TV Knitting

The day was spent productively, watching some Torchwood (my crush on John Barrowman and Burn Gorman continues to grow) and knitting away on Jett's scarf. I am now on the final part of the scarf, and will hopefully have it finished within the next week or so.

I just finished reading a very interesting British book, The Devil's Flu by Pete Davies. Published in the States in 2000, it's an interesting read about the 1918 influenza pandemic ... and the scientific search for the virus.

Jetty's Scarf!

Hi Jett! This is the beginning of your DNA scarf! It will be knit in five sections, and I'm halfway through (almost done with the second blue section). It should be done by your birthday next month. :)

Flew on a jetplane

Arrived in Rochester safely. My suitcase, with knitting project inside it, also arrived safely (big sigh of relief).

I'll be casting on for my cousin's DNA scarf later tonight.

More DNA!

Despite the fact that I need to be awake... oh in four hours... I have realized what I am going to knit and how I'm getting it to Rochester.

I'm going to be working on yet *another* DNA scarf (I am just churning these out this year. I am a DNA-making machine) ... on my trusty metal US 11s and my trusty metal cabling hook.

The TSA does not like metal knitting needles.

I am going to check my suitcase.

That's it. That's my wonderfully insane plan. Instead of throwing my suitcase in the overhead compartment, I'm going to check it in, which means I get to have my knitting in Rochester!

The fact that I'm blogging my wonderfully awesome plan speaks levels about my knitting addiction.

Looks like Christmas...

I finished my brother's DNA scarf just last night. I also baked gingerbread cake (Trader Joe's Gingerbread Cake mix, mmmm).

(just in case my brother reads my blog, a slightly awful picture)

Finished (pre-blocking) dimensions for the DNA scarf: 10 inches wide, about 56 inches long (not as long as the five feet I envisioned, but what can you do).

Three quarters to go!: Or, why my brother's Christmas present might be on the needles in ... 15 days

One quarter done!

It only took me ... about three months, but the first quarter of Rob's Christmas scarf is finished!

As a refresher, I'm knitting this baby up on US 11 needles, using Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in White. This is a great wool to work with, and feels oh so nice on the fingers. The only downfall is that this is handwash only...

So I have fifteen ... no, thirteen, days to finish this baby up. The adults in my family exchange gifts on Christmas Eve (after the little ones are put to bed), and I would like to give something to my brother that *isn't* on needles.

Thankfully, he's the only person I'm knitting for this year!

Hurray!

The scarf for my brother is coming along very slowly. My goal is to finish the first skein of wool tonight, and maybe start on the second skein.

In other news, my last graduate course is tomorrow night.

Why I haven't been knitting...

...like a maniac. I'm still knitting, don't fear. I'm just not getting a lot of knitting time in at all this week (knitting while driving is frowned upon). This is week 2 of Student Teaching, and this is one of the things I did today:

Nifty, eh?

And this is the obligatory knitting picture of the week:

Christmas DNA scarf for my brother in white. You can see the beginnings of the cables!

Now I need to go and write about the New York State Standards, and how media specialists can help in meeting those standards... should have done this yesterday, when I was at work, where *all* the Standards are in binders...

More DNA

Eight rows seed stitch, and about five rows into the chart for the DNA scarf. This baby is going to be an all-white scarf, as per my brother's request. It will consist of four skeins of Wool of the Andes (what I used for the last DNA scarf), and hopefully will be between six and seven feet, not *anywhere* near eight feet long! Again, I used size US 10s for the seed stitch and first row, and now I'm onto size US 11s. Metal US 11s. Click click click. I like the sound.

In other news, it is 77 degrees out ... at 5:57 a.m. High of 84 to be reached, but I won't be surprised if it's at 60-something in Tech Savvy High School Library (fake name, of course. But really, the place is very tech savvy. I can't wait to play with the SmartBoard).

The structure of human life

Pretty pretentious title for a blog post, eh?

Anyway, right now I'm printing out Beth Luey's article, "Why book history matters" (printed in Logos, back in 2004), contemplating organizing my closet by regular clothes versus Student Teaching Clothes, and hoping that the 18th century book I'm analyzing for my History of the Book class is indeed in an 18th century binding.

But back to the structure of human life.

I am going to cast on for the DNA scarf sometime today (between reading and highlighting Beth Luey's article and making lunch for tomorrow), and will be carting it around with me for the next few weeks. The sock will be for the train and subway adventures that belong to Thursday, when I commute to Manhattan for class.

Tweet!

Hello fellow Twitter Tweeters!

Thanks to the very informal poll (answered by KnittyBob), I'll be casting on for my brother's scarf tomorrow.

Or will I? It all depends on if I can find the pattern...

Back to homework.

7'11"

Once this is washed and blocked, I can send this off to my friend, who is also a librarian at a very awesome New York City museum.


DNA scarf.
Start date: May 1, 2008
Finish date: July 1, 2008

Used: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, 100% Peruvian Wool
2 skeins in Avocado
3 skeins in Blue Ink (well, a tiny tiny bit of the Blue Ink is left over)

Pattern modifications: I used size 10 needles for the seed stitch, and size 11 for the rest of the pattern. Instead of the right and left twist mini-cables, I did a 2x2 rib on either side of the charted pattern. Additionally, I completely ignored the back neck ribbing.

Pre-blocking measurement: 7 feet 11 inches

I can haz blue spaghetti?

The DNA scarf is almost eight feet long!

Here is Miss Kitty Fantastico examining my yarn... photo courtesy of odogonefishin.
After this picture was taken, Miss Kitty started chewing on the blue wool. Hence .... "I can haz blue spaghetti?"

Blueblood DNA

Yes, it is! I'm chugging along on Matt's DNA scarf, currently using the first of three balls of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Blue Ink. I used size 10 needles to cast on, and now am working the chart with size 11s.

I was nervous to knit this, as I had never read a chart before. My mom explained how to read a chart, and I'm slowly getting the hang of it. I keep on looking at the key so I know what I'm supposed to do for each stitch!

Modifications

The Monkey sock is chugging along nicely, and last night I started swatching for the DNA scarf, which will be a gift to a fellow librarian. My friend had asked for the background to be dark blue, and the double helix to be neon green.

Well, it won't be like that, exactly.

The scarf will be done in "color blocks" with Knitpicks Wool of the Andes - Blue Ink-Avocado-Blue Ink-Avocado-Blue Ink. I'm already making some modifications to the pattern, like Line 3 of the Mock Cable --- yeah. No mock cable.

Besotted

Another upcoming project is for my friend Liss, who was my first roommate years ago when we were doing a musical theatre internship. Her birthday was a few days ago, and I promised to knit her the Besotted Scarf. I need to go through my stash to find just the right shade of pink ... and if I don't have enough of it, to Michael's I shall go and stock up on 2 skeins of Lion Brand Wool-Ease (what I used for the Irish Hiking Scarf).

I still need to go to the store and pet the yarn I may be using for my fellow librarian's DNA scarf ... if I don't deem it soft enough, I may have to drive some yarn store owners crazy in my quest to find the perfect yarns.

I also realized that his request for two different colors means I'll finally be tackling colorwork in a cabled design. This should be an interesting learning experience.

Double helix!

So today I went to the MoMA with a good friend, and we geeked out over the current exhibit, Design and the Elastic Mind. It was my first time there, and absolutely thrilling.

Sometime during the day, we struck up a deal. I would knit him a scarf I've been wanting to try for quite some time, and he would make me a book.

May I present the Double Helix Seaman Scarf, also known as the DNA scarf? I haven't started it yet, but I started looking at yarn online, trying to get a feel for which companies have both a dark blue and a neon green in their lines (navy blue and lime).

It has cables, the pattern is intricate, there are charts (haven't worked with those yet), and tiny needle sizes.

So after I excitedly tell my mother that I finally have someone who will accept the DNA scarf once I knit it ... I realized my cousin used to be a biology teacher. So she'll get the next one. :)