Knit PH at Freddy's Bar, Oct. 18 '09

Fall is here in full force, 39° and damp all weekend. I helped Stephanie clean out and paint a room at her parent's house. She packed me dinner-to-go as I rushed back from Long Island speckled in Tropic Breeze and Kilz® primer. I was so hungry that I slurped down some of the home-made chicken noodle soup on the train. A man craned a disapproving head at me. Sarcastically I asked "Want some of my meatloaf? It's delicious." It's best that I didn't bring my home-made kimchi to share.

We had an intimate group this past Sunday. Karen is new to Knit PH. She returned from the Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool Festival on Saturday. It didn't rain upstate but it was near freezing-cold. She reported the many woolen wares, tools and fibers, and had some photos of sheep that looked like stuffed toys.



She inherited her grandmother's fine hooks and is experimenting with typography in fillet crochet. Here's a sample of her work (above).



Meanwhile Valerie's SC scarf is getting bigger — very warm and cozy for weather such as this. Valerie meets with a crochet group at the Mill Basin Library. She also had some SC rounds in progress... could be a hat, maybe a bag, perhaps a kippah. I asked if they'd seen Todd Paschall's Crochet by Numbers project. He did an awesome portrait of Redd Foxx. Fascinating stuff.



I saw the most beautiful kippah the 2/3 train last weekend. An orthodox college kid proudly sporting the most intricate, colorful yarmulke— multi-colored silk with black Hebrew embroidery. Nana worked hard on this one, he better not lose it. Feh!



Tracey is trying her hand at embroidery, she's making this keepsake for mother. It's very clever that kit — it comes complete with loom, floss and needle, cloth, instructions, and the pattern is applied as an iron-on. This is a adept craft, I'm very impressed at her skill. Eliza had an announcement — 6 months pregnant, she and husband are expecting a boy. Eliza is one of those ladies that don't look pregnant. It turns out that she and Chris are taking birth classes with Ellen Chuse, a very good friend of mine and one of New York's leading midwives. Eliza is in good hands. Tracey asked her if she feels the baby kicking. She said is feels like an eel squirming in her belly.



They looked into Chris' Mayflower family names but realized was that some early puritanical names were a bit morbid, names such as "Hate Evil Wall" or "Posthumous Wall." I like Floyd as a name... Floyd Wall. How about Brick? Brick Wall. She finished a baby hat and celebrated over an O'Douls — baby boy due in February.

My black sweater is coming along well, the working title is "Black Rider Saddle." The knit-on-knit cables have finally come together. It's not charcoal gray, I lightened these photos to bring out detail from the black.



Here's the front. Fish-bone cables and rams horns twist at regular intervals. It looks like chest armor, no?



Here's the back. I like how these free-hand cables twist on alternate 4th, 8th and 12th rows and end in a 2 X 3 rib.



Here's a detail of the gauntlet sleeve(s) and the back. I think this classifies as another LOTR knit.