Life's a Stitch

Mad As Hell…

$1000 worth of damage on my car, after being kicked in by a teenage boy with a problem. My son was laughing with a friend at MacDonald’s because his friend had ice cream all over his face. A swarm of kids outside of MacD’s saw them through the window and thought they were the target of the laughter. My guys leave MacD’s and were swarmed by the outside guys. Luckily DH drove up and the boys bolted for the car. The swarm followed and kicked in the rear quarter panel. DH chased them all the way home! Of course nobody would answer the door, so DH called the police. Nobody would answer the door for the police. Go figure. DH was mad the police didn’t shout “POLICE!” like on TV. Cop ended up leaving saying that he’s going on days off but maybe he’d pursue it when he got back as he recollects the police have been to that house repeatedly. IN BC you don’t have the option of pressing charges. It all goes to Crown for a decision. Plus young offenders have a multitude of rights that victims don’t. This is a minor infraction compared to what they can get away with. I will leave you with this abbreviated rant.

This is when I need a variation From Nemo:
You know what you gotta do when life gets you down?
Just keep knitting, just keep knitting,
Just keep knitting, knitting, knitting
What do we do we knit, knit, knit
OH HO HO How I love to knit…

The colours are a bit brighter than they really are, but here is my poncho in progress.

I learned how to crochet ruffles at knit night and will ruffle the bottom instead of fringe. Stay tuned.

Noro Silk Garden and Foundations

What does Noro Silk Garden have to do with our house’s foundation? Here is a glimpse of how I think. Or rationalize spending money. When we bought our house it was considered a teardown. It is expensive to demolish a house and start over. Being from a career that involves a bit of a rescuer mentality (we’ve also have had a rescue dog and bird in our lives), I knew I was meant for that house. I would save it from demolition and live in it. An inspector, who was undoubtedly influenced by my sheer desire for that house, declared it structurally sound. A few years later, after more than budgeted renovations, we were clearing the brush from around the house and discovered a significant gap between the foundation and the ground. Making a long story short, it requires a significant repair. I know after that after the repair things will be tight so there’s an excuse to buy some Noro Silk Garden now. Besides it feels so good to buy something when I’m feeling down about something. It’s destined to be a “Very Harlot Poncho.”

The Frog Queen

I fear I am turning into a frog queen. How do you make the decision to fix or frog? If you are making a shawl that has 20,000 stitches do you go back and fix one stitch ten rows back? I’m not talking about the dropped stitch that ladders all the way to the bottom, but something like an accidental knit two together that doesn’t really have an impact on the design. Or a dropped stitch on a finished pair of socks that could be reincorporated by cheating with a needle and some well-matched sewing thread? I try to tell myself that nobody will notice, but then think about running into an expert like Wendy, and being sure she’ll notice that stitch underneath my sleeve.

Knitting is supposed to be relaxing and I’m trying to convince myself that I need to let some of this stuff go or I’ll drive myself round the bend. My husband used to own three stained glass studios where he taught classes. I took the class and married the teacher. His conflicting messages to students were: “accuracy is the single most important aspect in glass work” and “the artist is his own worst critic.” Balance, it’s all about balance. I have found a little mistake in a current project and I am going to leave it there and not let it bother me. It will not bother me. I think it will not bother me. I hope it …..

Thanks to Stephanie for ROAKing me with a sheet of labels printed with my blog address! I'm always writing it down on little corners of scrap paper.

No pictures of a blocking rippling waters scarf. I had to put it down for a while. So, here's Gracee, bothered by nothing:

The close up:

I am an acne pimple

“I am an acne pimple, lonely as can be.”
“Don’t cry pimple, I’ll bring you company”
“Hey fellow pimples, would three be a crowd?”
“All together pimples, sing real loud…
Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah…”

That was a Clearasil commercial from my teens. I have worse acne now than I ever had at 13. My 14 year old son and I are keeping Clearasil in business. When is this stuff going to stop?

Speaking of things that are obvious and at times, annoying. What do you do about self-striping wool? If you knit some sweater patterns, the stripes on the arms are much wider than the stripes on the body. If you knit a triangular piece, the stripes at the bottom aren’t stripes any longer – they are rows of colour. I am planning a shawl of self striping yarn and have decided to use several balls at once as it gets obvious, matching the colours to form thicker stripes. This is different from the pooling you can get with hand painted yarn because you have to match the colours to get the striped effect. I don’t think it would bother me in sleeves, but it does on the main body. Someone’s got to think about these things.

I had to think about these things when knitting my first fair isle sweater. I had two teachers for that course, one who likes things to match perfectly, and one who was an anything goes person. That was an interesting combination. I found after awhile I would think through my questions and go to the one whose answer I wanted to hear.
Here is the finished product. Notice, I went with the anything goes teacher for colour questions; the sleeves are not mirror images and I decided my colours as I knitted. I went to the other one for technique advice. The best of both worlds.

It's easier if you have the right tools

True for knitting as anything else. I love the tools of knitting. Among my favourites re my digital scale (so I never have to guess about how much yarn I have left) and my newly acquired yarn winder.

My daughter’s boyfriend gave me a generous gift certificate for Joann for a recent special big birthday. Timed with 40% off coupons or free shipping I turned it into a magazine, the Knit Stitch book, the Purl Stitch book, Chibi bent darning needles, a shadow box frame and the above mentioned yarn winder. Thank you, Mitch! Recently I sprang for the swift and am anxiously awaiting its delivery.

A most important tool for blogging is the digital camera. Mine is a Sony from way-back-when when digitals didn’t come with a viewfinder, just the screen that is difficult to see in bright settings. Went to an electronics store yesterday that had an updated Sony (optical zoom) with a reasonable sale price. It bugged me that you couldn’t look through the viewfinder without leaving nose prints on the screen. I'm still contemplating the purchase. You'll know it happened when the quality of my pictures takes a leap forward.

Mortgage the house yarn

Occasionally I buy some mortgage the house yarn – the kind that is above the regular budget, but irresistible. The kind you buy with birthday money. I consider La Boheme or Touch Me in that category. I know there’s worse but I don’t dare buy them. What’s one step worse than knitting with m-t-h yarn? Frogging a completed object made with it. I did just that today:

I had bought some LaBoheme to make a shawl. A quarter way through I decided it was looking like a baby blanket and turned the shawl into a scarf. It was knit lengthwise on large needles and had lots of give. I wore it for the first time today and it drove me crazy. So-o-o long, I couldn’t sit on the toilet without holding it up for fear of sending the fringe on an unsanitary swim. Without thinking twice it’s back into three fuzzy balls waiting for a re-work; something wider and shorter. I just couldn’t stand spending that much on something I wouldn’t wear.

I rec'd a comment from Dani that she wants to ROAK me. I hadn't signed up properly on the ROAK database and she needed further info. Just getting the message was a ROAK. Thanks, Dani.

Gracee's been groomed:

Change of seasons

Besides the start of incessant rain there are other ways to tell fall is here in BC. Without many deciduous trees we don’t get the spectacular colour I was used to, being brought up ion the East Coast.

There is a river about five blocks from our house. You can’t see it because it is situated in the forest. Around the last week in September you can see the mist rising from between the trees. It looks like curls of white smoke; a sure sign of autumn. Another hint is that the ornamental grasses are in full bloom. I have a purple thumb, so my garden is nothing to write home about, but my grasses are easy and reliable.

And some time in October, the mountains called the Lions, which are situated on the North Shore and guard Vancouver, get their first snow. One year we decided to investigate this frosting of snow and upon arriving at the top of the mountain, found it was actually two feet deep.

I’m knitting a fall scarf out of Mountain Colors Bearfoot. I misplaced the label so I can ‘t tell you the official name, but it might be Indian Corn, perfect for the season:

A giggle of girls

Every morning just before 8:00 a group of girls walks past our house on their way to school. I figure they are about 14 years old, you can tell by their giggling. The sound makes me happy. I remember being that age, sitting with my friends under a tree playing cards all day listening to records on a portable record player that was covered with orange and pink psychedelic flowers. Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Monkees, the Turtles; oops, I date myself. I bet we sounded like those girls. It was like a scene from the movie Now and Then. We all had our more serious life troubles but the times under that tree provided balance to our lives. Hmmmm…sounds like a knitting group I know. Looking for a “w” word for a good alliteration describing a group of women. A Wisdom of Women, a Waggle of Women, A Wonder of Women, A Wither of Women (that sounds terrible, but sometimes I feel that way).

One of those days

Woke up to a house without power yesterday and no diet coke. Poor me. Why, when the power is out do you do things without thinking? I went to my computer thinking since I can’t do laundry I’d spend some time reading blogs. After 3 ½ hours the power came back on and my computer appears to be fried. Thanks goodness we have a spare.

While the lights were out…I attempted to knit. I’ve frogged all my progress from today. Note to self – do not knit without proper lighting. The knitting was interesting. It was the Ripple Scarf in its last phase – the bottom edging. In the beginning you knit a five inch edging in one direction. When it was done, you turn it and pick up stitches for the rest of the scarf.

Still with me? After the body of the scarf is done these are the directions: “The second lace edging is knit sideways to the body and knitted together with the live stitches on the needle on odd-numbered rows.” Sounds like a strange process, but it works if the lighting is good. This Fiddlesticks pattern, designed by Dorothy Siemens, is so clearly written. It’s a pleasure. So here is where I am:

Actually I’m not really there, this was before the frogging. Those stitches were so live, they kept jumping off the needle. I’m almost here and quite ready to have this project over with. When I feel that way I invite mistakes. Hope to have a blocking photo by the end of the week.

Little Red Nipples

One of my favourite knitting tools are my rubber needle end tips. They are known in my house as my little red nipples. Trouble is Ms. Gracee likes them as well and we find them in the yard after they have been “recycled.” Today I went to my LYS and bought new ones and they’ve changed the colour. Little yellow nipples don’t have the same impact.

At my LYS they have a deal where you can purchase a lifetime membership for $65 allowing you to come knit any time they’re open and receive unlimited coaching. Unfortunately the only time I can make it is the one evening they are open and Saturdays. It’s a pretty good deal and you can use yarn not purchased at their shop. They’re smart figuring you will buy something there eventually. My other LYS has changed their knit night policy. Used to be you could knit one evening per week for free as long as you were using yarn purchased at their store. This is a bookstore that put in a few bookshelves of yarn so the selection is slim. They have just introduced a new scheme – pay $60 for six visits to be used during a set period of time (you don’t have to use their yarn). For now I’m on a limited budget with two kids away at college. So here’s the choice: a lifetime of knitting for $65 or $10 per visit. Wonder which one works for me?

TaDa - it's finished. I really liked the way it turned out, especially the corked straps. I added some eyelash yarn to the top rim to make it a little more interesting: