A little something done

It's part of the Downton Abbey swap. I wasn't satisfied with something else I made for my person, so I did this biscornu. It came out a lot better than that other thing that I'm not sending. I'd like to make one more thing but am not sure what to do.

Pondering. And not scratching, thank goodness.

Itch and crochet

I still like double knit. I'm very slow at it so far. I dropped the scarf for a while. I thought that maybe working with sport weight instead of laceweight would help me pick up speed. I started working on the sheep pillow, but speed hasn't increased much. I broke out in hives yesterday. I do not know what triggered them. It's the first time this has happened in over three years and is by far the most extensive attack of these stupid itchy things. A simple project was called for. I grabbed all the bulky yarn in my stash and started another rug. Fingers crossed for a new rug to be here and itchy blobs gone soon.

Doubleknit Distractions

I'm on a big double knitting kick lately. It started with The Name of the Doctor scarf:

This is not my picture. My scarf is only about halfway up the TARDIS. The picture's from the designer, Frivolite Handcrafts. Between laceweight yarn, my exceptionally slow knitting when doing doubleknit, and laceweight yarn, I don't have an estimate on when it'll be done. This is a recipe for distraction.

I needed something a little easier to work on, so I knit a shawlette for my Downton Abbey swap partner. It was single knit on sport weight and came out fine. I'm not sure she's going to like the color, though. I plan to make a project bag, but the fabric appears to have been snowed in somewhere between here and North Carolina. I should be working on a pair of mitts for her, but I'm not sure about the pattern. I'll think about this before taking more action.

I wanted to work on something that wasn't laceweight and wasn't Downton. I picked up the doubleknit sheep pillow pattern I got from the designer. It is every bit as slow as the Doctor scarf and it's sport weight. I like it, I'll finish it at some point, but it's going s l o w l y. Distraction time again.

Now I've got a bunch of projects and no motivation to work on any of them, so I'm back on the Internet. The yarn I ordered for my Downton partner has arrived and I don't know if she'll like it or not. Do I order more yarn? Can I find another pattern to do for her?

No, what I find is that Frivolite Handcrafts has come up with another doubleknit scarf. Be still my nerdy little Browncoat heart, the pattern makes me do a happy dance. It is inspired by the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial in Serenity. I love the Fruity Oaty Bar commercial. I sing the Fruity Oaty Bar song. I have had yarn inspired by it. I have a Fruity Oaty Bar lunch box. I've toyed with the idea of crocheting the Fruity Oaty Bar girls. I want to drop everything and see if the dyer who did the yarn I had before will dye some for me to do this.

I'll be good instead. I'll make some coffee, dig up the yarn for the mitts pattern I already have, and see if I can actually finish something. Well, maybe I'll look for that Fruity Oaty yarn first. I don't have to buy it right now, do I?

Let the games begin

I got through about 10 rows of The Name of the Doctor scarf during the opening ceremonies. I did the math: at that rate, I am highly unlikely to finish it during the Olympics. I want a medal to show my participation in this year's Ravellenic Games. I picked up my Counting Crows mega-mittens which were close to being done and finished them for WIP Dancing. It's an odd angle, but at least it's in focus:

I think the pattern's from What Else Would Madame Defarge Knit?. I call them mega-mittens because they extend halfway up one's arms. I'll probably never use them, but they were fun to knit.

Kindness as rebellion and subversion

The only sporting events I ever watch are the Olympics. It's been bothering me a lot that the country hosting them this time around is hateful when it comes to human rights. I can't imagine what it must be like to be a gay or lesbian athlete heading to Russia for the Games. You train and compete for years and years and finally get on your country's Olympic team. Then you head for a country where you might not be safe. It is wrong.

What is right to me are what some pattern designers are doing. Go read this post. It is where I got the title for the post. I can't make things safer or change laws that I think are wrong. I can buy patterns and have the money go to organizations who can do those things.