Recent Lessons

Lesson 1: Occam’s Sewing Razor

When the squeak on the sewing machine becomes so maddening, and the top thread is breaking every five minutes, before I stick my head into the partially dismantled, Running sewing machine, I should consider making sure that the needle is installed in the correct orientation.  That didn’t solve the squeak.  Still had to stick my head in the machine to find that.  But now I Know.  

Lesson 2:  My eyes are bigger than my hands

I am enamored of the art of much knitting.  Sometimes I see a really incredible design and I must try it.  Often it’s about Trying a particular technique, a particular decrease, a clever little design element.  Lately (i.e. for the past several months), the projects I have fallen in love with have been either large or complicated (or in two cases, both).  This all by itself slowed down the knitting considerably.  On top of that, I got myself into a sort finger/hand/wrist/arm/shoulder spiral that is difficult to get myself out of.  This brought the knitting to a screaming halt.  So there are three lovely, but oh so far from finished, big and/or complicated projects staring at me, begging to be finished, but I can knit no more than a few minutes a day, if that, without bringing about the need for icepacks and narcotics.  

This is not fun.  This is not right.  It has also led to more sewing than knitting this Christmas season.  

Also, these projects are also intended for other people.  Other people who know about them and hope to actually hold them in their hands someday.  I feel an obligation to finish them, which makes the knitting feel more like Work than like this cool hobby that I do because I get a little thrill from taking a long piece of string and knotting it just so over and over (and over and over) and Voila! Clever, three-dimensional, useful object!

So I have learned that I really do prefer simple designs that I can hold in my hands, carry in my wee bag.  That aren’t huge.  This is what I really really prefer.  Now, if I can just get through the big complicated things, so I can get to some small simple things.  

Lesson 3: Should vs. Could, a lesson from Billy Jean King

I saw some round-table discussion on You Tube or something.  Oh, I remember, it was from Oprah, and O was chatting with Billy Jean King, Maria Shriver, and Gloria Steinem.  I forget what they were talking about, but Ms. King said that one of the ways she overcomes stress and guilt and all such self-defeating sorts of thinking is to replace “should” with “could” when it pops up in her head.  I.e. I should scrub the fingerprints off of the lightswitch plate in the kitchen.  vs.  I could scrub the fingerprints….  “Should” is a do it or feel bad about it kind of word, whereas “could” is a word of potential and, more importantly, choice.  As in, I could choose to do it or not.  

I was thinking that the holidays should be happy.  Ding ding ding.  The holidays ‘could’ be happy.  Which is a weird one, because either one suggests that the holidays aren’t actually happy, when really they sort of are, but they’re also sort of stressful.  But the source of that stress may be trying to live up to some idealized fantasy of what it ‘should’ be.  If we consider the idealized fantasy as something that ‘could’ be if we had infinite time and resources and and and, it becomes much easier to let that ideal go and still be satisfied with what the holidays actually are.  Which in my case, is a time when I get together with at least some of the people that I dearly love, or at least touch base with many of the important people in my life.  

More people ‘could’ choose to not worry about whether they have the most perfectly decorated tree, or the most Christmas lights on the block, or the perfect gift, and just look around and breathe in what is already around them.  More people could.  Yes, indeedy.  

*smooch*

I have a tendency to Over-Do

In case you hadn’t noticed.  

I over-do with knitting, and sewing and teacher-gifts and occasionally cooking.  A couple of months ago, I declared this ridiculous to do list.  Look, here’s another thing finished! (The socks, not the child)

 

Those are the new, Hogwarts-inspired, Sonar X3 socks.  I finished one of the shirts mentioned in that post, the other is half-finished.  The other two were cancelled due to a glut of long-sleeved dress shirts.  The Partner Hoodie is done.  The three stealth projects are done.  

I have finished one Deployment sock.  BIL has commenced to being less than familial, and as much as I’d like these socks to be about his service and sacrifice and not about his contribution to our family…. Well, let me just say that a lot of my emotions (and time) go into the things I make for people, and when I’m feeling particularly Not Good about someone, let’s just say that it makes it hard to knit for that person.  But that is one seriously cool sock.  There is a chance that a joke I made about finishing them for Partner, rather than for BIL, was recently misconstrued. But I digress.  

The Mystery Stole is about 1/3 finished.  I love it.  I love making it.  But it requires quiet and concentration, both of which have been in short supply here lately.  It goes on, bit by bit.  

The Urban Aran, Cardiganized is still in the dreaming stages.  

That shopping bag, though not on the list, also managed to sneak into the knitting queue.  It is, as mentioned in a recent post, finished.  

I cast on Kilt Hose *this morning* in the vain hope that I can finish them by early to mid-November.  I’m using Chasing Bunny’s very lovely pattern for Professor Moody’s Kilt Hose (because we just can’t seem to escape dear Harry around here, ever).  

The sanity of that November goal is in question, especially since, right now, I’m in the midst of Halloween Crafting.  I love Halloween.  I think it is a good opportunity to let your imagination run wild and then see if you can make some reality out of it, even if it’s only an approximation.  The educational institution that the elder two sonars attend has, rather cleverly I think, for several years held a Storybook Character Parade on October 31.  Children are invited to choose a character from a book, dress up as that character, and sashay around the campus before the flashbulbs of an adoring set of parents, books in hand.  Various literary and pseudo-literary activities ensue.  This allows any Halloween controversies to evaporate.  

The Sonars, being such imaginative little buggers—er, I mean, darlings, have come up with several lovely ideas.  

Sonar X8 has been inspired by Cornelia Funke’s When Santa Fell to Earth to be, well, Niklas Goodfellow (you might know him better by another name, ahem, Santa).  I dug around in the cupboard and came out with several yards of red felt gifted by a neighbor a while back.  He now has a coat and pants.  Also in the cupboard, some black and red neoprene and fleece, which became spats to resemble big black boots.  Hat will follow.  There will be no beard.  

Sonar X5 had toyed with Animalia by Graeme Base for some time, hoping first to be a Great Green Gorilla Growing Grapes in a Gorgeous Glass Greenhouse, then later to be a Zany Zebra Zig-zagging in a Zinc Zeppelin.  Thankfully (I wasn’t looking forward to using or approximating fur, or stripes) we later came across Enigma, by the same author, and a fascination with a magician has ensued.  It’s going to take me just as long to put this costume together, but it’s a bunch of small things rather than one big complicated (hot) costume, and it can all be done with fabric I have that isn’t a pain in the butt to sew with.  A vest and pants (done).  A bow tie (awaiting tying).  A cape.  A hat (half-finished) complete with “bunny” trick).  

Sonar X3 also started with Animalia.  He was totally fixed on being a Lazy Lion Lounging in the Local Library.  I have made a lion-ish suit before.  A simple lion-colored hoodie with great loops of felt sewn to the hood.  Unfortunately we no longer have it.  Still, it wouldn’t have been too hard, especially after I found half a bolt of upholstery fabric in another neighbor’s trash that was just about the right color to be a lion-y.  But then, we started talking.  We started looking at books.  We started looking at patterns.  And lo, we will soon have the White Rabbit.  Yes, That White Rabbit.  Before you start hyperventilating about fur rearing its ugly head again, know that I’m making only the rabbit’s head, and with white double-nap flannel rather than fur.  And no, it won’t cover his face.  He’s three.  I don’t think that would be wise.  Or cute.  To go with this wonderous head, there will be a vest and of course, a pocket watch.  

What?  For me?  Well, I don’t have much reason to wear a costume, except that there *is* a home football game on Halloween night here.  And I think it would be a shame to pass up the opportunity to do some small thing.  So there’s a very good chance I’ll break out my pink Hallowig and put on the Hawaiian dress.  If it’s not too windy.  Pictures will surely ensue should that take place.  

We bought a few apples yesterday.  Six different varieties to be exact.

A mix, Good, Very Good and Not So Much

Many things running through my mind today.  Little energy.  Will abbreviate.  

1.  New Mystery Stole swatch on US Size 2 needles.  Like it much better.  Really like the orange beads.  Or maybe the purple.  Must decide before Friday.  

2.  Sonar X3 is super cute.  This is the SuperCowboy ensemble, made from some old suedy polyester fabric with McCall’s 8398, copyright 1966 (Batman, Robin and Superman official Costumes).  Made for a family friend’s Cowboy fifth birthday.  She and her folks loved it. 

3.  We’re sick.  Ok, four out of five of us are sick, including me and all of the small people.  Right now it’s general malaise, sore throat and ache ache ache.  I’m hoping we can kick it with a low-key long weekend.  

4.  Go make this Malted Milk Ice Cream.  It’ll mess up a lot of dishes, but it’s so worth it.  So so worth it.  

5.  Deployment socks are progressing slowly, but progressing.  Thinking of a modification of this Pink Lemon Twist pattern in the foot area.  With red and yellow.  Or maybe blue and grey.  Or something.  

6.  I found the major speeches of the Democratic National Convention very stirring, particularly the focus on families.  I find John McCain’s VP choice profoundly troubling.  Inexperience, energy policy, family rights.  Very troubling.  

7.  There’s a meteorological par-tay happening in the tropics.  Gustav.  Hanna.  And a couple of “pre-” storms here and here.  I have something to say about the storm name choices this year.  But I’m not sure what it is yet.  We look to be on the safe side of the named monsters at least.  Check on your friends in Louisiana.  It’s going to be a bad scene for them.  Again.  

Shirt I

I finished one shirt today.

Back:

Front:

(I particularly like the caulk-stained shorts in that ensemble).  

The second shirt is just like the first, only in negative.  In other words, the lighter part is darker and the darker part is lighter.  I’ll show you when it’s finished.  Which may not be soon, because the sewing machine is making a startling noise.  

Stealth project the first is finished (hopefully I’ll show you a picture someday, because it’s hilarious silliness, but as it’s hilarious silliness meant as a surprise for someone and I don’t want to ruin the surprising silliness you can’t see it now), and I’m swatching (slowly, knitter’s wrist ya know) for Stealth project the second.  There was no swatch for the first thingy cuz it was felted and gauge was somewhat irrelevant, what with the shrinking of the wool in hot soapy water.  

I’ve taken to keeping my left hand dunked in the ice cream maker bucket filled with water.  Holding a cold bottle of beer in my left hand also helps.  As does the sipping of the beer.  Go figure.  

The Spirit of Sport

Ok, so Partner Sweater is finished as of about ten o’clock this morning.  [grand cheering fills the stadium]

Stealth Project Green is 70% finished (I told you, it’s small).  

As part of a greater project to move the garden beds in the back yard, Partner gathered the remaining onions and carrots from the back yard.  So I’ve been doing things like this:

And this:

These carrots look a little slimy, I know, but really they’re just wet.  And then I decided I needed one of these (because I am always ruining shirts by leaning against oily things on the edge of the counter.  This one is big enough for Partner as well, who is wearing it in this picture):

And I needed one of these (because the plastic bag I was using just wasn’t cutting it anymore):

These last two were made out of some fabric I inherited from a neighbor (and which was almost given away in the famous not-cleaning-out of my craft closet earlier this summer.  You might recall that I filled a trash bag with fabric I was sure I’d never use, and I was worried I’d not be able to get it out of the house.  And lo, here I am digging through the not-given-away fabric bag for something very handy.  Sort of implies that my efforts to get rid of the excess fabric are doomed to fail, huh?).  It reminds me of old-fashioned mattress ticking, and truth be told, I have enough of it to make a small mattress.  

In between all of this, we watched bits and bobs of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies which we recorded last night.  We haven’t made it all the way through yet, so there may be other moments worth comment.  The ceremony has been incredibly beautiful so far.  We really loved the boxes popping up and down, and just as the plum blossoms popped out and we were thinking, ‘what a cool computer/mechanical coordination,’ I got totally choked up when the People popped out from under the boxes.  People, who must have popped up and down about eight-hundred times in the beautifully choreographed presentation.  Amazing.  

The Sonars really loved the bit where people were walking around on the globe/lantern thing.  Oh, and the giant LED screen on the floor.  Very cool.   

But was anyone else totally creeped out, when the kids in ethnic costumes were carrying the Chinese flag across the stadium (which was very sweet), and then the Chinese soldiers goose-stepped in and took up the flag to put it up the pole?  The bobble-heads on the tv suggested that it symbolized the Chinese state’s ability to ensure the future of their children.  Sure.