I've been knitting!

Shocker, huh? I finally completed the Scotty Hat, based on the hat from the Star Trek movie--which you should see if you haven't yet. Lots of fun, and I adore Simon Pegg. A. Dore. Ever since I saw Shaun of the Dead. So when he popped up as Scotty in that cute hat, I just knew that someone, somewhere, would work out the pattern and make it so. My patience (heh, patience isn't the word, the movie had been out less than two weeks before the pattern popped up on the intarwebs) was rewarded and I cranked out the two panel version (not entirely movie authentic, but they've updated the pattern already to a four panel version.) I made some minor structural modifications and it works very nicely.

For firstly, I only used 330 yards of yarn, not the 380 yards called for in the two-pannel pattern. This was just a matter of how I knit and the cast on I used (a lace type of cable cast on that leaves no wasted at the tail end, which probably saved some yardage). Of course, this is all I have left of my three skeins of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Worsted (Blackberry):
Not much to be going on with, eh?

Then, in the decrease section, it calls for k2tog on the right side of the fabric. Being a pervy lace knitter, I find this unacceptable, as the k2tog is a right leaning decrease--leaving a series of small holes up the sides of the panel. So I changed the first of each pair of decreases to a ssk, which leans left, leaving no gaps of any kind at the edges, and my OCD was calmed. In addition, I did not use a mattress stitch seam, I kitchnered that beyatch. On the upside, my hat is truly reversable. On the downside, the kitchner instructions are now engraved on the inside of my skull. Those side seams were 85 stitches long, people. And my yarn is dark purple. I've got a migraine like you wouldn't believe right now.

The true insanity is that I'm already contemplating making one of the 4 panel version. Oy, vey.

Anyway, here's the fruit of all that labor:

Purty, ain't it? It's nice and warm, and the seams, for a beginner kitchner, are beautiful. I can't fathom why anyone would make do with a paltry mattress seam (migrain not withstanding) in the face of such beauty.

It actually even looks good with my hair:
What little of it you can see, that is. This was a very easy pattern, for all that it was my first experience with short rows and kitchner stitching, and I knocked it out in less than a week.

See the lengths I will go to for a piece of Simon Pegg and Trekkery? I really need help.

Been a while

And I ain't been doin' nothin'. Well, some things, but not much. My primary focus has been trying to figure out how I can freelance doing something I love and am good at, but since I've never had it as a job, everyone keeps telling me I won't be able to get work. However, I can't seem to get into the field as a job because I've never done it as a job, so it's a Catch-22.

Suck.

Anyway, one of the ladies from my knitting coven suggested a cat sweater knit along. Since Yoda is just that kind of a hip, timely guy, I figure he needs a sweater. I was going to go with a late '60s, early '70s color, like lime green or burnt orange, but decided on cream, on the basis that cream is always classy.

So I bought the yarn today. As Yoda has a surplus of the fluff, I decided a cotton sweater would be for the best. Wool would be too much and might itch. I got the cheap cotton from Hobby Lobby, the "I Love This Yarn" line. I introduced the concept to himself early on.


But would it make my ass look big?


I don't know, dude. I think it would be ok.


OK, I'll go with it. Hey, it's kinda nice....

Yoda loves this yarn.

I note a trend....

Of course, I'm always on here on Thursdays--I rarely come to the internets anymore; I'm not at the day job so I'm not bored, and I typically end up shopping, something unemployed women should not do--so I tend to make a post. Still, I hate being...predictable. I'm going to have to start shaking things up, I guess!


How's this for a shake-up: The 'You're Just Making This Sh!t Up' baby blanket is done! *sound of roaring crowd*


To whit:

The unfortunate thing about the blanket, aside from the fact that I knitted it, is that the stretchy nature of both the Caron Spa yarn and a loose garter stitch means the blanket can measure anything from 22" x 22" to 36" x 36", or even 18" x 22" x 28" x 36". It's hardly even and square, which is, I suppose, typical of just about anything I do. So screw it. It's done and I'm happy with it. The proud parents (who I think actually are parents of a physically independent child at this point; they weren't at church last Saturday) are under no obligation to accept the thing. It's rather nice and squishy, though, so if they don't take it I'll roll it over, seam the sides, stuff it and make a pillow.

Anne of Knitspot actually replied to my post last week, and after my vinaigrette was fetched and I was brought around from my fangurl swoon, I again pondered the wonder of knitted skirts. If you read her blog, you will note that Anne is (just like my sister, also named Anne, perhaps it's the name?) quite willowy. I, alas, am constructed more along the lines of the Venus of Willendorf (just not quite so boobtastic). Are knitted skirts only for the slim? I seem to recall from the dim recesses of memory (quite dim; this particular memory comes from a time when I was heavily depressed, and as any depressive will tell you, memory can be quite...hit or miss during the down times) that I owned a knitted skirt, and it was quite flattering and pleasing. I was also a good 50 pounds lighter at that point in my life, even though I thought I was a total whale; oh, how silly we can be!--so maybe....

Eh. I'm sure there's some construction trick that can be used. Stiffer yarn, perhaps, a tighter stitch. I will have to ponder.

Speaking of construction, I went walkabout to our local art museum yesterday and went absolutely giddy with glee when I realized a) they have a room dedicated to clothing and fiber arts now--leftovers from a prior exhibit, but still! and b) they've got a new piece in the modern art galleries that is quite...stimulating to my senses.

The fiber arts display consists of a short run of female clothing (from 1750-1990ish) and--the best part--a set of miniature dresses hanging on forms that you can touch and tinker with to see how the darn things go together. Praise Jesus I wasn't born in the late Victorian, that is some fiddly underwear, but I had an interesting idea for a short sweater/shrug item based on a certain set of sleeves I saw...actually, two sweater/shrugs. I love sleeves. I must take my camera back and get images for my notebook.

The new piece in the modern art wing is called "Moebis Ship", and it's a model ship made out of found items (popsicle sticks and the like) of a ship with a keel that is a Moebis strip. The sails all face inward and the piece is suspended from the ceiling with a rope, like a giant, toasty Lifesaver. I giggled when I saw it. I want one just like it, except my cats would probably make short work of pulling the rigging down.... Ah, well. Such is life!

Is it Thursday again?

Seems we get one every week.

Yes, I'm a little punchy. I actually got a call back from one of the places I sent my resume to, and I will be dropping by on Monday to fill in an application. Oh, hell, maybe I'll go tomorrow, although I already had plans for my Friday...it will depend on what I find when I go shopping tonight. And if I remember to print my resume out today. At least I've got the paper on the printer hopper now.

I've been busy lately. The baby blanket is (mostly) done, I just want to tuck the knots up into the stitches. I knotted the yarn, yes. The thing is going into washing machines, people, and the bamboo yarn is slicker than snot. Knots were a necessity. I started a wrap from the inestimably gifted Anne Hansen of Knitspot (link to her blog, the link to her shop is top right). I am addicted to that woman's patterns. I don't buy patterns, typically, unless they come as a feature of a book/stitchionary I buy, except for hers. And it's not like I couldn't have figured out this one (I have the stitch pattern somewhere), but I was right when I decided there would be a point of interest added to make her pattern different from just the stitch. And it was only $6. I got the yarn as part of my yarn brokering deal with my creativity teacher (I buy yarn online for him and he pays me to get my own yarn so we qualify for the free shipping bit), so I deserved to splurge a little bit. (Speaking of patterns; what is the new craze on Ravelry for knitted skirts? I mean, knit wear in general is stretchy and clingy, and what woman in America feels like she has the thighs for a skirt knit in a slouchy, clingy yarn? Or, worse yet, knit with horizontal stripes/ridges/patterning? Am I just superdeduperdy insecure, or are there others who feel the way I do?)

I got my arm warmers patterned out--which amazes me, I have no graphics skillz--and actually it only took 30 minutes to reason out the pattern repeat. Shock and awe.... Now I just have to buy needles in size 3 (I think I'm going to have to cave in and use double points to get the bastard started--I have a lot of trouble with using two circulars and/or magic loop, probably because I'm stupid and don't melt my needle cables into submission with boiling water). Or maybe I won't, I'll just deal with what I've got. I don't know, really. I'm in such a tizzy over my life in general, it's hard to think ahead more than ten minutes.

Speaking of which, I really should get off here, walk the dog and get ready for my day. I'm doing my recording stint, going shopping, going out for dinner and a movie with a friend and then getting home really, really late. And my left contact is being a beyatch, clouding up, and my new contacts aren't here yet. Grrr.

That's what I get for procrastinating!

Eh-yeah

That's really about all that can be said at moment. The "You're Just Making This Sh!t Up" baby blanket is stalling. Well, not really 'stalling', but it's moving very slowly. If I'd knuckle down and knit like I mean it, it would be done today, despite all the junk I still have to get done, but I'm a wussie, so it probably won't be done until tomorrow.

In typical Me fashion, I've already got the next ten or two dozen projects lined up. There's a pair of mitts patterned after some stained glass windows I know I want to get designed and realized, the shawl I started and quit on (although it's not hard, and I could probably finish it up in less than three weeks from the point where it got left), the scarf I owe my friend for her birthday last month (a month ago yesterday, actually), the scarf I want to make for my sister's birthday in June,.... It's like, as soon as I choose a project to work on, everything else I ever thought about comes crushing into my skull, clamoring for attention. I think I need to get out of the house more.

I've also discovered that going on diets makes me crave donuts (and I don't even like donuts), so I've given up on diets at this time. I will simply have to find another way around the issue. Thankfully, this time I did not gain another 20 pounds (like the last time I tried it.) In fact, I've lost 3 pounds since quitting and have gone back to craving sensible things like bell peppers and tomatoes (mmm, tomatoes). I'm pretty sure that's the water drinking--stuff yourself with water and you can't fit the cookies in. Anyway, even if it was the diet, I can't take the anxiety it provokes. I'll have to out-think myself. Oooh, it's almost like a game of "Survivor" in my head....

The weather this weekend seems to be looking up, which is good. I typically enjoy rainy, cloudy weather, but when it's also cold it gets to be a bit of a drag. Plus, we haven't had enough bright, warm, obnoxiously sunny days for me to really enjoy the gloom (I need a balance, you see). I think I will have to take myself off to the art museum tomorrow, maybe take the dog to the park tonight between my volunteer obligation and something I promised Nieceling I would do. I need to get out, to get away with myself before I do something drastic, such as take a vacation I can't afford at this time (like, I've again been thinking about taking a long weekend in Key West so I can see the Mel Fisher museum).

It's a sickness. A sickness, I tell you!

Losing focus and life with Wheezy

Since Elvis was diagnosed with the asthma (and who the hell would anticipate a cat getting asthma? I mean, seriously, now), I've been having trouble with my sleep patterns again. Something about the occasional fit of wheezing that breaks out at anything from 1 am to 3 (peak sleeping time for me, I confess) in the vicinity of my right ear, I suppose. The meds are doing him good--why, he's down to minor wheezing and not the sort that sounds as if he's trying to bring up his lungs, but I have to get myself back on track, get my life back on a semblance of a schedule, in order to get myself back on track with my goals. I've also discovered that, just because I can drink soda again, doesn't mean I should. I've developed a caffeine twitch (left eyelid, it's annoying, particularly with my contacts in) and heartburn that just won't quit. So I'm currently punishing myself with water. Blech. But it seems to be helping with the heartburn, so I'm not going to complain too loudly.

This morning I was feeling guilty because I've lost my focus (I won't tell you how long it's been since last I sat and wrote; that alone is enough to make me want to whip myself with knotted cords), when I realized, that's just how life goes. It's a constant process of setting a goal, finding your focus and then resetting your course when you drift. Life isn't...isn't like the mechanical rabbits at the dog track, your feet locked into a mechanized track that is so very linear in that you can't deviate from it but simply go around and around and around from point A to point B in some endless frenzy of productivity. It's much more like sailing, you drift, the breeze drops, you tack against the currents and wind, sometimes you see something to the side of your course that's interesting so you jog on over to have a look-see, but eventually, if you keep to the general course, you'll get where you're going in good time. There's no real lines to keep yourself between (at least not on the open sea; if you have experienced something different in any ocean in the world, please take a picture), so it's what you make of it and how you choose to get where you're going.

It's sort of the 80/20 rule (it's what you do 80% of the time that makes the most difference, the other 20 is just deviation that makes life interesting.) I never would have thought this would give me such troubles, seeing as I'm about as concrete in thought as your average bowl of jello, and the ocean-going goal attainment style sounds much more pleasant to me than a dog track, but I put it down to how I learned to set goals and attain them. I am not concrete of thought, but my sister is fairly linear and direct, and she is the one who taught me goal setting skills. Apparently, her style is not appropriate for me. Alas, she seems far better at meeting her goals than I ever have been.... Anyway, so I'm trying to overlay concrete goal setting skills onto jello-type thinking, which is a recipe for disaster. Not only does the jello resent being forced into attempting to imitate concrete, it's not very good at it, leading to all sorts of badly mushed and mangled attemps at goal attainment. No wonder I'm so negative when it comes to goal attainment, I've been going about the whole thing all wrong! It's not my anyone's fault, really, most of humanity is all about concrete style goal setting/attainment. I wonder if there's a book at the library about how to set goals when you're more jello than ReadyCrete....

Baff Time

I've been gone a while. Not much new is going on. I'm just keeping on keepin' on, if you know what I'm saying.

Well, and giving someone a good wash behind the ears.


Awww, come on! It wasn't hardly a lot of stinky.


Oh, all right. Maybe it was stinky.



Not really any cause for the whole bath thing, though. I still say you were out of line with the scrubby bit.

Completely.