Feeling Sneaky?

Rogue Knitters! Pick up your small pointy needles! We cast on tomorrow! In the most sneaky way, of course.

Now that the Rogue Knitters have a Manifesto (thanks, T.), we need a motto. Something snappy and to the point. A little zinger we can whisper to each other to identify our fellow Rogues. Think you've got a dandy? Wanna win a prize? Leave us your ideas. Nothing profane or offensive. As T. said, we like to avoid conflict as much as possible.

Now get your thinking toques on. Winner will be announced one week from today.

As you were.

Baby Rose

Le Tour is complete and with that, so is my baby shawl.

It has a rose petal pattern for the body that I found in my Harmony Guides (do you have them? you should).

My favorite part is the small little leaves that accompany the little pink rose bud.

This is definitely not a sleeping binkie...but more of a keepsake.


I hope my little niece enjoys this for years to come.

Respite

July has been a very productive month for me.  I have managed to pick away at the Christmas list and have finished 6.5 presents.  Of course, in the interest of present security, there will be no photos or discussion of these projects.  This leaves little to entertain you, Dear Reader.

I do have a couple of knitting tidbits for you.  The first is the first Rogue knitter sock a long. This is the brainchild of our lovely Catknip.  More details on August 1, when we cast on.  If you are interested in being a Rogue knitter, too, I suggest you get yourself some sock yarn and this pattern.  And be sneaky about it.

And finally, a bit of garter stitch.  The projects I've been knitting have been complex.  I have decided to give myself a break and cast on Shawl that Jazz.

Every knitter needs something simple now and then.

Support the Harlot

We don't like to get into politics over here at Baad Medicine Industries and we don't like to ruffle feathers (both J. and I are HUGE conflict avoiders).

However, I need to make an exception here - there is some nasty stuff going on the Internet right now - to our hero the Yarn Harlot. I would just like to give her a little show of support from our piece of the 'net.

Baad Medicine loves their Harlot!!

The Rogue Knitter Manifesto

There is a group of us that have found we have a lot in common, not just our love of knitting, food and drink. We have come to call ourselves Rogue Knitters, and I am here to propose our Manifesto:


We believe in variety, and notably, not being held down to one particular spot. Therefore we shall always change our location and the day of the week on which we meet. This also helps us to not get caught by other knitting groups.

We believe in NO JUDGEMENT when it comes to choice of knitting project, food or beer (however we may judge you if you do not love all of those things).

We offer no knitterly advice unless explicitly sought out. Nothing is worse than pulling out your newly finished garment to only have the knitting group how you can make it “better”.

We believe that wool is awesome, silk is beautiful and more is better.

We believe in wearing sashes in public while knitting and drinking beer on Saturday afternoons.

We believe that we are stronger knitters together than we are apart – and because of this we believe in group efforts in terms of projects and yarn orders.

We believe in laughing so hard that you start to cry. And we do this often.

Math

One day, after years of study, a student returned to his small village. His family and friends were proud of the student and all of his accomplishments. They threw a party in his honour. During the meal, the student's father stood up and gave a long, heartfelt speach about his son. After bringing the crowd to tears, he turned to the scholar and begged for words of wisdom.

The student stood up and, before a hushed assembly, stated "Pi R squared", smiled smugly to himself and sat down.

The father approached the boy with hat in hand and beat the student with it.

"Stupid Boy! Cake are square. Pie are round!"

I have yarn pies.

See baby for scale.

Now, what will I knit?

Lesson Learned?

Punky (who's 5): Mom what do you do at work?

Me: You know what I do at work buddy don't you?

Punky: Ummmm.....research stuff?

Me: Yep.

Punky: And teaching?

Me: Yep. Do you know what I teach?

Punky: Knitting?

He still hasn't learned....

Talk Amongst Yourselves

July is being consumed with Christmas knitting. I'm challenging myself by knitting fairly complex patterns and trying new techniques. Fun stuff for a knitter but not very interesting for you, Dear Reader, as most of my current projects must remain secret for obvious reasons.

I do have this to share with you.

A rather large shipment from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. And no, it is not all for me. But can you imagine if it was?

Day of rest

Tomorrow is a rest day in Le Tour and I'm going to rest as well. I'm about 1/2 done the shawl (and halfway done the yarn) so I'm ahead of schedule. I need a little break from the blanket. It's only been just over a week, but it's not like me to immerse myself so fully in a project.

I may work on my shawl for the Edmonton Knitters lace-a-long as I haven't started Clue 3 yet...


Or I may start the sleeves on my cardigan...

Or try both?

Oui, Oui!

I don't often knit summer garments. Knitting to me is all about keeping warm and cozy. Socks, sweaters, even lace can be warm to keep the chill at bay. This racy little number is a break from tradition.

When I saw the pattern for Delphine in the Spring Interweave Knits, I was in love. I think part of the allure is that it's French. I have a special place in my couer for all things French since I visited Paris a few years ago. I also liked the fact that it is part lingerie, part corset and quite sophisticated.

I used Knitpicks Simply Cotton in sport weight. People often find cotton rough on the hands and unyielding. Not so with this yarn. It is soft and springy. It has a lovely drape and was a pleasure to knit.

Would I knit another summer top in cotton? The answer is simply oui, oui!

TdF Update

The tour is living up to the hype. Man oh man. I have 2 different feeds of the Team Time Trial Tivo'd today just to try and get it all in.

I'm on track for completion of my race.

The shawl will be a total of 30 inches, so for the 3 weeks of the tour, I need to complete 10 inches per week. I'm at about 7 inches 4 days in and I haven't even knit a stitch today. On track.

In other knitting news - I got nothing. It's all baby shawl all the time.

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

A few days in the mountains used to be such a treat. Fine dining, sleeping in, a little shopping, drinks on a patio. Somehow that was not my experience of the last week.

We did dine out. Once. And that was more than enough.

Nobody slept in. We were mostly up at the crack of dawn thanks to a sleepy, cranky baby.

There were some tears. There was vomit.

On the plus side, we went swimming everyday and it turns out that both my girls love the water.

We rode a gondola to the top of a mountain.

We hiked to see some waterfalls.

We visited a zoo. Twice.

And now every time we take a family trip, it will get easier and easier.

But I totally deserve this new yarn.

In Training

Le Tour de France is less than 48 hours away. The team presentations were today and there are still some outstanding issues to be resolved. So not everything is quite ready. At least not everything in Monaco.

Here at Chez T, everything is ready to go.

Calculations have been made.


Swatches have been measured.


And pattern notes made.


The plan: a baby blanket/shawl for my new niece's baptism. It has a flower theme and it will be light and pretty and accented in pink. With 3 weeks and 21 stages to do it. I hope to be as successful as I was last year.

Allez, allez, allez.