kmkat and her kneedles

Knitting! (6)

Younger Son's fiance asked for a cowl.  Not just any cowl, but the Big Herringbone Cowl from the Purl Soho website. (That link worked when I needed the pattern a few weeks ago but doesn't seem to work today. Maybe it will be working by the time this post goes up.)

The image at right is from the Purl Soho site; you will also find it on Ravelry. What is difficult to get from the photo is how soft and thick and squishy and cuddly the cowl is.

The yarn is Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes in ecru. The name says worsted but I would consider it more of an aran weight. The fiber is 50/50 merino/alpaca and is like buttah through my hands.

Above is the cowl the first day I worked on it. Below is the cowl a few weeks ago. The project is about half done but currently on hiatus while I work on something else. After all, she won't be needing it for... a while.

The stitch pattern is interesting. It makes a herringbone pattern on the right side and a sort of ribbing on the other. Either side could be the right side. It is kind of a tricky stitch, though; when (not if) I make a mistake, I have no idea how to fix it other than rip back. Which I have had to do a couple times.

 

And although the yarn is called worsted and I think it is aran, the pattern calls for -- wait for it --

a size 17 needle!

Such huge needles are not my favorite but the resulting fabric is lovely. This is a fun project.

Knitting! (5)

While I was knitting that Montego Bay silk scarf I found myself experiencing an almost visceral urge to knit socks. Fingering weight yarn! Tiny needles! I wantwantwant! However, I mananged to keep that feeling in check until the scarf was f-i-n-a-l-l-y finished.

Definition of a scarf: a knitted object four to twelve inches wide and only as long as the knitter can maintain sanity.

Ta da!

Yarn: Lang fingering weight 80/20 wool/nylon. Most of a skein of Oxford gray (83.0003) and about half a skein of ruby red, plus about one-and-a-half spools of the gray nylon reinforcing thread that came tucked into the center of the gray skein. The heels and toes are the red fingering weight yarn with the gray reinforcing thread; the feet are the gray yarn; and the legs are both the gray and the red yarn.
Needles: Addi Turbo US#0 circ (foot and first four rows of the stripe pattern); an anonymous bamboo US#1.5 circ that I bought in a lot on eBay (legs).
Pattern: Toe up using Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Sock Pattern until the round before the stripes start; then a modification of the sock pattern in Knit One Below by Elise Duvekot. Her socks were knit top-down; I prefer toe-up. Details of my mods are on my Rav page.

The gauge of the knit-one-below stitch is significantly bigger than stockinette. I did some judicious decreases (trial and error, three times) to get the ankle big enought to be easy to put on but not so big as to sag, plus I used a larger needle on the leg as I always do. If you look carefully you can also see the errors in the initial rows of the pattern. I wanted to plan my stitches so that I didn't have to do the knit-one-below into a stitch that had been a decrease in the previous round and apparently that was a bit more than my brain could stand. (Note to self: If I had used pencil and paper to plot it out it would have been a lot easier.) But once I had knit two or three rows of the pattern stitch I balked at ripping it out to fix it.

You may wonder at my choice of colors that are, to put it charitably, less than exciting. Well, I have a pair of socks purchased many years ago that are light gray with red toes and heels and a stripe/ribbed pattern on the legs. For some unknown reason I have always loved them. Now they are wearing out and I wanted to replace them. When I dug into my stash of solid sock yarn I had only one skein of light gray and I didn't think that would be enough. Wrong again.

 

Knitting! (4)

Fourth: silk Montego Bay scarf.

 

Yarn: Alchemy Silk Purse, 2 skeins. DK, 100% silk single ply.
Needle: KnitPicks US#8 circ.
Pattern: Montego Bay by Amy Singer.

I originally announced that this yarn -- also souvenir yarn purchased at Knitty City last year -- was going to be a trianglular shawlette, but further thought led me to the conclusion that I would get more use from a long rectangular scarf. Several years ago I made a Montego Bay scarf that nearly drove me crazy; I simply could not keep track of the (2-stitch, 2-row!) pattern. But I wanted to conquer that pattern. I needed to conquer that pattern. And I did; this quickly became mindless knitting, so mindless that I could work on it in the evening after working on tax returns for nine or ten hours.

Have worn it multiple times, love it.

Knitting! (3)

Third: a Moebius cowl from a class on same at Yarnover, taught by the totally delightful Silvia Harding. Yummy yarn; too bad I now find the color rather insipid.

Hannibal is not sure about this. Not sure at all.

Pattern: Moebius cowl. The exact pattern is not given at the link but is simply 4 rounds of knit and 4 rounds of purl repeated until the cowl is tall enough. The whole key to making a Moebius is in the cast on, which Cat Bordi demonstrates at the link.
Needles: I think I used a US#4 circ. Either that or a #5.
Yarn: Karabella Magrite, a sport weight 80/20 superfine merino/cashmere blend. It is sooo soft and perfect for next to the skin. I bought four skeins of it in Cara's destash five or six years ago. I think I may use a couple of my skeins to make another cowl, bigger and taller.

I gave the FO to Elder Son's landlady in Duluth, a family practice resident who provided him, and a number of other med students over the years, with a lovely place to live. Smokey delivered it when he traded cars with Son, and he said she was suitably surprised and pleased.

 

 

This is a rebuilding year.

You know how sports teams, when they have lost all their star players and consequently are not winning many games, they call it a "rebuilding year"?

That's what Smokey and I are having in 2012... literally.

But not in the traditional sense. More in the personal sense.

Thirty years ago Smokey fell off a ladder and hurt his back. While it has bothered him for almost the entire time since, the pain has become debilitating in the past couple years. A doctor finally x-rayed it and found that his spine looks like this:

X
X
X
X
  X
  X
  X
  X

No wonder it hurts! It seems to be pinching a nerve so is giving him all kinds of leg pain, too.

Although surgery is not necessarily the best alternative for lower back pain -- rest, pain meds, and proper exercise are -- his problem is clearly a mechanical one that can be solved by surgery. We have hopes that he will be able to resume more-or-less normal activity once he recovers from the surgery, which is scheduled for June 25, the day after his birthday.

I shall be busy this summer waiting on him hand and foot the same way he took care of me when I broke my ankle in 2008. 

Then there is me. I have been suffering from hip pain for about a year and a half. Have had several cortisone injections, which helped. Until the last one, in December, that I didn't think helped... until it wore off in March and I had significant pain. Pretty much constantly. Finally went to the ortho doc last week, they x-rayed, and said things to the effect of "oooh, I bet that smarts!" Turns out that hip is bone on bone, all natural cushioning is gone.

So once Smokey is up on his feet again, probably near the end of summer, I will be having a hip replacement. 

::sigh:: and ::hurrah!::

In the meantime the PA told me to 1, eat 50g of protein a day to ensure my muscles and other tissues are as healthy as possibly and able to heal quickly; B, try to avoid gluten and sugar, as they can promote inflammation (inflammation = pain); and iii, eat lots of dark green leafy vegies like kale, mustard greens, asparagus, and broccoli because they have the trace minerals needed to grow bone; and d, have physical therapy to see if any exercises can reduce my pain in the interval until surgery.

Now, my first thought at eating 50g of protein every day was Whoopee! This will be fun! But it turns out to be not as easy as I thought. 25g of protein is a serving of meat about the size of my fist. Imagine eating that much chicken or fish or steak or seafood twice a day. That is a lot!

The gluten and sugar avoidance will be harder, although I am doing well so far. Chris gave me some brands to look for in the store and also some to avoid. The Glutino crackers have replaced saltines in my crackers & cheese snacks. Rice, quinoa, and oats: fine. Wheat, rye, and barley: no. I bought some rice-based spaghetti that we will try and some non-gluten flour (Bob's Red Mill) that I will try substituting in baked goods. Thanks to Cookie I had already planned to buy some frozen fruit bars -- found some that were no sugar added. 

All this diet stuff will be good for both of us. Smokey is diabetic so should avoid carbs. I have a hunch that if we stick to the high protein, lots of green (and other) vegies, we will lose a few pounds, which will also be good for the surgery and long-term recovery.

Knitting! (2)

Second: Daybreak, last seen here. All done, love it, worn only once. Spring came rather early this year and thus ended wool-scarf-wearing season.

Pattern: Daybreak by Stephen West. Nearly every one of his patterns appeal to me. I love this one so much I am planning a sweater based on it.
Yarn: Most of a skein of Universal Pace sock yarn in linen (06) and half a skein of Marks & Katten sock yarn in color 662.
Needle: Signature circ US#4. 
Mods: The original pattern had the final border done in stockinette interspersed with single rows of garter stitch. It seemed to me that that border might be prone to flip up so I did it entirely in garter, and I quite like the way it turned out.

Knitting!

I started this post with the intention of showing you everything that I had knit since the last time I blogged an FO. Then it occurred to me that each piece deserved its own post; also, that that method would relieve my conscience about not posting more often.

All that unblogged knitting is about to hit the innernets.

First up: I finished this last June.* Two skeins of souvenir Koigu purchased Knitty City last May.

Love it, have worn it multiple times.

Yarn: Koigu KPPPM, 2 skeins, color 720. This colorway has enough colors in it that it can be worn with nearly anything. Except white or beige; then one or the other looks dirty.
Pattern: Baktus.
Needles: US#4 circ.
Mods: None. The pattern is perfect. 

I never bothered to block this, so it is a tiny bit short although still perfectly wearable. Someday...

* Yes, nearly a year ago. ::hangs head in blogger shame::

Ennui.

You may already have seen this but it is worth a second look. Enjoy!

Especially for single mothers.

Eye candy Friday.

From Younger Son: 

I went to Ikea with my friend last night. All at the same time, we left the store, the rain ended, and the sky became a beautiful mix of colors. He snapped a picture of me silhouetted against the sky.

Ten Twelve on Tuesday, the to-do edition.

Spring in the Upper Midwest tends to occur one afternoon in May, after which we go directly into summer. The natal season seems to be lasting a bit longer this year but I don't want to take chances. I have altered the time frame a bit.

Ten Twelve Things On My 'Do By The Fourth Of July' List

1. Finish the Big Herringbone Cowl (I haven't blogged about his yet) for Alex.
2. Knit her cabled stockings as requested. I already have the yarn and the pattern.
3. Start DNA scarf for Elder Son. I have the yarn but may need to revamp the pattern a bit.
4. Clean porch so we can eat dinner there every night.
5. Knit another Moebius cowl before I forget how to do it. The first one (not blogged yet) took roughly a day; the second will take longer because I want to make it bigger.
6. Soak some yarn I bought several years ago to see if the dye runs; if not, cast on for the sweater that is in my head. (Also, write the pattern for said sweater. It is based on a scarf/shawl pattern but obviously needs some tweaking to become a sweater.) If the dye leaks, either figure out how to set the dye or figure out a different use for the yarn.
7. Finish Tappan Zee sweater.
8. Clean the entryway.
9. Clear at least half the crappe from my desk.
10. Finish the Noro striped scarf (also unblogged) I started for myself.
11. Do our 2011 taxes.
12. Cast on for another sweater in my head using the 20 balls of Noro Silk Garden I bought for it in, er, April, 2010.

 

 

A bit more on Boston driving.

Elder Son writes:

Boston is like a Kama Sutra of intersections.  The number of ways for different streets (or even the same street) to meet exceeds anything I could have imagined before coming here.

Examples:

• A compund freeway exit ramp that's the better part of a mile long because it leads to about four (?)  different city streets and also accommodates cars entering from multiple unknown origins because in the end it turns into an entrance ramp for the freeway in the opposite direction.
  
• The intersection where two streets meet at maybe a 70-degree angle, but one of them makes a soft left turn on the other side of the intersection, and a third street also enters the intersection but just ends there.
  
• The intersection perhaps designed by a conceptual artist, wherein a stop light is stuck in the middle of the block with no cross street or crosswalk to justify its existence.
  
• The really enormous intersection, a little like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, where you can't even count the number of entering streets before you've driven through it..
  
• The many intersections where you come up a steep hill and meet another street at an angle so steep that, with the parked cars, you can't see if anyone's coming.

Like many of us, he is most eloquent when complaining.

Driving in Boston = hell.

Elder Son has finished his medical school career at Mt. Sinai in Manhattan. He spent April doing a one month family practice rotation at a clinic in Duluth affiliated with the University of Minnesota there; right now he is in the first week of month-long family practice rotation at a clinic in Lawrence, Massachusetts. As a graduation present we provided him with a car, which he will now need, Lawrence being 25 miles or so from where he is staying in Boston.

::cue ominous music::

He has called home for the past three nights requesting me to go onto Google maps and direct him to that Boston residence .

I had heard long ago that Boston was a terrible city to drive in -- one-way streets that come to a dead end being the example that was given. I cannot vouch for that specific situation, but Google maps has shown me a multitude of one-way streets, sometime, often, meeting head-on. No grid pattern of streets and almost no right angle intersection. Any number of way to get from the outlying areas to downtown but damned few easy ways to get anywhere else.

We will mail him a GPS today.

* * * * *

Note: I wrote this Tuesday night but Typepad was broken and remained so until now. I, and many others, wrote to their help site starting last night. Now, hours later, they finally fixed it.

Hi everyone, 

Thanks for reporting the issue! Unfortunately, we do have to sleep sometimes, and at the time of the initial report, it was almost midnight on the east coast and we were closed. We tackled things just as soon as we opened this morning, and the issue is now fixed. 

Get it together, Typepad. In case you hadn't noticed, the internet is as 24/7 operation. Sleep is not an excuse.

 

 

Ten on Tuesday, the yuk-it-up edition.

Ten Favorite Comedy Movies.

1. Bedazzled (the original, with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore; part of the plot is the
   personification of the seven deadly sins -- Rachel Welch is Lust)
2. The Big Lebowski (well, duh -- y'all know this is my favorite movie of all time)
3. Annie Hall (this was my favorite movie until TBLeb came along)
4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Smokey and I can recite the dialogue verbatim -- and often do, much to the disgust of Younger Son, who thinks we need some new jokes)
5. Love Actually (is there anything cuter than Hugh Grant or Colin Firth in love?)
6. any Marx Brothers movie ("Make that three hard boiled eggs!")
7. (see #6)
8. (see #6)
   
9. (see #6)
   
10. (see #6)
    

 

Yarn bombing!

  

Younger Son and I were on our way to dinner one night last week when we spotted this.
Happily, his cell phone has an 8MP camera, and he was able to capture what we saw.

  

Thanks to City of Lakes Waldorf School, 2364 Nicollet Ave, for providing blog fodder!

Just in case you thought he was the PEOPLE'S governor.

    

And he is only campaigning for governor of a relatively unimportant Midwestern state...

(graphics from http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/campaign-finance)

Knitting book destash.

When I started to straighten the bedroom this morning, I discovered the reason my knitting books are topsy-turvy: I have too many to fit on the shelf. 

Time to destash the knitting books.

All are in like-new condition and are linked to their Amazon page. Where there are two links, the second is to the publisher's page because Amazon did not have a picture of the cover.

Confessions of a Knitting Heretic : Tips, Techniques, Projects & Reflections by an Unorthodox Hand Knit Designer & Teacher / Annie Modesitt. $14 + media rate postage.

Domino Knitting / Vivian Høxbro. $14 + media rate postage.

Handknit Holidays ; Knitting Year-Round for Christmas, Hannukkah, and Winter-Solstice / Melanie Fralick. $15 + media rate postage.

Handknitter's Handbook / Montse Stanley (note: my copy is probably 20 years old, bought used on eBay; it lacks a dust cover but is in very good condition otherwise except for slight yellowing of the pages). $10 + media rate postage.

Knitting for Peace : Making the World a Better Place One Stitch at a Time / Betty Christiansen. $10 + media rate postage.

Knitting Vintage Socks : New Twists on Classic Patterns / Nancy Bush. $18 + media rate postage.

Mary Thomas's Knitting Book / Mary Thomas. $9 + media rate postage.

Modular Knits : New Techniques for Today's Knitters / Iris Schreier. $15 + media rate postage.

Stitch 'n Bitch : The Knitter's Handbook / Debbie Stoller. $11 + media rate postage.

Vintage Modern Knits : Contemporary Designs Using Classic Techniques / Courtney Kelley & Kate Gagnon Osborn. $20 + media rate postage.

Like I did last time, I set my prices based on cover price vs. Amazon's price. In almost every instance, what you pay over Amazon's price is more than enough to pay for media rate shipping. 

Media rates for smaller packages is at right.  To give you an idea, the heaviest book is the Montse Stanley, which tips the scales at 2 lb 4 oz. Domino Knitting is the lightest at 6 ounces.

PayPal or personal check accepted; if the latter, no shipping until payment clears. Email me if you are interested; click on "About" at upper right and hover over "Email me" to see my addy. 

 

Ten on Tuesday, the pin-up edition.

Ten Things Pinned To My Bulletin Board.

1. Property tax bill for real estate taxes due in 2012. 
2. Large lapel button with photo of Elder Son in about tenth grade in his track uniform.
3. Gift certificate to a local furniture/home decor store. I really need to use that.
4. List of women's shelter needs clipped from their newsletter.
5. Spoke card from Younger Son's first No-Hater Rolling Dance Super Bike MegaParty, Friday, October 2, 2009.
6. (Until last Saturday) My Yarnover registration.
   
   My bulletin board has never been hung up; it sits propped against the wall between my computer desk and said wall so gets very little use. I shall continue with things attached to the front of the refrigerator.
    
7. An illustrated card showing the differences between a deer tick and a wood tick.
8. A photo of Younger Son when he was about 3.
9. A postcard from Yellowstone Park.
10. Grocery list, plus a bunch of strips for paper for the next 20 such lists.