Jayne

IMG_4990
Originally uploaded by cristina_r_t

Jayne
The man they call Jayne
He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor
Stood up to the Man and he gave him what for
Our love for him now ain't hard to explain
The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne

Now Jayne saw the Mudders' backs breaking
He saw the Mudders lament
And he saw the magistrate taking
Every dollar and leaving five cents
So he said, "You can't do that to my people"
He said "You can't crush 'em under your heel"
Jayne strapped on his hat
And in five seconds flat
Stole everything Boss Higgins had to steal

He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor
Stood up to the Man and he gave him what for
Our love for him now ain't hard to explain
The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne

Now here is what separates heroes
From common folk like you and I
The man they call Jayne
He turned 'round his plane
And let that money hit the sky
He dropped it onto our houses
He dropped it into our yards
And the man call Jayne
He turned 'round his plane
And headed out for the stars

He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor
Stood up to the Man and he gave him what for
Our love for him now ain't hard to explain
The Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne!

Ravelry to Get Knitted

This past Saturday, a bunch of us from Ravelry descended mercilessly upon Get Knitted, set up camp there, and raided their supplies (both yarn and food). It was awesome.
I was really excited by the prospect. I was too excited to be panicking about meeting new people. So I went in there, to the unknown, not afraid. I knitted, bought lots of yarn and talked to lots of people, and I didn't panic, nor had to run away and hid, nor was more ill the following day. It was one of the best things ever.

So, the actual meeting. About 30-35 people were there, some coming from as far as London¹. Everybody was really friendly and on the same wavelength. Everybody from my knitting group was there, but I didn't just talk to them: I was sociable with most people.
We had an author with us, woolly wormhead, and wyesue had brought her spinning wheel, so I was hypnotised by that for a while. I really can't remember most people's names, but one lady recommended to knit through the back loop when picking up stitches along the sock's heel gusset, to minimise the holes, so I will try that next time.
Here are some pictures of the gathering, in thumbnail version, click for full size:



²


I did quite some buying, especially because of the 10% discount, but at least I bought for 3 specific projects, rather than randomly for a stash, so it's not too bad at all.

I finally found yarn for my Jayne hat. I had been looking for non-woolly yarn in the recommended thickness (12 st/10 cm), but that is nearly impossible to find. So now I have thinner yarn which I will just use doubled. This same yarn, with a bit of blue thrown in, should allow me to do the Katamari, although I still need to learn how to crochet.

I also got yarn for my healing jacket (I've decided that that will be its role, as well as keeping me warm). I got some Rowan Summer Tweed, which looks tweedy, but it's made out of cotton and silk. It looks kind of "rough", but it is really soft. I have started the tummy stripes, but for now I can only show the yarn.


And an update on my Clapotis, which everybody liked and admired and some people have started queueing it after seeing me knit one. Go me!


I do hope Ravelry meets again. It was great.


¹ Although, that said, I *have* gone down to London before just for a pub lunch.
² I'm not very good at naming pics.

And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those pesky kids

Get Knitted didn't have chunky yarn of the non-wool variety for my Jayne hat *is upset*
I managed to find yarn for my Clapotis, but all the non-wooly yarns in grey are just so dull and flat, I had trouble finding one that would look a bit pretty. I settled for Debbie Bliss Cathay, and I'm knitting now a swatch. It will include a dropped stitch like in the shawl to check how it will look. There were much prettier yarns around, but I didn't think that dropped stitch would look good on a non-smooth yarn.

In other news, my mum's socks are done, although I'm not terribly excited by then, and I'm nearly done with the hat. Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to get camera-happy and post some pictures!

Plans

I am feeling very ambitious¹ today, so I have been drafting up some knitting plans.

I have, at the moment, two² WIP: my mum's purple magic socks and my peasant cap. My mum's socks are nearly done: I only have left 5 normal rows, 14 decrease toe rows and then the grafting. My cap is a bit more behind. It has about 1.5 inches of plain stockinette left, the decreases (for the love of me I can't remember how many) and then the band. For the band I am planning to interchange the blue and the black for a while, possibly using the Fibonacci generator. I should have mixed the colours for the rim, but I really thought I was not going to have enough yarn, which I do (took the last balls of yarn from the shop!).

The sock should be finished within one or two days (this evening and saturday), and the cap shouldn't take too long either, so I am ready to cast on for two new projects! (never mind the socks, I like following other's patterns first and for now).

The first thing I'm going to start is a Jayne hat. A cunning hat. A hat that, when I walk down the street with it, tells people I'm not afraid of anything. And the lost people really should go watch Firefly. All of it. It's less than 14 hours, so no excuses. Drop that mouse and go watch.
If I'm really lucky, I'll have yarn to spare to knit two, and I can graciously donate one to the ICSF library, and earn their love forever (even more). And, if I'm doubly lucky, I can tell them ahead of time and use it as a hat for the house game.
Come to Picocon, 23^rd February. You know you don't have anything better do to on that day. I certainly don't.

The second thing is a Clapotis. I don't have a warm grey or black scarf, so I think I need to make myself one. I am thinking on using some more of the South West trading company, either soy or bamboo, because they are nice, soft and pretty, and, just as important, Get Knitted has it on sale. The pattern has a colour changing yarn, which makes it look very pretty, so I might have to look for something similar to spice it up. I might start with grey, because it will look better with my black coat. Thinking of scarves, my red scarf is looking orangey now, so maybe I can start thinking about knitting a red one. If I do it in a light yarn, I'll keep using it during the rest of the year. I like scarves. I wear them year round, hot or cold, which it is precisely the spirit of Clapotis. Shouldn't do it red, hon, remember you wanted a gery/black one, remember.

So, these are my knitting plans for now. I also received today Last Minute Knitted Gifts, as well as three self-therapy books to help me on my med-free, get-well life. So I might have to list on some project from that. I have liked so far what I have seen, and they are conveniently grouped by hours on a time estimate, so I can use them as fast knits in between big projects.


¹ I also don't have a lot of work to do. At all. Can you tell?

² The rest of the started projects are currently sleeping quite placidly, so I'm not even going to wake them up to take them into account.