Knit-Nerd-Rant

Image credit: http://sciencefiction.com/2015/10/15/nycc-2015-interview-clever-girl-jurassic-world/ [Spoiler alert - but seriously, it's out on disc by now] I finally got around to watching Jurassic World this past weekend - something I had been meaning to do for ages.  I grew up with the earlier Jurassic Park movies and adored them.  I was the little girl who could name a surprising number of dinosaurs, and inhaled any books that I could find about these incredible creatures. So, for the imaginative dinosaurs, I loved the movie.  It's completely over the top and ridiculous and once again tries to remind the audience that humans cannot and should not play god, nor should they think that they can possibly control it. The thing that rankled me was the portrayal of Claire - the woman who looks like she walked out of a midtown Manhattan boutique, with impossibly smooth hair for a tropical climate and who wears a pair of towering spike heels for the entire film. (Real

I promise that I am not dead! The first part of this year has flown by in a whirlwind of traveling, hiking, seeing friends, working too much, and generally being a wee bit over scheduled. This cowl is NOT an easy pattern, it has some tricks to it, but I am so happy with the result. I found some yummy merino wool from Mountain Meadows which really inspired me, mostly because it is so lovely and soft that I wanted to make it into something that would be near my face. The Oyster stitch I found from 101 Stitches to Knit (Erika Knight, ed), but it was clearly written for something being worked flat. But with some adjustments, I was able to figure out how to translate it into something that can be worked in the round. There is a set pattern for the rows and a small trick to adjust the steps where the oyster is split across the stitch marker. Basically, you'll knit the last 2 stitches of the previous row, transfer those 2  stitches back to the left needle, then work them into the oyster a

Hello all! I promise I haven't forgotten this blog, or making patterns for others to enjoy.  Part of the delay has been my being too busy, and part of it is that my now 7.5 year old laptop is really starting to show its age. So, the most recent one is designed because I needed to use this absolutely scrumptious yarn I found at Scrap DC's Labor Day weekend sale.  It's called Peru Chunky Luxury (out of production now). It's 70% Merino, 20% alpaca, and 10% silk, and entirely yummy.  The only problem is that all I had was a 73 yard (50 gram) skein, and this needed to be used for something worn near the face because of reasons. That or it would be kept as a pet. I also found at Scrap DC an unlabeled single twist wool yarn that is probably some sort of merino/lambswool and is lovely and soft as well, and a nice contrasting color.  All together, I knew it wasn't going to be able to create anything large. So, after finding some patterns online for similar short sc

So, with the process of learning to live with out gluten and dairy, I've also ruled out oats and soy. The fun of learning what an unpredictable body likes and doesn't like... So, one thing I found recently was a recipe for a pickled cabbage salad . Now, this gal loves cabbage, and especially pickled cabbage. I will eat it on so many things, and the idea of eating it as a salad by itself - I was drooling. When it came time to give it a try, I decided to make it a little differently.  I've been eating a lot of southeast Asian food lately (a new Laotian restaurant opened up and I am in love), so I felt like giving the salad a bit more of an Asian-style punch.  I didn't try a bite until it had at least a day to rest in the brine, and holy moly, it is one of the best things I've ever made.  It's spicy, sweet, savory, crunchy, and chilled.  No cooking, just a fair bit of chopping and peeling. Ingredients: Cabbage salad: 1 large head of cabbage chopped i

As part of an experiment to try and nail down the source of some ongoing fatigue issues, I am doing a trial off of gluten, oats, and dairy. Both my mother and sister have been off of gluten and dairy for years, so really I probably should have been doing this for a while. It has been helping some, but it isn't entirely clear if it is the absence of these things or the addition of more produce and whole (non-gluten) grains. I did go to a wedding over the weekend and cheated with a wedding cupcake, and have had stomach cramps that made me dream that I was shot in the gut and has been less than comfortable today. Where there have been similar mistakes, I realized that gluten makes me painfully gassy and dairy makes me constipated (sorry if TMI). So there may be something to this.  I've never really done well with diets to lose weight because results weren't fast and they just didn't matter sufficiently to me. But the threat of horrible stomach cramps is a GREAT motivator

Following up on the last post, here's another pattern that I made up, super simple and looks great. It's super soft and stretchy, and like the last one, has no wrong side. I found 2 colors of the Caron Simply Soft that I liked together - a deep red and a charcoal grey - sorry the colors don't look properly dark enough in the photos, but such is life.  I really like the effect of the two strands together!  I learned at one point that the first thing that babies can see is contrasts and edges, so I figure this might help with some visual stimulation to get those tiny brains going. It almost looks like large strips woven together, but it's just squares of alternating sides of stockinette, with a border of garter stitch on the sides for stability. Supplies: Size 13 needles (I used a circular for convenience) Size 15 needles for bind-off 2 contrasting colors of Caron Simply Soft (I used Autumn Red #9730 and Charcoal Heather #9508 in 6 oz. skeins) Row counter