Quixoposto's quests

Brigid in Cyberspace

2014-02-02T14:23:00.005-08:00

I'ts the 9th anuual Brigid in Cyberspace day. Here is a poem I like:

Fictional Characters

Do they ever want to escape?
Climb out of the white pages
and enter our world?

Holden Caulfield slipping in the movie theater
to catch the two o'clock
Anna Karenina sitting in a diner,
reading the paper as the waitress
serves up a cheeseburger.

Even Hector, on break from the Iliad,
takes a stroll through the park,
admires the tulips.

Maybe they grew tired
of the author's mind,
all its twists and turns.

Or were finally weary
of stumbling around Pamplona,
a bottle in each fist,
eating lotuses on the banks of the Nile.

For others, it was just too hot
in the small California town
where they'd been written into
a lifetime of plowing fields.

Whatever the reason,
here they are, roaming the city streets
rain falling on their phantasmal shoulders.

Wouldn't you, if you could?
Step out of your own story,
to lean against a doorway
of the Five & Dime, sipping your coffee,

your life, somewhere far behind you,
all its heat and toil nothing but a tale
resting in the hands of a stranger,
the sidewalk ahead wet and glistening.

"Fictional Characters" by Danusha Laméris from The Moons of August.

"Vintage" Thermal Knit Mittens

2011-05-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

Sorting through patterns I found a pattern for mittens that I had clipped from the paper back in the 1970's. There was a column in an Iowa paper by Ruth Ann Gable. Hard to believe that the 70's are now "vintage".

Thermal Knit Mittens
This pattern was in the CR Gazette in the 1970’s, submitted by a Tama Iowa Reader. “A wonderful mitten wich is ribbed on the right side and has a garter stitch on the wrong side. It’s undoubtedly the warmest mitten we’ve ever had. …”

Note: To make smaller size (5-6) cast on 39 stitches; size 3-4 cast on 35 stitches. Work 4 rows less for each size on fingers. Rake off 6 stitches for thumb, casting on 6 stitches and picking up 1 on each side (total 14 stitches) wihen working thumb.
For larger sizes, cast on 4 more stitches for each size and increase length as necessary.
Always add an even number of rows so decreases will be on the right side. Size needle will change mitten size. Size 5 is best, no larger than size 7.
Materials: 4 ounces worseted weight on size 5 double point needles and single point needles.
Left Hand: sizes 7-8. Cast on 43 stitches.
ROW 1: * K1, P1; repeat from * acress, ending k1 (wrong side).
ROW 2: * K1, sl1 (as to purl) repeat from * acress, ending k1.
Repeat these 2 rows for desired length to thumb base (45 rows).
On second row of pattern work 13 stitches, slip next 8 stitches to holder, cast on 8 stitches on right hand needle. Work in pattern on 22 stitches on left needle. Continue in pattern for desired length, (end of forefinger – 35 rows), ending with Row 1.
With right side facing, K 2 tog across, 22 stitches remain. Work in stockinette stitch (K 1 row, P 1 row) for 5 rows and end with a P row. K2tog across. P 1 row, cut length of yarn to draw through stitches and sew side seams.
Thumb: On double point needles, pick up 1 stitch on right side of thumb stitches, work acress 8 thumb stitches wich are on holder, pick up 9 more stitches around thumb opening.
Work P1, K1 rib around.
NEXT ROW: * K1, sl 1; repreat from * around. Continue in pattern until thumb is desired length (23 rows), ending with K1, sl1 row.
NEXT ROW: K 2tog across – 8 stitches.
K1 row. Fasten off.
Right mitten: Work 45 rows as for left mitten. On 46th row (Row 2 of pattern) work 22 stitches, take off 8 stitches, cast on 8 stitches on right hand needles, work remaining 13 stitches. Next row should be Row 1 of pattern. Finish as for left mitten.

Brigid in Cyperspace 2010

2010-02-02T16:14:00.000-08:00

It's Brigid in Cyberspace day. Here is a poem I like by Anne Sexton.

There is joy
in all:
in the hair I brush each morning,
in the Cannon towel, newly washed,
that I rub my body with each morning,
in the chapel of eggs I cook
each morning,
in the outcry from the kettle
that heats my coffee
each morning,
in the spoon and the chair
that cry "hello there, Anne"
each morning,
in the godhead of the table
that I set my silver, plate, cup upon
each morning.

All this is God,
right here in my pea-green house
each morning
and I mean,
though often forget,
to give thanks
to faint down by the kitchen table
in a prayer of rejoicing
as the holy birds at the kitchen window
peck into their marriage of seeds.

So while I think of it,
let me paint a thank-you on my palm
for this God, this laughter of the morning,
lest it go unspoken.

The Joy that isn't shared, I've heard,
dies young.

Estonian Cast-On

2009-06-15T15:39:00.001-07:00

Estonian Cast-On {as I know it}
Originally uploaded by Garden Purl

Just when you think you've learned most of the cast-ons around another one ambushes you.

Simple baby blanket

2008-09-06T15:59:00.001-07:00

I found a handwritten pattern for a baby blanket in an old box. Here it is:

Long side - cast on 197 (odd number of stitches).
Knit 1, purl 1 across. Purl 1, knit 1 back. (Seed stitch) Work for 8 inches.
Knit 2 together, yarn over, across -- ending with knit 1.
Work seed stitch for 11 inches.
Knit 2 together, yarn over, across -- ending with knit 1.
Work seed stitch for 8 inches.
Bind off.
Crochet around entire blanket.

On this opening day of the Olympics -- thinking of Tibet

2008-08-08T14:33:00.001-07:00

None of us are free until ALL of us are free.

International Campaign for Tibet.

Ravelympics Quandaries

2008-08-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I was getting ready for a big trip across the country to take my daughter back to college. Of course, the first thing I was working on is what knitting to take with me. I figured 6 or 8 projects ought to do it. I found yarn, needles, patterns, made cast on the first few rows of several of the projects to make sure that the yarn/pattern/needles were a good match. Then I happened to notice RAVELYMPICS!

What to do? They happen right in the middle of the trip which is great. But all those projects that I just got organized and started. I guess they have to go in the WIP game.

The other problem is that all the projects are calling to me to start them now. Don't wait for the ravelympics. I am trying to hold firm. To stave off those projects I have started new ones. Small things like booties and dishcloths.

How are you biding the time till the Ravelympics?

Rockin with the socks

2008-03-03T09:54:00.001-08:00

Long time since I posted, but I have been knitting. I have a backlog of Socks that Rock projects from the 2007 club. Last year life overtook me and I got behind. In the last month I have finished, Solstice Slip socks, Serendipity. And Saturday night I started Summer of Love.

Something that I am doing with Summer of Love is knitting them both at once. Not on one needle but on 10 dps. That is 2 sets of 5 brittany dp needles. I am doing this because I started the socks late at night and after I finished the first lace cuff, I was too tired to search out the ironing board to block, but I wasn't tired enough to stop. So I got out another set of dp's and started the second cuff. I felt a bit like the Harlot when she was knitting leaves. Ended up being a very late night.

I can't figure out why I delayed starting Summer of Love. Perhaps is was the blocking of the lace ruffle? Blocking (like tucking in ends) is something that I do only as a last resort. But as you can see I steam blocked the lace and pinned it to the ironing board. Of coarse, doing that meant searching for iron and ironing board and finding my pins. Looks like the rest of the socks will be an easy mindless knitting project.

Brigid in Cyberspace

2008-02-01T11:29:00.000-08:00

As a part of this, here is my poem:

Lost by David Wagoner

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

Too fun not to include

2008-01-30T14:05:00.000-08:00

Saw this over at Mason Dixon Knitting and had to try it.

Post Holiday Knitting

2008-01-22T12:24:00.001-08:00

Lobby dishcloth
Originally uploaded by quixoposto

This is written for the second week of January, but I am just getting around to posting it.

Almost all of my Xmas knitting is done. (One sharks sock to go.) I promised myself I would start the Philosopher's wool sweater in the new year. But I just can't seem to get started on a big project this week.

Dishcloth knitting is the perfect simple, but fun knit to fill in the gaps.

I give you the Lobby dish cloth and the vortex dishcloth.

What a weekend in the mountains will do for you

2008-01-22T11:39:00.000-08:00

A year ago I bought a kit at the Philosophers Wool booth at Stitches West. It was for the Color Your Own sweater in the Black and Blue colorway. I bought this after envying a friends sweater for about a year. I hesitated because I don't know how to make clothes fit, store-bought or homemade AND because the idea of steeking a sweater gives me the heebie jeebies.

I took advantage of a long weekend spent in the mountains with no distractions to get started. First I needed to roll all the skeins into balls. Lacking a ball winder I used the backs of 2 chairs and an empty toilet paper roll. Usually I find this activity fairly relaxing but after 9 skeins I got pretty tired of it. I decided that 2 skeins of black could wait until I needed them.

Next how was I going to keep the skeins from falling apart and figure out which color is which? I studied the book Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified looking at the pictures of the colorways to identify which was grape and which was dark purple, ... I put each ball in a baggie and labelled it. At least now, I will be consistent about attaching a color name to a specific ball of yarn. I also taped bits of yarn to the pattern next to the color names. I labeled the bands of fair isle patterns on the kit chart A, B, C ... as in the book. It makes it easier for me to note what I did.

Next size. The most dreaded question. I measured sweaters I own, I measured my body. Can my chest really be that big? Yes. I started on the sleeves in the largest size. Oops, my chest may be that big, but my wrists and arms aren't. What if I made the smallest sized sleeves to go with the larger body. Thinking about it, since I am steeking the armholes I can cut them to match my sleeves. I frogged the sleeve and restarted.

I am glad that I have both the directions in the kit and the book. Since this is my first large fair isle project it helps to have all the information I can get. I have done small projects to try and build my skills - mittens and socks and hats.

I have viewed the Philosophers Wool video numerous times and worked on learning continental. (I don't think that I will ever use Continental knitting as my default knitting method. My fingers are so much happier using a method they have known for 40+ years.)

As of Monday night I have only about 2" to go. I am going to repeat the first set of colors as recommended in the pattern. I'm on my way!

Travel Knitting Kit

2008-01-01T13:41:00.001-08:00

I have been working on developing a knitting kit - a set of tools to take with me along with whatever knitting project I am working on. I want this kit to:

Be very small so that it fits in a purse, or bag.
Supplement the pattern, needles and yarn required for a project
Make it so that I never get stopped because I need something
Make repairs of various mistake easy

I have a small pouch with 2 zippered pockets, and a clear vinyl pocket.

Here is what is contains:

In the big zippered pocket

2 crochet hooks (one very small for attaching beads)
bead tube with various needle for weaving in ends
stitch holder
cable needle
aaa battery for my mp3 player
measuring tape.
small scissors
pencil stub

In the small zippered pocket

stitch markers
knitpicks options end thingies for the converting the cable into a stitch holder
smooth scrap yarn for holding stitches and other emergiencies
dental floss

Attached to the zipper tab:

Coilless safety pins on a large safety pin

In the clear pocket on the back

moleskin notebook with graph paper
postits
clear ruler
needle gauge

How close did I get to DONE on my holiday knitting?

2007-12-24T17:11:00.000-08:00

Well, its Christmas Eve, lets see how I did on my knitting:
1) hat and scarf for my daughter boyfriend - DONE
2) footies for our pet sitter - DONE
3) footies and socks for my mother in law - DONE AND MAILED
4) Dream in Color Tulip baby sweater for my new niece - DONE
5) socks for my daughter - DONE
6) scarf & mittens for a friend that is moving away - DONE
7) mittens for a niece - 1/2 way but I wont need them till the new year
8) mittens for nephew - DONE
9) beaded scarf for daughter - yarn purchased, pattern and beads needed
10) sharks socks - 1/3 DONE (going to put the in progress project in a box
11) socks for my mom - abandoned
12) lots of dishcloths for various friends - did a few, would have liked more

Happy Holidays to you all

The Gauge monster strikes again

2007-12-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

I ran out of the border color on the Tulip sweater. All I had left to go was the edging on one sleeve and the icord ties at the neck. I went back to the store and they checked my gauge. Oops, I was off. They were going to give me a bit more of the blue, but I decided to buy a whole skein so I could make matching mittens for the babies siblings. I will strip in the "girl" colors in one set, and "boy" colors in the other. Sofia has a very girly sister, and sports-crazy brother. If I still have yarn left over I'll think about a baby hat and booties.

Sharks Socks

2007-12-03T15:54:00.000-08:00

My husband is a big Sharks fan. I thought I'd make him some socks to wear to games for Christmas. I found some great teal yarn at Angora Valley , and started looking for a pattern. Actually found 2 colors and bought them both in my indecision. I got a solid teal and "shades of teal". I think I'm going with the shades of teal. It feels more sharkish. I wanted a pattern which suggests shark's teeth, is "manly, and is each to put on and off. I thought about Octobermuster, but I was afraid of the lack of stretch you get in a slip-stitch pattern. I paged through More Sensational Knitted Socks and found 2 possible patterns either the 12-stitch triangles, or Stansfield 304. I am going to knit a swatch of stansfied to see how it looks. I took a look in Ravelry but still can't decide.

I have a lot of Christmas knitting. So far I have these in progress or completed:
1) hat and scarf for my daughter boyfriend
2) footies for our pet sitter
3) footies and socks for my mother in law
4) 90% done with baby sweater for my new niece
5) 75% done with socks for my daughter
6) scarf for a friend that is moving away

To start:
1) mittens for a niece and nephew - no pattern or yarn chosen
2) beaded scarf for daughter - yarn purchased, pattern and beads needed
3) sharks socks - yarn purchased
4) socks for my mom
5) lots of dishcloths for various friends

Celebrating a new baby girl

2007-11-29T16:02:00.000-08:00

This week a new nearly 9-lb niece was added to our family. She will probably be the last niece as she is 24 years younger than the oldest cousin. I had already made the Baby Surprise and baby surplice, but I found the Tulip cardigan kit that the Yarn Harlot blogs about in my lys. I couldn't resist, now that I know the baby is a girl. I bought it.

After I got home, I realized that the pattern lists multiple sizes, but I didn't know if the yarn would be enough for a 12 month size. I figure a 6-mos size will fit a 9 lb newborn for about a minute. I looked on ravelry, I called the lys, they were kind enough to email Dream in Color. The answer is they measure out the same amount of yarn for the 6 and 12 mos sizes. I am glad the answer is yes, because I started the 12 mo size even before I got the answer. If I run out of yarn I will buy more yarn for the bands and ties.

Holly on ravelry was so generous as to offer me her scraps of yarn. She also let me know about a cap that had been designed to coordinate with the sweater. Here is the link

I find the brown color to be such a surprising choice for the mix, but it makes it. One of the ways a kit gets you to try new things.

Bedsock or Footie?

2007-11-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

What would be the best qualities for bedsocks? These are for my mother-in-law who is allergic to wool. First they need to be soft and comfy. Cotton Fixation is the perfect choice for yarn. I don't have much experience with it, but after a bit of getting used to I like it. It goes fast after the finer yarns I have been using. At first it felt a bit sloppy, I don't think I would do stranded knitting with it, but that could be my beginner's colorwork technique.

Second, they would be cheerful. I used a technique I call spiral striping. I don't know the official name. I started with one color. Halfway round I attached a second. Then I knit one color until I came to the start of the next continuously. I made solid heels and toes for interest. I love the look of eye of partridge heel. Although here you can see what I mean by "sloppy", the stitch definition isn't as good in fixation.

Third, don't cut off the blood circulation. I made a knitted hem. It seems better than ribbing that pulls in. Also the stretchiness of the fixation is good here.

The colors in the picture are not true. No matter how I struggled, the purple heel and toe look blue in the picture. I tried white backround, wood background, interior light, cloudy daylight.

Looking around Ravelry, I just found a tutorial on the spiral stripe technique. I am using only 2 colors so it works really simply. Because one of the yarns is variegated and one solid, it looks more complicated than it is. Here is the link: Spiral Stripe tutorial
Used Tootsies Footsies pattern as a reference.

Rainbow Monkey socks

2007-10-17T15:43:00.001-07:00

HPIM1281
Originally uploaded by quixoposto

I started some rainbow socks for myself months ago. But when my daughter started coveting them, I ordered some more yarn from Epicurus on etsy and made her a pair of monkey socks in a week. Mine are still on the needles.

Upright Grand Piano

2007-10-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

I have had this piano for years. It is finally time to recognize the fact that I never play it. It is an upright grand. I took off the panels that cover the inner workings and took some pictures.

www.flickr.com

Where to go to look for a free pattern

2007-10-16T17:48:00.000-07:00

These are archives of free patterns>

Two Handed fair isle technique

2007-10-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

Philosophers Wool has a wonderful 8 minute video that illustrates how to use 2 hands to do fair isle. The carries are secured to the back of the piece. Sometimes I can't see the video when I use Firefox, and always I wish that it was a bit bigger. I figured out how to get it to pop up in a player that I could resize. Use the following link:

mms://209.172.95.227/PhilosophersWool

2006-05-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

I made this for the 6sock knit along January 2006. I used the stained glass slip stitch pattern from Socks, Socks, Socks. Until this sock I had only knit vanilla socks in variegated yarn top down with dp's.

I tried so many things on this sock: toe up, 2 circulars, 2 at once and slip stitch knitting. You would think that so many things at once would have been a disaster. The hardest part was seeing my stitches in black yarn. But they turned out. Not the most professional looking socks, but I still like them.

FreeConference.com - Free Telephone Conference Call Service

2006-01-10T12:05:00.000-08:00

I use this all the time. It is a great free service. Each caller just pays their normal long distance rate to call the number. I highly recommend it.

New dishwasher arrived today

2006-01-04T14:40:00.000-08:00