Dark hot chocolate -almost as good as coffee!

Today, happyness is hot dark chocolate, frustration with the NZ postal service, I'm knitting that corrugated ribbing, and showing you what mine looks like in photos and how I knit that (videos).

I'm so happy, I'm almost dancing around the house happy, this is back in town, dark, dark hot choc. Supplies are intermittent, so we stock up, 3-4 cans at a time and nearly cry when it is unavailable. The kids love it with hot or cold milk. We zap a cup of milk or water in the microwave and then wizz it in our plastic old milk shake machine and get foamy steamy hot choc, with froth so thick you can eat it with a spoon - magic. The kids get this, or water or plain milk, or honey in milk, no soft drinks, no fruit juice, and visiting kids suck this up like nothing I've seen. I take mine hot no froth-flat, dairy free with soy milk, and Bear has his with hot water and frothed. Double and Tripple Magic. And its good for the environment and other people :D. Can it get any better? You have to heat it up to disolve or use a machine to beat it into a liquid and its not like cocoa - it is more like dark chocolate. Liquid dark chocolate - heaven, this stuff is almost as good as coffee.


And this is officially a very dangerous good. Can you believe it? A new friend offered to do a really really nice favour, and which will cost her postage to me, from New York. A thank you was needed. I found these little cutie magnets, with a really cheesy slogan. Pauaful magnets, empaua your fridge. At this point I might need to explain that the shell used to decorate them was popular in new zealand in tourist, and kitch things but recently has become very much in fashion for art and contemporary jewellery and is called Paua. There is the cutest kiwi, a koru, gekco, bone fishing hook, and clematis, I thought it was a good 'from nz gift'.

New Zealand Post has a complete ban on dangerous substances like explosives, firecrackers, money and strong magnets. And oven cleaner!, it is listed on the banned substances list, tell me who, who, who in the world would post oven cleaner to any one? So Bear, as he works over a post office went off to post late last week. New Zealand Post are emphatic, these can not be posted. No way, Nadda, nitch, nein, not on your nelly. Still if magnets wipped my bank card magnetic strip in the mail - well I'd be more than a little miffed. Never mind - I've found something not knitterly but useful to a knitter that is confirmed new zealand post approved. And its winging away.

So I'm knitting on my Fana inspired Cardie, and well into the corrugated rib, shown here, front and back. No news of more yarn, but a girls gotta knit, and this is what I got to knit. It has only been 2-3 nights knitting so far - I could do that again if I had to. I think the variations in the spacing of the floats on the back are small inconsitencies in holding the red or purl yarn above or below the blue. I freely admit to not being at all perfect, but do want to improve where I can. Since noticing that I've tried to be more consitent. I love the way the floats across the back flatten the rib, and push the purls forward, it makes a nice texture that is not immediately recognisable as ribb.





First how to knit easy-peasy corrugated rib, or at least how I worked out to do this. Never being taught or seen this in in the 'yarn', only pictures and descriptions, this is what worked best for me when I tried. What I love about way this is that I just look and scoop the colour I need, no translating, colour to hand required. No "Red, that means the left hand, so move left hand, blue next, so thats in the right, switch hands and move the right hand". Me I'm left right confused, never can tell instantly which is which, always have to think about that. But it works for many, and I did knit a colourwork sweater once that way.

Begining with how I wrap the yarn around my left hand. The purl yarn has to go over the first finger and then the knit yarn over the 2nd finger. Never works the other way around.


and then a closer look at the knitting in progress. It is at this stage i was thinking that using fingering yarn might not have been the best stuff to demonstrate on - but thats what I'm knitting at the moment. And thanks for the nice comments, Suzzane and Wendy, and KathyR. It makes it feel not like writting to a large dark web void.





post script - latter that night
Having a little look around the web last night I found several on line videos where knitters knit close to how I knit. This one is the closest to how I purl, and Potansiyelariza's video. i know now I am not alone in my knitting like this, Wendy - the knit'n guru (could it be ???) left a comment that she knits just like me (not purl though), this video seems to make purl use as many fingers as they can - which is something I found difficult to do, although the first time I knit my cabled zippie cardie (- before I blogged), I knit it that way. At times I've got two left feet and maybe it follows two left hands?

whats next?

This post, is a sort of quick tidy up, the latest knit video, staring again my own two hands and a reasonable approximation knitting in continental style, a minor frog report, together with a news of the next sock. Thinkings on the fish afghan and how it fits into my knitting life. I'm missing images today, and you know how I like my photos, but its late and photos taken at night never show the colours well. The upside is these pages will load fast. Knitwise, next weekend is the lace weekend, and I'm all set, already. Today and tomorrow is a work thing, writting for academic publication workshop - so I will need the knitting next week.

Firstly the video
Again thanks to Bear and my postitively ancient minolta digital camera. This isn't new, it was around a few days ago - but one at a time seems right. someone asked how long it took to knit this smooth. Around 3 sweaters on 3mm needles or smaller. Thanks Silvie, Suzane for the postive feedback, muchly appreciated, I'm not saying this way is better, just it works really well for me and the things I like to knit.
So do I knit like you knit? Let me know, I seem surrounded by Lever, English, Scottish and Throwing knitters here with the exception of the lovely Tania, collector of looms.


I've cast on for my Fana inspired cardie, in petrol and dk red silk merino on 2.5mm needles. She is knit in the round, with two rows K1P1 rib then 5 cms corrugated ribbing. After the first two rows I discovered the horror of horrors, a twisted round. And how many hundred times have I read that very specific and clear warning "make sure the knitting is not twisted before joining". Well the yarn is fingering, the rows were few, the centre steeked, so I just twisted it right way round and that twist dosn't even show. My plan was with the steeked front any twist could/would be cut out latter.

I've done nearly 3 cm so far. Two things have slowed me down. First is I would like Bear to make one more video of my technique for corrugated ribbing - but for that we need daylight - so not tonight. I have not seen this stitch being worked, and sort of worked it out from photos, on line reports and other mythical sources, I played with this in my swatch for Poppys pink merino here, and got some informative replies to KR post which lead to Nanettes blog which is great. It appears that we both came to the same fix to prevent the cast on edge curling - a row or two of rib in one colour. So far I've only worked out how to do this in the round - does it, can it exist in flat knitting? This is a sort of 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours" video - I'd love to know if I got it right.

Second is that I called into my LYS to collect more yarn for the Fana project, and see if they had tracked down more balls of the dark red for me. When I put it on lay by, I was thinking of only the blue, not fair isle. There is no more matching in their sister branches, so they need to order from the rep next tuesday, and might have to get the full 16 in another batch. Seems silly to knit much more knowing the yarn might be replaced by another batch. I promise progress images Sunday.

I went to knit group last night and meet another Dunedin Knit blogger, Bessie-S, who was lovely but has not time to update her blog in ages. Being in the middle of a library masters and working. She did mention closing the blog, but I think she should just note it is infrequent. She was knitting an amazing hot water bottle cover in vintage yarn - cool. At the meeting I started some socks for Toby in the same Stripe Regia that Bears last socks were in. Initially I cast on on 2.5 mm, but soon decided that I really do like a firmer sock, so frogged the 4 cm and started again on 2mm dpns - thats the frog report. I'm using my current fav sock modified widdershins pattern, but with a ribbed instep leg. Brooke has posted more info on the workings for these socks on her blog.

I've been pondering the fish blanket, and have recieved many many nice coments - Thanks very much to all for those :D
I have a lot of knitting books, at times I wonder if knitting books is part of the knitting hobby or another entirely different hobby that feeds this knitting one. One book I return to often is mindful knitting: inviting contemplative practice to the craft by Tara Jon Manning. This is a peaceful little book, and full of nice calm, easy things to knit for others (it took me a while to work that one out) Other than that a lot of the book is about being at peace, feeling without responding, being still and connecting. Tara writes of the meadative aspect of knitting. I like that, the process of making each stitch, thats my time, my me time. I have linked this to another suggestion by Benda Dayne from Cast-on in one of her previous podcasts. Brenda suggested maybe knitters are able to see the value in small incremental steps to achieve good or progress in community work and action for change because thats how knitting works. No one ever thinks of the 1000's of stitches to create a sweater, we see only the needles, the quite space, and the possibility of the finished project.There is a peace and a lack of urgency, and a sense that things grow one stitch, or one fish, or one row of fish at a time.

I think the fish blanket is my incremental project, the one that lurks in the back of the knit basket, not haunting me, but rather confirming to me that life is fine, and yes, I have time, I can do this, there is no hurry. It makes me feel good to know that I am in a position to take on a project that has no end date, no child will grow out of it before it is finished, no baby will be born to soon, no season will pass with the project not done in time. In our family we have a themed conversation, where in the middle of a moan we stop and say - if the bus being late is the worst of my week - life is pretty good. If the front page of the local paper is full of a resident having a moan about rubbish collection, or a tree falling over and needing cleaning up then the world is pretty much ok today.

On a work note : I got some really really good news yesterday - so I'm off to Australia soon. A few months ago, knit-blogging was put on the back burner for a few days while a paper was finished and submitted to here. So this year I'll be spending my birthday in Australia, away from home family, in the company of strange academics and possibly giving a paper. There better be good yarn to buy some-where close. My current thoughts are what will I take to knit? Those thoughts should be 'what will I put in the power point to impress all those designery professionals?'

Well work promised travel, conference and accommodation funds as long as my paper was accepted, and yesterday came news that it was. Yay, fantastic, and of course with the always present standard 'subject to reviewers comments being addressed'. So what do the reviewers want? Well reviewer 1 wants a few spaces, full stops, and a minor typo fixed. Easy peasy - I can do that, in fact I'm embarassed that I sent the paper away with such errors. Reviewer 2 - now they are a whole different story. That person wants me to 'rewrite the conclusion stronger'. Huh? I've got a few weeks, but if I knew how to do that I would have done that already!

Public holiday so new knitterly things ... a purl video

In new zealand the 25th of April is Anzac day, the day we as a country hold memorial services to remember those who served in wars. For a small country far from the rest of the world, and who has never been invaded we sure lost a lot of servicemen and women (In this post I'm ignoring the European 'invitation turned invasion' of the Maori lands that lead to land wars as there is way to much current and historical politics to go there in a single knitting post). ANZAC, I think, stands for Australian and New Zealanc Armed Corps, I could be wrong on the C bit.

It is also my dads birthday, who has the dubious honor of never having worked on his birthday in his entire life. Even when in Europe and the UK he tells us he told his bosses "I've never worked on my birthday and I'm not about to start now". Cheeky Kiwi. Happyy birthday Dad, he is circa 1933.

So a national public holiday, and what does an obsessed knitter do on such days, when it is drizzly and kind of cold and pretty much an at home day?
They do things knitterly.

Following a comment from DogMotive in the Netherlands on my youtube video showing my quick and easy way to rib, I have posted a second video of just purling. I just love the internet makes the whole world smaller. Please be very forgiving about the occassional short lapses in focus. I have an oldish digital camera, that does great knitting close ups or macro, and while it does make movies this seems as good as it gets. Again many thanks to Bear, who is very very very patient when I suggest 'just one more take'.

Repeat 72 times

Take plain fish, align it with one of a more colourful nature and stitch carefully together thus. Weave in any ends and repeat . . . . . . . oh . . . . . . . . . around 72 times.



One small - blankie, soft, so soft, but mighty mighlty small for all that effort. Fish are twice as long as wide, so to get this square blankie it took 12 fish by 6 fish. Images of the plan, the wrong side, the right side and the finished blanket.



Dawns a realisation that I like many before me, did not really comprehend the scope of the undertaking. to function as a blanket - of any useful size at least 288 fish are required in sock yarn.



Put aside as an ongoing project, to mop up left over sock yarn, some things can't be hurried.




Next post, finished baby surprise jacket, and the start of a new colour work cardigan for me, me, me.