Fresh, Hot Wastes of Time

• I just asked Google Maps for directions from here to Australia. It told me to kayak. Kayak! LOL. #
• RT @argn: ARGNet: PICNIC: Everything We Know About Transmedia Is Wrong http://bit.ly/9CiCEG #transmedia #
• World Without Oil nudged me into recycling and gardening. #wwo #
• Holy crap, this is a cool site! Design docs and game pitches for videogames past: http://www.gamepitches.com/game-designs/ #
• The first break in the weather after a Texas summer is like finally getting a reprieve from the governor. #
• I applied and was accepted really quickly as a writer for Demand Studios. We'll see if it's a grind or not. #
• All my forks are spoons today. Is it a sign? #
• Dexter blood slide candy: http://forkableblog.com/?p=908 #

Reverb Shawl

Originally uploaded by addlepated

This Reverb Shawl was a test knit for Melisa McCurley. I knit it up in some really gorgeous Fiber Optic Foot Notes sock yarn that is an intense purple. Unfortunately, my camera doesn’t show purples, so it comes out as an intense blue in the picture.

It’s a modern looking pattern in an asymmetrical shawl.

In 1992 I went to see Phantom of the Opera in London and was – er, haunted – by the Phantom’s voice, a deep grumbly growl and so far away from the somewhat nasally whine of the much-vaunted Michael Crawford performance. I’ve been trying to figure out since then who played him. Lost my program.

I think it was Peter Karrie. So now I won’t forget.

Transformers from repey815 on Vimeo.

Spring Is In the Air

Originally uploaded by addlepated

Yet another shawl. In case you’re wondering why I’m making so many shawls, I have two answers for you. First is that here in Texas, we don’t get very many genuinely cold days, so shawls are perfect to wrap around your neck when it’s cool out. Second is that I’m participating in a 10 Shawls in 2010 challenge on the knitting site Ravelry — and this one is number eight!

This is my Spring Is In the Air, made from Wollmeise Twin in Petit Poison Nr. 5. I ran out of yarn twice on this shawl, which was a minor tragedy because this is German unicorn hair wool and very hard to come by. Happily, I found a kind Raveler who sent me a few extra grams of the same colorway she had – only to run out of yarn again 10 stitches away from binding off the entire shawl. I made use of my cast on tail and managed to bull through it all, only to realize that for whatever reason, the bind off was too tight and I couldn’t block out any points. I suppose I could have called this my Comedy of Errors shawl, but I did persevere and make a halfway decent garment.

Abrazo

Originally uploaded by addlepated

Here’s my Abrazo. I picked out the yarn – Knit Picks Gloss, combo merino and silk, very nice – and brought the leftover beads from my Shipwreck Shawl with me to New England and thought it would be a relaxing bit of vacation knitting. Ha. Instead I ended up doing the 367 stitch cast-on three separate times before it stuck, since this shawl is knit from the bottom up, and I couldn’t talk to anyone when I had a piece of floss strung full of beads dangling from my mouth. However, once the lace was finished, the stockinette portion zoomed by, and the short row construction was very cool.

Gail – detail

Originally uploaded by addlepated

Here’s a detail shot from my Gail Shawl. I made this for myself to wear as a Matron of Honor shawl for my very longest-time friend’s wedding in New Hampshire this August. The yarn was Handmaiden Sea Silk, which is made from silk and sea weed, and perfect for a wedding at sea (although trying to buy two skeins that 1) matched and 2) looked like the color on the manufacturer’s website was, in the end, impossible).

This shawl is enormous. I can use it to hang glide.