nice & easy narcissus

This baby took me about 1/2 hour, if even that. In fact, I think it took me more time to find the right colors of yarn than it did to make it. Or something like that.

Pattern doesn't get really detailed about what yarn or hook to use, but I'm figuring, choose whatever yarn you like from your stash, and then use that as a guide to choose your hook. I used a G hook with worsted weight cotton. I'm thinking it might have been better to use an F hook, but, hey, it's just a little flower.

The shaping on those petals is pretty clever. Plus, I LOVE that it's all done in one piece, no sewing together later. I don't quite know what I'm supposed to do with these ends...maybe if I add a stem, something along the lines of wire covered with floral tape maybe?, then I could just tape them in there along with the rest of the stem.

(should I have blocked it before taking that picture? probably...)

I've already got a good start on the nautilus, too. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do the two-color stripe thing, but, I'm so glad I went for it. It's not hard to switch yarns at the end of each round, and you totally cannot tell where the color change happens. I'm using a very light sport weight yarn, so it's going to be fairly small. Can't wait to show it off when I'm done!

Been Thinking...

Thinking pretty hard, to tell the truth. And trying to remain calm. I can get pretty worked up over this thing I've been pondering.

It started when my latest BYU Magazine came in the mail. Now, before you start to wondering just what about an issue of a college magazine could get me all worked up, please understand, I like BYU. I'm a proud BYU graduate. My dad is a BYU professor (English Dept). My mom has both her bachelors and masters from BYU. My parents (I hate to admit this) met at BYU. We escaped Utah briefly while Dad earned his PhD from Cornell. In the end, we ended up right back in Provo when dad went looking for a job. All in all, we like it here. Really. Even if we are not your typical Mormon family. Which, we definitely. are. not.

See, my parents are what have been referred to as "thinking" Mormons. We did not excel at Family Home Evening. Or Family Prayer. Or even Scripture Reading. No, we were a bit too disorganized for all that. (I'm not saying this is good, or even okay, I'm just telling you how it is.) There were, after all, 8 of us kids, and only 2 of them. But we were good at discussions. Lots of deep, thoughtful discussions, about just about everything. Including the gospel. We could start talking about something at the dinner table, and end up in the living room, long after the dishes should have been cleared away, and the littler kids in bed, still discussing whatever it was. We have a dictionary in every room, except maybe the bathrooms. That's the kind of family I grew up in. We talked about everything, explored every angle. We believe in being educated, for the sake of education, learning, enlightenment. We like to question things, think about stuff. Open our minds. Mom taught us that we could become anything, do anything we set our minds to. Knowledge is power. Words are fascinating. So bear all that in mind, as I begin to tell you what's been getting my dander up recently.

The latest issue of BYU Magazine sports a cover that looks like the front of a refrigerator. Magnets that spell out "I <3 mom", a few pictures, and word magnets, like the kind you get in magnetic poetry/prose sets, that spell out the feature article: "Homework: How moms employ their BYU education at home". Just reading the title makes my upper lip curl.( I wish I was kidding.) I tell myself, they didn't mean it that way. I'm sure that's not the angle they're pitching. I set it down in the living room, face down so I don't have to see that title on the cover. I don't want to hate the magazine, I want to be tolerant. I'm sure they meant well. All the same, I can't make myself read it. Not yet. I push the bad thoughts to the back of my mind until I can mentally prepare myself for what lies within.

Then, Tuesday night, at book club, one of the other gals (also a BYU grad)  brings up something sort of related. She says, (and, I have not researched the basis of this - I'm just relating what she told me) that after a decade of BYU trying to increase their academic standing in the world, recruiting top students, going for the really smart ones, and basically stressing the "university" aspect of what I always thought of as a very respectable institute of higher learning (the business school has always been heavily recruited by top accounting firms - or at least, that's what they told us); after a decade of this, they discover that these "smarter" students, these academic types, are not getting married. The marriage rate of our (not so) little LDS university has gone down. They are finally, at long last, shaking the image of being that school so many young ladies attend to get their MRS, never mind how irrelevant that was in the first place, because not all of them quit when they get married (I'm not sure I know of even one fellow student from my circle that didn't finish, even after having a baby), and when it works, when they finally have more students interested in getting their degrees than getting that little ring on their finger and starting a family, they panic. They change their tactics. They begin to recruit another type of student. Something more along the lines of "cheerleaders" (her word, not mine). Because the smart ones aren't getting married.

Did you get that? The smart ones are not getting married. Pandemonium ensues.

This is going to take a while, telling you how I feel about this. I'm going to have to come back to this later, when I've had a chance to calm down and think rationally. (and maybe to research her allegations: are the marriage stats published somewhere? or is this just the "buzz" around campus? also: does it matter? Or is it enough that someone thinks this way (I'm not saying my friend actually feels/believes this, either - she's just the one that shared it with me), and I just don't think it's right, even if it's not grounded in actual fact?)

Reading tidbits

I'm currently reading both The Zombie Survival Guide and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. This has made for some interesting moments.

I'm just past the weaponry section of ZSG, and just past the engagement of Charlotte Lucas in PPZ.

Monday night, reading PPZ, the ladies encounter that rarity of rarities, a baby zombie. Neither Jane nor Lizzie can bring themselves to kill it. I'm thinking, "Hey, zombies cannot procreate, so how do you suppose that zombie baby happened?" And a second later, "yeah, cuz zombies are real" simultaneously thinking, "well, it could have been turned zombie, just like the adult zombies."

Then, later that same night, I'm falling asleep reading PPZ, and I hear a noise. My half-awake brain says, "oh, no, what if that's a zombie?"

I'm not sure how much more I can take.

Minute Mop Top

First, let me say that, when I crochet ami, I work pretty tight. Which is okay, because you don't want stuffing coming out, you want a good tight fabric without holes. I can loosen up when I crochet something like a doily or slippers, really. But for ami, I work nice and tight.
Because I work so tightly, I had a little trouble getting the eyes into this little fella. It calls for 8mm, which means I used 9mm, because, though it may be different elsewhere in the world, I can only get safety eyes in 6mm, 9mm, 12mm, etc. They don't seem to come in sizes that are not a multiple of 3mm. Anyway, though I could see I had some with smaller stems, I couldn't find the backs for those (a while ago, mom found me a whole bag of safety eyes, assorted colors, styles, sizes, at Savers, for super-cheap, and not all of them had matching backs, which is okay for some projects, just not crochet), so I had to use the others with the fat stems.
Fat stems that took a great deal of effort to insert into my tightly crocheted Mop Top head. Fat stems that were too long for such a small head, and they pushed against each other in such a way as to distort the head. So I had to set it aside until I could get some wire cutters at home to chop the ends off. This worked nicely, and I was able to finish the head.

Then, while working the body, I kept wondering, "Just how small is this little dude, anyway?"

Well, let me tell you, he's small. See?

Then, when I showed it to my boys, they both said, "Lemmings!" and then showed me the picture of the lemmings from some game or other. These pictures showed that my color choices were wrong. Both boys said I could just make another, using dark blue for the "clothing", and green for the hair. What they fail to understand about that is: I don't want to make another. Parts and pieces, folks. Too many. Too much startstopstartstop. Don't like it.

Please, dear designers, if you must have parts and pieces, could they just please, pretty please, be joined on as you go? Thanks.

Pieces and parts aside, this pattern was easy to follow, and the end result sure is cute.

I'm considering tacking the arms in place behind it, as though it's standing politely, or hiding a bunch of Mother's Day flowers behind its back. It has issues with standing on its own. Not sure how to fix that.

Yarn: Vanna in Beige, Vanna Baby in Bluebell, and Fun Fur in Cotton Candy

Year of Ami, week 14, N is for Not Much!?!

Now, I've got to tell you, N was a hard one. You go out and look, see what you can find. Seriously. Nobody has a newt. And I only found one ninja (of course, by its very nature, difficult to find). But I did find this nice narcissus to crochet.

And to knit, a nifty critter I've wanted for quite some time, Nauties.

It looked perhaps difficult, or at the least, fiddly. Which he may turn out to be in the end. But I was convinced it couldn't be too bad after browsing through just a fraction of the 600+ knitted Nauties on Ravelry. If that many knitters think he's fun to knit, it must be at least somewhat easy, right? I plan to make him in sock yarn. I think.

*pics of my own creations added after-the-fact*

Time Out

I had to hurry and knit some socks, sew up a cute diapers & wipes case, make a basket, and attend a baby shower, all while simultaneously hosting a basket making event/birthday party (and somewhere in there making my Twins mow the lawn on the supposed only sunny day we will have for the next week).

Yeah.

So, I had to set aside the Mop Top Mascot while I did all that (and the announcement for this week's choice - which has been difficult, to say the least).

I did finish the baby socks, but they looked too girly to give to my friend V that just had a boy,

so they went into the stash of baby gifts in the front closet (same pattern as the other newborn Jaywalkers, they just look lacey and girly in all-white). She did get the very cute Diapees & Wipees case, even though I couldn't find my stash of new cloth diapers to make a matching burp cloth with, along with those blue and orange baby jaywalkers, and an owlie sleep sack. And I did make it to the baby shower, all the way out in Saratoga Springs, leaving my family at my house to fend for themselves, after having my niece open her gifts.

The basket is about 1/2 finished, and must be done before Saturday, so I'll be working on that this evening, and every spare minute, until it's done.

After much cajoling, the Twins did mow the lawn. It doesn't look like we'll have the promised rain today, but, I'm still glad I pushed them to get it done. The mowed bits look great. The flower garden areas, which are badly in need of weeding, not so much. Maybe somewhere in the week of supposed rain, I will manage that. Or manage to get the Twins to do it.

Very glad I attended the baby shower, even with all the rest I was supposed to be doing. Baby Diego was born Mar 3, his due-date was May 13, so he got here a tad early. Doing very well, nearing 5 lbs. She had ink prints of his feet from the day he was born, and from that morning. Wow, what a difference! His little feet are now about 2 1/2" long, compared to maybe 1 1/2" at birth. Such a tiny thing. He'll be in hospital for a while longer. By all accounts, a sweet baby. Can't wait to meet him.

I will be back later with the Mop Top, and Year of Ami "N" selections.

Mute Monster Chunks

Here's my little monster chunks, but he's not got his mouth yet, hence the muteness.

He's pretty cute this way, though. Except, now that I see him here, in a picture, maybe his feets needed a tad more stuffing.

Speaking of feets, did you get what you were doing with that whole turning-inside-out-3-needle-bind-off thing? It took me a minute to see where she was going with that. Pretty clever way to seam the foot, though. If you were confused, here is how I did it:

Turn inside out, and put all the stitches onto just 2 needles. I only needed to take 4 stitches from the center needle and put 2 each onto the other 2 needles. You should have 5 stitches on each needle.

Then, you will use a 3rd needle, and knit one stitch from each needle together as you start to bind off.

Once you've knitted 2 stitches like this, pass your first stitch over the second, as for any bind-off.

Continue like that to the end, and then pass your last stitch over a loop. Cut yarn and pull through. It will look like this:

Then, though the pattern doesn't say this, turn it right side out again, so it now looks like this:

Make two, stuff 'em, and sew to your monster!

Yarn is Vanna Baby in Cherry Cherry and Bluebell

Celebrity Sighting

I should probably have blogged this right after the event. I did not. But, he's not a huge celebrity, he's a local who happens to be a celebrity, so maybe that justifies the delay?

Hint: I, like so many girls my age at the time, wanted a pair of purple socks SO bad, just so I could be like him. (you know who you are, and you did so want a pair!)

Also, nobody over 50 should look that good. He obviously works out and takes care of himself. (I must add, though, that if that was his wife with him, this must not have been a good day. Last pictures I saw of her, she looked younger, much prettier, than whoever it was with him. Let's just assume it wasn't his wife, okay? Okay.)*
Monday night, I'm with Twin1. We have to stop at my parents, so we also stop in at Day's Market, the little local grocery store near my parents neighborhood. Which is also the nearest grocery store to the area referred to as Indian Hills, or, as I used to think of it in my younger years, that place the rich folks live. (My parents are not folks of this variety. They live just West of that area, in the older neighborhoods.) Within this affluent area, as many locals are aware, we grew a family of celebrities. A few of whom have gained greater celebrity in recent years.

Yeah, I know, you know already.


Anyway, we're wheeling our shopping cart aimlessly, sort of heading for the cereal, but maybe not exactly. I was trying to remember what we needed (vs what looked yummy, like 1/2 price Easter treats), when I looked up, and there he was, just an aisle away, headed directly toward me. And looking mighty fine in that tight black t-shirt and well-fitting jeans.

A few years back, he had some work done by my office, for his own recording studio. I didn't work on the account, but the gal that did was just across from my cubical, so I saw him all the time. But still can't say I know him well enough to say hello. So I didn't.

Instead, as he paused to ask someone where to find something (I didn't catch what), and turned down the cereal aisle himself, I steered the cart to the next aisle, suddenly remembering I needed toothpaste. And feeling a little flustered. Because, I guess, of the whole purple sock thing. (Never did get the purple socks. Like I said, we are not those rich folks. And then I guess I kind of outgrew that phase.) And maybe a little because of the tight black t-shirt thing. Maybe.


I mutter to Twin1, "yes, that was Donny Osmond", and then loudly say "oh, we need toothpaste". He says, "what? oh, well, the only song I know is the one from Mulan." (I don't know why, but I don't think of him as a recording artist, I'm still stuck on that old variety show.) The conversation wanders off into Mulan territory, and the fact that Jackie Chan did both the speaking and singing voice for his version, whereas Donny had to do the singing for the American version because the voice actor couldn't sing. (We are big Jackie Chan fans at my house, but, singing? really?) A few moments later, we're still deciding what kind of toothpaste we want, because that's a tough decision, and I never can remember what we got last time, because with only 3 of us, it takes a while to use up a family-sized tube of toothpaste, and he is at the checkout, right at the end of our aisle. Twin1 says something like "whoa, he must work out, cuz, isn't he older than you?" and then he asks how come he would be here, in Provo. He wonders if it's because Utah is such a nice, quiet place, and celebs don't get mobbed around here. We just accept them as locals (because we do, you know).


Um, he's here because he lives here. "Yeah, duh, but why?" says Twin1. Because he grew up here, and recently, settled here again. Though I think he still has a place in CA, and one in Vegas (not that I'm stalking him - you just hear these things). Twin1 is all, "he grew up here? really?" Some of my sons friends/classmates live up in the Hills, at least one lives on Osmond Lane. So I ask him just where did he think that street got its name? "Oh, sure," he says.

Later, at my parents, I tell my mom, and we're laughing at what Twin1 said about why would he live here. Mom says (without knowing we referred to Mulan earlier) "because all his ancestral gods live here".

I love that my family thinks like this.

And, seriously, he looked GOOD in that tight black t-shirt. Good enough that I could not tell you what color shoes he had on, or even if he wore shoes, or (purple) socks, or, really, anything about anything below the torso, because, it was hard to look at anything else. I'm not even sure I could tell you what kind of toothpaste we ended up with.

*Not that I'm saying he was with "another woman" - because I'm not saying that, not at all. More like "another family member". It's just that if it was his wife, this was not her best self, so I'm just saying, it can't be, because she's a lovely woman. He would never, ever, be stepping out. So don't even think that.

my cute new purse

Remember me saying I was working on this cute white vinyl purse a while back? Well, it's finally done! And I remembered, as I added it to my list of finished objects, that I said something about sharing it with you when I was done. So, here it is!

It doesn't go with my outfit today. I tried to put myself in something more along the lines of black and white, but brown won out. Odd, because I'd say about 90% of my wardrobe is black. Working wardrobe, that is. I have other, more colorful, more casual clothes that I wear when it's not time for work.

Anyway.

So, I like the lining. I have this rule about not using dark lining for something like a purse, where you could lose stuff in there, in the darkness, but this fabric just spoke to me, so I let it in. I think it might have been the black handles that did it. I love those handles. I had quite the search for just the right ones. You should see all the ones that didn't get picked. Of course I bought them all, one set at a time, auditioning them for the purse at home.

And then there are the pockets. Oh, the pockets! You can't see it in that picture, because it's, well, kind of dark in there, but, I put in plenty of pockets. I used all but the teensiest bits of this piece of fabric, which I'm pretty sure was 1/2 yard (I was going to say "fat quarter", but that can't be right - the purse measures about 10x11x5, so you couldn't have gotten both front and back, let alone bottom and pockets, from a piece 18x22, duh). I had to piece together almost all I had left just to get the zippered pocket. I mean, if it's too small, there isn't much point in having it, right? Then, I was too lazy to look for my directions for making a welt pocket opening (which is what you need for inserting a zipper into the middle of something, like for a pocket in the lining of a purse), so I made it up as I went along, and only remembered what I should have done after I'd done it wrong. Still, the zipper is in, the pocket is in, and it's done. It only had one pocket outside, and one inside, as far as the pattern was concerned. But, I need pockets (hello? pockets!), so I added more. A tall skinny one for a pen/pencil, a zippered one for stuff that needs to stay put. Two open ones for my cell, and my little zippered-pouch-of-everything-necessary (contents: nail clippers, glass nail file, tiny sewing kit, thimble, tiny screwdriver, book of matches (you never know when you might need to light a campfire), a couple hair clips, tweezers, mini sharpie (in case of a labeling emergency), breath strips, tiny bookmark, and my snag nab-it (which I think is banned from airline travel, but I carry it anyway).

Made using Butterick 4148, which is now out of print. I happened to find an inexpensive remnant of white vinyl one day, and thus, the idea for this purse came to be. I cut it out ages ago, changed my mind about lining dozens of times (it was almost black with hot pink flamingos!) and then got discouraged thinking about making up all the pockets I'd want in it. And discouraged about the basic troubles with sewing vinyl, and topstitching vinyl, and all the needles you can break sewing on heavy fabrics.

In the end, I conquered. And now, I have this cute purse!

(And yes, I changed the needle on the sewing machine back to a regular needle just as soon as I'd finished, so I shouldn't have any more panic attacks over huge needles used for sewing dainty fabrics. I hope.)

Year of Ami, week 13, M is for Many!

Many choices, that is. Much muttering and musings on the choices for "M".

For the crochet choices, I remembered this one was out there for free, and not just in the book (I love Creepy Cute Crochet), so we can do this Monkey in a Fez!

But, wait, I've always wanted to make the Moptop Mascots, too. And then there are these adorable Monsties. This Manta Ray is really cute...plus, there is a knit Manta Ray, so I could have done same-same. Except, I'm not in love with the knitted ones shape...I like this not-free knit Manta Ray much better.

Speaking of knit, this Star-Nosed Mole may be a challenge, but I really want one. It says it's easy, but then I think, "look at all those parts and pieces", and I want to make something more in one piece, something simple. (Also, do I really want to felt something again? There are still two more knitted grass that need felting, and you haven't seen them getting anywhere, so it's doubtful.)

I've been eyeing this Friendly Stash Moth (you stuff him partly with lavender or other moth-repellent herb, so he's functional), but he's got parts and pieces, too. Could the usefulness out-weigh the sewing together of parts? Hmmm.

I'm very tempted by this adorable Marisol Mouse. But, again, parts and pieces. Smaller, yes, but still things-that-need-sewing-on-after. Speaking of mice, I could have gone with super-easy, and done these: Miss Mouse to knit, and Little Mouse to crochet.

But, in the end, I've got to go with my long admired crochet choice of Moptop Mascots (who I think look just like Fraggles...),

and to knit, the seriously adorable Monster Chunks!

(oh, man, if you like monsters, or have someone in your family who's crazy about them, there are so many freebie patterns out there, for so many different kinds of monsters...)

Sorry for meandering so much. It took a lot of thinking to narrow this down, and I figured, why not let you see some of the stuff that goes through my head? Why not, indeed.

*pics of my own creations added after-the-fact*

Luscious Lime, nice finish

Here's the lime, as promised.

(Phew! So glad I got caught up!)

Also, as promised, here is how to do a nice finish in crochet:

Finish off with a slip stitch to the next stitch. Cut yarn, and thread end into a yarn needle. Make sure your yarn end is coming out from the center of one stitch, ready to sew into the next. We will work only in the front loops of the last round.

Insert your needle from the outside, under the first outside loop, and come out in the middle of the stitch.

Repeat in each stitch around.

Then, insert needle in center, and bring yarn out the side.

Stitch over one part of a sc, and back out the side a few inches away.

Pull tight, and clip yarn.

The dimple should pop back out, and the yarn end pull back inside. If not, squeeze the lime (or whatever it is you've got) a little until it does.

Voila! The end looks very similar to the beginning.

Kiwis! Finally!

Seriously, finally, I'm done with these:

I used 9mm safety eyes for the knit kiwi. It was easy, I just had so many other things going on.

I gotta say, those legs on the knit version, I'm glad I didn't just throw off her design and do i-cord. I had a feeling the texture of those legs was going to be good bird-leg texture, and I was right. I did make one change, I bound off while picking up a loop from my cast on edge, so I wouldn't have to sew the leg together.

I think it worked pretty well. If you do yours this way, stop picking up stitches when you get to the last 5, so you don't join the toes together. Bind off the last 5 stitches in the normal way. No need for a long tail here. You should be able to sew to the bird body with the cast-on tail, unless yours was very short.

I like these bird legs, and I think I may use them the next time I make a chicken. Which, I guess, would also be the first time I make a chicken. At least, one in knit. I've made some very small simple crochet chickens, years ago. Which is weird, because I like chickens. Decorative chickens, that is. (I think I've got just about all the fabric chicken patterns there are, but, oddly, I don't think I've sewn even one. Maybe that will be my next challenge - all chickens, all the time, until I've finished all the patterns in my collections. Might be boring for those that read my blog, but I might enjoy it. Or, I could get thoroughly sick of chickens. Hard to say.)

My crochet kiwi has too long a beak. I thought, briefly, of removing it from the bird, ripping it back a few rounds. But, in the end, why? So it's too long. Big deal. It's done, dangit. If I ever do another, I think I'll stop after 10 rounds.

I did rework the decreases, staggering them so it's more rounded and less angled and pointy.

And on the last round, instead of decreasing, I just sc in every other stitch - I tried decreasing, but the space was so small. I considered just closing it up instead of working another round. I think you could do either way with that.

Knit kiwi yarn: Vanna in Rust & Mustard. Crochet kiwi yarn: LB Cotton-Ease in Stone, and, I think, Sugar 'n Cream in Cream (lost the label).

a lovely lemon, a cute cupcake, and a nice finish

Okay, I know I got a little behind on the Year of Ami thing this week, and last week.

Last week, I think we can blame on the kiwi. And my obsession with just-so shaping. And, in part, we can blame this week on the kiwi, too. Because I was trying to finish that first, before going on to lemons & limes.

Then, I volunteered to make some cute knitted cupcakes for some little gift baskets for the secretaries in our office, to thank them for all they do for us during tax season. So I had to set aside both kiwis and lemons/limes to knock out some of these:

Cute, no? I forgot to take pictures until I was done with this last one, but there were 5 in all. Different colors for the "wrapper" and different fluffy novelty yarns for the "frosting". Twin1 said I should put on bead "sprinkles", but I had to skip it in favor of getting them done on time.

Finally, today, with the cupcakes done and delivered, I felt I could get back to ami. But, the thought of trying to finish the kiwi just about put me off yarn. Seriously. So, I gave myself a break, and made this lemon instead:

(Her pattern doesn't specify, but I used a worsted weight cotton, and size 5 dbl pnts. No pattern errors or clarifications - I love a good pattern! Only took about an hour to make, too.)

And then I thought this would be a good time to show you something I discovered, not long ago, about finishing off the ends of a knit/crochet item, especially a small something, with a small number of stitches at the end of it. Like, say, an ami.

If you've made many ami, you may have wished, after looking at the start and finish, that they could look more the same. I find my beginning ends look all tidy and have those little spokes of yarn, neatly radiating out from the center. Then you get to the end, and the instructions say "weave yarn tail through remaining stitches and pull tight" and you get a funny puckered little knot. I kept trying different ways of ending, hoping to get something that looked more like the beginning. Because I'm a little obsessive that way, and because it would be cool if it was hard to tell which end was which. One day, I figured it out. It's simple (maybe you already know how?) and I now wonder why basic instructions don't include this little tip. Maybe it's one of those things our grandmothers thought was obvious, so nobody thought to point it out?

Anyway, here's how it's done when you're knitting:

Cut your yarn, leaving a tail to sew with. Thread it in a yarn needle, and then, one stitch at a time, insert yarn needle knit-wise into the next stitch, take stitch off needle, and pull tail through. Repeat until all stitches are off the knitting needles.

Then, count backwards from the last stitch you sewed through until you come to the first stitch (I find this necessary, even when I didn't just do decreases, because the lower rounds try to pretend they are part of the finishing round, just at this point where they start and end) and finish by running your yarn needle purl-wise through this stitch.

Take your yarn down through the center, and out the side.

To keep the yarn from working back out, make a duplicate stitch, and run the yarn end through and out again.

Pull tight, and cut yarn end.

(see the duplicate stitch? that tiny arrow is pointing right at it here, but you won't see it later) The yarn end should work itself back in and release the pucker you created when you pulled it tight to cut it. If not, just squeeze your little creation a tad until it does.

See? Nice little finished end.

I'll show you how to do this with crochet when I do the lime (which I will do today, because I like to keep to a schedule, and it's already basically the end of the week).

In the knit version, your starting end won't look like tidy little wheel spokes:

but I still like how this looks for a finish. And, it works really well as the center of something flat, like the bottom of the cupcake.

(Yarn used for Lemon is Lily Sugar 'n Cream in Sunshine. Cupcake is Vanna Baby in Pink Poodle, with Sensations Beautiful in White for the frosting)

more Bright Star admiration

I could not stop staring at the costumes in this movie! I only rented my copy, but I may have to buy it, just so I can stop it and look at the costumes, over and over.

In particular, I'm enamored of this sweater, apparently the work of Sophie Digard, a french designer.

I wasn't sure just from watching the film, but after seeing other examples of her work, I think it's safe to say, yes, these are a whole bunch of really tiny multi-colored granny squares (or something similar to a granny square motif), put together to make a sweater.

And I want one.
I want one BAD.

Bright Star

I rented this from Netflix, and was able to watch it last night. About the poet John Keats (a thing of beauty is a joy forever) , and the love of his life. So very romantic. The music alone is enough reason to watch this one.

Add to that the fact that, even though theirs was described as a great passion, there is nothing in this movie you couldn't let your kids watch.

He had no money, believed himself to be a failure. They were clearly in love, but could not marry, because he had no way to support her. How terrible would it have been, if he'd married her anyway, and lived with her family? Instead, everyone tries to do things in the "right" way. He may have been penniless, but he did nothing wrong, while others of his circle behaved as men were expected to behave, because they have "needs". He had a conscience.

Of course, this is only one director's notion of the events, born out of a biography, and the love letters he wrote to her (hers to him were destroyed upon his death). It is a beautiful story.

stupid cat

The cats were not at my door last night, so I hoped that would be the last of them. But, this morning, there was the patched one, trying to get in again. Twin1 went out, put his backpack and lunch on the back steps, and then we went back inside to wait for Twin2 to be ready for school.

No idea how long we were inside.

When we came back out, his lunch was in shreds. (duh) Bits of paper bag everywhere, my homemade bread bitten into and rejected (stupid cat), and just one piece of ham left from his sandwich. That cat had eaten the cheese and most of the ham, and even bitten into his Clementine. It was a huge bite. I'd have loved to see that reaction - bite into something sour, maybe get squirted in the eye with the juice, and have the traces of bitter from the peel on teeth and tongue.
I couldn't believe my son thought it wouldn't go for his lunch, and that I hadn't thought to tell him not to leave it out there. We recycled the bag, tossed all but the ham on the compost. We did NOT let the cat have the last piece of ham. That would have been feeding it on purpose.
I threw something at it. It only skittered away for a moment, then sat down and proceeded to lick its' paws.

One of my friends suggested putting cat food out on the neighbors porch. I laughed at that yesterday, but today, I'm thinking it sounds like a good idea.

distracted

That's me this week.
I'm still trying to finish the kiwis, both of them. The knit one just needs legs/feet. The crochet one needs to be re-done on the bottom, then it needs beak and feet.
In the meantime, I have to make a few things for some gifts that are being gifted tomorrow.
Then, maybe, I can resume kiwis, and then move on to lemons and limes.
It's been an odd week.
I've worked on the jaywalker socks, and they're coming along nicely. If you call a few inches progress. Which right now, I'm going to, because otherwise, I'll feel all de-feeted. (get it? socks? feet? sorry.)

Darn Cat!

I am not a pet person. I haven't had a pet, of any living variety, since just after the Twins were born. I am pretty sure I put off an aura that should repel domesticated animals. I'm trying to. Nothing against pets, or people who have pets. I'm just not into them for myself. (for more on this, go here)

But, lately, we've been having this weird phenomenon at our house. For about a month, maybe a little longer.

We seem to be attracting cats.

I have no idea why.

It started, I suppose, a little further back, with a large grey cat, which I assume is a stray. It hangs out in the back yard, watching the various birds that gather in some wild rose bushes in the back corner. It generally runs when it sees me. I DO NOT feed it, pet it, or in any other way encourage this animal. I also don't chase it off. I figure, it's not doing any harm, and may be keeping down a mouse population, for all I know. (Despite the age and condition of my home, I've only had mice once, many years ago. Something I attribute to the stray cat population of my neighborhood.) I have noticed that this grey cat seems more at ease with me lately, not streaking off the moment I step into the back yard. But that's as far as it goes with this one.

A couple of weeks ago, another cat, this one just past the kitten stage, striped in grey and white, starts to hang around the front steps. Like it thinks it lives there. Again, we have not fed or otherwise encouraged this animal, nor have we chased it off. We just don't let it in the door. But it keeps hanging around. I find it in the front yard all the time.

Last night, or, rather, very early this morning around 1 AM, a third cat, similar in age to the second, but in grey and white patches, manages to find its' way IN THE HOUSE. (I have this window in the basement, used to be where the dryer vented, used to be this wood panel with a hole in it, in place of a window panel. I taped plastic over it after we moved the dryer. It's in the basement, it's a small window, I just haven't gotten around to having glass put in. I'm lazy like that.)
Do you have any idea how weird it is to be woken by a cat, in your own bedroom, when you don't own a cat? It may have wandered all over the house before it came to me, I don't know. It seemed to want me to follow it. I did. It goes to the window where it came in, like it wants to go back out, but can't figure out how. I escort it out the door (no reason to teach it a bad habit like using a window for a door), which it seems reluctant to allow. I shut the door on it, put some more tape on the plastic window substitute, and go back to bed.
About an hour later, we do this all over again. This time, I put some heavy cans in front of the window as well. I'm having trouble getting back to sleep, so I wander the house for a minute. I hear a noise downstairs, and when I go back down, Twin2 is standing by the window. He says some cat was trying to get in. I tell him I just finished putting it out for the second time. I check the tape, add a little more, and we go back to bed. Neither of us can figure out what this cat thinks it wants from us. There isn't any food about to attract it. It's not even cold outside (I should know, I've just come back in), and yet, this cat thinks it needs to be in our house.
This time, it's almost 5:30 AM before it's back. It seems a bit offended when I almost toss it out the back door. I had to get up soon, and I felt like I hadn't slept at all. I should have stayed up, but I went back to bed for just a little more sleep, if I could get it.

I forgot, my clock radio turns on at 5:35. It startles me, so my heart is pounding. Somebody is saying "the woman's heart started beating, hard, so she was alive. (I'm thinking, "what? what is this? is there a camera somewhere? why is the radio narrating my life?") Then the voice says, "she reaches for the tube in her throat, so her brain is alive, too," then something like "where is the family" and "she has a DNR", and I realize this is a story about resuscitating someone in hospital. For a minute there, it was really weird.

I get up, go about the usual morning stuff, pausing to check that window every now and then. Just in case.
The cat is waiting by the front door when we go out. Looking like it expects something.

Before we drive off, I block the window from the outside, hoping that will keep it out until I can get the window fixed properly. (Nothing else so far has seemed a good enough reason to properly fix this window, but this might just do it. I know, you're thinking, aren't you losing heat through that in the winter (unheated room, basement, not so much), or aren't you worried about a break-in (small window, and, seriously, what are you going to steal? my hand-me-down TV? the broken DVD player? my WalMart shoe collection? whatever). So, no, I've not stressed over it much.)

I have no idea why I'm suddenly attracting cats to my home. It's fine with me if you like cats, if you have cats, if you allow all the neighborhood strays to call your house home. You are welcome to them. I just don't want any myself.

In case you're wondering...

I finally got through that skein of white yarn, used exclusively for crocheting pieces of bread. I have 10 and 1/3 pieces, and have finished off the skein. Those 10 pieces will actually translate into 5 slices of bread, since each slice consists of two layers. Good to know. Because I intend to make an entire loaf for the play kitchen, and it's nice to know just how much yarn I'm going to need to get that done.

Year of Ami, week 12, L is for Lemons & Limes!

Lemme see, what could be less like springtime? I know, but I like fiber foods, and I definitely want these in my collection.

The crochet version, from Beansprout creations,

and the knit version, from Peachcake Knits (her post starts out with pics of other stuff, but scroll down, it's there).

You're not obligated to make both a lemon and a lime. The shape is the same, so it's just a color thing. I'm tempted to make a pink one, tell my grand-niece that's where they get pink lemonade.

(I will be back later with more on the Kiwis. Promise. I think tax season is wearing me down...)

(pics of my own creations added after-the-fact)

krochet kiwi korrections (really)

This time, I really do have corrections. The shaping on the hind end just didn't look right to me. I ripped it back (this also allowed me to un-stuff my good stuffing, and re-stuff with the crappy stuffing. So there.) and will re-do the decrease section, staggering the decreases so it's not all pointy. I hope that will look better.

I must say, I should have done this with a smaller hook. It's not as tight as I think ami should be. Generally, when using a worsted weight for ami, you want no larger than an F hook. This called for a G, so I was obedient. Don't like how loose it is. It's the right size hook for this yarn if you're making something to wear. It's actually got some nice drape to it using the G hook. But this is a toy, and you don't want the stuffing poking out or showing between the stitches, so a smaller hook would have been much better.

knit kiwi klarifications

and also some changes. After starting as written, and then reading ahead to the instructions for the beak, and looking again at where that joins to the head, I elected to start with the beak. Instead of binding off, switch to body yarn and larger needles, and go on with body from the plain round of 12 stitches. I don't like sewing stuff together later that could have just been knit together in the first place.

In the neck shaping, it should end with another w&t after p10, or you will have a hole where you turned it back around to knit.

Be sure you work tightly while shaping the neck, and then while increasing for the main body. I didn't work as tight as I should have, and I've got some pretty big holes, caused by some loose stitches.

You don't need to try to stuff the beak, just that widest part where it joins to the body, so don't worry about getting any stuffing into that when you get to stuffing.

She doesn't say what size eyes. I've only got my 6mm with me, and they're too small. I'm guessing 9mm will be about right. I'll try both 9mm and 12mm, just to see which looks better, and I'll let you know.

A couple of folks on Ravelry did i-cord legs and feet instead. I was planning to do them her way. Except, reading ahead again, you have to sew them up, the entire length of the leg. Yeah, I wanna do that. About as much as I want to poke myself in the eye. But, I do like the texture of the legs/feet, so I will probably try binding it off in a way that joins it. If that doesn't work, I'm going to have to do them in i-cord.

my socks have cleavage

I'm making progress on my own zigzag striped socks. I'm partial to a toe-up construction for socks, and working them two at a time. In fact, I can't think of a reason to do them separately, now that I know how to work both at once. I'd go so far as to say you couldn't pay me to make them one at a time.

I was careful to start both socks at roughly the same point in the self-stripe sequence on this pair, so that's not just luck on these ones.

But, I'm disturbed by the shape taking place. Granted, once on my foot, it won't look like that. I've tried it on, and it's fine. But here, off my foot, it's got cleavage:

Can you see that? I'm looking at these socks, and thinking, wow, I could use that to make a doll torso. One that would have an actual figure. Am I the only one seeing that? Do that same shaping, fewer rounds, nearer the start of a normal toe for a sock (which, incidentally, I think is an okay shape for the pelvic area, if you were going to attach the legs later), and have that be the butt. Then, after doing some decreases on the sides, for a waist, (don't forget to throw in a purl stitch for the belly-button) and increasing back out to match the hip area, then use that shaping again for the chest. Must admit, I'm not sure where you go from there for the shoulders and neck, but I could probably figure that out.

Or, this could make a good head for a crocodile, snake or lizard. Put the eyes on those bumps. Not up on the tips, but on the smooth part, just before the shaping starts.

Am I the only one fascinated by the possibilities here?

(speaking of things that could be other things, remember the Twinkie Dog? With the bun that looked to me like it could be a Twinkie? Somebody must have seen that. Because somebody wrote up a pattern for a Twinkie, and it's only very slightly different from that hot dog bun. I was robbed.)