The Golden Iris

First of all, I'd like to thank everybody for your supportive comments on my last post. I'm glad to know I'm not alone with occasional frustration and misunderstandings over something as inessential as a hobby. And don't worry, I don't get nasty comments like that all the time; mostly I just get mild confusion. When we're watching movies, I get the same reaction as you do, Sarah -- you know, I am capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time, so why not knitting and paying attention to a movie?! In any case, I'll still knit happily on. Unfortunately we're still having computer issues over here, so I can't show you any knitting photos (but I finished my Sidewinders, so hopefully I can show you those soon!) Yet through the magic of iPhone, I can show you this fabulous photo of Jack White and the wonderful mirrorball that took my breath away during Saturday night's show. Actually, it's not that great of a photo, and it doesn't su

"Knitting is a stupid hobby." Those few words, spoken by the other member of my household, nearly drove me to inarticulate rage last night. We had sat down to dinner - enchiladas, if you want to know - and I was in the midst of talking about the new 25th Anniversary Vogue Knitting magazine. I had wanted to share it, show how it was put together, and figured we could have a laugh at the preponderance of advertising and bizarre design that filled its pages. Alas, this was not to be so. Not only was I interrupted with a complete non sequitur on his part, showing me a different magazine from another genre (hello, can you sit down and listen for a minute? you're not the only one here with interests or opinions), but the reaction I got was totally unexpected. I was shaking my head at the latest Maie Landra-Koigu design (a suit set with short tuxedo pants, modular construction to the tune of 55 skeins of KPPPM and sequins, sequins for crying out loud), hoping to get some a

Beautiful and delicious. And quick! I think Argosy gives a lot of bang for the buck, especially if you pick a yarn you love. This is a pretty simple pattern that is easy to memorize and fun to knit. I don't often make things twice, but hey -- I will definitely recommend this pattern. I wish I could just up and splurge on Noro yarns so often, but maybe these things are like candy: it's only fun if you only get it every once in a while. The stats: Pattern: Vyvyan 's Argosy , on knitty.com Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Lite 2011, 2 balls Needles: #6 circs that were annoyingly long, but they're the only ones I've got Mods: I widened the scarf to 7 blocks wide rather than 5; I like to wear my fingering-weight Clapotis and figured I'd be happier with a wider, slightly shorter, scarf. I got 22 center-panel repeats with just a little ball of yarn left over. I haven't actually measured the scarf, but it is a nice scarf length and I wouldn't want it to be much

Please enjoy this slightly stiff photo of my foot inside what actually turned out to be a sock. Can we say, hellooo, awesome vertical stripes?! Shocking, indeed. With a foot not in it it doesn't seem quite sock-shaped, but I'm sure a washing and a blocking will take care of that. I love my cheap ol' wire coat hanger sock blockers. I need to get on the ball and make the second sock, but I've spent most of my knitting time today working on the button bands, collar, and sewing on the Grannie Smith cardigan. I've got one sleeve left to set in, the side seams to do, and the buttons to sew on, and then it will be ready for fall. Unfortunately doing the sewing on mohair requires serious natural light, or sitting under my hot hot halogen lamp, so it will have to wait for another day. I've been killing time today while the other member of my household has savored the latest offering in the J.K. Rowling enterprise; it arrived around 2PM today in a cute little Harry-P

While I am probably unable to believe six impossible things before breakfast, I have been able to scare up some weird and wacky things to do. Like this Sidewinder sock. I hope blocking makes these better, because a fix seems to require ripping out 100% of the sock. Which I have finished knitting. And I ripped out the provisional cast-on, and have been avoiding trying to graft 125 stitches together all afternoon. I put it around my foot, and I think it will fit. I think. Kind of. It used surprisingly little yarn, which makes me even more suspicious. The thought of stripes running the wrong way for an ordinary sock sways me when I am discouraged.... But I love love love these colors and textures! Even garter stitch is pleasing on little bitty needles, and I really like the feel of it. Even if it is a weirdly shaped object that may or may not actually fit, depending partially on if I can summon up the guts to actually, you know, sew it together. Because if I didn't, that wou

Lately I've been thinking about a blog overhaul. We've been considering buying new domain names, and I could actually have an independent blog, all of which sounds cool and scary. With all this time on my hands, I thought, I could surely think of a name that was something clever, easy to remember, and representative of me and my interests. Well, I thought wrong. I am completely free of clever, snappy ideas. It's almost blissful, until I remember that it's really irritating. It's as if I don't know myself well enough to put my essence into a word or two. Then again, maybe it's a good thing that I can't fit into a word or two. Let me know if you think you could do it. Know what else is really irritating? A room that looks like this: That's the second bedroom in the apartment, which I tried to tackle today. I got about halfway through and suddenly ran out of closet space. What used to go in a huge walk-in closet now has to fit in about 4 fee

Even though it was almost 100 degrees and humid here yesterday, I ran the oven to bake cupcakes. Normally I'd balk at the energy use, especially with the air conditioning on (we really should get a toaster oven) but these were a special request from my overworked partner-in-moving. And since moving is a pain in the neck, he gets what he asks for. Marbled cupcakes, from scratch. I used the old Betty Crocker Dinette Cake recipe (the original edition of this says something along the lines of " 'most cakes are too large for my small family!' Here's one you can actually finish before it goes stale!") so it wouldn't make so many, partially because I didn't want 2 dozen cupcakes hanging around, partially because I didn't have enough sugar, and partially because I only have two six-cup muffin tins. I had almost forgotten what real cake tastes like because I've made too many box mix cakes lately. The only drawback is that I don't have an elect

...more or less. I moved this weekend and while nobody likes moving, I'm glad it's over and I had no major snags with packing, driving, unloading or returning the truck. Most of the public space in the apartment was unpacked yesterday. This, however, is what the spare room looks like: Same boxes, different apartment. I have to find room for all of that somewhere (where, I don't know) and make that useable as a guest room again. Yikes. But I have found free time to knit! Hooray! To celebrate being all in one place, I'm starting a whole bunch of projects. There is Noro Silk Garden Lite in a beautiful colorway (greys, pinks, purple, brown) for an Argosy scarf . There is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Bittersweet for Sidewinder socks , which I have been dying to try since the pattern came out. And there is about half of a Baby Surprise Jacket in Hobby Kids, which I started yesterday. No, there is no emergency knitting needed for imminent babies, but I like to have

After weeks of pretending -- and believing -- I've moved to Virginia, I had to come back to Delaware and face reality. I might have been living in VA but all my stuff was in DE. It's amazing how long you can live out of a suitcase provided you have laundry facilities.... But this is my reality: A living room full of boxes and tubs. For a (ex-)grad student, I don't have that many books, but for somebody who wants to move, I have way too many books. Funny that. And gee, in this photo you can't hardly see the two giant tubs of yarn, or the two sewing machines, or the, um, other tub worth of yarn that hasn't been packed yet. Right. This is what a yarn diet gets me? The kitchen and the closets haven't been touched. Those are next. Yuck....