Shower Pics

Good shower.

The Baby Blanket Is Done!

Ta da! Done, and before the shower even. I guess technically I'm done on the day of the shower since it's after midnight, but whatever.

I used a size H crochet hook for binding off, and yes, binding off is much faster with a hook than with knitting needles. I probably wouldn't bother for a small project, but this sucker was 888 stitches around so changing to the hook was worth it. I used size H because it's the equivalent of a US 8 knitting needle. The blanket is knitted on size US 7 needles and I figured going one size bigger for the bind off would keep it from being too tight.

And here it is with one whole side done:

Two sides done:

Three sides:

And all four sides:

Here's the front after I sewed in all the ends:

And here's the center of the back:

What size is it? Roughly 4' x 4'. I'm not going to block it because I did it in a yarn that's 50% acrylic microfiber, 50% nylon. The pattern suggested superwash wool, which would have blocked well, but this is Sacremento and I think wool would get too warm. Besides, do I really think P. is going to reblock this every time it gets some baby-related fluid (or solid, or semi-solid) on it? No way. And finally, I like the somewhat swirly shape more than a square. So there.

Sometimes You Get a Do-Over

Thanksgiving was on the 27th. M. and I were in Davis in the morning, hanging out at the Starbucks on F Street drinking coffee and watching the people go by until it was time to head to J. & P.'s for the festivities. As usual, I picked a seat where I could get the best view out the windows for people watching. This means M. gets stuck with a view of the wall most of the time, but he's very patient about it.

I saw lots of people who clearly had the same idea of passing time before they had to be somewhere, many with kids in holiday outfits in tow. They all seemed pretty happy to me, and it struck me that people seem more cheerful at Thanksgiving than they do at Xmas. Maybe it's a less stressful holiday because it isn't as commercialized, or maybe it was just too early in the day for people to be cranky yet. (M. has often observed that most unstable people aren't early risers - this may be a comment on me but I can't deny it.) So the one rather sad looking person I saw stood out to me.

She had a grubby yellow skirt and unwashed hair, and a generally unkempt appearance that made me think, "I wonder what she's up to. Will she ask me for change?" There wasn't anything outrageously wrong about her - just an overall sense of unhappiness and isolation. She came into the Starbucks and did whatever she did then headed out. As I watched her through the window, shuffling down the sidewalk, I thought, "This is her Thanksgiving. Maybe I should... Maybe someone should... But I need to be at J. & P.'s soon... and blah blah blah blah blah."

I'm not talking about changing the world here. I didn't want to buy her a car, find her a job, or get her to take her meds. I just wished I had said hello, or good morning, or even just made eye contact and smiled at her. So really, yes, I do mean changing the world, but in a realistic, grass roots kind of way. But I didn't, and the moment slipped past before I focused enough to remember the person I prefer to be.

Fast forward to yesterday. M. and I were in Davis again for M.'s birthday sushi. After that we went to hang out at the Border's, reading books without paying for them and like that. I followed my usual course, reading a bit, then taking out my knitting while M. continued with his reading. I was engrossed in knitting the black & white baby blanket when a woman to my right spoke to me. She apologized for interrupting me, but told me that she just had to speak up because she had never seen anyone knitting in public before. You guessed it - same chick.

It actually took me a little bit to recognize her. I was chatting with her about knitting before it clicked - same shy demeanor, same yellow skirt, same hair. She repeated herself a lot at first, apologizing for speaking to me, but after a bit we got to talking (with pauses for concentrating on my knitting) about knitting stores in Davis, whether or not knitting was popular among Davis students, and the whole phenomenon of internet communities devoted to knitting. Then after a long pause she got up and scuttled away, barely leaving me time to call after her, "Take care."

Slipper Soles, It's a Go

Here we go. Wet puff paint:




And dry puff paint:




And slippers modeled by yours truly:




FYI, I really have been working on the black & white baby blanket this whole time. In fact, I'm going back to it right now. Have to - the shower is this Saturday. :)

Slipper Sole Experiment, Continued

Success! The paint is now translucent, with sparkly glitter. I stretched the fabric, twisted it, scrunched it, and the paint stayed attached. It's kind of stretchy, so I think it will do just fine in stripes. I'm not sure how it will hold up to the heat of a dryer, but it should be easy enough to put more on as needed.

Slipper Sole Experiment

How to prevent people from breaking their necks wearing splippery slippers? I did a little garter stitch swatch (approx. 1.5" square) in the same yarn as the slippers and added some puff paint stripes and dots to it. Maybe a series of dashes will make the most sense in the end. I think a long stripe will just crack when the sole is stretched. To apply the stripes I just used the bottle's applicator, but for the dots I also poked at them a bit with a toothpick.

The directions say it should be dry in 24 hours, so we'll see tomorrow how well it adheres to the yarn. And now I must wait. Humph.

Update - after about 3 hours, some of the paint appears translucent instead of white. Hmmm.

Granny Square - Front or Back?

Well poop. A. says the pic in the post below is of the back of the granny square, not the front. I can't tell - which is which? I think maybe the bottom one here is the back, but that's just because I know I have a 50/50 chance...

Crochet Experiments

I have to be honest - the slippers aren't my only escape from the blanket. I met with A. a short while back and learned some more about crochet. We experimented with crocheting a 2-color spiral and I also made my first granny square. The double spiral is prep work for the hat of obsession, of course. And I'm really taken with the whole idea of granny squares - they're so modular!

Slippers

I'm a bit bored with the baby blanket, so I took a break to work on slippers for the in-laws for Xmas. I was tempted to start work on the hat of obsession, but I don't want to completely forget the blanket. For the slippers, I used the Malabrigo loafers pattern.

Here's my first attempt, on size US 7 needles in worsted weight Berroco Comfort (50%super fine nylon, 50% super fine acrylic) used doubled throughout. It was way too tight, fabric stiff as cardboard. And the slippers were too small even for me. But these pics give a good idea of what the basic slipper looks like.







I frogged this rough draft slipper, then did a real pair on size US 9 needles. (Magic loop method, by the way.) These are not as stiff as cardboard, but they still have some firmness. They fit me, so I'm hoping they'll fit my mother-in-law. I'll have M. check with her on shoe sizes for everyone next time he calls her.

A. did the nifty crochet flowers for these. They're so cool! The flowers add just the right splash of color and fun. :) Speaking of color, the rough draft pics are closer to the real color. Those were taken in daylight through the window at Starbuck's, while the ones below were taken inside at A.'s house. Clearly, daylight is the way to go.

The Long and Winding Road

A. got free tickets to the Chihuly exhibit at the DeYoung museum in San Francisco a little while back and invited me. So I went. Because Chihuly is that dude whose glass flower/amoeba thingies we'd always go visit at the Bellagio when A. and I would go on road trips to Vegas to visit Granddad. The Bellagio is also where we'd walk around the indoor garden then order Margaritas in our favorite lounge, sit and watch the people go by, and then steal the glasses.

When A. and I got to the DeYoung, we found out the morning showing was closed and we'd have to wait for the late afternoon one. Naturally, we went to get tea at Samovar, and then went to the knitting store across the street, Imagiknit. Then we went back to the DeYoung early because we knew it was going to be crowded.

Being early, we checked out the other exhibits. There were some spiffy bits of glass (pics or links soon) and other stuff including African and Mesoamerican art. I walked past the figurine I'm currently obsessed with, and then had to walk back and take a picture. After that, the Chihuly exhibit (pics or links soon). Way, way too crowded for my taste, but I enjoyed it. Which is quite a tribute in its way.

The little Moche figurine has stuck in my mind. Specifically, his helmet. How cool is it? It's all spirally. And wavy. And 2-colory. It must be knitted. That is all.

Which of course means lots of thinking and visualizing and what's better for that than searching the Internet and asking everyone you know, online and otherwise, what they think would work? I'll be learning how to crochet a 2-color spiral, because it's a possible solution. Crochet seems chunky to me, and I want the hat to be smooth, but what do I know about crochet at this point? Not a whole heck of a lot, that's what. So I'll learn.

And I need to do something with the wavy hat. Obviously, I need to knit it and get a feel for how its structure really works. But then I'll be wanting to draw out ideas about it. And I'll want to put those images on this blog. But alas, I have no Photoshop. Sure, I could draw on paper, then scan the image, but only have a scanner at work. People at work wouldn't mind, but I hate having to depend on that. Besides, it's cheating. So I downloaded GIMP tonight, and I'm reading the user manual and looking at some tutorials. Learn, learn, learn.

"The way you do anything is the way you do everything." I don't know who said that first, and I don't always believe it. But tonight I do.

And did I mention that A. had me drive from home to Golden Gate park in S.F.? First time since learning to drive stick shift. We made it without incident. This may have been helped by the fact that I hit all green lights on the one steep road we went on, but whatever. Luck is acceptable.

Hat, Hat, Hat!

Oh my gosh. Check out this hat.

And check out more variations.

I think I can do something with this. More to follow.

The Hat I Want, 3

Here are 2 excellent links from Amy - they're cut off in the comments in the post below, so I'm reposting them: How To Crochet a Three-Color Spiral and Kneeling Warrior image from the de Young's website.

And here's another vessel that's kind of similar. (You can see the back of this one.) From what I've been reading, that thing on the back is a stirrup spout, but I have no idea why you'd make a spout that shape. Does it serve a practical purpose, or is it a matter of style? Anyone?

Also, I don't know what period the first one is from, but this second example is from between 400 AD and 1000 AD according to the de Young's website. They're both Moche pottery. Neat stuff.

The Hat I Want, 2

So I'm thinking the hat is a 2 color spiral, like this.

But how to get that effect in knitting? Ponder, ponder. Any ideas? I could crochet it, of course, as I have an excellent crochet tutor! And maybe knit the border. Huh. That's an idea. I still want to try to knit it, but heck, I could do 2 hats. Because learning to crochet that would be very cool.

The Hat I Want

It's not that I'm obsessed with stripes, although the last few posts might certainly create that impression. It's just that stripes are following me around at the moment. The pic below is from a Meso-American exhibit at the DeYoung museum in San Francisco. I should have gotten more details than that, but I just want to knit a hat based on the helmet he's wearing. How cool is that going to be???

Followup to Conversation with M

I showed the picture below to M today while we were hanging out at a bookstore. Although I like both the hat and the scarf, I was secretly hoping that M would give me another bit on post-apocalyptic grannies. But no. This hat meets with his approval. There's just no knowing, is there?

[From "The Knitting Man(ual), by Kristin Spurkland.]

Conversation with M...

...while watching an episode of "Inpsector Lynley."

Me: Ooh, look Sweetie, this guy's wearing a cool knitted hat. Come look and tell me if you think it makes him look homeless.

Most knitted hats that I like, M hates. Says they make him look like a homeless person.

Him: Hmmm. Let me see it in action.

Me: OK, I'll rewind it a bit...

Him: After watching. Definitely makes him look homeless. Well, maybe like a homeless guy whose nice granny knitted him a hat.

Me: So you mean he looks homeless and he happens to be wearing a knitted hat?

Him: Yes - but the hat makes him look even more homeless.

Me: How? It's got cheerful stripes!

Him: The shape of the hat is too utilitarian. Like a bowl.

Me: So if it had a pompom on top it would be all right?

Him: Well... it would be better. Or if the brim folded up or something.

Me: I still don't get it. How can it be too utilitarian?

Him: Look at it. It's just a hemisphere.

Me: But it's a hemisphere with cheerful stripes!

Him: That's where the granny comes in. Looks too post-apocalyptic.

Me: With stripes??? Multi-colored cheerful stripes? Knitted by a granny?

Him: Maybe she's trying to cheer him up. Or maybe her mind is gone and she doesn't know the world has ended and that's the way she knits hats.

Me: ...

FYI, the hat had a ribbed (2x2? 1x1?) brim and stockinette body. It had chocolate brown stripes alternating with colored stripes - from bottom to top, muted red, light green, cream, light yellow, light blue, and muted red again. Brim and crown were brown. Hat went halfway over the ears. Stockinette part looked a little blurry, so maybe wool? I think I'll make one just like it for myself, and not share it with M. So there.

And here's the best picture I could get - camera used to take pic of tv, high-tech stuff! The colors are off, of course.

More Blanket

It's getting bigger. I'm now using the 60-inch cable on the circular needles if that helps give an idea of its current size.

But since I add 4 stitches each time around, it takes longer and longer. Thank goodness it's striped or I'd get too bored to finish.

The Blanket, It Grows

Behold! Front and back.

Baby Hats & Blanket

The shawl is taking a break for now. We moved to a new apartment a few weeks ago, so no energy for complicated knitting.

But it's just as well, since a couple of friends are going to be having babies. One is due around Hallowe'en, and the other in mid-January. So lots of baby hats! These 5 are for J.'s kid. I may be making more hats for for P.'s.

The hats are knitted from the top down, and I made up the patterns as I went along. They were all done on US 10 1/2 size needles, using the magic loop method. I used Vanna's Choice 100% acrylic in various colors, although the yellow is in Vanna's Choice Baby, also 100% acrylic. The two blue hats are actually a bit darker than they appear in these pics.

P.'s kid will get the black and white blanket that's on the needles right now. (See last pic.) This blanket is from this spiffy pattern: Op Art baby blanket pattern.

I'm doing it on US 7 size needles. I started it with the magic loop method, switched to knitting in the round on two circular needles, and now am working on one circular needle. The yarn is Plymouth Yarn, Dreambaby D.K., 50% acrylic microfiber, 50% nylon.

Click the link for videos of the magic loop method and knitting in the round on two circular needles.

Example of what the border will be...

Here's an example of what the border will look like. Maybe. Depends on if I figure out how to do it. :-) Also, notice how the leaves in her shawl are all open and airy? Mine will hopefully look that way too after blocking. That's how it is with lace.

Example link.

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Lace (Myrtle Leaf Shawl) 3

More 'in progress' pics, as requested. Sorry that they're kind of blurry - I'll have to figure out what to do about that.

Here it is at a little over 8 repeats:


And here it is at a little over 11 repeats:


I pinned it out for the 2nd pic, to give some idea of what it will look like after it's blocked. Pinned out, it currently measures 15" across and 18.75" long.

Only 35 repeats to go, and then the border!

Lace (Myrtle Leaf Shawl) 2

Moving along. I think my gauge is a bit smaller than the pattern recommends, but I'm not starting over again. I may end up with something between a scarf and a shawl, which will be fine. Also, I forgot to mention in my first post on this, the pattern is from "Victorian Lace Today." (See the book here. Read a review here.)

More Felting & Sis-in-law's Purse

Test swatch in Paton's Classic Wool Merino, needle size US 10. Hand-felted, took forever:

Coaster in 3 colors of Paton's Classic Wool Merino, needle size US 10.5. Hand-felted, took even more forever:

Sis-in-law's cool purse (she crocheted it, not me):

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How I made the coaster:

Cast on 80 sts. in yarn color A to US 10.5 DPNs using long tail cast on method.

Cast on counts as round 1.
Round 2: P all sts.
Round 3: (K1, K2tog, K 14 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 4: P all sts.
Round 5: (K1, K2tog, K 12 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 6: P all sts.
Round 7: (K1, K2tog, K 10 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 8: P all sts.
Round 9: Switch to yarn color B. Then (K1, K2tog, K 8 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 10: P all sts.
Round 11: (K1, K2tog, K 6 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 12: P all sts.
Round 13: (K1, K2tog, K 4 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 14: P all sts.
Round 15: (K1, K2tog, K 2 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 16: P all sts.
Round 17: Switch to yarn color C. Then (K1, K2tog, SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 18: P all sts.
Round 19: (K2tog, SSK) 4 times.
Round 20: P all sts.

Bind off by running yarn through remaining 8 stitches and pull to close.

Weave in ends then felt, felt, felt. Block in spiffy octagon-ish shape.

Lace (Myrtle Leaf Shawl)

Here's the great big cone of yarn I'm working from:

Here's the beginning of the shawl, which I started on straight needles:

Then after I got the cool needles from my sis-in-law, I moved it to those:

But after knitting more, the error in the pattern revealed itself. Notice how the section circled in red doesn't look like the section circled in green?

And here's the shawl after I undid to the lifeline and re-knitted it based on the errata: