project that has been dragging on for 3 years. But never fear, Rose, eventually you will have that danged afghan!

Regardless, Catholic Mom pointed out a shirt that fits the bill ... and when you factor in Forgotten Classics' knitting fans, it is indeed perfect. If it suits your lifestyle too, you can get it at Wireless.

Nifty: A Clock That Knits

No wonder this designer won an award. See the finished scarf and more about the clock at core77.

Thanks to Bridget for sending this!

It suddenly occurred to me that "right" and "left" sock patterns means I'll have to pay attention to which foot I'm putting my socks on.

Guess what?

No way.

I have enough trouble just getting dressed in the morning without worrying about which lace pattern on the anklet "faces" the other one.

So the pattern for the "carnation" yarn in the Knit Picks booklet just got tons easier. Guess which pattern I'm not making? Whichever foot has the "sssk" part. (You know, the one I picked to begin with, naturally.) Yes, knitters, a triple slip and then knitting of  three stitches together. I'm tellin' ya, I was looking for a way to get out of that one. It is tortuous getting the left needle through the three stitches after slipping in order to knit them together.

Tortuous.

And I've got the finger-stabbing pain to prove it.

So "other foot" lace pattern, here I come! (By the way, that "toe up" thing is not too bad so far.)

In which I get suckered into learning something new ... toe up sock knitting

It always has to be "suckered" and that's something I regret. But, there you go ... it's how I roll (or resist rolling, now that I think of it).

I am finally back to working on Rose's afghan which I began ... oh, only two years ago. Yes, knitting is not my passion. It is definitely my hobby. Also, I somehow lost about half of the afghan squares I knit which set me back in the timeline a considerable amount. And I detoured to make about five Baby Bobbi Bears. Not that I flit from project to project or anything...

However, then I saw this adorable Mary Jane style anklet and was suckered into buying the kit. What a deal! Materials and patterns for seven different anklet patterns for only about $30. Interesting looking knitting, small enough to carry around, and fairly quick projects. Though at the rate that I knit I bet I can drag it out for a while.

So far, so good.

The kit arrived yesterday and as I looked through the pattern book I realized with a sinking feeling that these patterns were all ... toe up! I have avoided the toe up sock just because I am perfectly happy with the regular top down sock. I don't know what's wrong with all the people who are constantly complaining that they run out of yarn for the second sock they are knitting? Do they not read patterns? Do they not know how much yarn is in their possession? A careful planner by nature, this has never been a problem for me.

The main mystery of how to cast on in such a way that there isn't a hole in the toe was not (I repeat, NOT) clarified for me in the least by the kit which was written blithely as if we all knit toe up socks every day and can cast on in our sleep. All those charts and not a single illustration of the casting on. Really? Don't y'all at Knit Picks have at least one novice you can shove the instructions at to see how they come across? (I won't even get into the general unclarity of the overall review of the socks. That's beside the point and with much back-and-forth reading I did finally pick that up.)

Giving credit where credit is due, however, I am extremely happy to give extra points for the fact that the lace instructions are both charted and written out line by line. Thank you! I hate those damned charts. Yes. I said damned and I meant it. I don't mind if other people need them but I resent the fact that so many pattern writers cavalierly drop written instructions if a chart is present. I relate to the written word, obviously. So Knit Picks regains the points it lost.

Especially since a quick on-line search sent me to Denise's Toe-Up Socks lesson one. Thank you Denise! Those cast-on illustrations are priceless and I now have an understanding of how there can be no hole in the toe. Quite ingenious, I must say.

Baby William and His Baby Bobbi Bear

Here is the photo as promised of my finished Baby Bobbi Bear ... as you can see it is almost as big as William himself is ... although that will change very soon!

It was universally acclaimed as being a feat near to rocket science and also as an adorable bear.

I have four friends who all are having babies in the near future and foresee that I will be knitting bears in my spare time for the next month or two. I will say that it went quickly, being knitted in my spare time within the last two weeks. Although I did have a little problem coming up to the deadline and wound up spending a fair part of Sunday devoted to finishing up this little guy ... I do hate knitting to a deadline!

A few comments:

• The pattern says it is for advanced beginners. I would debate this as the pattern itself is incompletely worded. For example, the additional explanations for ear stitch count refer the knitter to reread the “increase” description, when what is actually used is “make one” stitch. Not a huge problem but the knitter must have a good ability to visualize pattern and adjust on the fly. I tended to trust to fate and that it would become more obvious when I was making it ... which is what happened.
  
• The duplicate stitch around the neck which is intended for further definition did not work well on my bear and from the photos on Ravelry, I am not the only person with this problem. I am thinking about experimenting with a couple of decrease rows after picking up the neck stitches ... and then doing the called for increases to shape the head. This would help define the neck, without the time taken for duplicate stitches which didn't do much.
  
• I liked the Blue Sky Alpaca organic cotton yarn as it knit up nice and soft but am dubious about giving a baby something that must be hand washed. Also, three times, the yarn simply broke and it was never at a time when it was easy to undo so I had enough length to weave in and then begin again. I am looking for substitutes but most of the cotton yarns I come across seem to be less hefty. You need something that knits up fairly tightly so the stuffing doesn't show through.

A Wonderful Variation on Striped Sock Yarn

Swinging by Jimmy Beans Wool to pick up another ball of Bunny Hop to finish out my first-ever Christmas-deadline knitting, I found these yarns. Yes, I fell prey to picking out one of the Saturn variety to try out. My first stashing, y'all. I don't know whether to laugh or cry!

Jupiter Natur Color

Regia Galaxy Jupiter has swirls and pools of colour in shades inspired by the patterns of Jupiter's clouds.

Regia Galaxy Saturn Janus

Each of the colorways seems to be named after the moons of Saturn and reflect their spirals and ellipses.

Brown Coats Meeting in the Post Office

How did I know the woman I was standing behind at the Post Office was a Brown Coat (translation: Firefly fan)?

Because she was carefully folding up Jayne's hat to put in a box for shipping. "Jayne's hat!" I cried in delight.

She turned to me with a big grin. "I have a friend who knits these and I'm sending this to my friend in Switzerland. It's perfect!"

Then we rhapsodized over Firefly for a bit, which I will spare you.

Knitting and sci-fi: when worlds collide ...


Here's Jayne wearing the hat ... which was so incredibly goofy but which bad-a** Jayne wore through an entire episode because his mother made it and mailed it to him. As we can see from my testimony above, all you have to do is say "Jayne's hat" to a Firefly fan and they know exactly what you mean.



Turns out that there is more than one pattern out there for this hat and you'll also find photos of Serenity/Firefly fans wearing Jayne's hat to various conventions. You know, for a show that only aired 9 episodes it sure developed a hard core cult following.

Here's the pattern, which I printed out and kept ...

See This Afghan?

Yep, the one on this book cover. This is the one that Rose would like me to make for her. Who can blame her? It looks fantastic.

However, I think I'd better start now because this is likely to be a lengthy project ... in two years I can give it to her to begin her sophomore year in college.

(By the way, I picked Cables Untangled: An Exploration of Cable Knitting up from the library and it looks really good. The author does have a tendency to want to cover every square inch of any sweaters with as many cables as possible which always looks rather crowded to me. Also, there is that tendency to give aas many of the instructions as possible using charts instead of written instructions. Naturally, having learned to read patterns long ago when everything was written out I understand that method much better than those darned charts. However, aside from those little quibbles, it has some nice, simple projects and all the explanations are good. I have never been afraid of cables and enjoy the variety they add to a project, but this book looks as if it would still the fear that I hear lurks in the hearts of beginners ... for expert instruction in mastering the art of cables give this book a try.)

In other afghan knitting news, I finished Hannah's afghan a couple of days ago, washed and dried it ... and it held together! Exciting! I'm trying to remember to take a photo to post ...

A Couple of Good Books

PROVEN GUILTY (The Dresden Files, Book 8)
by Jim Butcher
This is the most recent in the series about Harry Dresden, the magic wielding, wise cracking detective who is constantly in trouble up to his neck while having to save the world. This book finds Harry investigating a vague tip about black magic at a horror movies convention. Anyone who is a horror movie fan probably will get more out of the convention and monster scenes than I do as I am not really a fan. That said, I always enjoy the books in this series but this one was better than usual as it moved the series in new directions at the end. Also, although Harry usually describes himself as "theologically neutral" there is an unusual amount of Christian conversation (relatively speaking) since Michael's (the Templar Knight) family is present for a significant part of the book.

I frowned over a thought. "Padre. Tell me something. Why in the world would the Almighty send Michael off on a mission just when his family most needed him to protect them?"

Forthill arched an eyebrow. "My son," he said, "God knows all things at all times. By His very nature, his omniscience enables Him to know what has happened, is happening, and will happen. Thought we might not be able to see His reasons, or to agree with them from our perspectives, they are yet there."

"So what you're saying is that the Almighty knows best, and we just have to trust Him."

Forthill blinked. "Well. Yes."

"Is there any reason that the Almighty couldn't do something blatantly obvious?"

Poor Forthill. He'd been preparing himself for years for a theological duel with the shadowy wizard Dresden, and when the moment came, I wasn't even giving him a real fight. "Well. No. What do you mean?"

MASON-DIXON KNITTING: The Curious Knitters' Guide
by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne
I am not at all sure that these authors' names aren't pseudonyms for the Summa Mamas. The same down-home, hilarious, quirkiness runs throughout this book. The narrative is delightful and the patterns are simple enough that even the most inexperienced knitter (raising my hand) feels confident at substituting their own touches to make it their own. There is everything from washcloths to felted boxes to rugs. Just when I would look at a section and be prepared to skip it ... never having ever been a fan of the log cabin quilt pattern which they adapted for knitting for example ... I would flip a page and be entranced at how it had been tweaked into a modern and new look which made me want to knit it right then! This was a library book but has gone on my Amazon wish list because their ideas are inspired, varied, and flexible enough to last a long time. As I already said, the narrative is both homey and wacky ... but equally inspired. Below are a few selected items from their timeline of knitting history.

1595 B.C.
Woman waiting for Hittite husband to return from sacking of Babylon picks up string and two sticks, begins "Support Our Troops" scarf.

1595 BC (two minutes later)
Woman drops first stitch, utters first curse word related to knitting.

1896 A.D.
Siobahn Ogwnngyfleioghnn knits so poorly that she accidentally discovers the cable stitch.

1924 A.D.
Kleenex invented.

1924 A.D. (one hour later)
Mildred Farnwinkle of Dubuque, Iowa, completes first Kleenex box cozy.

Also, check out their blog.

As a side note, reading this book is when I realized that I do not have the common problem that most knitters do with a yarn "stash." However, I am finding myself collecting patterns like crazy, especially for socks as of late ... mine is a pattern "stash."

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity