Because, because, because

Also in the spirit of who reads this blog anyway, a little test post.  After all, I did start it up under a name that was a Doctor Who reference.  By the way, in real life I'm still working on a collection/book of poems titled "7th and Ocean."  My first book of poetry is called "Spring Cleaning," it's published by Xlibris, and I'd appreciate some customers to contribute to my early-retirement-from-medicine-'cause-it's-killing-me-by-inches-literally fund.  And for more interdimensional storytelling, my other blog is princess-rory.blogspot.com.  Enjoy, my 2 readers and 15 random computers/robots!

The Ballad of River and the Doctor

(for Steve with a thousand curses)

The path of love was never straight and narrow:

I've known it since I stopped you in my sights.

Long gone today, crashing into tomorrow,

You'll count the days, and I'll tally the nights.

I've waited till the heavens dimmed their lights,

I've flown to you unerring as an arrow.

With you I've tipped the scales and set to rights.

I've stolen what I only sought to borrow.

In victory, in pain, in joy, in sorrow,

In stalwart charges and in desperate flights,

I'm there, that twinge, that tingling in the marrow,

That urge to further reaches, greater heights.

And when you've saved the worlds and fought the fights,

I'm there to see you fall, the poisoned arrow

Sharpened in secret through the lonely nights

In this gray cell, without you dank and narrow.

You see, even my love is tinged with sorrow,

Regrets, betrayals, fates and reverse plights.

The butterfly may flap its wings tomorrow

And bring us back into each other's sights.

I see you dancing on the Northern Lights:

What's time to us but a poor good to borrow?

The worlds could end if you stayed in my sights:

I've missed you in my very air-tight marrow.

But call, my love: I'll come like a loosed arrow.

The path of love was never straight and narrow. 

Life, the Universe, and Everything (or Fish Fingers and Custard)

Today is one of my Doctor Who quote days.  Maybe it's 'cause it's a weekend and I'm having one of my usual Sunday afternoon existential crises and really who reads this blog anyway?  But what keeps running through my head is, "The universe is big.  It's vast and complicated and ridiculous, and sometimes, impossible things just happen, and we call them miracles.  900 years, never seen one yet, but this would do me."  Something like that anyway.  And to quote Rory (badly as well), "I could use a ridiculous miracle right about now."

Relax, I waxed philosophical over an attempt at rice pudding too.  Life is like making custard.  Get impatient and crank up the heat, and you end up with a scrambled-egg mess.  Take it too slow and the custard never thickens.  Timing is everything, and maybe if I get those darn custards figured out the rest of my life will fall into place too.

Which is not to say that I didn't end up with a halfway-passable rice pudding.  You know, eventually:

Oh, shut up and enjoy the custard picture and the stealthily snapped shots of Project Wibble hat.

 The pattern, by the way is cast on factor of 8 stitches, knit 4x4 rib until you can't stand it any more, pick up bottom stitches and knit together with live stitches to make doubled cuff, knit 1 row even, change color, knit 2nd color until satisfied, switch back to main color, decrease every however many stitches you feel like to round out the top and then bind off.  Inspiration loosely based on fisherman's knit cap (remember those yellow Gorton's frozen seafood packages?  I...might 'cause one night I had an odd craving for fish fingers and custard).

PW2: pictures might be nice

By the way, these are the mittens in question:

And this is the hat in progress.  Pattern to come...?

PW: progress wreport

Just kidding, the PW stands for Project Wibble.  I've gotten too bored with it to write it all out.  But I am actually done with the mittens and starting the (excruciatingly tedious) hatband now.  The hat I have in mind sort of reminds me of a fisherman's cap.  We'll see how it actually turns out.  Incidentally, between my day job, writing, knitting, baking, and the upcoming growing season with my very own rosebushes to attend to, my forearms are going to either fall off or reach Popeye the sailor man proportions.

But I'm not here to talk about my forearms.  I'm here to see if can actually write out a pattern, albeit a somewhat tediously simple one.  Thing with me and patterns: they're more like guidelines, really, so if you're a newly minted knitter you might prepare for a little bit of confusion off the bat.  But that being said, here goes:

Project Wibble mittens with double-thickness rib cuff:

Cuffs:
Using double-points or circulars, cast on 36 stitches (any multiple of 4 will do when adjusting for size and gauge).  Join and mark beginning of round.
k2 p2, rpt to end of round to set up 2x2 rib
Continue 2x2 rib for about 30 rows or twice the desired cuff length.
Fold cuff in half so the cast-on edge is even with your live stitches.  Pick up stitch along cast-on edge so that it's in front of your first live stitch, then k those 2 sts together.  Repeat until you've got a double-thickness cuff and (hopefully) the same number of stitches (36, right?) you started with.

Body:
Mark beginning and middle of round.  For right glove you'll make your thumb gusset at the beginning of the round, and for the left you'll make it at the end.  Continue 36-stitch rounds in stockinette stitch until you're ready to start your thumbs.

Right glove:
round 1: m1, k1, m1, k to middle marker, sl marker, m1, k1, m1, k to end of round.
round 2 and all even rounds: knit to end of round.
round 3: m1, k3, m1, k to marker, sl marker, m1, k3, m1, k to end of round.
round 5: m1, k5, m1, k to end of round.
Continue thumb gusset increases until your m1-kx-m1 equals desired number of thumb stitches minus 3 (you'll pick up 3 stitches later to close your thumb.  Slip thumb stitches onto holder.
Knit remaining stitches in round until desired length (about 16 rows), then start decreasing.
K2tog at beginning and middle of round for 4 rounds (decrease by 2 sts per round).
K2tog, k2tog at beginning and middle of round for remaining rounds until 6 sts remain (decrease by 4 sts per round).
Place sts on 2 needles, 3 per needle.  Hold parallel, knit together 1 st from each needle, repeat with 2nd set of sts, sl previous stitch over that new stitch, repeat with last 2 sts.  Congratulations, you just bound off.
Pick up thumb stitches and 3 additional sts from mitten body edge.  Divide stitches evenly among 3 dpns or use markers.  Knit to desired length (about 12 rows?) and start decreasing.
K2tog at beginning of each needle or at each marker for 2-3 rows, then k2tog at beginning and end until 3 sts remain.
Break yarn, pull through remaining sts.

Left glove:
round 1: k to 1 before middle marker, m1, k1, m1, place marker, k to last st, m1, k1, m1.
round 2 and all even rounds: knit to end of round
round 3: k to 3 before marker, m1, k3, m1, pm, k to last 3 sts, m1, k3, m1.
round 5: k to last 5 sts, m1, k5, m1.
Continue thumb gusset increases until desired number of sts.  Slip thumb sts onto holder.
Knit remaining sts in round until desired length, then decrease and bind off as with right glove.
Knit thumb stitches as with right glove.

Like I said, more like guidelines.  Especially since I was so ADD with the second mitten I forgot what I did with the decreases and essentially reinvented the wheel on the spot.  It works best if you play around with decreases of your choosing (might even throw in some ssk if you're really anal about symmetry) until you get a nice round contour for the fingers.  Happy snoozing, and here's hoping you never have to budge until spring creeps over the windowsill.