Black Sheep

The SSNB saw Black Sheep last night, so I'm including the review.

So now for the moment you've all been waiting for the SSNB movie review. Black sheep was about two brothers, Henry and Angus, who grow up on a sheep farm in New Zealand. Angus traumatized Henry at an early age and he had a paralyzing fear of sheep. We flash forward to recent times to learn that Henry's fears were justified. Angus was conducting genetic experiments turning sheep into wanton love goddesses. Indeed this movie was rated X as noted by an SSNBer. There was such laying and begating as only occurred in the Old Testament (Leviticus).

Meanwhile two PETA love children were attempting to wreak havoc on the cruel inhumane practice of sheep farming. They stole one of Angus' discarded experiments and accidentally set it loose. So began the attack of the killer zombie sheep. Herein Sigourney Weaver's costar from Alien resumed it's stellar career as a slimy prenatal sheep of doom biting man and beast alike. The resulting sheeple, as an SSNBer noted, carried on the plague.

Menacing sheep from all New Zealand terrorized the land. They were merino we gathered as 70% of merino comes from New Zealand. Bret and Jermaine were not in the movie so we were a bit disappointed. In the end, the sheep’s' own flatulence brought about their downfall. "Put another shrimp on the barbie," said an SSNBer although that's from Australia. The knitters stuffed their bags with treats and departed (although maybe that was just the author). Until the next digest.

Fall Headband

I hate knitting with patterns. I hate it because you're always tied to your book or pdf or whatever. You've got to be on the right line at the right time or wreak havoc on your project. You have to time your transportable knitting to make sure you won't either need the book or reach a complicated spot on the road. So I like to improvise.

This brings its own problems. This headband for instance has been frogged two times already. Thankfully it's a quick knit or it would already be in the darkest recess of my closet. Somewhere even my hamster wouldn't poop.

I imagined this headband as a meditation on fall. It's more like a blast of wind upsetting your recently raked pile of leaves. I was hoping the (shudder) fun fur would create kind of a thrumming effect on the headband. It's not thrummed looking, but it's not too bad either. Here's the pattern while my headband remains unfrogged.

Fall Headband Pattern

Yarn: Chunky solid, Two strands of (sigh) fun fur held together
Needles: Size 8s circular or double points

Cast on 24 stitches in the chunky solid, join and don't twist!

Knit 4 rounds.

Round 5. Beginning with the 1st stitch knit in (omigod) fun fur every other stitch for one round.
Round 6. Beginning on the 2nd stitch knit in (eww) fun fur ever other stitch for one round.

Knit 8 rounds.

Round 15. Knit first 2 stitches in (why) fun fur. Knit next two stitches in chunky solid. Alternate yarns every 2 stitches for one round.

Round 16. Repeat round 15.

Knit 8 rounds and start all over with round 5. Carry on in this manner until the headband is 22 inches. Please measure your own head circumference. I like to think mine is unique.

Bind off. Join in that sweater seam thing you do for shoulders.

Aren't I ironic? I complain about patterns and post one.

Autumn at Last

Yesterday I left the cube to behold a magnificent sunset. The world was dipped in shades of magenta with undertones of blue, orange and lavender. It was better than sock yarn. I would've snapped a photo, but I didn't have a camera. Besides the bus showed up before I could fully absorb nature's majesty. This is autumn. I wore my country club shawl as a really fat scarf all day. Yes it was a bit awkward, but I didn't care. I was glad to have it on. I've included some detail of the stitch. The bobbly side is the correct one, but the opposite side is the one people find more interesting.

I also present my sock. It's the cuff sock from Knit Socks by Betsy McCarthy. All in all, the inspiration is rising for some kind of autumn project. I'm thinking a headband. And maybe I'll heat up that cocoa too.

Why is it so hot?

I spent the weekend beaded in sweat. It was disgusting. It's late October and 80 degrees in Chicago. It's too hot for socks, but I don't have a pedicure. I haven't shaved my legs and shorts and a t-shirt seem weird anyway.

I want my cold! I want to sit on my couch, watch TV and knit. I mean, I do these things anyway, but the appeal isn't there. Hot cocoa in 80 degree weather carries no comforting properties. I got a little jar of pumpkin butter, but in 80 degrees it feels like sacrilege.

I'd like to take an autumnal stroll and take in the colorful leaves. Instead I step outside only to promptly grow a layer of perspiration and suffer in my socks because I don't have a pedicure and feel like I went to the club in the afternoon because I'm looking at leaves in 80 degree heat.

Then there's the pressure to enjoy the day. So I spent the day outside along with every one else with the same bright idea so we were a mass of sweaty grimy people supposedly enjoying the abnormal day instead of being holed up comfortably and happily inside where we should have the pleasure of staying at least once this time of year. I got home and went straight to the shower. And I knit a sock.

Yarn Con

I volunteered at Yarn Con on Saturday. I didn't do a whole lot to help, Natalia and Sara made the whole thing seem so easy. From my perspective, there was no hitch.

I started my day by sitting for the 1000 knitters project. Should my portrait look like a good drubbing with the ugly stick, oh well. I'd feel worse being left out. I think that next year there should be a Yarn Con costume contest so that people will dress up like at the Comic Con. Franklin was as dressed up as anyone in sheep earrings. Combined with leather, they maintained a masculine aesthetic.

I spent some time manning Vera's booth. She had naturally colored yarn from assorted sheep from her farm. Nancy met the sheep and assured me that they were very nice. That was fun. I didn't generate as much business as I wanted, maybe I'll work on my sales skills for next time.

Kris Neurauter taught a pattern making workshop. She gave us very practical advice for knitting sweaters to fit. I was really happy to be there as I am finishing up a sweater at this moment and hope the sleeves will work out. If they don't, I won't lose my mind. (Well, I might lose my mind.) I can simply rip back and make adjustments as Kris told us.

I shopped a bit. A perk of volunteering is that you get to check out the goods first and ask the vendors to hide them for you. I bought some things, but I can't share them because of a swap I'm participating in. As usual, I didn't have nearly enough money.

Looking forward to next year. (Pics lifted from Natalia.)

Block Party

I got in a little knit frenzy this weekend. What else could have happened after Yarn Con? My buffoony self left the camera at home so I'll have to wait for others to post their pictures that I can rip off.

Anyway, I finished my sweater sleeves and set them out to block. Since I was on a roll, I went ahead and seamed the shoulders and knit the collar. Tonight I'll be sewing up the side seams at the SNB.

I also finally set my Misti shawl out to block. This was supposed to be done to help shield me from the overzealous air conditioning at work. Um, yes, it's a little late.

While I was doing this I watched a documentary on global warming, Too Hot Not to Handle and learned that global warming was responsible for raging ragweed growth and thus my terrible allergies. Great! In addition to freak weather conditions, my rampant allergies will only get worse. Recycle everyone. Support clean energy. I'll get off my soapbox now to go blow my nose.

More Gratuitous Pet

What is everyone up to this weekend? My hamster is enjoying a quesadilla.

SSNB Knitter's Digest 9/8/07

It was hard to figure out what was going on at SSNB last night. The atmosphere was rather bar like. I think we were louder than the Hyde Park parrots. For a while, an 18 month old was shouting MEEYAH at the top of his lungs as well. [Please take a moment to join us for a public service announcement. While most of us like kids, some of us actually don't, and nobody likes a loud kid. If your child is not knitting, then perhaps they should stay home. Thank you, sorry to make anyone upset by this.] The author only caught snippets of conversation every now and then so if anyone else wants to fill us in, please feel free to do so.

We had two new friends visit us from Ravelry. M was working on a little pouch using a double knit technique. E was making a Fair Isle baby hat. There had been some mention of hazing the new members. I guess we hazed ourselves by filling up on candy. People brought orange slices, jelly bellies, junior mints, butter finger crisps (mmm), and caramels.

T was practicing, L was finishing up a scarf, N was working on a feather and fan scarf, F was finishing up a hand warmer, M was working on socks, M had a baby blanket going, K was making itty bitty baby socks, N finished her vest, J brought her scarf back and S was felting. Please enjoy K's Fantine as our pic of the week. It's a lovely sweater both in looks and texture.

The early birds caught the SSNB knitter's tattoo fashion show. Who knows what parts were revealed to show off the body art? Speaking of which, some of us also congregated around the computers to look at L's naked camp photo. A Saturday night toga party with DJ was included with the price of admission.

See some of you at Yarn Con this Saturday. 'Til the next digest.

Yarn Tasting

Last Friday I attended my very first Loopy yarn tasting. I went in at 5:30 p.m. and staggered out at 9 p.m. having sampled 19 yarns. The winners of the evening were Frog Tree merino at $6 for 100 yards and Mirasol Cotanini 60% Pima cotton and 40% merino. Among the I haven't won the lottery yet yarns, I liked Pemaquid, 60% baby alpaca 30% merino 10% soya at $17 for 60 yards, Iro by Noro 74% wool 25% silk at $20 for 132 yards and the piece de resistance Beaded Rhapsody 100% silk and 70% mohair 30% silk with glass beads at $52 for 175 yards. Two bookmarks and a coaster were created with my samples.

I'll admit, the tasting was stressful. I had to make sure to be done with the yarn on time and have my trusty Options attached with the correct size for the next yarn. And then there were the loose ends. When I could, I'd unsheathe my Chibi to get some tucked in. Other knitters were horrified. The term "anal" was batted about.

Somehow I sat in what was deemed the catty corner. (I don't know how people find each other.) We were shushed a couple of times (no foreign occurrence either). They said, "Wouldn't the $20 a ball Noro make a nice grungy sweater for your boyfriend?" That was met with muffled guffaws and a few choice quips.

The crocheter in our midst schooled me about pineapples. He'd graciously crocheted a bulky weight pineapple for a friend to hang over the back of her couch. Heavens, was he going to crotchet her a big watermelon next to go with the fruit cocktail? No, the pineapple turned out to be a pleasant stitch arrangement, not a big fruit. My ignorance was addressed.


I left with 2 skeins of Mirasol Hacho an 100% merino to make Christmas socks for the brother. Then I realized it was hand washable. Oh well. I shall taste again. And we got a coupon for a discount on sampled yarns through early November. Maybe a sweater's worth of Frog Tree or Mirasol will come to pass.

Knitter's Tea Swap 4

I made it! I've been trying to sign up for the Knitter's Tea Swap ever since I heard about it. This time, by a remarkable feat of superhuman memory, I remembered to sign up on time. Actually, I had forgotten to sign up, but then realized it was sign up day and thankfully made the realization in time. I've never been in a swap before. I can't wait to see who my swap partner is, what they're into and what kind of yarn I get to buy. I've also got to figure out what kind of local goodie to include. One can't exactly line the goodie box with a deep dish pizza.

The Logo That Wasn't

The SSNB was looking for a button to express ourselves to the Ravelry community. The logo displayed was nixed. Anyone wonder why?

Knitter's Digest 10/1/07

N was working on a vest using two strands of lightly variegated yarn to avoid pooling. M was working on a sleeve for a sweater. J, a new friend, was working on a scarf. V dropped by with a skirt and went on to teach her 1st HPAC knitting class this year. F was working on handwarmers. She was also working on handwarmers last week, not a hat.

F brought up this beer machine where you insert a dollar and out rolls a beer. What is the meaning of this? Why haven't more of us received a cool beer for $1 in the manner of a can of soda? These machines are under populated.

V was there with news of a cute French guy who makes crepes and flirts. Any of the listed traits, French accent, crepes cook, or flirting might make a guy attractive. All three together render the lady a bit helpless. V said the cute French guy liked her vegetables. Yup.

J and M launched into a lengthy discussion of psychology. From anterograde amnesia to the gorilla experiment to social loafing to mourning Alex the parrot who died unexpectedly around age 30 to William James' visits to the psychic to the DSMs, all was discussed. Someone should've taken notes for an intro to psych exam.

V's knitting class came to join the SSNB later on. We got to talking about facelifts. No one is fooled by a facelift. When your eyelids are battling your eyebrows for height, you got a facelift. Most of us preferred aging gracefully although there had been some complaining about menopause earlier in the evening. Youth is wasted on the young said one of the ladies in the knitting class.

Until the next digest.