the quacking fiber addict

sep·pu·ku ( P ) Pronunciation Key (sp-k, s-p-)
n.

Ritual suicide by disembowelment formerly practiced by Japanese samurai. Also called hara-kiri.

A very wise knitter once compared ripping (aka frogging) knitting to seppuku. How right she was. I'll explain this in just a moment.

Today was long. Really. Really. Really. LONG. Not only did I manage to bribe my brother into helping me vacuum the carpet (eugh), I also carted off 2 LARGE garbage bags of clothing to Goodwill. There is NO WAY I am ever: a) fitting into them again, b) going to be WILLING to wear them again should (a) occur.

Then, I cornered Dad and made him fulfill his promise to help me make a niddy-noddy and nostepinne for Avian Flight - my personal swap partner. Remember, last month, when I offered to send her a spinning kit in exchange for a personal knitting tote? Yep. That swap.

So. We made 2 niddy-noddies. Instructions are available here. Dad got enough PVC to make 2 1-yarders AND a nostepinne. Behold!, lo' are mine and Avian Flight's. I also made a matching carrying case (because, erm, it'd be wrong to send them w/o a case, right?). I tried out a theory on nostepinne making - taking a 12" length of something an inch thick and wrapping grosgrain around it to make the handle, then covering the ribbon with cloth - and, voila! A nostepinne (and 2 niddy-noddies... AV's is disassembled to fit into the bag):



And, then I decided that today I would FINISH one of my WIP's. I then dragged my spinning wheel out into the front room to finish off the raspberry coloured superwash merino/ tencel roving I started spinning, oh, 2 months ago (blush). Here it is, after being plied (monstrous it was!), wound onto my new 1-yard niddy-noddy:



And, here is the yarn in a skein:


I'm thinking sox. Yes, I know. SOX. Me, the anti-sock knitter. I am such a hypocrite. But, what else am I to do with 4 oz of superwash/tencel that's sock-weight? I WAS aiming for sport, but this stuff is slippery. Be warned.

But, it's so soft and shiny and wonderful, that any spinner/ knitter will forgive it. Which it knows. Arrogant, vain, little fibers.

Annnnyway. Moving on.

After finishing off the handspun-that-mocked-me, I decided to confront the WIP formerly known as the "Baby Fan Shell" (yes, it has a new name). And, NO, it's not "Pink Seppuku" - tho that WOULD be a fitting name for the YARN. EVIL EVIL yarn. It's stickier and knots up more easily than silk. Which shouldn't be legal, somehow.



I decided at about, oh, 7:30p to RIP IT OUT to the bust line. Since I reallyreallyREALLY hated the sleeve formula I'd devised a month ago. Je suis idiot.

Two hours later, I had lost it. I had actually CUT INTO my knitting. Luckily, I had had enough presence of mind to place a lifeline. But, that was as far as my braincells mustered themselves. Back to the cutting (er, with paper scissors)... By some grace of Fate, I managed NOT to cut into anything I wanted to save and then spent another hour untangling the mess.

After 3 hours of snarling at the yarn, I finally had it back to the bust line and was willing to try again. I made myself detach from it at midnight. I refuse to think about how long I spent on it tonight. Here's what it looks like now:


And, I'm absolutely certain that this twitch I've developed will be gone by tomorrow - err, later today. And, that I won't care that there are little pink scraps of yarn all over my freshly vacuumed floor. (sigh).

Because, I have devised a pattern I will like ever so much more, and I have finally (finally!!!) come up with a name for this garment.

Sakura.

Yep. It hit me tonight that the really I loved this yarn (way back when I bought it) was because of it's wonderful pale pink colour and plush softness - just like the Japanese cherry blossoms from back home. So, to me, Sakura (the Japanese word for "cherry tree") is just right.

Yes, the word is over-used and a bit trite now, but I refuse to care.

Saraba.

Labels: idiocy