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Wednesday, May 31, 2006
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Long Car Ride + Matthew + Tipper = Knitting Jokes?
What did the purl stitch say to the knit stitch?
Nice backside!
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A ball of Lopi with a chip on his shoulder walks into a crowded bar, orders a drink, and sits down. A skein of Cascade 220 passes by and accidentally bumps the Lopi. The Lopi jumps up, hand going for his gun. The bartender steps in:
"Hey, watch it. You may be rough, but he's worsted."
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Why did the cable cross to the right?
Beecause it was a braid.
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What did the ball of yarn say to the skein?
You're twisted!
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A skein of Peace Fleece arrives for an audition. "Now," the director says, "You're up for the role of a purse. You need to BE the purse. Show me what you've got." The Peace Fleece performs its monologue - it was a decent performance, though nothing stellar.
"It's just not working," the director said. "You're just too rough, too unrefined."
The Peace Fleece, heartbroken, exclaimed, "But if you only knew how I felt!"
*
What did the knitter say when she lost her yarn?
Where's my yarn?
(a homage to one of my favorite jokes of all time)
And now for something completely different.
Drunken knitting!
This is the product of some Malabrigo laceweight, mechanical pencils (size 11?), an impromptu garter stitch shawl pattern in my head, two glasses of chardonnay, and one rolicking car ride. I tried picking it up again after three or four (I lost track) vodka tonics and a Jaegerbomb. That did not go so well.
This ain't your grandma's hobby!
Tipper @ 12:12 AM * link
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Sunday, May 21, 2006
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The color, not the duck.
My middle name, for those of you not in the know, is Teal; as I say, it is after the duck (my dad was/is a duck hunter), not the color. But for right now, it's all about the color, not the duck.
Exhibit 1: Hemp Flowers Necklace (designed by Norah Gaughan) from last fall's Interweave Knits Crochet.
Exhibit 2: The shirt I'm wearing with said necklace, just one of many shirts of this color that I have bought recently, and tend to wear all at once.
Exhibit 3: The dress I want to get married in, even though Bobby says I'll look fat and much prefers this one, which is still very pretty, but still $200, and I am cheap (and, therefore, if any of y'all know where I can get similar patterns and/or fabric, please help a girl out).
As proven by the above, I really like teal.
The weekend's work
This weekend I finished aforementioned hemp necklace. It was a very quick project, started last Sunday. I crocheted almost all of the flower motifs in one evening, and the band - which is a little loose, unfortunately - in another one. I sewed everything together in about 45 minutes, after a nice blocking.
I also swatched for (! - but don't get too excited; it's not like I washed the swatch or anything) and re-started the Lucky Clover Cardigan, this time with smaller needles and a smaller size.
And, finally, I finished ripping out the Take Me Along Cardigan, which was a big mess of FRUMP. Too baggy and shapeless, and just not quite long enough to boot. Plus, the armscyes were always an annoyance. I would like to give Bella Paquita a whirl. The Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed may not have the right properties to make this work, but we'll see. I'd like to make something a little sexy with this, in order to make up for all the frump it had to create earlier.
Lots of skeins got a bath this weekend: Lincoln lamb/silk handspun, six skeins of ripped-out Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed, my latest handspun (handpainted merino), what was a way-too-large back of a Lucky Clover Cardigan, and my former Clapotis, a victim of not-enough-yarn. The latter may turn into a circular shrug or maybe a Scarf Style turtleneck shrug. It's gorgeous wool/silk yarn that I certainly won't let go to waste.
Honeymoonin'
So, we figured out that going to GenCon/Indianapolis on top of Chicago would be a bit cost prohibitive (that is, about $700 for two days, factoring in transportation, lodging, and convention tickets). Instead, we're going to spend 6 days/5 nights in the Windy City. I've only ever seen the inside of the Amtrak station, and Matthew's spent some time there (though nothing he enjoyed), so it should be interesting. We're staying at a very swank hotel, and will spend a bit of time at Stitches. I know some of you will be there, and I think we should make darn well sure we get together.
Tipper @ 7:50 PM * link
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Sunday, May 14, 2006
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My wheel and I might elope.
We're in love! We have spun much together over the past few days, and we are not tiring of it. Currently, the wheel (I think it has a name, but I have forgotten it in this blur of passion) is spinning blue fluff, a.k.a. some stash wool blended with stash silk (using my hand carders! fun!). I cannot say that it is wonderful yarn, but it's something different. The merino I finished plying last night, however, is wonderful yarn - my best yet!
As if being in love with my wheel was not sick enough, today I had the thought, "Man, I should go to Rhinebeck." Nevermind that it would cost me so much money to get there I would only be able to look and touch, but that's just crazy talk!
Speaking of marriage...
Matthew and I are slated to get hitched in early August (no, we don't have a date, because it is going to be very informal and go-see-a-judge-like). As luck (or fate?) would have it, Stitches Midwest is going on during the time I have blocked out for honeymooning, and not four hours away from that is GenCon, Matthew's Mecca. Would it be extremely weird to spend our honeymoon at cons?
Since I have never been to Stitches Midwest, nor have I heard many stories, can anyone let me know whether or not it's worth the time/money/effort to visit? Does it cost money to get into the market? I am not a class sort of girl (though I notice that Debbie New's classes are not yet full), so I would probably just go there to shop. Your insights are appreciated, especially if you know of things to do in the Chicago/Indianapolis area other than conventions. We can spend as many days as we want, really, and would probably take the train.
Tipper @ 5:26 PM * link
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Saturday, May 13, 2006
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Shepherd's Harvest = bust
I feel disappointed, but it's really quite silly. I didn't find enough to buy. See? Told you it was silly.
I ended up with two items (well, three, if you count the artisan sheep's milk cheese): Ashford hand carders and 4oz or so of handpainted merino roving.
I bought the hand carders because all of the wool that struck my fancy needed to be carded (though I'll be darned if I wash anything). Then I ran out of time to buy any of it, not that I could decide anyway, since I have no idea what to look for in a fleece.
It was super-extra-duper cold and rainy and I wish I'd kept plugging away on Forecast.
There were tons of knitter and spinner friends there, and it was delightful to run into them and chat a bit.
One thing that disappoints me about Shepherd's Harvest is the rusticness of it. I appreciate rustic yarn, but prefer it to be usable (see: Peace Fleece, Bartlett's). A lot of the stuff that you run into around here that's a farm's own processed fleece is heavy, greasy, rough, and not very appealing at all. I'm sure it has its use, but it's rare to find anything that's really unique and a bit more refined. It's very much a fiber festival, and not so much a yarn festival.
The only pictures we took were of the bunny agility demonstration. The bunnies were not too cooperative, but both eventually completed the course.
Something that makes me happy
I'm not sure why, but I am having a love affair with this sock, a toe-up, I'm-going-to-use-this-whole-skein-for-a-sock sock made from Lorna's Laces "Motherlode":
At the rate I'm going, I will have thigh highs, instead of my goal of knee highs. There's something really calming about good yarn on tiny needles doing simple stockinette.
Tipper @ 2:33 PM * link
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Thursday, May 11, 2006
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I would like to get started on my crocheted necklace. However, my crochet hooks have a different idea. Where, oh where, are my steel crochet hooks? I found a D, but I need a C, which is from a different set. I can see them, in my head, in different locations, mocking me. "Ha-ha!" they say. "We were here. But then we were here, and then HERE, but maybe were are here now! Ha-ha!"
Jerks.
P.S. After a very long time of mooching, I have now upgraded my Haloscan. Now that I actually get comments, that email notification will come in handy, and I might actually reply to you fine folks.
Tipper @ 5:11 AM * link
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Tuesday, May 09, 2006
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Unfinished no longer!
See? I was not lying. I finished my wheel.
Now I need not be embarrassed to show pictures on the internets, nor need I fear the wrath of the guy from Colina del Carl Alpacas, who scolded me for using it before it was finished and need not know that it has remained unfinished for a year since I bought it from him. I am buying two bobbins from those nice folks on Saturday, and I will try to refrain from mentioning this little thing.
Speaking of things I bought a year ago... here's some merino that I bought at last year's Shepherd's Harvest, being spun for the very first time. My wheel's running a little more smoothly, thanks to a liberal application of various petroleum products. There is still a noise being made, and I am at a loss as to where it's coming from. It does not, however, sound dangerous, nor is it too annoying. It might merely be normal spinning-wheel noise (sort of like how Sophie moans and groans when her belly gets petted?).
I'm looking forward to Saturday, that's for sure. I'm going to stay away from anything that needs preparation, since I can't afford to buy the proper tools to do that at the moment (plus, my time's a little too valuable at this point). I want to pick up some chocolate brown alpaca, and I hope to get another braid (or two) of handpainted superwash fiber.
Because I easily am caught up in mass hysteria, I ended up buying some fiber from Sweet Georga Yarns. You can see it on this page - English Bay Bluefaced Leicester. I bet it will be delicious.
Tipper @ 10:50 PM * link
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Look who's here! (Or: How many times can I say "beautiful" - and variations thereof - in one post?)
No wonder my Sockapaloooza socks took their jolly time getting here. They were traveling transatlantic style.
A beautiful package arrived from Oxford, England today.
In it were these beautiful socks.
Capturing stitch detail is not my strong point, but maybe you can see the beautiful shape of the pattern.
These were beautifully knit by Heidi, and are Elfine's Socks (links to PDF). Thank goodness you used superwash wool, Heidi, as I am not-so-good at separating laundry (though I mean to start washing all my hand-knit socks by hand... really!). And they fit perfectly! (I am wearing them right now.)
Bonus: they will exactly match Crichton... should it ever be finished.
Thank you, Heidi!!
Tipper @ 8:40 PM * link
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Sunday, May 07, 2006
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Mission Sockapaloooza: Possible
The Sockapaloooza socks were mailed promptly on May 1, and arrived at JennyRaye's house a couple of days later.
Their going-away picture:
That ball of yarn is the leftovers; I can't say how many yards, but I reckon it'll make a pair of baby booties or some contrasting heels and toes. I sent the leftovers to JennyRaye because, darn, that yarn is nice.
You can see much clearer action shots here, modeled by the recipient herself.
And I quickly wrote up the "pattern" - more like a concept - and posted it here. I'm calling them "Frequency" because the whole time I knit them I was trying to figure out how to make it easy to remember when to cross the cables, you know - the frequency of crosses in relation to each other, but I was baffled. I hope I wrote the pattern correctly; basically, it's the same four-stitch cable crossed in the same direction, just at either 4 or 8 stitches, offset by two rounds at the beginning.
I'm glad the socks received a happy welcome, and I hope I can welcome my own soon!
One knee high: done
I finished a lace knee high. It fits juuust right. However, I have no good backgrounds to show it off with (I don't consider dirty brown carpet with a chewed-up sour cream lid in the background to be suitable), so you don't get pictures yet. The picture of Sophie appearing to lick the socks was adorable, but the stitch definition was nil. You just can't win.
Spinning wheel: FINISHED
I finally got off my arse and finished my wheel. I'm stopping at two coats of tung oil because I'm lazy and it seems that it's pretty standard to stop at two, from what I've read. Now I just have to put it together, oil the snot out of it, and get some spinning in. I finally finished plying about 160 yards of lincoln/silk. It's furry and rustic, but nice. I have no idea what I'll do with it.
Sophie: weird
Here is a parting shot of my very weird dog.
She passed first grade and is now in second in doggy obedience school, and she also recently celebrated what I have designated as her (first) birthday (May 1). Lately, her hobbies include almost electrocuting herself by chewing through cords that she has otherwise ignored, chewing up plastic objects, napping, whining when we go out of her sight, and chewing on Reggiecat's head.
Tipper @ 9:16 PM * link
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