24 March 2011

Challenge Obscuredom

A new challenge!
The plan was to attend my very first knitting machine group meeting. I bought a used machine in about ’96 from a graduating student who had used it to put herself through college and hoped to never need or see it again. I never took the non-wheeled Toyota out of the box because I was afraid my then young, rambunctious and hyperactive adopted kids might accidentally knock it over, and it would be ruined.

Now I have a place to safely set it up and a husband equally as anxious to learn to use it. Yes, for real!

The knitting group told me to bring my manual to the meeting. They would take a look at what I’m up against, plus teach me how to make a hat.

teeny sockI had looked forward to the meeting for nearly six weeks. Murphy’s Law stepped in just as I was getting ready to go, and a pinched nerve in my neck flattened me for a good 30-ish hours. No knitting machine wisdom for me this month. (The plan is to try again next month; fingers and toes crossed, nerves threatened with pain killer.)

After my bundle of uncomfortable nerves finally let go of my insanity, I decided I would challenge myself anyway. I decided to learn a new knitting technique in spite of my heartbreak.

Ever since I learned to knit (which I initially thought was just another crochet stitch but with a second hook) when I was still single digits, I have wanted to try knitting with thread. Perhaps because my grandmother taught me to crochet with thread. Thread is just so different from yarn.

I put that fancy hand-colored thread I received last week to work once again and crocheted my tiniest sock to date. And then I knit the cuffs. With toothpicks!

Knitting with toothpicks wasn’t as bad as I’ve always feared it would be. In fact, it was rather fun, and I can’t wait to do it again.

Success!However, that’s not what I really want to write about today. But I must camouflage my real purpose because I don’t want The Lizard to figure out what I’m doing. He actually reads my blog almost every day, and I’m hoping he’ll get bored before he gets to this paragraph and won’t figure out what I’ve done.

I hope you, Dear Reader, have not grown bored and have actually read this far. This is a contest!!! A challenge! With a prize!

The best comment left on The Lizard’s blog here by noon Mountain Time on Monday, March 28, gets to adopt Snodgrass!

That’s right! Snodgrass is looking for a new home, and I’m looking to tickle the toes of My Favorite Lizard by surprising him with comments from more than just me and a couple of other regulars.

But shhhhhhhh! Don’t tell him I put you up to this!!! It’s a secret!

Snodgrass
Snodgrass

Snodgrass was born late in the summer of 2009 en route to the Gothic trailhead prior to a successful mountain bike climb of Schofield Pass. He then layed in stasis for several months awaiting assembly, which was accomplished during the 2010 Ravelympics, in which his maker medaled. Snodgrass shares his name with a singletrack trail and mountain above the Crested Butte side of Schofield Pass, both popular with backcountry skiers in winter. Snodgrass is nine inches long and has a four-inch armspan, and he's made of incredibly soft and bright Noro Kureyon sock yarn imported from Japan. He loves to watch humans work on the computer, never argues when it's time to turn off the lights, doesn't run up the phone bill and is completely house-broken. He eats dust. (Psyyyyyche!)


Snodgrass

10 comments :

  1. Oh, man, I could use a dust-eating lizard but our router's been non-existent for days. And you are killing me here, knitting with toothpicks. I can't even imagine it. I tried knitting a bookmark with thread on size 1 needles and never quite finished it. Takes way too long to get anywhere for me. I'm apparently an instant gratification, enormous needles kind of gal. Love your tiny sock!!!

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  2. Knitting with toothpicks? And here, I thought teaching a corncob to play pool was hard...

    That is full of the awesome, Deb. If I were marooned on a tropical island, I'd definitely choose to be marooned with you. You've got more ingenious ideas up your sleeve (maybe even IN your sleeve)...

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  3. Very cool. I have to try that someday soon. Right now I am working on your latest snowflake!

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  4. Haha, that's funny. Knitting a tiny tiny cuff is crazy! =]

    That was funny about boring the Lizard by that paragraph. =] Too cute.

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  5. Snodgrass is very cute :)

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  6. he's too cute, how can you give him away? He could make friends with the house lizard that refuses to vacate my kids' room...hehehe :)
    i looooove the pic of him on the giant snowflake.

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  7. Snodgrass is so adorable. He is as colorful as my Patches, my 18 year old Calico cat I just recently had to bid adieu to.
    I would re-name him/her Patches in her honor!!! You can find a photo of her on my blog--http://poetrose24.blogspot.com/

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  8. Thank you to EVERYONE who entered! Results will be posted sometime tonight or tomorrow; I believe we've so far successfully kept this a secret (!!!), and I'd like to keep it that way. So I have to work around The Lizard's viewing schedule...

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Dusty words lying under carpets,
seldom heard, well must you keep your secrets
locked inside, hidden deep from view?
You can talk to me... (Stevie Nicks)

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