tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36990170791274274202024-03-05T04:01:50.827-08:00Geek KnitterA long ramble, looking at life through yarn-covered glasses.Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-19839334590363103112010-07-27T09:38:00.000-07:002010-07-27T09:40:59.160-07:00Moving Day!I've moved my ramblings to another platform.Please come on over here and check it out, hope to see you there.Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-57684842583696205702010-06-25T10:19:00.000-07:002010-06-25T10:25:54.132-07:00WanderlustIt usually strikes me in late spring or early summer. After a long wet winter, suddenly I just can’t stand the same routines anymore. Everything looks the same, feels the same, tastes the same, sounds the same…Eventually I can’t take it anymore, I simply have to get out of town!So I start poking around on the internet for interesting things to see, or begging friends to let my husband and me Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-46000226594862307152010-06-03T05:41:00.000-07:002010-06-03T05:43:25.610-07:00Two Hundred TenThis is what you lot get up to when I leave home for five days.Looks like I've got some reading to do...Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-58087058806838068132010-05-24T17:56:00.000-07:002010-05-24T18:02:04.387-07:00Once More With ShouldersI knit lots of baby things. You all know this. Mostly sweaters, with the occasional hat and a couple pairs of booties thrown in.Every baby should have something hand-made to grow into. Something made with them in mind. Something full of hope and promise.Pretty buttons are good, and so is lace. If you can work them both into a single garment, you’re golden.My darling Paddington bear gets lots of Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-16114795204938366452010-05-18T08:47:00.000-07:002010-05-18T08:49:04.589-07:00Gauge BitesEspecially when you completely fail to check it.Remember the too short cabled sock?I bit the bullet and frogged it all the way back. I knit it again; giving myself the extra length I needed in the foot, and got ready to start the gusset. I decided to try it on first, and noticed something I’d ignored the first time.Even with 72 stitches in a round, it felt too snug going around the ball of my Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-87654613698364311642010-05-14T05:00:00.000-07:002010-05-14T05:00:11.639-07:00She Came To MeYou may remember that I knit Helena a few months ago. OK, OK, it was actually several months ago. Many several.I knit it, I wove in the ends, I washed it and I posed it on Paddington bear.I even wrapped it and wrote a card.And there it sat on my desk, waiting (and waiting and waiting) for me to take it to the baby it had been made for.Well, yesterday the baby in question got tired of waiting, andGeek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-87932442013599063742010-05-12T07:34:00.000-07:002010-05-12T07:36:21.550-07:00Turned the CornerIs it possible to turn the corner on a round shawl? It's been an awfully long time since those geometry classes in junior high, but I'm pretty sure circles don't have corners.I’ll just call it a term of art.I’m halfway through the border of Centrino… check it out:I’ve done 18 repeats out of 36, and it feels like the finish is actually in sight. If I keep going at this rate, I may be able to Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-71247703387760497502010-05-10T08:09:00.000-07:002010-05-10T08:20:42.543-07:00It’s MagicBlocking, that is.I knit a piece of lace. Knit and knit and knit and knit. I’ll spread it out over my knee or on a table, trying to see what it will look like when it’s done. I get hints, I have dreams and visions, but trying to picture the whole completed piece just eludes me most of the time.So, Wisteria Garden was all done and looking like a skate (thanks for the image, KnitGeekery!). I gave Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-41829378078373262652010-05-05T08:24:00.000-07:002010-05-05T08:33:46.216-07:00As I SaidNo problem.Piece of cake.Never a doubt in my mind.Well, except for a terrifying 45 minutes on Sunday afternoon.I was shifting around on the couch, and the shawl got wedged under my knee. Somehow I managed to pull the whole thing off of the needles. Don't ask me how I got it all back on, the whole incident is a bit of a blur. Let's hear it for 2.0 mm needles and crochet hooks. And for the large Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-71682702386786101382010-04-30T12:18:00.000-07:002010-04-30T12:26:24.047-07:00MotivationLet's say, just hypothetically, that you found out the local paper was going to send a reporter/photographer team to your Wednesday SnB in a couple of weeks.That they might be putting together a story about hand spinning and other crafts for one of the weekly inserts.What would your first thought be?Well, mine was "A photographer? I've got to finish Wisteria Garden!"It looked like this on Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-46843707023133082592010-04-28T08:17:00.000-07:002010-04-28T08:26:07.999-07:00Work of a Different ColorBack in November, I wrote a post about how everything in my bag that day was red. A shawl, a baby sweater, and something super secret (which is still a secret, by the way).It was interesting to me, because red isn’t one of those colors I find myself drawn to, yet there it was, bright and cheerful all over the place.Taking photos for this post, I realized that I’d done it again, only with another Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-83509408306184135702010-04-26T08:46:00.000-07:002010-04-26T08:50:44.246-07:00What It Has BecomeIt started with a small front yard which looked simply awful.We did a lot of digging and hauling… things looked much worse for a while.Then they started to look better.We added plants and water.Then, and really this is the most important thing, I added time.This is what it has become in just under two years:This…has become this:This…has turned into this:A leftover chunk of Creeping Jenny has Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-12172506535980278002010-04-21T09:37:00.000-07:002010-04-21T09:39:24.697-07:00Public Service AnnouncementRemember this shawl?It’s Ancient Woodland, by Miriam Felton, the first pattern for Year of Lace 2009.Well, it’s available for purchase to the general public at last, which means you can make one of your very own.Here’s the link to Miriam’s pattern store. And it’s also available through Ravelry, right here.One more picture, I just can’t resist!Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-16903023879609559782010-04-20T16:46:00.000-07:002010-04-20T16:47:41.508-07:00Home Work Leads to Homework.First, I must thank you all for sharing the lessons that knitting has taught you. It’s hard to know how an introspective piece of writing will go over, and you’ve once again warmed my heart. To those of you who found your way to me through Bridget’s link (thank you!), a very warm welcome.The weather here in the valley has been typical for the geography and the time of year, which is another way Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-31918599936446617902010-04-14T09:51:00.000-07:002010-04-14T09:55:15.601-07:00I Didn’t KnowThere were so many things I didn’t know when I took up knitting.I didn’t know I was going to need umpteen-million needles, or notions, or project bags.I didn’t know I was going to need a digital camera.I didn’t know I was going to buy so much yarn I’d have to stop teasing my mother about her fabric habit.I didn’t know that I’d find myself surrounded by expectant mothers, who would cry over hand Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-31181381207945981582010-03-31T11:21:00.000-07:002010-03-31T11:22:45.462-07:00The Beginning Of The EndAt long long last, I have actual progress to report on another Year of Lace project. Behold Centrino, aka The Big Red Blob.I finally finished the last bit of around-and-around knitting, and have embarked on a long journey of back-and-forth-and-back-and-forth knitting.That little pink-ish squiggle you see there is the provisional cast-on for the beginning of the border. When I finish the border, Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-83873473173928987822010-03-29T13:53:00.000-07:002010-03-29T13:55:39.296-07:00PiffleIs this thing still on?Well, I’m back. I’m tired but happy, after the successful launch of a volunteer project, which ate up most of my free time and a goodly chunk of my (virtually non-existent) energy. It went well, and we’re all quite pleased about it.In the meantime, there has been knitting going on around here. Progress is being made on the borders of not one but two lace shawls, another Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-58007627265800992572010-03-08T07:55:00.000-08:002010-03-08T08:01:12.677-08:00On The NeedlesSaturday morning found me with one completed Baudelaire and one skein of fugitive sock yarn. Saints preserve me, I think I’m going to have to clean the house… or start another pair of socks while I wait for the yarn to reveal itself.Since procrastination is something of a specialty of mine, I decided it was the perfect time to gather all my WIPs in one place:What you see there are three lace Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-13392549206907773602010-03-01T09:01:00.000-08:002010-03-01T09:05:37.167-08:00An Early SpringI posted recently about The Amazing Re-Appearing Crocuses in my front garden. I was so amazed by them, and I know that seeing them come up again after all that time was a major turning point for me after a winter that seemed to sap my strength at every turn.Unfortunately, late sunrises, early sunsets and rainy weekends meant that I never managed to get a decent photo to share with you. The Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-86935730479628978522010-02-25T13:27:00.000-08:002010-02-25T13:33:29.620-08:00Questions I Cannot AskI am a gatherer by nature; a nester, I suppose. I like to have things where I can reach them, and I line my particular nests accordingly.That means that my bedside table looks like this:There’s a wide assortment there, everything from fantasy to science fiction to mystery to multi-generational tales of families and the things they go through.Which leaves my bookshelves looking like this:It means Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-58763332812672373912010-02-23T07:57:00.000-08:002010-02-23T08:04:50.618-08:00Waiting To Go HomeWhy hello there! How are you all? I’ve missed you all so much; I can’t really put it into a coherent sentence. Thank you all for the lovely comments on the Verdaia shawl, you made my week.My energy level is slowly returning to normal, no doubt helped along by several sunny days in a row. I feel like I’m coming back to life, although there are still days when all I want to do is sleep. Yeah, like Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-12178078009337009602010-02-15T13:52:00.000-08:002010-02-15T14:00:07.637-08:00TransformationHere’s what you do. Gather together a skein of fingering-weight yarn and a pattern a friend has been kind enough to ask you to test:Add a pair of needles, and give yourself a few days.In the end, if you are smart enough knitter to follow a simple pattern, you will have this:Combine green ramen noodles with water:Break out the blocking wires:Then drape it over your mother’s shoulders:Then feel Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-82362896112126017762010-02-01T08:05:00.000-08:002010-02-01T08:06:29.852-08:00PerseveranceI planted several dozen crocus bulbs in my front yard a few years ago, back when it looked like this:It was a desperate attempt to add some color and interest to a patch of grass I deeply disliked. The idea was that they would poke their brave little heads up and bloom in early spring, then be all done by the time the lawn needed mowing.They were pretty, and tiny, and I loved them to bits.Then Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-16321676551196944992010-01-22T13:13:00.000-08:002010-01-22T13:23:50.279-08:00An Open LetterDear Insecure Voice In My Head,Why are you such a nag? What, exactly, is your problem? Why must you plague me so?Tell me true, what’s not to love?The yarn?The eyelets?The gull lace pattern?Certainly not the buttons, or the charming model.In short, Insecure Voice In My Head, please observe this delighted smile…and vacate the premises. My head is quite noisy enough without having to listen to you Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3699017079127427420.post-71879981086605074602010-01-12T08:22:00.000-08:002010-01-12T08:23:59.334-08:00When They SmileIt just never fails… my life gets interesting, knitting is going well, I am positively surrounded by blog-able pictures and stories. And I find myself with absolutely no energy whatsoever.Piffle.I’m working on the energy thing, eating well and trying to get more rest. My sleep cycle got thrown all out of whack by work stress last month, but things seem to be calming down and getting back to Geek Knitterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02105912427590222816noreply@blogger.com10