Sunday, December 03, 2006

Updates on Crap

This is to remind everyone (and myself) that this is allegedly a vintage knitting blog. It does tend to get away from me at times and I go all sci-fi nerdy, but I've come to my senses and packed away the Daleks and the toy hearse for another day.

This is how far I've gotten on the 1940's Ribbed Blouse. You can see that I've finished the front and I'm starting on the back bit. Most of the time rather than actually working on it, I'll heft the thing up and admire the weight of the yarn and the drape of the knitting, picture myself wearing it, then I'll see all the orange and white cat hair imbedded in the black yarn and back it goes in the UFO pile for an extended rest.

Ribbing is some of the most mind-numbingly tedious knitting I've ever had the misfortune to be involved in. I have to seriously be in the mood to knit ribbing. But I've decided that this damned thing will be finished in time for Spring.

Incidentally, a Damned Thing is what Charles Fort called stuff that defied science--stuff like orange goo dropping from space, rains of frogs, gravel and raw meat, or flying men with bat's wings. If I finish knitting this Damned Thing any time soon it will indeedy be a Miracle of Science. Being a Skeptical Fortean myself, I sort of hope for elves or gnomes sneaking into my apartment at night and taking pity on my UFO pile but then since I've never seen the little bastards in person I won't believe they exist without more damning evidence than those little muddy footprints I keep finding in the butter dish.

Our next exhibit is a Gentlemen's Stocking from around 1890, used for hunting or bicycling. I haven't yet posted the pattern, but it's from my mangy old Weldon's Stocking Knitter. I'm going to put up a chart of the plaid pattern rather than laboriously type up the long, tedious lines of "2 Blue, 1 Black" etc. of the original.

This wonder is knitted on (gulp!) size 0 dp needles and uses the grey acrylic left over from the Skull Stockings and some black cotton/ramie scavenged from another sweater. Surprisingly enough the knitting goes pretty fast and being a sock it's portable enough that I can take it to class and completely ignore a lecture.

I'm thinking it will make a damn snappy knee sock because in my mind one can never have enough grey & black kneesocks. It's also implanted an idea for another pattern, also on those little size 0 hypodermics. It won't be another sock, but I could also also be totally lying to you. I'm kinda like that.

So now Blogger is tired and doesn't want to post any more of my crummy photos. Feh.