I don't know what my problem is these days, maybe it's because I reside with a curmudgeon who just has his first colonoscopy (Good times--luckily men are such stoic patients. Heh.) or because the economic downturn is making me wake up at night imagining myself as a hobo eating beans out of a can, huddled around a burning oil barrel, but I seem to have turned into quite the complainer. Nothing is quite good enough for me these days in my knitting world, I'm rapidly becoming a Leona Helmsley-like figure where my knitting is concerned. Or maybe I'm just off my game. Not quite sure. But all I know is that I might not finish the above picture mittens.
The Backstory: I bought the Morehouse Merino Striped Mitten Duo kit at Maryland Sheep and Wool in May, 2007 and recently found it again on the third floor, a geographical location that is soon to be deemed 'where perfectly respectable yarn goes to die'. I took it out earlier this week and thought it would be fun to make some mother/daughter matching mittens, because I still have one daughter that doesn't tell me things like "when we're in public, don't speak to me".
Well right away I knew there was trouble--winding the yarn went at a snails pace as the yarn kept breaking. Upon further inspection it seemed fine, but once knitting with it, even the slightest tug made it come apart. I also noticed that the yarn felt drier than usual, almost as is if had decomposed and broken down, composition-wise. If you look at the green ball up close, doesn't the texture seem moth ball-y? Is my scientific vocab just flooring you at this point? In any case, this little incident has me wondering whether yarn has a shelf life or not. I remember my grandma drinking Tab from the late 1960s in the early 80s and there not being a problem, so I guess I'm just wondering whether yarn has the same....er...resilience. Does it?
I will finish this post with another little riddle for my American friends who are getting ready for family funtimes at Thanksgiving.
Q: What's the only thing worse than spending Thanksgiving with a right wing relative after an Obama defeat?
A: Spending Thanksgiving with a right wing relative after an Obama victory! Happy Thanksgiving everybody...
The above pictures mitten represents a minor misstep, half of a project that is so underwhelming it will neither be completed nor put on Ravelry. Sometimes you see someone else's project, realize you have the yarn for it, cast everything else aside and go for it. And the end result is not at all what you had hoped for. This is the EZ Mitered Mitten, a project that I am so theoretically down with, but rather than looking funky and free-wheeling, this garment looks like something that would have been found next to the preserved cadaver of a Viking in a peat bog. Not a look I am going for normally, although I do give major props to the Lindow Man whenever I can. Something about the shape is bugging the shit out of me. Sometimes the Noro is just too rustic looking, you know?
What better antidote could there be to this slight fiasco than a small knitted accessory in Malabrigo? Thanks Leslie for this pattern, it was just what I need to set things right again in my knitting world.
The Specs:
Pattern: Toasty by Leslie F.
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Sealing Wax. Lord Have Mercy.
Needles: Size 7 Addi Turbo
Mods: As if!
These are for my friend Sandrine who wears fingerless mitts year round in order to protect zee hands from zee damaging rays of zee sun-isn't she a knitter's dream?
Pictured below you see another knitter's dream: Three skeins of Silky Malabrigo in Burgundy, perfect for another Forest Canopy Shawl, maybe?
(Artist Brett Yasko at www.30reasons.org: "When I look at Barack Obama's life story, I see America")
There has been so much to celebrate 'round these parts this week. It goes without saying that this household has been over the moon since Tuesday and doesn't look like it will be coming back down to earth anytime soon. There have been so many memorable images of election celebration (Jesse crying and Oprah unleashed to name a few), but my favorite just has to be the elementary schoolers from Obama's elementary school in Indonesia jumping for joy. Yay kids!
We are also celebrating another auspicious occasion: the birthday of Peeper-Lou. She's 11 today, double hockey sticks! Our full-on party won't be until Sunday as I'm going to Chicago for a conference today and tomorrow, so there is no doubt that she'll be milking it from now until then. Miss Thing did agree to model my newest FO for me, the appropriately titled Birthday Cowl.
The Specs
Pattern:Birthday Cowl by Nova Seals
Yarn:Malabrigo Worsted in Damask Rose
Needles: Size 8 addi turbos
This pattern is my favorite cowl ever as the stitch pattern is easy (you always know where you are, instantly) and the end result is ultra-gorgeous. If you haven't made a cowl yet, this is your next project! Might I also suggest making it out of Malabrigo as well? It's just too soft to resist.
Speaking of said luscious yarn, guess who got a shipment of highly coveted Malabrigo sock yarn from Mr. UPS man in the brown and yellow socks? Yes, people. Was there any doubt in your minds that I would be in on the ground floor with this one? Linda at Yarnzilla was lightening fast (as usual) and these wee lovelies were delivered just moments ago, just in time to be wound and put into my carry-on. Yes Leslie, airplane knitting, your favorite!
Enthusiasm for hobbies runs in my family. My dad (pre-Alzheimer's) turned almost every one of his hobbies into some sort of career: fooling around with typefaces and ink and printing a neighborhood newspaper called 'News in a Nutshell' (St. Louis, c.1934) gradually led to owning a print shop on the side during the 1970s and 1980s where my brother and I did more collating and stapling than most Kinkos trolls will ever see in their lifetimes; collecting oddball medical devices quickly turned in to founding a museum devoted to quackery; and collecting old cars like Studebakers, Rovers and Mercedes...was really expensive and didn't exactly turn a profit, but it sure was fun!
Luckily the newest hobby in the McCoy family isn't mine, as I am currently maxed out at the moment (although Babs thinks it's hysterical to remind me of my brief time as a stamper, complete with ink pads and rubber stamps of leaves and stars. What can I say, sometimes AC Moore just calls my name). No, Peeper-Lou has finally actualized her dream of becoming a spinner. She took a private spinning class from Shelly (a super talented spinner, knitter, dyer and all-around fiber maniac) at a local yarn shop and she is now a bona fide drop spindle FREAK!
Yeah, she's way, way into it. Her birthday is later this week and just guess what she asked for? Yup, that's right...a wheel. Well that's so not happening unless there is some sort of Easy Bake Oven spinning wheel equivalent out there. Is there?
While she has been spinning away I have been working away on my Selbu Modern. I just love this thing! I'm finally using some Shelridge Farm from my stash, and while it might not seem like a thrilling yarn in the skein, it is way soft and has a certain 'x' appeal while knitted up. Stay tuned. I'm not quite sure that this project will be appropriate for election return watching, maybe something more mindless might be in order. In any case, I will see you all on the other side...
