JenLa

December 7, 1941: A Date Which Will Live In Infamy
Remember and Honor

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Yes. Ok. I admit it. I caved to my mom’s request for a hand-knit scarf for my dad. My dad has rarely asked me for anything, and has given me everything within his power/budget/ethics he could. Really, does this man deserve anything less? So, now it’s crunch-time. Because we’re actually celebrating on December, 23rd, I have a little over a week in which to knit it, block it, dry it and wrpa it. At least I’m done with the charting, which seems to be the hardest part. Well for me at least.

Unfortunately, my original yarn of choice left much to be desired. I wanted to hand-dye the yarn (to make it extra-special) and had some worsted weight in my stash reserved just for such an occassion.

Unfortunately, come to find out after the fact, there’s a lot of vegetable matter in it, which I’m sure you all can see. And I don’t mean the occasional a piece of barnyard flarn attached that’s easy to pick out. No. I’m talking as-if-it-were-spun-in-and-thoroughly-embedded-in-every-inch-of-it hay and grass and TWIGS, twigs for kreist sake! Yeah, not so comfortable on a tender 81 year old neck. Nope, this stuff is going back into the stash either awaiting that perfect rugged out-doorsy rug/doormat/saddle blanket knit (of which I have SO MUCH need /sarcasm), or when I get tired of it taking up so much room, find a magical way of removing it from my stash. Maybe I’ll use it for some Lilypads. Dunno. All I know is that it’s not going to be knit into nice cables to be wrapped around my dad’s neck.

I had almost resigned myself to hitting Stitches In Time on the way home tonight (yarn shopping, oh. darn) when I decided to do a little stash-diving. And lookie what I found!

That there is close to 500 yards of soft silky, wooly & cashmere-y heaven, in a similar shade of blue! Kismet! I plan on knitting this most of the weekend. The pattern is relatively engaging, well, as far as I can tell with my test-knit-on-shit-yarn trial. So it should be doubly enjoyable with yarn I actually like. We’ll see. I’m just thrilled that I’m able to kill 3 birds with 1 stone: a) Make something special for my dad for Christmas; b) Reduce my stash a little, thus making room for new stash enhancements; and c) Suss out a cable pattern I’ve been obsessed with since the first time I ever saw it, a couple months ago, on a borrowed DVD.

Shameless Pimpin’

Remember this post, and that adorable picture of Jen’s vision of Mochimochiland? Well it was good enough to get her named as a finalist! But now she needs our help. See, she can’t win unless we vote for her, and she really REALLY deserves to win. So go on over to Mochimochiland and vote by clicking the box above the picture for Jenifleur’s Mochimochiland Scene. Vote early. Vote often (not really, you can only vote once, so make it count!). But most importantly…VOTE NOW!

You signed up on June 7, 2007
You are #7563 on the list.
1850 people are ahead of you in line.
9514 people are behind you in line.
32% of the list has been invited so far

Okay, so fess up, who are the 1,850 people I gotta kill or otherwise make disappear without a trace in order to get into Ravelry right now?

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There are a couple of good things about the DH having to work all weekend to meet the end-of-quarter deadlines. First, there’s the overtime pay! Hello Denver yarn! But secondly, (and in my eyes more importantly) I have 2 whole days to do what I want, when I want, and how I want and it’s on MY timetable without interruption and multitudes dumb questions of the day.

Saturday was a wash, as I spent most of the day catching up on the errands I’ve ignored due to Rometard stuff. I never DID get to the nail place and get my well-deserved, well intentioned pedicure. By the time I was done running around I was so hot and tired and cranky that if I had to make even one more stop I was gonna shoot someone. Besides, I could think of worse things than having toenails to rival Howard Hughes. Like missing out on naptime.

But Sunday…ahhh Sunday!…was spent in most knitterly persuits. Between watching Tivo’d episodes of all my favorite geek shows, I caught bits and pieces of the Braves v. Pirates game. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am NOT a sports fan. In fact, I’m the exact opposite…I’m an antifan, but especially watching sport on TV? OMG, I’d rather knit with Red Heart and Fun Fur, doubled, on size 50 plastic needles.

So what was so special about this particular game? The GA girls were there for Stitch n Pitch. Whenever I flipped over to TBS, I kept scanning the stands to see if I could see them, but you know how that goes. Needle + Haystack…well, you do the math. But knitting progress was finally had!

I started another pair of toe-up, not garterstitch-in-the-round Roman socks, and was able to work through both toes. I’ll do the foot in straight stockinette, an encroachment heel, the leg will be based on the Gentleman’s Fancy Sock, 1901 pattern from Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks, and a 2″ cuff of straight stockinette so it will roll.

I’m also close to completing a secret knitting project that, if goes well, will be revealed in the near to not-so-distant future. I also made some progress on Faina:

Chart C, baybee!

Row 389 of 422 to be exact. Yeah, I’m on the home stretch! Oh, and even though the camera is approaching major suckage, I deliberately made the picture fuzzy. I felt a little guilty posting a picture of a published chart, even if it was just one of several, and I’m sure it wouldn’t be all that difficult to figure out the chart if someone really wanted to, but I know our readers are all upstanding, copyright-abiding knitters, aren’t ya? You wouldn’t do such a thing! Well, cuz if you would, I’ve still got some super-long aluminum needles I saved for just such an occasion. Not following? Well, think “vampire” and “wooden stake”.

So, I’ve got several projects in the queue (under “On Deck”) just raring to go, but which one to do next?

Eris?

I’ve had the yarn since SAFF last year, and the pattern even longer still. I really REALLY wanna knit this in time just in case I pigs start flying and I CAN go to SAFF this year.

or

Central Park Hoodie?

I’m seriously craving me some cables. But I promised Andria that I’d wait for her to be ready to cast on before I started so, along with Jen we could knit it together

Morning Glories Stole?

I look at Jen’s progress and I really REALLY want to start mine, because it’s pretty, and it would be for me. But I just got done with an intricate lace scarf, do I really want to start another, bigger lace project?

Baby Blanket Design for Nanyte

I’m still not quite sure what sort of design I want to do with this, but it’ll be either cables or lace…or maybe even cables AND lace. I’m also not sold on the yarn I want to use. I could probably get away with just the blue and save the green for something else. I’ve got several different ideas, and I’m just not sure which one I want to go with. But just thinking about it gets my creativity working again!

Or should I just suck it up, be a responsible knitter and pull the Forest Path Stole out of time out?

Which would you want to do? And then, which would you ACTUALLY do?

(here’s where I’d insert a handy little poll, but our bloghost is hosing us again, so I can’t. Bastards. At least our comments are still working…for now)

I’ll just be under the bed if anyone need me, mkay?

Thank you, everyone, for you thoughtful words of encouragement and comfort regarding Sassy. Let me tell ya, today I’m feeling a million times the fool for getting all worked up and weepy and melodramatic over something that’s not surprising in a cat Sassy’s age. In my defense, she was exhibiting the same behavior Momoze did when it came to the end for him. Can I just say that it totally sucks when refusing food could mean either “Bleh, that tastes like ass” or “Oooo… Its the Big One… You hear that Elizabeth… I’m comin’ to you” or anywhere in between. The exact minute I knew Sassy was going to rally? Sunday morning: 8:11 am when I awoke to her black little velvety nose pressed to mine and her insistently meowed demand for her breakfast. BTW? Cat breath? NOT the first thing you wanna smell in the morning.

So, Sassy’s more like her old self again, with a few exceptions: a new feathers-on-a-stick batting toy (she plays more with the “holding” end more than the feathered end, figures); 2 new water dishes, and a cabinet devoid of Temptations, her favorite treats. Now I’m on the look-out for some sort of low-protein, great tasting kitty treat. Something tells me you all are gonna say, “Yeah, good luck with that!” Somehow I think that’s some elusive, mythical entity, but if any of you actually KNOW of any, sound off please. This contrary, cranky, cantankerous cat LIVES for her morning ration (2) of treats. Well, that and her jungle kitty sessions (which includes an all-you-can-eat salad bar) out in the front courtyard.

I’m feeling better Ma, thanks! Now tell the dog to get his nose outta my ass!
(skimmers, pay no attention to the content behind the jump … )

And here I bet you thought last week was it, huh? Wrong!

Another Effed-Oh!
Stats: Felted Roman Socks aka Udones
Pattern: Plain toe-up (Turkish cast-on) in garter stitch; 60% heel
Yarn: 4 (KFYS) Balls [50gm/231 yds. each] Knitpicks Palette in Nutmeg; Doubled

Needles: US Size 4 [3.50 mm] bamboo DPN

Today’s Lesson
Felting is Forgiving

What’s wrong with this picture?

Because of the perspective (read shitty photo skillz) it’s difficult to tell, but if you guessed that the sock on the right is at least 10% bigger than the other one, you’re right! I took careful notes when knitting the first one, and followed those notes to the letter for the second. That leaves just one possibility: Tension. Basically, my attitude towards these socks came out in my knitting, meaning Meh, boring-squared… WONDERFUL!

You will also notice that there are the heel-turn-meets-instep holes that usually drive me absolutely batshit, so much so that if and when they appear, you can usually find me tugging on the stitches around it to make it disappear. Yup, the felting took care of that too!

Actually, because the yarn was doubled and I was knitting them on size 4s instead of size 1s they did knit up MUCH quicker than the last pair. But all in all it was still a slog, and I’ll be taking a slight break from garterstitch udones just so I don’t get totally burned out and end up hating thus swearing off them forever (like I did mohair, for which I’m about to get served a meal of my own words with a side of crow…).

Pre-felted sock; sandal (btw which I LOVE) included for scale

Today’s Alternate Lesson:
Cheap & Shitty does not easy felting make…

Yeah, it took 2.5 trips through the washer to get these puppies to felt down to the correct size. I had initially intended to hand-felt them, but after 15 minutes of working with them with nothing to show for it except steam-reddened, cramped hands and 2 very wet, soapy socks I said screw this, and chucked them into the washer. BTW, all the .5 in the 2.5 trips just means I sent the over-sized sock through a third time. Just another screaming example of “you get what you pay for”. You’d have thought I’d learn that one by now!

Even after all this whining and complaining I am quite happy with the way the finished product looks, and so was the recipient. The toe-up in Turkish and Magic Cast-ons are soon becoming my favorite Bitchener Stitch avoidance technique, and makes perfect sense when you’re making socks with a rolled cuff. I LOVE how the 60% heel, when felted, becomes more of a heel cup, which works out great for guys who will be sporting these in the oh-so-fashionable socks-and-sandals-with short skirts look, especially when the sandals or calcei are hand-made out of leather and whose soles are embedded with hobnails, giving added protection against wear and tear due to rigorous marching and hiking that would shred average hand-knit socks.

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In celebration of the success of my first ever felted socks, I went out and bought several sets of these little beauties…and you should too. At those prices (she should easily be charging more), how could you pass them up? AND they’re hand-crafted by Sarkasmo. Well, what are you waiting for?

Nuppin’ from nuppin’ leaves nuppin’…

So, can you tell I’ve had a complete change of heart regarding Nupp Wrestling? Not so much with the nupp hate anymore. In fact, quite the opposite! I think I can almost say I’m lovin’ me some nupps! Okay, maybe “loving” is a little strong, but “really not hating them so much anymore, and actually I’m kinda liking them enough to stop calling them yarn boogers” just takes WAY too long to say.

So, what’s responsible for this complete 180? 2 little words:

Backwards Knitting

eta: I didn’t make that demo, Lighting Chick did. Also, if you follow the link at “Backwards Knitting” it’ll take you to an excellent video tutorial by The Knit Witch

Yup, not only is it an entrelacquer’s (Not a word? It is now. How would YOU spell it?) secret weapon, it’s an Estonian lace knitter’s best friend. In fact, my purl/wrong side tension is so much more even with the knit/right side than it ever was when I was turning to knit. Because I knit strictly continental it’s still a little slow-going, but I’m getting the hang of it and I’m sure my speed will pick up as I go. And not having to stand on my head and dislocate my shoulder, repeatedly stab and cuss at my knitting just to be able to purl 5 together is so worth the trade-off of speed, you can’t begin to imagine my relief!

Now don’t get me wrong, my favorite pattern of the FPS is still the Fern lace units, but the Lily of the Valley is now a close second. But BIrTCH Leaves is still the red-headed stepchild of this stole, I’m afraid. There’s no getting around that. No pictures of the Franken Lace tho. I’m in the middle of a tier so even if I DID feel like taking pictures, it wouldn’t be much to look at, just a glob of yarn on circular needles.

So, I’ve started a new TV watching project: This Felted Pi Kitty Bed using…

…doubled, knitted on size 13s. I WAS planning on going out and getting a set of size 13 dpns until Pacalaga made a very good point: Unless there’s a migration of vampires to SoCal, when will I have ever have need of size 13 dpns again? Well, just once more, but that’s a threat for a different day. But I will say how convenient it was for her to post pictures of her cat. It is also very convenient that said cat’s coloring is similar to this…but that’s ALL I’ll say…Mwahahahaha! Besides, between my Denises and a set of crappy aluminum circulars, I have the required number of size-13 pointy ends. I’m hoping that this project will eat a huge chunk of otherwise-no-long-dersirable yarn, and put me over my 10% so I don’t have to extend my (and Stacey’s) KFYS challenge.

*Did you guess that today’s caption came from this?