March 07, 2008
The Army Rises Again!
The young woman who is spearheading the ribbon-dishcloth project and participating in the cancer walk is, if not exactly a muggle, then at least a mud blood (but not in the denigrating sense). She’s a knitting dabbler who came into the knitting world a little backwards, a breech birth, if you will: She learned how to knit in the round first and is only now learning how to knit back and forth. In fact, the dishcloth she’s knitting is her first back-and-forth project and has her completely befuddled. It doesn’t help that my explanations to her have come out something like: “Well, you do this on the front, and then you do exactly the same thing on the back. Only the opposite and backwards. Only in some parts it’s the same. Except for the parts where it’s not. Which is pretty much all the parts. Except here. Oh, and there. Got it?” It makes me wonder how anyone learns how to knit. (It’s like those moments when you realize English really is a hard language to speak and you wonder how anyone learns to speak it. Then you wonder how you learned to speak it. Then for the rest of the day your communication skills are ever so slightly off because you can’t get past the fact that you’re doing something technically impossible.)
She will never become as immersed in the knitting world as—cough, cough—some of us are because she’s very sociable and athletic and is torn in many different directions, most of which are incompatible with sitting down like, oh, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking, hiking, volleyball and hot yoga (yes, she does all of this, on top of being the chairperson for her cancer walk). This also means she’s unaware of how much knitters give, give and give (I believe Yarn Harlot refers to knitters as “supergivers”) so having all of you come screaming into the project at Mach 5 has left her awestruck. Because she works across the hall from me, I spent Wednesday shouting numbers at her as knitters jumped on the bandwagon: “3! No, wait, 5! Now 7! Now 12! Now 15!” And having her yell back at me, “Oh. My. God.” and “You lie!” and “But…How…Why…Who?” and sometimes just give up and sputter with amazement. Add to that the fact that Erika had a goodly portion of a dishcloth done within an hour after I posted my blog (or something remarkable like that)* and my employee is flabbergasted. My peeps—I’m so proud of you for putting on a good show. Proud, but not surprised. I know how you are. And love you for it.
Our final number as of yesterday was 32 knitters, which means, seriously, I only need one dishcloth from each person, or we’ll have too many. And the official members of what I’m calling the Cotton Club are:
Beebs
Carol B.
Carrie
Cat
Cathy R.
Cathy-Cate
CJ H.
Cynthia
Daisy
Elizabeth D.
Erika
Gail
Jennifer
Kathleen
Kathleen
Kerri M.
Kim
Kristen
Laura D.
Liz W.
Lori
Marianne
NancyO
Rachel D.
Robin W.
Rabbitch
Sandy
Seanna Lea
Sharon H.
Stephanie
Swapna (from India!)
Teresa G.
I'll be in touch with everyone about when/where/how to deliver the cloths.
A few notes on the pattern:
- When I first started to use the pattern, the photo showed up, but now it doesn’t. Drat. I will try to post a photo on Monday of some of my finished cloths. For now, let me paint you a picture. Gaze up into the corner of your room and imagine if you will, a dishcloth which is plain, mostly stockinette with a garter stitch border. The ribbon motif is in the center and is large-ish, about five inches tall and three inches wide. The dishcloths I’ve knit have come out different sizes depending on the yarn but they average between 7 (a light mercerized cotton) and 9 inches (the old Lion Brand workhorse). Oh, and if gazing into the corner of your room didn't work for you, here's a photo of one I found on someone's Flickr site.
- Even though I’m a pretty tight knitter, I still found I had to go down a needle size.
- The unusual “B3” instruction in the pattern just stands for “border 3” and represents the stitches you knit to make the garter stitch border.
- To get the dishcloth square I had to add few more rows of stockinette above the bottom border and below the top border than the pattern called for. I think I ended up with a total of eight.
- Other than that, you do this on the front, and then you do exactly the same thing on the back. Only the opposite and backwards. Only in some parts it’s the same. Except for the parts where it’s not. Which is pretty much all the parts. Except here. Oh, and there.
That’s all. Have at! And thank you, thank you, thank you!
*Proving that she is indeed a Knitting SuperWoman, this morning a photograph of Erika's finished cloth arrived:
I finished my first one yesterday, used the Sugar-N-Cream Twists... I should've gone down a needle size, and I may rip it and do over... I'm already on a second one, with the 'regular' cotton and I had one of those 'ahhh' moments... it's feeling so much more 'right'...
YAY on everyone stepping up!
I started mine yesterday with some red Sugar-n-cream. Oh...I forgot how much I don't like cotton LOL. I am a wool girl through and through. But this is for a good cause...so knit on I shall!
Posted by: Stephanie on March 7, 2008 12:08 PMKnitters rock! The only thing better is a knitting General who can organize her troops like Ryan.
Posted by: elaine on March 7, 2008 12:32 PMYeehaw! Is that Carrie on the list me, Carrie/pacalaga in Tucson? Because now that you have splained it, I can whip one out, and someone was nice enough to send me some lovely cotton just the other day. (But seriously, how can we stop at just one? Does anyone in Mongolia need a washcloth?)
Posted by: Carrie on March 7, 2008 12:53 PMHey, Ryan, I emailed you like a good girl and my name's not on the list. I want to be a superknitter too. Seriously, my email didn't bounce back so if you've got one from bookie, that'd be me. I'm half done with mine. Shall I continue?
Posted by: Barbara on March 7, 2008 01:07 PMCount me in!!! I am knitting a dishcloth right now, with some yarn and a yarn holder my Potter Pal sent me. Here's how to make one:
Take a tall mixed nuts can. Eat the nuts. Wipe out the can. Punch a small hole in the lid. Place a grommet on the hole *with the smooth side (usually the top) INSIDE*. This keeps the yarn from snagging as it is pulled out. Cut out pictures and glue them to the outside of the can. Place your ball of yarn inside the can and thread the end through the hole. Commence knitting without fear of your yarn falling into mulch, leaves, or puddles.
Elizabeth
p.s. Where do we mail the finished cloths?
Posted by: Elizabeth Spinner on March 7, 2008 01:17 PMYes, Barbara, fer sher, continue! Thanks for letting me know!
Elizabeth, I'll be in touch with everyone off-line about hands-offs and my address and such.
Posted by: Ryan on March 7, 2008 01:25 PMExcellent! Good work.
Posted by: carol on March 7, 2008 01:59 PMI was looking for my Peaches and Cream (which is screamingly bright) this morning, and just had a der moment when I realized I couldn't find it before leaving the house for work. I'll start mine this weekend as a break between the other knitting projects.
Thank you for posting pictures/link to pictures. While I can do the stare off in the corner, it is nice to just be able to see it.
Posted by: Seanna Lea on March 7, 2008 03:01 PMCan't.stop.laughing at your description of what knitting "sounds like" when being taught. It's so TRUE.
I've been having fun with the other part you talked about, too, with the English language with my Chinese graduate student. She has become so comfortable with me that she often whispers a question to me to explain some idiom or term that someone has used that was all VERY CLEAR to us -- but NOT AT ALL to her. It gives me much pause every day as to how in the HELL we are able to communicate with each other at all!
Posted by: Norma on March 7, 2008 04:33 PMWhen I read your first paragraph I found myself thinking that perhaps it was a good thing I taught myself to knit! Anyway, whatever uppers Erika and your employee are on, tell 'em to send some this way. I really do think I was a cat in a former life: eighteen hours sacked out on the couch followed by a few brief laps around the living room at top speed I can handle.
Posted by: Kristen on March 7, 2008 05:04 PMWow, what's "hot yoga"? Wait. Better not tell me...
Posted by: Cuzzin Tom on March 7, 2008 05:47 PMOooh, Ry - I wasn't blog-reading for a couple of days (!) because I was determined (notice teeth gritting here) to finish up the LAST of my toque orders (I DID!! I DID!!) so I am now knitting anything ...*anything*...that is NOT a toque. I've printed the pattern, is there a deadline for these? (Have I missed it already?)
Posted by: dale-harriet in WI on March 8, 2008 07:58 AMI've missed this deadline haven't I?
:( I Love knitting the patterns from that site though, they are wonderful. Most of my family members got washcloths for Christmas.
Let me know if you still need volunteers!
I was holding off as my schedule's still a bit up in the air, but did wonder if I'd bee too late if I waited even a day. Let me know if you come up short as the deadline nears. I doubt you will.
Cuzzin' Tom, hot yoga's just Bikrahm/Bikram yoga, or Bikrahm-ish. Done in a hot room to theoretically loosen the muscles and detox. Like 90F hot.
Posted by: KarenJoSeattle on March 9, 2008 01:27 AMRyan... I've made two, (I ended up scrapping the Twists...) now I need an address to post them off, as in wing their way to you.
Posted by: marianne on March 9, 2008 04:23 AMNot on the list. I emailed.
Almost finished with a hot purple Sonata cloth.
Would be done exceptthat my brain insisted that I needed a chart, so I charted first.
Posted by: ann on March 9, 2008 05:17 AMDishcloth finished with the exception of weaving in the beginning and ending ends. And maybe a quick soak to block it. This was a fun project. Thanks for the opportunity.
Posted by: Cynthia on March 10, 2008 05:31 AMDone! Photo posted on Ravelry (I'm bookie there, too.) now all I need is your address and it'll be zooming across the Plains and Rockies to get from little ol' snowy Green Bay to beautiful Seattle.
Posted by: Barbara on March 10, 2008 08:23 AMI finished mine while watching the first Lord of the Rings movie this weekend. Well, I still have to weave in the two ends, because I'm lazy.
Posted by: Seanna Lea on March 10, 2008 08:31 AM