It looked so dang good before I had to go and think for one second I understood the concept of transferring your work to the double pointed needles of death (got that little expression from reading a really entertaining blog called Crazy Aunt Purl. Check it out!)
All I can do now is wait, and patiently hope that my supremely talented ecology professor/knitter/neighbor Sarah will be able to come to my emotional rescue today after work. Sarah, did i mention I'll offer Aidan up for free mother's helpering for a year if you can save my touque?
Because look at how stinkin' cute it was at 4 p.m. yesterday? That's all I'm sayin'.
Just getting to work now because we had an unexpected need to take Chippie to the vet this morning. Last night, her muzzle and the area above her eyes started getting lumpy and swollen. Poor little monkey. I wish I could say something clever about how I shouldn't have been testing all those cosmetics on her, butโฆI really am against animal testing and wouldn't want to give the wrong impression.
One steroid shot later, we'll see how she's doing. Right now, she's asleep on the floor. So far, so good.
Anyhooโฆback to work, and making loose plans to leave my family and go on the road as a Crowded House groupie.
Happy Thursday.
Suzi says
You really are a SMILE maker. ๐
Have a Great day. Good luck with Chip.
stephanie says
Cathy, I have question completely unrelated to this post. ๐ Do I recall correctly (from your last blog) that you have a Phaser 8200 printer from Xerox? The reason I’m asking is that our church just upgraded to the next Xerox and we now have an 8200 that needs a home (and I have some ink that I’m thinking about selling on ebay). I didn’t know if, in your scrapping connections, you knew of anyone that had been pining after your Phaser and would be interested in a REALLY good deal on one? My email is above if you would like to contact me … ๐
Hope the dog gets to feeling bettter!
Danielle Nilsson says
Hhahahahahha OMG I love your random blathering!!!!! haahhahahaha ๐
LOVE the tuque!!!It’s so cute…we would need that today at -38C (with windchill) – it’s so darn cold here!!!
tiffany k. smoot says
from one knitter to another…do not fear the double pointed needles. they are your friend. they like green day and i believe i have heard they do scrapbook. {hee hee}
keep up the good work.
Lori Carlson says
Hey Cathy–
Great looking hat. I am a knitter and have thoroughly enjoyed watching you experience the satisfaction that comes from knitting and finishing a darn cute project. A few years ago I discovered a book called “Socks Soar” about throwing away double pointed needles forever–and I have never used them since. The author explains how you can use 2 circular needles of the same size (a little pricey but worth it for the benefit of throwing away DP needles) to achieve the same effect (knitting in the round on a small project like a hat or sock). It’s a great knitting concept. “One needle works while the other needle rests.” Happy knitting–Lori
Kathryn Booth says
yup with you all the way on groupie status.. i’m excited at the prospect of seeing CH (have seen neil solo, but missed out on CH) but also kinda sad as it wont be CH without Paulie..
Dh and i are together because of CH, so couldn’t miss a tour like this.. woohoo, reliving my youth!
Suzelle Kasaian says
I did my first double pointed knitting thing yesterday at my Knotty Knitters group. I was shaking….LOL….!!!!! I did okay with much help and ended up with my first felted bowl…way cool !!!
You can do it Cathy !!!!!
Poor puppy ๐
Kathleen Joseph says
Cathy,
Don’t panic! You’re on the right track with the hat. Double pointed needles may give off the impression of being double ended devices of mayhem and mischief, but are actually docile creatures that can be bent,molded and beaten into submission by the most “beginnerist” of knitters.(Ah! the joys of the english language…yes I made that word up!)
Anne Thompson says
I love knitting, but I only make scarves, cuz they are safe! But my cutsie white scarf that I was just making was pulled apart by my mischeivous little girlies! Anway, the hat is so cute, it makes me want to venture out!
Janet says
Ha! Wait until your double pointed needles are size 2 and you’re trying to make your first pair of socks!!!
Don’t give up.
jennifer says
All I can say is that I love getting to read your blog b/c you make me laugh so hard!!!
Lisa Cohen says
Double pointed needles really are cool… they just take some getting used to. And you can’t have too many stitches on them or they start sliding off. But I really love those scrumptious (it’s all about food or things pertaining to food) sorbet colors you have going on!
Chip, I hope you are resting well and that you are back to your cute ol’ self soon!! Feel better!
Krista says
Don’t forget… when on the road as a groupie, one must only act like a dork when the spotlights are shining really brightly in the bands’ eyes. ๐
I see Ben Kweller has crept into your faves. One of my bands, Hymns, toured with him last year (their guitarist also plays guitar in Ben’s touring band a lot). Is the Kweller/Gomez tour stopping in Minne?
annie says
Oh, the power of suggestion…since I started reading your blog a few weeks ago I have had the nagging desire to: whack my hair off, make brownies, make a smoothie, buy everything Crowded House/Neil Finn has done since I lost track of them, and take up knitting. Alas, I haven’t joined the ranks of the Bob Greene followers yet (is it possible to have that nagging desire?) but I should!
Enjoyed your work for years….
Jen Donnelly says
Yeah… DPNs have been aptly described as “trying to put socks on a porcupine.” Not only is there the two-circs method, there is also Magic Loop, my favorite.
But… if you can’t stand waiting any longer, I can help… just call or email.
If your stitches are sliding all over and falling off when you’re transferring them, you can use hair elastics or rubber bands on the ends of the needles to keep them in place. It does take a while to get used to juggling all those spikes and ends.
And nice work, btw. Nice even stitches. You rock, you know!
EC says
good luck with your hat!! i can’t stand knitting on DPNs and i’ve done it many times. love crazy aunt purl’s blog. =)
you should check out knittinghelp.com – she has amazing videos to help out. they really got me through my first year of knitting. =)
suetreiber says
dude what went wrong? It all looks good there!
Knittinghelp.com taught me how to do circular & dpn. I was supremely confused, and now I am knitting round things all over the place.
You will love socks!
Have you tried any flowers yet?
Nicole says
Poor Chip – Santo and I are sending our well wishes and love. Get better!
And Cathy, I wish I could offer knitting guidance, but I can not, as I am trapped in a cast on/off hell in knitting. I can not figure out how to do it myself – so I start at my cool knitting bag, praying for the knitting fairies to do it for me. 6 months later, still no luck. ๐
Tracy says
knittinghelp.com rocks!
Is that from the itty bitty hats book? I love that book. I just finished my fourth hat and it is the first one that may go on an actual baby rather than my children’s dolls ๐
Baby hats book link, if you don’t have it: http://www.amazon.com/Itty-Bitty-Hats-cuddly-babies-toddlers/dp/1579652956/sr=8-7/qid=1169766534/ref=pd_bbs_7/104-1168686-4856763?ie=UTF8&s=books
Makes you want to have a baby, just to have someone to knit these hats for. Good instructions too ๐
Martha M. says
Just found out you were back. Totally got my fix of the CZ blog and am thrilled!
You rock, woman.
stephanie says
once you get the hand of the DPN, and get past the fact they look like crazy octopus arms, they will be a peice of cake! trust.
Lisa says
I just learned to use double pointed needles on Wed., and they really aren’t as bad as you might think. Just kind of feels like you’re knitting with an bagpipe until you get the feel of them. Finished my first hat with them pretty quickly after learning:
http://creativespirit.typepad.com/cs/2007/01/i_finished_the_.html
Good luck! ๐
SherryD says
Hi CZ,
Just read the blog of Crazy Aunt Perl, what a hoot… I enjoyed her blog, I’ll keep up on hers… So refreshing and whitty!!! You do find the best blogs out there!!!
Hope Chets feeling better…poor baby!!
Sherry
Vicki says
Hey Cathy, I have a golden and the only thing that will make him feel better is to sleep right in the middle of the bed in between 2 warm surrogate parents. Ha! Ok, no, really.
Lain Ehmann says
Okay, Chica,
I knit a ton (look at my blog name!) and I will be at CHA this weekend. So bring your stuffy stuffs and I will come to your (emotional) and (fiber) rescue.
xooxox
Lain
Lisa says
aaw… dpns aren’t that evil. it’s just a pattern. think of your favorite pattern. you’ll get the hang of it.
i’m so not a knitter and i figured it out quickly after some face to face assistance with a talented knitter (mel at wild fibre in santa monica.)
Loree says
A double shot of happiness: CathyZ is blogging again and Crowded House has reunited! Thanks for the update; hope to see you at their first concert in Indio!
Shell says
I feel your DPN pain, I just can’t knit with them! I am going to try and learn magic loop instead!!!
susan opel says
LOVIN’ the color combo on that hat!
Ann Marie says
Just want to say I so enjoy reading your blog and the addition of Chip puts it over the top- I am a GOLDEN lover and often a surrogate parent to my “fur nephew” Ranger.
Thank you for coming back and sharing your wit and wisdom!
Another MN scrapper
Kelly says
This must be the day for MN enteries! I was so excited to see someone from St. Paul who was employed by the magazines and published (love your stuff).
I was wondering if you ever considered letting someone shadow you in your work? I have a graphic design background as well as lithography experience for years with a huge passion for scrapbooking (of course) and for magazine publishing. Anyways, I could give you the details if this is something you are willing to do or at least discuss further. I am not looking for pay or anything, just the chance to shadow someone with talent like yours!
Thanks for the inspiration!
Kelly M.
Jessica says
Hey Cathy – I’ve been reading Laurie’s blog for about a year now. she’s brilliant and so entertaining! glad you found her!
tongue in cheek says
lucky me to have stumbled in here from two peas, where there was talk that you had ended your blog…while it appears that is not true!! I am glad to have found you!
Colleen E says
My trick with double pointed needles (espec. easy with hats) is to divide up your stitches between the 4 needles, then knit with your empty needle and your first needle with stitches on it (this is the one with the yarn string attd to it – lol)…pretend the other needles don’t exist — just push ’em out of the way. Then do the same with needle 2,3,4, goin’ round in a circle…hope that helps. If it doesn’t or you have a question, just leave me a comment – I’ll even walk you through it if you need.
ๆธ่ฅ says
That’s very beautiful hat!
KKdai says
I was so excited to see someone from St. Paul who was employed by the magazines and published
http://www.cupid-photo.com/makeup.html
http://daiqianwen.uwants.com