Blast from the Past: Time unknown

Rather than repost and old post from my other blog, I figured I would redo it. It wasn't a good post to begin with really.

Back around July '07 I knitted a carrying case for some juggle sticks (aka, devil sticks).

Not having had any real experience w/dpn's I knit the body flat. I used random, overly-fluffy, boring grey yarn from my stash. The intended recipient wanted holes in the body for visual texture, so I did a lot of yo,k2tog patterns at odd intervals that turned out to be barely visible.
All in all, it is a rather unimpressive looking bit of knittery.

Until you consider the execution and design of the piece.

This was an off the top of my head, no known pattern idea. I had to wing the whole thing as I had not even found a pattern to base it off of.

I started by knitting a circular base that would go inside on the bottom to hold the sticks in the case. Again, I knit this flat.
How does one knit a circle via flat knitting? I took my thinnest needles and some crochet thread. I cast on 2 stitches then k1,yo until it was half the size I wanted and then knit a few rows and did a standard bind off. I then took the two corners and crocheted them together and crocheted the new seam down to the center.
Unfortunately I did not take a picture of this piece, but it is in the FO.

Next I took US15 needles and my bulky yarn and cast on more stitches than I figured I would need for the width of the body. I knit a row and then decreased a bit until I got my desired width. Then it was knit each row and make holes to the top. Not too impressive on this part. It was when I got to the top that it was fun.

I realized that I would need a lid for my carry case and I did not want to make it a separate piece, in fact I wanted the top to look like a Carnivorous Plant. When I got my desired length I did some yarn overs to add to the width then started binding off until the middle stitches. These I knit onto a stitch holder then went back and cast off the rest. I cut the yarn and reattached it near my held stitches.

The flaw with this part became obvious when I started sewing the piece closed. Because I put my lid in the middle, the seam was in the "front" rather than hidden in the back. Next time, cast off until the last 4 stitches and knit this as per usual.

Then came the shaping for the lid. I did yarn overs to increase and when I was halfway done I started decreasing via k2tog. Simple, elegant and surprisingly successful. The plant look was done well enough that I began to wish the yarn was green.

The last part I had to make was a handle/strap. A simple I-cord was knit up on dpn's (my first work with those type of needles) and when that was done I decided my next case would be on dpn's rather than flat.

Sewing the piece together was a huge pain. I never want to do that again. I am not good at sewing to begin with and the length of the piece meant I was made very uncomfortable for most of that part.

In the end, it came out rather well.
I would not recommend such a large needle with such a loose, fluffy, yarn. The yarn actually is very relaxed which means my measurements were for nothing as the whole thing stretches and the sticks sit a bit too far down on the inside. Attaching the I-cord brought up the problem of reinforcing the connection point due to the pull of wearing the case.

The best part of the whole thing was that this was being made for a loved one and I wasn't going to get stuck with the ugly first attempt. '-)

Later I will tell you about the second one I made.

Blast from the Past: April 4th, 2008

On Tuesday this week I had a bit of an accident.

I was on my way back to the office from doing the deposit and there was a bare sprinkling of water from the sky.
My scooter and I had just turned on to Little Creek Rd, down by Ward's Corner for you locals, and we found a large freshly moistened oil slick.

I did not see the oil slick when I turned the wheel slightly. I did see the ground as the scooter went sideways and fell out from beneath me.

Skipping details....

Yesterday I was able to walk around the parking lot of my apartment and even went next door to the store that sells stuff for handicap peoples. I picked up a nice new cane with a comfort grip.



Within an hour of getting it home, I had knitted a soft cover for the grip, making it more comfortable.



Since the weather is rather nice I get to wear a lighter coat, rather like a suit jacket.So today, I was limping around in a jacket, with a cane and a pocket full of Vicodin.




It's not lupus.

Blast from the past - April 15th, 2008

It has been a couple of weeks since my injury. My last visit with the doctor was just this past Friday and I was sentenced to two more weeks out of work.

What have I been doing with this time?

At first I was limited to the couch and watched much TV.
I was hooked up with a Wii and some time was spent playing various games. There was also some reading of books. The first weekend after my injury some friends of mine kept me busy with various events, including dinners. I have since learned which vehicles are comfortable for a person with a bum leg, which is only one. The car in question has a dozen or so buttons for adjusting the seat.

Some time last week I realized that I was getting nothing done during my downtime and I quickly figured out it was because the TV was sucking up hours of the day. I have since cut the TV out of my daytime activities and focused more on knitting.

This has lead to two finished projects and a third secret project that should be done by 6pm today, yarn willing.

I completed the Alaska Drops headband, which is awaiting pick up by the intended recipient:















I also made a knitted coffee sling. The pattern can be found
here. I do not yet have a picture of this one, but that will be forth coming. (ETA: A picture will be forthcoming when I redo this one.)


I found a lovely podcast for knitters called Cast On. A full directory of episodes can be found here.

Where before the TV was sucking away my hours, now knitting is doing so.
The pod casts are around an hour each and I am up to episode 27 as we speak (ETA: I completed all episodes before the 21st of April). I only found this podcast a few days ago. Sunday, I believe.
I am neglecting other activities as I focus on making things from yarn. There are actually enough engaging projects before me that I am not really hurting to bad from lack of work.

It is amazing to me. I used to hate not having a job to keep me busy. Nine hours of my day was easily kept from boredom via work, even when I hated my job. Now, I find the day gone without having once stared at the walls. I keep busy enough that my lack of interaction with other people doesn't bother me, until someone from my office calls me and I am reminded that I have my own store, my baby, and I am sure it is becoming a horrid mess without me.

With my current job it is easy for me to put in ten hours at work. I have often stopped by on my day off to fix something, drop something off or even just check in and make sure all is well. This is the first time I have had a job that I loved and I am finding that I am almost as much of a workaholic as my friend Jason. So imagine my surprise when I learn that I can have downtime without going crazy.

Of course it helps to have four or more hobbies, new books and a Wii.
Once I am back at work all of these other things to do will slide back onto the shelf as my job takes the fore, but I can at least look back at this time with fond memories. I know that if I win the lottery and retire (yeah, right) that I will have things to do that I enjoy and can fill my days with.