September 08, 2004
America's Next Top Model
Thank you to everyone for their Get Well wishes. By early afternoon of Ryan’s Day of Grump, the attack of ebola had passed and I was feeling much better, if a little wonked out by my sudden and extreme U-turn on the Highway of Good Health.
Labor Day weekend was very quiet. In fact, the most exciting event was repainting The Mysterious K’s garage door. In white. Yawn. So, for your entertainment, more about the striped sweater, including what I hope you will find are entertaining photos.
(Non-knitters, you may want to skip this paragraph. It will probably bore you cross-eyed.) Just when I think I’ve got this knitting thing down pat, I do something so goony it surprises even me. At the last Ferals, I started picking up the stitches for the collar of the striped sweater, specifically, 19 stitches along the left neck edge. But no matter how many times I picked up the stitches, frogged them, and picked them up again, I still ended up with a good 2” of the neck without stitches. That is, until Dear Kit pointed out to me that the left shoulder, where I was picking up a goodly portion of the stitches, does not constitute part of the left neck. For those of you who don’t knit, trust me, knitters around the blog universe are rolling their eyes at me. And I, personally, am laughing at the image of a finished, seamed sweater with 1" of purple ribbing sticking straight up from the shoulder.
Anyway, thanks to Kit’s handholding, I got the collar knitted and the pieces of the sweater sewn together, and here be a picture:
Dissatisfied with this uninspiring photo (after all, just how many times can I take a photo of a Finished Object on the snow-in-summer ground cover?), I cast around for a better background, perhaps a more exotic plant…a quirky piece of furniture…a colorful surface…an interesting prop…and what should wander into my line of vision but The Dawg—which led to this:
Lest you think we tranquilized Frankie for our selfish ends, she is, in fact, happily and willingly demonstrating her best trick, the “Towel.” When she was a pup, I taught Frankie, on command, to lie down on her side on a towel so we could wipe her muddy feet and low-rider furbelly before she came in the house. At some point, the actual existence of a towel became immaterial, and now, in response to the command, she will just flop over on her side wherever she is.
“Towel” is particularly amusing when Frankie is already in the “down” position. Rather than slowly and carefully lying over on her side, as a larger, more gangly dog would do, she abruptly flops over with great enthusiasm and abandon. And if she does happen to be on a towel, she will follow “the Frankie Flop” with great snuffling and wuffling around in the terry cloth loops, and will propel herself around the surface of the towel with her hind legs.
However, as much as I enjoyed watching her do the “Towel,” I still felt unsatisfied with my photographic efforts. Which is when I noticed that the dog and the sweater were about the same size…
And, for good measure:
Before you even suggest it, I didn’t have a snowball’s chance of putting her legs through the sleeves. In fact, immediately after these photos were taken, Frankie decided she was done, took a step, got the sweater tangled up in her legs—and chaos ensued. I believe she even did a face plant, a complete snoot-in-the-dirt face plant. Oh, but we had a larf.
Final thoughts: This was a great, fun pattern. If you’re a beginner looking for something easy and fast to knit for someone age 2 through 12, I recommend it, especially if you want to try your hand at two-color knitting. I found no mistakes in the pattern, per se; just a couple of instructions that could have been written more clearly—and yes, I got stuck at exactly those places, and, yes, Dear Kit helped me out. Smooches, Kit!
(Note to Jenny in Pittsburgh: Today's news reports that the Fischer Fire was started by a spark from a bad exhaust system on a dirt bike. Oy.)
Frankie's sweater pics are hysterical...and she looks so happy! Wish I could teach my kids the towel trick...more like me chasing them and dragging them to the ground to get their faces washed...not a pretty sight, I tell you!
Hmm.....I didn't realize the pattern went to size 12! Fast, you say? Easy? hmmmm. I have been wanting to make a sweater for Michael, but couldn't decide on one....I'll have a look at that pattern!
Have a really, really nice day Ryan. :) L
Posted by: Lisa in Oregon on September 8, 2004 09:45 AMOh Lord - thanks for the Frankie pictures - my pants may never dry!
The sweater looks great too Ryan - super "kid colors" - and also thanks for the link; I know a little one with a birthday in October...
Real glad you're feeling better.
Posted by: Robbyn on September 8, 2004 09:49 AMWell, THAT was worth waiting for!!! you keep me in stitches, girl. Thanks! Lurv that sweater.
Posted by: Norma on September 8, 2004 09:50 AMRyan for some reason I knew your blog would liven up my stress-filled day and BOY has it! Thanks for sharing those pictures of Frankie with us! I love him :)
Posted by: Rebecca on September 8, 2004 09:54 AMI'm doing it again -- making your blog comments spin way out of control. I'm just here to make your life miserable, let's face it! But in coming back to gaze upon that sweet face of Frankie's, I can't fail to notice that you desperately need to put some toxic chemicals on your lawn. Next time I come back here I want to see astroturf-like perfection, that kind of solid green that screams TOXIC WASTE to me, Ok? Got it? (please see the Creeping Charlie that has overtaken my lawn in my recent photos for my real feelings on the toxic lawn topic.;-)
Posted by: Norma on September 8, 2004 10:46 AMThanks for the Fire update. Similar to what I'd heard near the beginning of the fire, but I'm glad to hear that the weather has cooled down and fire season seems to be nearing its annual end. (Which, of course, is official when the snow comes.)
Posted by: Jenny on September 8, 2004 10:46 AMWoo-hoo!! I startled Sherlock by laughing so hard at Frankie & The Sweater. It's perfect, perfectly knit, perfectly posed and perfectly funny. You should make one without sleeves for Frankie!
Posted by: Sheila on September 8, 2004 11:00 AMHi, everyone! Glad to see you were still there waiting for me post-ebola and post-vacation.
So glad you are all enjoying the photos of America's Next Top Model. It's amazing the photos turned out as clear as they did considering how hard I was laughing. (I don't think this is exactly what the trainer at obedience school had in mind when she taught us how to make Frankie stay!)
Lisa and Robbyn, I would double-urge you to knit this sweater. A coupla notes:
(1)The pattern says to use size 5 needles for the ribbed parts and size 7 for the body. The ribbing on the size 5s was way too small and tight so I used a size 7 all the way through and liked the results. If you are not as tight of a knitter as I am, you may want to try size 6s and 7s.
(2) For one row of every color change, you have do two-color purling on the wrong side which is a pain in the arse, but, again, it's only one row each time. No big.
Norma, unfortunately, that is TMK's lawn WITH a lot of tender loving care. As you've probably figured out, we're not big on the chemical stuff, but last fall she spent DAYS aerating, fertilizing, seeding, you name it--but this summer was hard on *everyone's* grass. Sigh... (However, I am sure she would like you to know that her front lawn, which gets more shade and a lot less activity, is a veritable pool of luscious green, without any major applications of carcinogens.)
Sheila, re the "without sleeves" comment--after my collar fiasco, do you really trust me to pick up stitches for TWO vest sleeves? Lord only knows what creative place I would find to pick those up from! :-)
Posted by: Ryan on September 8, 2004 11:40 AMRyan-
How did you know I was in Frankie withdrawl? (embarrasing moment: searching frankie's name once on your blog just to look at pics of that sweet face) Thanks so much for the cheer-up out here in Philly. I'm home with my own version of ebola. you and the sweater (and Frankie) made my day.
Posted by: anj on September 8, 2004 12:19 PMWe missed you horribly, Blog Mistress!! I am so glade you're feeling better!!
The Frankie pics made me howl with laughter...which scared everyone in my office over to my desk and then they howled with laughter...which brought my husband in from the office down the hall where he works and he howled with laughter and then proceeded to tell everyone from my office all about how you were the Blog Lady from Washington I was stalking.
Congratulations. You successfully brought 2 offices to a screeching halt from thousands of miles away!!! Now everyone here adores Frankie,and amongst statements of "She MADE that???", they all think you are pretty special. How's THAT for a welcome back. heehee
Posted by: Stalker Angie on September 8, 2004 02:48 PMOh, my, Angie! So when the domino effect kicks in, and more people in more offices stop working, and MORE people in MORE offices stop working, and the American economy comes to a screeching halt, Frankie, TMK (because she is really Frankie's mom and has to take SOME of the blame), my knitting, and I will be to blame? Ack!
Of course, now that everyone is enjoying the photos so much, it makes me want to race home and try One More Time to actually put Frankie's legs through the sweater sleeves. Maybe if I put it over her head, "Towel" her, tell her to stay, put her legs through the sleeves, then have her stand up, and then have her sit...
Posted by: Ryan on September 8, 2004 03:11 PMFrankie looks cute, but I think he needs socks,and a hat,and a scarf.
Oh, Debra, don't tempt me! :-)
Posted by: Ryan on September 8, 2004 04:41 PMRun, Frankie! Run!
Posted by: The Mysterious K on September 8, 2004 05:07 PMWah hah hah hah hah HA HA HA hahahaha, wah ha ha hahah HAH ha ha.
giggle
wah HAH.
Those pics of Frankie like to kilt me.
OMG Frankie in the sweater is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Thanks for the huge laugh!
Posted by: CarolineF on September 8, 2004 06:29 PMThe sweater looks GREAT! (And I really didn't help all that much. Just pointed at the shoulder/neck, neck/shoulder. There's reasons I knew what was going on...) But yes, you better run, Frankie, before she snaps off your short little legs trying to get them stuffed in the sleeves "because it would look SO CUTE!"
Posted by: Kit on September 8, 2004 07:05 PMTMK, I'll come spread compost on your lawn iffen you want me to, for penance for being a wiseacre. ;-) And you're more than welcome to my creeping charlie, which I can't kill if I try. I hate it, but I hate chemicals more.
Posted by: Norma on September 8, 2004 07:59 PMHaving just wiped soda off the keyboard & monitor, I have to say that my stomach hurts from laughing so much. Those pics are postcard worthy!
Thanks for the links to the pattern. There are some other decent patterns there, too.
I finally finished (had to set the foot of the 2nd sock aside to finish some rush jobs) your Dublin Bay socks & they're just beautiful. How many wears can I get out of them between washes? :-) Thanks for such a great pattern. I used Jocyln's Fiber Farm Twinkletoes yarn in Grapevine & the combo is lovely, if I say so myself. I've got officemates looking like they might mug me for 'em.
Posted by: Samina on September 9, 2004 09:29 AMYou can teach a Corgi to "stay"??????
These photos remind me of an experience I had about a month after getting my then two-year-old Corgi. He had been getting in my yarn and spreading out each ball...so I had "blockaded" the yarn baskets behind the sofa and chairs.
I came home one day and he didn't meet me at the door as usual. I ran all around the house calling (did I accidentally shut him in a closet? Is he under the bed asleep?) and finally I was beginning to think he'd gotten out of the house (HOW???) or someone had stolen him. I was standing in the living room with tears just starting down my face when I heard a slight noise in the corner (yes, between the sofa and chairs....) and looked over the chair and found a very humbled little face looking up at me - he'd LEAPED over the couch and gotten high-centered in the yarn basket!! Heaven knows how long he'd been there - but fortunately, it sort of put him off yarn forever!
Posted by: joan on September 9, 2004 10:04 AMOh, Joan, that "high-centered" thing--we can relate! Frankie likes to leap over her balls so she can stop them from around front and, with the new balls that are still round and well-inflated, it's always anyone's guess whether she will actually make it over the ball and to the other side without getting stuck on top. It's not physically possible for her to get stuck, of course, since she just slides off one side or the other--but it still makes you catch your breath whenever she does it.
Samina, I am so THRILLED you knit the Dublin Bay, and liked it! What are the chances of your emailing a photo? Huh? Huh? Huh?
Posted by: Ryan on September 9, 2004 10:27 AMRyan, I thought you'd never ask! I'll get pix & forward 'em on to you ASAP.
After a depressing evening and morning the photo of your dog and sweater (finished sweater...it's beautiful) REALLY brightened me up.
thanks.
t-