Stephieface

Here’s a quickie link to Acme Notions, go there if you like vintage notions for needlecrafts, patterns from the 50′s, and whatnot (seriously, check em out).

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There was a time when the Mister and I did this thing called Live Action Roleplaying or LARPing. We did it for a long while, stopping only really last year (do you know how hard it is to find child care for 3 kids for a whole weekend… epsecially when they are nicknamed the Flying Diaperini Brothers?). And, although I really miss dressing up in fantastic costumes (mine were never ever lame… take a peek), what I really miss is how crafty my Mister used to be then. He used to build and construct. Heck, he even used to help me with medieval-y sewing projects (he pinned, starched, and ironed…. do you have any questions now as to why I married him?).

Yet now, as our weekends are more laid back and home based, I miss how creative he was when he wasn’t sitting in front of the computer playing World of Warcraft (WoW). Here is a stenciled tshirt from Craftster that sums up how I feel:As with many other wives across the world, I consider myself a W.o.W…. Widow Of Warcraft.
In all seriousness, the Mister is extremely creative and connecting with him on a crafty project was awesome. It made me feel overwhelmingly giddy when we completed a project as a couple…. like the safe yellow fever free home edition of the Amazing Race.

There are people that say (I am friends with some of them and this is what they say to me) I can have that again with the Mister, I just have to play the video game with him. Its hard to explain to these people that playing a video game is not creative- making, designing, and creating one, yes- playing one, noooooo. They liken and compare my knitting to playing WoW… its the same they say, sitting and just doing something (I know I just heard the insane intake of breath by all the knitters who read this). There is a difference though- when I knit I am creating something myself, when he plays WoW he is playing grown up Mario Brothers moving his little guy around the screen. Yes we both may be sitting, but it is very very different. I can knit anywhere, while the Mister is tethered to a PC. My knitting can warm you on a cold day, my Mister might be able to warm his hands by the computer’s CPU fan if he’s been playing long enough and the room is cold. I have something to physically show for the amount of time I put into knitting a project, he has numbers on a screen to show for the amount of time he puts into playing it. However, we both find our exploits relaxing…….. and we both will yell occasionally in frustration at our relaxing exploits.

While this has turned into half a rant really as to how much I dislike WoW (see? honesty.), the point is its not the same. My sitting and feigning interest in little computerized people is nowhere near the same as the two of us working side by side to craftily create something that people will remember or that beautifies.

I know its silly to long after the person our mate used to be, but I totally think its okay to miss them.

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On to other notes……. My appointment is on Monday- 10am to be exact. So from 9:30am to 10:30am… send me lots of girl vibes- maybe by the sheer force of collective will we can insure Beans is a girl. Its kind of funny, I’m starting to get nervous as though it were an English exam or something… how does one study for an ultrasound?

On the diaper bag note, kelley noted that my choice was very chic. I thank you very much! If you didn’t catch it in the comments… my theory on diaper bags is thus:

You will carry that diaper bag more than you have carried any treasured purse you have ever owned in your entire life. And lo, you may be forced to sherpa around half the baby’s belongings due to your newfound parental obligations- why must you be forced to carry a bag covered in frolicking bunnies?

Its one thing if those bunnies are (ahem) frolicking and you are carrying that bag about proudly for the shock value. Its something else if those bunnies are (gag) playing with baby ducks and teddy bears by rainbows with unicorns and there are wings involved in there somehow. I see nothing wrong with any of those things really, I just stopped being 12 ooohhhhh 18 years ago…. so why should I saddle myself with a teddybear bag now that I’m 30? Oh, and god help you if its quilted… god… help… you. Men do not carry the diaper bags for a reason… its the freaking happy fluffy bunnies & teddybears and I totally agree with them.If you listen hard enough, you can hear me gagging. Any of the ones here will do, or do a Google image search for Diaper Bags (beware though some HFB [happy fluffy bunny] Bags lurk amongst the pictures).

There is also another Terry Pratchett Discworld swap in the mix- if you are a Craftster member come join in. If you are not a Craftster member, sign up so you can join in the next go round. You know you want to.

So I began another experimental project yesterday. I am making a baby blanket comprised of several squares made from dishcloth patterns from here. So far, I have one frog cloth made… woohoo! I really wanted to knit a baby blanket, but space and portability was a huge issue… hence, its solved. Almost every single one of Purple Duckie’s patterns are CO38 so I can mix and match like mad (I’m assuming). I’ll be knitting the dragonfly one today , so we’ll see… it may just end up being all frogs- you never know. Speaking of frogs…. here is how it turns out:Not too shabby I think, I knit it while watching NCIS, House, and The Postman (and finished halfway through the Postman). One down, who knows how many to go (8? 15?) we’ll see how I feel after a few of these. I plan to just knit up a buttload of these then sew them together.

If you are watching the wee countdown bar down there at the bottom… its 5 more days until I have my sonogram where we can (hopefully!) find out what gender Beans is. I’m very very excited, next Monday seems so far away. The Mister made me promise not to make any more girly stuff until we find out for definate what Beans is. He says its because he would hate for me to go through all that effort only to discover that Beans is a boy, and how upset and dissapointed I might feel. While I can see his point- I say ‘Psssssshhhhhhhaaaaawwwww’. Somebody, somewhere, is having sex right now resulting in a baby… if Beans is yet one more in the army of the Mister’s Men…. whatever I make that is girly will go to that somebody somewhere baby. It just feels really nice making girly things for a change and looking at girly things… instead of staring with longing at all the lacey velvety dresses and whatnot that I’ve never had the oppurtunity to buy or actually look at before. 5 more freaking days!

I also went in search this weekend for the new Stephieface diaper bag. After TJ started walking, I stopped carrying a diaper bag and just started shoving a couple of diapers and a little wipies case in my regular old going out with just the Mister purse. After a few months of that, I just got rid of the diaper bags I had, they were just sitting around empty doing nothing. AND as with baby clothes, maternity clothes, and toys- I got rid of things and two or three months later found out I was pregnant. How unfair is that?
So, I went in search of the new diaper bag. I kept in mind, this go round, that contrary to my other kids (born in Sept, Oct, and Nov) that this will be a summer baby. In summer I end up carrying more stuff in my bag than in any other time of the year. Summer supplies, stripped off kiddie clothes, shoes, etc all get shoved in there- so I would have to be prepared (the summer after TJ was born I was reduced to carrying 2 bags….eeeeew). So I decided to try out another weekender bag. The best, most useful bag I owned was a weekender bag from Burlington. It was huge and had many pockets. Sadly, that sucker’s handles broke and it was ripped in several places, but the size was awesome (I could fit all my baby/diaper needs in there AND fit my knitting). Burlington had nothing I liked; they had one that was similar, but it had the very same “will break eventually” handles.
A month or two ago our friend Ben gave us a gift card to JCPenney. It was awfully nice of him, though we really don’t shop there. I decided this go round, what the hell? So, I went in and found a weekender bag that was awesome. It was on sale ($40 from $60) and in the end I had to pay the difference which was $10. So behold, my $10 diaper bag…..I know, nice- right? This picture is, however, a giant lie- it doesn’t bespeak even a miniscule molecule about how terribly ginormous this bag is. Here is my bag pictured with a 20oz Pepsi bottle for scale:See the ginormousity of it?! Its 18inches wide, 12inches tall, and 7in deep- I could carry the baby in there with the baby supplies, or at least a very skinny midget. People think I’m crazy for carrying diaper bags that big- those are the same people who juggle baby, diaper bag, and purse all at once. My diaper bag IS my purse, Beans is just going to have to give up a little room for mommy’s lip balm and wallet. Seriously, I don’t think that’s asking too much.

On Friday I decided to farm yarn (that’s recycle it from thrift store sweaters if you have never been here before). I often forget why I enjoy farming yarn so much, until I decide to do it. It’s weird, were I having to unravel work I had done myself I would be super annoyed…. but give me a sweater that I didn’t make and I’m in a place of zen and relaxation…. oh and dust bunnies…. zen, relaxtion, and little wooly dust bunnies.

I even completed 2 projects this weekend. I know what you’re thinking… either I am mad (as in nutty as a Payday bar) or I am neglecting my children….. I very well could be mad because I ended up having to hide from my kids this weekend so I could pee alone. I also picked two very short projects- which is why I have the mandate of ‘never knit anything bigger than my head’.

The first is another Calorimetry from Knitty. I intentionally made this one biggish so I could add a second button, because … well, I wanted a second button…It is made in 100% merino wool froma sweater I farmed on Friday. After alot of consideration… I really have to buckle down here and say that Merino is, by far, my favoritest yarn of all time. Its so soft and squishy, I love it. As another aside, if you recall a bit ago when I made my first Calo I discussed my opinion on the pattern. I had found that casting on 120 stitches made this huge thing that I could wrap around my head twice. I’m not the only person who had this problem, both the Craftster and Knitty messageboards are filled with complaints that people were ending up knitting the Calorimetry that ate Pittsburgh. After many knitters fired off a complaint to the author of the pattern and Knitty, Knitty printed a Special Note on the Calorimetry pattern:
” It is very important to obtain the correct gauge for this piece. If worked to the gauge stated above, your Calorimetry will be 24 inches long. If you want a shorter piece, you can either cast on fewer stitches, or work at a smaller gauge. For example, using sport weight yarn (on smaller needles) worked at a gauge of 24 sts = 4 inches will yield a piece that is 20 inches long.
It is also very important to consider the characteristics of the yarn you are choosing. Best results will be obtained from a yarn that is springy and resilient, which will retain the elasticity of the ribbing. Do not use a yarn which will lose its shape, becoming drapey and flaccid with wear.”

After, of course, I spent a good few minutes giggling that they used word “flaccid”- it sort of hit me that what they were saying was really ‘If you had a problem with this pattern, it is because you made a mistake and did it wrong’. Again, I wasn’t the only person who thought that either as other people got the same impression . I also dislike patterns tsk-tsking me, that’s just uppity.

The second finished project for the weekend was an experiment in intentionally dropped stitches. I figured that most knitters write with dread about dropping a stitch, and sit still as death after having dropped one… lest the stitch run like cheap pantyhose all the way to the bottom of the project. What got me thinking about this was a webcomic… oh yes, you read that correctly… a webcomic.
Every Monday,Wednesday, and Friday I read this comic, Girl Genius… its steampunk/gaslight fiction with mad science and giant robotic thingamajigs in a victorian-esque setting. There is this trio of characters in the comic who are these things called Jägermonsters; Dimo, Ognian, andMaxim, frankly they are my favorite characters in the series. I love how simply ragtag they are. Then the main character, Agatha, is a spunky gal who can pretty much work with anything and get suprising results. Then I got to thinking about Jägermonster fashion, and if in some weird alternate universe of the comic [oh yeah, I do think this much about comics] if Agatha could knit (and knitted for the Jägermonsters) and dropped a stitch… what would she do with it? Make it part of the project! So, with a little playing and good old mad scientistical experimentation……I call it… Experiment #1213. Experiment #1213 was also made using recycled yarn from a sweater in 100% Lambswool.

Experiment #1213

Materials:
Yarn, about worsted weight- I used two strands of a thinner yarn held together to make it thick like worsted
Needles size US10- I used a circular needle for the fiddley bit at the end, but you can use straights or DPNs… whichever you want
Tapestry needle

CO 15 stistches
Work in Seed Stitch for 3 rows (seed stitch, k1, p1 across row)
Knit in Stockinette stitch for 5 rows
Work in Seed Stitch for 3 rows
Knit in Stockinette Stitch for 5 rows
Knit in Seed Stitch for 3 rows
Now, here is where the pattern goes all sparky (and creative!)… Knit in Stockinette Stitch for however many rows you like
Enter a 3 row Seed Stitch section
Continue in Stockinette, again for however many rows you like
Enter another 3 row Seed Stitch section
Do this for the length of the scarf, randomly trading off between Stockinette sections and 3 row Seed Stitch sections
When you near what you would like to be the end of your scarf, work in Seed Stitch for 3 rows
Knit in Stockinette stitch for 5 rows
Work in Seed Stitch for 3 rows
Knit in Stockinette Stitch for 5 rows
Knit in Seed Stitch for 2 rows
Here is where you will drop stitches on purpose- Do Not Be Afraid!- I dropped my stitches in a pattern (3 sts, drop 1, 1 st, drop 1, 3 sts, drop 1, 1 st, drop 1, 3 sts) but you don’t have to, and you don’t have to drop them in the same pattern I did- experiment (on paper first)!
This is the fiddley bit, take time now to drop the stitches and pull them to the bottom of the scarf (stretch the scarf width wise, or just pull the scarf width wise where the stitch is supposed to drop through row by row).
After you have dropped all stitches you are going to, return back to your needles.
Now, measure out a long piece of yarn from the ball (still attached to your live stitches) to make the “tail” (by long, maybe 20 inches or so), and cut, then thread your yarn through the tapestry needle.
Bind off (in pattern) the stitches that remain on the needle, stopping before a dropped stitch ladder.
Take the threaded needle and thread the yarn through the stitch before the ladder, pull to knot (but not tightly- you do not want to pucker your scarf’s edge).
Leaving some yarn to ladder across, continue to bind off the next stitches on the needle- doing the same… binding off in pattern until a dropped stitch ladder, using the needle to thread the yarn through the stitch, then leaving yarn to ladder across and binding off the next set of on the needle stitches.
When you are done binding off the stitches, weave in your ends, and block your scarf. You don’t have to go lace nutty with pins (but you can if you want)- I just ghetto blocked my scarf: I got it wet, laid it flat on a towel, stretched it out a bit width wise, smoothed it down, and walked away allowing it to dry.
And voila, now you have a scarf fit for a Heterodyne…. or a Jägermonster. I like using recycled yarn for this as Agatha uses whatever she has on hand, or what she can get her hands on, to make what she needs to. So dismantle a long forgotten half finished sweater you will never finish knitting, recycle a sweater from the thrift store, or just use something from your stash- no need to go buy new yarn (unless you want to).