The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

The Good
The Trenna transfusion arrived today and it's virtually a perfect match. With a bit of medical magic, we got Hanabi off the heart-lung machine and she is convalescing comfortably, thanks to the precision science of Dr. Schaefer. We expect a quick, complete recovery and she is being returned to the daily knitting agenda.

On the down side of the Good News, we submitted Hanabi's hospital bill to Blue Cross/Blue Shield and they rejected the claim for $376,298.14. Although Hanabi is on our policy as a dependent, BC/BS won't cover experimental patterns. Fortunately for our financial picture, the hospital took the heart-lung machine in trade for their impeccable services.

Having freed up a bit of space in the garage, we were moving some boxes of blue ketchup around and discovered a miniature nuclear reactor behind the stack of fifth grade arithmetic tests. Roy tinkered with the connections and eventually got the reactor hooked up to the new ball winder. He is now freed up for his secondary job--machining a set of perfect lace needles.


For those concerned about Lester, rest assured that he is taking a well-deserved break in Cancun and is expected to return in a few weeks to take over the ball-winding chores.


We were delighted to discover that Lester has a degree in nuclear engineering. He is only the second hamster to have passed the intensive course and we are quite proud of him.


The Bad
I will not present a visual of this disaster, because it's too horrific for publication. While carefully tinking back my International shawl, I uncarefully managed to drop 4 stitches. By the time I noticed the error, the stitches had plunged over 20 rows, thereby completely unknitting the middle of a complex flower. The shawl is hidden from view in an unused drawer. If I ever find the energy, I will frog it back, but don't hold your collective breaths.

The Ugly
I won't present a picture of this either, but if you haven't seen the cover of the Spring, 2008 Knitter's magazine, you are not in for a treat. My eyes watered at the fluorescent pink and green colors, and my fingers started itching at the hairy yarn. I won't even comment on the design, except to say that the yarn and the pattern were made for each other. Roy was more charitable--he remarked that at least someone made an effort to match the model's lipstick to the yarn. The on-line version doesn't begin to reproduce the glare, but I provided a link so you can prepare yourself for the real-life photograph.

A Trenna Tragedy

There I was, motoring along peacefully, enjoying the pleasant pattern and lovely colors, when suddenly, the gas gauge light flickered on. I tapped the gauge (can't hurt), but after about ten minutes of silly, superstitious behavior, I finally conceded that I was going to run out of yarn before I finished my Hanabi normality shawl.

I zoomed onto the Information Highway and carefully inspected Little Knits' Trenna offerings, but there was no burgundy mixture to be had. I emailed Sue, who regretfully informed me that burgundy was completely sold out.

Looking down at Hanabi, I started to panic and headed straight for...


The medical team sprang into action immediately, administering emergency life support.


They stabilized Hanabi and put her on oxygen.


But, they informed me, she wasn't going to make it unless she received a yarn transfusion fairly soon.

Fortunately, Sue had a solution: Send a sample to Dr. Schaefer, who would try synthesizing a compatible color in her research lab.

In the meantime, Hanabi remains in a coma, kept alive, thanks to the heart-lung machine we found in the garage.


And Dr. Roy rigged up an emergency generator in case of power failure. We are all hoping Dr Schaefer is successful and can create matching donor yarn before Lester here, gets tired.

A Bit of Lace

For the past few weeks, I've been working on a shawl for the Little Knits Trenna contest. The challenge was to create a shawl that would flaunt Trenna's exuberant colorways, but be both visually interesting and simple enough for beginners.

A little bit of it is shown here.



The pattern is a feather-and-fan variation, the original of which creates horizontal patterning. Because I am knitting this as a normality shawl, the stripes become vertical and the lower edge scallops naturally.

After I had knit a fair amount, I decided it looked nice, but rather blah--it needed something for visual impact.I don't really care for beading, so I plan to weave a ribbon rose garland into the yarnovers, either at the top, lower edge, or in the central spine. The beads and the fuzzy ball of mohair are destined for the knitted rose closure.

After a week of feathering and fanning, though, my psyche demanded something a bit more challenging. I flipped through my pattern books and decided to try my hand at Heirloom Knitting's Spring shawl. Ten samples later, I opted for Colourmart's cashmere-silk in Dark Lavender. Oooo, it;s such nice stuff! I originally bought it to do Princess, but LaceFreak is knitting hers in this color, so I put the yarn aside for something else.

I haven't gotten very far, but a little peek doesn't hurt.


The little Japanese bag is perfect as a cone holder, too.

And to give everyone a giggle after this bland, dry post, I include a link to one of the funniest newscasts I've ever watched. I sure hope it's a spoof!