The Kerfuffler is moving!That’s right, the Kerfuffler is moving to a new name, a new web address, and a new secret identity: that of the Kitchener Bitch. The Kitchener Bitch will be heavier on the knitting and also heavier on the bitch - and I mean that in the best possible way. Knitting, art, movies, politics, the flotsam and jetsam of life… plus funny shit. And obscenity. Because we can.

So move it on up with us to http://kitchenerbitch.blogspot.com - we’ll be waiting for you.

Ah yes, what would knitting be without the agony of defeat every now and then?

I frogged Ella. Yes, that’s right, down to the naked skein. And why?

Because it was the year of knitting dangerously. I was working without lifelines. I was drinking a little wine while knitting from time to time. I even brought Ella along to show its pretty self off at a huge, distracting Stitch n’ Bitch, where it’s impossible to do a 200-line program.

And boy did I pay. I paid with approximately 11,000 stitches. (How do I know that exactly? Well, let’s just say that an obsessive personality and an Excel spreadsheet can make for a whole new sort of self-torture.) I realized that the whole thing was hopelessly confused. Holes didn’t line up, the pretty pattern turned to mush in spots, and my stitch count was way, way off. The only answer was to frog.

So frog I did, and then started again. When I got to the same point - the split in the V - where I’d messed up before, I took care to make it work this time. I counted and recounted over and over. But yet, perhaps because I had one eye on the boob tube whilst I put my markers in, or because I was doing it when I was dog tired despite my better judgment, I miscounted. And then I knit ten rows (that’s another 1,200 stitches for those of you who are keeping score!) wondering why in the hell the pattern wasn’t working exactly right before I realized I had ten extra stitches on one side. It seemed there was no choice but to rip back again.

So I thought about that trusty lifeline I’d put in ten rows back- and suddenly I remembered myself, nine rows ago, snarling the lifeline in the row above’s stitches. For the first time, I realized with horrible clarity that the lifeline may or may not be of any use at all, since it now traverses two rows instead of preserving just one. I didn’t get that it’d be a big deal at the time, but now it was dawning on me in a most unpleasant way.

The only thing to do is to frog very, very carefully, and moreover, to turn over a new leaf. I vow, from this point forward, to:

• Always, always, always! use a lifeline when I’m knitting lace,
• Not fuck up said lifeline once I’ve got the blasted thing in there,
• Learn to count, for heaven’s sakes, or in lieu of that, not knit lace when I’m tired, or watching TV, or at a party, or tossing one back with the hubby.

…harumph. Live and learn.

So I forgot to take any pictures at yesterday’s Stitch N’ Bitch (that’s right, SFSE, gimme your best shot!) at the Museum of Contemporary Art here in Chicago, but nonetheless a grand time was had by all. Easily 150 knitters came together for the event, which was I believe the 4th to date.

Here’s the evening’s progress with Ella.

Can you spot the place I had a glass of wine, and the little holes ceased to line up for a few rows? Don’t drink and knit, people:

So now the question is - to frog or not to frog? I can’t decide if this is an unforgivable sin to commit against such nice nice yarn, or if it’s a minor blemish/charming idiosyncracy that I won’t think about because I’ll be busy sighing with joy for wearing it. What do you think?

So I’ve finished up a ton of UFOs (unfinished objects in knitting parlance) and I’ve got the pics to prove it! Here are a few of the projects I’ve got finished up, and a few more I have on the needles:

Here’s Marnie MacLean’s Nautilus Hat - my first crown-down hat, knit in Knitpicks Elegance from my lovely Knitty secret pal:

and here is a Liesel scarf made out of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool. Nice stitch definition, no? I love this stuff!

Here is a trio of scarves - on the left is a ribbed scarf for Husbandman in Plymouth Indeicita Alpaca Boucle; in the middle is a Fleece Artist Dreadlocks scarf; and on the right is a seed stitch Cascade Magnum scarf that is impermeable to the elements:

And here’s a pair of Broadripple socks, made with black Cascade Fixation:

So none of this is knitting rocket science, but I don’t care - what I care about is my now nearly empty project box. Hooray! Here’s what I’ve got on the needles now - the Knitty Ella shawl, a lovely creature that I’m knitting up in buttery-soft Lorna’s Laces Lion & Lamb:

the first day (and first section):
And the second day, on to Section II (which, at halfway through the main section, is enormous):

More later as Ella and the stripey socks continue!