Posted by Stitchy McYarnpants On May - 1 - 2005   ShareThis

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OK, I finally got the camera taken care of, so now I can show Marie’s prize for the MOKS contest.

First, we have some cute lil’ yarn flowers that I have been distracted by since I got a Crazy Daisy flower loom from the 30’s or 40’s. I should have taken a picture of it. It looks more like an ancient weapon than a flower loom. It’s a flat, brass circle, maybe 2 inches in diameter. There’s a small knob in the middle. When you turn the knob, 12 short metal spikes stick out evenly around the edge of the circle. This is where you wrap the yarn. Once it’s sewn up in the center, you turn the knob to retract the spikes and off pops the flower. Neat! I think they came out with a plastic version in the 70’s, but I like the one that looks like you could lop someone’s head off with it if you threw it hard enough. It’s a Chinese Crafting Star!

So anyway, here are the flowers. I put them on some bobby pins, but they aren’t glued on, so Marnie can do with them as she pleases. She has long hair, and I think they’d look cute pinned in by the elastic. If anyone can pull it off, I think she can. If not, they’d be cute stuck on a computer monitor or in a trash can. They’re pretty versatile.

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There are also some vintage pattern books. It’s a good assortment of silly crocheted pot holders, some men’s sweaters, a knitting primer with some classic stitch patterns, and a couple of ladies magazines.

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There’s also some yarn! It’s Plymouth Outhback Mohair and it’s gorgeous stuff. I’ve made two simple garter-stitch shawls out of it, one for me and one for my mom. I have mine at work and wear it all the time. Very cuddly and soft, but it sheds a fair amount. Luckily, I’m already coated in cat hair, so you can’t really notice. Hopefully, Panda takes care of that for her.

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And last, but certainly not least: A Dot Original. This used to be one of my favorite shirts. Then Dot decided it was boring and needed reconstruction. It’s now the first release from her new line of spring fashions. Remember, if it doesn’t have a hole, it’s not a Dot! I ordered some labels that say “A Dot Original” to sew inside, so as soon as those show up next week, I’ll ship the whole package out. Yes, I ordered Dot some labels for the clothing she ruins. Does that seem wrong?

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Congratulations Marnie! I hope you enjoy your prize!

And now, some proof of knitting. I started making Branching Out from Knitty. I’m using GGH Soft Kid and it was coming along very nicely, if I may say so.

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And then. Well, last week, do you remember hearing a far off, otherwordly shrieking? It was from a mysteriously long distance and made deer stop in their tracks. Flocks of birds took flight at the sound of it. Children all over the world were crying from the blood curding horror of the ungodly noise.

Yeah. That was me.

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I messed up one row and then tried to tink it. Because of the yarn-overs, I got all screwed up, so I tried to tink that, then reknit as best I could. Then I screwed up again and ended up tinking about 5 or 6 rows, maybe more. My memory of the affair gets hazy right around here and I can’t be responsible for what I did to anyone nearby. No court would convict me once they took into consideration that this is very fuzzy stuff and hard to knit, never mind unknit. I thought I had gotten back on track, but did almost an entire repeat of the pattern before I realized that I had started with the wrong row. Now it’s all wonky and I want to set it on fire. I have almost 3 feet done, but had to put it away. I’ll revisit the thing when I’m not feeling so violent at the sight of it. It’s safer for everyone that way. It may end up in Dot’s food bowl as I would almost rather see it embedded in poop at this point.

At least I had something to look forward to. A fantastic evening with the Yarn Harlot at Circles in JP. I met up with a bunch of amazing bloggers, some I had met before and some I was delighted to meet for the first time. I didn’t have a camera, but a lot of these ladies did and they did a great job documenting the evening. The place was packed, there was a great energy and it was really nice to be in a huge crowd of people that understand this whole knitting ting. Stephanie was hilarious and there’s a quality to her voice that I love. I can’t describe it very well, but she kind of speaks with a smile. You can actually hear it. Nice. She was very gracious and spent time with everyone she met at the signing. I’m entirely flattered that she remembered Dot. I felt a little bad that she lives in complete fear of her. But to know Dot is to love her, so maybe I’ll ship her off to Canada to live with Auntie Harlot for a week. We all must face our fears, no matter how Orwellian they are.

Afterwards, a group of us went to Doyle’s and had a great time. In attendance were:

My OKB (Origial Knitting Buddy), Melanie
Jackie, who I saw riding her bike to Circles, and had to keep myself from yelling “Hey, JKC!”
Kellee. She loves pumpkin, so I love her.
Colleen, who because her blog name, I imagine spends her entire day riding around on the T so she can knit and knit and knit.
Amy, who created the adorable tampon case for Knitty’s sexy issue.
Wonder Claudia, Knitter of Steel!
Rosemary, who dwells in a land I dare not enter. The land of spinning. If I don’t start, I won’t get obsessed, right?
Johanna, who couldn’t make it to the signing, but I was so glad she could meet us afterwards.

There is one thing that’s driving me crazy about the evening. When we got there, most of the seats were taken. There were a couple of stools left, so we plopped ourselves right down. It turns out I was in Stephanie’s seat. To my right was Melanie, who moved further right and onto the floor and gave me her stool. She insisted and it was really sweet. And then I realized what was going to happen. I was going to be sitting next to the Yarn Harlot. At first, this seemed like a pleasant thing. And then I realized that everyone would be taking pictures of her. And because I was sitting next to her, I’d end up in a bunch of those pictures! Crap! I was totally having a bad face day! And my suspicions have been confirmed. There I am in a bunch of Harlot-related posts. Damn. But Melanie is in a bunch, too, so she didn’t escape unphotographed. Heh.

OH! I almost forgot to mention that we just got back from seeing The Hitchikers Guide to the Galazy and I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned it, but all knitters must go just for one scene where they activate the Improbablilty Drive. Fan-friggin-tastic! I don’t want to ruin it, but they experience a world in which we could all live happily ever after. The movie in it’s entirely was pretty good considering they had to fit everything into a couple of hours. I still prefer the BBC miniseries in all it’s “Dr. Who”-ish goodness.

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23 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    Miss you. Keep Dot.

    steph
    (yarn harlot)

  2. Anne says:

    Oooh, your Branching Out looks lovely. I’ve started the pattern about a dozen times now and every time, I just end up ripping out, screaming in frustration. There’s some point at which I can’t seem to read the chart properly. I think I’m going to have to blow it up on the photocopier to about 40x its size … maybe then I can follow the chart!! Good luck with yours. :)

  3. Anonymous says:

    I have a question: I have a mysterious series of holes that show up in my favorite t-shirts. Even a *gaso* cashmere v-neck of the most perfect colour of me-green even. Ther eis no reasonable explanation for why those holes show up where they do (no it is NOT my pet moths. I know it’s not) so here’s a totally unreasonable explanation. . . .

    Dot?

    maybe you should send me a label.

    totally jealous you sat next to harlot. Hell, totally jealous you were at Circles at all. and Doyles. I’m such a loser blogger. I’m going to eat worms.

    julia fc
    mothheaven

  4. Marnie says:

    DUDE! Yah, I said “dude”. I’m so excited. I can’t wait to reap the rewards of my submission. Those flowers are killer and I have a huge heart on for vintage patterns, but, more than anything, I can’t wait to done a designer orginal. Dot has a fabulous eye for design. Her use of negative space is both inovative and feminine.

  5. Agnes says:

    How old is a pattern to be qualified as “vintage pattern”? I always have this question but it seems nobody can tell me … I like browsing in used bookstores and have had some interesting purchases … some old patterns, don’t know if they are “vintage”.
    I like the flowers … cute.

  6. Colleen says:

    I just like all the crazy people I meet on the T. They make me feel completely normal :-).

  7. maryse says:

    i know i totally suck — i’m throwing the “surprise” in the mail today.

  8. Anonymous says:

    So many things to comment on…so early in the morning.

    I saw Hitchikers this weekend and greatly enjoyed it (because I don’t remember the book I think)- the scene of which you speak had me squealing with glee.

    You *so* need to take a picture of that torture device that makes flowers, I’m intrigued.

    The scarf looks f’in gowgeous! Please don’t send it to the Fire or the Dot Bowel.

    Yours truly,
    OKB
    http://www.msmelanie.prettyposies.com

    PS – I’m so jealous, the Harlot misses you!

  9. Jean says:

    That is funny – I just inherited the Crazy Daisy thingy from my mom’s knitting supplies! I turned that little knob without knowing what it did, and nearly impaled myself. Nice to see some finished product from it – I may just have to use it!

    And I was dying during that scene in Hitchhiker’s Guide! And all my friends just gave me The Look.

  10. Yvonne says:

    http://www.cult45.fsbusiness.co.uk/featuresjackie.html

    I’m a lurker and not a poster, but this warrants a post!
    In the spirit of MOKS, please PLEASE find a place for this um….unique…uh…whatever.
    Found on the web.

  11. laurie says:

    Oh, yes! please post a pic of the mysterious flower-making/torture device. I’m very curious. Also, shuddup… you looked totally cute in all the pics I have seen thus far, and you sat by the famous Yarn Harlot! I’m jealous. (Well, jealous of everything except the scary clothes-eating monster cat heh heh.)

  12. Heide says:

    Hitchiker’s Guide was SO great!!! You can buy dolls that look like the knitted characters — Marvin is friggin adorable.

  13. You make me laugh! I’m a novice knitter, and I never seem to have enough time to finish a project on time! You’re an inspiration…

  14. You make me laugh! I’m a novice knitter, and I never seem to have enough time to finish a project on time! You’re an inspiration…

  15. You make me laugh! I’m a novice knitter, and I never seem to have enough time to finish a project on time! You’re an inspiration…

  16. yarnspin says:

    Ok, time to come out of lurking. Dearest Stitchy, I have to admit I have been admiring you from afar. Actually, not that far – I live in Newton. (I just about peed my pants when I realize that coolness such as you existed as close as JP!). Anyway, as I was sitting here with a my cat on my lap, pfffttting cat hair out of my mouth, I just had to chime in with some thoughts – first, I had no idea that the Yarn Harlot was going to be in JP. I have been following the travels of the sock, and I totally would have gone had I known! Second, I was wondering if you could offer any tips for entering the uber-cool yet seemingly elusive world of knitting, blogging, bad-ass babes. I have a blog, and would like to make friends with blogs, or frogs, as I like to call them. Any thoughts? Here’s to kicking ass and dying cats,
    Carla

  17. Anonymous says:

    Here’s another lurker– have you thought of using a lifeline to help you frog Branching Out?

    We just saw HG2G on Sunday too and had a great time! If only we lived in a universe where men vomited Noro! Drunks would be so much more fun.

    Moxie from KR (but also your neighbor I think… writing from Porter Square)

  18. Kristine says:

    And here I thought I was the only one who totally went nuts at Hitchhikers… I vowed to myself that my summer project would be an attempt at Marvin- wasn’t Alan Rickman an amazing choice for that voice? It made me depressed!
    :)

  19. Lee Ann says:

    Those flowers are sooo cool…and I, too, want a picture of the torture device that made them.

    I was going to mention the lifeline thing, but seeing as I’ve never used one myself and prefer the UTTER TORTURE of unknitting stuff like that…Ouch. My sympathies.

    It’s beautiful so far, though. Keep it far, far away from Dot…

    Good luck, from a former Somerville/Arlington girl (lived there for fifteen years before I went expat…)

  20. Yet another lurker (“long-time listener, first-time caller”).

    I agree with Moxie-from-KR: use a lifeline. Just thread up a tapestry needle with something skinny, strong & contrasting, and run it through all of the loops on your needles after you complete the last row of each repeat. You’ll end up with interesting accents at regular intervals, causing nonknitters everywhere to ask you where you found that cool yarn, or how you make that stitch do that, or if you’re keeping that in when you’re done. You’ll also have the rewarding sense of resisiting homicidal urges several times over (almost equalling going to Sunday school on a really nice day). And when you do need to frog, it will be easy-peasy. You can rip out the offense and start over afresh at the beginnning of a repeat.

    “Why is she such a Lifeline apostle?” you ask. Well, too inexperienced to know what she was getting into at the start, she finished a stole of her own design three weeks ago. A stole in an English lace pattern called Drooping Elm Leaf lifted from a “resource” book at an LYS (with the complicit aid of The Best LYS Salesgirl Ever, who flew the coop the next week, dammit – the loss still stings), of Blue Sky Alpaca, sport weight, in an alluring burgundy-brownish shade, measuring twenty inches wide and six feet long, blocked. It was seven repeats wide and thirty-two repeats long, with pattern on every row: plenty of room for error, although frogging was only necessary twice (lots of tinking, though). It was made under a strict deadline of fifteen days, meaning forty rows, or four solid incommutable hours, of knitting per day, before breakfast, on the subway, on breaks at work, and before bed, with one built-in-slacker-day. And then she gave it away.

    Ooh. Sorry about the rant. –The lesson learned is this: if you take the time to add lifelines during lace knitting you will almost never need them, but you will be more grateful for the one(s) that you do use than Any Other Thing In Your Knitting Life.

    Good luck with Branching Out.

  21. Anonymous says:

    i saw Hitcher’s with a young DaughterFried and she is a spinner and i am a knitter. we both yelled with glee! i was teaching her feather and fan and how to use sock needles, she was , well….i’ll say ” showing ” me how to spin. i will get it someday.
    and meanwhile, day before yesterday i pulled out 5 inches of the branching out scarf. you would n’t think just 21 stitches could get so silly would ya? but i knit at work where i take phone calls for the local cab compay and one phone call can really distract me from which row i was on …..LOL>..it’s going well again now….

  22. Snooze says:

    “Now it’s all wonky and I want to set it on fire.” I have said these very words myself, but I’m not saying about what.

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