Tuesday, April 25, 2006

For the Love of Koigu

So, enough teasers about my Koigu haul. Here it is! I started with 2 of each of the solids, and 7 of the multi, for a total of 1225 yards. I was kind of off the Koigu after my moth disaster. To me, knitting with Koigu was inviting a moth feast, since it proved especially yummy to my resident squatters. But, a new shipment, attractive solids, a yummy multi - too much temptation for me to handle (especially after, as I mentioned a few glasses of wine at happy hour),and you have yourself an Elizabeth Zimmerman Pithy Pi Shawl. I went to Barbara Walker, Stitch Goddess, and thumbed through the pages, and honestly, my stitch choices were about as random as throwing darts at a dartboard. And, I'm not a very good dart player - sometimes, I don't hit the board. My dart throwing is almost as bad as my bowling. The last time I went bowling I threw the ball backwards, and snapped off one of my well-manicured fingernails. Silly game.

The next question became, how to throw in the solids. Grace explained the Fibonacci series - "you've heard of Fibonacci, right?" Is he a character on the Sopranos? Oh, wait, he's on Prison Break! The look on Grace's face told me that he's some kind of math guy. "It's a series of numbers that are pleasing to the eye." I looked at her, still dumbfounded. "You know, you start with 1 and add the numbers together . . ." Blank look. So, she wrote it down for me - 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 . . . If you do your repeats in any combination of these numbers, it will look pretty." It was like kindgergarten - One pink, 2 green, 3 multi. Yep, that's it - classic 3-2-1. Classic, uh huh, whatever.

So, with Mr. Fibonacci in mind, I began. I started with the pink, did a little mulit, went to the green, then I began 1 repeat of Snowflake, 2 repeats of Bleeding Hearts in the multi, and then I hit the 288 stitch repeat. I hit the wall, not the dartboard. I picked this thing called Mermaid Mesh. I even made a chart. But, something just wasn't right, and it wasn't my stitches. It just didn't work out, for no reason. Maybe it's just something you can't do in the round. So, out came the 24 rows of 288 stitches each, and I went back to the book, and picked out Fountain Lace. That inspired me to call the thing, Bloody Fountain - you know, Bleeding Hearts and Fountains. But, that's kind of disgusting, and it's really too pretty for a slasher name like that. Maybe if it were that obnoxiously bright red skein of Anne that I've seen floating around. Anyway, it doesn't have a name, but I am going to go back to the Bleeding Hearts for the 576 stitch repeat - because I love them. And Bleeding Hearts and Public Defenders seem to go together. Maybe I'll call it the Fourth Amendment Pithy Pi Shawl. Catchy eh?

That's where I am with my Koigu stash. In other knitting news, I am 3 repeats away from finishing Kimono Shawl, and I will indeed get it done in time for Mother's Day.

And the podcast -- Thanks everyone who has listened - and a big big thanks to those who commented in response to my Sally Field like moment. I don't know what I was thinking - how could Knitty D and I suck ass? And, I'm so not a Hubble, I'm such a Katie! I have received lots of helpful email/comments about the sound - don't worry, on the next episode, I will definitely turn down the sound on the music! This whole recording/computer thing has been kind of like a game. Everytime I get something right, I clap - loudly! And, you should have seen my face when our icon magically appeared in iTunes. Between learning how to use Audacity, Feedburner, Libsyn, my microphone, the iRiver, and coordinating my schedule with Knitty D's - it could have been a second job. But, we've definitely crossed the learning curve to the downslope, and the next episode should benefit from our newfound knowledge, and everyone's helpful comments. I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as bad criticism -- well, unless you tell me you hate my pi shawl!

5 comments:

yahaira said...

if it makes you feel any better I still dont get the whole fibonaci thing AND I live with an engineer. go figure.

holy crap thats a lot of koigu!

Theresa said...

I'm so jealous. Seriously. I spent all morning darning the humongous hole in my one pair of Koigu socks. One pair. That's it. It is, like, impossible to find in New England. And I have no idea why. And if you do find it, they never ever have solids. I really really want to make the New England socks from Knitting on the Road in a light green. While I'm still in New England. Who'd've guessed I couldn't buy the yarn in New England.

OK, that was a scary long comment. But it's a personal thing for me.

Christine said...

And my envy of your Koigu continues. To the point that I priced plane tickets to Philly last night. For the weekend of MS&W. I could study for my finals on Monday, right? I mean, I wouldn't study over the weekend anyways...

Anonymous said...

I'm a clapper too! There needs to be some kind of emoticon to express clapping, don't you think?

Merrill Mason said...

so am I going to get to fondle the Kimono shawl before Mom? I need to try it on to see how long I should make mine! Also I need the incentive of seeing how gorgeous yours is to plow to the finish line with mine. I'm off to Loop so Grace can pick up my kimono lace poo I made last night.