My Own Little Shangri -La

The weather was nice enough today to take a stroll on the little beach across the street. Even though I have lived in Hoboken most of my life some things about this town are still amazing to me: how a song from "Hair" magically plays on my ipod when I pass by the house where that musical was written; that on a nice day I can take a walk down by a beach on the Hudson, and that so many important artists lived in this mile-square city.

So, in honor of our little walk on the beach, I've named this scarf pattern after former Hoboken resident Edgar Allen Poe's short story The Mystery of Marie Roger.



Surely you had to read the story in high school, but did you know the real Marie Roger was fished out of the water not 100 yards from where I am sitting right now, blogging? Poe set his story in Paris, but since he lived in Hoboken for only a short time he didn't get a chance to study the rich and romantic history of the town .



I made this scarf out of about 300 yards of leftover Noro in three different colorways. Because of the unique striping properties of Noro I was finding it hard to come up with something that made good use of the bold colors of the three skeins and looked unified to boot. So, like another Hobokenite, I Did It My Way (but I really did it sideways).

Here's the pattern; it's adapted from Harmony Guide Knit & Purl.

Needles: I used size 10.5 circulars.

Cast on 250 stitches. Yes,that's lot of casting on. I prefer a knitted cast on myself, which gives a more flexible finished edging on a long scarf like this.

Row 1: Purl all
Row 2: Purl all
Row 3: Knit all
Row 4: Knit 2, *slip 1, knit 1. Repeat from *.
Row 5: Knit 1 *Yarn forward, slip one, yarn back, knit 1. Repeat from *; knit 2 at end.
Row 6: Knit 1 *Yarn forward, knit 2 together. Repeat from *.

Repeat these 6 rows until you run out of yarn or until you think the scarf is wide enough. You get a great lacy look without those pesty charts to follow.

Lady Golfers Get Some VD

Valentines Day: not usually a big holiday in this house, except for this year, because this year VD was opening day for Women's Golf.

Now that we have a golf channel, I've been TIVO'n the knitting and craft shows and spent a lot of time on the couch watching the SBS open, which Annika Sorenstam may be winning right now. Annika had a golf injury that is very similar to the knitting injury which sidelined me for several weeks this year, and I am glad to see her back in the saddle again. Annika: my advice to you is to stick with the lightest needles you can use - and here's where those Denise Interchangable Needles are life savers - and take a break every 10 minutes, wear wrist splints at night and...oh, wait.

And just in time, with Project Runway finishing up in a few weeks, is a Golf Channel Reality Show called Big Break Kaanapali. I kind of can't get my head around this one. Is it sexploitation or actual golf? Will any Manolo be featured? Will Kaanapali become as well known as Mood Fabrics? From the looks of the promos, this show should be sponsored by that Title Nine sports bra but we will see.

Judgemental

There is clever knitting and there is ill-concieved knitting.

Trouble's post showed some very good knitting. You should read her post, there at the link on the left. But here is the link to the clever, artful knitting.

And then there is the woefully ill conceived knitting.


I love a nice glass of wine at the end of the day, but not enough to knit a scarf for it. Many thanks for this picture to a Gentle Reader, who suggested that this is what we might knit if we had no family or friends.

Coast to Coast Chicas Picantes

Well, yes, I went with Emily to see the Spice Girls on Sunday night. I could tell you all about it, and maybe even dance a few beats, but Perez Hilton was there too, sort of. But even though he was in LA, and I was in Newark New Jersey, I say: ditto to what he said.

There was a Girl Power moment I'd like to share with you, dear reader: with the exception of one handicapped acessible toilet on the first floor, all the men's rooms at the arena had been turned into Women's Rooms. There were no lines, and plenty of toilet paper for all.

Somebody Really Wanted Her Picture on The Internet

That somebody is My Sister Mrs. Sacco here, doing her best to model the Mermaid Sock.

I worked on this sock while I was a part of Trouble's posse yesterday at the radio show, but alas you couldn't see the brilliant progress I was making on it. Or, how good I looked, but thanks those of you who noticed. I guess I have the kind of face that looks good on radio.

The knit off, actually between Trouble and the host, was quite violent and you are lucky you didn't see it in hi-def or in person. During most of the show I was the doula for a woman sitting next to me who was turning her first heel. For the other part of the show, I was trying to discretely spit out a piece of chocolate that I think was bacon flavored. It's hard to knit and gag at the same time. For all you SnB fans, I will tell you that Debbie Stoller casts on one needle at a time, just like the rest of us.

Well, if you are in the mood for a quick knit that looks waaaaaay harder than it is, I'd recommend the Mermaid sock. You get all the glam of entrelac with none of that pesty counting or turning. Once I wrestled it off Mrs. Sacco's head, John took another picture.

Radio Trouble

Okay, okay, I know listening knitting on the radio is like listening to a ventriloquist program on the radio. How do you know if their needles are knitting - or if their mouths are moving - when you can't see it on your 98 inch plasma screen? In any event, I will be cheering on Trouble this Friday evening as she challenges Debbie Stoller to some kind of knitting duel this Friday at 6. You can find out how to listen at home and on the Wide World of Web here.

Since we upgraded our cable, I've been watching what I realize now are long ago re-runs of Knitty Gritty along with reruns of golf tournaments from years gone by. There are a lot of similariites: in the hair for example. I love Vickie Howell's 'do, even if it is three years old. I also like golfer Ian Poulter's spiky and sassy hair. There is that same level of static tediousness that I so enjoy too in watching both on TV.

If we had a split screen, well, that would be heaven.

6 More Weeks According to a Rodent

Groundhog's Day is a tough one for knitters. Certainly, by the end of January I can hardly stand one more episode of wrestling with the zipper on my winter coat, and even the incredibly adorable Calorimetry gives me hat hair. But hell, I bought about a million dollars worth of very woolly yarn last week, so I will make the best of the next six weeks.