23 June 2008

Stitch 'n' Pitch at the Nats, 20 June 2008

yes, yes it is.





text messaging (n): the slow, agonized death
of English grammar at the hands of the ignorant.

txt msg + ballpark proposal = FAIL, you cheap bastard.


Ben's Half Smokey = Delicious
(Ben's Chili Bowl, on U St in DC is the best thing that
ever happened to late-night noshing)


What do you call cheese that isn't yours?

Matsuri + cable = FAIL

Matsuri + lace = WIN


ballband dishcloth about to consume the outfield.

Jane's Sunday Market Shawl makes a bid for freedom.
It's made in Malabrigo Silky Merino (ravelry link).
I'd probably jump after it.

oh, we're still here.

finally.

fun with juxtaposition.

18 June 2008

Oops, I Did It Again.

I was perusing Ravelry this morning and saw this lace shawl. Keep in mind that I am at a weak point right now for lace. I was, as Jane Austen (?) so wonderfully put it, "seized by a freak at breakfast" and was tempted to run down to the basement and rifle through my lace knitting patterns and cast on right then and there. Then I remembered that I didn't have any laceweight wound up into cakes or balls. Pfffft.

Firmaments Shawl by Bonnie Sennott.
Image swiped from Ravelry to show you
how freakin AWESOME this thing is.

Image property of aedes.


Ah, back to my story. So I was perusing Ravelry when I came across the Firmaments shawl. It's inspired by an Emily Dickinson poem. Ravelry link. Webs link.

So, I, uh... clicked on the link to Webs. I looked at all the lovely colors of Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk (Webs link. Ravelry link). And then I must have blacked out -- because next thing I knew, my AmEx was out of my wallet and I confirmed an order for one cone of black, one cone of french blue and one emailed pattern (ok, technically, my AmEx didn't even make it out of my wallet, but it must have ventured forth, because I'm one of those people with a freakish memory for strings of numbers... and somebody typed that number and its expiration date in while I wasn't looking).

Did I mention the yarn comes on half-pound cones? Cones = No Winding. Cones = Instant Cast-On Gratification. Cones = FULL OF WIN.

*sigh* I need to get some sleep. If I get some sleep, I might actually do my work instead of browse Ravelry patterns and buy impulse yarn. Beautiful, soft, silky impulse yarn...


happy lolsheep

15 June 2008

Stash-Diving Results

I am a-hankerin' after some lace.

I know, after I finished SotS (my first lace project ever), I felt I had my lace fix for the next... ever. That was until I went stash-diving this morning...



The ball is Handpaintedyarn.com Merino Bulky, for Cherie Amour. The big hank is Lisa Souza Lace (100% Superfine Merino), colorway "Sapphire." The two little navy skeins are Reynolds Wash Day Wool, for Sirdar 1521.

I pulled out the Wash Day Wool first, because I thought a baby sweater would be the ideal next project. Then I thought, "what's up next on my Ravelry queue?" And I remembered that Cherie Amour had been top of that list for a loooong time. And then I tried to remember why I hadn't cast on for either of those...

I don't have size 3 or size 9 needles. Seriously. I don't know how this happened. Well, my next step is obviously to hie me to the KnitPicks site and order up some Options tips. What am I going to do, though, until they arrive?

Those Jenkins #2 needles have been itching in the back of my mind for a while now. I pulled out the laceweight drawer of my stash... and what was waiting for me but beautiful Sapphire blue Lace? Off to peruse the Ravelry queue. No worries -- I don't think I'm about to cast on for the Princess Shawl...



No, seriously, I'm not.

11 June 2008

Knitting Secrets REVEALED!

I may look like a knitter, but I'm actually a ninja* (er... kninja. Not to be confused with Knitting Kninja, though). While I'm sitting there peacefully knitting two socks on one circ, I also know that I'm holding 42" of plastic-wrapped steel wire with a pointy, nickle-plated brass needle secured to each end.

Knitters refer to them in public as "circular knitting needles." Manufacturers also print this on the packaging to meet international safety regulations. In the privacy of our Assassins Guild meetings (also known to the muggles as "Stitch 'n' Bitch," or "Ravelry meet-up" or simply, "my knitting group"), we eagerly discuss and display the latest models in double-awl garrotes. Addi is arguably the most popular kninja assassination tools manufacturer in the world; however, KnitPicks Options, with their interchangeable needles spikes and zero-memory cords garroting wires are gaining in popularity.

Occasionally, knitters kninjas contract with specialty makers for custom pieces. I am especially proud of my 32" Jenkins #2 rosewoods. Hand-carved, hand-joined, hand-numbered, with an especially smooth join and exceptionally sharp points for the best lace work ever your most devious projects.

The pretty pretty wool and intricate stitch patterns are only there to distract you. The occasional cries of, "@#$(&$#%^!" followed by intense tinking are for the same purpose. Every once in a great while, usually while working under deep cover, the kninja may actually frog a project just to throw you off the scent.

I most recently had to frog the Baby Surprise Jacket. I didn't want to; I was backed in a corner, with the completed and mistake-laden BSJ staring me down. It had been languishing there for some time, misshapen and ignored, its skipped rows and misread instructions screaming for revenge; I knew I had no choice. I ripped it all the way back to the cast-on, wound the wool (technically wool/mohair) into a ball, and re-cast on.

Things went swimmingly from that point on. Of course, the first time I knit it, I thought things were going swimmingly -- up until the point I had to fold it together and sew the shoulder seams, when I realized that it just wouldn't fit. This time, however, I knew things would be different. Good different.


And now, finally, it is finished. Sort of. I still have to sew up the shoulder seams and find some good horn or bone buttons for it. But the knitting part is over, and the BSJ can be worn in peace. Until the little bugger decides to make mud pies while wearing it... or it becomes a concomitant victim in the age-old saga of Little Boys Destroying Things... in which case Auntie will knit him another.




*this post spawned by one of my friends, who asked me why I almost always wore all black to the gym. I figured the truth would be the easiest reply, so I said, "Because I'm a ninja."

09 June 2008

Something Old, Something New, Something in Kentucky

I took a whirlwind trip to Louisville, KY the other weekend. I flew in Friday afternoon, joined friends for a wedding rehearsal dinner Friday evening, attended the wedding on Saturday, stopped by the reception and flew out Saturday afternoon.

Between my arrival on Friday and the rehearsal dinner, I went downtown to do some sightseeing. I discovered that Louisville revolves around three things:

1. Horse Racing


2. Baseball Bats

3. Penguins


Knitting:

Decided to edge the short-row ring wrap with loopy mohair in the same colorway:





And something new: My grandmother pulled me aside a couple weeks ago and asked me if I knew how to knit dishcloths. Apparently a friend of hers has some hand-knitted dishcloths and loves them, and now my grandmother wants some. Yeah, grandmom... I think I can handle that.