There’s a lot of stuff I don’t get.

(No kidding, really?)

Today’s “Hmmmmmm” is about public transportation. I’ve been reading the London Underground Tube Diary a lot lately, and a couple of days ago delved more deeply into the site.

On the one hand while it gratifies me to know that Washington DC doesn’t have exclusive rights to the drooling morons who are trying to pass for thinking humans, I do find it disturbing to note that self-absorbed, inconsiderate hogs on the subway seem to be universal. Even if one is unused to taking public transportation, one can look around and see how others are going with the flow (like standing to the right and walking to the left on escalators). Sigh.

Yesterday morning there was an annoying incident on the train. A man (who incidentally was hogging two seats by piling his crap on the seat next to him while people were standing) came out of his reverie to note that the train was at his stop and the doors were about to close. In his haste to get off the train he was tripping over his briefcase and an insulated case that presumably contained his lunch. He dropped the insulated bag.

A young man picked it up to hand it to him and Mr. Moron actually pushed the young man out of the way as he rushed past him. The young man ran after him to give him the bag and Mr. Moron once again shoved him as he got off the train, just as the doors were closing. The young man stood by the train doors and held up the bag as the train pulled out of the station so the idiot could see he’d left his lunch.

My first thought was “He deserves to lose his lunch.” Then I started thinking about terrorism. Maybe there was a bomb in the bag and this was a carefully orchestrated plot to leave it on the train.

I really really hate that we have to think like that.

Lucy

Lucy would like to thank everyone who left a comment about her pretty, fluffy tail. I can tell she is vain about her tail because she invariably walks around with said tail straight up in the air. Sometimes her nose is in the air too.

Having such a long tail can be quite handy, she says. When she curls up to take a nap, she can use it as a pillow!

Lucy’s tail, by the way, is 14 inches long. That’s 35.56 centimeters.

Blankie Knits!

Here’s what I’m gonna knit my CritterKnitter blankies from — Plymouth Encore Chunky. Now I just have to get it in gear and actually knit them.

But I had a thought. I maybe be adept at knitting, but I’m one heckuva lousy crocheter. (Is crocheter a word?) I did crochet an afghan once and it came out really pretty. But I’ve not done a thing since then, and that was over 20 years ago. So I’m thinking about attempting to crochet at least one blanket. Hopefully the critters won’t laugh at my attempts.

Stand back everyone! This may get ugly.

Flora! Flora! Flora!

Time for an update pic! Not a lot of progress because I had to wind more yarn into balls and perform various household tasks last night.

More blankies arrived, these from Jen of Monkeyknits! check out the Blanket page that Liz put up.

And I understand that Jen sent along some catnip mice that Liz’s kitties are very generously going to share with Lucy. Thank you Jen!

There are three more fabbo prizes on the prize page!

More Q&A!

Christina (who I met Saturday at Knit Happens — hi Christina!) asked:

How are the mice from last year’s Mouse-A-Thon selling? I imagine you received enough to keep Capital Animal Care well-stocked for a least a few months more.

I’m not sure how many they have left. I know they were big sellers for Christmas gifts. Next time I see Barbara, I’ll ask. 🙂

Julie asked:
I have a question about the ladders with dpn’s. You said you pull the first stitch very tight on each needle. Do you rotate the beginning stitch on the needle every few rows? I have a sock making video that shows this technique, but it makes me confused to try to knit one stitch on to a needle, then pick up another needle, etc.

Nope, I don’t rotate, and I have no problems with ladders. That would confuse me way too much!

Flora!

Nina asked:
On my monitor, the colors in your Flora look very muted. Is this how they appear in person? I was not enthralled with the colors I saw when I looked on the Virtual Yarns website, but I like yours much better.

In yesterday’s entry, I’d say the colors in the close-up are pretty accurate. Though to be honest, I don’t see a whole lot of difference between mine and the photo at Virtualyarns.

I’m happily into the armhole steeks on this puppy. Unlike most (if not all) of the other Alice Starmore fair isles I’ve knitted, this has some armhole shaping — see?

We had a bit of uglyness over my new knitting bag. Lucy saw it sitting on the couch and of course thought it was a new kitty bed for her, so she made herself comfy.

The problem was that Flora was inside the bag while Lucy was making herself comfy. I removed Her Highness from the bag and she was Not Amused. She said some things, I said some things.

But we’ve forgiven each other and all is sweetness and light again here at Wendyknits.

Sort of.

A buncha questions from Friday’s blog that deserve answers.

First, Critter Knitters questions:

I know the blankets have to be very washable, but I’m finding that I have a lot of 100% wool leftovers. Do you think if I held a strand of wool with a strand of acrylic that the fabric would stand up to washing like a 50-50 blend? This is new to me.

Beats the holy heck outta me! I’ve never tried it. But my inclination is that it wouldn’t work. I think the wool would felt and carry the acrylic along for the ride, mooshing it up as the wool shrunk. But the only way to really find out is to knit a swatch and wash it.

You knew I was gonna say that, didn’t you?

If I pick one of the lacey patterns suggested on the website, do I have to worry about claws getting caught in the lace? I’m thinking about the Elegantly Simple Baby Blanket by Jackie E.S. which is a variation of Feather and Fan… any thoughts?

If it’s a suggested pattern on the Critter Knitters site, I would say it’s okay. And besides, I think getting ones claws into it would be half the fun for the grateful recipient, right?

Halfway through my second blankie I wanna know where do you guys get these beautiful sweater kits?

You mean the sweater kits that are among the wonderful fabulous prizes? I think they were acquired in a number of ways. The kits I am donating were put together by me. I’m pretty sure that the wonderful Hanne Falkenberg kit was ordered as a kit by the generous donater.

Speaking of donations . . .

You guys have been so generous with the prize donations! Wow! There are a couple more on the prize page since Friday. There are still more that are on their way to me.

Liz is planning on hosting several Knit-Outs in parks in NYC when the weather gets warmer, and she plans to have needles and yarn on hand for people who stop by and want to knit but don’t have the supplies.

We think we’ve got a great number of prizes coming in and we thank you all so much. Now, those of you who want to contribute but can’t knit a blanket for whaever reason, it would be great if you could donate machine washable yarn and needles for people who’d like to knit but don’t have the materials.

If you’d like to make donations of materials, you can contact either Liz or me.

And again, thank you!

Questions for Moi

Are you still working on ‘Norfolk’ too?

Um . . . it’s sitting in a plastic bag on top of my microwave. I haven’t touched it for quite a while. Just the ribbing is done. I wouldn’t call it abandoned — I will return to it someday.

I just have to ask – are you one of those people who doesn’t need a lot of sleep? I can’t imagine how you make so much progress so quickly. I know you’re an early riser, so I’m thinking you must get about 3 hours a night!

I wish I didn’t need a lot of sleep. Oh how I wish it. I never get enough sleep during the week and by Friday I’m usually in a serious sleep deficit. So much so that I sometimes do no knitting at all on Friday night, or darn little. I get about 2-3 hours of knitting time in a day.

And since you ask, I have to share. Last Friday morning at 1:42am the fire alarm went off in my condo building. Guess who didn’t fall back asleep after that? And guess who was even more zombie-like on Friday night than usual?

I know you’ve mentioned not being a knitter who likes to change her ways and so I’ll assume you must be pretty good at not getting “ladders” using dbl pointed needles. Any secrets you’d like share on that subject? I love the feel of using dbl pointed needles in my hands but my work looks so much better using the two circ method.

I actually did try the two circular method on a sleeve once and hated it. I think I don’t get ladders using dpns because I always consciously tighten up on the first stitch on each needle. Also using five rather than four dpns makes your work less likely to ladder, I’m told. I think most dpns are sold in sets of five now anyhow, right?

Just curious…are there stripes in your lovely tweed socks?

No stripes, which make them more boring to knit, but they’re gonna be very attractive when completed!

Here’s my first sock, posing artistically in a sunbeam.

Said sunbeam was streaming through the front window of Knit Happens on Saturday. I spent Saturday afternoon there, and what fun I had!

Here’s a candid shot of a customer:

Do you want to see what I bought? I was outta control!

I got some Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool — enought to make a vest.

I got some Lorna’s Laces sock yarn in a very girly colorway.

I got some Noro Lily (cotton/silk blend) to make a summer top.

I got a wonderful Elizabeth Austen knitting bag.

And I couldn’t resist. I have been lusting after Kristine’s poncho since seeing her blog entry about it and seeing how wonderful it looks on her. When Kristine pulled out the kit in a teal colorway, well, I went weak at the knees. She just had to wave it gently in my direction and I was all over it. Drooling.

This photo does not do it justice!

The grand opening celebration of Knit Happens is next weekend (March 27-28) so if you’re in the area, be sure to stop by. Kristine and Liz have lots of fun and snacks and prizes planned!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is the most fun yarn shop I’ve ever visited. I spent hours there on Saturday, wandering around and fondling the yarn, sitting in one of the comfy chairs knitting, and talking with other customers, comparing options for choosing yarns and colors.

Lucy, of course, had to inspect everything on my return home.

Flora

Here’s a close-up!

I’ve worked past the beginning of the armhole steeks.

Happy Monday to all.

More what? More wonderful prizes posted on the Critter Knitters Knit-a-thon Prize page.

And there’s still more on the way. The outpouring of generosity that we’ve experienced so far on this project is overwhelming. All you blanket knitters out there — there are some wonderful prizes to be won!

Ingeborg Knit-a-long

A question in the comments yesterday:

Excitement seems to be building for the Ingeborg project. Are you going to conduct some sort of “roll call” to see just how many folks are knitting along?

Well sure, if you’d like! We’re gonna start the first half of May, so toward the end of April I’ll ask anyone who wants to stand up and be counted to do so. And I’d be happy to host an Ingeborg page with the “roll call” and with photos for those who are knitting along who don’t have blogs.

Too Much! Not Enough!

Once again I’m plagued by that all-too-familiar problem of too much to do and not enough time to do it in. But here I’m thinking specifically about knitting.

There are approximately one million and one things I really want to be knitting right now. and I keep buying yarn like I have time to have one million and one works in progress at any given time.

But I keep plugging away on my two works in progress. My Regia tweed sock:

The colorway is much nicer in person. Hard to get a good photo of this bad boy in artificial light.

And of course, Flora!

And again, so much prettier in person than in photos. Very subtle color shifts in the foreground colors. Lisa mentioned this in her blog entry yesterday, on her colorway of Flora, and the same is true of mine. This is one of those projects that I keep stopping to admire, just because the colors are so wonderful and go so well together.

Now tomorrow it’s supposed to be a “nice” day. I say this holding my breath and with fingers crossed. And I plan to be somewhere with Flora where I can get a good daytime photo in natural light.

Lucy’s gonna sleep on it.

It’s prize central here at Wendyknits! Several more prizes appeared chez Wendyknits last night and they’ve all been added to the prize page. Check it out and be amazed!

And there are more on their way. You guys are so incredibly generous! Thank you thank you thank you!

Blankets Received!

Ohmigosh! Did you see the totally cute series of photos documenting the arrival of the first donated blankets that Liz posted yesterday? If not, go here!

Liz has also created a page to document blankets received, here. I’ve linked to it from my main Knitathon page as well.

My Own Stash Enhancement

I got this in the mail yesterday as well:

Fifteen skeins of Classic Elite Waterspun Weekend from Elann. Yowie!

And this:

A little surprise from Auntie Lolly. Isn’t it a hoot? No copyright date on it, but I’m betting the 1950s. And actually, with some minor changes the sweater is pretty cute!

You gotta love those vintage patterns!

A Lucy Question

Yesterday Barb asked if Lucy ever disturbs my knitting in any way.

I can’t leave balls of yarn out or she’d mess with them. And she seems to have favorites. For example, she is partial to cashmere. 😉

But once it’s knitted, I think she just thinks of it as a nice blankie to lie on. Which of course it is.

To close, a limerick, courtesy of Glynis:

Glynis was a knitter confused
Tried to buy wool frm the sheep, they refused
Told of Starmores she needed
Showed them money and pleaded
But the sheep just stood there amused.