knit and tonic

The Natty Duo

I typically avoid knitting scarves or items that show two sides that aren't totally reversible. There's just something about trying to keep the nice side showing at all times that wears me out. It could be that I'm a little neurotic, but I don't mind being mildly so. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so much fun to knit this cap and scarf duo.

The Natty Duo is totally reversible. Completely re-vamped, this pattern now provides both charted and line-by-line instructions. The pattern is suitable for a cable beginner and takes just a few skeins of heavy worsted weight yarn.

 SIZE
Average Adult

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Cap: 20” brim, unstretched
Scarf: 5” x 59.5” or desired length

YARN
Brown Sheep Company Lamb’s Pride Bulky (85% Merino, 15% Mohair / 125 yds / 4 oz); Seafoam; Cap: 1 skein; Scarf: 2 skeins

NEEDLES
One set of five double-pointed needles (dpn) size US 10.5 (7mm)
One 16" long circular (circ) needle size US 10.5 (7mm), optional
One pair knitting needles size 10.5 (7mm)
Change needle size if necessary to obtain correct gauge.

NOTIONS
Stitch marker; cable needle; tapestry needle

GAUGE
12 sts and 16 rows = 4” in Stockinette Stitch

DIFFICULTY

Intermediate, suitable for first-time cable project.

Click on the button below to buy a copy. It will be sent to you in a zipped PDF file via email when payment is made or eCheck clears. Thanks!

$5.50

Is it Over Yet?

After my mom died, my house became the default for Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. My sister and her husband bought a home a year or two ago, and since then, the holiday duties have been split, and thankfully, we spent Christmas at her house this year. (And it's a plus that we can bring our animals.)

Christmas is by far my least favorite holiday. I'm not sure why. I actually like Thanksgiving better. I like Easter even better than that. Why? Like I said: I'm not sure.

I think it is partially that I nearly always have house guests for a month or so prior to Christmas, and after so many years of the same stuff year after year, we don't really have the rituals set up that other families have set up for themselves. When the dust settles on the 22nd or the 23rd and after the house clears, we sort of look at each other and wordlessly ask "what's next?" The problem is, we ever really get our act together in time to relax and enjoy before it is too late.

I think we aren't that different from many other folks. I just talked on the phone with a friend who is alone except for her brother. She spends the holidays waiting for everything to end and to get back to normal.

I sort of do, too, but I try to fake it as well as I can.

I planned to sew aprons for all my favorite ladies.

I didn't get around to it.

I planned to make a wreath out of tree fronds and all the pine cones in our backyard.

I didn't get around to it.

I planned to knit a pair of socks for HWWV for Christmas.

I didn't even manage to cast on.

For each year, I create a unique list that I never even start.

Yet every year, I look forward to the season and think that, for sure, things will be different. . . but they never are.

I guess the only thing I can be sure of right now is that everyone has their "thing," and that "things" aren't universally easy for everyone at any given moment in time.

That, in of itself, is a comfort.

And, as my sister's lovely and wonderful Mom-in-law said to me the other night after I told her about the aprons I never managed to make: "Don't worry, Wendy. You will sew them soon and your friends will wait."

 BTW: Finishing up the Natty Duo pattern with line-by-line and graphed instructions. I re-vamped the pattern and re-knit it in current yarn. I liked the Rowan yarn I used before, but since it is no longer available, it just made sense to update it. Stay tuned.

Before and After

If I didn't make a test swatch, wash it and lay it out to dry before I knit this cap, I would have dumped it into the loser bin. Or, suffer the whole time I knit it, thinking that it wouldn't or couldn't possibly turn out right. It would have been like sitting on a never-ending roller coaster, knitting this cap, if I hadn't worked a swatch, first.

Not knowing how your yarn will behave is probably, I think, one of the biggest disservices you can do to your knitting self. I mean, a little suspense is fun when you're watching a movie or perhaps a sports game. But knitting? I like mine to be uneventful.

So often I overhear people say that they never ever swatch because their swatches "lie." Or that it's never worth swatching because they can just measure their gauge as they knit and rip back if they need to.

I argue that yarn changes after it has had a little bit of a bath. Even the drapey stuff. That changes, too. The only thing that doesn't change too much is cotton, unless you put it in the dryer and then you may as well get a wad of something hard to stick between your teeth and clamp down on while you anxiously wait for the dryer to finish its job.

Or you see someone in a forum who writes that they absolutely must make a particular pattern. People ask them what yarn they plan on using, and they reply that they are only going to use what they have in their stash, and right now, they'll just have to settle on a particular chenille that's not exactly the right weight, but they'll go up a needle size or two, or something like that.  Not to mention it's some sort of newsboy cap they're itching to make with that there chenille.

When I read this sort of thing, I get kind of sweaty and pace the room, thinking up all manner of snazzy remarks, but I never write them. I would just love to say something that will start a war of scientific and knitterly backs and forths the type one comes across on the internet, oh, only every hour or two (except during the midnight hour and forward. Those scientific and knitterly backs and forths occur maybe just once every two or three hours, instead.)

Who ever thought that yarn choice, needles, project purses (yes, purses), knots, color changes or the ever-loving swatch could cause such a stir or controversy? One must think that there are lots of other important things to discuss, like the weather? Or the quality of meat at Albertson's versus Safeway? Or the local butcher? This time of year, one must have lots to say about that. At least my family always did this time of year. In fact, after a good rousing round of "Where does One Find the Best Selection of Ground Meats for the Swedish Meatballs?" we all settled down and then began our celebration by taking pictures of the spread before sitting down to eat.

Now, if we could all just do the same: You know, argue with good humor about swatching, knots, natural fibers, or soakers and then pull out our cameras and take pictures of the knits.

Sounds good to me.

BTW: A couple months ago, I made the decision to remove the free pattern sidebar on this blog. It had been a long time coming for a handful of reasons, including the amount of extra time I spent providing support for these patterns. Not only that, each of the free patterns were formatted differently and were just not up to par in terms of the quality pattern I want to put out now. That said, as time permits, I'm taking a couple of the patterns, having them professionally edited or having charts added, re-knitting them in yarns that are not discontinued and basically re-vamping them so I can make them available again. The cap you see here is part of the Natty Cap and Scarf pattern. My tech editor just sent me some really nice charts so I can provide both line-by-line instructions as well as charts.

The yarn I used here is Lamb's Pride Bulky. Wow, does that stuff change after washing!

All the Things I Said I Would or Would Not Do, and Why My Purse Will Always Smell of Bacon

Two days ago, walking up along the ridge that I've walked along too many times to count, I saw smoke puffing up, rushed to the fence, and looked down into the clearing below. I looked down there into the valley of the Chumash Reserve and Museum that's near our home and thought to myself that it wasn't normal that there would be smoke this time of year. It had been raining and it wasn't pow wow time. Not to mention, most of the goings on there are sort of secret and not open to the public.

Continuing up the ridge, and wondering what the heck was going on, I turned and walked backwards, sort of like some of the people I like to watch at the gym do, while they're on the treadmills. Down the hill, I saw a sea of SUV's, Mercedes, BMW's and a smattering of Prius's, and then it hit me: They're filming something at the Chumash Museum and the directors and producers must be there, too. Otherwise, those Prius cars wouldn't be there along with SUV's, Mercedes, and BMW's.

How'd they swing that? How'd they get a gig at the Chumash Museum and Reserve?

For those of you who may not live in areas where there is reserved land for those who were here before some of us others, they usually don't allow that sort of thing. Because, if they did, then what?

If they didn't do what they said they would do, or if they did what they said they wouldn't do, then what?

What's next?

So today, still worried about that land, and even though I didn't have the time and I didn't feel so good, I had to head up that ridge again to see if the big blue tent I spotted, along with all those grips, boom operators and the tall guys wearing hoodies were still down there fanning the "flames" with the huge pieces of refrigerator box pieces so the cameras could catch the goings-on in that ersatz sweat lodge do-dad thing-a-ma-jig they obviously constructed for the purpose of the movie, the commercial, etc.

They were gone. They were all gone. The refrigerator box pieces. The fake hut-thing. The tents. The smoke. In one day, it was all gone. I even turned and walked backwards for a couple steps and looked down the hill and along the street. No cars, no SUV's, no grips, no booms, not even a guy in a hoodie. In fact, the gates to the area were all closed. It was as if nothing had ever happened.

• Like the idea and dream that I would learn to tap dance one day. (It won't happen and I cried today thinking about it)
• Like how I said no child of mine will ever eat in the back seat of the car, much less watch a movie or play a video game back there
• Like when I declared that the dog will never sleep in our bed
• Or when I decided I would never wear reading glasses around my neck on a chain
• ... And, *shudder,* wear "sensible" shoes
• Refer to myself as being "old"
• Tell my daughter, when she asked me if Santa isn't really real, that Santa will forever live in her heart (Wha?)
• Put bacon in my new Namaste purse to get a particular shot

Funny the way things go and all the things we say or dream or forget about.

BTW: That red purse is the newest (I think) knitting bag from Namaste. It's huge. It's so huge, Rocko could fit into it in a pinch, even though he's not a purse kind of guy. Seriously, it's big enough to take on a weekend trip sans yarn, or a weekend trip wearing just the clothes on your back and at least eight projects in the bag. This is, I think, the nicest bag they've put out yet. I like how it stands up on it's own.

I got it from Scout's Swag, and I put the bacon in it because I wanted the dogs to pose with the purse. (Very original idea, don't you think?) Scout wants to offer you a ten-percent discount on ANY purchase of 15 dollars or over. Just enter knitandtonic before you check out in the discount code box and get 10% when you spend more than $15.00. the code is good until January 1st...

Ever Have that Sneaky Feeling?

That something isn't quite right? I don't know yet if I like this cap, hate this cap, or think it's absolutely fabulous. I mean, last week it was so cold in the house I wore it for an entire day. Granted, I had on a holey sweatshirt that hadn't been washed in days, sloppy old pajama pants and mis-matched socks as part of the ensemble.

Come to think of it, I wore the thing out on one of my walks, and it kept me quite warm, thank you. Not that anyone saw me in it. It was sort of dark.

That's the thing with knitting things on the fly. You don't really know how whatever it is you're knitting is going to turn out...unless, of course, you bother to measure it or try it on before it's too late. I think, if I had followed my own advice and tried it on now and again, I wouldn't have felt the need to do some fancy short row action down in the area between my ears and the back of my head. I could have then avoided the big roll you see there. Don't like the roll very much. I like rolls, I do, but the kind that have butter, garlic, or frosting on them. Not the kind on the back of my cap or the kind between my bra and my belly.

So, for now, this will go into the loser pile. I suppose I could rip it back to above the short rows or maybe above that unfortunate "knit one below" stitch pattern I chose for the brim and re-knit it with simple ribbing.

But if I did that, then it'd just be a plain ol' cap.

Edited to Add: See? This is the thing: I have a sneaky feeling and don't know if it's good or bad, but I still wore the sucker more than I've pretty much worn any cap--with or without holey and stinky jammies--so, I'm going to rip it above the unfortunate "knit one below" edge, still keep the short rows, but do something a little different around the brim and see how it goes.

Reversible Knitting - And a Book Giveaway

Even though I'm someone who thinks the sky's the limit with knitting, there has always been one thing that bugged me about the fact that almost all stitch patterns have a "nice" side and a "not-so-nice" side. That is probably why I have hardly ever knit scarves and have spent far too much time wondering why so many people do. After all, most knit scarves have a right side and a wrong side, not to mention if I, in particular--because I can't speak for any of you--wear a scarf with a not-so-nice wrong side I spend half the day turning it or making it lay "just so," so I can't see the wrong side and that the cables, stitches or what have you are facing the right way.

So when I came across a handful of stitch patterns that look good on both sides, I started to make more garments where both sides would be seen. Thing is, there just aren't too many of them and although I might be able to sit down and plot out a new stitch pattern or two that have the characteristics I'm looking for, it would take the last of the handful of brain cells I have left and by the time I'd be done, it'd be, oh, at least the year 2014 and Girlfriend would be in high school, or worse, even married by then.

When the book, Reversible Knitting, came out and I got a copy, before I opened it, I totally thought it would be a book of patterns using stitches that are known to be reversible in the same sense that I've always thought of patterns being reversible. You know: The same on both sides. Kind of like the chevron patterns you see in the Barbara Walker Treasury books.

Boy, was I wrong.

When I took a first trip through the book, I was surprised to see the many, completely new and unique stitch patterns that look like crochet, that are whimsical (and look good on both sides but aren't the same on both sides, if that makes sense), ones that are tucked and folded, full of triangles, that undulate, and even some with stitches laid over a bit of stockinette--and these "overlays" aren't twisted or slipped stitches, either--they're practically embossed.

In addition to the 50 or so unique stitch patterns, there are 20 garment patterns in this book. Patterns by Norah Gaughn, Pam Allen, Teva Durham (who also blows my mind), Cat Bordhi (another mind blower), Veronik Avery, and others who seem to have the ability to take the word "reversible," and breathe new life into it. The garments are reversible and beyond. One can wear them upside down and right side up, sideways and right ways, left ways and inside out, and all of the above.

I especially like these slippers.

There's a book giveaway here. You have to enter by the 21st of this month. Good luck!

Discordant, Discordance, etc.--An Explanation.

To be quite frank, something has bugged me for a long time. I love the blogging, I do, but there comes a time when your readership gets wider and you go to Urban Outfitters and three teenagers giggle on the other side of the "sweater" display and ask you if you are, in fact, who you might be based on the pictures on your blog, and you look down at your shoes, make sure you're wearing underwear, and then check for your bra before you fess up and say "yes, I am that person," and try to smile like you did in your favorite picture.

I should have known years ago that being completely open and honest would eventually come to an end when I sat in the green room of Knitty Gritty. I told this story already (so you, gentle reader, the one who likes to write me emails and tell me that I've already told such and such story, go ahead and close your browser now because I'm going to tell a story I have already told; no need for me to bore you): The way it went down is that I was sitting in there knitting with two other people and we had to finish x-number of rows before we were to do a particular segment. Anyway. We were sitting there in silence and knitting and the gal on the other side of the room said to me, without looking up from her knitting: "So, are you the one who writes Knit and Tonic?"

I said: "Yes, I am."

And then she asked: "So how's it going? I see that you have written a couple patterns."

"It's going great!" I replied. "So great, in fact, that I have saved enough money from pattern sales to purchase a new computer!"

"Oh," she said, knitting along and frowning a little. ". . . I thought you were looking for a new couch, instead."

Worse: The past five years, I've written down a handful of stories about the goings-on at my LYS and next thing I know people are going there and asking to see certain re-occurring characters. What am I to do? Continue writing about the lady who brings unknown smelly items into the joint, flinging her fork around at every exclamation point about whatever political item that comes to mind?  Or do I save face and shut up and never go back?

The thing about blogging, is that, at some point, you become "read," and unless you have a really tough skin and never visit yarn stores, you pretty much have to watch what you say.

Not to mention, there are a few things I would love to say but feel that I cannot, like:

I think Noro is okay. It's lovely, in fact!  But, too many people make crappy items out of it. Good things can be made out of Noro, but you have to think about it long and hard before you go for it. Noro is good, but a master plan is a must.

Speaking of Noro: I got tired of going into the yarn stores and seeing the patrons trying to find the odds and ends of particular colors in their pile of balls so that the two fronts of their cardigan's stripes matched up "just so." Get over it. Life is too short to worry about that stuff, especially since you will probably never wear that thing.

The idea of sitting with 10 other ladies and drinking coffee in the morning and knitting makes my toenails curl.

I will never, ever knit a cozy of any type, even if it is for charity. You want to knit one? I will never say you shouldn't. Why do knitters have the urge to become Knit Fuhrers? Seriously. Knit whatever you like. I will cheer you on. If you tell me I shouldn't knit something I want to knit I will be gracious but go home and feel sad, but knit it anyway. Knitters are mean, sometimes. (See? I'm being honest.)

I love to go to yarn stores where people are happy and laughing.

Yarn stores without music? Can we talk?

Not sure about Master's Programs for knitting. Just saying I'm not sure. One does not need to master knitting. One needs to "unclench."

If you title your email or post with "HELLLLP!" or "HALP!" or "DESPERATE NEED OF HELP!" and you're referring to knitting, I will not respond. Knitting is supposed to be fun... Go to your grandma, the online help forums or your yarn store. Do not write innocent bloggers for help beyond the errata stuff.

Which brings me to the original idea of this post: I don't want to censor myself. I don't. It's just that things do get in the way, like, maybe I'll make my publisher mad or maybe I'll say something that will affect my pattern sales and not be able to pay for Girlfriend's tuition, or maybe I won't respond to someone's pattern question and they'll go on some forum and complain about me and I'll end up sitting here feeling low. I guess that's where it all comes from. I hope you understand and know that I can honestly hear you breathing out there.

Can you hear me?

BTW: I've listened to this song about a thousand times the past couple days or so. I can't find a translation. Any French speakers who could give me an idea about the lyrics? ("Discordance" by Paris Combo. Lovely album, by the way; it is called Motifs--I have an elementary understanding of the language, but can't make out anything beyond the basics.)

We're Gonna Turn This Mother Out

I used to be able to say whatever the heck I wanted on this blog. Or, better said, I used to be able to say whatever I wanted to on this blog without feeling bad, because honestly, in the old days no one read this thing.

Now that people read this thing, I have to be careful about speaking my mind. Sure, I still say what I want to say but there are days when I swear, I write in code. Seriously. I usually get my point across, but there's a lot of tip-toeing going on.

Even today, as HWWV and I were sitting and having lunch, I mused that perhaps I could design a dish towel whose pattern was written in a particular code of sorts, one that needed a "decoder" ring much like the one our friend in The Christmas Story waited to receive by mail. I waxed on about how fun it would be to say what was really on my mind via that dang dishcloth. I'd use purl stitches to create consonants and yarn over's for the o's and a's--and give the pattern away for free. Shoot, I even mused that I'd pay people to knit it up just so they'd be able to read what I really thought.

Another idea was to create a dishcloth with Morse Code dashes and dits. You know, the good ol' · · · — — — · · · for those of you with fathers, uncle's, brother's or what have you who liked to use Morse Code on their Ham radio's down in the basement back in the day. My dad, he was pretty good at those dit-dah's and every Sunday morning, he'd get on his Ham and talk to his dad up in Minnesota about the weather or what have you using the code. Waking up to the dit-dah's and seeing dad using his index and thumb tapping out his messages to my grandfather was oddly comforting. These days? I have to worry about some stranger walking into my LYS and asking where the Pickle Lady is.

With all the communication that can be done via Facebook, Blackberry, email, etc., I feel like I need to wear a muzzle.

Perhaps I shall write all the stuff I really want to talk about in a journal for later.

Until then, know that I'm doing what I usually do when under deadline: Doing everything but what I should. This past week, I wove another scarf (those Ashford Knitter's Looms are to die for and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE mine--plus there's hardly any learning curve) and cast on for a top-down cap of sorts, one that is slouchy in the way Brad Pitt now wears his caps minus that stringy scraggly vegetable-matter-all-over-the-joint goat beard sort of way. I'm using the Koigu Kersti in Dye Code K701, which is my absolute favorite of theirs. It's basically a cream base but they paint a bunch of different colors here and there, sort of like splotches. Navy blue, orange, pink, red and olive. It's a melange of gorgeousness and if I don't put this thing down and actually do some work I'll have hell to pay for, which, from what I hear, is pretty easy to come by these days, so I guess I should relax and go with it.

BTW: Wouldn't it be fun to replace the dit's and dah's with La La's and Doot-Do's?

Wish I Were More Like a Horse in One Way Only

I have been walking a regular loop for weeks now, and although I could go farther, I can only afford about 30 - 35 minutes time a day what with all the junk I have to do. So lately, I've been using my Nike+ (which I highly recommend!) and pushing the envelope a little bit because it seems like whenever I'm rounding the last corner I've only walked, say 27 minutes instead of 30, and me being the perfectionist that I don't think I am but people tell me I am, I try to add a little bit at the end.

But every time I add an extra hill or loop, I come home and maybe I've walked an extra minute! And I've walked an extra minute but an extra half mile! What's up with that? Am I like a horse in the way that on the way home, I go faster?

For example, yesterday, I added a super steep, and I mean SUPER steep hill, thinking I could add at least seven minutes to my total. And when I say steep, I mean steep. To give you an idea, I play music the same tempo as how fast I'm going and I was forced to tune into Zapp and Roger's "More Bounce to the Ounce" to get up that hill, it was so steep.

So, I trudge up that dang hill and nearly expire moments before the apex and head on home. Then, when I get to my doorstep and turn on my Nike+ to see how many minutes I've walked, Lance Armstrong's voice comes on and says: "Congratulations, you have completed your course at your fastest pace yet!" and then the usual guy's voice comes on and says, "You completed 2.76 miles in 34 minutes."

Thirty-four lousy minutes? Thirty-four? That's all that hill gave me? Thirty-four?

Speaking of heading home faster than on the way out like a horse: I wish I were that way with my knitting projects. I tell you what: I start fast but I end slow. I just finished a men's sweater, and other than the fact that this was the biggest sweater I ever knit, that sucker took so long that I thought I was going to die. Never mind HWWV kept on asking to try it on (I told him no; I don't want to see it on someone yet for fear I'd have to re-knit parts of it). It took me 10 days which is a long time for me when I knit full time for the book. Thankfully, I have now put that behind me and have cast on for something else, and today, although I knit for an entire day, I managed maybe a 17" x 4" rectangle, if that. Oy.

Add to that, whenever I'm super busy with things I have to do, I seem to start projects that I have no business doing. The other day, I went to Supercrafty.com and bought a couple Amy Butler sewing patterns (Note: Nearly everything in her shop is 20 - 50 percent off; even the Amy Butler patterns are much less than retail right now). Then, I went nuts on Fabric.com and bought some of the Amy Butler fabric to make aprons. Aprons? . . . Aprons?

Someone, please, put me out of my misery.

BTW: When I was out back taking this picture, my neighbor climbed up her hill on the other side of the fence and watched me through a small hole in the fence. I heard her sneak up on her trailer rocks, "squish, squeak, squish, squish," and then I heard a few thumps. I didn't dare turn around and look at that fence, but guess who did? Rocko. Rocko walked right up to the hole in the fence and stuck his nose right on through. I hope she doesn't mind dog breath.