Becca's Blog

Noro novice.

And I need a 'nitiation. I need a Noro mentor, if you will.  Because, see, a lot of time I'll see something gorgeous or really cute made from Noro, but I cannot remember which yarn is which--or which is the twiggy (and scratchy?) one.

Wendy Bernard's Clapotis made from Noro is fabulous, and so is Brooklyn Tweed's scarf. And Jodi Green's shoulder shrug. And that little striped hat that Sile had a class on at Knit-One-One (the link I had to it seems to be broken).

Here's my resistance to just diving in and starting a project like one of those: I don't trust my color judgment, and with my longstanding aversion to variegated yarn, I guess I don't really trust Noro's. Sure, it looks good in the skein, but I'm sure that if I commit the $12 per skein and start knitting, I'd have picked the one retchy colorway in the line. Also, Klaralund. Urk. If ever there was a sweater more designed to make one look fat, I cannot think of it. Those Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton patterns were enough to put me off the Noro for a couple of years. If that was the best Noro could come up with to showcase its yarns, then their nosebleed-expensive yarns just weren't for me.

I've turned what started as a positive post into a negative one, but I'm seriously open to guidance on this question. Which Noro yarn is really the best to work with, and for which types of things?

Must get back to my regularly scheduled all work and no knitting now... I'm still nagging Jane for a guest post, but I think she's avoiding it.

One other teensy digression: I got e-mail from Nora Gaughan, in response to a comment on her blog. Be still my heart. I got to say "I'm a huge fan!" (Flutter, giggle.)

Mashed potatoes are the food of the gods.

So is pie. I played hooky from work on Thursday and made pumpkin pie, and we roasted a wee turkey. And we have just enough leftovers.

This is a working weekend for me, and I'm likely to be doing 12-hour workdays next week; maybe by next Sunday I can show you some pictures of the finished carwash flaps scarf and my snail's progress on the baby blanket edge.

Knitting has never traumatized me like this before.

Last Saturday night, as Jane took the sleep of the just in a small fuchsia tent on the beach, I spent the evening at my in-laws' home, alone with their two labradors.  I wanted to settle down and do a bit of knitting and keep the dogs company, seeing as they'd been alone since midday. But knowing that they're a bit rambunctious (to put it mildly), I didn't want to give them access to anything that I'd be really sorry to have chewed up, like my almost-finished carwash flaps scarf.

I grabbed a couple of small balls of leftover yarn and some plastic needles and sat down to start a hat for Suzie's Knit With Love project. I soon realized I needed to put the dogs outside because they were climbing all over me. Once I had the big one out the door, I went to pick up my supplies again, and I couldn't find one of the balls of yarn. I looked all over the room and under the sofas as Monty coughed slightly in the backyard. I went back upstairs to the guest bedroom to see if maybe I'd left that yarn in my bags.

For about 20 minutes I fought down dread and resisted the knowledge of where that little ball of yarn was. Then I started looking around for a phone book to find an emergency vet clinic. Luckily, my in-laws had the number posted on the fridge. So at 8:30 on Saturday night, I hauled hundred-plus-pound Monty into my rental car and down to the emergency vet for induced vomiting and a set of x-rays. That ball of yarn was almost certainly in his gut, where it stayed for at least the next couple of days but apparently caused him no distress. I haven't heard the ultimate, erm, outcome, but it didn't seem like he'd end up needing surgery. (My brother-in-law says he's waiting to see Monty shit a mitten.)

My job has been kicking my ass lately, so this is the only post from me you're likely to see for awhile. I took a few pictures during Jane's walk, and she's got some too, and I'm trying to persuade her to guest-blog about her 3-Day experience. She had a good time, had several good cries, and knew that her mom would be pleased and proud of what she and Susan accomplished. She does want you all to know how grateful she is for your support. With your help she raised over $5000 for breast cancer research and services.

Yarn-conservation action undertaken.

Sigh. On Saturday I got to my mental stopping point on the blue baby blankie, knit a final round, and gleefully started on the border. First I started with the pretty leaf-vein vertical pattern I found in Knitting on the Edge. I quickly realized that knitting 36 stitches for every one bound-off stitch was really inefficient, and the lace holes at the edge of the blanket weren't a good idea for something meant to be sturdy.

So I went down to a 9-stitch border of seed and garter stitch, then about 40 stitches in, I started picking up a live stitch on both the right and wrong sides. It took a bit of yarn wrapping to knit the stitches together on the wrong side, but actually I liked the way the edge was laying with a stitch picked up every row. It had a firmer, flatter edge.

But I began to worry about running out of yarn--by the time I got one wedge of the hexagon bound off I was really nervous. Rather than knitting until the skein ran out and hoping it would go halfway around, I had the brains to weigh the yarn remaining in the skein. A bit more than half a skein left, meaning something like half a skein consumed by one-sixth of the blanket. No real hope of finding this same dyelot again (I think this yarn is at least two years old).

So I spent a good bit of last night ripping out the border, and I'm unknitting that last round, stitch by stitch. It's really taken the wind out of my sails, when I was so excited about being in the home stretch. I'll probably see if I can finish ripping tonight, but if not, I'll set it aside for a few days and try to finish something else. While I'm at it, I might count stitches so I can know exactly what's ahead of me--even if that's not the most motivational thing to do.

I'm going to have a lot of unscheduled time and waiting time this weekend in San Diego while Jane walks, so I bet I can finish it then.

Nice typo, Eunny.

Um, shouldn't it be Kilim Gloves, not "Kilm Gloves"? I guess since the same mistake is repeated consistently through the issue it can be put down to illiteracy rather than sloppiness. (By the way, don't blame your copy editor. Your name is at the top of the masthead, not hers.)

Funny, I only noticed the mistake because that pattern was the only one I cared to look twice at. I'm so letting my subscription lapse--and giving away the issue.

Grumble... Little Miss Can't Be Wrong Jennifer Garner wannabe model on the cover and in two thirds of the pattern photos ... mutter. Art direction worthy of Knit 'n' Style... Boring editor's letter... lame Web column. No edge left... nothing interesting here. Hmph.

Sabrina wuz robbed.

That Cheetah Girl can dance circles around Jenny Garth or Marie Osmond. There is no justice.

I really got the TiVo in September so I could record Chuck while watching Dancing With the Stars and we wouldn't have to squabble about missing John Stewart. But thanks to it I may eventually catch up with Ugly Betty and I know that Exes and Ohs is execrable and I don't have to bother. But dang, why did Clatterford go off the air before I could record it? I suppose BBC America wants to get me to buy the DVD.