Wow, Blogger.com has changed a bit since I first started this. I may be time for me to rehaul my blog - redo comments; start adding pictures, etc.

Well I finally started spinning again. My finger doesn't hurt anymore! So I'm working on the Cinderella mittens. (Mittens that are too big for me, but maybe they'll fit a SO.)

I also gave away a pair of socks that were too small for me. The recipient loves them. She wants to commission a sweater of similar design. (Aran) We have to get together to see exactly what she wants, and whether I have to design it myself or if there's a pattern she likes.

I don't purposely make things that fit or don't fit. I make things - according to the pattern. Obviously, I can tell that they're going to fit or not fit by the time I've finished the first one. Just because thay don't fit me is no reason not to make them, or to frog them, or what not. They'll fit someone, and I can always make another set for myself if I like them. If I don't like them, then at least I'll still have the experience of having knitted them. It's all about the process, isn't it?

My god, it's cold. I was brushing the snow off a windshield & scraped off the better part of a fingernail. Didn't even feel it, my hands were so cold. (Of course I felt it when my hands warmed up!) Hey, where's that blood from?

I finished my last present. A kufi for my brother. If I would have bothered to put up the instructions before, I would have had them available ... but no. So I had to recreate it by staring intently at this summer's kufi.

So here's my notes for those of you intrepid enough to build your own:
p -- purl
k -- knit
O -- yarn over
/ -- knit 2 together
\ -- slip, slip, knit tog slipped stitches
M -- knit 3 together (ie: 2 st decrease - what ever fashion you like)
RT -- Right leaning baby cable (2 stitches)*
*Remember, each letter is a stitch, so even though RT is one notation, it is over 2 stitches.

Lace**:
p k k p p k k k k k p
p R T p p k O M O p ----3
p k k p p k k k k k p
p R T p p O / k \ O p ---1

** a modification of Canada Lace in Nicky Epstein's Knitted Embellishments. I changed the direction of the cable (because I knit right twists faster than I knit left twists) and recentered the stitch order to better work in the round. Read from right to left, bottom to top - like a chart.

Here's what I do:

Cast on 88 stitches on a circular needle. (All of my hats are 88 stitches, so I don't have to guess/remember how many to cast on/decrease. To alter size, change yarn/needles/gauge.)
purl one row;
knit one row;
begin lace pattern over 11 sts 8X & follow for 6 repeats (24 rows);
purl one row, BUT maintain the 8 baby cables (ie. *p9, RT*);
*p2 tog, k6, p1, k2*, rep.;
*p1, k6, p1, RT* rep.;
*p2 tog, k5, k2* rep.;
And so forth, switching to dpns when necessary, until you get to 24 sts remaining.
*p1, RT* rep.;
*k2 tog, k1* rep. 16 stitches left.
Cut yarn w/long tail, draw through remaining stitches tightly & weave in ends.

This makes a kufi on which the lace panels are separated by cables which spiral together at the crown.

I could write this out in idiot-proof directions, but I don't feel like it. There's enough information for most anyone to replicate this if they're so inclined. And more importantly there's enough here for me not to have to rebuild it next time I want to make one.

Mind you, I'm also writing this off the top of my head, after the fact, not as I'm going along, so the directions may be a bit wonky. (I don't see any errors, though it's possible.) But you're a smart knitter; you'll figure it out.

I'm debating on whether or not to go on a rant about vaginoplasty; there's an article in the Times. Gals - just leave it be. Nobody cares about your beef curtains. If there's discomfort involved, that's one thing, but if it's just for asthetics ... get over it. By the time your partners get to that point, they're not really worried about it.


And go see Kinsey; it was good.

Well,

I'm still waiting for the mittens from my exchange. It's getting cold; I hope they come soon. it's s'posed to go below freezing tonight.

Volleyball is still going. I'm not particularly feeling love from the team this week. Probably just paranoia. I haven't really spoken to anyone to feel love or otherwise. But I've joined another league for the winter season. It will probably be in addition to my current team, but we'll see. I also found a dodgeball league. That would be fun too.

I've finally become a poker lemming. We're having a game of Texas Hold 'Em this evening. I can't believe how much poker I watch on tv. But you just get sucked into it. The editing makes the game seem more incredible than it is. How many times in your life are you going to flop a set of aces? Or have two nines in the flop, a nine on the turn, AND on the river? But both happened on one episode of Celebrity Poker, as if this were a normal occurance.

As usual, I haven't knit, spun, or woven a g-d thing. Oddly enough, I haven't brewed anything either. I'm mired in ennui. I haven't even been running. I should have yesterday; it was gorgeous. I watched the start of the NYC marathon instead. Not that that made me feel any better. Nothing like a photo of a legless man or a man in a rhino suit running, to make you feel like a total schlumpf. I've seen the rhino guy before - back in '93. Saw Fred LeBow then too.

Tucson, December 2005! (Yeah, right ....)

Still not much to report on the Fiber Front, unfortunately. I snapped the driveband on the Dundas, and instead of just making a new one, I dragged out the Millie and have been spinning on that. Which I guess is good; it's horribly under utililzed. My finger still twinges when I flex it, but it doesn't hurt nearly as badly. However, I still can't touch my palm. It's a new volleyball season, so either it'll get better or worse.

October is normally a big fiber time for me. I almost always go to Rheinbeck, but I'm going to skip it this year. There's a beer event in NYC that weekend, which sounds like much more fun. I've mentioned it to my friend to see if he can get his band to play there. Honestly though, fiber is the last thing I need to spend money on.

I've resolved to get the 6 bags of fiber out of my office this week. (The rest of the household is on vacation, so I should be able to get it stashed away without comment.)

I've still been running, although I cheated this week. I just didn't feel like it. It happens sometimes. I walked about half the route, then changed my usual path home to include some hills. Whenever I don't run the entire time, I either go farther or run harder on the parts I do run. Anyway... by changing my route I neglected to stretch (no bars/barres on this route), and my legs are still sore.

What would my life be without something or other to complain about?

My finger is still messed up. I can't touch my palm when I bend it. (All of the other fingers can do this.) It's affecting my setting in volleyball. So I haven't been spinning or knitting or whatnot. I also can't get the ring off of that finger - I've tried soap, oil, etc. It's on there for good. Weird. I'm going to have to figure this out at some point.

Back from vacation. No, I didn't look for any yarn store and I didn't knit on the plane. It was Florida for god's sake - there are other things to do. Anyway, I sprained a finger a couple of days before I left, and I barely feel like typing, much less knitting.

I finished my fittin' mitten exchange gloves before jamming my finger, so I just have to send them out. Only 3 months early - who'da thunk it?

I have to mail a b-day present today and I'm at a loss as to what to get my father. We're the type of folk who need nothing!

Mindless quiz time:




Jolly good, wot! Anyone for tennis? That'll be ten ponies, guv. You're the epitome of everything that is english. Yey :) Hoist that Union Jack!

How British are you?

this quiz was made by alanna