March 2005 Archives

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora
Pattern: Nautilus Hat by Marnie Maclean
Needles: US 6 dpns

The first row was murderous to knit, I almost gave up after that! After a while, the YOs and K2togs became easier to deal with. I dropped quite a few stitches from the ends, and that's when I figured out I should've gotten bamboo needles. Metal dpns suck. BUT I like working with dpns, so there will be more no-seam projects in the future, like Marnie's Halley's Comet Hat or Blue Sky Alpacas' Bobbi Bear. No no no, don't talk to me about socks just yet! Lemme have fun with the simple stuff...

Even singles, don't you just love that? With joining ends, though, I still get fat or wispy sections. I have to work on that. I tried spinning this fiber from the fold, but the colors are so closely blended that I got the barber pole effect. Leila indicated that with such a close blend, the resulting yarn will probably be heathered. I think the lace scarf pattern from the Winter 2004 issue of SpinOff will be perfect for this.

Reading: The Broker by John Grisham. I'm 10 pages into it and I already know it's not very good... I think his best were his first two: A Time to Kill and The Firm. Also, Core77, a design magazine, and artist Banksy's attempt to install his art in galleries here, here, and here.

Not much. Workwise, we're in the middle of an impossible deadline (boo). Traffic has been hellish due to the rain (ick). I lead-climbed a 5.11d this weekend (yay). I knitted and spun a bit (yay). So the good and the bad balance out.

We have the ubiquitous Clapotis in progress. It's inevitable that a pattern will form in variegated yarn, and it did here, but since stitches will be dropped, the pattern won't be so obvious. I don't think there's an efficient way to dye yarn so that the color lengths are totally random, other than doing it one length at a time. I really like the yarn that Mia sent because the color lengths are shorter, thereby avoiding excessive color pooling.

I'd been looking for patterns to use up the rest of my Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora and I found Marnie's site and patterns through a post of JenLa's. She has some good patterns (especially the hats) with very clear directions. I am learning the hard lesson with metal double-pointed needles (aaaaargh), and after I finish this hat I'm going to buy some bamboo ones.

Reading: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami, a book that's been compared to The Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Takami's book takes it 2 steps further. This is Amazon.com's product description: "Battle Royale, a high-octane thriller about senseless youth violence, is one of Japan's best-selling--and most controversial-- novels. As part of a ruthless program by the totalitarian government, ninth-grade students are taken to a small isolated island with a map, food, and various weapons. Forced to wear special collars that explode when they break a rule, they must fight each other for three days until only one "winner" remains.... A Japanese pulp classic available in English for the first time, Battle Royale is a potent allegory of what it means to be young and survive in today's dog-eat-dog world."

Liz said it best in her March 8th entry:

"I too am giving in to the Clap-Monster taking over knittyland."

There are a number of reasons why a lot of knitters are making or have made Kate's Clapotis. It's a good pattern, a quick and easy project, a versatile accesory, and it looks fabulous in solid or multicoloured yarn.

I'm using fingering weight yarn that Mia gave me for Christmas. It's not worsted, as I want a lighter version for spring to early fall (translated as March to December, pretty much). I love that the increases and YOs don't encourage too much pooling or color weirdness. And darn it, Mia, you made eBay even more dangerous than it already is!

Found Online: Puppy Purses. Cute or disturbing?

Saturday noon found 8 knitbloggers at Jerry's Deli in Studio City: Lauren, Laura and Jen, Stacey, Lori, Allison, me, and Kris. Our waitress Bridgette had a line of cameras to go through, so you'll probably find a sharper picture on one of the other ladies' blogs.

Lauren, Laura, and Jen. The last time I saw them was at Fab Fiber Fest in August last year.

Stacey, Lori, Allison and Kris. Allison and Kris are wearing the same cabled hoodie.

There was much talk and way too much food. Later on we went to La Knitterie Parisienne, which was crammed with yarn (Fiesta Yarns' droolworthy Water Mark) and not a price tag in sight. Hmm. Suffice it to say that Lori and I dropped by Wildfiber on the way home to satisfy our yarn cravings.

Here's an extra picture of Lauren and Lori, the difference between them being 14.5 inches, or the total length of knitting I've made on my grandma's Kidsilk Haze Stole. They're now on a nice pair of Bryspuns, which I'm told holds the fluffuzz quite well.

Reading: The Final Solution by Michael Chabon. Surprisingly, BF picked this out for me. It's not on my reading list but he's listened to me rave on about Kavalier and Clay and figured this would be good as well. I have to recommend my last read, The Shadow of the Wind (check my list), because it is very, very good. I'll be nominating this for Knit One Read Too's May book.

Yarn: Noro Iro #21 royal blue/lavender/grey (75% wool, 25% silk; 131 yds)
Pattern: 2x2 rib
Needles: US 8 and 9

When I took out this skein of Noro from Elizabeth's secret pal package, BF promptly claimed it. Since then he's asked me to knit him a hat and here it is. I knit it on smaller needles because he likes a thicker, snugglier fabric. There wasn't enough to make a cuff, but as long as it covers the ears he's fine with it. (He's so easy to knit for... but then again, all I've ever knit for him are hats!)

I'm starting to like variegated yarns. I didn't really think much of them when I first started knitting, especially some color combinations that I thought were absolutely garish. While sorting through photos for my Stitches West entry I noticed all the yarns I purchased were variegated. The Noro I used in this hat spins the different colors in, as opposed to dyeing them and letting the colors mingle, but the result is the same: color shifts that captivate the knitter and in turn make the knitting experience a more involved one. (Light bulb turns on in head; another *duh* experience...)

Listening to: Sleeps with Butterflies by Tori Amos, from her newly released album The Beekeeper. Beautiful lyrics, haunting melody, vintage Tori.

Reading: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. This is a *good* book. Zafón wrote this in Spanish and the translation I'm reading well done. It spent a year on the Spanish bestseller lists, mostly at #1, and for good reason. I'd recommend this to anyone. Also in the background, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke.

Fiber! It's been a while since I spun. Leila sent me a couple of ounces of Copper Moose Rainforest colonial roving after I pestered her about adding ribbing to her cable sweater. :-) Thanks, Leila! Multi-colored roving: perfect for practicing spinning from the fold. I've been able to spin roving at a consistent thickness; now it's a matter of spinning distinct lengths of color and not ending up with a muddy mess. Miss OCD yours truly is now inspired.

I still have the olive green Corriedale in my work in progress sidebar. That's because I bought an embarassing amount to spin with the goal of knitting a top with it eventually. Spinners out there will know how much I have to spin. And with a drop spindle, no less. The Lendrum is still on my list, just pushed back to a later purchase date due to some impulse buying that must be curtailed for the time being...

An update on the making of The Chronicles of Narnia that I blogged about a while ago: here's the trailer (you'll need bandwidth for this) for the first installment, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I see Tilda Swinton in the credits; I suspect she'll make an excellent White Witch!

There's a trial involving Apple Computer and a trio of blogging sites whose outcome could potentially restrict bloggers' rights to provide information. Is blogging another form of journalism? Certainly another medium, but Apple is making the claim that bloggers have no constitutional rights. The sites revealed information about new products before the official launch. Controlled hype or insider information? Who knows? It may not affect the knitbloggers as immediately or directly as others (such as kottke.org and the Ken Jennings episode), but all the same it's something to pay attention to.

Reading: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke. I re-read Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, which was just as intriguing as the first time around (I think he really lucked out on this as his other books aren't very good). I finished Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now in a couple of days. It was all right; teen lit is just not my thing. If not for freelance I'd be roaming the library now, as Lolly, Mia and Elizabeth have given me excellent book choices. Thanks, ladies!