The View from this side of the Mask.

Let me start by saying: Do Not send hate mail. The following is controversial, it is My opinion, and I'm not saying you have to agree.


The subject is obesity, fluffiness, plus-size, whatever we want to call it. More precisely it is about what it does to our health. It is not however, about heart disease, diabetes, or Syndrome X. It's about something simpler than that.

We had a young (33 year old) lady come to the ER. She was out with her boyfriend doing stuff in town, she started to have chest pain, he drove her to the ER. He chose the ER because she's never sick and has no known health problems so it scared him when she got sick. By the time he got there (less than 12 minutes from her first complaint), she had stopped breathing. The crew ran out, snatched her up, and found Cardiac Arrest. Due to her body size 300+ pounds they were unable to successfully defibrillate her. Despite multiple attempts at multiple joules.

Now this is no slacker hospital. They have one of the best heart programs in the country. So they rushed her to the Cardiac Cath lab in an attempt to dissolve the clot that had caused coronary attack. They bypassed CT because she was too heavy for the table.

They get her to Cath, and are initally unable to insert the catheter because of the size of her apron (that little part of the belly that starts as jelly, becomes a pooch, and eventually folds over to a fat roll.) By having one person hold up her belly, the doctor was able to make the incision and insert the wire. Here we were defeated again, because of her size, the radiation was insufficient to adequately image what they needed to see. If they turned it up they risked burning her tissue and causing irreversible damage.

At this point, defeat had to be accepted. She had gone too long without circulation.

With all the fabulous technology available we were unable to save this young, vibrant, pretty lady. And she left a boyfriend who has to go to the daycare and explain it to her 2 children.

Off the needles and in the suitcase.

From my knitting class. Honestly if I had known before I paid for the class that it was this pattern Camellia, I would have just bought the pattern. But making it in a class worked too because I am competitive and didn't want to be the person who didn't finish.
It was a quick knit at 2.5 stitches to an inch. I am glad they had a store model to try on. If you go to Stephanie Japel's website you will see she wears it very loose and off the shoulders. To me the whole point is to warm the clavicle. So I ended up making a 42" size so it would have longer sleeves and then drawing in the waist and neckline with single crochet when it was finished. It's very curvy looking on. And because I used Decadence Alpaca it's lofty and warm. (sheds though) In one of those weird personality quirks I realised that with the price of the class and the mag button and yarn, it ran me about $60 and I would never buy a $60 shrug to keep my shoulders warm. But I had the joy of making it. It's made of 5 rectangles and they go together like origami. It is Not a pattern easily adapted to changes.

Summertime Rolls

Finished another pair for the Plunge. Tragically they are flawed, but they're socks and ask me if I care. ;) I do need to stop trying to learn new techiques and make some actual socks that could be given as gifts to others. Except, it's hard to know if they are worthy of socks - besides The Adored One, I mean.

Knit with ZenString Summertime Rolls Serendipity Sport. From The Loopy Ewe. Done on 3.25 mm, toe up using the Rectangular toe, Queen Kahuna Gusset/Heel, and Garter Rib leg.

Cleaning house

Some of you may remember UFO August 2006 where I initially met Chelle. So I was looking around and thought...Wow! What exploded in this place?(better that than 'What died?').

This led to cleaning, which led to organising, which led to realising I'm only here 46 more days. What can I do in 46 days? First I can face what I've got on the needles....





The socks may have to sit, they are lovely stuff in a pocket work, but my fingers are anti-little needles right now.




Then I can prioritise my actions. I want to wear some of this to SOAR (Spin Off Autumn Retreat) and some of this is serious winter gear. Hmmmn.






I treated myself to Harry Potter 5 on the Big Screen. I could have seen it IMAX but I get motion sick and decided not to risk it in 3D. Love Luna's crocheted cardi. Cute Cute Cute.
It was a Long movie. How long.... Cast this on during the previews. Size 8 needles.


This photo is pure braggadocio...See the pretty short row wraps? Of course not, that's why I took this picture!

Someone licked the Red right off my Candy Cane.

Oops, it was me.

Funny how the mind works.
All recent problems aside I generally subscribe to the Life is Good theory. I grew up in an alcoholic bluecollar poor environment. I was one of those kids that not only got free lunch, but was marched to the cafeteria with children of migrant farm workers for breakfast too. (I still adore a hot breakfast, especially if I don't have to cook it.) Finding myself faced at an early age with the option of a State Home or... I ran away. So when I stop to look at the big picture of my life, I'm pretty happy. I have The Adored One, a Pink Collar job, a nice home, a car that starts without prayers, and spoiled dogs. Nifty. Life is Good.

So I'm riding in the car with a lovely young lady (younger than me) to a Knit Night and asking the usual "getting to know" questions. Her and her husband are both Master Degree Psychologists, she's a Professor at a big university and he practises some experimental form that sounds really interesting. She got into Psych because she felt it was the most effective way that she could further "Social Justice". They are house hunting (big price tag houses) and she is talking about this that and the other.

I began to get that queasy feeling in the gut, that inadequate, what do I have to show for my life feeling. No Masters. Small house. No grand designing theme to my life. Not envious, not angry, just inadequate and gauche. That Girl-Not-Invited-to-the-Prom feeling. Did I mention she has thick gorgeous curly hair?

Now, I don't generally read Biographies or Dramas because I don't find other people's bad events to be relaxing. But I do read alot of histories of ethnic groups. Just plain people who lived in tiny houses, faced incredible hardships and still created culture, beauty and love.

What does this have to do with knitting? I'm knitting a lace shawl right now. And while, after it's blocked, it's the yarn overs and the K2tog/SKPs that will be noticed as airy designs, without the plain stitches in between there would be nothing. And in a textured design, all those cables, twists and bumps are stunning, but only because of the smooth stitches that create contrast. In an elaborate colour work design, it's the plain section that rests the eye.

So perhaps it doesn't matter that I don't have a thirst for some scheme, or plans to return to school and change the world, or that I need to buy a roof. Even plain stitches form the fabric of a good life.

Anyone know any good Superstitions

Involving Praying Mantis? When I went this morning to exercise I found a Praying Mantis on the underside of my doorknob. Poor thing, I didn't have the lights on and found him by grabbing the knob. After I turned on the lights and put him outside where Praying Mantis food lives I wondered if it was a sign that I should stay inside?

After finally accepting the reality of the yarn I was spinning I decided to cast on my Fern & Flower Shawl in millspun.

First I got about 32 rows in Lorna's Shephard Sport in the Gold Hill colourway on Bryspun US 8s. Great yarn but it wasn't the visual I carried in my mind.



So....

I cast on Dream in Color Smooshy in November Muse on Bryspun US 6s. Bought, of course, atTLE More congruent with the mental image.

Waiting for the Bad Taste to Subside

Lookie what I finished!

It's the infamous Ribwarmer of EZ fame.
I plan to wear it with jeans to SOAR and hope that it's not shamed by the magnificence that it will be exposed to.




Right now however, it is enjoying "Quiet Time". Totally not the fault of the pattern. Just one of those mystical things. I got gauge. (Really, I got gauge.) Yet something that is supposed to take about 350 yds took over 400. I don't know how much over 400.

Ya see, I had four balls of Paintbox at 100 yds each. Last time I checked that was more than 350. I even did the shark mouth thing to see which number the fish ate. 400 is more than 350. Yet....I got gauge...being short I cut the number of ridges in the pattern down to 33 instead of 40 and the side down to 8 instead of 10. All in gauge. But I-RAN-OUT-OF YARN at ridge 27 on the back. Okay. If you've never knit a ribwarmer it was written as two pieces, but has long since been reworked into one piece. Thereby making a missing-any-rows garment unwearable. And do you see how cleverly I had matched up the yarn on the two fronts? Practically OCD. So I put a murder mystery in the tape deck and unraveled the two front shoulders from the cast on edge. (Tedious I tell ya.) Took out 4 ridges on each side, reknit the neck roll tabs, used that salvaged yarn to finish the back, and was left with less than 14 inches of yarn. I tried it on to confirm it fit and now it will sit somewhere and think about it's crimes until I don't grind my teeth when I look at it.

And yes, I got gauge.

Fall down, go boom.

I finally used my KFYS 2D - Get out of Jail Free Card.
Lovely Knitpicks Decadence in WinterBerry.

I am going to take my first knitting class ever and make a little Lace Kimono Shrug. I have visions of wearing it to SOAR. I wouldn't have taken the confounded class, except it was the only way to get the pattern and the shop sample was really darling even in Dirt Brown EcoWool and over my scrubs.

I also finally managed to wrestle a certain delivery "service" into submission and get my new Knitting Bag:

I feel certain that y'all understand that I am not a merchandising photographer. But you get the gist.


It is a Stone Mountain Handbag Oakland Bucket. They are having their big summer sale and shipping was free. So the $140.00 bag was $54.00.

The strap can go cross body or double up for a shoulder. In the first photo I have 3 knitting books and 2 VCR cases in the center section. It has two other large zipper sections for keeping keys and personal life separate from the crack knitting project as well as 2 smaller outside zippered pockets. I weighed it in at 17 ounces empty. Not bad for leather. Obviously I don't plan to traditionally carry it with that much stuff in it, but it's nice to know in a pinch I can get oodles in it.

That'll put a crimp in courting...

So I'm reading this Book and in it she discusses a technique used in the Jutland region of Denmark whereby dog hair is blended with wool as a strengthener. It was considered a ward against gout. She goes on to say that the dog hair socks were prickly and attracted dogs, who would sniff them and sometimes urinate on them (while being worn). Hard to meet a nice girl in socks like that eh?

Just asking...

I know this is classified as a knitting blog, but no knitting right now.

There has been some frogging and some knit related reading (Not Harry Potter) A Killer Stitch and Knit Fast Die Young, plus *Wow* where did the time go?!? blog reading. There was some cooking, laundry, breakage of the DVD player (oops), and oh yeah...anybody got good tips on how to brake on Roller Blades? The rubber thingy used to be on the other end of the skate.

Don't tell The Adored One

his first pair of winter socks are done.

Regia sock yarn, Lucy Neatby Garter Stitch heels done on .5mm bigger needles than foot, Lucy Neatby Garter toes and Spiral Rib.

They may look familiar - they were long-time UFOs with multiple do-overs.