Knitting Goddess #9

I will be at the Sheep & Wool Festival in Maryland on Saturday. Yay!

If you see someone wandering around taking pictures of sheep and knitting a bag, that's probably me! Especially if I'm with a blonde and brunette.

Click me

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

MAKE IT STOP! Put down the ribbon yarn. Put down the weird eyelash thingies. Back away from the knitting needles. And PUT SOME CLOTHES ON YOUR MODELS.

Why can't the 80's just stay dead? Why must they continue to mock me?

Also, I just updated the photo album.

I finished my first celtic cap... and promptly forgot to take a picture of it. It was a small way of paying for my bed/couch time and went to a wonderful woman who I absolutely adore... and it was slightly too small. Too short and too narrow, because I did only 5 repetitions of the cable set, and the second largest. Alas alack.

I got some spinning done, and that was great. Yay spinning!

I'm off to Ohio for the weekend, so no updating. Enjoy the silence!

Yes. Ohio.

Yes, there are things to do in Ohio. Really.

For those who don't read livejournal knitting, there is mad drama going on there.

It seems like there's always mad drama going on there.

The wool fiends yell at the acryllic fiends who yell back, the beginners get huffy when more advance users offer suggestions in perhaps an exasperated tone of voice (because really, after the 5th 'OMG, how do i cats on?!?!/1' post, it gets annoying), and it's just dramatic.

I don't mind the 'OMG WTF?' posts because we've all been there. I don't even mind the 'where's a good yarn store in India?' because just because you find a store on the web in that area doesn't mean it's good.

What I mind is when people get unnecessarily huffy for no good reason. Or when people start to think that they deserve something and how dare you react in A, B, C or D fashion.

Knitters are passionate about knitting. I don't understand how that passion inevitably leads to us sniping at one another constantly. Let's not forget that whole coonskin v. coonskin drama, or the vegan fox drama, or every time someone is snotty to you at a yarn store because perhaps you're still learning or looking for a good sub, etc...

This is all unnecessary. It closes off the community and makes us look like a bunch of small minded people as opposed to lovely fiber goddesses/gods.

And remember, watch what you say. Words come and go, but words on the internet last forever. At least until the domain expires.

Celtic Cap swatch:


This is some crappy acryllic that feels like Red Heart TLC. The cables are fairly crisp, so I'm happy. And the yarn was free! Woo hoo!

Dummmm... dummmm... dumm...


DUM DUM!!!


(bom bom bom bom bom bom bom bom bom bom bom!)

So, right. Cthulu is finished. She took about 16 ounces of fiberfill to fill - and I'd originally used 28 ounces to get a ROCK HARD pillow, which also skewed Her Cthulhuness something fierce. So I took out quite a bit, fluffed up the pillowform (I made) and sewed it shut. Now there's a bit of ease, but she's not all funny looken.

She's wider than she should be, because the pattern is originally a cross stitch, and knitting stitches are wider than they are long. That's fine.

What I am REALLY kicking myself in the pants for now is only having an 8 row border at the bottom and a 2 stitch border on the sides. You can see how lost the poor girl is- constantly running offscreen. However, when it comes to these things I am lazy. And I was impatient to start the intarsia chart and I was still under the assumption that this was going to be a 18" x 18" pillow. It's not. It's 21" wide, 17" tall. So that's as good as it's going to get for now.

On the final side, I did my first attempt at mattress stitch:


It turned out beautifully. I love it. I'm convinced. And suddenly sewing doesn't seem so evil after all.

I'm going to miss her Cthuluness. until I make myself a bag with her on it!

I started a swatch for my first Celtic Cap when I was receptionist at work.

I AM IN LOVE.

I don't want to work. I want to knit this hat!

Apparently, 1 8 oz bag of fiberfill is not enough to fit a 17"x21" pillow.

Nope. Barely a third.

Off to Joann's I go!

It blows when you make a sweater that you really like and are proud of and then try on 6 months later and realize that it makes you look like a sack of potatoes because you made the body far too long and what was supposed to have hit at the waist actually hits midhip, so the waist shaping pooshes out, creating a lovely a-line and hiding all of the curves you want to emphasize and emphasizing the ones you don't.

Yes.

It does.

I like the idea of the sweater as it should be, so I'll probably make another one, but with the Red Heart TLC I used, it's not worth it to rip out and re-use. Might as well buy some cotton wool ease and make something more wearable. And hey, I have a button for it too!

I made the Knit Happens blog!

Two weeks ago, but still, cool.

You have to scroll, but I'm wearing the peasant top, giggling and blinking at the wrong moment.

I finished Cthulu.

Now I just have to weave in twenty bajillion ends, finish the back, sew and stuff the pillowform and hop on a plane to Ohio.

And did I mention

WOOHOO!

My friend wore his pigtail hat to work today. At one point, I was sitting behind him at a meeting thing, and the girl next to me leaned forward to grab one of the pigtails to fondle it.

AND THE TASSEL CAME OUT.

Travesty. I immediately leaned forward and snatched the hat off of his head, then made him lean forward to grab the offending tassel, which was pinned between him and the chair.

Two minutes later, the hat was fixed, and he still had no idea what was going on. Neither did anyone else. Cries of hat thief and 'why'd you stealy my wig?' and 'I'm naked!' abounded. (He can be a little... sensitive about his hair sometimes, and gets hat head easily)

I realized, as I was sitting through this hour long Thing, that I was both hurt that the hat had been hurt so easily and that while my friend may wear, own and love the hat, it is still MY HAT. He owns it, but it's mine. I find this possessiveness strange. I don't remember doing this for the myriad of longstocking caps, fingerless gloves, scarves, baby outfits, baby blankets, baby booties, (I was on a baby kick for a while, despite not knowing anyone who ws pregnant), children's sweaters... hell, I even made a sweater for an adult woman that went to charity. I made it with charity in mind, and even though it fit me, it went to charity (it was a good charity that I support. Also, the yarn was neon orange. Not my color, but $1 a skein at a garage sale, and I still have leftovers. Hey, blanket yarn!). ANYWAY, before that huge segway, I was trying to say that I have made many, many things for other people. I've never had that sudden surge of overprotective. The hat is still my baby.

Please, call me sentimental... now.

And no, like I said in the last entry, I HAVE NEVER FELTED. A felted purse is next on my list of crap to make, but I got Bella and Cthulu to finish up before that. Not to mention I need to do a blanket or 5 for the Critter Knit-a-thon. And make a hat for...

::soapbox::

Someone contacted me about their charity, Kaps4Karing, a group that makes and gives out chemo caps. While it's mainly a crochet site, donations of yarn and knit hats would work as well! I'm going to have to find the time and the non-icky yarn to make one. You do it, too!

::soapbox::

This is sort of in response to the wendyknits bit, and an incident on a knit list where someone proclaimed that if they ‘didn’t bow and scrape to the knitting goddesses,’ they wouldn’t get their share of warm fuzzies or help when they ask 50 different people how to cast on instead of googling for a tutorial.

When I proclaim myself a knitting goddess, I do not mean that I am the be all, end all know everything diva of knitting. I don’t know everything about knitting. I’ve never felted. I’ve never done entrelac. My seaming is terrible. I’m not a diva. If I thought I was, I’d call myself that.

When I talk about gods and goddesses, I do so in the context of my own religion, Wicca. While the two main deities are something close to the omniscient, omnipresent deity of Judeo-Christian religion, in most Pagan religions, GODS ARE FALLIABLE. They make mistakes just like human beings. Only they’re divine. So, yeah.

As Cicero said, I’m not ashamed to admit I am ignorant. Nor am I afraid to ask for help when something stumps me or to ask for yarn reviews before buying yarn. However, there is an appropriate place to ask for help. Emailing Annie Modesitts or Wendy in a panic is both useless and inconsiderate.

When I call myself a goddess, I don’t mean that I’m divine. (hides from lightning bolts) I mean that there’s a connection between myself, my knitting, and my higher power. And maybe it’s just fun to elevate oneself to a demi-god level. I’m not trying to be arrogant. I’m just trying to be my playful lil self.

I suppose I said what I wanted to. But dear readers, just remember the person that I present here is not necessarily the person I present in the real world. I think it’s close, but it’s not exact.

Here is how far I have gotten on the cthulu pillow:


And here's the tangled mess of yarns that is the back:


I've realized that I won't have enough yarn to make a 21" x 18+" panel for the back of this thing, so I need to get my buns to AC Moore to pick up another skein of the red to finish it up, along with some fabric and fiber fill to make the pillow form. While I'm there, I'll pick up a lining for the felted bag which is in my queue of projects, but not actually on the project list.

Also, I've been making progress on Bella. I'm most of the way through my second sleeve. I started the sleeves before I started the body, so this isn't as cool as it sounds. The yarn is at least 15 years old and so feels crinkly and dusty. When I made my swatch, I actually blocked it, and after washing it with a little shampoo, I threw some conditioner in, and it feels lovely and soft now, so it's OK.

I LOVE THIS PATTERN. OK, I actually don't like the pattern or the way it's proportioned or the phrasing, but the lace is lovely and oodles of fun.

I dropped a stitch on my first sleeve about a foot from the start of the sleeve caps, which I only noticed when I was about to finish said sleeve caps.


The sad thing is, because of that little ridge, I'm seriously considering throwing out about 3 hours worth of work to fix it. NOBODY WILL NOTICE IT BUT ME, and yet...

And an interesting note to leave on...

I had time to kill before catching my bus, so I wandered into Books-A-Million and grabbed a copy of Family Circle Easy Knitting to look through (and OH MY GOD, that white and blue peasanty top thing? SO hideous!). This early teen girl and her mother walks by and the girl exclaims in a really loud, contemptuous voice to make sure I can hear, "Oh my god! They have magazines for knitting? (beat) That's so cool... in a dorky kind of way."

::makes face::

We all know that she secretly yearns to become a fiber goddess herself.

The more I create Her Cthuluness, the more I think that this would make a kick ass bag. For Her Christinaness.

Did I mention that the pattern is Satan?

Right.

Someone just posted a link to the WEBS sale.

That's it. You've killed me. I'm dead.

Because now I have to make something out of this (in wood violet). And this in 379 would be perfect for that Vogue top I've been eyeing.

Stupid stupid friends.

At least the sale goes until June. Of course, supplies are limited, sales are final and that's when my job ends and my prospects become uncertain.

Heh.

This is a secret.

You can't tell anyone. No, really. Especially anybody named Laura.

If your name is Laura, avert your eyes and randomly go to a different page. NOW! IT'S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD!

So, I'm in progress on the Hello Cthulu pillow. Woot!

After swatching several times, my gauge has grown by 3". So, instead of buying an 18"x18" pillowform, I'll be buying a bag of fiberfill and some scrap white fabric to lovingly sew into a pillow.

But that's not what I want to blog about.

THIS PATTERN IS THE DEVIL.

No, really. It is. The devil.

Now, I know, I know, I've said sleeve caps are of the devil and probably a few other things, including but not limited to Britney Spears and Microsoft Outlook. But seriously. This pattern? Satan.

Simply because it's originally a cross stitch pattern and you can do things in cross stitch that are much more difficult in intarsia, like the one stitch borders, etc... It's extremely difficult because it requires a lot of concentration, reading a chart backwards, and other things. For example, making more small balls when all you have left are two kind of big balls of yarn in one color. And that I never want to do this again.

Except...

It looks FANTASTIC! Larger knit stitch width thrown completely out, this thing looks great.

And I can't seem to stop! I 'just one more rowed' myself through an entire episode of west wing, and I want to go back down and do more!

Except that it's 12:30. And I needs must sleep now.

I just realized - I've had this blog since a year ago yesterday. Technically it was sometime in march, but those were all posts that simply said 'test.'

Well, happy blogiversary to me!

In that time, I've only completed two sweaters to my satisfaction. Oh, and that shirt for my mom. And they were both out of mostly acryllic. Oh, and Molly's thing.

Oh, there have been hats and scarves and projects that were finished and then frogged, and icylove which has yet to be frogged and reknit and a ton of ideas and the body of Jack & the Beanstalk... but not as much as I wanted to get done. But that's the way it always is.

Anyway, yay me!

Does anyone else ever make a sweater, try it on, love it, and then slowly find ways to criticize and torment it until the sweater is curled up in a ball and crying on the floor?

I'm thinking specifically of Scarlette. I knit it, I wear it, it's lovely.

But it ended up having an odd lil A-line shape because my gauge grew by an inch from knitting in the round. The sleeves are too poofy at the forearm because I increased too quickly, and since I measured sleeve length with my arm extended, they end at the knuckle of my thumb and not just hitting the wrist like I originally intended.

This basically results in me futzing with the sweater whenever I have a minute to myself and saying the I coulda shoulda wouldas. It's not enough of a big deal for me to rip out and completely reknit the sweater, but it's enough to be annoying.

Grr. Am annoyed. Silly perfectionist knitter unwilling to take the extra effort to make it perfect.

Even if I did make it perfect, I'd find another reason to critique it. My finishing techniques or some such.

Three letters... WTF?!

OK, waist shaping, people! Learn it, live it, love it. It will make you more attractive, and you won't look like you're wearing a potato sack.

Also, people with boobs knit. People with tummies knit. Usually people with boobs and tummies knit because they're trying to make things that look good on them that they can't find elsewhere. These patterns, while occasionally cute, are not it.

You know, free mags, you get what you pay for. And if I saw knitty on a newsstand, I'd leave it there, along with Family Circle, Knitter's, and pretty much every other magazine, with the exception of Vogue & Interweave.