Finally!

Yes, I finally finished the ruffle scarf. Actually, it didn't take that long. The long stretches of nothing but knit stitches can make it seem like forever, though. I am glad it is done, especially because now, I can wear it! It's a bit shorter than my usual scarves, but I think the bulk of it makes up for that, since I only really need to wrap it once. Plus, it'll look great underneath my coat. Since, for whatever reason, it always seems to be cloudy here in Albuquerque every time I want to take pictures of a finished object, I decided to do an inside shoot with Joie as my model. She's been carrying around the scarf for about 15 minutes now- I think she's happy it's done, too! I still have a ton of this yarn left, too. I want to make a pair of Mrs. Beetons, but I know even after that, there's going to be a ton. I'm sure I'll think of something to do with it. I know that I said I would give you the pattern, but that's going to have to wait a little bit, because I would like to get all my patterns into pdf form and put them in the sidebar. If you really can't live without it for a week or so, email me at tbtyger AT yahoo DOT com. Lots more projects that I have planned to do, but that's a whole different blog post- stay tuned!

Book Report: The Electric Michaelangelo

I finished reading The Electric Michaelangelo by Sarah Hall a few days ago. The book started in the 1920's in a small, English seaside town. It followed the progression of a young boy as he grew, became a tattoo artist, and moved across the ocean to work at Coney Island. The characters are wonderful and well developed- they are people you want to know, people you would avoid in a dark alley, people you would stare at in awe. Sarah Hall does a wonderful jb of evoking these feelings. Overall the book's tone was a sad one, but still left you okay with the world. The theme of the story seems to be loss in life, but there is still a sense of hope left when you finish- a feeling that things happen, but it's going to be okay. I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit hard to get into, but the way she writes will definitely have me reaching for more of books in the future. I would say, a 3.5 out of 5. I am so excited to now be finally reading Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman. He is one of my absolute favorite authors. I recieved this book from Erin, who is a fellow crazy stalker fan, for my birthday. It is another collection of short stories from the author, and I am trying to savor it like a fine wine or excellent chocolate, and trying to read ony one story a night. It is tough, though, because every story leaves me craving more. If you haven't read any of his works, get on it! He is amazing.

Why I Knit

The last few days, while working on the long stretches of plain knitting on the Ruffle Scarf, I've been thinking a lot about why I knit. (Not like, "Oh, God, WHY?!"-a bit more contemplative than that.) Of course, I really enjoy the finished product, especially things I use and love like my ever-growing collection of scarves, the awesome fetching fingerless gloves, and of course, the almighty dishcloth. I also really love the process. Even these long, dull sessions where all I do is knit hundreds of stitches in a row, all the same, there is still something very relaxing about it all. I can go as slow or as fast as I want, and it really helps me think. Knitting for me is very meditative, and I really like that. I think the main reason that knitting calls to me is because I can create. I have always been creative, ever since I was little. My mediums change, but I love learning new techniques, new ways to do something. I love how in knitting, every little peice makes part of the whole, and you can really see yoiur knitting blossom. I love how a project will slowly grow and take shape under the needles, emerging in beautiful cables or a plain stockinette stitch made fantastic by veriegated colors. Knitting is an art form, and there is so much to explore, so many infinite possibilites of stitches and colors and textures, that I think this is a craft I will enjoy for years to come. The ruffle scarf is coming along nicely. I am now about halfway there, but only four rows to go! It doesn't sound like much, but those four rows are half of the project. Scary, huh? Not to mention I'm going to have to cast off 1600 stitches at the end of those four rows. Although this scarf is taking a while, and it is very repetitive, I'm enjoying it. I love seeing the ruffles forming and the how the variegated pinks are playing together. I know I'm going to love this scarf. The only thing that isn't a bit pleasant is the Mohiar Inhalation Factor (we will now refer to this as MIF). When one has a ball of mohair yarn next to them that they are constantly pulling off of and knitting from, tiny little mohair strands begin floating around you. this problem is especially apparent when one is knitting fast and furious. (Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about out there.) All of the sudden, you get up because you've had to pee for the last half hour but really wanted to finish that row, and your shirt is covered in this little strands. You stretch and take a deep breath, and realize your mouth and nose are stuffed with these little fibers, too. This, my friends, is the MIF. It kind of sucks. Those fine little threads are really hard to get out of damp orifices (out of the gutter! NOW!). I still love the yarn, though, and hopefully this problem stops once it has become a scarf. Go join the Favorite Color Swap 2!

It's a Shitload.

I decided that I was going to make a ruffled scarf with my mohair.I couldn't find any patterns, though, that used a light-weight yarn, and I really didn't want to knit this stuff up on size 11 needles- I wanted to fabric to be more substantial. I looked at a few patterns for the ruffle scarf, and wrote my own little pattern. (yes I'll share when I'm done.) It's coming along quite nicely, but slowly. I know my little progress bar over there says I'm at 25% finished, but I'm actually at 26.4%. I just don't have a progress bar for that amount. Believe me, being this far into the scarf is quite the accomplishment. Right now I have 800 stitches on the needles. Yep. 800. Hence, the title for this post. The scary thing is, that I'll have 1600 on the needles by the time I'm done. Casting off should be a blast! I did contemplate doing it backwards and casting on 1600 stitches, but honestly, who wants to cast on that many stitches? Not me. So for now, I'm trudging along. It takes me almost an hour right now just to knit a row. At least the fuzzy mohair keeps me on my toes, or this would be boring. I can't imagine doing this in a plain old worsted wight yarn. Yuck. Anyways, here are some pictures of my progress so far: It's knitting up really nicely. I love the colors, and the finished scarf is going to be light and fuzzy and super warm. You know, 2 years ago I would have vomited on a pink, fuzzy, ruffled scarf. Now here I am, knitting one. Funny how things change, isn't it? Another photo for you, because this stuff just looks so damn purdy: But wait! What is that georgeous bit of silver, glinting in the (almost) sunlight, nestled among that pink glory? What kind of heavenly body produces such smooth, clean-lined, mirror finish needle? These, my friends, is one of the many Needles of the Gods. Just like many of you lucky, lucky knitters did, I received a set of the KnitPicks Options needles for Christmas. I love them. I want to knit everything with them. They are so beautiful and easy to knit with. They are light and pointy. Love. Love. Love. A HUGE thanks to my three blogless buddies, and of course, to Erin, who does have a blog. Who could ask for better friends?

Fetching

I finished my pair of Fetching last night! Man, do I love this pattern. It is so easy and quick to knit, and a great introduction to cables. Plus, I already wear them bunches, and know I'll wear them for the rest of the winter. Love. If you haven't already, go knit some. I am so happy to finally have a pair of my own after making two pairs for Christmas gifts. I knit them in about 9 days on size 6 baleen needles (my favorite dpns- I got them at Hobby Lobby and they actually come in sets of 5). The yarn I used was Cascade 220 in color #4192, which is a great pale pink color. Plus, I have enough left in the skein for one of these. Yaay! The yarn was basically a gift from my mom- she got me a gift certificate for Christmas to a cool little yarn store in Minnesota. I also picked up two balls of this great stuff: It's Cascade Bollicine Etoile. It is destined to become a scarf to match the pink set, and I really want to try lace. I'm just so not pleased with the lace patterns out there, and realized last night designing lace is a bit ambitious for me. I suppose more scouring of the internet and my various stitch books is in order, unless you have any ideas for cool lace that isn't too punk (skull lace) or too old lady-ish (feather and fan)? So there you have it- my very first finished object of 2007!

New Swap

I finally have gotten motivated and everything is all set for the Favorite Color Swap Two! If you missed the first one, now is your chance to get in on the fun. Go check it out! Everyone had a lot of fun last time around, so I'm expecting a big turnout for this one, too. Plus, who doesn't love getting a package? On the knitting front, I had gotten some Cascade 220 in a light pink color with a gift certificate I got from my mom for Christmas. I knew right away it was destined to become a pair of Fetching, the lovely and super cute and quick to knit fingerless gloves from Knitty. I knit 2 pairs for Christmas gifts (yep, those were my cabled super secret spy gifts) and knew I needed a pair for myself. I really do love the pattern, and I'm so glad I am over my fear of cables now. I'm almost done with the second one, and I'll be sure to post pictures once they're finished! Have you signed up for Favorite Color Swap 2 yet?

Oh. My. God.

Today, my life has been changed forever. Driving down the road, we passed a large pick-up truck. James all of the sudden yells, "Slow down! That truck has balls!" A very, very confused me slows down as James tells me to let him pass us a little bit. Sure enough, hanging just below his hitch, were a gigantic pair of chrome balls. Yes, folks, a scrotum nearing the size of my head happily dangled from this person's bumper. James and I both laughed hysterically, of course, and now you can too. Enjoy, folks. Now, seriously. What is this? Is this some horribly obvious overcompensation? A white trash display of machismo? A sick joke? I am utterly perplexed by the dangling bumper balls. All I can think about the whole thing is "Dear Lord, WHY?!". I think I can seriously go the rest of my life without seeing another gigantic chrome scrotum- or any of the other equally stupid variations. I suppose I can be glad it wasn't flesh-colored or sporting some artificial hair, right? Lord, I can just imagine the Google hits this will get me...

More Worthless Tests

Since I still haven't found the disc with our holiday pictures on it, and I'm not quite yet motivated to review my year in knitting or reveal knitted Christmas gifts, here are a few more random, useless tests I took today! I suppose the first one isn't completely useless... Oh, one more cool thing! As I was checking out my random Google search hits over at Sitemeter, I discovered that my blog entry about taking Joie to the Albuquerque Aquarium is on the webpage for one of Albuquerque's around-the-town type websites! Cool, huh? I inch closer to fame every day...

Alive and... Royalty?

Hey! I know you guys missed me, because I missed all of you. Seriously. Our trip was fantastic. The whole holiday time was fantastic, actually. I really do love the holidays! I have all kinds of pictures and plans to share my year in review and all the Christmas knitting and all that jazz, but for now, I'm just checking in to say hello and let you all know that I'm still here, even if I am really busy (and still not unpacked, I might add). I am going to try and blog lots more this year, so you have that to look forward to! For now, I have some more cleaning (ah, who am I kidding? I finally have time to knit something for ME!) so I'm going to leave you with this. Have a good day! You are The Empress Beauty, happiness, pleasure, success, luxury, dissipation. The Empress is associated with Venus, the feminine planet, so it represents, beauty, charm, pleasure, luxury, and delight. You may be good at home decorating, art or anything to do with making things beautiful. The Empress is a creator, be it creation of life, of romance, of art or business. While the Magician is the primal spark, the idea made real, and the High Priestess is the one who gives the idea a form, the Empress is the womb where it gestates and grows till it is ready to be born. This is why her symbol is Venus, goddess of beautiful things as well as love. Even so, the Empress is more Demeter, goddess of abundance, then sensual Venus. She is the giver of Earthly gifts, yet at the same time, she can, in anger withhold, as Demeter did when her daughter, Persephone, was kidnapped. In fury and grief, she kept the Earth barren till her child was returned to her. What Tarot Card are You? Take the Test to Find Out.