Houston, We Have a Problem

True to my word, I worked away on the Icarus/Firebird like my life depended on it (my sanity certainly did). I got all the way to the middle of the last chart--things had gotten easy--it was looking great (don't you agree?)--



Then disaster struck. I swear: I read the pattern, I figured out the yardage. Yes, I did substitute yarn, but the pattern notes practically promised me that I would only need one and a half of my two skeins!

See that sad little string trailing off the end of this picture?



That is the end of skein one. Skein two is hiding off the edge of the frame, out of shame for its similarly minute size.

This has happened many times in the past, but never with a lace pattern and never with a Christmas gift of such importance. (Did I mention the Firebird is a gift? It is: hence my panic.) Drawing on my previous experiences, I ranted briefly and then rushed to my LYS. Fumbling through the delicious skeins of Malabrigo lace weight, I found blues and greens and a rawther distasteful pink/red/hmm colorway, but no Bergamota, that arresting, unmatcheable orangey red I NEEDED.

The owner of my LYS, similarly experienced in yarn shortages, ordered a skein for me straightaway (If it takes more than 1 skein to finish 4 rows and a border, I am throwing this thing out the window). I was relieved. I was reassured. I was endlessley grateful. And then she warned that their last order had taken eight weeks to come in.

Do you ever feel like Losing My Religion should be the soundtrack for your life?

UFO Invasion!

Aaaaaahhhh!


AAAAaaaahhhhh!


AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!


My UFOs are closing in on me.

#1, Suss's Fitted Ribbed Turtleneck--the cover project from Hollywood Knits --has been in progress for at least a year now.

#2 is a very sad little hat waiting to be finished. This project has a long story attached. My original plan was to make a hat that looked like an acorn with some greeny-brown handspun and a brown alpaca brim. The Wizard Hat, from Melanie Falick's Kids Knitting, already was quite acorny, so I thought I could easily modify that with a brim using the bramble pattern out of Stitchionary . Au contraire. The Wizard Hat pattern was a) sized for a child with a bubble head, and b) written in rows, not inches or millimeters, for a discontinued yarn of unknown row gauge. And I found these two things out at different times. Isn't that fun? Irate rant to follow. But for now, the sad little hat is sitting on the needles, looking like a turnip.

#3 is hogging all the attention from the ribbed turtleneck and the acorn hat. Behold: the Icarus Shawl. Mine is in the fabled Malabrigo, laceweight of course. I began this the first week of school and flew through the body, but now I am dragging oh...so...slowly through the fancy border. By all accounts, the lacy border is the fun part, the exciting part, the part knitters speed through the body to reach. Under normal circumstances, I'm sure I'd agree. HOWEVER, my current knitting time is also a class period, which means I knit some stitches, take notes, knit some more, then drop the knitting in my lap to work a problem. At most, I can get a row done, and it's sending me to despair.
Time to cut down on other recreational activities: some sleep is going to have to go. Keep your fingers crossed for a FO next post, and happy Knitting : )

Hazards of Combining Knitting and School

Size 0 double pointed needles aside, knitting is considered a relatively benign hobby. Yet to be explored, however, are the hazards of Knitting In Public, KIPping for short. In my experience, KIPping is a perilous enterprise at the best of times. KIPping at a University? Doubly so.

Hazard #1
Students.

The ones who stare are easily ignore. Others, however, decide to comment. After schlepping around campus with a heavy backpack all day, one is not in the best frame of mind to recieve such comments.
"Is that for a class?"
Class? No, not for a class. Once upon a time, there was a faraway land, where people did no complete tasks because they were assigned, but for creative fulfillment. That land was swallowed up by a pernicious beast, and this knitting is the last vestige of its existence.
"Are you knitting? That's cute."
By cute, you mean dazzlingly brilliant, right?

Ok--so I don't really say that to people. But they do tempt me.

Hazard #2
Professors.

Professors are notoriously unpredictable when it comes to a knitter in their classes. Some don't even notice. Others reluctantly allow it, but deep down they doubt that it is humanly possible to make socks and learn a subject at the same time. An exalted few say go ahead, whatever it takes to help you learn, but at the other end of the spectrum are the professors who veto knitting completely. To complicate matters, these types are not readily identifiable: you have to ask for knitting permission, or risk suffering the unimaginable wrath of an angered professor.

Why is it that non-knitters view knitters in the manner of bugs in jars? Being of the Anthropological bent, I am interpreting my encounters as a field study. At this point, the data point to a cultural intolerance to knitting. Gone are the days when women toted their works in progress to the theater, when idle hands were viewed as the devil's tools. Knitting is not viewed as "normal," part of the daily way of life. It is out of the ordinary, a phenomena to be viewed with suspicion and curiosity.

This state of affairs will not do. Knitting is a craft! It is an art! It is genius! And all around the world, when cool, creative people want to express themselves, they knit.

Check out all these cool knitters:

Skinny Rabbit live from France

Spelling Tuesday, the incredible technique machine out of Norway

Yarn Harlot blogging up a storm in Canada

Welcome to Shop on the High Street!

I've got a blog!

Geocities and its minute data transfer limit was bringing me down, so I said to heck with it and transfered to Blogspot. The entire process was scarily easy. Why Blogspot? It's free, and some very cool blogs (like sock prØn and b r o o k l y n t w e e d) are hosted here.

Those ARE both knitting blogs--how very astute! I am already linking to knitting blogs because this will be a blog about knitting. Knitting, yarn, and all the little things that make knitting and yarn even better.

To everyone who knitted (and crocheted) with me over the summer, thanks a million times again! I promised I'd keep you updated : ) Stop in at the Shop on the High Street, and tell me what you're up to. Better yet, show me pictures!

Here is my latest accomplishment: Nautie, from the spring '06 issue of Knitty, the world's most incredible ezine. All of the tiny fiddly shaping bits and miles of sewing inherent in little, 3-d toys usually scares me off, but this pattern was incredibly easy and had a grand total of ONE seam.


I think everyone needs a stuffed nautilus.

My pattern adjustments:
All parts are knitted with two strands of Cascade's Pima Tencel

I put a bell in the head before sewing the pieces together to make it rattle

Because this nautie is going to a baby, I didn't use felt fort the eyes. I did not embroder eyes, either. I asked my sister to do the embroidery: this nautilus is supposed to be cute, not scary.

Happy September!