An update and a fickle tangent

I’ve been making good progress on the Chaotic Black Purl Jaywalkers. Yup, lookie there – it’s the black blob again! I must have a camera setting screwed up or something.


Of course, being as fickle as any other knitter, when I read Norma’s post about knitting red scarves for “’emancipated’ foster children who are in college,” I remembered that one of my knitting resolutions for this year was to do more knitting for the community and immediately scrounged through my stash for suitable yarn. I discovered that I had no red yarn. Hmm. I’m in Stashalong, so romping out to a yarn store wasn’t really an option. I considered dyeing some yarn with Wilton’s cake dye, but I’ve never been able to get the reds to set. Norma gave me a tip on resolving that problem, so I was digging through my stash for yarn to dye when I discovered a lovely skein of Anne in reds and pinks, with some orange and rust bits tossed in for fun.Since using stash yarn “as is” seemed much better than filling my condo with fumes from wet wool and hot vinegar, I found an easy garter lace scarf in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts and got started.

The scarf will be much more lacy and open after it’s blocked. Deadline to drop scarves off for this project is January 31 at any Einstein Brothers Bagels. (For the curious, I’m doing surprisingly well knitting with a color that’s so far off of the Chris acceptable color chart, which includes deep greens, purples, and black.)

“Things are gonna change around here, you betcha. This photography crap is making me very cranky.”

24 thoughts on “An update and a fickle tangent”

  1. Ah, we have the same tastes in colors, which is why I also have no appropriate yarn in the stash for the red scarf project (and no hope of stumbling across any, unlike you). I, however, am not in a stashalong, so it’s off to buy yarn after work. 🙂

    Your jaywalkers are making me covet that colorway something fierce…so pretty!

  2. So, is it your ankles he is bonkers for, or the sock yarn, or maybe the needles. And if he doesn’t like the camera, then why does he keep attacking the knitting when the camera is out. Should he attack the camera or photographer? Crazy cat.

  3. Imbrium – Oh, you gotta see the Helen’s Lace Black Purl (50 silk/50 wool). Yummy. I covet. Maybe after Stashalong. Maybe I’ll get over it before then…

    Thanks, Mama_Tulip!

    Scout – Interestingly, as soon as I sit down to knit, he hops on my lap, sprawls out with his head away from my body and needles, and goes to sleep. Unless he’s trying to get me to feed him, when he’ll mess with my knitting. Photographing knitting is a completely different ball game – and he must be part of it all.

    CV – Scarily enough, I’ve found myself hoping there’s enough yarn left for some socks for me. 🙂

    Chris – Needles and yarn in an unfamiliar context (i.e., the floor or table). I realized I might be taking a lot of pictures of him when he started to close his eyes as the camera clicked so he wouldn’t be blinded…

  4. Your socks are coming along quickly! I love the diagonals of the Jaywalker pattern — although I haven’t had the courage to attempt anything but the ‘basic sock’ yet.

    As for the comment you made on my blog — I think today you captured Chaos as ‘devious’ instead of ‘demonic’ ;o)

    Have you tried the no-flash technique, or is the camera(or cat) not cooperating?

  5. That cat really digs those needles…! Love the Jaywalkers–I just had my LYS order me some of that same yarn (although I’m assuming you don’t care for it greatly…I am unaware of your color preference list!) as well as some Bold Red. Wow. Another color you don’t care for??! Funny. I’m nearly done with 2nd Sock, btw. Post to follow–when finished of course.

  6. Kellie – I don’t want him to eat the camera! :p

    Rhelynn – The Jaywalker pattern is pretty close to being a “basic sock” pattern. Every other round is knit plain. And the pattern round is a whole lot simpler than you would guess. You should give it a try! I’ve tried no-flash on him, but then I end up with blurry pictures of black blobs. And since he’s “preblinking” when he hears the shutter start to go, his eyes are still partially closed without the flash – plus blurry

    Kirsten – Yay re: your 2nd sock!

  7. I think the stash yarn for your scarf is beautiful…. and that Black Purl….mmmmm

    My LYS really needs to step up it’s sock yarn selection!!

  8. I need your list of preferred colors and verboten colors, gal!

    I’m doing a red scarf project, too. One of the Vampire’s most admired friends is a very sweet boy (sweet if you don’t mind the black and leather and spikes and non-traditional sexual orientation and etc, which his parents evidently did) who will soon be the sort of student the project was designed for, so it’s a cause I can really relate to.

    Well, okay, in typical Harlot-like fashion I am planning at least *two* scarf projects, because I am taking them at their word and using yarn that is *not* red or anything even close to red. My stash only has one acrylic in it (I’ll tell that story on my blog some time), and I don’t do red for anything but Christmas.

    So they’ll have to take what they can get. Although there are tiny flecks of something that might be ‘in the reddish family’ in this yarn, if you squint real hard and the room is kind of dark…

    ~Eileen

  9. Hey Chris,

    Thanks for your comments on the socks, I’ve taught myself magic loop! I don’t have circulars that are long enough to do two at a time but soon, very soon I will!

    I love your jaywalkers! Love the colorway, so pretty! And you’re knitting toe up? How do you do that? I’m a newbie as you can you tell so I figure it’s probably pretty simple but I’m following Grumperina’s pattern and it’s cuff down! This is much simplier than I think, isn’t it? 🙂

    Anyway, thanks for all your advice and support! You’re a lovely knitter and I’ve added you to my knit blogroll! Yay!

  10. You’ve now got me wondering if I can knit one and mail it over before the deadline. I’m not big on red either but I managed to knit my aunt a red scarf for Christmas which she really likes and keeps wearing.

    The socks are look gorgeous. They have really knit up quickly.

  11. I do think that my backordered yarn is helping me with the stashalong – I know it’s coming. At the same time, it’s hurting me with the sweater it’s for, because I’m not inspired to swatch. Can’t have it all . . .

  12. Love the socks and the scarf too! I may jump on the jaywalker bandwagon as I’m heading to the Socks that rock homeland this weekend. I feel weak!

  13. Thanks for sharing how you get around Blogland. It was full of insightful ideas on how to read and enjoy many blogs.
    Chaos is just darling, as usual;-)

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