The Big Bag

Big Bag Felted
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

Well, any family member who reads this will probably know what she's getting for Christmas...

I made this felted bag from a pattern on Ravelry. A friend had made it with reds. Her young son quickly dubbed it the "Elmo bag" because one of the colors matched his hero. I went a different route, but I do love the pattern which is very easy but produces a lovely finished product. I haven't decided if perhaps I should felt it a bit more, but the density of the fabric is very nice as it is.

And don't we all need more bags to take to the supermarket? Those dumb bags they sell at the store are practical, but boring--and they have those store logos on them. This bag makes a statement without any ads.



Nora seemed to like the bag too. So far she hasn't been inside it, but I imagine that's in her future too.

New Kitty

Second Photo
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

With the passing of dear, sweet Nicholas, Nora and I had a hole in our hearts. I took myself off to Kent Kats whence came both Nick and Nora, and I walked out with this new kitty, a one-year old who we think will be called Abigail. (When I had to select a Hebrew name for my mother Beatrice, I picked Abigail. Hmmm.)

She is what I call a "tabico" because she is part tabby and part calico. She's about Nora's size and very sweet. Nora is not yet reconciled to the idea of another girl in the family, but I think she'll come around. She's hissed at the new kitty and growled, but then she runs away from her. No fighting so far.

Abigail was pretty calm when I brought her home to the house in Kent, but she flipped out this morning and didn't want to get in the carrier even though she'd been in and out of it all day on Monday and Tuesday. She hid all day in the store. When I tried to get her out, she resisted--and boy, is she strong...and fast. Got her home and she is currently hiding under the chest of drawers. It's been a confusing couple of days and I don't blame her for being a little freaked out.

She's slept on the bed with me the last two nights. Very agreeable. And she eats anything that isn't nailed down. Stay tuned.

Latvian Mitten

Latvian Mitten
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

Started this some time ago, but other projects got in the way. It's really lovely, and not terribly hard to do although the needles are small. It's about to come to the top of the project list since I just invested a huge amount of money in 50% off yarn at Enchanting Yarns which, alas, is going out of business. I bought a lot of yarn to be turned into Latvian Mittens so I'm obliged to finish these soon.

Please note the space where the thumb will go. Not hard to do. Weaving in the ends will be the part that annoys me. For the next mitten I will carry the yarn much more often. I'm still learning the best way to do these. Haven't decided if I want to line these. It will depend on the fit, I think. If there's a lot of room, I'll do a lining, but I suspect these will be a good fit rather than a loose fit.

I Visit Cape May

Paca Dude
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

My friend Liz and I went to Cape May, NJ, this weekend. A lovely customer of mine lent us her house. She warned us that we'd probably need to wash sheets when we got there. However, when we got there there were no sheets or towels to be washed. We hightailed it back to Cape May Courthouse which is just north of town and found a Home Goods and got what we needed. (The towels were great--soft and absorbent--and I could use some new towels, but the fitted sheet didn't fit. I improvised.)

The weather was supposed to turn lousy, but it never did. We didn't see a lot of birds--disappointing that. But we saw lots of dolphins and a couple of huge (100+) flights of cormorants.

The trip home was "eventful". We'd gone in Liz's car which is 15 years old but only has 67,000 miles. There was a piece of something loose on the front which broke off on the Garden State Parkway and shredded the rear driver-side tire. Then the donut tire which the service guy put on for us went flat and we got towed to a PepBoys in Hazlet. Much waiting and a trip to an Italian restaurant with patrons from a sociological group with which we were unfamiliar, and a new tire was installed. We made it home without much more ado other than a slow trip through the Lincoln Tunnel.

The cute alpaca shown here was from an alpaca farm in Cape May. They have about 23 boys, girls and babies. Alpacas is adorable! I love this dude's haircut. These people also refer in their literature to the "alpaca lifestyle", something I'm still trying to understand. Their fleece is very soft though. I bought some yarn there. So what else is new?

Finished Leaflings

Finished Leaflings
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

Well, I finally finished the Leafling socks. Started April 9, finished on April 28--not too bad. I like them, I like the colorway. I finished with a "star" toe because I hate the way toes finish with Kitchener stitch. In my experience Kitchener always spreads and the space gets too big. The star toe ends with six stitches that you run the yarn through. You get a tight circle and a nice look on the toe too.

I've started some socks with a bright orange and yellow yarn that is called "Florida Sunshine" if memory serves (and when does it these days.) Very cheery, but I'm not sure about the pattern, and I was going to do them on one circular needle but seem to be all bollixed up on that front. Right now one sock is on a single circular needle and one is on two circulars of the same size. I'm not sure about the pattern, and the whole project my wind up in the frog pond. The process was not improved by young Nora who chomped into the yarn and broke it on one sock. Grrr...

Spring

Spring Blue
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

You gotta love spring. The little flowers--the crocuses, the grape hyacinths, the miniatrure daffodils--are beginning to pop. The leaves on the trees, at least in the Litchfield Hills, are for the most part a thing of the future. So the little bits of color are a real joy. The snow is gone--has been for a few weeks--but the lawns are mostly brown.

This is the time of year when you don't feel so bad about the labor, sweat and tennis elbow you experienced last fall when the bulbs were planted. Truth to tell, these were planted a couple of years back.

Soon the forsythia will be in bloom, looking like this:



Even though it's only yellow for a couple of weeks and then grows at a prodigious rate and has to be hacked back with a machete, even though...ya gotta love it.

World's Loudest Mitten

World's Loundest Mitten
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

This is my finished mitten from the Magnificent Mitten class. It's all done. I've even knitted the lining and started the second mitten. They actually knit up fairly fast if you work on it, but I have 5 projects that are currently on needles. The Yarn Harlot calls this "startitis", the desire (and act of) starting a new project even though you have plenty of other works in progress. (See "Second Sock Syndrome".)

Let's see. WIPs of the day: mitten #2; sock #2 from the Rockin' Sock Club's first offering of 2008 (note my restraint at not having started the sock from the second offering although I admit to having wound the yarn into two neat balls); Liz's scarf; the Latvian Mitten; the Central Park Hoodie. I also knit the toe of a sock in the most amazing yellows and oranges, but I have restrained myself and put that aside. I don't even really consider that project a work in progress. After all, a to isn't much more of a commitment than winding the yarn, right?

If I weren't writing this silly post, I could get some good knitting accomplished! Bye.

Central Park Hoodie-Part Trois

Central Park Hoodie-Part Trois
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

Well, the hoodie is making progress--although there seems to still be a long way to go. I've finished the back and the left front. The right front is in the early stages. The good news is that I blocked the two finished pieces and they block to the correct size and are the same size as eachother. (This latter really shouldn't be a problem since the cables give you a reliabe way to count rows.)

The right front, the two sleeves the hood and the front bands remain. And of course, sewing the @#$%& thing together and putting in the zipper. I have already told myself that I will have a professional put in the zipper. My mother would have rolled her eyes at this, but then, she was the professional. I don't have a sewing machine, and I don't want one. There's a very good tailor in town, and she can do it for me. She can use the business.

By the time I finish this, it will be too late to wear it until fall, but then fall has a way of sneaking up on me, and it will be a thrill to have a nice new hoodie to wear when there's a chill in the air.

Central Park Hoodie

Central Park Hoodie
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

Well, it's been ages since I've knitted a sweater. The past couple of years have all been about socks, more socks, scarves and felted slippers and bags.

Then I got the idea that I wanted to knit a hoodie. Looked for a pattern for a long time. The Yarn Harlot started to knit a sweater out of a Paton's pattern book and I discovered that it contained a great hoodie. But all the Harlot fans bought up the book at every Michael's and Joann's in this part of the world. So the search continued. Then I discovered the Central Park Hoodie. I downloaded the pattern (which cost more than the Paton's book with 5-6 patterns in it) and started. It's knitting up fast.

Of course, I made a boo-boo at the second cable and only discoverd it later. I'm too lazy to frog back since it isn't impossibly obvious. I remind myself that Persian rugmakers say that their wares always have errors because only Allah is perfect. I know I'm not, and this will prove it.

I like the color--more than the gray or green that the pattern uses-blech. It's Lion Brand Wool--soft, a rich color, not terribly expensive.

I'll have to decide down the road whether to go with buttons or a zipper. I'm tending towards the zipper since that seems more compatible with a hoodie, but time will tell. Stay tuned.

World's Loudest Mitten

World's Loudest Mitten
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

Okay. So I signed up for the Magnificent Mitten class at my LYS, Enchanting Yarns and Things. Magnificent Mittens is a book by Anna Zilboorg that is now out of print. So Lisa, the instructor, got permission from the publisher to teach from it and photocopy the patterns.

I chose really loud colors. I couldn't get quite the colors I wanted so I threw caution to the wind and said, "What the hell," and went with what you see. It will actually match a fuschia storm jacket and a fleece hooded jacket I have. You'll be able to find me in the snow, I think.

The knitting is actually very easy on these mittens, but the instructions in the book are a little confusing at first. Once you understand what's what, it's not hard to make these babies. I am a bit apprehensive about knitting the lining since that's mostly (or completely) done by improvisation. I don't want my lining to be lumpy or too tight so I'll have to experiment. Lisa points out that since you do the lining with big needles, it's no big deal to frog back if you get it wrong since it knits up fast.

Mitten #1 is nearly done--or at least the outside is. The lining and mitten #2 will follow soon. (I hope--got to start my Rockin' Sock Club offering before the next one comes later this month. I tried to start it last night, knit a swatch and decided I needed smaller needles which I didn't have with me in CT. )

The Blue Sock

The Blue Sock
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

I seem to have a lot of WIPs ("works in progress" to you non-knitters). I started this one earlier this week and then went to a mitten class and started a new pair of mittens although my Latvian mittens aren't that far along. Soon I'll need to start the first sock pattern from the Rockin' Sock Club or I will get hopelessly behind for the year. Oh, and I'm making a scarf for a friend. While scarf season will soon be over, I'm working on the theory that it is the thought that counts. Well, it is, isn't it?

I also have 4 (or more) projects gracing the stash. These are projects where I have the yarn and the pattern rather than just the yarn with no idea about what I'm going to do with it. Busy, busy.

The nice thing about the mittens from the class is that they are worsted weight and move along smartly. The Latvian mittens are done in sport weight on size 1 needles. Pictures to follow.

Summer of Love

Summer of Love
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

These socks are knitted from a pattern called "Summer of Love", the August offering of the Rockin' Sock Club. I'm a bit behind. Finished these a week or so ago and I'm on the heel of the first October sock, a pattern called "Lenore" in a colorway called "Raven". I like this pattern a lot. It's the work of Stephanie Pearl McPhee, also known as the Yarn Harlot.

As for Summer of Love, I had imagined that they were going to be tricky to knit, but they turned out to be quite straightforward and knit up in no time. I got behind working on Christmas presents and the thought of the holidays looming in front of us has made it clear that I'm going to continue to be behind. Oh, well. Hope those who are lucky enough to receive handknit presents are suitably grateful! I'll show some of those after the holidays. No family spoilers here!

Lattice Walker

Lattice Walker
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ

This is Nora in the guise of an lolcat. These cat photos are captioned in a sort of a "cat pidgen" that you can learn by looking at a few other lolcats on line. They are pretty funny or sometimes just cute and occasionally incomprehesible to the uninitiated.

I found that when I posted these photos, they got a lot of views on flickr. While I realize that Nora is adorable, there must be something about lolcats that amuses people.

Thoughts of Gary Larson

Vultures
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ.

What's the Gary Larson cartoon? Setting: a couple of vultures sitting on a dead rhino. One says, "What a great day. The sun beating down on us, a dead rhino beneath our feet and friends flying in from all over." Well, this is the Connecticut version. The dead critter was a raccoon, probably a young one. I captured these three turkey vultures and one black vulture (the one on the right) enjoying a meal. Several other turkey vultures circled overhead as these kids feasted. Life is good.

Socks

Monsoon Sock
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ.

This is my "Socks That Rock" sock in progress. I finished both socks the other day without suffering too much second sock syndrome. I did have a small bout of "SSS" since this is a fussy pattern. I was particularly irritated at having to do a different rib for the sole and the instep. Meant I had to pay attention! I like knitting on automatic pilot or following a complicated pattern. This half-and-half business was just tedious. Anyhow, they are done! Alas, I agree with those members who thought this colorway looked like camoflage.



The finished product is above. I am modeling both sides--the inside and the outside of these reversible socks. The patterning on my socks was stripey while some other club members had pooling. There's actually a little pooling on the sock on the left even while the stripes predominate. Hmm...



And here is what I am working on now: yarn from Great Adirondack. I didn't know this company until recently, but I love their colors. I'm a primary color person more than a pastel or muted girl. GA has yarn with intense colors and lots of blues, my favorite. I have a skein of their "Blueberry" colorway waiting for me when I finish these socks. (It may have to wait until I finish the April Socks That Rock offering. I don't want to fall behind and spend December and January playing catch up.) Just how many socks can a girl have? Or give to friends? Lots, I think.

Nora in the Ficus

Nora in the Ficus
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ.

Nora loves to sit in all the flower pots. She also likes to destroy some of the plants. But look how cute she is. It's hard not to just let her do whatever she wants. (Natural lighting helps, but she knows how to pose and find her key light making the work of the photographer easy.) She's climbed the ficus several times, but lately she's decided there isn't anything interesting up there and seems to just like sitting in the pot--or splashing the muddy water when I come with the watering can.

Travelling Sock

Travelling Sock
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ.

This is the start of sock #2 from the STR (Socks That Rock) wool from Blue Moon Fiber Arts' Rockin' Sock Club. I took it to the Fashion Institute of Technology to see Stephanie Pearl-McPhee give a talk at the launch of her new book Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off. Steph is the Yarn Harlot, a knitting-humor blogger. No one knew there was such a thing until she invented it.

The talk was delightful. The auditorium, which seats 750, was nearly filled. Each attendee was given a bag containing a ball of yarn, #8 needles and instructions to knit a 7X9 rectangle that would be sewn into afghans and given to people made homeless by flood and fire.

Steph gave the knitters a lot to think and laugh about: why don't knitters get any respect; why do "muggles" (non-knitters, a word appropriated from Harry Potter) think it is wasteful to knit socks when you can buy them in Wal-Mart rather than the other way around; why is there more an one way to size needles (metric and American); why are swatches lying little scraps of yarn; why, if you knit, it is assumed you want to date men regardless of your gender? I'll add, "Why is there no decent sock wool in Wellington, NZ, in a country with 30 million sheep?"

It was great to see so many socks in progress, so much beautiful yarn, so many enthusiastic knitters--some from Switzerland, England, California and even western Massachusetts! If you're a knitter and Steph comes to your town, run--don't walk--to hear her talk. Buy a book too.

Socks That Rock

Socks That Rock--Monsoon Colorway
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ.

I joined the "Rockin' Sock Club", a sort of a sock-kit-of-the-month club. Well, every other month. The first kit of the year included this yarn, the little skein on a keychain, a bumper sticker for "Notorious Sock Knitters" and instructions in a binder.

The women who own Blue Moon Fiber Arts and created the Rockin' Sock Club had their bank account canceled because the bankers couldn't believe that 800 people (mostly women) wanted to join a sock club. In the end over 2000 people all around the world joined. In a few weeks there should be 4000 socks in this colorway which is called Monsoon.

Here's how the yarn looks when it's made into a ball suitable for knitting.



Stay tuned. Photos of the socks as they progress will follow.

Parrot Mania

I just finished reading The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. The author is more than a bit strange. But it led me to a little websurfing and I found this blog about Brooklyn Parrots . More than you'd ever want to know about parrots in New York. Marie Winn reports that a parrot nest has been found under an air conditioner in a sixth story window on W. 103rd St. The first parrots in Manhattan in a long time. Some birders are snotty about these birds since they are "non-native". Fortunately, here in New York we have usually been welcoming to immigrants.

Is That a Yawn or a Laugh?

Is That a Yawn or a Laugh?
Originally uploaded by PhoebeJ.

Okay. I admit that this was a lucky shot. Nora was sleeping on the afghan on the arm of the sofa, a favorite haunt of hers. I grabbed the camera to get a cute shot of her snoozing. While I was waiting for the flash to power up she woke up, I took the photo and this is what I got. It looks like a cross between a laugh and the Rolling Stones logo.