Cozy

After approximately one year of knitting, on and off, as I worked on socks and things for gifts & etc., I finished the "Cozy" [see knitty.com] in laceweight.

It's washed and blocking now, and it's lovely. If I say so myself.

I used a merino single, very, very soft with a bit of halo. It's in an almost (but not quite) varigated aqua, incorporating shades of chartreuse, turquoise and sky blue. The original pattern calls for a tweedy worsted, but I used this...not that I didn't think the worsted was a good idea, but I didn't think I had enough in one color.

The resulting wrap/shawl is a rectangle, 5' by about 2.5'.

It should be dry tomorrow, and I can't wait to wear it.

Now to finish my 30s sweater and get the baby sweater off the needles!

Clarence Budington Kelland

Mr. Kelland was a writer of movie scripts, novels, and best of all, short stories. The ones that I love have a central character named Scattergood Baines.

I first read these stories in the old magazines that we collect. (That's one of the best things about vintage magazines. The stories were stories, and not exercises in peculiar ego or Angst.)

Mr. Baines was "born" in 1915, and Mr. Kelland wrote about him for years, first in the Saturday Evening Post, and then The American (Magazine). The character is a down-home, folksy fella who doesn't often impress onlookers favorably...at first. They then find out, to their chagrin or benefit, that not only is he clever, his brilliance is something to have on one's own side whenever possible.

Scattergood Baines likes to dabble. In people, primarily, but he likes to make a cash profit whenever possible as well. Combining the two is his favorite way of operating. Prodigal sons, orphaned babies, young lovers, old folks who've had their independence taken away...he saves them all, one way or another, and you only wish that he lived in your town.

Many of the stories have been collected in hardcover, and are even available in present day editions, though of course I prefer the originals. After finding the first collection at the Providence Athenaeum I trolled the Internet for a copy, expecting it to be available and not too expensive. I was wrong...I'm not the only one, even now, who appreciates him! However, I lucked out recently on a "new" collection, Scattergood Baines Returns.

Check your library's old stacks for it. Reading a few of these stories is almost a vacation, even for some time after you close the book. You'll be glad you made the effort.

Check List for Spring

Yes, the workroom is cleaned up. Not pristine, you understand, but I can work in there now. I even made a (sewn) hat last week. Birthday present.

And I worked on a blanket square for someone on Knitty. So it's back to the correct function. The cleared out "stuff" went to the thrift shop, too.

We've had (it would seem) a very early spring this year. Not only have I tidied up the front garden and sidewalk, DH and I cleaned up the yard. It's still ugly and asphalt, but the chairs are out, I scored lots of earthworms, which are now in the garden and a container where I plan to plant herbs this year, and many encroaching vines and tree branches have been cut back.

Knitting has suffered a bit. There's a WIP--a baby sweater--that's well on its way. I even have the buttons. But right now I'm working on a 20s style headpiece for the next Chifferobe, which we'll go to on Friday. The socks I started last week got frogged, when I realized the instep pattern wasn't properly centered. I'm afraid to start another pair, because I don't want to be led astray from the baby sweater, even though it's not needed just yet. The Sweater Curse, you know.

Speaking of which, the 30s sweater is still in pieces. Soon, though, I will finish it. Sure. I only hope that pigs don't fly first.

What's everyone else doing to celebrate the spring?

Pathetic, but mine own (excuse).

So...I did finish knitting the sweater. It's not finished, however. My excuse? My work room is so messy [read: a pig sty] that I have no where safe to block it. I always block the pieces before I sew seams and pick up neckline stitches.

Is that an excuse? Well, if you had a cat nicknamed Destructo the Wonder Kitty it would be.

I am currently knitting another pair of belated birthday socks for a friend because Than Chai helped himself to #1 as I was finishing sock #2 of the first pair.

Of course the real problem is me...I need to clean out the work room, which is presently "functioning" more as the house dump. Stock for my booth, clothes to be mended, books, gifts, and God-knows-what is covering nearly every square foot. Not to mention the ironing.

With any luck, admitting this online will be embarassing enough that I'll finally clean the place up and keep it that way. For a while, at least...

The Sweater Continues

I recommend knitting lots of socks if you want to make a small gauge sweater. I've become so used to sock gauge that this thing is just flying along. Front & back are done, and bound together by a three needle bind off at the shoulders.

I needed to re-write the sleeves, as the original pattern called for long and I wanted short, but that's just about done. The real question was whether to pick up and knit (using a certain amount of short row shaping) or knit and sew in. It's probably going to be the second. And the knitting will be from the ribbing up, as the alternative includes too much casting on for large increases from the top.

This isn't exactly scintillating copy, is it? But it's interesting to me because it's an examination of a creative process. At the end of it I'll also have not only a new sweater, but a new 1930s sweater.

Not uninteresting after all.

Left Out

New England and New York seem to be left out of the party this week. Not that it's a party everyone wants to attend: snowstorm.

Friends on the rest of the Eastern Seaboard and in the midwest are literally digging out. In Baltimore, for heaven's sake! And my sister in Texas tells me that snow is predicted down there. Again!

At the moment a few lazy flakes are floating down to die a lingering death on the brown grass and pavement. There's a tidy rim of snow around the perimeter of our yard (such as it is, asphalt and all).

In Rhode Island, a storm prediction usually means a run on milk and bread. DH and I both find this rather funny. Unless, of course, you live on milk toast. Then I'd be concerned, too.

However, I admit to making a grocery list a few minutes ago:

baking potatoes
soda water
fruit
salad greens
..and so forth. Ending in bread. I admit it.

More firewood, too. We use our fireplace for coziness and atmosphere, not a great deal for warmth, but I love having it. So do the boys, needless to say. They even "ask" for a fire by plopping down decisively in front of it, bundling front paws under and glancing back and forth from the nearest human to the dark, empty, cold bricks in front of the pathetic little (cold) feline face. Sometimes it works.

So...I'm getting ready for the possiblity of snow. Seems like the city fathers believe it's heading our way this time; there's a parking ban right now.

Which means I'll feel no guilt at hauling out the knitting and curling up with two feline lapwarmers this evening. I like snow.

Random Siamese Cats

Pictures of them, that is. Of my boys. (Yes, I'm one of those; other people are twee if they obsess over their pets, I think it's perfectly fine for me to act this way.)

Getting There

In spite of some difficulty (nothing like having a needle snap, especially when it's vintage and you can't be sure of the gauge of a new one) I'm moving along quite well on the sweater.

The armseye shaping is finished, and soon I'll be shaping the shoulders. Shall I be lazy and bind off (thereby landing myself with some nasty seaming) or do proper short-row shaping so I can use a three needle bind off? Probably I'll do the latter, and then add some ribbon to the inner seam for stability.

I had to buy a new--and I do mean new--needle. None of the straights at the shop were of the correct dimensions (I did have the presence of mind to bring a needle gauge with me), so I ended up buying an Addi circ. It's working very well. I don't like circs for knitting in the round, messing with cable lengths drives me mad, and I don't like interchangeable needles very well.

But...they're great for working back and forth on an item, especially when it gets some weight on it. And it turns out that marked "3" or no, the straights I was using were really 2s. Oho...just thought of something; I'll bet they were needles from New Zealand, and so the size marked was, of course, in mm. Because, yes, the one I bought is 3.0 mm. Mystery solved.

Would you still like some proof?



The young critic in the photo is Than Chai. He insisted on making an inspection.

Why the U.K.?

I'm an Anglophile. It came naturally, via my mother and her Anglophilia.

As kids we watched Dr. Who (Tom Baker), (parts of) Benny Hill, and Monty Python...because Mom did. We saw Masterpiece Theater with Derek Jacobi in I, Claudius, and never made it through Upstairs, Downstairs because, foolish children that we were, it bored us.

Then I married another Anglophile. When I got married again...you guessed it. I've spent a lot of time watching Are You Being Served?, As Time Goes By, Waiting for God, Mulberry, and a slew of other British programs, either on PBS or BBC America or on video, DVD and whatever other media presents itself.

British programming can be just as empty and useless as U.S. shows are at their worst, but the best in the U.K. is very, very good indeed. And it's usually richer, funnier, and much more inclined to require that the viewer possess a few working brain cells.

I'm not sure why that is. Maybe because of the television license? Maybe because America got there first, and the Brits set out to surpass us? I really don't know, but I see the superiority time and again.

There are good U.S. shows. Funny ones, quirky ones, shows that ask the viewer to think...but so many inane things lurk around them that I'm not inclined to try and sift through to find the stuff I like.

It could be, of course, that their better offerings are what we get over here. After all, it's been pre-sifted. There are things, though, that I can't buy in non-PAL format (I'm looking into getting a format free DVD player)...or instance, Blackpool, which I managed to watch on YouTube (not my preferred method of viewing, I promise you).

I'd like to see Tennant's Hamlet NOW, thanks. And the truly uncut versions of Dr. Who. Why in the hell do we get the slashed and burned versions here? Is the Hays office still lurking?

I don't know. But in the meantime, I'll continue to hunt down British comedy, dramas on the Beeb, and wish for complete access to it online. For heaven's sake, we don't even have radio shows any more!

This time I'll finish it!

The sweater I'm working on, I mean. For some reason, I seldom finish a sweater, no matter how small it is, or whatever the gauge. I get bored, probably. Socks are usually quick, and there's no such thing as too many hand knit socks. They wear out so quickly.

This time, though...I found the missing yarn, my "Crayola Tweed". First I thought it would be a 20s sweater (June 1924, from Needlecraft). No, didn't work. No gauge was mentioned in the pattern, but some swatching and math made it plain that it needed a very bulky yarn. Found a nice worsted, but even that didn't do the trick.

So back to the fingering weight and a different pattern, out of a British hardcover, The Compleat Book of Knitting. It's just listed as a jumper, and the pattern is indicated by graph. I'm using US #3 needles to get gauge, which is 6.5 stitches per inch, and 9 rows per inch. The ribbing for the back piece is finished. It took 45 rows and is staying true to gauge. I'll have use for a sweater like this: fine gauge, yarn that will go with half my wardrobe, from jeans to skirts, and real 1930s style.

The question is, will I actually finish it?

Comfort Food and Comfort Knitting

I'm an expert on both.

Therefore I have been knitting socks. Socks for me. Baby socks to stash for gifts. Bed socks...which chose not to felt. (Yes, Bozo the Clown would like them. A lot.) I have a crazy pair on my feet, made from the remains of the multicolored skein I used in the potholders. They're knitted in a wavy lace pattern and the toes are quite pointy. On purpose.

Right now I have a pair of ribbed gray socks on the go. Also for me. Lots of socks for me (who appreciates them more, I ask you?).

In the food department, we have beef stock. Real beef stock. I've been stashing away beef bones as I find them in the market: marrow bones, bits of oxtail, you name it. And I added the usual carrots & onion. And a caramelized onion, and bits of leftover beef bits and pieces also stashed in the freezer. The house smells heavenly. Canned stock works in a pinch, but it doesn't have half the flavor of the real thing, with its darkly caramelized bones and meat and onions.

Tomorrow we'll have chicken, though. I'm planning on stuffed pounded chicken breasts, with a filling made of spinach, cheese and pork sausage, and sides of caramelized red onions and yellow potatoes.

Possibly some of this is in response to the news the NBC won't be airing the pilot of "Rex Is Not Your Lawyer" this spring. (I didn't name it. But it stars David Tennant. So, frankly, I don't care what they call it.) I needed something to compensate, and hand knitted socks and home cooking fit the bill.

Links still not working, so...

...go to Facebook or other sites where you can get safe information on donations from people you know.

Again, try organizations like Red Cross International, Doctors Without Borders (which you can also reach through the Yarn Harlot's website), UNICEF, and so on.

And pray for them and their friends and families. The new year is an important time in Haiti, but this is one lousy beginning.

Haiti

A one-minute earthquake in Haiti has destroyed lives, hopes and even relief agencies. Some news reports called it "The" quake. It's an horrific situation.

It comes home to me a bit more forcefully than it might, as a friend whom I was very close to has family there. None of his immediate family are down there now, but no one has heard a thing from extended family. All communications are down.

There's nothing I can do hands-on, but I'll ask this of anyone who can spare a few dollars: please make a donation. Even $5 or $10 will help.

Unfortunately, times like these bring out the bad as well as the good, so make your donations to well-known relief agencies: the Red Cross, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières, and so forth.

I wanted to post links for you, but Blogger is being more useless than is believable; it will not post the links when I insert them.

Please search for the legitamite sites and look for donations specifically geared toward Haiti, or where help is needed most. I will try again to make the links work, perhaps tomorrow.

Dr Who and Shakespeare

(It's not a typo. In British English there's no [.] after the _R_ .)

Anyone? Even here in the States many of us saw the show as kids. Mind, I never thought of it as a kid's show. My mother is the one who wanted to watch it. I suspect she had a crush on Tom Baker. I have to admit, he's got a gorgeous voice. I'd forgotten how good, until the other day, when I watched an old episode.

If she had a crush, she wasn't alone. Now in the 2nd incarnation of the series, and just past the 10th Doctor, I'm with her. But my crush is on David Tennant. It helps that he is a mad Dr Who fan. (In fact, in re-watching Tom Baker I found that consciously or not, Tennant's Doctor has some very similar quirks.) I'm not familiar with the other Doctors, so I can't comment on their ways.

David Tennant is a fine actor in any case. I've been seeking out his other work, and it's impressive. Sometimes he just lets go and is full-out silly, but he can do any kind of character and make him real. My husband compared him to Cary Grant, which made me blink--I don't think of him as sophisticated and smooth. But DH explained that he meant endless charm and a certain clownishness, and David Tennant has that in limitless quantities.

This crush is quite recent, too. I have the cold that won't quit, and when BBC American ran a Dr Who marathon before the second part of the final special this year I settled in and watched for hours. I'd seen bits and pieces of episodes over the past few years, but didn't really bother to sit down and watch the show on a regular basis.

It's rather embarassing to go fan girl on a present day actor, but it's fun. I'm really looking forward to seeing his Hamlet. Especially as Patrick Stewart is in the cast as Claudius; in high school, I saw the videotaped production with Derek Jacobi in the title role, Stewart was Claudius then, too, and that production is what made me realize just how much I love Shakespeare.

Hamlet is supposed to air on PBS in the spring. April, I think. Unfortunately, the DVD is not yet available in US format, and our zone free DVD player isn't terribly dependable. Still, I might break down ahead of time and get it anyway.

Any other retrophiles with embarassing celebrity crushes out there?

2009 Was Not a Good Year

Mind you, there have been worse years. But it was difficult to lose my job. I do office work because I'm good at it, and it pays bills, and it generally brings things like a 401k and health insurance to me as well.

I don't particularly like office work, unless I particularly like the people I work with. I did like those people, from the workers in the factory to the CEO. I didn't fit in (I seldom do, unless I'm in a theatre or at some big Art Deco function) but people usually enjoy having an Office Misfit, if he or she is colorful and gives them something harmless to gossip about.

Still hurts to have lost that job. Granted, nearly no one keeps a job for many years at a time these days, but I still felt I belonged, in some fashion.

My husband and I have been lucky, partly due to the job I had and the perks I got, even more due to his foresight and habit of keeping an eye on the housing market. We still have medical, if not dental, and money in the bank. We're still able to go out (though far less frequently) and we can buy some luxuries.

Our families are still doing pretty well, and most of our friends are hanging in there, too.

It's the worry that gets to me. When you're in your teens and twenties it just doesn't, as a rule, stick in the same way. At forty and beyond, you're tired of starting over (and over) and you hope that some of the things you've done will pay off already and it doesn't quite work that way, if only because in middle age you know what can happen from personal experience.

However, you also know that even when things are difficult you can pick up the pieces; you've done it before. So do it again, already, and stop kvetching.

Time to move on.

Plum Pudding (Merry Christmas)

I tried plum pudding for the first time today. It just hasn't appealed to me in the past, but we picked up a small pudding at a British imports shop in Plymouth last month, on impulse.

We will be having it again. And it will be homemade. I had no idea it would be so good! Lovely blue flames and all...not to mention a good dose of real heavy cream from a local dairy...I adored it.

Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope you had a joyous day.

Pattern: Superwash Potholders

Here's the pattern for the potholders shown in my previous post.

Materials:

Trekking fach (color 1802)*
Cascade 220 Superwash in forest green*

No. 6 straight needles (American size)
Size G crochet hook

Stitch pattern (linen stitch):

Row 1 [RS]: (sl 1 wyib) *K1, sl 1 wyif*, end K1
Row 2 [WS]: (sl 1 wyib) K1, P1, *sl 1 wyib, P1*, end K1

Knit 79 rows in pattern. Bind off on WS in knit stitch.

Cut off working yarn and fasten off. (Leave at least 9" of yarn to work crocheted loop.)

At same corner as last BO stitch, work a chain of 20 loops. Fasten off. Weave in all loose ends.

These can be washed in cold water in the washer, but should be allowed to drip-dry.


*The Trekking sock yarn is a light DK weight, and the Cascade a light worsted, if you wish to substitute. I did not take a gauge measurement (and the ones I made are now wrapped up for the recipient) but the finished pieces are slightly larger than commercial potholders. I hate getting burns!

Final Knitted Gifts

All done! And it's December 23. Not bad, especially considering that some of these were rather last-minute ideas.

Here's the set I made for our friend Chris. The mitts are his Christmas present, and the hat is for his birthday...the poor guy's birthday is December 26.







These are the potholders I made for our neighbor. I think they'll serve very well. I'm thinking about making some more for myself, but in red (my kitchen is red and white).



Here's a close-up of the texture. I used linen stitch, so they're quite dense. This would make a good hot pad, too.


It took about two days to make them. Boring knitting, but I like the end result.

An early Merry Christmas, everyone!

White Christmas?

It's possible, according to the weather forecast. At least I'm in the Northeast now, where a storm doesn't instill real panic. Though in RI there is the most peculiar run on milk and bread. What, you couldn't go a few days without? Ah, well. (Mind,I'm not saying this is a bad idea if you have kids, but adults should be just fine with water for a few days.)

We have most of the food for Christmas dinner and for brunch that day. We bought real popcorn at the farmer's market. Home cured bacon. A pannetone for French toast. Our Christmas cards and the last package went out today.

I finished the last gift today. It's ready to be blocked. Pictures soon.

Ta Da! (Or, finshed.)

Yes, it's true. Not only are they knitted, blocked, and dried, they have been shipped out. Not to sea, but their final destinations. One to my MiL in Michigan, one to my sister in Texas.


These socks are made of Cascade Fixation, and the pattern is just an openwork rib on the ankle. Piece-of-cake knitting, but pretty.




This neckwarmer is made from a pattern in "Knit Two Together", and it's very fast. I used some stash yarn, a blend of baby alpaca, silk, and cashmere. MiL is allergic to wool.

I made myself one a few years ago, from Lorna's Laces in silk & merino, and I still wear it a lot. Lace in a circle, can't go wrong with it.

As for local Christmas knitting, I'm moving right along again. The second mitt is done except for the thumb. It will likely be finished today or tonight, and I'll cast on for the hat, too.

After that, I want to put a stocking top on a sock that looks great, but isn't the right gauge for DH; it's going to become a kitty Christmas stocking. One more thing, too. I would like to knit some potholders for our neighbor across the street. She just lost her mother, who was a grand old dame. They've been good neighbors, and last year Mrs. Brown (her mother) gave me a dishtowel with a crocheted top. J wasn't able to get to her usual craft shows this year, due to the funeral, and family in town. She likes lots of color, so I'm going to dig up some crazy colorway sockyarn and do it in linen stitch. Those will be fun.