Sunday, November 30, 2008

a little more selfish knitting

I think my knitting mojo is returning. I'm having fun, and finishing lovely things for me. I'm puttering with yarns, and imagining projects for both me and others. But no timelines to meet!

So, without further ado, some lovely socks:

Basic Socks1a

Yes, they are especially knit for me -- extra stitches to accomodate my high instep, and a favorite yarn from chasing rainbows! They are almost dry -- and ready for a fun time in December.

And another FO is blocking. It's the Inside-Outside Scarf -- free on the XRX website, and a great way to use variated yarns. There are some good extra directions on the WEBS site by Pixie that provide some helpful extra thoughts. Here's a not-so-great photo of the blocking in progress:

InsideOutsideScarf1a

This is actually way better in person. If you have a couple of balls of varigated yarn in your stash, you too can have a wonderful scarf. Actually, if you have only one ball of slowly repeating varigated yarn, you can make a scarf just like mine!

The afghan is now in strips, but I have not had the space to do some blocking before I sew the strips together (my mom is visiting for the week). Photos soon.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Feline Inspection


Log Cabin 4
Originally uploaded by skatfantoo

The selfish knitting continues. I did fall off the wagon a bit by making a couple of pairs of mittens for Afghans for Afghans, but I'm now back to completing my own afghan -- the first I've done for myself since forever.

The kitties did their inspection of all the log cabin squares last night, and approved the layout. I've now put together two strips of 4 squares, with three more to go. Trying to decide if blocking the strips is the best way, or wait 'til the whole thing is done.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Hey Congress: Where's my yarn bailout?

Since all parts of the financial industry seems to be finding a way to get all the money that they can possibly squeeze out of the Federal Government, and now the auto industry is not far behind, I think that my knitting personal bailout should have priority and receive special treatment from FiberFannie Mae, the loan fiber-consolidation experts.

Seriously, if people who managed to squander other peoples' money in buying a house by simply having stated their incomes on a form without any documentation whatsoever, then I freely confess the following:

1. I have bought yarn without showing any ability to pay the credit card bills within the year. My LYS (aka "my dealer") freely pushed onto me fibers and yarns with words like "silk","hand-painted" and "handspun" knowing that my ability to refuse such fibers was impaired. I was sucked into the vortex of "doesn't it feel great!"

2. The spirial soon started. I bought yarns, tools, and patterns, and began to haunt online websites like Knitty to feed the illusion that I would actually knit all the yarn that I was buying. The stash bubble began to grow.

3. My transformation into a fiber victim was twisted yet higher by the introduction of the truly seductive and seemingly innocuous website called Ravelry. Oh, yes, Jess and Casey profess to be community-minded small business owners running a start-up, but have you noticed that their mascot, Bob, never smiles? Yeah, he's the brains behind the whole operation. They provide the ability to check out patterns and ways to use any yarn in your stash, so I bought more and more yarn with the thought "I'll figure out how to use this on Ravelry." Any reason not to buy yarn was effectively and efficiently eliminated. Yarn piled higher and higher. Who needs a mortgage when one is buying yarn?

4. Since September 15th, the value of my stash has declined by over 50 percent, meaning that my fiber 401k is now in the tank. I hear from fiberconomists that it is because my sister knitters have also bought yarn that they have told me that they could not afford and do not intend to use until at least retirement. This "fiber bubble" has now burst and we spend our evenings touching Kidsilk Haze and crying, "Why, why!!!" Soon, the fiber eviction notices will come, our yarn will be sold at auction to unworthy knitters who will be taking advantage of our circumstances and we will be reduced to acrylic "pound-plus" yarn from Big-Box stores. Our knitting community will wither and die, and friends and family will be asking us to go get anti-depressants. It will not be pretty.

I therefore plead with our elected Representatives Truly, the only solution is in a yarn bailout. I need it now, but can you ask FiberFannie Mae wait 'til I finish my UFO?

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

more than a bit of partying

So, it was me and the cats on watching TV and surfing sites like FiveThirtyEight.com and Daily Kos ("R" friends -- don't say I didn't warn you), and flipping between CNN, MSNBC, and yes, even FOX news. Yes, I yelled when Brit Hume had to admit that Obama won.

Needless to say, there was more than a bit of partying. Alcohol was imbibed, family members were called and screamed to. Even the cats got overcome by the fiber fumes:

Election night


Yes, Brandy was a little overwhelmed by the news.


We are recovering today. But I'll always have this for a memory of this time:

CatLoversbutton

Sunday, November 2, 2008

election nerves and garter stitch

I can't wait for the election. I check fivethirtyeight.com about 5 times a day (see right for my widget). It pleases me to see my candidate have a 90-percent plus chance of winning.

Yet, I'm still anxious and nervous. The last two elections have made me a bit paranoid.

So, thank goodness for garter stitch. You can watch TV with garter stitch, and since I've knit for more than 30 year, so I don't even need to watch my hands all the time. In the last two weeks, I've knit these:

Log Cabin 3

I finished the one unfinished square in the middle row and there's one more completed since the photo. Given my excitement, there's no telling how many will be done on election day.