And She Knits Too!

A tale of how homophobia messes stuff up for everyone

I was on the subway this morning riding to work, when an odd thing happened.

I'm sitting (ya, that is odd, but that's not the point of this story) and the orientation of the seats is such that I am perpendicular to other passengers.  Directly in my line of site are two 20-something women, and one of them is sporting a nice looking chartreuse messenger bag.  I like chartreuse and I like bags, so I was looking at it.  

Thing is, the girls were holding hands on top of this bag.  And when one of the pair made eye contact with me, she thought I was checking out the hand holding so she looked me right in the eye, grabbed her girl's hand and licked it rather provocatively.

I instinctively turned away and then looked back and said: "I like your bag".  They look at me, and we're all laughing a bit nervously.  She says thanks and I say "I didn't mean to make you upset" and we laugh a bit more.

It this had been a heterosexual couple none of this would have happened.  I could be thought rude for checking out the bag, but there wouldn't be this latent sense that I *might* be judging a couple riding to work together for holding hands.  

There wouldn't be that direct confrontation or the nervous laughter.  

I wouldn't feel a teeny bit bad for making them feel uncomfortable and they wouldn't feel a teeny bit bad for being defensive about their relationship.

That's how homophobia messes stuff up for everyone.  Even in everyday life riding the subway to work, checking out people's accessories.

The only thing I would have liked to told them was: "I like that you're in love too".  

Bathroom Progress

We're putting on the big push to get the bathroom done.

This week I painted:

 Then we started tiling the floor.  This is the dry fit--just seeing how it would look--nice eh?  

 

Craig was all kinds of awesomeness today--he tiled the floor while I was out.  We just have a spot near the toilet to do tomorrow and then grouting.  

 The tiled area around the tub is still not finished, but we can at least start using the toilet really soon.  Since we're been going down to the basement, this is big news.

We had only one little glitch this weekend.  I'm starting to learn that DIY home reno in an old house EQUALS a ton of "little glitches".  We had to make a hole in the ceiling to access the toilet drain. 

 We still have things in the basement to patch, so one more hole isn't all that bad.  But it's still a bit crazy making.

Done! Done! Done! Done! Done! Done!

Hooray! I finished it.  Started March 2007.  Done December 2009.  

 

I love it.  The fit is perfect.  The yarn is so nice and soft--the angora makes the most gorgeous halo.  And it's toasty warm.

 

What else can I say?  Magnifique!

 

 

Can't blog. Knitting bohus

I'm this close. If it was smaller I could hide it under my desk and sneak in a few stitches. Tonight, this sweater is done like dinner.

9 Times the Fun

My baby is NINE today

 

(From Top Left: 5, 6, 7, 8th birthdays, Xander at 4, Xander's 9th (big photo), 3rd birthday, Baby Xander (6months) and Xander at 2. )

And he couldn't be happier.  He got some good swag and had a great party a few weekends back: 3 boys slept over and they played Wii for 9 hours, then woke up and played some more.  

Of course there's lego.  Can't be a birthday without it.

 

Me, I can't get over how fast the time is going.  At least the cake was delicious.

 

Grey Mist--My Knitting Nemesis?

I have been putting on my knit-kicking boots and getting down to business with my Grey Mist Bohus.  The second sleeve is a few inches from completion and I spent some time this weekend evaluating what's left to do.

1. Finish sleeve in progress.  Do a ribbed cuff.
2. Rip back hemmed cuff from first sleeve, lengthen sleeve to match, do ribbed cuff.  (Note to self: don't measure sleeve in the car--it is too short that way--you must be standing)
3. Rip back hemmed edge of body, do ribbed hem.
4. Wait, try on to see what's up with the body.  The hem is flaring out in an unflattering way.  Why is that?  What the hell is going to fix it?  How many stitches am I supposed to have anyway.
5. Stop.  Take off sweater, get big 2000watt halogen used for construction and count teeny tiny stitches.  346. 
6. Check pattern.  How many stitches should I have?  Why don't I have any notes?  Shit, I shouldn't take nearly 3 years to knit a sweater, it always leads to disaster.
7. By my calculations I should have 346 sts.  That's good.  So why does the hem flare after the waist shaping.  Did I increase to quickly?  Is the sweater not long enough?  Shit.
8. Take a deep breath and rip out body hem, and 20 rows of the body.  This eliminates 8 increased sts.  That should cut down the flaring.  Should.
9. Pick up all live sts and count.  346.  Phew.  Decrease 4 more sts on next round.  The ribbed hem should take care of the rest.
10. Pray to all deities that there won't be an unslightly pucker when I switch to ribbing.  (I'm flirting with aethism but at this moment I'll take whatever divine intervention there is).
11. Revise plan as follows:
12. Knit 20 (or so) rows of body, switch to ribbing, finish body
13. Finish live sleeve (have the dpns in my hand sock knitting tube so they don't fall out), do a shallower ribbed edge
14. Take care of first sleeve
15. Stick to the plan. 

What's Steph Knitting?

Really, even though the blog is pretty silent (work is mostly to blame), I'm still doing a bit of knitting.

I finished a beret last week.

Chevron Lace Beret (Ravelry link) using Manos Silk Blend.  I really like it, but the colour looks horrible on me. It's going into the Christmas gift pile.  I've started a cowl to go with it.  Probably won't keep that either.  Sigh.  The yarn was very nice to work with and I would like some more in the future.  Silk really does make everything better.

And I'm working on the ugliest socks ever.  I'm pretty sure the yarn is a STR Rare Gem (can't find the label) and it was my mom's choice for her curling socks (she has a hot pink vest to match), but the pooling is making for some serious ugliness from my vantage point.  Perhaps the sight of her ankles whizzing by will distract the other team.  

She'll like them because she's my Mom (and very appreciative of my knitting) and they're fine to knit (just plain old socks) but man, they're ugly.  Too much yellow I think.

The Bohus continues.  Kim practically dared me to have this done in the next three weeks, and I'm up for the challenge.  Hopefully my life will make way for my need to get this sweater done.  I'm itching to cast on a new sweater (something aran weight on big needles) and I told myself I have to have Grey Mist done first.

Hansel

Well it took me almost a year, but I finally released my Hansel Mittens.  

 

The companion to Ysolda's Gretel beret, these mittens knit up fast in heavy worsted or aran weight yarn and have a lattice cable pattern inspired by the beret.

 

The pattern includes charts and line-by-line instructions and is available on Ravelry for $5.00.  

The mittens have an 8" /20cm hand circumference and are 9.5" / 24 cm long.  For smaller mittens, knit to a tighter gauge.

I used Foxhill Farms Cormo Cross, but any worsted/aran weight yarn would do--about 220yds/200 metres.

So if you made Gretel you can get all matchy and have warm hands this winter.

Knitting *tips & tricks

Lily Chin's new book is billed as "shortcuts and techniques every knitter should know" and is a nice reference for the basics of knitting.  It's also full of "what a good idea" tricks that I'm glad to learn.

 

Bits and pieces of what's found in her book are found in almost all knitting books, magazines and on line, but this book is a good collection of the technical stuff of knitting and a collection of other things that are of use to both new and accomplished knitters.

The book (which is a hardcover but smallish so it could fit in your bigger knitting bag) is divided into 5 chapters:

1. Needles and Yarn

2. The Basics

3. Getting Started

4. As you work, and 

5. FInishing

The section on yarn and needles is very detailed and covers the diverse systems for weights and measures commonly used in most English speaking countries.  While interesting, I did feel like this could really bog down a new knitter who might wonder why (and even if) she or he needs to know this to make a first scarf. However if you want to know if the nifty 8 ply yarn your brother brought back from New Zealand is worsted weight or dk (in American terms) this would be a great place to look (it's dk btw).  

The Basics covers the how to knit part, including both American and Continental styles, different ways to hold needles and should make a new knitter feel comfortable with learning (even if they feel completely uncoordinated).  There are also lots of good 3 colour illustrations with big details so you can discern a garter stitch from a reverse stockinette.

Ms Chin wisely puts swatching right at the front of the Getting Started chapter, and while I'm probably showing off my own laziness, I found this section contained a lot of very technical information including tips on weighting and hanging swatches, measuring and determining yarn amounts from the swatch.  But the overall message of SWATCH was also very clear.  And yes, I know it's very important.

The tip to use clothes pins to hold a long cast on on circular needles from twisting was one of those great ideas that never occurred to me and gives a sense of the kinds of small but really effective tricks that can make a knitting session go smoothly instead of end in frustration.  These continue in the remaining chapters where colourwork and stripes are tackled, increases and decreases, adding a new yarn, blocking and weaving in ends.

The tone is light and fun and Ms Chin puts the reader at ease.  It's a nice book that would be a great addition to a learn to knit kit gift for that friend who's hinting they want to learn to knit this winter.

Knitfinder

The other day, I wanted to knit a beret.  So off I went to Ravelry.  Ravelry is awesome when you want to start something new and want to see what's out there.  I love Ravelry.  But as a user-driven space, what's in Ravelry is only what someone has knit or stashed, and while it seems like EVERYTHING in the Knitiverse is in there, not everything is. 

So enter Knitfinder.  It's an index, developed by a professional indexer (yes, a pro--you know those indexes in the back of books?-she makes those).  And it's awesome.  Currently every pattern in Interweave Knits from Fall 1996 to the current issue is in there, and every issue of Knitty and all the Alice Starmore patterns.  So if you have a bunch of those books and magazines and are hunting for a pattern you can search based on a number of metrics and find the patterns that match, let's say a woman's hat at 4.5 sts to the inch.  Neat eh?  Or if you can't remember which issue that pretty pink shrug is in, you can find it.

Thérèse, the brains behind this, is adding new patterns all the time.  So it's a growing index; next up are Rowan, Twist Collective and EZ/Schoolhouse Press!

She's also providing book reviews on her Knitfinder Blog.  And in that review there's a link to a full list of patterns in the book with sizing, gauge, yarn used and short design notes.  Very helpful for deciding what goes into your knitting library AND finding those patterns after those books are on the shelf.

There are also resource pages providing links to techniques and yarn how-to's and lace and knitting history--kind of like an index of the internet for knitters.  The PhD me likes indexes--they're easier than having a billion bookmarks and they point to some great places I've never ventured.

Some parts of Knitfinder are for subscribers only, but at $14.95 a year it's a great deal.  I've been poking around on the site for a few months now and love how it's quick and easy to search, is a clean site with minimal graphics (so it's great on my iPhone) and there are nifty design notes for each pattern telling you what techniques are used (like lace or colourwork) and the construction of the garment (knit flat, raglan sleeves, top down etc).  And, there's a Ravelry link button that takes you straight to the Ravelry pattern page , so you can see pattern photos and knit-up versions, read other knitters' comments, or add the pattern to your Ravelry queue or favorites.  That closes the circle perfectly!

Wanna have a peek?

Thérèse is offering you fine readers a free 1 week subscription to poke around Knitfinder.  You can use it until November 17th.

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