Cable Sampler Done!!!

SO...do you know what happens when you do this:


You end up with this:



I finished it the other day, put the collar on yesterday and blocked it and here it is. WHEW! DONE! FINITO! This was the third time I've knit this and I earned every bloody stitch of this. I will never knit this again even tho I wanted this in the original colours.

I'm not quite happy with the sleeves...the right sleeve is narrower than the left but I kinda figured that was going to happen the way the shaping happens. I'm not quite sure why the cast-on's for each sleeve are different. You start with 7 stitches on the left sleeve then keep adding 4 sts every other row for 17 rows or so, the right sleeve you add 2 sts every other row for 12 rows then 4 sts for X rows...bizarre! If this wasn't the third time I did this, I would re-do it and alter the sleeve shaping just to see what happens. I also would change the cables. The right sleeve is very drab...it's just rope cables with moss stitch dividing them. Given that this has 11 charts to follow, I don't know why they didn't just add 2 or 3 more to make the right sleeve a bit more interesting.

I've started a pair of Fair Isle socks last night that are fun. I was watching a movie and started dozing off while knitting-I think it's going to take me a while to get used to something not so involved now LOL! I do have a pattern from my friend Lorraine that I want to do, it's a beautiful cable jumper and will give me a good excuse to order some Black Water Abbey yarn I've been dying to try for the longest time. I need to make a cardigan...I've got all pull overs and no cardigans.

Damn! There was a sweater I saw on a tv show I wanted to try to copy too....I hope this is a LONG ASS winter, I've got too much knitting to do!

Would ya take a look at that fuckin' hair?! At this point, if I didn't think it would fly off on a roller coaster, I would cut it all off and buy a platinum wig. This is strawberry blond he did this time to give my hear a break. I didn't have any breakage since this was colour, not bleach but HOLY SHIT!!! It felt like acid burning off my scalp. I'm expecting scabs tomorrow morning I'm getting tired of this...I only want white hair and apparently it's either too damaging for my middle aged hair or it's not being done right which resulted in only the top of my hair burning off...I'm not sure which and at this point I really don't care. It looks ridiculous now....not sure what I'm going to do. Isn't there ANYBODY on this bloody earth that can bleach my hair platinum without breaking it off? SOMEBODY must be able to do this.

Anyway, I'm happy with the sweater. Onward and upward now.

Listening to: David Bowie~ Fame
On The Devil Box: The Man Who Fell To Earth

Yeah, I dunno...I'm in a Bowie mood I guess.

Thank you Maria!

TO Maria from the Ravelry Cable Lovers group...I tried to find you but not sure what your screen name on Rav is. Just wanted to say Thank You! I called WIndsor Button and they did have some so Im' holding 2 skeins in my lap. WIll work on it later on.

I panicked because I thought Jaeger had been out of business for a while and didn't think anyplace would still have it. How long ago did they go belly up, I wonder?

Now I have a bunch of household things I need to do so I can sit down and finish this.

DESPERATELY NEED YARN!!!!

Man, I'm desperate...I am 28 rows from finishing this cable sampler and I'm out of yarn. I need 2 more balls of this yarn to complete it. If anybody has Jaeger Matchmaker Lot 7B2 Shade 639 I need 2 balls I will buy off of you. I had planned to wear this sweater on 13 December as we're going out to dinner with some of my partner's co-workers but it looks like I won't get to wear this and will have to wear a sweater I've been seen in already several times.

I was talking to my friend Lorraine of Sheriff of Knittingham and we decided this sweater was supposed to teach me something. Patience? Perseverance (No, I think the Kaffe taught me that in spades). Whatever it was, it appears I was not meant to own this sweater. This is the third and final time I'm doing this...I will not knit this bitch again. Three times is more than enough for any garment. There are other Perry Ellis sweaters to tackle.I loved this because I 1) never had a dolman sleeve before-I don't think they're that common for men and 2) there are 11 different cables on this.

I'm not mad, I'm just frustrated. It's like the Aran cardigan my grandmother knit...2 of those, one for my dad and one for my grandfather-both of them are gone...vanished, POOF! nowhere to be found so I have nothing wearable from my grandmother and the second huge challenge in this cable sampler and for the third time, it didn't work out unless I can mange to score 2 balls of this grey Jaeger DK yarn.

LOL! It's kinda like there's all these little tests in my life to see how much I can take...like living in New York. I cannot afford Manhattan real estate and it's the only place on earth I want to be. Since I was 13 years old, the only place I've wanted to live was New York and I can go for a week's holiday and then have to leave. Growing up I saw these beautiful Aran cardigans my grandmother knit and now that they'd mean so much since she's gone, they're nowhere to be found. "Here Jer...look at these...see them~ Love them? Touch them?! WEAR THEM! YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM!"

Anyway, if anybody has 2 balls of this yarn, I'd really appreciate hearing from you.

Stay warm!

Cable sampler

Well, here's some progress pictures of this Perry Ellis Cable Sampler. This is in need of serious blocking but I'm happy to say this is coming along well. The yarn is old...moths have gotten to it and I've had to do a fair amount of clipping and re-attaching to get out the frayed bits. I'm not at all sure I like this in solid grey now but it is what it is. Here is the "full" sweater:



It's a dolman sleeve so it's knit in one piece starting at the front, adding stitches to knit the sleeves horizontally and taking stitches away to go back to the body. Already I see a glaring fuck up-Oh well.....I don't know how you mothers with young kids do it...I really don't. But I give you credit. I can't wait to move into a nice house with a room somewhere and a lock. There will be a rule that when that door is shut and locked, I am knitting. If you knock on that door for any reason other than to say there is a ghostly apparition of my mom in the house, it will set forth an issuance of fire and brimstone.

Here is the left sleeve




And below is the right.

This is supposed to be done in colour and originally when I knit it, it WAS-each cable panel is a different colour. However, the first time the yarn was too light to support the weight of all the cables and it stretched to a sweater dress length. Those of you who know me by now will not be surprised to learn I was so torqued off that I cut the sweater up to ribbons with a pair of scissors and threw it in the trash.

When I knit it the second time I was in the midst of knitting a Kaffe Fassett and was so not into messing with more colour, I wasn't paying attention and messed the cuffs up-as soon as I got to the top of the shoulder, I began binding off which resulted in cuffs with a 2.5" circumference. No adult human has that small a wrist so I ripped it all out and the yarn went into storage. Shortly after that I began knitting it again but just put it down for several years as I was bloody tired of knitting the same damn thing three times.

Dare I now say that I'm wanting this in the colours it was originally designed in? Will I knit this again in colour? I may but it would have to be with yarn that came pretty dang close to the colours of the original Aarlan Royal yarn this was done in-knitting the same sweater FOUR times is overkill in my mind. Not sure I can handle it a fourth time. Here is the original. Gorgeous, eh?

And the sweater isn't bad either, is it? ;-)

P.S. Have I mentioned I'm seriously contemplating knitting another Kaffe Fassett? :-)

Boy Interrupted...

I feel so scatterbrained. I've thought about doing an audio post but then I start and don't know what to say, sort of like now. A million things on my mind and I dunno where the hell to start. I started to take y'all with me on a trip to the grocery store but all you hear is me yelling at everyone calling them an asshole

See, now I'm off my train and not sure where to pick up again....AARRGGHH!!! What is wrong with me?! Maybe I can do this better tomorrow.....

9.23 PM...I found some cool themes but just tried to do what one said and it just comes up a white page Blogger blows this way. I don't think any are all that easy to change on your own but Im bloody tired of this boring black but hate the other crap they offer. I should see if there are any 7 year olds in the 'hood that could do it for me LOL!

10.09 PM...I don't know why but this song reminds me of Danny. There's no particular reason why, it's not like we ever went out driving anywhere or had a date but I hear this and think of him and see those deep grey eyes. LOVED this as a kid, and still do. It's probably one of the top songs ever recorded.


Listening to: WASP~ The Neon God Pt. 1

A meme

I've not done one of these in forever so when I saw this over on Kyle's blog, I had to steal it.

01. Can you cook? Absolutely and I love to cook.
02. What was your dream growing up? to be an actor or musician
03. What talent do you wish you had? the talent to appreciate the talents I do have
04. If I bought you a drink what would it be? Absinthe but since it's illegal in this damn country, a Grey Goose and tonic
05. Favorite vegetable? Broccoli, I guess. Artichokes-I love vegetables so it doesn't matter
06. What was the last book you read? I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can
07. What zodiac sign are you ? Pisces
08. Any tattoos and/or piercings? Many tattoos, a pierced navel & multiple ear piercings (7 to be exact)
09. Worst habit? I'm neurotic about too damn much
10. If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride? Sure
11. What is your favorite sport? Rugby and Baseball...
12. Negative or optimistic attitude? Me? Somewhere in the middle.
13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me? Not sure I can print that on a G rated blog LOL! Hmm, evil prat I am, I'd probably try to scare you
14. Worst thing to ever happen to you? Watching my mom die and holding her during the process. Better for her if it eased her passing but it fucked with my head in a BIG way.
15. Tell me one weird fact about you. Just the one? Hmm, this'll be hard, there's too much weirdness with me. When I get overwhelmed or upset, the easiest way to deal for me is to throw strange colours in my hair like purple or blue or magenta or something like that. I guess at 40 it's more eccentric than rebellious but.....
16. Do you have any pets? Yes, a cat and a ghost cat
17. What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly? I'd make a pot of tea and we'd sit and knit. Or go to WEBS and blow a few hundred dollars on yarn
18. What was your first impression of me? That you're a very creative guy
19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary? scary
20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? I want the perfect skin back I had as a youth
21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience? Crime probably. I don't like convincing people to do stuffm so I'd be partner in crime.
22. What color eyes do you have? What colour would you like them to be? I have grey, green, blue, violet, silver and gold
23. Ever been arrested? Almost
24. Bottle or draft? BOTTLE!!! I've seen too many nasty things going on with draft...NEEVR EVER DRAFT!
25. If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it? 7 grand would go to a vintage double neck BC Rich Bich guitar.How much Woolmeise can I get for 3 thousand dollars?
26. Would you date me? If you were single, yeah.
27. Where's your favorite place to hang out? now? Dunno-my kitchen knitting, I guess. How boring, eh?
28. Do you believe in ghosts? Absolutely, I do. I've got one, a cat that likes to play tricks and possibly more in this house.
29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time? Create...something...
30. Do you swear a lot? Yes...it's amazing how I watch my tongue on this blog 'coz in person, I pepper my conversation liberally.
31. Biggest pet peeve? Oh no....is there enough space? Off the top of my head, chewing with your mouth open. I HATE eating noises. Another one is If you sprinkle when you tinkle, be a sweetie and wipe the damn seatie!
32. In one word, how would you describe yourself? Passionate. I think that encompasses a range of emotions which is me.
33. Do you believe in/appreciate romance? I'd like to.
34. If you could spend 12 hours with me and ask/do anything you like, what would it be? I would want to ride roller coasters with you. Are you a rail junkie Kyle? :-)
35. Do you believe in God? I believe in a higher power. I don't think she is happy
36. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same? I did

For Jewels

A friend on Ravelry was asking about the Perry Ellis Zebra sweater I knit back...oh, 24 years ago. I've been promising her I'd take a picture in it and post it so this is for you Jewels.
I can't believe that after 24 years this still fits me and I'm so glad it does. I dug out the Holiday 1983 issue of Vogue Knitting this was in and was looking at the chart for it. I'm wondering if I'd have better technique now that I've been knitting off and on the better part of my life. All I remember was I had to knit combo style...left hand Continental, right hand English style. The yarn I used was Reynold's Town & Country wool since we were unable to find the Penguin wool it called for.

Don't you love the top of my hair how it's all burnt off? It was shorter than this, it's growing back. I'm still not sure what we're doing...if I can stay platinum or what. I hope I can, I love the white hair and don't want to stop.

I thought while I was at it, I'd take another shot in the bloody Tumbling Blocks sweater. It looks so cool but I hated every frickin' stitch of it.

I sat on the sofa watching that old movie, FAME, that came out in 1980. I was dying for Chris to go away so I could watch it. This movie started it all for me..my love of New York City, my burning desire to perform, my refusal to really look outside the arts for a career, my introduction to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I love the movie but it depresses me in a big way. Back as a teenager there was a panicked sense of urgency that I HAD to do it and do it right then or I'd miss my chance. I did what I could with acting classes and bands and what not but not ever really being taken seriously and being too young to really do anything about it, it just...well....I'm not going down that road again. As a middle aged fart, it hit me differently tonight. I cried a lot (I knew I would) but the urgent panic was replaced with a calmer sense of feeling I'd let myself down. My time is past and "entertainment" isn't what it was back then. Celebrities are a dime a dozen. The trash calling themselves "stars" is vomit inducing. Because you are a media whore and don't mind having your naked crotch plastered on the internet and tabloids as you get out of a car does not make you a star. It makes you a pig. If that's the attention you're looking for, it's pretty pathetic.

Anyway...this is about knitting, not anger LOL! I'm debating weather to watch it again with the commentary because I know I'll not watch it again until the next time Chris goes away which probably won't be till Christmas.

I pulled out that Perry Ellis cable sampler again. I started it a while back and have met with disaster every time I've knit it. THis is it...I'm half way up the front the last time I put it down. I tested my gauge and it is still spot on so I'm gonna give it one more go. If I fuck it up this time I will burn the yarn and probably that issue of Vogue Knitting so I won't ever be tempted to make it again LOL! I want this sweater so bad.....

Guess that's it for now. There's a lot more swirling in my head but I can't gather my thoughts to get them out. I'm sailing down a reverie that's taking me back to the early 80's and it feels good...melancholy but good.