When the Nigerian prince emails and says, "Let's play some Nintendo," just do it.
*************
Sheesh. I think I have about 14 projects going right now.†
Some of them, admittedly, just need finishing.
*coughlizardridgecough*
*coughgrandma'sslipperscough*
Some of them are Brother's Father's Day socks from 2007. Turns out frogging intarsia isn't as easy as it looks.
Some of them are the blue scarf. You remember the blue scarf. I can't lay my hands on the blue scarf right this minute, but when I do, it'll be highly active.
[SUMMARY: Making "some" a singular since 2006.]
Some projects are the Sebring tank top, which has been dubbed the shirt from hell by all who come across it. There's something seriously wonky about the pattern -- even those who are getting gauge are ending up with knitted bits that are WAY too big.
Now, I'm not getting gauge. I never intended to get gauge. I couldn't find yarn I liked that would seem to get 6.75 stitches per inch, so I decided I'd just do the math.‡
Yeah, ask me how that worked out.
I wonked the lace panel on the first go 'round,§ but before I frogged it I tried it on. At my bust measurement point,¶ it was probably three or four inches bigger than me.#
[SUMMARY: That's fucking huge.]
It doesn't seem to matter if you're getting gauge like Bag Lady Kathryn and Genius Sarah, or if you're a Sesame Street reject like me. The thing is just too damned big.
So I'm now knitting the extra small on the pattern... it *looks* OK...
I did wonk the lace a little. Again. But I'm willing to live with it.
[SUMMARY: Third frog's the charm.††]
So remember when Dad knit the Christmas stocking?
Well, a knitter friend of his was so excited -- she actually thought it would be the start of a wonderful new hobby for him.‡‡ In that spirit, she got him the Knitting Pattern-a-Day Calendar. Which he was going to give to me. Until she got really hurt he'd give her present away.
So it sits on top of his microwave.
Dad being Dad, he actually keeps up with it, changing patterns every day. Which is how he found this one:
Rippling Dunes Socks
"Daughter,§§ I brought you some mail and some magazines and a hint."
I pulled the pattern out of the bag and he said, "I just thought that was really neat. I even like the yarn. Without the pink."
He pondered for a moment.
"I guess the pink would be OK."
It just so happened that I had purchased a couple of hanks of Shibui Sock in Pebble with the specific intent of making socks for Dad.
Look at that. It looks an awful lot like the yarn in the picture... only without the pink.
So I started those last week and made some pretty good headway on the trip to Wisconsin.
[SUMMARY: Headway on socks.%]
I'm also working on the Wavy Leaves scarf from Fiddlesticks Knitting.
And the Malabrigo lace in the gorgeous purple¶¶ sent by Secret Pal for my birthday.
I know it doesn't look like a WIP, but if you saw the number of projects I've cast on and frogged, you'd understand my insistence that it IS a work in progress and my demand that I get credit for it as such.
I've been searching for just the right lace pattern for a lovely scarf. I may have finally found one in the lost## Barbara Walker stitch dictionary. Further updates as the situation warrants.
So that's it, poppets. All the news what's fit to print.
[SUMMARY: Sing it with me: Still a knitblog!]
Happy Holiday! Drink responsibly!
†FOOTNOTE (crossed): Like, actively going. Not like, "I have a bunch of stuff in the back of the closet and technically it's a work-in-progress, but let's face it, I'm never going to get jazzed enough about 40 acres of linen stitch enough to actually pick it up again."
‡FOOTNOTE (double-crossed): I can hear you laughing.
§FOOTNOTE (swerved): Actually, I wonked it once and said, "Nobody will ever notice that." Then I wonked it again and said, "Nobody will ever notice it down there by the hem." Then I wonked it again and said, "If you squint really hard..." Then I finally got over my state of denial and frogged.
¶FOOTNOTE (paragraphed): You know... the BIG number.
#FOOTNOTE (pounded): Circus tent proportions.
††FOOTNOTE (ddouble-ccrossed): Oh, if only it worked that way for kissing them...
‡‡FOOTNOTE (doubble-crossssed): Dear Barbara, have you MET my dad?
§§FOOTNOTE (I get my curly hair from my Dad too): Yes, he calls me "Daughter." And I often call him "Father." It doesn't sound nearly as posh from our end. 'Specially since he just as often calls me "Gruese." Short for "Gruesome."
%FOOTNOTE (percented): Heh.
¶¶FOOTNOTE (straights -- you know, as opposed to circs): Purple so beautiful, even my purple-hating camera deigned to capture it.
##FOOTNOTE (pound it twice and it's twice as nice!): Lost to me. In trying to find my Sherman's Lagoon book (don't judge) last night, I discovered it under the bed.
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