Ok, usually I love frogging. The pop pop pop of stitches coming undone, the zzzzzzziiiiiiippppppp of the yarn, the almost hypnotic pattern as the yarn moves from side to side.
But frogging something of beauty hurts. I learned this. A friend, we'll call her "Tracker", hand-dyed some fluffy (yes, fluffy) Icelandic wool into beautiful shades of pink and green and blue. She did it with fades, and it came out so well. And when she knitted it (plain garter stitch in ridiculously perfect stitched), it patterned itself, the colors in a sort of repeating serpentine pattern. And.........she decided to make something in stockingette that will be more useful than skinny scarf. And thus started the frogging, and I had to watch this lovely item zigzig its way back into a ball of yarn. Sigh. She decided to so a different stitch pattern on the redo, and while the stitches themselves were lovely, I still liked the first one better.
Note to self: If you are frogging something lovely, just don't watch...
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Design Elements
So I've been pecking away at this scarf for about a month. Lamb's Pride Worsted in a varigated brown colorway. It's a pattern I made up. Please forgive me as this is the first time I am writing out a pattern. Cast on 22 stitches. Row 1-4 k2p2. Row 5 k22. Row6 p22. Row 7 k22. Row 8 p22.* Repeat rows 1-8 until it is as long as you want it.
This is not a rocket science pattern. This is not intarsia, fair isle, or lace. It has no color changes. It doesn't require DPNs or stitch markers. There is no cableing. It completely lacks increases and decreases. It is a beginner's pattern. Right?
So you can understand my frustration when the right side becomes the wrong side and vice versa. Ok, in one part I know what happened. I did purl rows when I should have done knit rows. Fine. But then even when I got it right (and I swear I got it right) the right side still became the wrong side. Then the right side for a few repeats. Then the wrong side again.
I have ripped back and tried again. I have had other people rip back and try again. And it's still wonky.
I'm calling it a design element, because I really don't want to rip back two feet of scarf I have worked very hard for.
But really, either I'm stupid and cannot be trusted with a beginner's pattern, or the yarn just hates me. I know it hates starbucks, because that's where it acts up the worst. But last night, it started rebelling at B&N. What's a sort-of knitter to do?!
This is not a rocket science pattern. This is not intarsia, fair isle, or lace. It has no color changes. It doesn't require DPNs or stitch markers. There is no cableing. It completely lacks increases and decreases. It is a beginner's pattern. Right?
So you can understand my frustration when the right side becomes the wrong side and vice versa. Ok, in one part I know what happened. I did purl rows when I should have done knit rows. Fine. But then even when I got it right (and I swear I got it right) the right side still became the wrong side. Then the right side for a few repeats. Then the wrong side again.
I have ripped back and tried again. I have had other people rip back and try again. And it's still wonky.
I'm calling it a design element, because I really don't want to rip back two feet of scarf I have worked very hard for.
But really, either I'm stupid and cannot be trusted with a beginner's pattern, or the yarn just hates me. I know it hates starbucks, because that's where it acts up the worst. But last night, it started rebelling at B&N. What's a sort-of knitter to do?!
Felting
Let's talk for a moment about one of my other fiber hobbies, felting, specifically wet or flat felting.
Wet felting involves laying layers and layers on animal fibers on each other, then soaking them and squashing, pressing, rolling, and beating them until they form a piece of fabric. Theoretically, thick felted fabric is waterproof and insultating. Theoretically.
So here are a few tips if you decide to enter the wonderful world of beating-the-heck-out-of-a-pile-of-wool-until-it-gives-up:
1. When making warm, soapy water, remember that a shampoo is sudsy. A little goes a long way. Too much means you are scooping piles of soap suds off your workspace while more spill out of the pitiful pile of wool you are abusing. Too little and the wool just laughs at you and refuses to get felty.
2. When covered in aforementioned suds, your partner will laugh at you from the safety of the sofa.
3. The person you are teaching to make felt will have no such soap issues whatsoever.
4. Felty when wet can mean poufy-like-a-pillow when dry. Unless you are the person in #3, for whom felt takes the WYSIWYG path.
5. In some cases, no amount of beating/stomping/rolling/mashing the fiber will cause it to get all nice and solid. Unless you are once again the person in #3, who manages to produce good quality felt with a few twitches and presses and rolls.
6. Abstract felted designs are not appreciated by partner-on-couch, despite the fact that they truly believe a white piece of canvas painted white is art.
7. There is no cure for UGHly.
Wet felting involves laying layers and layers on animal fibers on each other, then soaking them and squashing, pressing, rolling, and beating them until they form a piece of fabric. Theoretically, thick felted fabric is waterproof and insultating. Theoretically.
So here are a few tips if you decide to enter the wonderful world of beating-the-heck-out-of-a-pile-of-wool-until-it-gives-up:
1. When making warm, soapy water, remember that a shampoo is sudsy. A little goes a long way. Too much means you are scooping piles of soap suds off your workspace while more spill out of the pitiful pile of wool you are abusing. Too little and the wool just laughs at you and refuses to get felty.
2. When covered in aforementioned suds, your partner will laugh at you from the safety of the sofa.
3. The person you are teaching to make felt will have no such soap issues whatsoever.
4. Felty when wet can mean poufy-like-a-pillow when dry. Unless you are the person in #3, for whom felt takes the WYSIWYG path.
5. In some cases, no amount of beating/stomping/rolling/mashing the fiber will cause it to get all nice and solid. Unless you are once again the person in #3, who manages to produce good quality felt with a few twitches and presses and rolls.
6. Abstract felted designs are not appreciated by partner-on-couch, despite the fact that they truly believe a white piece of canvas painted white is art.
7. There is no cure for UGHly.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Swap-o-spoilage
Swaps are wonderful things, especially when you realize that while karma can be a beeotch, she can also smile upon you in the form of lovely cable knit scarves with matching hand warmers, balls of Noro Kureyon, and rubber duckies.
Coffee Shop people
Inspired by a post by Franklin on Panopticon:
1. Knitters can be snooty. There were five of us in a Starbucks one night, and not three feet away at another table were three people actively knitting, talking about knitting, helping each other which knitting, and they would not even make eye contact with us. Not that we wanted to be their best friends, but an acknowledgement that we are all KIP knitters would have been nice.
2. People pray loudly at Starbucks. People also cuss loudly.
3. Starbucks' baristas like a challenge. Come up with something wildly exotic and order it with a smile, and chances are they will come through like champs, taste your drink, and never ever forget you. Of course, they probably also laugh at you when you leave.
4. No matter what hour of the day or night, at some point during your visit there will be a herd of cackling teenagers, plus two sorority-type girls that need VACANCY tattooed on their foreheads and two painfully metrosexual guys.
5. Starbucks, home of poser musicians with more hair product than good taste.
6. Remember my last post, when I said knitting was a great way to get people to leave you alone in a crowded place? This does not apply to Starbucks.
7. Stay until closing time, and then ask if they have any iced coffee or tea they are going to throw out. Chances are they will, and you will be caffeinated beyond your wildest dreams.
1. Knitters can be snooty. There were five of us in a Starbucks one night, and not three feet away at another table were three people actively knitting, talking about knitting, helping each other which knitting, and they would not even make eye contact with us. Not that we wanted to be their best friends, but an acknowledgement that we are all KIP knitters would have been nice.
2. People pray loudly at Starbucks. People also cuss loudly.
3. Starbucks' baristas like a challenge. Come up with something wildly exotic and order it with a smile, and chances are they will come through like champs, taste your drink, and never ever forget you. Of course, they probably also laugh at you when you leave.
4. No matter what hour of the day or night, at some point during your visit there will be a herd of cackling teenagers, plus two sorority-type girls that need VACANCY tattooed on their foreheads and two painfully metrosexual guys.
5. Starbucks, home of poser musicians with more hair product than good taste.
6. Remember my last post, when I said knitting was a great way to get people to leave you alone in a crowded place? This does not apply to Starbucks.
7. Stay until closing time, and then ask if they have any iced coffee or tea they are going to throw out. Chances are they will, and you will be caffeinated beyond your wildest dreams.
Since I'm a slacker
It's been a while, so let me begin with the biggest event of the last few months, my trip to Comic-con.
Thank goodness that I now like to knit, as it kept me from wanting to kill people. Seriously. But in addition to the joys of knitting in public, I learned the following very important lessons:
1. Knitting is a great way to keep open seats around you in a crowded room. People will either not sit next to you or, in one case, a guy GOT UP AND MOVED when I pulled out the WIP. And it wasn't even scary little pointy needles. It was chunky yarn on bamboo 15s. What did he think, I was going to gouge his eyes out? And ruin the lovely wool? In either case, a giant thanks to the knitting gods, for knitting is nearly as useful as earphones to keep people from talking to you (unless they are other knitters, which is ok).
2. Knitting dark-ish yarn in near darkness while distracted by the faces of Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Finion leads to a very wonky scarf.
3. Trying to knit a pattern while distracted by Harold and Kumar leads to realizing when you get home a week later that you you completely and hopelessly screwed up the pattern and the project requires full frontal frogging.
4. Trying to knit a pattern while distracted by Kevin Smith leads to not even bothering to rip back the disaster and just hoping it works out.
5. Realizing you might run out of yarn before you run out of convention leads to panicked phone calls to SO to find a yarn store on a bus/trolley route so you can get more yarn. Better to miss a couple hours of convention than go yarn-less. Note: I should've gone to the other store, but I completely forgot that rather than take the hour+ bus trip to get there, I could've taken the 35 minute trolley trip. Oh well. I got yarn, which is all that mattered, and it is a Lamb's Pride Worsted brown varigated colorway that has everyone around me slobbering. Jealousy yarn = bonus! And pink Silky Wool for ridiculously cheap - double bonus.
6. Knitters are everywhere, even at the World's Biggest Gathering of Scificomicbookvideogameanimepopculture geeks.
Count: projects started and completed - 1; project brought with nearly completed, but back burnered because of the thought it required - 1; project started and later frogged due to John Cho and Kal Penn - 1
Thank goodness that I now like to knit, as it kept me from wanting to kill people. Seriously. But in addition to the joys of knitting in public, I learned the following very important lessons:
1. Knitting is a great way to keep open seats around you in a crowded room. People will either not sit next to you or, in one case, a guy GOT UP AND MOVED when I pulled out the WIP. And it wasn't even scary little pointy needles. It was chunky yarn on bamboo 15s. What did he think, I was going to gouge his eyes out? And ruin the lovely wool? In either case, a giant thanks to the knitting gods, for knitting is nearly as useful as earphones to keep people from talking to you (unless they are other knitters, which is ok).
2. Knitting dark-ish yarn in near darkness while distracted by the faces of Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Finion leads to a very wonky scarf.
3. Trying to knit a pattern while distracted by Harold and Kumar leads to realizing when you get home a week later that you you completely and hopelessly screwed up the pattern and the project requires full frontal frogging.
4. Trying to knit a pattern while distracted by Kevin Smith leads to not even bothering to rip back the disaster and just hoping it works out.
5. Realizing you might run out of yarn before you run out of convention leads to panicked phone calls to SO to find a yarn store on a bus/trolley route so you can get more yarn. Better to miss a couple hours of convention than go yarn-less. Note: I should've gone to the other store, but I completely forgot that rather than take the hour+ bus trip to get there, I could've taken the 35 minute trolley trip. Oh well. I got yarn, which is all that mattered, and it is a Lamb's Pride Worsted brown varigated colorway that has everyone around me slobbering. Jealousy yarn = bonus! And pink Silky Wool for ridiculously cheap - double bonus.
6. Knitters are everywhere, even at the World's Biggest Gathering of Scificomicbookvideogameanimepopculture geeks.
Count: projects started and completed - 1; project brought with nearly completed, but back burnered because of the thought it required - 1; project started and later frogged due to John Cho and Kal Penn - 1
Monday, July 14, 2008
Time Management
Ok, for the record, I have way too many creative things to do (is there such a thing?:) )...so this is my record in case something happens to my notebook.
by 7/19 Mail Rav ATCs (completed, ready to fly)
by 8/6 Mail Rav Cardmakers (completed, ready to fly)
by 7/18 Mail Rav Knit Treasures
by 8/1 Mail Rav Scarf Exchange
by 8/29 Mail Rav Swap on a Budget
by 7/23 Mail YG ATC Pinup Girls (6)
by 7/23 Mail YG ATC Cuppa Joe (6) (bases done, needs embellishment)
by 8/27 Mail YG ATC Pink/Orange (3)
by 7/28 Mail Rav Oddball Stash Busters
by any Mail YG ATC Newbie (5)
by 7/19 Mail Rav ATCs (completed, ready to fly)
by 8/6 Mail Rav Cardmakers (completed, ready to fly)
by 7/18 Mail Rav Knit Treasures
by 8/1 Mail Rav Scarf Exchange
by 8/29 Mail Rav Swap on a Budget
by 7/23 Mail YG ATC Pinup Girls (6)
by 7/23 Mail YG ATC Cuppa Joe (6) (bases done, needs embellishment)
by 8/27 Mail YG ATC Pink/Orange (3)
by 7/28 Mail Rav Oddball Stash Busters
by any Mail YG ATC Newbie (5)
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