Wendy Knits

. . . to be charitable.

That’s obvious — just look at the Knitbloggers Knitting Basket total over there on the right! Wow! We are soooooo close to seven baskets!

The Knitbloggers Knitting Basket isn’t the only knit-bloggy charity going on right now. Christina (Knitting Goddess #9) is hosting a Hat-a-thon!

Christina’s running it like the Mouse-a-thon — a raffle. So if you’ve got some spare yarn and spare time, knit up a hat or two for a worth cause. Don’t have a pattern? Christina’s got some links to free patterns on the Hat-a-thon page.

Edvard Munch, I Apologize

Yup, that’s an incredibly tacky blow-up statue of “The Scream” in the photo yesterday. How I got it is actually a sorta funny story.

Back in 1994 I was attending an Orioles game at Camden Yards. I got there early, walked around, then went to the bar on the first level for lovely beverages before heading up the escalator to my seats (front row of the upper deck directly behind home plate).

Whilst on the escalator almost to the top, the chain snapped and the escalator went backwards really really fast. I ended up in a pile of bodies at the bottom of the broken escalator.

I was carrying two gin & tonics and of course lost them both. The two guys in front of me had barbeque sandwiches (Boog’s Barbeque, for those of you in the know) so I ended up with barbeque sauce all over me.

I also had my own blood all over me, because my right knee was smashed and all the ligaments in my right ankle were torn. It was a very long time before I walked again.

But anyhow, one of my friends gave me the blow-up Scream statue, conjecturng that it closely resembled me after the accident, covered with barbeque sauce and mourning my lost gin & tonics.

Strangely enough, my boss has an identical statue. If she gets really stressed, she closes her office door and puts the statue outside, as a warning to all. Since I’ve worked here, I’ve only seen the statue appear twice.

And Mary, yes, that is a little pig peeping over the rim of the cachepot. Isn’t he cute? My aunt gave me the cachepot, complete with porcine embellishment, for Christmas years ago.

A Ruling on the Yarn Diet

Sandy asked for a clarification of the rules:

Um…does yarn for presents count, if you really don’t have any of the kind the pattern requires (such as Noro Kureyon, for instance)?

And what about fiber? We all need fiber in our diets too, right? I’ve got two pounds of Brown Sheep leftover tails coming in the mail and I’m hoping not to feel as guilty as if it was two pounds of yarn.

My opinion is that yarn for presents does not count. If you need yarn to do something noble and selfless for another, then you purchase that yarn while on a yarn diet.

Fiber? Hmmmm, I’d need a judges ruling on this but I think buying fiber is a crime against yarn diet.

Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh!

Look what I got in the mail from Karen yesterday!

It’s Reindeer Spongebob! Oooooooh!

He looks funny because he still has the plastic wrap over his eyes.

No Amphora update photo because I got home late last night and little quality knitting time. So instead:

Booga Bag!

Here’s my latest Booga Bag in progress:

Looks like my last bag in color 89, eh?

And of course . . .

The obligatory Lucy pic! I give you . . . Lucy dining.

Note to Elizabeth:

I used to tell people that Bruce wrote “Born to Run” for me. The more gullible sometimes believed it.

More questions and answers about the Big Booga Bag.

First, the dimensions:

It’s 15″ wide by 9″ tall by 4″ deep.

How did I sew on the pocket? I used the same yarn it was knitted from — Noro Kureyon — and sewed very carefully so the stitches wouldn’t show.

And Catherine posed some interesting questions about grommets:

I notice you didn’t use grommets or some other kind of reinforcement for the handle holes on the bag — are you worried it might rip if there’s weight in the bag (or is the bag for lighter-weight items)?

Personally, I guess I’m never sure if grommets or reinforcement are the right answer or not — I mean, if it’s gonna rip out, it’s gonna rip out through the grommets or reinforcements pretty much as quickly as it would rip through a buttonhole or eyelet because, well, you can’t reinforce all of it…. Then again, maybe the bulk of the wear is more friction-related, so grommets or reinforcements help? Whaddaya think?

I’m planning on using this bag as a knitting bag for medium-sized projects, so I’m not concerned about weight.

I’ve seen photos of others’ Booga Bags with grommets and wondered about adding them. Can anyone who has done so comment on how they are holding up? I have some of the same concerns that Catherine mentioned. So tell us what you think!

Amphora

Here is a close-up of the neck:

And the start of the first sleeve:

Not great photos — the light wasn’t good. I’ll try to post some better pix on Monday.

Yarn Diet!

It was nice that Lolly so graciously apologized in my comments yesterday for attempting to get me to stray off the path of the wool-righteous.

It was not nice that I got a Knitpicks catalog in the mail with all sorts of alluring stuff in it. But I remained strong. (Tosses head imperiously.)

Have a great weekend all! Here, for your viewing pleasure, a little sleeping angel.

Some notes about the Big Booga Bag.

I followed Julie’s Booga Bag pattern with the following changes:

I cast on 60 stitches and did 40 rows. I picked up 19 stitches on each of the short sides, and 60 stitches on the cast on side, for a total of 158 stitches around. I knitted 70 rounds on the body of the bag — made it just a bit taller than the “normal” bag.

I did a two-stitch i-cord edging around the top of the back, and in the middle of one of the long sides, made an i-cord loop to be used to close the bag with a button.

I made about 6 feet of i-cord for the handles, and knitted a 40 stitch-wide rectangle to use as an outside pocket — didn’t keep track of the number of rows. All this took just about 6 skeins of Kureyon.

In case you wondered, I did start another regular-sized Booga Bag — this one in color 89, like the last regular one I did. I took that one to work and my boss told me the color combo was her favorite. Because I still had plenty of color 89, I thought I’d make another one for her. Whether she wants it or not.

Yarn Diet

There are those of you who express doubts about my ability to stay on a yarn diet. Some of you have even suggested betting against it. Can you imagine?

I’m planning on staying on the yarn diet at least until after New Year’s. Anyone wanna bet me I can’t do it? If I lose or you lose, you hafta buy me yarn.

Heh heh heh.

Amphora

Here’s a close-up of the pattern motif:

Cool, huh? I’m just about done with the body, and I think I’ll do the neckband next.

Lucy is very impressed.

And here is a mysterious photo of Lucy. She’s such an exotic princess!

Well y’all have a happy Wednesday. I’ll be away from my computer for large periods of time over the next few days, so if you email me and I don’t answer, don’t take it personally!