The bag that ate my Selbu Modern

Well, not literally, of course. Piggy doesn't make a habit of carrying around tote bags with teeth and a well-developed taste for Koigu. I did the actual frogging yesterday afternoon.


But it's really all the bag's fault.

I almost always have a knitting project with me. I knit on the bus to and from work, on my breaks, in waiting rooms and queues. And because I prefer to keep things simple, I don't carry a separate purse and knitting bag. I lug around one large-ish bag that holds everything.


And by "everything", I mean a whole lot of stuff. For the record, yesterday the bag contained the following:

Main Compartment:

• my wallet;
• my camera;
• my Selbu's "project bag" (a knock-off Ziploc), containing the two balls of Koigu, two sets of Addi Turbos, stitchmarkers, a knitting row counter, my KnitPicks chartkeeper and point protectors;
• the latest edition of The Walrus;
• my car insurance policy;
• notes regarding car accident, written on both paper and paper towel;
• two plastic containers, which held yesterday's lunch, in a red plastic bag;
• Piggy's "Tickle Trunk" of tools and notions; and
• The Knitter's Handy Guide to Yarn Requirements

Large front pocket:

• a coin holder (holding one nickel; I keep forgetting I have this, so my change is in my wallet);
• an almost-full packet of fancy tissues (from my Christmas stocking);
• a Moleskine pocket organizer (the marker is placed in the week of March 26);
• my passport (hey, you never know when you might need to leave the country, pronto);
• a North Vancouver bus schedule;
• hand cream;
• 12 wet-naps; and
• a (particularly ugly) freebie Clinique makeup bag, containing: a mini toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss; a small hairbrush; lip balm; tinted lip gloss (I cannot remember ever wearing this); a small tub of face cream, an ancient Advil tube, refilled for the umpteenth time with generic anti-inflammatories; and a packet of Crabtree & Evelyn Lavender Soap Leaves (at least five years old, and unopened).

Small front pocket:

• one ballpoint pen; and
• one mechanical pencil. (Note to self: you are slacking in the writing implement department -- you usually have at least three or four pens in here. Please refill a.s.a.p.)

Rear zipped pocket:

• two small ruled notebooks;
• one black Sharpie;
• one inky ballpoint pen;
• keys to an assortment of other peoples' homes (betcha forgot I had 'em, eh, people?); and
• one "Hello, my name is yarnpiggy" Ravelry badge

Side pocket:

• umbrella (this is Vancouver, after all).

Here it all is...

Yesterday, it should be noted, wasn't an unusual day. The bag is often far more packed. Wherein lies the point of this post. (Oh yes, there was a point.)

A knock-off Ziploc offers little in the way of protection to a larval Selbu Modern when it is mixed up with all the other stuff Piggy lugs around.

Neither do point protectors.

I have been carrying the Selbu around for weeks, now, without knitting a stitch. (I've been working on that secret something for my Malabrigo swap partner). It's been tossed around a fair bit, and has had all sorts of things thrown on top of it.

So it really should not have come as a shock to discover -- as Piggy did a few days ago -- that the point protectors had been dislodged from the needle points, and half the Selbu's stitches (ok, so it was actually 15-or-so stitches...might as well have been half) had were hanging in mid-air. Some had actually slipped down several rounds, to boot.

No, I didn't take a picture. I couldn't bring myself to.

I tried not to frog. Honestly. In several sessions over the past three days, I've displayed uncharacteristic optimism, patience and determination not to rip the whole thing. With the chart at hand to ensure the pattern was maintained, I managed to coax about half of the wayward stitches back into place.

But I just couldn't get the rest of them on correctly, no matter how many times I tried. And by yesterday afternoon, I'd had enough. And frogged the whole thing.

So, the moral of this story: Piggy needs a better bag. One that will allow me to carry lots of stuff around, but will protect my knitting.

Any suggestions?

Happiness is...*

...picking up a honkin' big box of yarn at the post office. Lucky Piggy got to do just that this evening.


That's two bags -- 20 balls -- of elann.com's Superwash Chunky in Moonlight Blue, plus four balls in Nutmeg.

I've never used this yarn before, and don't have the shade card, so I was taking a chance that these colours -- the Nutmeg in particular -- would work for a little event starting on Friday...


Guess who's ready for the Harry Potter Knitting/Crochet House Cup?

* I've totally stolen this title from beentsy...check out her post today, which shows how naughty Piggy's been with the online yarn shopping lately.

The morning after the night before

Oh, ok, afternoon.

I'm exhausted. And not in a good way. All that anticipation -- not to mention effort -- only to have my hopes dashed. Yet again.

Piggy can't get no satisfaction.

Q was far less attentive than in our previous meetings, letting RC take, and take and take. I gave, and gave and gave some more. And did I get anything back? Nope. Nada. Zilch. Zippo. In fact, RC came back for one last go.

Still, I didn't buy the full ticket to dreadful. RC and I settled our score last night; there won't be any monthly or quarterly follow-ups this time -- unlike last year.

And to continue the happy...it's gorgeous outside!




How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

Piggy's got a hot date tonight

A threesome, even. Nope, I'm not kidding.

Piggy just got a bit more interesting, didn't she? But there's no need to get too excited: unless something completely bizarre happens tonight (and call me boring, if you want, but I'm really hoping it doesn't), this is a strictly online affair.

Nevertheless, I'm a bit nervous. Because while this isn't exactly a blind date -- I've "met" both of them several times before, and am reasonably familiar with how they operate (often together, actually) -- it's not always easy to predict the outcome of such an evening, no matter how prepared one is.

And I'm not entirely sure I'm completely prepared. I'm not really good at this stuff. It's been a while -- I'm not going to tell you exactly how long, I can't even remember myself -- since I've done this.

I know doing it online is taking the easy road, of course, but let's face it, lots of people are doing it that way nowadays. I mean, you don't have deal with the boring pleasantries expected of face-to-face interaction. And you can do it in your ratty old flannel pjs while eating a ginormous bowl of ice cream if you want. That wouldn't fly IRL.

It's a fair bit cheaper, too. I know how that sounds, but let's face it: sometimes you don't get a lot back for your investment when you take the conventional approach. And you might be pleasantly surprised at the satisfaction you can get doing it online. I know I have been.

I can't believe I just typed that.

Anyhoo...allow me to introduce my companions for this evening's events.

Companion #1, despite a name change a few years back, has always been known to me as RC, so we'll just go with that (fortunately, RC's pretty popular online, so it's always easy to hook up, under either name). What can I say? RC's big, dark, and powerful...dangerous, even, with a personality to match. We're talking all business: "I know what I want, and you're going to give it to me. Now. Or else." Reciprocation is not guaranteed, but when RC does decide to return the favour, it's incredibly satisfying. Besides, some people like it rough.

Companion #2, on the other hand, whom I'll call Q, is quite a bit younger, with a lighter personality. Less experienced than RC, but gentle and eager to please. Q asks a lot of questions throughout, making sure you get what you need.

It's a good combination, really. It's worked for me before, and I'm cautiously optimistic it will be good tonight. But you never know what might happen.

If you're at all intrigued...you can check out both RC and Q...no registrations required. It's even safe for work.

I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. :-)

Every cloud craptastic week has a silver lining

Sorry for the silence. It's been one of those weeks that start off bad and just seem to get worse.

I woke up Monday morning feeling awful, so stayed home from work—thereby losing pay—and slept the whole day away. I didn't even get any knitting in.

On Tuesday, I received a most unwelcome report from ICBC regarding the cost of making that accident I briefly alluded to in February go away. I can't/won't go into the details here; suffice it to say upon reading it I became positively incandescent with rage and actually looked at my legal options. It looks like Piggy's going to small claims court. Update to follow...eventually.

On Wednesday, I learned I would be unemployed May 1st. It seems the person who wanted to keep me on wasn't aware/forgot that as a "casual" employee, I can only work for 90 days per calendar year for any one federal department. Ugh.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, they got a bit better. Yesterday, I learned I could stay at work until May 15th. It's not the months-long gig I'd been expecting, but it's one more paycheque's worth. Which is a very good thing indeed, as Piggy's been doing a fair bit of shopping recently...and a fair chunk of it—five packages worth—was at the post office waiting for me yesterday afternoon.

Here's the haul all together:



That would be an organic cotton Ravelry project bag on the bottom there. It's very nice; a good size for a small or medium-sized project.

Also from the Ravelry store:

The Rav logo and Bob window clings. Sorry for the craptastic pics; I'll try to get better ones soon. These are now on my rear and front windshields, respectively.

Next up, a five-inch PVC Needle Keep from marelle on etsy. They come in a bunch of sizes; this is my third one. Very handy!



Yes, that is the same sock. No, I haven't knit a single stitch on it since the last time you saw it. Let's move on, shall we?

I'll bet you're curious about that blue thingy in the top of the first photo.

A nifty vintage wool holder! Very cute. I bought it from an eBay store, chimpbusiness. I'd seen a few on etsy, but this one was much less, even when you factored in shipping from the U.K.

So, what to put in the beehive wool holder? How about some sale yarn from elann?



Six balls of Filatura Di Crosa Millefili Fine—the last four of Raspberry, and the last two of Lime Froth (anyone have extras of either?). Lovely.

Last, but by no means least, a package from piddleloop!



I only purchased one item, the adorable, useful and just generally perfect Mr. Piggy zippered notions pouch:



Everything else—the pins, notebook, Easter Fun Dips and two adorable-but-difficult-to-photograph flying piggy stitchmarkers from Dragon Lady Designs—were treats for me! Piggy hearts piddleloop!

What are your favourite places to shop online?

What do they put in them...crack?

Check out the scene at Burrard & Pender at around 12:45 this afternoon...


That's a queue for hot dogs, people. Seriously, these people were about to round the corner. I've never seen so many people lined up for street meat when so many other alternatives were available. (Case in point: the delicious Indian yumminess -- a mere block away -- that whengaiasmiles and Piggy scored after we paused to capture this rather strange scene.)

Well, my friends, apparently Piggy has been living under a rock. These aren't just any hot dogs. They are Japanese style Hotdogs from Japa Dog.



And everybody knows about them: local media, foodie bloggers from far and wide who return to Vancouver for their fix (trust me; just google it) and the big guns like Anthony Bourdain, who showcased Japa Dog on the Vancouver episode of No Reservations. (Go see it on youtube.)

Seriously. I mean everybody: Macleans magazine ran a story about Japa Dog almost two years ago, for Pete's sake. If Macleans knows about you, you've pretty much saturated the market (in fact, you're almost certainly passé; somehow Japa Dog has managed to survive and thrive). Yet Piggy remained oblivious.

So what are they, exactly? Check out Karen Hamilton's post on Japa Dog on her great Vancouver foodie blog, Tiny Bites.

Piggy might need to try a Terimayo one on Monday...if they'll let me have it on a veggie dog...

NEWSFLASH: Piggy's ahead of schedule

Pick up your jaws (I hope you were sitting down)...it's true.

Well, on one WIP, anyway. Unfortunately, I can't talk about it just yet, as it's a super-secret project for my spoilee in the Malabrigo swap on Ravelry. The knitting itself is simple, but the fact I'm about half-way through more than a month before the swap's deadline for posting is rather unusual for Piggy, who is really all about the last-minute scrambling.

The rest of the package is under control, too: the yarn has been ordered from Valley Yarn, a local online company that offers a lovely selection of Malabrigo, as well as Handmaiden, Mirasol, Lorna's Laces, Noro (if you're into that sort of thing, wink, wink) and more, and should be arriving by tomorrow. I've also ordered a pattern from my spoilee's queue, and have pretty much figured out the rest of the goodies for her package. I'm so far ahead of the game it's scary. Something is bound to go wrong, I reckon.

The super-secret knitting has meant that the Selbu Modern has taken a back seat. I did, however, manage to get a few rounds done over the long weekend.


I'm now on Round 14 of 62. So...behind schedule, really.

I am very pleased with my choice of colours (I would be remiss if I didn't mention that about half of the Sunday regulars helped me with the selection; had they not, I'd still be hemming and hawing over all the potential combinations), and am rather impressed with my chart-reading (now that I have one in colours closer to my own yarn; I just couldn't keep things straight using the yellow-and-blue chart from the pattern -- mainly, I think, because I am using the lighter yarn as the contrast colour).

I am, however, still concerned about puckering. I feel like I'm knitting much more loosely than I usually do, but I'm not sure my floats have enough give.

Any tricks you can share with Piggy to prevent a puckered chapeau?

Selbu...Slowly

A super-quick post this morning, as I'm off to meet up with a bunch of the Wranglers for a yarny day. Gotta love holiday Fridays...especially when Three Bags Full is open. :-)

So, here are a few of our Selbu Moderns (non-Ravelers, go here) at the Grind last Sunday:


Clockwise from the top, those would belong to Infinity0, nellum (who cheated -- yes, nell, cheated -- by starting before April 1), damselfly, Piggy (obviously -- it's the one with the least work done!) and Lauren.

I've made a wee bit of progress since Sunday...


Here's where I am now.

More later!

Monday Miscellany

Just a drive-by post right now; I've been without my computer since yesterday evening, when I brought it over to my friends' place for a quick checkup. It was sicker than we anticipated, however; it had to spend the night. Hopefully Lappy will be discharged sometime this evening...fingers crossed.

Anyhoo, a few quick updates:

1. Wranglers' Selbu Modern KAL: most of the participants made it to the Grind yesterday. I took a picture of all the larval Selbus...but I can't upload it here at work, so you'll just have to wait to see how far behind Piggy was. Over lunch today I managed to do the first round of colourwork. It was a tad nerve-wracking; I really, really do not want to end up with a puckered fabric. But honestly, telling Piggy to carry the yarn loosely is a recipe for disaster: Piggy doesn't do loose, in any sense of the word. It's a sad fact.

2. Ravelry Malabrigo Swap, Round 6: I'm in! The swap filled up in record time -- so quickly, the mods decided to stretch the number of swappers from 60 to 65 this go 'round. I can't wait to find out who I'm going to spoil; I love the mandatory stalking period.

3. House Challenge: Piggy got the final answer (and 12 points) once again last week: Leptospirosis FTW (well, the top third or so, anyway)! Keep your open wounds away from rat piss, my friends.

4. Weather: Spring has finally sprung. It's absolutely gorgeous here in Vancouver -- about 16 Celsius (about 61 Fahrenheit, methinks) and sunny this afternoon (it was even warmer yesterday). The cherry blossoms are finally out, and all seems right with the world. It's amazing how much a couple of days of sunshine can make us forget how much rain we get here.

If it bleeds, it leads

Piggy's fine, don't worry. It's her wallet that's bleeding.

Today's main headline: PIGGY LOSES MARBLES AT URBAN YARNS

So there I was in the Village, minding my own business, heading back to my car after completing my mission of picking up the world's most delicious sandwich (that might, perhaps, be somewhat hyperbolic, but seriously; they're fantastic -- just get there before noon if you don't want to wait), when some intangible force swept me into Urban Yarns.

About 20 minutes and several tens of dollars later, I came out with this:


Three skeins of Sublime Soya Cotton DK -- 50% soy, 50% cotton -- in denim.

Oh, and this:


Nine skeins of Debbie Bliss Cathay -- 50% cotton, 35% viscose microfibre and 15% silk.

Now, I know what you're thinking. We don't even need to talk about it. I agree with you. Almost wholeheartedly, even. But it was 40% off. That's almost half-price. And it's in the most Piggy-pleasing purple ever. So of course I bought all nine skeins that were left in the shop.

Ummm...and called the other location and had them send another six over to North Van.

In other news...

I haven't got very far with the April Selbu Modern (or here, if you still aren't on Ravelry) KAL.


I've been too busy indulging the pre-process knitter half of me (90%, more like!) by scouring Ravelry for ideas for the Cathay.

I need to get cracking!

FO: Good Luck Cowl (formerly the Bad Luck Cowl)

Well, it's finally done, and I cannot tell you how relieved I am. This thing had taken on epic proportions far beyond the pattern itself.

It actually went pretty smoothly this time; yes, there are a few errors, thanks to little lapses in concentration, but nothing too awful.

Here it is, all dry and taken off the blocking pad:


So...the details:

Pattern: Good Luck Cowl, (non-Ravelry link ) by Christianne Gerstner
Yarn: elann.com Undyed Superwash Merino Sock, dyed with coffee, 1 skein
Needles: 40cm/16 in Addi Turbos, 3.75mm/US 5
Modifications: None (well, none of the intentional variety!)

I'm planning to gift this to somebody (you might be able to guess who you are)...but I am concerned it's a tad snug; I think with my gauge (I didn't swatch, of course), an extra one or two 10-stitch repeats would be a good idea next time (hey, you never know!)

Gotcha!

Piggy's not usually a prankster, but I couldn't resist this April Fool's Day.


I mean, I couldn't possibly frog it after the designer left an encouraging comment. (Thanks, Chris!)

Full FO details to come.

Cowl Fail

I tried, I really did. I forced my perfectionist self to press on in the face of missed yarn overs, but I just couldn't take it anymore. Right after I submitted it to the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for partial marks last night, I frogged the Good Luck/Bad Luck Cowl for the final time.

It was destiny, really. I mean, I flagrantly broke Piggy's Rule #27 for the second time in less than a week by bringing it to a knitting meet-up after work yesterday. And, since there were only two of us this time, it really was impossible to ignore the "group" and concentrate on the stitches.

So...yes. I'm not proud, but this one is a FAIL. I even pitched the yarn -- it was so overly twisted with all the frogging, I just couldn't look at in any longer. Ugh.

In happier news, I am pleased to report that yarn barfage can happen to anyone; even the pros. To my benefit, in fact. Take a look at this beautiful stuff:


That's a full skein of Malabrigo Worsted in Sweet Grape. Piggy picked it up for 50% off at Three Bags Full on Sunday. It was discounted because while the yardage was complete, the cake wasn't. "It just didn't want to be wound," Francesca said.

Piggy's all about giving recalcitrant Malabrigo a second chance. :-)