Windows to the...

...well, you know.  Mine are a bit tired at the moment.  Because I just frogged an entire hat to free up yarn for something more likely to become a completed project.  I also spent the earlier part of the afternoon trying to translate TARDIS washcloth into a spreadsheet chart.  After which I realized worsted-plus yarn and size 7 needles would make an absolute monstrosity on the pattern I charted, and therefore decided to free up the sock weight and fish out some size 4s.  If it's still enormous I may have some editing to do.

After all that stress and strain my workspace sort of looked like this:

I'm not convinced it doesn't always look that way, come to think of it.

But my workspace does bring up the point of "WTF is she working on now???"  That yellow blob happens to be Foreign Correspondent's Scarf from Ravelry.  You may find the *free* pattern here.

One obvious change I made to the pattern was using DK instead of fingering weight yarn.  Which also meant upsizing the needles to size 6.  After all, I loved the designer's comment on gauge: "meh."  Scaling up lends a little extra weight, yes, but it doesn't mess with the latticework.  (Yes, it does make me think of windows, for some odd reason.)  It also eases the difficulty a bit, since DKs tend to be in reasonably low-maintenance materials such as cotton and don't break apart or produce little fuzzy nubbins that glue your yarn strands together (at least not often).  Maybe it was a tad too easy, because I found myself knitting during House Staff orientation.  And spending an awful lot of time on YouTube. 

(Disclaimer: I promise I did not set out to follow Tom Hiddleston's early career on YouTube, but I definitely do not take back Albert Finney's master class as Winston Churchill in "The Gathering Storm" or Chiwetel Ejiofor's heartbreaking Othello, so there.  Nor do I entirely blame my Facebook friends for posting audio clip of "May I Feel Said He" by E. E. Cummings in status comments, except that I always need a cold shower after I listen and I will insist on listening, and I pity the man who tries to use this to his advantage because for all I know it'll only work if you actually are Tom Hiddleston reading poetry.  Eyes are the windows to the soul?  Try ears.  Dammit.)







But we were speaking of knitting projects.  In future, I shall avoid upsizing a lace pattern.  It seems I could use the distraction.

Being Patriotic

Truth be told I meant to do this at least a year ago.

The dress, not being patriotic.  Although the latter is debatable.  Let's just say I'm not normally someone who goes around wearing flags.  I am, however, as female as the next chick.  So when a friend of mine sent me a couple yards of this little number and dared me to make a dress out of it, I was happy to comply.  You know, eventually.

As the hunk in the center says, "I want YOU to love your country."  Okey doke.  Will strapless do?

By the way, this is not based on any pattern (sorry, folks!).  I just cut out front bodice, 2 halves of back bodice, and front and back skirt panels based on my own measurements and worked from there.  The zipper goes up the back and extends a few inches into the skirt.

Feeling a bit exposed?  No worries.  Have a halter collar.  It attaches to the bodice seam with snaps, because I hate commitment.

You know how long this dress actually took me to make?  That's right: approximately 10 hours from start to finish.  So why didn't I actually do it when the bet was fresh in people's minds?  Because my sewing machine was way over in the office...

So, advantage to a studio apartment: no more out of sight, out of mind.  Sewing machine was promptly unpacked, cleaned, doused in liberal amounts of WD40, and put to its intended use.  The bed being in full view from every angle might be a problem though.  To sleep, to sew.  Aye, there's the rub.

At least this year I don't have to worry about what to wear for the 4th.

Moving day(ish)

I'm typing this on my very beat-up (externally) ThinkPad while sitting on the hardwood floor of my new apartment in Long Island City and waiting for the movers to make it in through the New York traffic.  Why?  Because I preceded the cable guy who installed my internet by about 3 hours, and he in turn outstripped the movers.  It's a long story.  At the end of which the only thing I can be sure of is I know where my towel is.  I am a hoopy frood.

I'm also, incidentally, extremely impressed at Blogger's recognition of Hitchhiker's Guide terminology, as there is currently no squiggly line below the phrase "hoopy frood."  Or at least it disappears once I move on to the next paragraph.

Now, we all know the most important thing about my move was that I was headed to New York to start my new career as a pathologist.  We also know that's only partly true.  Since I'm also a yarn addict, the most important part of this move was ensuring the continuation of my rich knitting life.  Well, "rich" is a relative term.  But packing up the crafting closet and the prospect of unpacking it into the confines of a(n admittedly generous-sized, 3-closeted) studio apartment are...daunting to say the least.

Once unpacked, however, it's off to the races.  Or rather, the Ravelry.  Anybody remember the geektastic washcloths of my first residency?  Charts and patterns await just beyond these doors.  Well, this one door.  If the movers ever get here.  With all my stuff.  Relatively intact.

Incidentally, the towel is in the bathroom.  Eventually I shall require a shower curtain.  Right?

Joining the Dark Side

I'm writing this on the fly while an adorable baby takes an incredibly amazingly long after-dinner nap.  Admittedly, since she's a child of the Big Apple and used to traffic noise and loud neighbors since she was a fetus, it probably takes quite a lot to disturb her dreams of eating and snuggling.  Still, not to be an obnoxious hovering fill-in babysitter, I've taken to joining the dark side and finally setting up a Ravelry account.  It was that or, you know, re-enacting "Waiting for Godot."  Cast of one adult plus possibly one hungry/wet/stinky infant.

So in the process of setting up my Ravelry account, I decided to see if I could post a test pattern.  Test pattern in question being newly rejected from Knitty Sand Dollar Cap.  Goodness knows I have no idea if the link works properly or not, so let's give it a go.  Forgive the lack of handy PDF file for download, as that takes a few extra brain cells which I seem to be lacking at the moment.  You might still be able to copy and paste to your favorite word processing document at will, so don't despair.

I leave you this image as a teaser/peace offering.  It's a free pattern, since I'm still working out the kinks of both designing and posting to Ravelry.  Try it at your own risk.  I'm actually quite curious if anybody else can decipher my ramblings.

And now, perhaps, back to the task at hand.