Add gel to a fluorescent fixture

And MAN is this some green photography....grotesque and fuzzy. Almost sorry I'm sharing.

Box O' T-shirt Yarn

3 evenings and one less t -shirt

One long-sleeved tshirt and a bit of the second...

I did say there would be pictures of knitting, recycling, and costuming.

Meet the new knitters on my block. (They'd been cleaning & found the vintage aprons. It's always more fun to dress up while you work on costumes.)

Knitting, recycling, costuming

I have pictures, but I have to get to rehearsal.
Wait til you see.

Busier than a one-armed paper hanger

Said it myself the other day
It was said of me today.
Forgot to tell any pirate jokes yesterday.
(Sir, what's that steering wheel in your lap?
Arrr, it's drivin me nuts)

I have a growing box of t-shirts cut up into balls of knitting fun.
I have a little chain-mail inspired t-shirt balaclava going. Okay, not actually balaclava, but I have no other word.
I have no pictures.
But I have the copy-cat instincts of, well, name it....

My pirate name is:

Red Jenny Cash

Passion is a big part of your life, which makes sense for a pirate. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Sometime's a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.
I have to go find supper.

Hmong handiwork

During the summer there was an interesting conversation on the knitty coffeeshop board regarding the integration of Hmong refugees into midwest communities.

At the time I mentioned that I had long ago purchased a piece of pandau. Pardon me for using the anglicized spelling, but it's the one I remember right now. The woman who was selling her handiwork was a resident of the uptown area of Chicago. I remember that the church held an artist's reception for her, which I thought was appropriate. I was a college student and counted this my first purchase of art.

Finished!

I have finished the airplane socks. Airport socks? Alas, how quickly the memory fades. But the socks are gorgeous, George. Wait til you see. And you will have to wait. I have no pictures. Too much life going on right now.

I have finished the project for the sp4 and returned the library book from whence the pattern came. MAIL. MUST SHIP. GAH. Thank goodness we've been in contact and she assures me she's patient.

Those done, I have made more progress on the Cambio. Needed something smaller for choir rehearsals and Bach, which starts up Sunday. Not able to determine anything clever, I have begun a lovely little scarf from another library loan (Scarf Style, just looking, I said.) Using the lovely warm reddish Silky Wool from the first package mittenfarce sent for knittysp4 in a variation of the Vintage Velvet scarf. I like the idea of the reversable (k1p1) cable. As I'm making this a one skein scarflet, I decided to make it extra slim and pared off some of the extra border ribs. I figured this would be a nice way to play with the Lavold Silky Wool, as it must be well suited to cabling. Haven't done cables in awhile. Whomped through two mega-cably sweaters some years ago and haven't wandered back. Made an error already (extra row or two) and have decided it will be part of the art.

As for art, will have to post later some of the t-shirt knitting fun I intend to be having (with others, no less) for some costume work. Tomorrow, t-shirt dying, I think. Monday and Tuesday, we cut them up.

Midwest knitting indeed!

Every now and then states are referred to by their area of the map rather than by their two-color election patterns and sweeping generalizations about political viewpoint. Seems less frequent lately. At any rate, I'm typically myopic enough to furrow my eyebrows in question at hearing Ohio named midwest. I know it is. A good friend in South Dakota maps her midwest from Ohio through South Dakota. However, it is interesting that we tend to identify our definition of a region from the viewpoint of our personal maps.

My personal midwest includes:

• Illinois - now with enough of Illinois to have outgrown the Chicago myopia where everything beyond the city limits is "downstate." (Stereotype? Afraid not.) Learned to knit here.

• Wisconsin - A drive-through state with a couple counties of family heritage and geneology records (births, deaths, burials, property ownership, church founders) Still have extended family who live throughout. My very first circular knitting needles came from a recently departed dear Wisconsin family knitter.

• Minnesota - family and family visiting from northernmost points to south of the cities. Lived and worked there for short stints. LOTS of knitting on those family visits. Shipped my knitting to and from here when I lived out east.

• Iowa - I should know more of the Iowa lyrics from State Fair and The Music Man, I should. Somehow I managed not to work on or see either in a full production while I lived there. They must be just around the corner. Iowa was the home of the first stacks of plastic knitting tubs.

• South Dakota - Among my SoDak adventures was a weekend of sitting at a cattle show in the Black Hills working the booth of a scale company. And it was a knitting adventure - I was knitting a Fassett inspired red and black sweater* while I worked the cattle show.

*The Maine Monster, to be discussed at a later date.

24 hours no knitting

Ah, school.

Choices, choices, choices

Planning to plan the designated project for BWV 96. That's cantata speak for the specific cantata that's up next. Seems they were numbered and catalogued. Bet Bach as today's knitter would have his stash catalogued and computerized. He certainly frogged plenty of his previous works and worked them up into new ones. (Sorry. Carried away. Bach jokes made with knitting references are a bad sign. Must be time to leave.)

There's a morning star thing (no it's not that morning star tune or lyric). Colors. Motifs. Maybe.
I do have some newly gifted Malabrigos in Paris Nights.

Green's the color of the season, and I have lovely green potential projects in the stash. However, that's too liturgical for me. The red sock thing, fine.

Or there's the mathematical possibility of something with 96 stitches - or a 96 stitch repeat before borders/selvages. Could work. 96 is good.

This post is no good to anyone. This is, however, a log. I will capture this feeble planning moment until I'm ready to delete it.

Taking requests

I had the second person in two days ask me, with enthusiasm, if I might teach them to knit. I'm developing a fairly simple theory about knitting's popularity. It's not as simple as trend appeal. The heightened visibility of knitting makes it seem more attainable. I used to hear far more people say "I couldn't do that." (Of course, that popped up today, too, but I cheerfully let her off the hook, assuring her that I was probably taking care of her yarn consumption allotment.)

I also think it's like a string around the finger. While the might-be-knitter isn't wearing the reminder, she or he is seeing MANY more people with strings on their fingers as reminders of what's on the life's to-do list.

Happy to help.

And now I'm off to watch a Jane Austen film. I have my knitting. Will be ready to take requests, if there's another incipient knitter present -- but not for the finished product.

Get Ready to Rumble!

This fine repro poster art postcard was at the top of the grand box of goodies from Mittenfarce.

And how fitting it was ....


I took out the loosely crumpled newsprint which cushioned the top of the box. Dropped the paper unceremoniously in a heap. Into the room bounced the not very often so bouncy anymore Miss Imogene. Her 14-year-old sedate, spoon-while-you-knit demeanor was replaced by a vigorous display of hunting, rustling and wrestling with paper. Pictures? What kind of self-respecting cat companion and digital dabbler would I be if there were no pictures?

However, I tried to post this once already. (You should have read the first version!) Productive phone calls timed me out. I may have to post the gratuitous kitty photos tomorrow.

So yes, even the kitties were delighted by the box. Oohing, aahing, laughter, and a great kitty rumble.

Knitty SP4 - August Splendor

Mittenfarce is a kind and generous soul.  It's been such fun visiting with her through the course of this event.  And in this sunrise photo, you may spy a bit of the splendor she sent. 

Starting from the lower left corner and working counter-clockwise:  Habu Paper Moire, handspun alpaca, Malabrigos merino, a rustic and decadent block of artisan soap, a package of tasty looking mix for beer bread (for which she covertly advised me yesterday to pick up a little Goose Island Summer Ale - which I did), a tube of rich hand cream, and a wine cozy she made.  I haven't had anyone knit anything for me since grandma knit slippers and mittens for little girls.

The beautiful soap block is very French, you know. You can almost spy some of the print here. Beautiful from all sides - and I was just about to go browsing the fine soap counter, too.

Habu Paper Moire

Oh my.  I've seen a photo of Habu's magically expanding, densely packaged skeins.  This lovely sage green linen blend is intriguing.  I had to hide it from the cats, as it looked just the right size and an interesting texture for hunting.

Creamy white alpaca

Looks like sunset.  Seems it can be too early in the morning for photographic natural light.

Malabrigos "Paris Nights"

Hmm.  That morning light and no flash combo might have worked better, I'd have thought.  Nonetheless, this beautiful kettle-dyed merino is deep, deep blues.  I could dive right in.

Beautiful Cotton Wine Cozy

This beautiful blue (think sky and cloud colors) cotton cozy was knit by the very charming mittenfarce.

This was in the wine cozy

Beautiful deep grey alpaca and deep, clear red. (Took this in the morning light, and it was just early enough to cast a more golden light on the whole business. If I retake, I'll replace.) The colors are yummier than this, and the yarn is yummier than the colors. (That sounds wrong somehow, or at least not as gushy as I wished.) The colors are gorgeous, George, and the alpaca is invitingly soft. I'll warrant this will be some fine, fine knitting.

Cotton Cozy