Diagonal Rib Infinity Scarf from Stitch(es) - Day 3

Diagon-Allie

It’s a lovely color.

It’s a lovely texture.

It’s a lot of ribbing.  A whole lot of ribbing.

I think I could purl-three-knit-five in my sleep at this point.  You can’t completely zone out on this because failing to line up those diagonal ribs would mess the whole thing up.  Being even one stitch off would throw the whole pattern off.  This makes our project a bit of an dilemma--too boring to entertain, too complicated to ignore.  

Remember that first episode where I said what a good balance that was?  That’s the thing about balance--it unbalances.  An inch ago, I loved it.  Today, well, let’s just say the honeymoon is over.  Sure, I’ll press on because the color really is stunning and it’s going to be a great piece once it’s finished.  And you know what they say:  nothing worthwhile is easy.

The knitting has left me, however, with a good deal of time to ponder while I purl.  I have come to an unsettling conclusion about myself during this project.  An unrelated realization, if you will--something that has little to do with knitting.  Or more precisely, perhaps it is exactly this truth from which knitting saves me.  Confused yet?

Here it is:  I am a nerd.

An artistic nerd, perhaps, but by every shade of the definition I used in college, I am a nerd.  Last weekend I held a fluent and extensive conversation with a “socially challenged” man in a comic book store.  About Doctor Who and Star Trek.  I debated the merits of River Song’s sonic screwdrivers vs. The Doctor’s (10 and 11, mind you!).  I took a ridiculous amount of delight in being part of the Doctor Who blog hop earlier this month.  

My favorite Christmas gift?  A wind-up Tardis.  Favorite gift given?  An Enterprise pizza cutter for my husband (hey, at least I married right).  I own multiple translations of Beowulf.  Harry Potter? Read 'em all...in hardcover.  We go to the Renaissance Festival every summer.  I watch Big Bang Theory and a frightening amount of BBC television.  I’m never four feet from my Blackberry and I hyperventilate if removed from my laptop for too long.  When not in my blessed contacts, my glasses are thick enough to qualify for Coke bottle bottoms. I haven't picked up a copy of People Magazine or Vogue in six months if not more.

Face it:  I’ve just described a nerd.  I’ve just described me.

And yet, I knit.  And somehow, in some twisted corner of my artistic brain, that makes it all okay.

Thank God.

Diagonal Rib Infinity Scarf from Stitch(es) - Day 2

Tell me how you really feel...

There are projects where texture really matters, and this is one of them.  Nothing can ruin your day like a scratchy scarf irritating your neck--even if it is one of the most beautiful things you’ve ever knitted.  I’m not at all above relegating even gorgeous projects to the limitations of a turtleneck (as in “not touching my bare neck again, sister!"), because beauty does have its costs.  Yet, there is a special place in my heart for those projects that FEEL as good as they LOOK--and not just to my fingertips.

Sue has matched the soft loft of this baby alpaca with just the right needle size to give a plush feeling that still allows for warmth.  That’s the sign of a quality designer in my book.  Anyone can knit a rectangle and call it a scarf--it’s a great designer that knows just why diagonal rib will give a lovely drape and why a size larger needle would be too open but a size smaller would stiffen things up.

And then there’s the color.  I’ve tried to help the camera catch the deep, botanic teal of this yarn, but I’m not having much luck.  Take my word for it--it’s lovely.  With just a hint of color variation to give a mysterious depth.

At first I thought I was going to need a marker to notate the beginning of each row, but when I realized I was just shifting each set of “purl 3”s over one stitch to form the diagonal line, It no longer mattered where I was in the loop.  Just the right amount of thinking here--no zone-out miles of garter or stockinette, but no brain-bending lace charts, either.

A really lovely project that I'm enjoying!

Diagonal Rib Infinity Scarf from Stitch(es) - Day 1

Infinitely refreshing!

After all that chart-peering lace, a nice gentle pattern like this one from Stitch(es) in Winnetka is a refreshing change.  Sure it takes a bit of concentration--and a chunk of time--to cast on 296 stitches, but that doesn’t sap the brain cells the way a lace chart can.

My favorite trick for casting on a whopping load of stitches like this is to place a marker every twenty-five stitches (they've been removed in this photo, sorry).  That way, after nine markers, I know I’ve only got 21 more to go.  Much less stressful than counting (and recounting and recounting if I know me) to nearly three hundred.

I’m especially fond of patterns that make good use of yarn’s natural properties.  Remember the pooling colors of our tie-die neck warmer?  The one that came with the side order of amnesia?  

It’s especially pleasing when patterns capitalize on things that normally bug me, like the curling nature of stockinette stitch.  The first five rows of this infinity scarf--or cowl, as I often call it--are just that stitch.  Placed where it is, I think the curl of those first five stockinette rows will add a nifty design element rather than an annoying tendency. 

I admit, however, that it’s a bit early to tell.  As such, it’s win-win:  if it curls, that’ll be a neat edge.  If it doesn’t, even better.  Well done, designer Sue Peterson!

Congratulations to 

REBECCA VOLGER

You won the copy of 

My So-Called Love Life

watch your email 

for instructions on 

how to claim your prize

Don't forget to continue with the blog hop 

to enter in the grand prize drawing

Delightful Detour: Knitting and Doctor Who

Banner by Studio D

Doctor Who and Knitting? Absolutely!

I've loved knitting for about ten years.  I’ve loved Dr. Who since college, which would mean...ahem...about thirty years.  I never really thought about any connection between the two until I was asked to combine these two favorite things for today’s post.

Then I did a little research...and found out I am far from alone.

The Scarf

The first connection--and for many the strongest--is obvious: the quintessential SCARF.  Known universally (and in this case we really mean that word) as “the Dr. Who Scarf,” the uber-long strip of stripes was worn by the fourth Doctor in a host of seasons and manifestations.  Knitters have been replicating it for decades, and it is as much an icon as the TARDIS blue box.  It has a pretty decent pedigree, as the doctor claims it was knit by Madame Nostradamus, a “witty little knitter” who’d probably have her own blog were The Doctor to whisk her off to present times. And perhaps she has, for a lovely lady named Tara Wheeler has taken up the cause with admirable abandon.

The Actor Who’s Actually an Expert

On the more obscure side, the blog natknit reminded me that Lalla Ward who played Romana, a companion to the Fourth Doctor (played by Tom Baker, who rocked aforementioned scarf) actually has a line of knitting books out there.  There are many famous actors who knit...surely our Whovian performers should be among them.

The Current Controversy

If your tastes run more to current events, we’ve got that covered, too.  The Doctor has always stirred up controversy wherever he goes, so it should come as no surprise that he’s stirred it up in the knitting world as well.  Knitter Whovians made the news recently when BBC got supremely cranky about someone posting knitting patterns to create characters from the series.  When is knitting a TARDIS “fan crafting,” and when is it copyright infringement (or is that copyright intarsia)?  Us crafty types, we always fuse our passions.  Etsy is filled with Who goodies.  I can’t say I wouldn’t adore a plush little Adipose if I had the time and inclination to make one.  And yes, I did try and get a “TARDIS” vanity plate for my blue Honda pilot--it is a big blue box that travels, after all.  Is that worthy of lawyers descending on me like a herd of Daleks?

The On-Screen Nod to Knitting

Most recently, we learned The Doctor takes an interest in yarn and needles.  How many of us KnitWhovians gasped in joy during “The Wedding of River Song” to see Matt Smith with his Doctoral nose in a copy of “Knitting for Girls”?  And why not?  Real men knit.  Creative, adventuresome, clever men knit.  Men who know “bowties are cool” would know knitting has been cool for centuries.  Maybe the Doctor knows knitting has been cool for millennia.  

The Dare

Hey BBC, I publicly dare you to show our beloved Doctor knitting in a future episode.  Knock yourself out--make it alien yarn with time-altering capabilities.  We’ll accept anything crafty and clever from our beloved Doctor.  But I’m warning you, he better not be wiggling needles with the ends pointed up in that fake knitting I detest (DestiKNITters, you know what I’m talking about). Should BBC need an on-set consultant, I just happen to be available.

The Prize

Had I a time machine, I’d ratchet it back to give me enough time to knit you the yards of stripes a decent Dr. Who scarf requires.  But I don’t--I don’t even have a Honda Pilot with a “TARDIS” plate.  But I do have a copy of my most clever book with knitting in it, “My So-Called Love Life.”  Leave a comment with your email address (duly spelled out with [at] and [dot] for your protection) and I’ll draw a winner at 5pm CT Saturday.

But don’t stop there!

The Grand Prize: Season 6 on DVD!

To enter the grand prize giveaway, please leave a comment with your name and email address. You may enter once at every stop on the blog tour for a total of thirteen chances. The Grand Prize giveaway is limited to the US and Canada, due to regional restrictions on the DVD. Individual contest will close at the discretion of the author, but the Grand Prize contest will accept entries on any site until midnight CST on December 24th. We will post the winner on December 25th, and notify the winner via email.

The Next Stop

And don’t stop here...hop in your cyber-TARDIS and travel tomorrow to the 13 Days of Dr. Who’s next stop: Sarah Enni: The Doctor and How He Changes His Companions' Lives at www.sarahenni.com

Knit Along: Schmetterling Shawl from Mia Bella - DONE!

Ah, yes, this is why we block. The bliss of transformation.

It’s the butterfly coming out of its cocoon--come on, with the name being German for butterfly, you knew that metaphor was coming at some point.  

It’s light and lacy and wonderful.  Seasonless--this could grace a tank top as easily as it will grace a cream turtleneck for Christmas (my current plan).

I did wish--for the hundredth time--that I had blocking wires.  Pins give you just too many pointy marks no matter how you fuss with them.  I need blocking wires.  Hey, Christmas is coming right?  Not that members of my family read my blog.  

I have been known to go out, buy something, then call my husband and tell him to say “Merry Christmas.”  I did that with my beloved Keurig coffee machine.

Me: “Say Merry Christmas, honey.”

He:  “Merry Christmas.  Why?”

Me:  “You just bought me a coffee machine for Christmas.”

He: (unsurprised) “Oh.”

Me:  “Yep.  It’s awesome.  Just what I wanted.”

He:  “So you’re going to go home and put it under the tree?”

Me:  “No way.  I’m going to go home and plug it in.”

Not a big fan of delayed gratification, yours truly.  But this shawlette?  Absolutely worth waiting for.  And I have a free hour or two tomorrow, so some blocking wires may just find their way home with me.

Next, we have two big treats.  On Wednesday, I’ll be participating in the 13 Days of Doctor Who Blog Hop, talking about--what else--knitting in Dr. Who.  Stop by and you can win some cool stuff.

After that, we start the lovely cowl from Stitches.  Cuddly wonderfulness.  Life is very good indeed.

Knit Along: Schmetterling Shawl from Mia BellaDay 5

It’s not over till the tall lady blocks

Definitely not a knit-and-wear item.  This is why we block.  I’m delighted that the shawl is finished, but I couldn’t possibly don it in its current tiny, curly state.  It’s not much larger than a bandana right now, and it looks more like something that belongs in a salad than something that belongs on my shoulders.  It hasn’t gained all its lacy goodness.

Ah, but a nice bath and a good stretch will take care of that in a jiffy.  Properly blocked, this will take on a delicate elegance that will allow the pattern design to really pop.  This one will be lovely.  That transformation on tomorrow’s to-do list, and I can hardly wait.

My week has been full of tending a grumpy, contagious teenage boy on quarantine, so the sense of accomplishment is desperately needed.  Honestly, there are weeks when I’m easily convinced if I didn’t knit, I’d need sedatives. Or anti-depressants.  Or both.

On a practical level, I do have two pattern notes:

• I particularly liked the bind-off on this one.  It has a good elasticity--something often lacking in my bind offs, so I was glad to add a new skill to my toolbox.  It’s pretty and simple, like a backwards version of the knit-two-together bind-off I usually use.  It gives the same sort of serge edge I often use on scarves, and I like that elasticity.  I suspect it will be important as this piece stretches into its full elegance.

• After a grumbling hour unknitting two very long rows, I found I needed to add a “K2” to the first instructions of the border’s first row.  Either it’s a typo, or I messed up earlier repeats.  I should have seen it coming.  If I’d been a thinking knitter, I would have realized how elements in the border needed to line up with elements from the pattern. If I had seen past my blind obedience to see the the overall design concept, I wouldn’t have been an hour’s worth of stitching into the border before I realized my mistake.  I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve made the mistake of not listening to the small voice in my head saying “something’s not right here.”  Call it “knitter’s intuition.”  And when you hear it, heed it.

Knit Along: Schmetterling Shawl from Mia Bella - Day 4

“I’m not going to bed until I finish the pattern repeats on this thing!”

One of those weeks.  I could barely get to the “must get done"s by the weekend, much less the things that are supposed to be fun.  That’s the trouble with craft blogs.  I can’t exactly tell my publisher that my current assignment is going to be late because the knitting didn’t cooperate.

Actually, the knitting was downright obsequious.  It was the rest of my life that excelled at making tasks impossible.  Like mothers everywhere, I live my life at the mercy of my kids’ immune systems.  My life can be brought down by a single phone call from the school nurse.  And has. Repeatedly.  I have the feeling a few of you know what I’m talking about. 

Actually, that role isn’t just the bane of moms.  Elderly parents can tank a week in a single phone call, too, can't they?

Ah, but the knitting is always patiently waiting for me.  It never pouts that I’ve ignored it.  The satisfaction of having completed four increasing repeats of a rather complicated pattern is the perfect antidote to an exploded week.  Accomplishment is luscious indeed.

I made it to the end border. Sure it was almost two weeks behind when I wanted to reach it, and the Christmas party I planned to wear this shawlette to was two nights ago, but there’s still Christmas Eve.  A knitting deadline is a flexible thing.

My publisher, well that’s another story.