Mossy Cottage Knits

Sorry dude. You're on your own with the vacuum cleaner thing.

Ah, the Ballband Dishcloth. Definitely medicinal! Please tell TMK that the silk is gorgeous - I love those colors!

The word "Abbdar," for some reason, makes me picture the sands of the Sahara stretching out in front of me. And while I certainly wouldn't need a hat in such an environment, Abbdar strikes me as a Fair Isle hat. (Maybe the next word you see at Franklin's blog will be something like "Fiachra," and will inspire some Irish-style cabley goodness.) :)

I'm gonna hafta say that the vacuum cleaner thing should have TOPPED your list of weird things. However, it is an excellent argument for a cleaning service.
That washcloth is psychedelic and it hurts my eyes. Thank you for following it up with the soothing silk.

You aren't alone--my dog is afraid of vacuum cleaners, too.

Feel better now?

TMK, TMK: I'm like, so DROOLING for that yarn! Wow. Looks marvelous. I'm itching to get my hands on it, and have planned (but not yet implemented, alas) the MOST PERFECT pair of socks for you. But that skein--it looks so fabulous; you are now a bona fide SPINNER And you did it so fast!

Note to Ryan, get a Roombah (one of those robot vacuums) and let it vacuum the house when you're gone. Got one for Mr. David for Christmas and he is so smitten with it, heck, he'd probably volunteer to come to your house and vacuum for you! He now he thinks he's mastered the art of "multi-tasking" (a trick that has eluded him for the last 59 years)-- his idea is to set the vacuum and work on his current puzzle while the house gets clean. Multi-tasking, right....

MaryB

Precious, who is 18 today, wants me to tell you that she is afraid of the vacuum and wants to come live with you if you're willing to take in an old toothless cat. She also wants you to know that I am a freak because I love to vacuum and that life with me has not been easy on her nerves. /sigh

I love that silk.

Holy cow! TMK's spinning is stunning. How'd she learn to ply like that. All of my playing attempts are redneckish at best.

Well, I DISLIKE vacuums. That could be fear-in-denial. How's that? But actually, the above is no longer true, now that I have my purple Dyson that lets me watch the cat and dog fur and bird feathers spinning merrily. It reminds me of those rolling-popper thingies that toddlers have. Perhaps you could use one of those as a first step in some sort of behavior modification therapy?

That silk is to die for. To vacuum for, even.

I'm with you on the fried chicken...

I'm not afraid of the vacuum, just hate to use it! :) Though I do like a clean house. Not sure what I'll do when the teenagers leave and it's up to me again.

I am in awe of TMK and the silk merino ~ I haven't quite the knack for any fiber with silk in it, so wow wow and wow. Great photos, too. I'm with Mary B. on the Rumba thingy.

My 6' 285lb HUSBAND is afraid of vacuum cleaners. According to him, as a child, he watched his mother mangle her finger in the beater area of one after tried to unwind something from the brushes while it was still turned on. He can't abide the sound of them, causes him to flee the house. FYI, he is also nauseated by paint fumes, but has no problem being soaked in Diesel fuel. Go figure...

Is it strange that when the results of this poll came back (strongly in against my choice)after I voted I was momentarily mad? I couldn't believe that a strong majority could think Abdar was anything but a subtly patterned elegant single colored hat.

You all are wrong. I'm right (along with the other 36%).

TMK's yarn! {swoon, thud}

My son, Bubba, runs screaming from the room when the vacuum is turned on. Go figure.

TMK - Your yarn is beautiful. What is Ryan going to knit with it for you?

I had a cat once that was not afraid of the vacuum. She would ride along on top of the canister. Weird. Every other cat (and dog) we have ever shared domicile with has run screaming from the room when I fire up the Hoover.

As I gazed upon the wonder that is your ballband dishcloth I suddenly realized I have done every one of mine WRONG! My slip stitches are all in lines instead of staggered. Oh, the shame...

Tell TMK I have a potentially terminal illness that can only be treated with merino silk in pastel colors. Lots amounts of it, like enough for a 3X sweater.

You may need to sit down for this Ryan, but my mother vaccuums her house every other day. The rest of the household is concerned that one day there will be no carpet left. This constant vaccuuming has scarred me for life. I try not to touch the one at my house, although I am the only one with carpet (on my stairs). Perhaps we could look into some sort of therapy?
TMK-That yarn is amazing. When I grow up, I want to be you:)

Abdar is a FAIR ISLE. What is it with the 50/50 vote? I'm not sure I like these polls you do, Ryan--it always comes out bad for me. I am so attached to the idea of Abdar as a fair isle--lots of wonderful gypsy colors in a kalidoscope of frenzied excitement--and then there are the 50% of your readers who think it is a plain, one-color only textured nothing. Ahhhhhhhhhh! MaryB

PS You know, TMK, if you were to take up knitting, I'd be tempted to just give you that yarn, but seeing as you don't....

I see nice geometric fair aisle for Abbdar, like an expanded greek key. Or maybe some triangular pattern on desert sunset colors. Deserts get really cold at night.

My boss has Issues with vaccuum cleaners. He also has no idea why, but he would much rather they didn't exist. His wife just bought a battery powered push broom as a sort of compromise that would still keep the office clean. I also try to vaccuum on the few days he is absent.

I'm astonished. Unlike the other polls, which had an obvious winner from beginning to end, today's poll is more like the Kentucky Derby. It started out with Fair Isle a strong winner (about 65% to 35%), but Gansey has steadily, steadily, steadily been creeping up until the votes were 50/50, and Gansey has *just* bypassed Fair Isle. Fascinating.

Ginger, alas, the merino/silk actually belongs to MaryB. She won it at Madrona and asked TMK to spin it for her, so it will not reside at TMK's house for long, or my house at all. Woe is me. Woe is I. Whatever.

In re the vacuum cleaner issue, at first I was concerned because everyone was saying not to worry because their CAT or DOG was the same. Eh? But now I'm beginning to see mentions of actual other human beings who have the same problems. I'm feeling better.

I cannot stop laughing....too funny...Gansey all the way! Lookit' the little birdy, indeed, damn that's some beautiful merino/silk spinning!
Those 'warshcloths' are indeed medicinal...BIG TIME.

One word for you Darlin'.....Bissell! Here's the link: http://www.bissell.com/Products/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=Bissell&category%5Fname=Sweeper&Page=1

I still say Abbdar is meant to cover the abs and should be a VEST I say, a VEST! However, surely you won't pass up the opportunity to design your OWN Fair Isle pattern in order to get revenge on squirrel patterns everywhere? Hmmm?

TMK - take the socks Mary B is offering! A girl can't HAVE enough hand-knit socks!

Here's a quote for you from one of my favorite kids' books: "Oh, dear," said Mona. "I wish I weren't so scared of the vacuum cleaner. I hate the way it swells up and roars the second I press the button."
"I know" [said Randy}. "And the way it sort of insists on going where it wants to. I'll take turns with you, though." (Elizabeth Enright, _Then There Were Five_. It's a series, though, and it starts with _The Saturdays_. Read them all.)

Of course you're not alone! Haven't you ever heard that "Nature abhors a vacuum"?
;->

Awright, who's stuffin' the ballot box? It's clearly a Fair Isle.

:)

Julie, fortunately, the poll software renders the voting process "unstuffable." One vote per computer (per IP address, for you techies out there, who probably know this already). If you're feeling weasely, of course, you can vote from multiple computers but, at least in my experience, knitters aren't that weasely. Or are they?

I am scared to death of vacuum cleaners. The cats and I all flee the scene together as soon as it's brought out of hiding, we don't even have to wait for it to be turned on. I will scrub your toilets if needbe, but I will NOT vacuum for you. No way in hell.

I'm also afraid of letting out the bathwater before I get out of the tub, because after 25 years I'm still convinced that it will suck me down with it.

Feel better?

I LOVE Denise's reply.[3:54]
I also LOVE my purple Dyson too. Best damn appliance EVER! But my dog and cat are scared of it and apparently so is my teenage daughter.

Abbdar is a pillbox kinda hat, no fair isle at all, please, and no fussy knit-purl stuff either! It's plain stocking stitch, lined with more plain stocking stitch and with a flat top. Fez-like, perhaps.

The sound of a vacuum makes me CRY.

So I hired cleaning ladies (yes, I'm blessed to be able to do this) and I LEAVE THE HOUSE during the cleaning.

I don't think you're weird. At least, not about the vacuuming.

Oooooh, silk PURTY!

And our wacky canine is both fascinated AND repelled by the vaccuum. Kind of like the way I feel about David Lynch films.

You're on your own with the vacuum cleaner thing--but the handspun from TMK is absolutely awesome.

LOVE vacuum cleaners. Collect 'em. Run several at once, daily. Sleep with my favorite.

Why GET fried chicken if you pick off...oh, I give up. It's too weird.

Abbdar is, I believe, a fez.

Knitters are the least weasely batch of people on earth! But it's still a Fair Isle. :)

Anne and Ryan, Mr. Rogers has a song for each of you! (More proof that you never outgrow Mr. Rogers.)

Anne: you can never go down, never go down, never go down the drain...

Ryan: the vacuum sweeper will never sweep us, will never sweep us, 'cause we're not dirt, we're people...

Happy Birthday, Sister!

You're afraid of the vac b/c it's related to a dirty 4 letter work---WORK. Yes, they're kissing couzzins.
Uhm, I'll come and eat your crunchies from the chicken, it's the best part. Guess we could save a bundle on the food bill. LOL!
The spinning is great, does she spin pet hair into yarn? And would variegated tortise shell/brindle be okay? Uhm, pet only given about one puff a day while playing string. This may take awhile, can she wait?LOL!

Try those hearing protection ear mufflike things lawnmowering people wear while you vacuum. The racket they make would make anyone tense up. And remember the vacuum is your friend! With two dogs and a cat it is an absolute necessity at our house.
That yarn TMK spun is absolutely wonderful. Those colors!
Abdar is a solid or tweed hat, only one color but with a fascinating mixture of textures.

Ryan, I too am fearful of vacuum cleaners! I’ve been waiting all my life for someone to say the same thing so that I would know I wasn’t alone, and now I can leave the house for the first time in 40 years with my head held high. Where have you been all my life? I adore you. I worship you. I can’t live without you.

Feel better? :)

I agree with Janine....Abbdar is fair isle. I was simply stunned to see that it's just not as apparent to all.

Course, I also know quite certainly that Abbdar is jewel toned, and I was outvoted on that too.