FO: Schrute Beets

"Beets, Piggy? You knit beets? Seriously?"

Seriously.


Beets. A.k.a. the "Secret Something for my Mal Swap Partner" found under the WIPs in the sidebar.

Confused? There's a big clue in that photo. Dunder Mifflin is the fictional company featured in The Office (the U.S. version).

Still in the dark? Don't worry; if you aren't a fan of the program, the connection isn't obvious.

My spoilee in the Malabrigo Swap, the lovely questionable, is fan of the show. A rather big fan. Particularly of the character Dwight Schrute, and the actor who plays him, Rainn Wilson.

Dwight, you see, owns a beet farm. And questionable and a band of fellow Dwight devotees have formed a group on Ravelry, Beets for Dwight. Their mission: to send Rainn Wilson a package of 100 knitted & crocheted beets.

I discovered this group while "stalking" questionable (this is a good thing; a requirement of the swap, in fact!), and knew instantly I would contribute a few to the cause. (The lunchbag -- one of a set of five -- was purchased here.)

Project Details:

Pattern: Schrute Beets, by Sarah Vendel (non-Rav link)
Yarn: Cascade220, colour 2401 for beets and stems; Patons Decor, Rich Sage Green (I believe; I've misplaced the label) for the leaves
Needles: 4.5mm/US 7 Clover bamboo DPNs
Modifications: I threw a few extra rounds/increases in there occasionally, but essentially none.

I, for one, am looking forward to Wilson's reaction. I follow his Twitter feed, and I'm pretty sure this bit of fan mail will make the "tweet-worthy" cut.


Thanks to questionable for allowing me to use her photo; I forgot to take one before I sent the package!

"Every day is Sunday..."

I've been saying that a lot in the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure why it's Sunday; it could just as easily be Tuesday or Friday.

Anyway.

It's incredibly easy to lose track of time whilst unemployed. Much of the time, it really isn't a big deal; it's actually rather nice. But occasionally, not knowing which day is which can be problematic.

Such as today.

I've been labouring to complete my House Scarf in time for the deadline. Well, more often postponing the labour, really; I am, after all, a champion procrastiknitter.

Last night, after wasting the evening online, I promised myself I'd get up early this morning, and crank that sucker out for tonight's deadline.

I did manage to wake up reasonably early this morning, and was all set to start knitting. First, though, I logged onto Ravelry and left a quick post to confirm the precise deadline was at 11:59 p.m. (as you can imagine, Piggy will likely need every minute.)

A few minutes later came the reply: today is May 30th, not 31st. The deadline is tomorrow.

Three guesses as to how much knitting I've done so far today. The first two don't count.

Finally, a yarn I'm not interested in

Today I came across a new yarn that I can, with complete confidence, promise Piggy will never add to her stash.

Don't worry; I take no offense. I probably wouldn't believe it, either. But I am quite serious: I might buy Noro for some of you whoros; I might even, in some fit of amigurumi-crazed madness, introduce a skein of Fun Fur to my own baskets of lovelies; but I swear on my Malabrigo, I will never buy any of this new yarn.

You're intrigued, aren't you?

The new, patented yarn is called Transol, and it is found in a new line of swimsuits from UK manufacturer Kiniki (please tell me I'm not the only one who immediately thinks of hickeys* when they read that?).

So, what's the big deal about Transol? It's see-through. Well, when held up to the light, anyway, and before it is fashioned into various patterns that trick the eye. And it allows UV rays to penetrate the skin beneath.

Tan-line-free swimsuits, people.

Piggy is not one for roasting herself on the beach. The last time Piggy wore a bathing suit, Madonna was wearing fishnet gloves, plastic bracelets and tiny skirts over leggings.

But if you're the sort who'd like to give the illusion that you've spent all summer on Wreck Beach, yet are a wee bit shy...you can order something from Kinicki's "Tan Through" range here.

Full story here.


* Grease, anyone?

Intervention FAIL

So, early (very early!) on Monday morning, I posted a heartfelt plea for help. An intervention, in fact. I believe my exact words were:

I'm crying out for help, here, piggies! Any suggestions?

I was confident you would come rushing to my aid. While I waited for your sage advice to start pouring in, I managed to summon up the willpower to avoid the Monday sale on Elann. Fortunately, it was for Regia sock yarn, which, while perfectly lovely (particularly in the Raspberry), doesn't exactly make Piggy swoon.

By the early afternoon, the comments started to come in.

Well. I am sorry to sound harsh, but as far as interventionists go, you guys are full of FAIL. (Jen, where were you when I needed you, eh?)

In the face of your tacit approval -- and even, in some cases, full-on attempts to sabotage my efforts (I'm thinking of a certain Yarn Sprout, here) -- I managed to hold my ground in the face of Elann's Tuesday sale (the Plymouth Shire Silk wasn't terribly tempting: very wan colours), and yesterday (no Elann sale, plus I didn't venture outside all day).

But really, without any support, I could only go so long without faltering.

Early this afternoon, after my doctor's appointment and a wee bit of KIPping in the sunshine at Lonsdale Quay, I ventured into the Village for a sandwich. Followed by a quick trip into Urban Yarns to see if that hot pink Cathay was still there.

It wasn't. Whew, right?

Nope. Because this addict overheard another enabler shopper ask the shop assistant to please check if the Point Grey location had any Rowan Felted Tweed. My sick and twisted brain immediately clicked into overdrive, and blurted out, "Um, while you're making the call, could you see if they have any of that purple Rowan Summer Tweed? I think it's number 39."

(It was 539; or "Vanity". Heh. Piggy can't seem to remember she's currently unemployed, but boy, can she remember colourway codes to yarn she doesn't need...especially when she's just picked up 20 balls of Tweedy Silk...)

Here's what it looks like:

Rowan, please don't sue me

They're sending six skeins of it over to North Van for me.

Thanks, guys. Thanks a lot.

(I love you, really.)

Avoidance (oh, and a Fibre Festival!)

Procrastiknitting. Piggy's all about it. Especially when it comes to the K1P1 scarf. I did manage to get a wee bit done yesterday, but I've been avoiding the needles all morning.

Instead, I've checked out some of the Sock Summit registration day drama on Ravelry (and have had my faith in the essential goodness of humanity affirmed by the majority of knitters who are looking at the bright side...), stalked the Canada Post website to see where the package I sent to my Malabrigo Swap partner is (very close to its final destination, the posties tell me), caught up on my celebrity gossip, done some laundry, dusted....Anything. But. That. Scarf.

So let's talk about something else, shall we?

In the comments to my post on May 17 (I know, I know...that was a while ago now...my apologies), Brenda asked if I planned to be at the Gibsons Landing Fibre Arts Festival this year. I certainly am, and encourage everyone who can to join me on the Sunshine Coast August 19-22. It's a fun event, and I'm not just saying that because my mother is one of the festival directors. Honestly. To prove it: I'll express disappointment that there are no crochet workshops again this year, and fewer knitting classes than I'd like.

Nevertheless, I will be taking part in two knitting workshops: Free Form Knitting and Mitred Modules, both taught by Janet Armstrong. My friends MrsQuimby and Plae took a shorter version of the Free Form Knitting workshop last fall, and enjoyed it, so I'm particularly looking forward to that one.

There are spaces left in both these workshops, as well as Venessa Bentley's two-day Lace Knitting workshop, which looks wonderful.

There are also plenty of other great workshops available for beginner and experienced spinners, weavers, dyers, quilters, embroiderers (is that a word?), sewers, rug hookers, paper artists and woodworkers. Check out the full list here.

If you don't have the time or inclination to attend a workshop or two, the festival still makes for a nice day trip from Vancouver. There's the merchant mall, full of fantastic stash-enhancing opportunities.

And you know you want to have your picture taken beside the Persephone, and eat at Molly's Reach.

(If you have no idea what I'm talking about...check out this piece of classic Canadian television -- complete with liberal use of the word "hoser"! -- that put Gibsons on the map.)

Hope to see you there! I'll be wearing my Ravelry button. :-)

Pleasant interlude over

I can't avoid it any longer. I'll have to go back to the scarf.

This morning I finished the knitting and felting of the Fibonacci bag. Here it is before its bath in the washing machine:


I should have included the tape measure in there. I did take some measurements of the bag, but I didn't write them down, and I'm not sure I recall them accurately. My best recollection: 11.5 inches across at the top edge, and about 9 inches high. I do know the handles were a little longer than 29 inches.

Into the machine it went, alongside a few towels. One full wash cycle in hot water and a minute or three in a cold rinse resulted in this:


Nicely felted. Measurements: 9 inches across the top edge, 5.5 inches top to base and 22-inch handles.

Now it's all over but the drying and insertion of handles.


And I'm looking at another bout of K1P1 flu.

I realize this isn't standard procedure...

...but Piggy is requesting an intervention.

I think it's rather obvious that I have a rather serious problem with stash acquisition. I am far, far too good at it for my own good. Just take a look at the weekend's additions to the stash...

First up: two skeins of Rowan Calmer.


I picked these up early Saturday afternoon at Urban Yarns Edgemont. I was there to drop off some brochures for the Gibsons Landing Fibre Arts Festival. That was all I was there for. But I didn't feel I should just dump brochures and run out of there without buying anything. And the Calmer was 40% off...

From Urban Yarns, I went to the 7-Eleven that houses my PO Box. I was expecting a lovely card announcing the arrival of an even lovelier white box from Elann.com, and I wasn't disappointed.


Two bags' worth of gorgeous purple non-disappointment, in fact.

I have absolutely no plans for any of this yarn.

Anyhoo...that was Saturday. There are, however, two days in a weekend. And Piggy doesn't rest on Sundays.

So yesterday morning I drove out to the Coquitlam Farmers' Market, where I picked up this lovely little number...


That's a skein of wonderfully soft Merlot Fingering (100% merino) from Unwind Yarns. This colourway is "Midnite Raspberry", and it really is absolutely scrumptious. (Check out the Unwind Yarns Ravelry group.)

The main reason for the trip to the market, however, was a transaction with Shannon's pal Caliope, who totally made my day a couple of weeks ago when she left a note for me in the Ravelry Elann group.

Caliope knew I was desperate for some Tweedy Silk, but missed the feeding frenzy of the closeout sale. And she, lucky thing, managed to checkout with not only the two "insurance" bags of Jasper (the colourway with the most available stock), but also three of her preferred shades. Five bags were two too many, it seems, so she offered to sell me the two bags of Jasper.


And I happily accepted.

I actually have a plan for some of this yarn: I'm going to make a Liesl. You know...eventually.

So. No more yarn shopping for Piggy. But I've said this before. And the situation seems to be getting worse, despite my rather feeble attempts to abstain.

I'm crying out for help, here, piggies! Any suggestions?

Something else entirely

I just couldn't look at the scarf last night, so I started something far more fun: my math homework.

And that is the first and most likely the last time you'll see "fun" and "math" in a single Piggy sentence.

Actually, it's my Arithmancy homework for the House Cup, and there is absolutely no math required on my part. Except, perhaps, to calculate how much of the thing I have completed, to update the progress bar.


This is about -- I dunno, 35%? -- of the knitting required for the Fibonacci Felted Bag (non-Ravellers, go here) by Brynne Sutton. The yarn is Garnstudio Drops Eskimo, on a 60 cm/24 in, 6 mm/US 10 Hiya Hiya circular.

It's a little smaller than I expected (and before you say anything: I "got gauge"!), but otherwise, I am enjoying this period of K1P1 remission.

Still down with the K1P1 Virus

I thought I was getting better. I thought I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Well, I was wrong. So, so, wrong. I'm so weak from the K1P1 Flu I can't even sing about it anymore.


It's never-ending, I tell you.

Do as I Say, Not as I Do: A Lesson in Gauge

Or, as the Brits and old-school Canucks prefer to call it, tension. An apt term: Piggy's got tension this morning. Because she doesn't have it, you see.

Now, I realize swatching is not the most thrilling subject, but I beg your indulgence. After all, the last time swatching made an appearance here was way back in August. In the debut post, in fact. It was also Piggy's first-ever swatch, and a huge success at that: I "got gauge" right off the bat. (The fact I have yet to progress beyond the cast-on for that particular project is, of course, entirely irrelevant.)

The tale of Piggy's second- and third-ever swatches is a far less happy one. I'm afraid I don't have the strength for a full scene-by-scene synopsis of the tragedy that began last night and continues to unfold, so you'll have to make do with the following DO's and DON'Ts.

Piggy's Guide to Getting Gauge

1. DON'T knit actual garments.
You can avoid the nasty task of swatching altogether if you stick to scarves, afghans, dishcloths and even hats. DON'T let other knitters make you feel inferior because you've never knit a sweater or pair of socks. Console yourself with the knowledge they are mere slaves to the swatch, and will require copious quantities of wrinkle creams to tame the effects of their stress-induced furrowed brows while you are tension-free, in all senses of the word. Who's superior now, eh?

2. If you must knit a garment, DO select a pattern designed to make the wearer look like a shapeless blob be "comfortable".
The bigger and looser the better. Shaping is to be strongly discouraged.

~ Piggy was doing fine at this point; for my first-ever garment, I selected the Weasley Jumper, which, designer Alison Hansel notes, "includes a lot of ease because it looks so great oversized!" (exclamation point hers). But things took a downhill turn quickly...

3. DO consult the pattern.
You're almost certain to find the gauge listed quite prominently near the top. Very helpful.

3. DON'T choose a yarn of a different weight than suggested in the pattern.
Especially DON'T do this when you have never used said yarn before, and are buying it on the Interwebs (no matter how lovely the proprietor may be, I hasten to add...God Bless elann.com). And for the love of all things sacred, really, truly DON'T do this when your pattern (and your own size) demands a metric sh*t-ton of said yarn.

4. DON'T listen to the experts who suggest you knit a whacking great swatch.
Bigger is not always better. Especially when you're gauge is so horribly, dreadfully far off the mark that you'll require yarn for at least two more swatches.

5. DO have chocolate nearby when you measure your gauge.
Or perhaps some gin. Better yet: both. Some ice cream probably wouldn't hurt, either.

6. DO try to keep the decibel levels down when cursing the yarn/needles/designer/knitting gods for their colossal failure to give you the required gauge.
This is especially important if you are living in the basement suite of an old, under-insulated house inhabited by small children with alarmingly acute hearing worthy of a National Geographic documentary.

7. DO try to keep your needles away from major arteries while measuring your second and third swatch.
True, discovering you have achieved the exact same gauge with needles of three different sizes does qualify as something of a catastrophe. But try to remember that knitting is a fun, relaxing pursuit. Maybe it's time for some meditation...

8. DO try to appreciate the irony when, while taking a break before deciding your next move, rip off yesterday's page in your Yarn Harlot Page-a-Day-Calendar to discover this:


9. DO be grateful you followed point number two of this list, and decide to make do with what you've got and simply cast on for the next size up in the pattern.

I feel better already. Or is that the gin?

Ouchy

Just a quick drive-by blogging today, piggies...I managed to throw my back out on Sunday while cleaning lawn furniture (oh, the exciting life I lead!), and am about to be stoned on codeine and prescription anti-inflammatories. With luck, I'll be both upright and clear-headed enough for a real post tomorrow.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

Before heading to the ferry for the Sunshine Coast on Saturday, I popped into my local, local LYS -- Urban Yarns Edgemont -- to pick up some needles for my Weasley Jumper, as well as a late Mother's Day prezzie.

The needles were easy enough; I had a much harder time selecting some yarn for my mother. I poked around the shop -- which is currently having a big sale -- picking up and putting down several yarns, several times over.

Occasionally, I would half-heartedly decide on an appropriate selection, and place a few skeins into my basket. But by the next circumnavigation of the shop floor, I'd put them back.

Now, Piggy does have a tendency to prevaricate. I'm the first to admit, I have a hard time making decisions. But this wasn't the main problem on this particular stash-enhancing expedition. Because, of course, I wasn't shopping for my stash. At least, I wasn't supposed to be.

And yet I was. The yarns I was dropping into my basket were ones I loved: mostly solids in greens, purples and hot pinks; occasionally a skein of undyed cashmere laceweight. I wasn't considering my mother's taste in yarns.

Once that fact finally made it through my thick skull (a good 45 minutes or so into my visit to this very small shop), it all became easy.

"Just find something you hate, Piggy...she'll probably love it."

And in seconds, this stuff jumped into my basket:


Four skeins of Noro Blossom. That's right, Noro. I'm ashamed to admit it, piggies, but my mother is a bit of a Noro Whoro. Not all that surprising, really, since she loves wild jumbles of colours that usually turn Piggy right off.


So, I kept the Noro, (and put the eight skeins of hot pink Cathay back on the shelf -- don't fall over yourself in surprise) and brought it to Gibsons. My mum loves it.

It takes all kinds to make a world.

Summertime!

Well, not officially, perhaps. But it is the unofficial start of the summer: the Victoria Day long weekend (affectionately known to many Canadians, particularly in the east, as the "Two Four", the opening of cottage season, complete with their case(s) of 24 beer -- not beers, plural, but beer, plural. Ah, the intricacies of Canadian English!).

How was that for a run-on sentence?

I'm on the Sunshine Coast, which is, happily, actually sunny. Perhaps some photos tomorrow. For today, you'll just need to make do with a couple of pics of a sight that made me smile -- and recall summers past -- last week.




I'm too much of a chicken to ride a bike in Vancouver traffic, but if I did, I'd like something like this one. Complete with the streamers. :-)

A happy ending

Yesterday was the last day of my 90-day "casual" position at work. It wasn't the most intellectually stimulating job I've had -- by a long shot -- but I had a good time with a nice group of people.

A very nice group, in fact. Who surprised me with a bit of a send-off, and goodies:


A lovely bouquet of peonies, which I adore -- let's see those up close...


...and a very colourful piggy bank outfitted with purple butterfly wings. With a bit o' cash inside, even.

Not pictured: a box of my new favourite thing: the So Delicious Coconut Almond Minis.

Pretty nice haul for a goodbye from such a short gig, eh? It was a lovely surprise.

So...Piggy's now back on the hunt for a new job. Wish me luck!

Mmmmmm! (yarny pron)

Lookee what Piggy received from the lovely Barb in the Ravelry Malabrigo Swap!

First, check out what happened on its way here:


Not sure why this particular package was opened...perhaps it was just a victim of random selection. Or, maybe, my conspiracy theorist side wondered, it was the word “book” on the customs declaration form…Canada Border Services does like to search for -- and seize -- “dirty” books. (Wrong kind of pron in this package, guys!)

I’m pretty sure there wasn’t actually a book in there, though…because a) I believe they usually tell you if they’ve seized something; b) there wasn’t a lot of room left in the box; and c) I suspect they didn’t look all that hard, given how neat & tidy it was when I (re)opened it:


Here’s the picture of the whole kit & kaboodle:


Let's break this down...

The notions: five (FIVE!) of the KnitPicks row counters I’ve wanted; some tapestry needles; blocking pins; point protectors and three really cute buttons.


Totally scrummy Dress Green stuff: orange blossom body butter; green tea face cream; and delicious “lip lush”; oh, and a sample of Lemon Sugar soap. Heavenly!


One of the yummies: Praline Pancake Mix!


I didn’t get a decent shot of the other edible treats (the light really was crap; but you might be able to spot them in the big shot): a raspberry Lindor (already long-gong!); some candy-coated, chocolate-covered sunflower seeds; and a Vosges Mo’s Bacon Bar (yep, there's real bacon in the chocolate), which I’m sure my mother will enjoy when I visit her this weekend (this Piggy’s a vegetarian, tee hee!).

And, finally, the gorgeous yarn: a skein of Purple Magic Worsted and two (TWO) skeins of Velvet Grapes Sock!!!!!


Who's a lucky Piggy, eh? Thank you sooo, sooo much, Barb! I’ve been really spoiled. :-) And thanks to the moderators of the Malabrigo Swap group for all their hard work in making this such an excellent swap!

When it rains, it pours

And that's not just today's weather report for Vancouver.

Yesterday's trip to the post office yielded no less than four packages. Including my Malabrigo Swap package! (To which I'll devote a full post later today or tomorrow.)

First up: my most recent purchase from Chapters.


I'd heard lots of good things about this book; my fellow Wrangler Lauren suggested it as an ideal single resource for sock knitting, and that sentiment was echoed by plenty of online reviews, so I was sold.

Never mind the fact Piggy already has no less than four volumes dedicated to sock knitting. And has yet to complete her first sock.

Next, my prize from wenat's raffle for the Canadian Cancer Society: a super-cute project bag from BeaBinney's etsy shop.



This is just the right size for...a sock in progress!

Finally (for this post), a great big white box from Elann:


That is 19 balls of Peruvian Highland Donegal, destined to become Piggy's first sweater: a Weasley Jumper! (Non-Ravelers, go here.)

I'll be attempting to complete this by the end of July for my History of Magic O.W.L. in the Harry Potter Knitting/Crochet House Cup on Ravelry. I decided to go for Ravenclaw colours, blue and bronze.

Bronze is a tricky colour to find in yarn. Fortunately, I'll need less than a ball to complete the intarsia H (lucky for lazy Piggy, her name begins with H, so no need to bother with finding alphabet charts!). So I went ahead and bought the two shades that I thought might work: Hazelnut and Cognac.

Here are the colours together:


I think the Hazelnut (on the right) is definitely the better bronze, but the Cognac might be clearer against the blue...what do you think?

Stay tuned for the mmmmmmal goodness!

(A)PATHETIC (52)

As in, the 52%* of British Columbia's eligible voters who failed to turn out to the polls for the election. Talk about democracy inaction.

For the record, I voted NDP and YES (both choices lost by wide margins). I wasn't happy with either, but at least I've earned my right to grumble. Unlike 52% of my fellows.


* Not 62%, as I originally posted. Piggy can't do math. Apologies to that extra 10% of the electorate who did, in fact, exercise their right to vote.

Picking the best of the worst

Today is election day in British Columbia. And I'm still not sure who will get my vote. I have never been as uninspired by the list of candidates as I have in this particular election.

And that's saying something, because I can't say I've ever been truly inspired by a single candidate in of the many elections -- four provincial, six federal and two municipal (I'll admit to being lazy when it comes to municipal contests) -- since I became eligible to vote in July 1990.

This is not to say I've never felt strongly about my vote. On the contrary, despite the fact "my" candidate rarely has a chance of winning, (only once have I voted for the winner in either a provincial or federal election -- when the popularity of a former mayor running for the federal Liberals trumped the prevailing Conservative sentiment in my riding), I usually believe I am voting for something, as well as against something else. (Because, sad to say, it's always been about voting against something.)

I can't say that about this election. Yes, I will be voting against something (the BC Liberals, a party that is woefully mis-named), but no matter which of the other available candidates I choose -- a Libertarian, a BC Conservative, a (conservative) Independent, an NDP-er or a Green -- I'm not feeling at all engaged this time around.

Neither of the two I'm wavering between (I'm sure you've already guessed it's between the NDP and the Green) is a strong candidate. And neither of their parties' leaders are at all inspirational.

And then there is the referendum on BC-STV. (Sounds a little dirty, doesn't it?)

I've voted in three referenda in the past: on the Charlottetown Accord in 1992, the Quebec Referendum in 1995, and the (non-binding) Vancouver municipal referendum on the Olympics in 2003. For the record, I voted "No" each time. The latter two were no-brainers for me; and despite the "negative" vote, I believed strongly that my vote was for something important.

The first was trickier, and despite (because?) of the incredible importance of the issue, I wasn't sure which way I would vote until I was behind the screen, ballot in front of me and pencil in hand. It wasn't a comfortable feeling. And I'm still not sure I picked the "right" option.

I feel the same way today. I think we definitely need proportional representation; the first-past-the-post system simply doesn't reflect the electorate's wishes. But I don't think the Single Transferable Vote model is the best possible solution.

So do I vote NDP or Green? "Yes" or "No"? I'm still not sure.

I really should have saved my blues writing mojo for today.

Piggy Sings the Blues

The K1P1 Virus Blues
by yarnpiggy

Woke up this morning, my old hands so tight and sore,
Woke up this morning, my old hands so tight and sore,
Nine feet of single ribbing, dear Lord help me with this chore.

I caught the K1P1 virus, damn you brooklyntweed,
I caught the K1P1 virus, damn you brooklyntweed,
With your Noro Whoro scarf, you gave Lauren Kent the seed.*

It's spring term at Hogwarts, and I got my Ravenclaw pride,
It's spring term at Hogwarts, and I got my Ravenclaw pride,
But just one-third of my scarf done, Lord I wish I'd gone and died.

I caught the K1P1 virus, knit one, purl one, and repeat,
I caught the K1P1 virus, knit one, purl one, and repeat,
Six feet left to go, and lace has never seemed so sweet.

Half a month 'til deadline, got my cast off on the brain,
Half a month 'til deadline, got my cast off on the brain,
Nine feet of single ribbing, gonna drive poor Piggy insane.



* This is not true; Charmed Knits, within which is the Hogwarts House Scarves Year 3/4 pattern, was published a month before Jared Flood posted his Noro Striped Scarf on his blog. Piggy pleads artistic licence. (And hopes Mr. Flood and Ms. Kent, in the unlikely event they ever see this, will accept this in the spirit of fun with which it was written!)

Piggy's renewed proposal

As regular visitors might recall, a few months ago -- back around Valentine's Day -- Piggy made a proposal of marriage to the genius behind Turtle Mountain Foods' So Delicious Coconut Milk ice "cream".

Shockingly, Piggy has yet to receive a response from her intended. And while she is not the type to suffer such indignities with perfect grace, an exception will be made in this case.

Because that wicked Turtle Mountain employee has come up with something even better.



These things, my piggies, are the best. thing. ever.

Bouquets & Brickbats

I have been too lazy to knit anything new figured it was time to stir things up a bit here at Flying Pig Knits, so here's the first installment of what's almost sure to be a regular feature. Because let's face it, Piggy isn't shy about passing judgment on just about anything under the sun; ranting against the crappy and singing the praises of the wonderful just feels so darn good. Oh, and because it's a pretty lazy way to fill up a post.

Ok, so let's get 'er going, eh?

A bouquet to everyone who visits Flying Pig Knits.
Even if you got here by mistake and don't stick around. Thanks for dropping by.

An even bigger bouquet to everyone who leaves comments.
It's nice to know I'm not just blabbering away at myself. So an extra big thank you to all of you.

A brickbat to Blogger, for the less-than-ideal comments system you provide.
Is it too much to ask to provide Piggy with the e-mail addresses of commenters, so she can send acknowledgments and/or answers to questions left in the comments section? No, I don't think so. Get with the programme, already. There are a couple of reasons I chose you and not Wordpress.com, but they are starting to feel less important than they were when I started ye olde blogge.

A brickbat to Piggy, for accidentally deleting a comment left by I'm-not-quite-sure-who (I think your ID might have started with a "P", and contained "knit", but it's all a blur) to an older post (I think about the cabled baby hat, but again...blur.)
My apologies. I hope you didn't receive a nasty message saying I rejected your comment. (You probably didn't, actually, since Blogger probably didn't get your e-mail...) Unless, of course, you said something nasty, in which case, you got what you deserved. ;-)

That was kind of fun. :-)

Piggy's got the Flu

It's not what you might think. Despite recent interaction with people newly returned from Mexico, I haven't come down with the H1N1 "swine" flu (and neither have they). What I'm suffering from is an entirely different animal: the K1P1 virus.

As a public service, Piggy brings you the draft Wikipedia entry:

While not over-reported to the point of inducing mass hysteria, K1P1 flu is nonetheless a serious concern to a statistically small, but significant (and growing) segment of the population. This virus pays no heed to international borders, and can attack people of all ages, creeds and economic backgrounds. To date, females are disproportionately affected; however, the number of males succumbing to the disease is on the rise.

K1P1 is a particularly insidious virus that is almost impossible to contain. Unlike H1N1, it requires absolutely no physical contact to be transmitted from one victim to another; indeed, the majority of reported cases have been traced to activity on the Internet.

Further exacerbating the pandemic is the ease and speed with which the K1P1 virus mutates. One particularly insidious strain, K1P1 Noro Whoro, has been reported in 4,566 patients to date since 2007. (It is suspected the true number is far higher, as many patients are embarrassed to come forward).

The most common symptoms at presentation are stiff, aching joints of the hands; and mild-to-moderate periods of ennui. In more serious, prolonged cases, psychological symptoms are more pronounced, including an irrational fear of small needles and, in rare situations, the loss of the will to live. (Medical professionals are strongly advised to confiscate any folding scissors found in their patients' bags).

Fortunately, while prevention is next-to-impossible, the K1P1 virus, if caught early, is curable in 100% of cases. Treatment is simple: patients should follow a balanced diet including plenty of K1, rep to end, either straight or round and round.

Whew. A bit scary, but with just a bit of effort, it's easy to get healthy and stay healthy. Fortunately, Piggy is not suffering from the Noro Whoro strain of the virus, but the Hogwarts strain, substrain Ravenclaw.


It's still early days for me, but I'm planning to follow medical advice and add some other stuff to my diet this weekend, so I should be feeling better next week.

Stay healthy, piggies.

Vaa Vaa Voom!

Lookee what Piggy picked up at the post office yesterday:


Four skeins of Malabrigo Lace in the gorgeously green Vaa colourway. At some point, I'm planning to turn them into this.

I have a little list...

I have a little list...

So, a little while back my friend Plae posted the start of a "30 by 30" list: thirty goals she wanted to accomplish before she turns 30. And I, in a comment -- not only instructed her to ditch #4 ("get a passport") because it was, in my view, not really an appropriate entry for the list* -- but also promised to come up with my own list.

So, late as always (Plae's list has now expanded from less than 10, if I recall correctly, to 29), I give you...

Piggy's 40 by 40

1. Get out of debt.
2. Knit a lace shawl.
3. Learn to speak French well enough to have a "real" conversation.
4. Visit at least one of the following: Machu Picchu, Timbuktu, Angkor Wat, Petra, the Colosseum/Coliseum (Rome), Uluru.
5. Run a marathon (ok, half-marathon). Ideally, this one.
6. Let down my walls and trust one person completely.
7. Finish my degree.
8. Learn how to spin.
9. Jump from an airplane. (A flying one. While wearing a parachute.)
10. Get my motorcycle licence.
11. Knit a Fair Isle sweater. In pieces. And seam it up.
12. Get a tattoo.
13. Design something knitted, and make the pattern available to other knitters.
14. Actually have savings in my savings account.

Ok, so I'm a fair ways short of 40. But let's face it: given my track record of gettting things done on time, as well as the fact I'll be turning 28 for the tenth time this summer (that's 37 to you!), I figure if I get a quarter of these done before the big 4-0, I'll be doing well.

(But feel free to suggest additions -- or subtractions! -- to the list.)

What's on your list?


*In my defence, Plae did solicit readers' opinions. Mine, which was not universally appreciated, is that assuming one is a citizen and fortunate enough to have the necessary funds on hand, obtaining a passport is a fairly simple, if a tad inconvenient (queueing up at the Passport Office at 7 a.m. and then waiting to be served for ages, is, I admit, not a thrilling way to spend a morning), task, rather than an accomplishment worthy of significant goal-setting. A dream journey, on the other hand: definitely goal-worthy. I did not -- and do not -- believe, or mean to suggest, that not having a passport is a bad thing.

Piggy's been promoted

Unfortunately, neither a big, fat raise nor a company car is involved. But on the plus side, I do get a spiffy new title.

I am now -- wait for it -- a Professional Frogger.

That's right, I've made it to the show. No more semi-pro frogging for me. From now on, I'll be frogging with the greats.

It's long overdue, really; I've been toiling away in obscurity for months now, quietly (ok, maybe not so quietly) honing my skills while patiently (fine...not so patiently) awaiting the call to the big leagues.

I mean, just about any rookie can frog a project once or twice before deciding instead to just tink back to a slipped stitch or an error in a lace pattern and fix the problem. It takes mad skills and serious dedication to frog six inches of scarf because one stitch "looks a bit weird".

And make no mistake, Piggy is both that gifted and that devoted to the art of frogging.

No pictures, please. And do try not to fall all over yourselves in the autograph queue. I know it can be overwhelming to be in the presence of greatness, but it's just not becoming, my little piggies.

;-)

Piggy's a Basket Case

Yes, yes -- we all knew that already. But that's not what I mean this time. Or rather, I do, but in a secondary way; for this post, I mean it in a more literal way.

Check out my latest yarny acquisition:


It's a fair trade Bolgatanga market basket from Ghana, via the Baba Tree Basket Co., a company run by an expat Canuck and his Ghanian wife in northern Ghana. I picked it out (in true Piggy style, after several minutes of prevarication and a straw poll of everyone in the shop) yesterday at Three Bags Full after the Wranglers meet-up. It joins my first Bolgatanga basket, purchased in Gibsons, as well as the Lantern Moon basket MrsQ and I wrestled over (LOL) at TBF's post-Boxing Day sale.

As regular visitors to the blog will no doubt agree, the ever-growing yarn sprawl chez Piggy necessitated serious action. And given the lack of storage space in such a tiny apartment, giant plastic boxes were not an ideal solution. Plenty of function, not enough form. My yarn storage solution needs to be decorous; baskets fit the bill.

When I got home, I had two choices: I could throw all the yarn that was living on the floor into the new basket and be done; or, I could take the opportunity to organize the stash. I opted for the latter, and enthusiastically set about the job.

First, I dumped carefully emptied the two baskets and two small-ish plastic containers onto the floor. Then, things sort of ground to a halt for a bit as the full extent of the yarnage dawned on me.


I mean, Piggy's no idiot; my eyes work, and I have a reasonable number of functioning brain cells. I knew I had a fair bit of yarn. And I knew that as a pre-process knitter, my ratio of yarn to finished projects was skewed heavily towards the yarn. But honestly...there was stuff in that pile I could have sworn I'd knitted months ago.

The realization that I'm an even less-productive knitter than I'd believed was sobering. I sat in the middle of that pile for a good 15 minutes, with, I'm sure, a rather glazed expression, as I tried to calculate the total a) yardage; b) amount of dollars used to acquire; and c) years it would take me to knit up, the mountain of yarn before me.

The answer to all three, I reckoned: too, too many. I started to feel a bit sick.

But then I spotted some particularly gorgeous yarn (Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca Silk in Guava) that screamed out to be petted. The spell of harsh reality was broken, and Piggy returned to that happy state of blissful denial.

Determined to stay there, I elected to sort the yarn in the quickest way possible: by colour. Purples, pinks and reds -- whether they be cotton or merino, silk or alpaca -- were squeezed into the older Bolgatanga basket. Creams, whites, browns, greys and blacks were packed into the Lantern Moon -- the smallest of the three baskets. And the new addition welcomed the greens and blues.


The two plastic bins now house the yarns I have in sweater-worthy quantities, regardless of colour, as well as the fingering-weight Cable Due cotton. And the stuff I have immediate (or the Piggy version of immediate) plans for sits on top.


Stash managed.

Well, except for the stuff in the kitchen closet...

How do you organize your stash? Are you a lucky knitter with loads and loads of storage space, or do you live in a teeny-tiny place like Piggy? Do you group your yarns by fibre content? Colour? Weight? In plastic bins, baskets, drawers? Do you like your current stash organization system, or would you like to change it?

Springflakes

It's official: Spring has definitely sprung -- finally! -- in Vancouver. A sure sign:


Streets covered with a blanket of cherry blossoms.

Spot the difference

Before the sale...


and after:


Not too much different, really. Can you spot the new yarn? Here it is all on its own:


Five skeins of Garnstudio Eskimo. Yep, that's it; that is Piggy's entire purchase from the "ginormous sale" this morning. All $20 worth of it.

Don't get me wrong; I had a great morning, with my yarnies whengaiasmiles and Infinity0 (Rav link). But the sale itself...well, it was underwhelming, to say the least.

Turns out the woman who owns the online store let earlybirds drop by her house (where the sale was) to make their purchases before the sale day itself. I suspect most of the really good stuff) was long gone when we got there. At least we got to shop in peace -- elbows were definitely not required.

Anyhoo...for the first time ever, Piggy left a yarn sale having spent less than her companions. Woot!

Even better: I've actually got firm plans for the yarn! More on that in the next post.

Nature abhors a vacuum

So...after the small purchase at the sale, there was a bit of cash burning a hole in Piggy's pocket. So after dropping whengaiasmiles off at home (she was going straight back to bed) Infinity0 and I went to Dressew, where she bought buttons for her sweater WIP, and I bought a pair of 99-cent circular needles.

So...my grand total thus far: $21 and change. Pretty good, eh?

You can guess what happened next...

Piggy went to Button Button. (Infinity0 wisely chose not to join.) Where I spent almost twice as much on buttons. In my defence, some are for my Malabrigo swap partner. But these babies are mine:


You'll just have to trust me that they are all more beautiful than this picture represents; the light was pretty crap chez Piggy this afternoon. The one on the left is made from different types of stone, while the others are made of vegetable "ivory" -- tagua nut from the corozo palm tree.

But wait--there's more!

The spending spree continued when I got home from Button Button...I just placed an order for a rather large quantity of tweedy yarn. But I had to do it: it's for homework. Piggy's making her first sweater -- a Weasley Jumper for either a Muggle Studies or History of Magic O.W.L. in this term's House Cup on Ravelry.

Probably a good thing the sale wasn't the big event I had anticipated. :-)

Piggy Live

As in, I did not write this post yesterday and set it to post at 6:50 a.m.

This is the first time in I don't know how long that Piggy has been up, showered, dressed and caffeinated before seven on a Saturday morning. Up, perhaps, but certainly not ready to go.

I'm heading to New Westminster to meet up with two of my yarnies. Then we're off to the big sale in Surrey.

Full report this afternoon/evening.

Mission: Impossible

Happy Friday -- and Happy May Day to those of you in Europe. :-)

Piggy is looking forward to the weekend -- despite the weather forecast, which suggests the glorious weather Vancouver's enjoyed this week is will replaced with rain, starting tomorrow afternoon.

Of more concern, however: Piggy's going to a yarn sale tomorrow morning. I really shouldn't, of course, for a multidude of reasons, prime among them the fact I'll be unemployed in two weeks. Followed closely by the recent failure of my system of stash containment. Yarn is literally spilling across the border between its allocated yarniverse and Piggy's tiny-to-begin-with living space.

But unless the intel. we've received is bogus, this is going to be a doozy of a sale. Patterns for 50¢, pattern books for $5, and 50g balls of yarn -- all sorts of brands -- for $4.

Methinks it will be a zoo. Elbows may need to be employed.

Piggy's mission: to not buy anything without a serious plan for it. Rather vague, eh? I'm setting myself up for failure, I know. I do have one thing in my favour, though: it's a cash-only sale. So in theory, I can limit the damage pretty easily by bringing a relatively small amount of cash. In theory.

On a somewhat positive note: my stash is a wee bit smaller today than it was yesterday. At last night's knit night I managed to de-stash six of the 24 balls of Cable Due I rashly bought on Elann in March. Thanks, MsTing! (Rav link)

Bag Lady

Thanks to mizafron, rosiegirl and Carmen for the knitting bag suggestions. I have looked at both Jordana Paige and Namaste bags before, and find them appealing, but perhaps a tad formal for Piggy's current style, which is one step above '90s grunge. On a good day.

I think I might have found a winner (thanks to the Harlot's blog)...the Swift Knitting Bag by Tom Bihn. The olive/plum version really floats Piggy's boat.

Anyone out there have one?