Knit a Revolution.

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My dog is dead.
		05:14pm 08/03/2008
	19 July 1992 - January 2008 Words are a disservice to you, but I give them as all I can offer. You never spoke to me in words yet I came to wonder how I could live without you. One of my few childhood memories was of coming home to find you for the first time. It's so empty here now, even though your physical presence was small and ever-shrinking as the sickness grew. I don't know if I can bear this house without you in it because I can't remember a time when you weren't here. As much as I loved you, love alone wasn't enough. I'm sorry I was young and never understood your needs until it was too late. I cried every night for three months when we learned about your sickness two years ago. I'm sorry for any grievances unfairly levied against you. When you misbehaved it wasn't your fault. I'm sorry above all that your last memories were of misery and that my selfish academic drive meant I couldn't be there in the end. We both knew when I left last time that it would truly be the last, and the affection you put into that moment was only overshadowed by the helplessness I felt. I hope that even when I wasn't around anymore, inside you still had a sense of the old me. I hope that somehow you knew how much you were loved in this house. You had a part in making me who I am today. I could never forget my first dog and the way he made me believe in a dog's unconditional love. I wish that you had been able to see the spring one last time. When I knew that Balkie was going to die before I next saw him, I trimmed off a few pieces of his (way too long) fur. I'll be spinning it into a scrap yarn tapestry that I've been working on for nearly a year now. It's one of the few things I can do to keep him with me. Some may call it gross and creepy, but I call them scumfucking shitsuckers. I love my dog, damnit.
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Recycled Silk "Look at Me" Huge McBag
		01:54pm 27/01/2008
	I think it's bigger than it looks. And not blurry in real life. Inside-out view of the non-threatening bottom seaming. Closeup of the trim/handle area with camera flash on. The colors of the stepladder strand compliment the bag perfectly. Same angle with flash off. It's impossible to capture the look of this thing in a picture, so approximate it somewhere between the two. Skills: Ability to endure boredom. It's really, really boring to make. Really. Also basic knit/purl stitching and secure, non-stretchy seaming. Materials: ~350 yards of recycled silk in any variety of colorways. I think I had three different ones working from lightest to darkest. Refined or unrefined doesn't matter, but refined will make a more rigid bag. Less than 50 yards of Moda Dea FurEver in Black Gem (#3995) Probably less than 100 yards of a hardy, worsted, solid black yarn (like Red Heart, which in my opinion serves few purposes, this being one). Sorry I don't have better yardage for this. I bought a behemoth 800+ yard skein of plain black and I can't even count how many things I've used it for without making a visible dent. I think every hardcore knitter/crocheter should invest in a massive skein of black worsted yarn because it always finds a way to come in handy. But I digress... Size 10 circulars, ~24" (gauge is irrelevant, really) Size 8 straight needles Tapestry needle 6" wide handles (I used bamboo from JoAnn because bamboo is awesome) Pattern: BOD Using silk and circulars, snugly CO 100 sts -Join, k 1 rnd -K5, m1, rep to end -Rep previous rnd -k every rnd until piece measures 11" tall or desired height (minus 1" for trim). This is where the rigormortis will set in. Switch colorways as desired for subtle striping. -Switch to trim yarn, k 1 rnd -p all rem rnds for 1" -BO snugly -Attach handles using trim yarn. Stitch more securely than believed necessary. BOTTOM Using solid black, CO 26 sts on straight needles -wk tightly in stockinette for 11" -BO normally FINISH HIM With bag inside out, carefully line up edges of bottom panel (purl-side facing inward) and sew on with a non-stretchy stitch. (I would suggest pinning or securing with scrap yarn every once in a while, unless you're as adventurously lazy as I was.) Line if desired. Black baroque satin would look great. Personally I like looking at the inside and nothing has slipped through yet because I tend to knit ridiculously tightly when I'm not trying. So the bottom panel in mine is like sheet metal. Final Dimensions: 18" wide at trim laid flat 12" tall without handles Story: I gotta say, I buy a lot of recycled silk (now I don't have any more). I've made bracelets, keychains, and of course the ubiquitous scarf, but none of these things really showcased the beauty of recycled silk. I'm not a bag person overall, other than messenger bags for my college books, and I don't even own a purse. But I figured that a bag would best display the silk. It turned out beautifully, and is large enough to carry notebooks and a hat project with me to meetings (with room to hoard leftover Chinese and Indian takeout, of course). The name was originally Recycled Silk MK-tastic Huge McBag, but after lugging it around for a month or more, I realized that it's impossible not to look at it. When I brought it to my night class every week and left it on the table, I would become mesmerized by the play of colors under the nasty fluorescent light and forget what we were talking about. Just like I did right now... Because of the blank canvas nature of the above pattern, I encourage people to adapt embellishments like cables and post them in comments. I debated doing something more interesting, myself, but I opted for straightforward stockinette because silk itself is interesting. No matter what you do, you will get compliments on a giant silk bag.
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Start collecting grocery bags...
		08:08pm 07/01/2008
	This isn't a pattern yet, as I'm still hooking up the materials, myself. However I thought it would be nicer of me to give a heads-up: one of the upcoming projects will be a (hopefully) tough and reusable bag made from recycled grocery bags. The idea for this came from my crocheting friend Jenna, who discovered plastic bag yarn online (perhaps at this site: http://www.marloscrochetcorner.com/bag%20cutting%20instructions.html). I have 12 bags of mostly average and smaller-than-average size skeined up on my ghetto nail-and-door-trim yardage measurer so far (all of the white with red text variety, like Jewel-Osco, Walgreens, and Target--my favorite one to look at). Yardage update: with the 12 bags I got 94 yards, but I have a few more bags on the back burner yet. To start making the yarn yourself, follow the instructions on the above site. I did two things differently: Made each strip between 1cm and half an inch, and folded each strip in half before attaching it to the previous, which made it four hanging strips between each knot and hopefully doubled its strength. If you're wondering whether or not I had some sort of pattern going between all white and partially red pieces, I tried not to. They're fairly random except that I broke up too many similar links in a row. I prefer surprises when I'm knitting up. Anyway, happy cutting and try not to feel too guilty about using up a lot of bags now. You'll save future bags unless you get addicted to bag yarn. Then I can't help you.
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Deborah's Bantam Pouch
		04:19pm 30/12/2007
	Closed, and on top of an American Airlines blanket (don't fly with them, but if you have to, steal their blankets out of spite). Next to money for reference--Hong Kong Dollars, Taiwan Dollars, and Chinese Yuan. They're a little bigger than American quarters. Skills: Beginner. Basic knit/purl and stitching ability with the hardest thing being a single yarnover. Materials: ~25 yards of Moda Dea Ticker Tape (much less than one skein at 67 yards) in color #9256 (suede), a baskety color if ever there were one Size 10.5 straight needles (gauge is more or less irrelevant, but should be wide enough to showcase the tickertapey shape without stuff falling through) Tapestry needle Button to fit the yarnover hole Pattern:* BOD CO 14 sts in your favorite method Row 1: k4, p3, k3, p4 Rep row 1 5x more Row 7: p4, k3, p3, k4 Rep row 7 5x more This is your basic basketweave for this pouch. Rep rows 1-12 2x more (36 rows), then k one row. FLAPPER Row 1 and odd rows: k1, k2tog, k to end Row 2 and even rows: k to last 3, k2tog, k1 Rep these two rows until 4 sts remain Row "3": k2tog, yo, k2tog Row "4": k1, drop yo, k1 Final row: k last 2 sts tog, weave in end FINISH HIM Fold the body in half (what will be the inside out), making sure to line up edges for a clean look. Using the same yarn, sew up both sides. Remember that the way you fold it will determine which side the flap is on, if you care about that sort of thing. Flip right-side-out, line up the buttonhole made by the yarnover to where you want the flap to close, and sew on the button. Be careful ahead of time that the button not only fits but won't catch on the delicate nylon strings of the yarn. It's kind of fussy that way. I used a pearl (not my usual thing, but I know that the recipient will like it), which isn't exciting but slides through super easily. A single strand of Ticker Tape makes a nice but rather superfluous handle embellishment. I'm still considering whether or not to add one. The most important part, the story: My yarn-buying habits may fool you in the future, but don't let them--I'm pretty poor. Not "Sorry guys, I can't afford to go out to dinner tonight" poor, but "Sorry guys, you'll have to keep your coats on because I can't afford to use heat in January" poor. My boyfriend of three years and his family are a lot better off, so his mom is always doing nice stuff for me and has bought me gifts too expensive to reciprocate. The only thing I can really afford to do is make her something original and slap her name on it for all the internet to see. It may not be up to her calibre (she was a famous artist once), but I only had a tenth of my stash on hand when I wanted to make it, and who doesn't like basketweave? If the pouch doesn't do it for her, maybe the recycled silk crocheted bracelet or the note inside will... Anyway, I hope someone will enjoy this pattern. It's extra fast, extra cheap, and cute enough knit up whether it's your first pattern or one in a thousand. I've been knitting for a couple of years now, and doing mostly original work, but this is the first pattern I've felt compelled to document. That's probably because it means a lot to me, so don't be an asshead and (like the fine print on most patterns) don't try and make a profit off of it. It's for gifting and selfish purposes only. Feel more than welcome to spread the site link around, though.
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