Month: July 2007

knitting oddities

More Knitted Biology

Jen1 Comment

Remember this? And this? Check this one out:

an anatomically correct knitted heart, complete with valves and chambers. Designed by Paul Magnusson of Whidbey Island.

You can find the pattern for the heart here. Paul also designed a knitted hip replacement (scroll down for the hip) and some other neat stuff–a beautiful afghan, and even a camouflage suit! He is an interesting character and an amazing knitter. He and his wife have been knitting together for about 40 years.

Paul, thanks for the links and the permissions to post about your knitting! :-)

crochet · off topic

Amigurumi

Jen1 Comment

I’ve been seeing a lot of this out there in the crochet world. I feel like I’m late to the party.

off topic

The End

Jen3 Comments

I finished Harry Potter 7 today and I will only say that it was a wonderful and satisfying book (no spoilers here!). I would also like to offer my thoughts on actual reading vs. listening to the audio book which was obtained by Mr. Interrupted for me so I would not have to interrupt my sock knitting (hah).

I do enjoy the weight of a book in my hand and the feel and sound of the of the pages as I turn them, but listening to the audio book really allowed me to savor the story and absorb it in a way that I wouldn’t have if I’d read the book. Since I tend to be a fast reader and often rush through my reading so quickly that I barely remember what I’ve read after I’ve read it, listening to the audio book forced me to slow down and really take in the story as I heard it. This was especially true toward the end, as the steam-train of the plot began to pick up speed and rush downhill toward the climax and conclusion of the story. If I were reading, I would have rushed along with it. However, with the audio book I had to slow up and I believe my enjoyment of the story was enhanced by this.

Many object to audio books on the basis that the voice of the reader tends to be an imposition upon their own imaginations, but I do not believe this to be the case. I found Jim Dale to be a talented and entertaining reader and the voices he used for the characters only expanded and complimented my imaginings of them.

Finally I would like to apologize to Boing Boing! for cursing them in a recent post. I thought for sure they’d posted a spoiler. My bad. I hope you can forgive me.

life

Where did the time go?

Jen2 Comments

I haven’t posted since Wednesday. Sorry dear readers, I guess it’s been a crazy week. Tuesday was Grocery Shopping day, Wednesday we went to the AMNH museum in Manhattan.

(I-6 is mad because I interrupted his picture taking to take this picture. E is proud of himself because he can say “cheese”.)

Yesterday was Library Day. Today is Knitting Group (with a quick stop at the LYS‘s sidewalk sale). It’s a whirlwind! (I know it doesn’t seem like grocery shopping or going to the library should take all day, but with two small children in tow, the simplest of errands often become the grandest of all-day adventures.)

I haven’t even done much knitting. I’ve been waiting for my MIL to send me my FIL’s arm measurement. I was only reunited with my MIL’s Jaywalker on Wednesday. The days of knitting while strolling leisurely among the dinosaur bones are long gone. Yesterday I was reading. Whew!

Knitting

I think it might be too big…

Jen2 Comments

Here’s the progress on my first toe-up sock.

Doesn’t it look big to you? It is, it’s just about 12 inches long. Big enough for my husband’s size 13’s but I think that my FIL is more like a size 10. I decided to rip back a little, so I pulled out the needles, then I thought it might look nice with a different ribbing pattern–maybe a 3×1 or a 4×1. I haven’t decided so the sock is on vacation while I sort it out.

In the mean time, I started this:

I am almost positive I do not have enough yarn for a pair of socks, so I was thinking I would do just one really spectacular and adorable kid-sized sock. Perhaps a lacy knee-high. We’ll see. The Jaywalker for my MIL is still incommunicado–having a vacation at my friend’s house.

ravelry

BFF IRL

Jen3 Comments

I really, really want to ask the Yarn Harlot to be on my Ravelry friends list, but I fear the silent, online snub. This is, with the dozens of social networking websites out there, apparently a growing issue. The Situationist recently featured an article about the “etiquette pitfalls” of online social networking.

With networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace expanding expedientially, the rise of cyber friendships has brought with it a new set of social niceties, conventions and potential embarrassments.

Such sites are designed to set up an online network of friends to keep in touch and to exchange gossip but, as in all social situations, the results can be fraught. How can you separate friends from mere online acquaintances? How do you tell someone that you don’t want to be their friend? What do you do when you discover that you suddenly have countless “friends” whom you either don’t know or don’t like?

(link to the complete article)

Maybe I am taking the whole friends list thing too seriously. I’ve never been on MySpace or FaceBook or any of the others, so maybe it really is about quantity not quality. Although, I think I would prefer to have a list with just a few people with whom I’ve at least exchanged emails than to have a list with hundreds of random people that I don’t even know.

I would consider it the greatest compliment to have the Harlot on my friends list and to be on hers, but I don’t want to be that person: the annoying, awkward friender on Ravelry.

Uncategorized

Master’s Monday 4

Jen1 Comment

It is quiet out there on the knitting blogs–I guess everyone is reading. I had an agreement with Mr. Interrupted that he could read the book first, so I wonder if I am the only Harry Potter fan not reading book 7 right now?

So, today is Master’s Monday. Here’s the best of what I worked on this week.

I’m unhappy. That was done on a US 5. See the holes? *grumble* (Also, that is not as good a picture as I thought. Sorry!)

I really hesitate to go down to smaller needles for fear of being unable to get a 4×4 square–you must cast on 20 stitches, you see. Also, I’m not sure if going down a needle size would really solve my problems. Perhaps I just am not a good enough knitter (yet) for the Master’s program?

Besides, I’m starting to feel the pressure of my many other knitting projects. You know, the ones with a holiday deadline? (I’m sure you have them too.) So, I’ve decided to focus on SoS and Holiday knitting and pick up the Master’s program again in December or January. That way, I’d get in a few more months of solid knitting and approach the swatches fresh.

So long (for now) Master’s Monday!

Summer of Socks

Making up for Lost Time

Jen1 Comment

Friday was a crazy day. We had a playdate and a friend’s house and by the time I’d gathered everyone up and headed home (at 9:30 pm) I was so strung out that I forgot the knitting project I was working on–the second Jaywalker for my MIL. It’s not like I don’t have any other knitting to do, so it’s not a big deal. I was able to work on this:
It was going to be a Jaywalker for my FIL, but you remember how unfortunate that was turning out to be. Now, it’s going to be my very first toe-up sock. Let me tell you, I am really enjoying it. Knitting toe-up may become my preferred method of sock knitting. Doesn’t it look so much better?

In other news, my Yarn Pirate club shipment arrived on Thursday. Unlike some other websites (damn you Boing Boing!) I don’t want to spoil it for other people, so here is the booty if you want to check it out. The yarn is stunning. It literally took my breath away. I can’t wait to knit with it.

Finally, my technophobic friend has finally joined the 21st century by starting a blog. Head on over there and leave her a comment welcoming her to the blogosphere.

off topic

What if?

Jen

What if your favorite (or most hated) celebrity never made it to the big time? What would they look like? This guy has an amazing collection of Joe-Schmo’d celebs. Enjoy! (Thanks for the link, Boing Boing!)

Summer of Socks

At the Pool

Jen7 Comments

Jen of Knitting Sutra recently wrote about a pooling issue she is having with a pair of socks for her MIL. Jen doesn’t like pooling, not even a little, and is having a contest to search for a pool-defying pattern for the offending yarn. Go over and check it out. I’ll wait.

You back? Anyway, I read the post, having my own opinion about pooling in variegated yarns, decided not to enter the contest, and promptly forgot about it. That is, until I ran into this

while working on the jaywalkers for my FIL. Ordinarily, I could care less if the colors pool. In fact, I think it can be attractive. But this… Well, it ain’t pretty, that’s for sure.

As I re-read Jen’s post today, I remembered being amazed that there could be a debate in the knit community about something like color pooling and I thought, “Why not do a survey?” So, what’s your opinion? The survey is over there in the side bar if you want to cast your vote.

As for my FIL’s sock, I’m feeling rather stumped. Should I frog it and try to start over at another point in the yarn’s stripe pattern? Will that make a difference? Should I use a different stitch pattern? I don’t know. I’ve never thought about how to defeat color pooling because I always thought it was kind of neat. But now…. Any ideas?