FO: Yoga Bag

I've been using this for a solid year, but I've never posted about it. It wasn't needle knit, it was done on a loom. Despite using it, I'm always looking at "better" patterns like Namaste. However, almost every time I go to a yoga class, someone compliments me on it.



Yarn: Red Heart, worsted weight
Pattern: none
Loom:Red Knifty Knitter loom

I just used a single strand on this loom until I had a tube of appropriate length. I gathered the stiches on one end together to close it off, and knit a length of braided yarn to go through the stitches on the other end. I make a panel on the loom of four stitches to be the shoulder strap.

The Red Heart Acrylic is stretchy, so it's easy to get the yoga mat in and out, especially because the single yarn on the loom makes suck a loose material. But because it's so stretchy, it kind of stretches and doesn't look as pretty as material bags when you wear it on your shoulder. I'm not going to defend my Red Heart purchase or explain it. It's cheap yarn and you can wash it. *shrug* If I were to knit another one, I would probably use a yarn with some cotton to cut down on stretchiness, and I'd also weave to bottom, so it would lie flat against the mat.

Cocoa Swap Topic #4

What is your most memorable vacation? Where did you go? What made it memorable?

My most memorable vacation was probably the semester I spent abroad in Australia. I was drinking at pubs every night going to school, but I managed to have many memorable trips out of Brisbane. I learned to scuba dive, held a koala, scratched a wallaby's chin (just like a kitty cat), rescued a baby kangaroo from roadkill in the middle of the outback, explored Uluru in Austraila's Red Centre, visited Opal mines, swam in a lake of tea, and of course, tried my hand at surfing on their squeaky sand beaches. I attended the University of Queensland in subtropical Brisbane, and got to take weekend scuba diving trips, hiking trips that ended with BBQs on the beach, and attended my Aussie roommates' rugby games and after game parties at pubs. I took a ferry across the river every day to school and on the walk home, I would pick up fragrant fallen frangipani flowers (called plumeria in America) and stick them in bowls of water in my room so that there was always a fragrance of flowers. I made the best friends I've ever had in those short months, friends that knew/know me better than many friends I've had for years. I had community dinner with the daughter os a Costa Rican coffee farmer, a sorority girl from Virginia, and anarchist from San Francisco, and a girl from my college who turned out to be a friend of the man I married.
I changed my worldview, learned how a different culture reacts to the world and to Americans, and learned how to assimilate to a different culture. I learned to see Americans as another culture sees them, and learned how to not be "another American tourist." I had my values challenged: some important ones reaffirmed, others rejected.
I feel strongly about the importance of making studying abroad an affordable and emphasized option in college study. As a prevet/animal science major, it was not an easy option, but it changed my life. As one of the world's superpowers, America's culture affects people all over the world, both negatively and positively. I feel that the more educated we become about how we affect the world, the more the youth of today will be able to make educated decisions in the future of how to treat the world.

*This philosophizing brought to you as a byproduct of the recent watching of too many political debates.

Cocoa Swap Topic #3

I've been very busy and tired this week. It's the first week of my marathon training, so I've actually had to start running again. Running again after a 3 month hiatus was actually a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. So, the running itself has not made me tired, it was more the 10pm soccer game last night.
And perhaps the fact that I am skiing once a week, trying to run 5 times and week, and playing soccer. I've been trying to get to yoga at least once a week too, but my motivation is very low when it's dark by five and the temps are in the 10s.
I have also been knitting, slightly and slowly, a toy for my cocoa buddy so I can't show pictures, but it's very cute.

What is the most 'random' memory you have from your childhood? I know it's not knitting content, but I love learning about the little quirks and interesting things about people!

It would probably have to do with colors. When I was young, I believed that somewhere in the history of English speakers, somehow the names for the colors of black and brown had been switched. I believed that if I started using their "correct" names, I could start the process of reverting the names to their "original" uses.

I have a distinct memory of sitting at a table at my preschool, coloring with my colleagues, my mother sitting nearby. The scene was a barnyard scene with, of course, the requisite pony. I preferred ponies, even at the tender age of three. I asked my mother for the "brown" crayon. She handed me a brown crayon. And I remember throwing a child-like tantrum because she gave me the wrong brown crayon, and how dare she when she knows and must have excepted my color philosophies.

Cocoa Swap Week #2 Topic

Now that we're in the thick of 'Winter'... has your knitting changed to match the season? Are you moving on from dishcloths, and tank tops to afghans, hats and mittens? Has your yarn changed from silk or cotton to wool, superwash or heavier cottons?

Kind of. In the fall I was knitting my bridesmaids facecloths in cotton, and before that was mostly dishcloths and the baby blanket. I'm so slow at finishing projects that I'm kind of surprised I'm not still working on the baby blanket :)

But lately I've been doing more winter wear: hats, scarves, and mittens. When it gets hot, I have no desire to be knitting wool, or any yarn that's too warm, so I do think I switch over and just don't notice, but then again, one project used to take me 6 months. Baby steps :)

Maybe this summer I'll finally get on learning socks.

Martha's Marshmallows

Let's talk about feminism for a bit, shall we?

I was raised in what I consider to be a typical middle class American family. I was a girl scout, took dance classes, went to church every Sunday. It was never even a question of "if" I was to go to college, a college education was just the next step after graduating from high school.

While in college, I was chatting with a new acquaintance in the typical college way (where do you live? what's your major? etc.) She told me her major and that she was just getting a college education until she found someone to marry and raise a family with. This stunned me. What year was it? 1952? Who went for an education without planning to use it? This young woman's big plan for her life involved making and raising a family?

Now that I am working a real, dead-end job (because a B.S. in the sciences is usually a dead end...unless you get a masters or a PhD), and I get excited about things like Martha Stewart's marshmallow recipe, I realize that perhaps feminism blinded me. I wish I had the extra 40 hours a week to make a good dinner every night and to clean the light fixtures and iron my husbands clothes. Was not the point of feminism to give women the choice to stay at home or to go out into the workforce and pursue a career if they chose to? Because if that was the point, then I worry that it has failed. Our society has been driven to the point where it is definitely not comfortable nor easy to raise a family on one income. Daycare and television are raising people's children. And that's fine, if that's what you want...but when it comes to the future, that's not what I want.

Cocoa Swap Scavenger Hunt

1. Who's favorite animal is an Otter?
Anne K
2. Name someone who prefers whipped cream with their hot cocoa
Ashley C

3. Find 3 people who live outside of the United States
Alex E, Geraldine P, Jinxsa

4. Name a fan of Harry Potter
Michelle

5. Name someone who crochets
Ana-Sofia

6. Name someone who DOES NOT have a healthy supply of notions
Ana-Sofia

7. Name someone who has NOT put up their questionnaire yet (just put a date with your answer in case they put it up after seeing their name listed somewhere ;-) )
Nancy C. (1/9)

8. Who likes to have Kahlua, Baileys, or Peppermint Schnapps in their cocoa? (What an excellent idea....)
Paula B-E

9. Name someone who knits fingerless gloves as a 'quick knit'
Ashley R

10.Name someone who's looking forward to gardening this spring.
Michelle J

11.Who's favorite way to drink cocoa is with a gorgeous Frenchman, while overlooking the eiffel tower from a French Cafe?
Kris L

12.Name someone who's favorite animal is NOT a dog or house cat
Amanda D

13. Name someone who's favorite treat is NOT chocolate.
Bea R.

14. Who plays Candyland?
Criquette

15. Name someone who DOESN'T get the winter blahs
Kristy B

My so-called scarf

I'm knitting this because big needle knitting goes fast (even for me) and I haven't had the patience to do any of the knitting projects in my queue that I would really like to start. The provisional cast on for Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts has been keeping me away from that project; despite having yarn, needles, and pattern all collected and ready to go.

But isn't this scarf pretty? I haven't been able to get behind paying up for Malabrigio, but I love Artful Yarns Shakespeare. This is one of my recent WEBS end of the year sale aquisitions. It's less a yarn and more a yarn thin variegated roving, but it's just perfect for the pattern.