Cross Post - Good Summer Reading (circa 1875)

He's dead, Jim!

I just finished reading the first half of that classic novel, "The Somnambulist and the Detective" by Allan Pinkerton. Yes, the Allan Pinkerton for whom the Pinkerton National Detective Agency was named. Allan moved here from Scotland with his bride, began as a private detective in Chicago in 1849 or 1850, eventually met up with some muck-a-mucks (click the link if you want details; I'm not going to repeat a Wikipedia article), popularized such detective tricks and shadowing (tailing, following) and what we would now consider undercover work, and eventually put his name on a series of fictionalized accounts of his career (rumor has it they were ghostwritten).

The story begins with a young bank clerk being killed and a bank robbed. This all takes place somewhere down south; most of the evidence is overlooked by the locals, since it leads to the best friend of the deceased because class matters in 1850 Mississippi, and the best friend, Mr Drysdale, is of the best of families. But ol' Pinky, who is called in as a last-chance attempt to catch the killer/robber, is a cranky Scot, he is, and he dinna care fer a man's standing in the community. After examining clews, weighing evidence, and sucking down mint juleps galore, he trots back to Chicago, and formulates a plan so cunning that you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel. A large, inefficient, clunky weasel.

Next we know, a widow (Mrs Potter), a man of means (Mr Andrews), and a young carpenter (Mr Green) descend upon this small town. All are operatives of ol' Pinky - oops, I should have said spoiler alert. Now y'all will know how the story ends.

Their job is to figure out how to get a confession from the murderer Drysdale. Mrs Potter (not her real name) befriends the innocent wife of the alleged murderer...

Hard-boiled female detective schmoozes up innocent housewife

...you can see the evidence for yourself. In fact, this heartless undercover agent fakes an injury to infiltrate their household - a shameful pretense of being dependent upon the kindness of strangers. Indeed!

"She's suffered severe trauma, Jim!"

Mrs P starts smearing blood all over their home in the middle of the night in order to freak out the suspect. Talk about the house guest from hell...

Meanwhile, Messers Andrew and Green (not their real names) plot to drive Drysdale insane, in case Mrs P's imitation of "The Shining" doesn't work. (Okay, okay, this book came before "The Shining".) Mr Green looks like the deceased, so they dress him up to look like, well, a zombie in order to freak out the suspect even more.

"He's undead, Jim!"

And it works - but only some of the time. Our alleged murderer gets up and wanders in the middle of the night to the locations where he has buried the stolen money, and doesn't notice the zombie during his late-night strolls.

"He's the living dead, Jim!"

At this point, I know, you're hoping for a zombie war, or perhaps a face-off between a zombie and, say, a nosferatu. No such luck, dear readers. If the title hasn't already given it away, he's sleepwalking! Yes, sleepwalking. Wow! And FYI, that's a large, flat rock that our sleepwalker is holding. He's not wrestling with an alien life form or anything. Sorry.

By now, Drysdale is in hysterics. No southern belle could out psychosomatic him at this point, and I mean it. For instance, every time he finds the blood smeared in his room, he faints and says that he is weak from loss of blood... but he hasn't really lost any blood. So why is weak and faint - hysteria? Nerves? Guilt? A secret opium habit we're never told about?

No matter. They've succeeded in making him crazy. And yet, he still won't confess.

From what I can tell, the operations of these three detectives has probably taken three to six months. Honestly, if all his cases were this labor-intensive and drawn out, there is no way Allan Pinkerton would have become the rich, worker-hating lawman that he became.

Anyway, Pinkterton returns to the south, and gets together with everyone to plan one last attempt to coerce a confession from this dude without using a waterboard or lynch laws. Mr Green gets into his zombie togs again, and hides in the bank - the scene of the original crime. They arrest Mr Drysdale and take him to the bank. (If you're like me, you feel like you're suddenly in an episode of "The Beverly Hillbillies", but you're not; hillbillies could not afford Pinkerton's fees back in 1856.) I'll let the lovely illustration show you the moment when they break the killer:

"Dammit, Jim, I'm a murderer, not a doctor!"

Ah yes, they just don't confess like this anymore. And look at Mr Sourface McMustache in the background (just to the left of Drysdale) - stern and judgmental. That's a level four glare of disapproval. If it had been a level five, Drysdale would be a heap of ashes or a puddle of goo on the floor.

Eh, I give the story a C, mostly for being brief and having some lovely illustrations. The plot was ridiculous - but not as ridiculous as "The Ghoul", a book which I will review in loving detail someday. If you're not going to be a realistic mystery, you should go all out for crazy, over-the-top thrills, which "The Ghoul" delivers. The second half of the Pinkerton book is a tale entitled, "The Murderer and the Fortune-teller". If it's any good - or if the drawings are the least bit entertaining - I'll let you know.

Woo hoo! Knit Swap Time!

Gypsygirl and I had our Summer Swap - a smaller swap, but full of goodies to get us through the dog days of summer. So I've got a few photos of summery fun to post, as well as my thanks to my knitting swap buddy.

But first, I wanted to post a little something regarding the fact that I rarely leave home without some sort of knitting project in hand (and often, a book as well). I keep telling people, "You don't want to be trapped with me for 72 hours and me not have any knitting around!" Friends generally agree, whether they appreciate knitting or not. They can imagine the horror of such an event...

I've been reading articles every now and then about the earthquake in Abruzzo, Italy. My grandfather was from that region, and I'd like to move there - or at least visit - someday (yeah, it's boring, but they have sheep - sheep, I tells ya! Sheep-wool-knit!) I found the following articles on the same woman:

Maria D'Antuono told rescuers that during the 30 hours she was trapped, she occupied herself by knitting and doing crotchet.

The stone house where the 98-year-old was buried under her bed in the village of Tempera, was a scene of devastation having completely collapsed on one side.

A relative told The Daily Telegraph: “She is a very respectful, well brought up, nice person. She is a little, skinny lady, full of life, joyful and well-educated.

"She lived with her daughter, a retired teacher. Because of the strength of the quake, they thought the old woman was dead. They couldn’t look for her the first evening as it was too dark.

"The firemen came back at first light with a ladder and found Signora D’Antuono alive and in good health. It’s a miracle. She couldn’t do anything as she was stuck under the bed. They took her away, gave her a check-up and found her to be in perfect health. It’s incredible.” {from the Telegraph UK}

And then on the Yarn Forward blog:

Always keep your knitting near!

by Shannon on April 8, 2009

One bright spot in the news about the recent Italian earthquake: a 98-year-old woman pulled alive from the rubble spent her time knitting and crocheting while waiting to be saved.

From the Telegraph:

Maria D’Antuono told rescuers that during the 30 hours she was trapped, she occupied herself by knitting and doing crochet. The stone house where the 98-year-old was buried under her bed in the village of Tempera, was a scene of devastation having completely collapsed on one side.

Let this be a lesson to you — always keep your knitting nearby, you never know what might happen and it’s good to be prepared!

At this point, I assuming it's a genetic predisposition that has me going nowhere without my knitting. And for good reason, as the articles demonstrate!

Now, back to the swap.

Gypsygirl sent me the following goodies:

A couple of skeins of yarn, and a yarn bag!

A close-up of the Opal; the perfect color for some summer knitting. I have several sock patterns that would look wonderful in this color!

Some sari silk yarn; this is great, as I have some Mango Moon I've been meaning to knit a pillow out of. I can add this to it. That's the nice thing about the sari silk yarns - they are usually so multi that you can mix them any which way!

Patriot goodies for the family 4th of July fete - I'm gonna kick my cousin's arse at paddle ball, I tells ya!

Mmmm...knitting patterns.

She also sent me this groovy ice cream cup and scoop. So I had to buy some ice cream to try it out!

A to-do list with "I'd rather be knitting" at the top (I have my doubts as to whether I'll get more done with something reminding me that I'd really would rather be knitting) - a red, white and blue candle that I'm enjoying in the bathroom (I'll have to take a soak with some champagne on Bastille Day and the tricoleur candle) - some wonderful old-fashioned soap that's really lovely - a book of very funny quotes for women and their women friends - and the best bubble-blowing setup I've had in forever! This baby puts out a lot of bubbles, all good-sized but not huge. Too cool!

What did I get her? Oh, a bunch of weird stuff from the local Daiso $1.50 store. I love those places! And yes, I did send her yarn. Need you ask?

Blogging Fabulously!

Liisa of Under the Cupola has rated me as one of her top five fave blogs - woo hoo! {For those of you commenting about my infrequent and erratic posting, Kultakutri, as she is known on Ravelry, is a great reader and doesn't rely on my blog alone for information - and a good thing, too!}


This is a meme, of course, so let me post the details for the bloggers who are about to be tagged here -

The rules are thus:

1. You have to pass it (the award) on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.

2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.

3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

Instructions: Include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them. When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well. And don't forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by emailing them or leaving a comment on their blog.

Five Fab Blogs & Their Bloggers

1. Liisa/Linda of Under the Cupola: If you've been on Ravelry, you've probably seen a few of her posts (at the very least). Very smart, incredibly funny, she relates her adventures and misadventures in a wonderfully wry voice that makes her posts always worth reading. If you're reading my blog, then you would undoubtedly enjoy reading hers - it's better, more interesting, and updated more frequently. I'd list the things she writes about, but I cannot do her justice. And she posts some wonderful photos... Just go - read some of her posts - you'll find fibery goodness in there from time to time, of course, but it is all worth reading!

2. Severina of The Omnigraphic Blogopticon: Severina's blog is full of steampunkery and snark, and funny as hell. Regular postings include her perverted steampunk Sims and periodic book reviews (which I highly recommend as informative & entertaining), as well as her Perfidious Beadworks projects (I'm the lunkhead who recently put her Arthur pin through the washer and dryer). If you want to check out her knitting blog, which features tons of lovely vintage patterns, it's here. If I weren't 150 years older than she is, I'd want to be her when I grow up.

3. Franklin of The Panopticon: Franklin has no idea who I am, and probably couldn't give a rat's ass for getting this nomination. I do enjoy his blog - vintage knitting here and there, well-written entries, and (for the unenlightened), an explanation of 'twinks' and 'bears'. I, of course, was already familiar with those terms, but his explanation and accompanying photos were delightful. A wonderful blog, funny, and there's plenty of fibery goodness to be found here, too.

4. Toni of A Little Off The Beaten Path: Toni's blog is the home of "Month of..." and "Year of..." experiments. The current experiment is the Year of No Processed Food. She writes entertainingly of trying to live without eating processed stuff, both the successes and disasters involved in such a process. Her "Things We've Learned" posts are always funny. If you have an interest in knowing what it's like to live without high fructose corn syrup in your diet (something very difficult to do in the US), this is definitely a site for you. And hey - if you want to find an alcoholic drink with peanut butter in it, you need look no further than this site. NB: Toni is also a knitter, and her sister blog about her knitting is here.

5. Bohemian of A Lost Bohemian: My former coworker (we were both laid off) has recently begun a blog attempting to unravel the mysteries of her family's exodus from WWII Europe, their ultimate relocation to the US, and the impact that life in a diaspora can have on people - the shift from citizen of privilege to resettled refugee, and what that has meant for her family. All this in addition to entried on the current state of the human condition. Thoughtful stuff.

You'll notice that four of the five feature fiber, or have a fiber blog in addition to the one listed here. I discovered all of those blogs via my knitting habit, and indeed, knitting drives a great deal of my blog-reading activity. I'll let knitting transition me into my Five Fabulous Addictions. And they are, both fabulous and addictions.

1. Knitting: I first took up knitting in the early 1980's. There isn't a single thing about knitting that I don't love. I love patterns, looking at them, reading them, studying their construction. I love the quality of yarns that have become available in the last 5-1o years or so - the softness or squishy-ness of the fibers, the gorgeous colors, crazy art yarns with all sorts of strange things spun into them. I love Addi Lace Turbos. I even love the act of knitting, of creating a fabric with a bit of (very fancy) string. My friends have to regularly intervene when I try to expand my stash.

2. Books: As with knitting, there is nothing about books I dislike (except how heavy they can be in large quantities). I have no idea how many books I have; they are scattered in various locations, like a pirate who has buried his hoard on several different beaches. The best thing about books is content - information - words - ideas - entertainment. But I love old books especially - the craftsmanship that went into a well-designed, embossed and painted cover; gorgeous illustrations; heavy paper... The happiest of finds is an old knitting book (sigh!).

3. Coffee: My current favorite is the local Herkimer coffee, but anyone who knows me is familiar with my "Coffee. Now!" routine. In fact, the unfortunate above-mentioned Bohemian used to endure "Coffee Me" every day when we worked together.

4. Sushi/Chocolate/Curries: I couldn't choose one of the three. Sushi is not an addiction I can afford to maintain, but folks who know me will tell you that I am obsessed with it, however infrequently I get it. Chocolate and curry are much more accessible - the last I can make at home, and do. Frequently. And Seattle is a good town for good chocolate, so I can and do indulge in that addiction without great expense. All this talk of food - I'm hungry!

5. Single Malt Scotch: I can't really afford this either while I'm on the dole, at least not the stuff I enjoy drinking. Friends will tell you, though, that I am perfectly willing to accept donations of 16-yr-old Lagavulin or Oban. Anyway, I don't drink it every night - don't want to run out of the good stuff - but see what happens if you try to walk off with one of my bottles. I'll cut you!

Why Non-needleworkers Shouldn't Write About Needlework

I recently completed Laced, by Carol Higgins Clark. On a scale of 1 to 100, I'd give it a "meh". Not bad, not good, but had the virtue to not take up too much time to read (if you're not going to be a great book, you can at least be a fairly brief book).

The title of the book, of course, appealed to the lace knitter in me. The stolen object is this magnificent handmade lace tablecloth featuring a castle as either the focal point of the design, or the main design element. But what irritated the hell out of me was that readers were never told how the famed tablecloth was made. May Reilly made it by hand, we are told in the novel. But how? The reference to shamrocks not being part of the design made me think Irish crochet (and the novel takes place in Ireland, so this makes sense). And that would indeed be some fancypants needlework to create a castle in Irish crochet and make it look good. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure it could be done, but nutty needleworkers from the world over would trek to Nowheresville Ireland to see such an incredible thing.

So then I pondered whether it was knitted, or if some other method of lacemaking had been used. One could knit a castle design in openwork, using yo's and the like to create the shape. This sounds more like a Shetland textile than an Irish, though. Not that the Irish can't knit Shetland, etc. My logical (?) mind, however, thinks that a novel set in Ireland should feature needlework for which Ireland is famous. For example, the Irish Lace Museum lists the following as the five main Irish laces:

Irish Crochet Lace, Youghal Needlelace, Inishmacsaint Needlelace, Carrickmacross Lace and Limerick Lace.

If you visit their lovely site, you can see photos of the various types of Irish lace. What was most interesting about this, though, was that in seconds (thank you, Google) I found an Irish lace museum with examples and discussions of the main types of lacemaking done in Ireland. I gathered enough information from one site to give some description of how a famous tablecloth with a castle as the main design feature could have been made.

Not that I think a writer needs to become an expert in every topic that comes up in their books. Not at all. In the age of the internet, though, it's extra-inexcusable to not spend an hour researching something that's pretty easy to research.

So if anyone out there is inspired to crochet/bobbin/knit/hook/otherwise make a lace castle, please send me photos!

For the Industrious of the Fair Sex - 1882

{From the South Jersey Republican, Hammonton, NJ Saturday, April 29, 1882}

French Lace

cast on 15 sts

row 1: knit 3, yo, k2tog, knit 3, yo, knit 1, yo, knit 6

row 2: knit 6, yo, knit 3, yo, k2tog, knit 3, yo, k2tog, knit 1.

row 3: knit 3, yo, k2tog, , k2tog, yo, knit 5, yo knit 6.

row 4: cast off 4, knit 1, yo, k2tog, knit 3, k2tog, yo, k2tog, knit 1, yo, k2tog, knit 1.

row 5: knit 3, yo, k2tog, knit 1, yo, k2tog, knit 1, k2tog, yo, knit 3.

row 6: knit 3, yo, knit 1, yo, sl 2, knit 1, p2sso, yo, knit 4, yo, k2tog, knit 1.

begin first row.

Below are photos of a few repeats of the pattern, unblocked and still on the needles. I used some really old Knit-Cro-Sheen, needles sized 2.75 mm.




This last photo is mostly to show that, at one time, Knit-Cro-Sheen really did have a sheen:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

First, some lovely flowers from a friend:

From MoreMadHowls

When I thanked him for the flowers and other kindnesses of the day, he said it was all part of the package. What a sweetie!

I opened my VD swap package from Gypsygirl today - and what a lovely bunch of goodies!

From MoreMadHowls

Lots of chocolates - including chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, which will pass as protein on my diet list. Yummy valentine-red yarns, heart-shaped ice cube tray (which, weirdly enough, is perfect for my overcrowded freezer), a gorgeous candle (in case I can't afford to pay the light bills anymore, heh), chocolate liqueur, silly putty, and that wonderful book on Orenberg shawls that I've been eyeing but didn't have! I've been lusting after it for quite some time, so I'm really, really happy to have gotten that one in my package! Gypsygirl has been a great swap partner over the last year - I consider myself very lucky to have gotten paired up with her on Rav last Valentine's Day! We're close enough in age and life experiences where we can grouse about things, and sympathize, and warn each other about which yarn folks to stay away from.

Anyway, here are more photos of what I got from GG:

I want to thank Gypsygirl for the great prezzies, and another fun Valentine's Day!

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March 7 is for Bikers

I'm knitting a version of March is for Bikers from Hank's Yarn. I saw the picture, and really liked the design; it's great for bicyclists (which I am when there's less ice on the ground than we currently seem to be having), or anytime you want a collar rather than a scarf.


Nice looking pattern, I thought. Looks nice with the hand-painted yarn. So I ordered a bit of dk from Yarni Girl on Etsy - Soothing Blue Violet:

I thought this would be a nice yarn - and it is! I would certainly purchase from her again. And in spite of the way the yarn looks in a ball, even my friend-who-hates-multicolor-things thought the effect, once knitted, was nice and didn't offend his monochromatic sensibilities very much.

So, excited to use this pretty new yarn on something that would be much quicker than a scarf on #4 needles, I cast on. I knitted 4 rows of moss st. Then I started the pattern rows. For any of this to make sense, fellow knitters, you must understand that there is k2-p2 ribbing at the center back, so when I talk about halves of the collar I'm referring to the sections on either side of the ribbing. Row 1 was not the same on both sides, and I'm not referring to the buttonhole; so when you get to the row where you cable the slip sts for that crossed st look, one side had doubles and the other singles on the slipped sts. And then, when I got to Row 7, I couldn't get the stitch numbers to add up to what they should have been.

My first thought was, I screwed up. So I frogged, cast on and tried again; stuck on Row 7, with some weirdness still happening in Rows 1-3, I went to the projects on Ravelry and read up on what other folks had done. I wasn't the only one to encounter this difficulty, apparently. But I wanted to make this pattern out of this yarn. I was not to be deterred.

First step (for me - I'm studip) was to chart out the pattern as written - done. Then I compared the chart with the two halves - one which seemed to be working the way intended, and one which definitely was doing something weird. I modified the chart to match the effect I desired, and corrected the strange first row to make it consistent all the way across - done. However, the chart was two pages of graph paper - so I translated it back into written instructions for brevity.

I frogged the second try, and cast on using my instructions. I found a section where they didn't seem to work, so I made changes as I knitted and wrote up corrections. The pattern calls for three repeats of the st pattern, so I'll get to test knit my instructions three more times (my memory isn't good enough to remember 10 rows of 82 sts, so I will indeed be following my own instructions).

I'm sure it sounds as if I'm attacking the designer - and I'm not. It's a free pattern, after all. I suspect that some of the difficulties may simply have been cut and paste errors. Since it's a collar and not a sweater, the problems were easy enough for me to work out; if I'd trusted myself more, I would have done this after the first attempt, when things didn't make sense. I am posting this on the chance that some other knitter is going nuts trying to figure out what they are doing wrong.

Anyway, I am liking the way it's coming out for me - crappy photos below tell the story.






If anyone else working on this pattern is having difficulties and likes the way my version turns out, let me know and I'll send you my corrected rows once I've finished knitting the design. I really like the design, and plan to knit up a couple more. Hopefully I can get some photos that are not so overexposed (it's a digital camera, how does it do this?).

Xmas Gifties

I did receive a couple of excellent holiday gifts to please the knitter in me.

My swap buddy GypsyGirl sent me some lovely, lace-weight merino in a delightful brick-ish red:


She also sent me a lovely pattern to go with the yarn, so I won't have to try and decide which lace project to use it on. That's actually a painful process, leading to lots of lace yarn not being knitted up. She sent me other knitterly delights including a black sheep - I want to thank her for the lovely holiday package!

And my friend Anton, now that he's beginning to appreciate what knitting is about, picked up a couple of things at ye local yarne shoppe for me. One was some of the softest cotton I've ever handled in my life - it was love at first touch!

And some silky Malabrigo; I'm going to knit up a pair of Susan Pandorf's mitts with it:


Finally, we always have crackers at Christmas - the things you pull apart that go 'bang' and have a paper crown, a prize, and a bad joke within. I received a knitting joke en francais:

Patricia: Savais-tu que ca prend 3 moutons pour faire un cardigan?

Emilie: Je ne savais meme pas qu'ils pouvaient tricoter.

Heh, heh.

And You Thought I'd Given Up on This!

Nay, not I, sirs and mesdames! Still knitting, still blogging.

I've been writing the last few months, but less and less for the blogs. However, I'm going to attempt to blog more regularly (every 10 days or so), just to keep in blogging mode.

I'm almost finished with my second booty - I was distracted with canning, and hanging out with friends and poets, when I was first laid off, so the second booty was a long time in coming. And then, after I started it, I had to put it down for holiday knitting. Crap, I just realized I didn't take a photo of one of my knitted Xmas gifts. Well, it was just a garter st scarf out of a nice art-type yarn, about 800 ft long (a wee exaggeration, okay?). You'll just have to believe me on this one.

I also started my first "Hemlock Ring Blanket", the legendary project launched by Jared Flood. If you join the Yahoo! group, you'll find a very clear pdf of the destructions. Some folks have had difficulty following it, but I found it clear and easy to use. I've had no trouble with it, and I'm glad I let braver, younger souls knit it up and work out the bugs, kinks, and other difficulties. (The group is free - join up if you want to knit this project!) Anyway, I'm 20 rounds away from the short version still, but I'm hoping mayhap by next weekend it will be done. If I can bear the way it looks when it's blocked, it will be an Xmas gift. I'm using a chocolate-colored version of Cascade Yarns eco-wool - I do love the color. I hope my knitting will do it justice! Knitting lace in such a huge gauge makes me nervous; I'm used to that super fine stuff.

I also am knitting up another set of "Gorilla My Dreams" wristwarmers for a friend and former coworker. She liked the pair I made myself, but said she'd prefer browns, greys, etc. So I found some PEP print in those colors, and purchased it to make her a set. In the process of knitting them up, I posted an entry on my non-knitting blog about the special handmade gifts I was giving folks this year, namely taxidermy gone bad. That was a joke - but I realized that the wrist warmers I was knitting up looked like dead kittens, so I'll be giving at least one bad taxidermy-ish gift this holiday season. See, I'm not a liar after all!

I also started two versions of the Manly Lace scarf, one in a sock yarn from KnitPicks, and one in some old Sirdar dk I had laying around. I'm hoping that, when these are finished, that the men I give them to won't think I'm giving them something less than manly. It is a fun pattern to knit up, though, easy to remember and looks lovely. The first photo captures the colorway (knitpicks yarn) fairly accurately; the second photo shows up the pattern; dear readers, you can let me know if it's manly lace or not.

I began a lovely set of wrist warmers from Spincycle made from their BFL - and it's a lovely, silky BFL that they're using. A gorgeous color, too. Not cheap, but so incredibly pleasurable to knit up! I should have added it to my stash, but I'm embarrased to be knitting up new yarns when I've a century and half worth of stash. In fact, embarrasing to admit, of all the things I've been working on recently, only the Fidget and the Sirdar Manly Lace are from yarn that I've had for more than six months. (The photo doesn't capture the vibrancy of the yarn; the close-up made them brighter, but also faded the richness of the colors.)

I also whipped up a pair of wrist warmers last night from a ball of "Jolt" merino boucle I purchased from Pancake and Lulu on Etsy. The colors are gorgeous - it was a dream to knit up, a lovely, jewel-toned, squishy dream come true. There was very little of it - silly me, I only purchased one ball - so I cast on 15 sts, knitted to 5.5 inches, and then did the same with the other end of the yarn. I ended up getting 6.5 inches, enough to sew up, leave a thumb hole opening, and have me a couple of quickie warmers. I'll provide the details in my next posting; I haven't sewn up the sides (I need to mark where the thumb opening will be). I'm hoping these will work for playing the piano at a friend's house; he keeps his place a bit cooler than I keep mine, and I'd like something super basic that will cover the hands without annoying the fingers one bit. If I'm successful, I'll let you know.



I'll be knitting up a swatch over the next couple of days - I found a nifty men's scarf in Nordstrom recently, nice design idea but super simple knitting (it would be a good project for a beginner - you get a switch up in pattern so you're not knitting five or six entire feet of garter st or stocking st or rib st). If the yarn works, I'll start knitting up and post the details, for anyone else who wants to duplicate an expensive scarf. Wish I could remember the designer's name on the label, but I don't. Apologies.

Once the throw is done, I'll be taking up the Saigon lace again. I'd like to get that finished. It's not that difficult, but the beads do take up time (always with the beads!).

Finally, I taught my friend Anton to knit. He rather pooh-poohed knitting as something not challenging until he spotted my lace charts. Being a mathematician, the idea of knitting being able to be charted, graphed, got him all kinds of excited. He knows the difference between Z twists and S twists, warp and weft knitting, he's charted his first chart using Mathematica, and last Saturday he came over, worked on his long-tail cast one, and worked a few rows of garter stitch. My first pupil* - and his knitting actually looked like knitting!

*(Okay, he's my second pupil if you count a woman I helped out at a writing workshop - she was having some sort of serious selvedge issue, I couldn't tell what she was doing wrong, but I suggested that she slip the first stitch of each row and that fixed it for her.)

Here's to more blogging and more knitting in 2009!

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Long Time No Scribble

That's not quite true, you know. I was laid off last month and, in anticipation of that momentous event, I began a blog about my unemployed life. Now you might think that, being unemployed, I'd be doing even more knitting. But that's not quite true. All the things I didn't have time to do when I was working full time caught up with me, you know, like friends, and other writing projects. In addition to which it's been fairly warm here, too warm to want to handle nice yarns and cover them with sweat. So I haven't been doing much knitting - until this weekend.

In the midst of a heatwave, a friend offered me safe haven in their cool and mostly shaded home, and I took it. I've been knitting to episodes of Star Trek TOS, since the connexion here in the Bat Cave, as I call it, beats the hell out of my dial-up at home. I'm still (still!) working on the wool-bamboo scarf. It doesn't seem to matter how long or short I think it should be, I never seem to make enough progress on it. Oh well, I'll have something to knit to and from my trips to the grocery store for the next five years, I guess.

I'm starting a second Fidget for another friend, even though I haven't blocked the first one yet.

And I frogged the drop-stitch scarf pattern that I was knitting up in Blue Heron's Beaded Wool. I wanted a pattern that would allow for better fondling of the yarn's unusual squishy texture. So I decided to go with ye olde wavye gravye again - but I think it will be nice. The pattern has easy shaping so that I'm not just knitting straight ol' garter stitch, but the fact that it's garter stitch will mean that there's nothing to compete with the yarn's gorgeous texture and colors.

And my final knitting announcement for now is that I finished my first sock! I admit, it's not exactly stunning, but it has all the basic things that a sock needs, and it doesn't look like it was knitted for some space mutant. I consider that a major victory (let's not discuss my first venture into sox 25 years ago, please). I ordered the Tsock Tsarina's Sock 101 kit, and I have to say, it was great with everything except the Kitchener stitch (where I simply gave up and went to YouTube and used the knitwitch's video). I'm sure the written Kitchener stitch directions make sense to some, but not to this kid. All that remains to be seen is if I can get through the second sock...and then on to the next pair.