Kiss My Knits!

I made Odessa for a friend. FO pics and notes below, to remind myself when I want to do this again.

Saw this bird in a not-very-tall tree just outside our house this afternoon. I’ve never seen a bird of prey with that coloring before. I have no clue what it is. Anyone?

Odessa is pretty much done, except that it’s a touch on the small side.

It fits the glass head and Sadie all right, although it feels snug and almost short on me. I’m trying to decide whether that means that my head models are off, or whether it means that it’ll fit a hairless head properly. It was done on #4’s instead of #6’s, so the rows are a little shorter. I knitted the proper length for the body, but I’m wondering if I would have added some extra straight rows among the decreases to make up for the shorter stitches there. So if I’m going to rip back, now’s the time, before I bind off, when it’s still easy to undo.

As far as cosmetic flaws, five rows from the top, I picked up an extra stitch or two. Also, I’m not entirely happy with my (sl1, k2tog, psso) stitches, which you can’t really see from this angle. They feel a little sloppier, and now that I’ve gotten the ssk’s nice and even, I can’t help but feel there’s a better way for those as well. Maybe if I k2togtbl instead of just a straight k2tog. Hmm. To rip back or not to rip back. Normally I’d say it’s one of those “nobody but me will notice” things and then just decide whether I can live with it, but if it’s going to be too short, it’s not a gift I want to give. Hm. What to do, what to do…

I love that my daughter is able to ask me what words mean now. Yesterday she asked about “nuzzle” and “obviously.”

I had a couple of weeks of lack of any physical exercise, just from being so busy. I started to crave it. In the mornings, my husband and I both drop off our daughter to school, which is only about a mile away. So today I brought my iPod and walked back home from there. It’s not a lot of exercise, but it does fit easily into my schedule when the weather’s good, and at least I get to stretch my legs a little.

Went over to my mom’s yesterday, and brought her a package of TimTams, since she’d been wondering what the heck I was talking about in my LiveJournal. My daughter played happily while Mom and I talked, and I got started on Odessa again, which had been ripped back to the ribbing. Good progress was made on all fronts.

Old Odessa, worked on #6 needles with a decrease of SSK (both slipped knitwise).

New Odessa, worked on #4 needles wih a decrease of “improved” SSK (first slipped knitwise, second slipped purlwise).

I think the modified SSK gives a much neater edge. For those of you who have no clue what the hell I’m talking about (and mainly I’m talking to remind myself about this anyway), the SSK is short for “slip, slip, knit” and is a stitch which combines two stitches into a single stitch, making a decrease which leans toward the left. In the second picture, it’s the stitch that the tip of my index finger is touching. You can follow it down and see it’s more even than the corresponding stitch on the first picture.

Yeah, I know you non-knitters still have no clue, nor do you care. Suffice it to say that I’m happy to have found a new little trick that makes for better-looking knitting.

And now, time to watch “Call Me Madam” with Ethel Merman and Donald O’Connor while I work on another cotton Jayne hat, lest I fall behind again on orders. “Call me Madam” was out of circulation for years, so this’ll be my first viewing. I’m a big Donald O’Connor fan, so this should be a nice treat. Yay!

I finished the last of the pre-Christmas orders (that’s ordered before Christmas, not promised before Christmas, of course) and am on the cusp of moving into 2006. These last two were cotton, and the next one is cotton too, and those always take longer and are a little rougher on the hands, so I’m taking a break!

I started up Odessa as a cap for a friend of mine, but it’s coming out too loose on the recommended needle size. In fairness, the ball band of the yarn, Misti Alpaca suri silk, doesn’t even have a recommended needle size. But no way is this “worsted” as the label says it is. DK, maybe. On the up side? Softest. Yarn. Ever.

See the holes? I want the fabric tighter, for warmth. I’m going to scale back down from a size 6 needle to a 4 or 5. I worry a little that it’ll be too tight, but I’m still feeling good that it’ll be okay, even if it does snug up a bit. Plus my SSKs are a little sloppy; I want to even those out. Pretty easy pattern so far, and looking good. I might make myself one at some point, but with beads.

That Pink Bag of Doom was SO pink that it actually stained my plastic needles. That’d be them on the right.

One 7-foot (pre-felting) handle is done, the other is half done, and now it’s on the back burner while I do Jayney stuff again.

As a side note, one of the handles on my 2004 Booga Bag (pictured here blocking and covered with fluff) is nearly worn through from me carrying too much in it for too long. I may have to actually – gasp! – BUY a purse!


In trying to find the softest possible green yarn for a hat for a friend, I’ve been coming up snake-eyes. I found some heavenly-soft Misti Suri Alpaca, an alpaca/silk blend, that is like buttah. Unfortunately, it’s also a much lighter green than I’d like.

I do not want my friend to look like a chia.

I may order the darker green pictured on the Misti Alpaca site. I’d love to find something even softer, (Rowan Cashsoft DK?) but I hate to order something specifically for its softness when I haven’t been able to touch it first.

I’m very open to suggestion for super-soft yarns, although I’m trying to stay away from anything too textured, like Chinchilla, just because it would obscure the pattern of Odessa by Grumperina, which is what I’d be knitting.

In health news, the same stomach crud is upon me tonight as last night. Could it be the Thin Mints? Say it ain’t so!