Basil Kitty Likes Knits

Kaleidoscape Ready for Testing!

Whew. It was a long long road, but today I finished the schematic, and prepared the pattern for testing.
After it is in the hands of the testers, I can move on to my beaded lace shawl design, among other things.
(If you wish to be a tester, please contact me at otterwise (AT) gmail (DOT) com.)

Steampunk MAC

For this, I would switch from PC to Mac in a millisecond.
FULL STORY HERE

Old Friends

This Sunday we celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. My brother Kelly, his wife Dawn and their son Robert did much of the work, I just filled in the edges a bit. Kenny and his daughters helped too. Ron would have helped but he is in Alaska with Lori and Maddie but they were well-represented by Liz, Tucker and wee Levi :-}.
Dad had a very good time, I think. Kelly had put together a slideshow dvd with old family photos, many of which mom had forgotten we had since they had been in the box so long.
The party was a special treat for me, because circumstances meant my cousins Lisa and Brent and their families could come (they were up at the lake that weekend). I hadn't seen them for more than a dozen years. Even more special, my Aunt Linda was there! After she and my uncle split, I saw her much less often, especially as my travels took me to Japan and California. She was a very important part of my childhood, and often swept me away to spend time with her and the kids in the summers :-}. I don't know how long it had been since I'd seen her face, but she stayed in touch with Mom all along. It was SO good to see Linda, Lisa and Brent, to meet Brent's kids and see Lisa's Tony again. Talk about some terrific hugging :-} I dearly hope we all see each other again soon.
Yesterday despite the horrible heat (the heat index was up around 110 degrees F) and still feeling a bit tired and worn out from Sunday,  I felt strongly that Oscar and I should go to the Farmer's market near the post office here in Ypsilanti. It was hot but we picked up some lovely herbs and some Dragon Tongue green speckled beans and best of all, ran into another dear friend. We hadn't seen much of the PTD crowd since I got sick several years ago, mostly because my health kept me away from being able to make commitments. I missed them very much. And yesterday, one of my favorite people was there at one of the booths! We were able to stop and chat and hug the stuffings out of Dennis, and I am sure he passed our love on to the rest. We made tentative plans to meet for a grilled backyard supper soon. I can hardly wait :-}.
I am determined to take it easy both physically and mentally today. Oscar has mentored learning, and I plan to sit and read books simply for pleasure, rather than review. I have a used Kindle that came with lots of lovely books. It also contains one of my favorite series, the Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters.
I am starting with Crocodile on the Sandbank and going forward from there. Another old friend to keep me company today as I recover from Sunday and yesterday's activities. :-}
I will also be knitting a bit should reading pall. Kelly, Dawn and Robbie picked up a big bag o' yarn for me at a rummage sale (dickering them down to $3!). Much of it is acrylic which is very popular with charity, and in the midst of that was a bag of odds and ends of cotton 'dishcloth' yarn. I love hand knitted washcloths, particularly if they have a smooth stockinette side. Some of my skin is very tender and easily abraded and those type of cloths are safe to use. I will have a lot of fun making a 'motley crew' of wash cloths (photos later after they are done.) I also decided I need a mindless project for when the cotton yarn tires my fingers out, and decided to make a version of the Sencillo Shawlette (perhaps with a more simple border for the mindless criteria). It looks like a capital way to use up scraps of sock yarn while having fun with color choice.
(photo is of the hollyhocks growing in Mom and Dad's backyard. Mom taught me to make hollyhock dolls when I was a kidling, although I used a little stick as arms securing the bud/head to the blossom/skirt instead of the method used in the video linked.)

YAAAARRRRN (and knitting books)

This week's auction ends today. It is chock full of yarn and knitting books.
Prices starting as low as 99 cents. I've even let go of some of my treasured vintage pattern books from the 40's 50's and 60's.

LOOK HERE for a chance at some really nice stuff before it's gone.

A few of the yarns up on ebay:

Great Swedish Commercial

Update- July

I released my most recent pattern in November of last year. It isn't that I haven't been working on them, more that I have been fuzzy-brained more often than clear-minded, I think. The first three months of 2011 I was sick a good part (bad part?) of the time. I am still not 100%. I am sleeping about 2 hours longer each night than my usual, and still needing a nap every day or so. I think it is some pernicious low-level infection. My daily low-grade fever is back after a very brief hiatus last fall. No solution at the moment. Taking antibiotics every time I have a low grade fever would ruin their effectiveness if they are truly needed (for example, if my fever changes from low grade to high.) All that sleep is helping me feel better the time that I am awake :-}
At any rate, the Kaleidoscape pattern will be the next one ready to send out to testers. (Thank goodness for the Free Pattern Testers group on Ravelry, as well as some other Ravelry pals willing and eager to help in exchange for the getting the pattern free!)  I have other patterns mostly done, but I am determined to get this huge project out and away first. I have manged to get roughly 20 reviews done each month, until this month. I have been totally focused on completing Kaleidoscape the past few weeks. It has been worth it, though. With Oscar's help I have sufficient photos to complete the pattern, just waiting for a clear-minded morning or two to draw the schematic and clean up the final directions. After it comes back from the testers I will take more photos with a model for the finished pattern.
I have two more large projects for which I have received yarn support from Knit Picks. One is a Fall/Winter pattern, a shawl of slightly unusual shape based very loosely on a ruana. I have been working on that pattern for a year.  I have the sample about half finished, and the directions written out. In the meantime, the color of yarn I used has been discontinued. I will complete the pattern and if Knit Picks wishes to publish it, I will buy the same yarn in a current color and make a new sample for them.
The other pattern is a summer-weight stole based on my Withig stitch pattern. I am playing about with the direction of the eyelets to make a zig zag or perhaps concentric squares. I am afraid for that I will need to invest in a chart design program. The tools I have do not make small enough text to fit that chart into one page. There is a very useful program for only $44. (The next similar program is $185!).

The antique stitch pattern on which I based my Withig patterns

I am excited about getting through those two patterns and on to some smaller projects. I have LOADS of patterns that I should be able to finish quickly. I won't be publishing anything without testing though. I learned my lesson on that :-}. Lets see, there are 2 hat/scarf sets (one that also has a cowl and mittens). Then there are at least 3 sock patterns I want to make and some patterns based on a vintage potholder pattern collection from 1942 that I have in my book case. I also have two or three self-written lace patterns I want to work up into shawls. (again, need to wait for that chart making software as the pattern charts are currently too big for one page.) I am sure I am forgetting something. I have dozens and dozens of files with partially written patterns on my computer. If I don't jot things down, I forget them completely.
As far as decluttering the house and preparing to move, we have almost 100 auctions up on ebay this week. Many of the auctions are yarn and knitting books. Some of the yarn was given to us to sell by family (bless her!). The money from that will help a lot to create a designated moving fund, pay for our prescriptions (no insurance until Oscar is hired again) and cover the gap between unemployment payments and living comfortably. I severely gutted my bookshelf of knitting books. I ended up keeping less than 10% of what used to be on the shelf. If I end up missing any of the books, I can find a used copy after we move and we are financially more secure. For now, it is best to lighten the moving load and build money for necessities and moving expenses.
Looking at it all written out it feels like I am busy, but having 8 months since my most recent pattern release makes me feel positively sloth-like. Oscar keeps telling me I am too hard on myself. He's a smart guy.
Speaking of that, he has sped through his first classes (with lots of extra studying on his own) and will be taking his first certification test a week from today.
On Sunday my parents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. It will be a small gathering, just close family but I am looking forward to it. My brother Ron is in Alaska with his family and won't be able to attend, though. I will miss him being there.
Overall things are going very well. I will take Oscar's advice and stop being so hard on myself.

The other two Kaleidoscope Capelets

Here are photos of the other two pattern samples of my upcoming Kaleidoscope Capelet pattern. Perhaps I should call it KaleidosCape?

Kitman Figueroa's Mystery Knit A Long and More Design Quandries

One of the ways I like to learn this design gig is by working through patterns published by designers I admire. One of those is Kitman Figueroa. She mostly designs shawls, many of them fairly intricate. She also has other levels of difficulty in her pattern selections, which can be seen HERE, but it was the intricate shawlery that caught my attention. I love making shawls, and designing shawls and am fascinated by all the different variations that can result by combining fairly simple shapes and increases with lace patterns. I have been using MS Word to create tables of symbols for my graphs, but my more recent in-progress designs are beyond the space each page can provide. I am hoping by switching to Excel I can work on a smaller scale and fit more info on page, but I had some trouble exporting the designs into a pdf last time I tried. Still, this is a newish version, so perhaps I am missing something. I have located a few tutorials on using Excel to create knitting charts. One is from Fleegle (Susan Glinert Stevens), another from Marnie MacLean. If it turns out neither of these methods work for me, Fleegle has done a terrific review of a fairly inexpensive program called Intwined Pattern Studio that is very powerful, including the ability to draw your own symbols which may help a lot with creating charts for crochet patterns as well.
(Marnie also has other fabulous tutorials including using Excel for designing patterns and grading them into different sizes, how to create a pdf with the necessary graphics without having a humongous file and creating schematics in MS Word.).

 I have lots to learn, and I decided a good way to add to my knowledge was to work one of Kitman Figueroa's shawl patterns this summer. As luck would have it, she started a Mystery Knit A long this month :-}. (All photos are at the end of the post in case others are working on the same thing and want to preserve the mystery). After selling off a lot of my stash, it was harder than I thought to find the right yarn for the task but I finally stumbled across some beautiful merino silk yarn in fingering weight, in a warm celery color. Not usually a color I wear, but as the shawl will likely become a gift for a slender friend or relative this was not a concern. By using a smaller set of needles than that specified ( and I like the look of the fabric on smaller needles, too) my 720 or so yards should be plenty to make the shawl.
So far we have received instructions for a test swatch, worked to determine the needle size we wish to use for the shawl, and perhaps more importantly for me, to give us a chance to work some of the new and intricate stitches required while familiarizing ourselves with Kitman's set colorful symbols. It was my first time making nupps (pronounced to rhyme with 'soups') and twisted stitches to any great extent. The nupps are the little bobbly things near the bottom, the twisted stitches have a very sharp-edged effect and can be seen in the top half.  I am excited to get the first instructions for the Knit A Long on Friday.

A Little Down

Today Oscar and I were to have gone to his mom's home to celebrate his birthday (which is on the 7th).
I have been fighting some kind of thing for almost a week now, but have been trying to get lots of sleep, drink lots of liquids and get rid of it. But instead I woke up this morning feeling worse. Mostly it's fatigue, achy joints, sore throat and an upset stomach. I made the wise choice not to push it and stay home. Since Oscar has a full schedule with studying for his certifications and we currently are without health insurance, it is important that I stay as healthy as possible. Should I still be germ-central, it is also important not to carry them to Lynn or Liz.
The wise choice is also a sad choice. I was looking forward to getting out, and visiting people I love. I am trying to look at the positive side of things, though. I could have felt fine, then gotten worse on the way or during the day and wound up really badly off the rest of the week or longer. This way I can rest and hopefully get over it faster. (I have a fragile immune system so as impatient as it makes me feel, I really need to be hyperfocused on my health to avoid going into a serious illness like pneumonia or a worsening infection.)
I have another big event where I MUST be later this month. My mom and dad celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this year. We will be having an informal barbecue in their yard, and I promised to be there no matter what. I don't have anything scheduled after that, just in case it puts me in a recovery state for a few weeks afterward.
Anyway, today I will read, sleep and if I feel better/sharper perhaps I can swatch a bit for the new patterns.

Playing

I've had a lot of fun playing around with some yarny leftovers while waiting for space to be made for blocking the Kaleidoscope capelets. (Our house is in disarray from decluttering right now). Anyway, I grabbed the Chroma Worsted New England colorway left over from the large sized Kaleidoscope sample, then threw in a bit of Andean Silk and some Suri Dream leftover from previous projects, both in solid navy blue. I then just knit a triangle shawl with fewer center increases (which made for an odd diamond shape, but it still is snuggly.) I had the most fun changing the texture of the stitches. If there is enough interest, I might go ahead and write up a pattern for a more standard shallow triangular shawl shape with some of the textures. I had fun making it, and I am already looking forward for a chilly fall day when I can snuggle in all that merino and alpaca!

Two Vastly Different Yet Very Good Books.

I read two books yesterday, very different from one another in setting, main character and story line. Both were mysteries, both were first in new series' and both were very well-written. I will be writing full reviews for fresh fiction later but they were good enough I wanted to share the titles. They both come out in July.

First: A Spark of Death by Bernadette Pajer. You can read the first chapter as well as more about the book from the link provided. I can add that the book was very well-researched. I felt I was walking the streets of 1901 Seattle.

Next, My Life as  White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland. Rather than the silly spoof the name suggests, the book was a relatively serious mystery with characters I could care about.  Plus, I love the tattoo on the cover (it says 'I love brains'):-}

Just a little suggested light summer reading :-} And yes, my tastes ARE eclectic, why do you ask? LOL