About Penny

From the WTF file:
I think a lot about the benefits of having an internet presence versus the disadvantages. How you are left open to any whack job with a functioning computer. Imagine my delight when I woke up this morning to find this love note in my inbox. I've copied it as written, including the spelling mistakes.

Hello
I am trying to knit the dog sweater-Penny_from knitty.com. I challenge you to actually use the posted pattern and see what you get. What a mess .The first problem is the number of stitches for the small size. It should be 50 stistches not 48 or --if you follow the instructions you will not get a rib , but a seed stitch. Then the body shaping -- on the first row it calls for an increase on each end , but row three shows an increase on just one end. I blindly followed the pattern and it was off kilter. I'm not an inexperienced knitter (60 years),but I spent a lot of time figuring out the pattern as posted. An in experienced knitted woul;d be tearing their hair out in no time.
As I am knitting this sweaters for charity(Animal shelter) I am very dissapointed as my time is valuable.

This irritated on so many different levels. This pattern is over three years old. I'm the first to admit that it's a "mess." More on that later. With 60 years of experience, she would have figured out it was wrong by the second row. So, about 100 stitches into the project. I guess she's just more important than everyone else, to have her "valuable" time wasted in such a manner. I have a mental picture of this person, and it's not a pretty one. I've assigned a she to describing this person, only because I can't imagine any man I've been acquainted with to bother with sending something like this. I was still waiting for my first cup of coffee, and so irritable, that I replied:

I've attached a corrected copy. I can only hope that you are nicer to the pets than you convey in your e-mail. I'll block any further messages, so don't bother to reply.
C.

Unfortunately, my Outlook Express did not block any reply:

I have no pets .but thought I was doing a good thing for someone elses pet --our weather has been in the -40%C range this week. A little critism never hurt anyone. Get over it.

Criticism. I don't know if I would classify this as criticism, but that remark makes me think that this is the type of person who would be estranged from her children, or the unpopular co-worker. Good thing for pets that she doesn't have one. I guess wisdom does not necessarily come with age, or this person would have figured out the you "catch more bees with honey" thing. Also, there are a lot of free patterns for dog sweaters on the internet. Hey, M--knit another one. Please. It's never, ever occurred to me to send something nasty to anyone that's written a pattern, regardless of the mistakes, or just a maneuver that I question. To me, part of the knitting process is problem solving.

I wrote the pattern for Penny in summer of 2003, and it was my first published pattern. As I recall, it was added to Knitty after the submission deadline, so I hurried it off without checking it throughly. At the time, Knitty was a completely free publication. All patterns and editing were donated. At the time, most of the contributors were people like myself, just starting out. There was a technical editor on the masthead, but how intensive her involvement was is questionable, as clearly my pattern was overlooked. Perhaps the post-deadline thing was a factor. I'm not stating this to be negative--when things are free, I think the expectation is that things can get overlooked, at least it's my expectation. I still get lots of hits on the Lucky Penny site three years later because of the Knitty pattern. Over the years, lots of very nice people have written, and I've sent them a more user friendly copy. Some of them have sent me pictures of their finished sweaters. Maybe some of them come back and read my blog. Thank you for being nice. That's what knitting is for. Being nice, and connecting to your pets, friends, and family in a positive way.

An End to Norovember

I didn't sign up to participate in this, but reading about people in blogosphere knitting projects with Noro made me want to dive into my stash and start something myself. This is the Bonne Marie's Ribby Shell. When I saw her working it up in wool, I thought, she's right, it would be a great vest. I started this in San Francisco, and it was an excellent project for the plane trip home. I'm about nine inches into the project currently, so won't finish until sometime in December, I would imagine. The vest is Kureyon, shade #116, and some vintage Annabel Fox Aran that I probably got on ebay. I'm one week away from setting up for my big show at the Merchandise Mart, but I'm having a hard time getting excited about the prospect. Maybe because the last two events didn't go so well. I'm still working out the display in my head. Now I'm thinking about decorating the display with my small white Christmas trees, and some white or pink poinsettias. I'm still trying to make this an easy set up, as I'll be on my own for it, and working my sales area alone as well.

Turkey Soup

I'm thinking about that turkey carcass that's been in my refrigerator all weekend. The window of opportunity is closing on making broth from it. Our problem in this two person household is storing and consuming the mass quantities of broth that this will produce. We often discard more food items than we consume. So, I'm obsessed with leftovers and reruns. How I like to make the same thing, over and over again. Dog sweaters. Now, vests. Socks. I occasionally look at my blog archives to check that I'm not using the same photo again. I've done it a few times. I put a lot of Piccolo photos up, but I never get tired of looking at that little face, and let's be honest, a certain A-list blogger posts a picture of her cat every day. One thing that I've mentioned a number of times, and never accomplished, is going on a yarn diet. As I contemplate placing another Briar Rose order, and wait eagerly for my hand spun sock yarn from Crown Mountain Farms, who am I kidding? And, why should I deprive myself? I'm employed. I can't buy a house at present, and I'm not depriving any child from higher education. So, why not a little pleasure? If you all out there can stick to a yarn diet, then good for you. I admire you. But it's not for me. I took this shot of Piccolo when I was testing out an additional project for the book, and her "I'm mad with you, Mommy!" look just cracks me up.

The Happy Land

This is the land of happy, if you're a dog. Except perhaps for my dog, who is of a timid nature, and would be freaked out at the multitude of Other Dogs. This is Duboce Park, at Duboce and Scott Streets, in the Castro District. In San Francisco, of course. The loveliest place. This was the "green room" for our dogs during both photo shoots, as it was right next to the Harvey Milk Recreational Arts Center. I love this logo for the cafe across the street. I wish they would have had a coffee mug that I could have taken home with the logo on it. One of our model discoveries for this second shoot, Rita, a wire haired Jack Russell, could have posed for it.

I'm starting to feel a little better, health wise. I do have to go back to the day job tomorrow, but I'm not looking forward to the drive. The real reason I know I'm getting better is that I'm itching to knit dog sweaters again. I'm thinking of the traditional Christmas colors, but in newer, fresher combinations. If you had asked me a few days ago about this, I probably would have mumbled something, then fallen asleep again.

Rosebud, Again and Again

Okay, so it's established. I love this pattern. I started another vest in this yarn, the 75% cashmere, 25% polwarth from Rovings, but frogged it in favor of this pattern. I've shot it here with the J. Jill t-shirt that the Man says looks like a pajama top. I think the delicate color of the sweater sort of needs something stronger like color or a print to balance it out. I wore it on the trip out to San Francisco. It's lightweight, and super warm, really warmer than I needed. I have to say, as beautiful as it is, it also pilled like mad! I made that yarn company vice president touch it when he was talking about the 100% cashmere that his organization has exclusively on their website.

Hibernating

So, it seems that I do not travel well. I'm convinced that I picked up something nasty on the trip home. I'm convinced that flight attendants must have the strongest immune systems of any human. After the near explosion of my ear, a cold has settled in for a long stay. I'm spending most of the day pretty useless except for the making of Airborne drinks, and swallowing aspirin. Mostly I'm passed out on the sofa. I don't like sleeping at night in a bed I've been sick in all day, but with the ringing in my ears, not much sound sleep is happening, either. Not much knitting is being done, and my big show is two weeks away. Here's that piece I made before the trip, the Rosebud vest in the yarn the pattern was written for, Sonoma, used double. I totally love this sweater, and of course, I'm just itching to make another. Changed the look of this blog, finally! I was getting really tired of the green. Except now something funky is happening with the links I added. Last time I changed, I lost everything, so I was reluctant to change again. But, I saved the links to a document, so I was able to re-establish everything. I think it's easier on the eyes with a white background. It's going to stay like this for a while.

Wishing You a Knitted Thanksgiving

This lovely window display was spotted in San Francisco at Noe Knit, and I couldn't resist taking some photos to share. From the Lucky Penny household, Happy Thanksgiving to all you knitters out there! Knit, eat, and watch football if you must!

Listen Here, Little Pilgrim

From my home in Chicago, to my blog visitors, some San Francisco flavor this holiday. The first Thanksgiving, Castro style! What I got the most kick out of is the Pekingese at the Native American's feet!

My Travel Companion

I'm back, with perhaps a sinus infection. The flight back was on a 767, lovely and roomy, but I though my ear drum was going to explode into a bloody mess on the unsuspecting passenger to my left. Now it's all in my sinuses. The flight out was interesting. I'll say this about knitters--we're everywhere. There were four including myself, on the flight out. For the ultimate KIP experience, the vice president of a very major yarn company (I've got his business card to prove it!) came over and said hello while he was changing planes. So, the trip summary in this short post--pictures were taken, yarn was purchased, projects were knit, but not quite completed. Details to follow over the next few days.

My Fifteen Minutes

One little mention of my vests by Bonne Marie, then 250 of you all came by to visit. Hello, there! Come in and sit a spell and wander through my archives if you want the story of my adorable dog, my silly Man, and me trying to knit down my enormous yarn stash. The vests mentioned in the post have since been finished, and worn. I did complete the third Rosebud vest, in the recommended yarn, and I must say it's my favorite. Maybe more so than the cashmere and polwarth beauty. So, now that you've come by, I will confess that this is likely the last I'll be posting until my return from San Francisco next Tuesday night. I'm going to remember to charge my camera battery, so I can get some behind the scenes action from my photo shoot this time! One of the challenges of packing for the trip is deciding what projects to bring. Nothing too big or tricky to lug around. So, a sock or two, the red scarf, and, another vest! After reading Bonne Marie's post, I decided that the Ribby Shell would make a great vest, and in honor of Norovember, I'm doing mine in Kureyon #116, with some black bands. I'm knitting a smaller size, because, while I can get 5 stitches per inch with Kureyon, I'm not crazy with the result, and want to relax a bit, and knit 4.5 to the inch.

Housekeeping

To say that I'm housekeeping challenged here at Lucky Penny headquarters is putting it mildly. There's the Man and all his hoarding and sloppy issues. There's me and my schedule, and housekeeping usually is not the priority it should be. Then, there's Piccolo. She does understand what the bathroom is for. I've asked the Man to keep the door to that room closed, mostly because it takes up almost the entire width of the corridor that links the living room to the kitchen, but also, if the door is left even a little ajar, Piccolo will open it, and then pee on the bathroom rug next to the vanity. The rug is nylon, and wicks away moisture, but the evidence is the stain on the rubber backing. I have to admit, as naughty as it is, I think it's sort of hilarious to hear the creak of the door as she sneaks inside the bathroom. I think she believes she's really getting away with something. Some feedback about the event I did two weeks ago has started to trickle in via e-mail from some other members of a committee I was on. There were comments made that were a sort of slap. Enough to get me all ticked off again, and confirm that I will be making myself unavailable for next year's event. It was confirmation that I should be more discriminating in my choices.

Connecting

The events of the last few weeks have me thinking about how knitting connects me to the world. I'm certainly connected to my pet, mom, Man, and family through my knitting. I'm connected to the internet community through this blog and my website, and connected to other knitters in my local community. Some of my connections are positive, and some, not so much. If I sit in a coffee shop and knit with you--our connection is positive, and appreciated. If I participate in an event where most are pursuing their own agenda, then not so positive, and I should distance myself. I wished I had been at the Dulaan knit-a-thon last weekend. Lordy, that looked like all kinds of fun, was more fun than where I spent the weekend. That said, I'm itching to get started on probably the one community project I'll get time for this year. I'm waiting for yarn to arrive to start my Red Scarf, and hoping it will be my airplane knitting this week. I'm following the rules--red, machine washable, and will be unisex. I'm hoping a young man gets the finished scarf. What I've seen contributed so far looks lovely, but girly. I suppose a young man could pass it along to a girlfriend, but I'm hoping that a young man who's mostly alone in this world will be comforted by a wooly scarf. Speaking of red, I'm thinking a lot about that color lately. The last projects for the book have lots of red, and the next sweaters that I do for production knitting will be red, mostly because my next, and possibly last, show is a holiday theme. I want the sweaters to say holiday, but not in an obvious way, so no green with the red. I think. And, blame it on me inhaling the dye fumes of the Briar Rose order that's behind me as I write this--I finished the back, and may come close to finishing the front of another Rosebud vest tonight. I asked for a combination of reds and browns, thinking chocolate covered cherries, but got browns and a red more on the orange side, kind of like a spice combination. The game of telephone, remember, how when something gets repeated, then it gets distorted? This was telephone with one. The end result was pretty, but unexpected. Piccolo's sweater in the picture is the same Noro Kureyon colorway, #138, that I made my mom's sweater in. I believe in bright colors for dog sweaters. You can really see her from a distance!

The Glue

On the outside, I think I come across as pretty mellow. But, all the tasks I need to complete have me a little addled, I think. It sometimes manifests iself in my sleeping life. Like the dream I had last night. I didn't sleep very well. The Man sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night (after falling asleep at 10 pm, which often leads me to tell him he gets more sleep than an infant), and will use the Nordic Track. Normally I sleep though this, but last night it woke me up. Then, the Man listened to the radio for a while, so I had even more trouble falling asleep. I had a bad dream that the Man, while still living with me, was in a relationship with some other woman, and I was breaking up with him, and he didn't care. These are not thoughts that I have in my waking hours. I told him this evening that I had a bad dream about him, didn't elaborate, and it just got a little chuckle. I've posted a picture of Piccolo, who I often think of as the glue that holds us together. That, and my cooking. We banter back and forth about splitting up (joking, people, despite the dream), and who would get custody of my dog. I'm convinced that in his care, her veterinary care would lapse, and one day, she would run in the path of a car speeding down our street. Would the Man tend to the cyst I found above her eye last night? No. Read no further if you're grossed out--I couldn't resist expressing it, but now we're going to the vet tomorrow to get it examined.
I really wanted to go to Lindsay Obermeyer's exhibit opening in Pilsen tonight, but it was sheets of cold rain, so that plan got scrapped. That, and the trip to Wisconsin that we were discussing.
I know what will make me feel better--taking a big whiff of my new Briar Rose yarns! I wish I was going to their open house tomorrow, but really, I've done enough damage to my finances at this point.

The Two Rosebuds

I fell in love the the Rosebud vest from Briar Rose Fibers when I saw it in Wisconsin. I love the little mock cable rib feature. I've been playing with the pattern in not the recommended yarn, a double strand of Briar Rose Sonoma. The tan one is the cashmere and polwarth blend that I bought from Rovings this summer at Stitches Midwest, and the handpaint one is Malabrigo Aquarella, shade Tranquillas. I had to adjust the pattern for the cashmere to work with a more worsted weight yarn. The Malabrigo is being worn as I write this, and the cashmere just needs some assembly. As my theme is reruns and leftovers, I have another planned in more Malabrigo, and one in Sonoma, just delivered today. I love the smell of freshly dyed yarn. That lovely vinegar scent just makes me all kooky. I have my models booked for the shoot next Saturday, and sent a prototype hat to the owner of two of them, so they can practice wearing a hat. Speaking of making me all nutty, with my book to finish, I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that it's Norovember. I've got some Kureyon and some new patterns that I'm just itching to dig in to. Must use restraint. Like I have any to begin with.

It Looks Like a Big Green Blob

But on, it's another cute vest. I was intrigued by the fiber blend in Briar Rose's Tuscany, which is wool and flax. This top is knit using Harrisville's wool/flax blend. Up close, there's a lot of beautiful heathery colors blended with the pine green. I've been wearing it, for the past two days with a top I bought at J. Jill, a little burgundy flower print t-shirt. The Man said, "why are you wearing a pajama top?" I don't normally wear a lot of prints, and this shirt is a departure for me. There's still two more Tuscany tanks planned, one for me, and one for my mom. You may start noticing a trend. I'm embracing big knits this season. I was reading Wendy's blog a few weeks ago, and there was discussion of larger sized women wearing bulky knits. It's like a lightbulb went off. It is a matter of proportion. Just like I would look silly carrying a tiny handbag. I'll draw the line a big and fluffy, but bulkier yarns I think are looking just fine. I tried some hats on Piccolo this morning that I knit for the book, and took some hiliarious photos of her "I'm mad with you" expressions. Not much got accomplished today, but my hair is looking good, as a large part of the afternoon was spent getting it cut and colored. After voting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things will finally turn my way, and I can feel good about this country again.

Reruns and Leftovers

This past weekend's Fine Art of Fiber display. See what I mean? I was thinking hard last night and today about the One of a Kind show, and the type of display I want there. Something easy to set up and take down, but imaginative. I was thinking a holiday tree with the sweaters hanging off of it, like ornaments. The other idea was to run clothesline on the walls and hang the sweaters off that. I'm kind of leaning towards the tree idea, and will hunt for a cheapo artificial tree.

Stick a Fork In Me

Because I'm done. That's my initial assessment of the damages done this year. This photo was from the 2004 event because, well, my set up didn't look much different. I didn't get much of a chance to stay with my display because of what I previously mentioned, and when I was there, got to hear lovely comments like "I wouldn't spend money on that beast!" Nice dog owner. Then, there's always the classic "this is too nice for a dog" comment that I hear at just about every show. This kind of takes the wind out of me as I should be gearing up for the very big and prestigious One of a Kind Show. I'm taking myself out of the loop as far as volunteering is concerned. After telling the Man about some of my problems, his question was, "what made you think that being in charge of anything would come to any good?" Sort of like "no good deed goes unpunished." I felt liberated after hearing him say that. The show will go on, the world will keep turning. My presence in this organization is not essential. So, moving forward, I will have one additional night spent at home every month. The only good thing today was Lindsay Obermeyer's lecture, which, regretfully was not well attended. Which is a real shame. It was so interesting to get to know that part of Lindsay, who I've known for about ten years, I guess. I missed seeing some people that I went to grade school with, which is sort of too bad, but I was not at my best, so maybe that's okay too.

You May See Me Here

Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois. Hours 10 AM-5 PM Saturday and Sunday. My display is in the Greenhouse Galleries, but I very likely won't be with them. I have other duties at the show, and I'm avoiding someone I'm finding to be obnoxious who is set up too close to me. The highlight on Sunday is the 1:30 PM lecture with Lindsay Obermeyer. Two more weeks, and I'm in San Francisco!

InVestment

This past weekend, we "fell back," and late autumn is here to stay. It's pretty cold outside, but when I go to the various buildings that I work in for the day job, the temperature inside is kept at Oven. This is the season that I'm embracing the vest as a practical work garment. Dress at this job is on the casual side, so fortunately work and life clothes are pretty much the same. I went a little kooky for Briar Rose Fibers when I saw them at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in September. It's probably a good thing that I missed them at Michigan, because I really don't need the Man to be witness to my conspicuous consumption. This Sonoma wool was custom dyed for me, and the garment design is theirs, the Eyelet Sleeveless Sweater. I photgraphed it in my mom's yard, with her purple asters in the background. I think this sweater is cute! So cute, that I'm working on another right now, in a Blackberry Ridge wool/mohair blend. But back to Briar Rose. I like the product so much, that I'm waiting for another custom order. Yarn for a vest for my mom, and two more for me!