Random Ravelings

Recent Reading

2007-07-11T19:54:00.000-04:00

Two books, one by a long-time favorite author, the other by a writer-friend.

The Margarets, by Sheri S. Tepper. Her long awaited "next" book, after The Companions, though not a sequel. This novel concerns a future Earth, massively over-populated and ecologically barren, and a number of other starfaring races, some of which like the Earthians and are inclined to help them, others of which would like to see humans permanently removed from the universe. The problem is, if the humans can't reduce their population and start rebuilding the earth's ecosystem, they will be wiped out (the full reasons are more complicated -- read the book!). Anyway, the main character is Margaret Bain and six other people who also once were Margaret Bain, but whose histories split off at a key point in her past. The solution will be for one person to walk seven roads which are one road. Tepper handles the multiple narrators well and the story moves along smoothly to its almost inevitable conclusion. If you liked Tepper's earlier work, then you will find this book to be along similar lines: an interesting story, interesting characters, a situation that turns out to be rather different than it first appears. Tepper does have an agenda, as she does in most of her books, but I think she manages to present her views without overwhelming the story or getting excessively preachy. I enjoyed this book.

Mother Feral's Love, by Lawrence Barker. Barker, a long-time friend, is primarily a horror writer, and while this book would likely be considered fantasy, there are still some hints of his horror roots in it. For example, his almost loving description of a particularly gruesome execution of a street criminal, still makes me cringe a bit just thinking about it. However, such details aside, this novel takes an outsider character, a "Feral" (sort of hybrid between human and flesh eating ghul) and makes her the lead in what is basically an amateur detective story. Evrandal must find out who really killed the alchemist so she can save her daughter from a short, unpleasant life in the mines. The daughter is being raised by a healer friend who has been arrested for the murder of said alchemist. The trouble is, no one really wants to talk to Evrandal and very few people are inclined to help her, leaving her to take desparate measures in her quest. The world is a bleak one, a city in the desert, surrounded by mountains full of howling ghuls. The technology level is very low, artificially low, as it turns out, and Evrandal ends up caught up in the middle of political manuevaring between city law enforcement, the city shrine, and the heretics. Through sheer determination, she manages to pull off a minor miracle, freeing both her friend and her daughter, but at a price. If you're ready for something different in the way of fantasy, with a true outsider as the main character, you might give this one a try; but if you're at all squeamish, don't say I didn't warn you. Just take a look at Barker's earlier books, if you don't believe me. (Previous books: Renfield and I'll Take My Stand, neither of which are for the squeamish.)

Daylilies

2007-07-04T15:39:00.000-04:00

I've been slowly landscaping my yard, a little bit each year. Over the last few years, I've been planting daylilies, those wonderful, hardy perennials. They're easy to grow, hard to kill, and keep coming back year after year. Here's a few of the flowers I've been enjoying this year.

This one is called "Persian Market".

And this one is "Orange Vols".

I'm fortunate in living within easy driving distance of Oakes Daylilies and was able to attend their annual Daylily Festival last weekend. They have a lovely display garden open to the public, plants for sale, a free daylily plant for every guest and so forth. A few pictures will suffice.

Here is portion of the display gardens. It was a gorgeous, sunny day.

Here's "Good Impressions",

"Ruffled Ruby",

and "Lady Georgia". These are just a few examples of the many varieties grown here.

I wasn't planning to buy many more daylilies this year, having only limited areas that actually get enough sun to grow them. But, I succumbed, and came home with four new plants -- one free and three that I bought. I planted the new ones over the weekend, two in my main daylily bed, the other two in really big pots which will eventually be moved to just outside the gate in my front fence -- a nice sunny spot. Nothing much to see of those, yet.

In closing, here's one more image from the Oakes display garden,

"Mauna Loa", a personal favorite.

Socks

2007-07-04T14:52:00.000-04:00

I've been knitting socks lately. Actually, I've been knitting socks for several years, but in the last two months or so, I've finished three pairs and am in the middle of the fourth. So, what's going on?

Well, I finally decided to try toe-up socks. And bamboo double pointed needles. And something just clicked. So to speak.

I bought the bamboo needles because I was getting ready to attend a conference in Spearfish, South Dakota in the beginning of June, which was going to require traveling by plane, with a couple of lengthy layovers between flights. Knitting is a great way to pass the time, but I didn't want to try and get a set of size 0 metal double-points past the security screeners. While knitting needles are usually being allowed these days, I figured metal double-points, sharp, pointy needles that might really be able to do some damage, just might get someone's attention. Hence, the switch to bamboo needles. I bought a couple of set of Clover bamboo needles in size 0 and size 2 (my LYS didn't have any size 1's that day).

I also was interested in doing something different in sock knitting, something other than my standard top-down, mostly stockinette, mostly striped yarns, socks. So, I looked through my books, mostly the Charlene Schurch sock book (Sensational Knitted Socks), and also the article by Ann Budd in the latest Interweave Knits magazine ("Working Socks from the Toe Up", Summer 2007, p24). The Schurch book includes a variety of toes and heels and stitch patterns for the sock itself, a treasure trove of material I'm still working with. The Ann Budd article described a toe that I realized was essentially the same as the toe I usually work from the cuff down, though worked from the toe up of course, and that was it.

A day or two before the trip, I cast on for the toe up socks and started the first one. Between a long layover at the Minneapolis/St Paul airport on the way out, knitting through a couple of plenary sessions during the conference and some down time in the evenings, I finished one sock and started the second, then was able to work on the second during another really long layover in Minneapolis, and finished the second sock less than two weeks after starting the first one. That may be a new record for me. The first pair of toe-up socks are here.

The yarn is by Opal, in a color called "Lollipop", out of my stash, not sure when I bought it.

Then I started the second pair while on a short trip to Cherokee, North Carolina with some friends. Also toe-up, with the same toe, but where I'd used a short-row heel in the first pair, I tried the "forethought" heel from Charlene Schurch's book in the second pair, and then used Wendy's feather and fan pattern on the ankle. Finished those in less than two weeks, promptly breaking the previous record for finishing a single pair of socks.

Yarn is by Regia, also out of my stash.

Then, last week, I started another pair. Same toe, but I wanted to try out one of the ribbing patterns from Schurch's book. I had one false start (tried another toe, didn't care for it, came out too wide), and have the first sock of that pair almost done. Yarn is KnitPicks "Essentials" in burgundy. No pictures yet.

I really like the bamboo needles. While I worried at first about breaking the needles, that hasn't happened (yet). They're noticably lighter than my usually Inox metal needles, which makes them easier to knit with. They're also not quite as slick and that combined with the lighter weight means the needles don't tend to slide out of the stitches quite as easily. While they don't seem to be quite as pointy, I was still able to execute all of the necessary K2Tog (knit 2 together) and other increases and decreases.

And what I like about the toe-up socks, is that you can really try them on as you're knitting. Also, I feel like I have more control over the fit, and it's much easier to do a loose bind-off than a loose cast-on, thus eliminating the problems of a tight cast-on round at the top of the cuff.

So, consider me a convert. Woohoo!

A Few Finished Objects

2007-01-02T16:04:00.000-05:00

Having a week off from work between Christmas and New Year's gave me some quality knitting time and I managed to finish off several projects.

First, the extremely long, Doctor Who Scarf(Season 16, with color variations) finally reached it's inevitable conclusion. It measures in at about twenty feet, unstretched and is really too long for me to wear without some extra loops to keep it off the floor. This is the folded up view.

Second, a little scarf I whipped up for myself as a quick Christmas gift, from yarn and needles I bought a year ago at Christmas time. Seemed appropriate. Color is a bit greener than what it looks like here, in spite of going for natural lighting.

Third, a pair of mittens (Spruce Mittens from Robin Hanson's Favorite Mittens), which will be a gift.

Fourth, a hat for myself, of Chunky Wool-Ease, based on a hat I knit a couple of years ago which I liked for warmth, but hated the color. So now, I can still be warm, but also more colorful as well. The cables in the turned up part of the hat were knit as pairs of twisted stitches done from the purl side of the cable as knit so it would show up as twists on the knit ribs when turned up. Turned out pretty well, in my opinion.

Current projects include coming to the end stretch of a ripple stitch knit afghan and pulling out a sweater I started two years ago and deciding that I really did like it, so I'm working on it again.

I'll close with one more photo, the waxing gibbous moon, rising in the east in the late afternoon a week or so ago. Enjoy.

Almost Solstice

2006-12-18T16:00:00.000-05:00

The tree is up, partially decorated. The dog is ignoring it. After an arctic cold snap in early December, the weather is now unseasonably warm. The moon is rapidly fading, a hair-thin crescent this morning in the southern sky. Lots of clear nights, so the it's been a great month for moon-watching.

After spending November writing the first draft of the Novel (NaNoWriMo), I hit the 60,000 word mark and haven't touched it since November 29th. So, even though the excitement of being a "Winner" has worn off a little, I did put the winner's icon on the blog. Woohoo! And I am going to frame the certificate and hang it on the wall, too. I can use all of the encouragement I can get!

On the other hand, having spent November writing, the plans for knitted holiday gifts did not pan out at all. So, in early December, faced with rapidly approaching shipping deadlines (family all live out of state) and no knitting projects finished, I first thought I just massively scale down the whole plan and knit some cute little stockings as Christmas ornaments. Nice idea, but that one didn't work out either. What with one thing and another, I managed to start only one such ornament and that one took more than two weeks to finish. Finally, last week, I just went the on-line route, ordered some stuff, let the merchants ship it and voila! All done. Except for cards. Still working on those.

This means that I can start planning for next year. It's not like I've given up knitting or anything like that. Just revised my plans. A lot. And this morning I felt the distinct nudgings of the urge to start a new project. Not sure what yet, I'm going to let that idea simmer for a few days before leaping into something too quickly. Besides, I do have a pair of mittens almost half-finished -- just the thumb to go on the first one.

And just for fun, here's a picture I took while in Clearwater, Florida this past September. Can you name the bird?

The Magic Number

2006-11-24T20:59:00.000-05:00

After writing almost 5,000 words today, I crossed that magic line, 50,000 words and even managed to hit the end of the story. Or at least, an end of the story. So here's the official celebration photo:

Now I'm going to go unwind. Maybe sleep. Now there's a concept!

Still Writing

2006-11-22T13:54:00.000-05:00

Word count is a bit over 41,000. Story is actually in or near the last major section, I think. I'm summarizing a lot since I would like to reach the end of the story somewhere around 50,000 words. Which, with two days off this week, plus the weekend, I should reach by about the 25th, if not sooner.

As I write, whole scenes get condensed to a few sentences, whole subplots get sketched in, to be filled out later. Little details like weather and clothing and most descriptions get reduced to the minimum necessary. Right now I'm trying to finish the story, not pad the word count. In fact, after several 2000 word days over the weekend, I've been writing only around 1000 words per day this week. This kind of sketching is actually harder in some ways than writing out the whole scene. If I write the whole scene, then I usually can figure out what happens next while writing the current scene. When I'm summarizing and condensing, I get through each scene a whole lot faster, and thus write slower while I figure out what happens next. I do still write out at least some scenes, it helps keep me in synch with the characters.

And I've found a little time here and there to knit a bit on a couple of current projects. I've not started anything new and won't until November is over. I've got one two color mitten about to the decreases for the top of the hand, and I've gotten sock number two of a pair started in July to the point of starting the toe decreases. This particular pair of socks is not actually one of my favorites. The colors are so bright I've named the project the "Clown Socks". The first sock was started on a road trip to Canada where I didn't have to do any driving and got a lot of the first sock done in the car both ways. The second sock was started in mid July and here it is four months later and I might finish it before the end of the month. I will wear them though. Just really wanting to move on to a different kind of sock. Stockinette in self-striping yarn really does get old after a while.

All of the leaves are pretty much down now. Even had a brief snow flurry yesterday morning, which I missed due to working in an interior office. The snow didn't stick though. It almost never does this early in the season.

Haven't heard rats in the walls since I last posted on the subject. This is a good thing. I'm still skeptical about the critters being truly gone, but at least they're not anywhere I've noticed them. I did spot what I suspect was an owl flying around the corner of the house last week at dusk one day. It looked brownish in the light from the porchlight, and I suspect it was too late in the day to be a hawk. I can only hope it might be helping to reduce the rodent population in the area.

Over the Hump ...

2006-11-16T09:54:00.000-05:00

The month is half over, I've written a bit more than 30,000 words and the story is probably less than halfway done. Following Chris Baty's advice in his book (No Plot, No Problem,available here) for week three, I've started attempting to leapfrog through this novel so I actually reach the end of the novel somewhere aroung the 50,000 word mark. This means writing some scenes, but leaving others as brief descriptions. E.g. [Main Character travels to X by boat. It's cold and wet. Someone gets eaten by the sea monster.] Then write some more. Throw in some more short scene references. Keep going. This process does move the story along, but sometimes leaves me feeling like I've left out important stuff. Still, Chris does give the writer permission to go back later, after the 50,000 word deadline was reached at the end of the novel and there's still time left in the month, to go back and start filling in those sketched in scenes.

So, I figure I'm really kind of sketching in the plot in this draft. Trying to get the whole story down inside of 50,000 words, leaving out some detail, but including enough that I can go back later and have something to actually revise. And more importantly, a whole novel at the end of the month. If I'd continued as I had been, I would have hit 50,000 words about halfway through the novel and probaby continued past the November 30th deadline before finding the end of the story. This way will be more challenging, but the increased pressue to get the thing DONE may help keep the internal editor at bay.

Now, my editor is getting some work these days, on posts like this, on work related projects, but she is getting time off while I work on the novel. Instead of shipping the editor off to the Internal Editor's Spa and Retreat Kennel for the month, it's more like she gets sent off to a sound-proofed room in the attic for a mini-vacation, complete with any amenities she wants while I'm slogging away at the novel. A compromise that' s mostly working.

The Write Goes On

2006-11-14T15:44:00.000-05:00

The writing continues, making good progress, now officially past the half-way point for the NaNoWriMo challenge, but probably no where near the half way point of the story.

I got out to my first official Write-in this past Saturday, and my first "writing in public". Sort of like knitting in public, but fewer people seem inclined to watch. After all, everybody's seen laptops these days. Nothing special there. On the other hand, one of the other WriMo's was writing on a Neo -- a single-purpose computer designed solely for word processing, with a tiny screen that shows about four lines at a time. This did get some curious stares. Most of the group in attendance left early to go see a movie. I've not checked their word counts lately, but ...

Saturday was rainy, which made it a perfect writing day for me, because I didn't have to feel guilty about not doing anything about the accumulation of dead leaves in my yard. It was just too wet to even consider raking or mowing. Sunday was nicer, but I didn't get into the yard that day either. Errands took some time, and some more writing.

The story has started to move along. After finishing a section last night, I felt rather dissatisfied with the story progress. I was okay with where the story had ended up, but felt like I'd left out a lot of stuff that should have been in there. So, I'll probably be writing some additional scenes to retrofit in later, as well as adding a section for a major supporting character (and part time point of view character). Yes I'm being vague. On the other hand, three characters did die. And these were three characters who had already had on-stage time in the earlier parts of the story, so I can count them. I had a couple of characters who had died before the story began and whose deaths were described or mentioned, but I've chosen to not count them for that tally.

Confused yet? Don't worry. I'm not sure what's going on yet either. It ain't officially part of the story until it gets written down in the story. Notes don't count.

Remember, write down now. Make it pretty later!

Write On!

Week Two, continued

2006-11-10T08:12:00.000-05:00

I gave myself Thursday night off from writing, because I had a meeting in the evening which took a chunk out of the available time for writing. I was, at least by my calculations, still a bit ahead of the pace as of yesterday, and I did take some time to brainstorm directions and options for the story even if I didn't write. So, I'm at least feeling better about what comes next in the story, as well as finding new ways to talk back to the internal editor:

"No, I don't have to go back and write the scene into the earlier chapter that would be absolutely essential to properly support this scene I'm writing now. I can write it now and move it into position later. Who says I have to write the whole novel in order anyway?"

"No, I'm not going back to remove chunks of novel that I've already written which are silly or no longer fit with the rest of the story. At best, I'll flag them for deletion (in a way that doesn't change the word count -- like changing the font or color) and deal with it later."

"No, it really doesn't matter that what I'm writing now directly contradicts something I wrote earlier. I can fix that later."

"Yes, I really can change viewpoint characters right now. Deal with it."

And I'm realizing that I'm going to have to take control of the plot and throw something unpleasant at my characters so they'll do something more interesting than talk to each other. It's time to do something to threaten the main character's person, family, home or friends. Time for some looting and pillaging! Or a little murder, mayhem and bloodshed. Watch out boys and girls, someone is going to get hurt! Fictionally speaking, that is, of course. Remember, it's just a story.

One week down, on to week two

2006-11-08T14:55:00.000-05:00

It rained and rained yesterday. No thunder or lightning, but my power went out a couple of times last night. The first time was very brief, the second time was longer, but more annoying because I'd been in the middle of working on my Spanish homework, on the computer and on-line. I'm sitting there composing a sentence in Spanish and everything goes black. No computer, no lights, nothing. No laptop, so I couldn't pull that out and work on the novel. I decided to wait it out by taking a nap since it was too dark to see and I didn't feel like reading by flashlight and it was too early to go to bed. The lights came back on about twenty minutes later.

I gave up on the Spanish for the evening and wrote some more on the novel. Continuing to make progress, though slowly. Stuff is happening, but I notice that there isn't a whole lot of conflict in evidence yet, it's mostly the characters running around doing stuff and meeting other characters, but for the most part everybody seems to like everybody else, or at least they don't hate each other. Or if they do, they haven't told me about it yet. I'll have to see what I can do to get things moving a bit. Like get the characters out on the figurative tree limb and then start cutting the tree down and see what they do. Probably come after me with swords and spears. But at least they'd be doing something interesting then. Hmm, maybe it's time for one of the characters to do something unexpected.

On the other hand, this could just be the part of the story where I'm establishing the characters, giving the reader a chance to get to know them before stuff really starts getting exciting. Hmm, maybe I'd best not try to over-analyze this. Just keep writing!

NaNo One Week Almost Done

2006-11-07T16:31:00.000-05:00

Let's see, it's raining here. A lot. I'm tracking dead leaves into the house every time I take Jazzy (the dog) for a walk. It's election day, but I voted early last week, so at least I don't have to go out to do that tonight. It's the kind of day that I just want to go home and settle in and not go back out anywhere again. It's November and it gets dark early too. Perfect night for working on the novel.

Except, I really do have to go get gas in the car before I'm driving on fumes. And I really should restock the groceries, though I may wait one more day on account of the rain on that one. And I'm getting behind on my Spanish homework as well.

I did manage to keep up the writing last night, though I about fell asleep through the last couple of hundred words. I'm trying to not lose too much momemtum from not writing on Saturday and would really like to get a little further ahead. I tend to write at night, but not post my word counts until the next morning, when the website isn't quite as busy. So even though I'll write tonight, it may not be counted until tomorrow, which officially begins week two. Minor details.

The story keeps morphing on me though. For example, last night my main character acquired a twin brother I didn't know she had. It will be interesting to see exactly how that works out. Hmm, and I've not actually killed off any characters on stage yet, though a couple have been talked about who died before the story started. Personally, I don't think that really counts.

Rats: no further sign, so far. However, I have no illusions about them being truly gone. Just not anywhere I can hear them. This allows me to pretend that they're gone, which does make it easier to sleep at night.

Rats Part Two and NaNo Continues

2006-11-06T12:28:00.000-05:00

Continuing the saga of the rat patrol, on Friday, I returned to the scene of the crime, i.e. my dirt basement, aka the crawlspace I can stand up in and that has lights and everything. So while it's cool, damp and dusty and full of amazingly ugly crickets and a bunch of junk, it's not terribly dark or particulary scary. I headed straight for the spots where two of the heating duct lines run up through the floor to ascend to the second floor, pulled away the insulation and found -- gaping holes in the floor around the flexible ductwork. Rat highways. No attempt to close it off. It's not like insulation is going to stop a rat, just lull the homeowner into thinking everything is nice and tidy. And as I poked around one of them, little bits of pink insulation were falling out around the heating duct, which was rather suspicious since the basement insulation is not pink, not even close; it's actually kind of yellow. There is pink insulation elsewhere in the house though. So, I'd definitely found a spot where a rat or other critter had in fact been making itself at home.

Then the hard part of the job begins. Go get the hardware cloth. Cut suitably shaped portions to cover the largest parts of the gaps. Screw to the underside of the subflooring with woodscrews and washers while trying not to damage wiring going through the same hole. Then stuff the remaining gaps with coarse steel wool. Lots of it. Then having finished the first one and put the insulation back in approximately the same places it started, go to the second one and repeat the process, sans wiring, plus the complication of trying to use a screwdriver in a much more cramped space. Finish second one. Put the insulation back. Take everything inside and change clothes immediately (dirt, dust, fiberglass) and throw everything in the washing machine.

Later, after supper, actually manage to write a couple thousand words. Then to bed. Rejoice to not be woken up by rats. So, maybe, I got all the entry points. For now.

Saturday and most of Sunday was a weekend tai chi workshop. No writing on Saturday. Did get a couple thousand words done on Sunday evening. Hoping to attend a write-in with some of the other local NaNo's this week.

NaNo Day Two and Rat Eviction Part One

2006-11-03T08:40:00.000-05:00

I tackled the problem of rat exclusion before the writing yesterday. I found the spot the little beastie had chewed a new hole where some flexible ductwork went through a hole in the floor and I stuffed a lot of coarse steel wool into and around that area, as well as checking and packing several other gaps and potential rodent entry points. While I don't actually have to crawl to do this, it's not a really fun job. The space is high enough to stand or crouch in and there's a couple of bare bulb light fixtures down there, but it's still a dirt basement and the fiberglass insulation is always so much fun to work with. I also closed off the basement entry point to an old, now unused, air return down there, where rats or mice had occasionally been running around. When I finished up the job, I believed that I'd taken care of the problem, at least for this year.

However, about three in the morning, I awoke to the familiar sound of little rodent teeth gnawing on something in the wall (hopefully not anything important, like, the wiring). The good news is that the critter was in a different place, meaning I had succesfully closed off the previous entry point, and also it didn't hang around there very long. The bad news is that I get to go back under the house again today and see if I can figure out what entry point it used this time. Sigh. It's an adventure every time I pull down the insulation and see what gaping holes the previous owners and renovation crews managed to leave wide open. It's a wonder the whole house hasn't been overrun already.

This is also the time of year I start thinking about getting a barn cat or two. Not that I have a barn or anything like that. Just a small, old house that sits maybe eighteen feet off a pretty busy two lane road. I'm just not comfortable trying to keep an outside cat that close to a busy road.

I was able to get some writing time in and the story is beginning to move, a bit. The challenge is to resist the temptation to go back and fix the early stuff, but to complete the 50,000 word challenge, you just can't do that. It's time to just turn off the internal editor, and just tell yourself, "you can fix it all later." The word count is slowly accumulating and I'm still running a bit ahead of quota, for the moment anyway.

NaNo Day One and Rats in the Walls

2006-11-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

First day finished out well, since I was able to write another 2500 words or so last night after work.

Then, in the wee hours of the morning, my annual unwanted visitor made his or her presence known. Yep, a rat found it's way back into the wall between my bedroom and the adjoining bathroom. I think they've been hauling walnuts from the yard behind me into that space for years and then come in occasionaly to gnaw on them. It's the gnawing that wakes me up. Sounds a lot like a squirrel, but at 3am, it ain't a squirrel. The critter was still at it at 3:30am, so I got up and decided to put the time to good use and wrote another hour on the novel before I normally would have gotten up. So all told, that's 4315 words down. I'm running a bit ahead at the moment.

However, this afternoon, I get to go down into the basement/crawlspace and see if I can find and block whatever access point the little beastie is using to get up into the walls this time. It's an old house, with an amazing number of odd gaps and openings through the floor down there -- pipes, heating ducts, odd gaps where previous renovations created spaces to run ductwork to the second floor (former actic), all of which have to be blocked off with something rodent teeth can't chew through. I've used coarse steel wool, 1/4" hardware cloth and anything else metal that I can scrounge. Sealing the crawlspace itself is impractical without major renovations, given the way the heat pump is installed, so I settle for keeping the critters out of the main part of the house (and the walls). Wish me luck.

And I'd like to get some more writing done on the novel today as well. I've got a busy weekend ahead of me, with little writing time in sight Saturday or Sunday.

To Ronn: Thank you for your thoughtful comments yesterday and camera recommendations. I actually have acquired a camera (5 megapixel Canon), which I like, but haven't had time to upload anything here yet.

A Change of Subject

2006-11-01T12:59:00.000-05:00

September, I drove to Florida and managed to visit several yarn stores during the trip, one in Florida (Uncommon Threads in Palm Harbor) and two in the Atlanta area. Money was spent at both.

October turned cold and rainy. Some knitting got done. The Doctor Who scarf has now reached approximately the 75% mark, and it's already insanely long. I'm wondering if I'm actually going to have enough yarn to finish it. I might actually have to go get some more at some point.

Other projects included a tiny little drawstring bag knit out of purple sock yarn on small needles as a birthday gift for my niece, with a couple of goodies inside.

November is going to be a very knitting-light month. I've signed up for National Novel Writing Month, and will be working on a novel instead. This does mean that my planned holiday gift knitting may end up getting totally derailed this year. On the other hand, I've not been very organized about it either and have only started one knitted gift from the list. The mittens might actually get done in time.

I'm going to try posting a little widget on this page to track my progress with the novel.

Meanwhile, I did get a whole 444 words written this morning before work. Only about 1200 more for today's quota (1666 per day for 30 days = 50,000 words).

I'm probably not going to say much about the content here, other than it is a fantasy novel set in a world bearing some resemblance to early northern Europe, circa 1800 years BCE. Title, for the moment, is "The Raven's Gift". Enough said.

September ...

2006-09-09T15:42:00.000-04:00

and it's time for another photo-free post. I have but limited access to a digital camera, and the time lag between taking photos with a film camera, getting them developed and then scanning them tends to take all the fun out of that process, and pretty much all of the spontaneity as well. And probably accounts for the relatively sparse postings to this blog of late.

I've been in the mood for mindless knitting, and so have finished almost 60% of the Doctor Who scarf (plain garter stitch, just have to count the number of rows for each color). This makes it a pretty long scarf already, and I'm realizing that it will also be fairly heavy in weight as well, a consequence of using worsted weight yarn, rather than the DK or sport weight yarn usually recommended for this project.

I've run across this pattern, which I think can be used with some minor modifications to make a nice felted floppy hat to go with the scarf. Let's see, find a suitable coat and I might just have the beginnings of a Doctor Who costume. Hmm, Halloween is coming ...

I'm also working on presents (knitted), for birthdays, and for Christmas, but I'm afraid I may be running rather behind on the Christmas knitting this year. My initial plans for lots of mittens and such got derailed by the realization that family members living in Arizona and Florida have little need for double-knit (two colors, two yarns carried throughout) wool mittens, and I really ought to come up with some other ideas. It's the coming up with other ideas that's been a little slow. I've got a few things I'm working on, but nothing quite ready for blog-time yet.

And then there's socks. Since I wear pretty much only wool socks these days, I almost always have socks on the needles. Right now, I'm slowly working on the second sock of a very brightly colored pair. I will finish it, but I've realized that after knitting a bunch of socks in the self-striping yarns over the last couple of years, that I'm really kind of over the stripes for the time being and will be seeking out some solid colors and tweeds and yarns of that sort in the near future. Meanwhile, what I'm calling the "clown stripe" socks still need to be finished.

On other topics, I'm taking a beginning Spanish class (offered for staff and faculty at the university where I work). So, how do you say "knitting" in Spanish?

It's Summer

2006-07-28T16:25:00.000-04:00

And I'm working on my Christmas knitting again.

After finally, reluctantly, coming to the conclusion that doubleknit, wool, mittens were really not an appropriate gift for family members living in Southern Arizona, and probably not for anyone south of the Mason-Dixon line (except me -- I get cold in the winter), I've started brainstorming ideas for knitted Christmas/Solstice/December presents again. Plus, I've got a few more birthdays coming up in the meantime.

As part of the process, I've been looking at recent issues of magazines, taking ideas where ever I can find them. There are an awful lot of sweater patterns out there. Scads and scads of them. Far more than I'd ever even consider knitting. Being in gift-knitting mode, I'm thinking about smaller items, probably no larger than a hat or purse, projects that won't take months of my "spare" time, since I just don't have that much time available. I've got pages of ideas, some practical, some not, some intriguing, some not. Then I filter based on the intended recipients, the availability of yarn (I'm trying to use up stash, if possible), the size/complexity of the project, and just how interested I am in knitting it up. A few things are beginning to fall out. Since these are going to be gifts, I'm not going into any details here. Not now at least.

New developments: I've discovered that I can knit with cotton without hurting my hands, if I knit lace. Apparently the larger gauge and open texture doesn't put the strain on my hands that knitting fairly tightly knit cotton dishcloths does. With the latter, I could knit only three or four rows before having to switch to another project. I can do a lot more with knitted cotton lace. I'm actually kind of excited by this, since there are projects that actually do better in cotton -- like open-work shopping/tote bags. The kind of bag where you want the stability that cotton provides, as well as the openness of lace. I'll probably be doing more of this kind of knitting in the future.

Magazines

2006-06-02T11:13:00.000-04:00

I just got the new issue of Knitter's in my mailbox yesterday (Summer 2006, K83). Let me start by saying that I don't look at these magazines necessarily as a source of complete garment patterns, but more as general inspiration. I look for interesting structural techniques, pattern stitches, uses of color and so forth. On that score, this issue isn't bad. On the other hand, most of the sweaters seemed to be very boxy and oversized on the models. There were a couple of exceptions that had some waist shaping -- Flannel Garden (a sleeveless sweater with front yoke details) and Bon Bon (a tank top designed by Lily Chin). What I find interesting about all of the boxy sweaters and tunics is that this is not a style we'ere seeing much of in ready to wear (I'm not talking high fashion here, I don't pay that much attention). More fitted garments definitely seem to be in, especially for younger women.

Now, boxy sweaters certainly would be easier to design for multiple sizes. After all, you don't have to worry about exactly where all of the womanly curves actually are -- just make it big enough to cover the body. Throw in an interesting stitch pattern, an neat or exotic yarn, and you have a sweater! Unfortunately, what you have is still a box, and not necessarily flattering on all body types. Maybe this is why I make socks, even though I have to adapt those patterns to fit my stout ankles. I'm not all that keen on spending the time it takes to knit a sweater, only to end up with something that just hangs there. Especially when the design involves acres of stockinette, as some of these designs do.

Now, in other patterns. The socks are interesting, though I've not had time to actually read the details of how they're constructed. The felted purse is very cute. I love the colors, but probably couldn't afford the yarn. There is one blanket, another example of interesting construction which I'll probably take a closer look at later, though I have no plans to knit it. The four jackets aren't bad, and the purple one (French Lilac) is kind of cute, but all are very boxy in design. The French Market Bag is intriguing, though I'd skip the matching wrap. Oddly enough, I don't think there are any designs for men in this issue (they usually manage at least one).

Peri Klass has a nice essay on knitting two baby blankets which I enjoyed. Sounds familiar, buy the yarn with great plans of a quick and easy project (or two), which end up taking far, far longer than anticipated.

Overall, a rather middle of the road issue. Nothing that leaps out and screams "Knit Me!", but enough designs to keep me interested enough to read through the patterns and consider possible adaptations -- alternate yarns, colors, trims, etc. A few designs I may go back to at some point (Flannel Garden, French Lilac, the felted purse, maybe the socks).

June, already?

2006-06-01T14:51:00.000-04:00

Where did spring go? First April was hotter than usual, than the first part of May was actually pretty cool, and this past week it felt more like summer. Long days, highs in the 90s. Really.

I'm still knitting, but not that much. Busy with stuff like finally getting the fence fixed that got busted down by a pickup truck that ran off the road last December. The reconstruction work was finished last week, and I've been painting it by fits and starts this week. It's a wooden picket fence, painted white. Of course. It also serves as a very visible marker for the edge of the road, which while it didn't help the two times the fence did get hit (daylight accidents with relatively young, i.e. inexperienced, drivers), does help provide at least a slight buffer between the road and my house, which isn't all that far from the fence. And the visibility factor is definitely a plus. On the other hand, a wood fence is not exactly low maintenance. Kilz is my friend. Just keep priming it. Seems to be working so far.

Knitting has included finishing a prototype double-knit mitten for the northern branch of the family Christmas presents. It's a prototype because I'm not sure if it will fit the recipient and because I forgot which color was the main color and accidentally switched the yarn in left and right hands between the main part of the mitten and the thumb, so the thumb while okay, does look a bit funny compared to the hand -- the colors are emphasized differently. I figured out the problem after I finished and woven in the ends and frankly, didn't feel like redoing it. And I'd already declared the mitten either mine, or a prototype. I'll get the intended recipient to try it on this weekend, since she'll be visiting.

I did finish the Wild Foote socks I'd been working on earlier, and also knit up a (quick) pair of boot socks in Chunky Wool-Ease. I'm using up the yarn from a sweater project that I frogged a year (two years?) ago after realizing that the resulting sweater was WAY too big and besides that the color really didn't do anyone any favors. They call it "Foliage", an interesting mix of green and greenish brown, with flecks of other colors tossed in. It should have been a great color for someone of my coloring (fair, freckles, red hair), but in fact it reminds me mainly of standard army camo green, about the color of the army-issue undies my ex brought home with him from the army. I actually made a hat out of the yarn. The main redeeming feature of the hat is that it's warm. The color just doesn't work. I'm not sure why it took me so long to figure this out. So, it's socks for this yarn -- keep it as far from my face as possible!

Feeling More Like Spring

2006-04-02T10:24:00.000-04:00

It's finally feeling more like spring in my neck of the woods, after a winter that couldn't quite make up its mind whether to be cold or relatively warm. My daffodils are pretty much done, the tulips are starting to bloom and the grass is looking so green it almost makes my eyes hurt. I'm going to have to get the lawn mower out very soon, the lawn is looking rather shaggy.

Yesterday I found several relatively new knitting books discounted at a local bookstore, and picked up my own copy of Teva Durham's Loop-d-Loop, which I'd recently gotten through interlibrary loan and had been sufficiently impressed to want to get my own copy. The book is gorgeous, large format, lots of photos and nicely laid out. While it's disappointing to find that very few of the patterns go much larger than size Large, I find the designs and techniques used to be sufficiently interesting to make up for it. I think that some of the designs could be sized up, with some care, or the techniques used could be applied to other projects. I think the book is as much a source of ideas and inspiration as it is for specific projects.

Also on the recent acquisitions list is handknit Holidays,by Melanie Falick (designs by many different designers). I'd not had the chance to examine a copy of this one before and bought it primarily on the strength of Melanie Falick's name. The book is another lovely one, with excellent production values. The patterns include a wide range of items from not-so-classic Christmas stockings to hats, scarves, mittens, gloves and sweaters. While the theme of the book is the December holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, etc), the projects are not cutesy or overwhelmingly "Christmassy". Most could be used for any of the holidays. A nice book to look at and inspirational for getting started on those holiday handknts early!

The final book on yesterday's list was another one I'd not really noticed before, but the price was right and it looked useful. This was Margaret Radcliffe's The Knitting Answer Book. The book is a small one, though not quite small enough to be a true pocket book, it would fit in a larger knitting bag. It's mostly in question and answer format, divided into sections by basic technique, from casting on to binding off, and includes a lot of useful information and details of techniques. There's at least ten cast-on techniques described in the first chapter, that I saw, as well as suggestions for dealing with common problems. Tucked into the back are garment sizing charts for all sizes, as well as a list of hat sizes. I've not had time to do more than flip through the pages, but I think it will be a handy resource to have available, both for myself and when helping other knitters.

I'm still here

2006-03-16T16:14:00.000-05:00

Yes, it has been a while since I posted that last, brief, post at the end of the Knitting Olympics. And, no, I've not been sick. My excuse, if I need one, is that I've been recovering (post-Olympic decompression), I've been busy at work, and the handful of times I actually attempted to post I had trouble with my (dial-up) internet connection at home. I've been starting to feel as though the world was conspiring to keep me from doing this.

On the Knitting Olympics. It was an interesting experience. A very intense two weeks. I'm pleased that I did manage to finish the gloves, even though I missed the gold medal by a matter of hours. Partly due to some confusion on my part as to WHEN the Knitting Olympics actually ended. So it goes. I still have the gloves, and they still look pretty impressive. And they fit too! Too bad spring is actually arriving and it's not really cold enough to wear them any more.

I have learned that I can knit a (small) project in two weeks and still go to work every day and still sleep (some). I've learned that I really can knit in two colors, with one in each hand, and that the technique is actually pretty cool. I fully intend to do more colorwork projects. I've also learned (for the moment) that maybe doing time-itensive knit-alongs is not a really good idea for me unless I'm doing it on vacation time or something, but that could change given enough time passing.

Since then, I have still been knitting. Finishing some projects, continuing others. I haven't started anything large or complicated yet. I'm finished those mittens (the training project) during the Knitting Olympics (it was snowing outside at the time, what can I say?) and then discovered that I'd forgotten to change back to the smaller needles to knit the cuff of the second mitten. And yes, you can tell the difference. I'll need to go back and redo that cuff. Soon. Eventually. Maybe before next winter. We'll see. I also finished a purple hat with gold bee buttons on it for a friend with cancer (based on the hat in Stitch 'N Bitch Nation).

In progress (I've actually knit on these in the last week):

One ripple afghan in Lion Brand Homespun (started this last year, it'll get done eventually).
Doctor Who? scarf (I changed the purple from a lavenderish shade to a more plummy shade -- looks better now. I'm about two or three feet into this very long scarf.)
Socks in Wildfoote handpaint (dark blues and greens), I'm on the second sock.
Face cloths in cotton as gifts.

I've not really sat down to consider other projects yet. I've got the Christmas mittens/gloves to get back to though. Hopefully soon.

Two Gloves Done!

2006-02-26T17:29:00.000-05:00

At 5pm (EST) on Sunday, February 26 (today) I wove in the last end on the second of the two Flying Geese Gloves. They are officially done!

Here they are:

And, for a change of pace, we have daffodils. In February. These flowers first opened this past Thursday, this picture was taken on Saturday.

That's it for now. I'll do a debriefing on this whole Olympic Knitting process in a day or two.

I'm still knitting

2006-02-23T13:27:00.000-05:00

I'm still knitting, in spite of the lack of postings here. Just busy. It's funny how blogging uses up time I could be knitting. Here's some of what's been going on lately.

First, the Gloves

On Sunday night, at about 8pm, I finished the right glove of the pair (the back is shown here), including weaving in ends, and then cast on for the left glove.

The left glove is progessing nicely. I just put the thumb gore stitches on hold to finish the hand (on my lunch break).

Can I finish by Sunday night? I think so. It'll be tight, but I think there's still enough time left. By my calculations I probably have around 10 hours of knitting (and finishing) left. I've got around an inch of knitting left on the hand, then start taking off stitches for the fingers, and then work each finger and the thumb. The fingers took about an hour and a half each on the first glove, so that's around 7.5 hours for five of them. Allow another 1-2 hours for the rest of the hand and setting up the fingers, and some time for the finishing.

Stay tuned, I'll try and post a little more often.

The String Eating Dog, part 2

Jazzy, sweet dog that she is, presented me with evidence of futher depradations on fiber (Part One is here) on Wednesday morning (after I was awake for once). Upon inspection of vulnerable textiles (rugs), I found a small throw rug with a relatively small portion missing along one edge. The rug is small one, about the size of a small doormat, and appears to be a piece of a remnant of industrial type carpeting (low pile) that had been bound off on the edges. It's pretty stiff, and invulnerable to doggy depradations (or so I thought). It turns out that this was again one of this rugs made with a continuous yarn that's pulled up into rows of short loops, and Jazzy apparently worked a bit loose and then kept pulling. I think it's nylon. Couldn't have been pleasant.

Why does she do this? I'm not sure, but since it only seems to happen when I'm not home, I suspect it's a stress behavior. I'll have to explore this a bit further.

No Pictures Yet

2006-02-12T16:41:00.000-05:00

... but I did cast on for the Flying Geese Gloves on Friday evening, while watching the (recorded) opening ceremonies for the Olympics. Cast on and started the ribbing on the first glove, knitting perhaps an inch or so before I got too sleepy and had to go to bed. Finished the ribbing and started on the patterned part of the glove Saturday.

It's been snowing here. Not a lot of snow compared to some parts of the country, but enough to make things interesting. It snows overnight, then mostly melts off during the day, while still snowing. Today we've had snow showers on and off all day, while last night's two-three inches of snow has pretty much all melted off.

I mention this because I've been thinking about the as-yet-unfinished wool mittens wool mittens which would be really nice to have finished right now. My only other mittens are a much lighter pair knit out of Lion Brand Wool-Ease (i.e. mostly acrylic) and when they get wet, they get wet. And cold. And with this cold, wet snow we've been getting, that's not fun.

Anyway, I've been debating taking the time from the gloves to try and finish the mittens. The compromise I'm considering will be that AFTER I've knit some on the gloves on a given day, and feel I'm on track to finish them (both of them) on time, then I can give myself permission to work on the mittens. On the other hand, it's going to be warming up again in a few days, so it won't matter so much then.

Now, since it's about 5pm and I've not done any knitting today yet, I think it's time I actually got back to those gloves!

My Dad Went to New Zealand ...

2006-02-06T20:47:00.000-05:00

... and brought back yarn!

My father and step-mother just got back from a cruise and vacation to New Zealand. First the five-week cruise, including stops in South America and islands in the South Pacific. Followed by an extended visit to New Zealand.

I admit to dropping broad hints about wool and New Zealand before they left, so the New Zealand yarn wasn't a total surprise. But they also sent me some alpaca yarn they bought in Ecuador, complete with a picture of a rather homely alpaca on the label. The alpaca yarn (actual fiber content not listed) is a tweedy green, quite pretty and soft; it appears to be about sport weight. The New Zealand yarn is Naturally Tussock Aran 10ply, being 85% New Zealand wool and 15% polyester, in off-white with a darker strand plied in. It looks like it will produce a kind of tweedy effect when knitted up.

On the left is the Tussock from New Zealand, on the right is the alpaca from Ecuador. Photographed outside on a cloudy day, hoping to get a better image of the colors.

No ideas yet what I'll knit out of either of these, though there looks to be enough for a sweater, or equivalent out of each of them. I'm just enjoying the idea of having yarn that came from the other side of the planet!

As Ready As I'm Gonna Get

2006-02-06T20:33:00.000-05:00

For the Knittimg Olympics that is (see link on sidebar). Over the weekend, I finished two gauge samples for the gloves. The first in the wonderfully soft Tiur (Dalegarn), a luscious mohair and wool blend. The second in Regia fingering weight sock yarn. Both were in blue and white. Both were tubes of 60 stitches around - not what I'd call little, but large enough to see what I'm doing and count the stitches, and included both stranded patterns used in the gloves: Flying Geese and Salt and Pepper. Both were getting a gauge of around 10-11 stitches per inch.

Now, the pattern calls for 9 stitches per inch. On the other hand, the pattern is also for a men's size, so I figure if I'm getting a bit tighter gauge, the gloves might actually fit me. If not, I'll find someone who can wear them.

The big choice, which yarn? I've decided to go with the Regia sock yarn. I like the way the patterns show up in that yarn better than the Tiur, and I like the feel of the fabric better as well.

So, having decided on a pattern, a yarn and needle sizes, practiced the stitch patterns and two-handed stranded knitting, I don't think there's much more to be done until Friday, when I can officially cast on for this project.

So, in the meantime, I'm working on a pair of socks (Wildfoote Handpaint in dark blues and greens), a hat for a friend going through chemo, and yes, I'm still working on mitten number two (almost up to the hand dereases).

Women Knitting

2006-02-01T22:04:00.000-05:00

While knitting is often a solitary pursuit, most knitters do enjoy meeting with other knitters, to knit and to chat. Sometimes more talking gets done than knitting, but no one seems to mind all that much. I'm in a small group, as yet un-named, that meets once a month. We held our fourth gathering tonight, claiming a corner of a local Starbucks. The attendance is still small, which is good, because if we get many more knitters, we'll have to find a larger space.

Liza and Karan are working on a prayer shawl and an Alice Starmore sweater, respectively. Karan is one of the organizers of this gathering. Her co-conspirator, April, was unable to join us tonight due to illness.

Here, Kim is knitting on a sock. The remains of a sunset were visible through the window behind her, but didn't show up at all in this picture.

While Katherine is knitting an alpaca lace shawl. (Please forgive me if I've misspelled your name, I forgot to ask you the correct spelling.) She was also helping a new knitter learn to cast on (not pictured, at her request).

Here's my mitten (second mitten), in progress. [Thanks Kim, for taking the picture.]

And finally, the front (or back) of Karan's sweater. The cables don't show up very well in this picture though.

Mitten and Glove

2006-01-30T21:32:00.000-05:00

With the official start of my Olympic Knitting assignment (Flying Geese Gloves) less than two weeks away, I'm beginning to feel some urgency to get on with the swatching and finalize my yarn choice for the gloves.

The mittens

Meanwhile, I'm continuing to work on mitten #2. I finished the thumb gore today, and tried a slight variant on the cast-on for the stitches that fill the gap when the thumb stitches are taken off the needle. On the first mitten I cast on all of the stitches in the MC (main color, in this case, blue), starting the pattern when I knit across them on the next row. This time, I tried alternating the two colors in the cast on, in pattern. So far, so good. I'll see how it works when picking up stitches for the thumb later.

I'm also considering alternative decrease patterns for closing the hand. The pattern has you decrease at both ends of all three needles, every other row, or decrease six stitches every other row. This comes out a bit more pointy than I really liked. [I'll get some pictures of the finished mitten up eventually.] So, I'm thinking I probably need to decreas more often (more stitches per round) or more quickly (every round instead of every other round). Not sure yet which I'll try. If I get something I like on this mitten, I'll undo the end of the first mitten and knit it to match the second one.

Swatching for the gloves

I started the second attempt at a gauge swatch with the Tiur today. Doubled the number of stitches to 60, and dropped down one needle size to size 1. Definitely easier to work with and I feel like I'll be able to get a more accurate stitch count this way. Preliminary counts look like I've hit the recommended gauge (9 stitches per inch). I'll knit a few more pattern repeats and count again to be sure.

I'm also taking this opportunity to see for myself the effects of carrying each of the two different colors ahead (for me - in my left hand). The gloves use two different patterns, with different colors carried ahead: flying geese on the back of the hand (CC carried ahead) and salt and pepper on the palm (MC color carried ahead). The first couple of pattern reps in my test swatch I'm keeping the MC in my left hand (carried ahead), with the CC in my right. I'll swap them for a couple of repeats, and then do the patterns as recommended for a couple of repeats. After only one pattern repeat, I can already see that the salt and pepper pattern is showing up more clearly than the flying geese. Very interesting. I'm looking forward to finishing the experiment.

Like I Really Need Another Project

2006-01-29T21:13:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I finally succumbed. I've been contemplating knitting a Doctor Who Scarf on and off for a while. I found patterns on-line, studied pictures, looked for yarn with colors that came reasonably close. Yesterday, I did it.

I bought some yarn. It was on sale. The colors aren't really that close a match, but I think they at least express the general idea. Especially after I got the yarn home, looked at a picture again and swapped two colors for yarn in my stash. I've opted for washable and virtually indestructible Red Heart acrylic. Not that I wouldn't use wool if I could find it, but this scarf is going to be at least fifteen feet long. It's going to get dragged on the ground. I'm not sure who will end up with it and would hate to see it shrunk into unrecognizable condition because someone threw it into a washing machine.

Since the pattern I'm using (16th season) lists the stripe pattern in numbers of rows, and I'm using worsted weight yarn while the pattern calls for sport or dk weight, I knit a gauge swatch. I then checked my row gauge, added up all of the rows in the listed pattern and got an estimated length for the finished scarf. Allowing for some stretch in the garter stitch, I figure it ought to be long enough.

Then I started knitting. 40 stitches wide. Garter stitch. The only thing to keep it interesting is counting garter ridges (multiply by two to get the number of rows) so I can keep up with the color changes. I found it rather medititative. I enter this project with the knowledge that it is a long-term project. I don't expect to finish it soon. By some time next fall would be nice, but isn't essential. It's something I want to see if I can do. I'm already contemplating the idea of doing another one in wool. (What am I thinking? Not one, but two fifteen + foot scarves? Not this year, that's for sure.)

Because the colors I'm using don't actually match that closely and I'm using heavier yarn, I'm thinking of calling this a "Dr What" scarf, or maybe a "Dr Hoo" scarf. Any other ideas?

Here's where I found the pattern I'm using. Lots of other information and photos here as well.

Year of the Mitten

2006-01-29T20:47:00.000-05:00

Some progress on the second "Snowflake" mitten (aka Salt and Pepper done in blue and white) - still working on the thumb gore. My gauge seems to have tightened up a bit compared to the first mitten at this point. I was spot on with 6 1/2 stitches per inch on the first mitten; now I'm getting more like 7. I went back and checked other parts of the first mitten, and the hand above the thumb gore is also about 7 stitches per inch. The mitten fits okay, so I'm not worried. It is something I'll have to watch in making mittens for other people though.

Which I'm planning to do. I like to make hand-knit gifts for Christmas gifts for family and close friends, and have done so for several years. Last year was the Year of the Scarf (and at a couple of shawls). This year is the Year of the Mitten (or Glove or Fingerless Glove). Inspired by Robin Hansen's "Favorite Mittens", which I bought last fall, and wanting a theme for this year's Christmas knitting so I could get started early enough to hope to finish in time, I decided on mittens for all, or variants on that theme.

Now, double-knit wool mittens are a good choice for family that live in New Hampshire, where they actually get winter, but I'm not so sure about Arizona, or Florida. While I've already started to choose color combinations and buy yarn for everyone on the list, I'm having second (and third) thoughts on the appropriateness of mittens for some of my family. I figure fingerless gloves (aka wristers) ought to be a workable alternative for warmer climates, where it still gets chilly in the winter, at least occasionally. I hope I'm not indulging in wishful thinking here. I probably ought to at least do a little research on average winter temperatures in Arizona before I get too far into this project.

Since some of the gift recipients might end up reading this blog, I'm not going to go into details of who is getting what right now. It would be nice if at least some aspect of the gift remained a surprise.

The mittens I'm currently working on are a first project for the basic techniques involved, a chance for me to become more familiar with the two handed approach to the knitting that I've chosen (one color in each hand), and also serves as a warm up for my Olympic Knitting project -- the more complex Wild Geese Gloves, in the same technique.

I made a first run at a gauge swatch in the yarn I'm tentatively using for the Gloves (Tiur, by Dale, a mohair and wool blend). The instructions suggested knitting a small tube for this purpose. I tried a 30 stitch tube, in pattern, but decided it was just too narrow a diameter to be useful, so I frogged it and will try again with more stitches, or another technique, but still circular. Preliminary stitch counts though, suggest I may want to try a smaller needle size.

Dog Eats String

2006-01-27T21:31:00.000-05:00

My dog eats yarn. Also string and other string-like materials. This includes rugs. I came home from work yesterday to discover that Jazzy had eaten about half of the fringes off an area rug in the living room. And thrown up most of it again back on the floor.

The photo shows Jazzy and the rug in question a few days before the fringe-eating incident. Does she look guilty here? Any signs of incipient fringe interest?

The whole saga actually began several years ago. It was late autumn. I was knitting hats for Christmas presents for my brother's family. I left a partial skein of white Lion Brand Chunky USA (100% acrylic) from that project on an end table by my favorite knitting chair while I was at work. I didn't notice anything different about the yarn, but Jazzy was unusually subdued that evening. I didn't think much of it.

Then, that night, at around 3am. I wake up to the sound of a dog retching. If you have a dog, you know what I'm talking about. I'm a light sleeper, so I was out of bed within seconds, got Jazzy into the bathroom (linoleum floor rather than carpet) and she did what she had to do. It took me a while to figure out what she'd been eating. (I'll spare you the details of this part.) Eventually, I realized that she had been eating yarn. White yarn. I then scouted through the house to figure out where she'd gotten it and found the partial skein of Chunky USA in the living room. When I picked up the skein, it did feel suspiciously lighter than the last time I'd handled it. I'm still not sure why she went after the yarn. And it was acrylic! Wool might at least have had a chance of being digested. After that, I started being careful to keep the yarn put away, or at least out of reach.

That's where the rugs come in.

Having been deprived of yarn for her string obsession. Jazzy took an unusual interest in a throw rug I bought in December of 2004. It was one of those with continuous loopy pile and rubberized back. I figured she couldn't do much do it. I was wrong.

She gave me fair warning. A couple of times I found her chewing on the rug, pulling at the strings in it, occasionally even pulling one out and getting a length of thread several feet long. I was always there to stop her and trim off the offending strings. Until one Friday last spring. I came home from work and discovered a large chunk of the rug was now missing and the rug had a definite chewed look to it. Since there was no one else in the house, I had to conclude that Jazzy had eaten it.

I called my Vet and consulted with the vet tech about whether I should bring Jazzy in or not. I was advised to wait and see what happened. So, I waited. The next morning, while I was showering, Jazzy regurgitated the missing part of the rug onto the living carpet. (Again, I'll not go into detail here.)

Fast forward to this past summer. I found a really good deal on an imported silk rug while visiting my mother in Florida (pictured above). I was concerned about the fringe, but figured I could trim it off if Jazzy showed any interest. She pretty much ignored the rug, other than sitting on it, for several months. No particular interest in the fringe that I noticed. Until yesterday. And then, half the fringe is gone. When she does something, she goes all out.

What will be next? Who knows. I'm careful to keep yarn out of her reach, at least when I'm not around to supervise. So, yes, I can set down a work in progress and leave the room. No, I can't leave the same work within Jazzy's reach if I'm out of the house. I can't store yarn where she can reach it. I'm keeping a mental list of rug and carpet materials that are reasonably Jazzy-safe and which are not. The large braided rug in the living room is reasonably safe -- though she occasionally tries to chew on loose threads, she's not managed to get any significant quantity of fiber loose there.

Oh yeah, she also eats grass.

Keeping Busy

2006-01-26T16:01:00.000-05:00

I finished the first "Salt and Pepper" mitten on Monday evening. The top of the hand came out a bit "pointy" for my taste, following the directions as written. I'll probably look into alternative decrease patterns to see if I can find a mitten top I like better.

Hoping to avoid Second Mitten Syndrome, I immediately cast on for the second mitten. I worked on it a little for the last few days. Today, I finally started the stranded portion of the hand and had gotten three or four rounds into it before realizing I'd forgotten to change to the larger size needles at the end of the ribbing. Sigh. Pulled out the needles and ripped back to the top of the ribbing. Put the needles back in. Oops, those were the same needles. Move the stitches to the larger needles. Knit one round before lunch ends.

Yesterday, I got to knit in my dentist's office, in the chair, while waiting for the local anesthesia to take effect and my jaw to get numb enough so the dentist could drill off an old bridge and do the prep for the replacement. Since I was knitting socks on size 0 needles, I volunarily put down the knitting before the drilling started. I didn't want to be holding sharp, pointed objects while the dentist was drilling; I didn't think the dentist or assistant would appreciate being skewered if they hit a nerve.

The drilling wasn't too bad, this time, but they took a bunch of impressions. Okay, it was just three, but it felt like more. And of course each one had to set up for awhile, so after I'd been there two hours (really), and the last one was a whole mouth impression, I was pretty much over it. Just wanted to get the temporary in and go home. I go back in three weeks to get the permanent bridge put in.

Last night, I experimented with winding a center pull ball, using a make shift nostepinne (I think that's how it's spelled). I don't own a swift, so I draped the skein on an inkle loom (works pretty well), and used a plastic, size 35 straight knitting needle to wind the ball on. For a first attempt, I was pretty pleased with the technique. It's not speedy, sort of meditative almost. The real test will be how the yarn knits out of the ball.

In Training

2006-01-22T15:16:00.000-05:00

Taking my self-chosen Olympic challenge reasonably seriously, I started "training" this week.

Tuesday: Read the pattern for "Flying Geese Gloves" (in Favorite Mittens, by Robin Hansen, published by Downeast Books). Go back to the beginning of the book and read the General Instructions so the pattern makes sense. Read the pattern again. There may be a typo there that I'll try to track down before starting these.

Wednesday: Decide to knit a stranded mitten as a training project (and likely Christmas gift). Cast on 45 stitches for a child-sized "Salt and Pepper Mitten" (same book) in Lamb's Pride worsted weight yarn (blue and white), using needles one size smaller than suggested by the pattern (I usually have to drop one or two needle sizes to make gauge). Gleefully start in on the ribbed cuff, in K1P1 ribbing and then wonder why the pattern had me cast on an odd number of stitches. Had already decreased one stitch to "fix" this when I looked at the pattern again and saw that the ribbing was actually "K2P1". Oh. Frog that attempt. Cast on again. Knit a couple of rounds of ribbing before bed.

Thursday: Continue on the child's mitten. Start the stranded pattern, with one color in each hand. This works well (first time I've tried to do this). Okay, I did spend some time last year practicing carrying the yarn in my right hand (I usually knit with the yarn in the left hand). But the gauge seems kind of tight.

Friday: Knit some more. Get enough knit to actually check the gauge. Yep, it's way too tight. Pattern calls for 6 1/2 stitches per inch (in pattern). I'm getting 7-8 stitches per inch.

Friday evening: Frog the first mitten. Start over using the recommended needle sizes, and in an adult size.

Saturday: Knit a lot on the mitten. Decide to add a couple of stripes to the solid colored ribbed cuff. Get most of the hand knitted, just starting the decreases to close the hand.

Here's the partially finished mitten. The lumpy looking spot in the middle with the strings hanging from it is the thumb gore with the held stitches on a piece of narrow ribbon.

Saturday, I also bought yarn. For the gloves (probably). And for some other mittens. I'll need to swatch for the gloves prior to February 10th. Not sure if the second mitten of this pair will get finished now, or after the Olympics. Is there such a thing as second mitten syndrome?

Olympic Glory - Maybe

2006-01-16T16:46:00.000-05:00

I've taken the plunge and signed up for the Yarn Harlot's 2006 Knitting Olympics. The challenge being to start and finish one knitted item, knitter's choice, between the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics and the closing ceremonies, that's 16 days. The chosen project should be a challenge appropriate to the knitter's ability.

I've chosen something that should be manageable, but still challenging. The Flying Geese Gloves, from Robin Hansen's Favorite Mittens. This is two-color knitting, something I've yet to actually tackle yet, as well as being gloves (with fingers), another first for me. Now, I just have to find some appropriate yarn.

A Beginning

2006-01-16T15:05:00.000-05:00

I've decided to take the plunge with a blog about my knitting (and other stuff), coming out the shadows of lurkdom as it were, to hover on the fringes of the knitting blogosphere.

Having learned to knit (and crochet) years ago, knit through college and beyond, I'm thoroughly enjoying the resurgence of interest in knitting and the availability of interesting and luscious yarns. It makes the long years of tough, hard-wearing acrylic almost worth it. I still have (and wear) a sweater I knit more than fifteen years ago out of good old Red Heart acrylic. No, I haven't worn it continuously through that time. It languished in the back of the closet for most of those years, being too small to accomodate my ample girth, greatly diminished since then.

About twelve years ago, after completing a baby blanket for my brother's first child, I had to stop knitting for a while because of severe wrist problems, which the knitting aggravated. Not being able to give up textile arts altogether, I entered my counted cross-stitch phase. I enjoyed the process, but found myself subtly dissatisfied because of the lack of creative input I had into the designs.

A few years later, after some improvement in the wrist problem, I gingerly tried crochet, and after a couple of afghans and the encouraging example of a knitting co-worker, I took up the knitting needles again. And haven't looked back again.

I'm hooked on hand-knit socks, and rarely wear anything else now, though it took a couple of years to knit up enough socks to be able to do that. I wear them year round and find them very comfortable. Even in summer. It's great to be able to go tromping in the park with my dog, Jazzy, getting my feet thoroughly soaked in the wet grass, and because of the wool socks, my feet weren't the least bit cold! Wool socks are also great in the air-conditioned building where I work. An the other hand, I get cold a lot, and wear long underwear, multiple layers and sometimes even a hat inside in the winter. In Tennessee.