Monthly Archives: January 2011

Meet the Morgans

This is a post about emotional abuse, recovery, and birds.

Living with Isabel was rather like living with a teenager who had all the power in the relationship. She was passionate, impulsive, and incredibly fickle – and if there were consequences to her behavior, everyone except her suffered them.

One afternoon, we stopped at the exotic bird store. We stopped in from time to time, mostly to look at the canaries. I had bought her a canary some time before, after she expressed interest in one, and I had done enough research to determine that canaries are meant to be caged birds, so after she (inevitably) got bored of it, all I would have to do was to feed it and keep its cage clean. It eventually passed on, and she’d been talking off and on about getting another one, but the local store hadn’t yet had one that she liked. That day, we played with all the big parrots, and she decided that what she really wanted was a lovebird.

I had serious misgivings, but she ignored them. The salesman informed her that you didn’t need to have two lovebirds; they could be socialized to bond to a human, instead of another bird. So, we brought home the lovebird in a cage that really was much too small for it.

The honeymoon period lasted about a week. After that, she decided that the noises he made “went right through her head,” and when he started chirping to himself, or making any noise at all, she would lock him in the small, dark laundry room for hours.

When I left, I took him with me. I felt terrible for this creature, similarly a victim of Isabel, but he hadn’t had any choice in the matter.

What I didn’t know when we’d brought him home was that lovebirds are a kind of parrot. He was small, and fairly quiet, but he was a parrot nonetheless, and I didn’t know nearly enough about parrots to rehabilitate him from Isabel’s neglect. I first started thinking about giving him up last fall, but it took me a long time to get to the point where I was ready. Keeping him was mixed up with survivor’s guilt, and resentment, and a lot of other things, but I felt like I’d made an obligation to keep him. I think I couldn’t let him go until she had left town, for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I didn’t want to explain it to her, or why I would never have offered him back.

It’s been about two weeks since I found him another home. I’m comfortable with the person who took him, and I think she’ll treat him well. Perhaps she can heal the damage that I couldn’t.

I used to keep finches. I had three society finches, and eventually they all passed away, and I didn’t replace them because I had the lovebird, and I didn’t like having to clean two cages. I loved my finches, though; they were sweet and pretty and made lovely little noises.

Yesterday, Jack and I went down to the AAS Bird Show, and I came home with four Florida fancy zebra finches. They’re so darling, and I love the little noises they make.  Because they’re Florida finches, and I’m a complete dork, I would like to introduce the Morgans:  Dexter, Rita, Astor, and Cody.

Four Florida fancy finches

Dexter, Cody, Rita, and Astor

 

Bonus Knitting Lesson: Backward Loop Increase Explained

As I may have mentioned, I am working on a pair of the Simplicity Socks from Melissa Morgan-Oakes’ Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks. This is my first attempt to do a) toe-up socks b) on a circular needle c) two-at-a-time. I did the Beer Gloves and the Hermione Gloves using the Magic Loop technique, but I’ve only done socks on DPNs, and only cuff-down. The only problem I’m really having with any of these techniques is my tendency to pull the first stitch on each needle too tight in an attempt to avoid laddering (thereby tightening the stitch on the cable to the point it doesn’t want to go back on the needle), but it’s something that tends to improve as I get more of each object knit.

What I was actually struggling with – to the point I had to rip them back and re-cast on – is the backward loop increase.

Now, the backward loop increase is not the same as the “make 1” increase, despite the fact that they’re noted the same way (M1L/M1R). The backward loop increase seems to have been innovated, or at least explained, by the late great Elizabeth Zimmerman. I have yet to have the good fortune to read any of her books, but from what I’m given to understand, the woman stands to be nominated for knitting sainthood. Perhaps this is why no one has stopped to expound on or add pictures to her explanation of the backward loop increase. Perhaps this increase is blindingly obvious to everyone but me.

In the glossary for my sock book, Melissa Morgan-Oakes explains the (left-leaning) backward loop increase as follows:

For a left-leaning backward loop increase (M1L), make a backward loop onto the right needle so that the working yarn points toward you.

As far as I can tell, she’s pretty much quoting Elizabeth Zimmerman verbatim.

There’s also a handy picture. (If you haven’t seen the picture, just google “backward loop increase.” The same picture is used everywhere.)

I looked at the picture. I looked at the instructions. I looked at my yarn, and my needle, and the picture again. And I said, “How the hell do you do that, really?” Couldn’t figure it out. Now understand that I taught myself to knit almost entirely out of books. Occasionally I would dive into YouTube to find a video, but usually just looking at the diagrams was enough. I’m good with diagrams, particularly with diagrams accompanied by written instructions. But I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to make the yarn on my needle look like the yarn in the picture. In the diagram, the end of the working yarn is on the inside, between the already-knit stitches and the loop, and I could not figure out how to wrap the yarn around the needle so it did that – at least, not in a way that left the yarn in place to knit, rather than purl, the next stitch.

YouTube it was, then. It took two different videos for me to figure it out. (This one was the more useful one.)

When I figured out what I was missing, I felt… really dumb, actually. It was blindingly obvious, but there was no way that, reading the written instructions, I could have ever worked out how I was supposed to do it.

Okay, Elizabeth. I know you’re a brilliant woman, and an amazing knitter, and your writing shook the world. But I’m going to take a moment to elaborate on your incredible description of the backward loop increase, for those of us who need a little bit more help. I realize you’re all about thinking about knitting, rather than just blindingly reading a pattern, but this is not a pattern, honey. This is a technique. And knowing how to do a technique correctly is important.

Here’s the backward loop increase.

Make a loop on the right needle. If you’re making a left-leaning increase, bring the loop over the top and around, so the end of the yarn is pointed away from you. Now, slide the loop off the needle. If you’re an awesomely amazing knitter like the gal in the video, you can shove it up against your fingertip and hold it there; if you’re more like me, you can pinch the bottom of the loop to hold it into place. Now, either with your fingers holding the pinched loop, or with the tip of the needle if you’ve got the loop against your fingertip, turn the loop around and slide it back onto the right needle. (ETA: Fellow knitter Becca suggests wrapping the loop around your finger, rather than your needle. Another excellent suggestion.) Now, you should have a loop in place where the yarn is pointing toward you.

If you’re making a right-leaning backward loop, do the same thing, only backwards – bring the yarn under and over the top, so it’s pointing toward you before you turn it around, so the loop you end up with is pointing away.

I know, right? It’s so simple, once I figured out what (vitally important!) step I was missing. I don’t know if any of you will ever need to use the backward loop increase, but there it is, for the edification of future internets. Also, because I figured if I stopped knitting and made a post about how to do it, I’d remember it better, because explaining something always increases your understanding of it. Of course, if I do happen to forget, I have it written down right here.

Happy knitting, kids.

Friday Gauge Check: Crafting Week

Friday again! Which means it’s time for the gauge check, which I’m actually writing during the afternoon.

This week has been fantastic, in terms of playing at professional crafter. I’ve spent serious time knitting every day, managed to keep up with the blog, and I even wrote some, although nothing that’s ready for public dissemination. I had a day and a half of migraine, but still am ending the week feeling relatively relaxed and productive.

So let’s talk about what I got accomplished, shall we?

I’m up to nine and a half pattern repeats on the Argyle State University scarf, and I have no doubt that I’ll be at ten by the end of the day. I’ve gotten to the point where a row takes me about 20 minutes. I had to put it down due to the headache, but I feel like I’m making good progress.

Remember how my goal last week was to cast on Hermione Glove #2? Well, last night I finished them. Completely. Both of them have thumbs! And I have woven in what felt like 9,000 ends, but was really closer to… a lot. Really a lot. At least 50, actually, because each stripe had two ends, each glove has eleven stripes, and each thumb has two stripes each. So yes, a lot of finishing. I need to block them and then put them in the mail, and that commission will be finished. One thing to be said about plain stockinette stitch: it’s really fast.

I also managed to get the #3 cable needle, and cast on the green socks for Jack. I’m doing it toe-up, two-at-a-time, which is fantastic, except that I don’t think I’m doing the increases correctly and it looks wonky, so I’m probably going to rip it all back and do it again. It’s a new technique, so I’m not surprised that it might take me more than one try to get it perfect. I went and looked up a YouTube video that explains the technique, and now I am both enlightened and feeling kind of dumb… but how on earth was I supposed to extrapolate doing that from the description or the picture? No idea.

The thing that I’m finding most frustrating right now is a lack of money to invest in my business. I’d really like to buy some more yarn so I can work on design, and I really want to take classes in spinning and weaving and increase my skill set. Of course, without a job, I have lots of time that I could be devoting to this, but I can’t pay for it. I’m taking commissions again, so if anybody wants something knitted or crocheted (or knows somebody who wants something), please let me know. I’m relatively fearless, so even if I’ve never done it before, I’m willing to try.

Next week’s activity, aside from crafting, will be looking at grad schools. As much as I’d love to be a professional crafter, I’d also love to be a professional counselor, so: grad school. I’m looking here, of course, but also at schools in the Pacific Northwest. Much as I would love to be closer to my family, I’m not really thrilled about the idea of moving to the Southeast. I’m really much more of a West Coast kind of girl. Southern California would be lovely, but everyone else thinks it’s lovely too, so it’s prohibitively expensive. Plus, their state schools are facing even more severe budget cuts than ours are.

Goals!

Keep going with the Argyle State University Scarf. Twenty minutes a row, fourteen rows, that’s… okay, that’s depressing. Back to listening to podcasts, and no more double-knitted scarf commissions.

Master the backwards loop increase and work on the socks. Because socks are fun.

Design something. Because design is also fun.

Start a new project. While I’m content having a monogamous relationship, I’m not really cut out to be a monogamous knitter. And I need a portable project, which the socks aren’t quite, since I’m tied to the book, and 9.5 pattern repeats makes for a very bulky scarf. Maybe a hat.

Playing is still important. I haven’t picked up my video game at all this week, mostly because I can’t play when I have a headache. I did start re-reading the Vorkosigan Saga, which I love. It’s fiction! This makes me happy.

I’d like four posts next week. Not enough that I’ll feel guilty if I don’t manage it, but I think it’s something I can do. What would you guys like me to talk about? It can be about knitting, or relationships, or art, or whatever.

That’s my week. How’s yours?

Ten Things I’d Like To Do

Last night, I finally went down and bought the needle I needed to cast on Jack’s toe-up two-at-a-time socks. So yesterday in my “professional crafter” role, I wound a ball of yarn (I really need a ball winder!) and did an entire pattern repeat on the Argyle State University scarf, then stopped working…and did personal knitting. So there’s no longer any question about my ability to knit all day.

I saw somebody doing a “Ten for Tuesday” list, and it’s no longer Tuesday, but I liked the idea. So, here are ten crafty things I want to do. These aren’t as formal as goals, or as nebulous as dreams, just… stuff I want to accomplish, eventually, as a knitter.

1. Knit a sweater. I’ve never actually made one. Granted, there isn’t a lot of need for sweaters in Arizona, but I’d still like to make one.

2. Try Fair Isle. But not a sweater. At this point, I’ve done double-knitting and stripes; Fair Isle seems like the next logical step.

3. Take something from design to finished object. I even have a couple of sketches sitting on my desk, waiting for me to work on them.

4. Grow my stash. I know, right? What kind of knitter needs to grow her stash? This girl. Because when I started knitting, I had the idea that I would only buy yarn for projects, and while I haven’t quite stuck to that, I don’t have a very versatile stash. One of the reasons I haven’t started my design project is because I don’t have the yarn, and I only need a little bit of five colors, but I’m going to have to buy at least six balls of yarn to do it. To keep my stash from taking over my apartment, I need to go through and pull out the stuff I bought as part of a bag of other yarn, or before I learned the wonder of natural fibers, and get rid of it.

5. Spinning and dying my own yarn. Technically that’s two things, and neither of them are knitting. Think of it as advanced knitting prep.

6. Take more commissions. I’m a process knitter, so selling what I make is ideal. Also, it gives me the chance to try stuff that I’d never want to make for myself.

7. Hats. I love hats! Why haven’t I made any? Really, I think it’s a combination of stash size and needle diversity; I don’t know that I have a short circular needle and a set of double points in the same size. I wonder if you can magic-loop a hat?

8. Get to the point where “I don’t have that needle size” is no longer an issue. Which will just take time, I know. But I’m impatient.

9. Sew. Which is also not knitting! But I can sew things for my knitting, like linings for bags! Linings are fantastic. Also, “design to finished object” includes bags. Have I mentioned that I love bags? Almost as much as hats.

10. Make more stuff for myself. I’ve made a pair of fingerless mitts, a pair of socks that I don’t wear because I discovered that it was a bad material to make socks out of, a water bottle carrier, and a bag I haven’t finished. I’m bad at making things for me.

So! There are ten things. What do you think? What else should I be doing?

This week, I’m a professional.

Job hunting. I hate it. I’m not into selling myself, or really into sales at all, and I find the constant attempt to convince someone that I’m wonderful to be exhausting. I’d rather be knitting.

Jack suggested that I spend this week in professional crafter mode. I’ll devote about an hour to job hunting in the morning, and then I will spend the bulk of my day working on my knitting. I have a couple of commissions I’m working on – the Argyle State University scarf and the Hermione Gloves – and I’m thinking about doing some amigurumi design. I made an Evil Wil Wheaton amigurumi that I gave to Regular Wil Wheaton at Phoenix Comicon, and I might make another/different one. Lady Gaga also strikes me as someone whose costumes might lend themselves to small, plush replicas.

I was listening to the Knit Knit Cafe podcast while doing the laundry this afternoon, and he mentioned something that inspired a cascade of knitting design ideas. I’ve never actually done any knitting design before, so I’m really excited by the possibilities. I’ll let you know how they come out.

After much discussion, Jack has decided to get rid of his old, fussy, clunky desktop and buy an iPad. Since I got my iPhone almost two years ago, I do the vast majority of my online stuff with it. The only thing I consistently open my computer for is updating my blog, talking to people on AIM, and looking at knitting patterns – and mostly that’s due to the keyboard size and the battery life. Therefore, we’re going to try being a one-computer household, and I’m going to shift most of my computer and phone usage over to the iPad while he uses my MacBook. I was trying it in the Apple store over the weekend, and I could type almost as fast as I can on the actual keyboard within a few minutes. With some practice – getting rid of the tendency to hit certain keys with the tips of my fingernails rather than the pads of my fingers – I think I will be able to be just as fast and accurate with the iPad keyboard as the laptop.

The upshot of this decision was rearranging the living room. He took his desktop apart (even though we haven’t got the iPad yet, he’s committed to the idea) and turned his workspace into a craft corner for me. I now have all my crafting supplies, tools, and books in one place, and I have a large flat surface to work on. Now all I need is a sewing machine! Once we get the rest of the room straightened out, maybe I’ll post some pictures of my work space. The first thing I used it for was design sketches! I’m excited.

Anyway, my fingers are itching, and I’m almost done with another pattern repeat (this will be seven), so I’m going to get back to work.