MarQ1

Not the best picture, perhaps.

This two-day wonder was knit on #8 Inox dpn’s with Reynolds Rapture, 50% silk/50% wool. I love this yarn. Soft. Warm. I want to make myself a sweater out of it. [One really not cheap sweater.] With a hood maybe.

This, on the other hand, is a Winter Solstice present:

The yarn is Debbie Bliss Soho. I bought one ball to play with, liked it and bought three more (same dye lot) to make a scarf, then bought a fifth (same dye lot) because I thought it would be too short. The first three balls were consistent: the same varying of thickness, a balanced color palette and minimal pooling. The fourth was wound too tightly; there are thin, ropey spots in the scarf. The fifth was muddy, so muddy that I only used half the ball and finished off sooner than I had hoped. I still like the way it turned out though.

Personally, I think that the Soho is too scratchy for anything worn next to the skin, but J thinks it’s fine. Guess who’s family is getting this one?

Note: The Soho bleeds dye profusely in the first wash. I’m glad I wet-blocked this and rised it thoroughly. It would have ruined a coat in a rain or snow storm.

It would probably felt nicely.

I’m working on a length-wise scarf using the Reynolds Rapture. The first twelve rows were interesting, but now I’m bored. I like patterns.

A co-worker retired today: 37 years. She started working at the firm when I was 10.

Funny, she’s seemed a lot happier than the rest of us.

I know.

I got my monitor back from the repair center on Friday, but I’ve been engrossed in a scarf, a Saturnalia gift for my younger niece. Anybody who tells her gets acrylic, you hear?

Actually, I finished another scarf and a hat since the last post. Monday was way cooler than pleasant, Tuesday was worse and Tuesday after work I said “Hell with Saturnalia, I need a warmer hat!” and went at it.

*interruption*

Sorry, got called away. Pictures tomorrow. Bedtime

Yesterday was nice and warm, and I went out on the bike wearing a shirt much too warm. My apologies to any of you who might have seen me after I took it off. The wind was something else. The last hour of the trip was almost entirely against the wind; it was like biking uphill all the way. Heading north on 3rd Ave, I was hit by a head-on gust of wind and I just stopped moving. By the time I got home, only 5 minutes later, my legs were screaming. Two hours later, at Gravy, a new “diner” on Smith St, they hurt so bad I wanted to scream.” The left still hurts. Wimp.
When we got back from dinner I switched on the Mac. Mac came on, “Cinema Display” did not. Dead. No power. Nada. Only seven months old. AARGH.

Fortunately, still under warranty.

I’m using J’s old, back-of-a-VW-Beetle-size, 21″ VGA Sony Trinitron CRT. It’s like being at work. Blurry, but sharper than the NEC I have at work, and I can’t find a comfortable resolution. Of course, it’s so big, it’s practically got nose prints on it.
I’ve have to read or knit instead of playing with my Mac. I’ve been reading #6 in Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander series, The Fortune of War. I’ve also knit an entire hat. It’s nothing special, aside from a neat set of decreases that give it three k3 ribs all the way up the crown. Knit the round in bulky Turkish wool on #8’s, it was pretty quick and easy. I did 2/3’s on a circ and the rest on dpn’s, and I was much more comfortable on the dpn’s.

One notable annoyance with the wool, Feza Zarone, is the hot glue from the label stuck to the yarn with really no way to excise it without shaving or cutting. Otherwise, it’s fairly soft and would probably felt nicely.
Yesterday must have been “Root Through Someone Else’s Trash Day.” You would have thought we’d planted diamonds in the cans. One woman even brought her own rubber gloves.
We watched Alexander last night. The lack of deviance from historical tale was surprising, but HBO’s Rome blows it away.

Probably not yet, but this afternoon I looked out my 20th floor office window, in Brooklyn, and saw snowflakes mixed into the rain. Other people saw it too. On the ground, fortunately it was all just rain.

Poor J: he had to work. I’m guessing that his employer is too politically correct to consider Columbus Day a holiday.
Me? I didn’t exactly waste the entire day. I washed the bathmats. Knit some. Sewed a cover for my swift out of an old pillowcase [ten minutes to set up the sewing machine, one minute to sew one stitch 6″ from the long edge and cut off the remainder]. Brushed my teeth. Considered cleaning off my desk. Considered ironing (might still do that). Took a shower. Threw out some old shoes. Played on the computer.
A telemarketer called and asked if Mr. Spouse (not his real last name) was available. I said no, then she asked, “Are you Mrs. Spouse?” I replied, “That would be a little difficult. Goodbye.”

I’m an occasionally scratchy baritone, btw.

I should have said, “Close, but no cigar.”
Long ago, I promised pictures of the scarf, postponing for better light. There has been none and there’s none forecast for the next week. So here’s two shots of said scarf.

This was knit in Laines du Nord Dolly Maxi merino (100% supervelli tasmania shrink resistant). From ‘tasmania’ I assume that these were Tasmanian sheep, but I have no idea what ’supervelli’ means. ‘Shrink resistant’ is right; it grew a foot when I wet-blocked it. Anyway, it is soft and it was comfortable to knit.

I knit this in two pieces and combined them in the middle with my very first Kitchener stitch, which I managed to f#uck up twice, and if you’re really picky you might see in the second photog.

The main color is White Grape and the other is Olive, I think.

[Tricky: Is this too simple for MenKnit Mag?]
Warning: Avert your eyes or click quickly to your favorite kitten site. Yarn horror ahead.

This is a Saturnalia present for my sort-of-mother-in-law.

This yarn, which I got in an exchange with Rabbitch, is one of the worst yarns imaginable. It’s Lion Brand Moonlight Mohair in “Rainbow Falls”, aka “Drag Queen Extravaganza”.

• Mohair 35%
• Acrylic 30%
• Cotton 25%
• Polyester metallic

The metallic part saws through your fingers. The mohair sheds (duh). The rest just assaults your eyeballs. Why do I continue? One, on #13 needles it’s quick, except when you drop a stitch (damn mohair); two, J insists his mother will like it.
I can goof off today because I did my cooking yesterday. I made a huge pot of pasta sauce and a huge pot of chili. It was finally cool enough to cook, and I made enough to last awhile.

I got this comment, buried several days back so I might not root it out:

Hey, you have a great blog here! I’m definitely going to bookmark you!I have a **Dog Coats** site/. It pretty much covers the sale of custom made dog coats.
Come and check it out if you get time :-)

I must have knit a dog coat because I was too stupid to figure out where to buy one. Who knew I could get one online? There are morons who fall for this?

Sadly, yes.

There’s a moron who paid for this spam campaign?