It's Good to Get Out of the House

So this weekend, I drove to Seattle to pick up Paul. We got in town with just enough time for me to run into my favorite Seattle LYS (local yarn shop) before it closed. I try to stay away from yarn shops because I have a SABLE (stash acquirement beyond life expectancy). In other words I need no more new yarn since I own six boxes full of yarn already. But this shop is so cute I can't help myself and the artfully arranged shelves of colourful yarn gives me great pleasure.

My tape yarn (at least new to me)

Fortunately or unfortunately I found the yarn above. As you can see it is really a webbed tape and not a yarn at all. Since I wasn't sure what to do with it, I asked and the helpful shop owner showed me a rather lovely scarf and give me the easy instructions to make it.

Using a #8 or 5 mm needle pick up 8 stitches along one side of the tape. Then cast off those 8 stitches using stitches you pick up on the same side of the tape and continue casting on and off in that order Here's a video that shows you in detail what to do:

The pattern on the video is a variation of what I'm doing, but it does give you an idea of how to pick up the stitches you need to knit.

The scarf it makes

In my version the yarn twists and turns itself into a rather ruffly looking scarf. It is a fun and fast project that was worth busting my stash for. Thanks to my nearly LYS for inspiring me with new "yarn". It is good to get out of the house and find new things, just as long as you don't buy too much new yarn.

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Anatomy of a Sock

I've been knitting socks for a relatively short time. One of the disconcerting things for me as I started following patterns for socks is the pattern designer assumes the knitter (in this case that would be me) knows all the parts of a sock. So I thought I'd devote a post to improve my own knowledge about the anatomy of a sock and maybe some of you will learn something about the humble yet necessary sock as well. Here's the names of the parts of the foot as I know them. #49 ankle, #50 heel, #51, instep, #52 ball, #53 big toe, #54 toe, #55 little toe, #56 toenail. There are some parts more important for this discussion; first the heel of a foot is generally used to refer to the entire C-shape from the ankle to the instep. Speaking of the instep, it refers to that curve near the bottom of the foot. And what seems to be missing in the design above is the sole which generally refers to the bottom of the foot in total or plantar aspect in more technical terms. (BTW

Ode to the Cat

It has been six months since Mike, the cat's, passing. I think of him every day and miss him especially when Paul is away. Mike was a being in the house with me and we were close. Grieving his death has been muddled with my Dad's passing and sometimes I feel guilty about that happening. As time passes the ache becomes less hurtful for both and I am starting to get mostly good memories in its place. Recently I helped celebrate Pablo Neruda's birthday with Jami, my poet and overall very creative friend. Guests were asked to select one poem written by Neruda to read to the small group who gathered for the celebration. I picked this one: Ode To The Cat -- Pablo Neruda There was something wrong with the animals: their tails were too long, and they had unfortunate heads. Then they started coming together, little by little fitting together to make a landscape, developing birthmarks, grace, flight. But the cat, only the cat turned out finished, and

Knitting-Related Guinness World Records

I had to share some of the Guinness World Records connected with knitting. It is amazing to me the type of skill, stamina and unique characteristics these record holders have in common. How about trying to knit with these SPNs?? Ingrid Wagner and her large needles and knitted swatch The largest knitting needles measured 3.5 m (11 ft 5.8 in) long and had a diameter of 8 cm (3.15 in). Ingrid Wagner, a rug and art creation artist, from the UK used the needles to knit a tension square of ten stitches by ten rows at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, on March, 10 2008. (And I complained about getting certain SPNs stuck in my clothes.) See how this swatch was done with merely 5 people managing the needles. And what about the yarn? It is truly ex-bulky. It looks like they're knitting in a warehouse, but with a wingspan of almost 24 feet or 7 m, you'd need all that space. Or how about the longest piece of finger knitting that measured 4,321.4 m

Flagel Knitting Files

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