Life's a Stitch

I don’t know about Touch Me. I am in the process of felting it a second time as many of the worms disappeared, but not all. Another important note: this scarf was knitted lengthwise and after felting, the width of the scarf decreased far more than the length. So, I have a long skinny snake-like scarf with worms. Finally, I wouldn’t bother going through the trouble of  knitting in seed stitch because once it’s felted, it doesn’t show up. I’m about to sum this up as an expensive disappointment.

Update: the worms don’t completely disappear. I have had to get out a needle and thread and tack them back. After the second felting some of the worms went bald, leaving a loop of thread. I’m not likely to go through this again. A possible solution: since the worming is mostly along the edges, maybe I’ll add a crab stitch border of something contrasting; black kid silk mohair?

Caught in the act: Gracee Mae snuggled up on my Fair Isle. She’s thinking "If I don’t make eye contact with her maybe she won’t notice."

So, I’m knitting with Touch Me. Enter male family members. After a good feel, Chuck and Bryant want underwear knitted from it. We are a weird family. But seriously, Touch Me is soft as a puppy’s tummy, a lamb’s ear or a tulip petal. The colour is deep as the midnight sky. See, Sister Marion? I memorized my parts of speech, similes use "like" or "as" and metaphors are an implied connection. It’s been a long time since 7th grade. I do have a memory!

Too bad Touch Me is what I consider a mortgage the house yarn. I was in a yarn shop and the owner and I were discussing possible uses for the stuff. Sally Melville’s book has a pattern that calls for 22 skeins of Touch Me. Let’s see, 22 times $14.50. She said she’d be glad to sell it to me. What are the current interest rates?

Later in the day:

Knitting away, I’m glad I have access to other knitters because I’d be  panicking right about now having spent a fortune on Touch Me and finding that it’s full of worms. Ripped it out and started again, but alas, the worms are still crawling. I have been reassured that they disappear with the felting process. I don’t get it, though, the label says dry clean only, but Sally Melville, for example, says to felt the heck out of it. I’ve seen finished products and they are beautiful.

Everyone should knit with Touch Me once in their lifetime. The manufacturer describes it as sensual and it is. It is buttery, velvety smooth and the colours are deep and delicious. My tendencies toward texture go to the slubby styles. The creamy smoothness of Touch Me is like eating Ben and Jerry’s as compared to the Safeway brand. I invented a Ben and Jerry’s flavour. A non-sequitor story – many years ago I wrote to B&J with a suggestion – the opposing flavour to Cherries Garcia. Something like Black Forest cake in ice cream; chocolate ice cream with cherries. This from a person who doesn’t have a sweet tooth, give me Miss Vicky’s Jalapeno Potato Chips over chocolate any time. Almost any time. I do have a weakness for Purdy’s dark chocolate cherry caramels. Back to B&J. I received a hand written post card from one of the men himself, thanking me for the suggestion and a promise to send it to the lab. Lo and behold – reverse Cherries Garcia! Eat it and think of me. Knit Touch Me and think of me. By the way, I chose a colour that is reminiscent of black cherries. I can be predictable.

MSN Canada conducted a poll. They found that 14% of British Columbian online shoppers make their purchases in the nude. Excuse me? Fourteen out of one hundred people are freezing their buns in this damp and rainy climate while nakedly surfing the net? I have a hard time believing that 14% of those buying yarn are sitting at the screen in their birthday suits. I’m sure they at least have a scarf around their neck, if not some bottom up socks. Maybe they’re browsing Fuzzy Mabel while wearing a willie warmer. But please, not naked. Some things are best left unsaid. As far as I’m concerned, this is a private matter and if you are reading this naked I don’t want to know, OK?

When Mari is home she likes to let Grace run around the house naked, that is, without her collar on. She’s convinced Gracee is more comfortable and acts differently when disrobed.

Enjoy your weekend.

We did more than shop this past weekend in Bellingham. There was a fair bit of knitting going on. First in the hour and forty minute border line up, then by the fireplace while watching LA Story and on lazy mornings after breakfast. Here is my Fleece Artist scarf. It was a slow knit, working alternate rows of fleecy stuff with matching loopy mohair, but a beautiful outcome.

I feel pretty crummy so it’s good we’re not having US Thanksgiving this year. I thought at first it was the Thai food I had at lunch yesterday, but now I have a fever and aches. I had a flu shot a while back. I have taken a sick day tomorrow anyway because I have an appointment to discuss the results of my knee MRI at the UBC Sports Medicine Clinic. It showed a total tear of the ACL. This has not been a good two months health wise. I’ve never used so much sick time before. A heck of a way to get time off of work. Will try to hit a knit shop while over town!

Wishing all who celebrate American Thanksgiving a happy one.

I’ve spent too much time recently on simple projects and am up for a challenge. I took the plunge and ordered the Autumn Silk Cardigan from Ram Wools.  It’s a light weight lacey knit with a v-neck. Should look elegant in black Estelle Tussah Silk. And I ordered a Fiber Trends pattern – the Easy Lace Poncho, made all in one piece. I’ll reserve judgement on the easy part, it took me 12 hours once to sew a two hour pattern. I’ll use some Wool In The Woods I have in my stash – a slubby rayon in blues and rose. I exercised  some self control and ended my order there. There will be no more yarn shopping for a while. I mean it.

An update on the serious building prject, AKA the Great Wall. Nine pallets down, five to go.

While travelling in WA, we stopped at the LYS near our weekend place. It’s nice enough, but has a huge inventory of Fonty yarns and not enough of others I read about in knitting blogs. Feeling proud of myself for having resisted temptation, while walking toward the door I am lured to an amazing blend of colour and texture. It is the magic of Jamaique pictured here. To top it off, one skein is 160 metres, enough to make a scarf. A woman can never have too many scarves. Ask the French. And no human can have enough colour and texture in their life. Ask me.

I am now caught in the wool web. How come I didn’t notice that soft and fuzzy felted hat? A must have, two more skeins added to my purchase. I know I’d have a hard time convincing you, but I am very good at resisting the temptation to spend. Added up, that’s $100 US dollars in two days. And that’s only for the knitting stuff.

This weekend I also succumbed to the Musk shea butter massage soap. It’s supposed to be a necessity for the knitting bag in order to soothe those dry chapped hands after a hard day of knitting. Chuck says, by the name he’s not sure if it belongs in the kitchen, bathroom or bedroom.

That was the high, now to the low side. I was just at the vet for the third time this week with Gracee. She had an eye infection that wasn’t responding to meds. Yesterday they discovered her cornea had ruptured. She was put on three different drops and told to come in today for a followup. Today they discovered a small pricker embedded in her eye, above the lid. The root of the problem! Thank goodness. On a sad note while we were there a kind man brought in a fluff ball of a dog asking for it to be checked out as it had just been hit on the freeway. I thought that the dog was behaving pretty well for having been hit. What was I thinking? It turns out the dog was DOA. It was just a puppy without a collar or any identifying marks. Someone is going to be really upset. I am.

Why do I get such a rush from yarn? I fear it’s an illness. While travelling this weekend I found a yarn shop to end all yarn shops in Everett, WA. It’s aptly called Great Yarns, a house converted into a yarn shop. There are rooms devoted to different yarns; a bulky room, a worsted room, a sock weight room, a novelty yarn room, be still my beating heart. I have a habit of milling around knit shops without buying anything. Not this time. I was overcome with the urge to buy Touch Me in the deepest of aubergine (sounds better than eggplant) and Tartlette, a tease of a ribbon, in the springiest of greens, kissed with edges of pink roses. Whoa, she has it bad.

Talk about a religious experience, I was with two non-knitters and one of them had a conversion experience buying yarn for not one, but two projects.

I was in a knit shop and they were selling "Seeds of Hope" patterns for a fund raiser, designed by Deanna Lum Sisler, a two time breast cancer survivor. The patterns were knit in seed stitch on gigundous needles using five strands of textured yarns, in pink of course. I bought the pattern with some stash yarn in mind, though not necessarily pink.

I have had this in my stash since a trip to Germany two years ago. It looks pretty in this picture, but it’s not as good as it looks. Dull grey and blue paper-like stuff twisted around black merino. I have added some kid silk mohair and dazzle thread to the formula, large, dangerous looking needles and a winter Seeds of Hope scarf it will be.

I’m off this weekend for a women’s weekend in Washington.  Two knitters and six knit shops within a 45 minute radius. Yes!

How did that happen? A case of over confidence, lack of accurate counting and a stitch marker with a mind of its own lead me down the path to the frog pond. Caryl, she is history.

I have a hard time assigning gender to knitting projects, any inanimate object for that matter. I just tried to do it and it feels awkward. Chuck works in the transportation industry where ships are females and trains are males (go figure). I’m leaving my knitting projects as neither, they are just knitting projects.

But this was an opportunity. I’ve been wondering what Caryl’s Kerchief would look like if I purled back instead of knit back every other row. I think stockinette’s little V’s show off colour better than garter stitch, so here was my chance. It looks pretty good although I don’t think the lace pattern shows up as well. Maybe when its (she’s, nope, still doesn’t feel right) blocked.