FO: Photogenic Scarf

With Multnomah bound off and more research needed before I start my sweater, I found myself without an active knitting project. So I when Dad went to storage with me last week I decided to pull out some FOs, including the Photogenic Scarf.


This was the scarf I started because I needed a "photogenic" project for The Yarn Harlot's visit to Austin, then ended up leaving in my desk at work while I was on leave. It's been languishing for a long time, just waiting to be finished.


I put off finishing the scarf because I couldn't decide how long to make it. I tend to make scarves about five feet long. I'm about five feet tall, so all I have to do is hold it up to get a rough idea of how close I am to finishing. But somehow five feet didn't seem long enough for this scarf. I decided to try for six feet. Then I decided to go all the way, until I used up all the yarn. It was a bold decision that reminded me of the end of "Thelma and Louise". I know that sounds like a weird comparison, but it sounds even weirder when you consider that I've never seen "Thelma and Louise".

I think I ended up with about six and a half feet of scarf.

In the picture above, I had Katie adjust the scarf so you could get an idea of how long it is. Getting the whole thing in the picture was difficult.


Here's Katie with the scarf in the "supermodel pose."

I used the wooden US size 8 needles that I got in the Knitter's Scavenger Hunt Swap, and three skeins of Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Chunky in colorway 16. At one point I had the color listed in Ravelry as "Rain Forest", but Yarndex has it listed as "Lily Pad." I think I'm going to call it Lily Pad.

This is another Brioche Rib or Eve's Rib or Mistake Rib or whatever you want to call it scarf. I slipped every third stitch, then shifted the stitch that was slipped on the next row. This created the nice neat rows of Vs you see on each side.


On Friday I worked on the scarf at the waiting room at the doctor's office. Mom started looking at it, and she put it around her neck at one point. I cracked up when it occurred to me that my scarf was so long that Mom could wear it while I was still knitting it. Right before I completely ran out of yarn, we recreated the moment. I also tried it with Dad, but he blinked. You can see all the photos I took of the scarf here.

After I took this photo, I bound off on the next row. I only had a small piece of yarn left.

After knitting and tinking it a few times, I decided to bind off "in pattern." Basically, I slipped all the stitches that I was supposed to slip in the regular knitting on the bind off row. It kept the end of the scarf from getting stretched out.

I'll leave you with my favorite picture of this scarf. I had Katie use the same pose I used in the picture I took of myself wearing the Entrelac Scarf.


There's a cold front coming, so you may see me wearing the scarf like this in the next couple of days.

I'd give my left foot for my right elbow

I'm settling into my part time work schedule, with plans to go back full time in the future. Jules is settling into his new job at Five Guys Burgers and Fries, where they make burgers good enough for Obama:

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Jules' new job gives me a little more time to myself. It's a good time to try to get my blogging groove back.

Believe it or not, I have been knitting fairly steadily throughout this little break from my normal life. I just haven't documented my knitting here like I normally do. I started an awesome (but top secret) project, and made a lot of progress. And on Thursday, I got my Photogenic Scarf out of my desk at work. I even worked on it during my break.

But in the last week or two, my right elbow's been sore. I found my self putting down my knitting sooner than normal because of the pain.

This pain is completely unrelated to what put me out of work. Knitting (and a little crochet, more on that later) was something I could do while I was out of work. It's been a coping mechanism. But now I think I've done it so much that I've given myself some sort of repetitive stress injury.

If you search for "Knitter's Elbow" there's all sorts of advice, and different descriptions of symptoms. For the time being, I'm just not going to knit until I see my family doctor Friday morning (that was the earliest appointment I can get.) The pain itself isn't that bad, but I don't want to risk having a more serious injury that will hinder my knitting for a longer period of time.

I'm realizing how much I use my elbows, especially my right elbow. (I'm right handed.) Using the computer hurts my elbow some too, but not as bad.

Sleeping, believe it or not, is hard on my elbow. I'm a stomach/side sleeper, and all my most comfortable sleeping positions seem to involve bending my right elbow and putting the weight of my head on it.

I'd draw a diagram, but it would be hard on my elbow.

At least I can work the remote control with my left hand.

Things that cut into my yarn budget: Off of Work and Out of Commission

The last couple of weeks have been ...interesting. Part of me wants to blog all the gory details, but I know some parts of your life are best left off of the Internet, however "interesting" they may be.

The main gist of it is health problems. A hospitalization. Lots of non-knitting, yet craving to knit. I'm not quite functioning like a normal person.

I'm taking some time off of work right now to get things straightened out some more. Which means I'm living off my parents. My meager savings won't go far. And I have more hospital bills. And did I mention my insurance *claims* I haven't met deductible yet? At least I can fix that. I hope.

Sadly, Decimal will have to wait. Spending $40-$50 on KnitPicks yarn is usually doable, but not right now. It's stash knitting.

In between all this my Photogenic Scarf is stuck in my desk at work. I really, really, really want to knit that scarf. I need to find something equally soothing to knit. In my stash. ASAP.

(I hope my boss took that orange out of my desk like I asked. Otherwise it's going to start stinking up the place.)

I don't have it in my to do World Wide Knit in Public Day at the Capitol tomorrow. But I will be at The Knitting Nest to see Franklin Habit. I can't afford the class though (it's probably full anyway), but I'll probably pick up his book and get it signed.

I really want my scarf back.

Yarn Harloting at BookPeople

On Thursday I rushed from my doctor appointment to BookPeople to see The Yarn Harlot. I was pleasantly surprised by how fast I got there from North Austin. A few minutes before the reception I arrived and had enough time to take this picture.


The Yarn Harlot had her name in lights. (At least it was in lights after dark. I think.)

Once I was inside, I ran into Elizabeth, and discovered that they had already sold out of Stephanie's most recent book.

Seriously?

(You could tell the staff was tired of explaining to people that they were out of the book.)

I ran upstairs, passing the crowd on the second floor that was already waiting, and up to the third floor where the reception was. Stephanie had not arrived yet. I ran into Suna, and asked her to watch my stuff while I used the bathroom.

I was going down the stairs to the bathroom, when I saw Stephanie Pearl-McPhee coming up the stairs.

"Oh my God!"

I introduced myself, shook her hand and excused myself. I wasn't too embarrassed, but it was an interesting way to meet the Yarn Harlot.

When I came back I stood on the outside of the group surrounding her and took this picture.


It was a very Harloty picture.

And now you see why I wound all that Misti Alpaca. I wanted a photogenic project that I could work on without a chart or paying too much attention. I bought this yarn specifically for an Eve's rib scarf ages ago, and I cast on the night before the event.

When I got in closer, I asked her to pose with it, another Harloty move.


I explained to her how I cast on this project just so I'd have a photogenic project for the event. She thought that was funny, and now the scarf is called the Photogenic Scarf.

I alternated between hovering around Stephanie and the group that surrounded her, and mingling with other knitters. I saw Birdy wearing the original Flit 'n Float, a cute baby in a cute hat and a Lacewings shawl in Handmaiden Sea Silk.


(Oh, and Suna and I decided to be on each other's blogs.)


A few minutes before the reception ended, I headed downstairs to claim a spot. This is just part of the crowd. Of course they were out of chairs, so I claimed a spot on the floor.


(I ended up moving to another spot on the floor so I could see better, but you get the idea.)

While we waited, I ran downstairs and picked up a copy of The Secret Life of a Knitter, and I took a few pictures for other people with their cameras. And I knitted. We all knitted.


This is Spike, introducing the Yarn Harlot. She told us to "put down our knitting damn it" to clap for Stephanie.


The first order of business was for her to take pictures of the crowd with her sock in front, just like she does at every stop on her book tours. This is where things got interesting.


This is the reason I wound the KnitPicks Cadena. I read on Ravelry that they were trying to get people to knit giant socks (or parts of giant socks) to hold up when the Yarn Harlot held up her sock. You can get a better view of how far I got here. I attempted an improvised heel turn to make them look more sock-like (or at least like little booties), but I ran out of time during my break at work to finish them.

And get this.

I was the only one who held one up in my section.

I wonder is she even noticed. Or just thought I was weird.

As she went around the room, a couple of people held up socks in on the opposite side of the room. At least one was fully knit. I think she kind of chuckled and got the point, but I don't think it made the impression we were hoping for.


(Yes my camera does crappy close ups.)

First, Stephanie talked about how non-knitters don't get us, which is something we all know. She read some headlines from stories about knitting. Everyone thinks it's weird. She said a really weird hobby would be shaving weasels, which I think would make a great name for a band.

After all, if knitters are just people amused by string, aren't fisherman* just people who stand in the middle of a lake all day, and isn't football just throwing around a ball?

Ironically, a couple of co-workers talked about planning a fishing trip on Friday. I tried to relay this tidbit to them, but I don't think I got my point across.

(*I realize being a commercial fisherman is something different entirely.)


(Another Harloty pic.)

The most interesting part, IMHO, was about brain waves. There are four kinds of brain waves, Stephanie said. Beta is when we are thinking hard or doing a complicated task. (Stephanie said she was probably in Beta as she was giving her talk.) Alpha is when we are "hanging out." Delta is when we are asleep. And then there's Theta.

Theta brain waves happen when we are in sort of a trance like state, like when we are falling asleep or just waking up. Theta brain waves are good for you. They make you smarter and happier. If I remember correctly, Stephanie said that Buddhist Monks tend to spend the most time in Theta. Einstein tried to spend a lot of time in Theta. Runners tend to go into Theta when they are running. Repetitive tasks tend to put us in Theta.

Like knitting.

Awesome.

Stephanie also talked about a study showing that people are less traumatized by disturbing events when they are doing repetitive spatial tasks (I think that was the phrase.) The study had people hitting keys on a keyboard. However the study specifically mentioned knitting as one of these tasks.

It also mentioned that this information doesn't have practical applications, because no one would ever carry emergency knitting.

If they only knew.

During the Q&A, I asked about being a professional knitter. Stephanie said it was hard. Like being a rock star, only a small percentage make it. However, I have a good chance of going "semi-pro." I could do that. I could go semi-pro, and then do something else.

After the talk it was time to wait in line and get my book signed.


Check it out.

While she signed my book, I told her that the Theta brain waves stuff is a good way to battle depression. She could use this evidence to encourage knitters to knit through their depression. She said she would use it. I don't know if she will. (I'm sure people throw ideas at her all the time.)


Here we are.


And look how far I got on my scarf. (Compare that to the pictures from the reception.)

You can see more pictures of my trip to see the Yarn Harlot (yes, there's more) here.