Robynettely

A couple of weeks ago a couple of the lists I'm on went dark. What I mean is, they stopped sending mail for a few days. I, being unconnected in any other way with any of these people, had no real idea of course. Knit Design list on Yahoo: well, it's not a high-traffic list, so they do occasionally have days go by with no new posts. Except that this was the list owner being annoyed about an on-going conversation about whether it was appropriate for someone to use names when talking about slow/late/non-payment of design fees. KBTH : sending no mails for an entire weekend was just eerie. And this followed on the heels of, a couple of months ago, a KBTH splinter-list I joined (knit mafia) just disappearing one day. In that case, I sent an e-mail to someone I knew was on the list, by finding her e-mail on another list, and she was kind enough to respond and say that the list had been shut down by the owner and restarted under a different name. I never got an invite to join that lis...

So I was walking the boy to school this morning, and I saw a little girl walking along with her hoodie on backwards. She was eating chips, which I thought was kind of gross, because all those crumbs would be getting in the catch basin there. And I thought to myself, "Wow, I am so fashion out of it, that cover on the TKGA magazine a couple of months back, where the hood was being worn in the front, that's actually in style." TKGA is totally fashion forward, and I'm out of it again. And then we got down to the school, and I saw more children dressed like this, and I thought to myself, wow, this trend sure came out of nowhere. And then I saw a child wearing his backpack on his stomach, and the boy said to me, "Oh, mom, it's backwards day!" And he strapped his backpack on his front too. Phew. Spirit day. I am relieved. Webs is having their annual birthday sale, and it includes Harrisville Shetland style. I bought two cones of this last year, and it comes in ...

On Saturday I went over to Chapters and looked at knitting magazines: Family Circle Easy Knitting - Spring 2005 Everything looked too easy. I didn't buy it. Knit-n-style June 2005 Nothing stood out to me. There were a couple of nice things -- a sweater with the bottom "rib" worked separately, kind of cables and lace, then the body picked up from there, and a sweater where the sleeves were lace and the body was solid. But nothing struck me as terribly unique. The models did seem less shiny than usual, but still, I didn't buy it. Knitting (UK mag) April ? 2005 There was one nice all-over cabled cardigan with a stripe of a different color above the ribbing. Nothing else stood out to me. Nothing ever does in this magazine. Wow, another Sasha Kagan floral, too many easy sweaters. I considered buying it for the short row article, but then I thought to myself that I have that covered in books already, so I should save my money for stuff on my list. Sandra April ? 2005 The sh...

I love pasta. Yesterday I got new yarn from Elann called Filatura di Crossa Pasta in four colours: Black-n-tan, Strawberry, Gingham Pink and Vanilla Bean. I swatched some Strawberry during break at band practice. Filatura di Crosa Pasta, mmmm... People kept asking me what I was making, to which I responded, "a swatch." Duh. What's it going to be? Three summer tank tops, assuming seven balls (1050 m) is enough for one. "Am I really going to make it that small?" Uh, no. It's neat, though. I've never used ribbon yarn before. Maybe I'll cast on for real tonight. Or maybe I'll rip out the three-and-a-half rows of fair isle on Sting, which I'm not happy with, and which I just worked out a better peerie for. I've been unsatisfied with my peerie for two days now, and trying to come up with one for probably two weeks. Sting, since you don't know, is the yarn that I had originally designated for Moor from Rowan's Yorkshire Fable. But with a...

Not the knitting project, I'm glad that's done, but I'm talking about the network problem that shut down my ability to upload pictures. Due to a catastrophe involving Sympatico tech support changing our account password, which caused the router not to work any more, I was only able to get one computer online. That computer belongs to Ed, and I didn't think I should be installing photo upload software on it that I have "concerns" about. (Maybe someday I will describe the hoops I jump through to upload photos.) But Ed has returned from up north and fixed everything, and here it is: Peacock feathers I purchased the Peacock Feathers shawl by Dorothy Siemens at Fiddlesticks Knitting over two years ago for a KBTH lace-along, and I did the swatch. I don't know what happened with the lace-along, I'm not really good at keeping up with these things. But, well, I'm done now. I didn't exactly plug away consistently on the shawl for all that time (the swatc...

Last Friday I sent a design package to Interweave Knits. It's my favourite knitting magazine, so I'd really like to be published there. I won't post a picture of the submission, just say it's based on some of my spiral ideas, it's a sweater named Sigyn (She was the wife of Loki in Asgard -- as opposed to the Orgress wife of Loki who spawned all those evil monsters), and I will knit it when the swatch comes back, whether IK buys it or not. I like it that much. I got the idea from helping the boy with a project about mythology. Sunday I finished the second black Vine Lace sock. I didn't take a picture. I wore them yesterday. They are comfortable. Wednesday I got Peruvian Silk Alpaca yarn from Elann in two colors, Peridot and Mocha Cream. I bought 20 balls of each. I was thinking it might be suitable for AS Aberlady or Cables and Lace from GOL. If I make the smallest size, it might be enough yarn. Elann Baby Silk Before I start anything with it, or start Moor from ...

Tuesday nights are for band practice. We get a break about half-way through, and being a shy extrovert (someone who likes to be around people but doesn't want to interact with them) I usually take an activity. Well, I packed the book I'm reading and the sock I'm working on. The band is predominantly Jewish. I don't know why, I don't think it's relevant, but often we plan concerts and rehearsals around whether there will be a decent turnout -- attendance is bad around passover, for example, because people need to clean their houses and wash a lot of dishes. Anyway, I'm reading "The Queen's Fool" by Phillipa Gregory, which is about a young woman who is a Marrone - a Jew pretending to be a Christian - who has fled the Inquisition in Spain and come to the English court during the reign of Queen Mary, I think England's last Catholic queen. I ordered it on intra-library loan because I'd read what I thought was a prequel, "The Other Boley...

Yesterday I knit 14 rows of the Peacock Feathers Shawl, and on a whim I decided to calculate how many stitches I had done and how many I had to go. I figured I'm on row 175 of 250, so I'm getting close to being finished, right? This shawl starts with 3 stitches and increases linearly, four stitches every right side row. So, I took the number of stitches I have right now and divided by two. That's the average number of stitches per row. Then I multiplied that by 175, and discovered that I've done roughly 30,000 stitches. Good for me! Then the bad part. I shouldn't have done this. I took the final number of stitches and divided it by two to determine the average number of stitches in the average row of the entire shawl. I multiplied that by 250, and I got 61,750. I'm almost half-way finished. There's no way I'm going to be done by April. I'm so depressed.

Today I did this: find your inner PIE @ stvlive.com But the funny thing is, I hate pie. Last night I finished Immortal. I'm wearing it now. It fits a lot better than AS Cromarty, which I wore yesterday. Maybe I'll take a picture later. Now I'm trying to decide what to do about Admonition, which is the sweater I started two weeks ago out of the purple Dale Sisik I bought on January 9th. The ribs look too close together on the body, I think. Maybe I'll finish it the way it is. Maybe I'll post a picture later. I took one last night, but instead of posting it, I watched "The Daily Show" and went to bed. Maybe I'll take what I've done (first side, up to the arm holes) and start again with another ball of yarn, and once they're the same size, then I'll decide. Last night it took me less than five minutes to get the pictures off my camera. Apparently the "canon website" trick works. If I launch the Canon website, the...

Today I am at home with a sick boy. Well, not so sick now. He's feeling much better. The last time he threw up was around midnight, so I think tomorrow he can go back to school. However, I am missing my team leader's goodbye lunch. Her last day is tomorrow. The other writer in the group is off with a sick child as well. I don't think the illnesses have anything to do with each other. On to knitting. I suppose it happens to everybody, but I'm sick of all the projects I'm working on. I can't start another project, because then I would have four projects really far from completion. Sometimes it makes sense to start something small and finish it just to boost my ego, and sometimes it doesn't. Right now is a doesn't. Way back in February of 2003, I bought this kit: Peacock shawl by Dorothy Siemens, Fiddlesticks I bought it to participate in a lace-along on KBTH. I did the swatch. I finally started the knitting back in December. I'm on row 137 o...

I read a lot of fantasy literature. Right now I'm reading "Assassin's Quest" by Robin Hobb. It's really good, but I have a pet peeve. DOESN'T ANYBODY KNOW WHAT ERSTWHILE MEANS? Look it up, for god's sake. Erstwhile means "former". When you write, on p. 149, "while my erstwile king sleeps..." and he's the antagonist, and has the crown on his head because he cheated his brother and killed his father, it's not the "former" king you're talking about. He's the king presumptive, maybe in this case. You might as well say he's an impostor or pretender, but he's not erstwhile. I don't blame Robin Hobb. Tons of people do this in fantasy. I blame the copy editors. Thus ends today's rant. I feel better now.

The first time I did the quiz, I was a "goth mama" but since I was also a goth sheep, I thought I should try to be different. You're a punk rock mommy! DIY is probably your motto, because you're a punk mama at heart. Your kids are getting your independent spirit and guts, and learning to solve problems themselves. You love it when they show their independence, even when it's breaking your heart. What kind of a freaky mother are you? brought to you by Quizilla Still haven't cleaned up the posts from Monday. Still haven't figured out why my camera and computer don't like each other. I swear, the camera works fine at work.

The 12th of December was an exciting day for me. I finished two projects. First, socks. Vine Lace Socks from Socksx3 Unfortunately, I don't get to keep them. They're a gift. But I love the color, and I have another ball so maybe I'll get to make myself a pair too. They took just over one ball of Kroy (though I have several balls of Kroy with several different lengths, so that doesn't mean much). I also finished this: Lily of the Valley from Jamieson3 I set in the sleeves more than the designer did and made the V neck deeper to be more in tune with today's "look". Which will of course be nobody's look next year. So I have to wear it as much as I can now. I've worn it twice - once to work and my mother's after work, and once on a sunday. I did take a couple of pictures of me wearing it, but I haven't got them off the camera yet. My mother also took some pictures of me wearing it, but I assume they all came out badly. She makes m...

I'll start with this: The original sock scarf. I don't think it's that bad. And here's an update on Lily of the Valley. This is why we block. The lower sleeve is the one I finished a few weeks ago. The upper is the one I finished yesterday. It's a bit wizened. The body is blocking right now... well, half of it is. I blocked the front on the weekend, and this evening I blocked the front. I three-needle bound off the shoulders, so it's kind of tough to work with right now. But I can't work on it, so I started this: This is my new swatch. I wanted to see which colors I would like, and I think I'm going with the red and tan (top right corner). I also wanted to see what needles would work. The pattern calls for US3. I like US2 with this yarn. It's going to be Manhattan by Jean Moss.

Project: Tiger Eyes from Socks, Socks, Socks by XRX Yarn: Patons Kroy They're knit from the toe up, which is good, I guess. I once read that you just follow the heel instructions blindly. Now I know better. The problem was mine. I thought when you start the heel is where the heel starts. Apparently it's in the middle of the foot. I had chosen the pattern based largely on the fact that I needed a pair of dark blue socks, and I only had one ball of dark blue sock yarn, and the pattern led me to believe that I might be able to make these socks with just the one ball. I think it was a full ball of dark blue yarn, though the label had fallen off. I knew just after the heel of the first sock that I was in trouble. So, I got another set of needles out and started the second sock. And this is where I ran out of yarn. I needed a positive knitting experience this weekend, bcause of the whole hurtful sock scarf debacle. So, I grabbed another ball of yarn and kept goin...

Apparently having a blog is going to teach me HTML whether I like it or not. I'm trying to figure out how to get several pictures into the same entry, and with the Hello/Picasa freeware, it's not exactly intuitive. Today's entry, however, is not about pictures. It's about socks. Project: Tipsy Knitter Socks Pattern: It's in Socks, Socks, Socks from XRX. Yarn: Sandnes Sisu. Splits more than Kroy, but I don't mind. It's a nice color. Tipsy Knitter Socks See, they fit! And with the fabulous shoes I bought... The shoes are Rockport Lorenes. They are very light. And this picture reminds me, I need to clean the dining room table before Ed comes home, so he can continue to think that I keep it neat all the time when he's not around.

Project report: Lily of the Valley Pullover http://twoswansyarns.com/2SCart/Jamieson3/Lily.htm Pattern from: Jamieson's 3 Yarn: Briggs and Little Sport I have altered the body of the garment by making the armholes deeper (two inches, rather than one-and-a-quarter) and making the V deeper (I really should post a photo of mine, you can see the difference), which necessitated adding some shape to the sleeve cap. Lily of the Valley Pullover Sleeve You can't tell from this picture, but it really needs blocking. I started this sweater back in early May. I did the back in about a month, the front in about four months, and then yesterday I finished the first sleeve. The sleeve took me a week. I think I will allow myself two weeks for the second sleeve, and then a week for the finishing. So, if I also finish the socks I started on Friday, I will be buying that Frangipani I've been lusting after on around December 5.

Most recent stupid karate injury 

Well, tech writer or not, apparently I am a computer-illiterate booby, because I forgot where my blog was and how to get into it. But I've figured that out now. Perhaps I should Figure out how to post pictures. Perhaps when I get my laptop (next week?) this will be easier. Meanwhile... Current projects: Gold "Tipsy Knitter" socks from Socks x3 Self-designed lace and stripes sweater (been underway in some form or another for at least a year, plan to finish it next week) "Lily of the Valley Pullover" from Jamieson's 3 out of Briggs and Little sock yarn in grey mist, which is decidedly blue-green (I've heard they have some problems with dye lot accuracy there, but I've found the yarn a dream to work with, at a great price -- assuming the garment works out, I'll have spent about $17.93, and I'll probably have a skein left over I have $363 in my knitting budget for the rest of the year. Currently that's going to be four cones of Frangi...

Well, I have finally brought an end to my blogging virginity, after only about two years of hemming and hawing and saying I really ought to start a blog. I always want to do these things with the utmost of planning, but never make the commitment until I'm drunk or something and just all of a sudden do it. So, we all owe this blog to the link at the top of QueerJoe. That should give you a hint as to the main topic of my blog, eh? (Knitting) That should give you a hint as to where I live. (Canada) What have I been up to? (Nobody asked, but I'm the only one in here, so I'll ask it myself.) Saturday I finished "Textured Tee" from Ram Wools, knit in Patons Grace, terra cotta color, which I thought was much more orange than red. I think of terra cotta as being a mid-west red, like the color of mesas or something, but this was more the color of melons or tangerines. Perhaps what this blog needs is for me to learn how to upload pictures. Perhaps that will be m...