Knitting Interruptus

Like most of the other blogs I've been perusing lately, Harry Potter has cast Knitting Interruptus on me while I finish the final seventh book.

No spoilers here for anyone still going through it.

I finished my first ribbed Lollipop sock (which looks seriously Ridiculous when not on my foot - J was making rude remarks about it looking like a condom for a horse - now that is a vision should a Bogart take over any one's cupboard...)

And at the risk of incurring second sock syndrome I have cast on another project.

One of my loveliest colleagues (based in another city) is expecting a baby on 2 September which means I have five weeks to make, block and post an appropriate item of clothing. EZ Baby Surprise jackets are all over the knitting blogosphere at the moment but 1/ I don't have the pattern; 2/ I'm not confident of the instructions for the alternative Baby Surplice jacket that I do have the pattern for; and 3/ I've previously made this top-down raglan baby jacket in self-striping 6-ply Opal sock yarn and I'm confident it will turn out well.

If I have time I will tackle the Baby Surplice jacket.

How our cats broke a $19 floor lamp and we wasted a whole weekend

On second thoughts, I don't think I can bare to recount everything that happened this weekend. The short story is that J & I:

• Woke up on Saturday to a 'crash' that turned out to be the cats knocking over a cheap but useful uplight floor lamp. Not only was the shade broken, but the light fitting no longer worked.
  
• Went to Bunnings (giant warehouse hardware store) and chose two new lamps that combined an upright and reading lamp on each (1 1/2 hours)
  
• Set them up (1/2 hour)
• Noticed we had bought the wrong light bulbs from Bunnings for the upright part.
• Decided to use bulbs from the kitchen light fitting (that were the right wattage)
  
• Noticed a strange burning smell (five minutes after turning on the lights)
  
• Heard a load pop
• Quickly turned off the lamps. Unscrewed a bulb and discovered it was burnt and melted at the base.
• Later we discovered that the reading lamp lights on both lamps no longer worked.
  

Sunday

• 10.30am:Went back to Bunnings and showed a skeptical staff member evidence of why we were returning the lamps.
• Waited 10 minutes while someone from the electrical department was called to inspect the burnt bulb and fitting.
• Had our claim approved
• Waited 20 minutes in a queue to return the lamps
• By this stage the girl processing the claims had forgotten it was already approved. Waited another 10 minutes while she verified it.
• Told the girl we also wanted to return the light bulbs. Girl takes three attempts to refund the final $11 onto my credit card.
• J tells me it is too early to buy a sausage from the scouts who have set up a stand outside the store.
• 12 noon. Drive to Nunawading. Visit Harvey Norman (department store). Spend half-an-hour wandering around and dragging J out of the computer section.
  
• Visit three different lighting stores that want to charge us between $135 and $450 for a floor lamp.
• Visit Officeworks to use the toilet. Lose J in Officeworks. Find him 20 minutes later buying DVD discs.
• Decide to visit Bunnings Nunawading. Spend 40 minutes looking at poor quality lights and deciding not to buy anything.
  
• J won't let me buy a sausage from the scouts here either.
• 2.40pm: Home for a quick lunch. I look online and find the perfect lamp combing an upright and reading lamp for only $29 in the Ikea catalogue. The computer claims it is available at Ikea Richmond.
• 3.30pm: Drive to Richmond. Spend 20 minutes trying to find a park in the worst-ever designed carpark that is in serious need of a traffic engineer or at least some staff directing traffic.
• Walk around the rat maze that is Ikea trying not to get distracted by the soft toys and kitchenware. Discover our perfect lamp. Also notice that an exact replica of the broken lamp is available for just $19.
• Decide to buy perfect lamp. Jeff collects matching light bulbs. Suspicious empty pallet next to display lamp suggests that the perfect lamp is sold out.
• Spend 20 minutes finding and waiting for customer service who confirm perfect lamp is sold out.
• J & I look at each other and concede defeat. Go back to the $19 lamp that is a replica of the broken lamp. Buy it and spend 15 minutes getting out of the carpark.
• 5pm. Get home. J sets up new lamp and retreats to his room to play World of Warcraft.

Final words on ISE4

I am no longer putting buttons in my sidebar (except for the knitting ring buttons). I lost all my buttons when I moved to the new Blogger and found that I could cope without them. And I could never decide how long to keep them or if the number was getting ridiculous.

Hence the internal posting for the 'Gold Star ISE4 Pal' button for playing by the rules, making contact with my pals, sending my scarf off on time and posting to the group blog. A kind of high tech version of what the teachers used to put on neatly written work in primary school.

I ended up exchanging a couple of (nice) emails with the organisers expressing my concerns about how some of the exchangees seemed to be pushing up the ante when it came to sending 'extras' with their scarf - which added to postage costs as well as the cost of the extras. (I previously posted about this here.) And I got a very nice receptive response from Sharon who is also in Australia who said she was thinking of organising a lightweight category in the next scarf exchange - which means packages including extras would be limited to a reasonable (but yet to be decided) weight.

I think that's a fabulous idea and am looking forward to a lightweight ISE5.

No I don't have skinny ankles

As Judy aka the Sheep Rustler noted, the self-patterning wool doesn't look quite as good in ribbing as it does in plain stockinette stitch but I decided to go for comfort over pure style. And no, my ankles and calves aren't that skinny; it's just the elasticity of the rib pattern.

I'm very happy with how this sock is coming out - it is the first time I've done a short row heel without having to fudge any of the stitches and there don't seem to be the usual mysterious holes either. Hopefully I haven't jinxed the next sock by writing that!

The global knitting village

I rang up Tapestry Craft in Sydney (on their 1800 number) to order some sock knitting needles today – everywhere in Melbourne seems to be out of the 2mm needles or else they are charging ridiculous prices for fragile wooden toothpicks I know will snap within about 3 seconds of me using them (speaking from experience) – I would have just bought over the net except I couldn’t see any secure encryption on the site (they may have it but I couldn’t see it). How did people survive pre-internet? I am buying yarn from Holland, needles from Sydney and a pattern from the USA with funds and some of the goods being transmitted via services that didn’t even exist 10 years ago! I have this nifty tool on my blog that tells me how many people have visited and from what countries their computer is located in (you can even set it for cities but I find that a little too creepy). And if I wanted to, I could join the “Tour de Fleece” knit-a-thon where thousands of knitters around the globe are knitting and spinning yarn while they watch AND COMMENT ON the bicycle race, the Tour de France. (Drug testing not mandatory for most of the knitters.)

The world in 2007 is a wonderful and very strange place. Yes, there are still so many people dying of starvation and preventable illnesses and in stupid wars and maybe climate change in the not too distant future will destroy us all. And increased material wealth has not solved the problems of sadness and isolation and mental illnesses; although the internet now enables us to know we are not alone, no matter how obscure our personal issue.

What would our ancestors working 18 hours a day to just survive and never travelling more than 20km from home in their lifetime think?

Lollipop sock

My multi-coloured bag is currently felting in the machine (I hope! It's on it's 3rd cycle but some shrinkage is at least evident) and I decided to move onto something completely different. Socks.

It's been a while since I've knitted socks and after the knitting chunky yarn on 9mm needles all week I couldn't face the usual tiny skinny sock needles and yarns. This is Opal Lollipop 6-ply which I knit on 3mm needles. As it is self-patterning yarn, I find a very plain sock pattern works best. In this case it is a toe-up plain foot with short-row heels and a 2X2 rib for the legs. While in many ways much of this knitting could be seen as simply a smaller version of the knitting of my bag (knitting plain garter stitch around and around and around), watching the self-patterning form provides an ample diversion. "I'll just knit to the end of the pink. OK, to the blue. Look this dark blue and white is making an interesting spot pattern."

Yarn bargains
My resolution to refrain from yarn buying took a bit of a hit on Friday. Cleggs was having a sale. I restrained myself to a mere 4 balls of purple Naturally NZ DK yarn and 2 balls of grey/black Patons sock yarn. At $2/ball it was a bargain too good to resist.

I am very proud of myself, however, for resisting the 'bargain' novelty yarn that I would probably never knit or wear.

I was sorely tempted by some of the silk blends and a bamboo yarn but my budget won over my heart.

No longer a beginner

As I sit in front of the TV mindlessly knitting, knitting, knitting in the round, it strikes me that I am no longer a beginner. I am getting bored out of my mind knitting, knitting, knitting this bucket bag on 9mm circular needles, even while watching TV. The only thing keeping me going is the desire to see whether I can actually felt this into a bag. And I'm chuffed to have finally found a use for those fat circular needles I bought on impulse from eBay a few years ago because it was such a great 'bargain' (I'm much better now at resisting 'bargains' on eBay).

So I predict I'll have this bag finished by the end of the week, providing I can stay awake for that long.

Yawn.

Ever since I saw a photo of this yarn I have lusted for its beautiful brightness. It just called out to the inner toddler in me who is in love with pinks and purples and all the colours of the rainbow.

But I was good. I was responsible. I resisted. Because at US$5.95/ball plus postage from the Netherlands it was too much a threat to my fragile budget. Then Astrid put her last five balls up for sale at US$5 for the lot and I succumbed. Sooner than you could say PayPal, it was winding its way to Australia along with a skein of full-priced Opal 6-ply sock yarn because, hey, I was paying all that postage anyway and might as well fill up the satchel completely.

Hmm... well it made budgetary sense at the time.

The label says it is Vogue Collection Ligne Noire; 50 metres in a 50 gram ball. And now I had to decide what to do with it.

I have enough scarfs and wanted something more challenging than knitting 2 metres of garter stitch. And the thing about a thick-thin rainbow coloured yarn is that IMHO it looks a lot nicer on the ball than actually knitted up into anything. But I wasn't going to let it just sit in my stash making me feel guilty about all the money I spent on postage and the space unnecessary 'stuff' takes up in the house.

According to Astrid this yarn is 100% wool and great for felting, so I thought I'd have a go at making a felted bag. I haven't had much luck in the past trying to do felting but the 'thick' part of this yarn is barely-spun roving. My friend Google pointed me towards this pattern for a Felted Bucket Bag. I'm hoping I have enough yarn - the pattern calls for four skeins of Noro; I have five skeins of this yarn but there is far less yardage per ball.

Pirate illusion scarf complete

This is seriously the coolest thing that I have ever knitted.

Not the most complex or challenging or useful or best looking thing I have ever knitted, but definitely the coolest. Which just shows you how big my inner geek is.

As you can see from the bottom right-hand corner of this photo, when you look at this scarf from one angle, it looks like an ordinary striped scarf. Ho-hum.

But as you can see from the top left-hand corner of this photo, when you look at this scarf from another angle, a white skull and cross-bones appears on a black background.

It looks even better in real life when you are not dealing with my dodgy camera work taken in less than ideal conditions under yellow lights of a scarf being wet-blocked on old towels strewn under other drying washing.

But I was too excited to wait to take a photo under ideal circumstances.

I'm planning to give this scarf to my brother for his birthday. If he doesn't appreciate it, I will take it back and give it to someone who does. Like myself.

Things I have learnt: Don't bother trying to add extra knit stitches at the start and end of each row. It doesn't stop the curling and it means that a striped border also appears when viewing it from the picture angle. Not that I overly mind in this case.

The actual knitting was actually quite easy. All the talent belongs to Ysolda who created the original pattern (link to pattern here). I just knitted and purled where she instructed.

Thank you Juli

Juli sent me this lovely soft neck-warmer from North Carolina. It is a gorgeous rich deep purple plum that defies photography - if you are a purple fan, you will know exactly what colour it is. The yarn is a soft silk/angora blend and the pattern is Cinnabar from Magknits. It came out at about 130cm so I don't have to worry about tripping over long ends. She also managed to fit a Vogue Knitting magazine into the Priority Paid envelope. The magazine has lots of patterns including a gorgeous EZ Baby jacket I'm itching to try (no, I don't have any news).

Progress on the Pirate Scarf and thoughts on knitting exchanges

I'm getting quite blown away by the effects of this illusion knitting - my photography really doesn't do it justice. From one angle it looks like a regular striped scarf and from another, all theses skulls and crossbones just appear. I'm about 40% of the way through this scarf - gaining speed as I gain confidence that it is going to work as long as I follow the pattern, and as I internalise the logic of illusion knitting (ie: understand in my head why it works).

It'll probably be a birthday present for my brother.

My ISE4 scarf partner has emailed me to let me know my scarf is in the mail. I'm really looking forward to this. We maintained anonymity for all of about 3 seconds after she accidentally sent her first email with links to her blogs on it (oops - LOL!) but that was fine. In many ways it was good because I felt confident that I was dealing with a real person and I could see her regularly posting on her blog. I didn't go into a meltdown worrying I was one of those people whose partners had disappeared off the face of the earth.

This has been my first such exchange; I'm not sure whether I'll do another one. The plus side was meeting new knitters and new knitting blogs and being part of a group project and extending myself and having a good excuse to purchase and knit with some yummy yarn. That's a LOT of plus side.

The not-so-much minus but less-plus side of the exchange was watching the level of "keeping up with/outdoing the Jones" that seemed to be happening. I tried not to be intimidated by the more complex lace patterned scarfs and shawls that other knitters were making. They were more experienced, I was doing something nice that was challenging for me (breathe Marg... remember to breathe).

Then the photos of packages sent and received started appearing.

I signed up knowing that I would have to spend about $25-$30 on yarn and probably $15-$20 on international postage. It soon became clear that a lot more than just scarfs were being sent. Stitch markers, needles, knitting magazines, skeins of expensive yarn, coffee, chocolate, scented soaps and sometimes a extra knitted items were being included. What the...? Would I be seen as cheap if I ONLY sent a scarf made out of nice yarn?

It wasn't only the cost of purchasing the additional items, but the impact the weight of each item has on the price of posting overseas. Books and magazines are a real killer but I ended up picking up a lightweight soft toy koala, some stickers and a few chocolates to chuck in with my scarf. I wasn't going to get into the one-upmanship competition but I didn't want my pal to feel completely short-changed. (For the record, I'm fairly certain she was quite happy with her extra warm scarf and goodies.)

I don't want any of this to be seen as a criticism of the wonderful people who voluntarily organise such exchanges. The ISE4 organisers have tried to address this issue in their rules:

Many exchangers add fun goodies, local treats and other tidbits to their parcel. Please remember that this is not a requirement. It is lovely of course and very generous but it is above and beyond the requirements. Please do not feel obliged to do this and conversely please do not be disappointed if your pal sends only the scarf she has carefully made.

But human nature being what it is, there is always a tendency for some people to go completely over-the-top, which leaves some other people feeling inadequate. And of course there is the converse problem; those people who try to get away with as little as possible; who never send a scarf despite receiving one themselves or who use cheap and shoddy materials and don't bother to correct their knitting mistakes.

I'm not sure what the answer is. There is no doubt that the knitting exchanges are a great way to make contact with other knitters and the ISE 4 seems to be particularly well organised. Maybe I should just refrain from worrying about the Jones on the website if I join again next year.

Beginning of the illusion of a pirate scarf

Although I am not in the same league as Beth who has created the most amazing Dark Mark Illusion in just a few days.

I've also been busy updating my new blog, The Readaholic.

Secret project revealed - and a new reading blog

The secret project was a version of the Irish Hiking Scarf (two cables instead of three made in super bulky Patons Husky wool from my stash). It was a birthday present for my friend Phill. His birthday isn't until next week but it has been a very cold (by Melbourne standards) and sudden introduction to winter and it seemed cruel and unnecessary to hold it off.


I presented Danica to Jess, Phill's wife and also a good friend, whose birthday is also next week - last year I gave her a hat made out of the same yarn, so it worked out well. I'm very happy to say that like most knitting, Danica improved markedly with blocking but I think I forgot to take a post-blocked photo of it (Do'h!).

Introducing The Readaholic
I have decided to start a new blog for writing about the books I'm reading. This should keep things a bit more organised and allow this blog to focus mainly on the knitting. I was inspired to start The Readaholic by Juli who is knitting a scarf for me as part of ISE4. Juli's set herself a reading challenge; I'm already doing a lot of reading because I spend 2 1/2 hours a day on public transport and it is getting too crowded to knit en route - I can read standing up with one hand holding onto a seat back using the book as a barrier between me and my fellow commuter's armpit. Plus I love reading anyway. So check it out if you are interested.

The illusion of knitting something new

The secret project is now finished; I'll post a photo later this month once the recipient has received it.



I have finally started to dip my toe into illusion knitting. After a couple of false starts I decided on Ysolda's skull illusion scarf. I've slightly altered the pattern - added two extra garter stitch rows at the start and an extra three garter stitches at the start and end of each row; this stops the scarf curling at the sides and ends; it also makes it a bit wider which I prefer. Assuming it turns out as planned and I can finish it within a month, it will be another birthday present.

The prophecy of Philip Dick

The Secret Project is now half done - how I love big bulky wool!

 

Danica is looking a lot happier now that I have steam-blocked it but I still hate the seam-look.

 

I have a disturbing number of project ideas either on the needles (no dear socks, I haven't forgotten you) or spinning around my head or in print-offs and photo-copies of patterns.  I've extended my borrowing time on Big Girl Knits and obtained a new interesting stitch idea from my ISE4 partner Beth. And I'm only committed to four more birthday presents within the next two months.

 

So of course I have chosen this time to interrupt my knitting to catch up on some long missed reading.  I am currently going through a Philip Dick stage - he was the twisted mind behind the ideas that created the films Blade Runner, Total Recall and Minority Report.  Apparently he took a lot of drugs which probably led to his early death (just a few weeks before the release of Blade Runner) and I suspect that reading some of his books may be a way of accompanying him on his drug trips without the nasty side-effects.  They have the internal logic of some of my bizarre dreams that make perfect sense while I am having them but make no sense at all once I've woken up.

 

His books explore the two philosophical ideas that obsessed him and that he never resolved during his life - "What is reality?" and "What is an authentic human being?"  What I find most fascinating is that he explores concepts that have become the reality in our world, decades after his death.  He never lived to see the growth of the Internet or creation of virtual worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft  - but more than 40 years ago he described the issue of people becoming obsessed with a virtual world to the exclusion of the real world.

 

I fear that it is only a matter of time that science and technology catch up with some of his ideas about the role machines play in our world.

Secret project

No photos today as I am working on a Secret Project for someone I am fairly sure reads this blog...

 

Hints:

• It is using up some super-bulky (16-ply) light grey wool from my stash
• It incorporates cables, now that I realise that cables are really, really easy but look impressive to the uninitiated
• It is a birthday present
• It is not being sent offshore

Tantalised yet???

Shameless photo stealing

Not only is Beth a really talented knitter, she is a much better photographer than me. Here are her photos of the scarf and chockies I sent her as part of ISE4.

Danica - the close-up

OK, it still needs blocking but as you can see from the close-up, even that won't solve the problem of the wrong side from looking like it is full of seams.

Apologies for the lack of photos but the rechargeable batteries in my camera have a half-life of approximately 3 seconds and are currently in their usual place (the recharger) instead of in the digital camera.

(Yes, I realise that photos are essential to a blog; it's a sort of modern-day version of Lewis Caroll's Alice who has no use for a book with pictures or conversation. Maybe my links are the modern version of conversation?)

I have finally finished Danica. It was a fun knit but in retrospect probably the worst possible technique for use in a scarf as the 'wrong' side looks very wrong (as if one has sewn together a whole heap of little squares and you are looking at the seam side) and a scarf is the one item where you are guaranteed to get a good view of both sides of the knitting. So 8/10 for the fun of knitting but not so high a score for the wearability of the final product. Mind you, the way fashions are nowadays with raw seams often on the outside of clothes, maybe it does work. But not for me. I will inflict it on a friend who is already the recipient of a jester-style hat made out of the same yarn - she's got the quirky personality to actually carry this off.

I haven't posted for a few days. I finally got over my cold and returned to my job on Monday to find that exactly none of my work had been done by anyone else in my absence. I wasn't surprised but this week has been a bit of a huge catch-up game for me.

And today I got an email from my ISE 4 pal Beth who has received my scarf and says she loves it. Plus of course the obligatory Australian chocolate which was included. Most Americans, I've noticed, go nuts over Australian chocolate whereas we go nuts over the Swiss chocolate. I wonder what the Swiss go nuts over (or do they merely acknowledge their superiority in chocolate-making as part of the natural course of things?) Beth is an amazingly talented spinner and sock knitter who produces beautiful items at an incredible rate. Mind you, I envy anyone who can knit a hole-free heal. LOL.

My other partner has been in regular contact and I am confident of receiving my scarf from her, probably towards the end of June (which is the official due date).

Favourite photos

These are my favourite photos taken in recent memory. From a knitting perspective, I am wearing 3 items of handknitting (the hat, scarf and jumper) and don't look completely ridiculous (although I do look like I'm dressed for the snow; it was a very cool Sunday morning but not snowing). And both Jeff and I are smiling and look like humans (as opposed to Shrek and Fiona body-doubles). The little boy is Joshua, the son of our good friends, Phill and Jess. He is so cute and adorable and for some reason really likes us. Last time we visited he was plotting ways for us to move into his house and allocating a space for our car in his parents' garage.

Can't knit... must sleep

The problem with being a basically healthy person is that I tend to get very grumpy when I get sick. It's nothing serious; just a head cold that needs lots of fluids, vitamin C, over-the-counter pills and rest.

I knew things were wrong on Tuesday night when I spent more time unravelling mistakes in my knitting than actually achieving anything. So knitting is out. The TV is annoying me so it is off but surprisingly I can still read. Well, for about 10 minutes before I fall asleep with the book on my face.

Smudgey, who has recovered well from his surgery, is setting an excellent example for me; he can sleep anytime, anywhere, including on top of me for company. He has become such a calm cat since his abscess was removed! I'm feeling really guilty as it looks like his klutziness and grumpiness was not just the result of middle-age (as we assumed) but probably related to the abscess - and he may have had it for years. That's the problem with our four-legged friends, they can't tell us "I have a sore butt". Smudgey is still lazy but not half the klutz or coward that he was; in the past he would just let his (smaller) brother dominate but over the past week he's shown a tendency to stand up for himself. Hopefully the boys will re-establish their territorial boundaries without hurting each other. We can't afford any more vet bills.

Jeff's being a good Yiddishe mamma and has put on a big pot of chicken soup for me. He's trying to take care of me and fussing around and I'm responding like a big grumpy cat that just wants to be left alone to sleep.

Monday 14 May 2007

Currently knitting: I've been gradually working my way through Danica. I think this scarf will be a birthday present for a friend in June.

I've been dying to try out illusion knitting. Except instead of a DNA helix I'd like to slip in a a reference to the original subversive knitter, Madam Defarge (Dickens). Must remember to finish projects before starting another! I still have a partially started sock and I want to knit another jumper for my friends' 3-year-old and maybe a jumper for myself...

On the Amazon wish list: My favourite blogger Crazy Aunt Purl is releasing a book in October. I am addicted to CAP as she is affectionately known by her readers. Her writing is hilarious and touching and sad and meaningful (often all at the same time) and so true that it just rips your heart out and is just begging to be made into a Bridget Jones-esque style film. After 10 years of marriage, CAP's husband walked out, telling her he needed to get his creativity back. Two weeks later he moved into a new apartment with a new girlfriend. CAP had a few girlfriends of her own who stood by her, coaxed her out of her house and into a knitting group and put up with some really bad cooking as she went through the ups and downs of rebuilding her life and becoming a self-actualised person. And she kept a diary of the process.

We never find out what happened to Mr X, but CAP found her own creativity, built up a readership of 10,000 people and got a book deal, all to the cheers of thousands of women and some men from around the world. She's now campaigning on all the other important issues like why do stores turn up their nose at stocking a basic collection of women's clothes in a wide range of sizes. Anyway, go to her site and read her blog from the beginning. And I bet you end up putting her book on your wish list too.

Book that should be burned: As a reader and book lover I don't generally advocate destruction but this particular volume is an insult to readers, knitters and human beings in general. It's a collection of photos of has-been and never-were so-called celebrities and their scarf "patterns" nearly all of which are "cast on X stitches and knit every row". Yep, we really need a book to tell us that.

Although if they did another volume and it included photos of Paris Hilton accidental strangling herself with a garter-knit scarf... well, I could be tempted :)

Look what I found at my local library

The knitting blogosphere has been buzzing with positive reviews and comments about Big Girl Knits ever since it came out (April 2006) because there are very few examples of figure flattering designs aimed at larger women. As I live in Australia, I thought it would be months or years before I saw a copy; yes we can buy anything from Amazon but that also involves swallowing the international postage costs.

I've never really thought of looking to my local library for knitting books; I just assumed there would be a few dated volumes from the 1960s, 70s and early 80s and nothing worth considering. But I wanted to find a particular Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern and thought that as her books are more than 25 years old there was a chance it may be at the library. As it turned out the library did not stock any Elizabeth Zmmermann books - but it did have some surprisingly recent knitting volumes, including Big Girl Knits.

I'm not sure I'll actually knit any of the jumpers but there is a really interesting section on design and fitting. And it has been really great to be able to have a look at this book before deciding to hand over my hard earned cash.

The indignity of it all!

Smudgey was released from hospital this morning and as you can see he is not impressed with his new neck-ruff (which stops him licking his wound). He spent some time walking backwards today (in the mistaken belief that he could walk out of the collar). Jeff put his food on a flat platter so he can eat. While Smudgey prefers an outdoor toilet, he's going to have to get used to his kitty litter for the next fortnight.

Despite being annoyed with us for abandoning him at the hospital for 2 days, he's decided he wants our company - on his terms that is. He is currently sitting next to me on the good computer chair while I'm on an old chair.

Visiting the Lort Smith Animal Hospital is a rather surreal experience. In many ways it is just like visiting a normal hospital; the same sterile look and plastic waiting chairs and a triage nurse who explains that your appointment may be moved back if an emergency comes in. Then the PA announcements come - the pet's name and your surname; "Coco Smith to room five... Smudgey B---- to room six..."

The vet, who must have seen some pretty bad things in her time, winces as she looks at Smudgey's backside and tells us "This is serious" and that she is going to have to admit him for surgery. We're given the option of contacting a private vet at goodness knows what cost for doing surgery on a Sunday or leaving Smudgey at the semi-socialised not-for-profit hospital for an operation some time over the next two days.

We have seen how the truly ill and injured animals always take priority at the hospital, and are confident that they will operate on Smudgey before he deteriorates any further. We don't have a regular vet and would have less confidence in one picked at random from the phone book than one working at the Lort Smith. We book Smudgey into the hospital.

On Monday afternoon Jeff gets a welcome call from the Lort Smith hospital. They've operated on Smudgey, it wasn't as bad as expected and he will be ready to be picked up on Tuesday morning. The final bill, while not cheap, is a lot less than we expected and probably half that a private vet would have charged.

Get Well Smudgey

No wonder Smudgey is looking annoyed in this picture. He probably already had the abscess on his anus that burst over the weekend. Poor cat! My own backside is sore even thinking about it.

Smudgey is currently at the Lort Smith Animal Hospital, recovering from surgery and we can pick him up tomorrow morning. YAY!!! Apparently he is doing well, taking his medicine and drinking, but is quite grumpy. Now wouldn't you be grumpy if an abscess burst on your anus and you had been injected, shaved, cut and sewn up again?

If only he was covered on our family health insurance...

Here is a photo of Smudgey looking much cuter but still regal. It's the wallpaper for my computer at work and home.

Maybe it is something about the cooler weather kicking in but I felt compelled to start another pair of socks. I had bought some plain black Opal yarn earlier this year and decided to team it with some leftover Trekking to create colourful toes and heels. It's my favourite sock pattern - simple but very comfortable to wear. It's basically a plain toe-up sock with 2X2 rib on the foot top and around the calves. I love this pattern; I feel so good wearing socks I've knitted myself from it.

The Trekking is definitely nicer to knit with than the Opal but I'm glad to have the plain yarn so I can make these socks.

Irish Hiking Scarf heading for the post office

The Irish Hiking Scarf is knitted, washed and ready to head overseas. It ended up a little longer than I expected, which is good as I was terrified it would be far too short. I hope my pal enjoys wearing it as much as I enjoyed knitting it. This has been a great experience - I have never knitted cables before so this took me out of my comfort zone, but it turned out to be much easier than anticipated. I'll head off to the post office tomorrow with 27 pieces of identification and documents to ensure the USA will let the parcel in. I've popped in a couple of Australian souvenirs which I hope get through.

Both my pals seem really lovely; I just hope my most recent emails have been getting through as I haven't heard for either of them lately.

Adultery at the Green Grocers

"I feel like we are committing adultery," said Jeff as we walked into Toscano's on Saturday. I knew exactly what he meant. We were entering an orgy of middle-class mothers squeezed into a respectable Kew shop front. And the feeling was compounded when we bumped into the parents of a friend of mine. "I didn't know you shopped here!" they exclaimed.

"It's our first time," I said weakly. "We normally go to Greythorn."

Toscano's is an institution of the leafy eastern Melbourne suburbs, a hugely popular large green grocery store that combines fine produce with reasonable prices. It is always full and always bursting with parents with prams and toddlers and smug little smiles because they know they are buying from the best value best quality fruit and vegetable store in Melbourne. It is insufferable. Jeff and I love good quality fruit and vegetables but we can't stand crowds, especially not smug-faced 4WD driving middle-class parents - hence we normally shopped at a smaller local store with friendly staff. But over the past few months the quality had been dropping and the prices had been rising. We had no choice. We had to find another option. Earlier that day we had tried the supposed Farmers' Market, but found the choice fairly limited. Hence Toscano's.

I wish I could say that the produce was no better than Greythorn; that the prices weren't lower - but I can't. There was a huge choice. Everything was of excellent quality. The prices were reasonable. The fruit and veggies fresh and tasty. No wonder the place was overflowing with people. It was surely worth 30 minutes of jostling with crowds and we would be foolish to not return next week.

I just wish I didn't feel so dirty for changing green grocer stores.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail in Lego

Jeff's urban camouflage scarf

Specifications:
Yarn: 4 X 50g Mondial 'Bizarre' 100% fine merino wool colourway 625 (plus tiny amount of other black wool for final triangle)
Needles: 4.5mm straight bamboo
Pattern: Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf
Length: 185cm/74 inches
Width: 15 cm/6 inches

Irish Hiking Scarf finished

Posting a picture requires me to find the camera and I don't think that is going to happen tonight.

I've finished the knitting for the Irish Hiking Scarf. I'm not sure how it happened but it finalised at about 70 inches which is a bit longer than my knittee requested. Hopefully she can live with that. It's certainly not ridiculously trip-up-your-feet long, and I'd prefer the extra yarn in the scarf rather than cluttering up my stash because it is too good to chuck out but too short to do anything useful with.

I'll make up the package to send out this weekend. I'm not sure whether I'll do the cruel Australian thing and include Vegemite (the most repulsive spread on the planet). Tim Tams are delicious but a bit bulky; maybe Caramelo Koalas.

One of the evil enablers on the Melbourne Stitch 'n' Bitch list (hi Larissa) posted details of a 20% off sale at Cleggs last week. I decided to use the opportunity to try some new yarn, the deliciously soft Lane Mondial 'Bizarre' 100% pure fine merino yarn. There was an interesting black/grey/tan/beige mix that made me think of wolves and I decided to get this colourway and knit a scarf for Jeff. He quite likes plain garter stitch which is not the most exciting thing to knit. I decided to use the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf pattern which is a bit more interesting way of knitting garter stitch and is generally great for show-casing variegated yarns.

I'll have to post a picture of the scarf. Overall I am not overwhelmed by this yarn and doubt I will buy it again. It knits up into a lovely soft fabric and feels great. But unfortunately the yarn tends to split as one knits and I'm not impressed with the way the colour pools. It's also quite pricey ($8.40/ball on sale - $10.50 full price). Still it is great to try a new yarn and it is good semi-mindless knitting for in front of the TV.

Best version of Star Wars Episode One

YouTube clip of the day: Weird Al Yankovic 'The Saga Begins'
Spoof of Star Wars Episode One (the first of the new ones) set to the music of 'Bye Bye American Pie'. Defintely more entertaining than watching the film.

Halfway through Easter long weekend...

Irish Hiking Scarf is now up to 48 inches. No point posting a new photo because it is just a case of more of the same. I think it'll make it to the 55 inch mark (she says nervously chewing her acrylic fingernails).

Ivy that somehow managed to grow over the next door neighbour's fence and up the side of the house has been cut down. Only destroyed one pair of gardening gloves in the process and managed to get almost half of it into the green waste bin. Resolve to ensure it does not get so out of control again. Remind myself that I made the same resolution18 months ago.

Horseradish roots have been replanted with the hope they will grow in time for next Pesach. I enthusiastically scooped several shovels of compost-dirt and earthworms into the garden bed and mix with several buckets of water. Will try and remember to water them at least one more time before next Pesach. I have not so much a green thumb as a brown and grey one. Even weeds die on me. I cannot explain why the Ivy is so virulent. Maybe it is because the roots are in the neighbour's yard.

Returned to the gym for the first time in a week. Am relieved to discover that despite Easter (eggs and hot-cross buns) and Pesach (2 eight-course meals and enough matzo to feed an entire African village for a week) that I have only re-gained a kilogram. Resolve to be more careful over the next few weeks and make more effort to get to the gym and walk to work. If I can achieve two out of those three I at least should not regain any more weight.

Discover Weird Al Jankovic on YouTube. Yes, I am a geek behind the times - this gem was first posted in September 2006.

Knitting site of the day. Harry Potter and the Book Seven KAL (Knit-along). Of course. Makes perfect sense. The scary thing is that I relate to this and may have even joined had I discovered it earlier. Re-read all six previous books, discuss them and knit Harry Potter - themed scarfs, hats and jumpers while waiting for the final book to be released. Someone has even created a Quidditch jumper. From there I found a link to a very good Sorting Hat quiz.

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

Star Trek and the Holy Grail

Question: What happens when geeks have too much time on their hands?
Answer: This
A must for Monty Python and Star Trek fans.



I have been wasting way too much time and broadband on YouTube over the past week but it is just absolutely compelling. I think I dropped my jaw to the floor last Saturday and it is still there today.

It started with me looking for an old 1980s music clip. Before long I was watching a Lego-animated movie of Star Wars versus Star Trek. The voice-over from the trailer to Pride and Prejudice set to scenes from Harry Potter. And noticing at least half-a-dozen re-edited Harry Potter clips implying a homo-erotic relationship between arch enemies Harry and Draco.

There are versions of 'Brokeback Trek' for fans of The Original Series and Next Generation - the love that dare not speak its name with the added intergalactic inter-species twist.

Final Fantasy may have been the worst movie ever made but it is being redeemed on YouTube where geeks have re-edited scenes and created an amazing film clip for the classic David Bowie song from Labyrinth. Then there are the geeks who have spent God-knows-how-many-hours creating Sims versions of famous music video clips.

Yes, there is a lot of crap on YouTube and it is very easy to waste a lot of time there. But there is some very funny stuff there too.

Scattered thoughts

Irish Hiking Scarf: 94cm (38 inches) and well into my second skein. Hoping and praying there will be enough yarn for my knitters request for a 55 inch scarf.

Preparation for Pesach: Expensive. Spent $230 at the grocery store and then realised we had forgotten to buy eggs, potatoes and Chicken Maryland (for soup). Spent $50 during our second visit to the supermarket. Discover Coles and Safeway supermarkets no longer stock Chicken Maryland or have in-house butchers who actually prepare the meat - everything arrives prepackaged from central warehouse. Chicken shop at Doncaster Westfield closed down due to shopping centre renovations. Damn! Third shopping trip, went to our favourite quality butcher in Hawthorn - no chicken Maryland on display but staff obligingly go out the back and track down the wretched pieces. I love proper local businesses. It seems that few people make soup using actual chicken anymore. Soup currently cooking on the stove.

Condition of the bitter herbs: Two scraggly roots have survived the drought - enough for display. Bitter lettuce and pickled horseradish in the jar will have to do for the meal.

Pesach gift for 7-year-old second-cousin: There is so much badly-made crap around. Jeff finds a Slinky on sale in a bookstore (naturally). We have been playing with it all day. I have the horrible feeling that it will be a present all the adults will play with while the 7-year-old looks on in bewilderment.

House cleaning: Cats are in shock. We moved all the furniture out of the main dining room and hall in preparation for the carpet cleaners coming tomorrow. Scraped approximately 500 cobwebs from around the corners of the ceiling. Blackened two clothes wiping down skirting boards and window sills. Notice that the house-shifting (from the drought) has led to the creation of several more cracks. Foundations still sound so will resolutely ignore the cracks - everyone in the neighbourhood is in the same boat.

A timely discovery: Bag of old t-shirts and hiking clothes in garage in my current size. Yay! T-shirts to wear at the gym that won't reveal my bra-strap.

State of the nation: Depressing. I think history will judge our current leaders very harshly. The case of David Hicks is beginning to resemble a Kafka novel - after five years of imprisonment without charge he has pleaded guilty to a crime that didn't exist until 18-months ago - and is now being threatened with being jailed for a further 7 years for perjury if he claims he only pleaded guilty because he didn't think he had a hope in hell of a fair trial in Guantanamo Bay. Conveniently for Howard it appears Hicks' sentence - agreed to in a plea-deal - means he will remain in jail until just after the Australian Federal elections. It's enough to make anyone sick. Hicks may be stupid and racist and unworthy of sympathy, but the treatment of him and the abandonment of the rule of law or any semblance of due process is bad for us as a society and nation.

From the sublime to the ridiculous: Some people have way too much time on their hands. If you type "Harry Potter" into YouTube you will find Lego versions, a Sims version and even a re-edit of footage suggesting a homoerotic relationship between Harry and Draco.

The Australian made New Zealand yarn Irish Hiking Scarf

Yay!!! Finally a photo which captures the colour of the yarn. Isn't it just so, well, GRAPE???

Don't tell anyone but this is one of those patterns that looks way more complex than it is to actually do. You only have to use the cable needle three times every eight rows. It's knitting up very quickly.

As can be seen, the posmerino is taking the cables very well. It is extremely warm - I hope my knittee lives in an area with cold winters!

It's certainly an international scarf - the pattern is Irish, the yarn is from New Zealand, it's being made in Australia and will end up in the United States.

And the cables continue

It's really hard to capture the colour of this yarn. The official colour is grape. It's a sort of browny purple which makes sense as it is a natural brownish yarn which has been over-dyed.

I started having a panic attack about whether the colour and style would suit my secret pal. Then I found this picture on her blog. I think it is safe to say that she likes grape and cables :)

The cables are coming up quite nicely. I knitted most of this on the tram this morning. It's a lovely thick yarn that knits up very quickly. It is incredibly warm - a jumper made out of this would just be too much for Melbourne. I hope my knittee is in an area which gets cold in winter.

Blonde moment

I have been spending a fair bit of time reading American websites and knitting patterns, which refer to everything in terms of inches, rather than centimetres. So I am used to automatically multiplying and dividing everything by 2.5 as I switch between American and Australian measurements. (1 inch = ~2.5cm)

I needed to buy a 2mm circular needle for knitting socks and through experience have found the 100cm-length needles are best for the Magic Loop technique. So do I buy a 100cm-length 2mm needle? No, I absent-mindedly automatically divide 100cm by 2.5 and buy a 40cm-length 2mm needle instead. And don't notice until I am home, miles from the store.

American cultural imperialism strikes again!

Scarf pattern chosen - Irish Hiking Scarf

While browsing through the links of the other ISE 4 participants I stumbled upon the Irish Hiking Scarf, a classic simple 3-cable scarf that looks seriously cool. I fell in love with it at once and decided to try the pattern with the posmerino yarn.

While I'm only one repeat into the pattern, I'm happy to report that the stitch definition is holding up fine. And it turns out to be one of those patterns where the end result looks far more complex than the knitting actually is. I may have to make one of these for myself as well as my knitting partner...

Scarfs, scarfs, scarfs

Well Danica is going along nicely - as I suspected it showcase the beauty and variety of the Noro Kueryon very well. It's one of those patterns which is just complex enough to not be boring and simple enough to not be frustrating. It would be great for using up scraps of yarn also.

Pictured on the left is the Posmerino yarn I have selected for my secret pal. I haven't decided on a pattern yet. Apart from the fact is is a lovely soft yarn, being a combination of possum fur and merino yarn it is probably something she hasn't yet encountered. I am tempted by Illusions but will need to test if the stitch definition is sufficient. A simple rib would probably showcase the yarn best but that seems a little simple for the scarf exchange.

I received a lovely email from the person knitting for me with lots of questions about my likes and dislikes. This is the email I sent back.

Hi Juli,

Thanks for your email.

I want you to have fun knitting the scarf so please make sure you choose a pattern and yarn you enjoy.

Do you want a winter weight, or lighter scarf??

I live in Melbourne, Australia - home to four seasons in one day - but we don't get snow or temperatures below freezing. So maybe a lighter scarf (I've knitted way too many too warm scarfs for myself LOL)

What sort of scarf do you really enjoy wearing -- more plain, or interesting patterns like lace, cables, textured, etc???

The only thing I really dislike are short scarfs - I'm a long and skinny scarf kind of girl. I don't do much lace or cable knitting myself, so either would be a treat, but I also love nice simple ribs - please choose a pattern you enjoy knitting.

Fringe or no fringe?? It's something that a gal either loves or hates, it seems. lol.

This is really something I think depends on the yarn and pattern - I used to love fringes and I think they look good on simple rib scarfs, but they can be a bit excessive on other scarfs. Probably no fringe - unless you think the pattern calls for it (I'm not being very helpful, am I?)

Do you prefer a more bulky or thinner type scarf??

I'd probably prefer a thinner scarf - but if you fall in love with a soft bulky yarn I won't complain!

Beads??

Sounds absolutely gorgeous. However as I am a klutz and occaissionally have to wash my scarfs it's probably best to not include them.

Any other details you can give me so I pick the perfect yarn and pattern???

I prefer strong 'gem' colours and a soft natural yarn (wool, alpaca, cashmere, silk blend, etc). Please pick something you enjoy knitting with as I suspect that will also be what I enjoy wearing.

All the best

Marg

Interesting...

Well I heard back from my exchangee and I have the funny feeling we have a lot in common. You see she already has a number of scarfs knitted out of Noro already in her wardrobe, but she doesn't tend to wear them as much as the softer scarfs. She told me to just knit whatever I felt comfortable with (nice exchangee!)

So I have decided to save Danica for another friend and put in an order for some Possum merino yarn. Not only is it super soft, but it is unlikely to be a yarn she has ever encountered before (she lives in America)

Now I just have to find a pattern that showcases the beauty of the yarn. I suspect a simple rib would be best but is it complex enough for the exchange?

I haven't yet heard from the person who is knitting for me but I am not panicking... there was a hiccup with the mail-out for the group I am in, so I emailed the hostess to let her know I hadn't yet heard from my partner. Or maybe she's just away from her computer for a few days.

International Scarf Exchange 4 - let the knitting begin!

The International Scarf Exchange 4 is finally off and running. I received details of my exchangee, including the following:

7. Colours you like. Turquoise, Purple, Red, Orange, Green, Black

8. Colours you hate. Yellow, Gold

9. Fibres you like. Soft wools

I looked at my just started Danica scarf which I am knitting out of a Noro Kureyon colourway that seems to incorporate every "liked" and none of the "hated" colours.

Hmm...

I checked out my exchangee's blog which included lots of photos of brightly coloured socks. There is no doubt that the colour of the Noro yarn would dovetail nicely with her knitted items.

But... she specifically said she liked soft wools and Noro can be a little prickly. Except I also love soft wools and still love Noro.

Noro is a funny yarn - people either absolutely love it (like me) or just don't 'get it' (poor souls).

I decide to email my exchangee and ask her if she likes Noro. If the answer is yes, the Danica scarf will be for her. If she doesn't, I just might have an excuse to purchase some extra-soft Possum fur yarn to play with.

Either way, it's a win-win knitting scenario for me!

(PS: Apologies for no photos - the camera batteries are currently being recharged.)

A Stella irony

Unless you happened to be blind, deaf AND living under a rock, no-one in Australia could have missed the story this week about shoppers going into a frenzy over the sale of a range of Stella McCartney's clothes at Target. Fashionistas who would normally die rather than admit they shopped at a budget chainstore queued for hours and broke into fist fights over the clothes. Within hours some of the key items were being listed on eBay for over-hyped prices. Read more here.

Today, five days after the shopping frenzy, I popped into Camberwell Target to check out their homewear sale and was surprised to see racks and racks of the Stella McCartney clothes on display. Clearly many of the items had either not been sold on the first day or had been quickly returned by shoppers. While there were no coats, there were plenty of the beaded olive dresses, silk tops, white shirts and black shorts, skirts and crop pants. Most of the small sizes had disappeared but there was ample choice for anyone sized 14-16.

The clothes attracted little interest from the regular shoppers beyond a curious "oh that's what all the hype was about" look. Many raised their eyebrows at the prices that may be a bargain by designer standards but are still more than double the regular price of clothes at Target. All in all, most showed more interest in the homewear sale.

For a moment I contemplated trying on one of the size 16 billowy silk tops that just might have fitted me. Then I looked at the colour (salmon pink) and fabric and thought about what I liked to wear. I decided to try on a regular Target brand purple cotton top instead.

Entrelac scarf

When in doubt, knit a scarf. It seems to be my motto. Having salvaged the equibalent of about 3 1/2 balls of Noro Kureyon from the unworn vest I decided to try Knitty's Danica Scarf. I think it will showcase the gorgeous colour repeats. And I like the way it gives the illusion of the bands being woven together.

One piece of knitting that won't be frogged

Grandma Purl finally received her blanket and from the photos posted I can absolutely definitely confirm that my green square edged in red made it into the final item.

It really gives me a nice warm and fuzzy feeling to know that a little piece of my knitting is somewhere out there being appreciated and doing good.