"What am I supposed to do, knit a sweater?"

A,
I listen to a lot of radio. One of my favorite radio programs has a segment where concerned parents call in to see what their son/daughter is up to during spring break. The radio hosts call them up, and the parents listen in with horror as they find out what their kids are really up to. It's the type of low-level entertainment that just brightens your morning, you know? In one particular episode, the mom confronts her daughter, who is spending her break in Las Vegas, to which the girl replies, "What am I supposed to do, knit a sweater during spring break?" And I thought to myself, what a great idea.


I, myself, am on spring break (for one more day at least) and I have been doing as much knitting as puppy will allow (in fact, I am knitting even as I write this entry). I was hoping to finish the sweater that I was working on (we made amends, a few alterations, and kept going), but it didn't quite happen. This is as far as I am now. Looks are deceiving. You might think, from looking at this, that I am on the verge of finishing this project, but I think it would take at least another full week of spring break knitting to finish this up.


So I started a few more projects instead.


And can I just say that bulky yarn is my salvation? How long did this take to knit up? I don't know, but it felt like minutes. I've been doing everything all wrong. I must knit with this sweet, fragrant yarn from now on. I know it's not true, but it makes me feel like I could finish a sweater in a day.


I hope it looks like Spring where you are and that it sounds like melting snow outside your apartment. Take care,

K

PS. There's a chance that our new puppy is part husky. I'm afraid this may be true. She likes to pull. A lot.

rough science

A,
What if a group of real-world scientists banded together to solve challenges around the world? What if these superheroes were filmed and documented as they brought science to real-world situations? What if these scientists combined chemistry with wool?

That's right. Amazing. That's what it would be. Or otherwise known as Rough Science. Check it out. I think the chemist on this show is a closet knitter, otherwise how would he know that the lanolin in wool could be extracted to create a hand cream?

We are going to use this show in my class tomorrow. Not the episode about lanolin, but the episode about removing carbon dioxide from the air. So many fun things to learn. So much chemistry. Do you get this excited when you see medical situations portrayed in the media?

K

PS. Happy birthday!

not freaking out

A,
I had a helpful meeting with my adviser yesterday in which he told me not to freak out. This was good advice. This was good. I do not like to freak out. Sometimes it helps to be assured that you are, indeed, making progress on a project that seems infinite.

On the other hand, I have a knitting issue that is unresolved and no knitting adviser to counsel me. I am working on this sweater project:


Isn't it pretty? I'm trying new techniques. Right- AND left-handed knitting! Both at once! My tension's a bit beginner, but nothing some good blocking shouldn't fix. Plus there will be steeks. So right now I am going to focus on the positive and be proud of my accomplishments. I am trying new things. This is not a mindless project. I am not a bad knitter.

But here's the thing. I think it will be a little snug. Not too-small-to-wear-snug, but still snug. I think I need to rip back. There were too many decreases. I think it's necessary. I just need some time--I'm not emotionally ready yet. In the meantime, I'm afraid that if I start a new project, I will never return to this one. So . . . I haven't been knitting. This is awful.

The truth it is an ill-suited project to work on with a puppy in the house who needs close supervision. I should rip it back, set up my stitches, and start another puppy-appropriate project. Especially considering it's already too warm outside to wear sweaters this season.


I'm hitting the pause button on my knitting. Hope yours is moving forward.

K

PS. Knitting Olympics didn't work for me, but maybe next time I'll set up a project and plan ahead of time. James and I decided that we are going to try to go to the winter olympics in eight years (we're partial to Germany or France, and hoping that one of them will win the bid).

PPS. My student told me yesterday that American candy is made from corn syrup instead of sugar, and this is why it is inferior to other country's candy bars. Is this true? I'm so sad.

PPPS. My calendar tells me that Monday is International Women's Day. Maybe you can use this as an excuse to celebrate two holidays next week.

Hari-kuyo

Hi K,

Today is Hari-kuyo, the Japanese festival of broken needles. Once a year, in the Hari-kuyo ceremony women gather at Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines to honor the service of their worn out pins and needles.


They lay the needles to rest in beds of konnyaku, a jelly-like substance, or tofu. Laying the needles into something soft is showing appreciation for all the times that the implements have been stuck in and used for hard work.

The day has deeper significance, however. They believe that women have secret sorrows in life that are often passed to the needles during stitching. The needles take some of the burden of these sorrows, and are now given rest.

Of course, continuing with tradition, I had to rest my needles. Or at least, one of the size 2 1/2 bamboo needles that has been broken in the last year. However, I did not have any tofu, or any konnyaku. So I used the closest thing: half-eaten cherry jello.


Of course, I think this might melt if I just left this out, so I put it in the fridge afterward.


Thank you little needle. Rest well deep in the jiggly jello.

Love,
A

Demon Sheep

K,

Please, please enjoy. Make sure you watch to the end. You don't really have to listen to the words. I didn't.

Sheep!



Demon Sheep Man!

Notice that this is "men" we admire, aspire to be. Ahem, I'd prefer to remain a woman, thank you.

Who will you vote for, Demon Sheep Man (FCISLIENFOVK) or THE OUTSIDER.

We will let the regular sheep decide! Does else anybody wonder what breed of sheep these are?

By the way, are you preparing for the Knitting Olympics or Ravelympics 2010? Get yer projects swatched and ready to cast on at opening ceremonies!

This post is full of really, really short paragraphs.

Love you!
A

hats

A,
A hat's pretty simple. It was the fourth thing I learned how to knit. The very first thing I knit were scraps of stockinette doll blankets which allowed me an easy project with which to learn on. I can remember my first doll blanket as being purple wool, and about two by three inches large. Then the first real pattern I ever followed was to make a pair of mittens. Then a pair of slippers. And finally, a hat. It should be a fairly basic project by now. After all, the only shaping that you do is at the very end. But when do you actually start to decrease? This is troublesome to me.

Below is the baby hat I knit last week while in Florida. Aren't those colors gorgeous? I have no idea if it will fit a baby's head. I had some help from my mother-in-law, who told me I needed to make it larger--which I did. I have no sense for these things.


Then, on Thursday, I was fiddling around, and I found an all-but-finished hat that I had made two years ago. I put it on, and couldn't figure out why I never wove in the ends. But five minutes later, it was half an inch too long, and then if I shortened it, I thought it would be too tight and it would slip up over my ears. I have no sense for these things.

I do have one hat that worked out. And maybe it's the way to go from now on, just to make slouchy hats and oversize everything. Or maybe I should just follow patterns. I sort of followed a pattern for this hat, only everything was different because I had the perfect yarn and refused to substitute.



But then again, this is the only way I can wear the hat without it falling off my head.


Here's my yarn source: little Valentino. This is before the shave.


And this is his fleece early last summer.


And this is a majestic bald eagle.


Anyway, I'm not going to make any hats for a while. Too complicated. I finished the sweater I was working on, and now I'm on a sweater kick. Sweater designs are dancing in my head.

K

PS. Happy new year.
PPS. I just realized I forgot Dutch and he's been outside the whole time I've been working on this post.

Sweater Update

A,
We finished Tucson's half marathon yesterday! My time was only seconds over two hours, and if I hadn't needed to stop midway for a bathroom break, I would have actually been under the two hour mark. James and I both finished at about the same time, which was waaay faster than I thought we would do. I think a combination of race-day excitement plus the fact that it was 95% downhill led to a fast race. The downhill bit led to some soreness too. As soon as the race was over and I slowed to a walk, I realized I was unable to walk properly. Right now I'm feeling a bit like an invalid (a fierce invalid), and James is making me breakfast, so I thought I would blog.

Remember the sweater that I am making? I am so excited about it. I totally scratched the original pattern and am coming up with something completely different. I was sitting in class the other day and the girl in front of me had a sweater on that was short-sleeved, v-necked, and had a horizontal lace panel across the back shoulders. I decided I loved the way the sweater looked, but I am making a few changes. Mostly, my ideas will make the sweater less complicated to construct, but I am still planning to keep the idea of a lace portion on the back of the sweater. We'll see how it goes. I'm not there yet, but almost. Here is the sweater so far:


I'm working on a few ideas for the lace part. This is one of the ideas. Unfortunately, the picture is very shadow-y, so you can't see the lace as well as I would have liked.


I haven't worked on much else knitting-wise since I last posted. But I'll keep you updated. I am looking forward to Christmas!

K

PS. What have you been working on lately? How is your owl sweater? I would love to see some of your recent knitting creations. They are always beautiful.

PPS. Merry Christmas!