Knit PH at Maha's: March 03, '08

The price of a pizza went up due to a US flour shortage. The $2 slice is now $3. According to news, the price hikes are due to farmers growing more corn for ethanol production instead of wheat for food. I blame corn and Bush. We live in stupid times don't we — property values have soared beyond what most people earn and at the same time that makret is collapsing at a dire rate. The job market is weak but Bush proclaims our economy is strong. What does it all mean?

Meanwhile at Maha's, Archie's baby blanket, keeps growing bigger — it must be about three feet in diameter by now. He's going to finish the edge with an attached I-chord. Marci started a small stuffed dog for one of her illustrators, she's a pro at the hook. Marci designs children's books. Tomo started a new pair of Kool Aid dyed socks. But she has a much bigger project due at the end of the March: a room that is entirely knit from the walls to the table. That makes turning a sock heel seem much easier. Hana popped in for a bite and a sock. Am I the only person not into making socks? They are beautiful though. I'd be afraid of ripping a hole in them.



Our usual Wednesday crowd is small but cozy. I tend to like the smaller groups though. I can hold a conversation and work. The larger groups are fun, but they are more about social networking and sharing ideas. Emily brought her Stitch N' Bitch fingerless mitts for show 'n' tell. I brought in swatch work for Dan's red shirt. I notice that I get a differnt gauge on the weekend than I do during the week. The conversation revolved mostly around food. I had an extra helping of roasted cauliflower with my dinner. Emily said that she made it at home the way Maha told her: tossed with olive oil and salt, roasted for 20 minutes, finsihed with a squeeze of lemon. It's hard to belive that something so simple could be so satisfying. Meghan told us about a kale omelette dish that her mother makes — the kale and onions are seared til they're black. I love winter kale, it's has a complicated sweet and savory flavor. If bacon were a vegetable is would be kale. Meghan was just about to finish the collar on her shrug, but ran short on yarn. I always get one more skein just in case. Her re-order is in the mail. I gave her some bind-off tips.

Spring is around the corner and soon Knit PH will take it's usual summer break. We regroup in the fall. I called the Brooklyn Botanic Garden last week about hosting an ocassional knitting circle. They suggested the free Sunday mornings in the Cherry Espanade. Not a bad idea for a few summer reunions.

Swatch Test

Designing anything takes a bit of detective work. I ventured back into the Dan shirt and I looked at other patterns. I actually finished the front panels and the collar but eventually decided I hated it, so I ripped it into ramen and then let it rest for a few months. I initially did this in Tunisian stitch with a cro-hook, but it was about as thick as a carpet runner. I wanted a pattern that resembled woven fabric. I explored slipped stitches. I went online, hit the books and I found these two: Tweed Stitch (aka Woven / Linen stitches) and the Herringbone stitch. These make sense to me for what I'm doing.



The Tweed Stitch
(from The Harmony Guides, Vol. 2)
Multiple of 2+1 (#9N)
R1: (RS) K1, *yf, sl 1 pw, yb, k1; rep from * to end.
R2: P2, *yb, sl 1 pw, yf, p1; rep from * to end.
Repeat these 2 rows.

The Harmony Guides are good but they don't suggest needle sizes or yarn weights. The first swatched using #6N and medium weight mercerized cotton (Butterfly Super-10). It was so tight that I couldn't remove it from the needle. Then I used a #7 which was not much better, then went right up to a #9 — now this finally worked. I made a 7" X 7" swatch. After washing and blocking it loosened up to became more wide than tall, but the gauge was perfectly square: 4" X 4" area = 19sts X 19sts.



It's not reversible but I do like the moss pattern on the back side. The fabric is also firm enough to make real shirt pockets not those weird saggy afterthoughts that look like man boobs. The swatches above and below were made from Mirasol Coltani (60 Pima/40wool) from Peru. It has a slight heather and it's super soft. I bought this at Stitch Therapy. I plan to use this yarn for a striped Baja beach jacket in "Charcoal" and "Sunny".

The Herringbone Stitch
There are a few so-called Herringbones. I like one that I found online on a few blogs. I have a feeling it's from one of these ginormous Barbara G. Walker stitch bibles, but I'm too lazy to dig through all of them. This particular pattern lends itself to increasing, descrease and turning, where as the other versions of Herringbone resemble chipped teeth.

Any number of stitches (#11N)
R1: (RS) K2 tog, but... *transfer the first st to the right needle, leaving the second st on the left needle, knit the second st and the next st together; rep from * to end.
R2: P2 tog, but... *move the first st to the right needle, leaving the second st on the left needle, purl the second st and the next st together; rep from * to end.



After a wash n' block, the color softened to a butter color which isn't bad if you don't have food issues. This Herringbone is a modified stockinette. It's very compact and requires 200% more yardage than a regular Stockinette. It works best when worked on larger needles. Casting on 40 stitches, 92 yards of Coltani yeild a swatch that is 6.5" wide by 14" tall (40 sts X 56 rows) on #11N.



All these swatches held well up after washing and blocking three times to ensure stability and integrity. There is some shrinkage but only about 2%. I have no idea what I'll do with this pattern.

Knit PH at Perk: Feb 13, '08

This February 13th posting is way out of sequence, it's been a wacked-out month.



The rain ceased and a small group quickly assembled. Penelope finally met Eliza — until then they've only known each other online through Ravelry.com. Eliza found Jane's old spinning wheel for sale via Ravelry, then Jane finally bought her new uber-wheel. Ravelry is pretty amazing, I spend a lot of time looking at people's projects from here to Ankara, Turkey. I sat down to my usual hot turkey panini made by Perk owner Murati (who is from Turkey). I tried not to speak with a full mouth.



Socks are still all the rage — Tomo showed off her new skeins of Kool-aid dyed sock yarn. I was impressed at how intense the colors turned out — the blues are almost turquoise, greens are springy, reds are punchy. I now realize that Kool-aid and Jello have been clown-coloring the intestinal tracks of American children for decades. Caitlin started a hat for her husband, omitting the wave pattern. Meg was reaching the end of her apple green baby blanket and Marci was crocheting some arm warmers for an officemate. I don't know much about crochet — I had no idea one can rib and purl with a hook. Marci is very talened with the hook. She's also a very god illustrator. I hope she takes pictures before the arm warmers part ways. I brought in my left-over yarn project (picture TK). I'm crocheting my a long tube. I have no idea what it really is. I have admit it's a bit ugly. Caitlin suggested a snub bulster for my couch. Penelope said if I put some holes in the side I can make a hanging tower for all my plastic grocery bags. Basura meron? It's too heavy for a pilates bag — and I'm not down with the pilates-thang. Marci suggested I stuff it and use it as a draft blocker for the front door. I'll figure it when I run out of yarn. Or will I?

A familiar voice said hello, and a soft hand tapped my shoulder. It was Janet from our original 2004 circle. She was passing by and was glad to see were were still knitting at Perk. She recently moved back to the neighborhood. She said work has been good for her. We caught up for a bit, but she had to go. I told her we'll catch up more later on. Meg took a break form her blanket.

"She's a writer, isn't she."
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"She looks marketable."

And Mz. Janet does. She's written for many Latin publications including Latina and Famila. I imagine she does well. There sure are a lot of publishing folk in Brooklyn. I remember during that summer blackout when Harper's almost missed their press date — the entire editorial staff walked home to safety over the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn.



Anyhow, I brought the silk dyes for Tomo and Eliza for their spinning projects. These are left over from a past project that never came to be. By the end of the evening they both decided that the dyes would be better used in a group activity. Plan A: Gather a small group at Tomo's apartment on a weekend. I wish Freddy's still had their kitchen running. It's perfect for boiling a cooling roving and skeins on a weekend afternoon — plus I could grill some cheese sandwiches while we dye. Alas, the days of pub n' grub are over. By the end of the evening I raffled off the Valentine gift bag that Tomo made. Penelope was the winner! The funny thing was she kept say "I'm gonna win that, just watch!" Her psychic powers willed me to pick her number.

I like Propsect Heights. But we knit under the foot of change. They say a change is good, but I often ask "Who are they?"

Knit PH at Freddy's: Feb. 17, 08

If February is a leap year month with only 29 days, why is it taking so long to be over? I've been up late, swamped with work, courting new clients, closing deadlines, putting out new bids... then on top of that I'm pitching three books — who knows where they will go. The weather fluctuates between below-freezing to almost-spring. Although I like the snow it never stays around long enough to enjoy, then it quickly turns slushy grey with traffic. Knit PH at Freddy's has taken a tutonic twist. We are sharing the back room with the new German Language Studies Club. Professor Deike B. can take the entire room when Knit PH takes a summer break. A Finnish friend, Vierpe K., returned from a tour India's tiger country and brought her laptop presentation. Zo, Willkommen alles zu Stricken Nacht, an evening of conversational German and knitting. Maybe we can combine forces to overpower the French knitting circle.

I got an e-mail from Kate, a school teacher who was having trouble with a large blanket. She said she didn't register on MeetUp, but wanted to drop in for advise and a beer. She was the first person to arrive at Freddy's. Kate was in good company though, she is an educator and so is Mira. Related to that, Tracey is one to the librarians in the group, she curates Jewish heritage material. Kate laid her blanket flat on a table for a post mortem. It was about 5 feet by 5 feet and growing, but the I could see where she had turned a few rows and dropped some stitches. Over the din of Rilke I tried to untangle the the last 8 rows but eventually had do an unspeakable act — I broke out the scissors and cut a foot down into the blanket. Kate was a trouper, most people would faint at the site.

Mira brought her Calorimetry headband in progress, it's a very popular pattern from Knitty.com. Meanhwile I was adding the cap on another newsboy hat, I should have brought my labels too. Randy is working on a pair gloves for a lady friend. He asked me to advise at the increase at the thumb. He did all the right things but the pattern had a naming convention problem: M1 inc. I showed him the difference between methods and gave him the correct name according to pattern description: lift increase. Tomo had a new hank of kool-aid dyed yarn. She scoured every bodega in Brooklyn to get the right colors but found no brown. Maybe in the pudding isle in Sunset Park? Emily was working on another scarf, possbily for another office mate. She's going to join us at the dyeing party at Tomo's place, date TBA.

New to the group are Rachel and Meghan, members of Archie's Park Slope Knitting Circle. Rachel was finishing her shrug but raised a question: "How do I pick up 300 stitches if I have less around the edge?" Emily and I explained that picking up stitches is more a "notation" that implies you make some up. In theory if you have 240 stiches, you must M1 after picking up every 6 stitches to get the total of 300. It's not that messy if you have a calculator. There were three other people that I didn't get to talk to. They sat between our group and the Germans. Were they German speaking knitters? After beer and balls, the evening ended with a rich chocolate mousse cake made by Mz. Wiss for the German side of the room.

The upshot to Stricken Nacht: There will always be good cake.

The Mancho-rian Candidate

Fashion Week New York left its Fall 2008 forecast this February. Someone pointed out that I missed it. I briefly attended the first and less organized incarnation when the publishing company where I worked was across from Bryant Park. The event looked like Wigstock — models running about in full kabuki. A frantic man in black mistakenly walked into our office and asked if anyone knew where Betsy went. He flung his camera over his shoulder, turned and said "Tsk, oh you wouldn't know" and left. I imagine he also inquired about his friend at the General Contractors next door and was stabbed in the chest with his own camera.


left to right: Clint Eastwood, "The Man with No Name"; Missoni, Fall 2007

So, as New York Fashion Week 2008 sauntered away, it foretold of a more youthful Goth world— where play is the new work and plaid is the new stripe. Cardigans are hot. New on the horizon, men's accessories like this men's short button scarf (inset). Gone for good, the Mancho. The photo above demonstrates that the man-pancho only works in the movies — and only if you carry a big gun. And yet I saw a one at the Canal Street stop just today. Or was that a man at all? Hmm. He was just plain creeeepy! I tried not to make eye contact, but it was like trying to ignore a theatrical train weck. I guess they're warm and comfortable, but so is a down quilt — and except for a few homeless people, you don't often see that slinking it's way up the platform. But just as earth shoes and clogs have resurface, I'm sure the mancho will rear it's wooly head once more. When apes rule the planet.

Elle Magazine's creative director, Joe Zee, reported that "grey is the new black" again and neutrals are big for fall 2008. The color grey is also historically linked with signs of economic recession — I learned that at Money Magazine. According to a few fashionista friends, neutral colors reveal much about a man —where as colors compensate. Charcoal is known as the bachelor's color — pensive and cagey. Light grey mean business. Camel and stone are worn by the trustworthy man, and ecrue by the old-fashioned boy. Black completes the somber man, it's the thinking man's color. I always figured that if I wore enough gray the world would catch up to me. I'm still waiting for a receding hairline and being slightly out of shape to work in my favor.

If Pictures Could Talk...

1. I LOVE my bath mat!
2. Skittles are the new black.
3. The Mancho-rian Candidate.
4. Braille Chic at Fashion Week.
5. I'm coo-coo for Fruity Puffs!
6. Squint. You'll see Che Guevara's
face on my left shoulder.
7. Chuck Close, but no cigar.
8. I can land this plane myself.
9. I'm here for the "Godspell" audition.
10. Hobbits rarely leave the shire.

Knit PH at Maha's: Feb. 6, 2008

I had a nose bleed this morning, it looked like a crime scene in my bathroom sink. I imagined being lead away in handcuffs explaining "No it's just a combintation of dry apartment heat, smoking, and Nicorette™ gum! I'm innocent I tell you!"



It was a warm Wednesday evening at Maha's — fall weather in February, high of 68 degrees. Archie is working on a pie-shaped baby blanket for a friend's new daughter. He's been very involved with the Park Slope Knitting Circle since he's taken the group over. Where does that man get the energy? The PSKC group has been participating in hospital charities, like knitting for cancer patients. Meanwhile from our Knit PH group, Emily, Tomo, and I entered Diorama Lodge this past Tuesday. We didn't win but we sure kicked some shoebox-ass.

Leslie, one of my students showed up. I teased her about crossing Flatbush from the Slope. Then she teased me about calling her Leslie since her name is Lisa and she's only been attending my classes now for two years now. Touché Lisa, touché. She brought in her Cobble Stone sweater, a very smart design by Jarret Flood (Interweave Knits, Fall/Winter Issue). She did a great job on the short-row yoke, with a few loose "turns". Eliza said that one of her officemates has been calling her Lisa for years even though she's corrected her on numerous occasions. Eliza has started playing around with the spinning wheel that she bought from Jane. Tomo spins too, she said that Jane probably upgraded to a wheel with more plying capabilities. I find it all fascinating— that's like making your own sand.



Tomo made a gift bag to raffle at Perk next week for Valetine's Day. This is much better than the canned ham I give away on karaoke night. She worked on a beautiful pair of lace socks. Mariel was in mid-sock too using yarn she dyed with Jello in her microwave. I was impressed with how bright the colors were — variegated Lemon Parfait and Tangerine. Tomo and Eliza said they'd like to try dying dyeing with Jello. I have silk dyes to give them from a silk screen project, NOT good for small apartments. The topic of Webb's keeps coming up. I've never been to their ginormous year-end yarn sale. Urban legend tells of people showing up with large construction-grade bags and "helpers". Instead I have a growing collection magentic clasps and skull bead. Emily finished up another short buttoned scarf, it's a great quick gift for demanding officemates. She better be making out well with the office loot.

Eminantly Wrong

This sucks hairy eggs:

Statement on Eminent Domain Decision

For Immediate Release: February 1, 2008

Circuit Court Rules Against Homeowners, Business Owners and Tenants in Atlantic Yards Eminent Domain Appeal

Plaintiffs Intend to Ask US Supreme Court to Hear Their Case

Plaintiffs Will Seek All Legal Remedies to Protect Their Homes and Businesses From Seizure by New York State

Sources: DDDB.net and Newsday

Knit PH at Maha's: January 23, '08

I moved Knit PH at Maha's to the fourth Wednesday of January since the original date fell on the day after New Years. I wasn't hung over, but I did have the flu. We added a few new people to our small group. Marci is from Windsor Terrace. Jeff lives in the Bronx, but stopped in to knit before he caught the train home. Travis ferried from Staten Island (this man needs a car). Tomo finished her monkey hat, that is one sweet sweeeet hat. I asked her to send me an image. Emily (which Emily?) asked if she could crash, she didn't have time to RSVP this month. I told her I'd stand if needed. This February Emily, Tomo and I are going to form a team for Diorama Night at Freddy's. I'm working on the pre-game trash talk — we play to win, what can I say.

We've got an interesting group, I've noticed that many people in the group are from a publication related or Libarary Science fields. Meg is an acq. editor, Melissa and Jeff — Library Science, and Marci works in children's books. We had a soft-trade conversation about the industry and where it's going, books, magazines... etc. I told them about some of the most rediculous magazines that I developed — the weirdest one being Money Magazine's children's issue called "Money! For Kids" Doesn't that sound evil?

Meg and I were the lucky one's, Maha gave us cake on our way out. Yummm.

Meanwhile, on the Needle

I made a bunch of silk screened labels. Pearl Paint makes custom screens for $25 and up. The investment was low, but the commitment to silk screening was taxing. I got ink on my shoe and dragged it all over the floor and carpet. Then I got the ink on the curtains. After all is said and done I can only use 80% of them. It also didn't occur to me that sewing round shapes into a hat is very slow work.

So why am I making my own labels? Maxcine asked if I wanted to sell Hugo at her shop, Stitch Therapy. Low return on product? Hours of intensive labor? Hand cramps? Of course I do!! I'm developing the Yarn Monkey as a brand. A friend asked if anyone might think the monkey image might be seen as "racist". How? It looks just like me without the cigarette. In the future I'll just order woven labels from HeirLoomLabels.com. Or maybe I should get on of those sewing helper monkeys. Anyhow, Hugo will be sold at Stitch Therapy starting this February. My friend Eric is also pushing me to jump on the ETSY bandwagon. I'm just one guy — better get more needles.

Court Trouble: Woe$ In The Political Arena

I've run out of words to describe the eminant domain highway robbery of Prospect Heights, but this screen grab above says it all. Betty White ("Lake Placid", Fox 200 Pictures, 1999) as the widow Bickerman responds to her cow being used as bait to lure a 30 foot long crocodile:

"You can't take my cow by eminant domain!
You're all c--k s-----s!
I knew that at first but I didn't want to say it!
You're all c--k s-----s!

Speaking of eminant domain c--k s-----s, it looks as if the mega-developer FCR is running into financial problems with the Nets Arena. Who knew that the sub-prime mortage mess would get tangled into the Nets' arena funding mess. That's like finding out that smog protected us from atmospheric radiation. The New York Post reported that an affidavit from Forest City Ratner's Director of Finance admitted fundraising difficulties. From the recent article "Ratner Admits Arena-Funding Woes" (Rich Calder, NY POST, January 28) Rich Calder reports:

"Ratner is running into trouble securing funding for his controversial $4 billion Atlantic Yards project...The biggest development in Brooklyn's history is in jeopardy because of dragging litigation and a slumping fiscal market."

"The credit markets are in turmoil at this time . . . There is a serious question as to whether, given the current state of the debt market, the underwriters will be able to proceed with the financing for the arena while the appeal is pending,"

The affidavit contends that Ratner is "likely to encounter significant difficulties and cost increases in concluding the bond financing that is essential to the arena's completion should the appeal not be decided quickly.

And Eminent Domain ?

Of course this all happens as Ratner himself is trying to pressure the courts into ruling the eminant domain case in his favor. As judges flee this case in fear of jeapordizing their political futures, FCR and their legal team want people to believe that the pesky protesters (DDDB) are costing Brooklyn a civic boon. But Bruce Ratner decided a long time ago that fighting it out in court was cheaper than submitting Atlantic Yards to a transparent public-approval process... yadda, yadda, yadda. This just makes me sick to my stomach. Broo0klyn, what have we allowed?

Capping It Off

It's freezing cold on Martin Luther King Day with a high temp of 24 degrees. I just dropped off some proofs with a client. It was so cold that my cigarette froze to my mouth. I had to warm up to pry it from my lip. I made seven hats for a fundraiser this past Sunday evening — a good cause with excellent eats, live music, and a raffle. The hats went over very well, people ran to the raffle table to get a chance to win a Hugo, jewelry, cakes, art, vynil, and more. One woman won two hats: varigated blue and walnut. She was asked to "do the right thing" and pick another prize to which she yelled "Go to hell!"



This hat isn't gender specific, but I find that men instinctively wear it differently from the women. Women carfully arrange their hair so that the hat sits evenly, only showing the lobes of their ears (inset left). On the other hand most men wear it off-centered with the visor to the left or right side, or on the back making sure their ears stick out like pot handles (above). JR owns the bodega next to the bagel shop on Bergen Street — he loves his new red hat. An Irish woman won the green hat, she actually called it "bonnie".

Someone asked if I named this cap after Hugo Chavez's infamous red berret. NO. That would be like naming an eagle motif sweater "the Hitler Pullover". I actually named this cap after Hugo Weaving ("The Matrix", "Little Fish"). No real reason other than it looks like a hat that he'd wear.



The newsboy hat has many names and varitions: Gatsby, Cabby cap, (US) Paddy, Scone (Ireland), Windsor, Beagler (England), Cheese-cutter (New Zealand, Australia), Ya-she-mao, Mao cap (duck's tongue in Mandarin). My friend Pat calls it a "Scally cap" (Boston). He said that Scally means "fat alcoholic Irish racist douche-bag from Boston." His wife Ellen corrected him "It was actually named after Scollay Square in Boston, newsies would dispatch from Scollay and set off to hawk news papers on city corners — to their racist Irish douche-bag readers." Pat and Ellen are Boston Irish from Milton, they can say these things.

Hugo: News-Boy Brioche Cap

James showed me his new tatto today. I though he was wearing a t-shirt under his t-shirt. It's a large arm tattoo of a green dragon chasing its tail. I've never had a tattoo myself. Just not my speed. James is good hat model. He's sporting Hugo, a Brioche Stitch news-boy style cap. I know this hat pattern is popular with women, but I think of this more as being a guy's hat.

I'm going to try this as a two-color brioche later. It folds completely flat and fits rolled-up in a jacket or back pocket.



I used Karabella "Majestic" (merino, mohair, nylon) doubled-up with other wool yarns — Cascade 220 and some hand-dyed stuff. It needed more weight, but I didn't want it to look bulky. I started by making a garter stitch head band. I made the visor separately and sewed it onto the band. I picked up stitches from the headband and knit upwards in Brioche. To close the hat I swtiched to regular 1 X 1 rib and decreased. The visor is self-supporting and stands clear away from the face. A little felting with an iron helps too.

By the way, this is not an optical effect, James is actually that white. If you stare hard enough you can see his heart pumping right through his chest. I should just make him a hat, he always seems hesitant when I say "OK give it back to me now." I've been working on this pattern for about a week, so far I like it.

Knit PH at Perk: Jan 10 '08

Travis, just started knitting a few weeks ago. In a manner of speaking, he's hooked. He actually missed the Staten Island ferry while working on his purl. We had a good crowd at Prospect Perk. Tomo finished a neck warmer before she went out dancing — she's into swing. Meg was from the old hood but she and her husband moved to South Slope (my old neighborhood). With the threat of a massive arena construction South Slope and Midwood seem to be the logical next move these days. She's working on an apple green baby blanket. Archie is working on a baby blanket as well. I've been meaning to sign up for his Thursday Park Slope circle, I just don't know when I'll have time.

Emily, Emily, and Emeilie — we now have more Emily's than we can shake a stick at. Emeilie, is a Music Teacher, she was working on some End Paper mittens. I like the pattern a lot, it does look like the the decorative paper that follows the colofont. Emielie said that Melissa would be late, she had a flood in her apartment. Emily by proxy is in China. She's probably reading this from some covert computer in a tea house. Emily from Queens, showed up, she works in publication design. She's originally from Seattle. I thought she found our circle through Edna (from Sunnyside Queens) but she found us on Ravelry. Both of them talked about starting a group in Astoria. I'd definetly go, those old Russian and Greek ladies are harboring ancient secrets.

Melissa, arrived for some reprieve from her flood situation. A hot water pipe had burst and leaked into everything in her closet — including her wedding pictures! She said that her photos were all digital o that's the least of her problem, the wall was starting to cave. I was amazed at her stealthy Shaolin-like calm. It must be from years of Library Science training. Randy just stopped for socializing and observation, he's ready for a new project.

Little Vigo

It's back to the grind for me. I had a meeting on Tuesday to revise content and web site specs. A sign of getting older is when you consider being sick having "some time off". This flu has progressed quite well — I've developed a Captain Jack Sparrow swagger. As my hacking cough subsided I also took on a crackly Sally Struthers voice. I actually woke myself up mumbling about feeding the third world for just 50 cents a day. That was just the flu talking.



My joints still hurt, but I made a Little Vigo for little Jyothi, she may be too old (3) for the mouse-ear hat. I'll let their parents decide which child gets what. Little Vigo is made from an orange worsted Brown sheep. It sorta looks like a tangerine with a visor. While running out to buy more flu relief (before the relapse), I ran into my neighbor Mia. She's doing much better, she was still on crutches, but getting around. She laughed when I flagged her down. Was it my the Jack Sparrow swagger? She thanked me for all the yarn and said "You saved me! I was so bored in the hospital." It's good to see her out and about. She has a longer recovery ahead, but it helps when one's spirits are high.

Shaker Bootie?

So I didn't have a cold after all. I spent most of this week recovering from the flu. I had the chills, joint aches, everything-aches, swollen glands, nose bleeds... the whole bit. I should've known I was going a bit off when I confused "Gypsy 83" with "Buffalo 66" at Blockbuster. Any movie with Karen Black is a disaster movie. But as I lay in a waking coma, I was haunted by the same questions: "Who the hell were the Shakers?" "Why is that stitch called the Shaker Stitch?" "Did the Shakers invent Brioche too?" "Should I be wearing pants in bed?" The was just the flu talking.

I didn't have an answer but I recalled an e-mail reply from a Shaker Stitch Savant. I recently made contact with Nancy Marchant, from BriocheStitch.com. I found Nancy's site very inspiring with lot's of detailed instructions and enjoyed exploring her projects and patterns. I especially love her reconstructions of the Elvis Briohce Sweater.

"Everyone seems to claim that it originated in their country. It is known in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Estonia... in French the stitch is known as Côres Anglaises, in English it can be called English Rib, Oriental Rib, Brioche (Barbara G Walker calls it by that name), Shaker Stitch and its variation is called Fisherman's Rib. Elizabeth Zimmerman called it Prime Rib... in other words, I have no idea where it originated but it is an old stitch and has traveled over the whole world."

Conceivably it can be called the Micronesian Stitch, if Micronesia in fact had use for sweaters and missionaries.

That Auld-Lang Sign

5:05 am 2008. As I paid for my $6 sushi at Flatbush Farms (the 24 grocer) the cashier said "Kansahamnida, and Happy New Year". I'm not Korean, but at this hour I guess we all look a bit... ethnic. I went to three parties tonight — Freddy's Bar was my last stop. There was a champaigne toast at midnight, a few bands played. I felt like I was in the best place on earth, but by the time the entire back room sang "White Rabbit" for the third time, I knew it was time to leave the bar. On my way out someone spilled single-malt wiskey down my coat. My mouth feels like a sandy ashtray. My feet hurt. My throat is sore. What a night. All these are auld-lang signs of a good time. I'm home now, my apartment smells like a brand new shower curtain and clean laundry, and my bed smells like fresh cotton sheets.

Mz. Vickers asked me, "Why don't you make me a hat." I replied "Because you're obnoxious." Her attitude improved, but I gave Vigo to Long-tall John tonight. This hat is called Vigo, it's made from all the left over Lamb's Pride (wool/cahmere) in the bin: Walnut, Sable and Moss Green. I doubled the yarn to get a chunky-heathered effect. This hat has a square visor with mitered corners — it does not need plastic support. The visor is picked up from the cast-on edge, double-knit, and then sewn back into the rim. The rib pattern is based on a repeat of 4 stitches over two rounds:

R1: P2, K2.
R2: P2, C1B.

I told John not to show it to Keeton, his girlfriend. But by the end of the evening she pulled it out of her bag and mouthed "MINE!" to me. Goodbye Vigo, John will miss you terribly. Reminder: pick up chicken wings by 1:00 for New Year's Day party.

Epilogue

It's a new year, so what the hell. Vicker's got her hat this weekend. She's a Steeler's fan.

Hippie Holidays

The official Winter Solstice was on Dec. 22, 2007 at 1:08 am (EST). Roughly around that time a neighbor called the fire department on Matt and Adrianne's annual Christmas party — four fire engines! Equipment in hand, they ran through the hallway towards the backdoor to investigate. Someone yelled "Adrianne, where'd you get the strippers?" They made their official report calling the fire in queation "one of those Home Depot chimney things" and left. That beat out last year's police raid and the previous year's egg-pelting incident from Park Slope's finest neighbors. I'm sure our fire department has more dangerous incidents to attend. Over-entitlement is a deadly evil when one uses 311 for the wrong reasons.



Children's hats are good one-ball projects, I made hats for Jyothi and Moli, Muk and Hillary's kids. I simplified a pattern that we use in class. I told Jyothi that I made her a pink hat, she said "I hate pink!" Then I said I might have to give it to her sister. Then she said "I like pink." I hope this doesn't spell out a life long pattern. Jyothi's pink hat (above) has mouse ears (Classic Elite "Basic Wool Superwash", 65 yds.) at the top, Moli's gold hat has cat ears (Elsebeth Lavold "ClassicAL", 109 yds.). I'm looking for that pack of googly eyes so I can sew them onto the front. Moli is just starting to walk, kids grow so quickly. I'm always amazed at how wide a child's head is, an average of 18 to 19 inches in circumference. The average woman's head is about 20 to 21 inches — and men, 21 to 23.



I'm making a few hats as late Christmas presents. My sister Mary wants a red one. Despite what my nephews think, Kai and Corey are also getting hats. On Christmas eve, Eleanor and I went to the candlelight cantata at The First Unitarian Church. It was a beautiful service with a choir and horn section, but the sermons carefully excluded the word God, unless cited from other text. We had Vietnamese food right after. She gave me a book: "Look Me in The eye" by John Elder Robison. She's getting a hat. I tried not to cough during the service, I'm still getting over a chest cold. I've been using this post-hippie device called a Jala Neti to avoid another sinus infection. It's a small tea pot that you fill with a warm salt water solution. Breathing through your mouth, you flush water in one nostril and out the other — repeat process through the other nostril. I can only describe it as "water boarding" but I feel less congested and my hearing is better.

I will not make a Neti cozy.

Meanwhile... Is There a Doctoroff in the House?

December has been surprisingly cold for this time of the year. I made Freddy's bar owner, Frank, a braided double-knit scarf. It's made from olive merino and trimmed with bronze silk braids. Of all the people who are being rolled in the Atlantic Yard fiasco, Frank Yost has taken the hardest hit. According to the arena's architectural model Freddy's bar is the future entrance to the parking lot. The Brooklyn Paper reports that in addition the the arena's centerpiece Ms. Brooklyn, "Ratner’s ‘Mr Brooklyn’ Deal Gets Sweeter" (Dec. 22, 07). This sickens me to my core to think about what is allowed in a backroom deal bewteen wealthy men. But this seems to be where we are as a nation, and then a neighborhood. People turn a blind eye until they find out the problem is actually in their front yards. What have we all allowed?

Atlantic Yards: Brooklyn's alleged new symbol of civilization. What's so civilized about stealing land from people to build ill-conceived buildings that smell like pee, Milk Duds, and hot dogs? As we knit in the foot print of an evil real estate titan, the proposed arena is still being crammed down our throats. The Brooklyn Paper recently reported that departing Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Dan Doctoroff, finally admitted that Atlantic Yards was pushed through hastily without due proccess (article: "Now, He Tells Us!", Dec. 15, 07). The New York Observer (article: "The Education of Daniel Doctoroff", Dec. 11, 07) also speaks of Doctoroff's mea culpa. The New York Times, a Forest City Ratner partner, mentioned nothing (article: target="_blank"). But even as the Atlantic Yards fiasco is now undergoing great scrutiny, upstate cronies are still married to a secret backroom deal that promised private and public property to their wealthy friends — it's as creepy and suspicious as a private MySpace page. Knit PH is actually one man's odd-ball mission (me) to make people aware that Prospect Heights is alive, well, and not blighted. How can you declare a neighborhood blighted or uncivilized when it has knitting circles?

Knit PH at Freddy's: Dec. 16, 07

Monday: I just paid off $20 in late library fines again. Similar to how Sub-prime Mortgages prey upon desperate first-time home buyers, the Public Library preys on the absent minded. As I walked back around Grand Army Plaza I was smacked by a bone-chilling gust of wind that blew through my thermals right into my marrow.

The DDDB Christmas party just ended as I set up the swift. We had a small attendance for Knit PH at Freddy's this past Sunday. Many folks went to the Sit'n'Knit New York holiday party that evening. But mostly it was just un-Godly cold! Each time I stepped out to smoke I had to carefully peel my lips from my cigarette. Some new folks showed up, all PH locals who live in walking distance. Randy brought a sock pattern, tiny needles, and sock-weight yarn. Hanna was making the mate for her skull and cross-bones mitten. She lives in manhattan, but showed up with her boyfriend Nathan who lives around the corner. He was making another watchman's cap since he lost the last one.

Tracey started a scarf from "One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet" by Leigh Radford (Interweave Press). I like this book, it has solid short-term projects for the train and it easily fits in a bag. I wound 8 skeins of Debbie Bliss silk and a few other loose skeins of wool. Conversation was good as usual. Tracey works in the field of Library Science. Hannah is getting her Docterate in the field of medicine from Mt. Sinai (Microbiology?), her studies involve mapping the migration of cells within tissue. Randy does web design at an ad agency. I forget what Nathan does. Knitters are generally interesting people I find.

I stuck around afterwards to listen to Jessica Bates and Mauricio Alexander but ended up playing sound man, which meant making Jessica louder and attending to a mic stand that was afflicted with erectile disfunction. It was a stripped down set of original music — piano, guitar, soft voices, a very nice way to end the evening.

Meanwhile... Are More Men Knitting?


From the Knitters Protection Program: Me, Bhindi the cat, and Mark

Last Sunday I had lunch with Eleanor and Mark. He made these excellent steamed spring rolls with cabbage and ginger, Eleanor made a cous cous dish, I brought grapes and a Corean Apple for desert. I also brought some yarn and needles along for Mark, he wanted to learn to knit. Mark works in construction, he's got a great sense of detail and accuracy. He did well picking up the long tail cast-on, knit, and purl in about 20 minutes without any prior experience. That cat scarf will be ready in no time. Back in June a producer from CBS called about men's knitting circles. She asked me "on average how many men knit?" I'm not the expert. "Well, there's me, Doug, Frank, the other Frank, some guy named Tom... that makes five so far." But Maxcine tells me that more men stop into her yarn shop. I hope this isn't one of those hipster yarn collecting fads.

Knit PH at Prospect Perk: Dec. 13, 07

I registered on Ravelry.com today. I'm oficially # 70,517 on the waiting list. I'll have great things to share by summer 2009! The day started off with a Noreaster front it seemed to calm down the around 6:00. A few braves souls came out to knit. Eliza was already there having a bite to eat, I grabbed an egg salad sandwhich and joined her. I said "It's probably just us tonight." But soon after we were joined by new-comer Tim. He just got off from work in lower manhattan. Randy arrived, then Emily.



I ripped out the cuffs and hem of my grey sweater. Despite the wash n' block swatch, it grew about two inches in length. Maybe I should also test for "hang time" on a larger swatch? What do I make with 72 yards that look like grey Ramen? This time around I used a rolled edge instead of a folded hem. I switched from #8 to #3 on the ribbed hem. The five "rolled" rows are plain stockinete bound-off purlwise with a #8. It looks less "Sears Catalogue" this way.

Randy finished his first hat. He did a great job, all stitches were even and consistent. It's a simple stockinette cap with a rolled brim. I helped him close the top, he dropped a row of stitches down one side of the crown. His next project will be a pair of socks. Tim brought a set of #2 DPN and sock yarn to make wrist warmers. "Wouldn't gloves keep your hands warmer?" I asked. "That's what pockets are for." That made sense to me, I've never made a pair of gloves or mittens.

Eliza said she was thinking of buying Jane's spinning wheel. Her husband agreed that as long as it had re-sale value it was fine. Eliza said that it was very modern and beautifully crafted, made with Birch ply, but when not in use it quickly becomes a white elephant. My aunt Lili played the harp, she had a harp room. She married well they say — she had servant quarters, a pool, and two España raised ponds stocked with yellow angels and carp. Emily shared some thoughts on spinning.

One of my (many) white elephants was a Makita table saw that I got on sale for $600. Years later I sold it at a stoop sale for $75. The only thing I didn't make with it was lunch. I made benches, shelves, cabinets, flat files, a book binding press... more benches, benches shaped like cows, 8 foot benches, 4 foot benches, dove-tailed shaker benches... etc., the blue ones are still in use at the Community Garden on Union Street. Would it hurt to paint them now and then? Tim is a fan of Makita products, he works as an engineer. "Have you seen the demonstration of the touch-sensitive table saw?" Demonstrated with a raw hotdog, the blade comes to a dead halt if it encounters anything softer that pine. I blocked out that image all night. Makita also makes excellent routers too, I have an Eagle plunge router with a laser-guide.

April walked in and introduced herself. We all said hello AA style.
April: "Hi, my names April."
Group: "Hello April."
She brought a blanket pattern. Feather and Fan Eliza pointed out. April started casting on. "It's not for Christmas" she said. Yep, the season is upon us.

Eliza was working on a two-color Brioche scarf for her father. Briohce is also known as the Shaker Rib and the Beef Rib. Brioche is a spongy French pastry similar in flavor and texture to Challah bread. Although the word is French, I was told the stitch is British in origin — named for that deep spongy quality. Then again I was told this by a Brit, so go figure. Shakers were an industrious Chritian sect that left a legacy of inventive chairs, benches, and farmsteading systems, but they literally died off. Their religious beliefs excluded carnal relations. Is this why the dinosaurs died?