Kaari V3.0

I've knitted about 6 inches of Kaari V3.0 and it seems to be about the right size. Oh joy oh bliss. I've got Stocking Stitch Shoulder again, but it's worth it.

I was at the dentist today for a check-up and I don't need anything done. I'm not particularly nervous about dentists, but I still get a Got Out of Jail Free feeling about that. I always want to celebrate.

Lynne's blog tour for Reversible Knitting has already begun and you can check the posts at these links.

8 December Go Knit in Your Hat

9 December Grumperina and Purlbee

10 December Knit and Tonic

11 December Moi

12 December Sheep in the City

14 December Alicia Kachmar

15 December BoogaJ

16 December Knitting Today

17 December Ilga Leja

18 December The Hook and I

21 December Melanie Falick Books

22 December Needled

January House on Hill Road

January The Panopticon

I'm in some impressive blogging company and am beginning to feel somewhat unprepared.

There's also a competition you can enter, the prize being a copy of - yes, Reversible Knitting! Sadly, the competition is only open to those in the 50 United States and Washington, D.C. so many of my readers will have to resort to acquiring it in the usual methods of begging, borrowing or stealing. Or buying it, like I did. If you are eligible, you can enter the competition here on Melanie's blog.

LATER: Edited to add some dates to the tour.

Defintely Sunday

I don't think I will rip Kaari and do the next size down; I'm going to stick with it for a while longer. The thought of having a Kaari that's too small is worse than the thought of having one that's too big.

The Pinwheel in white Jet is racing on. I'm on the fourth ball.

In order to give my brain some activity after all these miles of stocking stitch, I spent some time with Reversible Knitting today.

Can you tell what it is yet?

It's pattern 45, in some grey All Seasons Cotton Mélange.


I think I need to make one of my knotted row counters so that I don't knit any more elongated circles. My excuse is that like most of Lynne Barr's work, this is one of these patterns that makes you want to race on breathlessly to see what happens next. It's great fun.

The BBC is starting a dramatisation of Andrea Levy's Small Island tonight. I'm in two minds about whether I'll watch it: I liked the book so much that I'm not sure another version of it could live up to my expectations... but I might miss something good. More dithering.

I friend of mine in New York has started a fabulous blog, Idiosyncratic Fashionistas: it makes me feel so dull.

At Last, Reversible Knitting

Knitting
I finished unravelling the end of the Puzzle Wrap (I only resorted to scissors once although I resorted to bad language more often) and I've started adding the beads. I'm not doing a huge number and I'm not doing them in a very thorough way, more a bit of twinkle. I can't get a decent photograph. They're very small Swarovski crystals, no colour but an aurora borealis coating so that they sparkle amazingly. The bride's mother is convinced that it will rain steadily all day, so sparkly dew drops could be an appropriate look.

The trouble is, Reversible Knitting arrived at the same time as the beads and I am almost unable to put that down - I don't know which way to turn. There isn't much point in my reproducing any of the photos that are available on Grumperina's thorough review, but here is an item that isn't.

Reversible lice - how clever is that?

And a reversible hat. I haven't done any swatching yet because I Must Finish the Puzzle Wrap and if at all possible the ivory and gold Gail as well, but I haven't been able to resist quite lot of peeking.

The book is beautifully put together, of course - clear instructions and clear photographs and something I noticed on my third or fourth run-through - the different types of stitches are shown on different colours of background. Picked Up against avocado, Openwork against orange and so on. The colours of the book are really juicy, and follow through into the colours of the garments in the pattern section: the whole book is designed around the same colours, very harmonious. I don't think I've seen that done before.

This Faux Wrap was designed by Lily Chin. The cables are reversible so that the cuffs can be worn down and long, or folded and three-quarter length, and the collar can be worn high and buttoned, or open.

I am just boggled by how Lynne Barr's mind must work. I'm very poor at visualization and find it extremely difficult to think in three dimensions: she must have an extra ration of whatever it is that I'm lacking. I wonder how far she can model these designs in her head before she picks up the needles.


Gail photos
I thought that language might be Portuguese, Mary Lou, but I didn't want to risk getting it wrong. I used to have a Brazilian friend whom I could have asked, but I went on holiday with her once and we haven't spoken since.

Drama
I was wakened this morning by someone delivering a parcel (no, it wasn't wool; it was one of my other weaknesses) and while I was signing the thingie, he said, 'Have you had a fire in the stair*?' I said no, and he remarked that there was a strong smell of burning. I muttered something about checking and he said something sensible about always best to be on the safe side, so after he'd gone I couldn't quite sneak back to bed as I had planned. It was mostly the smell of burnt food but with a plasticky element. I put some clothes on because I hate talking to the fire brigade in my dressing gown, and I texted one of my neighbours. I didn't get a reply from her so I started trooping up and down stairs sniffing at letterboxes. I don't know if you've ever done that, but it's not something you want to be caught doing.

I was fairly sure it was one of the ground-floor flats and I hammered and knocked for a while to no answer, which wasn't very encouraging. I hadn't heard from the neighbour I'd texted so I started to visualize her unconscious in a haze of smoke but her letterbox was pristine. I can vouch for it.

So I rang 999 and there was all the clanging and nee-nawing and so on, and they knocked on the ground-floor door and this time, she answered. It turned out she had burned her supper at about three in the morning: she must have burned the handle of the pan too, given the plasticky element. My other neighbour appeared and said she'd been in the shower when I texted. She also said that the supper-burning neighbour never answers the door, so that's useful to know.

I apologised to the firemen - I know it's not necessary but one feels such a fool - and they left after they'd checked up and down the stair (I didn't catch them sniffing letterboxes but they have little meters that tell them what sort of smoke it is).

So that was an exciting start to the week. I hope the rest of it is less dramatic and that I don't have to get dressed in a hurry again.

'Stair' is the Scottish term for all the flats on a single staircase, sort of equivalent to 'block'.

Two Steps Forwards, One Step Back

Puzzle Wrap
I decided just to finish off the Puzzle Wrap with the yarn I had, and did my four little cast-offs, one for each point. I wove in all of my loose ends. Then the next day I decided that after all I do want it to be very long (it's 72 inches just now, pre-blocking) and actually I do want to put beads on it.

I got another ball of yarn almost instantly from AllSewYarns on eBay, who always posts things at the speed of light, but I'm now drumming my fingers waiting for the beads and trying not to think about the postal strike. I am passing my time by unweaving my loose ends and undoing the four cast-offs and picking up all the k2togs and ssks so it's probably a good thing that I'm not in a rush. I haven't photographed it because it's a mess of loose ends and dropped stitches, and it's not a pretty sight.

Just Another Raveller asked me if I would knit it again, or if I'm glad to be done with it. Usually when I'm knitting something I like, I think constantly of other yarns I would like to see it in, or alterations I might make 'next time' I knit it. I didn't do that with this pattern, but no, I'm not glad to be done with it. I like the yarn and I'm looking forward to the occasion when I shall wear it (hurry up, beads) so I'm feeling fondly towards it. I'm pretty sure I could stand to knit it again.

Golden Gail
I'm getting on quite well with the golden Gail. Now that I've got past the unconventional nature of the chart, it's a straightforward and gratifying knit.


The designer has posted a description of how to block this shawl. I don't understand the language it's written in, but it has such fabulous fotos that it doesn't matter.


Reversible Knitting
I pre-ordered Lyyne Barr's Reversible Knitting a while ago, to the extent of actually paying for it, and got an email from Amazon on Friday telling me that it is on its way: according to their tracking information it is presently in Droitwich.


Then today I heard from Judith that her copy has already arrived - on a Sunday, no less - and it is unbearably exciting. She directed me to this very detailed review here by Grumperina, which includes lots of illustrations and also pointed out that it is available at a better price at W.H. Smith's. I am now in a frenzy of impatience.

Dis 'n' Dat

Knitting
Thanks for the reassurances about Chrissy and the mysterious fluctuating All Seasons Cotton. It's good to know I wasn't imagining it.

I've barely done any knitting since my last post. I do a few more millimetres on the off-blog project from time to time, but that's about it. I'm reluctant to start anything because I'm going to Woolfest on Saturday and there's not much point in starting something today if I'm only going to cast it aside on Sunday in a frenzy of excitement with my loot. I'm catching the Scottish Fibres bus at an ungodly hour on Saturday along with a couple of dozen other people, and we shall be making our way through the early morning light down to Cockermouth in Cumbria, singing knitting songs and waulking the tweed. Well, perhaps not, but something like that.

Given my limited mobility, I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do, but I think it'll be worth it to soak up the atmosphere and see all the wool-stoned faces. Spinning Fishwife assures me that there are lots of seats in the Centre, which should facilitate rests interspersed with short lunges at the merchandise. I got very organised about 3 weeks ago and ordered some Ravelry badges. Can I find them now? Can I b*gg*ry. **

Although I don't usually eat much during the day, I've become convinced that I will be starving - being trapped on a mode of transport can do that to a body - and anyway I don't want to waste my short amount of standing power by standing in queues for food and coffee, so my list of proposed sandwiches, snacks and beverages is getting very long. Between that and my collapsible chair in case of emergency, I suspect that the bus driver may be reluctant to let me aboard with my collection of mysterious bags.

New Book
Lynne Barr, who wrote the fabulous Knitting New Scarves has got a new book coming out, called Reversible Knitting.


It's due out in the U.S. in October, and Amazon U.K. shows the same date. The bumf says:

Most of the stitch dictionaries on knitters’ shelves are remixes of familiar stitch patterns already published elsewhere. Not so for Lynne Barr’s groundbreaking book Reversible Knitting. Not only is every one of the 50 stitch patterns completely new and never before seen, but each is also reversible—for a total of 100 different looks!

Reversible stitch patterns can be used to create projects where either side can be worn facing outward, or where two sides of the piece are visible simultaneously (such as a scarf or a garment with collar or cuffs that that can be worn up or down). In addition to stitch patterns, the book features 20 such projects—from accessories like scarves, hats, and socks to sweaters and dresses—designed by the author and by 12 top knitwear designers including STC authors Véronik Avery, Norah Gaughan, and Teva Durham. Rounding out the book are in-depth instructions for the specialized techniques required for reversible work.

The cardi on the cover looks like a Norah Gaughan design, doesn't it? One of her may-be-worn-upside-down designs. I can't wait. In fact, I've pre-ordered it.

Movies
I watched a Norwegian/Swedish film called Kitchen Stories tonight. It's wonderful. After World War II, the Swedes carried out research on the most efficient use of kitchens, which is a laudable enough idea and I expect we've all benefited from it, but it was carried out by sending inspectors to sit in kitchens on very high chairs, like tennis umpires, and observe the occupants.


They were forbidden to interfere in the work of the kitchen, and indeed weren't permitted to join in at meals or even to have a cup of coffee. The film examines what might have happened when the inspectors found themselves observing in remote parts of Norway, where their presence wasn't welcome and reminds us that human beings like to communicate even in the least promising circumstances.

I think I would have got more out of it if I spoke Norwegian or Swedish as I'm sure there are a lot of in-jokes which escape the sub-titles, or even if I knew a little more of their history than I do, but I thought it was delightful and I want to watch it again some day.

** Found them! At 00.09 on Saturday morning.