Category — Knitting

I received some photos this week of the latest grumpasaurus sightings in the mountains of Virginia.   All photos are copyright 2010 by Janet Sanborn Jonas.  (Thanks, Janet!)  I think the first one would be great for a caption contest.

“This laundry stinks.  This pile is a mess.” – Grumpasaurus Blue

Grump on a Lump

“This is a precision Swiss machine, and it doesn’t make CHOCOLATE?” – G. Blue

Lo, and behold!   The first Grumpasaurus has arrived in its new home.

Here’s the green one with Patty, as they put on their Game Faces to take on another class in upstate NY.  Go ahead, students, I dare you.

It’s sweeping my sphere of influence….  the Grumpasauri are multiplying!   Just in time for the end of tax season, meet Grumpasaurus Tax, who will shortly be winging away to my favorite CPA, Mummy!  I’m hoping that even the sight of Grumpasaurus Tax will cheer her up.

Can’t you see I’m BUSY with 1040s????

This grumpy tax software stinks!  grump grump grump

No, I’m not referring to carousels here, or old fogies, or that band known as The Pogues.  Not that there is anything wrong with any of those things.  I’m referring to the accessory that has prevented frostbite for many a finger, even if it looks something like a head cover for a golf club.  They are pogies.  In this case, pogies for sculling.

Here’s what a pair of pogies looks like.

“It looks like a mitten with two wrists,” you say. You’re exactly right.  It’s just that one set is for a pair of hands, and one set is for the oar handles.

“But why can’t you just wear a pair of gloves when you row in the cold? Why would you need special rowing mittens?”

Have any of you tried to adjust the volume on your stereo/iPod while wearing oven mitts?

It’s all about the fine motor control and grip needed to feather and square the oar in your fingers.  Pogies allow you the same grip control  as you have with bare hands, yet keep your fingers from freezing in cold temps, by going over the oar handles.

I knit these from a pattern that Kathy McCormack has posted on the Northwest Rowing Council’s website, which I got to via Ravelry.  Kathy has generously allowed people to use the pattern for free, and to make and sell pogies made from this pattern as a rowing club fundraiser.

I knitted these two pretty quickly, using Cascade 220 Paints worsted weight wool yarn (it’s warm when wet!) with size 6 needles for the ribbing, and size 8 needles for the bodies of the pogies.  It took less than one skein for the two.  I bet you could get one done during an NCAA basketball game, for example, if your knitting skills include using double pointed needles.  And thanks to YouTube, you can find out how to do any of the knitting skills you didn’t know.

And if they fail to keep your fingers warm in the cold rowing seasons, you’ve always got new covers for your five and seven woods.

OK.  So I’ve been doing a lot of knitting lately.  And I’ve also been finding interesting things on the web.   Here’s a great ad that uses knitting in a favorable light, and in a way that is not offensive to people who actually knit.

(Not making the mistakes that the makers of Quilted Northern toilet tissue did with quilters a few years ago, but I digress.)

This video is safe for viewing at work, unless you work for a place that has things against central heating in houses.

Grump Off

Due to the close timing of the claim postings and the availability of knitting time, a second grumpasaurus came into being today.  Now two grumpasauri will be traveling eastward via USPS.  I hope I’ll get a picture in return once these guys have new habitat.

Local Mom and other friends got to see these today at the UUF, and I’m pleased to say that the reactions were suitably favorable.

You think you can out-grump ME?????

UPDATE – April 5, 2010

Both Grumpasauri are on their way to new homes… one in VA, one in upstate NY.

Meet the Grumpasaurus.  I knitted him this past week or so, after seeing him on Ravelry, which is a free site for knitters and crocheters that’s like Facebook, but also has tools for you to keep track of your yarn, needles, hooks, and patterns.  Designers can offer patterns for free, or for a cost, and the site is integrated with PayPal.  You can post pix of your projects, chat with others who like to knit mittens, for example.  If you like to knit and/or crochet, signing up might make your life better.  I like to just browse the patterns occasionally, to see what is new and interesting.

I think the Grumpasaurus might be a perfect desk top indicator of mood, to subtly warn your co-workers, or he might be a good toy to throw at the monitor in disgust, or he might be a fun toy to just needle your friends with.

Do you know anyone who needs a Grumpasaurus?  If so, he goes to the first commenter!

Yes, I’ve got a whole room in our house devoted to my fabric, fiber, and power tools.  Yes, it is one of the least organized rooms of the house.  Much of this is due to the fact that I haven’t had lots of time to spend in it, and I prefer to spend time making stuff, rather than cleaning.  I know that shocks you, dear readers.  Not so much.

As I am preparing to go on a long weekend with WAQG friends, I am doing a little bit of archaeology, uncovering layers of stuff, and seeing what I can find, so I can take a portion of the studio to Frontenac.

These pictures make me more of a candidate for one of those reality shows about hoarders than it does for Pokey Bolton’s  Studios Spring 2010, but it gives you an idea about what kind of archaeology I’ll be doing.

Working in this room really is like archaeology… peeling away a little layer after a little layer, finding fabrics or notions or things that have been with me for many years.  Here’s hoping that with more time to work in here, I’ll figure out the best way to organize things.

So far, in the bag to take on the trip:

• The vegetable quilt I started on last year’s retreat and have barely worked on
• black and white fabrics collection for making another vest, or a black & whites quilt, or working on this year’s challenge
• a few interesting door prize items
• Building Materials fabrics, for a potential raffle quilt for Habitat for Humanity silent auction
• Laminated cottons for making waterproof shopping bags

That should keep me busy for most of the weekend, I’d think.  We’ll see.

I expect that Studio Archaeology may be a theme for the next couple months.  Perhaps some organization will ensue?   Stay tuned!

Sock Yarn and Mohair Fingerless Gloves for BES

I am pleased to say that I am starting 2010 with not only a new look for Slow and Sew, but also a new skill- knitting thumbs.  I have now made two pairs of fingerless gloves, also known as fingerless mittens, or “texting gloves” or “iPod mittens”.  Evidently they are not just all the rage with open air entrepreneurs, but also with the teenage texting set.  The first pair are destined for over the pond, for my cousin BES, who is living near London.

Worsted Weight Wool and Sparkly Stuff Pair

Here is the pair that I just finished, this first day of 2010.  This pair is made with worsted weight wool, and some more sparkly novelty cuffs.  This are not yet destined for a particular owner.  Want them?  I’ll make this pair available to the first commenter.

Here’s hoping in that Resolution kind of way that I learn more this year than just how to make thumbs in knitwear.  Hopefully the cooking and gardening skills will improve, too.

See? And they even fit my feet!

After the Quilt Guild’s bus trip three or so weeks ago, I found myself with several new projects to work on.  The first I tackled was knitting a pair of socks, using the technique from Melissa Morgan-Oakes’s book, 2-At-A-Time SOCKS, where you knit both socks on a long circular needle, so that you finish both socks at the same time.

The Book That I Am Using- It's Very Good

I knew that this was the only way I would ever manage to knit a pair of socks.  Why, you ask?  First, because I like knitting on circular needles, (Easier), and Second (and more importantly), I am impatient, and would likely lose interest if both socks weren’t finished very near the same time.

I learned a few things on this pair, and I’m hoping my second pair will be a little neater where I picked up stitches for the heel gussets, and now that I’ve learned better to deal with such tiny yard on tiny needles.

This pair was on a size 4 40″ circular needle, and was done with 2 balls of wool sock yarn. The color scheme was devised by Kaffe Fassett- could it have  been Rowan yarn???  The pattern is what randomly happened with each ball of yarn, as it is just straight knitting, after the garter stitch for the ribbing.

My next pair will be on a size 1 needle, with a less freaky colored yarn.  We’ll see if there is as freaky a result.