Extreme Knitting

The Purlygirls had an "extreme knitting" day today. I had to skip Phase 1: Brunch. While the 'girls brunched I went to the Seattle International Film Festival to see Wes's film. After the screening I met up with the 'girls in Volunteer Park for Phase 2. We worked there for a while but a very strong and chilly breeze made us flee to a Mexican restaurant (Phase 3). I finished the sleeves (at last!) for the GE Cardi last night so I spent the day knitting the first sleeve to Rosy. At six, we moved on to Phase 4--Church of Craft at Re-Bar. It was a neat group of crafters but the dark, dank, smokey location left me cold. So we moved on to Phase 5, El Diablo, and knit there until they kicked us out after 11. Then I went home and wove in all my ends on my Shapely (Optional Phase 6).

I managed to finish only one sleeve. I realized after two hours of knitting at Re-bar that I had forgotten two decreases back at La Cocina. So I spent my first twenty minutes at El Diablo ripping back. I literally cast off the last stitch as they were flashing the lights and putting the chairs up on the tables at El Diablo.

Tomorrow is another crazy knit-filled day. I put together a little Purlygirl family picnic during the day. Then there's the regular Purlygirl knit-together in the evening. Hopefully I'll get the other sleeve for Rosy done and get the girl all seamed up. The I can do a big Rosy/Shapely photo shoot. Shapely fits pretty darn well. Hooray. It's not the shapeless sack I feared it would be.

What Happened?

Yesterday while Wes was getting the boys ready for bed, I sat down on the sofa with my Shapely. I have one armhole to finish. Six rows to knit. And I fell fast asleep. This was not a little nap. I was down for the count. At around 10:30 I crawled into my room, changed into my jammies and got into bed. I didn't get up until the boys woke me at 7:30 this morning. I had twelve hours of sleep and I still feel like I've been run over by a trunk. I did manage to get to the gym this morning for a killer 90 minute workout. Now I'm ready for another nap.

From Thursday's New York Times. A somewhat rambling article about online knitters, including members of the Rogue-along.

I'm Looking Over...

a four leaf clover!



I'm on my way with the first sock from the Six Sox Knitalong. I'm using Elann Esprit. This is another fun, quick sock like Broadripple. Unlike Broadripple the pattern isn't written for two circulars so I'm going to have to figure out the whole heel thing when I get there.

I'm ever so slowly working on the finishing for my Shapely Tank. I forgot how much I love the yarn but I'm hating knitting with an entire sweater hanging off my (little) needles. This week at least. I've left it on the kitchen island. Whenever I walk by a knit on it for a minute or two. It should be done by the end of the weekend. There's no rush since it's cold and miserable here right now. I pinned it together yesterday and tried it on. It's not going to be as baggy as I feared or as long. It's a little big around the hips but it's okay.

I've taken the GE Cardi sleeves out of my purse. They are just too big to carry around. I moved the socks in there. But now I need to hunker down and finish knitting these damned sleeves. There's something about this sweater that makes me feel like I'm just treading water. I took the sleeves to Stitch 'N Bitch last night and knit on them for three hours and it seems like they stayed the same size. Huh? My fuzzy pink yarn for the trim is being held captive at Ram Wools anyway while they wait for my Cotton Angora to come in. I ordered it on April 4th and I'm still waiting. Mia, hang on! I'm coming!

Cursed No More

As you can see, Lottie/Nottie (Thanks for the new name, Alison) is complete. It's not the form-fitting pattern from the book but it's a great slightly oversized kicking around sweater. And I needed one of those.

Yesterday was a great day. My oldest son (6) woke up very early and A) didn't wake me, B) got ready by himself and C) made and packed his own lunch for school! I took this all as good omens for the day. I went to the gym and got a really great work out. I came home and made a batch of low fat hummus and had a feast of veggies. I spent the day at home with my younger son playing and finishing Lottie/Nottie. Did you know you can play Cariboo and weave in ends at the same time? You can. My older son had a playdate after school so I was home relatively undisturbed from noon until five. It was bliss.

Then I was off to Stitch 'N Bitch with the Purlygirls. It was another fun evening of chatting and knitting. I worked on the first sleeve for Rosy. Although I was having some sort of mental block with row counting and spent most of the night counting and recounting and muttering under my breath.

I cast on for the first sock from the Six Sox Knitalong (it's really worth clicking this link to see what may be the best photo of animals and knitting in the history of the universe) last night too. The sleeves for the GE Cardi have outgrown my purse and I need a new take-along project.

Scary Doll Book

The scary doll book, also known as Basic Crochet and Knit is widely available in the states. I did a quick check on Best Book Buys and found it was available from most major book chains.

Not So Hottie

I took my Finishing for the Finicky class yesterday. I came home all fired up to finish Lottie/Hottie and my Shapely Tank. What a disaster. Lottie/Hottie is--as I feared--way too big. It will be a good kicking around sweater but it won't be a "Come 'ere, Big Boy" sweater. Those of you who know me are probably rubbing your aching sides right now after laughing so hard at the thought of me in a sweater that meets the latter's description. So, other stupid things I did with this sweater. 1) While knitting, I experimented with a different M1 which ended up leaving holes everywhere. 2) Sewed up shoulders and then side seams in a fit of enthusiasm. "Um, Jess...sleeves?" 3) In a pique of frustration started sewing on the first sleeve backwards. Yes, cuff to shoulder. Don't ask.

Disgusted I cast the sweater aside and took a picture. Today things are better. I have attached both sleeves the right way. And now I'm starting to seam up the sleeves/sides.

I realized about a week ago that I've been making the wrong size sweaters. (I'm pretty sure the Shapely Tank I'm making will also be huge). With the Debbie Bliss book the patterns are all by bust size. I have a 38" bust. So I've been knitting the patterns for a 38" bust. But these are all the largest sized patterns. I don't wear a large. I wear a medium. Hence, a bunch of gigantic sweaters.

The finishing class was outstanding. It's the second class I've taken from Susanna Hanson. She is a fabulous instructor. She's incredibly knowledgeable but more importantly she's well organized and very clear in her directions. She prepares excellent handouts with lots of notes and an annotated bibliography. She will be teaching at Stitches East so if you have a chance to take a class with her I strongly recommend it.

In the class we covered a lot of basics about how to knit to make your finishing easier--adding selvedges, counting rows, dumping projects you hate. We also covered mattress stitch,



Japanese short rows for shoulder shaping,



picking up stitches



and button holes.



I was also introduced to "The Scary Doll Book."


Click to see just how scary this doll is.
It's a Japanese knitting and crochet book that's been very badly translated into English. It has really good illustrations of the Japanese short row technique.

Go, Rosy, Go

We sing a song at my younger son's preschool about Alice the Camel.

Alice the camel has three humps
Alice the camel has three humps
Alice the camel has three humps
Go, Alice, Go!

While I was taking a (yet another crummy) photo of Rosy with both fronts complete all I could think was, "Rosy the sweater has two fronts, Rosy the sweater..." Well, you get the idea.

I finished the left front of Rosy last night while watching All the Real Girls. I loved the mood, sense of humor and dialogue in this film. Wes didn't like how open-ended the ending was. He also felt it was too "Sundance."

In other movie news, last week for our film series we screened The Tracker. It's an Australian film set in 1922 about a group of (white) policemen and an aboriginal tracker following an aboriginal man accused of murdering a white woman. It's stark and reserved like a western with really interesting music. The audience enjoyed it a lot.

Rowan, What Were You Thinking?

When I was at a LYS on Tuesday I saw a sample tank knit from the new Paper yarn from Rowan's R2 collection.

The yarn was icky. It took me a moment to place exactly where I had felt this material before. Then it hit me--it's the material they use for the pillow cases on airplanes! That same nasty, scritchy feeling right here in a tank top. How wonderful. Take a close look at the photograph and you can practically smell the jet fuel and start to feel anxious about your baggage. The top was stiff and scratchy...Completely unpleasant to imagine wearing. Oh and see through! Very, very see through. Ick. And why is this monstrous stuff called paper? It's 100% nylon. What about that makes you think of paper? And it's a real disservice to yarn that is actually made from paper, which I haven't had a chance to experience in person. I can only imagine it's much nicer stuff than this.

I was at the store for an anniversary sale. There have been three big sales in the last three weeks at yarn stores here. It's a dangerous time to be a knitter. I managed to leave with all but 15 of my dollars. I couldn't say no to Crystal Palace bamboo circulars for $5 each. The cables are so soft and supple. I want to cast on for a new pair of socks as soon as I finish the sleeves for the GE Cardi. I'm around halfway up both sleeves. I can't believe that I might finally finish this sweater some day.

Michele has graciously turned down my copy of The Namesake because she just got it from the library. She asked me to give it to another contestant. So congratulations Jan!

Dude, Where's My Post?

I was trying to post unsuccessfully all day yesterday. Wes finally figured out that he forgot to renew our domains so we had a lapse in service. But I'm back now, Baby!

The winner of The Namesake is Michele!

Here's a (crappy) picture of Rosy's back and right front. I'm half way through the left front now.



I am really enjoying knitting this pattern. The side to side knitting is so non-intuitive for me that it's a surprise to see what comes off my needles. I saw a completed Rosy last night in Manos Stria. It was really nice. That yarn is so soft. I will definitely need to get some one day.

I'm still working on my swatches for my class. It's so dulldulldull. I'll spare you a photo.

$400 soccer ball, anyone?

Last Call

Anyone else want to include their name in the book drawing? Email me ASAP. I'll pick a name tomorrow night.

I finished the back and right front of Rosy. Before I go any further on it I need to finish my swatches for my finishing class. It's several tediously dull smallish white swatches. But they have to be done to exactly as written. Zzzz...

Birthday Month

Birthday month at our home has come to a close. The four of us all have birthdays in mid-April to mid-May. Our oldest son turns six tomorrow and we had his party this afternoon. It was a Captain Underpants party complete with Poopy Cake (my son's idea) and a game of Duck, Duck, Poop (mine)! He's been reading Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies From Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zombie Nerds a lot lately.

Tonight he asked, "What's a zombie nerd?"
"It's a nerd who's undead," I helpfully replied.
"What's a nerd?"
"A nerd is someone who is uncool," Dad interjected.
"A nerd is usually someone who is really smart but uncool," I added.
My son's eyes grew bright and he sat straight up.
"Like Daddy?"
I stopped laughing about fifteen minutes later.

Pass It On

A few months ago I saw in the sidebar of Mariko's blog that she was reading The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I adored reading Interpreter of Maladies and asked Mariko how she was enjoying the book. Imagine my surprise a few weeks later when it showed up in the mail from Mariko. Knitters are just great people. Well, I have finished reading the book and it's now sitting next to my bed. So I would like to extend the favor to someone else. Just email me with "The Namesake" in the subject line and on Monday I will draw a name from a hat and send the winner the book. Hopefully s/he can keep the favor going.