That's It, I'm Breaking UP With My Paintbrush

Tomorrow I will put away the hammer and break up with my paintbrush. Then I’m going to try to remember all the crazy, stupid, sublime shit I thought about writing while I was painting, so I can finally write it down. Painting and home repair and daily showering has been a blast, but I’m ready to go back to being the shoeless, semi-hermit writer who only bathes a couple of times a week.

In the meantime, apropos of nothing, here’s one of my favorite vacation pictures. 

Dani’s stained knee, with knitting and camera bagThis was taken somewhere along I-10W, between San Antonio, Texas and the great big batch of nowhere that reaches out from there. I was NOT driving, as evidenced by the shifter almost visible next to my leg. From left to right (after the shift indicator strip): blueberry yogurt stain, coffee drip, robot knitting, empty camera bag, robot-knitting pattern. On the return trip, I sported a coffee drip on my left boob. Sorry, no gratuitous boob shot of that one.

Don't faint, I have some knitting: Cherry Swiss Cheese Scarf

I’m experiencing a little wobble in the work-life balance this week. Actually if I’m not getting any work done, I suppose there’s no balance to be found. Mostly I’m rolling around enjoying the last week of school with the Sonars. I’ll get back to it. To prepare for summer, Sonar X6 made a sign for my door to make sure people know I’m writing. If the youngest of them can get that I need writing time, there’s hope for me. 

In other news, I finished some knitting. A gift for a special person in our lives.

Cherry Swiss Cheese Scarf in Yarn Bee JubileeApologies for the crappy dark photo on my rumpled bed. My good sunny photography spots have been filled with roofing materials for a couple of days. 

Yarn: Yarn Bee Jubillee

Colorway: Cherry

Pattern: Swiss Cheese Scarf by Winnie Shih

Needles: US11

Finished dimensions: almost five feet by a little more than one foot. There’s a lot of room for stretch in both directions.

Pattern Mods: When I reached the desired length, I did almost one more pattern repeat, omitting the final buttonhole row, then binding off. This made both ends of the scarf symmetrical with one another. Because the yarn is so much thicker than the lace weight called for in the pattern, I knit fewer repeats, but still got a scarf that can do double-duty as a light-weight shawl.

The pattern is acheived by interrupting stretches of garter stitch with giant buttonholes. I love the drama and versatility of this pattern. It looks great with this thick, frizzy yarn, but the eyelash obscures the wave effect that forms around the buttonholes. I’d love to try it again with a smoothly spun yarn. The scarf is long enough that the wearer can put her hands through two holes near the end and make “sleeves.” Or the whole thing can be worn like a keyhole scarf with one end drawn through a center hole. The Sonars also suggested draping it over the front of the face like a ski mask. Sorry, no picture of that one. 

Collaborative Souvenirs: Destination Imagination and a bunch of knitted vegetables

For the past six months, Sonar X10, his five teammates and two Sponsor Teachers (aka Teachers who have given so much of their time and patience that they deserve cookies, medals, a nice bottle of scotch, and a reality-based legislature) have been preparing for the local Destination Imagination (DI) competition. When people ask me what DI is all about, I always tell them it’s a creative problem-solving activity. But that doesn’t really give DI it’s due, so go check out their website and know what an awesome enrichment opportunity DI is. 

Sonar X10 and his teammates have had a lot of fun, they did great at their competition, and - like any group that works together over time to solve problems, deal with stress, and learn something - they developed some inside jokes. One such joke had to do with jalapeños. The team knows how to say the word ha-la-PEN-yo, but they choose, with a giggle to say ja-LA-pen-o - hard j. This joke amuses them so much that they named the setting in their DI skit Jalopolis. In the skit, which was part of the “Verses! Foiled Again” Challenge, their hero Ace (played by Sonar X10) tried to steal Abraham Lincoln’s platinum pocket watch from the Jalopolis History Museum of History, but he was foiled by his family and a time traveling hat with sparkly hair.

To commemorate the months of work and some of their silly jokes, the Sonar and I decided everyone on the team should have a jalapeño. The teammate implicated in the jalapeño joke’s origins already had her own chili knit, which I talked about here. THAT jalapeño became something of a lucky charm, or perhaps a de facto team mascot. So I made a new batch, a whole carton of jalapeños for the kids and their sponsors. For the teammate already in possession of the lucky jalapeño, I made a carrot. That makes perfect sense, right? 

Six jalapeños and a carrot, knit-wise

Sonar X10 then made tags for each vegetable. The other side says “Minute Green Jalepeno [sic] 2010-2011” plus the school and DI team names. 

Greetings from the Jalopolis History Museum of History Gift Shop. Wish you were here.My method and pattern for these new vegetables was unwavering. I used Acorn Bud’s great carrot pattern for all of them. Because surely there’s no better way to commemorate a bunch of smart kids doing smart stuff than to give them knitted vegetables.

Put a Little Heart in Your Love

This Valentine’s Day I did a tiny little bit of knitting, making a pink and brown striped and felted bottle cozy for a teacher gift. Of course I forgot to take a picture of it before sending it off to school today, so you’ll have to settle for knitting love of Valentines past.

A few years ago, I made these hearts for the Sonars using the Heart pattern from MochiMochiLand and then felted the wee lovelies. If you’ve never seen the clever little knitting at MochiMochiLand, go treat yourself to a wander around.

Felting is not required, but I love the way they turned out. The adventurous among you could knit the entire Luv Gun and put a little Cupid in your life.

Some of mine are a single heart, some are two hearts sewn back-to-back to give a puffier look, all are very quick to make and tuck in to a pocket or bag to spread a little love. The Sonars still keep them, stashed away in their treasure boxes. Where would you stash yours? 

Knitted, felted hearts

And if you remember those hearts, you might also remember the next one. In an impulse that was more startitis and less love, I made Knitty’s more anatomically correct Heart for Partner using some of the most delicious leftover Fleece Artist sock yarn sent to me ages ago by Crys (hi Crys!). Partner keeps it staked to his bulletin board above his desk.

A somewhat anatomical knitted heartHappy Valentine’s Day, everybody. Thanks for being out there and for putting a little love in MY heart.

Spicy Knitting: jalapeño

The humble jalapeño. A joke arose between Sonar X10 and a friend about whether it’s a ha-la-PEN-yo or a ja-LA-pen-o. So naturally when the friend had a birthday, we made her a jalapeño.

A hand-knit jalapeño

I used Acornbud’s Knitted Carrot pattern, with some KnitPicks Shine Sport and size 1 double-pointed needles. Before the decreases for the top, I inserted a pipe-cleaner (folded in half) into the tiny pepper, then stuffed it with a wee bit of fluff. After the decreases, I knotted the top stitches and left a loop for a stem and weaved in the ends. The pipe cleaner let me give the chile that kicky little curve.

Cute with any pronunciation.