Doctor Who? What Scarf?

Garter Ridges completed: 159

Garter Ridges needed in total: 520

Garter Ridges to go: 361

31 percent completed

Actual number of stitches: Multiply every ridge by 100. Yes, seriously. This scarf will have, at completion, 52000 stitches. Shoot me now.

Done, done, done

Here is the Elephant sweater, in all its glory. Details: I used the custom top down raglan outline, added in some ribbing and a henley neckline, finished off with some adorable elephant buttons, and now the boy has a pretty keen sweater which he will probably only be able to wear for two weeks out of the whole winter. I hate North Carolina.

I really enjoyed making this sweater, despite my complete newbieness about buttonholes (which led to some finishing angst, which was only relieved by some much needed reassurance from the hubby) and my complete HATRED of the double points I used for the ribbing on the sleeves. Most of the knitting of the sleeves I did with bamboo needles, but I wanted to use smaller needles for the ribbed cuffs. Unfortunately, I only had dps of the appropriate size in some kind of HEAVY METAL that clanked and clinked and almost woke up my sleeping boy. I don't have any clue what kind of needles they are, since I bought them at a garage sale. But, man, I don't plan on using them EVER AGAIN. Well, maybe if I need to sink something to the bottom of a lake. Not that I ever need to sink anything to the bottom of a lake. I'm just saying, IF I ever needed to sink something to the bottom of a lake, these needles would be the sinkers of choice. That's all.

I'm not sweating, officer. That's, uh, condensation. 'Cause I'm so cool. Yeah.

A little yarn miracle....

So I walked into Great Yarns in Raleigh for the first time. I pushed my boy in his stroller around the (admittedly rather cramped) store, fingering all the yarns with wistful pleasure, occasionally removing them from the boy's too quick hands. I looked, halfheartedly, for Classic Elite Beatrice in the color Bea's Blue. I made it through the store without falling in lust with any one yarn, but with about fifteen. I asked of the woman at the front, regretfully, without hope, "You don't, by any chance, have Classic Elite Beatrice?"

"In the back, near the floor. Here, let me show you."

I followed her, my heart in my throat. "If you have a ball in the color I need, I'll kiss your feet," I said.

"Oh, you don't have to kiss my feet!" she said, with a slightly alarmed chuckle.

And folks, I must be doing something right, because there it was. One lonely ball of Beatrice in Bea's Blue. I might have done a happy dance. In fact, I'm pretty sure I did a happy dance.

But there was no kissing of feet. Thankfully. For all involved.

Not a river in Africa....

Well, if you haven't weighed in on the button issue below, please do so. Of course, I have finished the sweater part of the sweater, but now I am in a bit of trouble. Last night, as I was finishing up the second sleeve, I kept holding up the ever dwindling yarn ball in horror. I made it to the end of the sleeve, but I only have a couple yards of yarn left, and haven't done the neckline. I have a different yarn with the same gauge, but it is cotton instead of wool. Can I use it? Will it make the neckline all saggy baggy? Will it look stupid? Should I just try to find an additional ball of wool yarn somewhere? Should I hop in a time machine and bonk my past self on the back of the head when I start thinking "I'm sure five is enough" at the yarn store?

I am using Classic Elite Beatrice for the sweater, in the color Bea's Blue. It's a bulky merino, really soft, knits like a dream. The other yarn I have is Classic Elite Isabella, same thing but cotton/acrylic. I knit a neckline already, but I'm not sure about it, color-wise and something-indefineable-wise. Ya know? Like, it looks okay but I'm not sure it looks okay enough to leave it.

Of course, a third option would be to unravel a little from each arm and the bottom, but I really don't want to do that, seeing as how I made it pretty large, hoping to get two seasons of wear out of it. Then again, at the rate the boy is growing, two seasons of wear is optimistic.

Option four is to toss the whole thing into a bag, shove it into the closet, and never speak of it again. Guess which option I'm leaning towards.

I'm Awake, I'm Awake.....

The boy has decided that I have had enough sleep this morning. So here I am. Just thought of something funny. Actually watched Sesame Street the other day for the first time since I was a child, and really enjoyed it. In fact, I laughed out loud at some of it. Especially Maurice, who refers to himself as "the Fourth little pig". He is, you guessed it, a pig. He is helping the candidates for the Big Bad Wolf substitute (the big bad wolf is going on vacation) get ready by running after him, and when he stops to catch his breathe, says, "Oh, I'm sweatin' like a . . . thing . . . that sweats . . . a great deal." I laughed my ass off. Not sure why. I think it was the word choice "a great deal". You just know whoever wrote this was laughing, too.

Oh, and since when did Sesame Street become the fracking Elmo show? I mean, I understand Jim Henson died, and they probably wanted a new main character, but Elmo? He refers to himself in the third person, like a pro boxer. Is this really the role model I want my child to follow? At least Bert and Ernie are still there, and Oscar the Grouch, and Big Bird, but the fixation on Elmo was making me nuts.

I vote for making Maurice the new main character.

Button, Button, Button

I've almost got the hang of updating my blog more often than once a month. The problem is, I think of something to blog, and then sit down to blog it, and the power is out. Or Blogger is on the fritz. Or the boy is screaming. Thus my carefully constructed (read: just thought of something funny) blog entry disappears from my head. Ah, such is life.

Well, I'm at it again. Making the boy another knitted object. You'd think I'd occasionally like to make myself something, but I guess not. I think it's 'cause stuff for babies goes so quickly. Three hours for a hat, a few days for a sweater. I am definitely not a "process" knitter. Oh, no. I don't care how wonderfully meditative knitting can be. I want stuff at the end of that process. Cute stuff. Stuff for somebody to wear. Oh, and none of that "hang it on the wall" quiltmaking mentality. If I am going to make a quilt (or anything else) it had better be useful by the end. That's why it makes me crazy knowing the absolutely awesome scarf I made for my brother a couple years ago is lying in a heap somewhere, never used, because he isn't a "scarf" kind of guy. What, he never gets cold? Oh, and now he is out working in the big hotel in Yosemite, and when winter rolls around, I'm sure (okay, not sure, but I'm hopeful) he'll be thinking to himself "Gee, wouldn't it be great if I had that scarf my sister made for me right now."

A girl can dream.

Anyway, back to the boy's sweater. It's going to have a kind of henley-style neckline with a couple of buttons, on account of his gigungous head, and I would love to get some opinions on my button options. So, should it be the

gold bumble bee, the

faux stone, or the

silver elephant? Comments very much appreciated.


p.s. I am a doofus. I just remembered I made myself a scarf the other day. I guess I'm not as pathetic as I thought.

Housekeeping....

Hey folks. Boring entry, but if you attempted to subscribe with bloglines to my page before, I don't know if it worked, since I used the wrong feed. The feed is now fixed, so you can resubscribe. I think. If I understood correctly. And it is entirely possible I did not. So take this entire post with saltshaker. Comforting, no?

Whatever Happened to Baby Jayne?

In honor of the opening of Serenity, the Firefly movie, I made the boy a Jayne hat. Not that Jayne is a rolemodel I hope he emulates. But he looks durn cute in the hat.

It took me maybe three hours. No pattern, just winging it. Very liberating. And it fits! I guess I oughtta make some matching mittens and scarf, just for coordination's sake.

Updated: We just came back from seeing Serenity. Oh my god. If you think you might like, or even just sort of like, science fiction, go see this movie. It is truly astoundingly good. Hell, even if you don't like science fiction, you might like it. Joss is definitely boss. The dialogue is clever and funny, the pacing is tight as a drum, the story is fascinating, and the acting is superb. There was not one second I felt needed to be cut, which is a miracle in today's movies. I also think he did a great job in making a movie that will appeal to not just the fans. Of course, being a fan, I can't really say that objectively, so will someone who is not a fan but saw this movie please comment? I think what made it so great was that it seemed to be made for love, not money. No fan pandering, no shielding characters in case another movie deal comes through. All or nothing, just like the Captain.

In a word? Shiny.


And here's the blankie in all its finished glory, avec border, plus a close up of the final square.