Valentine's Day Guerilla Knitting

And here it is.

Lotsa Color

After I walked the dogs this morning, I decided to tackle the loom and at least get the warp tied on and the hem stitch done. I guess I was making a lot of noise because Charlie left his bed in the sun and decided to check up on me.
I've added a new piece of equip-
ment. Can you see what it is, and no, it's not my New York Yankees water glass. That's a very expensive plastic glass. I paid $10 to have it filled with Bud Light at the game. I probably would have paid that for the glass. Anyway, it's the USPS box on the floor. I've discovered that it's perfect for yarn balls that I want to wind onto bobbins. The balls stay in the box and don't bounce all over the carpet collecting cat hair. (I have a special vacuum for that.)
It's nice to have enough shuttles for all my colors. Theresa said the last time I made this blanket that it represented a lot of ends. It still does. But this time I have Laura's mother's shuttles and don't have to shuffle bobbins.
This baby boy will be born in May in California, and more speci-
fically, Laker country. Two important colors here are University of Nevada Wolfpak blue and Laker gold. All other colors are secondary - I had to work around those two.
As always, I had an error, but this was my first time to need a string heddle. Can you see it? The gold vertical line? This was the absolute easiest warp I have ever had, thanks to Lisa's suggestion that I tie the tops of crosses with one color and the bottoms with another. Had I not caught a killer cold from, could it be Satan? (think Dana Carvey), this would have been done by now. I'm in love with this new trick and almost wrenched my shoulder patting my back at my successful heddle repair.
I asked Ian to pick up some new potatoes from Trader Joe's - the union office is nearby. We have gone through all of ours and I wanted them to go with broiled fish fillets. I love the package - allow me to digress: "Hi. I'm a bag of Trader Joe's gold potatoes. My best friends are cream, butter, and gravy. I dig hot places, family meals and long walks on the beach." I steamed them and yes, we had them with butter.
I realized tonight that once I "release this into the wild" I may never see it again. It's not like gifting a sweater or scarf. It might be stolen, desecrated and certainly damaged by the weather. The only memories I will have are the pictures I take. I could just put it in my own tree, but that's not the point. I dreamed about installing yarn bombs all night last night, and today I realize this isn't going to be as easy as I had thought.

Meanwhile, Alettte asked me what I meant by yarn bombs. I meant to answer her on her blog but I can't read Norwegian, though I do understand her photos of knitting. You can read about yarn bombs at Wiki here though it's an incomplete report. Walnut Creek, California removed a yarn bomb, saying no one can decorate public property without permission. It's meant as public art, but there's always that component of government in the middle. Allison tells me that this is her local level participation in Knit for Peace. I'm still thinking and hoping that my local government is nice but yarn bombs are a leap of faith. I realize that I have to be content in knowing that my work might be destroyed. Lots to think about here.

Dealing with Moths

So many of you com-
mented on the moth traps that I am making them the subject of this post. Mim suggested I get them a few years ago when I was having so much trouble. She has all her flock sheared every spring and has a whole lot more wool to protect and experience than I.

Originally I purchased clothes moth traps online and you can see them here, but they were pretty pricey and Mim insisted the pantry traps work for her. The only place I've found them locally is at Winco and they're in the same area as moth balls and insect repellent.

The actual trap is on the left side of the photo. It's completely open and the inside surface is sticky like fly paper. You drop a little chip onto the sticky surface and then place the trap in an open area. They say the moths will find the trap when it's placed within 10 feet of the infested source. They make no claims for wool moths but in my experience it does trap them just the same.

I've finished and steeked the yarn bomb. This is my first steek and I think in the future I won't knit bombs in the round. The cut edges look pretty raw. I'm working on a couple of embellishments and hope to get it installed in the next couple of days in time for Valentines Day!

Knitting

I don't know how the rest of you handle laundry, but this is how I do it. Once a week I dump it all into a pile and then sort through the clothes until I have actual loads. I was able to get four loads done before heading into town today for book club, but I woke up quite early thinking about yarn bombs and couldn't go back to sleep.

We had a most interesting discussion on Salmon Rushdie's book Midnight's Children. It received the Booker of Booker Awards. It was a difficult read for all of us. We agreed that we won't rush out to read this author again and also, we will never forget this book. India is a living toothache, so harsh.
Meanwhile, I'm terribly worried about moths. I've seen a couple of late so checked the moth traps from last year and see that they've been successful. I bought $30 worth of moth traps while in town and have set half of them. I'm deciding where to place the other half. These work wonders.
I have finished my bolero and actually the compo-
nents were done quite a while ago. The instructions were to knit the bands separately and then sew them on. I couldn't get them on to where they wouldn't roll up. After the 4th try, I tore them out, picked up 240 stitches and just knitted the bands in garter stitch. Getting the collar onto these bands was interesting, but it's done.
I know it looks like a scalped sweater but it's all the yarn I had and I love it. Oddly it's my favorite - perfect for sitting by the woodstove on a cold night. It warms my arms and neck. My mother had a name for a sweater like this - she called it a shruggie. It does take some shruggng to get it on.
So a yarn bomb is my current interest. I awoke this morning with a fresh idea but after I had knitted a couple of inches, I realized that my fresh ideas were for intarsia, and I was knitting in the round. I figure this is my first yarn bomb so what is, is what it is. I've never done a steek and this will be my first.
And Charlie puts his stamp on my yarn bomb. I'm a little nervous about placing it but my friend Allison says you stop worring about the yarn bomb police after the first couple.
This tree that I saw in Bend last summer in my inspiration. I'm pretty sure it was a collaboration, but I can start with me.

In with the New

I took a couple pictures last night for compar-
ison. Delivery was supposed to be today between 9:00 and 1:00. We had the furniture out by 8:45 and they got here at 12:45. That's a long time with no place to sit!
The sofa-bed sectional piece against the wall used to be parallel with the kitchen counter, but the back was to the kitchen so that guests never sat in it. It was made by Basset and is still in good shape. We've got it in the truck and Ian is taking it to DD Chris and family in the morning. I have loved this set and am really happy that they want it.
The furniture doesn't look drama-
tically different but the pieces work much better. We bought the sectional for another house. I like the loveseat because there's great overhead lighting there and I can knit at night. Ian was surprised that he prefers the chair to the sofa.
I was really nervous that it wouldn't fit or we wouldn't like it, but that didn't happen. The dogs don't seem to notice that anything is different, but Charlie is completely taken with it. He kept trying to scratch on it and I'd squirt him with the squirt bottle. He had gotten pretty wet by the time he gave up. I don't think he's given up - just biding his time. I have left the bottle out for now.
Since I had no place to sit, this morning seemed like the perfect time to ply off the singles that had been languishing on two spindles. This is the same fiber I took to spindle camp last May and I need to get it off and ready to go again. It's only three months now until Spindle Camp 2011!

Welcome February!

Melissa and I have decided that Wednesdays are our play day. It started last fall when the Knit and Kibitz group came together. We backed up the time and started having lunch together, and then we backed up the time and started visiting funky shops. Now she plays hooky from her coffee shop for the day.

Today we started our play day at Jimmy Beans, which shares a parking lot with the main Verizon store. We had a horrible time getting a parking space because there was so much traffic. We asked a TV cameraman what was going on - the iPhone isn't released until the 10th. I know this - I'm a Verizon customer. He said it was because Verizon had gone down nationwide, and then started filming the two cars that backed up into each other in the melee.

This pattern was what I wanted from JBW. I found it on Ravelry yesterday and it's exactly what I need for the yarn I'm in the middle of repurposing. I can't believe it's still serviceable after being knitted and frogged once before, but I really do think it will work up great in this pattern. I have finally come to terms that it doesn't work to force a yarn into a gauge that doesn't make it shine, and that's what I had tried to do. I can't wait to get this onto needles. Anyway, Melissa and I had a blast drooling over the gorgeous yarns but we each have a scarf pattern in mind and were shopping for fingering weight yarns.
We had made arrange-
ments to meet up with Sasha at Goodwill after lunch. This is a terrible picture but it does show the tables for "flinging of the textiles" as E.L. Doctorow calls it. I have never seen Sasha laugh so much. It's impossible to do this with friends and not laugh.
You never know what will show up on the tables. This is some child's school project - dixie cup with feathers and construction paper beak glued to the bottom. I spent $3.71 and came home with four garments, which was a great deal for an hours worth of entertainment.
So the vest is done. The colors are fabulous, but the knit is very loose and the garment is pretty shapeless. I think it's going to take a shawl pin to make it stay in place. I'm also thinking a trip through the drier might be in order.
I need multiple projects on needles at one time so went through my yarns yesterday and decided to knit a mobius from this. It's Panda spun from Ashland Bay roving that I dyed in the oven - merino, bamboo and silk - heavenly soft.
This is pretty close to the actual color and shows the color gradations. I think the pattern shows off the yarn very well. I've never knitted a mobius before but I like the idea of not having scarf ends in strange places. Ian and I followed a woman out of Costco one day who was wearing a very long scarf and the fringe got caught between her legs so that from the back, it looked like she was pooing yarn.
There is a reason why our house-
plants are African violets and Christmas cactus. Charlie doesn't like them. I went to pick up a new African violet at the grocery store, but the lady said she doesn't order them this time of year since they don't travel well. I bought this plant instead - it was gorgeous and cheap. It starts with a c but the only c thing that comes to mind is a venereal disease and I know that's not right. Anyway, it used to be lovely and I took this just before it went into the compost heap. The power of an 8-pound cat!

Nothing to Knit!

Yesterday morning we got an inch of snow.

This morning and sunshine. Welcome to a normal weather pattern in the high desert Sierra rain shadow. This is way we like our precipitation delivered. It sits where it falls and seeps into the ground with no run-off. It's much easier to live with than rain.
So the vest is completed and blocked, but I need to reblock is before I show it off. The bolero is also finished and assembled but the bands are knitted separately and then sewn on. Which means I need another knitting project. This is the next sweater on my list, but when I went to cast on the other night something was wrong. I don't know what I was thinking when I knitted the swatch for this sweater, but it couldn't have been this sweater.
I dug through patterns for quite a while yesterday and finally decided that this was the candidate. It looks like something knitted with handspun. I've seen the other style on a store hanger. The only hang-up is that I don't have the contrast yarn spun yet.
I think this light gray merino will look nice with the white. It's a 19 micron hogget fleece and what's in that bag is all that I have left but I'm sure it's enough to provide the yarn I need.
But the problem remains. I have nothing to knit! I have this cone of Bartlet sport-weight yarn that I had purchased about 20 years ago when Diane Soucy worked in the wool room at the Truckee Variety Store. I spent a lot of time looking on Ravelry and chose this pattern which I got on needles last night.

It's pretty easy going so far. I think the lace will be more fun, but it is also fun to see so much done in such a short time. I've decided to use the three buttons I cut off off a Goodwill vest. The sweater was beyond help so I bought it for the buttons. If I'm stash busting, it just makes sense to the use these buttons. Hope they will work!

This Just In

When Ian came home from town yesterday, he found this box waiting at the gate. My fleeces are back from Morro Fleeceworks! I'm pretty certain this is last time I'm going to have any of our fleeces processed - it's just way too expensive.
These bags are over 17 pounds of roving. I think that will keep me supplied for the rest of my life. I'm thinking that this year when we shear, I'll just offer to fleeces to anyone who wants to process it themselves.
It's disap-
pointing that all three of our wethers have become almost the same color. Left to right: Mickey Mouth, Robbie the Ram and Oliver Twist. The black is Sven, a gift last year from Kathy LeFevre in Flagstaff. They all are lovely, soft and silky. I LOVE to spin Shetland.

And of course they're not going to fit back in the box. Charlie gave up trying to figure out a way to get into the box, so he's settled for just being close to the box.
I wanted more than anything to spin up a few samples, but this is where I've spent the last couple of days. After I got home Wednesday, a cold virus moved in on me like a swat team and has completely disabled me. It's kinda scary that a "common cold" can do that.

This is the last week for my old sofa. You can see how problematic not having an arm is. The stuff that doesn't fall off the end, falls into the cracks between the cushions. So I've mostly read and slept. I did take Theresa's suggestion and knitted my vest button bands in seed stitch - that was the extent of knitting.

I picked up my hold for David Baldacci's latest book Hell's Corner on Wednesday and read half that night and the rest yesterday. It was the perfect mindless read. I've also finished You Had me at Woof by Julie Klam, nonfiction about living in Manhattan with dogs, getting involved in Boston Terrier rescue, and how becoming a responsible dog owner helped her become a responsible adult. Loved it!

I wanted to share this from the book: “A very wise dog woman once told me that dogs find their owners, not the other way around. They pick you and they choose to stay with you. In that way, they are also giving you the end of their life. The deeper the bond, the harder it is to say good bye. I know I’d rather have any amount of time with a dog I love and suffer the mourning than not have the time at all.”
It was a lovely day, sunny and 57 degrees. My doctor's advice for a virus is to get lots of rest, hydrate yourself well, get warm and stay warm, even if that means soaking in a hot bath. I swaddled myself and sat on the deck all afternoon. At times I was too warm, but I stuck it out.

I'm reading Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie on my Kindle for book group in another week. I'm surprised at how unintimidating a large and complicated book like this is, when I'm just pressing the turn page button. It's easy to get lost in the story. I'm not aware of how much is left and all of a sudden a quarter of the book is read. I can highlight selections I'll want to reference in the meeting as well as make notes - no more sticky yellow notes all over the book.

Meanwhile, the weather has just started to turn and the wind is picking up - phew. Indian Summer in January is nice but it's also very scary and wrong.

Fiber Play Day

I wound the warp today, in between a couple loads of laundry and lunch break, and since I had it fresh in my mind, decided to go ahead and start dressing the loom. I've had problems warping back-to-front on every warp, getting at least one bout twisted, which torques the stripes and requires me to abandon the cross - ugh.

I talked about it with Lisa Minter at our guild Christmas party. My guild friends are aware of my cross struggles and it pained Lisa that they still continue. I just would like to be competent in which ever direction I choose to warp and frustrated that I've been unable to find the key to this dilemma. Lisa pondered for at least a half hour and finally said - try this. Tie the top of your cross in one color and the bottom in another. I chose to tie the top of the cross in yellow and that's what you see here on the lease sticks -my yellow ties. A quarter of the warp in in this cross and I had it threaded in 30 minutes without a hitch. The solution never appeared in print because I appear to be the only weirdo, but I'm on it now and it feels great.
I'm a little disap-
pointed that colors aren't as bright as I had anticipated when they're juxtaposed. The designer's original colors were much better, but I didn't want to repeat the blanket with her colors since both babies are in the same family. I was choosing from Internet swatches and she owns the shop. I sure hope that the other crosses are as trouble free since that would mean I'd be able to sley tomorrow. I'm so impatient!
I finally finished knitting my vest as Ian and I watched the Nevada State of the State address tonight. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't to hear the governor spend half the address stripping finances from an education system that is already dead last in the nation. When he announced his new cabinet level panel comprised of business leaders I thought I would faint. He wants to further reduce the wages of state employees and proposed elimination of the university faculty tenure track. I could go on but I won't - I'm too depressed. Ian reminds me that all this has to be approved by the legislature.
So I'm back to what to do about the trim on this vest. I was very critical of the designer's use of a garter stitch band. It just didn't appear compatible with the design and I have all along smugly thought that I'd either do I-cord or a couple rows of crochet. However, having finished the vest without giving any thought to why the designer chose that wide garter stitch band, I'm afraid I know why she did it. The front edge needed something in addition to stockinette, just like in scarves. Were I to knit this again, I'd add either garter or the six stitches of the pattern on the front edge to prevent the rolling. Then I could add a minimal edge. At least an inch of the vest is drying in a little sausage roll along the band edge. I'll be knitting a garter-stitch band after all.

Big Huge Day

We waited for the saleslady who helped me last Wednesday and in the end she talked us out of the pricey Lane set. She just didn't think we would be happy with it since it was for a more formal setting. In the end we bought this three-piece set for less than half the price of the other one. It's made in Mississippi and the cushions have springs in them instead of just blocks of foam. I was overwhelmed that she thought about our satisfaction over her own commission. We were right in the middle of ordering the fabric for the other set and this change-up came from out of the blue. The fabric weave reminds me of Herculon but she explained that it has a high content of polyester which will make it easier to clean and easier to live with, given our vigorous pets.

The ad said that the set was originally priced at $2577 but with the sale and discounts, we spent just over $900 and that included tax, delivery, a five-year insurance against stains, which if we don't need to use it will be refunded to us at the end of five years. That was hard to argue against. It's rather bland but I supposed I could weave some pillows - or something. Delivery is in two weeks. Alexia wants to spend the weekend and "help" us arrange the pieces. In the photo Ian is uploading a photo of the furniture to Facebook and Lexi says she was testing her favorite piece. Her parents are adopting our old sectional which still has plenty of miles to go.

We went to lunch afterward at Nan and Kabob where Alexia noticed that they had posted pictures of the Chef Maurice that people had drawn on their placemats. She worked all through lunch to draw him and was rewarded by his visit to our table and his gift of a bowl of saffron ice cream. I love my life.

When Ian took the dogs to pick up the mail this morning he also collected my package from Yarn Barn of Kansas. After all my complaining about them selling hand-wash yarn for a baby blanket, I washed and dried the last blanket in a mild cycle and it came out great. I was going to order Knit Picks superwash but would have needed more skeins and realized that in this case, I was costwise better off just going back to the Brown Sheep. I've always like their yarns. I won't know until I start to weave, but I think I picked really cool colors.
This is the pattern, if you didn't see in an earlier post. I hope to start winding the warp tomorrow. It needs to go on the same loom as the rag rug, and since I'm still cutting and sewing strips, the loom is open.

I just finished The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. I started this series in October when we were in New York and bought the first three books, not because it was a mystery series, but because I saw her advertised in The New Yorker. The mystery part was inane but that was okay since I'm not a fan of mysteries. I really grew to care about her characters and what a shock this book was - carefully plotted and full of surprises, a total page turner - and yet with all the characters that I had become fond of. You don't need to read earlier books to enjoy this one. Now I need to put the sequel on hold at the library! (Don't tell Amy. She still believes I don't read mysteries.)