February 28, 2007
Watch the Birdy!
(Aggravating commute.
Curtains of gray, oily rain sploodging down my windshield.
Heavy, slow, looky-loo traffic on the bridge, thanks to an accident coming the other way.
Exhaust fumes filling the car.
Feeling tired, a little bleary-eyed.
Wondering if radio stations play anything but commercials.
...
Bald eagle sitting on a lamppost.
Aaaaah. All’s right with the world.)
In honor of Stephanie, if any of these words...
Color
Fiber
Canceled
Woolen
Labor
Check
Centre
Draft
Donut
Behavior
appear in today’s blog entry, they will be spelled, with great defiance, the Canadian/British way. (I'd like to think that I come by the use of these spellings legitimately since I spent my high school years in post-Colonial Singapore and thus used copious Britishisms and spelled everything the "British" way for years...until I became a technical writer and lost a bloody and violent spelling battle with the American version of Microsoft Word. I bear the scars to this day.)
To wrap up my Saturday adventures, after my unexpected side trip to the wilds of Mongolia with 65 Girl Scouts, and with my precious Shrinky Dink magnet clutched firmly in my hand, I headed off to yet another Dulaan event—a knit-in hosted by a local yarn fibre shop, Hilltop Yarn East. About ten knitters—most of whom I didn’t know, which made it all the more fun—gathered around a table, did a little bit of "gettin' to know ya'", and munched on mutton, goat cheese, salted tea, boortsog...I mean, crackers, cheese, cold cuts and fruit, as a pile of finished Dulaan items grew in the centre of the table. And I believe a little bit of accidental shopping happened. How else do you explain the skein of Cascade 220 Lichen Heather which didn’t arrive with me but was certainly burning a hole in my knapsack when I left?
(Thank you, Becky and Hilltop East staff for supporting Dulaan in this generous way. Let me know when the next gala will be and I’ll try to be there!)
Then, exhausted, and filled with Dulaan goodwill up to my eyebrows, I tootled home to my girls, one of whom had a cold, and one of whom had had surgery on her hip to remove a cyst. I’ll let you figure out which one was which. (Not to give anything away, although this totally will—our vet charges for surgery by the minute. Holy Toledo, Batman! Mel, is that normal?)
Ever since the 222 designers-to-be of the Abbdar pattern decided that Abbdar is a gansey-like hat in earth-tone colors, I’ve been trying to make this vision—cloudy as it is—into a reality. Due to my questionable designing skills—and my inability to visualize anything (just ask TMK; she will be more than happy to tell you)—I’m hitting various roadblocks, to wit:
One of the commenters said that the word “Abbdar” felt “Egyptian” to her, verbalizing a vague feeling I’d been having all along. Yes, very definitely Egyptian. So, continuing on with this lunacy of designing a knitted item based on a nonsense word, I went online to find a few likely Egyptian motifs. I snagged a coupla geometric motifs from a sarcophagus or two, charted up something very off-the-cuff...
and churned out a swatch (not in the final colour, obviously)...
...which looks exactly like the Parthenon. Greek. Very Greek. Not Egyptian at all. In fact, there isn’t the faintest whiff of Egyptian about this design.
Back to my papyrus, my sharpened reed dipped in ink, and my mud-brick shack by the Nile. Now, what was the hieroglyph for “purl?”
It's quite obvious to me that the "roadblocks" on Abdar are because, technically, it should really be a fair isle vest in earth tones (but only if you count various shades of red as an earth tone).
If you ARE going for Egyptian though, maybe you could incorporate sand dunes as a motif? Like waves, only you could tell people it was sand.
MaryB
Posted by: MaryB on February 28, 2007 11:02 AMGrowing up in Oklahoma, with red soil, I can definately say that reds are included in earth tones.
I too was suprised when gansey-style won over fair-isle, but it was a choice by the people.
Some of the motifs knitting in Andean caps look like heiroglyphics. Though they are color-work, maybe you could do a knit-purl version.
Posted by: Jennifer on February 28, 2007 11:51 AMBwahaha! You're right. I was going to say Roman, as in The Pantheon or something. It won't look Egyptian unless it is fair isle which I would have voted for except I missed that poll.
By the way I had jury duty Monday and knitted 1 1/2 dulaan hats. Did you know that a size 8 bamboo circular needle makes a great pair of hairsticks if you're trying to get past someone who's programmed to say "No knitting needles"?
Posted by: CarolineF on February 28, 2007 12:00 PMWell, you know there was cultural exchange between the Ancient Greeks and the Ancient Egyptians. There are pictures of Greeks unloading wine and such from Greek boats in Egyptian harbors in Egyptian tombs. (Boy that sentence needs an editor.) So, perhaps you are on to something... And, of course, if you're thinking Roman, there is that whole Antony/Ceasar/every other good looking male of power and Cleopatra...
Posted by: Kristen on February 28, 2007 12:31 PMOh, poor baby Frankie! She needs lots of snuggles and snackies! I hope that she and TMK feel better FAST.
Hugs,
Nancy :)
ps Box #7 left for FIRE this morning (yay!), 12 more items to keep someone warm--78 down, 22 more to goal!
Posted by: Nancy O. on February 28, 2007 12:36 PMPer minute surgery charges aren't unheard of, but I'd say most people don't like having to worry about a stopwatch when they're doing surgery. The weird paradox of doing it that way is that for the same surgery, a quick and efficient surgeon will end up costing less than a slow, inefficient one. In general, more skilled surgeons are faster, too, though good surgeons are more meticulous in their work, which beats the hell out of fast and sloppy.
The biggest advantage that I can see to charging that way for skin bumps, is that there are often more than one, which ultimately means multiple little surgeries, and charging per minute helps to make sure you don't get overcharged for a quickie procedure and the surgeon doesn't get underpaid for something that gets more involved.
Posted by: Mel on February 28, 2007 12:44 PMMel, you're a peach for answering my question. Frankie's surgery took exactly 12 minutes so I think we were blessed with one of the "quick and efficient ones." How useful to have a reader who is a veterinarian!
Nancy, 78 items?!!!! And one more exclamation mark for emphasis--!. I'm completely stunned.
CarolineF, loved, loved, loved your needle/hairstick trickery. Too funny. I suppose it wouldn't work *quite* as well with short hair. No one would believe it for a minute if the dpns were just arbitrarily shoved through your bangs. Especially if you used all five.
Posted by: Ryan on February 28, 2007 01:07 PMMaybe if you try to knit a Minotaur, it'll come out like the Sphinx?
Posted by: Carrie on February 28, 2007 01:08 PMRemember the movie Stargate? That's what your chart reminds me of. Only too many pillars. I think it's a bit like ribbing with the four. How about two pillars? Or how about I shut up now? ;^)
I hope your babies are feeling better.
Posted by: Cookie on February 28, 2007 02:59 PMOh, but listen: my 10-year-old son is sort-of-obsessed-in-a-good-way with all things Greek, and I think your Parthenon design is awesome! Must find some way to incorporate this into a design for him...
Posted by: Julie on February 28, 2007 04:04 PMWow, Saturday was a busy day for you!
Learn something new every day, I had no idea vets charged by the minute for surgeries....good thing to know.
Do you have a specific project in mind for the Lichen heather? Enquiring minds want to know...
Posted by: Lisa In Oregon on February 28, 2007 04:09 PMWell, if you're going to insist of enforced anglo-linguiphilia, let's just go whole hog and change "knitter" to "knittre".
Posted by: Cuzzin Tom on February 28, 2007 04:46 PMJust do a google image search for "egyptian hieroglyphics" and bob's yer uncle. Or something.
Posted by: kmkat on February 28, 2007 05:14 PMGreat poem at the start of the post.
Posted by: daisy in the Shenandoah Valley on February 28, 2007 06:52 PMOoooh, I hope Frankie is okay? I know TMK will be okay, just feed her lots of Chicken Soup and Orange Juice.
You know, Frankie might need a playmate one of these days. I've got a litter coming up in about 34 days... check out the blog for puppy pics about that time
Posted by: AnnaMarie on February 28, 2007 07:04 PMDefinitely, red can be an earth colour. (living in OK and seeing it all the time). I still think both styles could make up the hat...you know...colours for the purl stitches...
"Bald eagle sitting on a lamppost" I am amazed, and so very glad for you to have seen it.
Terrific post. Thanks for the ugly description of commuting traffic, and then that glimpse of nature. Hopefully, a lot of others saw it instead of just fuming in their cars.
The Abbdar is not going to be the easiest thing to design, is it? It is unbelievable that pattern translated to that finished product, the purple Parthenon!
I loved picturing Carline F. cleverly sneaking her wooden circulars into jury duty in her hair. My hair is too slippery for that trick but it did give me the idea that perhaps one could find a way to incorporate them into the handle of a purse? It does make you wonder how many other clever knitters are thinking of ways to pass their needles through security. The thought of all those idle hours without any knitting makes me cringe.
Hope both the ladies are on the mend soon!
Posted by: Lydia on March 1, 2007 05:19 AMMy first response never showed up, so here I go again.
Just wanted to say get well soon to the girls.
And I hate to say it, but your purple Parthenon made me laugh! Good luck finding a more suitable pattern, it seems like a real challenge.
Thanks for the story of the yucky commute redeemed by the sight of an eagle. I hope a lot of others saw it, too.
Ok, a few more swatches that don't come out exactly as you planned (Stonehenge, a pyramid or two, etc.) and you've got a book on your hands -- "Knitting the Ancient World", perhaps?
Oh, and I finished my 5 for Dulaan (no, of course I'm not stopping). Feeling pretty good about it, too, til I saw that Nancy O. has finished 78! You're a superstar, Nancy. Your needles must be on "FIRE" (ok, I'm going to sit in the corner now.)
Posted by: Janice in Camas on March 1, 2007 09:05 AMLove the swatch. Very cute.... but cute in the chic sense of the word.
Posted by: Kris on March 1, 2007 07:24 PMmaybe purl is an oyster with a pearl in it? i dunno, i'm delusional, lol.
and palm trees! those are very egyptian! or maybe sphinxes (i just watched a show earlier this week on the light tower of alexandria, and they brought up TWENTY-SIX sphinxes!). CATS! cats are egyptian. or maybe anubis? goodness, i'm getting complicated, here. i'll go to bed now and shut up
Posted by: minnie on March 1, 2007 09:22 PMI agree with MaryB. The design problems are due to the fact that it's supposed to be a vest. :)
What about an ankh? One of those crosses with the loop on top. Or some sort of sun ray, Ra thing? Or just a series of pyramids? A pyramid with a sun? A sun with an ankh?
Posted by: Elisabeth on March 1, 2007 10:36 PMCATS, cats are Egyptian. Do A cat on your hat(OMG, no pun intended)in a nice feline color w/some stragne Egyptian letters in between.cw
Posted by: cyndie on March 2, 2007 06:42 AMRed would be appropriate, particularly as it is the sacred colour (hee!) of the Lord of Chaos, Set. You could go with an ankh or an Eye of Horus. Or a diankh (means "Given Life", it was an epithet used after the name of a pharaoh living at the time of the inscription.) It looks like this.
/\
/ \
/ /\ \
/ / \ \
/ / \ \
----------
Followed by the ankh, which is available all over the net.
Posted by: Ivy on March 2, 2007 02:07 PM