Capitalism - Feudalism without the King

  Tax the Rich

 

Knitting Friday

 

Sorry for no Website Wednesday. It was Christmas Day. Forgot all about that. It's a national holiday.... So I took the day off.

 

Really original excuse for no pictures (after I promised) today: DH had a 13 hour transfer of files between 2 computers. I was warned, doubled warned, tripled warned (his computer has the pictures for KF) not to touch his computer during that time. And I didn't. 

 

Plus, DM has taken a turn downward and I'm just plain tired.

 

So, a short post re: what I'm knitting or crocheting.

 

Still working my my generic top (pictured a few weeks ago) and I really have enough yarn for a dress but I'll stop at tunic length.

 

On my 4th circular shawl:

 

http://www.antiquecrochetpatterns.com/circular-shawl.html 

 

It's crochet but it's the easiest, best fitting shawl pattern I have ever done, and the warmest. I've never made the border yet. I just work the pattern with its increasing sections until it's wide enough then I work on without the increases to the length. Can be boring but it's so much in keeping with the architectural "form follows function" principle.

 

I started knitting the Downton Abbey shawl:

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/downton-abbey-sampler-scarf 

 

but it was in fingering and it was just a bad marriage of yarn and pattern. So back to the frog pond it went and I'm looking at a free baby blanket pattern from Ravelry for the yarn:

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/how-to-crochet-blanket-stitch- 

 

It's a simple 2 double crochets and 1 single crochet in one stitch every 4th stitch. I'm thinking of using a very large hook.

And finally, the Thank You cowl:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/thank-you-cowl

 

Its crocheted ruching makes a very interesting pattern which I would work as a large scarf. This one really has to have the right yarn.

OK, no pictures today, but a few links I hope you will like.

See you next week. Hopefully with pictures. Happy knitting.

 

 

 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King

 Tax the Rich

   

Knitting Friday

 

OK, I'm now at my "job" and at a computer which will allow me to write a new post. (I'm really going to have to pull out the guts of my desktop computer and figure out why I can only read my blog but not create a new one.)

 

Last Monday, the hospice social worker wore an ecru Aran style tunic/dress, probably in cotton/linen. Yesterday, I had some time to work up swatches to recreate that dress. (She loved it so much, she bought it in all the other colors they had. I never did that.....Ha!) Anyway, after a few tries, I got the cables down. You want ones with no/little depth since you're sitting on this. So I eliminated any honeycomb/popcorn effect and settled on a row of repeating twisted stitches on 2 stitches - 2 reverse stockinette stitches - back cable on 4 stitches - 2 reverse stockinette - back cable on 6 stitches. Pretty soon I got the rhythm of the 3 patterns (2 with 8 rows; 1 with 10 rows) but I also got the feeling that if I wanted this to have a flat look, I would need to use finer yarn and smaller needles. And then the "life is too short" mantra kicked in and I decided to deep six this project and search for a store bought one.........To Be Continued........

 

No pictures this week because hospice life is getting more complicated. More on this another day since this is the holiday season and let's be upbeat.

 

So without pictures, I thought I would link to the projects I'm working on.

 

First, my baby alpaca scarf is done. I used only 1 skein (440 yards) of Knit Picks baby alpaca and I crocheted the Beatrix Potter shawl with it:

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/beatrix-potter-scarf-stole

 

This is a Ravelry pattern and free. Here are some of the modifications I made: Foundation chain should be w/a hook at least 2 sizes larger than your pattern hook (I used M and then J) and use wood or plastic hooks since metal is too slippery with lace. The pattern is 3x sts + 4 but I'm using  3x + 5 so that I put my first V stitch in the 5th chain from the hook and not the 4th as the pattern says. Then I begin every row with a chain 4 (not a chain 3) and end every row with a triple crochet in the turning chain.  This is not done in the pattern but I like how the rows look (more finished) this way. Note: Pure alpaca lace is clingy.

 

The finished project wears like a cloud (as if I know what a cloud feels like.)

 

Funny story: A friend who saw the scarf said: I'm afraid to wear lace because I'll catch it on everything. With complete hubris, I thought: Well, I've been wearing lace for years and that hasn't happened to me. Fast forward to last night and I'm in DM's room and the phone rings. I race for it, passing her walker (it's a sturdy one), catching my scarf on the handle, and, as I pulled past it, I take the walker with me and it falls to the ground. Finally, I untangle the scarf, upright the walker and happily discover, my scarf is fine. Sturdy little buggers, those baby alpacas.

On the crochet side, I'm on my 3rd circular shawl:

http://www.antiquecrochetpatterns.com/circular-shawl.html

I think this link is a repeat but it's worth the repeat since this shawl is hands-down the best one I have ever made when it comes to staying on your shoulders. Without any short rows, or stuff like that, just following the pattern produces a naturally curved shawl which stays put. And, being double layered, it's warm.

I'm also moving right along with my generic top which I'm going to knit-till-I-drop and make it into a tunic for tights. I'm well past the armhole and now, on the second row past the twisted stitch row, (Pattern: 9 rows of K and 1 row of twisted stitch, *K in the back of the 2nd stitch on the LN, K in the front of the first stitch*. ) I'm increasing two stitches on each side of the front and back. I'm using the 2nd row from the twisted stitch row because it distorts that row if you make the increases on the row right after it. The increases are M1R (make 1 right) and M1L (make 1 left) where you increase by picking up the horizontal bar between 2 stitches and knitting this bar. The bar pick up and the knit is done slightly different for each type of increase so one leans to the right and one leans to the left.

I'm also finishing up my Barbizon lace scarf:

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/90648AD.html

Not really worrying about the placement of the lace patterns with this scarf. The question now is should I break out another skein of yarn and make a big scarf or end at 1 skein for a moderate-length one.

I'm also looking at Lucille:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lucille-3

Which shows a lot of chutzpah since Lucille is written for babies. But if you cast on 80 for the largest size (I think 6 to 9 months) and then work increases to 157 (I'd round up to 160), you get the numbers I start with in my typical generic tops. After that, I would work 3 rows of K (I'm knitting in the round) and one row of *YO, K2tog* to the armhole (about 6".) Then I would bind off for the armhole after a *YO, K2tog* row and once I cast on the stitches for the underarm I would start the charted lace pattern.

Now this is the weird part. There are written directions for the yoke but the lace body is charted.(Nothing weird here.) Reading the comments from Ravelers, this lace chart caused confusion. It did for me also, and this is the weird part because when you click "copy image" for the chart and plunk it in WordPerfect, the chart now has two extra stitches at the beginning of every row! Which is weird and annoying because these two extra stitches each row, destroy the symmetry of the lace! But instead of angsting over why this happened, I'm going to take the suggestion of a Raveler and just work the 8-stitch repeat section of the lace pattern.

And finally:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/northern-hemisphere-cowl

which is a cowl pattern knit in the round so you get a stockinette look. Here's my idea: Work the pattern flat from the written directions where all the rows are knit. This will give you a reversible scarf/shawl. The big decision is whether to knit for width (so the long ends of the scarf/shawl will have the scallop) or for length (where the scallops with be on the short ends of the scarf/shawl.)

 

That's enough palavering for this week. Next Friday, I will have pictures since I plan to start taking them today.

Happy holidays to all and Happy Knitting.

 

  

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King

 Tax the Rich

 

Website Wednesday

 

Sorry about not posting a Knitting Friday last week; things got hectic. Sorry about being so late with Website Wednesday today but that's more "a dog really did eat my homework" excuse because still, my early morning, eating breakfast and knitting desk top computer will not allow me to log into my blog. Bummer! So I have to wait until I'm up and dressed, on my "job" and finally at a laptop which will allow sign-ins on this blog. 

 

Right to some picks:

 

http://distractify.com/fun/fails/test-answers-that-are-totally-wrong-but-still-genius/

 

Yes, I did laugh so hard I cried with this entry. Test makers is so rigid when it comes to accepted responses, but some of these answers are pure genius. Check out the rest of the site also.

 

http://tipnut.com/category/cleaning/

 

So it's holiday time and I probably thought I should bring you first to cleaning tips. But Tipnut has a lot of categories with interesting ideas and tips. Roam around and have fun.

 

http://trendland.com/ 

 

Don't know much about Trendland. but it says it's presenting "your daily dose." Very nice, upscale articles and pictures. Taking long to load on my laptop. I think if you have any interest in design, fashion, art, culture, this is a nice place for return visits. 

 

http://www.sporcle.com/games/Matt/pick-the-right-color

 

Games! And not easy games. OK, I get the distinction of "pick the word 'blue'" and "pick the color 'blue'." But to have your brain register the fact that the color 'blue' is on the word 'purple' in under 2 seconds is not easy. Test those brain cells. There are a lot of games here for you. Good luck.

 

Got to go. Hospice nurse just called. See you next week. 

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King

 Tax the Rich

 

Website Wednesday 

 

WTF is going on with the web? DH's professional website will no longer be supported starting next year. My blog comes up "closed" on my desktop computer. That is, I can read it but there is no top bar for signing in, creating a new post, etc. But, on the other computers in the house, their is still a functioning top bar. If only I were a tea bagger, I could blame Obama-care!

 

Which brings me to the realization that since all this hospice stuff, my view of the machinations of politics, of the ruling human species, has become so filled with ennui it's practically dormant. So let's get right to some picks:

 

http://www.jetpunk.com/tags/all.php 

 

A lot of brain exercise on this site, and typing. Take the Countries of the World quiz, I looked at it and thought: Hey, no country is highlighted. What one do they want me to type in? Then I realized: It's a map of the world, dummy. They want you to type in every country. Looks very suitable for lunch time relaxation at work.

 

This next one is very esoteric, may not be of interest to many, but for the myth/metaphor alone it's worth a visit (and even more than one):

 

http://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/theme/arthur 

 

This University of Rochester site explores the Camelot legend. Arthurian legends blend the pagan with the Christian; take the Anglo-Saxon myths and give them the face of Christian myths. Click all around this site, you'll be taken on a fantastic adventure.

 

And finally:

 

http://www.fubiz.net/en/ 

Picture galleries, not suitable for office openings though. I'm going to let you explore this site. It looks interesting, different and promising.

That's it for today. Last night, the hospice MD visited for 2 hour, today the hospice nurse will be here in less than 2 hours. Got to go. See you next week.

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King

 Tax the Rich

 

Knitting Friday

 

I've been knitting this (#1) on US 10 

#1 Top on KP Caspians

Knit Picks Caspian needles without a hitch. No unscrewing, no snagging, and very pointy tips. The only disappointment is that I thought the variegated green tips would be lighter. They sure looked lighter on the KP website. But looking again, I think they flooded the photo shoot with light; like a black cat in the cop's headlights.

 

The top is in 25% wool Plymouth Encore in a discontinued color. (Where do I pick up all this crazy yarn?) It's variegated in a wild way: a block of beige, a block of dark tweed, a block of light tweed. I've never seen such a blend but it feels very soft. The pattern is my typical generic top with these variations: With a G hook, I chained 80 and worked 80 extended single crochets across. I picked up 80 stitches from the chain with a US 8 circular, joined for round knitting, and then I knitted in the front and back of every stitch (I usually don't increase to 160 when I work a lace pattern but this baby is in stockinette and is going over my hips.) Switched to the Caspian US 10 and I worked 1 row of *YO, K2tog*. After that, it's going to be 9 rows of straight knit and 1 row of *knit in the back of the 2nd stitch on the LN, knit in the front of the 1st stitch on the LN* for a row of twisted stitches. I have enough yarn, I hope, for a sleeveless tunic top which will be long enough to wear with tights.

 

#2 Dona Ines variation

In keeping with my new mantra: you can't buy new, good lace wool without working on your old, good lace wool, I'm working on a Dona Ines neckwarmer (#2), but with mods:

 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dona-ines-a-neckwarmer 

 

1. It's a scarf not a neck warmer (no joining.)

2. It only uses Row 3 of the pattern. (The original pattern has a row of single crochet and a row of half double crochet. I decided it was much easier just working the hdc row. As you can see, even with this one row and an H hook the scarf is pretty dense. It was even denser with both rows. Yes, I know blocking will open up lace, but I'm toying with no blocking. This variation is a great take-along project since it's always the same row.

And here's another pattern variation which is called Lovely Cowlette but the swatch in #3 is for a scarf.

#3 Lovely Cowlette variation

 The link to the original pattern is below but I'm going to work this up in good yarn before I discuss my mods. But, as with all my mods, it's dead easy.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/lovely-cowlette 

 

And finally, here's a knitting website you may like:

 

http://www.twistcollective.com/collection/ 

It's an online knitting magazine which says of itself: We are an independent on-line magazine focusing on knitting and the sister arts. We are always looking for new ideas, and for the most part, we are letting strong submissions drive issue content. However, we will periodically send out a "mood board" or a thematic statement.

 

Take a look.

That's it for this week. I'm eyeing a rib stitch sleeveless, seamless vest pattern. I made one with an Elan pattern once (might be the same one) but it was in bulky (as this one is) and I looked like a fat polar bear. More next week if I have the time to modify the pattern for DK weight.

Happy knitting.

 

Capitalism - Feudalism without the King

 Tax the Rich

 Website Wednesday

Just like once and a while I visit Amazon, once and a while I have to move furniture. Humans are wacky. But then I saw this site this morning:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/03/lion-tiger-bear-negligence_n_4374091.html

and I almost cried. Yes, I, steel-souled I, almost cried. Not because the money spent for these three abused wild animals should have been spent on human unfortunates but because the whole story is a metaphor, people. Due to reasons they're not telling, three natural enemies, natural predators, are living together in harmony. Good job, bear, tiger and lion. And humans, please don't forget their meal time - ever.

And now for segueing:

http://koikoikoi.com/2013/05/where-children-sleep-by-james-mollison/

I know I've shown a similar site before (maybe the same site?) but as we're in a holiday season in the USA (and other places), it's a good time to see where kids sleep/live throughout the world. Some are sleeping in pleasant environments, most not, and the main issue in those pictures is the lack of hygiene which probably inhabits all of their world.

Another picture:

http://sergeyivanov.35photo.ru/photos/20131030/607035.jpg 

Now here's your brown bear in the wild. Cute but don't touch and don't offer to play with him/her and that piece of snow.

I'm on a roll with animal pics today. From the same site:

http://musskaya.35photo.ru/photo_626862/ 

Why do these puppies all look just this side of feral?

I don't know how accurate these maps are but they sure are interesting:

http://twistedsifter.com/2013/08/maps-that-will-help-you-make-sense-of-the-world/

Be sure to click the double gold arrows on the left and right for a lot of different/off-beat photo-journalism.

Finally, fashion and style:

http://www.vouchercodes.co.uk/most-wanted/fashion-100-the-definitive-list-of-the-most-influential-bloggers-4008.html 

It's a UK based site so many sites are from there but the rest of the world is represented. Blogs look current and there's a lot to see/read here. However, Firefox will not link to these blogs so "opening in a new window" was the only option. You may have better luck. 

That's it for today. And yes, I'm really going to go and move furniture. No idea why I have this furniture moving bug today. Go ask the lemming why that cliff is so tempting.

See you next week.