You were perfectly fine . . .

mmmm . . . knitting

Do you ever wish you could just close yourself in your favorite cozy knitting spot with a couple of projects, a few good movies, and regular deliveries of your top comfort foods? I'm wishing that today. The weather outside is grey and blah and cold and dull. Blech. 

(Note: It's cold and icky--for California. If you live in Saskatchewan or Siberia, or you grew up in Wisconsin, please don't write and tell me how wimpy I am to complain about our weather when in many other parts of the world winter involves being turned into a human ice cube and plugging in your car at the mall so you can drive back home. In fact, let's make a deal: if you won't do the "you think THAT's cold?!!" thing then I won't complain about the extraordinarily high cost of living here. K?)

I finished the giraffe and elephant blankie for my nephew--it has a backing knit from Phildar's fluffy Peluche, and I sewed them together last night.

This blankie is pretty small, but a good size for Charlie to carry around and play with. And of course he has to have the matching giraffe toy. :) K helped me put the stuffing in the giraffe, and then decided she might like one too. The ultimate kid seal of approval.

While I was in small project mode, I worked on a flower to be felted for my felting class next month. It's from a pin kit distributed by KnitWhits, which I think was much too pricey ($20 at my LYS), but since I'm knitting it for the store I didn't have to pay for it.

We'll see how it turns out--the instructions call for the pieces to be assembled BEFORE felting, and I would have thought they should be sewn together afterward. I know, I know, I should just do as I'm told . . . I always have trouble with that.

I want to show the different kinds of things you can do with felting, including smaller projects like this. I'm also going to knit a couple of the roses from the felted rose garden bag in the current VogueKnitting.

Finally, I did get a box of Plymouth Encore yesterday in Burnt Sienna, gold, Bronze and Dark Country Blue for some no-thought-required knitting. Can you guess what I'll be working on?

Oh yes, I'm a fan. I can't wait for July 16.

Playing catch-up

I have lots to catch up on today. My mom is doing great; she had to have a second surgery on the 25th to take out more, but now they've gotten it all. She will find out in a few days whether she'll go straight to radiation or have chemo first. She is SO hoping that she won't have to have chemo, but we'll see. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

On my way down to San Diego, I stopped by my mother-in-law's house to pick up the gift she wanted me to take to my mom. Have I mentioned that my MIL is fantastic? Since I was leaving so early, she put the gift out on the front step, along with the previously un-photographed Alchemy scarf I made for her.

Click on the photo to see the pattern better. My MIL said she's been wearing the scarf almost every day, and gets lots of compliments on it. I love that!

Next up, here's the bag I'll be teaching for FashionKnits in Walnut Creek. BEFORE:

(I swear that when I finished knitting the tube that became the body of the bag, before I sewed the bottom seam, it looked just like a tube top for a hippopotamus. It was pretty funny.)

And AFTER:

It was made with Manos del Uruguay, color 05, held double. The carry-along is Joy, and the pattern is FiberTrends AC43. It was fun and quick, and the Manos felted very well. I did pull all of the ribbons from the Joy through to the outside before felting to make the ribbon part fuller. If you don't want to do that, I would get 2 balls of Joy and carry 2 strands along in that section instead of just one.

If you're in the area, the class will be on two Sundays, March 13 and 20 from 1:30p to 3p.

One note on tools: think twice before buying Crystal Palace bamboo needles. Grrrr. I was still in San Diego when I got to the handles, and didn't have any size 11 needles with me. The only ones available at the LYS I found were CPs. Within the first inch of the first handle, I had bits of one of the needle tips splintering and peeling off. It SUCKED. This isn't the first time I've had this problem with their needles. Luckily I was using them for a felting project this time, so I was only annoyed by the snagging, and didn't have to worry about the snags showing up in the finished product.

After that, I finished up the Phildar giraffe jacket for my nephew:

This was a great, easy project. I added about 2cm to the length, because my nephew is tall-ish. I did have to block the heck out of it to get the hem to lay flat--the Pegase+ is 75% acrylic and 25% wool, so I had to get it really wet and let it dry completely.

And one more project--to match:

I've been busy, I guess. :)

Also, I turned 40 this week. Can you believe that shit? I don't feel remotely mature enough to be 40. But there it is. This is one of the best things about never having been a beauty queen: you can enjoy growing older, because you have more interesting things to think about and say, and you don't miss what you used to look like.

on my way to San Diego

I'm about to leave for San Diego to be with my mom for her surgery tomorrow. I tried to post last night, but typepad was kind of slow--not sure what's up with that.

Thanks for the sage advice re: the scarf pictorial. I called my mother-in-law, told her the "book of finished projects" story, and she agreed. She DID clearly think that was odd, but was gracious enough not to say so. :)  I sort of wish I'd just gone for the breaking in idea, but imagine how odd she'd find me then . . .

In the meantime, here are a few other pictures for your perusal. First, Cavendish--she is finished at last, and folded carefully awaiting presentation to my sister as a house-warming present (she just bought her first home).

Made with Noro Silk Garden (complete with weeds and brambles, just like a real garden) on 5mm needles using the pattern from Jane Ellison's Noro book (it's on the cover). Very simple, a little boring to knit, but really worth it, I think.

And one of two armwarmers knit from the remnants of the picture-to-be-taken-later scarf. I loved this yarn, and didn't want it to go to waste, so I knit the Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from SnB Nation. If you get this book and want to knit the armwarmers, EMAIL ME and I'll give you the pattern errata. The chart legend is wrong, and if you haven't knit cable-type-stuff before, this will piss you off. I promise.

Next, the present for my mom--you've seen the scarf already, but I also got her the latest Knitters. She has to sit for four hours tomorrow morning before her surgery with a wire injecting blue radioactive dye into her boob (to find the sentinel nodes nearest her tumor and check them first to make sure it hasn't spread), so I figured she could use some light reading material.

And finally, a present for me from France. This will keep me happy for quite a while.

By the way, with each of my six--count them, SIX!--Phildar magazines, I received a letter/coupon for 5 euro off of a 30 euro purchase. All I have to do is present said letter/coupon when I make my purchase at a Phildar store . . . in France. If you live in France or are planning a visit soon, and you would like to put one or more of these letter/coupons to good use at a Phildar retail outlet near you, email me and I'll send them to you. I would hate for 30-euros-worth of coupons to go to waste. :)

Wish us luck tomorrow, and thanks to La for lighting a candle for my mom. Be safe.

a picture is worth a thousand words . . .

Except when you forget to take one. Oof. I knit my mother-in-law a gorgeous (I can't help being immodest here) lacy scarf from Alchemy Synchronicity (silk/merino blend, rich color with that sheen that silk gives, soft enough to wear against even sensitive skin with no itching). I carefully pinned it out and blocked it. And last night I gave it to her (a late birthday gift).

But I forgot to take a picture first! Wah!!!

So I'm taking a poll. Please feel free to add any suggestions you might have. Which would be weirder: (1) sneaking into the house when she's not home, finding it, and taking a picture, or (2) asking her if I can take a picture for my blog, then explaining what a blog is (hopefully without raising any curiosity in her that might lead to her actually visiting said blog)?

In other news, I would like to point out that the United States Supreme Court is rapidly losing my respect. I don't say that lightly; I hold our Constitution and those who guard it in the highest esteem. I don't do religion, so to me, the Constitution is as close to a sacred document as I get.

From Bush v. Gore (a shameful moment for the entire court, in which the "strict constructionists" suddenly saw something to read into the Constitution, and the "judicial activists" were suddenly in favor of strict construction), to Scalia's "don't you dare question ME" memorandum opinion, I haven't been as impressed as I'd like to be.

And now we have a new low. Lofton v. Secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families, 04-478.

On Friday, the Court began considering whether to take the case of gay foster parents in Florida who are challenging the Anita-Bryant-inspired 1977 Florida law that prevents all homosexual couples in that state from adopting children. And today, Monday, before those of us on the West Coast had even had our morning coffee, the Court refused to hear that case (along with hundreds of others), doing so without any comment explaining said refusal. Cowards.

I'm not surprised. The right wing of the Court got hammered by Dobson and Falwell, et al, for their (bitterly split) decision acknowledging that criminalizing private homosexual sex was unconstitutional. So they don't want to get their fingers singed again. And if they pander to that constituency again, they risk leaving an opinion out there that future generations will study alongside Dred Scott and other shameful Court episodes.

So they're just going to leave millions of gay Americans (and foster children in Florida) hanging in the breeze. Disappointing.

By the way, if you find the Supreme Court as interesting as I do, here's a great blog/site to check out: SCOTUSblog. It's written by a law firm that does a lot of work before the Court, and includes links to the official records. Pretty cool.

[Brief case background: Florida Gov. Jeb Bush maintains that the children, often products of troubled and unstable backgrounds, should have both a father and a mother. Supporters of the law say that the state of Florida has the right to promote "traditional mother-father families" if it chooses to do so. Opponents point out that Florida allows singles, divorcees, people with disabilities, and even in some cases convicted criminals to adopt. And they argue that a blanket prohibition against gays adopting children is based in unlawful discrimination against gays and homosexuals.]

breaking news

Looks like I will have some part-time legal work soon, doing real estate transactions, which is right up my alley. :) I kind of have a weird feeling about it, but I think it's just nerves. We'll see. Meanwhile, work = good.

Also, I'm going to be teaching a felted tote class at my LYS in Walnut Creek. I'm pretty excited about this. If this class works out, maybe I'll be able to teach some other stuff too. I enjoy knitting so much, and finally feel experienced enough to help other people pick up new skills. Plus it keeps me from being my usual hermity self.

Jeez this post is dull--I'm even boring myself. Lately I've been really feeling the need to DO something, something that matters, that I can look forward to accomplishing, that I can look back on in my elder years with pride. You know? Since I graduated from law school and passed the bar in 1990, I haven't really done anything that made me beam with pride. (We're leaving aside all motherhood issues here--if you have kid(s) you know what I mean, and if you don't, just trust me on this: it's not the same kind of pride.)

And the real problem is that I would need to choose something and stick with it--not change my mind midstream. I'm really good at getting things started, but unless I'm really passionate about the goal and/or the process to the goal, I'm not so good at the keeping-going or the finishing-up. And the fear of choosing the wrong thing or failing at whatever I choose is kind of keeping me from choosing anything at all.

Stupid, I know.

Does anyone else feel this way? Like you're just on an endless treatmill of working, paying the bills, taking care of your family, and trying to be sane/productive/not unhappy? Do I just need to up my dose of Zoloft? :)

Here's a cause I could get into: passing the ERA. Yep, you heard that right. I heard an interview with Ruth Bader Ginsberg last night on NPR, and she talked about the ERA as a symbol, an important one, that would acknowledge the equal place of women in our society. And I think she's right. Maybe it would be "only" symbolic, but I think justice is justice, and symbols ARE important.

Also, I've gotta think: who would vote against this? And why? If the Republican party can try to amend the Constitution to institutionalize bigotry against gays and lesbians, why can't we try to amend the Constitution to acknowledge the fundamental equality of men and women?

I'm just saying.

In other depressing news, I listened to most of the Gonzales confirmation hearing yesterday. For those of you that missed it, here's a paraphrase:

SENATOR: If confirmed as Attorney General of the United States, would you do X?

GONZALES: Well, you know, I would have to go down and confer with the attorneys in the Department of Justice about that and see what they have to say, and really do what is to be done in that situation.

SENATOR: Um, okay. Um, I'm not sure if you answered that question, really . . . [silence from witness] . . . Well. I'll move on, then. You are the head of the White House's Office of Legal Counsel, which issued a legal opinion setting this administration's policy with respect to torture and interrogation. This memo re-defined torture as "inflicting pain tantamount to that caused by organ failure or death," which basically exempts out (i.e., allows U.S. personnel to engage in) a lot of activities most reasonable people would consider to be torture. That remained the official (albeit secret) policy of the United States government for nearly 2 years, even after it was leaked to the press and made public, until shortly after the President nominated you for this position. Do you support torture, Mr. Gonzales? And as Attorney General, the highest law enforcement position in our country, will you continue to support it?

GONZALES: The Office of Legal Counsel developed that memorandum, and it was only addressed to me. I don't recall who requested it, and even if I did I wouldn't tell you. It's not my job to choose what actions the Defense Department will take, and basically I refuse to take responsibility for, or even acknowledge, anything I have ever said, written or done.

Seriously--his answer to almost every question was a long and obscure way of saying "I'm not going to tell you that; it's none of your business." That doesn't really inspire confidence, does it?

I love the way Maureen Dowd put it yesterday: "You know how bad the situation is when the president's choice for attorney general has to formally pledge not to support torture anymore."

Yeah, what she said.

knit one, crochet one

My first two FO's for the new year:

First a heart scarf for my mom, from the knitty pattern in the breast cancer special "fall surprise".

And a closeup:

I used a hand-painted yarn I bought at Stitches West last year and a size 10.5 needle, and I divided the yarn in half and knit each half until I was almost out of yarn for that side, then grafted the two halves together (hence the diamond shape in the middle).

The pattern was very easy to follow and memorize, and easy to adapt to a different yarn and size. I just love that Stephannie Roy. :) (She created the hungover movie star eye shade too.)

I did a little crocheting too--while clearing out and organizing my yarn in the garage (have I mentioned that I have a lot of yarn . . . ?), I found the remnants from a baby blanket I crocheted for my friend's son. [It frightens me to realize that this child is now in junior high school.] This was back in the day before I learned to knit, and before I discovered that there was anything other than acrylic yarn.

I crocheted it with "Twinkle" yarn from Super Yarn Mart--does anyone else remember this place? It was yarn heaven back in the day; I don't know when they went out of business, but it's a shame. They had lots of free patterns and I used one of them to make the baby blanket--it was sort of a puffy shell pattern with stripes of different pastels. It was one of the first "real" projects that I made to give as a gift, and I really liked it.

When I found the last bits of my Twinkle yarn, I just couldn't throw it away. And I couldn't give it away, because no one would appreciate it the way I did. Is that weird? :) So I crocheted a little pillow from it. I don't know what I'll do with it--it will probably become a baby gift in time.

My mom's surgery is scheduled for a week from Friday, on January 14th. Keep your fingers crossed for clear lymph nodes! She's doing really well keeping her spirits up, and I sent her a couple of knitting books and magazines so she can get her mind off the cancer stuff and think about what's REALLY important: knitting. A girl has to have priorities.

zónder knoopsgaten!

You know how some phrases just catch in your psyche, and you wish you could use them for every purpose? This is mine today: zónder knoopsgaten.

Picture this:

<breathlessly> "Sorry, can't go out with the girls tonight--I have a date with Zónder Knoopsgaten!"

or this:

<self-satisfied> "I was going to knit this stole in a cashmere blend, but I'm SO glad I went with the zónder knoopsgaten. It's FABulous."

Ok, maybe I'm going a little overboard. :) I've been translating some Phildar patterns from Dutch, and am feeling a little verknipt. [Is it just me, or does that sound loads more fun than its English counterparts "kooky" and "nutty"?]

Translating from Dutch has been a fun adventure--it's a little easier than it might otherwise be because I'm already familiar with the style and layout of the Phildar patterns, which helps. [It's a completely different kettle of fish from having the patterns in French, because I can knit from those without translating them for the most part, after 4 years of high school and college French.] Deciphering these patterns is probably as close as I'll ever get to my dream job at Bletchley Park, so I'll take it.

Pictures later, I promise. Really.

*zónder knoopsgaten means (are you ready?) "without buttonholes." Sounds like it should be something more exciting, doesn't it?

Some new projects at last!

Have I mentioned how much I love Phildar lately? I'm hoping to win the lottery so I can plan quarterly visits to France to shop for the latest Phildar mags and yarns. Is that too extravagant? :)

Right now I'm working on a Phildar hoodie for my nephew--I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the pattern. I don't have enough progress yet to warrant a photo, but look here to see the one Alison knit last summer. Mine will (hopefully) be similar.

I wish Phildar would re-issue this pattern so that it was more widely available; it comes from the mag that I had to order from the Netherlands with a little (actually a LOT of) help from a very kind online knitting friend there. And it's in Dutch, which is a little challenging. But sometimes you take what you can get and enjoy the hell out of it. This is one of those times.

I'm planning to make the matching blanket too--it's fuzzy/fluffy on one side, and has a giraffe and an elephant on the other. I'll scan it and show you when I'm in a scanning mood. You know.

I'm still researching how to get knitted/crocheted comfort items to wounded troops, so I'll let you know when I have more information about that. There are also houses called "Fisher Houses" that have been built near several of the major military hospitals, including Bethesda and Walter Reed in the DC area, and Landstuhl in Germany. These homes allow families of the wounded to stay nearby comfortably and for a nominal cost. Isn't that a great idea? Kind of like Ronald McDonald Houses for the military. To find out more about these homes, look here.

I called my dad the other night to get some ideas and names of people to contact (he was a career Marine, so I figured he'd know where would be a good place to start my research). We didn't get to talk about that much, though, because about 15 minutes before I called my parents, my mom's doctor had called to tell her that her biopsy results were back and she has breast cancer. Dammit. To be precise, "infiltrating ductal carcinoma, high combined histologic grade, lobular, irregular, marginated, 1.7 cm x 1.0 cm x 1.0 cm." She has lots of appointments with various kinds of oncologists (who knew there was more than one kind?) and surgeons, and will be having surgery within the next couple of weeks. She's in good spirits, though, and has lots of support. Any prayers or good thoughts you want to send her way would be much appreciated by yours truly . . .

Have you had your mammogram yet this year? I guess I'd better go get mine! Is it small of me that I still don't want to go do it, even given recent events? No, I'll go.  Really, I will. But I don't have to like it. :)

Just when I thought I was tired of knitting for other people . . .

I've been busily knitting multidirectional scarves for my family for Christmas, I'm nearly finished with Cavendish for my sister, and I have a Phildar hoodie for my nephew in queue. I was thinking that maybe I was ready to take a little break after that.

Then this morning I was looking at the coverage of the attack in Mosul, and saw this photo of a wounded soldier covered with what looks to me like a hand-knitted garter-stitch throw. So maybe I have one more K4OP project in me. I'm thinking I'll find out how to send stuff like this to the hospitals in Germany and Washington that care for the critically wounded.

It still pisses me off royally that the current Administration (largely made up of men who avoided military service themselves) is so willing to treat our honorable young men and women as grist for their hawkish mill, in a war we should never have begun in Iraq. How the families of those killed and wounded must hate looking at dubya's face as he spews platitudes about how important their sacrifices are--knowing all the time that these are sacrifices he is not and was not willing to make himself. Jackass.

One more thing--the multidirectional scarf pattern is fantastic! It was simple enough that I didn't have to pay attention too much, but interesting enough to beat the heck out of stockinette or regular garter stitch. I did one in Noro Kureyon, and one in Colinette mohair (which turned out GREAT, and I had yarn to spare!). Definitely do the alternate ending for the last triangle, though, to make it come out evenly. At least that's what worked for me.

Hope you are all well. Happy Holidays.

Just knitting

Hello.

I'm still wandering along on my lovely Cavendish. I love working on it, and I'm trying to knit in zen mode--enjoy the process, instead of speeding toward the finish. It makes for very relaxing knitting, but not exciting blogging. Sorry.

Here's a photo of Cavendish (folded)--the colors are so vibrant and, because of the silk content in the yarn, they sort of glow.

And, I must say, I have been very lucky in getting Marie of Knitti-Me fame for my Secret Pal. She sent me a fantastic felted bag, beautiful bracelets (one of which I'm wearing as I type), a peppermint twist scarf for K, and of course, more lovely yarn. See?

I hope you are all well. :)