Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas has passed. The first major snowstorm arrived. It was quite a weekend.
 
I have no idea where I took this shot but the sky was remarkable. 

I was gazing out my back door and found myself staring at the maple that holds the other end of my clothesline. The vine pattern is interesting. Well, interesting to me in that it is asymmetrical where most things in nature a symmetrical. That got me thinking.

 
What if I applied the same willy-nilly design to an aran style sweater?
 
So I did.

And I have to say I found it more difficult than when I create a symmetrical pattern. On this I studied every row deciding where I wanted twists or baubles. Normally I would crank it out like a machine. On the other hand, it can't be wrong. I didn't mark down where I twisted so I'll never be making the same exact sweater again.




I'll be ready for something plain after this.
And now for the cute portion of the blog....

 I can't decide if he's praying or hiding.


Monday, December 20, 2010

I Want An iPhone

I have one of those pay-as-you-go kind of cell phones. Cheap. I can talk, text, set alarms, voice activate contacts in my address book, get on the internet (the 1x1" screen really doesn't cut it). It is a phone that works for me and my budget. I should probably add that I hate talking on the phone so the invention of texting made me giddy. I still don't use it. Not a great communicator. I do however love gadgets. I want an iPad. I want wireless internet. I want an iPhone for texting.

I want an iPhone for the autocorrect feature that has me in hysterics. If any of you have ventured out to Damn You, Auto Correct you know of what I speak. It's a total waste of time but waste time first thing in the morning is what I do. It gets the blood flowing, the tears rolling and the abs get a workout trying to control the laughing so my co-workers don't hear me. The mascara gets smeared. It's the best 10 minutes of the day.

The thought of my phone entertaining me by merely changing what I put in--wait, that would get annoying after awhile--but funny! It would be a conundrum.

I ran into another gadget I knew nothing about until the cd changer bit the dust. An internet radio. You need HiSpeed internet, which I don't have, but you can pull in stations from all over the globe in whatever genre you want. 1960's music from Britain-brilliant! It doesn't play my CD's but I want. Of course the budget raises its eyebrow like your mom did when you wanted to do something stupid. Not only am I down a cd changer (15 years old, owed me nothing) but now my boombox cd player is acting kerphlooey (20 years old). Yes, I said boombox because that's what it is. I don't  have a iPod. I've never wanted an iPod. To me it's a rerun of 1950/60's transistor radio complete with the earplugs. Wouldn't it be cooler if the iPod were as small and worn like BlueTooth phone negating the need for the dangly earbud cable? Apple, are you reading this? You'll have to work out the specifics for that stereo sound in BOTH ears.

I need new toys. I want new toys. Must get income to support this foolishness. After all, I am an American.

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

I'm A Renaissance Soul?

I've always been the type of person that masters an interest, gets bored and moves on. I recently learned this makes me a Renaissance soul. It's not  an attention deficit disorder, quite the contrary, I just don't understand how anyone can do the same thing all their lives and not want to check out other venues. I've always said, "you get one ticket for this E-ride, fit what you can into it. There are no mulligans." Now, when friends and family ask, "what do you WANT to do?" instead of saying "I don't know." I'm going to reply, "Everything!" At this stage of the game I know what I don't like and I know my limitations. There is a book and a website by Margaret Lobenstine on the subject. Didn't tell me anything I didn't already know but somehow made me feel better about it. Social standards poo-poo the renaissance mentality as a rule and that makes it harder to tell yourself its okay. Well, I'm telling myself its okay now. Time to move on. By the way, Ben Franklin was a renaissance soul; he did alright.

More Elastic Cord Please!

 Speaking of finding new venues. I found myself getting a teensy bit bored with my knitting. After 50+ sweaters and mittens, hats, scarves etc. it was getting dull. But knitting is my therapy, therefore I look forward to it everyday. Well!  Since I purchased Modern Top Down Knitting my mind is just a whirrrr with new possibilities. Could this be the end of my association with ribbing for finishing? No more drawstrings? Just integrate a row of single crochet with elastic cord, block, and your sleeves don't roll, the baggy cinch is a thing of the past. Here's a close up of the cord at the high waist. 

 Sorry about the lighting. I don't get home before the sun sets. I kinda cut the sleeve off the picture below but the crochet and elastic worked like a charm. I've crocheted finished edges before but this really keeps things in place.


I'm putting snaps on the band for closure. I applied sheer ribbon to match around the inside edges of the body to give it a nice finish and hide the steek. Markers are for snap placement but could work for buttons I suppose. NOT.
The lines are crocheted for decoration. I may add more before I call this done. Nice touch from Ms. McGowan's book Modern Top Down Knitting. I recommend.


"I like the elastic too, it's chewy."


Monday, December 06, 2010

Hello? Why Yes, I'm Still Knitting

 I'm still here, knitting away. Kristina McGowan has INSPIRED me! I'm putting elastic cord in everything I do.  I have found that the textile houses around here, chain or otherwise, do not carry elastic ribbon, nor do they carry a vast amount of velvet ribbon. I'm also on the hunt for pipe cleaners of all colors. I'd rather buy local but may have to rely on the interwebs to bring closure to my creative ideas.

The upcoming holidays are cutting into production but the lights are in the windows, the tree is up and 99% decorated. The cats have played in all the boxes and taken a few swings at low hanging decorations. As there is no place like home for the holiday and it looks like we may ACTUALLY STAY HOME, I need to Christmas shop and ship early. I can't believe it's actually going to happen. It's a Christmas Miracle.