Today, we played a game. The game was… What’s in the project bag?
Turns out, it’s a sock that I cast on in September! And I haven’t touched it since September, really.
Until now. Today’s (new) knitting…
February Fourth
February Third
You know, this might be the perfect format for me. NEW THINGS! or even, new things this month – that might have been old things last month.
Today’s designated project was swatching the edging I charted out for Celestarium – here’s a McGuyvered version, after I blocked it, then stitched the image (roughly) together:
I also got the man to take photos of the hat I was blocking. I love it very much.
And I’ve been knitting as fast as I can on my star shawl – although I think I need to take a break, my hands are sore! I just want to get to the edging, though.
And supper. The man made pizza – he’s discovered an outstanding pizza dough recipe!
February Second
Today’s task was to add some more images to my Ravelry advertising account, so His Golden Lair is gets more eyes on him.
That’s maybe not terribly exciting… and it does involve knitting, but in a more ephermeral way. I also laid hands to yarn on this project, while I hung out at the playground with Eleni. It’s been on the needles for quite a while – it’s two skeins of sock yarn and all garter stitch. It’s my ‘mindless’ knitting. I only have about ten rows left – but each row is several several hundred stitches…
It’s skinny bugga; the grey is Montauk Monster and the blue (which is also green and purple) is Leafy Seadragon. I’d be more excited about finishing it… but I know how long blocking the first one of these took!
In brain chemical new, the taper off of Pristiq continues, as does the migraine and the circadian srew-ups. They’re both easing up (either that or I’ve gotten used to them). I’m doing it much more slowly that the doctor recommended – stopping cold turkey was NOT AN OPTION*, and it’s hard not to be impatient to just be done with it, already.
The next project? The chicken I’m roasting for supper. Lemon and rosemary and white wine… it makes the best roast chicken EVER.
*And it never should be – talk to your care provider, yo!
Hey February!
I’m glad to see February, actually. I know I’ve said it before, but I used to find it a hateful little month.
Then I got married to a wonderful man in February, and now I admit to being fond of February.
Apparently the February doldrums still hit others, and I saw a group online that are proposing to work on different things every day. So, cast on, knit or crochet on, work on a different module, organize something… In essence, something different every day.p
This is close to how my brain works anyway! So even though my NaBloPoMo plans crashed, I’m going to try for another month-ling thing.
Today? I just wet-blocked a hat I finished yesterday. I now have a wooly mushroom in the kitchen…
A better view of the crown:
Also, this blog entry is from my iPad, which lacks certain widgets, like e being able to tell if photos are sideways. It’s an ADVENTURE!
Have I Ever Mentioned…
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but there’s something I really hate.
Yesterday I went to get the mail and I had to take my mittens off to use the mailbox key. There was a little skiff of snow on the lip of the box, and I brushed it away then opened my mailbox. I was delighted that a parcel had come, and I pulled the key for the bigger (parcel sized) mailbox out of my mailbox.
The tiny bit of moisture on my finger promptly tried to freeze to the key.
I hate it when things freeze (or try to freeze) to parts of me. And do you know why? Because you have to pull the frozen things OFF. Even if it’s not frozen solid enough to actually pull bits of you off and really hurt*, you still have to pull it off. Nasty.
I’m sure Hell** is cold. So cold that you shiver all the time and bits of you stick and freeze to things. I’m sure of it.
And that’s probably why this is my idea of heaven on earth:
(Amoryn and I, several years ago on a beach in Maui. With our sand turtle.)
I also think that getting stuff off my list of things to do is pretty blissful. So I’m going to go back to that for now, and try to avoid freezing.
* See The Christmas Story’s flagpole scene. The bandaid on the tongue is an exaggeration, but the tongue sticking to the flagpole is NOT. Also, pro-tip – don’t yank. Yell and ask the teacher to bring some hot water to pour over your tongue (and the pole). (Although it’s more like “DO DET DE DEACHER! AH AB DUCK!!!”)
**I don’t know if I buy into the concept of Hell. But if it does, I’m sure it’s cold.
ETA: Super-pro tip – don’t lick water droplets off things, if it’s even close to freezing. Don’t lick things in public places, actually, is a pretty good rule, with the exception of ice cream cones, envelopes, and stamps. Do they even make stamps that need to be licked, anymore?
Introducing His Golden Lair…
His Golden Lair is now available on Ravelry… (link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/his-golden-lair ). I read the Hobbit as a child, and I clearly remember the cover illustration. Smaug (the dragon) was coiled about his gold and he had one eye slitted open. This shawl is inspired by that image – the cabled stitches form both stacks of coins and represent that narrowed eye. They transition into scales, and the edges and overall shape represent his wings, spread wide and darkening the sky.
This is a more complex knit; the eyelet cables and patterning on every row couple with the rates of increase to create a shawl that is very balanced when complete, but not exactly predictable while knitting. But as with many quests, the treasure is worth the effort!
It’s a nice size – not too small for me (at 5’11, I’ve got a pretty decent wingspan myself), and not too big for the petite, either. From nape to point, it’s about 45cm/18″, and the inner wingspan is about 160cm/62″.
This pattern is both fully written and fully charted. It begins at the nape, and has greater rates of increase on the edges than at the center, which creates a broad and shallow triangle. Stitch counts are provided for every row, and the central spine and markers are bolded in the written instructions. The ‘coins’ have been written as cable instructions, though if you are familiar with working twisted stitches, you may find them quicker and easier to substitute.
It’s part of a loose collection of knits inspired by the Hobbit and Tolkien – Knits For There And Back Again. I knit the original in Verdant Gryphon’s Mondegreen (http://www.verdantgryphon.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=117) , in a color named ‘You’re Giving Me Sexy Gherkins’. It’s an intense, complex yellow green – what it makes me think of most is the color of extra-virgin olive oil.
In the interest of presenting options to knitters, my testknitter (the amazing goodgrieflucy) used Aslan Trands “King Baby Llama & Mulberry Silk”. It’s also very nice, and has great sheen and drape… but honestly, not a spot on the Mondegreen! Splurge on the hand-dyed!
I published a tad earlier than the rest of the collection – I’d like to claim it was an organized teaser, but really: I was just plowing through my to-do list, and missed that small detail. It’s now available on Ravelry, for $6.00 USD, ( http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/his-golden-lair ). I’m so very happy with this design; as I said, it’s more complex than most of my designs, but well worth the effort.
Introducing Mermaid’s Tears
I’m happy to introduce Mermaid’s Tears – a set of three colorwork bags. Now available on Ravelry ( http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mermaids-tears-2 ) or from Cephalopod Yarns ( http://cephalopodyarns.com/products/patterns )for $6.00USD , these three bags are inspired by the reality and myth of the ocean. The two largest bags are pictorial stranded colorwork, and more challenging.
The smallest bag is a more traditional fair-isle pattern, freshened up by a staggered arrangement. All three are backed with a repeating seahorse motif, and the seahorse and crab patterns could be expanded to work any size of project.
Handle reinforcement and lining are recommended for the two largest bags, and I’ve included instructions – the lining protects the floats from snagging (and also means that you can wrap them less frequently, too).
Sizes are (Width x Height X Depth):
Small (Crab) – 10cm/4” x 19cm/7.5” x 1cm/.25”
Medium (Octopus) – 13.5cm/5.25” x 21cm/8.25” x 2cm/.75”
Large (Mermaid) – 21cm/8.25” x 37cm/14.5” x 1.5xm/.5”
Have I mentioned how much I loved the seahorses? And the yarns? The below image is slightly tweaked, just to show definition, but it does come close to conveying the luminosity of the yarn. The other images are more color accurate, but really don’t convey the amazing punch that they have!
Yardage Estimates as follows – Cephalopod Yarn’s Skinny Bugga (http://cephalopodyarns.com/products/skinny-bugga ):
Small – Crab – approx. 65m/70yd MC (Maxima Clam Y89) and 50m/55yd CC (Oleander Sea Nymph C12)
Medium – Octopus – approx. 115m/130yd MC (Blue Lobster C02) and 90m/100yd CC (Chester Cricket C04)
Large – Mermaid – approx. 240m/260yd MC (Montauk Monster C10) and 220m/240yd CC (Blue Ringed Octopus C20)
Getting the photos for these was a challenge – there is oddly nothing too aquatic in my immediate surroundings in January. Who knew? I thought that a mermaid in a snowbank seemed like a cruel joke, so I made a set in the living room. The cat and the littlest little were curious, but I managed to keep them out of the shots. (The following is actually very true, for the background color, though the yellow crabs are a tad washed out. Still. I hope you get the sense of the wee beasties, scuttling all over the beach.)
Again, Mermaid’s Tears is now available on Ravelry ( http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mermaids-tears-2 ) or from Cephalopod Yarns ( http://cephalopodyarns.com/products/patterns )for $6.00USD. Happy knitting!
Thinking of Celestina, At All?
If you’ve been thinking of knitting Celestina – or even if you haven’t – check out what Ellen of Earthfaire put together:
That’s four colour choices – and the top left one is tempting me something fierce! It’s called Nordlys from Viking. It’s fingering weight yarn, single-ply and 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon. The link is here: http://earthfaire.com/celestina-viking-nordlys-color-choices-p-6126.html , and it seems like a wonderful deal – $19.99 for the kit, which includes a hard copy of the pattern and the yarn.
I’m going to resist, for now – I have enough other things on my needles! I actually made a list of what I’m knitting, and I had to expand it to two sheets of paper. Lists. Lists are pivotal, and something that I am recommitting myself to. Imagine a vow renewal ceremony, where I’m promising to:
1. Make lists.
2. Follow lists.
3. Update lists frequently.
So, back to today’s tasks. You know, some people make lists, just to be able to check things off. I’m making lists to try and get ahead of things…
The Continuing Saga… Or Should I Say Yarn?
So, this blog might seem like it’s all about meds, for the next little while. Trust me when I say this is not all that my life is about; I’m just trying to document my experience and put the information out there, because maybe it will help someone else.
There’s still manic tonnes of knitting going on. Trust me. I did a bit of a stash survey, and I’m officially on a yarn fast for a while. I was unofficially on a yarn bender for the last quarter of 2012. Anyways.
I’ve begun the skip a Pristiq periodically plan, and I think that the skipped Pristiq days result in a migraine that arrives at about midnight. Dreaming about having a migraine, only to wake up, with a migraine? It kind of sucks. On the other hand, I can take Advil before bed, that lessens the migraine. It also seems to monkey with my natural circadian rhythms, which is something I remember from when I started on the Pristiq.
Maybe I’m just extra-sensitive to this drug, but honestly, I’m not sure I would have started it if I had know that the extrication process would be so… complex, and the effects it would have on my focus. The ringing in my ears is getting less, and varying on the days that I skip the Pristiq, so I’m hopeful that that’s going to go away forever once I’m off of it. I did have a hearing assessment, and it turns out: I have crappy hearing. This isn’t a huge surprise, there’s terrible hearing on my dad’s side of the family. I can’t hear high notes at all, really.
Sadly, I can still hear that awful SQUEAK PHOEEET of the plastic flute. If only it were an octave higher…
I’m not discounting the depression I was feeling (that I’m not feeling, now). My mood is stable and positive, I just can’t focus for… hey, I need a new cup of tea. And I should change the load in the washer. What should we have for supper? I think I need to wash the towels, too. Right, this needs to be dusted.
Which is how I end up in my upstairs bathroom, holding a piece of frozen halibut, feeling thirsty. I’m confident it’ll pass, and I’m trying to adjust my reality a bit to allow for hey, did I set the pvr for Downton Abbey?
Depression is hard to understand or explain, if you’ve never suffered from it. It’s hard for me to clearly remember it, or put it into words. I’ve just deleted several hundred words that were doing a terrible job of trying to explain it. This is my last try: You know those things at the gym, that are half a spongy ball, with a hard surface, and you can balance on them, to work your core muscles more (or something, I’ve never touched ‘em)? Imagine that you’re trying to balance on one of those all day, everyday. Except instead of balancing your physical body, you’re balancing your emotions. It takes a huge effort to recognize anything positive, and no matter how hard you try, you can’t enjoy things as much as you know you should. That can trigger guilt, or self-loathing, or more apathy. Everything feels deeply exhausting, and nothing feels good. It’s not as simple as ‘feeling sad’.
Anyways, on that note, I should go investigate the silence… oh wait, they must be playing sleeping babies. They just woke up. Good, I can keep ignoring letting them play, and work on the final edit for His Golden Lair, my Smaug inspired shawl.
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