Knitting post submission:

I finished attaching all the parts of my burgundy and gray Ribbi Cardi over the weekend. I just need to knit the collar and add the zipper, and then I'll be set. I'm not in a mad mad rush, as the other knitters in my SnB who were working on the sweater are going to pool their zipper orders. I really should get that collar on though so that the only thing left is the zipper.

Speaking of 'only thing left' I also should attach the sleeves to my Dancing Vines Tunic that I knit. Incidentally, it's also in an oxford gray whose leftover yarn became the sleeves of my Ribbi Cardi. ;) I'm still not 100% on just how to fit the sleeves into the holes. This could get interesting.

My poor shawl! I put her down to crank out the Ribbi Cardi with my group, and to do Dan's vest. I call her Ruby Slipper (made with Blue Moon Socks that Rock yarn of the eponymous color) and dragged her out into the light this week. I got the yarn for this at the Rhinebeck festival last year as a birthday present to myself. I'm making Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl out of it, and it's been very fun - especially since I (finally) got to use a 24" Addi Turbo needle I got as a gift. This has served me very well until now... I've made the last series of increases and have a TON of stitches on my needle. (Okay, I think it really is 576 like it's supposed to be. But it seems like a TON.) I'm debating whether the nice zippiness of the Turbo has been compromised by the massive number of stitches to push around. I took some of the stitches off of the Turbo and put them on two other needles while I tried to stretch out the shawl so it would be flat instead of bag-like. There wasn't enough needle even with the three needles to stretch the shawl out flat. This sucker is going to be huge. It is, however, gorgeous. I still love the interplay of reds, burgundies, and purples. At least the yarn is fine, which means that 576 stiches sort-of fit. I had some trouble making the diamonds work out on the really cramped needle, but the bits that I stretched still look passable, so I don't think I'm going to rip.

Dharia will probably be dyeing more stuff tonight. I'm going to see if she wants help. She's got a craft show May 14th-ish. (I think) I have four skeins of natural worsted that I intend to dye blue, green, and turquoise and then put with some leftover gray Noro Kabuto stash bits for a Felted Kitty Bed a la Wendy Knits. I'm also enough of an inner child that I still like coloring things, especially yarn, so I don't mind being Dharia's minion for a bit. :)

Knitty hasn't told me anything - those familiar with Knitty's submissions process will know that I'm in round two. Gotta run!

Every story begins and ends with the Cat in the Ruff.

I went to Mark Twain's house two? two years ago with my in-laws when they came to visit. I still have a postcard from that visit on my desk... it's a picture of a painting of a cat in a ruff. He watches me, sometimes benevolent, sometimes mysterious, sometimes aloof. The docent told me at the house (where I saw the original painting) that Mark Twain used to make up silly stories for his daughters after dinner in their sitting room, using as characters the winsome paintings that decorated the room. Every story was different, I was told, and every story began and ended with a cat in a ruff.

I wonder at the stories. I know that I'm going to put the postcard of the cat in a ruff either in a frame or in my hardbound copy of my doctoral thesis. He knows the stories he could tell. I wish he would whisper them to me. Sometimes, I swear he does.

I managed to get the pattern off to Knitty (www.knitty.com) on time. I haven't heard from them yet that it was rejected, so if an email doesn't show up on Monday, I know I've made it to round two. I hope I'm 'hip' and 'funky' enough. While some of my lunch buddies thought that knitted penis sculptures would have perhaps had a better impact in the funky department, somehow I wonder.

Yet, my engineer brain says, well, we COULD get some peachy (or chocolatey, let's not be rude) yarn, cast on about, say, twenty in a tube on dpns, knit for eight inches, and then decrease and stuff it... no no no, that's really okay. I'm amazed sometimes at the parts of my brain which helpfully solve some design issues that the rest of my brain really would rather ignore. ;) (like, you'd want to garter stitch the scrotum with eyelash yarn. Really!)

I've been trying to be a good little scientist this week. So far, I've been rewarded with two mixed experiments and one good one. Narf. Happy weekend, everyone!

Detail of collar. :)

Egads a picture!

I took this picture this morning with Dan's digital camera. I was in a bit of a hurry so I don't know if the cabling around the neck came out as well as it could have... but here's an in-progress of the Dan Vest! :) Note that I'm in the process of curving the cabled strip around so that it will meet up behind his neck. Yay for short rows!









I've had to rip and re-do a bit, but I think I've figured out most of how to make this work... now all I have to do is figure out how to explain it simply. Uh oh... :)