It's so Late!

Still in the land of the Vampyres!

This fog is starting to get creepy. 

I really need to get off to bed, but I just wanted to show off my finished Herbology project.  The prompt dealt with mandrakes.  You could make something inspired by the babies, you know something that SCREAMS, either with color, or details, etc.  Something inspired by the teens that hisses... or something inspired by the chopping up of the adults, that is you could steek some knitting.

On top of these fun prompts, the Houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin were doing a House Unity Challenge.  This is when you get a partner from the other house, and craft something together.  My partner was Spike, from Slytherin.  On her suggestion, we knit one panel of the Star Illusion Blanket by Katie Ahlquist.

The next blanket I planned to make, after I finish my own Transfiguration OWL afghan, and the First Anniversary afghan that I am making month by month with 2013BAMCAL, is one for my 2nd oldest GodSon A.  He loves the color red.  So, I decided to make this Star Illusion Afghan for him, or at least make one that will be the center of a bunch of BAMCAL squares.

So, here is the first completed panel.

 This is what it looks like straight on:

And this is at an angle where you can see the illusion:

Pretty cool!  It's all knits and purls.  You always do 2 rows of each color.  The first row is always knit (on the right side), so it would be a purl row on the wrong side.  I am getting lots of practice with my left-handed knitting as I always knit back left handed instead of purling back. 

Peace.
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with an Illusion, not a trick!

Off to See Book of Mormon at the Paramount Theater in Seattle

 More tonight.

Later...

IT WAS AWESOME!

ANOTHER ANOTHER Knot in Vanna's Choice Yarn

Hello,

More fog.  When will it end?  Sometimes I feel like I'm in a post-apocolyptic movie...

Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand

I don't like to write negative things.  Normally, I just don't discuss a product, show, book, etc. if I don't like it.  This is something most Children's book reviewers do.  Or don't do.  I mean, they are sent many many many more books than they have time or space to review.  If they don't like the book, they write nothing.  They don't mention it at all.  When you have limited space, why waste it on bad writing?   This makes sense to me.  Also, I hate to hurt people's feelings.  Ok, little chance what I write in this blog will get out very far, but still. 

This morning I was all set to write a glowing post about Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand.  I usually go with pretty cheap acrylic when hooking afghans, because acrylic = cheap.  I figured that "Vanna's Choice"  ?  really?  a Celebrity Acrylic Yarn?  How ridiculous.  Also, I hate brands named for people.  Call me an anti-consumeristic rebel.

Or something like that.

Anyway, I am using Vanna's Choice for my Transfiguration OWL afghan for HPKCHC.  The afghan where I am using the beautiful Eight Pointed Flower Square by Julie Yeager.  I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I love the feel of this yarn.  It is soft and squishy.  Yes, it is.  The colors are deep.  It is a bit splitty, and I have to watch for that, but otherwise, it is hooking up soft, squishy, lovely squares.

Then, as I was hooking my 6th square this morning, I found a knot in a beige ball.

Ok, that wasn't a horrible problem.  But, I thought, really?  I mean, it's acrylic.  It's not like they are dealing with a natural fiber that has a staple length.  Can't each piece of yarn be a set amount?  Like, long enough to fill an entire ball for sale?  I guess I don't know enough about how acrylic yarn is made.  But I just cut the yarn at the knot, and went on.  I had just finished 1 round of single crochet with chains ... well it's in this clever pattern, the place where you turn the flower into a square.  I needed 2 rounds of half double crochet (hdc) in beige, before I changed color again, for the complicated color scheme I am using.

Back to the yarn.  I am cutting the yarn at the end of each round anyway, because I have become obsessed at trying to make my joins completely invisible.  It wasn't so bad that I had to cut the yarn there.  I started the first hdc round and found ANOTHER KNOT! 

Really?  2 knots that close together?  What was the point of connecting such a small piece?  They couldn't just connect a L-O-N-G piece with the first knot?  As I was in the middle of the round, I just kept hooking, hoping the knot would be invisible at the back of the square.  I finished that round (invisibly, I might add), and started the last hdc round.  Oh Dear!  ANOTHER ANOTHER KNOT!

 So, someone had the cheap idea to just tie in 2 very small pieces of yarn to this ball.  This is not $50 yarn.  But it is not the cheapest acrylic, either.  The ball was not sold as a "second"  or "mill end."


I have had good luck with Lion's Brand Yarns.  They have many choices that are reasonably priced and decent quality.  I am ridiculously saddened by this.  I thought I had made a GREAT find.  I love to make afghans, and I was willing to pay the bit more for softer squishier... better acrylic!

I stopped after the last knotty round. 

I have been trying, with this afghan, to have a back as beautiful as the front.  Should I just rip these rounds back and throw the yarn out?  I will have to buy another ball for sure.  UGH!

Peace.
yours,
f1bercat
taking a deep breath and trying to put the fact that her yarn has 3 knots in one ball in perspective... I mean no one is sick, or worse.  It's just yarn.... sob.

Fiber Friday

Hello:

We are still having this weird freezing fog that never really lifts.  It was foggy all day, and is supposed to stick around through tomorrow at least.  We need some rain!

This morning I met my Eastside Stitcher buddies at Crossroads for some Friday Fiber knitting.  That is our new name for the people who can make it on Fridays.  Also, we call ourselves the Ladies of Leisure.  No, not out of work or unemployed knitters.... just Ladies of Leisure.

We had 3 of our new members join us but were also missing 2 regulars because of weather and sickness (or falling on ice injuries).

I was having so much fun chatting and knitting, that I didn't break out my camera until one of the new members, Wireknitter, had already left.  Oh well, no photo of the beautiful Carson by Romi Hill that she is knitting.

I am so sorry about that.

But whose projects DID I photograph?

 CodyJunk was still working on her Halloween Pumpkin Orange Cable Scarf

but had already finished a matching hat.

Redbird1 was frantically knitting her Eternity Cardigan by Jared Flood in Shelter.  She WILL finish it in time for Madrona.

Colleen was knitting a baby blanket in some Caron Super Soft in lavendar.

It looks a bit gray in this photo, but the color is lovely.

And Vanesapolo was starting a pair of mitered mittens by Elizabeth Zimmerman.

Vanesapolo was using the MadelineTosh yarn that I gave her for the Christmas exchange.  Our shy member was there, also, but I am being sensitive to her "new knitter" status, and not taking any photos, ... yet..

A small but fun group.  There is certainly room at the table for you, if you have Friday mornings free.

Just make sure you have the 4-wheel drive. 


Peace
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with a cat in a bag.

The First 3 Squares

Hello:

Super weird weather here;  freezing fog.  We are having "dead air" where there is no wind or rain, and our air quality is getting poor, so the county has issued a burn ban meaning no wood fires in fire places, wood stoves, bonfires, fire pits, etc.  I have never seen anything like this.  It's a fog that never burns off.

Anyway, I have finished the third square of my Transfiguration OWL Afghan. Again, I am using Julie Yeager's Eight Pointed Flower Square.

I am still trying to decide how I want to seam the squares together.

The squares will have either a navy or a "claret" (dark red) single crochet border.  These will alternate so I never have two squares with the same color border together.  I hooked the first two squares together with a contrasting color (beige) that is visible from the right side.

I hooked the third square on with an invisible seam.

At first, I thought I would go with the contrasting color seam showing.  I have 3 votes so far:  2 for invisible, 1 for seam showing.  Now that I have the two to compare, I am thinking that I like invisible better.

What do you think?

I need to have at least 6 squares finished, and seamed by the end of the month, along with all my other knitting.  EEEK!  I need to decide this soon.  Until then, I will keep making the squares. 

Let me know which looks the best.

Peace.
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet in a freezing fog.

Eastside Stitchers Make ANOTHER New Friend

Hello:

I awoke this morning to fog.  It was beautiful, but we could barely see past the house next door.  It took a while to burn off.  When I left at noon to go tutor a student in Math at our local high school, I am volunteering in the mentor program, the fog had started to disappear.  It seemed to be clearing from the top down

with the lake still shrouded in fog, but the rest of the area in sunshine.  At the top of our hill, I turned back and saw Mt. Rainier emerging from the gloom.

The rest of the day was crisp, clear, and C-O-L-D.  There is flu going around, so we were missing some of our friends from the regular Eastside Stitchers meet up at Crossroads Mall.  Also, some people were just too tired after work, so couldn't come either.  We missed them.  Our little group is getting big enough that we still needed 2 tables, but it is not the same.

However, we had a new stitcher.  Wireknitter, who we met at the Cat Bordi Class at Serial Knitters, came by to check out the fun.

She started out knitting some Turkish Bed Socks in a  Koigu yarn.

When Wireknitter got tired of working on these beautiful slippers, she put them away and worked on her Carson Shawl by Romi Hill.

Ellyol was crocheting a pair of socks in Plymoth Stilleto.  The pattern is Berries by Kim Kotary.

 You can see the opening for the Afterthought Heel.  It is a very clever design.

GwenS was knitting her second Daybreak.  Ok, her first one is very lovely.  I can't blame her for wanting another.

Redbird1 was knitting madly on her Eternity Cardigan in Shellter Yarn.  She is trying to finish it up to wear to the Madrona Fiber Festival in February.

Wajio has begun another pair of socks.  These are toe up, mystery socks by KnitPurlHunter, called Crimple.  The KAL is being sponsored by our newest local yarn shop, Makers Merchantile, a retail division of Skacel.

Colleen brought her lovely lavender baby blanket to Show and Tell.

Vanesapolo was finishing her 2 Piece Baby Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman.

She seamed it together with i-cord, and finished the edges with i-cord edging.  It makes such a beautiful finish.

Tara1682 came a bit late, but there was still room.  She was beginning a pair of felted slippers in Cascade 220.

Vanesapolo finished her EZ 2 Piece Baby Jacket before it was time to go.

Here is the finished front:

And here is the back:

There is some lucky baby out there.

We will be getting together again on Friday morning at about 9:30 in the center of the mall for brunch, lunch, and lots of knitting.  If you are near the Crossroads area, please join us.  Remember to bring your stitching.

Peace.
yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with stitching buddies.

freezing fog is in tonight's forecast!

Mollywobbles

Hello:

Just a quick post about one of my class assignments for HPKCHC.  The assignment for DADA (Defense Against the Dark Arts) this month is to research a Harry Potter Tribute band, called "Wrock Bands" and craft either something inspired by one of the bands, one of their songs, a song sung in one of the books, or craft something to wear to a Wrock Concert in your house colors.

The "professors" for DADA thoughtfully gave us links to a bunch of these bands.  I checked them out and found one, the Hogwarts Trainwreck,  from Spokane, Washington.  Why, that is almost a neighbor to me.  Ok, not really as Spokane is way on the eastern side of our state, about a 6 hour drive due east on the 90 freeway.  But still, a Local Harry Potter Themed Band!

They have a fun pop sound.  I checked out some of their lyrics, and chose a song named, "Mollywobbles" about Arthur Weasley proposing marriage to Molly.

Here is a bit of the lyrics:


Mollywobbles it's no lie
You're as sweet as pumpkin pie
Take me as your husband, please
I beg you on bended knee
Maybe we could have a son
And be prudent, just the one
Then we'll be a family
You and me and baby three…

Marry me, Mollywobbles, marry me …



These are just perfect inspiration for a baby pumpkin hat!

I will send this on to charity.  O!  one other good thing about it is that I knit from stash.  Working hard at using up what I can.  I plan to make another pumpkin hat for the Head Mistress Challenge.  But as it is late, more on that in another post.

Peace.
Yours,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with pumpkin pie, and a helpful cat.