March 12, 2007
I'm Armed and Dangerous
(You know your electrical system needs upgrading when you're standing in the bathroom, hair dryer in hand, yelling to the person in the kitchen, “Don’t make toast!”)
Ah, mea culpa, Lee. I just plow blindly along, forgetting that we have newbies who may have no frickin’ clue who TMK is. So to all my new and new-ish readers: TMK stands for “The Mysterious K,” the blog alias for my partner of 20 years. When I started Mossy Cottage, I thought it would be prudent to protect her identity—because she certainly didn’t ask to have her private life splashed all over the Internet—by just referring to her as “K.” She was (very) quickly sucked in by the novelty of the bloglife, however, and started leaving comments, referring to herself as “The Mysterious K,” which, over time, was shortened to TMK—and voila. The other “in joke” is that we’ve never shown TMK’s face on the blog and go through all sorts of clownish and inane contortions to ensure this. What makes this even more ridiculous is that, now, four years in, TMK doesn’t care if I use her real name or show her face but it has now become a “thing," so we just keep doing it because, yes, we will sell our souls for cheap laughs. Hey, Franklin has an imaginary sheep, I have an imaginary girlfriend. It’s all good. (Side note: This coy hiding-of-the-face actually led, a few years ago, to TMK’s being identified in an LYS by her shoes!)
And for those of you who found yourselves scratching your heads over the license plate (U8YRUMT), it says: You Ate. Why are you empty?
As promised, before and after photos of Olympic Skwedl’s neck steek. The deal here is, you decide where you want the neck to start, knit to that point, and cast off the appropriate number of stitches (in my case, I cast off for about 5.5” to 6”). Finish knitting the round and, when you get back to the beginning of the neck, create a steek, and keep on knitting. This allows you to finish knitting the neck in the round. (Lest I sound blithely confident about all of this, every speck of this information was lovingly and patiently spoon-fed to me by my Guru of All Things Fair Isle, Janine. I knew bupkus about this before she took me in hand.)
The neck steek before, seen from the front…
And from the side:
The cutting:
The pulling apart:
The finished results:
Somebody bring me some smelling salts.
I thought it might stand for Too Much Knitting, which might be a better moniker for you, but still...
Posted by: Lauren on March 12, 2007 11:33 AMI'm doing the "Dulaan 10K or Bust Happy Dance!" I've finished my five and just printed out my box inventory form. I will send them out this week to avoid the rush. Then I can knit some more with a smug and contented grin...
Posted by: martha in mobile on March 12, 2007 12:03 PMWOW. You cut up the neck of that sweater! (Aware though I am of the existence of steeking, I am never quite prepared for the cutting up of a sweater.) Can't wait to see Olympic Skwedl all finished up!
Hi TMK!
Posted by: Julie on March 12, 2007 12:49 PMHeh. Wouldn't it be fun to create some kind of Knitter's board game? Knitopoly? KnitBlogOpoly? Knit-Jeapordy? .... "I'll take Abbreviations for $200" "What is The Mysterious K?" ;)
Posted by: Lisa in Oregon on March 12, 2007 12:57 PMLovely cut! Well done, you.
Posted by: Rebecca on March 12, 2007 01:02 PMIdentified by her SHOES! I think I could identify her shoes come to think of it. The sweater rocks, I don't think I could cut it, did you or did someone else do the "deed"?
Posted by: Angie on March 12, 2007 03:10 PMAngie, I did the deed. Janine was kind enough to take the photos. This was actually my second or third time cutting a steek but the first one was a throwaway swatch that I was just learning on, and the second was a pillow knit in the round and then just cut open, no big; this was my first one on a real project which could actually be worn on a human being if I did everything right. Oh, the pressure!
Posted by: Ryan on March 12, 2007 03:21 PM"Steek" - it sounds like something done to a Puritan who was caught drinking and skinny-dipping on the Sabbath: "In truth they did steek Master Plotzoff". Cut into knitting? Nope. Just sayin'. Delighted to know about TMK too! What fun. I'm going back to my plain old toque, now, straight knitting on dpns forever and forever. Love "movie knitting". :o)
Posted by: Dale-Harriet in WI on March 12, 2007 04:04 PMAnd did the Sqwedls scream, "Steek!" when you cut them? (*runs*)
Posted by: kmkat on March 12, 2007 05:13 PMand a glass of red wine, eh? that's what the harlot does
Posted by: minnie on March 12, 2007 07:32 PMWhew....no kidding. The steek.
Posted by: marianne on March 13, 2007 04:45 AMI feel better now that I know about TMK. Much more original than DW.
The sweater is great. I know it is possible to steek and cut but I have never had the courage to try. Maybe next Olympics?
Posted by: Lee on March 13, 2007 06:01 AMHuh, a steek? Cut into knitting? Wouldn't it unravel or something? I think I need to go find another knitting class--we didn't learn anything like that in the last class I took. I guess I'd better stick to hats and scarves........
Posted by: Nancy O. on March 13, 2007 06:49 AMI'm glad to know exactly what a "TMK" is!!! I just thought it was another one of those computer thingies that clueless me did not get-she is a person not a laugh out loud!!!
but I did get the license plate after reading it out loud several times and having my teenage daughter say "Listen to yourself- you freak!!"Thanks Ryan I needed that-
Your commitment to that sweater and the Olympic ideal is touching.
Good steek my friend. Good steek.
Oh, you are one of my FAVORITE blog reads! Thank you for the entertainment and the explanation. I have just sort of played along and figured out TMK, but never quite knew the real meaning. Thanks! You are always fun.
Posted by: Laura Sue on March 13, 2007 09:43 AMLOL! I can't have the toaster and the hair dryer on at the same time either! I have fully loaded surge protector strips all over the apartment and nothing ever trips a breaker except that exact combination.
What do you mean Dolores is imaginary???? ;)
Posted by: Jenn on March 14, 2007 10:52 AM