March 14, 2005
Maybe We Need Professional Help...
If you had been flies on the wall, knitters, (which would make for quite the swarm, now that I think about it. Euuuw.), you would have had a good belly laugh Saturday night.
I had almost finished my second Slicker-Yellow Mitten—in fact, I was starting the decrease for the tips of the fingers—when I realized I had left two entire columns of moss stitch out, one to the left and one to the right of the cable. (In my defense, the pattern is written très funky. You have to look in up to four places on two different pages to get all the information for one row! I’m not surprised I left the columns out. In fact, I’m surprised I got the first mitten right.) Faced with such an obvious boo-boo, without a second thought, I started to rip the mitten out. All of a sudden, with one of those long, loud, slo-mo cries of “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo!,” The Mysterious K launched herself out of her recliner and landed squarely in my lap (may I say, “oof?”), one hand firmly wrapped around the mitten and needles and the other firmly wrapped around the ball of yarn. TMK hates it when I frog—it goes against her efficient, task-oriented, move-ahead-in-a-straight-line, never-look-back sensibilities—but watching me frog a mitten that was a few rows away from completion was apparently more than she could stand. We had quite the tussle, with me half trying to get the mitten and yarn back and half trying to prevent either one of us from getting poked in the eye with one of the five then-active dpns, and her desperately trying to convince me to stopstopstop!!, finish the mitten, and then knit a third mitten that matched the first, correct one and a fourth mitten that matched the second, incorrect one (thereby doubling my work, thanks very much). Finally, I was able to whisper the right soothing words to her, to convince her it had to be done, that the mitten was feeling no pain, that it wouldn’t take me long to knit the mitten again (which turned out to be a big, fat lie since I’ve had to frog it again since then, but let’s not go there) and that, really, it was all just part of the knitting process, and I was okay with it even if she wasn't...and finally she let go, climbed up out of my lap and returned to her recliner with the look of a slightly demented but sad puppy dog on her face.
Her heart is in the right place, I know, but I hope this doesn’t turn into a habit, or one of us is going to accidentally end up with a needle through the thigh. And some poor child in Mongolia is going to end up with only one mitten.
The second mitten remains on the needles but here is a picture of the first one:
With regard to the Dulaan Box Inventory form, a few changes, thanks in part to suggestions from Dear Readers. I have added the F.I.R.E. shipping address to the bottom, added my email address, added a "total" line at the bottom, and left the form in Word format so you can fill it in online if you want.
Speaking of F.I.R.E. and Dulaan 'n' all, please start sending warm, positive thoughts to Cuzzin Tom as he prepares to leave for Mongolia at the end of this week! I seriously cannot wrap my head around this thought. He promises me that he will stay in touch with us and that there is an Internet cafe near where he will initially be living. And if you can't trust a promise made by a Buddhist monk...
And, don’t forget, Seattle-area Dulaan Knit-In at MaryB’s house, Saturday, 3/19, 1pm-6pm. If you’re interested in attending, email Mary at maryberg2@mindspring.com.
Lastly, a big hello to Dear Reader Vicki Bush whose comments on the last entry and whose determination to knit for the project despite various obstacles, including having to rely on donated yarn, inspired me tremendously!!
Posted by Ryan at March 14, 2005 10:30 AMHah! As if we Seattle knitters needed yet another reason to hold our "Knit In" on March 19th--take note of this: March 19th is the day that the swallows traditionally return to the Mission at San Capistrano! Get it--swallows, Cuzzin Tom, birds, Mongolia trip--talk about cosmic coming-together!!!!
So far we have heard from or gotten RSVPs from close to 10 people, with another 3 or 4 "on the fence" about attending Saturday's Knit In. Yeah!!!
Can't wait to see you all, and meet some of you for the first time. We will see Ryan's yellow mitten (maybe mittens) in person. BTW, Ms Ryan, the yellow mitten is marvelous, and while I understand TMK's misgivings, ripping is just part of knitting. Me thinks you have been more than just moderately upset with past ripping efforts, and TMK is trying to spare you the pain. Now that you are a "grown up" knitter/ripper and it's not so painful, she still must think it is. She'll learn. Ripping a few rows of knitting is far less painful than recutting an entire slab of mahagony, after all.
Mary B
Posted by: Mary B on March 14, 2005 10:50 AMBeautiful mitten, Ryan. Kudos for sticking to a pattern which was clearly a less than auspicious occassion for you. I love the seed stitch with the cable - just gorgeous :)
Posted by: Robbyn on March 14, 2005 10:57 AMLove that mitten, and the form is just the coolest. I was very happy with it before, but it's gotta be more fun to be able to fill it out on the 'puter. I've already saved it in my docs. (Two more items over the weekend.)
Posted by: Norma on March 14, 2005 12:28 PMLove the mitten! Too cute. The idea of you and TMK "'rastlin" around just sent me into giggles. Too funny.
Erm...there's a certain stalker that started a certain blog if you care to take a peek. It's very much a work in progress but any criticisms are welcome cuz all it can do is help. Hee. And since it was inspired by a certain group of knitters.....well, you'll see. The name kinda says it all. Just click on my name and you'll be magically whisked away. :o)
Posted by: Stalker Angie on March 14, 2005 03:43 PMSuch an innocent looking mitt, who'da thunk it could cause such a ruckus. :-)
Posted by: Aarlene on March 14, 2005 04:33 PMSA: Thanks. We'll alert Homeland Security.
Going to see Dave Edwards give his Mongolia slide show tonight. I'll give him some pointers on wine bottle selection for Meredith. 500 items, indeed.
Posted by: Cuzzin Tom on March 14, 2005 05:03 PMOMG! I can just imagine that scene, and the humor in it! You just made my evening. Wish I could make it to the Knit-In, but there's just no molecular transport from MN to Seattle. Bummer.
LOVE the slicker-yellow mittens.
Posted by: Sara* on March 14, 2005 05:18 PMCT: I would love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. Priceless!
Posted by: Stalker Angie on March 14, 2005 05:30 PMThe mitten is a gem. In yellow. I love it. You know, according to Women's Wear Weekly, yellow is very in this spring, which if you lived out here in the Eastern part of this great sprawl of a country, you'd need them. Spring my a**.
Posted by: julia fc on March 14, 2005 05:45 PMRyan, I haven't commented before, but just wanted to say that I'm getting together a few things to send soon for the Dulaan Project.
Posted by: sheila on March 14, 2005 07:11 PMThe mitten looks great. So worth the effort. I like how the cable looks to be looping over the top.
Off to check out Stalker Angie's new digs.
Posted by: Susie on March 15, 2005 08:10 AMRyan - If you want to add to the Dulaan Project tally, I have nine little hats ready to send off, although I'll probably wait to accumulate a few more. This is fun! Barbara
Posted by: Barbara on March 15, 2005 08:19 AMThanks Ryan and TMK! Now I know how to get my husband's shabby sweater from him which he insists on wearing every night when he walks the dog, even though I knit him a replacement sweater.
Now I'm making a Dulaan vest, the artisan vest from Green Mountain Spinnery, unrestrained by gauge and size issues.
Alas, I cannot make the knit-in on the 19th, as something else has come up. BUT! Vicki, if you need wool, drop me a line at my email address with your address. I have more than I can knit at this point in time, and would be happy to send a few skeins your way if you'd like them, OK?
Posted by: perclexed on March 15, 2005 05:37 PM