February 02, 2004
The Best Vest!
Thank you to all my Dear Readers for their kind thoughts about The Great Heart Monitor Adventure. Wait, that doesn’t sound emphatic enough. Really—thankyouthankyouthankyou.
I debated long and hard about whether to even mention my health issues because I don't believe people read blogs, well, knitting blogs anyway, for large doses of doom and gloom. But the whole heart monitor thing got to be so funny after a while—and we know how I feel about funny—that it begged to be written up. The monitor is all gone, no more “pocketa-queep pocketa-queep pocketa-queep.” More news Wednesday when I see the cardiologist but, in the meantime, I truly feel fine. And to answer Perclexed’s question as to whether my job is causing the problems—as in, the instant you got promoted, did you develop debilitating heart disease?—no, the job is fine. It's not causing to me writhe around on the floor in a state of emotional and physical collapse. In fact, I'm rather enjoying the little bit of extra pressure and responsibility.
On a lighter note, I present this, another drawing by my 5-year-old nephew of Best Aunt fame:
Okay, just how spiffy is that vest? Does anyone else besides me see it knit up in a nice worsted weight wool, green yarn and perhaps some tailored cabling on one side, blue yarn and matching cabling on the other, a fancy melding of the colors down the middle of the back of the vest, and red buttons? Proof that you never know where your knitting inspiration will come from...
(I also see that Nephew is a Detail Guy: He makes sure to dot his "i's" and cross his "t's," nevermind that it's on the same letter.)
Knitting Knews
As promised, I sewed the i-cord on the Aran pillow this weekend. It took a long time—about 3 hours of TMK Video Game Playing Time, my new unit of time measurement—and the i-cord ended up squiggling all around the edges of the pillow like an epileptic worm. But TMK says the pillow has good karma—and isn't that what matters? Not to mention that this was my first cable project ever, and I started it when I made the surprise visit to San Diego for my sister's birthday, so it has more than its share of good memories knitted in.
Dye Garden Dyegest
TMK and I are definitely being bitten by the Springtime Planting Bug. We spent a considerable part of the weekend planting seeds and cobbling together a germination station (and singing "Gonna make a germination station," to the tune of "Gonna take a sentimental journey.")
First, a picture of my second batch of indigo seeds, the ones from Elizabeth Merrill. You can see the snippet of indigo-dyed yarn she included with the seed packet:
Here, a picture of 24 of 72 Jiffy Pot pellets getting all fat and juicy after soaking up much warm water:
And here, a picture of me planting the itsy-bitsy indigo seeds in another flat filled with just plain old seed starting mix:
And here, the Germination Station itself!
What a great vest! And I love that it has legs!
Posted by: Mary on February 2, 2004 01:18 PMRyan, I'm not worrying, that's just a bad habit. I'm sending you good thoughts.
TMK, When I saw those Jiffy Pots, I became sick with worry--am I supposed to plant the herb seeds in those things soon? Remember I'm in the frigid Norhtheast.
Debra, I'm sure TMK will get back to you but, in the meantime, I can tell you we used the Jiffy Pots/Pellets/Whatever primarily because they are convenient, self-contained mini-pots that help you avoid getting dirt all over the place. Also, you can just plop them right in the ground or in another pot later without having to disturb the roots of the little seedling. BUT, you don't HAVE to use them; seed starting mixture works just as well. (Did I leave anything out, TMK?)
Mary, yes, I love the whole picture, the vest AND the purple-faced, short-legged, uneven-armed, bubble-thoughted alien wearing it.
Posted by: Ryan on February 2, 2004 01:34 PMYou're very dear to me, cyber pal I've never met.
Nice to hear how things go.
Posted by: Anne on February 2, 2004 02:00 PMDebra, now that I read your message again, I see that you're REALLY asking should you be planting seeds now, not should you be using Jiffy Pots/Pellets. TMK and I may be planting our seeds a liiiittle early, but we can't help ourselves. We probably could start our seeds anytime in February but we figured January 31st was close enough!
Also, we invested in a seedling heat mat to help at least one set of the seeds along. We could probably use more mats but they are spendy!
Posted by: Ryan on February 2, 2004 02:10 PMAnne--hugs back atcha'.
Posted by: Ryan on February 2, 2004 02:13 PMRyan, The vest looks great! I too hope all is well in your health department.
Also I finally figured out photos on my site and included a running one just for you!
Posted by: Rebecca on February 2, 2004 02:50 PMRyan--I LOVE the vest (which I read as "vesti" thanks to the lovely dotting and crossing) and the purple head in it. That's just fabulous.
Hey, did you know that cheap heating pads for people work acceptably as seed heating mats? Don't leave them on forever, but you can go a couple of hours on low to make the little seedies think it's a ray of spring sun. I started eggplants & peppers that way once.
I'm tres relieved to hear you're de-electroded and fine.
Melinda
Posted by: Melinda on February 2, 2004 11:49 PM"Gonna make a Germination station"...
I'm glad I'm not the only one who does this :) Years ago when I was taking a programming class, the lecture was about loops - "do until" and "do while". The back of my brain pushed this out (to the tune of "It's don't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing"):
You ain't got the scoop
If you can't do that loop -
Do while, do while, do while, do whiiiiile...
The pillow looks great Ryan, good job! I actually saw the colors of the "vesti" as purple and green, before I read it is actually blue and green. Perhaps that is because I adore green/purple combos. ;)
I laughed out loud at the song...Em and I make up little dittys all the time, MUCH to the annoyance of the teenagers. heh heh heh heh... it is one of our "things" and it was easy for me to imagine you and TMK bopping along to your tune, planting seeds.......which reminds me, whoa, is that indigo snippet of yarn gorgeous! Wow. L
Posted by: Lisa on February 3, 2004 08:02 AMTMK reports that, thanks to my mention of the "Germination Station Song," it was, once again, stuck in her head all day. I think this was my revenge for the countless days I have had to listen to her hum song after song after song. Robbyn--love the "Scoop/Loop" song. So funny!
Lisa, the indigo isn't quite as bright as it looks in the picture. It's more of a medium blue with a lot of yellow strands mixed in but still, it's very cool. And to think--that comes from a plant!
Posted by: Ryan on February 3, 2004 08:26 AMIf laughter is the best medicine, and with your sense of humor, I knew those electrodes weren't gonna be holding you back for long.
I love the color indigo and can't wait to see this dyeing process from scratch. Document everything!
Posted by: KarenC on February 4, 2004 08:51 AMKaren, you are a Dear Reader after my own heart. Not only am I looking forward to growing the plants and dyeing the yarn, but I am also really looking forward to, as you say, "documenting" the process. Tons of photos to come as the project progresses!
Posted by: Ryan on February 4, 2004 09:52 AMI'm glad to hear that you're doing OK Ryan! And I'm doubly glad to hear that it's not work related. I had to laugh at the Jiffy pots, if only because I picked up two of the 72 and a couple of the smaller packs for myself just last week! I'll get to play with them tomorrow night. I think I may end up bringing in at least one tray to work, where there's a convenient fluorescent lamp along my desk at work. A few bricks to raise the little seedlings up closer to the light, a board I may pick up at Office Depot tonight and voila! I'd rather have your germination station, but I don't really have anywhere to put it in my studio apartment.
Best wishes to you and TMK! :)
Posted by: perclexed on February 4, 2004 11:53 AM