June 24, 2004
happy day
Last night I dreamt I was showing my mom around Paris. We couldn't find this one cafe and I had forgotten my knitting. Mummy was completely unmoved by the sight of Notre Dame. I couldn't persuade her that it was exciting in any way.
Today I am full of ideas, I don't know why. Worked on 4 paintings at once, and was scheming the next colors to use for the blankie. Knitted yesterday for about 5 hours, and had a tv and knitting orgy.. I saw 2 episodes back to back of Queer Eye For the Straight Guy, then 2 episodes of Emergency Vets and one of Animal Miracles. All the while the two little monsters (Sidney and Marcel) snoozed, one on each side. It was a busy day for those guys, as the vet came and drew blood for heartworm tests and gave shots to Marcel.
Marcel cried like a little girl, then promptly forgot about it. Sid was good and only squirmed a little.
In any event, while they snored I got about 4 more inches done on the blankie, hoorah!
It is gorgeous. The Manos is kicking my ass, it is so soft and the colors, the colors!
The picture of Elephant is ready, let me see if I can upload..
Oooh la la! There he is!!! Oh, so happy! Look at the splendid toque!
Now for the washcloths!
I hope they aren't too big of pictures!
Blankie and stash photos to come... stay tuned to Pippy Knit- A -Log!
Posted by pippypippy at 09:04 AM | Comments (2)
June 22, 2004
blankie!!!
Well! Where to even begin??
Every girl needs one... a yarn sugar daddy! (you know who you are! You know I am joking! ...right?? :-P)
Yes, I am officially a yarn slut!
So now I have the Noro blanket pattern that I have been visiting online for months, as well as Noro Kureyon, Cash Iroha, and Manos del Uruguay in suffiecient quantity, and am up to my eyeballs.. so far I have cast on and knit about 20 rows. This project ought to keep me occupied for some time! Plus there are still the washcloths..
Its not looking like the bathing suit top is going to happen before Saturday! Maybe that will be the project that I take along to the beach house, though. What about pom-poms for the..um peaks?? Ever since I made the pom-pom for Elephant's toque I've been looking for excuses for more, more.
Speaking of Elephant, the photo shoot went well, look for him soon, very soon, I swear.
Posted by pippypippy at 06:29 PM | Comments (0)
June 19, 2004
safety first
It looks like we are headed to Bethany Beach, Delaware, after all! For 3 days of sand, sun and other people's kids.. but I have a resolved to have fun and bring my knitting, of course. And plus since I will be the only single, childless person it seems only fitting. Anyone for a game of Old Maid??
Wah wah wah there I go again. Of course there is also the bikini top from Rebecca online, the pattern poorly translated from German, it seems. I got orange yarn, kind of by mistake (this is what happens when you choose colors on the internet) which I thought was going to be more of a peachy color. Probably its better to have Safety Orange though because A.) from a distance, in peach, it might look like I was naked and B.) no deer hunters will shoot me by accident. So maybe I will attempt to turbo knit that thing before we go..
in any event, the washcloths are still cranking.
I'm itching to make something big big big but am broke and need to not spend recklessly on things that are not edible.
Posted by pippypippy at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)
June 17, 2004
skank ass tube top
The tube top was a um.. bust, ha ha! Too wide and too short,eek! It was a frightful scene. That's what I get for not buying the damn pattern. Although I don't know that it would have worked out much better. So I see nice chunky leg warmers in my future. I never actually thought of myself as a tube top wearin kind of gal anyhow, but the model looked so good and plus it wasn't exactly just a tube, it had a thingy that went around the neck, rendering it somehow less skanky than your typical tube top.. but the combined chunky/stretchy qualities of the yarn probably had something to do with the nice Photoshop work- the slight, sexy motion blur- in the book! And I have to admit, at the time I did kind of wonder how it was that her nipples didn't show through the giant gaps between the fabric.
From what I've been reading, the fashion conscious have been wearing more these days, hooray, I love this fashion trend! At last I can be cool! Or warm, as it were.One could conceivably dress up the little tube top with a demure little jacket or a cardigan. But still.
Now I am knitting a washcloth on round needles, for variety and to see if it helps my tendonitis.
Posted by pippypippy at 01:46 PM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2004
wah wah wah
This day is total shit, for reasons too boring to go into. We try to keep things upbeat on the Pippy Knit-A-Log, but sometimes happiness eludes us..especially because we are too broke to drown our sorrows with more yarn.
Cheerful comments, anyone?
Elephant still needs a name. I am thinking Carlos Hernandez Gomez, for the guy on WBEZ.
I had some kind of beautiful dream last night of a woman who called herself a witch, who had a beautiful beautiful house full of animals and dangling bright things. She was kind and was giving me advice which of course I can't remember. But I loved her and she made me feel all sparkly.
I met her at a bike shop.
Speaking of which, maybe I will tear around down by the lake today. Maybe I will fall off, hit my head
on the pavement -hard- and forget everything. Yeaa.
Marcel tried his damndest to sabotage the tube top this morning but failed. Foiled again. Ha.
He is stoned on Wild Buffalo Grill (canned doggy stew-courtesy of Uncle Winniger) and Rescue Remedy- the holistic chill pill we give him in case of storms.
Today my plan is to knit and lay on the couch watching CNN until my brane oozes out my ear. I am
entitled.
Posted by pippypippy at 09:43 AM | Comments (2)
June 15, 2004
stretchy
The tube top is grooving right along! Side 2 is almost finished. Everyone who sees it say it is so narrow, but I am narrow! So I think it should be ok. Its also S-t-r-e-t-c-h-y. I did lose some sleep over what to do if the gaps between stitches prove too revealing. Sew a lining? Wear a strapless bra? The solution I arrived at was take it apart and make some leg warmers. Probably I would get more use out of them anyway. I just hope I look half as good in this thing as the model in the book. She has a pierced belly button, which I don't. The second time I looked I noticed they had blurred the photo considerably too!
That can't bode well! (I scrawled the pattern on a blank page in my checkbook in Barnes and Noble, not
having 29.99 to shell out for my own copy.. and anyway there is this really butt-ugly scarf and hat combo that made me feel all gaggy! sorry but its true!)
Finished a small painting/collage, Double Elephant. Someday I promise there will be photos.
GGH Aspen is making me so happy. Its stretchy and it comes in such pretty colors. I want it all for
my own!!!
Lately I have been scheming to make blankets. This is my dream.
Big fluffy ones to wrap up in when it is cold. Brightly colored ones, wildly stripey ones, warm fuzzy odd shaped crazy ones. This ectomorph needs blankets.
Posted by pippypippy at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)
June 14, 2004
Lily
Well, Elephant has back legs! He couldn't be more pleased. One is blue, which we agreed would lend nice quirkiness and variety. Neither of us believe in symmetry especially.
Cotton washcloth mania continues unabated. Today I am working on finishing the Sugar 'n Cream checkerboard pattern, then I think I might make another, and see how many I can get out of a skein.
It says its Super Duper size or something. Went to the fabric store today and didn't buy any more fabric!
I did get a rotary cutter blade, for 5.95!!! What a rip off session!
If I had finished the tube top from Hollywood Knits I would for sure be wearing it today!
It shouldn't take too much longer. Somehow I can't get URLs to show up...forgive me! I am inept!
I want pictures, pictures too!!! Woe is me.
Posted by pippypippy at 01:51 PM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2004
ode rowan cotton
Elephant is made from it, what there is of Elephant, who still needs back legs. But what he lacks in extremeties he makes up for in style, as he has a resplendent new bright red toque, with pompom.He is out there and loving every minute of it. Never mind its a little bit retro grunge. The color really perks him up. Here he goes, taking his turn on the catwalk. Be careful, Elephant! He needs a name. Hm.
Elephant is based on a
Debbie Bliss pattern from her book Toy Knits. I love this book! The best thing about it is it gives a good jumping-off place for stuffed animal madness~ mix and match parts for variety! The things you can do! Plus you can always adjust parts, just do a little bit of math and have long long legs, or teeny tiny ears. Woo hoo.
Yesterday was a yarn orgy~ I got 3 new skeins (2 Rowan cotton, 1 GGH Bali in red for Elephant's toque)
plus later a trip to the craft store, for a friend's craft mission, netted another skein, this time Lilly Sugar'n Cream cotton for cheap but stylish washcloth mania. 2 measly bucks for 85g/3 oz. of Brise Fraiche. Breeze Frenchie?? How I love all things Frenchie!).
How I love summer and warm hands and feet! But the internal conflict is excruciating. I should go out and frolic while I can, smell the flowers, see the sunshine! Yesterday the weather was crappy and I didn't have this quandry!
Here is where I wish I were~ Paris.
If I were there, I would go here http://www.entreedesfournisseurs.com/
They are very nice and they have every color of felt one's heart could desire.
Posted by pippypippy at 10:59 AM | Comments (1)
June 11, 2004
tester tester
Hi this is going to be my new blog, if I get my butt in gear! Because. I think I have a lot to say~ I just gotta get saying it. Once I do look out. Hopefully someone besides me and my brother and my dog will be enthralled!
Here is what I want it to be about~ knitting, quilting, painting, boston terriers (one in particular because he can't bear to be left out, it makes him cry. He cries about a lot of things. More about that later) and or anarchist politics, history, and practice in this crazy world. But mostly knitting as that is my main obsession these days.
So I am just testing this out for now, getting my feet wet you might say. I did that last night too, in the deluge, when I decided it would be a good time to try out my new flip-flops from Tarjhay.
So, If you are still reading, here is what I am working on right now (photos to come) and what I have finished. Lately there is an obsession with cotton washcloths, I love 'em. They are easy, fun, and pretty to make, and there are billions of ways to make them and free patterns abound on the internet. Plus you can give them away to all your friends who will think you have too much time on your hands. In my case it is true.
Other than the washcloths, I have been doing stuffed animals. The first came from Melanie Falick's excellent, highly recommended for beginners and others seeking whimsical projects, book called Kids
Knitting. They are simple, flat, garter stitched, gingerbread man shaped dolls made from Brown Sheep worsted, I have added embellishments of my own such as felt facial features as well as embroidered,
and sometimes clothing. I have also tried making them from cotton (washable~ for the very young drool prone such as Gus of Houston TX, recipient of Jamil Habibi, the greenest monkey you've ever seen)
BTW Habibi means friend! The very first animal was Kika, a brown woolen rabbit for my bestest Fairy God child, Caroline. She's 1 and lives in upstate New York.
The rest of the menagerie live here with me and are as follows:
Rene DuBois- a French Canandian, dubious species, a little bit baboon looking, with a stylish green and red toque (that's a type of chapeau).
Dukey- American dog, named for a neighbor's old beagle-mix with whom I was in love when I was a kid.
Vovitchka- a cross dressing rabbit
Lucien Leger- another ambiguous species, named for a French waiter and a character in Amelie, as well as Fernand Leger, whose work I saw quite a bit of in Paris at the Pompidou Centre.
(oh how I love the Pompidou Center~ It is a habitrail of happiness! They will speak to you in English, Francais, or Espanol!)
Samkat-named for an online acquaintance, still needs to be sewn together, but she's almost there!
Pink Kitty doesn't have name yet but she is long and skinny and has a styish blue sweater dress and bright green knee sox.
Jamal- on poor neglected Jamal! Someday this monkey will have legs and a face! I swear! He already has a fez!
Elephant- also needs back legs, and a fez is in the works.
Meanwhile, I also finished the Zeeby Bag from the Stich n Bitch book...
not without the fates attempting to thwart me at every turn! The long and tragic saga has come to somewhat of a conclusion. Here is the condensed version~ one completed side, the book and pattern, and 2 skeins of gorgeous Noro Kureyon were packed for a trip to Quebec City from Montreal by bus.
Somehow my suitcase was left in the trunk of a taxi. Despite my best efforts, bilingual posters, multiple phone calls to uninterested and unhelpful French Canadian taxi company workers, and even boldfaced, tragic made up stories of wedding planning going horribly awry, told while sobbing over the phone to the Montreal Bureau de Taxi (the ones numerous cabbies referred me to) the bag was never seen again, although numerous annoyed and rarely sympathetic Montreal taxi drivers found themselves accosted in horribly butchered French by one very earnest, waiflike American. Pathetic geek stories. I know. It totally ruined my week in Montreal. But we did go swimming, outdoors in winter, in Quebec City, and overcame fears of dour Frenchies in the hot tub to warm up. My companion suspected them to be echangists (forgive my bad spelling!) Frenchie for "swingers"! Woo-hoo. Nothing nearly that excitng though. One of the men was reading hockey scores, his wife looked absolutely annoyed.
Anyway. Got back to Chicago, got more Noro, saved the Zeeby Bag. Felted it not very successfully but I think it can be saved..
Posted by pippypippy at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)