Audio Knitting

A Book Review "Bag of Bones" by Stephen King.

I love to listen to books on "tape" . Of course now days it's no longer tapes but all digital, just provide your credit card and click here and click there in in a few minutes the whole book downloads to iTunes. Then plug in my little tiny Nano and ear phones on needles and yarn and I'm a happy camper. For me this is even better than going to a movie, it's like the old time Radio Theatre.

I spend hours and hours reading reviews and asking friends and participate in discussion boards asking for book recommendations. Audible.com is my favorite source, they have a system where they rate the book according to the customers ratings and reviews. Brilliant, that way you can see how many people have rated this book and truly get a sense of what is popular out there. I like popular books because I'm sort of an average kind of person and my theory is if all those people liked it there must be something worth reading. Some times I get proven wrong but most of the time my system works.

I also have a system of picking a book for the reader. A great book can be ruined if you don't happen to like the reader for whatever reason the book is ruined. The tone of voice might be irritating to you a fake accent continuously mispronouncing names and places etc. One of Stephen King's favorite readers suffered a motorcycle accident and was not able to continue reading so Stephen King decided to read his own book. This fascinated me and even though I am not a Stephen King fan but I was curious I downloaded Bag of Bones.

Bag of Bones (Unabridged)
By: Stephen King

Av. Customer Rating: (4.26 based on 627 ratings)
Program Type: Audiobook (Fiction); Unabridged
Narrator: Stephen King
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2001
Length: 23 hours and 49 min.

Based on the Star Ratings from Audible others liked this also.

What a terrific listen, I'm not sure I loved the book but I loved Stephen King's performance. It seemed to me that this was a subject he was very familiar with "autobiographical" and he certainly had the "accents" and the characters down to a "T". Stephen King is a great reader, who knew.

My Neck's Best Friend

Nothing new here but my own spin on it. A great stash buster and I can display some of my great buttons from my button collection.

The only problem has been that as soon as I show one to somebody they want it so I keep making more of them.

Ellen Bloom called me a "genius" ...... nothing I invented just adding a few banana touches.




A word about Buttons:



Somebody wrote me an eMail and asked if she should keep her buttons she inherited from her grandmother "carded"?
I am by no means an expert, but when I have asked some real button "nuts" they have conventions etc. they say that the cards are very important. So if you want to keep their value as a collectible keep them on the cards, as with any collectible the more original you can keep it the more the value.

However, for me I don't care about the collectible value, I just love to play with them sort them touch them and once in a while use them on a project.

I have a great deal of fun looking through the buttons for a project I am working on. In my opinion a button can make the outfit. If I put a fabulous button on a sweater even if the yarn or the sweater is not so fabulous it becomes fabulous. The button sets the tone.

Greatest invention since sliced bread....

That is if you knit socks with double pointed needles. One of the challenges of transporting sock knitting using 5 sharp double pointed needles has been in how to "corral" the needles for transport. I did invent one made of two large thimbles with a hole punched in the middle of each and I knotted a piece of elastic and the two thimbles just sort of capped the needles. This method was kind of ok but I kept misplacing the gadget.

I see others have had the same problem, and finally somebody invented this great gadget:


available: http://www.nancysknitknacks.com/dp_wip_tubes.htm

Merry Christmas

I'm lost in Ravelry

If you are a knitter and have been following any knitting sites out there you have probably heard of ravelry.com (if you are a member check me out my user name is bananaknits)

I heard about it from my friend Ellene Warren user name on ravelry is yarnartist. I tried to check it out but it said that it was still in beta and you have to have an account to log in and when you try to register they tell you that you will be on a waiting list. A friend of mine signed up a few days ago and he is number 63,640 and there are 8,688 people ahead of him and 530 people behind him according to their very clever up to date "waiting list checker".

So that means that people are flocking to raverly.com by the hundreds each day to sign up. This is growing by leaps and bounds. Knitting and Crocheting outnumbers the golfers in the U.S. so it is a huge hobby population. And knitters are usually gadget sort or people like to follow impossible sets of very detailed directions therefore knitters in my opinion have very early on started using computers and the internet. Myself included, blogging, chat rooms sharing pictures, yarn suggestions, events etc.

A few days ago, after putting my name on a waiting list almost 2 months ago, I finally received my coveted Ravelry invite. I have been spending every spare moment clicking here and clicking there, gathering friends, posting projects, answering messages comparing the same project made by others etc. It seems endless, I even made a connection with a young mother from Hungary. I have been spending hours and hours lost on ravelry, chatting posting meeting new friends hours and hours of entertainment.

For those of you out there who have no idea what this is...... It's a social network service for knitters and crocheters. The site is put together nicely, and who ever the web master and the genious that thought it up was very clever. You create an account with a user name mine is "bananaknits" and I was very happy that the name was still available. I have seen a couple of others using my favorite nick name but I have bananaknits.com but I digress......you create a profile, list your projects, both current and past, whether they were completed, project details such as yarn type/amount used, any alterations, etc. While this is a cool way to easily keep all of your project info in one place (it also includes a queue section where you can list potential future projects available online or in print formats), the fun comes in when you see how this info is shared.

Fellow knitters, can search projects by name or location, and the site will list people who have completed the same projects as you. How cool is that? You can view any user's page and you thus have access to what groups they belong to, projects, yarns available for trade or sell, their queue, and their blog activity if they have linked their blog. And much more I'm still discovering neat features..... so if you're a knitter check it out and put your name on the waiting list.

Overall, I think the site is pretty awesome and the word is out, what better advertisement than word of mouth. Kudos to the inventors!

Helter Skelter Lace

I call it "Helter Skelter Lace" because it's my own lace design because I just don't have the patience to follow charts and keeping track etc. So I made up my own pattern top down raglan same old and added some "holes" or if you want to be technical yarn overs.



I'm knitting as fast as I can but I keep getting sidetracked by http://www.ravelry.com

Love this new (new to me) online knitting community hours and hours of knitting fun.

New Yarn and another UFO

I got new yarn! Yippie!

My good friend Ellen and I met up at a yarn sale last Friday and wow, I got new yarn!

I heard about this "garage sale" over on Palms which is fairly close to my house but I was trying so hard not to buy more yarn because my stash runneth over. But Ellen "twisted" my arm, it wasn't that hard to convince me. I'm thrilled with my new purchase and it was wonderful to see Ellen ....... and she had a present for me ........ more yarn!

What could be better? I came home and immediately dropped my Ouchi project which is kind of looking like a sack and started a new sweater. Another UFO in the unfinished pile, I'll just let it rest and maybe it will get better with time.

100% Alpalca and it's light as a feather and feels like a cloud!

After the first wearing it started stretching which I totally planed so here it is on the dummy after the "strectch".

Thank you Ellen. I love the new yarn!

I know a "swatch" is supposed to have more rows knitted but for me this is enough. I can tell how many stitches to start with. I'm knitting the same exact sweater but I think this one will have longer sleeves. Top down on large needles ...... and increase with yarn overs to give it a lacey look at the raglan sleeve join.

Mommie Dearest...

I'm so weak it is a major effort to type so if I make some mistakes please forgive me. She did it again and this time she almost succeeeded to kill me. I don't even know where to start, all I can tell you that it's been hell.

I am sick as a dog (excuse the pun) actually I am a dog and I am sick sick sick. It's my tummy I have the "runs" as humiliating as that is to write about but yes sir I have the shits to put it bluntly. She almost took me to the doctors to torture me further but decided that she would wait until I was almost dead. First my brother had the problem and yes he pooped all over and my human brother even stepped in it late at night. I laughed my head off but as you know payback's a bitch. The next thing I know I have it.

I pooped all over the house the runny kind that I managed to scatter all around. It was hell, I lost my appetite and was lethargic and just generally sick. SHe was all pissed at ME! If you can believe that. SHe was blaming me for pooping on the carpet. Well I am a dog and I can't reach the toilet! And besides the carpet is much nicer on my tender little paws. After all I am sick!

Then I find out what the problem was......SHebought CAT food instead of DOG food. Dry kibble type of CAT food that both my brother and I hated and refused to eat. Do you know what SHe did? SHe mixed it up with some delicious turkey breast meat so we were forced to eat it. I knew it SHe has been trying torture me from the very beginning and now I have proof!

SHe claims that SHe did not notice until now, what is she blind? The bag had a cat drawing and feline written all over it for goodness sake. The only consolation I have is that SHe had to clean up the mess. (payback's a bitch) First thing in the morning poop all over it was great! SHe was gagging! And as weak as I was I laughed and giggled as she scrubbed and sprayed and washed and cursed.

So that is how my thanksgiving holiday was, I am thankful to be alive! I do feel much better now I sent her to get new food my favorite kind this time and all is much better but it will take some time for me to forgive her for this one. I will figure out ways to get back at her I always do. I've got to go now I need my rest.

The Bitch.

ps. The Boy is still sleeping so he is not able to write anything but I'm sure I have him convinced that "Mommie" is really "Mommie Dearest".

Massaging the Turkey!

It's time to fry the turkey! Last year it was a great success and so now it's a tradition. At least we have all the necessary tools and gadgets, yes including the "mechanics" wire and wire cutters, the peanut oil the outdoor professional gas burner and the bird and various other necessary tools.

Here is detailed instructions if you care to do this crazy thing.
http://www.eatturkey.org/consumer/cookinfo/fryturk.html

The reason I love this so much besides the taste is that I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to put the turkey in the oven. Frying turkeys takes about an hour give or take depending on the size of the bird. Approx 5-6 minutes per pound, we like it well done so we do 6-7 minutes. It's hard to maintain the frying temperature even. But all this effort is well worth it. It is starting to smell so good that I'm almost tempted to fry my turkey tonight!

Why you ask am I doing this on Wednesday when Thanksgiving is not until Thursday? We are feeding our Police officers at our Pacific Division Police Station. The Citizen Advisory Board members organize each year and it's a great hit with the officers and the participants. Just a small thank you to our officers who protect us from the bad guys.

Ouch!

I got new yarn, and I don't know about you but when I get new yarn I can hardly wait to get going and try and make something. I suppose I'm doing this all backwards, I should have a project in mind then go out and find suitable yarn. I got this on sale and maybe it was on sale for good reason..... it is not as wonderful as it seemed to be...... but I bought it because the colors were fun and Brandi at Stitches from the Heart gave me a good deal on the bag of yarn.



Just like my mother used to buy the buttons first and then design to suit them. Her theory was that it was so difficult to find good buttons and much easier to find material to suit the buttons. When I was growing up all of my clothing was custom made, tailored. Simply because ready made clothing was just not available.

The yarn is Noro, "Knitting Fever"


Description Ouchou 70% silk 15% wool and 15% nylon....

I loved the last "top down" sweater and the "Queen Ann's Lace" edging I decided to do it again.
Cast on 60 sts. place my markers and the new project is launched.


This yarn is not smooth there are a lot of twigs reminiscent to the recycled yarn from Nepal. Lots of little knots tied together which I hate I usually want the knots placed in a not so visible spot. The more I look at this yarn the more I think that this is the same recycled silk and not new silk. The last project I made out of the Sari recycled silk stuff did not hold up well. I'm hoping this does not happen to this sweater.

Ouch my fingers hurt, this is not a comfortable knit, it hurts my fingers no wonder they named it ouchou.


I had such a good time listening to "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon while finishing the last project I decided to continue the saga. I downloaded "Dragonfly in Amber" which is the next book in the series, from Audible and started out with lots of energy and I was a happy camper/knitter.

Outlander was 32 hours of listening and the narrator is a great reader with a pleasant voice and great acting and the story was interesting enough. After a while it got a bit tedious in my opinion a bit of editing could have been helpful but it was interesting enough that I gave it 3 stars in my rating system 5 stars being up there with the I loved it category.

So I figured ok the same story continued would be ok. Dragonfly in Amber is 38 hours of listening...... same reader, nice voice but....... this one too gets a bit tedious. I especially enjoyed the beginning the first 10 hours or so but now it's starting to repeat and I'm starting to visualize the hero as a Fabio romance novel gone Scottish red hair big muscle hunk. But the Fabio part that is starting to get on my nerves......

The sweater too is starting to get tedious the book is the same over and over again and the knit is round and round hurts my fingers never ends......... my goodness this Diana Gabaldon is really obsessed with this subject, I can't imagine how she could write this stuff. The more I listen the more I think it's one of those books referred to as a "romance" with Fabio on the cover with flowing long hair in period costume holding a voluptuous woman with lots of sex and sword fighting.

Maybe I need to give both the project and the book a rest. I do have more yarn and other projects to finish and yes lots of preparation and cooking for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Finished at last!

Now that I'm looking at this picture it really does not do justice to how nice this project turned out. It fits very nicely and feels wonderful. Mercerized cotton has that sheen and the lace weight yarn gave it a wonderful drape.

This Blue Heron cotton yarn was a really smooth knit and a comfortable knit and the size 4 needle fit my hands well. Not all yarn knits comfortably I find and I can not tell until I'm actually knitting with it and spending some time not just a swatch or two. I prefer a smaller needle and lighter weight yarn, it seems to suit my hands best. Larger needles and thicker yarn does not fit my hands as well and I find it tires my hands even though the project finishes much faster. Often other knitters say the exact opposite that small needles hurt their hands.

I added a crochet edge, I just feel like the edge of certain knitted garments do not look finished unless I do a crochet edge. So crochet I did all the way around the bottom the sleeves and this lacy edge in the front.



Overall I am very pleased with this "top down" knit cardigan and I just hope it will hold up after laundering. I've worn it two days in a row and have had lots of compliments at my LYS. Some of my knitting friends have been watching me work on this for the last two months or so, lots of little stitches and not to talk about the frogging it took me a bit longer than I like. Although this was not the only project I've been working on.

My friend Kathy Silverton happened to see me both the days and the second day she remarked that I'm wearing the same sweater to which I answered "I love it so much I'm never wearing anything else." There were several ladies sitting around the big "knitting" table who have heard me say this about almost every garment I've worn that I made. They just smiled and chuckled. There was however a lady I did not know and she looked at me in amazement and that nobody batted and eyelash at this bold statement. I quickly explained to her that I say this about every project. She too gave me a little giggle.

Admire your work often!

I have been knitting and knitting these small stitches endlessly..... I decided to try it on my dummy and see how it was coming along deciding that I'm almost there. So I snap a couple of pictures for the "meticulous" records I keep and I turn the dummy around and......


I could not believe my eyes! Right in the front, not even in a spot that I could possibly live with but smack in the middle of "front and center"

Dropped stitches!
Not one or two but three!
Not a couple of rows ago but inches and thousands of stitches ago!
All garter stitch and I could not pick them up, I tried and tried....

How could I have done this and not notice?????


I have said this many many times to new knitters and yet I did not take my own advice!

I HATE when this happens but "oops I did it again"

The project is a top down raglan sleeve little sweater. The yarn I'm using is "Blue Heron" Mercerized Cotton. Love this yarn! I've made several projects from Blue Heron last summer I could not get enough of this stuff.

Amano yarn store had a very nice stock and I also bought some at the Fiber Festival at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. The color is "kelp" actually looks a lot like seaweed similar to some other items I've knit I must like this color I keep getting it.

There is a 1,000 yards to a hank and I have two. Much more than I need for this project but we'll see what I can do with the left overs. I love the the silky smooth feel and shine of mercerized cotton and the garment it knits is really nice.

This was the last of my Blue Heron booty so I decided to knit a top down cardigan should be an easy knit and I'll just keep increasing until it fits. That is the nice part about top down knitting you can try it on and adjust your stitch count and make adjustments as you go. This is the guide I "loosely" followed. A very old formula but it works! Once I realized the simplicity of it I don't have to do much math, when you start seeing the logic of the stitch count you realize that all you have to do is get a gauge and the measurement and stitch markers and lots of knitting.

Then I decided to increase along the front also so my stitch count is growing rapidly, I love lots of stitches and the weight of this yarn. I'm using a size 4 circular needle and happily knitting along. Periodically I would knit it on to a 60" circular so I can try it on.

The Knit Pick's Options needles and multiple lengths is perfect for this job. But I got lazy and quit trying it on and sure enough there is a dropped stitch that I just can not pick up it is too far gone. Sh.....t!

Now I have to frog! Hours and hours of knitting.....So many stitches so much knitting...... ouch! and I have to go back! I was so close to finishing. Boo hoo! Oh well here it goes another lesson learned, how many times do I have to learn this lesson?

I've traced it back to knitting with a bunch of friends over at Stitches from the Heart yarn store. My favorite knitting hang out. Big table to sit around always fun people to gossip with and the conversation must have been so good that I was not paying attention to what I was doing.

Most of the time I pick out a project that is a "no brainer" to knit when I'm out because paying attention to counting or anything complex is hard when you are half paying attention. So again another lesson learned.



what is mercerized cotton?
Sometimes referred to in the crafts as pearl or pearle cotton. It is cotton yarn or fabric which has been put through a series of processes, primarily to increase luster. The added desirable water handling properties gained are a secondary bonus.
(want to read more? click here)

About wars......

Another anniversary..... we must never forget the pain and misery war is....

I have chased, clipped and felted and felted

I have been soooo busy torturing wool and felting that I've not had time to blog.

I finally chased down the sheep, cut their hair, beat the wool and voila my new hat.


(Well I could have. ;-) ........in reality I bought roving @ Amano the closes store carrying roving and wet felted the basic hat and just to give it a nice touch I needle felted the edges with Koigu wool sock yarn that I had left over from a pair of socks.




This is a combination Halloween and / invited to an afternoon tea hat.

I was invited to the annual Honoring the Volunteers Afternoon Tea at Stitches from the Heart. The invitation said for us to wear our best hats for the formal tea. Shish I don't have a "formal tea" hat! I don't go to that many afternoon tea parties especially ones that ask to wear a formal tea hat. As a matter of fact I can not remember the last one I was invited to. So I decided to make a new hat.

I'm looking forward to this event at Kathy Silverton's home, my fun roommate from the "Sea Socks" cruise we went on earlier this year. We had so much fun and enjoyed the cruise that we are planning another knitting cruise. But I digress.... The cruise is next year so I have plenty of time to write about the fab places we will be visiting to gather more wool.

As I was "sculpting" this hat it came to me that maybe I could combine the two events Halloween/Afternoon tea. It's almost Halloween and Ellen always has a wonderful costume and party at the original Farmer's Market and this year I want to make a costume and go visit and have fun with the fun bunch of knitters at the Farmer's Market.








Can you guess who I'm going to be?
clue she lived to the ripe old age of 101 and wore these great hats......

Nuno Felt Purse

Mongolian Felt Making