I just got home from a great knitting meetup at the Second Cup at Gare Centrale. I’ll blog more about it later, but first just wanted to say how excited I was when I got home and saw my secret pal info in my inbox!
This should, theoretically, mean that someone out there is MY secret pal. If so, then gimme about 10 minutes then you can click in the sidebar under Secret Pal Q&A and I’ll have filled in my questionnaire. Feel free to ask me anything else you’d like!
I’m so excited!
I really hope it’s the weather. I don’t know why, I usually LOVE rainy days and stormy weather, but today for some reason I’m just feeling so sad and out of it. If I stop and think there is technically nothing wrong. Yannick and I haven’t really been fighting, my knitting is going well, I’ve lost a couple of pounds, and I’m going to Las Vegas in less than 2 weeks. Yet I can’t shake this feeling like I just want to cry! I was planning on coming home from work tonight, doing my exercise tape, taking a shower and knitting until sleepy. Instead I dragged myself into the kitchen to make popcorn and promised myself I’d take my shower in the morning before work. I’m knitting maybe a row every 5-10 minutes, and have 0 desire to be working on the Shapely Tank tonight. I don’t even think it’s project blues because the thought of working on something else or even starting something new isn’t appealing to me. I know how good I’d feel if I did my tape and yet I’m just too depressed to do it, plus the later it gets the more I don’t want to have to shower late at night. I know I’m going to lose this funk soon, I’m sure it’s just temporary, but is it so wrong that a part of me just wants to curl up in bed with a comforter (hey- apt name) and a knitting book, a big mug of tea and some Kleenex?
Ok, I need to cheer myself up. What’s good?*
-I’ve completed the entire front and 31 of the estimated 170 rows of the back on Shapely Tank
-I got to speak to Bernie today even though it was only for a few minutes. (P.s. to Bernie- don’t feel obliged to accept a knitting gift, eh? Feel free to tell me if you’d rather another type of gift. My aim is to please YOU GUYS, and getting to knit something would only be a bonus for me) 🙂
-Yannick doesn’t want to break up with me (not that we’re on the brink or anything. I just asked him tonight “do you want to break up with me” and his answer was “no, of course not, why would you ask me that?” so I’m pretty safe in my assumption.)
-I will be getting The Jansen Directive and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on cd and tape, respectively, back from the library once the person who reserved them- thus stopping me from renewing them- gives them back, ‘cus I’ve reserved them right back.
-I have lost a few pounds and changed my eating habits.
-While I’m not sure if I like my haircut, it is much easier to comb after a shower.
-I’m cute.
-Secret Pal 5 will be starting up anytime soon and I’m hopefully going to be a part of it.
-My cousin Robyn changed her bridesmaid dress color from red (hard to find) to black (whew!).
-Yannick will be home soon and can give me a hug.
Ok, so I do have something to look forwards to.
*This reminds me of the anniversary gift I gave Yannick last year. For an entire year I kept a journal listing 10 items a day that made me thankful to have him in my life, and then on our anniversary I had it printed and bound and gave the 2″ thick book to him.
http://www.palmsource.com/interests/knitting/
(scroll down to User Stories at the bottom)
http://www.palmsource.com/interests/knitting/
(scroll down to User Stories at the bottom)
http://www.palmsource.com/interests/knitting/
(scroll down to User Stories at the bottom)
I’ve been knitting like a madwoman and have accomplished the front of my Shapely Tank. Voila!
Now I’m off to work on the back while watching the season finales of American Idol and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. I’d be lost without TV!
Update: see end of post for information about a downloadable pattern pdf
A knitting game, you ask? Is such a thing possible?
“Yes!” I say.
This game evolved from a challenge I was given in my knitting class to knit a “random” scarf- we had to select a bunch of varying yarns in colors we liked and work them in knit and purl rows to form a scarf. It was to be an exercise in the textures you can achieve with those two little stitches.
Ahem. I can’t do “random”. I needed to come up with a way to be random with as much control as possible…and the Knitting Game was born.
It’s so easy to play along! All you need is 6 balls of yarn, 1 die, 1 coin, and a long circular knitting needle that is a bit larger than the average thickness of your chosen yarns. I used a 9 US/5.5mm but if you are using mostly aran weight and thicker, you might want to choose something bigger.
On a piece of paper, assign each of the 6 skeins to a number 1 through 6.
Also assign the “heads” and “tails” of the coin to knit and purl (not necessarily in that order).
You also need to decide how long to make the scarf. I wanted mine about 6′ long including a 4″ fringe at each end, so I cast on enough sts to be about 5′ long.
Now the fun part!
Step 1: Roll the die to get a number. Cast on with the yarn that matches that number. Cut yarn, leaving a 4″ tail.
Step 2: Roll the die to get a number. Toss the coin to get “heads” or “tails”, and depending on what you designated “heads” or “tails” to be, it tells you to knit or purl that row.
Follow the directions of fate across the row using the yarn that matched the number you rolled on the die. Make sure to start with a 4″ tail left loose, and cut the yarn at the end of the row, leaving a 4″ tail.
The 4” of loose yarn at the beginning and end of the row will become your fringe.
Step 3: Repeat step 2 until the scarf reaches your desired width.
Step 4: Once the scarf is the width you would like, roll the die to get a number and bind off with the yarn matching the number you rolled. Don’t forget to leave a 4″ tail when you cut the yarn.
Knot the yarn ends together in groups of 2-5 strands to secure, and trim if necessary.
Voila! A completely random scarf that fulfills any need for control while leaving things totally up to chance! The coolest part is that no two scarves will ever be alike! 😀
This pattern is on Ravelry here.
This pattern is provided free above, but if you’d prefer an easy-to-print PDF version, I have made it available here for a very small fee. The PDF includes the full instructions in an easy to read layout with full color images.
This pattern was also published in the 2006 Knitting Pattern-A-Day calendar and has been featured in an assortment of guild newsletters as well as been used to run knitting classes/workshops. Future newsletter/class/workshop permissions are granted provided the pattern copies are purchased through me and all credit is given to me as the creator/designer.
*Updated January 2020
Two big reveals of the night:
1) I’ve finished another skein of the Sirocco…it’s looking good to have the Shapely Tank for June 4th. Everything else is on hold until then, even the baby outift (but it’s not due until October so I should be ok).
2) I will officially be in Las Vegas from the 9th to 14th of June. I’ll probably start freaking out in another week or so.
To Jan from the comments: ;] My sense of humor was born in the gutter.
To Atouria from the comments: I’m not sure yet what they’ll pick, but, should I not finish in time, I can always go down to TO after the wedding and bring it to them. I’m sure they’ll understand the short notice. Besides, the groom of the couple has been my bestest truest friend since early high school…I’m sure he won’t mind if it’s late. The wedding is going to be so cool! No white dress or frilly cake, and it will take place outdoors…it’s hard to explain but you can check out the details here. I think it’s so cool that they are having a wedding that represents truly who THEY are, as opposed to the *traditional* wedding that people are expected to have.
Apparently I’m a glutton for punishment.
As if I didn’t already have enough wips, I extended the offer to my friend Bernie that he and his fiance Yafit could each pick something from www.knitpicks.com as a wedding gift. They liked the idea and are browsing the site. Their wedding is in August. Yes, there is a very good chance I will not be finished, especially since nothing is even ordered yet.
And for another self-imposed deadline, I started working on the Shapely Tee yesterday when Yannick’s mom called to remind me of a formal even we have in 2 weeks. Suddenly I had visions of me wearing Shapely Tee (which will probably be Shapely Tank in that case). Yesterday I finished the first skein of Sirocco Cotton & Linen and started the second. I’ve just finished the waistline decreases and am about to do the straight section before I increase again. Am I crazy to think I’ll have it done in 2 weeks?
Now I’m off to go see the latest (and last) Star Wars. I don’t really care what the story will be like as long as I can see Yoda. He reminds me of my grandfather.
First of all, it’s my dad’s bday today! I won’t “sing” here ‘cus Yannick and I already woke him up at around 9:15 this morning, singing in his ear over the phone.
I got such a good sleep last night! I had to put in earplugs because no joke Yannick’s snoring has gotten so bad that Thursday night when I still hadn’t fallen asleep by 5:30am I kicked him out of the room. But last night after I left our poker game early (and came upstairs, they were playing in our kitchen lol) I slept so well I didn’t even hear him come to bed. Turns out Debbie, playing for the first time wiht us, was the big winner.
Until yesterday I kinda forgot that I had today off work. Now I’m trying to come up with stuff to do. My original plan was to work on the baby outfit, but I’ve been working on it non-stop all week and would like to take a breather and work on something else. These are my options:
1) work on the baby outfit anyways
2) try to swatch my Goldilocks to see if I can use it for a Truly Tasha’s Shawl [update note: I’ve since decided to use my 3 skeins of Noro Kureyon in a gorgeous dark red colorway (#124) to make the shawl, and have just ordered the additional 5 skeins I’ll need from my LYS. TTS will be expensive but beautiful.]
3) start my Shapely Tee with the Sirocco Cotton & Linen
4) design and knit a cover for my knitting journal (my real-life counterpart to this blog). This might not work out as I still need to get something to use with my Koigu unless I switch yarns altogether.
5) actually put stuff into the knitting journal. Right now it’s got my sketches in there, but I still need to add photos of all my FOs and wips and stuff.
jeloca.com 