Nymfadora

Nymfadora, a photo by dnatheory on Flickr.

Chain Pull Cover

In our new house we have this giant older ceiling fan over the bed. The three lights have lovely glass covers and to change speeds and turn the light on and off once the wall switch is on, there are chain pulls. Sadly, if I want the fan on anything but the lowest speed, there is a constant "Ting, Ting, Ting." of one of the chain pulls.

Sure, ceiling fans are not silent, they kind of tick and some sort of squeak, not to mention the constant sound of the motor and wind they create. One can't do anything about that and they are relatively unobtrusive. The "Ting, Ting, Ting" was not!

Until yesterday this was not a big deal, but the temperature is rising and I'd like the fan on higher now. Hence the need for the Chain Pull Cover!

Its a very simple pattern (my second creation! lol) but it is really effective. I wish I had used a softer yarn that might hang differently and one could totally get very fancy by customizing my basic pattern. But for now, here is the basic pattern and the method I used to attach it.

I used a scrap of Bernat Handicrafters Cotton and 3.25mm needles gauge is not important in this piece, I would say. You can extend the centre straight stockinette portion of the pattern to lengthen the cover.

CO 2 stitches leaving a few inches of tail

Row 1: Purl (Purl all on odd rows)

Row 2: kfb, k1 3st

Row 4: k1 kfb k1 4st

Row 6: kfb, k to last stitch, kfb 6 st

Row 8: kfb, k to last stitch, kfb 8 st

Row 10: kfb, k to last stitch, kfb 10 st

Row 12: kfb, k to last stitch, kfb 12 st

Row 14: kfb, k to last stitch, kfb 14 st

Row 16: kfb, k to last stitch, kfb 16 st

Continue in stockinette to row 23

Row 24: k2tg, k to last 2 st, ssk 14 st

Row 26: k2tg, k to last 2 st, ssk 12 st

Row 28: k2tg, k to last 2 st, ssk 10 st

Row 30: k2tg, k to last 2 st, ssk 8 st

Row 32: k2tg, k to last 2 st, ssk 6 st

Row 34: k2tg, k to last 2 st, ssk 4 st

Row 36: k1, k2tg, k1 3 st

BO pwise and weave in bound off tail only.

Do not block, the curl of the fabric will help envelope the hard pull "handle" on the end of the chain or cover the chain if there is no handle.

Using the long tail from the cast on, wrap the loose yarn around the chain 3 or more times so it snags in the beads. For this particular chain pull, I semi-laced the tail to help snug the cover around the plastic handle by weaving it back and forth twice through the sides and then weaving in the end on the wrong side of the fabric.

Nanisms

I'm a tad weird, I'm the first to say it. Mainly cause I tend to have an internal censor that is on a permanent coffee break and things just shoot out of my mouth. I rarely even attempt lying, even, because I just can't pull it off. My words flow and when I try to think too much to "make something up" I sound off.

Anyway, I want to explain a Nanism. This one is a classic example of a Nanism, or as my Mands will often say, an example of "everything happens to you!"

Oh and it also affected knitting so I am staying in the vein of my poorly updated blog.

A couple of weeks ago we were dealing with a massive ant invasion. This was the second time since moving into the house and by far the worst of the two. Plus it was in the kitchen so I was losing my mind with frustration. We emptied the worst affect cupboards and set out the natural ant bait that takes about a week to kill the nests. In the meantime I was thinking that plugging up the pipes under our front porch into the storage space might help too.

I had picked up some large gap expanding foam insulation when I bought the additional ant traps. I've used this stuff in the past, I wasn't worried. So I started slow, filling the pipes gradually, because the foam didn't expand THAT much.

This is where the story really takes off!

On days when my DH is working, I am left to putter alone in the house, the kids at their mom's and me singing and making plans for working around the house. Lets start the day with finishing the pipe filling!

All was going well. I had big poofy globs filling the rest of the pipes and had walked away to ride the stationary bike for a bit. I guess I went back in to check... instinct? I dunno. Well a gust of wind, or gravity or something had caused a glob to plop out and onto my Christmas tree stand, lying on a shelf below the pipe. This tree stand has the bristly stuff wrapped around it to hide the fact its a pipe... etc. Well I reacted, the tree stand being very important to me and all that, and grabbed the large baseball sized glob of foam... with my bare hand...

A second later I flung the glob, having realized what I'd just done and consequently, there is a permanent blob of foam on a box now. But worse than that, I had foam insulation all over my hand including between my fingers. Naturally I tried to rub it off, with my other hand...

So now I'm standing there with foam insulation all over both hands.

I didn't panic, in fact, I did what I normally do when I am faced with the result of my own Nanism, I sighed and shook my head then resign myself to my fate by reading the safety precautions on the can. Naturally, I should have worn gloves but seeing as I was done the spraying by then anyways, it probably wouldn't have helped me. It said contact with skin should be soaked in soapy water. Well a good hour plus later and my hands were still fully coated and the stuff had begun to cure. Soaking did nothing!! On a positive note, once it started to cure, my fingers stopped sticking together...

Soon I began to realize I was screwed. My hands had Hell's version of Elmer's glue all over them and it wasn't peeling off in one cool move. Picking at it, like one picks at their hang nails, made tiny painful windows to my skin and a LOT of mess on the floor. It became an obsession, and not surprisingly so, because I'm a picker as it is!

So now, hours later, I have swept the floor, done nothing and am still having trouble picking things up cause, oh yeah, its dry and everything slides out of my grip. I have soaked my hands a few more times as well and pulled large amounts from the lines on my palms but I'm still, pretty much screwed and am feeling pretty disheartened by the entire experience. I needed to relax and stop picking, so I picked up my knitting.

The tragic twist... I just kept snagging yarn... shredding it and couldn't hold the needles well. Well now I was starting to lose it. The only solution left to me was to wear gloves. Luckily, I had a stash of latex gloves snagged from a hospital visit. Why do we all do that?? Anyway, on go gloves and I could function semi-normally. Knitting was even possible, though awkward.

When my DH got home, I'd finally managed to make some food and found, working with latex gloves was great for cooking hehe

My tale of whoa was greeted with the usual exasperated laughter. We agreed, it really was a perfect example of a Nanism, just on a larger than normal scale.

It took me two more days but my hands were foam free and only scraped raw in a couple of places. Apparently a pumice stone is good on day two when the skins oils and some Vaseline have had time to work in the heat of the latex gloves. I still have patches on some of my nails but my nails are bad to begin with ...

What will I do next? I have to say, and do say regularly, it really is amazing I don't seriously injure myself more often.

Socks!

I have always admired those lovely socks people knit by what seems the dozens. I hear that once you get into sock knitting you never look back. I'm really excited to delve into it at the famous Sock-in-a-day class at the LYS. If nothing else I know it will be fun.

I've been more active in the social scene now that we're in town. My intentions being to go every Wednesday to Bar Knitting unless something comes up. I was really sad to miss it this past week with feeling like poop and all. I even was feeling better by evening but had to assume I was going full blown by next morning and didn't want to spread it.

These classes and knitting nights are inspirational to me. I have a life now that I'm here. Just reinforces how great a decision it was to move to Kingston. I came for the love I stay for the knitting!

Now to bed cause I'm wiped today for some reason, must be all the banking problems the past few days, and the rumour mill with work... that always drains me.

Sock knitting!!!! eeeeeeeeee!

Seed is the Pitts

Its a love hate thing, really. I love the look of seed stitch and in my bump Mission Falls Cotton in my favourite purple, it looks awesome but its killing me! I've barely done half of one slipper and I'm so sick of it.

It will make these slippers very satisfying when done though. :-D

I am excited to be a part of a knit-along for the first time. I'll actually go to the yarn shop for it a couple of times too, something I've been saying I need to start doing more often. Reach out and meet new people and stuff. It will be very good for me, plus once we move, it will be easier...

The pattern will be nice and easy yet not boring either. Thats the thing with the seed stitch. I have to concentrate a bit but its also boring... I used to just strongly dislike purling but knit purl knit purl is so much worse!! Sucks that I love the look so much...

The sweater for the knit along will allow me to relax from the seed stitch. I can't wait!

Spinner's End

Well, I gave it another try.

Yesterday I went to a Spinning Class at Wool Tyme so I could try spinning my own yarn once more.

I tried it about a year ago after ordering a Learn to Spin kit from online. The DVD instructions were relatively easy and really it could have gone much worse. I figured, going to a class would help me figure what I might be doing wrong and help me perfect techniques and such.

So yeah, it did. My yarn was fine but I struggled still. It felt like the 3 hours was well spent and I truly enjoyed the time but had very little yarn to show for the near constant time spent spinning. Its a nice idea but not for me.

I am trying to find out about spinning wheel classes though. One or two of the ladies at the class mentioned it and I thought I'd be able to search it online but can't so far. I will be checking into it. I have access to a wheel here so I'd love to use it! Even if its now and then.

I would love to spin but I'm too impatient for it so far. I want to knit right away, I don't want to spend hours and hours spinning, then possibly plying and washing and drying the yarn before I can do something with it... I don't have time!

Ah well. Like I said, I enjoyed it. Perhaps I should check out the knit circles in the area.

We shall see. I should focus on the move... yep, moving again. February again too!!

Too Long and So Little Yarn

Sigh.

I have not been around to talk about my needles in a good while.

Life is so different having an Insta-Family like this. Then there are the injuries... shoulder, neck, now my elbow... it never ends!

But I joined up on the HPKCHC again and hope to get at least one project fully complete by the end of this month.

I've been pining for my knitting. For days of sitting doing very little but staring at the TV while my needles click away then switching up projects and doing something different for another hour. I miss that dearly.

I have been poopy for sure and I think it is because I get so little knitting done compared to before my move. I have just been going through the Wool-Tyme list of classes for the Fall and considering taking one or two again... it would be good for me on a few levels. But looking through the list and day dreaming is not going to help me get my work done so I can spend some time knitting.

There is just too much to do in a day now...

I think I will try to write here more again though. i enjoyed that greatly as well. But for now I have to go and watch the Deathly Hallows Part 1 trailer that just finished downloading!! Priorities right?!