M is for... (part dieux)

Making one!

This is an increase that is nigh invisible. Most increases tend to give you unsightly holes that practically scream "HEY, THIS PERSON INCREASED RIGHT HERE!". Not very classy in my opinion. So here's my first-ish tutorial on how to make a subtle increase.

P.S. Yes, this is rudimentary. Yes, this is about as easy as sitting up in bed. But I still call it 'clever' so if a twisted knit increase stitch is boring enough to make you gnaw on the antenna tip of your cellphone, I advise you to just look away.

Step One

Pick out the horizontal yarn between two stitches (psst, it's the top one and in the picture, it's the dark chocolate brown strand).

Step Two

Pick up the horizontal yarn with your right needle.

Step Three

Transfer the new loop to your left needle by slipping the left needle in front of the loop the right needle is holding and slide that loop off the right needle.

Step Four

If you squint, you can sort of tell that the loop is sitting on the left needle, ready for knitting! But don't knit just yet, you gotta do it the 'special' way.

Step Five

Now, if you knit like your girlfriends showed you, you would knit by passing the right needle in front of the loop and knitting through. BUT DON'T DO THAT HERE!!! Srsly. Stick that right needle right behind that front 'leg' of the loop...

Step Six

...and knit on through.



And there you have it. An extra stitch that is twisted and will hide like a cuckoo in a wren's nest. And the beauty is, the only way to really tell is when looking at a column and alluvasudden, that column disappears! Oh no! Where did it go? Magic. Bwahahaha!

And now back to life as we all know it and I get on with studying and expanding my application to roleplay as Fenrir Greyback on a Harry Potter Roleplay game. I'm so excited, eee!!!*

* yes, it's unusual for a nurse to be roleplaying, but I strongly believe that most balanced intellectuals also have a highly playful and imaginative side so that things even out. Besides, I have to wait for my license to transfer from Utah to Kansas, duh. Administrative paperwork, you know how long THAT takes.

SOS prize

I've been soo good with not buying yarn (for myself. Can't give all my gems away to my secret pal!) for the Summer of Stash. I have been wracking my brains, trying to figure out what I wanted to 'reward' myself for being so good. Couldn't figure it out for the life of me...until I went to visit my old haunt, Yarn Barn.

There was a lace-weight merino/tencel yarn known as "Heavenly" or something like that. It's $30 for quite a bit and it's the most gorgeous yarn I've ever seen. And it fits my unending lust for lace. It's perfect. Such sheen and they had the most glorious purple, it's got my name all over it. I just hope it's there by labor day. <3

Oh yeah, and I made it just fine but if I ever move back to Utah, I'll need a new car. I'm thinking about the Honda Fit and not just because they advertised at the dealer where we brought in my Honda Civic Hatchback for a new thermostat that you can fit a llama in it. Though that was certainly a curiousity ("Look, mom, why's there a picture of a llama head over there?").

I have lots of additional M pictures but my computer with all the good stuff on it for making pictures not-so-big and still sharp and pretty is currently not connected to The Wired (Serial Experiments Lain joke, I'm sure one or two of you might not be going HUH? at the moment. Maybe.). We'll get her hooked up with a cable sometime but until then, you'll just have to imagine all the beautiful landscape we went through, the pastel mountains, the miles and miles of "Oh wow, corn maize!" and "Oh look, a tree!" and some at points "Ha, and they say Kansas is flat, I'll show them!".

M is for

Moving! And Missing Mountains. And leaving behind Many friends (they gave me a snowcone Machine as a going away present. Tell Me again why I'm Moving?). See you all in Kansas.

You think they're cuddly but I think they're sinister

Books! Books!

I like books so that qualifies me as 'tagged' by May who doesn't know me but that's cool, she sounds like an awesome nurse and we all like the awesome nurse people.

Books that changed my life
Barring scriptures, they would be:
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery

Books that I read more than once
The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas
Beauty by Robin McKinley
The Hero And the Crown by Robin McKinley

Books that I would want in a desert island:
Anything written by Robin McKinley (are we finding a trend?)
Anything written by C.S. Forester. Hopefully his books based on the high seas might teach me a thing or two on how to get me off the island!

One book that made me laugh:
Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

One book that made me cry:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

One book I wish I had written:
The one I'm writing now. Secret Dragon by me! Not out in stores yet. ;P

One book I wish had never been written:
Eragon by Christopher Paolini. He should have waited until the hormones had cleared from his system and he 'graduated' from D&D tourneys in his parents' basement.

One book I am currently reading:
Raven Ring by Patricia C. Wrede

I LOVE books so if you have a suggestion, leave it here! I'm definitely getting a library card so I can read all the ones I'm suggested.

Now I need to bully my cousin into pinching it off so I can use the toilet. >(

L is for

Lace! And being Lazy as Toast. And Love which I'd like to really experience, especially after watching the end of Wonderfalls for the second time yesterday. Ah, Tyron Leitso, you make my heart flutter, mmm...er...where was I? Oh yes. Lace.

Anyways, everyone remember this?


That's right, it's how long the Baltic Sea Stole after one skein of Knitpicks Shadow in Vineyard. Well, that was back in March. It was July when she passed the two skein mark. Wanna see how far along she is now? Wow, don't all speak up at once.



Pretty sharp, don't you think? She's about four feet long. And it's become kind of like a cat in the lap to knit on. And since I'm knitting in a basement, I'm not dying of heat when I knit on her either. She's just really comforting and friendly. I tend to story-write with my close friend Briana as I knit with her so there's a lot of really good creative energy in this thing. And when I wrap her around my shoulders, I feel happy since I knit when I'm happy. I don't engage in Emo Knitting. You will find nary a doll head or safety pin in my knitting. Unless the safety pin is a stitch marker. Sometimes I think I wear my dragon ring just as a substitute stitch marker until I can find the one I've inevitably dropped.

Anyways, I'm also working on Hedera but because I was being a goose, I tried to knit her in the dark by feel, which almost worked except I remembered one of the rows incorrectly and she will have to be frogged. And since I don't believe in photographically documenting my stupidity, we'll just have to leave it unphotographed.

And now to do a little packing because parents will be here today or tomorrow, depending on how insane they really feel like being. The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree here!

FO - Mrs. Beeton!

This is the only picture I have of the Mrs. Beetons I made for a good friend of mine.
Specs
Yarn: Mainly Misti Alpaca Sport and then the purple trim is Knitpicks Shadow in Vineyard. Yes, I stole it off my stole, har har.
Needles: Good ol' aluminum Boye in 3s.
Notes How DID the girl get these not to curl? I blocked but it was very awkward and consisted on washing and kind of trying to get it laid out on a clean towel but still the Knitpicks laceweight curled like a moth...moth. Yes. Moth. Quite curly buggers.

Anyways, they have been packed off with care to the recipient and it's been months since then. I've always hoped she'd post pictures since she really does like to photograph things, but she hasn't. Ah well, they may end up photographed when it's not so everlovin' hot outside.

Shiny

Dear KnitPicks, thanks for finding me my mom's Christmas present. Yes, I'm considering getting them all because she can't possibly use them all and then I can snitch one from her. Oh I am a devious daughter. Edit: For a very thorough review of the KIP bags from Knitpicks, check out Katydid's post on them! Handy.

Dear Etsy, your shinies will be perfect for my sister and friends.

Dear MST3K, I want everything.

And you notice that I have not wished for yarn. I have plenty (no, I don't have a fever, promise). But I wish I had lots of money for such things. Best tighten the belt and budget!