[review] Not so curiouser

Oh lordy lordy lordy. Alice. Hrm.



I love Tim Burton, like you have no idea. And Johnny Depp? Don't even get me started! All my knitting for the past month has been inspired by 21 Jump Street on Hulu. I love that man. He is absolutely gorgeous! But for some reason, the more those two collaborate, the worse it gets. Edward Scissorhands is probably one of my favorite movies ever, but once they hit Charley and the Chocolate Factory, it was all downhill from there. It's like Burton is only banking on well established franchises, how hot Depp is, and how he is able to embody quirky characters.

The movie was absolutely beautiful! (as long as you don't pay attention to the crappy-video-game-like horse riding CGI) But it was devoid of any story. It just assumed you already knew it, so why include it? Like those wonderfully ornate display cakes they have at the bakery, made out of spackle and cardboard. I did enjoy it, mind you, but... meh. Not good, not bad. It just was. It had so much potential :/

And don't even get me started on the CGI dancing. The world did not need to experience that >.<


(he knows he did wrong)


(but he can make it all better!)

It's raining meat, hallelujah!

So my roommate and I decided to make biltong yesterday. So far, we marinated the meat all night in vinegar, worchestershire sauce, soy sauce and herbs, then laid them on cookie racks all day in the fridge, and came home to dredge them in brown sugar, garlic and pepper, before hanging them up to dry. My craft room, a.k.a. the basement, now has a curtain of meat! If this produces a good jerky, I will post the recipe. For now, I leave you with meat!!! Can you tell I'm excited?

Can't sleep, yarn will eat me!

I am so glad the Ravelympics are done! I have not had a peaceful night's sleep in the last two weeks, getting to sleep around 2 am and waking up at 7 am, always having knitting on my mind. What if I use this pattern, or this yarn, or make this mod??? AAAAA!!!!!! MUST KNIT!!!!!

In the end, I finished Hawaii A Goth-O (a present I owed a friend since last january), the Three Leaf Hat, and Loofalike Lace Gloves (which should be my next post), and I frogged some mittens that were knit too open.

Now I can get back to my previously abandoned projects. My Dumber Than Snake Mitts are approaching the thumb, so I'm within 30 rows or so on the second one. My Skew socks are, well, different. I need to frogg the whole first sock and redo it at the gauge of the second. Both had made it to the heel... I cast on My Vampire Boyfriend, like, three times. Did you know they are done in purl stockinette, with cables? It would have been a good idea to notice this before I knit up the first toe, tried to drop the middle stitches, frankenknit the cables on, frog, reknit the toe, this time trying to incorporate the pattern half way in to the increases, noticing the purl part, frogging back, and recasting on. But now I have the whole first motif done, and it rocks! I also have five inches of my Quadrat done, and am thinking of joining a KAL, if and when they settle on a pattern. Flighty, much?

Oh! Nanonukie gave me a gorgeous braid of merino that she dyed herself, in the blue-purple-aqua range. I can't wait to decide what to make with it!!! I was recommended the book The Intentional Spinner, which I should probably get, since I always just dive in to spinning and don't really know what I'm doing. And then have no idea if the end yarn will match up with any projects I want to make.


Ahhh, peaceful and quiet knitting from now on! Or at least until I panic and give myself a deadline for something else!

Oh! And my mom called me this morning to tell me how much she's been loving her Christmas slippers ^_^

[pattern] Hawaii A Goth-O

This is my second finished entry in the Ravelympics. It is an earmuff/headband with a hawaiian hibiscus flower duplicate stitched over it.

Pattern: Hawaii A Goth-O
Yarn: Naturally Caron-Country in black and claret
Needles: US 8 / 5.0 mm
Completed: February 27, 2010

Even rows are all purls.
1. CO 3 sts. Turn.
3. K1, m1, k1, m1, k1. 5 sts.
5. K1, m1, k all but last st, m1, k1.
Repeat rows 5 and 6 until at least 25 sts on needles, or desired width.
Knit about 70 rows in stockinette, or enough to go around head, minus length of increases.
1. Ssk, k all but last two sts, k2tog.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 until 3 sts left. K3tog.

Cut 6 strands, 16" long. Insert three strands around center st, two rows from tip, and braid. Repeat on other end.

Locate center of band and duplicate stitch motif. At least 6 yards are needed for one flower. There is enough space to place three motifs, preferably rotating image.

[pattern] Three Leaf Hat

This is a very simple hat that can be modified for slouchiness and size, and knit up in a weekend. I will try to explain the individual stitches, but I will make more emphasis on the logic behind them. Size mods and glossary are at the end.


Yarn: Rio De La Plata wool solid in Carnation

Weight: Aran / 10 ply (8 wpi)

Yardage: 140 yards (128 meters)

Unit weight: 100 grams (3.53 ounces)

Needle: US 8 / 5.0 mm

1. Cast on 80 stitches in the round on 4 DPNs, 20 sts each. (circular needles can also be used)
2. Knit an inch (10 rows) of 2x2 rib.
3. Start chart, 2 chart repeats per needle.

CHART (repeat 8 times):
1. k1, p9. 10 sts
2. fcP, p8. 10 sts
3. p1, fcK, p7. 10 sts
4. p1, k1, fcP, p6. 10 sts
5. p1, k1, p1, fcP, p5. 10 sts
6. p1, k1, p2, p4. 10 sts
begin leaf increases7. p1, yo, k1, yo, p3, fcK, p3. 12 sts.
8. p1, k3, p3, fcP, p2. 12 sts.
9. p1, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, p3, k1, p1, fcP, p1. 14 sts.
10. p1, k5, p3, k1, p2, fcP. 14 sts.
11. p1, k2, yo, k1, yo, k2, (p3, k1) twice. 16 sts.
12. p1, k7, (p3, k1) twice. 16 sts.
13. p1, ssk, k3, k2tog, p3, k1, p3, yo, k1, yo. 16 sts.
14. p1, k5, p3, k1, p3, k3. 16 sts.
15. p1, ssk, k1, k2tog, p3, k1, p3, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1. 16 sts.
16. p1, k3, p3, k1, p3, k5. 16 sts.
17. p1, k3tog, p3, k1, p3, k2, yo, k1, yo, k2. 16 sts.
18. p5, k1, p3, k7. 16 sts.
19. p5, k1, p3, k3, yo, k1, yo, k3. 18 sts.
20. p5, k1, p3, k9. 18 sts.
21. p5, yo, k1, yo, p3, ssk, k5, k2tog. 18 sts.
22. p5, k3, p3, k7. 18 sts.
23. p5, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, p3, ssk, k3, k2tog. 18 sts.
24. p5, k5, p3, k5. 18 sts.
25. p5, k2, yo, k1, yo, k2, p3, ssk, k1, k2tog. 18 sts.
26. p5, k7, p3, k3. 18 sts.
27. p5, k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, p3, k3tog. 18 sts.
28. p5, k9, p4. 18 sts.
29. p5, k4, yo, k1, yo, k4, p4. 20 sts.
30. p5, k11, p4. 20 sts.
start background decreases
31. p4, k3tog, k7, k2tog, p4. 17 sts.
32. p4, k8, ssk, p3. 16 sts.
33. p3, k3tog, k5, k2tog, p3. 13 sts.
34. p3, k6, ssk, p2. 12 sts.
35. p2, k3tog, k3, k2tog, p2. 9 sts.
36. p2, k4, ssk, p1. 8 sts.
37. p1, k3tog, k1, k2tog, p1. 5 sts.
38. p1, k2, ssk. 4 sts.
39. k3tog. 1 st.
40. p1. 1 st.

p2tog all around until you run out of sts and bind off. (8 sts > 4 sts > 2 sts > 1 st).


GLOSSARY:
Stitches are counted as they approach the tip of the needle.
-->

g			knit
/			purl
j			yo
S	D		fcP
S	G		fcK
\			ssk
|			k2tog (both from leaf)
d			k2tog (including backround purl)
3			k3tog

fcP: front cable purl. First st is held in front, while second st is purled behind it, then k first st.
fcK: front cable knit. First st is held in front, while second st is knit behind it, then k first st.
ssk: a one st decrease that leaves the first st on top of second st.
k2tog: a one st decrease that leaves the second st on top of first st.
k3tog: a two st decrease that leaves the second st on top, then the third in the middle, and the first on the bottom.
p2tog: purl 2 together.


MODS:
This pattern started off with a three leaf branch from a tree in the last pattern in A Treasury of Knitting Patterns, by Barbara G. Walker. The original pattern had all the leaves the same size (3 increases), which I modified to have 4 and 5 increases on other leaves to make it baggier. If you want a more fitted beanie, skip rows 19-22 in the left leaf, and 29-33 in the center leaf. The same logic can be used to make the hat even baggier.

For smaller sizes, a 10 st repeat can be substituted with the appropriate number of purls, distributed between repeats. Purls can also be added in between repeats to make a bigger hat.