From Crazed to Curious with Origami in between

I’ve been grabbing my knitting time out of a busy schedule, the odd moment here and there.

Crazed is twisting along crazily.  I finished Chart A with only one mishap – when retrieving a dropped stitch I must have accidentally picked up an extra loop and knitted it in..ended up with my count off, so I made up for it elsewhere and managed to keep everything in pattern.  Blocking should hide it – and if not, it’s a perfect feature for this project anyway.   Can you spot it?  Betcha can’t.

Now I’m halfway through Chart B.   The stockinette is curling meanwhile, because that’s what stockinette does.  Very predictable, stockinette.

I took some time off from Crazed to do a test knit for Kam at Everyday Peacocks, a little shawlette called Origami.  It’s actually more of a scarflette.  She initially thought it was an advanced beginner project, but we test knitters have persuaded her to classify it as at least intermediate.

It calls for about 70 yards of DK yarn.  I had enough Indigodragonfly DK superwash in Monster Mash left over from Nerwin’s sweater to manage just fine.

So now Nerwin and I can be twins.  Except I’m not purple.

Origami is really an intriguing knit.  It seems deceptively simple, but the pattern was hard to wrap my head around.  Slips and wraps and short rows…  Once I got it, I still had to pay attention and really read my knitting to stay in pattern.  The stitch pattern is very textured, especially in the DK yarn.

I decided to block it fairly aggressively, since the superwash does tend to bounce back somewhat.

And the result is a very chic little accessory – a quick knit with a small amount of yarn.  This could be addictive.  Can be worn with a cute little shawl pin, or not…

The finished pattern, with all of our suggested revisons, should be published on Ravelry next month,  in early June.  Recommended!

Another recommended knitting adventure is happening at Helen Stewart’s Curious Handmade – the Curious Collective Shawl Project.  This is not a Knit-Along – well, not yet – it’s more of a “design-along”.   A kind of a choose-your-own-shawl adventure.  Shawl by committee.   Every week for the next five weeks, Helen will post a poll regarding the shawl design.  The only decision so far is that it will be a two-colour shawl.  Based on the poll each week, Helen will work in the winning feature.  In the meantime, you can sign up to download the pattern-that-isn’t-designed-yet here on Ravelry for when the shawl is released sometime in July.  (Then it may become a knit-along…)   The first poll is to choose whether it will be more of a lace shawl or a textured shawl.  Have a preference?  Go and vote!   (So far it’s pretty much tied…)  This is fun!   The price of the pattern will be free until 24 May and then gradually increase to full price after the full pattern has been released. So the earlier you get in on it the better deal you will get!

Life is anything but boring when you’re a knitter.

The Matrix in your shower

VADO is a well-known British company that designs, develops and manufactures bathroom fixtures and products, for both the local and international markets.  Their latest catalogue (p. 252) shows this “Sculpture” shower head.

Doesn’t it look like one of the Sentinels from the Matrix??  Or maybe you see Medusa instead?  Showering by snake or tentacle?

This can be affixed to the wall or the ceiling according to your preference.  The individual shower heads can be twisted and adjusted any way you want, making it a challenge to see if you can shower every part of your body at once.  (Or maybe that’s just me.)

It could make showering with a friend a little less awkward, as far as maneuvering…  But I don’t think I want to go there…

This would probably wreak havoc with my water pressure, and the thought of cleaning it doesn’t make me happy at all – although it would be fun to yarn-bomb the tentacles, maybe with cotton?   But never mind.  At an average price of $1500, I don’t think I’ll be adding this fixture to my home.

It is kinda cool, though.

Letting my inner crazy shine through.

So the Smart-Ass Knitters World Domination package arrived.

The mystery skein was wonderful – DK cashmere in the colourway Bright Lights, Big City, Busy Highway, Slow Unicorn.

Sooooooooooooooo  soft.  I am currently searching for a pattern worthy of this.

And the Club yarn?  Luscious Merino Nylon sock yarn in the colourway Kermidiot.  (For when you just gotta flail.)

I love this colourway!

The Club pattern this time is Crazed, designed by Ellen Poirot.

Official club bio of Ellen:

Ellen Poirot:  quaint Parisian yarn farmer.

Ellen Poirot:  sober woman in search of a Wine TARDIS.

Ellen Poirot:  only really sane on alternate Tuesdays.  When there’s a full moon.  And grapefruit.

Yes.   THAT Ellen.

(Side note:  Ellen discovered Indigodragonfly and the Smart-Ass club through this blog.  Kim says it’s all my fault…)

Ellen’s description of the Crazed shawlette:

Happy be the crazed, for they let the light shine through.

This asymmetrical shawlette is twisted enough to test your sanity with just enough stockinette to calm your nerves.

Let your inner crazy shine through.

Well.  Letting my inner crazy shine through has never been a problem for me.  (Maybe for others, though…)

I couldn’t wait to cast on for this.  One of those patterns that you have to pay close attention – no rhyme or reason to where it’s going, although it does line up nicely to wander around…  There are  lots of twisting stitches.  I tried doing them without a cable needle, which I have done many times before, but I kept dropping the live stitch and got tired of fishing it back up…so I added a crochet hook to grab the twisted stitches and it is all going along much better now.

Finished the set up section, using both chart and written instructions to help me figure it out and keep my place.

By the end of the set up, I could move on to just using the charts.

I’m now halfway through the first chart, entitled “The Scourge of the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Floor Since 1905″.

Yes, she names her charts.  Or maybe Kim-n-Ron did that before it reached our inboxes.

There are three charts, and the pattern calls for four chart repeats of  your choice in whatever order you want.  I will probably do the second chart – “Lousy Marxist Oysters” – twice, then finish up with the last chart – “Relax, It’s Only Laced With Turkeys” – once.  The charts become progressively more lacy as you go.

And all of this is being kept in the club swag, a Kermidiot project bag, designed by Darby Bayly, who makes all the project bags on the Indigodragonfly website.

Another winning package,  and I’ve signed up for another year!

Knit On, fellow smart-asses.

 

 

Crazed and a Cozy

(Not a cozy mystery this time…although I am reading one.  A good one, too.)

Yes, the Smart-Ass package arrived.  And I have cast on for the new project.  The pattern is called “Crazed“, but I can’t say or show more than that since it’s still on spoiler status.  (Club patterns and yarns are not to be posted until a certain amount of time has passed since the shipment date.  Except in a special spoiler forum thread in the indigodragonfly group on Ravelry.)  But it will be here soon, I promise!

In the meantime, I knitted up a quick project today.

The other day, when I was getting a modem for the computer,  the company offered me a new limited family plan that would include the modem and upgrades for our phone service for a cheaper fixed price than what I was paying.  Sounded good, so after checking out other options I went for the new plan.   Then they told me that iPads for the family were also included in the price.  I told them we already had iPhones and a laptop, we really didn’t need iPads.  But they said I would still pay the same fixed price for the plan whether I took them or not, so why not?

So.  I brought home 3 iPads.  Kidlet was quite thrilled – a new toy for her.  Partner says it’s much better than the tablet she bought last year and almost never uses.  And I’m having fun checking out the possibilities.

But I can’t just carry an unprotected tablet in my bag, right?  I grabbed yarn and needles, knitted up a couple of swatches, and got busy on an iPad cozy.

This is actually super bulky felting yarn (Schachenmayr SMC Wash + Filz it!), and my original plan was to lightly felt it.  But kidlet thought it was much better like this, so I shrugged and added the button and left it as is.

From my knitting notes:

Cast on 30 sts with Judy’s Magic Cast-On.

Knitted with magic loop, slipped first stitch each side on alternate rounds.

When I reached length required: BO 18, k9, BO 3. Cut yarn, joined to remaining st.

Tab:
1: K9
2: P9
3: ssk, K7, K2tog
4: P7
stockinette 6 rows
11: K2, BO3, K2
12: P2, CO3, P2
13: K7
14: P7
15: ssk, K3, K2tog
16: BO in p

I would have liked to do a felting project, but I like this too.  Maybe I’ll knit and felt one in another colour for kidlet….

Clear the Decks!

Well, not really.  I did finish two WIPs this week, out of the many WIPs still on the needles.

The Rainbow Hands Feeding Ducks is finished and blocked.

 

And kidlet’s Minty Molly is finished and has been squealed over, especially the pompom.

It can be worn with the brim folded up

Or with the brim down as a slouchy.

Kidlet wants to stretch it just a little, so I gave her a balloon.  Molly is stretching in her room now.

(The picture is upside down so you can see the hat properly.)

Why the push to finish?  Because I have a notice that there’s a package from abroad waiting for me, and I just know it holds Smart-Ass yarn for a pattern I want to do right away!

I’m a little worried because normally they don’t do pick ups on Friday, so any notices on Thursday say pick up on Sunday.  But this one says pick up tomorrow – I hope I don’t show up only to have them tell me to come back on Sunday!!  That would be a typical  bureaucratic snafu.

Meanwhile, tonight is make-progress-on-one-more-WIP time.  While trying to ignore the noise from the TV – Kidlet is watching Twilight for the umpteenth time.  Feh.

Red Light. Green Light. Red Light. Green Light.

“Red Light / Green Light” was the version of the game that we used to play as kids.  It’s “Statues” in other countries like Australia, Sweden, and Finland.  In England it’s known as  ”Grandmother’s Footsteps”.  Most countries count to three and throw in a word to make  everyone freeze.   In the Netherlands it’s  ”één, twee, drie, piano” (one, two, three, piano), in Mexico  ”1, 2, 3, calabaza” (one, two, three, pumpkin), in France ”1, 2, 3, soleil” (one, two, three, sun), in Spain  ”1, 2, 3, escondite inglés” (one, two, three, English hideaway), and in Portugal  ”Um, dois, três, macaquinho do chinês” (one, two, three, Chinese little monkey).    The Greeks count three ”immobile little soldiers”, in Italy they count three stars.  Here in Israel it’s “1, 2, 3, herring” (or “salty fish”).

Whatever you call it, all the versions of the game involve some sort of running forward as fast as you can and then freezing in place on cue, holding perfectly still untill released according to the rules of the version you’re playing.  And then again.   And again.

That was my day today.

‘Twas a day of rushing around and waiting a lot.  Picking up and installing new software on the computer, as well as having the lab make some changes, which took an amazingly long time.  Waiting in line forever to get a modem so that I don’t have to rely solely on wifi, after hurrying to get to the place on time.  Efficiently shopping and then standing in the slowest ever checkout line at the supermarket.

Argh.

I knitted as much as I could.   That’s definitely what saved my sanity.  What’s left of it.

My kind of furniture

Meet the Bibliochaise.  And the Bibliopouf.

 

The chair holds 5 metres of books.   It comes in three versions, laquered in black or white, with other colours possible on request.  The cushions are cotton, leather, or furry leather with removable/washable covers in a wide range of colours.

 

That’s a whole lot of books.

The pouf holds 1.4 metres of books, and comes in the same design range.  It can go with the chair or stand alone.

 

Both are products of the .nobody&co. design studio in Milan, established by Alisée Matta and Giovanni Gennari, who began working together as an advertising team before they turned to design.  They have a bunch of other stuff in their catalog, including odd storage solutions, chairs with missing parts and an intriguing looking thing called a scroll table.   Next month, in May 2013,  they are presenting a new line – The Rainbow Circle – in a prestigious exhibition in London.

But they are best known for the biblio set.

What a brilliant solution to having a large stash of  books!  I would probably have to get rid of a few other chairs (or other things) to fit this in, but it would be worth it, no?

Should I add it to my wish list?  Or perhaps my bucket list?   I would have to check if it’s comfy first….  OK, so who wants to buy one for themselves so I can try it out?

Now if I can just find another chair that would hold all my knitting projects, I would be all set.  The ultimate home furnishings.

I’ll remember that, no need to write it down.

Famous last words.

I really should know better.

I have a mystery.

Back in 2010, I received a lovely Chanuka swap package from Marielle in Pennsylvania.  Included in the package was a rainbow skein of Crystal Palace Yarns Mochi Plus.   I fell in love with it.

I searched for a pattern for it, and found what I thought was the perfect pattern, but one skein wasn’t enough.  So I ordered two more online, so I would have enough to knit this perfect pattern.   The yarn arrived, and I stored it with the first skein, waiting to cast on until after I finished some WIPs.

I reorganised my stash the other day, and noticed the Mochi Plus, still waiting patiently.   (Yes, it has been a little over 2 years.  What’s your point?)  The only problem is… I can’t for the life of me remember what pattern I bought it for.   I have searched my queue, and it seems I neglected to note which pattern I intended this yarn for.  I don’t even know if I actually queued the pattern.   None of the aran weight patterns in my queue jump out as “perfect” for this yarn – and none of them call for the amount of yarn I was careful to order.

Well, piffle.

Looks like  a new pattern search is called for.  Hat.  Spiral/swirl type, maybe?  Cowl.  Some slip-stitch pattern?  Or a wave pattern.  Scarf.  Wavy Baktus could be interesting.  Slipper-socks?  Not the most durable yarn for that.  And not mitts, I already have rainbow mitts, with enough of that yarn left over to make kidlet a pair too.

The rainbow yarn is stunning with a solid colour for a stained glass effect.  Or alternating stripes.  But that would mean buying more yarn.

I see this will take some time.  I wonder if I’ll ever remember what I wanted this for in the first place.

Note to self:    Next time, write it down!!!  And in a place you’ll find it again.  (I’m having a spell of all kinds of things going missing.  Where nothing is where I put it, or thought I put it.  Where I was sure I put it.   But that’s another story.)

Any ideas??

 

A New Toy! Um… Tool!

I am typing this post with my brand new computer.  Sitting in a café while waiting to pick up kidlet from where she’s visiting friends out of town.

Now, you’re going to laugh, but for all the years I have been online I have only had desktop computers.  This is my very first laptop, and I’m busy learning everything.  (Once I got through the rather embarassing moments of trying to open the wrong side.  But you didn’t hear that, right?)  Ahem, yes.  Learning everything.  Including trying to figure out Windows 8 after having worked for years with nothing newer than xp on my old dinosaur that died.

I do enjoy a challenge.

I did pick up a little mouse for the laptop, but right now it’s put away, I want to get the feel for this without the old familiar toys.  The shop threw in a nice headset and a computer bag, which was nice.  I also got the newest Office, which will take some getting used to as well.  And there are miscellaneous ports and burners and card readers and all that fun stuff.  Yes.

Oh my, I do like the portability.

I have great plans for this new acquisition.  But first I’m having a whale of a time setting things up to my satisfaction.  Is it silly to be so tickled about it?

Now to keep kidlet’s paws off of it.

 

Heat. Hat. Turkey.

Aaaaand….we’re back to a heat wave.  I don’t remember April being so extreme before.

Puppy can’t stand the heat, she refuses to go on long walks.  Just quickly strolls to her favourite area outside, and then hurrys back in to lie on the cool floor.

Kidlet’s hat is going quickly, although I’ve been too busy in the house to knit much.  Did more while out yesterday.  Actively brainwashing recruiting teaching the young – went to a lovely birthday party in the forest (Happy Birthday,  Marina!!) and two of the children were fascinated by my knitting.  We made the stitch markers “leap” from one needle to another “telling me what to do”, naming colours,  they took turns holding and playing with the cable needle when I didn’t need to use it (the little boy even named it), and they helped me count.   So progress was made.

Today I’m doing some experimenting in the kitchen.  Got some lovely turkey breast meat at the market, cut in cubes and probably meant for skewering and grilling.  I’m making a turkey stew with it.   Onion, celery, baby carrots, potatoes, corn and turkey in chicken stock.  Seasoned only with marjoram.

I’m using baby corn, because kidlet loves it.  I don’t know why, it always seems terribly bland to me, not nearly as flavourful as fresh corn or even canned sweet corn.  The only time I like it is in a strongly seasoned dish.   (If anyone has any ideas on how to make it edible as a side dish, I’d be glad to hear ‘em.)

Let’s hope the evening brings a cool breeze.  Or something.