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Thursday 14 November 2013

Cheering Hat - Test knit

I made a couple of test knit hats for a designer named Gabrielle Vezina, her design is fun and easy. Including pompoms, I-cord and nice comfy ribbing.

I love this pattern, and I got a kick out of testing it for Gabrielle prior to it's publication.

The first one came out snug and I decided to give it to my niece: project page. Ravelry

 
 
 The second hat I kept for myself: project page. Ravelry



It  got a lot of attention the other night when I wore it to community meeting.

I've also made a white version which I haven't photographed yet, it was my second attempt and I'd used larger needles in an attempt to create a fabric that was not so stiff as I'd made in my first attempt. Talk about one extreme to the other, it wound up quite loose and baggy - which has appeal as well. I need to make pompoms for it and decide who gets it.

Recently I cast on a plain and simple neck warmer in brown, and I plan on making fingerless mitts and possibly another Cheering Hat in the same colour. I have them in mind for my daughter, who wears a leather jacket I suspect the shade of brown might complement nicely. We'll see. I also promised her a totoro, which I haven't even added to my queue of upcoming projects.

Sunday 10 November 2013

Blanket for moccasins - 1001 Nights test knit

I'm nearly done the blanket I promised in exchange for the moccasins for my niece:


Its been a lot of work. Each star cost me more than 7 hours, Hexagons more than an hour and then attaching each star was around an hour's work including weaving ends. I'm still working on the boarder, which in time means 1/2 hr for corners and 8" an hour for sides so far.

There is a link to the pattern on my project page: 1001 Nights Afghan

I had the honour of test knitting this amazing blanket for an inspirational designer. She permitted me the use of worsted weight yarn as well as an alternate boarder to what she instructs in her pattern. All these details are on my project page, so I will spare you. Another 20-30 hrs to go.

The moccasins.
(I blogged about in early June, powwow, vendor, trade, blanket.) My niece is getting some good use out of them. I'd forgotten to mention that the two girls traded, the older niece wearing the moccasins that were painfully tight tried on the 'new-to-you' pair and the smaller set fit the younger sister nicely. Both were happy.

Since then our community hosted our annual fall powwow. My nieces arrived in more beads and feathers than they originally had, they've been working on their regalia with their friends and still continue. Gramma videod some of their dancing on her phone. They took their infant sister out on the dance floor as well. I'm most proud of them when they are dancing to our traditional hand drum songs.

I'm glad to see my nieces smiling. I'm glad to have been able to get the moccasins for them, there is never a small price on that kind of work. Having no money isn't any fun; and, being able to do this for my loved ones makes my knitting skills very precious to me. I may be broke, stuck home and sickly, but I can still add value.

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Gypsy Dancer

My sister has a cat named Gypsy. She is a young girl-cat.

Gypsy needed a temporary home so as not to be underfoot as her owner heals from knee surgery. We didn't hesitate to help. Thus began a short adventure in cat sitting.

In the end, we only had Gypsy a few days. Upon arrival she seemed to  adjust quickly; but, I think the noises and number of people overwhelmed her (there are three of us, we are home a lot). The laundry machines are on frequently and the water goes and goes (with dishes, shower, cooking, cleaning, etc.) and there's also the noise of the fan, the tv, the turtle tank, and our neighbourhood in general.

I'm sure all the new unidentified smells were stressful in a kitty cat way. Most especially the wafting scent of local boy-kitties... an odor beyond human perception, thankfully, but torturous to poor young Gypsy. Poor, poor Gypsy.

Poor, poor Gypsy.

We were witness to the Gypsy dance of carnal anguish: chin up, belly to the floor, hind paws shuffling. Screeeeaaaam!

Balancing emotions at such a time is strange. Pity? Horror? Amusement? Embarassment? Helplessness? Disgust?

She'd be fine one moment then suddenly she is overcome with the bestial need to...reverse-squat; overrun by some ruthless unpredictable internal schedule; or, perhaps the random wafts of neighborhood breeze - bringing the musky promise of howling hissing tooth & claw battle.

What else wafts around my neighborhood? How far do odors go that leave my house? How much do our four legged neighbors know about humans in this way?

The poor cat's stay with us was stressful to her, she squirted a roommate's shirt and made a litter box of one bed. Maybe she could have eventually become happy to visit, but after catching my sister up on the goings on, Gypsy made the trip back home, taking with her the Jeckle/Hyde performance of fluffy kitty/fuzzy banshee.

I've never before had such a strange house guest; I've never had cause to wonder about neighborhood wafting either (waft, wood smoke, waft, bbq, waft laundry softener, waft, turkey dinner, waft, pollen, achoo! Waft, waft, how far does it all go?).

Sunday 4 August 2013

Woodpecker knocking on my roof

Deep sleep is so rare. I was enjoying rest last night until, first thing in the morning, a woodpecker woke me by banging on my roof. Groggy and uncoordinated, I got up and raided my recycle bin for ammunition, waddled out onto the balcony and chucked a tin can in the general direction of the banging noise. The can was satisfyingly loud and the ricochet landed it somewhere in the front yard. The woodpecker was huge, it swooped into the nearest clump of trees - a blur of grey with a glimpse of wings, almost too quick to focus on.

I had a glass of water and headed back to bed, but I couldn't sleep again till I was finished being resentful of being woken by holes being drilled into my house.

The can will remain hidden in my unkempt scraggly yard until next spring thaw reveals it, to be picked up if I happen to have a good day that I am willing to spend on such a chore.

Spending a good day is a greater challenge than achieving restful sleep. Anticipating a good day, is near impossible. I wonder if today would have been a good day -after deep restful sleep- had the woodpecker not disturbed me.

Tuesday 9 July 2013

It's been a good day

I woke up feeling human.

My ribs were a bit sore, my head ached a bit. A short while of moving around and a cup of coffee fixed me up though.

I was able to rise up out of the armchair without any moans or groans, I was able to walk without shuffling, I moved from room to room without first contemplating weather or not to use my energy for such a thing, I passed through doorways without my memory being erased of my purpose for going to any particular room. I was able to eat full meals, get up and refill my cup without a silent self-motivation talk. I made several annoying 'one-thing-at-a-time' trips without feeling drained and upset. I spent long lengths of time upright without flopping over and closing my eyes for awhile. My feet and hands didn't accumulate pain as the day went on. I was able to do some reading and hold the new thoughts in my brain for awhile. I was able to be supportive and listen without slipping into despair. I felt hopeful of a trip out of the house, although it didn't happen, maybe tomorrow. I knitted a few ladybugs and watched a tv program at the same time. I rested once, but not because I had to.

I wish every day were like this. Today I appreciated the air I breathed, and enjoyed the space I took up. I felt human until bed time when my limbs began to get heavy again, needing rest.

Wednesday 26 June 2013

Pattern Testing Completion

My feedback on the pattern I test knitted turned out to be 5 pages long in the word document I composed it in. I'm glad to be on the home stretch, all I've got left is to do the repeats of the final two rows until the leg portion of the sock is long enough. I actually got stressed out about this being my first ever test of another designer's pattern. I tweaked and added to my feedback today and posted it on the forum and sent it to the designer by email. All but my picture and the length of time it took - I neglected to time myself.

Pacing the testing of the sock as well as trying to keep up with he questions and comments of the knitters testing my pattern was really challenging. I am glad both are over. I need to go through the feedback I received on my pattern and make adjustments to it, then figure out how to post it for download on Ravelry.

Sleep. I need to go to bed and rest. Good night.

Sunday 16 June 2013

Pattern Testing

Pattern testing has been a challenge not without stress. I braved posting my own quick simple pattern for MM Needle sleeves on Ravelry and I volunteered to test another designer's sock pattern. I got too excited about the beautiful socks to not volunteer. Doing both has been a challenge. I learned a lot and am grateful to my volunteers who caught and exposed the stumbling blocks I unintentionally built into my pattern, and I am grateful to the other designer for trusting me with her beautiful creation to seek stumbling blocks in her work.

The pattern I put up for testing is the same one I was meaning to post here. Posting to volunteer pattern testers was intimidating but I am glad I did it, the revamped pattern has more potential for being understood than what I was going to offer originally.

Now I need to go over the feedback and get to work on making my pattern understandable. This new challenge I have taken on is fantastic and I'm glad I dared. Knitting will never get boring.

The sock I'm testing is coming together well. I've only pointed out one thing myself, but as I call up the forum on my screen I discover that the observation I was going to voice has already been brought up. So I've only clicked on agree buttons since my first contribution. My notes on my work need to be typed up and sent by PM instead, I think, just so as there aren't many people posting the same stuff repeatedly. I'm still in the middle of this test, and still nervous about it.

Back to the needles.  So far:

Sunday 9 June 2013

Moccasins For My Niece

Yesterday, my daughter and I were browsing the vendor booths at the pow-wow, looking at earrings. I had a few dollars and was hoping to find ideal beads for eyes on my knitting.

My niece ran to me and threw her arms around me. She was in the regalia my sister wore when she was a kid, her moccasins are small and too tight, they hurt her toes a bit but it's all she has.

Can you buy me a feather? It's only $3. Pointing.

Internal eye-roll. Let's look.

We turned to the next vendor over and browsed a bit. My daughter chose a feather to best match my niece's fancy regalia. They both were smiling about it, I paid for it and watched it woven into hair to stand up centered behind. More hugs.

My other niece acknowledged me by asking if I'd buy her moccasins, they're only $80, *head tilt and dimples set to full power.

Only $80? - you go get $80 then.

Awhile later as I was browsing, I found nicely beaded moccasins, obviously used. The vendor is a local lady and distant relative. I asked the price.

Uh, ... $45.

My niece is out here barefoot. I don't have money. Would you be interested in a trade? I can knit you something of equal value.

Hesitation, uncertainty. Then I show her a few pictures in my Android of some of my work as well as my project page on Ravelry.

How about she tries them on first, and if they fit we'll go from there.

Sure.

I take the moccasins, hoping they fit. They didn't. Not even close. They are more than a little big; but, she's ecstatic about them, and I go back to negotiate my knitting project.

How about just a blanket with two horses on it. One horse is all black and the other one is brown with a black tail and mane, I don't care about the colour of the blanket, any colour will do.

I agree to the blanket project and set my mind to how I might begin. I'm glad for this trade agreement, but I also know that a blanket is a lot of work. The blanket I made for myself took nearly a year; the one I am working on for my nephew has been on the go since before he was born.

I've been searching for a knitted horse applique without any luck; intarsia still intimidates me - but it looks like I may have to master it now. Less intimidating is crochet, there are a few appliques made that way, although they are a bit cartoony.

In the end my nieces traded moccasins and are very happy and the fit is better for both.

I ought to get back to searching ideas for a blanket; mostly I'm finding plushies. I guess it doesn't help that I am limited to free patterns.

Tuesday 4 June 2013

Saturday 1 June 2013

The magic button � Make Everything OK

This is a link to a button that makes everything ok:



It is like a defibrillator, only better.

...well, it is definitely proof that I am easily amused. My friend showed me this on her laptop the other day, she always cheers me up; and, I found it for download onto my android for free through play store, it is now on my phone's main screen available for emergency.

I would like this as a gadget on my blog's margin. I googled it and found nothing; although that may only mean I don't know what I am looking for.

Check it out. Inform me, please if you find a way to stick it in my margin, yeah?

Thursday 30 May 2013

Heirloom Lace and Rick at HOME DEPOT

At HOME DEPOT I talked a little ‘resilient vinyl tile flooring’ with a worker and found that for today it is outside my scrawny sad budget. I plan on sending my three girls to look at the selection and maybe purchase the amount we need for our 5’x9’ basement bathroom. He also browsed toilets and sinks with me, the cheapest throne would suffice and I like the look of the pedestal type sinks. I walked away from it all today though hoping to at least afford paint, fingers crossed.

I did purchase a gallon of paint. With NANOGUARD technology - high performance - built in primer - ultra satin - durable - stain resistant - scuff resistant - mar resistant - easy clean - pearly sheen - ideal for high traffic areas (the can is pretty nifty too - has a handle on). My colour choice: Heirloom Lace (it sounds knitty, yeah?)

Although I won’t remember everything Rick had to say about my bathroom project, I appreciate the time he took with me, knowing that I’ve never done this kind of thing before. He enthusiastically familiarized me with all the details of each choice of paint ideal for my bathroom walls, their texture and reflective qualities, and whether they hide imperfections in their surface very well or not, and their cleaning and care, as well as how they are different from what was previously available.

He went over the steps for doing my walls and ceiling right. My gyp rock seams are taped and puttied already (if that’s what the white-over stuff is called - I don’t know) but need to be sanded; Rick explained the sanding process and demonstrated the angling of a flash light to best see the imperfections in the walls and how marking them with scotch tape helps to indicate areas for further smoothing out or filling in. Once the wall surfaces are perfect the best paint application method is to make a W in a small area and cover it over, make another W beside and cover it over - going over the same spot more than three times will result in a less than smooth surface because the paint is designed to dry so quickly. Leave it a day and do a second coat. He also gave me brochure of practical painting tips.

I had no idea there was so much to know about paint - I though I would walk in, choose a colour, wait while it shakes and voila homeward.

This evening we start with basic cleaning including shooing away my eight legged tenants. Maybe some sanding.
 

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Adventures in Blog Creation Exploration

I've been at this for hours. I actually spent nearly an hour on another site creating a free blog only to discover after choosing the background, layout, font, title, the works that the first 31 days are free and then it's $20 for 3 month's subscription, or else it will all be deleted. I deleted that and explored a few profiles on Ravelry that linked here to their blogs. I hope I don't have an expiry date here - doesn't look like it.

It's been a fly by the seat of my pants learning experience for me this evening. I'm unfamiliar with the words on the links and all the vocabulary around this activity. Clicking on things in hopes of deciphering it's meaning and ending up entirely elsewhere from where I think I need to be - other windows opening; and then the 'back to' option landing me up with more than one window with the same thing in for my many attempts to get back to point A and figure it out from there. Still not certain what point A is quite yet.

I am off to see if I can figure out how to add my Blog ULR to my profile on Ravelry.com: CastOnCalamity although I may have to wait and consult my teenager-type peoples who are home for the summer from college. Onward with this adventure. Also, and most importantly: I would like to know if I can make a pdf or two or three available for downloading on my blog somewhere.