Random Monday

Today I’m starting to get a hold of everything that I lost control of over the last 26 days when I was working or out of town, and the last 7 days where I just laid down and coughed. Today I am dealing with the wild roaming dust buffalo, the inbox full of email (there are thousands. I wouldn’t look for that to be wrapped up today) the laundry, so that Joe and I can stop wearing clothes that don’t match…and a possible trip to the grocery store so that dinner tonight doesn’t consist of a strange combination of foods from the back of the freezer. (I hate it when it gets weird like that. I can’t be the only one…) Therefore, a list of Random Things.

( I don’t know about you…but I think we knit-bloggers really owe MamaCate for coming up with this random thing. It’s pretty darn handy.)

Things I bought at the Frolic

Gifts for Denny purchased and dropped off at her abode. I will not reveal the contents of said “Frolic in a bag”, since I do not yet have confirmation that Denny got it….so you will have to use your imagination and know that Rachel and I are very gifted. I had planned to buy nothing for myself, but that fell straight out the window within seconds of my arrival. Ironically, my biggest purchase was at the Lettuce Knit booth where I discovered a yarn that was dyed just for me. It’s Dream in Color yarn (worsted) and it’s a beautiful rusty lime green that is so me that I literally gasped when I saw it.

Perfectrustgreen

See? (Ok. It’s better than the picture. By a lot. Subtle, gorgeous…Megan had all the colours packed up in bunches to make the wrap cardigan #263. (Scroll down.) I bought the pattern too.) I also got some beautiful Canadian sock yarn from Red Bird Knits. Ontario Romney sheep, Ontario Mill…Halifax dye job (from the Fleece Artist). I got the red wine colourway. C’est magnifique.

That’s it. (Oh. And a good bar of hand made soap. I love hand made soap, but everybody needs soap. That doesn’t count.)

Something I didn’t buy at the Frolic and regret now.

These knitting lady lamps that were at the Main St. Yarns booth.

Lanternlampsmain3004

They are paper shades with a bulb inside and I thought they were so beautiful that I have no explanation at all for why I didn’t buy one. (Except that they were a little pricey) I can only say that I was practising restraint and got carried away.

Knitladylamps3004

What I knit all weekend

The big pink thing.

Bigpinkthing3004

It is bigger. It is still pink. I still can’t tell you what it is. There is not much time left to finish it. All will be revealed in the fullness of time.

(Secret projects suck for blogging.)

What I knit when I sort of wigged out from knitting the big pink thing.

Rufflesscarf3004



This scarf. Dudes, it was so much fun. Stupid big fun. The whole thing took about 2 hours…maybe less and it was as much fun as watching your daughter dump a jerk. (I’m imagining on that one.) It’s this crazy yarn that’s a wide knit ribbon, and you knit it just by picking up one side and giving it lots of room to ruffle.

Onlineribbon3004

I gave the yarn (if you can call it yarn – it’s Online “Linie 194 Solo”) a twist at the end of every row so that one side would be one colour,

Ruffledknitting3004

and the other would be reversed. I am almost ashamed of how much fun it was. I got the yarn and pattern by CarlaK when I was at Knit One in Pittsburgh. They have more.

The real challenge of knitting a scarf like that

Is not the knitting. That was fast, easy and fun. (Did I mention the fun?) but the challenge of not beating to death all of the non-knitters who are going to go absolutely bonkers over it at Christmas, even though it only took two hours and little skill to knit it, and even though they are holding a pair of hand knit socks (or a lace scarf, or something else that took me twenty hours and tremendous skill to knit for them) right in their hot little hands. It’s always like that.

Lace shawl = polite thank you and appreciation

Novelty yarn scarf = the crowd goes wild.

Sigh.

150 thoughts on “Random Monday

  1. That scarf is gorgeous! Which one of your daughters has claimed it?? My 14 year old Monica would love it! (although in BLACK…sigh)
    I’m so glad that your feeling better!

  2. That scarf is gorgeous! Which one of your daughters has claimed it?? My 14 year old Monica would love it! (although in BLACK…sigh)
    I’m so glad that your feeling better!

  3. It is not possible. It is lunchtime and I am the first?! There will be 20 other comments before I hit post.
    The scarf is way too cool. I could knit many for Christmas and take the crowd going wild. I’ll keep the socks for myself! I always appreciate them.
    Glad you’re feeling better.

  4. I knit my sisters these beautiful, fair isle sweaters for christmas this year. Hours and hours and hours of concentrated work. I got “Thanks. If I buy the yarn, could you make me some socks like Mom?” Mom’s socks were worsted weight slipper socks that took me all of 4 hours to totally finish. No color, no pattern, just … socks…
    Great scarf, and nice restraint!

  5. I knit my sisters these beautiful, fair isle sweaters for christmas this year. Hours and hours and hours of concentrated work. I got “Thanks. If I buy the yarn, could you make me some socks like Mom?” Mom’s socks were worsted weight slipper socks that took me all of 4 hours to totally finish. No color, no pattern, just … socks…
    Great scarf, and nice restraint!

  6. one of the first , maybe Glad to hear things went well at the frolic, I hope Denny is having a better time now and any yarn that you Rachel picked up has to be a winner. I have seen yarn like the ribbon at Lion Brand

  7. It is not possible. It is lunchtime and I am the first?! There will be 20 other comments before I hit post.
    The scarf is way too cool. I could knit many for Christmas and take the crowd going wild. I’ll keep the socks for myself! I always appreciate them.
    Glad you’re feeling better.

  8. Very bizarre yarn + very creative people = very cool results! I would hate to see a garment out of that yarn (although there are some patterns in the 1980’s Vogue Knitting mags I have that would probably suit), but the scarf is just enough fun.
    Also, I love the word Frolic. And even better when it’s paired with “Knitters”!

  9. I can’t knit one of those….I’d be afraid that I’d use it to strangle the next person who said – while holding a pair of cotton socks knit on size 0s – “But I can buy socks!”

  10. Loos like a lovely time was had , Beautiful yarn and hopefully Denny is doing better, I am curious about the frolic bag. I think Lion Brand has some yarn that nits into ribbon. have a good one
    Kris

  11. That scarf is just wild! Sounds like you’ll need a few of those stashed away for Christmas gifts 😉 Glad to hear you’re no longer coughing so much, either …

  12. fun scarf…and you’re absolutely right…people will go crazy over something like that scarf and wear it all the time…..but stuff the lovingly hand knit socks to the back of their drawer. glad you’re better!

  13. Good friends are hard to find. “Frolic in a Bag”–I love the concept. You’ve the right of knitted gifts. I’ve learned that hard way–snappy color, simple knitting (unless it’s for a knitter).
    I can’t wait to see the Wine socks. Don’t get me started on Dream In Color. I’m on my second sweater. And they now have sock yarn! Please share your pattern with us.

  14. I so want that scarf, and I don’t even like pink (or particulary fond of orange, now that I think about it).

  15. Dream in Color is dyed at my LYS! I had to call the owner as soon as I saw this. It’s great stuff, I know you’ll be really happy with it.

  16. The scarf looks cute and fun. But not my style. I’d ooh and aaah over lace and socks.

  17. The joy of knitting for knitters? They appreciate things like lace socks and complex intarsia sweaters.
    The drawback of knitting for knitters? They already know how easy and fun plain ol’ socks are and aren’t necessarily impressed with your effort.
    The ruffle scarfs are a winner, though. I knit a couple for Christmas last year and “voila!” is the best word I can think of to describe the knitting and gifting of them.

  18. That is one cool scarf! Where can I score some of that yarn?
    Please be careful cooking out of the back of the freezer, don’t you keep some of your yarn in there? Wouldn’t want to add some “fiber” to your diet 😉
    We’re on a serious budget crisis due to gas $$, so the back of our freezer is turning up some interesting meal choices. The kids are turning up their noses nightly! 😉 Good thing they like mac & cheese.

  19. I love that On Linie yarn! It seems so silly, but I’ve also been working on the same old ruffle scarf myself. Here and there, I find it kind of frustrating personally…
    I almost want to frog back and give the yarn a twist now between rows! Why didn’t I think of that?

  20. The lime green yarn, the mystery knit, the beautiful lampshades (I can’t believe you didn’t grab one either) and all we can gab about is the fun, funky 2 hour scarf.

  21. Yet another epiphany that I am a Knitter. I make mostly Arans but still do lots of socks and lace, and I so appreciate those efforts in others. I was intrigued by the tape “yarn” (“what will they think of next” kind of thought) but am not a ruffle person so I don’t know that I’d want one. Evidently, I also am a process knitter since that seems too fast to knit!

  22. You’re absolutely right about the inverted levels of appreciation. Flash over substance, every time. Except for other crafters. In my experience, they don’t have to be knitters, as long as they do some kind of handcraft. (But beadworkers and fiber artists get it best).
    But yeah, that scarf still looks like a big load of fun–might have to try it myself! I’m doing the Backyard Leaves scarf (Annie Modesitt, Interweave Knits last Holiday issue), which is intricate, so something big and fast like that might be a good switch-off project.

  23. You’re tempting me away from sock monogamy, darnit. That would be a handy holiday gift, particularly in our climate.
    There are some very odd things in the back and bottom of our freezer as well, but the package of Swiss cheese (who knew?) made some excellent baked mac and cheese.

  24. The idea of you and Joe walking down the street wearing matching clothes is cracking me up.

  25. That sure is a fun scarf…and may be the answer to my Church Christmas Charity Fair knitting woes. Last year I made the mistake of knitting several intricate lace scarves only to bring most of them home as the guy at the table next to me made off like a bandit with his novelty yarn creations.
    And if my friends want one in lieu of handknit scarves and lace, they can buy one like any other visitor to the fair…..

  26. I bought Dream in Color sock yarn at a LYS nearby my aunt (hey, had to see the local “color”!). The box containing it was opened…I reached in and…OMG I had to purchase the yarn!!! They are by far the most comfy socks I own and I regret the comming warm weather because I will have to say goodbye until September sometime(boo-hoo). Enjoy your purchases, Miz Harlot. Can’t wait to see what your needles will create from such awesome yarn.

  27. I’ve seen some of that ruffle yarn before, but I can’t quite figure out how you would actually knit with it, and I’m afraid to buy some to see because I feel like it would a slippery slope and my next big thing is SUPPOSED to be lace and wee-gauge fair isle.

  28. OK – the pink thing is obviously NOT a thong. 🙂
    Fun scarf reminds me of the male dancers with the ruffled sleeves to Cuban music. I keep seeing men shimmying and bongos in my head.
    Though my teenagers would love a bag made out of the stuff (lined ofcourse).

  29. I love the yarn you’ve chosen for your wrap cardigan. Its a wonderful pattern! I made it once in Olive Malabrigo and loved the results so much I’m planning to make it again.

  30. Sigh, it is so true. My co-worker has seen my cabled sweaters, my lace shawls, my socks on teeny needles. You know what she wants? A novelty yarn collar scarf like I made my mother. It’s a freaking triangle of two yarns (a ladder and a shiny ribbon) held together in garter stitch. Muggles.
    Still, it’s nice to have a good garter project to take your mind off more complicated projects *coughMorrigancough*. I find log cabin blankets to be excellent knitting angst outlets. 🙂

  31. Sometimes I wish I could attach a tag to a knitted gift describing the time, tears, and curse words it took to complete. But I haven’t had the guts to do it yet.

  32. Wow. You’re right. That scarf really IS the knitting equivalent of a Twinkie to someone on an oatmeal diet.

  33. I knit my sisters these beautiful, fair isle sweaters for christmas this year. Hours and hours and hours of concentrated work. I got “Thanks. If I buy the yarn, could you make me some socks like Mom?” Mom’s socks were worsted weight slipper socks that took me all of 4 hours to totally finish. No color, no pattern, just … socks…
    Great scarf, and nice restraint!

  34. The scarf is very cool, but I *so* hear you on that. I experience this phenomenon yearly at Miss B’s school auction, where an eyelash scarf I knit while comatose (all right, not really, but I could have) sells for more than a lace scarf in a really, really nice yarn, as in you are paying for *just the yarn* at that price, knit in my own original pattern using a stitch that no one else ever uses. And it was only close because I bid the lace scarf up, because I was damned if I was going to stand there and watch someone get it for $5.
    Um… I think you hit a nerve. Sorry about that.

  35. Welcome back from those 26 days. I hope you’re having a lovely recovery. I made one of those wrap cardigans and it was awesome, but with Blue Moon worsted:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/astralpup/231805499/
    And on the scarf, I’ve been intrigued by that stuff but not enough to try it. And I totally agree that the downside of a project like that is the total misunderstanding. The complete lack of parity with what went into it.

  36. You were too busy defending your “I’m shopping for Denny and ONLY Denny” position to buy a lamp. Lord knows I tried hard enough to get you to buy one. My husband would die if I brought a ‘knitting lamp’ home and I thought I could live vicariously through you.
    P.S. I know with 100% certainty that she still has some of those if you reallllllly regret it.
    P.P.S. I’ve made those scarves. I’m sort of baffled about what to do with the ends. I weave in ends so they will never, ever come free and I never feel like the ends of that stuff are really and truly secure.

  37. when i was a non knitter i enver appreciated the amount of time, effort and love that went into a project.
    my great aunt always made us these slippers in really scratchy yarn… yes they were warm but i never wore socks and never wore the slippers (although i still have them) because they were itchy and slippery…no traction – almost broke my toe once. the slippers were kind of the running joke of the family… we always got slippers…
    but now i appreciate that my great aunt used to knit a lot more things than those slippers but as she got older thats all she could make because of her eyesight and parkinsons. but she thought enough of us to make us things that even as an 8 yr old i couldnt fully appreciate.
    now i appreciate the time and effort and love and all that went into them.
    but people like flashy things… sorry ladies lace is not that flashy to non knitters.
    🙂

  38. The scarf is the very first project where I thought… “I HAAAAAVE to have it!” This will be perfect for Christmas!

  39. Holy crap! I have never been a fan of novelty-type yarns. But, I must have that scarf!!

  40. Wow! What a scarf! Such a love-hate relationship with novelty yarns…it’s always nice to know that I’m not the only one frustrated with how the Muggles react to FOs. 🙂

  41. Great scarf, I want to make one. I’ve tried to find it but no luck. How can I order yarn and pattern? Glad you’re better I’d miss you, as I read every day. Go girl. Pat

  42. That’s why I use acrylic for my friends’ projects. (I know, it’s baaaaaaaad) I figure–hey–if I’m going to spend all the time for the aforementioned “polite thank you” I’m certainly not going to spend the $$$ also–some friendships have limits. Did you get your new STR? It’s awesome!! Just sayin’

  43. OMG–does that not make you crazy? I crocheted Lion Brand fun-fur over a pair of flip flops for my mom 3 years ago–she thinks I’m a genius. I hand-knit her my first pair of socks in lovely fingering-weight merino wool and she asks me if she can put some rubber on the bottom so she can wear them as slippers.
    OY!

  44. I have a friend who is a midwife, raises alpacas (great roving) and is ex special forces. She had her daughter’s ex sent to Siberia. Really.
    She is my idol.

  45. The scarf I get the most compliments on is a garter stitch scarf knit with cheap Hobby Lobby yarn that I did when I first started knitting. So maddening!

  46. I have a friend who is a midwife, raises alpacas (great roving) and is ex special forces. She had her daughter’s ex sent to Siberia. Really.
    She is my idol.

  47. Yes, the Muggles do like the novelty yarn, don’t they? We had a little charity sale in my office back around Christmas (a “hall sale” instead of a “sidewalk sale”) and I had a bunch of scarves I’d knitted out of leftover acrylics and eyelashes and other novelty yarns. There were a couple that were natural fibers. Take a wild guess which ones went first and which ones didn’t go at all…

  48. Yup – we are soooo alike. I knit 5 of those scarves for Christmas last year (although not in the great new colours…) and everyone went ape. The merino Icarus shawl? A delayed thanks. Oh well.
    I too bought the wrap cardi pattern from Megan. I didn’t buy the yarn, however. And yes, I am now kicking myself.

  49. I recognize that scarf. It’s the one on the back cover of Issue 13 of OnLine (German knitmag), obscuring the massive cable that is apparently a major design feature of the center front of a sweater I might want to make. I say apparently because every photo of this sweater in this issue has the model wearing the huge scarf hanging right down the middle. Only the written pattern reveals that this sweater has a 16-stitch double cable.
    Oh, that’s right: At Knit’s End, page 137. 🙂

  50. Believe me,
    Lace shawl = polite thank you and appreciation,
    is much better than
    Lace shawl = “I don’t wear scarves.”
    = brain screaming “GIVE IT BACK!”

  51. Seems to me like you just answered your own dilemma of what to knit for Christmas. Save the good stuff for the people who “get” the good stuff, and give ruffly scarves to those people who liked that Jessica Simpson wrap you (gasp) crocheted.

  52. I know I was just reading it weird, but now I keep thinking that you and Joe normally wear matching outfits. I hope to experience the joy of that is daughter dumping a jerk. I wish I did not understand the novelty scarf v. complex knitting gifting experience, but hey, it is nice when a gift is received enthusiastically.

  53. Not even a hint at the big pink thing? Shawl? Scarf?? HUGE sock?? Big babushka??
    hmm.
    (Just a silly side note…I have completed Sock #2 of Pair #3 and it is gorgeous. Thank you for smiling upon my sock knitting mojo and giving me confidence to go on. Now if I could only do that with the lace…but it still intimidates me and I still haven’t picked it up since you fondled the laceweight at Joseph Beth booksellers. I figure if the mojo marinates on the yarn long enough, then there’ll be fewer problems in my knitting.) (Yes, I do live in a fantasy world…why do you ask?) 🙂

  54. Steph,
    I just have to say, you know what a yarn shop looks like on a warm sunny day. You maybe get a dozen people or so. Today you’ve turned my blase day into quite an eventful one!
    Melissa — Knit One employee

  55. Hey, how funny, I just discoverd dream in color at my local LYS..only I got sock weight…ahem. Currently obsessed with socks…The colors just made my eyes pop out when I saw it. 🙂

  56. I knit that exact same scarf in the exact same colorway. People do go mental over it. I love it and feel very fancy when I wear it.

  57. I’m with you on the last one. Handknit socks (as I’m knitting them — I don’t give them away yet) get “…But you could BUY socks…” and the foul acrylic Fun Fur scarves get rave reviews.
    Fools, the lot of them.

  58. Dunno – think that scarf is going to look wildly fantastic to any knitter on Christmas Eve when one is 8 gifts short for Christmas Day.
    I’m just saying.
    (Although it looks wildly fantastic to me right now)

  59. You said
    Lace shawl = polite thank you and appreciation
    Novelty yarn scarf = the crowd goes wild.
    Not if you give it to a knitter. My daughter knits novelty scarves all the time, but she practically swooned when I gave her a lace stole from Rowan kid silk with beaded sparkly on it.
    OK, don’t tell her I said “swoon.” I would so be in trouble.

  60. Love the ruffles – saw it at my LYS, still thinking about it! Is the big pink thing by any chance a Luna Moth Shawl from Elann? I am making one right now and your pink thing seems to have a resemblance!

  61. Welcome back, and happy to hear you are no longer coughing. It’s exhausting when that goes on for days. Good luck with answering the 1000’s of e-mails. It sounds like a daunting task. Take your time-you don’t want to get sick again.

  62. I wondered who you thought you were fooling when you said you didn’t want anything for yourself. Figured you must still have a fever.

  63. When I saw the scarf, I thought it was one of those “potato chip” scarves and shuddered at the thought of binding off all those stitches. But I was impressed! Briefly, till you ‘fessed up.
    Love the colors! My color choices are changing with time — although I still like my old favorite jewel tones, I sometimes seek out warm brights just like that novelty scarf; in fact I just made a shawl in almost the same colors as the scarf. Never would have done that 5, 10 years ago. Lion Brand does make a similar yarn, Ruffles, but only in a couple neutral colors.
    Speaking of colors: the colors of your new ‘seemingly-made-for-the-Harlot” yarn did immediately make me think of my basement refrigerator…
    Just kidding!

  64. I have socks going out of the Dream In Colors merino superwash, color 280 November Muse bought at So Much Yarn in Seattle. The color has a warm, rosey brown as the dominant tone. I’ve posted pictures on my blog (karenjoseattle.com) if anyone wants to see that color and weight. Warning, though — so far the knitting consists of two toes on a magic loop and two balls of wound yarn.
    The twist on my skein is pretty tight and I’m using US5s at almost 6 sts/inch (the ball band calls for 4 to 4.5 sts/inch on US 7 or 8). They look like they’ll be pretty durable as well as pretty.

  65. You know I have that same experience with knitted gifts at Christmas. The Shedir hat that takes a while and has lots of lovely intricate detail gets an ‘aww thanks’ and shove back into its bag, while the dorky scarf I knit my 2 year old neice gets all the love. Muggles just don’t understand.

  66. Nice to “see” you feeling better1 I didn’t doubt that you were knitting, but yeah, stealth knitting does not rule in blogs. So, if you knit and no one sees you, did you really knit? Sorry, bad month…

  67. I feel your pain on the whole novelty-yarn versus lace issue…after six months of random periods of intense knitting (and not a little language), I finished the Knit-Picks Adamas shawl. I was showing off to a friend, and the only thing she wanted wanted to know was if could knit her a scarf, only, you know, thicker and with fewer holes.

  68. OK… the big pink this has me as curious as a cat! And the scarf – LOVE IT!

  69. So why are you knitters wasting your time “casting pearls before swine”? Knit for yourselves (and any friends who may actually “get it”) and don’t make anything for dopes with acrylic tastes. I knit mainly for myself– “because I’m worth it!”– and for my boyfriend and best (non-knitting) girlfriend, because they’ve seen and appreciated the quality of my work and materials. Estimated output: 97% for myself, 3% for others, not counting my adolescent phase of crocheting afghans for friends and family. Knitting is really a private devotion, or one shared only with others of like mind. . .

  70. Hey! Me again! I just looked at the cardigan pattern, and I just cast on for that same one! I’m doing it, though, in kid mohair/silk, pink, for a lovely young dancer about to graduate from high school. And I’m doing it in garter stitch to speed it up (it is May tomorrow, after all) and avoid ‘rowing out’ as I knit back and forth, since with the fine halo-y yarn and slightly bigger needles, the garter stitch and stockinette look almost the same anyway.
    “Got carried away with restraint”. Hmm. Sounds like an oxymoron to me.
    And, yes, we’re all commenting about the novelty scarf just like the muggles, but after all, there’s only so much to comment on, re: the mystery project that you can’t unveil and the stuff you didn’t buy, and the gifts for Denny that you can’t tell us about yet!
    OK — just kidding — again!

  71. The scarf looks like fun! And the big pink thing looks like something Nathania (from Purlesence yarns) would knit, it is so her color.

  72. Pure&Simple 263 is on of their nicest adult sweaters, IMHO. If it wasn’t so inappropriate I’d ask for a copy. No, just kidding! That’s like pirating, right? Seems every other DVD I rent tells me it is wrong, so it must be. And yet, I have a big ole’ stack of copied patterns, mostly from library books. Is it pirating if I never knit the item? Sorry… some of my random thoughts today just slipped out.

  73. Yeah, when I am planning for christmas presents, I just look for the ugliest, plastickyest, acrylicyist yarn I can find, and I’m good. 😉
    Your scarf is classy.
    It reminds me of the mastercard commercials… you know the ones…
    Yarn (insert price here.) Time spent knitting yarn 2 hours. Having something for the muggles that makes them swoon that isn’t eyelash, PRICELESS.
    🙂 Glad you’re feeling better.

  74. Having not owned a deep freeze until very recently, we scrounge “tin can suppers” when the fridge is lean. But those aren’t nearly as fun as our “things on sticks and things with dips” suppers. Someone should call the parenting police on me.

  75. Secret things sure DO suck for blogging. Curiosity killed the cat BUT satisfaction brought it back–and I happen to be a cat ((LEO sun sign) so that big pink thingy is really MOST intriguing to me. Can’t wait !! You sure showed restraint with the lamp shades and the buying of yarn,but then you have experience at this . Me? I would have gone bonkers as I’ve never been to a needlework show so good thing I don’t go as I have a stash and several UFO’s that keep crying at me .Perhaps this will be a summer to JUST work on the UFOS and the stash for me –haha–that is IF we ever get summer thanks for the post and GLAD to hear you are feeling somewhat better.

  76. Is that ruffle yarn not SO MUCH FUN!? I have some green, I wish my yarn store had that orange and red color.. I’m going to be looking for that, now. Good STUFF.

  77. I’m sorry, the first image that hit my mind when I saw that photo was “Oh, No! Someone spilled Elmo’s guts all over Sesame Street!”
    Does that make me weird?
    I still can’t wrap my (feeble) brain how you knit that stuff.

  78. I hope the ‘Lace shawl = polite thank you and appreciation’ is limited to people-who-are-not-my-mother! (I finished a shawl for a friend this weekend and she indicated a need.) Of course she is getting one for Mother’s Day, and yes, it will be finished! I just completed week two of the 3 month recovery required for severly a broken leg! Many, many more days sitting looking out the same window and filling my time with what else? Knitting, lace, socks, the winter sweaters that got pushed asside when I “discovered” lace. Maybe I should start a blog with all this extra time. No, the time will go away about July when I might be able to drive again!

  79. I love the scarf… I wanna learn how to make those! That looks SO fun. Omigoodness. Fun stuff!

  80. The scarf is cool – my knit group person found that pattern in North Carolina a couple of months ago. With respect to the amount of thanks, it is always in inverse proportion to the amount of work involved. Knit a project with my eyes practially closed- Wow, cool, thanks. Answer a research question with one hand tied behind my back – bowing and scraping thanks. Answer a question that takes all 20+ years of my experience; calling in chits from people whom I have helped; pleading with vendors for trial passwords, what do we get: nada, nothing, barely acknowledgement that we actually did the work. But I have fun doing the work and I guess that is the reward.

  81. Am I also noticing that you did that rigatoni scarf in a herringbone stitch (there is another term for this–blast if I can remember it now? It’s so cute.

  82. Cast ye not your pearls before swine lest they rend them…..Ach! I feel your pain, I only knit the good stuff for a few who truly understand & appreciate. But Heaven help me I want to do that ruffley scarf! (hanging her head in shame…kinda)
    The Frolic must’ve had healing vibes that pushed you over the edge into total recovery!

  83. OMFSM! You are so right about the shawl vs. the novelty yarn scarf. LOL. I thought it was only me who wondered that…

  84. That scarf reminds me of lasagna, in a good way! Glad you are feeling better!

  85. When we were working overtime to bring up an online system some time ago, the women in my office had a contest to see whose husband was most creative/desperate in creating dinner from meager contents of fridges and cupboards. My Joe won in the dessert category with his “Raisin and Cool Whip Burrito” Flour tortilla + layer of Cool Whip + sprinkle raisins over all and roll up.
    I was so proud. Although it actually was his dinner!
    Also, maybe it’s time to make some rules about who is gifted with fine knits, before starting next Christmas’s gifts.

  86. Ok you need to stop with the blog links. It is going to take me all day to just read my blogs, then how will I get stuff done?
    The yarn, the scarf the pink blob, all very cool!

  87. Every year my sisters, sister in law, Mum and I have a shopping trip and abandon the kids with the men and go gallivanting off to drink wine, eat out and wear the tread off the credit cards. We look forward to it all year. I’ll leave the fridge well stocked but they will have emptied it by the time I get on the plane.
    My family are about to spend four days fighting over the last clean (but not matching) pair of socks and eating whatever is frozen to the back of the freezer (it makes it so much easier to defrost if I do it after having a trip away from home!) when they will end up eating fishfinger omelette or pea sandwiches or, for the culinary advanced: gravy on toast. And they will appreciate me so much more when I get home.
    I find the best way to make people appreciate the things is to make them do without. My sisters are practically swooning over my cashmere socks- but they just don’t appreciate them enough to get to own a pair – if they did they would learn to knit them themselves.

  88. No matter how many times I tell your lovely website to remember my personal info, it never does.
    My challenge right now is opposite of yours, I need to make an item for an auction that’s happening next November, and it has to be something that does take quite a bit of craftsmanship, because that’s what people pay for. Last year I did a complicated lace scarf (it was a six row pattern, but it was lace every row and took quite a bit of swearing and throwing to get it right) and it sold better than the other knitted items at the auction, so this year I know I need to do something at least that complicated in order to make any money on it for the scholarship fund that the auction is benefiting.

  89. UGH!! We bought that yarn! I liked it (yes, I know, it’s silly, it’s. . . . well, let’s just stay with silly). Steve disliked the yarn and told me NO! I said, YES! Ultimately, nobody bought it – we knit a sample, we wore the sample, we pranced about with said sample. Nothing. Steve said I told you so. . . . I know I should be sort of glad that people would PREFER to knit a shawl or incredible sweater, but sometimes I just hate being wrong about what I think everyone will like. I am just so glad you appreciated the silly yarn for what it is/was – fun and silly 🙂

  90. I hate gift-knitting because of that very reason – everyone wants a boring, furry scarf that I could bang out in an hour instead of something that is actually crafted.
    On a different note, I don’t understand how to knit with that yarn at all. Some novelties are just too novel for me…

  91. I’m sure there’s like, twenty people telling you, “Oh, you can get that stuff from Lion Brand!”, so I won’t bother.
    Yeah, the scarf’s wild and ruffle-tastic, but I’m with Patricia– I’d rather ooh and aah over lace socks. Or a shawl. I’ve become obsessed with shawls…
    PS. It’s all your fault, too. I’m knitting your Snowdrop Shawl (click on my name to see!), and I’ve become addicted. Save me… or maybe not.

  92. Dream in Color is dyed by the people at my LYS!!! The yarn is amazing–I’ve knit a pair of Fetchings out of it, and my first pair of socks! You’ll love it. By the way, I had jury duty a few weeks ago, and unfortunately wasn’t allowed to bring my knitting. “Knitting Rules” got me through the day. Thanks!

  93. Am I channelling you or something? I just dyed up some almost cobweb weight yarn in greeny yellows and almost rust…
    Heh. I like the ruffle scarves but I am guessing I have little taste. But I do knit socks….

  94. I am very lucky. My family knows the value of my handknitted socks vs novelty yarn anything. I guess it’s because they watch me knit all the time.
    HOWEVER friends and coworkers are a different story. For them though? It’s ok.

  95. I love the scarf! Ironically I just purchased this yarn last week at my LYS after searching and searching for it to do pattern by Annie Modesitt. I was a little angered but so relieved after going to 7 different yarns shops wasting all of that gas and then traveling 40 miles out of my way to get it but I got it….Now I am so happy to see what the colorway is going to like since I have the same one! YeaH!!!!

  96. I love the scarf! Both the pattern and the color make me want to go make one…
    It is very unfair that novelty things like that get more applause and attention than mind bending lacework. Just shows how much the muggles know…

  97. I love the scarf! Both the pattern and the color make me want to go make one…
    It is very unfair that novelty things like that get more applause and attention than mind-bending lacework. Just shows how much the muggles know…

  98. I think you restrained yourself admirably at the Frolic. Many of us would be hard pressed to walk away with just a few skeins, yarn diet or not! Hope Denny is doing better–not much fun feeling crummy on your birthday.
    As to the relationship between effort and appreciation, has anyone else ever heard this phrase? (Unfortunately, it’s verbatim.) “Oh. You “cheaped out” and made something…..” I was at a baby shower. Some people ought to put their brains in gear before engaging their mouths.

  99. I oh, SO agree with the gift statement!!!
    Just like the rest of the knitters, I get the “but you can buy 6 pair of socks at Walmart for $5!”, but if I were to knit that scarf… Katie bar the door! (and this is just from my husband’s own family!!! They SO don’t get it! but I am corrupting their kids… he he he!)
    Thanks for sharing! Hope you got to the grocery store. I know what you keep in the freezer!

  100. I fell lure to the ruffle scarf before Christmas. Those colors now – off the hook. And thank you for pointing me towards the new Knitting Pure and Simple patterns the wrap: beautiful and a top down bolero? Terrific. I have a KP&S library. All hail the top down sweater (and the elegant patterns).

  101. One year, I got SO sick (flu!) on the same day that a snowstorm hit Cincinnati (we called it a blizzard – we always call them blizzards – but later the weatherman had to break it to us that just because it snowed hard doesn’t mean we got a blizzard). I lived alone at the time, and in the ghetto, so I didn’t want to talk to any neighbors. After 4 days went by and I started getting an appetite for something other than broth and tea, I realized that I had a jar of pickles and a container of sour cream in the refrigerator. That was IT. I didn’t have the energy to go to the store, especially to drive through snow to get there. That was a sad day.

  102. I love the yarn you bought at the frolic! It is very spring-like, mossey even. 🙂 I do not know how you managed to avoid purchasing that lamp… They are beautiful!

  103. I know what you mean. My very first lace project was a large baby blanket for a friend’s first born to be wrapped when taken home. I used the left overs to knit a little bunny; the blanket took three months, the bunny three hours. Everyone loved the bunny and ignored the blanket.

  104. When I was in High School I had a tremendous turd of a boyfriend. But no one told me how silly I was being or intervened in anyway. Three years later I went to college and met a whole slew of interesting, noble, kind young men and realized what I had been missing out on and all the time I had wasted. I dumped him post haste. Talk to your daughter, openly and with out judgment, and maybe she’ll see the light. If my mom had earnestly told me to dump the loser two years earlier, I’d like to think I would have listened. Then again, what is youth if not a reason to make really, really stupid mistakes?
    I just can’t wait to see the full “pink thing”.

  105. Someone at my SkadKnit knitting class at work made a scarf like that. I STILL can’t figure out how exactly do you KNIT it??
    I make handmade soap – REALLY GOOD ONES – check out my site – http://www.rosi-g.com – But I’ve closed for a while until I find a BIGGER apartment! That does not mean that I still don’t make soap for our own use. Want some? 😀 email me and I’ll send you some. Right now I have Vanilla Chamomille, Oatmeal Milk & Honey and Moment of Peace.

  106. Someone at my SkadKnit knitting class at work made a scarf like that. I STILL can’t figure out how exactly do you KNIT it??
    I make handmade soap – REALLY GOOD ONES – check out my site – http://www.rosi-g.com – But I’ve closed for a while until I find a BIGGER apartment! That does not mean that I still don’t make soap for our own use. Want some? 😀 email me and I’ll send you some. Right now I have Vanilla Chamomille, Oatmeal Milk & Honey and Moment of Peace.

  107. I have never commented before but had to about this scarf. I was at my LYS yesterday and she said one of her employees saw this scarf in Vail selling for $450 dollars!! We knitters have skills that people will pay for.

  108. You nailed it again! The novelty scarves are oohed and aahed over, appreciated, generate multiple thanks — stuff that took forever to knit has not been seen again since the recipient’s polite thank you. So, gee, is there a lesson here?

  109. Oooh, that scarf is neat. When the semester is over I will definitely have to go to Knit One and get some of that. (It amuses me to read online from a Canadian blogger about the yarn available at the shop down the street. Gives me a clue as to the busyness of my life and paltry amount in my bank account).
    My sister would probably love it (for a short time anyway) as opposed to another pair of socks that she remains clueless as to the time involved. I too have observed novelty is valued over skill. (The fuzzy flip flops I gave her for her birthday attest to that). I think it has something to do with their ability to obtain the item by cost (in stores) versus our ability to obtain the item (by hand.) Or at least their perception thereof.

  110. Dang I love that scarf! The colors are bright and vibrant and as a whole it is a very unique project. You had better keep that one pinned on, otherwise, I bet it will grow legs and walk off on it’s own!

  111. I love that scarf…. Is there anyway that you could show us how you picked up the stitches and knitted with it?? How do you get the yarn thin enought to knit??… I am a vry visual person. I would love to make one but would like to see how it is done before I spend the money on the yarn.

  112. M’kay, I found the pattern online (for the scarf) and I’m even more confused about how it is knit (and how you bind off, but first things first, right?). Someone needs to make a video for youtube. Pretty please.

  113. anniemodesitt.com has a gorgeous scarf called Ruffled Roses using that amazing ribbon yarn. I have got the yarn for it but am just waiting to become a more accomplished knitter before attempting it.

  114. anniemodisett.com has a gorgeous scarf called Ruffled Roses using that ribbon yarn. It’s my next project!

  115. I also made the scarf in the Olive color – it was fun to learn a different technique. Yours looks gorgeous! No wonder we are getting so many orders for this yarn!

  116. ok, steph, not to be an enabler or anything but you can get those very cool lamps online if you REALLY regret not getting one 🙂
    here’s just one place i found it :http://www.nowandzenyarns.com/
    i totally thought of you as i was browsing the online boutique!!

  117. ok, steph, not to be an enabler or anything but you can get those very cool lamps online if you REALLY regret not getting one 🙂
    here’s just one place i found it :http://www.nowandzenyarns.com/
    i totally thought of you as i was browsing the online boutique!!

  118. I absolutely agree with those of you who would want to strangle people using this scarf when they go wild over this scarf and not over something that actually require knitting skills – however, think about it, you can finish several Christmas gifts in one day… 🙂

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