Off jumps jack...

Learning to Knit (Late February 2003)

2012-01-10T16:53:00.004-05:00

Five days after the fire, Sam and I return to our apartment to begin the process of sorting. We had envisioned sorting through ashes, but what we encounter is the apartment that we evacuated last Sunday. The walls are there, the floors, the photos, the rugs, the books, the sofa, the computer, the TV, the potatoes on the stove, the kale in the sink. We tell ourselves we are lucky, that everything is intact. Then it becomes clear that everything is covered in that thick black film of smoke residue, a residue that permeates, a residue that doesn’t come off with dusting or washing or scouring or three cycles at the laundromat. We tell ourselves we are lucky, that our family is intact, and the rest is just stuff. The process of sorting turns into the process of dumping.

Once my possessions are depersonalized into stuff, the dumping process is alarmingly easy. I am ruthless: hardcover books are saved; paperbacks, unless they are school books, are dumped. The dining room table and my bed frame are saved; the IKEA sofas are dumped. Photographs, some framed, some in albums, most shoved haphazardly into kitchen drawers – saved. The massive collection of record albums I have been hanging onto without a turntable to play them on – dumped. The closets are swept of every article of clothing except two leather jackets, my wedding dress, and a blue sequined number that belonged to my mother. Everything else goes in big black garbage bags with the uncooked kale and the semi-boiled potatoes from Sunday supper.

I am zipping along, almost exhilarated, when I come to my yarn. Bags and Bags of soft wooly string, collected over nearly twenty years of knitting. For me, knitting is more than a hobby – it is my comfort, my bubble bath, my martini, my escape. I feel an enormous sense of satisfaction in taking two pointy sticks and those balls of soft wooly string and tangling up something tangible. As I toss out my yarn stash, the thick black film of smoke residue embedded in the soft wooly string, I forget about how lucky I am, and I weep selfishly over my stuff.

* * *

When people approach me while I’m knitting in public, they sometimes ask, “Why do you knit?” My stock answer: “What else would I do with these pointy sticks?” More often they approach with a comment: “I could never do that.” I always assure them they can: “If you could learn to read, you can learn to knit.”

Many of my friends who knit have warm fuzzy memories of learning at their mother’s knee, of knitting as an art passed lovingly down through generations. My own mother thought knitting was a colossal waste of time, that perfectly good sweaters were easily obtainable from the sales rack at Lord and Taylor’s. I was thirty-three years old when I finally learned how to knit after several abortive attempts to teach myself from incomprehensible diagrams in books. I signed up for an adult education class at the old Stuyvesant High School on 21^st Street, where my teacher was Mrs. Jacqueline DuPres.

Mrs. DuPres was a tiny, shockingly buxom woman who teetered on 3-inch heels. Warm and fuzzy she was not, but for her day job, Mrs. DuPres taught typing and remedial reading in the NYC public school system, which was part of what made her a perfect knitting teacher. Reading is the purposeful untangling of letters to decipher a pattern; knitting is the purposeful tangling of yarn to make a pattern. For Mrs. DuPres, process was more important than product. The typist in Mrs. DuPres loved the mechanics of knitting. She reminded us again and again that there are only two stitches to master, the knit and the purl, and that once those two stitches are accomplished, they can be combined in an infinite number of ways. In the first classes, Mrs. DuPres scoffed at the magazine patterns we brought to her, hoping to make a recognizable garment. Instead, she had us practice on square after square, ripping them out and starting over again until our stitches were second nature.

In reading, the work moves from left to right; in knitting, from right to left. The knitter starts with a needle full of stitches in the left hand, moves the stitches one by one to the right needle, switches hands and starts again. The needle in the right hand pokes through the front of the stitch on the left hand needle. The yarn is wrapped around the back, coming down between the two needles. The right needle swivels under the left and lifts the stitch up and off. Over and over, Mrs. DuPres recited a rhyme in her nasal singsong, a mantra that runs through my head to this day whenever I pick up my pointy sticks: “In through the front door, sneak around the back, peek through the window, and off jumps Jack.” As the stitches became second nature, knitting became a form of meditation.

Mrs. DuPres taught us to read our knitting, to correct our mistakes. By the end of the course, she allowed us to tackle commercial patterns but actively encouraged us to forget the directions and make up our own. She warned us off scarves, counseling that we would die of boredom before they were ever finished. My first completed, self-designed garment ws a tiny pair of overalls for my tiny son, the beloved baby I gladly fled every Wednesday night to escape to Mrs. Dupres’ class. No pastels for my Charlie – I swaddled him in black yarn shot through with flecks of red, blue and yellow. Sixteen years later, Charlie’s overalls were the one piece of knitting I saved in the aftermath of the fire; I’ve washed them several times but they still smell like they’ve spent the weekend at a Boy Scout jamboree.

* * *

I am lucky to belong to a generous community of people who have rallied around us since the fire. I’ve been offered clothing, food, and shelter, but the most wonderful gift I’ve received is the bag of yarn a woman I barely know left in my office, a woman I barely know but who knits, and who knows what a fellow knitter needs. The other night, when I woke up in a borrowed bed in a borrowed apartment, I retreated to the borrowed sofa with my two pointy sticks and a ball of wooly string. “In through the front door, sneak around the back, peek through the window, and off jumps Jack.” This time, I’m making a scarf. Maybe by the time I finish it I’ll be back home.

Sunday Supper (February 2, 2003)

2012-01-05T15:14:00.012-05:00

Mr. Fliegel, my sixth grade teacher, once told me that you can’t write a story where you put a turkey in the oven without taking the turkey out of the oven before the end of the story. This story starts with Sunday supper. The main course in question is not a turkey, but a potato and kale casserole. It is seven o’clock on the evening of February 2, 2003. Sam Decker is in the kitchen preparing dinner for the family. He is grating cheese on a warped wooden cutting board on the counter next to the stove, where the potatoes are boiling. The kale is washed and in a colander in the sink, ready to go. A buttered white casserole sits next to the cutting board.

It is a Sunday evening like so many others. Sam Decker is in the kitchen; the other Deckers are spread around the seven room apartment. From front to back, from youngest to oldest: Dinah is doing homework in the dining room, her books and papers strewn across the polished table, headphones over her ears. Henry and Charlie are in their bedroom glued to a video game. I am in my bedroom curled up on the beat-up sofa, half of my attention on the files I am reading for work, the other half listening to the television, waiting for the stop watch tick that signals the start of 60 Minutes. The three cats, Judy and Lola and Betty, are lounging on my bed. Somewhere near the front of the apartment, the dogs, Pink and Miss Joan Rosen, bark a “someone is at the door” warning. And Sam’s voice moves down the hall, calm but pitched a notch too high. “OK,” he says, “Everybody get out. There’s a fire.”

We gather shoes and coats and leash the dogs and go out in the hallway. With our neighbors we move towards the stairs. There is smoke coming out of the apartment at the head of the staircase, and the firemen are already there, and they tell us to go back. I am the daughter of a cop; I respect authority. It is not until much later, in the middle of that first night spent on someone’s beat up sofa, that I think about the World Trade Center, about Tower Two, about the people who stayed at their desks while the world collapsed beneath their feet.

So we go back to our apartment. We wander, calm but pitched a notch higher. I try to remember what to do in a fire. It seems silly to crawl, so I wet towels; I wait for the firemen. The fire escape is in the front of the apartment, off Dinah’s room. The smoke is stronger there. The firemen said to stay. I wait for the firemen. I wet more towels. We move the kids and the dogs towards the back of the apartment. I go to the closet for the cat carrier, then remember I gave it away. I can’t find the cats. I wet more towels.

I move to the front of the apartment to block the door. It’s only been five minutes since the firemen told us to go back but the smoke is so thick I can barely see, I can barely breathe. As I stuff my towels under the door I glance up, and the calm leaves me as I see thick black smoke billowing through the walls like fog rolling down a hill. I cannot see, I cannot breathe. I take a lungful of smoke, thick black and viscous as oil slicked water. The calm returns as I realize I have to keep my children alive, keep them from drowning in smoke.

We gather – Sam and me and Charlie and Henry and Dinah and Pink and Joan – in the boys’ bedroom at the very back of the apartment. Sam is on the cell phone. I hear him use the word “trapped.” Dinah is weeping for Betty, her favorite cat. I clutch her hand tightly, afraid she will bolt into the smoke. I am beginning to make choices. I assure her that Judy and Lola and Betty have found a safe spot, that cats are smart, that they will be fine. If I am lying, it is a white lie. To keep calm I have to believe it is the truth.

I herd my children to the window, where there is air but no escape. We are on the sixth floor, the top floor. The only fire escape is in the front of the apartment, drowned in smoke. I glance over my shoulder and see the smoke creeping under the bedroom door. I lean out the window and call for help. There is a crowd below staring at me screaming, and I feel silly. I lock eyes with a fireman on the ground. “Stay where you are,” he calls. His voice is calm. I stop screaming and wait for the firemen.

I have watched news footage of people being evacuated from apartments on fire truck ladders. I have watched with fleeting interest, my main though being “I could never do that.” But the thing is, when the ladder is there, when there is smoke at your back, you do it. When there is smoke at your back, even if you have no respect for authority, you do exactly as you are told. The hard part is making choices, realizing that only one person goes down the ladder at a time. The hard part is deciding who goes first.

Last summer, on vacation, the Deckers devised a system for taking showers when returning sandy from a day at the beach. We went in age order, youngest to oldest, with Dinah going first.

My fireman’s name is Patrick, and his eyes are icy blue and calm. He takes Dinah down the ladder, then Henry, then Charlie. And then it is me and Sam. I am one year and five months older than Sam, and last summer, a thousand summers ago, I always took the last shower. Now, he gently pushes me towards Patrick. “I’m the Dad,” says Sam Decker, and makes me go before him.

Patrick talks to me all the way down the ladder. He grabs one ankle and places it on a rung, then the other. “Don’t look down,” he says. I have no idea how long it takes. I feel silly in my pajamas and heavy coat, shamed in Patrick’s icy calm presence. “I’m sorry my butt’s in your face,” I babble, “it’s not my best angle.” “Don’t look down,” he says, placing one ankle on a rung, then the other.

I join my children on the ground. Dinah had been weeping as she went through the window in Patrick’s arms, but now she is calm. Someone has wrapped her in a blanket, put a cap on her head at a jaunty angle, handed her a Coke. A young girl I have never seen before and will probably never see again hugs me, offers water, a place to sleep. In the days to come I will continue to be awed by simple acts of kindness from strangers.

Dinah is ten, but her eyes are as wide and wondering as a two-year-old as she looks up the ladder at her father, framed in smoke at the window, waiting for Patrick. Charlie and Henry are 16 and 10, respectively. In two years, Charlie will be old enough to fight in a war. If we lived in Louisiana, Henry would be two years away from a learner’s permit. Now, on the ground, staring at their father framed in smoke, these are my babies.

The crowd keeps a respectful distance as my children and I watch Patrick guide Sam down the ladder. I note with inordinate pride that Sam needs no one to grab and place his ankles; he moves swiftly and steadily to join his family on the ground, away from the smoke. Reunited, the Deckers stand at the corner of 181st Street and Fort Washington Avenue, in front of the churchyard, across the street from our burning building. The flames, thankfully, are on the courtyard side; we can’t see them. We watch the smoke billowing from the windows of what I hope we can still call our home.

Patrick does not go back for the dogs; firemen make choices, too. We respect the firemen and watch the smoke billow from Dinah’s room, from the dining room, from the living room, from the kitchen, from the bathroom. Sam tells us that he put Pink and Joan on the bottom bunk of the boys’ bed and told them to stay. He assures us the smoke isn’t so bad in that back bedroom, that they’ll be OK. If he is lying, it is a white lie.

Sam takes the children to a neighbor’s house down the street and comes back to watch the smoke. A fireman I have never seen before, not Patrick, assures us that when he was checking apartments for people he saw our dogs, that they are OK. Do firemen tell white lies? We watch the smoke for three hours, then go to a nearby church where our displaced neighbors have gathered. I have walked by this church countless times since we moved to the neighborhood 11 years ago, but I have never been inside. There are old folks in bathrobes, babies in strollers, dogs without leashes, cats in carriers, a bird in a cage. It is very quiet.

The Red Cross arrives and we register as disaster victims. A Fire Marshall comes in to tell us the situation is under control; Sam goes back for the dogs. I follow a few minutes later and wait for a long time until Sam emerges with Pink and Joan on leash, greasy and stinky but alarmingly perky. Sam has tears on his cheeks. He explains that it took so long because the fireman who took him up helped him find the cats. Lola and Betty didn’t make it, and Judy was nowhere to be seen.

The children are asleep when Sam and I get to the friends down the street who have offered to put us up. I spend the first of many nights on someone else’s couch. In the middle of the night I get up to blow my nose. The tissue is black.

* * *

Question: if you had five minutes to grab what is important to you from what used to be your home, what would you take? I took my wedding album and the files I had been reading for work. Sam, for reasons only he could explain, grabbed a container of deodorant. He was reaching into his closet when he leapt back as if he had been burned. There was an outraged “Meow,” and Judy, who was always the smartest kitty if not the sweetest, emerged from the pile of sweaters she had burrowed herself in. She barely smelled of smoke. As I carried her from the apartment, I stopped in the kitchen for a towel to wrap her in. The cheese sat on a warped wooden cutting board on the counter next to the stove, where the potatoes still sat in the pot. The kale was in a colander in the sink. The buttered white casserole was next to the cutting board. Everything was ready to go, except it was covered by a thick film of black smoke residue.

There you go, Mr. Fliegel – the turkey is out of the oven.

Out of the Blue

2011-09-11T22:54:00.002-04:00

It begins with the bluest sky…I looked up at the sky so many times that day, and each time I was struck by how clear blue it was.

I was working in the Admissions Office at the Ethical Culture School on 63rd Street and Central Park West. It was the Tuesday after Labor Day, the second day of school. Our office was closest to the front door. Even before that morning, we used to blackjoke that when the terrorists came (or a disgruntled parent), we would be the first to go. Within days we would be opening the mail wearing latex gloves. A parent came in and said a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. By the time the second plane hit, when everything changed, there was a line of parents waiting to use our office phones since cell phone service had crashed along with the planes.

We had the most up-to-date student roster and began crosschecking parent work addresses. There was a newly admitted parent working in Tower 2, the single mother of twin boys sitting in Kindergarten classrooms on their second day of school ever. The absurdity of the NYC private school admissions world seeped throughout that morning, before security closed the doors to all but currently enrolled parents, as applicant parents for September 2002 continued to drop off their paperwork, even as the Pentagon was hit, even as a plane was headed for the White House, even as the world was ending.

Mid-morning, the twins’ mother stumbled in to pick up her boys. She had decided spontaneously to play hooky from work that day. There would be so many stories like that: hooky played, alarms that didn’t go off, trains missed. In the end, out of our family roster of 1600, we lost two. A smaller school a few blocks north with a large contingent of Cantor Fitzgerald employees lost 17.

I am grateful for many things about that morning. One is that I had no visuals of what was happening. The other is that I was busy…as much as I complain about work, I am grateful I had a job to do, helping our Principal--fresh from rural Maine, second day on the job--dismiss children to their parents and caregivers. My daughter was in the same building as me; my two boys some distance away at the high school campus in the Bronx. Since I was busy, I didn’t have much time to panic when I heard that all bridges to Manhattan were being sealed off…I was able to reach their father, my husband at the time, on the other side of that bridge in Westchester, and on his way to get them, so at least two sections of the Decker family would be together.

***

While memories of that morning are crystal clear, like that blue sky, they come in fragments. A friend, an investment banker, arriving at school on his bicycle and handing me an envelope with $100 in it “just in case.” He was the first to think about the ATM machines maybe going down.Taking Dinah to the supermarket on the corner to buy snacks, just like it was any typical day after school…except there was the panic buying that precedes any potential disaster in NYC (snowstorm hurricane blackout)…bread and milk and water, milk and water and bread…except there was none of the chattycrabby NYer camaraderie that usually accompanies the panic buy…people were silent as they loaded their carts. I also clearly remember the lights being out in that Gristedes, although I cannot imagine why that would have been.

The only moment of genuine fear: hearing planes fly low overhead. US fighter planes scrambling, I would learn later; but at that moment, peering into the impossibly blue sky, being genuinely afraid.

***

I remember a colleague poised in the doorway, announcing that the subways were open. Grabbing Dinah to head home, without a thought of potential danger on the subways, the only goal to get home without having to walk the 120 blocks with a 9 year old whiny in the best of circumstances. On the subway, that same stunned silence as in the supermarket. And for the first time, the sight of ghostly people covered in a silt of dust and ashes, the detritus of destruction.

On the North end of the city, Sam Decker and the boys had ditched the car at the connecting bridge from the Bronx to Manhattan and started the relatively short two mile walk home. Proving his mettle as a genuine NYer, Henry Decker, the ever resourceful middle child, stepped out in the street with his arm raised and nabbed what was probably the last active yellow cab in the City.

And then we were all home.

***

The images are the part I can’t process. Planes slicing buildings. Buildings collapsing onto themselves. People fleeing a rolling cloud of debris like a Japanese horror movie monster, that impossibly blue sky at the top of the screen. Always, always The Falling Man, bodies littering the sky like big black birds. And the guilt a few days later, driving across the George Washington Bridge from New Jersey, looking downtown and trying to remember exactly in the cityscape where the WTC stood. And I couldn’t picture it. And no matter how many beams of light they throw up in the sky, I still can’t.

***

It’s a matter of perspective. We spent the preceding Summer of 2001 on Prince Edward Island. While it was (and remains) the most physically beautiful place I’ve ever been, we had a hard time cracking the reserve of the Canadians, who seemed impervious to our well-behaved children, our overtures at conversation, our considerable charm. When we went back in the Summer of 2002, the waitress at the oyster dock where we’d eaten without remark several times during our last stay rushed to our table to greet us by name. “Oh, it’s the Deckers from New York City…we were all so worried about you!” I was genuinely puzzled until I realized she was referring to 9/11.

In the days immediately following, we got a hysterical phone call from a friend in California, a frantic e-mail from a friend in Germany. Each time I had to remind myself that it’s a matter of perspective. If you were in Germany, they attacked the U.S. If you were in California, they attacked New York. If you were above 14th Street, they attacked downtown. An East Village friend describes the first plane flying so low that the tree tops rustled in Tompkins Square Park.

I am peripherally attached to three people who died; I attended one funeral. I can’t imagine that there is anyone living in NYC on September 11, 2001 who wasn’t at least peripherally connected to someone who died. I count myself lucky every time I think about it that I didn’t know any of these people well enough to think about what they were thinking about when they were dying.

I’m writing this because a friend not from NYC asked me a couple of weeks ago for my 9/11 story. In fact, when someone finds out you’re from NYC, the question inevitably comes up, 10 years after. Where were you? And I’ve always groped for an answer beyond a nod. Where else would I be?

Sarah's Zigzag Cowl--FO

2009-01-22T10:25:00.004-05:00

Finished for 2009: a requested cowl for DS's girl, from this lovely pattern available for free download on Ravelry. Love that hemmed picot edge. Yarn: Brooks Farm Four Play, size 5 needle.

Stop me before I cowl again (too late; there's another one on the needles).

Wrapping it Up

2008-12-31T10:58:00.003-05:00

A couple of F.O.'s to finish off 2008. First, the Highland Fog, a nice warm cowl hoodie thing, worked in Lyra, a really warm and luxe alpaca, merino and silk blend from Spirit Trail Fiberworks (yarn and pattern available here). Size 7 needles, followed pattern as written but sort of faked my way through the crab stitch crochet edging.

Also done, Am I Blue (The Heartbreak Cowl), based on this lovely pattern by Sandra Park. I modified it for the DK weight Alchemy Silk Purse I used, casting on 99 stitches and using a size 7 needle; could have gone with even fewer stitches since it turned out to be very drapey, more of a wrap and pin rather than a stand-up and hug the neck kind of cowl. Still, it served its purpose; project name is self-explanatory and I don't want to talk about it. Sob.

Simple lace but, as always, markers helped. Notes for placement in pattern...Round 1: Place beginning marker, k2, then place 8 markers at asteriks; remove markers on Round 9 to facilitate K2 togs., replace on Round 1.

This was my New Beginnings Project for the Knitters Review Retreat. Onward to 2009, which I hope to make the Year of the Sweater.

On the Needles; In the Works

2008-12-08T12:51:00.003-05:00

Working on a few things: about halfway through the Highland Fog Hoodie from Spirit Trail, about halfway through another cowl, and about halfway through my little 2-at-a-time practice socks, which I seem to be sort of getting the hang of (mind you, I haven't turned the heel yet). In the planning stages: by request, a washcloth for DS modeled on an avatar he sent. This will require (gulp) intarsia. Also by request, a scarf for his girl (cowl is the new scarf, and hopefully there's no attendant curse). And an extra speshul sooperexclusive something for my Rubbernecker swapee on Ravelry. Little things all, but I'ma be a busy bee until the holidaze. Oh, and I forgot to mention I won something: a really nice pattern (another cowl...heh) from ever green knits. Check out her blog; gorgeous stuff!

Knitter's Review Retreat 2008

2008-11-24T08:31:00.005-05:00

Here's one of the things I love about knitters: we greet each other not by name, but by garment. So on the line at Port Authority for the bus to Williamstown, the initial salutation was "Clapotis!" "Wavy!". It took some time to identify my bus buddies as Vicki and Jain. 5 hour bus ride from NYC, which to me meant more knitting time. The bus stopped directly in front of the Williams Inn, the very comfy locale of this year's Knitters Review Retreat.

This was my very first retreat, and first off I must apologize to all the folks I greeted with hugs and squeals and perhaps a tad too much familiarity, but encountering all my Knitters Review Forum pals in real life was akin to attending a reunion of BFFs I'd never met. If that makes any sense. I also apologize for not taking many pictures, but I pretty much lived in the moment. So I'll write about the important stuff...what I acquired and what I ate. Above, the goody bag: a sweet, soft skein of Valley Yarns Northfield from Webs, a gorgeous skein of chocolate colored Classic Elite Fresco, a pattern for a Lorna's Laces cardigan, notecards and other goodies from the KR Boutique and...be still my heart...a limited edition size 3 Addi Turbo needle. I love presents!

I also love being in a place where someone changes my sheets and lets me commandeer the remote control and feeds me. And the Williams Inn fulfilled all of those requirements in a lovely New England setting complete with a dusting of snow on Saturday morning. The food was homey and good: big breakfast buffets with pancakes and waffles and bacon and sausage and corned beef hash (mmmm....hash....garlll) and eggs; dinner the first night was really yum pot roast and the second was a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I was happy and full. And feeling a bit guilty because knitting is not much exercise, ya know?

I managed to restrain myself in the jaw-dropping Stash Lounge since I'd lightened my suitcase by bringing stuff to leave, but I couldn't resist four skeins of this purty Aracunia Patagonia Cotton.

And the Marketplace gave up this really gorgeous bag from String Theory, Clara's very own LYS.

Of course, it's not all about the hugging and the eating and the buying...the weekend's events were wonderful. Friday night's show and tell was truly inspiring, such an amazing gathering of talented, diverse and lovely knitters. Again, I wish I could have taken photos of each and every presentation. For my Saturday morning workshop, I did 2-at-a-time socks with Melissa Morgan-Oakes, some sort of genius she is (and very funny and patient and generous with her time). Good thing she wasn't grading during class because I kind of failed, but a few frogs later I think I'm getting the hang of it:

Saturday night was spent eating and drinking (again) and finally kind of collapsing in front of the cable TV in my room. Sunday morning was for saying goodbye and casting on for a new beginning. Then it was the bus and then it was home.

I leave you with a slightly blurry photo of something that epitomizes the weekend for me: only a small portion of the tons of wonderful hats the KR Retreaters contributed to Hats with Hugs. Is it next year yet?

Random Stripe Retreat Hats - F.O.(s)

2008-11-19T13:45:00.003-05:00

A quick trio of F.O.'s: hats for the upcoming (I leave in two days...yay!!!) Knitter's Review Retreat Hats for Hug program contribution. Based on my Entourage Hat pattern using Woolease leftovers and a size 7 needle, with generous design help of this wonderful Random Stripe Generator. Also helpful was Techknitter's Tutorial for Jogless Stripes.

Thank You

2008-11-05T07:27:00.001-05:00

Please Vote

2008-11-03T08:42:00.003-05:00

Le Slouch F.O.

2008-10-31T08:48:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween!

No pumpkin, but a seasonally appropriate F.O.: Le Slouch, a tres chic (and free) pattern from Wendy Bernard. Stats: used a little more than half a skein of Dream in Color Classy in Chinatown Apple. Sizes 8 & 10 needles. Slouched for 7 inches, blocked on a dinner plate, and voila!

Stash Enhancement; Happy Birthday to Me

2008-10-27T09:47:00.008-04:00

Well, now I have no excuse to acquire yarn for awhile (not that not having an excuse stops me). I did a kind of whirlwind tour of Rhinebeck since the non-knitting friends I was with were poky, and we didn't get there until around 3:00. S'OK; they paid me back with birthday yarn:

750 yards of lovely scrumptious Riata from Brooks Farm (it's actually a lipstick red, not the pinkish in the photo). It hasn't decided what it wants to be yet--not enough for a sweater, and I'm kind of overflowing in scarfs--ideas welcome.

On the other side of the justifiably crowded Brooks Farm booth, I picked up 4 skeins of this:

More Four Play=another Clapotis. I cannot stop.

It was packed in the A building and I felt rushed, so I made a quick stop over at the Spirit Trail booth to say hi to some of the folks from Knitters Review: Jen, Lanea (who gave me a birthday hug :=)), Beth and Martha ("how do?"). I was going to hold off from buying anything until the Knitters Review Retreat coming up in November, but this lovely laceweight leapt into my hands:

Atropos, 500 yards of silk goodness in the most amazing deep brown color ("Wet Bark").

I missed the Ravelry meetups and decided to forgo the party, since it didn't seem very nice to say to my friends "Hey, thanks for hosting me for the weekend but I'm ditching you to go hang out with my other friends". We ended up having my birthday dinner at The Rhinecliff Hotel, a really lovely place on the banks of the mighty Hudson.

And to make a nice weekend great, I got home to find I had won MORE YARN from a contest over at Tamara's blog. And all I had to do was post about why I love October. Yay me, and yay Tamara--look what she sent:

The most gorgeous handspun singles in a "Rosy Sweet Jade" colorway, and:

Amazing hand-dyed fingering weight merino that will be perfect for the two socks on one needle I'm going to learn how to knit at the aforementioned Knitters Review Retreat. Plus, cool swag from a conservation expo she went to earlier in the month. Check out Tamara's etsy shop, Spincerely Yours: wonderful stuff. Thanks, Tamara!

All in all, a good haul, and a very happy birthday to me.

A Quartet of F.O.'s

2008-10-16T15:46:00.002-04:00

Well, I figured I’d better update the blog before somebody hijacks it. A few finished objects to report since the Ravelympics:

Obnoxiously Cheery Ballband, a palate clearer to be housegifted to friends who somehow manage to remain relentlessly cheery without being obnoxious. The colors remind me of those ceramic chickens in granny kitchens. Mason-Dixon Knitting again (by the way, make sure to check out the new book!); pattern modification: cast on 33 stitches for a smaller cloth. Leftover Sugar ‘n Cream cotton, size 6 needle.

Clapotis Rerun, my second in what will no doubt be a series since I am kind of obsessed with this pattern (I need one in a black-based yarn, but I also need a black-based yarn with enough color variation that I won’t go insane. Any ideas?). This one in the dreamy Brooks Farm Four Play I got at Maryland Sheep and Wool. Knit to pattern on size 8 needle; used just under 3 skeins. Came out very wrappable: 22” wide x 72” long. Love it. C’mon winter!

Claire’s Airy Birthday Scarf, a present for my friend. Pattern in Last Minute Knitted Gifts, no mods (except I think I skipped a repeat by accident. Doesn’t matter since it’s more of a scarflet: 7” wide x 32” long). Yarn: some stashed Kaalund Expressions (a discontinued laceweight kid mohair); size 10 needle.

Grapes of Wrath Lace Ribbon Scarf. Finally. This sucker took forever. Great pattern, though. Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy (fingering weight merino), just under a skein. Size 3 needle. Size: 8” wide x 80” long.
Random Notes: Set up: Color code chart for easy reading until you get used to the pattern. I cast on 44 sts. to make it a bit narrower and conserve yarn. Knit two rows before plunging into the lace ribbon chart (not in the pattern, but will make more symmetrical ends and reduce curling). Place markers for each nine-stitch repeat (use different color marker for end sections). Do not check your work until one full pattern repeat is done…it will look wonky and you will be disappointed.
Worked 20 repeats of the 24 stitches, still had enough yarn for probably one more round of repeats but couldn’t take it anymore. Smooshy is interesting stuff–FO was only 58” long, but with a wet block (just soaked for a half-hour or so and patted it out without pins) it came out to 80”!

On the needles: Wendy Bernard's Le Slouch in Dream in Color Classy. Pix with progress.

This weekend: Rhinebeck!

Diamonds and Pearls Shawl--Ravelympics FO

2008-08-16T13:41:00.005-04:00

The thrill of victory!!! I touched the wall with the Diamonds and Pearls shawl this morning at 10:33 and 1/1000 of a second. Pattern by Shelia January from the lovely Clara Parkes' The Knitter's Book of Yarn. Blue Heron Rayon Metallic, Colorway Flax, size 9 needles. Approximate finished size: 19" long x 45" wide. Nice, relatively simple pattern that took a lot less time than I thought it would, even when getting paid got in the way of knitting. I hate it when that happens.

Notes: Check here for some minor but crucial errata.

Marker placement on the first row made absolutely no sense to me, but the pattern was simple enough seems simple enough to follow without them; I finally figured a system on Row 47 (four markers surrounding repeat sections) so I could watch TV instead of counting like Rain Man.

I added an extra purl row for 78 total rows, and then a crochet bind-off since the one in the pattern looked kind of fiddly and I was pressed for time. Did a BO 3, ch. 6 bind-off; found a very helpful pictorial here. Awaiting medals and endorsements.

EDITED TO ADD: I got medals:

Still waiting for endorsements...

Going for the Gold

2008-08-10T09:28:00.002-04:00

Let the games begin: all regularly scheduled knitting has been put on hiatus for the Ravelympics. I can best be described as a leisurely knitter (i.e. s--l--o--w), so I decided to set myself the rather gentle goal of the Diamond and Pearls shawl (shawlette, really) in 17 days. With a couple of days of concentrated knitting, I'm on a good pace and things are going smoothly. Too smoothly (she said, glancing over her shoulder for a glimpse of the Agony of Defeat).

Ravelympics!

2008-07-15T08:38:00.004-04:00

Ravelry is launching an in-house, off-season version of the Knitting Olympics, originated during the 2006 Winter Games by the ever-popular Yarn Harlot. Although I came up lame in my last attempt at knitting as fast as I can, this time I'm casting on with Team Mine!, sponsored by a Ravelry Forum group I can really get behind: Selfish Knitters (plus, it's the best. badge. ever.).

I'll be slogging my way through the lovely Diamonds and Pearl Shawl from the lovely Clara Parkes' lovely Knitter's Book of Yarn, using a lovely skein of Blue Heron Rayon Metallic that followed me home from the lovely Knitty City last Friday (and that I selfishly blew a good portion of the kids' tuition on). There's a Ravelympics Team for everybody, or it's OK to have no Team at all. Basically, the only rules are pick a project that's challenging, cast on when the flame is lit; cast off before they put it out. Details here (if you're not on Ravelry...sign up, already).

On the Needles; Brag Alert

2008-07-07T13:30:00.004-04:00

Slow but steady summer knitting progress, alternating the Lace Ribbon Scarf (Dream in Color Smooshy: wish I could drink it like wine) and Clapotis #2 (Brooks Farm aptly named Four Play...I want to sleep with it). Both hopefully to be finished by the time autumn leaves fall.

Oh, and a little brag: I have my first design up on Ravelry. OK, OK...so anyone can be a Designer on Ravelry. And it's "just a scarf". But it's free, people. If you're not on Ravelry, the pattern (Noro Keyhole Scarf) is archived on the blog. If you are on Ravelry, queue it up and feed my ego, yo.

Warning: Partisan Politics (Knit-Related)

2008-07-07T12:59:00.002-04:00

While I generally relegate my political views to the sidebar (at least on the blog; in real life I'm obnoxiously opinionated), I did want to share a way cool fundraising opportunity for everyone who believes that Barack Obama should, can and will be the next President of the United States. Fabulous Prizes involved, people! Go over to the Knitters for Obama Fundraiser site and read all about it. And if you're on Ravelry, join the group. Terrorist Fist Jabbers unite with Folks Wielding Pointy Sticks for Change.

Bainbridge FO and Summer Knitting Goals

2008-06-09T09:18:00.009-04:00

Last F.O. of the Spring, the Bainbridge Scarf, one of those clever way-easier-than-it-looks patterns that makes you wonder "Why didn't I think of that?" (note to self: work at being more clever). I used some DK weight Morehouse Merino I got a few years ago at Rhinebeck (scheduled for my birthday this year...woo-hoo!), size 5 needles, and am quite pleased with the way it turned out. Next time I might try out the fastening mods suggested by the exceedingly clever Flint Knits.

Another clever knitter, Ali over at Skeins Her Way, is sponsoring a generous and thought-provoking contest, wherein she asks us to define some goals for Summer Knitting. Given that the temp here in NYC is approaching a riot-inciting 100 degrees, I would say my immediate goal is to let wool keep gliding through my sweaty fingers. If I must specify:

Finish the Clapotis currently on my needles, which shouldn't be so hard to do since it's being rendered in Brooks Farm Four Play so divine that I want to marry it
Get started on a Lace Ribbon Scarf, for which I've purchased a skein of Dream in Color Smooshy so attractive that it endangers my faithfullness to the Four Play
Cast on for the Flower Basket Shawl that's been haunting my queue since before there was a Ravelry
Oh, and knit myself a Best Friend or two.

Stay tuned.

Block Island Ballbands

2008-05-26T19:17:00.004-04:00

I just returned from a lovely Memorial Day Weekend (although I suppose it is a bit of an oxymoron to say Happy Memorial Day) visiting friends on Block Island, a truly beautiful place...sort of like Martha's Vineyard without half the population of the Upper West Side. Too many Red Sox fans, but...whatever. I was chill. I turned to my old standby housegift and whipped out a trio of Ballband Warshrags for my hostess Claire and her daughters Kate and Ann, packaged along with a tube of Boss Lady Body Wash (no affiliation, but I was particularly attracted by the motto "Lather up and hunt 'em down.")

AnneKateClaire

Clapotis--F.O.

2008-05-10T20:24:00.005-04:00

Clap off. I'd been trying to finish this in time for Maryland Sheep & Wool, but ended up working on it there instead. I've decided it was meant to be a Mother's Day present to myself; I've been dragging it off the shelf and forcing it to hug me all day.

Notes: Knitting to pattern on a US 7 needle, I ended up using six skeins of Grignasco Top Print (sport weight alpaca, Colorway: Berry), about 660 yards. Final dimensions: approx. 19" wide x 66" long--longer than I thought, which is fine.

The end result is worth it, but it's quite a slog. Definitely get a hold of Soul Knitting's Clapotis Spreadsheet; checking off the rows as you go is most encouraging.

When measuring knit side up from the cast-on, the right side is the width, the left side is the length.

Rule of 5 for yarn amounts: you'll use approximately 1/5 of your yarn for the increase section, 3/5 for the straight section, 1/5 for the decrease section.

As you slog along, watch for the following change-ups: Section 3, Row 6 (ssk, place marker, yo, kfb). Row 8 is when you get to make your ladder (yay!). In Section 4, there are ladders at the beginning and end of Row 8 (yay! yay!). Remember you're only working through Row 10 on the 8th repeat. In Section 5, Row 2 should begin with a Purl 1 (a mistake on the version of the spreadsheet I used; it might have been fixed by now).

I chose not to block; I like the curls and squiggles.

Onward to some palate clearing warshrags before I cast on my next one.

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival 2008

2008-05-04T16:28:00.021-04:00

I lay here recovering from my inaugural trip to Maryland Sheep & Wool. If you're reading this, I assume you're a knitter (or a close relative), so I don't have to explain the significance of this yearly extravaganza. Anyway, I boarded a bus loaded with sleepy but determined New York City knitters at 7:00am (thanks for organizing, Eve!). The atmosphere on the bus was oddly subdued...I imagine buses coming from places like...oh, Philadelphia...twittering with excitement, but we approached this trip not unlike soldiers deployed into battle with pointy sticks. Or maybe it was the fact that it was 7:00 in the morning. Anyway. Kudos to our ballsy (female!) bus driver who blithely bypassed the line of cars patiently waiting on the entry road and had us in the parking lot by 11:00am.

I had a sort of battle plan that I abandoned early on, but my first stop was at Brooks Farm Fiber , where I got four skeins of sinfully sweet Four-Play (50/50 wool/silk) in shades of purple, destined for my next Clapotis (yeah, yeah...I know I haven't finished the first one yet).

And then came Ravelmania. Again, if you're a knitter I probably don't have to explain what Ravelry is, but you sort of had to be there to imagine the hysteria that greeted Jess, Casey and Mary-Heather's arrival at the scheduled meet-up...kind of like The Beatles hitting Kennedy Airport. I got my Ravelry ID button and avatar sticker and plunged back into the shopping fray, later ambushing Casey paparazzi-style on the food midway, explaining that posing is the price of fame:
. Hard to tell whether Casey disagreed with the lemonade or the lemonade disagreed with him. Mary-Heather was in better spirits:

I ran into Jess later while I was in a shopping daze; I didn't get a picture (she is quite beautiful) but managed to thank her for all things Ravelry. I encountered an astonishing number of folks pinned with Ravelry buttons throughout the day, and can only imagine the number unidentified. It truly is a phenomenon, and very odd to recognize people from their Ravatars. I was too fiber-od'd to approach most, but I had to make contact with somebunnyslove, aka The Queen of the Clap (she and her Clapotis were far lovelier than my limited paparazzi skills suggest):

Ignoring the irony of consuming the creature that gives me so much fiberly pleasure, I scarfed down a lamb sandwich with a healthy dose of head-clearing horseradish and headed on to the next meet-up, this one a far calmer and restorative sit-down with some homies from Knitter's Review, including the Queen Bee KR founder Clara Parkes.

The odd look of distaste on Clara's lovely face might stem from the fact that a faint but unmistakable aroma of sewage emanated from the ground on which we sat. Or maybe it's my bad paparazzi skills again. Anyway, she graciously signed my copy of The Knitter's Book of Yarn, and after basking in her etherealness for awhile I heading back to stash enhancement.
I have never been a good shopper. Faced with too many choices I freeze; armed with a list of specifics I panic-buy if an envisioned item isn't there (in this case, one perfect skein of worsted weight cashmere). But I did pretty good this time, coming upon a gorgeous skein of Lyra, an alpaca, merino and silk blend from Spirit Trail Fiberworks, along with a pattern to make a hood:

The perfect bronze of a skein of mohair/wool from Persimmon Tree Farm more than made up for the lack of cashmere:

One last budget-completing purchase of four bars of Goat's Milk Soap from Three Waters Farm and I stumbled back to the bus exhausted, but quite pleased with myself. The ride back to NYC was a lot jollier, with stash and snacks passed around (bless you to whoever brought the Cheetos). Also, apparently, a lot more aromatically pleasant than last year's return trip when, according to old timers, a caged ram occupied the rear seat and did whatever rams do all the way back to NYC. No word on where he went when he got there, but I would have loved to see the cab driver's reaction.

F.O.: February Baby Sweater

2008-04-21T21:58:00.005-04:00

Yes, I am perfectly aware that it is April.

Notes for the pithy-challenged (the row counts worked for me on this particular sweater; your mileage may vary):

Plymouth Encore Colorspun (2 skeins), size 6 needle.

I did a chain selvedge (slip first stitch purlwise, K last stitch every row).

Buttonholes: Rows 4, 20, 36, 52, 68 (sometimes EZ is too pithy for this non-opinionated knitter…it’s easy to cruise through the yoke forgetting to place the first buttonhole). I find buttonholes on both sides help line up the buttons—just sew them over the unused holes. Beginning of row: sl 1, K1, yo, K2tog. End of row: K2 tog, yo, K2.

Increase Rows: 9, 18, 27 (for some reason I have to fudge Row 18, adding 5 extra sts. to get the total of 102). After final increase row, you should have 148 stitches.

Gull Wing pattern starts on Row 29.

How I divided the sleeves: Row 35 (Row 3 of Gull Wing pattern): Sl 1, K3, purl 21. Place these 25 sts. on a holder for left front.

Purl 28 stitches for sleeve, cast on 7 (thumb loop c/o). Drop the ball of yarn.

Attach a new ball of yarn, purl 42 stitches across the back. Place these stitches on another holder.

Purl 28 sts., cast on 7 for second sleeve.

Place remaining 25 stitches on right front, leave them unworked. Yarn will be rejoined at underarm to finish this side after you work the sleeve (you will be completing Row 35, on Row 3 of the Gull Wing pattern). Mark this front with a safety pin so you know where to return.

Turn and work right sleeve (you will be on Row 4 of Gull Wing pattern). Work in pattern across 7 + 28 stitches, cast on another 7 (28 sts. total). Here, I placed a marker and joined to work the sleeve in the round (purl stitches will be knit stitches). Work 21 rows in pattern, then switch to garter (don’t forget to alternate knit and purl rows since you’re working in the round). 8 rows garter=1inch, 29 rows total for sleeves.

Finish second sleeve as above, then complete right front (row 35): purl across 21 stitches, end K4.

Turn work and start Row 36 (which happens to be a buttonhole row), remembering to do the chain selvedge. Work pattern row 4 across right front, p/u 28 stitches at sleeve, work across 42 stitches of back, p/u 28 stitches of sleeve, work across left front.

Continue in pattern through row 72, switch to garter stitch and work through Row 80, B/O.

Cool Link of the Week: Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T07:42:00.005-04:00

I'm not sure who the creator of this amazing dress is (I found it already linked on the internets), but it pretty much says it all. Knit me, I'm Irish (at least today). And I vote.

Drop It Like It's Hot

2008-03-12T08:51:00.003-04:00

I have reached the point in the Ubiquitous Clapotis where I am instructed to drop stitches on purpose, an act that causes me to chortle with alarmingly manaiacal glee. There are so few opportunities in my life to be...bad. Mwah-ha-ha-ha.

My progress on this thing has been slow as a sloth, but I am thoroughly enjoying it; it's very predictable but not enough to be boring (I crave predictability right now), and the alpaca is very comforting to work with.

In further W.I.P. news, the February Baby Sweater is in the home stretch. Yeah, yeah...I know it's March.

Cool Link of the Week--Teeny Project Runway

2008-02-27T15:24:00.005-05:00

It's time for a blog update, but since a report on the snail-paced progress I'm making on my Clapotis and February Sweater would be about as exciting as watching paint dry, I direct your attention over to Mason-Dixon Knitting where the ever-entertaining Ann and Kay are hosting Teeny Project Runway. Hurry up, voting closes tomorrow (Thursday) at 12:34pm. It's probably not fair to play favorites, but...well...mine's at left. If she was only sporting an Obama button, she would be perfection. I know, I know...back to my knitting.

EDITED TO UPDATE: She's a winner! Congrats to Jill (and Rhonda).

Clap on...

2008-02-11T07:49:00.001-05:00

Late to the party as usual, I am embarking on the ubiquitous Clapotis (4,413 projects and counting on Ravelry). I'm using Grignasco Top Print, a sweet, soft DK weight alpaca which will hopefully make the long haul worth it. For those who, like me, appreciate a little hand-holding on even the most obvious of projects, soulknitting has come up with a most excellent spreadsheet to keep track of your progress. Also on the needles, an Elizabeth Zimmermann February Baby Sweater because...well, because it's February.

FO--Fidget

2008-02-06T07:59:00.001-05:00

This easy little scarf thing goes by many names (one readymade version rendered in cashmere sells for $275). I used the One Sheep Hill's free pattern called Fidget, one skein of Bernat Felting Wool (color: geranium) acquired at Smiley's Yarn Sale, a size 10 needle, and four buttons from my mom's old stash. All told, I figure I got it done for under $5, even including my valued labor.

F.O.--Branching Out

2008-01-29T13:21:00.000-05:00

Phew. Branching Out is a fun and relatively simple pattern, but it was my first “serious” project in a while, so it really winded me. I used Kaalund Expressions, a really sweet kid mohair that on a size 8 needle worked up into something frothy and quite lovely, if I do say so myself, and surprisingly warm for a fabric so light. However, did I mention how much I hate blocking?

Even with the new set of wires I gifted myself with, it was a pain in the butt. Or, I should say, a pain in the back. But worth it.

A tip I’d forgotten about knitting from a chart: use colored markers to denote yo’s, ssks, etc.–makes it easy to follow at a glance instead of squinting at the symbol. Hey...who are you callin' granny? Just because my eyesight isn't what it used to be...

F.O.: Peekaboo Mittens

2008-01-28T14:00:00.002-05:00

All winter I’ve been struggling with the desire to unfreeze my hands and the need to have easy access to all the stuff I need just to get around. Since I’m still recovering from my weird hand injury, gloves aren’t working. Most of the time I’ve made do with fingerless mitts (we’ve been lucky in NYC with relatively mild weather), but these flip-tops are really great on cold mornings for getting to the change for the newspaper and the Metrocard and the bank card and the keys and knitting a couple of rows on the subway without having to totally remove my hand covering and inevitably drop it on the grungy floor. The Peekaboo is a smart, well-written pattern, which I played with a bit to use up some stash yarn: I did the first ten rows in garter stitch with black furry Katia Duende, the rest following the regular pattern in a discontinued slubby gray yarn (Adriafil Roller) (if I make it again with a fur cuff extension, I’ll keep the ribbing at full length instead of cutting it back to 5 rows like I did on these; I’d like them a tad longer). Size 7 needles, two circular method since double points give me a headache. EDITED TO ADD: since Magknits is defunct, this pattern is currently being hosted at Ravelry.

Happy Birthday, Dr. King; Giveaway Winner

2008-01-21T08:16:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Thanks for everything--not just for going to the mountaintop and having a dream and all that, but for having a birthday (which I have a dream would have been celebrated even if you had not been martyred for the cause) giving me a day off from work to reflect and...well...knit.

On the giveaway front, Cena wins; thanks so much to all who dropped by to enter. I had a nice spot of synchronicity surrounding this giveaway; I'd been meaning to post it for awhile but never seemed to get around to it...once I finally did I won a copy of Glamour Knits in a contest I barely remembered entering! Thanks, Knitting Goddess (and Potter Craft).

Mittens in Progress; A Giveaway

2008-01-15T08:08:00.001-05:00

On the needles, the first half of a pair of Peekaboo Mittens (ingenious free pattern here). I'm feeling very virtuous, utilizing some antique stash yarn (Adriafil Roller, which I think has been discontinued) and some leftover "fun" fur (use it quick before it breeds again, I say).

On the giveaway front, in going through my books I discovered I somehow ended up with two copies of The Knitting Goddess, by Deborah Bergman. Which is kind of weird since I don't remember how I got either copy (do some books breed like novelty yarn?). Anyway, leave me a comment with a way to reach you; I'll draw a name on Sunday Jan. 20th and a gently used Knitting Goddess is yours.

Tequila Sunrise Maine Morning Mitts

2008-01-06T14:32:00.000-05:00

First finished object(s) of 2008: Tequila Sunrise Maine Morning Mitts, from Clara Parkes’ wonderful Knitter’s Book of Yarn. The yarn is Paton’s SWS in Natural Green, although the colorway reminds me more of…well, a Tequila Sunrise. It’s an interesting yarn (thoughtfully gifted to me by a knitting pal—thanks, GFTC), a soy and wool combination—a bit splitty, would probably drive me nuts in a big project, but it’s very soft and perfect for these little mitts, accomplished in their entirety while I dipped in and out of the New Year’s Day Law & Order Marathon and last night's Presidential Debates. I used 11-inch circulars (size 7) throughout most of the pattern so things zipped along with a minimum of juggling. Notes to myself: 24 rows to the base of thumb, 7 rows in pattern after thumb gusset increases, and yes there really is one lone purl stitch in the middle of the thumb.

Coronet an FO

2007-12-31T10:00:00.001-05:00

In the nick of time; Coronet emerges as the final Finished Object of 2007. Leftover Lamb's Pride in two shades of purple; size 8 needles. I'm quite pleased with it...although it looks a bit muffinlike off the needles, it's warm and flattering enough on the head. A very nicely written pattern (thank you, Alexandra Virgiel), simple but very interesting construction. Although one of my knitting truths is that I'm fonder of cabling as a look than as a technique, there's just enough here to give me a feeling of accomplishment without losing my patience. Notes for next time:

I finally figured out the unzip technique for the crochet chain provisional cast on (instructions here, although my lightbulb went on thanks to Vicki Square's Knitter's Companion, p.82). This method used to be hit or miss, sometimes leaving me with strangled yarn, but the trick seems to be to make some extra chains at the end to give yourself a running start and unzip from that end (not the beginning) which you have denoted with a loop of the provisional yarn kept in place by the tail of the working yarn (when picking up the bumps in the chain, leave a long enough tail to do the Kitchener). Unzip, inserting the needle into each stitch and releasing as you go.
Kitchener here is done with right sides facing out, wrong sides facing each other. It leaves a ridge on the inside of the band but is barely discernable from the outside. My Kitchener mantra after set up: front knit take it off; front purl leave it on. back purl take it off; back knit leave it on. Do not watch television while performing this action.
Remember that the pick up from the band is done with the wrong side facing out. I used two colors for this hat. Picked up with the original band color, placed marker and joined, purled one round, knit one more round, then joined new color and continued on to the top of the hat. Changed to two circulars at 24 stitches.

Happy Holidays; Knitting On

2007-12-26T09:41:00.000-05:00

I do hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday. Despite my Charlie Brown Christmas tree pictured at left (or maybe because of it), mine was very sweet. Light on the presents for various reasons, but what there was was choice as always...two framed family photos, my own little DVD player (Netflix queue at 45 and rising), The Best of The Chris Rock Show Vols. 1 & 2 to play on said little DVD player once I get it hooked up (Daddy Still Has a Flat Top), and a Knitting Pattern-a-Day Calendar, which I must admit I value more for its abundance than for finding something to add to my silly long knitting queue. Speaking of which, I read somewhere that it's bad knitting luck to cast on a new project during the week between Christmas and New Year's, so I'm working on finishing up Branching Out and Coronet, both past the halfway point:

Cool Link of the Week (Knitting with Noodles); Kind Hearts and Coronets

2007-12-15T10:29:00.001-05:00

Well, Momma always told me not to play with my food, but she never told me not to knit with it...courtesy of the latest version of Yarnival over at Fleegle's Blog, behold Ramen Knitting 101. Speaking of Cool Links, how is it that I, who waste inordinate amounts of time getting lost in the internets, had never encountered Yarnival until Fleegle's post over at Ravelry? It is kind of my dream come true...a compendium of incredibly cool knitting links, hosted monthly by a different knitter. As soon as I finish this post I am off to lose myself in back issues, the perfect antidote to the pile of backlogged paperwork I came into the office on a Saturday to accomplish. In works-in-progress news, Branching Out continues apace, and I have started on a bit of practical knitting, making myself a hat (Coronet...I'm on a Knitty roll...in two stashed shades of Lamb's Pride purple). Nice, easygoing pattern, but a gentle reminder that I like the look of cables far better than I enjoy the execution (will have to teach myself the cabling without a needle technique since I tend to tuck it behind my ear between rows and totally forget it's there until I change positions and it jabs itself into my temple). Anyway, I always feel unduly virtuous knitting something I actually need (some sort of mittens are up next; it's friggin' cold here in NYC).

Branching Out in Progress

2007-12-09T08:06:00.000-05:00

To prove I haven't only been knitting lovable hairballs, here's a photo of Branching Out after about 9 repeats. The pattern is relatively simple, but I've still color-coded the chart to make it easier to follow (i.e. highlight the ssk in pink, the K2tog in yellow, the double decreases in green, etc.). I'm using a lace yarn on size 8 needles, so it definitely has a chicken wire look to it at the moment; I'm hoping a firm blocking will help it flow in a good orderly direction.

Black Cat Hairball Scarf

2007-12-08T21:31:00.000-05:00

I'm on a roll (of sorts)...another FO, begun at some point before my knitting hiatus and finished on various subway and bus rides around NYC. The endearingly fugly yarn is Katia Duende, gifted by DH after a business trip. Never look a knitting gift in the skein, I say, even if it's fun fur resembling...well...something the cat coughed up. See, the thing about fun fur is I generally start liking it in spite of itself. It's kind of like the mangy puppy that follows you home and is wiggly and sheddy and a pain in the ass to work with but, ultimately, wins you over with its sort of cuddly self. So this one turned itself into a ridiculously easy keyhole scarf variation (no fancy keyhole needed since the yarn hides any sins except its own): cast on 15 stitches in any furry yarn you're ashamed to be seen in public with (this one used size 10 needles). Knit each row for 3 inches or so. On the next row, K6, bind off 3 stitches, K6. On the row after that, K6, cast on 3 stitches (using over the thumb method), K6. Knit on until scarf measures 30 inches or so. Bind off; try to resist as it snuggles up to your neck.

Finally a F.O.: Chocolate Swirl Dishcloth

2007-11-27T16:16:00.000-05:00

It's been a long slog, but I do seem to be back on the knitting track with this modest but meaningful (to me at least) dishcloth. My tension was off because of my bandaged finger and I totally spaced on the Kitchener (which I can't blame on anything but my tendency to totally space), but it's done, and it reminds me of chocolate, and I can knit again. I've put myself on the Branching Out bandwagon; the laceweight yarn is a challenge, but one that I fully intend to rise to. Onward.

Cool Link of the Week--Jive Turkey Hat

2007-11-20T14:14:00.000-05:00

In the immortal tradition of the Chicken Viking Hat, Sara of goingcrafty.com has come up with the perfect Thanksgiving topper (pattern here). There's still time to click this one out for a holiday baby, or if you want to wait until next year you can make enough for everyone at the table. Think of all the family feuds you can circumvent if everyone's wearing one of these.

Back on the Blog

2007-11-15T10:40:00.000-05:00

Well, sometimes life gets in the way of blogging, sometimes you're without a digital camera and know that there's nothing more boring than a knitting blog without photographs, and sometimes you're walking your dogs and you turn the wrong corner and run into a pitbull who clamps on one of your dogs and your hand gets in the way and you end up in the hospital for three days and unable to knit for a couple of months. Or, in my case, all of the above.

Anyway, I'm back on the sticks, starting out slow with a dishcloth, taking my time. My tension is a little wonky, but I'm getting there. Whew, because there's nothing like personal upheaval to make you want to knit (and drink, which I couldn't do for two weeks because of the antibiotics, but that's a whole 'nother story).

In the meantime, there's Ravelry, which has pretty much kept me sane (knitwise) during the past couple of months. If you don't know about it, go over there and take a tour, and sign yourself up for the wait list (not an exclusive thing; they're still in beta and don't want the site to blow up before its time, and the list seems to be moving quickly as they approach public launch). There are many ways to sing Ravelry's praises, but for me it's the ability to reference other people's work and queue up a dream list of projects. You wanna make a Clapotis? Well, at Ravelry, 3,026 people either have or have had the same idea, and you can check out their projects complete with yarn specs and modifications. Or let's say you have a couple of balls of Noro lying around...you can go to the Yarn tab and get suggested patterns. But wait...there's more! If you are so inclined, you can catalog your stash and needles (me, it just makes me feel even more disorganized than I actually am) or enter a world of social networking beyond your wildest dreams (if you don't want to cast your lot with the Clapotis Knitters Group, there's always knit-diddly-ittin-neighborinos (forum for Simpsons knitters) or completely arbitrary and pointless (forum for people who basically like to snark about nothing). It will never replace more intimate forums like Knitters Review, but as a knitting community it's truly impressive.

Good to be back; knit on.

Secret Pal Package #3!

2007-05-20T10:45:00.000-04:00

Last week's mail brought another amazing package from my amazing Secret Pal. As a belated Mother's Day present, she (and I know she's a she because she identified herself as a fellow mother), there was this wonderful framed embroidery...as usual, my lousy photography skills can't quite capture how totally cool it is. Even stoic DH got a little misty, and it will hold a place of honor on our living room wall.

There was yarn, of course--a skein of Fortissima Colori and one of Regia Silk along with a suggested pattern for a hat...although what my psychic Secret Pal couldn't have possibly known is that DH has been asking me to knit him a tie and this yarn would be perfect. She even sent a size three bamboo circular needle. Oh, and did I mention porridge? Chocolate porridge?

Along with the neatest card ever...a three dimensional fleecy pink sheep.
Thanks so much, Pal.

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T08:03:00.000-04:00

Call your mom, or think about her if she's out of calling range. Let somebody else worry about dinner while you knit and watch bad movies on Lifetime. Above all, remember: No Wire Hangers. Ever.

Ene's Scarf--A Beginning

2007-05-05T16:01:00.000-04:00

Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred stitches...well, maybe not quite that many, but in a flight of fancy (or fit of insanity) I have cast on a giganormous number of stitches for Ene's Scarf, a project whose siren call I could no longer ignore. I'm living dangerously here by using a laceweight stash yarn in an apparently discontinued colorway (Kaalund Expressions in Toucan), but I'll cross the running out of yarn bridge when I come to it. In the meantime, onward.

Noro Keyhole Scarf (with pattern)

2007-04-29T08:49:00.000-04:00

There's nothing like knitting a scarf to hug you when you're feeling uninspired and somewhat unloved. The problem with scarves, of course, is that you can easily get bored with them (or run out of yarn) before they reach the proper length to envelop you. My solution is a keyhole scarf, which takes less than two skeins of heavy worsted and has a clever little slot to ensure that it stays put. A 2x2 rib increases the hug factor. You could use any yarn, of course, but there's nothing like a couple of skeins of Noro Kureyon when you want the yarn to do the work for you (thanks again, Secret Pal). I also appreciate the slightly scratchy texture of the Noro here--along with the hug comes a gentle slap, reminding me to snap out of my funk. Pattern follows:

Noro Keyhole Scarf

Finished size: approx. 5" wide and 36" long

Materials: 2 skeins Noro Kureyon (50 grams, 100 meters), colorway 154 (or approximately 75 grams of any heavy worsted). US #10 (6mm) needles.

Gauge: it doesn’t matter here…just keep in mind that the ribbing pulls in quite a bit, so cast on more stitches (in an even number) if you’re a tight knitter or want a wider scarf.

Instructions: Cast on 28 sts. Work in 2 x 2 rib stitch (K2, P2 every row) for approx. 4" from beginning.

Make Keyhole

Next row: Knit 14 sts and place remaining sts on a stitch holder; maintaining pattern, work the 14 sts on the needle to a depth of approx. 2" (for me, this was 10 rows—your mileage may vary). Break yarn, leaving a weavable tail.

Next row: Place these 14 sts on a stitch holder and rejoin yarn to second group of 14 sts. Maintaining pattern, work these 14 sts to same depth as you did for the first group.

Knit On
Next row: K2, P2 across all stitches.Continue in pattern until scarf measures approximately 36" from beginning, bind off in pattern.

Another Package from My Secret Pal!

2007-04-22T09:45:00.000-04:00

The consistently great thing about having a Secret Pal is, of course, finding something in your mailbox that isn't a bill or a threat or yet another invitation to join AARP when you still consider yourself relatively cool and hip. The bonus is when you have a Secret Pal who is as creative and thoughtful as mine. My crapfest camera can't do justice to what came in yesterday's mail: a gorgeous beaded necklace crafted by my Pal, featuring a pendant of Sojourner Truth-- foremother, activist and inspiration--a knitter whose image captures a permanent spot on this blog of mine. You can read more about her in the wonderful article linked here. Thank you, Secret Pal; bloggity blah cannot express how much your gift means to me.

Catching Up

2007-04-20T18:55:00.000-04:00

The sun is finally shining here in NYC, and the Noro Kureyon gifted to me by my Secret Pal is making itself into a scarf. I give all credit to the Noro here; my hands and needles are but a vehicle for its stripey sherbety goodness. Sigh. I have a crush on a skein of yarn.

Happy Easter

2007-04-08T10:11:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter (and a belated Chag Same'ach Pesach). Knit on, eat deviled eggs, watch The Sopranos.

Secret Pal 10, Box # 1

2007-04-06T09:06:00.000-04:00

As promised, the contents of the wonderful box I received from my Secret Pal in all its knitterly, chocolately, Easterly glory. Let me count the ways I was spoiled: a very sweet Easter basket with heartbreakingly cute eggs nestled within, three pristine and pastel-y towels far to lovely to ever see the light of day in my greasy kitchen, chocolate chocolate chocolate (and candied nuts!), and two beauteous balls of Noro Kureyon in colorway 154 itching to be eaten...err...knitted up (note to self: eat chocolate, not Noro).

Pete loves Noro.

Carmen loves boxes.

Me, I love my Secret Pal!

Cool Link of the Week: Grocery Bag Ensemble!

2007-03-31T13:02:00.000-04:00

Via Craft magazine comes this amazing 1950's-style outfit hand knit entirely from recycled grocery bags! It was accomplished as a thesis project by Cathy Kasdan, earning a well-deserved Masters in Textiles at Kent State University. Wow. Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz would be proud (I was instantly reminded of one of my favorite I Love Lucy episodes where my girls work a Paris catwalk dressed in feedbag hats).

In other news: A PACKAGE FROM MY SECRET PAL ARRIVED TODAY!!! Beautifully wrapped (I took care of that post haste), loaded with knitterly goodness, Easter swag, and CHOCOLATE. DH has absconded with the camera, so I'll post in great detail later in the week. Must...resist...eating...chocolate...before...photo...session. I love you, Secret Pal!

US Passport Agency--A Cautionary Tale

2007-03-21T17:13:00.000-04:00

Like most knitters, I live in constant fear of having my handiwork confiscated by government agents. Some people shudder at the thought of Jack Bauer cutting off that Russian guy's pinky; for me the ultimate horror would be watching my work being ripped from the needles and cast aside.

Well, dear reader, today I came close...too close. A last minute need for a passport for DS (OK, so I've known he was going away for Spring Break for months now--gimme a break) necessitated an emergency trip to the US Passport Agency on Hudson Street here in NYC. I'm not proud to say I've been in this situation before (shut up), so I knew it would take awhile, so naturally I looked forward to some knitting time. First pass-through, no problem...but on the pick-up the security agent dug in my bag, pulled out my 16" Addi circ holding my precious warshrag (probably a good thing it was not the Terror Alert Ballband from last summer pictured above, but it makes my point better than the sweet little colors of Spring-inspired number I'm working on) and insisted on keeping it. I'm not inclined to argue with authority in any case, but the bomb sniffing dog and machine gun toting ninja police standing by were pretty convincing.

Anyway, it all worked out in the end and my knitting was returned intact upon exiting, but if you ever have to do the last minute passport thing, make sure you bring something else to do while you wait...and wait...and...OK, I know I have no one to blame but myself for procrastinating, but oy, the agony--a girl can only do so much Sudoku.

The last minute passport thing is pretty cool, BTW. You call to make an automated appointment (lines are perpetually busy so you need to do this in the middle of the night, seriously), show up with the application you've printed off the internet, requisite proof of identity, and an airline ticket showing you're traveling within the next 14 days, and they do a same day or next day turnaround. Just don't bring any knitting you're afraid of losing. Whew.

Happy Spring!

2007-03-20T13:06:00.000-04:00

Like the lady at left, I've been distracted from my knitting, peering out the window for harbingers of Spring, but there's still ice on the ground here in NYC. I guess I have spring fever, because I've been having a hard time concentrating...even my beloved TV has failed to hold my interest of late, save for The Power of Bauer. My DVR is groaning with back issues of Grey's Anatomy and Lost. Survivor has been pre-empted by March Madness. I have yet to start watching The Riches. I tried Dancing With the Stars, but it failed to catch my interest since Heather Mills' leg failed to fly off. Sigh. And bad week in knitting news: I'm going to miss the Yarn Harlot's big shindig at F.I.T. because it's effin' parent's conference night at DD's school and I can't exactly say "Sorry, darling daughter--can't hear about your progress, gotta knit!" Sigh. Anyway, I am getting pleasure out of getting the first package together for my Secret Pal, and...it's Spring! Knit on.

City Snow

2007-03-17T08:22:00.000-04:00

The view from my living room window on the day after a near-Spring snowstorm. I love NYC snow before it turns gray and yellow and brown. And since we have a churchyard across the street, if you squint and tilt your head just right you can block out the cityscape. Anyway, the kids actually had a snow day yesterday, so I'm taking one today. A good time to start on a little something for my Secret Pal, catch up on Grey's Anatomy, and generally chill. Heh heh...snow day...she said "chill"...heh heh.

Oh, and to those of you who observe and indulge: Happy St. Patrick's Day! Knit something green and kiss a fireman!

Secret Pal--Woo Hoo!

2007-03-15T19:34:00.000-04:00

Doing the Happy Dance because I have a Secret Pal and my Pal has me. I am ready to spoil and be spoiled. It's a fun break to plot this out, although it makes blogging a bit problematic, since I can't really blog too much about what I'm doing lest my receiving Secret Pal reads my blog. C'mon...it could happen...

Anyway, my spoiler sent me a fun e-card, and I sent one to my spoilee--anyone looking for knitting related cards, check these out.

The ingenious way my Secret Pal hostess, Heatherly, made our match will be evident at the reveal, but I wanted to take the time here to publicly thank her and the other Secret Pal hostesses for their hard work. Let the spoiling begin (and somebody make some cool buttons already)!

Process Not Product

2007-03-11T11:40:00.000-04:00

Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of knitting? My day job has been keeping me insanely busy of late. True confession: I am an admissions director at a NYC nursery school, and this is our season. The time where I select the incoming class for next September. Yes, folks, I judge two-year-olds for a living. I'm not proud, but it pays the rent and keeps me in stitches in more ways than one. Anyway, my current WIP is a Moebius Scarf (I use the Elizabeth Zimmermann "transverse" method--knit a long strip with a removable cast-on, twist once and weave the two ends). In this case, acres and acres of Farrow Rib (behold the Lower 40). A comforting project for a busy time, but s-l-o-w progress. I'm loving the yarn, though--a very soft green confetti worsted gifted by a friend (thanks Caroline) who found it at Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool. Label says "A Touch of Twist", 1286 Weast Road Box 51, Pattersonville, NY 12157.

Secret Pal 10 Questionnaire

2007-02-28T19:11:00.000-05:00

Having gotten my feet wet with the Winter Wonderland Swap, I'm diving in with big kids and joining Secret Pal 10. Giving and getting is fun (make a button somebody)!

My questionnaire:

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I like all kinds of yarns, really--although I'm especially fond of Noro Kureyon and yarns like that the do the work for you; I'll admit to a distaste for yarns that look like skinned muppet although I can make my peace with them with necessary.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Jars, pouches, toolbox

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
Since my eldest DC was a baby, so about 20 years (holey moley...is he 20 years old???). I consider myself perennially intermediate.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes

5. What's your favorite scent?
Citrusy stuff, lavender, vanilla

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
I'm more of a salty kind of person, but I rarely turn down a piece of chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
Besides a bit of crochet, it's all knit all the time.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I listen to anything from George Clinton to George Jones (although Bruce Springsteen is my boyfriend). MP3s welcome.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I think I like all colors, in their proper context.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Three kids (boy 20, boy 17, girl 14), two dogs (Pink and Ms. Joan Rosen), three cats (Judy, Carmen and Pete), one husband (so far).

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Scarves yes, hats yes, mittens sometimes, ponchos--nothing against them but no.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I'm drawn to small, instant gratification projects (baby stuff, hats, felted bags, warshrag jags) but my ambition for 2007 is to knit myself an honest to goodness grown up seamed sweater.

13. What are you knitting right now?
Farrow Rib Moebius Scarf, Hexed Hat from Knitty, a tie for DH.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Sure (no popsicle stick pencil holders, please--I have plenty).

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?Circular--material depends on the project but I'm not picky.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Why, yes I do! Bought one for myself as a post-holiday pick me up.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
At least four years, probably more. I try not to think about it (and am obviously doing a pretty good job).

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Thanksgiving

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Uhm...knitting books and yarn.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I tend to treat myself to books and have a bunch, but would love to get my hands on Elizabeth Zimmermann's Opinionated Knitter or Debbie New's Unexpected Knitting. No current subscriptions, although Interweave Knits is my favorite. As for the rest...oh just send me anything (except popsicle stick pencil holders). I'm not picky--I just love getting stuff.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Steeking, seaming that doesn't look like I did it under the influence of bad drugs.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Nothing against them--just really haven't gotten into it. I wear a size 9 shoe.

23. When is your birthday?
October 18th

Happy Mardi Gras

2007-02-20T07:59:00.000-05:00

New Orleans, Jeffrey Simpson writes in the March issue of Architectural Digest, is "like someone who has been shot in a barroom brawl and is still dancing." Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler, y'all, I'm thinking of you.

Entourage Hat (with Pattern)

2007-02-17T11:10:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, DMS (Darling Middle Son) directed my attention to a freeze frame on the DVR from an old episode of Entourage and requested that I knit him Vince's hat. Now, it must be noted that knitting commissions from my family are few and far between, and generally of the entirely unreasonable variety (recently example from DD: "Mom, I need you to knit me a pair of full-length overalls for Jacquie's bar mitzvah party. Oh...it's this weekend. And do you have any cashmere?"). Anyway, the proposed hat pictured above seemed perfectly do-able, so knit it I did ("it's crochet," you say? Hush, dear reader, DMS knows not the difference). Pattern of sorts follows (if you're not into Entourage, it will make a basic beanie adaptable to all sorts of striping or no striping at all):

Entourage Hat

Materials: Worsted weight yarn in 3 colors; approx. 1 50g. ball of color A (blue), lesser amounts of colors B (white) and C (black). I used antique stash yarn: 1 ball of Filatura Di Crosa Primo Antartic Wool Superwash for the blue, plus Woolease for the white and black.

Needles: 16" size 7 circular needle, plus an additional size 7 circular or a set of double-points for the decreases.

Gauge: It's a hat. It'll fit somebody. This pattern will yield a one-size-fits-most-adolescents-and-adults.

On circular needle, cast on 72 sts. in Color B (white). Place marker and join, being careful not to do the twist. Knit 1" of K2, P2 rib (approx. 5 rounds). On next round, increase evenly 12 stitches (K6, M1 around--I use a simple over the thumb loop increase here) for a total of 84 sts.

Change to Color C (black). Knit an inch of stockinette (knit every round for approx. 5 rounds).

Change to Color A (blue). Knit every round until hat measures 6" from beginning (approx. 25 rounds of Color A).

Begin decreases, knitting every other round plain:

Round 1: *K10, K2tog* around (77 sts.)

Round 2: K around

Round 3: *K9, K2tog* around (70 sts.)

Round 4: K around
Round 5: *K8, K2tog* around (63 sts.)

Round 6: K around
Round 7: *K7, K2tog* around (56 sts.)

Round 8: K around. At this point, your stitches will start straining on the needle so you'll want to divide them evenly onto double points or, my preference, 2 circular needles (thanks, KnittingHelp.com. Knit on, decreasing every round from this point on.

Round 9: *K6, K2tog* around (49 sts.)

Round 10: *K5, K2tog* around (42 sts.)

Round 11: *K4, K2tog* around (35 sts.)

Round 12: *K3, K2tog* around (28 sts.)

Round 13: *K2, K2tog* around (21 sts.)

Round 14: *K1, K2tog* around (14 sts.)

Round 15: K2tog around (7 sts.)

Cut yarn, thread through yarn needle and gather remaining stitches. Weave in ends, and wear proudly while rollin' with your homies.

Eat your heart out, Adrien Grenier.

Knitting for a Cause--Part Two

2007-02-17T09:21:00.000-05:00

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot, will be speaking at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC on March 22, and is trying to gather as many knitters as possible in a kind of shock and awe event to confirm the power of knitting. Details here. From Stephanie's blog:

The new book comes out soon and since it's a book about knitting as a destination and the community of knitters that populate it, we thought that this would be an excellent time to make a point. We would like to show the media and the muggles exactly how many knitters there are, how seriously we take it, and exactly how large a demographic they are ticking of when they discount our numbers and our buying power by ignoring the things that we tell them. Essentially, I don't care if they think we are stupid. I don't care if they think Sock Clubs are stupid, and I will still sleep at night if they laugh at us. I just want them not to openly mock us and impede our attempts at commerce or community.

Shameless (if well-deserved) self-promotion? Perhaps. But also sounds like a fun way to get together with pointy sticks and represent if you're in or near NYC. Since I am, I have no excuse.

Knitting for a Cause--Part One

2007-02-17T09:04:00.000-05:00

For the starry-eyed Democrat knitters among us, a group has started up dedicated to knitting their way through the Presidential campaign of Barack Obama. Is Obama experienced enough for the job? Time will tell, but remember that JFK had limited congressional experience under his belt when he was elected. Does Obama smoke? Meh...so do I sometimes. In secret. In the bathroom. Is America ready for a Black president? Yo, we already had Bill Clinton (and yes, if Barack fails to make it to the nomination I sure as hell will be knitting for Hilary). Anyway, join up if you're inspired, and in any case keep knitting for change.

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T07:57:00.000-05:00

Drop that knitting and kiss somebody. xoxoxoTerri D.

Baby Surprise Jacket

2007-02-03T08:06:00.000-05:00

Here's the Lemon-Lime Baby Surprise Jacket, another object that has been lurking in a bag whining for finishing. The necessity for a birthday present for the one-year-old daughter of a colleague of DH kicked my butt enough to slip-stitch crochet the shoulder seams, put on some buttons and weave in the myriad ends. Thank heavens for an absorbing Law & Order last night. The stats--varying shades of lemon and lime Mission Falls Cotton (to give you an idea of how long this project has been waiting, the wonderful Mission Falls has been pulled off and returned to the market in the interim), on I'm guessing size 8 needles. The pattern is from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop. I've made a few of these, and it never ceases to amaze me how a warshrag gone beserk folds into an object of such cuteness. Elizabeth Zimmermann's genius is second only to the caveperson who figured out that a lobster is something you can eat.

Buttonhole Bag

2007-01-24T06:26:00.000-05:00

So, technically, it was all over but the felting in 2006, but I'm counting the Purple Haze Buttonhole Bag as the second F.O. of 2007 because I officially finished it over last weekend (finally summoning up the nerve and the quarters to descend to the basement of my apartment building where the dollar-a-cycle top-loader lives and the furry slimy creatures lurk. No sightings, thankfully). The stats: Buttonhole Bag pattern available at from the ever-dependable gals at Mason-Dixon Knitting (if there's such a thing as a knit-crush, Ann & Kay, you're mine). I used Mauch Chunky from Kramer Yarns (100 grams, approximately 120 yds.) in Plum and JuJu Fruit, 2 skeins each doubled on size 15 needles, with enough left over to do a Hexed hat from Knitty, currently on the needles. I'd never heard of Mauch Chunky until I stumbled across it at the late lamented P&S Fabrics on lower Broadway, but it's similar to Lopi and felted nicely after three rounds in the washer. I didn't take pre-felting dimensions, but the finished product is 13" wide and 6" high and stands up on its own which is just what I was looking for in a sweet little bag.

Farrow Rib Scarf

2007-01-18T20:02:00.000-05:00

Although my only Knitting Resolution for this new(ish) year is to stretch myself beyond scarves, warshrags and baby stuff (I'm talking to you, Perfect Sweater, here's my first official F.O. of 2007, a Farrow Rib Scarf. I know, I know...scarves are boring...but I really like this one. It started out as a My So-Called Scarf, but I just couldn't get into the rhythm of the herringbone stitch. Farrow Rib, now that I like. The recipe:
Cast on 34 stitches (or any multiple of 3 sts. + 1)
Row 1: *K2, P1* repeat across row ending K1
Row 2: P1 *K2, P1* repeat across row
Keep going until you run out of yarn or patience. In this case, 4 skeins of Debbie Bliss Soho (72 yds/50g) in colorway 37504 (a sort of kelpy combo of blues and greens) on size 10 needles yielded a scarf 7" wide x 49" long. Not long enough to wrap, but wide enough to cross the chest for a nice snuggle. Oh, and I discovered the pleasure of knitting the last few rows with the almost finished object tossed around my neck on the first bitter chilly day we've had in NYC this winter. Heaven.

My Secret Pal's No Secret Anymore

2007-01-18T19:52:00.000-05:00

I came home yesterday from a crappy day at work to find a nice package from my Winter Wonderland swap buddy, Susan--a lovely card, two lovelier cloths, two delicious cakes of soap, two balls of Sugar 'n Cream (more warshrags!) and a cool set of stamps. I love being spoiled, and this post-holiday swap was a nice antidote to the post-holiday blues (BTW, it's been a slump since I've posted, so Happy New Year. And Happy MLK Day while we're at it).

Obligatory Christmas Post

2006-12-28T12:39:00.000-05:00

The Tree before demolition, and quite a lovely one if I do say so myself. Even better, one-fifth of all of those packages were for me, me, me! Knitting wise, my darling husband restocked my case with supplies since everyone's always stealing my shit, especially scissors. Plus, all sorts of non-knitting related stuff, including the big ticket item--yes, ladies and gentleman, I have me an I-pod!(Shown here with my actual favorite present of the haul--a vintage George Jones keychain). Plus, my Secret Santa at work gave me 4 lovely balls of Debbie Bliss Soho, turning itself into a Farrow Rib Scarf. . T'was a Merry Christmas, indeed...best to you and yours.

R.I.P. James Brown

2006-12-25T08:14:00.000-05:00

The Hardest Working Man in Show Business is working it on another plane. He will be missed; in the meantime, do yourself a favor and order a copy of the greatest Christmas album of all time. Sample:

Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto.

Tell him James Brown sent you. Ha!

Go straight to the ghetto.

Very Nearly Finished Objects

2006-12-11T16:36:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm unduly proud of myself. I have a buttonhole bag ready to be felted (which might take awhile since my politically correct frontloader won't do the trick and felting involves a trip to the basement of my apartment building where furry feral creatures dwell), and three ballband washrags ready to be finished off and packed away with assorted goodies for my Winter Wonderland Swap buddy. Plus, I've already cast-on for the Hexed hat from the new Knitty frugally using yarn left over from the buttonhole bag.

Santa baby, slip some quivit under the tree, for me
Been an awful good girl
Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight

Cool Link of the Week: The Book of Knitty

2006-12-08T18:13:00.000-05:00

The Winter 2006 Issue of Knitty is up. Lots of nice stuff, as usual. Nice hats, nice mittens, nice lunchbag--but the project that really blew me away was The Book of Knitty, designed by Laura Brown and pictured at left. One of those "why didn't I think of that?" designs that is deceptively simple and utterly cool. Besides its obvious use as a baby book (oh, I did so love Pat the Bunny), I see in my future knitted holiday cards (next year, people), knitted swatch books (yeah, like I'd ever really swatch), and maybe for real a knitted knitting journal for 2007. Thanks, Laura Brown and Knitty, you totally rock.

Ballband Goes to the Movies

2006-11-30T07:28:00.000-05:00

My warshrag and I went to a screening of Dreamgirls last night...wow. Fabulous fluffy stuff, the perfect antidote to the dreary film I saw earlier in the week. It's interesting, because both films are homages of sorts--Dreamgirls harkening back to the behind-the-scenes Hollywood musical potboiler. But while Bill Condon opens the story up for the screen, he remains remarkably true to the original Broadway production--his use of stage lighting on film is fantastic. The audience was incredibly energized, applauding and whooping throughout...it's that kind of movie, a real Event. I also loved that they gave us programs on the way in, kind of like going to see West Side Story on its first run, when Big Movies still had intermissions. Plus, who knew my Mason-Dixon Ballband Dishcloth would be color-coordinated? When this movie officially opens around Christmas, run (or at least sashay) to see it.

On the Needles

2006-11-26T11:37:00.000-05:00

Some simple knitting in anticipation of the holiday onslaught: a Buttonhole Bag for me and the beginnings of a little something for my Winter Wonderland Swap buddy. I've never been much of an Exchange knitter...terribly afraid to disappoint (see current thread on Knitters Review about disgruntled exchangers), and then there's that thing about having the object packed and ready to go and Actually Getting to the Post Office. But there is something appealing about gift knitting during the holidays that doesn't really have to do with the holidays. And a couple of warshrags? Hey, that I can do.

In non-knitting news, I went to a screening of the upcoming Soderbergh film The Good German and found it disappointingly "meh." I think I know what Soderbergh was trying to do--an homage of sorts to all of those anti-hero WWII movies--and in many ways he got it right. The B&W cinematography and bombastic score are way cool. Unfortunately, I've always been desperately bored by all of those anti-hero WWII movies. Even, dare I say it, Casablanca. Bogart has never gotten to me, and while George Cooney is undeniably appealing in context (for me, the Ocean's 11 films), he's mighty clunky here. Anyway, didn't hate it, and it gave me a cool poster to mount in the Last Movie I Saw sidebar (and considering the Last Movie I Saw outside of Netflix and TCM was Snakes on a Plane, it's been awhile). EDITED TO ADD: Here's an interesting blog entry from the Hollywood Reporter about the screening I attended; guess I wasn't alone in my wishi-washiness.

Cool Link of the Week (or at least of the day)--Turkey Hat

2006-11-23T11:26:00.000-05:00

I don't usually link to commercial sites, but this was too timely to resist. And there's a tea cozy to go with. Less ambitious but free, here's another (scroll down). A bit late to start now, but there's always next year. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Scribble Scarf

2006-11-21T07:40:00.000-05:00

Finally F.O., the Autumn Leaves Scribble Scarf, based on the recipe found in the ever-lovin' Mason-Dixon Knitting. I used Lion Brand Incredible and a mystery stash yarn (my guess is some sort of kid mohair combined with a thin strand of nubbly silk or rayon). 40 stitches across and 40 scribbles down came out to approximately 15" wide and 54" long. The Incredible wasn't thick enough for a genuine scribble, but I like the end result--very swishy.

Blueberry Hat

2006-11-20T22:41:00.000-05:00

Another fruit (not that there's anything wrong with that), this one destined for the baby of DS's high school advisor. It's OK, the interim semester grades are already in, so no bribery involved. The Apple Hat below came out more big toddler size than baby, so I modified the pattern a bit: cast on 64 stitches, knit 20 rows instead of 25, and started the decreases at round 32 (decreasing an extra stitch so the numbers came out right). Made in Sugar 'n Cream cotton left over from the Summer of Ballband Warshrags.

Apple Hat

2006-11-11T13:45:00.000-05:00

Seems like I've been lurking on lists and posting about O.P.P. (Other People's Projects) a lot more than knitting my own, but I did manage to make this sweet little apple hat for a co-worker's nephew. Based on a pattern here (if you use it, note that there are corrections on rounds 26 and 30). Will post more interesting photos of the hat if I can get some with the little dude's head in it.

Cool Link of the Week--Knitter's Stamps

2006-11-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

How cool are these? The US Postal Service will be issuing these "Holiday Knits" stamps, designed and machine-knit by Nancy Stahl. Scroll down the page to see how she did it. Thanks, Nancy!

Vote (and Knit)!

2006-11-07T15:57:00.000-05:00

The Opinionated Knitter

2006-10-26T20:29:00.000-04:00

There's an interesting thread running on Knitter's Review wherein folks are, in that remarkably civil manner unique to knitters and buddhists, debating the merits of Elizabeth Zimmermann as a writer, teacher, and designer. I've been following it with some fascination, since while I bow down to EZ as a genius of geniuses (I mean, right up there with whoever first figured out that a lobster was something you could break into and eat), it took me a long time to appreciate her. Some 30 years ago, as a frustrated attempting to self-teach knitter, I picked up a copy of Knitting Without Tears figuring I'd find the hand-holding granny I'd never had. I just wanted someone to tell me exactly how to untangle those two sticks and a hunk of string. However, EZ's disdain of blind followers shamed me into casting the book aside in...well, tears. I can quote the exact paragraph that stopped me cold, from page 45:

Let nobody say she can't sew up a sweater--she just doesn't want to. Reminds me of the infuriating remark, 'I've always wanted to knit, but I just can't.' Pish, my good woman, you can plan meals, can't you? You can put your hair up? You can type, write fairly legibly, shuffle cards? All of these are more difficult than knitting. You just don't want to knit, so why pretend that you do? It's not compulsory; take up something else.

Well, it happened that at the time the only skill listed above I could consider myself remotely competent at was planning meals (couldn't cook, but I could plan). So I gave up until 10 years later when I encountered a cranky buy doggedly patient instructor at an Adult Education Course who taught me the basics (thanks, Mrs. DuPre). And then I returned to Elizabeth Zimmermann, who taught me how to knit. Oh, and I have since accomplished most of the above, but I still can't shuffle cards for shit.

By the way, The University of Wisconsin--Madison is launching an exhibit called "New School Knitting: The Influence of Elizabeth Zimmermann and Schoolhouse Press". Article here; exhibition link here.

Scribble Me This

2006-10-05T07:04:00.000-04:00

An Absorba, a kimono, and many, many ballbands have not stilled my obsession with Mason-Dixon Knitting. So, I have moved on to the Scribble Scarf, being rendered in yet another mystery yarn from my stash—it seems to be a mixture of a kid mohair and a very thin boucle, neatly double-stranded and rolled into a workable ball. I swear I have no idea where it came from (hey, if there are yarn fairies out there repleting my stash while I sleep, I could use a bunch of Lamb’s Pride Bulky in assorted colors, OK?). The thick strand is Lion Brand Incredible, a nylon ribbon I wouldn’t ordinarily touch, but it serves its purpose very well here. The colorway is called Autumn Leaves, and combined with the mystery thin it results in a shiny, happy fabric that lends itself to regular arms-length admiration during TV commercials. And shiny, happy, light and airy is a nice change from the dense cotton of Absorba. For now, the scarf is dubbed the ALDS Scribble Scarf, hopefully to morph into the World Series Scribble Scarf (Let’s Go Yankees…thump, thump, thump thump thump).

UPDATED 10/7/06: OK, Let's Go Mets (Willie Randolph will always bleed pinstripes to me). And deep in my heart I knew this was going to happen...since 1960, the Yankees have only won the World Series when the President of the U.S. is a Democrat. Yet another thing to blame on George W. Bush. Next time, I will refrain from officially naming my Scribble Scarf until the fat lady sings.

Absorba, The Great Bathmat--F.O.

2006-10-02T20:12:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the aforementioned Law & Order: SVU marathon, it's a wrap. I mean, a mat. Presented outside of its natural habitat because 14 year old DD refuses to give up the bathroom for a photo op (she's still in there, even as I blog). The stats: 20"x28", 11 hard-earned logs including the center. I used some truly ancient Patons Chunky Cotton (I think it's been discontinued) in a grimy footprint-forgiving army green. Since some balls were partial, it's hard to tell exactly how much was eaten, but I'd guess 8 100 gram skeins, triple-stranded, on size 15 needles. The toe-squishing result was worth the pain, but when DH suggested another for the kitchen, I laughed until he backed away, slowly.

Absorba The Great Bathmat--Still in Progress

2006-09-30T14:26:00.000-04:00

I like my Absorba. I really do (and, clearly, Judy does too). But I must admit I liked it a lot more when I thought I was three ridges away from being done.

You know those rhetorical questions you realize you shouldn't have asked the second they leave your big mouth? Like when you run into your crotchety neighbor and you say "How are you?" expecting the requisite "Fine, and you?" but instead you get a litany of aches and pains and accusations of neglect?

Well, there I was doing a final sizing and toe-squish test run when DH walks in the room. What I should have said: "Nice bathmat, huh?" What I said (rhetorically): "Do you think it's big enough?" What he said: "Could you add a little more?"

So, with heavy heart, blistering fingers, running out of yarn and lesson learned, I need to go on to the rectangular version. Must. Haul. One. More. Log. Praise the TV gods there's a Law & Order: SVU marathon tomorrow.

Tasty Link of the Week--Law & Order Placemats

2006-09-22T07:46:00.000-04:00

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups—the Police who investigate crime, and the District Attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories. (doink-doink).

Not sure how I missed this one the first time around...found on Craftster, a thread on these absolutely awesome knitted Law & Order placemats. I bow to the creator, who claims it's her first time doing intarsia. If you scroll through the thread, you'll find the charts, along with a link to the Law & Order Coloring Book that inspired them. But wait, there's more. Ah, craftsters...is there nothing they can't do? Bonus link for SVU fans: Sesame Street's Law & Order: Special Letters Unit. Check out the most excellent Munch muppet.

Bingo!

2006-09-13T19:16:00.000-04:00

I told you going back to work bites. Someday I'll start a blog about how ludicrous the NYC nursery and ongoing school admissions process is (those of you who've read 100 Things About Me might recall that my job is judging two year olds for their suitability to enter nursery school and then usher them on to ongoing schools that will ensure their entry into Harvard, Yale and Princeton), but for now, in the weeks after Labor Day that kick off the official Admissions Season, I haven't had time to blog my knitting and have barely had time to knit it (of course, a couple of washrags have been on and off the needles, but with Fall I am craving a big wooly project). But enough whining--there's good news: 35 days and counting to the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival, a.k.a Rhinebeck, sort of the Woodstock of knitting. Rhinebeck has become a birthday tradition for me (October 18th if you keep track of these things), since we have wonderful friends with a wonderful house near Rhinebeck who host us for the weekend. I've always admired knitters who return from Rhinebeck with fiber-laden satchels and an organized list of several winters-worth of projects...as much as I love it, I tend to wander the barns aimlessly in a yarn-induced stupor, paralyzed by choice and slinking back to the city with a skein or two with no designated purpose, tossed into my motley (but much beloved) stash. Also, I've always wanted to make connections with all those kindred spirits tramping through the sheep muck with variegated stars in their eyes, but it seems so...geeky (if not downright stalkerish) to go up to somebody and say "Hey, I love your Clapotis, can I touch it?" This year, however, things will be different. The intrepid Stitchy McYarnpants has come up with a brilliant scheme to link us all: Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo (check out the link to see how it works, one of the many results of my not having attended church enough is that I don't understand Bingo). Thanks, Stitchy; I'll be there and I'll be square!

Summer's Last Ballband

2006-09-01T12:13:00.000-04:00

An ode to the ballband warshrags of summer (with apologies to Danny and Sandy):

Summer ballbands, had me a blast
Summer ballbands, knit up so fast
Dishcloth cotton cheap as can be
Mason-Dixon, the book for me
Summer days, knitting away
But oh...back to work and it bites

Well-a, well-a, well-a , uh!...OK, I'll stop now. Thanks, Ann and Kay, for a summer of carefree knits.

Tasty Link of the Week--Handknit on the Red Carpet

2006-08-29T07:51:00.000-04:00

And the winner is...The Knitting Heretic! Annie Modesitt, one of my knitcrushes, created this stunning dress that worked the red carpet at the Emmy Awards. Worn by the stunning Ami Brabson, wife of the stunning Andre Braugher, who won for Best Actor in a Miniseries for Thief (we forgive you for that Poseidon remake mistep). More details on the dress on Annie's blog. How cool is that?

My 100th Post

2006-08-26T09:18:00.000-04:00

It's my 100th Blog Post! No prizes or anything, I'm just sayin'. Is it just me, or does summer seem to end sooner every year? Drove the oldest child back to college yesterday, prepping the younger two for re-entry, DH has been officially annointed as High School Principal and me--I'll be back at work judging 2 year olds as prospective nursery schoolers on Monday. Sigh. On the other hand, there's good stuff about the coming of the New Year (although not Jewish, I have adopted Rosh Hashanah as the logical start to the new year, calendar be damned--back to school means a new beginning).

Picked up a copy of the Fall 2006 Interweave Knits; while nothing grabbed me by the lapels and shouted "make me," and I'm not quite ready to give up my Mason-Dixon obsession, I do feel my fingers tingling to get back into some wool. There are certainly enough UFOs mewling for attention, and Rhinebeck is just around the corner.

Oh, and it's my wedding anniversary. 21 years of bliss, and I wouldn't change a thing. Not even tempted by reports that Bruce and Patti are on the rocks. We've always been cuter, anyway:

Survivors Ready...Yo!

2006-08-23T15:11:00.000-04:00

Oh no they di'n't. Taking a break from knitting content to report on my second favorite pastime...TV watching. On this morning's CBS Early Show, my secret crush Jeff Probst announced the twist for the upcoming season of Survivor: they're dividing the tribes by race. I don't know whether to laugh or cry--aw, hell yeah I do...I'm laughing my ass off. It's yet another case of being careful what you wish for: the multicolored family and I (dedicated Survivor watchers all...sorry folks, but Project: Runway is just a way to fill in the gap between seasons) have long complained about the lack of diversity on the show and, Cerie aside, the lack of viable black role models for the kids to root for (oh, who am I kidding--they don't care...I'm the one who rants about this stuff). Anyway, I'm scared--can you imagine what the Fox Network is dreaming up right now?--but I for sure am watching. Would feel more comfortable if the tribes of color got to choose the turf (Survivor: 131st and Lenox, 3 am y'all), and definitely dreading the singing of Kumbaya when the tribes merge, but it will be...something completely different.

Now, speaking of something really worth watching, do not miss rebroadcasts of Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke on HBO.

Terror Alert Ballband Dishcloth

2006-08-21T08:15:00.000-04:00

As promised, the Terror Alert Ballband Dishcloth, presented here by The Colbert Report (if you’d like Stephen Colbert to showcase your very own FO’s, go here for the Threatdown Generator). The three of you who read this blog (hi, Mom) might remember that the finished product was promised to splindarella, who correctly guessed the significance of the color scheme in a contest entry below. OK, so she was the only entry, but she’s still a winner. I figure if you gotta go, you might as well go with clean dishes.

Snakes on a Plane Update: With two teenaged boys in the house, even extremely cyniclal ones, there was no way I wasn't going to see it on opening weekend. So, while DH snuck off to the Lincoln Plaza Cinema to see something arty (smell him), there I was at Magic Johnson on 125th Street with a rowdy talk-back-to-the-screen audience. The good news: I only had to look away fron the icky action and pretend to be engrossed in my Mason-Dixon Ballband Dishcloth a couple of times. The bad news: well, there really isn't any bad news. It's exactly what one would expect--snakes...on a plane...a good-bad toss your popcorn in the air experience if you can suspend your cinematic scruples. Slate Magazine’s review has an interesting slant: a reading of Snakes on a Plane as a post-9/11 allegory.

Tasty Link of the Week--Snakes on a Knitter

2006-08-18T09:21:00.000-04:00

I know, I know... Snakes on a Plane is officially over. My darling son, self-appointed God of the Internets, has proclaimed so on his blog. However, I couldn't resist a Google image search for "Snakes on a Knitter," and came up with this hinged-jaw-dropping website for Adele Recklies, who does custom knitting, crochet and beadwork for theater and film. The 15' 6" beaded snake at left took her over a little more than a year to make. And I complained last night when my middle son asked me to knit him a pirate eyepatch for camp dress-up day (it only took me one and a half Law and Order SVU reruns to finish...take that Adele).

...and all i got was this lousy warshrag

2006-08-17T09:14:00.000-04:00

A highway patrolman pulled alongside a speeding car on the freeway. Glancing at the car, he was astounded to see that the Mason-Dixon KAL Member behind the wheel was knitting! Realizing that she was oblivious to his flashing lights and siren, the trooper cranked down his window, turned on his bullhorn and yelled , "PULL OVER!" "NO!", the Mason-Dixon KAL Member yelled back, "IT'S A WARSHRAG!"

Maybe you sort of had to be there. Anyway, I'm back from the much anticipated Nova Scotia vacation, experiencing the to-be-expected letdown. Knitwise, all I did was this one ballband dishcloth, which I had fully intended to finish in time to leave as a gift for our guest house hosts, but gin & tonics, lobster and good-bad Canadian TV got in the way so it traveled back with me to NYC (in all its blurry glory, I have dubbed it "The Grapes of Warsh"). I did hit a couple of nice yarn stores on the way (The Loop Craft Cafe in Halifax; Have a Yarn in Mahone Bay), but I did more fondling than buying...saving my money for the aforementioned G&T's and lobster. I did have a wonderful time, but it's good to be home with my stash. I've always been something of a loser with the vacation shots, preferring to live in the moment, but here are the few I took:
First, the obligatory "Guard at the Halifax Citadel" shot. He was such a photo op I felt guilty not taking it and feared they would take away my tourist card if I didn't make goofy faces to get him to smile. I did and he didn't.
Then, there was this weird-ass statue near the harbor. It had something to do with turned-away immigrants, but I liked it because it reminded me of the Dementors in Harry Potter. If the Dementors served pie instead of sucking souls.
And finally, the picture postcard shot (OK, so I cut off the top spire) of the Lunenberg Academy in...well, Lunenberg, a seaport town settled and still populated by an alarming number of German expats. We never got to go inside for the tour, but it was pretty impressive for an elementary school. At least, they claim it's an elementary school, but I suspect some sort of Boys from Brazil thing going on. To this native New Yorker, the folks in Lunenberg were very friendly...too friendly. Which is why I'm so rarely allowed on vacation. Canada rocks, however. Even if we did have to leave behind our gels and toothpaste to get back home.

Vacation All I Ever Wanted

2006-08-09T11:56:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm heading off to the yarn shops...er...wilds of Nova Scotia for a week, so if you're looking for updates (yeah, right), there won't be any. But feel free to leave a comment with best wishes, hot gossip or (especially) prize notifications and we'll catch up as soon as I get back! xoxoxT

Tasty Link of the Week - I Pity the Fool

2006-08-07T15:19:00.000-04:00

Since I've been doing an inordinate amount of web-surfing lately, and inspired by the glorious blog re:knit and the late lamented You Knit What??, I've decided to add a new feature: the Tasty Link of the Week. I'll aim for weekly updates, but I have a warped sense of time.

Enough jibba jabba--let's get to it: the folks at craftster.org laid down the challenge--best sock monkey ever. In a strong field, the undisputed champion: I Pity the Fool, a heart-stopping likeness of the one, the only Mr. T (I bow to the winner, and be sure to scroll through the other entries--wonderful stuff).

Absorba in Progress

2006-08-05T14:05:00.000-04:00

If someone had told me a few months ago I would be knitting a bathmat using three strands of thick cotton on giganormous needles, I would have said "Ummm...no." But, this being the summer of all things Mason-Dixon Knitting, I find myself turning the corner on the Absorba. It's a gratifying project in a put-upon fairy tale princess way; as I slog through I keep waiting for some dwarfish gnome dude to pop up and demand that I guess his name or he'll take my firstborn. Whatever, it's really good for mopping up sweat. Here it is, in progress, surrounded by newly acquired cheapo cotton stash for more more more warshrags. I am into naming my ballband dishcloths these days--draped on the stash up top behold The Grapes of Warsh.

By the way, I promise a Ballband Dishcloth to the first person who can tell me what the row of colors on the left represents (for the record, and since my digital camera takes sucky pictures, those colors are Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange and Red. In that order.).

Baby Ballband Pillbox Hat

2006-08-04T13:40:00.000-04:00

When is a warshrag not a warshrag? When it’s a baby hat! Never one to leave well enough alone, I’ve converted the ever-popular Mason-Dixon Knitting Ballband Dishcloth into a knit-in-the-round dome cover. Totally impractical of course—any self-respecting baby would fling it off in a heartbeat—but easily adaptable to larger sizes. No baby available to model, so I used a box of grits…that’s the Dixon in this NYC girl coming through.

Semi-Homemade Pattern:

Size: Baby. To size up, cast on extra stitches in multiples of six. Since you’re knitting in the round, forget about the extra edge stitches at the end of the flat pattern.
Materials: Worsted weight cotton of your choice in at least two colors (I used three colors here, but the pattern is written for two: Color A and Color B). Less than a 1.5 oz skein of each.
16 inch circular needle size 7, plus extra circular needle or set of double points for decreasing.
Gauge: Meh, just knit…it’ll fit somebody.

With Color A, cast on 60 stitches. Join and place marker. Purl two Rounds, and begin Ballband Pattern, joining Color B on Row 3.

Here’s the Semi-Homemade part: Ever mindful of copyright and giving props, I implore you to seek out Ann and Kay’s Mason-Dixon Knitting or buy yourself a ball of Peaches and Crème from the folks at Elmore-Pisgah (the pattern's on the...wait for it...ballband). If your ethics are shaky, an internet search will yield results, but I ain’t giving them here.

The tricky thing is converting the flat pattern to knitting in the round, but basically all you’re doing is reversing the stitches on the wrong side rows, and always slipping with yarn in back (i.e. Rounds 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 are knit as you see them; on the even Rounds 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12, purl where it says to knit and always bring your yarn to the back to slip the stitch and move it forward again to continue purling).

Do 2 complete rounds of Rows 1-12 of the Ballband pattern, and then repeat rows 1-8.

Back to the Homemade part:

Purl 2 rounds. Knit 1 round, marking 4 points (here, the 15th, 30th, 45th and 60th stitches) for decreases. Use split markers, small safety pins or paper clips, because the markers will move with the double decrease** stitch (use a different color marker on the 60th stitch to indicate the beginning of the round).

Commence decreasing: *k to within 1 stitch of marked stitch, dbl dec** (slip one stitch, k 2 together, pass the slipped stitch over the 2 knitted together)*. Repeat around.

K 1 round.

Repeat these two rounds until you have 30 stitches left, changing to double points or 2 circulars when your stitches start cramping. At 30 stitches, start decreasing every round until you have 6 stitches left. Break yarn, gather stitches and weave in ends.

That’s all folks: steal it, embellish it, correct it--but please don’t sell it.

R.I.P. You Knit What??

2006-08-03T18:39:00.000-04:00

Apparently, one of my favorite sites in the whole wide blogosphere has bitten the dust. Sure, there are other places out there that celebrate the fugly that is misguided needlework, but nobody did it better than You Knit What?? I will leave them linked in my sidebar forever. Thanks for the ride, guys.

Off to burn a ball of Bernat Disco in honor of my homies.

Mason-Dixon Baby Kimono

2006-08-01T08:19:00.000-04:00

Awwww....Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono from Mason-Dixon Knitting; in the background, the ubiquitous Ballband Dishcloth (isn't it amazing how a new warshrag appears on the needles as soon as you've finished one?) and a Ninepatch. For all, I used stash cotton so antique that the ballbands have been long lost (which is one of the many wonderful things about the book--it really doesn't matter so long as it knits up nice). Tarted up the kimono a bit by adding a 3-stitch i-cord tie and a single crochet trim. Onward...I love this book.

Why Didn't I Think of This?

2006-07-29T11:30:00.000-04:00

I stumbled across a wonderful blog the other day: re:knit. The blogger describes it as "a knit- blog re-blog"--she gathers the tasty bits from across the web into a sort of knit-blog's greatest hits. Very cool, and saves me a lot of time slogging through my bloglines. Why didn't I think of this (surely not because I'm lazy and lack imagination)?

Oh, and another Elvis Sweater update courtesy of You Knit What??. Be careful what you wish for.

You Know You're Obsessed When...

2006-07-24T19:44:00.000-04:00

...you come across a photograph of the soon-to-be-demolished stained glass murals on Terminal 8 at JFK and instead of worrying about how to save them, you start thinking about new color combinations for a Ballband Dishcloth.

Check out Kate A.'s beautiful analysis of the Mason-Dixon knitting phenomenon over at her very purty blog. Wonderful stuff.

Ninepatch Dishrag and Knitting Synchronicity

2006-07-23T20:42:00.000-04:00

Since I've been neglecting my blog, I've also neglected to sing the praises of Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne's Mason-Dixon Knitting. I've been knitting almost exclusively from this book for the past few months as an antidote to my stressed-out melancholic life-related funk: it's fresh (in the sassy sense), funny (in the giggle and annoy the person trying to read in bed next to you sense) and remarkably unfussy (as in the it's OK to knit nothing but garter stitch using cotton you can pick up at your local Wally World [if you were ever going to be so bereft of ethics to step foot in a Wal-Mart--oops, that's me being fussy]). Anyway, I've made the ubiquitous Ball-Band Dishcloths (given away before being photographed but you can see some of Kay's awe-inspiring examples here) and the Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono (peeking out above, waiting to be seamed and trimmed. No babies in the immediate future, so no rush). Just finished this Ninepatch Dishrag, the pattern for which Kay put up on their blog last week.

So here's the synchronicity part: I have the book. I pore over the blog that inspired the book. I lurk on the remarkably active Knit-A-Long. I've seen pictures of Kay, and I've always thought "Gee, she looks so familiar," but chalked it up to that overfamiliarity with public figures that once convinced my husband and his friend Robin that if they could only have tea with Joni Mitchell she would be their Best Friend...but I digress. Last week, Kay posted, with the loveliest photos, about a recent move to Washington Heights, my very neighborhood. So I dropped a comment suggesting a neighborhood knit-in, carefully composing so as not to sound stalkerish. Well, within a few minutes I get an e-mail back...it turns out I do know her! It's a long story and not particularly interesting but the reason she (and her children) look so familiar is because I shepherded them through the grueling paces of the NYC private school admissions process a couple of years ago (it's my job to judge children. I'm not proud, but it's a living. They got in, by the way).

Anyway, the knitting world is a small smelly one. And very sweet.

Elvis Sweater Update

2006-07-13T08:52:00.000-04:00

Well, slap my bum and call me Sally. A poke around the internet reveals that I am far from the only one obsessed with the Elvis Sweater. It's been reproduced on playing cards, salt & pepper shakers, shot glasses, and even as a design for...well, a hound dog. I found a revelatory discussion of the garment's origins here; apparently it was worn by Elvis in this scene from Jailhouse Rock and may or may not have been his own garment or acquired from the MGM wardrobe department. Since the movie was in glorious black & white, the original color is in question, but it is most often reproduced in blue. A prototype won a contest on the knit-o-rama blog...it's close, but it's not The Sweater, so I might still drag out my Ann Budd and Barbara Walker and play with some charts. Nothing new under the sun, I guess, especially when it comes to celebrity knits. Or Elvis.