Knitopolis

A Knitting Miracle!

It looks fine now, but when my Sweetie-Pie tried on his newly finished "Turn a Square", it was enormous!  Just plain too big.  It simply hung on his head.  I'm not sure if it was a gauge problem or just the wrong size (I'm guessing the former).  At any rate, drastic measures were called for.

I soaked it in hot water for a couple of hours and then put it in a medium dryer for two fifteen minutes sessions.  While it was still just barely damp, he tried it on again.  It appeared to have not budged even a mm.

I set aside an hour for later that evening to perform major surgery.  The plan was to cut off the ribbing, rip out a few rows, and graft the band back on.  I was actually kind of psyched in a very sick and wrong sort of way.

At the last minute, I had him try it on again so that I could determine exactly how many rows I needed to lose and, behold, it fit perfectly!

Somewhere between "barely damp" and "completely dry" the magical shrinking occured.  And it's a perfect fit now.  Weird.

I guess there's a lesson learned.  I wish I knew what it was.

The Maine Thing

We're going to Maine during the first week of October.  The plan is to explore the coast as far East as Acadia National Park.   I've always wanted to go there, but this will be my first trip.  I can barely wait!  My favorite thing to do these days is to get on Google Maps Streetview and scope out some of our potential stops.

The weather should be a cooler there, particularly in the evenings (especially if we decide to do some camping out), so I want to knit a pair of fingerless gloves for each of us.

I've started a pair of Dashing Since I took this photo, I've nearly finished the first one.  I'm using the same Cascade Ecological Wool that I used for "Turn a Square" (which is finito--more about it next post) .   And that toshworsted is for me.  The color is "Composition Book Gray".  I haven't quite decided on a pattern.

It's nice to be knitting again--although, it feels a bit manic.   I think there's a lot of pent-up knitting energy being released.

I'm already plotting out my next project #12 Cabled Cowl (Rav) (Vogue Patterns), inspired by this beautiful version or this other amazing version.   I would love to knit this in a pale silvery gray; but, alas, there is nothing in the stash in the correct amount or gauge like that and I'm really trying to avoid buying yarn.  I do have some Elsebeth Lavold Angora in White--it might do.  I see a swatch in my near future.

 

Something Finished, Something New

Snapdragon!

 

A fun pattern.  I want to knit nearly everything in Whimisical Little Knits.

Maybe someday.

And, look!  I'm nearly finished knitting Turn a Square.  I'm alternating Silk Garden (color #47) with Cascade Ecological Wool (shade #8025).

Winter 1972

Awhile back I mentioned a knitting-related perfume.  Well, here it is.  Winter 1972 from CB/I Hate Perfume. "CB" refers to Christopher Brosius--the genius behind Demeter fragrances.

The description for Winter 1972 is as follows:

A field of untouched new fallen snow, hand knit woolen mittens covered with frost, a hint of frozen forest & sleeping earth

Remember when you were a kid playing in the snow?  Sometimes you would need to pull one of your mittens off, but it was hard to do, so you pulled at the tip of the mitten with your teeth.  Remember the weird taste/smell of mitten impacted with snow?  Well, no kidding, that what this smells like.  It's uncanny.

It's a bit of an odd scent to wear, but I really like it.   Aside from the frosty wool, it does have a bit of something woodsy/earthy.

It's been such a miserable hot and humid summer, I got the Winter 1972 bottle out yesterday and gave myself a spritz.   All I can think about now is all the lovely wool yarns I have in my stash and that first day of the year when I will finally be able to sense that Autumn is not far away.

Shhh...

...it's blocking.

I'm knitting! I'm really knitting!

My pronouncements and vows usually don't amount to much, but somehow I talked myself into knitting again.  Somewhat regrettably, I had to start yet another new project to do it, but still...

I think I was able to convince myself by proposing to do a small project that I could finish within a week.

And I had a gorgeous skein of Tosh Worsted in the stash (the color is "Seaglass").

Not only is the project small, but it's also neither too boring nor too complicated.  I'm probably about two-thirds of way through.  I should be posting the finished hat this weekend sometime!

Yay, me!

Wish List

This is some gorgeous laceweight Malabrigo (Black Forest #179) that I got last spring to knit a Featherweight Cardigan. 

And I never got around to it.  Surprise.

In my defense, however, I recall that it began getting very hot very early and warm weather and wool just don't work for me.

But, who knows, maybe this Fall.

btw, this is photographed using yet another fun iPhone app "ShakeIt".

I could not love a human baby more than I love my iPhone.*

*can you name that movie reference?

Things to Do on Workday Evenings

It looked kinda spooky out my office window a few minutes ago.  Hopefully, whatever thunderstorm is approaching will be over by the time I head home.

I have a long workday and a long commute, so I don't have boundless energy when I get home in the evenings.  But, building on what I talked about in my previous post, I really need to do better than watching DVDs or searching for something decent to watch on cable.  So, here are some ideas of what I could do instead:

1. Work on my ultra-double-plus secret art projects.  Why are they secret?  Because I hope to turn them into my own cute little artistic empire someday.  I generally work on the art on weekends only, but empires aren’t built two days a week.  Even if I only did prep work and/or studies, it would make a difference in what I can accomplish on the weekends.
2. Knit while I watch TV—I know I can do that, so why don’t I?  srsly—just a little?
3. Increase my online presence.  I’ve really let my blog and my Ravelry and Flickr accounts languish. 
4. Listen to some music.  Maybe dance around like an idiot to it.  Music used to be very important to me, but it’s another thing I’ve lost touch with a bit.  I’d rather to listen to podcasts in the car for some reason and we never turn music on at home.
5. Take a walk!  I’m fortunate to live in a lovely planned community with miles of beautiful wooded trails—it’s shameful how little I take advantage of them.  Take a camera!
6. Read an actual book with paragraphs and everything (i.e. not a cookbook, not a craft book, etc.)
7. Catalog my huge stash of art/craft supplies, tools, and equipment.  I have a lot of neat stuff—so much that I forget what I have or can’t get to it when I need it.
8. Organize, print out, scan my many photos and art projects.
9. Make and enjoy a delicious cocktail!  The SO and I have been geeking out over vintage and artisanal cocktails for a couple of years, but we are way behind in our experiments.
10.  Clean my house.  I hate including that one, but it wouldn’t kill me, really.

So, there.  Not there's anything wrong with enjoying good shows and DVDs--I would just like to diversify. 

And now for something completely different.  I have something fun to show you--I recently acquired a few items from Villainess. 

I love the gothy Victorian graphics.  Mostly, they sell bath products, but there are a few other items, too.  Sort of Lush's evil step-sister.

It's a little strange to shop for scented products online, but, hey, I've been a Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab customer for years, so I'm used to taking some chances.

I don't really want to get into product reviews, per se, particularly since I haven't tried all this stuff yet, but I just love the little ampoule of perfume oil.  I chose one called "Chloroform" described as "crisp cucumber, sickly sweet green vegetation, a dizzy whiff of violets, mind-numbing plum, and a stiff shot of anesthetising vermouth".  My only complaint is that it's a bit too subtle--I would remove most of the adjectives from their description.

In a similar vein, an etsy shop "The Morbid the Merrier" looks fun, too.  More "Dark Cabaret" in design, which is my current favorite music genre (Jill Tracy, recent Tom Waits, etc.).

I hate to admit, I'm a real sucker for interesting branding and packaging.

Next time, I'll tell you about a perfume that is somewhat knitting related.  Really.

Things to Do Instead of Knitting

I do love iPhone photography apps.  This is a gorgeous skein of sock yarn from Gaslight Dyeworks that I got quite awhile back photographed using the Picture Show app.  I still love Hipstamatic, but this one if fun, too.  It's funny, I enjoy this fake lomo photography as much as real lomo photography.  I recently bought a second Polaroid SX-70 (for use with Impossible Project film) and I've been experimenting with a Diana camera and with ttv for awhile now.

I've been entirely unsuccessful in recovering my lost knitting mojo.  I made a bit of progress on Citron in the Spring, but then it just got too hot to knit with wool.  Perhaps cooler weather will spark the urge to knit.  It makes me sad, but I just don't want to knit right now.  Not especially.  It's like missing a dear old friend.

I've been doing other things--the photography, I've even been painting and drawing again (my first loves!).  I think I just need to manage my time better and organize all my various projects, supplies, and equipment. 

Oh, and cut back on the distractions (I'm looking at you Wonderfalls:  The Complete Series).  Recently, I was inspired by Vicki at Knitorious to compose a list of "10 Things to Do Instead of Watching TV"  because it's really easy to chill out with No Reservations or Futurama.  Hmm, watching tv wasn't such a problem when I was knitting all the time!

I'll post my 10 things in a few days, but it will be "...instead of or while..."