September 10, 2004
The Grass is Always Greener...
In an article I recently wrote for my Guild’s newsletter, I suggested:
Regardless of your initial vision for your blog, be willing to “go with the flow.” Your blog will most likely be a dynamic, changing entity that metamorphoses regularly. My readers, their comments, and the events in my life play an important role in defining what appears in the blog, and it’s not always what I had initially envisioned.
And here is a classic example. Today I find myself unexpectedly posting a picture of grass. Just grass. Dear Reader Norma, if you’re out there, this is for you. The Mysterious K pleaded with me to post this picture to prove that not all of her grass is in need of liberal and frequent applications of Rogaine. Here, a snapshot of her front lawn greenery, which she hand weeds on her knobbly knees. Luscious, no? So, to you, Norma, TMK and I both say, neener, neener. (For inquiring minds, the beautiful red flowers in the back are a miniature petunia-like ground cover called Calibrachoa "Million Bells." A great plant, if you're looking for a new annual to try next year. They come in red, purple, pink and a unique butterscotch and can be found at almost any nursery.)
I don’t have much else to write about today a la Gratuitous Story of the Day, but I do have two great links to share. Those of you who visited Vaire’s “Malvina” on Ebola Day will appreciate these pictures of the new clothes Vaire has knit for her, including, for the poncho-crazy, a miniature poncho.
And those of you who have a soft spot in your heart for puppies and baby bunnies (which should cover just about everybody except Satan, who doesn't read my blog...er, I don't think), will melt at the pictures of the puppies and bunnies on this blog, specifically the first picture under the "Puppies" heading and the one picture under the "Bunnies" heading. Make sure to click on the pictures to see the larger versions. You will instantly become a big melted puddle on the floor, gar-awn-teed.
Knitting Knews
Since the knitting part of the Celtic Pillow is done, the striped sweater is done, and the Oak Leaf Scarf is 75% done, I felt I could get away with adding a new knitting project to the queue, and decided to start Faina’s Scarf. My vision was to do this in a beautiful, unique color, something unusual and rare and exotic and breathtaking—but couldn’t find any such animal, in the right weight, at my LYS. So I went to Plan B, which was to ask myself what color would really cheer me up in the middle of a rainy Seattle winter. And the answer came back, “Self, the color that would really cheer you up in the middle of a rainy Seattle winter is Bright Tomato Red.” So I scouted around for a fingering weight yarn in BTR, which I found in Jaeger Matchmaker Merino. The pattern actually calls for a sport weight yarn but that makes a scarf which is 10” wide which, in my mind, translates to a scarf that is almost one frickin’ foot across—so I’m going with fingering weight and smaller needles in an attempt to downsize it a bit.
My opinion of the pattern? Very intimidating at first glance, since the instructions for the 423(!!) rows of knitting cover the back and the front of the main sheet of paper plus all of one side of an insert, and initially swirl into a morass of unintelligible chicken scratches. But once you take a deep breath and get started, taking it a row at a time, it’s a wonderful pattern. It’s not hard if you know how to do basic lacework, but you certainly have to concentrate and you…er, at least I…have to count your stitches at the end of every right-side row to make sure you haven’t left out an increase or decrease. Other than that, it’s the perfect balance of easy and mentally challenging, and somewhere along the line I realized that this pattern is the reason copyrights were invented: It’s unique, detailed, creative, beautiful, functional, and obviously the result of some extreme cranial sweat on Ms. Letoutchaia’s part.
One note for anyone planning to knit this pattern: When it says, "Cast on very loosely," it means Cast. On. Very. Loosely. Even if you are the Queen (or King) of Loose Cast-Ons, dig deep down in your soul and find a way to cast on even looser. I consider myself a QOLCO but still found I had to frog and cast on again because, with my first attempt, the scarf started making a big, loose, loopy curl right from the get-go.
Oh, wait, I forgot—I have a photo. Note no curl. See note about loose cast-on.
Upcoming knitting get-togethers: On Sunday, I'm going to my first knitting get-together for Men and Women Like Me and Men and Women Who Are Not Like Me But Wanna Knit With Us Anyway. If anyone wants to join, it will be at the Fiber Gallery from 2-4. On Monday, Ferals. On Wednesday, Guild. Party on, dudes!
Hi Ryan--
Yay! A knit together. I think I can attend. I didn't know the Fiber Gallery even existed--bad me. So 2-4 this upcoming Sunday, the one right around the corner on the 12th?
You're evil for the links to the bunny and puppy pictures. I used to have a rabbit (not a spinnable one, just a great guy with a spunky personality), who sadly died a year ago, and it's taken all my shreds of self control not to have an angora.
Melinda
Posted by: Melinda on September 10, 2004 10:26 AMYes, on the 12th. Just to make sure you know, since I wrote this all kind of silly in the blog, it's primarily for gay people but I reallyreallyreally want gay-friendly folks, in fact, anyone, to attend as well. I would love it if you came along!!! The get-together is being hosted by the owner of the Gallery, not by me, but she is on board with anyone and everyone joining in. (I haven't been to the Fiber Gallery either; don't know what it looks like, don't know what it offers, don't know how big it is...)
Aren't those puppy and bunny pictures KILLER?! I ran the angora rabbit idea past TMK once, too, but it got a thumbs down, but she's right--apparently they're very fussy keepers.
Posted by: Ryan on September 10, 2004 10:34 AM*sigh. As a person who is 1/2 like you and wants to meet other people like you, I wish I lived closer.
The pics and links today were great. The scarf is gawa-jiss and I highly recommend (for your sanity) some stitch amrkers. I know, I know you say they sprong off at the oddest moments, but I swear to something holy I cannot do the lace I do without them. They help me count faster.
I've been on a downslide since finishing up a few things. Its the holiday bumble here. I've been quilting and cross stitching, but I need to get something new on the needles!!
Posted by: anj on September 10, 2004 10:40 AMRyan, you are just awesome...do you know that? I mean, really...*know* it? I hope so. I am so impressed by your scarf I can't express it. I'm going to have to break down and try it. You are always such an inspiration to my knitting. In fact, I can honestly say that "finding" you and building a friendship with you probably gave my knitting life. By now, without you and the world of blog friends I have made...I might not be knitting at all.
Ryan Rocks. That's all I have to say about that now. (ala Forrest Gump).
oh my, that red should brighten the gloomies!! i was just lookin at a pretty and *very* pink scarf on robbyn's blog and wishing i could wear the pinks- now i see the lovely red and have 'red envy'- this just might become a lady clairol weekend around here! mother nature may not have intended for me to wear those colors but surely my neighborhood (neighborhood? who am i kidding? i'll have to make an expedition) drugstore can remedy that-
lush green grass is always nice- we're in the crunchy brown stubble season after the usual dry summer-
so many knitting meet-ups should make you a happy knitter- i've never met another knitter in person (i think the only yarn craft done in this area of the boondocks is crocheting granny squares with bulky day-glo acrylics) and the thought of gathering with a group of knitwits is just mind-boggling- do have fun-
Posted by: barb in texas on September 10, 2004 11:22 AM
Ryan, there is a puddle on the floor under me right now. Get over here and clean it UP! TMK, I *heart* your green, very lush and very healthy GRASS. But is Ryan smoking some of it? RYAN, did you KNOW that tomato red is ONE OF MY COLORS? If you get done that scarf and, for any reason in particular, hate the color, you just send it my way, you hear?! Those puppy and bunny pictures.....OMG. Nuff said.
Posted by: Norma on September 10, 2004 11:33 AMLisa, wanna do a Faina Scarf knit-along? Or, more accurately, a knit-together, since it'll just be a lonesome twosome? I haven't gotten much further than what you see in the picture. Okay, yes, actually I did, but then I had to frog for a reason that anyone who doesn't knit would think was a stupid reason--but which knitters would understand. Instead of slipping the first stitch, I purled it and left a microscopically tiny bump along the side of the scarf. Which would have been fine, except then I did it again, and TWO microscopically small bumps was more than I could stand. Anyway, if you want to knit it and need pattern and yarn pronto, let me know and we'll work something out.
And I'm so glad that the blog helps you and inspires you. In my world, the blog just seems a small, silly thing that I do every other day but then it reaches out and touches someone or sometwo--which always amazes me! Thank you for being such a long-time fan and friend!
Barb, my jaw just dropped when I read that you had never met another knitter in person. I mean, it just dropped. Girl, you need to get on a plane and come to one of our Guild meetings, and you will instantly be surrounded by 60, 70, 80, 90 women, all knitting.
Anj, cross my heart, I really did think of using stitch markers and may yet. The problem is that up until this point, the number of stitches has changed every row (to make the pointy shape), and the markers wouldn't tell me much of anything. I have now, however, reached the 61 standard stitches, so I may be ready to enlist the help of a marker or two. (Wish you could be at the meeting, too. Wouldn't it be fun?)
Posted by: Ryan on September 10, 2004 11:43 AMRyan--Thanks for the clarification. I kinda guessed that was the case, but cheerfully figured you wouldn't mind a cranky married feminist. I've just been reminded that I'm supposed to go to a housewarming on Sunday, though, so I'll have to synchronize watches, consult the stars, and figure out if I can come.
Melinda
Posted by: Melinda on September 10, 2004 11:53 AMMelinda, absolutely--cranky married feminists are welcome! I'm mentally trying to steer the stars into perfect alignment as we speak...
Norma, I'm on my way over with my mop and bucket.
Posted by: Ryan on September 10, 2004 11:57 AMPS I forgot to say (esp. since you've frogged once already..) USE a LIFELINE! omg that thing also saved my sanity. seriously. Just to give you an example.. pop over to my blog (if you haven't this week) and see the humongous shawl (that technically isn't done yet.. but bother technicalities) That lovely bit of string would have KILLED me without one. I promise it will make you a much wiser feeling knitter.
Posted by: anj on September 10, 2004 12:18 PMI'LL DO IT!!! I will call Gossamer and see if they have the pattern and go from there....
You're a great friend, Ryan, despite that we've never met.
;-D Lisa
Posted by: Lisa in Oregon on September 10, 2004 01:28 PMI wanna come knit with you too, Ryan! Sadly, I'm hip deep in boxes at the mo'. So I'll have to content myself with an imaginary knit-together.
Thanks for the link to the puppies and bunnies. It made me go all mushy and aw......
Posted by: Nathania on September 10, 2004 02:10 PMOk...maybe I just need serious help. Yes, I loved the pics of the puppies and bunnies. Too cute. But they didn't make my heart melt. Now, the picture of that tomato red against that sage green foliage making it look like a black and white photo infused with color? I am melting left and right. The way the red pops in the photo had me stunned for a moment. Makes me want a scarf in that color to wear with a charcoal sweater dress...charcoal wool coat and black leather gloves. Very chic. Is it bad to lust after a color? Ok, go back and read the first sentence. hehe.
Ryan hon, as a person who is not like you but wants to knit with you anyway bacause that's what stalkers do, I wish I lived closer. Would make stalking soooo much easier. Keep mentioning to hubby how when we first got married, we had actually bantered about moving up there....and we both work for the same company that has an office in Bothell...stalk stalk stalk.
Hope everyone has a great day!!!
Posted by: Stalker Angie on September 10, 2004 02:27 PMWow. Girls talking together in a group are as incomprehensible as ever. But I better get over that--I just proposed an article to the mag I write for on social arts (knitting, beading, quilting, spinning--any I'm missing?) and their virtual counterparts. Of course, said mag seems to be in some sort of meltdown right now. Will they survive to publish my alpaca article? They dern well better.
Anyway, Cuz, the link put me in mind of a fact you might not be aware of. Did you know that your aunt, my mother, grew up in an 18th c. farmhouse in Woodstock, VT, where her mother and grandmother survived the WWII rationing years by raising angora rabbits? To this day, she remembers her childhood as "idyllic".
Posted by: Cuzzin Tom on September 10, 2004 03:04 PMI am struck nearly speechless (well, that would take a LARGE blunt object) by the idea of being surrounded by 60-100 other knitters. I am so envious! Does anybody know of a group meeting anywhere between say, Montesano/Elma, Olympia, or Tenino? I'm sure that knitting, like exercise, increases and improves when shared with others!
Posted by: Joan on September 10, 2004 03:06 PMAnj, in fact, I was just at your livejournal blog yesterday. Beautiful shawl!! Love the rich colors.
The lifeline is a good idea and I may use it, but frogging fingering weight Jaeger is nowhere near as hard and mind-numbingly frustrating as frogging laceweight. Besides, this time, the frogging was just a complete and total rip out of the work because I had to do an entirely new cast on. A lifeline wouldn't have done me a darn bit of good under those conditions! In fact, I woulda reached the lifeline and kept right on ripping!
Lisa, coolamundo! When you're ready, let me know, and I'll email you anything I've learned doing the scarf so far. Again, I'm doing mine on Jaeger Merino with size 2 needles. The stitches are coming out quite tight, but in this case it's what I wanted. If you go with fingering weight like I did, you may want to use 3s. (Also, I'm using a circular needle. I'm not knitting in a circular manner, I'm still going back and forth, it's just the circular needle is more convenient.)
Joan, the only group I know of is one I heard of recently that meets in Jefferson County, maybe in Port Hadlock. Have you tried calling some of the Olympia Montesano/Elma, Olympia, or Tenino yarn shops?
Cuzzin Tom, tsk, tsk. You grew up with a flock of girls; you KNOW how we are. And I concur with you: The magazine dern well better survive to post your article. (Spiffy article by the way, Dear Readers; I got a sneak preview.) And, nope, didn't know that about YourMotherMyAunt. I'm still astonished to learn that YourSisterMyCuzzin Laura and YourMotherMyAunt are knitters.
StalkerAngie, so glad you like the photo. You must be a visual girl, eh? I was worried that the details wouldn't come out but the photo turned out just the way I wanted. The red I'm using has a smidge more orange, in short, is a little more tomato-y, than the photos show, but feh. Loved your red plus charcoal imagery, by the way. Your poor husband. His wife is "stalking" another woman and is pestering him to move to where she lives. Just don't tell him our little secret--that it's really just all about the knitting!)
Cuz, I looked it up. Good thing you don't live in Arizona. Frogging fingering weight Jaeger is a felony in these parts. Frogging laceweight (sounds like a British insult, doesn't it? "Oy, shove off, ya froggin' laceweight!"), though, is only a misdemeanor.
Posted by: Cuzzin Tom on September 10, 2004 07:27 PMryan, the sweater is fabuloso!!! and those frankie photos cracked me up :o) will you please come to florida to taech my dogs the towel? thanks for the link to the puppy blog, her knitting and weaving are lovely :-)
Posted by: vanessa on September 11, 2004 02:17 AMI tell you Ryan, this blog is such an enormous public service! It is consistently funnier than anything I've yet found on the web, and has changed my outlook on life. Between Frankie in her sweater (well, I know, it's not technically HER sweater, but she looks FABULOUS in it), the sex-every-day-precisely-at-7-for-precisely-8-minutes of the neighbors (omg, 8 minutes? tops? every dang day? well!)and cuzzin tom's british insults/Arizona felonies and misdemeanors...
I pull up this site every morning just to "gird my loins" for the day. And that doesn't even begin to address the value of the "knitting knews".
A thousand thanks.
Faina looks great! Somebody started that not long ago and then abandoned it for a reason that escapes me. Please don't abandon yours!
Ferals meet tonight? Are you sure? I didn't get a reminder and I thought we didn't have Ferals the same week as Guild. But I could very well be wrong.