OMG! I just had a machine knitting eureka moment. I had one or two of these in hand knitting - grafting was one and there was another even more blindingly revolutionary but I've forgotten it already.

I have terrible trouble transferring stitches onto the needle beds - whether I am rehanging the knitting or switching from hand knitting to machine knitting. The stitches never want to behave and the loops go everywhere except onto the machine needles. Meanwhile the rest of the garment has gotten itself snarled it the other needles. I never understood how machine knitters could be so cavalier about rehanging, like it was nothing. If the knitting is on waste yarn sometimes I can manage to pull the waste upwards while pulling the fabric down to make a nice loop to stuff on the needle but it's hugely awkward and I practically go blind. I think MK has been mainly responsible for the decline in my vision over the last few months. (Shut up. It is NOT old age.)

Today I was reading the Knitsings blog about knitting a handknit sock on a machine (I tolerate short row heels but they're not my fav so I was all over this) and she said:

No doubt, this is the hardest, most stressful part of the pattern for me. You are going to rehang the sock and pull needles through the side slipped stitches of the heel flap, just as you would with its hand knit cousin.

PULL the needles through! Of course!!! Instead of trying to stuff the stitch onto the needle, just poke the transfer tool though the stitch, grab the needle and PULL IT THROUGH THE STITCH!

Seriously, I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree. Of course this might be one of those items that works really well in my head and not at all in practice but we shall see…

In other news…

I taught Calvin to set things on fire with a magnifying glass. I adore fire and everything to do with it. I used to take candles out into my snow forts and hang out in the candlelight. Make little mini-bonfires and hope not to get caught. He is such a cautious kid he'd never set anything on fire. The first time it worked and he saw the leaf do its little mini-flame/smoke burst, he almost wet himself. Stop, mommy! Stop mommy! Like I was going to set the world on fire. Then he got totally into it, although way more cautious that I ever was. While I am outwardly horrified about him burning bugs, I sort of recall I may have done the same thing myself. A proud parenting moment passing my pyromania on to my child.

The cottage. I shall certainly reevaluate the plans for next year. Let me summarize by saying one night I lay in bed plotting who to kill first in my mass family homicide. I shall not discuss any further. My rage has died down and I do not want it to rekindle.

Surly, eh?

February Viking Sweater is finished! It was a positive pleasure to knit the torturous gull lace pattern rather than dwelling on the situation around me while at the cottage. If you think the pattern is more monotonous than watching paint dry just remember - there are worse things. It acted like a sort of white noise for me and probably saved some lives. Maybe I'll knit another one next summer.

I got two cones of cotton from Le Village months ago - about fingering weight, lots of twist. Sort of like tons of blue string. I had no idea what I could make out of it but it was $3 a cone (~700g each) so I couldn't resist. The other day I realized it would be perfect for Buttercup, so I knit up a test swatch. As I was knitting, I smelled a really musty smell. I hadn't used my machine for at least a month, so I though maybe there was some wet cardboard around it (it's right by a window) but I couldn't find anything. Eventually I realized it was the cone of cotton that stunk so badly. Yikes. Anyway, I washed up my swatch and the water was pretty damn filthy. Hung it in the sun all day to dry and it still smelled. Hmmm. It was much improved though, so I'm going to hope for the best. It does make a really nice fabric, though it biases like mad so don't be surprised w hen I hate the end result. In theory I was going to knit the top (increases, lace) by hand and then transfer it to the machine for the boring part, but it's so tiny I don't think I can stand it. I cast on upside down and might knit the whole think upside down and see how that looks. So little commitment with a machine. I love that.

Also - I bought a new knitting machine. I don't need it and it's not worth knitting with but it's so cute.

I have spent so much money on Etsy lately - all fabric. I am addicted to making little drawstring bags. I shall make as many as I can stand and then decide what to do with them. I think the most pleasing part is my little Lilo tag stuck in them. I'm so vain.

Also spending my entire GDP on junk on eBay - TWO Buzz Lightyears, although they won't play with both it's not worth the initial meltdown buying only one (also - I might have accidentally bid on two and won them both) and two batman video games. My kids are spoiled. Maybe I'll save the games for christmas.

Also - in my hate-on with cancer I have nothing but good news to report. My neighbour got her biopsy results back from her thyroid and is A-OK! (Biotch is moving, but that's another story). And Patrick's being sprung from PMH - I could not be more pleased.

(Of course I will now be struck down with a super-malignant strain of cancer that will leave me fat and bloated in death for daring to declare victory...)

I'd like to say I'll be better at blogging now, but I have a bag or 20 to sew…

Happy long weekend.