Penguin Girl

First: I’m sorry it’s so cold in NYC today. I put away my winter clothes this weekend. I’m not responsible for the rain. It’s a Monday, what more do you want?

As I submitted my Project on Friday my other hand was grabbing for needles and yarn.

What was I casting on for?

A Hug for Mum
Weaver’s Wool Mini Shawl by Peggy Pignato
Debbie Bliss Merino Aran (3 balls of steel blue, 1 ball of grey)
6.5mm bamboo circs
CO: 20080509 around 11am
… שׁבּת …
BO: 20080511 @ 1:30am
This is the pattern that has made me like garter! I just wish I had more yarn to make it a bit longer, but mum says it’s ok. Why did I make this? Mum said she gets really cold at her work in the summer and her swallowtail is too delicate. May she wear it in good health and stay warm.

I’ve been chugging away at many other things too.

On the way out to see mum I finished the front of Anouk and started the back. I need to check my stitch count at the top, because no matter how I do it, I end up with 4 stitches for the shoulder straps and that doesn’t sound right. I’ve not taken photos of it because it is so grey and dismal outside and the colours really do need sunlight to look nice.

Speaking of grey I’m nearing the end of the Earl Grey socks. I’m not totally thrilled with the cable definition or my lack of ability to flip the chart but I am chugging on anyway. They make me happy and I have a feeling I’ll make them (or similar) again. I’m not sure what’s up next after them, but do need to decide soon. I hope to finish these soon.

And, in a nod to Maryland last week (yes I bought a lucet (which I’ve only used for about five minutes), my other purchases were some silk (which refuses to be photographed as it’s shyer than I am, which is why my MDSWF experience wasn’t quite as I had wanted so I probably won’t write more about it).

I also bought a new spindle. And wow. I can spin cotton now. It’s all about not trying to do wool-type drafting (aka remembering the staple length is much much shorter) and using a support spindle and something to support it with. I’m using a kitchen prep cup which seems to work quite well as one side is higher than the other so it works well in my lap, but I’m not yet married to this.

Hopefully next week I’ll still have survived to write about some other projects (seraphim, teasing on some stealth projects, the summer of clapotis and socks) and the results of fessing up the full contents of the stash to E (well… almost)

I really want to show you beautiful photos of the Dragon Wrap I completed [finally], but it’s still pretty damp. Why? It’s very dark, grey, and wet outside. I don’t think that the photo I took of the blocked stitch detail is very exciting or good (despite the new camera, I’m blaming the weather), so I’ll wait until next week to share. It took me long enough to knit, waiting an extra week to share the details shouldn’t bother me too much. My goal is to mail it tomorrow if it’s dry and I can find Miss J’s address. A terrible photo of it blocking may be found on flickr.

Next up is finishing Anouk, then onward to knitting for more boys and girls both big and small. Maybe I’ll finish my Veste since I seem to be trying to clear the WIP list.

Last night, as soon I could get to the yarn and a crochet hook, I started making my camera case. At least I tried to start. I’ve now swatched three different attempts and none make me pleased or really represent the case I have perfectly designed in my head. I have a feeling that the hook will be laid aside and needles picked up. Unfortunately, switching hook sizes did not produce the miraculous change I was looking for in the fabric .

A short post so I can devote words to the other Final paper and presentation I must write and give for tomorrow and to leave fodder for the remainder of the week. I must state that I bought the last box of rice chex this afternoon. And it was good.

Cranium
by Chloe Nightingale
from Crochet Me
Of course I finish my new pesach hat in time for the weather to finally be warm. It’s perfect for my needs.

I am tempting the knitting gods & goddesses (as well as the master of editing) in stating that I’m attempting to also complete Sandi Wiseheart’s Summer Lace Shawlette in time for Pesach. The shul where we attend services has a very temperamental AC unit in the women’s section. I’m generally either sweating in all my nice clothing or freezing my butt off. This seemed like a nice compromise. I’m at row 54/60 for the “main part” when i hit row 59 I’ll be at 189 stitches per row. This crazy knitter actually worked on it on the train home. It was nice, I got stuck at Jay Street for what felt like an hour and knit a row I didn’t think I’d accomplish. Once I complete the “main section” (through row 60) I have two more rows of stuff before i do the border (8 rows) and edge (another 8). and then bind off.

RIGHT. I’ll make it. I wasn’t going to confess this knit unless I completed it, but it’s zoomed by and has been great bribery knitting this week.

Socks. Socks are progressing quite well and I’m debating if I want to try to make these knee highs or just be sane and start the ribbing shortly. I’m impressed I’ve had the patience to make them this long.

Baby stuff. Another one is iy’h on his way now and I’m ignoring all the knits. That’s not entirely true, I’ve worked a little on the anouk, and I’ve petted the wrap and bought thread to make sure my ends are woven in well. [I’m paranoid].

And last but not least, Happy Anniversary my love. We’ve survived three years and I look forward to the next many many years together.

A quick post (hopefully) as everything has taken me much longer to do today and I’m terribly far behind on my writing and editing deadlines.

Crochet: I’ve decided I’d really like a new hat for pesach. I don’t really have enough yardage (or a colour I like) in the stash so today a $3 of Bernat Satin in Mocha followed me home and jumped onto a hook. I’m not sure it’s selection of my salmon pink H hook was right but I’ll let a few more rounds go before I jump in and intervene. Given time constraints I am not sure how smart this is, but since another pair of socks is misbehaving it might not be too bad.

Spin: I still haven’t taken it off the spindle. To ply or not to ply is the current dilemma.

Stash: I am very very slowly owning up to the full contents of my stash. Constant grey gloomy skies make for terrible photography, especially with my poor skills. So please, as I add to flickr don’t think I bought all of it recently. I try to put the date in the description. I recently rediscovered my cache of Berocco Love-it for example…

Knit: On Sunday I bound off for the main portion of the dragon wrap, mostly as per my goal. I still have an extensive punch list before this can be blocked and sent off to it’s growing recipient but I’ve accomplished the big part. Immediately upon snipping the thread for the dragon wrap, I cast on for Anouk. After dusting C’s blanket I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m not in a blanket mood. I’m knitting the 12mo size and hoping that C stays little like her mum and aunts. I’m stash busting so we’ll see how creative the pockets become, and when reality sets in and I remember that I have to knit both the front, AND the back. ;) Many many thanks to knitter-E for inspiring me to try an Anouk of my own. (ps a belated Happy Birthday! I’m a dork and forgot.) The simple socks are progressing as long as we ignore a little bit of oddness in one heel and that I am able to have a stern talking to them and successfully untangle the mess that occurred on the train this morning. It was so terrible that I didn’t knit on the way home. I outlined this post. I have another pesach deadline which may or may not involve this ball of yarn. I’ve had grand plans for it for a while. We’ll see what happens.

I have two finished items to share and quite a few works-in-progress. I am sick and on Tylenol Cold and did something evil to my back this morning yet spent 5 hours at the office and am currently lying in bed with a heating pad and a stuffed nose and a laptop to snuggle with, so if this is more random and wacky than normal… that is my explanation why.

I’ll start with the finished items.

First is the helicopter for mum’s partner A. He was in the Navy (way back when) and I believe served on a Carrier in the Pacific. He then went to work for a few airlines (at Idlewild). In the early 60’s he moved out to the end of the Island [where he lived near my parents for a while, yes it’s weird if i put too much thought into it] to work as a Navigator for Grumman and stayed there until his forced retirement when I was in High School. He’s been building model RC airplanes since he was a kid (and since he’s over 70.. he has some experience). A few years ago he added helicopters to his repertoire. As a male he is difficult to shop for. He has quite the fleet of aviation-themed gifts. I’ve not been able to knit or crochet him anything and finally realized that I could make him either a plane or helicopter. E decided that a helicopter would be better and I set to work. The first one looked like a flying toaster. This one looks like a submarine until you add the tail. I’m not completely thrilled with it but A likes it. We added a flashing LED and wanted to put the rotor on a motor but E couldn’t slow it down (it was at several thousand RPM). Lastly, please keep A in your thoughts on Monday. I believe he’s going in for “a procedure” and I’ll be sending him good thoughts…

I am awaiting photos of various views of the same ‘copter at which point I’ll write up a recipe/pattern for it if anyone is interested.

I have discovered that the way to get me to use up a yarn is to put it in my line of sight and have me constantly think about it. A while ago I bought a gorgeous skein of Merino Worsted from Lavendersheep in Purple Blackberry (a colourway which I believe is now renamed). I had no idea what to do with it but loved the colours and would pet it often. I frequently browse around the patterns in Ravelry and finally decided that I, the one who doesn’t like dropped stitches or really wear shawls, wanted to knit the Sunday Market Shawl by Vanessa Carter. It’s a really simple pattern and it was nice to have some mindless knitting (thus my naming it “relaxation shawl”). HOWEVER, because the drops are next to regular stitches it has a tendency to morph back into regular stockinette. I reblocked it with a very liberal hot steam application and it seems to be keeping the drops better, but next time I knit this (or something similar) I will take the design element I learned in Miriam’s wrap and twist the stitches next to the drops. In any case this is a super fast knit and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the skills of Yvonne. Now I just need to make a shawl pin.

The wips are linked to startitis which are linked greatly to the pile of work I have and the knowledge that the semester starts next Tuesday. In the world of spinning I’ve been going slow and sadly have missed a few days. I’m taking a short break from crochet as I gave mum the nice light crochet hook I’ve been using. In knitting, I am picking up Seraphim again and hope to work on Miriam’s River Wrap as well. I’ve frogged the wedding afghan and am attempting alternate patterns and just want to have the bloody thing done. I’ve not spun much this week but it doesn’t mean I’ve not dreamt of it and am happy I only have one wheel and one spindle I want to spin on so I don’t have extreme startitis there.

I’m slowly plugging away at my reading pile.

In the past week I finished four fibrey books. I’m still working on Octavia E Butler’s Seed to Harvest. It took me a bit to get into it and now that I am, time obligations have prevented me from finishing it.

I have finally read Knitting in the Old Way: Designs and Techniques from Ethnic Sweaters [revised edition] by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. I see why this is in many ravelry bookshelves and while I’m currently not in a sweater mindset this is a definite reread for when I am. But that is not to mean there weren’t lessons I to learn now. I like how it’s not a “spoon-feeding” book but a push up your sleeves and dig in book. It’s more about recipes than cut-and-dry patterns (which I don’t follow anyway). I wish I could have read the first edition where she apparently wrote about spinning (it isn’t as if I can’t open her Spinning in the Old Way to do so… I own it.) I learned a good deal of history and well… about knitting. When I first read the summary to this book I wasn’t exactly sure why it was so special. I am now wondering what I was reading (or thinking I was reading) and hope one day to add it permanently to my shelf.

Next up is 200 Stitch Patterns for Baby Blankets by Jan Eaton
If you look over at the Ravelry generated progress bar you can see that very little progress has been made on the blanket of love from h31l. I hate garter. I find it boring. That I’m doing this monochrome isn’t helping. The concept is great and I don’t want to vary too far from that, but I need to quickly change gears so this is done by MAY. About the book. I like the layout. It’s very easy to see at a glance how difficult a pattern is and how it knits up (i.e. rows, round, L-shaped rows [their terminology]).. I like that it’s knit & crochet. Have I had an epiphany? No. But I probably will knit up EZ’s mystery blanket from the Almanac. We’ll see, don’t hold your breath.

I really don’t have much to say about Vicki Square’s Folk Hats: 32 Knitting Patterns beyond that I was curious. They just aren’t me (perhaps some would be more at home at Ascot). I am happy this was a library borrow instead of a purchase.

I can completely blame Kat Coyle for my walking into Kinokuniya the other afternoon and bringing home oneHandmade Crochet Book by Sachiyo*Fukao [I think!] ISBN: 978-4-415-10530-7. I’m not sure what to tell you other than this is crochet inspiration. I just hope I can get my hands on one or two of the new Clover steel hooks. I hope my mum really does use the hook I gave her. (Mom, are you reading this??!!!)

Otherwise I’m slowly catching up on my magazine reading. I’ve caught up on The Economist and am very slowly catching up on The New Yorker. I’m also reviewing and indexing my various fibrey magazines. The amazing Casey just added magazines to the library/bookshelf in ravelry so I’ve been rediscovering patterns. It’s really really awesome (some day [hopefully soon] I’ll write up how Ravelry rocks my world from an information standpoint). I have less than 5 hours of unlistened-to podcasts. This is mind boggling and I might resubscribe to a few I had dropped. My current favourites are pretty lame and newsy. I pretty regularly listen to Global News from the BBC each morning. The New Yorker, Cast-On, Future Tense, Wait Wait Don’t Tell me, Radio Lab, Studio 360, Inspired Minds, HBR Idea Cast, Escape Pod…. it’s a pretty eclectic mix and I enjoy them.

As a client asked me today how I do all that I do (work, work, knit, read… she doesn’t know about this writing) I’m going to stop now so that I can get some other things done before bed and hopefully nip this emerging cold in the bud… We have a long week and potentially busy weekend ahead of us [think kitchen]. I’ve had a very lucky and good day (no snow, a gig that wasn’t looked forward to was postponed, etc).