Negative Feedback Loop

So, there's this one female cardinal that has wintered in the woods behind our house for several years now. It looks like a perfectly ordinary female cardinal, the right coloring, feathers all correctly aligned, etc. The thing is, I'm pretty sure it has permanent brain damage. Every year, without fail, we hear this TWACKing a the living room window every couple days. At first we weren't sure what was causing it, and then, one day, I spied a female cardinal ramming herself into the window. Clearly, she saw her reflection, thought it was another cardinal, and was fighting for territory. OK, we thought, it's annoying now, but eventually she'll figure out that it's a window, not another bird, and stop trying to give herself a concussion.

Well, it's been a few years since then, and the cardinal is still ramming herself against the window. We've all come to the conclusion that this is an exceptionally stupid cardinal, and all secretly hope that one day it'll whack itself a little too hard. But I recently came up with a new theory: Negative Feedback Loop. It's like this: the cardinal thinks there's another bird in her territory, so she attacks, only to ram her head into our living room window. She doesn't pick up on the fact that it's a window very quickly (she's a cardinal, after all), so keeps doing it. Pretty soon, she's rammed her head into the window so much that she's actually damaged her brain, so she can't figure out that it's a window, not a bird. So, she keeps ramming herself into the window, and damaging her brain even more. It's a vicious cycle.

In other news, somehow, without fail, every night, my bed ends up looking like this:



and I have to clean all of it off if I want to sleep. I really try to not pile junk on my bed, but it just happens. This is one reason why my bed's lofted at Miami: no piles of junk (on the bed that is, there are certainly piles of junk on the desk, chair, ottoman, and dresser, but those would have happened with or without loft).

I finished experimenting with navajo ply a week or so ago, see:


I'm currently plying another mini-skein (the one pictured is about 10g, 16yds, worsted or DK). The current one is also navajo ply, mainly because if I did a 2-ply it would turn out laceweight, and 3-ply it's a light fingering, so I might be able to use it for mini-socks. I'm quite proud of being able to spin lace-singles on my fourth go, even if it's not entirely even yet (I'm working on it).

Also, I finished the first sock of my epic Zauberball stripes. Go ahead, be jealous. Who wouldn't want socks this awesome?

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So long, 2010

As you could sort of tell, I've been rather busy, with no time really to think (that's a lie, by the way - all I was doing was thinking... and writing papers, and final lab reports, and studying for finals, well, you get the idea), let alone blog. You've already seen my obsession with mini-sweaters, so here's a look at what I knit up to the plane ride home:
Starting in the top left, working down and left to right:
Ishbel Remnants: Mini-sock, for PrincessOnica
Traveling Scarf section, the outer cable from Hera
Purple: Turn a Square in purple Patons Classic Wool; Ethan's Christmas present
Hands of Wooly Goodness: Mittens for Dad in steely blue Patons for Christmas.
More mini-sweaters...
Nottingham: Hat for myself. I love it
Miami Mitts: They're freaking awesome. Need
I say more? The []_[] is duplicate stitch.
Zigzag: Cowl for Mom for Christmas in a burgundy heather Patons.
Then, I got home, and started knocking out WIPs left and right (with an occasional small project for pacing purposes... or for making-Aqua-even-more-adorable purposes...):

Again, starting at the top left, working left to right and down:
SHROOMS!: I made a mushroom... "^^
Mini-socks, for a swap.
The Thing: A mini-shawl for Aqua.
The Right Side of the []_[]: Worsted weight socks. Wearing them now.
Blue Marl: Lovely shrug, to keep me warm in Cox (where I'll be living next semester)
Hourglass: The second pair of from a failed Arithmancy OWL. They're awesome.
Exams: Plain vanilla socks that gave my gauge issues... (we won't talk about that).

Speaking of The Thing:

For Christmas I got a Turkish spindle, plus a bunch of roving. I've been experimenting. The obviously-worse mini-skein was my first, using pre-drafting. The second skein is when I figured out how to draft while the spindle was spinning.
Right now I'm working on my third mini-skein: the single is done (and much thinner and more consistent), and I'm navajo plying (which is great fun). The only problem I'm still having is how to fix yarn when it breaks - I've resorted to spit-splicing, which I know isn't right, but I don't know what else to do at this point.
This morning I unpinned another Ishbel, made with Alina Shea Creations Waxing Moon in Royal Ravenclaw. I looooooooove it! And snow is an ideal picture-taking medium.
I've finally gotten to my ball of Crazy Zauberball, and am making some epic striped socks out of it. See toe here:
I get to see a bunch of HPKCHC people tomorrow, which is super-exciting, and I fly back to Miami a week after that. Break has sure gone by fast.
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Zimmer-minis


Adapted from:
Alison Hansel in Charmed Knits
Elizabeth Zimmermann in Knitting Without Tears


It started with a gift. One, simple gift, from my friend Blaire for Christmas. It wasn’t much, but the fact was, she had gone through the effort of making me a bag of granola, and I hadn’t done squat for her. So I picked up my copy of Charmed Knits, and proceeded to make her a mini-sweater.
Three hours later, I had finished, and I was very frustrated with all of the seaming, all the ends I had to weave in, and all the little pieces and complicated joining. I knew that, if I could make these little sweaters in a seamless fashion, they would be so much more fun. So I picked up my copy of Knitting Without Tears, had it open alongside Charmed Knits on my desk, and began to merge Elizabeth Zimmermann’s brilliant seamless sweater recipes with the proportions from Alison Hansel’s little sweaters. And I couldn’t stop making them for a week.
Be warned: while these sweaters take out the seaming aspects, they make the knitting itself much more complicated (there’s a bit of short rows and quite creative grafting involved). If you would rather keep the knitting itself plain and simple, and seam quite a bit, go with Alison Hansel’s pattern. But if you want to try your hand at some Elizabeth Zimmermann brilliance, dive right in. But beware! They’re highly addictive!

Needles: Whatever you use to knit on the round, US5/3.75mm if you’re using DK or worsted, US3/3.25mm if you’re using sport or fingering, or whatever size you’re comfortable with for your yarn.
Yarn: 25yd/m, 10g of whatever you have lying around :), 1yd/m of contrasting color for letter
Gauge: Does it really matter? They’re mini-sweaters.
Notions: Waste yarn, scissors, tapestry needle, stitch markers (locking or split ring if making hybrid)

Abbreviations: I use Knitty’s List of Standard Abbreviations
S2KP: sl2 as if to K2tog, K1, psso the two slipped sts over the K st together.


For all variations:
Body
CO 28sts. Join in a round, being careful not to twist.
K 14 rounds.
Put on waste yarn.

Sleeves (make 2)
CO 12sts.
Work 2x2 rib for 4 rounds.
K 10 rounds.
Put on waste yarn.

Joining
Starting at the beginning of the round for the body, K the first 12 sts of the body on to the needle. Put the next 2 sts on a short length of waste yarn. K 10 sts from one sleeve on to the needle. Place the last 2 sts on waste yarn. K the next 12sts from the body onto the needle; put the last 2 body sts on waste yarn. Put the first two sts of the second sleeve on waste yarn. K the last 10 sleeve sts on to the needle. 44 sts total.

Shoulders
Work desired shoulder choice (Yoke, Raglan, Saddle, Hybrid; see below)

Neck
K 3 rounds.
BO loosely.

Finishing
Graft together underarms (this is going to take a little fudging – use your instincts!).
Hybrid only: Graft together shirt yoke on the back.
Weave in ends.
Bottom and neck edges should curl. Sleeve cuffs should be folded over.
Duplicate stitch letter. I fit all my letters in to a 5st wide by 7st tall rectangle.

Shoulder Variations:
Yoke
K 4 rounds.
Round 5: *K3, K2tog* five times, K4, *K3, K2tog* three times
Round 6: *K2, K2tog* five times, K4, *K2, K2tog* three times
Round 7: *K1, K2tog* five times, K4, *K1, K2tog* three times
Neck Shaping: K15, w&t, P5, w&t, K6, w&t, P6, w&t, K11

Raglan

Round 1: *K12, PM, K10, PM* twice
Round 2: *K to 2 sts before marker, SSK, SM, K2tog* four times
Round 3: K
Repeat rounds 2 & 3 once more, then repeat round 2. After you finish the last round, w&t, P14, w&t, K14. K1 round, picking up and knitting the wraps as you go.


Saddle
Round 1: K
Round 2: K 11, K2tog, K8, SSK, K10, K2tog, K8, SSK (the last SSK is going to include the first st of the next round)
Round 3: *K10, SSK, K6, K2tog* twice
Round 4: *K10, SSK, K4, K2tog* twice
Round 5: *K10, SSK, K2, K2tog* twice
Round 6: *K10, SSK, K2tog* twice
First Saddle: K11, SSK, turn, P1, P2tog, turn
Second Saddle: K13, SSK, turn, P1, P2tog, turn, K2
Neck-back: K17, SSK, turn, P6, P2tog, turn, K to end of round.

Hybrid
Round 1: K
Round 2: K10, S2KP (placing marker in this st), *K8, S2KP (placing marker in st)* three times (last S2KP will use first st of next round)
Round 3: K
Round 4: *K to within 1 st of marked st, S2KP* four times (last
S2Kp will use first st of next round)
First Saddle: K to second marked st, SSK, turn, sl1, P to marked st, P2tog, turn
Shirt yoke: BO4, K2, SSK, turn, sl1, P3, *K3, SSK, turn, sl1, P3* three times, BO4
Second Saddle: K to second marked st, SSK, turn, sl1, P to marked st, P2tog,
turn, BO4, K4
Neck Set-up: K4, pick up 4 sts where first saddle is bound off, pick up 6 sts along neck yoke, K4 on second saddle.


Startitis

Friday night, I opted not to set an alarm for the morning, because it was the first time I got to sleep in since September. As a result, I woke up, like any good college student that went to bed at 3AM, at 2:30PM. Since the dining halls stop serving breakfast at 1 (which is perfectly reasonable), and I didn't want oatmeal, I made these:



Well, double these. At this point half were already eaten (mainly by me, but one by Jen). I used this recipe from the Splendid Table, which pretty closely resembles the one I use at home. I also learned how to cut shortening into flour using only your hands (!), very valuable skill, and way faster than the two-knife method (and the pastry cutter method, for that matter). I had to use a little bit of baking know-how, because it was rather humid on Saturday, and instead of slowly adding the milk like I should have, I just dumped the whole thing in, getting a way-too-sticky dough. So I added flour until the right consistency. These were a bit more delicate than the ones I make at home, and I attribute that to the higher moisture content. They were still yummy though (and I made my suite mates, and Robbie, very happy).

Later Saturday, I went grocery shopping with Jen and Robbie (we were initially just dropping Robbie off at his house, because he rode his bike to campus for a leisurely bike ride, when he got a flat tire, leaving him stranded, but then we invited him along to Publix, and he actually did need to pick up a few things, so he tagged along). I had intentions of getting shortening, flour, and peanut butter, and ended up with (in addition to the aforementioned items), honey vanilla chamomile tea, apple cider, and a pomegranate:



The pomegranate is especially exciting, because I haven't had one in two years. They're only in season for a month or two, and I missed them last year because I didn't have a knife to cut one open with. They're my annual treat, and I usually only manage one because they take so long to eat. But I love it (and I loved them before they were popular too! Just like Twilight).

Hourglass is going semi-well. I tried to have the pair done before today, but, well, it just wasn't going to happen. Instead, I'm about halfway through the leg on sock #1 (something tells me I'm not going to get my OWL this term, considering I have a month to make 5.5 socks, two of which are very similar to previous pairs that have taken me a month on their own). It's looking quite nice, and I can't wait to wear them!



And then I started another pair...



Just my standard vanilla sock (JMCO, short row heel, 1x1 rib cuff, invisible BO). I can do this without looking, and it keeps my hands busy when doing lots of reading for all my exams (Seriously, it's like finals, but worse, because during finals, the tests are the only thing you have to worry about. Now I have to worry about tests in all my classes, plus homework and lab write ups at the same time. GAH!). Love the color of the yarn (the yarn itself is meh, mainly because it's being irritating and not letting me get my normal gauge when I knit continental, with means I'll have pierced skin on my index finger if I knit to aggressively...). It's Silky Sock from the Great Adirondack Yarn Company, in Serengetti II.

Oh, and today I cast on some mittens. It's terrible. I have so many WIPs going, it's getting so confusing and clutter-tastic. Must kill pile of WIPs in basket. Getting tangled with all my needles....