DoubleDutchCrafts

Washington DC/Arlington

2008-11-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

We spent the weekend of 14 November 2008 in DC burying my mother-in-law. I don't have photos yet; will update when I do. I'm going to have to get someone to email them to me as I didn't take any of my own, though M took video.

It was a good weekend, all things considered. We drove up to DC from Atlanta, where we live, and stopped off to pick up M's cousin where she's in college in North Carolina. The drive was uneventful, and we had no trouble finding the hotel, a really sad little Days Inn across from Fort Myer. I won't go into how we ended up staying there; suffice it to say that everyone agreed the place was a dump except for the person who picked it, and we teased that person unmercifully all weekend.

Fort Myer is where the soldiers who work at Arlington and around DC are stationed. It's a beautiful place, full of history dating back to the American Civil War. It's considered a model installation now, and if you didn't know it was a military post, you'd think you were on a college campus. We had brunch there on Sunday, then M and I went sightseeing with his cousin that we picked up and our nephew. They are both kids, 19 and 22 respectively (which I guess shows my age a little, that I think of them as kids) and we took them to the National Mall. We started at the Lincoln Memorial and walked down the Mall to the new WWII Memorial; it's pretty grand but we all agreed that the Viet Nam War Memorial is more affecting; something about having all those names listed makes the whole war seem more personal, even if you don't know anyone who fought there or died there. Of course this only represents the American war dead, which means it's still an incomplete list.

We also saw the Pentagon Memorial for the people who died there on 9/11; I know the intent was that it be very moving, but somehow it falls short. I am not sure why, but it just doesn't have the same impact as the Viet Nam War Memorial, or in fact anything on the Mall. I think maybe it's too modern and sleek...but no, the VNWM is also modern and sleek. But the Pentagon Memorial just seems like it's some sort of modern sculpture park outside the Pentagon, rather than a tribute to the people who lost their lives there. Maybe it's the empty benches; I didn't see anyone sitting on them but I bet some people do, and somehow it makes the whole thing a little too inviting and casual to be a place of awe and reverence.

The best part of the day was watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It's a very solemn ceremony, performed every hour on the hour, and it is something every visitor to Washington DC should see at least once. Interesting (at least to me) side note: since the rule is that all attempts must be made to identify all soldiers who fall in battle, there may well come a day when, through DNA testing and other high-tech means, we no longer have any unknown soldiers in future wars to be buried on this site. Wouldn't it be better if we just had no future wars, full stop?

But I digress. Anyway, we had the funeral early Monday morning. After all the pomp and ceremony of M's dad's funeral in 2000, I was surprised at how quickly it was over. M said, and I agree, that as a military wife for 27 years his mom should have gotten the same 21-gun salute and the family walking behind the caisson that his dad got. She was in service just as much as he was, and her life was just as defined by the military for the first 27 years of their marriage as his was. But of course, that didn't happen...so very quickly it was over and we went to the Officers' Club at Ft. Myer for brunch. Then everyone split up early to go to the airport or start the long drive home. We were supposed to stay Monday night with friends in Charlotte, but because we left so much earlier than planned, we pushed on home and got to sleep in our own bed. That may have been the best part of the whole weekend.

And now, M's mom is gone, so much sooner than anticipated, and we will not be traveling to Massachusetts for Christmas after all. We will be staying home for the first time in 9 years, and I am looking forward to putting up a tree and waking up on Xmas morning in my own bed, in my own house. I will miss being with all of M's family, but it will be nice to see this year out quietly, together at home, and hope for better things in 2009.

Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

2008-11-08T18:06:00.000-08:00

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love natural fibers most, for both knit and crochet. I find that things I love for crochet, like SWTC soy yarns, I don't like for knitting. I love KnitPicks Shimmer for both, though. I am OVER novelty yarn :-).

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a crochet hook wrapper that my friend D made for me from some cloth I bought in holland for most of my crochet hooks. I keep my knitpicks harmony needles in the cases knitpicks makes for them. I also have a plastic freezer baggie full of odd needles and hooks that I really need to do something with.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I've been knitting almost 2 years. I flirted with combination knitting, but as a lefty, have pretty well settled on continental style. I'd say I'm an advanced beginner :-). I can knit socks, but haven't tried lace yet, or sweaters. Or working with multiple colors/strands.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Not yet, but I will build one and then put it online. Wish KnitPicks would let you build a wishlist!

5. What's your favorite scent?
Depends on the season. I love lavender in the summer, pine and citrus in the winter, and verbena all the time.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
I do have a sweet tooth and I adore chocolate, but I'm trying to lose weight so I am not indulging this passion often lately.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I love paper crafts - decoupage and card making. I keep threatening to start scrapbooking, but haven't yet. I love to cook. I don't spin, though I am sure one of these days I will start.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)?
I have very eclectic taste in music. I love pandora.com and my stations include Van Morrison, Joe Jackson, Cool Jazz (Sarah Vaughn, Nina Simone, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dave Brubeck - jazz from the 1950's in particular), trance music (Trilok Gurtu to Massive Attack to William Orbit), Grrl Power (Madonna, Aimee Mann, Roseanne Cash, Tori Amos, all the Lilith Fair usual suspects). Oh, and Billy Bragg, and American folk music (Kingston Trio, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, T-Bone Burnett).

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love all colors except yellow and orange, just because I can't wear them. I tend toward jewel tones - clear blues, deep reds and purples, green, teal, aqua. My favorite neutral is gray, but brown runs a close second.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am married with 2 cats and 1 dog. No kids.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
yes, no, sometimes, rarely.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I am loving socks now. Also dishcloths and anything quick and easy - I'm into instant gratification :-).

13. What are you knitting right now?
Socks for hubby, dishcloths for holiday gifts.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Absolutely! While I am grateful anytime someone thinks of me and gifts me with something they bought, it's the handmade things I treasure most.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I do almost everything on circs, but I also like straights. I'm still figuring out preferences but so far I love bamboo and knit picks circulars.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? No, wish I did.

17. How old is your oldest UFO? 1.5 years...

18. What is your favorite holiday? memorial day and labor day, because expectations are so very low for them :-).

19. Is there anything that you collect? Kaleidoscopes, crystals and minerals, refrigerator magnets, odd little tins and boxes from yard sales, craft supplies.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I don't subscribe to anything except Interweave Knits, which I love. Ditto Interweave Crochet...but other than that I like to browse before I buy. I would love a copy of Dominitrix, and oddly, I own no stitch n' bitch or yarn harlot books.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
lace knitting, but not ready to take the plunge yet.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I am a newly minted sock knitter; just finishing up my first pair! I'm a european size 39, or a 8.5/9 wide.

23. When is your birthday?
4/17 (or 17/4, if you're European :-)

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
yes. DoubleDutch59.

spoke too soon...

2008-10-23T19:10:00.000-07:00

We lost my mother-in-law unexpectedly this past Tuesday. She fell and broke her hip, and even though she had a dickey heart and blood pressure problems, the doctors felt that it was best to do a hip replacement and clean out bone fragments, as they felt she wouldn't heal properly if they didn't, and was at great risk of infection and other complications. She did ok during surgery, and even in the recovery room, but once they got her to ICU she crashed and they couldn't save her.

The wake is tomorrow, memorial service on Saturday, and she will be buried with her husband in Arlington National Cemetery at a date still to be determined.

We didn't always see eye to eye on everything, but our mutual love of my DH helped us bridge all other gaps, and I find that I will miss her much more than I ever thought I would. I'm grateful for the many things she gave me, and even more for all she taught me - how to make a great cranberry pie (I'll post the recipe another time, it's a thanksgiving must-bake at our house); how to sew a hem; how to grow irises; and so much more that I can't think of right this minute.

RIP, Martha Jean M...and I hope you find that heaven is all you believed it would be.

I have to admit

2008-10-16T20:04:00.001-07:00

It's getting better, a little better all the time...the Beatles are suitable for any occasion :-).
Life is getting better here at New Amsterdam (with apologies to both NYC and Elvis Costello, respectively - I'm stealing your name for my home).

I have lots to catch up on here on the blog, and so hope to do short posts frequently until I get back to realtime living my life.

Long story short - life seems to be getting back under control (though I have my fingers crossed, and am knocking on wood that just saying this out loud won't jinx it - which makes typing this sentence difficult). I have a few great swap packages to blog about, and also our vacation (we just returned from San Francisco and Sonoma County, CA, a welcome vacation). More soon...

Things Are Not Ok

2008-08-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

We lost Louie on Tuesday. Turns out the hyperthyroidism was masking cancer, which is what killed him. I will miss him - he was my office mate. Here he is in his favorite pose:
Rest in Peace, Louie Kablooie. Thanks for 8 great years of love and and looniness from the craziest cat I have ever owned.

summertime blues

2008-08-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

I am behind on blogging, because the last couple of weeks have been really tough around here. My husband's business partner had a heart attack while on a business trip to California on the 18th of July. He has never liked California, and now he has good reason to feel that way. His doctors ended up doing two surgeries, the second one a triple bypass. For his friends and family here on the east coast, the stress of worrying about him has been compounded by our utter powerlessness to help. The earthquake in LA last week was just one more reason to be worried, at least for me. It's been a time for us to hang together and try to figure out what comes next for him, for us, and for the business.

Partner is doing much better now, and we hope he'll be able to travel home next week. But the hits just keep coming - my cat Louie Kablooie, featured in a previous post on this blog, has hyperthyroidism. We've been treating him with Methimazole, and for at least the first month or so, he seemed to be responding well. The next step was supposed to be radiation therapy, which would eliminate the excess thyroid tissue and thus the excess thyroid hormones. But this week, he's begun having some breathing problems and his coat has gotten rougher, signs that the medicine isn't controlling his condition, and on Thursday he stopped eating and drinking - also bad signs. We were hoping to stabilize him and help him gain back some of the weight he's lost before the radiation, but now the meds don't seem to be working and he may no longer be a candidate for radiation therapy. We've got him isolated from the other animals and that seems to be helping some; he has been eating and drinking again in the last 24 hours, but I'm not sure it will be enough. If he can't get the therapy, I don't know what comes next.

I operate best when I have facts and knowledge, and a plan to execute. But the past couple of weeks have been lessons in rolling with the punches and making it up as we go. I have been knitting and crocheting, which are lifesavers, and the bright spot in all of this has been family and friends, even friends I've never actually met in real life. Timely packages from swap pals have helped; I have a package from the Hot Sauce Swap that I need to photograph and blog about, and I have packages almost ready to send to my pal in that swap and in secret pal twelve. With all this stuff going on, though, I haven't felt much like writing about yarn, or swaps, or WIPS, and I wasn't ready to write about what was going on in my life until I had some idea of how it might turn out. I'm guardedly hopeful that things will turn out ok, so maybe I'll feel like doing a more cheerful blog tomorrow.

Not What I Was Planning

2008-07-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

I was going to write a longish post about my current projects and my answers to Secret Pal Questions for weeks 4 and 5, but for some reason can't post photos. So the project update will wait, but I need to go ahead and answer the questions anyway. Sorry no photos; maybe next time.

Question(s) for Week 4:

1) What yarn (that you don’t have/haven’t used) would make your stash “complete”?

There isn't any one yarn that would make my stash complete. I'm still too much of a newbie to fiber crafts and still learning. And I hope I always feel that way, even if I live to be 90 and work with fiber every day between now and then.

2) What yarn do you never want to be without?**

A good basic worsted weight yarn in a natural fiber can lend itself to so many things, including socks. So I guess Cascade 220 Superwash fits that bill. I'm also loving working with bamboo fibers, but don't have a favorite yet. I really like cotton, and I'm loving Omega Sinfonia for some socks I'm making right now, but I'm not sure it's going to hold up to washing. We'll see!

Question(s) of the Week #5:

1) Where is your favorite place to go for vacation/holiday?

So far, I'd say that my two favorite cities are Paris and Amsterdam. But I have not seen nearly enough of the world yet, so I don't expect to get back to either of these cities, much as I loved them, too soon. I've visited both of them at least 3 times, and it's time to do something different.

2) Where is one place you’d like to go?

Oh, there are so many places I've never been and really want to go! We're going to San Francisco this fall; I haven't seen much of my own country yet. And I want to go to Italy, back to England and Spain, to the old eastern Europe - Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. Poland. Prague. Curacao. Venezuela. Macchu Picchu. Whale watching in Baja California. And probably 2oo other places given money enough and time...travel is one of my very favorite things.

Thanks, Secret Pal! (and question number 3)

2008-07-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

First, I need to show you a photo of the beautiful yarn my Secret Pal sent. I took this on my front steps, and I'm not sure you can get the lustre of the yarn from my poor photograph - I definitely need to brush up on my photography skills.

You can see from the label that this is SandnesGarn Shine worsted. It's a cotton/rayon blend, and I am personally very fond of cotton yarns. They give great stitch definition, they are very forgiving, and the rayon gives this yarn a sheen that just looks rich to me. What you can't see in the picture is how very soft it is - it's softer than any other cotton yarn I've worked with to date. I am looking forward to knitting something special for myself with this stuff - thank you so much, Secret Pal!

Next, the finished practice sock from the previous post. I should warn you, dear reader - this is definitely not a pretty sock. But I'm still proud of it because it's my first, and I figured out every step all by my ownself, with a little help from Charlene Schurch and Ann Budd. I had never even knitted with dpns before, so I'm cutting myself some slack on this one. The side view is even worse - don't say I didn't warn you! And as you can tell, I didn't have enough yarn to really do a good job on the leg - mostly I just wanted to get a sock made so I could say I had knit one, and then move on to doing a better job next time.

However, it's an ill wind that blows no good, so after I block this sock, which I haven't yet done, I'm going to turn it into a shark hand puppet. I think it will be great for that!

Now, to answer Secret Pal Swap Round Twelve, Question Number Three: What would you consider the perfect amount of stash?
(In case you think you already have a huge amount of stash, check this one out!)

Tough question, Krafty1. And I did think I had a huge amount of stash until I clicked on the link above - if you have stash guilt, I urge you now to go assuage it at the link above. Then come on back, I'll be here :-).

So here's my answer. I currently have 8 bins of yarn, medium-sized clear plastic. Not all of them are full; yarn is organized by color and whether it's a solid or a blend. My rule is I cannot have more yarn than I can fit in this space. I also have two big bags (the new Ziploc big bags) and one is filled with cheap cotton yarn that I use to make dishcloths and string bags with or practice new techniques (Peaches n' Creme, mostly) and the other is full of novelty yarn that I bought when I first started crocheting and now realize I don't really like. I'm saving it for a craft supply swap I'm going to next week, and whatever I can't give away there I will give to Goodwill. So in terms of size, that makes my perfect stash 8 medium-sized plastic bins and one big plastic bag large. But in terms of quantity and quality, it's harder to respond. I have too many onesies and twosies, and not enough sweater-sized amounts of the same yarn. Not that I am going to start making sweaters next week...but the onesies and twosies mean I'll be knitting and crocheting lots of small stuff for the next couple of years, because they are not playing well together for something like a stash-busting afghan or blanket. So I guess my perfect stash would be natural fibers (although I must confess to loving the occasional pre-beaded yarn, or yarn with some metallic thread thrown in), a good mix of textures, weights and colors, with enough of my favorite yarns to make bigger projects if I want to.

In short, the perfect stash for me is one that I can turn to in the middle of the night when I can't sleep and my LYS isn't open, and still find a fiber I want to work with in a large enough quantity to make something fun and challenging. But the stash cannot be so big that it takes over even an entire closet. So it has to be full of beautiful, yet practical, yarn.

pictures/sp12

2008-06-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

I've been without a computer at home for a few days - somehow I got a virus in spite of all that Norton's Utilities could do to prevent it and it took us a few days to get things set to rights again. Things are better now but it really made me realize how dependent on having hot and cold running intertubes I've become. Not sure if that's good or bad, and I don't really want to think too hard about it - I'm just glad it is back and that I didn't lose any data. Backup programs are your friend, folks!

So, now, on to my progress with teaching myself to knit socks. This is my first practice piece at knitting with 5 dpns:

it looks kind of like a cupcake that didn't rise, doesn't it? I am still not sure how I got from knit stitches to purl stitches, but I'm having a ball figuring it out. I think I'm really going to like sock knitting. Small, intricate projects that pose a challenge but can be finished in a week or two - my cup of tea exactly!

So here's my first sock cuff:

I'm doing this practice sock with the leftover peaches n' creme cotton yarn from the teal baby bib I knit for a co-worker's baby. It's cheap, easy to work, and has good stitch definition so all my screw-ups should be amply visible here :-).

This weekend, I figured out what "pick up and knit" means, and I'm now well into knitting the gusset. I don't have a photo of that yet, but I'll post one next time. Here's the heel turn though - I am not sure how I got twisted stitches but I'm powering through anyway just to get a couple of practice socks done...hopefully the next one will look better but I'm just not taking care to fix tension issues, twisted stitches or any other imperfections. I just need to get through this one and then I can start working more on technique.

Finally, here's a gratuitous photo of my cat, Louie Kablooie, in a very bad mood:

Can you tell he doesn't like having his picture taken?

My answer to Secret Pal Question #2 - What did you look forward to every summer? Swimming. Ideally at the beach, but the neighborhood pool was also great. I just don't much like fresh water swimming. Give me salt water, or chlorinated water...too many icky little bugs can grow in stagnant fresh water like lakes. Rivers are cool...but in the south, where I live, you have to watch out for water moccasins. I'd rather take my chances with the sharks :-).

knitting in the round/sp12

2008-06-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

I picked up the new issue of Creative Knitting the other day, and my attention was immediately arrested by the child's beaded sock pattern. I know two little girls who might love these socks this fall. And they seem like a great way to start making socks (and a good first knitting in the round project). They don't call for sock yarn - just regular worsted weight cotton, which I have. I even have beads that will work and the needles I need, but my craft space is currently occupied by a bunch of stuff we're getting ready to take to Goodwill so finding everything won't be easy for the next week or so, until we pack all the things we're donating to charity into the car and drop them off.

No biggie. I like to try new techniques with scrap yarn first, anyway. So I grabbed the end of the teal yarn I used for the last baby bib I made, a set of Takumi double-points, and my well-worn copy of The Knitting Answer Book and proceeded to cast on for my first-ever attempt at knitting in the round.

It wasn't too bad, except somehow I managed to reverse what I was doing partway through. I'm not quite sure how I did that, so I definitely think more scrap yarn practice is in order...but for a first attempt, working from a book, I'm not unhappy with the result. I think I'm going to really like knitting socks - I like short rows and I can understand how the heel must work just from reading the pattern, and I think I'm really going to love knitting in the round once I get the hang of it.

I may never get back to the clapotis, though :-(. I find I like knitting small things that I can finish in a week or so a whole lot; long things that take weeks, if not months, are not my cup of tea.

And speaking of beverages, in answer to this week's Secret Pal 12 question of the week, my favorite summer beverages are ice cold ginger ale, or an icy vodka gibson (essentially a martini with pickled onions instead of olives) if alcohol is in order. If I can't get either of those, then water as cold as I can get it, please.

Learning to Read

2008-06-08T08:44:00.001-07:00

For a combination knitter, it's very important to be able to "read" your knitting. I'm a great reader IRL, always have at least two or three books going and I surf the Web voraciously (and books and knitting just seem to go together, to my great joy). But I've not yet mastered learning to read my stitches; I can tell a knit stitch from a purl but until yesterday, I couldn't have told you how to tink my knitting to get the stitches to be oriented right when you started knitting again, so I ended up with lots of stitches I'd need to twist or untwist after tinking.

The idea of deliberately dropping the stitches above a mistake to reach down and fix it and then reknit the column of stitches vertically just made me break out into a cold sweat and put the knitting down. I have some UFOs that have been on needles for over a year because I couldn't keep going once I found a major mistake, but also wasn't ready to risk ruining all my work trying to fix the mistake. It's my knitting limbo bag of shame :-).

I have made a giant leap forward, though. The teal petal baby bib I've been working on this last week was really frustrating me Friday night; I guess I got too involved in the movie I was watching while knitting (Bottle Rocket, the first feature film by Wes Anderson and starring all three Wilson brothers), because I messed up the stitch count which meant my short rows were also messed up. I was so disappointed - I thought I was being really careful because I'm so tired of frogging, and despite my big words in my last post I'm an impatient person and frogging actually seemed faster and easier to me than tinking to my error, assuming I would recognize the error when I found it, and fixing it. But I decided not to give in to the temptation just to frog, and instead put the bib aside until yesterday (Saturday).

When I picked it up again, I still couldn't see where I'd messed up, although I was pretty sure I'd picked up a short row wrap as a separate stitch instead of hiding it by working it with the stitch it was wrapped around. But I was only on the 3rd short row pair, so I decided to just tink all 3 if I had to - it might not be as fast as frogging, but I really did not want to have to start the petals again, and while I could have set a brake line in my knitting and frogged down to it, I wasn't sure where I should put it, and I didn't think I'd learn anything doing that anyway. So I started tinking, and sure enough, I found the spot where I should have hidden a wrap but didn't in the second short row pair. I fixed that and felt pretty darned good about myself - I might have spent 10 minutes more tinking than I would have if I'd frogged, but I probably saved myself an hour or more of reknitting from the cast on.

So I was feeling pretty brave, and I noticed a purl where there should have been a knit. It was several rows down from where I was, and in a row where I'd have to drop a purl three together to get to it (I guess you should know this pattern if you've followed me thus far - and I apologize for making this short story so long but it feels just as good in the retelling as it did in the doing - I think I get why fish stories get so long and overblown now :-) so that meant I was going to have to figure out how to redo that tricky purl stitch as well as the rest of the knit stitches I was dropping - this was a real challenge and I could have screwed everything up entirely, but I was feeling a little reckless from having fixed my stitch count successfully, so I went for it.

It was like my hands were operating independently from my brain; I could not tell you a logical reason for why I put my needles into the yarn the way I did to fix the column, or why I twisted the yarn left instead of right (or vice versa). It was like being in some kind of knitting trance - everything just came together, and somehow all the bad stitches became good stitches. I used the vertical fix 3 times more to fix other purls that should have been knits, and it worked like a charm every time.

I still can't tell you why I did what I did, but--finally--here is the important thing - my hands and eyes seemed to know what to do, and my brain went along for the ride instead of trying to drive. So now I have added the vertical fix to my repertoire, even if I don't understand exactly what it is that I am doing when I use it, and I've lost a lot of my fear of screwing up.

I'll post photos of the finished bib later today here and on Ravelry - there are still mistakes, but I'm aware of them, and unlike a stray purl in the middle of a big block of stockinette stitch, I don't think they ruin the esthetic of the bib, so I'm just letting them be.

Frustration

2008-06-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days where I screwed up everything I touched. Well, not everything, but everything having to do with yarn. The teal baby bib that I started had to be completely frogged because of a mistake I made early on that I'm not experienced enough yet to fix. I had started knitting a clapotis, and today when I picked it up I discovered that I had in fact unvented a variation of combination knitting in some section in the middle that would likely result in a row falling out completely when I started dropping stitches, and again, I'm just not experienced enough to figure out how to fix the problem without frogging the whole dang thing. And finally, I have a calorimetry scarf from knitty that I started, and somewhere along the line I messed up the count and my short rows aren't coming out right. I truly thought the one slightly tricky thing I had mastered was short rows, so I'm bummed.

It's not all bad, though. As it turns out, I don't really like the yarn I chose for the clapotis, so frogging that wasn't a total loss. The yarn, Silky Tweed by Elsebeth Lavold, is too "sticky" for my taste and once I ripped out, I found a great set of project notes at Needles and Hooks (amy! wish you were still posting)for doing a swatch of the drop stitches. I did successfully knit the swatch in continental style, and I had to really tease and tug the yarn to get stitches to drop, and once I did, the result was too ugly and uneven, even after blocking, to be worth continuing. So it's just as well I didn't waste a lot of time trying to force the yarn into a pattern it didn't fit. I must say, that's the second Elsebeth Lavold yarn I've used and not liked the final product...I don't think I'll be using any more of her yarn anytime soon.

As for the bib, I've finished the starting point of all the petals again and so far so good (knock wood). I haven't actually ripped out the calorimetry - it's a small and quick pattern and I may just try tinking back to where it was still correct (assuming such a spot can be found) and then moving forward.

I think I have reached the tipping point where I'm going to start risking ruining a project entirely by trying to fix it, rather than frogging it all and starting over - worst case, I'll just have delayed the frogging for a bit, and best case, I'll actually learn something AND save a project I was ready to give up on anyway. It's not like I'm going to ruin the yarn...and even if I do, somehow, manage to shred it so badly it can't be used, well, it's not like they've stopped making it.

questionnaire

2008-05-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I love natural fibers most, for both knit and crochet. I find that things I love for crochet, like SWTC soy yarns, I don't like for knitting. I love KnitPicks Shimmer for both, though.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a crochet hook wrapper that my friend D made for me from some cloth I bought in holland for most of my crochet hooks. I keep my knitpicks harmony needles in the cases knitpicks makes for them. I also have a plastic freezer baggie full of odd needles and hooks that I really need to do something with.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I've been knitting a little over a year. My friend J got me interested, but I took up crochet first, almost 3 years ago. Then my friend D taught me western style but as a lefty throwing the yarn with my right hand felt weird. So I am teaching myself combination and continental, which makes for some very interesting mistakes when I forget which style I'm meant to be using for a particular project.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Not yet, but I will build one and then put it online. Wish KnitPicks would let you build a wishlist!

5. What's your favorite scent? Depends on the season. I love lavender in the summer, pine and citrus in the winter, and verbena all the time.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I do have a sweet tooth and I adore chocolate, but I'm trying to lose weight so I am not indulging this passion often lately.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I love paper crafts - decoupage and card making. I keep threatening to start scrapbooking, but haven't yet. I love to cook. I don't spin, though I am sure one of these days I will start.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)I have very eclectic taste in music. I love pandora.com and my stations include Van Morrison, Joe Jackson, Cool Jazz (Sarah Vaughn, Nina Simone, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Dave Brubeck - jazz from the 1950's in particular), trance music (Trilok Gurtu to Massive Attack to William Orbit), Grrl Power (Madonna, Aimee Mann, Tori Amos, all the Lilith Fair usual suspects). Oh, and Billy Bragg, and American folk music (Kingston Trio, Woody and Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, T-Bone Burnett).

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? I love all colors except yellow and orange, just because I can't wear them. I tend toward jewel tones - clear blues, deep reds and purples, green, teal, aqua. My favorite neutral is gray, but brown runs a close second.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I am married with 3 cats and 1 dog.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? yes, no, sometimes, rarely.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Right now it's baby bibs, but that's because I have a bunch of baby gifts to make. I also like to knit dishcloths and anything quick and easy - I'm into instant gratification :-).

13. What are you knitting right now? Petal Baby bib from one skein (need to knit 5 more in the next couple of months); clapotis (yes, late to the party but better late than never) calorimetry scarf from knitty. I love knitty.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Absolutely! While I am grateful anytime someone thinks of me and gifts me with something they bought, it's the handmade things I treasure most.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I do almost everything on circs, but I also like straights. I'm still figuring out preferences but so far I love bamboo and knit picks circulars.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? No, wish I did.

17. How old is your oldest UFO? 2.5 years...

18. What is your favorite holiday? memorial day and labor day, because expectations are so very low for them :-).

19. Is there anything that you collect? Kaleidoscopes, crystals and minerals, refrigerator magnets, odd little tins and boxes from yard sales, craft supplies.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I don't subscribe to anything except Interweave Knits, which I love. Ditto Interweave Crochet...but other than that I like to browse before I buy. I would love a copy of Dominitrix, and oddly, I own no stitch n' bitch or yarn harlot books.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Socks and lace knitting, but not ready to take the plunge yet.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Not yet. I'm a european size 39, or a 8.5/9 wide. Is this enough detail?

23. When is your birthday? 4/17

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID? yes. DoubleDutch59.

Must be Springtime...

2008-05-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

Because there are so many new babies in my life! Actually, two are a little older; my gorgeous great-nieces Rhea and Arwen both appeared late in 2007, my co-worker's son Max was born today, and two weeks ago my neighbor's daughter Chelsia gave birth to her first son too. Plus one of my dear knitting friends is preggers with her second, so that's 5 babies who need a little something knitted or crocheted from me. Ok, maybe they don't need anything from me REALLY, but I love to knit baby bibs and other quick finish, simple projects because I'm still such a fiber newbie. Or maybe, given that I've been crocheting for 2.5 years and knitting for over a year now, and still haven't tackled that first sweater or afghan, I'm really just a fiber slacker...too many hobbies, too little time :-). But I digress...

So, I'm planning at least a few more petal bibs. This pattern turns out to be a lot of fun to knit, especially since one of my knitting group friends figured out a neat way to use the backward loop cast on and thus avoid leaving lots of ends to weave in to finish the bib. It's not tricky, really - just leave a little gap between the petals and then you pick up the thread in the gap the same way you'd handle a wrap when working short rows. You just have to remember to pick up the thread in the gap on every purl row, or you'll end up with a thread that runs from the top of your last petal to the bottom of your current one, which means you have to start over. I should have taken a photo of what that looks like before I actually started over, but I was in a hurry. The photo that goes with this post is actually what the bib looks like from cast-on through joining the petals. I'm doing this in combination knitting, which goes so much faster for me than Western...thanks Annie Modesitt!

Music or TV?

2008-05-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

I am so used to multitasking - maybe most of us are these days. At any rate, I can't just sit in a silent room and knit. I need television on in the background, or music. It can't be anything too demanding - action/adventure is right out though When Harry Met Sally, or Sleepless in Seattle or Casablanca or any WWII movie is oddly the perfect knitting movie. I have friends who prefer horror movies, or soap operas, and I knit while watching Project Runway or any of the BravoTV reality shows - I'm a sucker for all of them :-).

Books on cd are ok too. I just need something to stimulate my ears and that verbal part of my brain while my hands focus on fiber goodness. Most of my friends who knit are good enough to watch the screen and just let their hands move, or else they fake it really well, but I am still enough of a beginner that I need to watch every stitch and count every row. So I often like to just sit with the stereo on while I knit.

My favorite knitting music varies, but I love jazz or classical music the most. Complex rhythms or big orchestral arrangements just seem to go better with string and sticks than pop music, from any period.

Giving It All Away

2008-05-21T21:29:00.001-07:00

I love to give away the things that I knit. I have only kept a scarf or two for myself, and I expect I'll eventually give those away too. Today we had a baby shower for one of the guys on my team at work, and I gave him a petal bib that I knitted from the pattern in Leigh Radford's One Skein book. It only took me a few hours to knit, and they were hours I would have spent watching tv anyway, so I got a lot of pleasure out of knitting the bib and feeling productive about watching a Top Chef marathon (especially since I'd already seen all the episodes before, some more than once ;-).

We also gave him a bassinet, and everyone admired that, but the bib got just as many oohs and aahs as the bassinet did, and it cost a lot less. So giving away my handknits is double joy - I get to enjoy the process and the appreciation and admiration of the people who receive the end result.

Lazy Sunday

2008-05-18T12:49:00.001-07:00

I love to spend Sunday afternoons reading the paper, cleaning and organizing things. My home is still chaotic - we're in the midst of renovation and doing most of the work ourselves so we'll be topsy turvy for the forseeable future :-). But Sunday afternoons are my time to get things ready for the work week ahead, clean up my office and review my work calendar, confirm plans with friends and get the main living areas decluttered to the point where we can at least function, until next Sunday. I can already see that checking in on Ravelry, uploading pics and doing an entry here are going to become part of my Sunday rituals. This is primarily because I take photos of projects on my desk and can only do so when it's actually clean enough to use for that purpose. Note to self - find somewhere else to photograph knitting projects as a backup.

first post

2008-05-17T13:04:00.001-07:00

To join a secret pal group on ravelry, I had to create a blog. So here it is. Now I just have to figure out how to hook this blog into my ravelry account, and then I'll be cooking with gas! Or more to the point, knitting with yarn...natural fibers preferable :-).