Knitting for the Sci-Fi Geek

Jayne Cobb Hat

If you're a fan of the Sci-Fi series "Firefly", than you will no doubt recognize this hat.  It was worn by the character Jayne Cobb in one of the episodes.  His "ma" had knit it for him to keep him warm in space.

One of the other characters on the show says this line, as he observes Cobb wearing the hat:
"A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything."  It's one of my favorite quotes.  You've got to be comfortable in your own skin to wear a hat like that.

"Firefly" Geek

So why would a middle-aged woman knit a hat like this AND wear it?  Why not, I say?  Actually, it's nice and comfy and warm.  It's a fun hat.  And it firmly identifies me as someone who loves the show, "Firefly."  It's a tribal thing.  You wear this hat out in public and it's like wearing a Roethlisberger jersey in Pennsylvania.  There's no mistaking what group you are affiliated with.

Yes, I'm saying it loud and I'm saying it proud.  I am a Sci-Fi Nerd...a geek with her feet on Planet Earth and her head in the stars.  I used to know a few songs in the language of Middle-Earth and I once wanted to learn Klingon.  And I still get a kick out of playing make-believe.  Want to join me?

Can You Hear Me Now?

I was sitting in the recliner yesterday knitting away when my iPhone started playing "Gasoline and Matches" and my brother's picture popped up on the screen.  I always get a laugh when I hear that song because my brother and I are SUCH opposites in many ways and we do mix about as well as gasoline and matches sometimes.  Yet in many ways we are quite similar.  We are both very compulsive people.  We suspect that we are the only ones who have the correct answer on a lot of things.  We can even be pretty obsessive, too.  When we get together, we're loud, we tease, we laugh, and we don't hesitate to disagree.   Bottom line - we're siblings who love each other, quirks and all.

So the phone rang and I answered it with a "What's up?"

"Well, I got an iPhone," replied my brother.

"That's great," I answered.  "You're going to love it."

"I don't know," he said.  "I can't see the screen."

"What do you mean, you can't see the screen," I quizzed.  "You mean you can't read the icons?"

"No, I can't read the posts on Facebook, " he replied.  "I could read the screen on my Blackberry but I can't see this screen without putting my reading glasses on."

I asked him if he had tried expanding areas of the screen with his fingers or if he'd turned the phone on its side and yes, he'd tried all of that but just couldn't seem to get used to it and apparently didn't want to have to admit that his eyes were needing reading glasses now.

"Hey, John,' I teased.  "Looks like you're just getting old.  Your eyes aren't what they used to be.  Better get those reading glasses out."

Just then the phone went dead.  I tried to call him back several times but couldn't connect with him.  Then I noticed that I had a message in my voicemail.  I checked it out and heard this message:

"Um, Dee...this is embarrassing but I heard you call back and I can't figure out how to answer the phone."

When we finally reconnected on the phone, I gave him a good ribbing about being such an old fogey that he couldn't even figure out how to answer a cell phone.  Actually, I could sympathize with him.  Some years ago, the Commander and I had been in a mall on Black Friday with new cell phones and my sister-in-law had called me and neither one of us could figure out how to answer my phone.  We actually went into a store and asked a clerk if they could figure it out.

I told my brother that I'd email him with a list of the iPhone apps that I had on my phone and ones that were highly recommended in different magazines that I subscribe to.  I'm always researching new apps for my phone and being the researcher that I am, this is an assignment right up my alley.

In fact, I just downloaded a new iPhone app called "autoringtone" that supposedly has lots of different voices and effects that you can program to say whatever you type in and then you can assign these customized sayings to different contacts for their ringtones.  Oh, boy....this could be fun.  I plan to spend some time this afternoon playing with this new app and then I'll come up with a new ringtone for that brother of mine.  Hmmm,wouldn't it be fun if I could remotely program HIS iPhone to play one of my customized ringtones when I call?  Heh, heh, heh!

In the Grip of a Good Gripe

It's Friday and it's definitely been awhile since I've posted any Friday Fave Fives for everyone.  Well, since I've been "enjoying" a cold this past week, my mood has been less than sunny.  Therefore, I've decided to give you a list of five pet peeves of mine to go along with my grumpy mood.

Who in the world invented 3/4 length sleeves?

1.  I do not like 3/4 length sleeves.  In my opinion, these are the most worthless things ever invented in the clothing industry, with the possible exception of the thong underpants and bikinis.  Maybe if I lived in a year-round warm climate, they might be ok, but in winter, they do NOT cover enough to keep a person warm.  Yet, the 3/4 length sleeve is being sold on just about everything up here during the winter months.  I even have a winter coat that has 3/4 length sleeves.  Except for the fact that it is a gorgeous chocolate brown Dr. Zhivago style fake-fur trimmed wool coat, I would have dumped the bugger long ago.  And have you ever tried to put on a sweater over these sleeves?  The sleeves aren't long enough for you to grasp them with your hand while you pull on the sweater with your other hand so you end up with the sleeve halfway up to your armpit once you have the sweater on.  Then you have to go fishing to try to retrieve it back to where it belongs.  Ugh!

2.  Trying to fold fitted sheets - Has anyone ever mastered the art of folding fitted sheets by themselves?  If you have, I'd love to know the trick.  I've tried different methods over the years but all I've ended up with is a puffy lump of sheet that clogs my linen closet.  Inevitably I just go find my hubby and have him help me while the inner child in me is screaming, "I can do it myself!"

That CAN'T be!

3.  Diet weigh-ins on Mondays.  Why in the world does my diet group have to weigh in on a Monday evening?  It's cruel and unusual punishment.  Everyone knows that social functions which involve eating occur on Fridays and Saturdays and then on Sundays, most folks go out to eat after church.  That doesn't give ANY time for the "miracle of the disappearing pounds" to occur.  You need at least 5 days for that to happen.

28 degrees?  It's March, for Pete's sake!

4.  Winters that don't know when to say "goodbye."  March is almost over here in Pennsylvania and yet the cold temperatures are still hanging on.  This weekend we are only going to get up into the 40's and down in the 20's at night.  They are even calling for some possible snow flurries to show up tomorrow.  Bah, humbug!  Winter, you have overstayed your welcome.

5.  The crazy way TV shows are scheduling their seasons this year.  I am finding myself alternating between totally confused and totally annoyed with some of my favorite shows.  It used to be that a show would start its season in the fall and then continue through to mid-to late spring.  Then it would go on hiatus until the following fall.  Now I've got shows that start up and run for 3 or 4 episodes and then stop for 2 or 3 months.  Then they start up again and run a few more episodes and then go off the air for a month, and so it goes.  There are mid-season premieres and fall hiatus and some shows are starting back up in June and my Dr. Who is starting back in April.  I need a personal secretary to keep them all straight.  To make matters worse, in this age of global communication, some British fans of a show I watch that just finished up Season 3 over there but is only in Episode 3 of Season 3 over here, (are you totally confused yet?) just spilled the beans on the ending of the Season which had a major shocker.  They did this on a public forum that I belong to with fans from both sides of the pond.  So now, I'm bummed and I haven't even gotten to the halfway part of the season yet.  But not all hope is lost.  I'm also watching the American version of the show which just started its first season.  Here's hoping that they write a different arc.

I could go on but you know, I'm feeling sunnier now that I've got those gripes off my chest.  I think I'll throw the sheets in the dryer, turn off the TV, manhandle a sweater on over these 3/4 length sleeves, bundle up in some goose down, and head over to my local yarn shop while trying to avoid the bakery on the way. 

If you'd like to participate in Friday's Fave Five posts yourself, visit Suzanne's site at Living to Tell the Story to read how you can post your own Fave Fives.

Put Me On a Boat and Call Me Sonar

As my mom used to sing, in her warped sense of humor, "I feel like hell.....I feel like hell.....I feel like hell...ping some poor soul."  Yup, I've got the galloping crud or whatever is being passed around these parts.  I really thought I might avoid it this time when I moved across the hall into the guestroom when the Commander came down with it.  Unfortunately, those blasted germs chased me down.

It's the usual Springtime upper respiratory thing, with the sneezing, runny nose, and coughing.  It caught me unprepared with not a lot of cold remedies around the house so I've been relying on my usual allergy meds.

I've been trying to stay hydrated by drinking lots of water.  When that gets old, I break into the Diet Pepsi.  In the mornings, I rely on hot coffee and tea.

Sometimes I go for the stronger stuff.  When you're operating with only 1-2 hours of sleep a night because of the stuffy nose and horrible coughing, it's any port in a storm, I say.

Speaking of coughing, I figure I could hire myself out to the Navy as sonar.  Honestly, with all the hacking and clearing of my throat, I sound like I'm doing constant "pings."    I walk around the house and you can follow my progress by listening to the sound of "huh, huh, heh, heh."  I just can't seem to hack up those darn phlegm balls.

Whatever did folks do back in the old days before modern medicine when they had horrible coughs?  Since I can breathe better when I'm sitting upright, I've had time to actually do a little research on the computer into that very question.  Here are some of the home remedies I found suggested to tame a cough.  CAUTION:  You might not want to try any of these.  I simply found them on the 'Net and we all know how reliable THAT can be.  But they are good for a laugh.  Also remember that honey shouldn't be given to young children 1 year or younger.  Comments in italics are mine.

1.  Stay hydrated.

2.  Try some honey (1 Tablespoon) with juice from 1 lemon

3.  Chew on a piece of peeled fresh ginger

4.  Inhale steam

5.  Smear vapor rubs on your chest

(These remedies were found at www.righthealth.com/ )

6.  Try Licorice for a cough

7.  Mix garlic and honey together for a cough remedy (no one will CARE if you are coughing because no one will want to get near you)

8.  Chocolate has a component in it that is said to relieve coughing.  (Now THERE is a suggestion that I can get onboard with)

9.  Make a Ginger, Cayenne Pepper, and and Vinegar Tea (I think I'll stick with NyQuil.)

(These remedies were found at http://www.grannymed.com/ )

10.  Drink grape juice with a tsp. of honey

11. Drink Onion juice mixed with honey (You've GOT to be kidding me.)

12.  Grind up raisins with water and then add sugar and heat it up.

13.  Take a daily warm-water enema (Um, I'm coughing out of the other end.)

(These remedies were found at http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/ )

14.  Eat a tablespoon of peanut butter

15.  Empty some whisky out of the bottle and add to the bottle, hard rock candy,  2 lemons and honey and let it sit 24 hours then use it to dose for coughs and colds. (I wonder how many old-timers convinced their wives that this was a remedy for coughs and NOT liquid refreshment?)

16.  Put Vicks on your feet,  slip socks on and then your cough will lessen within an hour. (another person said you could also use plain Crisco or lard.)  (I'm thinking that your cough will go away when you start screaming after you fall while trying to walk with Vicks or lard on your feet and break a hip.)

17.  Raise one arm up above your head.  (Just don't try this if sleeping in bed with someone OR if at an auction.)

18.  Rub vodka or brandy on your chest or throat before bedtime. (Hmm, well, you definitely wouldn't want to do this if you had to go anywhere else, like an important meeting or church.)

 (These remedies were found at http://www.myhomeremedies.com/static/cough.html )

There you have it.  Now aren't you glad that you can just pop over to a drugstore and pick up cough drops or cough syrup nowadays?  Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go smear some lard on my feet.  I'm thinking that it might not cure my cough, but it might just polish up my floors.

Plying to a Playlist

When I ply yarn, I tend to keep a rhythm going in my head.  It can become quite hypnotic.  In fact, I've been known on numerous occasions to fall asleep in the middle of plying, actually waking up in the process of tipping out of my chair.  Yikes!

Yesterday was a marathon spinning and plying day.  I started it off with a morning of spinning with our local spinning guild.  That put me in a spinning mood so when I returned home, I finished spinning the fiber that I was spinning on my Matchless.  It's one of the monthly club fibers that I get from Southern Cross Fibre.  I couldn't wait to see how it would look plied so I got out the Lazy Kate and started in.  That's when a major case of the "drowsies" hit me.  I DID manage to finish plying it all up but had to stop occasionally to slap my face to stay awake.  There HAD to be a better way.

I still had more yarn to ply.....namely the fiber I had spun at the spinning guild meeting.  This was a lovely merino fiber dyed by BeeMiceElf.  If I could just stay awake, I could get it plied and then have a clear conscience so that I could go through my fiber stash for some new beauty to work on.

I have always found certain types of music to be invigorating.  Since two of my wheels are in my computer room and since I have Pandora on my computer, it seemed like a logical solution to bring up Pandora and start one of my playlists.  Which one, though? 

Jazz was out of the question.  It was too relaxing.  Inspirational piano music was also eliminated.  Too slow for the rhythm I wanted.  I had started a playlist of cutting-edge Scandinavian rock bands but they were just too choppy.  I couldn't find any sort of consistent rhythm with them.  My Celtic channel would have some suitable music in it but only the songs that were the raucous kind with a driving bodhran beat.  I used to LOVE to listen to that type of Celtic music when I was doing my Library Science coursework for grad school in the middle of the night and definitely in danger of nodding off.  Unfortunately, my Celtic channel also had other, more haunting Celtic music on it which would also lull me to lullaby land.  My Country station was promising but I had just listened to it for several hours the previous day when I'd been working on the computer so I felt like something else.  What I felt like was some Latino music.  Yes!  That fit the bill quite nicely.  My Latin Channel was just what I needed to ply at a peppy pace with a lovely rhythm to it.  Salsa, Samba, Merengue...those all have a wonderful beat that keep me wide awake and totally in the plying zone.

Two bobbins done and one more to fill and then I'm all caught up on my plying.  Ay, carumba!  Why am I suddenly in the mood for a frozen margarita?

Wrap Me Up and Call Me Finished

My "Wrap Me Up" shawl is finally done.  It was actually finished some months ago but needed to be blocked and pinned out to dry.  The hold up was that it was so long that I needed to pin it out on the floor of the sunroom and it was just too cold these last few months to do that.  We finally had a nice warm day last week so I gave it a good soak and pinned it and today the pins came out.

Here she is out in the sunroom.  I had to really work to keep the dog from running over it each time she was let in and out to "do her business" but I was successful in keeping it safe from stray claws.

The shawl was designed by Chris de Longpre and it is composed of quite a few sections, each a different knit pattern.

The beauty of this design is that you just don't get bored as you knit this shawl because before you know it, you are switching to another pattern and you are off to the races again.

I got so that I could hardly wait to see how my yarn would play out with the next pattern.  Speaking of yarn, I used Noro Cashmere Island yarn, some Cascade 220 Heather for the big ruffle and part of the border and a bit of my own handspun yarn.

Here is the ruffle done in the Cascade 220.  That ruffle was really a unique feature of the shawl and fun to knit.

For the border, I ended up selecting some of the colors from my shawl and using those to crochet around the edges in half double crochet stitch, I think, although it could have been single crochet.  It's been awhile since I did that part.  Then I finished it off with a shell crochet stitch.

All in all, I think it came out quite striking.  I already have some more yarn picked out and purchased to make another one.  That's half the fun of this shawl....browsing around a yarn shop and putting together different yarn and color combinations as you visualize your finished shawl.

Now back to a very "unexciting" project but one that is near and dear to me anyway.  I'm working on some fingerless mitts for the Commander.  His hands get cold as he works away on his computer down in his computer room and he actually asked me if I could knit him a pair.  It's the first thing he has ever asked me to knit for him so this project is a true pleasure to do.

My Own Personal Hair Shirt

The sweater of my nightmares is finally finished.  Oh, I know what you are probably thinking.  You're thinking to yourself, "Hey, it doesn't look so bad.  All that fuss for such an innocent looking sweater."

Ha!  It's those innocent-looking ones that get you every time.  I'm telling you, this thing put me through the wringer.  Yes, it seems to look fine now.  I'll admit that the neckline looks a little strange.  You don't see many "boat-necks" on Icelandic-looking sweaters.  I could live with that, if it was the only anomaly.

I could even live with the fact that the sleeves don't go all the way to my wrists.  They actually ended up not as short as I originally feared because the neckline sits down lower than I thought it would.  That would be sexy on anyone but me.  I think, though, that it is hard to look sexy in heavy wool.

Also, I couldn't find any shirt to wear underneath this thing that looked good with it.  A tank top looked like my underwear was showing.  A scoop-necked shirt looked strange.  Regular collars didn't work.  Turtlenecks don't go with scoop necks.  I finally went commando underneath the darn thing and that worked.  Luckily, the wool is so dense that nothing really shows.  There is ONE major drawback to this however.

The wool is itchy as all get out.  I remember that the Icelandic sweaters that I brought back from Reykjavik were the same way and the only thing that helped was to have every inch of skin underneath the sweaters covered by a shirt.  That ain't gonna happen with this sweater.  So......I guess if I ever find myself wanting to do penance like the monks of old or trying to avoid temptation by suffering mortification of the flesh, I can wear this as a "hair shirt."  That being said, I think the only temptation that this will help me avoid is the temptation to knit another similar sweater.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to work on a much more enjoyable project.....my Irish Coffee sweater made out of yummy "Dream in Color" yarn.  This yarn is soft and squishy and not at all itchy.  The pattern is clear and the sweater is working out great.  I love it when that happens.

Ripping and Improvising

I've been taking a sweater class to make the Single Stranded Tunic designed by Susie Bonell. It's a free pattern offered by Cascade Yarns.  Before you rush to click on the link, you might want to read the rest of my post.  Just want to warn ya!

This sweater has been quite the challenge.  I think I have knit and then re-knit each piece of it at least twice and some pieces I've knit three times.  Some of the reknitting has been my own fault.  Some of it has been the result of a pattern that I think could be written clearer.  I actually had to have my local yarn shop owner use her knitting software to print off some alternate instructions for me to try to get the sleeves to come out somewhere close to working with the rest of the body.  It was only natural then that I would be thrilled to have finally reached the point of seaming the darn thing up.

Oh, boy!  I'd never done raglan sleeves before that weren't knit in the round so when I was knitting the sleeves, I was really careful to make sure that each colored section was knit the same height as the body colored sections.  I didn't realize that where the raglan met the body, the sleeve sections would have to be knit longer.  I'm probably not explaining this very well but let's just say that when I went to sew in the sleeves, I realized that to match up the motifs, I actually needed to have knit my cream color in the sleeves longer.  Drat!  I'll tell you what though, I was NOT going to re-knit the sleeves up a 4th time.

I got my sleeves sewn in to the arms-eye, both to the front and back body and was set to sew up the underarm seams and the side seams when I looked at the neck opening and thought to myself, "There's no way my head is going to fit in that hole PLUS I still have to pick up stitches and knit a garterstitch finish for the neckline."  I DID manage to poke my head through the hole but just barely.  Ugh!  Now I was faced with a dilemma.  I don't do dilemmas very well at night so I decided to watch a movie and regroup the next day.  Not to worry......I had a plan.  It involved ripping out stitches.

I decided that I'd take out the seams partway down to the light gray section and then pick up stitches and knit a bigger neck opening.  I managed to do that (of course, I WOULD have to be so good about already working in my ends).  So now I had a pile of yarn all "spaghetti-like" and live stitches to pick up.

This called for some liquid courage.  One Diet Pepsi later, I had all my stitches picked up and was trying to figure out what I was going to do.  Hmmm, I decided I'd just knit a few rows and then knit 3 rows of garter stitch and call it a day.  It would be a boat neckline.  Let's call it "Audrey Hepburn does Chamonix."  Of course, I'd still have to catch the part of the seams that were open and get those closed up.  No problemo!  THAT I could do.

I got the neckline done this afternoon and will work on the small seam openings later, probably tomorrow, after church.  I'm hoping I'll feel a little more charitable toward this sweater after I've heard the Good Word.

I was sweating it as I neared the end of my neckline.  That ball of yarn was going fast.  In fact, this is how much yarn was left when I finished binding off the neckline.  Not much, eh?

I couldn't resist trying the sweater on to make sure I could get my head through the neck opening this time.  Great, it was big enough now to get my head in with no problem.  But wait, what was happening with the sleeves?  Suddenly my sleeves, which had been knit to go from my wrist to my shoulders were now 3/4 length sleeves.  Ay carumba!  I guess when I ripped out part of the sections, it shortened up the sleeves more than I realized.  Hell's Bells!

Wait a minute!  Didn't Audrey Hepburn wear gloves up to her elbows in "Breakfast at Tiffany's?  OK, that's the solution.  I'll just wear the darn sweater as is and if I get too cold, I'll get a pair of long gloves and channel my inner "Audrey Hepburn does Breakfast at Chamonix."  And if anyone makes a wisecrack about this sweater when I'm wearing it, they will wake up with a black eye and wearing it themselves.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The Girdle Theory

It's that time of year again....when governments around the country are trying to come up with new budget proposals.  Here in our state, it's no different.  Our governor just came out with his proposed budget and already the moaning and groaning has begun.

The newspaper today was full of pros and cons of the cuts and adjustments here and there in the budget.  As in any new budget, there will be some losers and some winners.  It's an unfortunate fact of life.  What I don't "get" is the failure of people to understand that money doesn't just fall out of the sky to pay for the programs that they want funded.  That money has to come from somewhere.  So if people do NOT want taxes raised, then something has to be cut or reduced in order for money to be freed up to be available in another area.

I think we can boil all of this economic mumbo-jumbo down to what I like to call "The Girdle Effect."  It's quite simple and this is how it goes.  If you cinch or squeeze something in one area, something else is going to "pop" out in another area.  It is really simple cause-and-effect.  Every economic action is going to have an effect on something else.

When my hubby was our church treasurer and we'd have our annual budget meeting, inevitably someone would propose that we increase a line item here or there.  His response would always be, "Fine...if you vote to do that, so be it.  But then you need to tell me where we are going to decrease by a like amount to provide the funds for the increase you just voted for."

If only our federal government would follow the same principle instead of creating a budget that relies on smoke and mirrors and money that doesn't exist.  If only we all would realize that these are tough economic times and we are all going to be called on to make sacrifices, maybe there would be a chance for economic solvency in state government across the country.  And speaking as a Christian, I think that we, the Church are going to have to realize that the time may come when we need to take a more active role in helping our brothers and sisters in need.

A Little Scrapbooking with Friends

The ingredients are right for a great weekend of scrapbooking fun.  We have a nice room at a local hotel just set aside for three days of unlimited scrapbooking.

I've got good friends here to share the fun with.  These retreats are always like big pajama parties.  We stay up all hours of the night, laugh a lot, tell all sorts of tall tales and funny stories, and eat far too much.

Speaking of eating, we have a table in the back of the room that is loaded with snacks.  That means that we can graze to our hearts' content.  In addition, the hotel provides breakfast each morning and our scrapbooking hostess extraordinaire, Stephanie always provides delicious lunches and dinners for us.

I have unlimited coffee available to me AND a bottle of Diet Coke beside me (as well as some still in the cooler up in my room).  The only thing that would make it even better would be a cappuccino machine in the lobby but hey, let's not be greedy.

I have my trusty laptop loaded with lots of digital scrapbooking software and my pictures.  It all results in one thing - guaranteed fun!  And I have the pictures to prove it!

Of Course There's a Taste Test!

I just pulled my fifth batch of cookies out of the oven.  They are Nestle's Toll House Ultimate Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chunk cookies and they are super delicious.  Ask me how I know!  Incidentally, I'm using my new Pampered Chef cooling rack for the first time and I love it.  By setting the cookies on this elevated rack, they are cooled and ready to be put into a container by the time the next batch is out of the oven.

Of course, there are always a few that crumble as I'm taking them off the cookie sheet because I'm usually too impatient to let them stand for a few minutes.  That's ok, though, because the "mistakes" are the ones that I just HAVE to taste test, just to make sure that they are going to be fit for human consumption.  Uh-huh!

Luckily, most of the cookies are making it into the container that I'll be taking to a scrapbooking retreat this weekend.  I say "luckily" because I just happened to glance at the clock and noticed that I should start cooking supper in about 30 minutes and here I've already eaten five cookies and have 3 more batches to bake.  Oy!  Time to button the lips, I'd say.

In the meantime, I'm happy to report that I've finished another square for my Great American Aran Afghan.  This one is the square designed by Ann Strong.  It was fun to knit up and pretty easy to do.  You just had to pay attention to what line you were on in the different charts.

OK, I think I'd better sign off and go create a few more "mistakes" for the Commander to enjoy when he gets home from work.