Friday, July 28, 2006
Guess what I did just now, in this here 10000 degree heat with no air conditioning to speak of so that I have to retreat into the cool but moist basement where I can smell the mushrooms sprouting?
Kooch! I picked up my long-abandoned Kooch and started fiddling with it again!
To go from exclusively knitting on size 1, 2, 3 needles since March to knitting on size 10 overnight must surely be the CRAZIEST thing I've done all year! My hands were like, mmmmmGAAH! Knitting...with lumber...it...hurts...
Well, that's about all the knitting content I have for you this week. I will now fall back on us fellow knitters' usual blogging crutch and fill the rest of this white space with content about...my cat. You're in for a special treat though, because today I don't have just any ole cat pictures, I have a thrilling exposé on my cat and his little Oddity. With pictures.
Exhibit A: Bunny from the front. Normal and cat-like by all accounts.
Exhibit B: Bunny from the back. Sweet baby jesus what IS that?!
Perhaps an aerial view will help us understand better:
Or maybe a collage?
Do you see? That is Bunny's claim to fame - the crunchy, stunted, malformed tail! If you were ever a first time guest at our house, you'd have to touch that tail before I let you in. And when you touch it, I mean really really touch it, because you'll have no choice, I'll totally make you do it, you'll find that the base of his tail is a ball of unpleasantly twisted bone, as if someone took his long, normal tail and just jammed it in like it was an accordian.
But of course no one did that. By all accounts, he was born that way (we got him and his brother at a pound). It doesn't hurt him to have his tail like that, although it does get him into trouble that normal cats like his brother Veebs, with their luxuriously long tails, don't get into. That thing is like a grappling hook!
Bunny's tail nub has been documented to:
-
catch in the handles of plastic bags. The faster he runs, so louder the plastic bag.
-
close doors as he walks by
-
catch on yarn, which are attached to needles and the precarious beginnings of LACE, and travel off the couch, across the entire living room and up 13 flights of stairs
-
catch on the cables plugged into the desktop CPU. As Bunny struggles to escape, he pulls the CPU about 5 feet across the floor like a strongman and all the USB cables attached bend 90 degrees. (That must have really hurt the poor rabbit. Sad face.)
-
swivel 'round and 'round at the base when he's mad.
-
brush under Veeb's nose and flick his face as he walks by.
I need to catch that on tape sometime, because hahaha there's such a human look of disgust on Veeb's face when he gets slapped by that quasi-tail.
So that's our little Bunny with the curious tail. If there were ever Mütter Musuem for felines, I'd totally have him on display. Next to that jar of Veeb's perfectly BCB's.
"Ew."
Filed Under: Cats
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Tanglewood
last weekend was not quite the concert I expected it to be. The idea
was to spread a nice, wide blanket on the thick lawn, drink a few
glasses of wine, eat a little, knit a little, lay back as the sun goes
down, wait for the stars to materialize as the sky grows blacker, and
get lost in sad, morbid fantasies as if Mozart's Requiem was the soundtrack to my own funeral.
Either I misread or the web site information was incorrect, but the Requiem was not playing that night.
And I couldn't knit in the dark.
There was however the scent of citronella candles to keep mosquitos
at bay. There was the soft blue night, the blinking stars and
satellites, the flash of a few meteors, music floating by from
somewhere over there, a warm hand in mine. Nestled in this familiar
backdrop, long quiet feelings stirred and stretched, slinked and
swelled into that space between my lungs.
There was a two-week road trip exactly ten summers ago that took us
from our hometown of Atlanta up to Quebec City and back, with numerous
stops in between that included the soft square of a lawn I was laying
on tonight. We were taking a break from driving, we were trying to slow
the time. We were 1,000 miles away from home, me with the boy
I fantasized about one day marrying, not knowing that ten miles away
lived the boy I would.
I gave that warm hand a squeeze. Things turned out the way they
should have, but man, sometimes...Those two weeks on the road ten
years ago just did not seem like enough.
That was a good, good summer.
Filed Under: Life
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Pattern: Duh
Yarn: "Three Rivers" by Yarntini, sport weight
Needles: US3 dpns
These socks are for wife of brother-in-law, who made it a point to tell me the last time I saw her that she is a "big fan of socks" and that she "always wears socks, even in summer." Well, maybe she didn't make it a point to tell me, but I flattered myself into thinking so, so that I would have a good excuse to buy more sock yarn to knit another pair.
I modified the pattern so there were 13 stitches on each of the 4 needles = 52 sts total. I probably could have done 15 stitches per needles as these socks fit me pretty well, but they're destined for feet much bigger than mine...I'm counting on them to stretch to fit.
After knitting many pairs of socks toe-up/short row heel, I finally thought I'd give the ole cuffdown/heel flap number a revisit. And you know, knitting the heel flaps/short row/gusset takes three times as long, and three times more yarn, as it does to just do a short row heel, but guess what, I think I DO like the construction of heel flaps better.
The yarn is great, soft and perfectly stripey. I've never finished a pair of socks so quickly - thank you sport-weight yarn!
...But now instead of feeling satisfied and fulfilled from the instant gratification, I feel empty and lost. What do I knit next, yet another pair of socks? I squint and look into the knitting horizon and see...nothing. Nothing! I need a break from socks, but I don't want to finish Rose of England, I don't want to restart my mom's sweater, I don't want to finish Cate (remember her? No? Me neither), don't want to do nothin.
I'll feel better if these socks are grumperina's 400th finished Jaywalkers, heh.
I feel a sudden attack of the Knitting Slumps.
I just want to go swimming.
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Jaywalkers
Friday, July 21, 2006
I have to knit socks with sport weight yarn more often. Only a few hours and I'm nearly done with an entire sock. Woooo.
Taking off soon to western Mass. again for a concert tonight at Tanglewood with the siblings-in-law. Mozart's Requiem is on the menu, as are deviled eggs, grapes, cheese, and wine that we're going to chow while out on the lawn. It's the perfect venue for knitting too, to be relaxing outdoors under the stars with your family, surrounded by music and fireflies, drinking your wine, knitting your sock. So many enjoyable activities to do, all at the same time.
Filed Under: Socks | Jaywalkers
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Pattern: Pomatomus, modified for anklets
Yarn: Koigu KPM, Dye code P823, one skein, plus just a tiny few yards of a second. So close to keeping it at just one!
Needles: US2 dpns
Shake your love. I just can't shake your love. Shake your love. I just can't shake. Your love.
I tried several times to knit something other than Pomatomus. Started various sock patterns, experimented with different stitches, only to rip them out and return to Poma. Why mess around when you've got something that works? Poma's beautiful shells flatter any yarn, and pair that with perfect levels of ribbiness and you've got socks the whole family can enjoy.
But WHO in the family will be receiving this? That is to be determined...
Again I knit this toe-up with the Sherman short row method. Same approach as for this pair, except this time I knit on US2 instead of 1.
I didn't like how the holes looked at the edge of the instep, so this time I replaced all the beginning YO's in Chart B with a ktfb (for the first YO on the first row I did a M1).
After working the toe, I did two repeats of Chart B, knit the heel, then did half a repeat of Chart A (rows 1-12 only), then knit 3 rows of 1x1 ribbing, then did the knit1-purl1 cast off with a tapestry needle.
So fast, so satisfying! I've knit Pomatomus so many times now that I can finally spell it correctly the first time around without having to look it up!
Thanks so much for the advice on how to neatly join a round. I will try this out later when I cast on for Jaywalkers. YAY!
Filed Under: Completed Projects | Socks | Pomatomus
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
On the left: GEMS Opal merino yarn in teal, bought at a lovely yarn store (Loop) in Philadelphia. They stocked a variety of colors but this one was the only I came away with. When faced with so much variety, I freeze instantly with indecision, until of course I get home, 500 miles away, and then do I think, Oh why didn't I get that or that or that when I had the chance? I'm wishing I picked up a skein of red to make my Boston Red Socks. This is some nice yarn.
On the right: Self-striping sport-weight yarn from yarntini in colorway "Three Rivers." Yay! I've been coveting yarntini's goods for awhile, admiring from afar...Finally broke down and asked her to dye me up some in sport-weight when all the stock from her store and pureknits were gone. That's of course when I wanted it the most. What a pretty, pretty skein, so pretty I could eat it.
So now that I have more than enough inventory (including these yarn here that I haven't yet touched - except for the blue Koigu) for Christmas socks, I have to go through the task of determining WHO is worthy of receiving socks made from which yarn. The obvious answer is ME, but me is not the right answer.
I started knitting another Pomatomus with the Opal, and since it's sport-weight, I had to adjust gauge and rewrote the chart to be a 8-stitch by 14-row pattern repeat (as opposed to a 12x22 pattern repeat). I decided I would finally do this one cuffdown for once.
Help me.
But look how ugly it is. I always have a problem joining the round after casting on. I can't avoid the little gap or a having a sort of tier form between the first and last stitch on the cast-on round. Usually I go back with a tapestry needle and sort of tighten it shut, but it still doesn't look clean, and this tier here is particularly bad and annoying. Waah.
I cast on long-tail, and usually doublestrand with the long tail for the first two stitches when joining the round...what else can I do neatly join a round?
Filed Under: General Knitting | Socks
Monday, July 17, 2006
Because it's just too damn hot to make with the knitting.
Filed Under: Cocktails | Life
Friday, July 14, 2006
The scene from last night:
I knitted for the first time at Fenway! I'm bashful about a lot of things but for some reason I'm not bashful about knitting in public. (I do draw the line at taking pictures of myself knitting in public though, especially at a jam-packed Red Sox game. How cooky would that have looked?)
I was knitting the mate to this:
YES it is the Pomatomus again and again and again, but now in anklet form. I bought the yarn while in Lenox a few weekends ago, and yes I said I wanted to take a break from the multicolored but I just could not say no to this purple and gold-flecked Mardi Gras colorway. I knit this anklet while on the train to and from Philly, and while sitting out waiting for the fireworks. Love the quick knits. This will be a Christmas gift.
So pleased to be starting the Christmas gifts early. Might as well put my sock craze to good use. Everyone's getting a pair!
 It occurred to me while at the game, staring at the Red Sox logo on the wall, that I should knit that. Red socks with the white toes and heels (pointed toes and gusset heels, see!). There are plenty of fans in the family who I think would get a kick out of Boston Red Socks - including my cousin in Taipei who is the BIGGEST Sox fan you'll ever meet. As is his new baby. Just not by choice at this point. Poor thing.
Filed Under: Life | Socks | Pomatomus
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Did you know Benjamin Franklin is one of our nation's Founding Fathers?
Of course you did, but if you were somehow able to get away from that fact in school, Philly is here to remind you. Over and over.
But I bet you didn't know that he invented the glass harmonica? (I didn't know such a thing even existed)
And, the urinary CATHETER? (Shudder)
Me, I'm just happy to be able to knit a sock toe-up and cuff-down, and here he is being all nation-founding and glass-blowing and musical and medical and electrical within the same week. Show-off.
But clearly Philly loves him. For he is everywhere.
I like Philly. It is so diverse and informative, and their City Hall looks like the Hotel de Ville in Paris. It doesn't compare to Boston's City Hall, the ugliness of which is so obvious to anyone with vision that babies throw up when they see it.
Left: Philly's City Hall
Right: Boston's Eyesore
Here is but a small snippet of what I did and saw last week.
1. Newly minted treasonists all hot and stuffy on this July 4th. Yes on July 4th 2006, Chrusty (my high school BFF (not real name)) and I did July 4th appropriate activities like visiting Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, drinking ale, and listening to Lionel Richie and Fantasia perform live before the fireworks. It was fun! I love freedom!
2. Elfreth's Alley, the oldest residential street in America. I compare this to Acorn Street in Boston's Beacon Hill. I did a lot of comparisons and analogies between Philly and Boston. Like, "Isn't it interesting that Ben Franklin was born in Boston but died in Philly, and now I live in Boston and you live in Philly?" etc. etc.
Chrusty and I then did a lot of Philly vs. Atlanta and Boston vs. Atlanta comparisons. After points were made on both sides, the conclusion was always "Yeah Atlanta blows, can't believe we grew up there" and we'd give each other self-satisfied props for living in such cute cities now.
3. The Liberty Bell. There are some funny shots of Chrusty and me taking self-portraits in front of the bell, and no matter how we positioned ourselves, each time our heads got perfectly in the way as to obscure the bell completely. I think we spent more time trying to take pictures, laughing at the results, taking more pictures, laughing some more, than we actually did admiring the bell.
It's got a huge crack in it anyway.
4. Assembly Room in Independence Hall. Some really important stuff happened here.
5. The Big Colon on display in the Mütter Museum, which showcases shelves upon shelves of medical "anomolies," or possibly "X-Men." In the case of The Big Colon, I would say "big" is a bit of an understatement. Colossal doesn't even do it justice. You could see this thing from space. It is horrifying.
You might think that this giant colon belonged to a proportionally giant man, so maybe life for this dude wasn't so bad, but instead it belonged to a wretched average-sized, skinny man who could never find a proper-fitting leotard. His colon just kept growing and growing...I sort of wish that had happened to my chest. When he finally expired, doctors extricated 40 (that's forty) lbs of poo from his colon. Luckily, that part was not available for display.
There were many equally if not more horrifying things on display at this museum, like babies in jars in various stages of malformation and mutation. My favorite (not an appropriate word, but can't think of one) anamoly is of a skeleton belonging to this poor chap who had a mutation that caused bone to grow in places of muscles, tendons, and ligaments. BONE. In place of MUSCLE. And you could SEE it.
If you visit this museum, bring a friend. And maybe a sick bag.
Other things I learned in Philadelphia:
- It is large.
- There are a lot of abandoned rowhouses/buildings in what I would consider prime real estate location, like near all the points of interest in the Old City. I don't get it.
- But they understand mojitos. Chrusty took me to this Cuban restaurant where they make their mojitos with pressed sugarcane.
- They understand mussels. Chrusty took me to a Belgian pub. We had a pot of plump juicy mussels in this Dijon, garlicky, lemony broth. Mmmm.
- They understand gelato. Chrusty took me here and I got the Lime and Cilantro sorbet. You are either in the camp that believes cilantro tastes like soap, or that it doesn't, and prior to this gelato I believed cilantro tastes good with everything. My hypothesis is now fact! And YAY! They have an online store!
- How to grill a pizza. Chrusty and I cooked dinner one night and she taught me how to make pizza dough and then grill it. I've made it twice now since I've been home.
- Chrusty is all grown up. Chrusty's one of those friends who you may not see or even hear from on a regular basis but when you do, it's as if you saw her yesterday. We've changed so little since high school that we're able to make each other laugh with the same antics, and yet we've changed so much that most of the usual or not-so-usual insecurities of high school have evaporated -- and now therefore, Chrusty is all fine with engaging in PDAs with her new boyfriend that I had to shield my eyes in case they caught fire from the blush that was rising from my cheeks. Chrusty, kissing a boy! In front of me! And other people! It's a big deal.
Now I wish Chrusty good luck and good research when she leaves for Africa next month. If I don't see you in a year, congrats on your doctorate! And see you at your wedding!
P.S. I did buy yarn while in Philly. It is for socks. Big surprise there.
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Philly
Monday, July 10, 2006
Last weekend while Duck and I were in western Mass., we took his mother out for a lovely al fresco dinner at a restaurant in Lenox. Afterwards we took a stroll among the quaint little boutiques and finally ducked into one of the many antique stores lining the pretty, manicured streets. The store was empty, save for the owner who was reading a magazine on the couch. As we said a polite hello upon entering, she took one look at me, fell hopelessly, madly in love, and pounced!
WHY?
 Because I was wearing Butterfly! HA HA! (And funny, it was the first time I've worn it since October. I'd forgotten about it, for shame.) She seriously couldn't keep her hands off me - or the hem of Butterfly at least, and followed me around the store while I tried to browse and not feel incredibly self-conscious and embarrassed. But oh I was flattered.
We fellow knitters know how beautiful Butterfly is, how fabulous ALL of our knitting is, but don't you find that strangers are strangly immune to all of it? So to have this person's Good Taste Radar (heh heh) go off as soon as I walked into the room...She knew immediately that I had made it, was so enamoured with it, that she asked if I would make one for her store - where she also sells a little clothing and shoes - on consignment.
"But of course, it must be in a more average size," she said, illustrating the point by grabbing her own bosomy bosom, and I was like Ha ha ha! Then, Boo hoo hoo, yes I know I don't have any of that, stop comparing!
We didn't get into specifics besides size and color (neutral only, to keep it "simple and sophisticated"), so I have no idea what she would charge if I were to make one for the store, and how much of the cut I would receive. Materials for three skeins of KSH would already be at least $35-$45 depending where I buy them, and let's not even talk about labor, or I'd have to charge about $1,000 for Butterfly. (She also talked about making "neck and wrist ruffles." English is not her native language so I was a little unclear by what she meant, but I bet she's thinking of a ruffly scarf like this, or a wrist cuff like this.)
But as everyone later reminds me, you get a certain kind of shopper in the town of Lenox...The kind that would be willing to be buy cashmere legwarmers for their dogs for those chilly nights by the lake when they go to Doggie Summer Camp. $$ Kaching kaching! $$
In any case, I'm only talking about making one Butterfly, and it would really be for the pure enjoyment of it. And it would give me a fun reason to design a label. Plus, the novelty of having your handknit be displayed in a store, for actual sale and not for show. Handmade with luuuv by domesticat! Buy me!
Addendum: Well no, I should not like to be sued by the scary Rowan lawyers for selling a copyrighted knitwear design. The thought did cross my mind, but it was trumped by the other thought that it's one tiny Butterfly, made with tiny yarn, by one tiny girl, for sale in a tiny store in a tiny town. Can evil exist in such tininess? Now that word is starting to look weird.
Filed Under: General Knitting | Butterfly
Friday, July 07, 2006
I just got back. I meant to work some on the train there but got trainsick as soon as I popped open the laptop. But I was OK to get some sock knitting done, heh. And meant to post some but it just never happened, with all the carousing around the city and having fun with my BFF and all. Now I have to concentrate on catching up on the work I didn't do, so more updates in a bit...
Filed Under: Life | Travel | Philly
|