Strange things happen at 3am

Remember that cold that I had back in Edinburgh? The one I thought I’d left behind? Well, I guess it got lonely. It started with a runny nose, then a sore throat, and then this morning around 2am my right ear decided to join the party. I don’t know why I have such bad travel karma. I get sick in Edinburgh and then high off of Dutch cold medicine, then there was the fiasco with the train, the trip to London that never really happened, arriving in Italy a day early and scrambling to find a hotel or hostel that spoke English. Not to mention all of the other random crap that has happened. This is even worse than when I was in Canada—My flight out was canceled because of the FAA computer crash, then my luggage was lost, I developed pityrisasis rosea, which completely freaked out my pregnant co worker. She refused to work with me for a couple of days, then wouldn’t go within 20 feet of me until it went away. We got two flat tires, then I had 12 hours of delays on the way back. Why do I have such bad luck when I travel? Who did I piss off and what do I have to give them to make it better?

So anyway, I was up at two am because I was both wide awake and exhausted. What do you think I did for an hour and a half to tire myself out?



This is a Turkish rib, and it will eventually be part of a tank top. For some reason, I can manage a right side row of p1, k2, and a wrong side row of p3, k1, but I kept screwing up the k2 p2 for the mistake rib/Medusa scarf. But hey, it’s called a Mistake Rib for a reason, right? I figure it adds character. The knitting part of that is finished, by the way, I just need to weave in some ends and then I can post the finished piece.

I don’t know where my brain goes when I’m sick, but it sure is amusing:



“Marienne, where did you get that yarn? You didn’t go robbing the weavers, did you?”

“No, of course not, Robin. Do you remember that hideous surcoat Guy of Gisborn was wearing when we caught him last week?”

“Yes. We sent him home naked because of it.”

“Well, I frogged it. I’m making you a sweater.”

“Oh. Okay. Just don’t do anything too fancy.”

“But I just found a stitch pattern for bows!”

“…”

“It’ll be cute, I promise!”

“What kind of bows are we talking about here?”

I totally want to go home and get my old fiberglass target tips and knit myself a sweater now. If I manage to volunteer at my old shooting camp this summer, maybe I’ll bring it along and do it then. I’m sure everyone will get a kick out of it.

I also spent a lot of time this morning thinking about what music I want to play at the show. I’m going to take some of the lyrics and embroider them on “filler” panels. The music I’ve picked out so far is “One World” and “Someday” by Celtic woman (“The Prayer” might also end up in there too), “Summer Planet no 1” by Two Mix, Kuraki Mai’s “Always Give My Love,” if I can find an MP3 of it, “Size Matters” by Natasha Beddingfield, “Where is the Love” by the Black Eyed Peas, and what I think is a great theme song for this project, “Land of Confusion” by Disturbed.

I know, it seems kind of random, until you listen to the chorus: “This is the world we live in/These are the hands we’re given/Use them and let’s start trying/To make it a place worth living in.” Isn’t that just great for crafting for peace?

If you have any more suggestions on music, drop me a line!

So much to do, so little time

Here we have the Canada scarf, which is what I was working on all through Thanksgiving break. I finished it this afternoon, just in time for the chilly walk from the dorm to the B&E, which might as well be across town, seeing as it is three blocks away and it is cold.

Stats:
Times Frogged: 0
Yarn: some cheap acrylic (think Red Heart) that I inherited when the mother-in-law of one of my dad's friends died (seriously, anyone need crap yarn? I got two trashbags of the stuff, and even I like it, it would qualify me for S.A.B.L.E--Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy). On the bright side, I used up almost two whole skanes on this scarf.
Needles: US 7/5mm steel straights (inhereted from my Canadian grandmother. That was actually not planned...)
The How-To: The way this all started was I had a full, but slopy, skane of red yarn that I wound up on my ball winder. It was one of those big skanes, so I had to make it into two balls. I knit up the first ball, planning to make a time-killer scarf (to later be donated to charity), when I thought, this is going to be awfully short. I should put another color in the middle. Of course, I thought white, because it was the only coordinating color I had enough of in my stash. And when you have red, white, and red, of course you need a maple leaf! I looked a pictures of the Canadian flag I had, and charted out the graphic in Excel. Most of the scarf is garter stitch, but I used stockinette for the maple leafe. The worst part was that I'd drawn the pattern right side up, but I had to knit it sideways. To keep track, I typed a p or a k over each column, to denote whether it was a knit side or purl side for the leaf. Then, as I did each row, I'd fill in the empty space on the computer with v or ^, coinciding with the direction I was working.


The scarf is 26 stitches wide, with a two stitch border on each side of the leaf. It' about six feet long. Maybe seven-ish. I haven't measured, but it's about as long as a twin bed.

It has yet to be blocked, and clashes horribly with my light blue coat, but I adore it anyway (even if it is made out of red heart). Sorry, Salvation Army. You missed out on this one.

I'm planning a hat to go with it that is based on the Quebec flag. ^^

~~~

I've been slow in updating because my computer is in the shop. I expect it back around Wednesday of next week. With no internet to keep me busy, I've been doing a lot of reading, knitting, and drawing.


This is a drawing of one of my avatars from the site GaiaOnline. Nina, as I like to call her, is from the Village Hidden in the Yarn. More artwork concernig her and her adventures (including the battle of the Soul Sucking Scarf of DEWM) are forthcoming.

The drawing is a combination of Micron, Copic, and Sharpie markers on skech paper.

Currently on the needles: the back of the Kimono sweater; top down hat; scented, embroidered, and beaded kerchief;
In storage: Never ending skirt
In planning: European Union scarf, Quebec Hat, Slythern scarf, comic strips