Observer Effects

Whilst reviewing my blog stats, I was surprised to see traffic has tripled over the usual, both on new posts and on old posts. Uh, wow. Hello, gentle readers! Thank you for looking around so thoroughly. I hope you're enjoying what you see – and do come again.

The sense of being observed does rather act as a spur to blogging, at least for me. So, gentle readers, here's how far I got on my Morning Walk, which was my project for the Fall Sweater Challenge.



Alas, the verb was is operative. At this point it became apparent there is Not Enough Yarn to complete the project. Further, the lovely yarn, BMFA Targhee Worsted, colorway Vine Ripened Red, is produced in a way that each batch is essentially a one-off. I could order more, but there's little likelihood the new yarn and the old yarn would be compatible – sometimes artisinal yarn from the same dyelot doesn't match, let alone from different batches. When one has been there, done that, there's no need to repeat the experience. Sigh. To the frog pond we go.



Pity. I love the yarn, just need to recondition it and find a more suitable pattern pairing.

Meanwhile, it's the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in the U.S., which is also the traditional start of the winter holiday season of shopping, gift-giving, year-end parties, family gatherings, and religious observances. So let me wish gentle readers a bountiful and blessed T-Day, and see you on the other side.

Destination: Vest

Happy Equinox! Summer temperatures and humidity may linger, but the days are getting noticeably shorter roundabout Exit 151. With Mercury the communicator going direct, it seems only fitting to post a post.

Planetary matters are on my mind today not least because last Friday hometown hero Buzz Aldrin, resplendent in a Destination: Mars T-shirt, was in town. He was third in his class at West Point, was a fighter pilot, holds a PhD from MIT, and is one of the first humans to walk on the moon and is among the first humans to successfully complete a space walk.



In his honor the middle school he attended was rededicated as Buzz Aldrin Middle School. Appropriately, it's a STEM school.



There were many speeches and reminiscences, Buzz led a rousing (?) cheer, and the local bakeshop made astronaut cookies.



Foolishly, I forgot to wear something suitably geeky-patriotic to the ceremony (I have a NASA T-shirt somewhere) and to bring a hat, a bottle of water, and a U.S. flag and so paid the consequences. I may have been unprepared, but others came ready. I saw one well-equipped couple using wire cutters to help themselves to the event posters fastened to the school fence! Aiya.

Woe and alas, that fun Friday segued into a nervous weekend in the NY/NJ region. The current story is a single suspect is responsible for homemade bombs that exploded Saturday morning in Seaside Park and Saturday evening in Chelsea and for a pressure cooker bomb found in Chelsea and five pipe bombs found in Elizabeth later that evening. The manhunt included an ill-advised cell phone alert and, after a shoot out and chase, the capture alive of the suspect. Most people reacted calmly and responsibly, a few not so much. The NJ beaches re-opened, life goes on – albeit a bit more nervously.

At the beginning of this month I signed up for the Fall Sweater Challenge. I assiduously read about the sponsors and how to get points, joined the FSC Ravelry group, selected a pattern, and ordered yarn. And then waited... patiently....

Sigh. Some participants started their projects in August.

It may be crystal clear to others, but I don't quite comprehend the pash of have and have-not hashtags for #FallSweaterChallenge. The hashtags are worth points and the points are worth prizes, although some things worth points don't seem to have a hashtag, and other things that have hashtags don't seem to be worth points. There were supposed to be participant numbers but somewhere along the way the participant numbers got dropped. Same thing with deadlines. Ah well, here goes.

I selected a designated designer pattern, Morning Walk vest by Becky Herrick, and joined the #MorningWalkKAL.



#ipickedyarn: My yarn arrived smelling strongly of vinegar, which made me worry the dye was not fully stable, often a problem with shades of red. So I gave it a bath to rinse out any excess dye. The yarn is #BMFA Targhee Worsted in colorway Vine Ripened Red, shown with some Jersey tomatoes for comparison.



One of the early stated goals of FSC was to flood Rhinebeck with FOs. Oh all right, despite my feeble launch I'll give it a go. Next steps, swatching and beyond to Destination: Vest!

Ravellenics 2014 Recap

Continuing the catch-up: Last month there was a modest amount of Ravellenic crafting roundabout Exit 151. I crocheted three pinky granny hearts to use as hotpads because I was getting sick of all the snow. Which only seemed to encourage more snow to fall the day before Valentine's Day.



I picked at my old Scar socks, which were cast on in ::cough:: September 2007. Since then, there have been many, many attempts to complete them and many, many appearances with the year-end Socks of Shame. Here's where I started this time.



And here's where I finished. One pair = one less UFO, one less Sock of Shame!



That left me contemplating my almost-finished Betty's Tee (front view).



I love the pattern and the yarns, but the combination just wasn't working (back view).



So there was nothing else to do but frog (frogged view).



Thus Ravellenic glory was mine in three events. I claimed my event medals, but didn't bother with the technique medals available. The giant kerfuffle over human rights before the games made me realize I'm on Team Simplify rather than on Team Many Rules. From my perspective the stakes in a knit-along pale in comparison to the stakes in real life geopolitical crises, such as the crisis in Ukraine. Although I do enjoy seeing a Bobicus or three on my blog.



I ordered the 2014 Ravellenics pin, delivery pending. When it arrives, my Games will be complete.

Ready to Roc

I'm getting ready for the Roc Day gathering. The signups are done and the signs are ready.



My 20-yard (18 m) sample skeins for the handspun swap are ready. Erm, well, I didn't have a chance to finish them, so some are a bit pigtailed. They're a favorite fiber, Forbidden Woolery 100% BFL, colorway As You Wish.



Alas, my hemi-handspun vest isn't ready. In fact, she looks pretty much the same as before. Oh well, best of three.



Ready or not, I'm going to Roc!

Ordinary Time

Before the New Year glow of new resolutions and new beginnings wore off, I did a bit of stash neatening. Ordinarily I store handspun yarn and commercial yarn in separate boxes, but in the course of shifting stash from place to place I came across some handspun and some commercial spun that might have been separated at birth and wandered the wide world, only to be reunited in my stash.

Handspun Zarzuela's Fibers Targhee, colorway Swamp Story, and Noro Kureyon, #188

There was just enough of each in stash to together knit up a vest in Brooklyn Tweed-y stripes. Betty's Tee by Tram Nguyen caught my eye. Ordinarily I don't much care for entrelac, but the intriguing construction intrigued.

In the photo the vest in progress has reached the utter confusion stage that entrelac projects sometimes seem prone to – stitch holders (or in this case, circular needles) holding live stitches seemingly everywhere! The knitting wraps around, then tilts and folds – it's an absorbing 3D puzzle, very entertaining.

The spindle that spun the yarn, a three-inch Golding, is included in the photo because someone asked to see it.

One thing I don't like about ordinary entrelac is in order to keep the stitch count correct, the rate at which stitches are picked up usually does not correspond with the ratio of stitch to row gauge, with the result the fabric often puckers. The designer cleverly compensated for this by working wide ribs that wrap and hug the torso rather like the psoas muscle. I think the diagonal bias drape of the entrelac blocks will be superb, with just enough but not too much stretch.

Some who have made the vest have complained about fit issues, in particular an overly wide and deep v-neck and a too-short body. I'm not concerned about length (at least not at the moment), but clothes barely hanging on (or off) my shoulders fidgets me to no end. I'm pondering neckline modifications as I go.

With any luck, I'll have a hemi-handspun vest to wear for the Roc Day gathering. If you're in the area, hope to see you there!