September 22, 2006
Ryan Backpedals Like a Madwoman
Oh, the English language. Sometimes you just want to grab it by the short hairs and twist until it collapses on the floor and begs for mercy. To wit:
On my last entry, Becca left a comment saying, “I'm totally there for 5 before the end of October. I think my mom is still making items that she didn't finish in time for July.”
And Ginnie wrote, “I have one done already and will promise 5 by October’s end.”
Embarrassingly effusive smooches and hugs to Becca and Ginny for their willingness to bungee jump off the Dulaan cliff, but to clarify: If I do go ahead with the “sign 2,007 people up” event, you will have until next July to knit the five items, not just until the end of October. 10 months, not one. 300+ days, not 30. 39 weeks, give or take, not 4. October is merely the month when I will ask people to make the commitment so I can see how much play this new version of my “scam” will get; you will then have 10 months to make the five items.
But I can see, given how my last entry was written (see “short hairs” above), how you would think I was Machiavellian enough to demand 5 items in a month. But, no. Step away from the needles.
Thank you to the other knitters who are offering prizes for the competition. I may take you up on that! If I do this. If. If. If.
And, woot!, I am so excited—Franklin, cartoonist extraordinaire, current knit-blogging "it" boy, and aspiring practitioner of the way of universal compassion, has clambered on board the Dulaan bandwagon! He is so on board that he is already planning a knit-in and doing mega Dulaan PR on his blog. Thanks ever so, dude!
On the fiber front, the weekend before last, Blogless Elaine, Leslie, The Mysterious K and I went to the Puyallup (pew-A-lupp) Fair. After having downed some of the buttery scones that the fair is famous for, we very quickly discovered the building where local crafters—jewelry makers, spinners, knitters, potters, weavers—peddled their wares. As we walked in, TMK grabbed me by the shoulders, looked me straight in the eye and said, emphatically and perhaps with even a very faint Mafia-like, threatening undertone, “I. Do. Not. Need. Any. More. Roving.”
So how do you explain this?
This top is a beautiful, a rich, bright, consistent red that just begs to plied with another color for a fun, kicky yarn. La Mafiosa purchased it from Lin Schwider (site only seems to load in IE).
TMK will tell you that her spinning has been, well, meh. Her singles were thick-ish and slubby and the fiber—especially the softer, smoother fibers like the alpaca and the merino—broke constantly. And she just could not get the hang of what the other spinners seemed to do: Sit back comfortably, hold the fiber in one hand, and feed it forward with the other. So she decided to just take a step back, as it were, and spend as much time as she could at Ferals and at the fair observing other spinners. And, boy howdy, did that work! May I present her practice bobbin:
This bobbin has on it a little bit of every roving or top she owns: the alpaca, merino, wool/silk blend, Wensleydale, Corriedale, CVM, blue-faced leicester and mutt. And from personal observation, I can tell you that it is all fine and slub-free, and that she spun all of it sitting back and feeding the fiber! Remarkable!
She has started spinning the red roving but it’s going slowly because every few minutes she has to stop, get up, steer me away from the wheel, and remind me that my drool is not helping the spinning process any. I can’t wait to see what happens with that roving, and I can’t wait to knit with the yarn she makes out of it. Oh, sorry, TMK. No pressure.
And while she has been perfecting her new skill, I have, as I mentioned, been dabbling with Kool-Aid. Here is the purple Avalanche yarn which, absent some armhole ribbing and a button or two, is now well on it’s way to becoming Avalanche vest #3. It’s more grape-y looking than this and very variegated with a few unfortunate blops of dark purple but it has a friendly aura to it and is knitting up well.
(P.S. In answer to the recent questions about making pants for Dulaan, F.I.R.E. will take anything we send them so, Ella and kmkat, bring on the pants!! Now, true, warmer is always better, but let me remind you of (a) the man who had no floor or windows to his house because he had sold the wood and the glass for food and (b) the baby boy who was wearing nothing, I repeat, nothing, but a light jacket in 20 degree weather. Given these circumstances, trust me when I say that pants, whether they be of single, double or even triple thickness, will be put to good use.)
You know, it seems like there are an awful lot of people out there who could have 5 items done by the end of October and then create still more fabulous items before next summer. Perhaps you could consider a five item contest for October--IF you do a contest :-) -- and then have a seperate contest for new folks later on. I would almost think you could get the 2007 registrants--or maybe 1003.5 by the end of October? Half way there with 10 months to go? Sounds pretty good.
Just a thought. We're looking for ways to get the word out here in Gainesville, FL.
Posted by: chelsea on September 22, 2006 12:03 PMI have 5 cardigans, two mittens and a toque completed already. I was up for the October challenge! The new pictures are great. Thanks for sharing with us.
Posted by: Catherine on September 22, 2006 12:18 PMWould fleece pants be good too? Light polar fleece in say, a pj pants pattern? Size 4-6ish?
Posted by: Lisak on September 22, 2006 12:54 PMAre they all set with funds for shipping this year's Dulaan contributions? I couldn't tell for sure.
Posted by: Elizabeth on September 22, 2006 12:58 PMOh, the itchy wool on all those bare Mongolian schlorts. (Those are short schlongs, if you must know.) Good holy FSM, I must learn to make soft fleece pants. Soon, now, immediately!
Those kids have some serious pain tolerance or something - if I were half naked running around in 20 degree weather, I'd be screaming my head off, and as I remember, that kid looked like he was waiting on the lounge chair for someone to pop the straw in his juice box or something.
Oy.
I will be hosting a Dulaan-a-thon as well, after Christmas, for Tucson participants who'd like to come and knit woolies that no sane person would ever need to wear in Tucson. I dunno how much room I have, but if need be I'll rent a tent and some outdoor heaters for the back yard. If you have any other Tucson knitters in your readership, point them to moi, s'il vous plait!
Posted by: Carrie on September 22, 2006 01:19 PMYou NITWIT, you should have totally stuck with the Five in October scam...er challenge!
Mongolia FIVE-O, we'll call it. Since I'm sittin' fat and already have my five all done, I can easily sit here and say it -- nay, DEMAND it!!!
What say you?
Posted by: Norma on September 22, 2006 01:24 PMHey, I have been home sick with a headcold....too sick to go to work, but not too sick to knit : ) and I knit 2 items for the "dulaan five-oh by october" project ( 2 warm wooly hats), so if you do decide to have the project Chelsea emailed about, I'm in.... I love a good scam... I mean "challenge".... Keep up the good work!!! Pat
Posted by: Pat in Virginia on September 22, 2006 01:49 PMI'm with Norma--stick to the five-a-month plan. What's the worst that can happen?
Apparently we Dulaan knitters are a bit more competitive than I thought. Maybe we should have a BIG PRIZE for the person who knits the most total items, or the most hats, or the most vests. Maybe the prize could be some of TMK's handspun, dyed by Ryan. I'd knit like mad to get a prize like that!!!!!!!!! I'm going to knit like mad anyway, but if there is a treat at the end of the rainbow....just saying. Mary B
Posted by: Mary B on September 22, 2006 02:04 PMI've knit 25 sets of hats & matching scarves for Dulaan 2007. However, I began knitting in June so I kind of cheated by starting early. It's great to see so many bloggers talking about - and knitting for - Dulaan.
That roving is TOTALLY explainable.
Dude, that red is Hot Hot Hot. Nobody in their right mind could resist it, no matter how much roving they have.
TMK, I'm insanely jealous. Lucky you!
Posted by: Lee Ann on September 22, 2006 05:35 PMI was feeling good about my 5 1/2 pairs of completed mittens until I read Mary Ann's comment about 25 pairs (hat and scarf). Now I feel like a total slacker. Well, I only started about 2 weeks ago.
Ryan, maybe you should have a 5 done by October contest and a most items completed by October contest. (Although I think Mary Ann may win that one easily).
Posted by: Jennifer in Oak Park on September 22, 2006 05:38 PMHahahahaha... you think you can back out now? After opening a can of worms like a Dulaan Challenge? Out loud, in knitblogland, where Norma can hear you??
Hahahahahahaha.
*snort*
*giggle*
Posted by: Margot on September 22, 2006 06:34 PMOH THANK GAWD! Did you see me totally pretending like I hadn't read your blog? Because I was like, "Um... five things by the end of October...? Err..." *glances away, pretends not to have noticed*
Anyway, count me in! I can DEFINITELY do five things by next July. Love that purple, by the way! I had hoped everyone would embrace the gold, love the gold, but... the purple really is much MUCH more attractive.
Posted by: Erika on September 22, 2006 07:54 PMI totally got that the sign ups would be in October and the five would be for the final deadline - well, maybe not. I did put a link on my blog for you and I have one Cloud Hat finished and enough Cascade 220 and Mohair for another... but I have some other deadlines to meet before Christmas time gets here, so I was going to skip the 5 in October challenge and knit in January, February, March... Now, I can sign up in October and still wait to knit the Dulaan projects in the 'dead of winter!'
I'm basically doing 1 thing for Dulaan, 1 thing for Pine Ridge, WOLE or other Indian Reservation drives, then 1/3 to 1/2 of a project for our Church's Senior group (they have longer projects - like lapghans - going on ... so I do hats, booties and mittens to break up the long rows on the lapghans!)
And in between it all I'm making hats and scarves for the relatives! :)
Posted by: Kathleen on September 22, 2006 08:17 PMHey Ryan,
Count me in for at least 5...
Hugs and slurpy kisses to Frankie!
Morgen
Posted by: Morgen on September 22, 2006 08:35 PMWhat the hell? I am still going to knit 5 in October. And maybe I'll do 5 in November too. Just try and stop me. 5 in a month is really easy to do, and imagine how many there would be if we committed to 5 a month before July? I knit 25 in 4 days last year on a personal challenge, so I coulf totally do 5 a month.
Posted by: Ginnie on September 22, 2006 09:09 PMCount me in for at least 5! I'm aiming for more but 5 is a good number to start with!
Posted by: Rebecca on September 22, 2006 11:00 PMOh dude, five in OCTOBER? OK, some of your readers are completely wacked. But you knew that.
I was totally down with the "sign up in October, do five by the end of the thingie" deal.
Even I'm not bonkers enough to think I can do five by the end of October.
You know I'm going to try, right? I'll be giving Ben your phone number so you can explain why I'm not cooking any more. Or doing laundry. Or even, you know, being home.
Posted by: Rabbitch on September 23, 2006 07:33 AMI still think I can do 5 by the end of October . . . that's what baby patterns and hats are for.
(Oh, and that was my comment, and you linked to a lovely blog that isn't me. I don't want another Becca to think you're putting words in her mouth. I'm the Becca who knit for Dulaan for my Grad School project.)
Posted by: Becca on September 23, 2006 12:09 PMElizabeth -- F.I.R.E.'s director wrote me to say that, with an enormous tax bill that just showed up in the mail, they most definitely do still need donations, really quite urgently.
Right now, I'm madly trying to find warehouse space for them in Ulaanbaatar big enough to fit all that ya'll knit! They're also sending a whole shipping container of medical supplies and books. Whatever you can send them really does have a direct, positive impact over here.
Posted by: Cuzzin Tom on September 23, 2006 04:29 PMTime to put my money, er, sewing machine where my mouth is, huh, Ryan? Okeedokee, I'm off to the fabric store for fleece, a pattern, and maybe some ripstop nylon (sheesh, I had to go and make those pants windproof in my comment...). I counted and I have 7 hats done and one on the needles. Next I'm gonna learn how to knit mittens. And a sweater that I had committed to knit for someone (son's girlfriend) just went away (they broke up; maybe it was the sweater curse?) so I am gearing up to start the Dulaan sweaters. I am knitter: hear me roar!
Posted by: kmkat on September 23, 2006 06:16 PMI totally thought it was 5 by the end of October. And I was thinking, "Damn! Ryan called me out! And she has to know that Norma is breathing down our collective necks about the freaking red scarves. And I have to study for my professional responsibility exam! Crap!"
And so now, I'm kind of relieved. Except I'll still feel like a slacker if I don't knit 5 between now and the end of October, so I'm on it.
Posted by: Kirsten on September 23, 2006 06:18 PMBut I already knitted five items for 2007! Sure you don't want to make it 5 per month??
Posted by: Minh on September 24, 2006 03:52 PMWell, I'm still doing five in October! :) I love a dare! I've been working like a madwoman this past weekend and have a medium sized paper bag almost full of infant/toddler caps. I think there's a dozen in there, I have no clue, they were coming off the needles pretty fast. Okay, about half are going to another charity donation, but the other half of them are slated for Dulaan.
We are so going to beat our goal! Go Team Dulaan!
Posted by: Nancy O. on September 25, 2006 09:48 AMI already have 12 hats and a couple of scarves. 5 a month is not a bad idea. I stopped at FIRE headquarters last week and got a copy of the video. I managed to get my sister interested in knitting and she is now working on a scarf.