I finished Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass last night. I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. It was reasonably well-written, but I’m not compelled to finish the series. Something about a lead character that’s both a child and an accomplished liar. The last chapter screams bad melodrama.
I’ve started the new scarf for my niece. Nerd that I am, I used Excel to develop a pattern chart, with conditional formatting to simplify the distribution of the colors and functions to ensure that I didn’t over-allocate the highlight colors and that I didn’t give myself too many purl rows.
Chili for dinner again; that’s about all I was up for. Same method as last time with a slightly different blend of chilis: 4 anchos, 3 New Mexican, 2 pasilla, 2 arbol and 2 guajillo. I’ll add that there was more onion cooked in with the meat as well as cumin and Mexican oregano.
I got goodies in the mail yesterday, not gifts, just goodies. I got two hanks of rayon chenille to play with, seven balls of an alpaca/silk blend (3 pale green, 3 pink and 2 raspberry) for a rainy day, two Addi circulars and one pair of Addi straight needles. I take back the nasty remarks I made about circs. Those are really nice, if not cheap.
No progress on Nebuchadnezzar’s Beard because I still can’t decide on a color. I am considering frogging back about eight or ten rows and alternating in the white for more of a a zebra than panda effect.
To do: cast on for another hat for my spouse. He liked Hat I enough he wants one of his own, but with the stripes on the outside: charcoal-grey and lavender.
The owner at the LYS didn’t understand why I would put stripes on the inside of a hat. Overcoats can have flashy linings, why not hats. Besides I was practicing my stripes, and not all the joins are as smooth as I’d like, and I knew they wouldn’t be.. From some of the looks I get from the LYSO, I don’t think she gets the concept of men knitting.
While I was relatively incoherent last week, a copy of Scarf Style arrived, ordered on Sean’s recommendation. There’s a few of them that look pretty interesting and require a bit more practice.
Currently listening to: Oh What A World by Rufus Wainwright, followed by Evil Angel
Seeing as I’ll probably be stuck in the apartment all weekend I had to get new supplies.
On the left, at the back is some Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino with which I plan to make a scarf for my elder niece. I really like this yarn, almost as much as alpaca. The white wool will end up as part of something for her mom, my sister (it’s been twenty years and that still sound strange).
On the right are two hanks of Misti Alpaca, one creamy white, the other a pale blue on top of Nebuchadnezzar’s Beard (Scarf IV). One of the two will be the center band for that scarf, but I’m undecided which. Wholly charcoal-black is no longer an option; my LYS sold out.
Currently listening to: A Thousand Beautiful Things (Gabriel And Dresden Tech Funk Mix) from Annie Lennox’s Wonderful (Import CD Single)
Nyquil should be taken from a shotglass.
The blocked, black alpaca of Hat I absolutely sucks the light out of the picture. No detail is apparent at all. It’s a black blob. The camera can’t even focus on it. No exterior shots. The large swathes of red of the interior blow out the red pixels of the camera. No interior shots. There are no pictures of the hat at all. Despair.
Spouse will take pictures with his new, much better camera. Later.
Currently listening to: the TV in the other room. Divine Design is on next. Gotta go. It’s really over the top this week.
A black alpaca skullcap done in stockinette with 5 P2 ridges evenly spaced. The red is on the inside, just for fun. In theory it should be reversible, but there’s a mistake in the red (I’m not showing) that makes it unlikely. The hat is complete, and looks pretty good inside out, but I don’t have pictures yet.
[29 Jan-23 Feb 05]
Misti Alpaca Worsted; 1 skein black (color 8903) and almost a full skein of red (color 3620); 50g/109yds/4 ply; knit on #5 dpns