Monthly Archives: June 2012

Shh! Don’t tell my mom…

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But I think I’m going to cast on a shawl that isn’t hers. Back in April, I promised to make her a shawl and she provided me with the yarn and pattern. I’ve wound the yarn into cakes and made the stitch markers that will make following the chart easier but then this happened: 

This is a shawl that if you look closely is edged in TARDIS’. I totally geeked out. And I started thinking that maybe this would be a good beginner shawl to, you know, warm me up for knitting Mom’s way more complicated shawl. No, that wouldn’t be right, I thought. I should start Mom’s shawl. Then this happened. 

Someone said the official color of the TARDIS was Pantone 2955c (I can’t find the BBC saying that yet, but I’m still looking). My friend Wendy brought home a Pantone book from work and we matched the color to DMC embroidery floss #311.  Still, I wasn’t convinced that I should be doing anything but my mom’s shawl (and my Nerd Wars/HPKCHC projects of course).

I ordered some yarn from Knit Picks (Shocking, I know) for the Bigger On The Inside shawl, because I was going to knit it someday just not until after Mom’s shawl. I compared the yarn to my little skein of DMC 311, the yarn just happened to match what is supposed to be the Official TARDIS color.

It’s getting harder and harder to resist. Surely I have time to knit both shawls before the weather cools down in Texas and here. Surely I would never delude myself into thinking I can knit faster than I really do or that I have more time than I really do.

I can hear you laughing from here.

Those in charge of the Knitting Balance of the Universe are about to have a field day with me, aren’t they?

2.2 million knitters endanger the Olympics

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Wow, we just didn’t know our own strength. I’m all over respecting copyright and intellectual property. I’m not one of those people that thinks that Disney should lose rights to Micky Mouse after a certain amount of time. I haven’t purchased any of the patterns that feature Olympic symbols that I know or suspect don’t have permission from the USOC, nor do I have any plans to. But I’m damn well going to knit a free pattern with those things on it if I want to. And no, I won’t sell the items. To suggest (hell, they didn’t suggest, they came right out and said it) that by participating in a celebration of the games by knitting or crafting something during those games we are insulting athletes is ludicrous. Insane. Insulting. Depressing.


Who would have thought that this:

this:

or Heaven help us, this:

would denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games. And by the way, how would paying a dollar for a dishcloth pattern with the Olympic symbol on it take away a single penny from sponsors like, say, McDonalds? Have knitted dishcloths been shown to instill fear of artery clogging foods? Are people suddenly going to stop using GE light bulbs, drinking Coca-Cola, buying Proctor & Gamble products, or inhaling Cadbury chocolate? Yeah, I didn’t think so either.

I know this is ungracious of me, what else can you expect from a Destroyer Of The Olympics, but no, I do not accept your flimsy attempt of an apology.

Knitters are kind. They are generous. They donate to countless charities. They and other crafters created 5000 cushions to give to the Olympic athletes in London. These people aren’t just tossing money (although that is a very worthy thing to do) at someone. They are giving their TIME. Time is a precious commodity in our insanely busy lives and they are GIVING IT AWAY.  I love and support our athletes and admire the things that they can do, but when the race is over and the game is won or lost, what is leftover to show for it? When a crafter spends time (you know, that really valuable stuff that we never have enough of) on their project, a tangible object is created. A pair of socks, mittens, a hat, a blanket, a toy, something that is then given to a recipient to keep them warm, bring joy, or perform some other useful function. An object that says I love, honor and respect you SO MUCH that I not only gave you a few yards of fiber in an interesting shape, I gave you MY TIME.

How could this possibly, by any stretch of the imagination or any definition of the word “denigrate” anything?

I have to admit, my feelings of excitement about the Olympics has been squashed just a little, buried under a big, stinking pile of greed.

Father’s Day

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Happy Father’s Day to a great man. He’s a great Dad who did all the daddy things like reading me stories, participating in tickle fights, teaching me honesty and slaying dragons (growling fiercely at boyfriends who would hurt his little girl). He has always taken excellent care of us all. At 74 he still goes running and spends his entire day keeping busy working in the yard, repairing things, building things, gardening, hunting and driving my mom crazy. His work ethic is a thing to be admired.

He’s also pretty good at slaying birthday cakes.

And soothing savage beasts.

Happy Father’s Day, Daddy.  I love you.

June startitis and WWKIP

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The nerdiness continues here as a new round of Nerd Wars and HPKCHC has started June 1st and kicked off a flurry of startitis. I’ve planned a few projects and hope to be able to double them up to count in both places. Ravelry inspires me to knit more of the things I want to knit but really cuts into my WoW time.

I cast on for my second Doctor Who Scarf. This will be a Nerd Wars project worked over the three months of this round.

I cast on for a Harry Potter hat in the Gryffindor colors that I can use as a gift for the family Christmas party.  Or I could give it to David’s grandma so that maybe she won’t steal whatever other thing I bring to the party like she did last year. This hat will match the scarf that his grandpa nabbed and I’ll make her a Slytherin hat to match the scarf she nabbed. I’m sure I could easily fit a Slytherin hat into one of the challenges.


I met my friend Janalee up in Heber where she showed me this great store called Kings that reminds me of the old Sprouse Reitz stores that my grandmother used to go to get yarn and just about everything else you could imagine. They carry the Red Heart baby yarn that I prefer to use for the granny square baby blankets that I like to make and I couldn’t find anywhere here in Utah County. I may or may not have bought enough for five blankets even though I really only needed enough for two more. We had lunch at a nice little cafe/diner where it is expected that people will linger and visit. I started on a yellow blanket that will go to one of the nieces making an appearance around October.

Simple granny square made with Red Heart Baby in Yellow Pomp.

And then there is a little purse… will the madness never stop?

The answer is NEVER. It’s all fiber madness, all the time! Yesterday kicked off a week of World Wide Knit in Public. Janalee, Kit, Kit’s friend visiting from CA Brianna, Cara, Jill, Nicole and her darling little ones and I went to a park in Provo to hang out and knit or spin. I should have taken pictures.  Farmer’s Market was going on there so there was a ‘public’ for us to knit in. Unlike last year, we didn’t have an official booth or anything and were able to grab some shade a little bit out of the way. We could visit and knit without a lot of interruption. I got caught up on where I need to be for The Scarf and started the cable on my Time Traveler socks.

The day was quiet and relaxing and we enjoyed visiting each other. The only trauma of the day was when one of the sweet little girls playing in the park who lost her balloon and was inconsolable. I would be too. It must be like when an adult loses their wallet or wedding ring. Losing a balloon is horrible, I wanted to cry with her. I found honey from a local company that is right in this area so I can continue my “local honey to combat local pollen allergies project” and some fabulous orange cranberry bread. The bees live in peoples backyards all along the Wasatch front. I was so excited to find out the bees did not travel anywhere else so I could be sure that the honey was truly local.

A nice day

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Last Saturday, some of the knit night ladies went to a couple of yarn shops because some of them hadn’t been to the Salt Lake shops yet. Kit and I took Glenna and Lorraine to Three Wishes and Gardner Village. We started out at Three Wishes where they were hosting an open house. There were chairs set up with some people spinning. Kit set up her wheel and I knit for a bit. I may or may not have broken my yarn diet again, but this time with fiber. I have a small amount of spinning stash and I haven’t spun anything since finishing those singles made from roving that I dyed with Kool Aid last summer. I was commenting to Kit that if saw roving that had that particular orange, purple and black shiny stuff that another lady next to us was spinning I might have to get some. Of course I saw some in the shop. After hardly any much encouragement from Kit, I purchased some. I may or may not have purchase silk hankies in a similar colorway. Both come from Greenwood Fiberworks.

It’s coming up on a year since I got my spinning wheel and I stopped spinning after finishing some singles and not feeling confident enough to ply them. I would really like to get back to it and I think this fiber might do the trick.

Our next stop on our mini yarn crawl was Gardner Village to visit Kamille’s where I made the Yarn Score of the Century. For probably about a year I’ve had my eye on this Halloween-ish colorway in Noro Furisode. Both of my readers know that I adore Halloween and Halloween colors and Noro yarn. I almost bought this yarn at various times at 30% and 25% off but always put it back knowing I was on a severe yarn diet and that I had a storage tub full of Noro. I deserve a medal for doing that because I have a weakness for Noro. I hate the knots that are in almost every skein but I love, love, love the colors. That day I found those very skeins, four of them, in the $5 bin. I snatched them up and then made the girl at the counter call Kamille to make sure they were really for sale at $5. This yarn typically carries a $20ish price tag. Sure enough, the Knitting Goddess and Kamille smiled upon me and that yarn was MINE, MINE, MINE for $5. My day was made. I sent a text to the knitting ladies that weren’t with us that day. I posted on Facebook. I may have mentioned to a few, random, passers by that most certainly couldn’t have cared less that I BOUGHT NORO FOR ALMOST NOTHING.

Gardner Village was hosting a Farmer’s Market with loads of fabulous vendors and activities. Glenn didn’t have her camera with her so I turned her loose with mine. We saw baby geese, a guy making balloon animals while wearing a really great costume, purchased fudge/goodies at the sweet shop and had a yummy lunch at the bakery.


This Saturday I’m going to the Provo Farmer’s Market to celebrate World Wide Knit in Public which has expanded to a week instead of just one day. We are going to find a nice shady spot to sit and knit, crochet or spin. I can’t wait to look around and sample all the tasty treats that are usually there.

I knit a little on vacation

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At some point during the vacation, I reached the heel turn on the baby sock and the baby blanket got a tiny bit bigger. I didn’t knit or crochet as much as I thought I would. What I did do was start a new character on WoW to play with my nephew Adrian.  We are a three generation WoW family.  

The baby socks were due on May 28th for HPKCHC Quidditch I made a herculean effort to park myself in front of a movie or two really concentrate. I messed up on one of the heel flap rows and 4 stitches left on one side and 2 on the other. I really do have a sock curse on me. I know, shocking, right? I was going to be really surprised if I got the other sock finished. I considered starting the second sock before I got to the easy part of the leg and cuff of the first one while the techniques I learned are still fresh in my mind but pressed on and finished the sock while having a great visit with my friend’s Karen and Mark. Two happy things about that day 🙂  I finished a sock and got to see friends I hadn’t seen in years.

I did break the yarn diet and bought yarn before going home, thinking I was going to start the next Quidditch project and then I realized I couldn’t start the project until after I got home. Buh. Oh well. I didn’t knit or crochet very much on the way home. I guess I just wasn’t in the mood. 22 hours in a car is an amazing amount of knitting time. I did knit some, I started the Order of the Phoenix project, I pair of socks it he Knit Picks Felici. Time Traveller colorway. That yarn is so soft, I can’t wait to get those socks on my feet.