Chickenlips Knitting

It's so dadburn hot here that all I've been able to do is sit in front of the floor fan, watch TV and knit!




Here is a sock I designed last year, but since I was just starting out as a dyer, I wasn't doing semisolids yet. And this stitch pattern needs a semi-solid colorway to show it off. It's called "Chain Lightning" and is an easy peasy chain rib stitch you can do while watching TV, reading Twitter-pated posts or what have you. The sample is knit in Stitchjones 100% merino sock yarn, although Titanium Sock would work well too. I used size 2 needles and zipped through this sucker in just a few days, where it normally takes me at least a week to finish a sock.

Both patterns are available as Ravelry downloads, they're dirt cheap at just $4. They are also in the Etsy shop, along with Magic Judy in Titanium Sock.

But the pretty colored FO's don't stop there! Here is a Diagonal Baby Blanket, made with 11 oz. of cuddly Cormo wool in neon green from Dayspring Farm in Corvallis, Oregon. (Yarn was purchased from Bellwether Wool Co. at Black Sheep Gathering.)

I haven't washed and blocked it yet--just folded it up and put away for now. When the weather cools off, I'll wash it. I've decided to keep this for the grandbabies I might someday have. I've also bought other yarn and picked out baby items to knit this fall and winter, to add to the collection. Not that I'm in any hurry to be a grandma; I want Michelle to finish college and have the hit TV show she's already writing before she becomes a mom! If and when the day comes, though, this Nana will be prepared.

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OK now, brace yourself. Here is a photo of Noel Fielding of the hit BBC comedy show The Mighty Boosh, in character as "Tony Harrison".

Yeah I know, "WTF"? I mean, "WTF-ing F!?"

I share this with you my friends, because ever since I first saw Monty Python's Flying Circus I have loved British comedy. My daughter has a big crush on Noel and is obsessed with his show. The first time I saw this whack character, (who talks like an upperclass twit by the way,) I couldn't stop laughing. I even bought some pepto-bismol pink yarn and tried to knit a stuffed toy of Tony Harrison. It so happens Michelle is flying down to L.A. on Tuesday to meet Noel at a personal appearance! She'll be accompanied by her dad, who will already be down there on business. Lucky girl, eh?

My idea was to knit a stuffed-toy version of this character for Michelle to give to Noel when she meets him. However, even though a designer friend was helping me figure it out, I just didn't have the mojo. I got discouraged when I realized I'd have to make all those tentacles, then sew the whole thing up--and I hate sewing!

As I get older I'm becoming more scatterbrained, a la Lucy and Ethel hair-brained schemes. My heart is still in the right place, though...no matter what you may have heard!