Wild Ride

"Roller coasting structure“ (US310966A) by LaMarcus A. Thompson, 1885

Sometimes I tiptoe softly into the new year, stepping gently around obstacles and deftly avoiding landslides. I slither in stealth mode; stay under the radar.

This year was not that year.

This year I crashed through at full speed, needles akimbo and yarn tails streaming out behind me.

With the subtlety of a ghost pepper.

With the delicacy of a jackhammer.

It went like this:

I was grinding away at a menial part-time job. I dutifully crawled around under the bottom shelf at the Big Orange Store. I shoved five-gallon buckets of paint from the dusty deepest darkest, out toward the man who was snarling at me in a language I don’t speak. I silently prayed for the rats not to come out while I was under there.

Over and over, every single day, I searched and applied for a better way to butter my bread. I talked to everybody I could think of. I studied the ways of the resume-busting algorithms. I interviewed. And interviewed. Wondered if I were too dumb or too smart. Too skilled or not skilled enough. Worried that I stuttered or had something in my teeth.

Meanwhile at the Big Orange Store, I mixed paint in colors that are not colors, for the people who won’t imagine more. I secretly gave those “colors” names in the sales system: “Enui Gray”. “Inevitable Beige”. “Landlord White”. A tiny protest to remind myself I still could see the rainbow as long as I remembered to look. On and on, for 19 months, not making ends meet. I begged forgiveness from creditors. I ate peanut butter and jelly. I sold my wedding ring.

You were there for this part: Late in 2025 I finally remembered to knit. I clocked a delayed project that would not be silent in my psyche any longer, and I finally picked up the yarn. You showed up, like you always do, Gentle Knitters. You welcomed me back and you cheered me on, still interested in my Real Work, no matter how long I’d gone dark. I thank Heaven for you, Every Single One.

And that’s when the dam finally broke. With no warning at all, I started to be called for more interviews. And not one or two, but ten. Twenty. More. My mind threatened to explode as I put on the navy blazer and clawed closer to sustainable employment. I remembered my lipstick and smiled. I said things like “Information Conduit” and “Team Synergy”. I worried my long poverty would make me seem desperate, but remembered there were other interviews coming if I happened to choke on one. By the end of December my mindset shifted from “Holding the line against Despair” to “Guarded Optomism”.

I crossed my fingers, even though that made it hard to knit.

Nobody panic: this is intentional. Stay tuned to find out WTF.

And that’s when the dam finally broke. Salvation in the form of a job offer. Not from a “just for now” kind of place, but from the State of Oregon. The very situation I had been praying for: Being of use to my fellow Oregonians with a team of gentle, loving and smart souls behind me.

Somebody (who isn’t a creditor) pinch me.

I get to keep my house.

I get to drive my car.

I get to keep the lights on.

I folded paper cranes and hooked one to each locker in the break room at the big orange store. A tiny gesture of thanks to the people who were kind to me in an us-against-them kind of job. I bid them farewell and wished them hope for their own futures. I tried not to fret over their stuckness in that place of empty promises and physical pain.

So, that’s where I’ve been since my last post - learning and learning and learning a very hard and engaging and rewarding new job. Not unlike what I’ve always done for you, Gentle Readers.

Just don’t tell them they’re only my secondary profession.

Job One is still playing with string.

Next time: I’ve been Thistling. A Lot.

This, That and the Other

1. THIS

Happy Boxing Day! I hope this finds you all resting comfortably after the exertions of the last couple of days, and, of course, knitting.

For my Thistlemakers, both prior and would-be, thank you so much for your response and interest in a Ravelry group for a knitalong and advice column! I’ve created one HERE for you and I hope you’ll join in the fun. In addition to providing help and guidance for your Thistle Stole journey, I’ll also be soliciting input and sharing tidbits on the creation of my new Thistle Cardigan there. I’m so excited about doing this with you.

2. THAT

Speaking of things you’ve asked me for, Gentle Readers, here’s another bit of flotsam I’ve been needing to attend to: The Flower of Nepal sample is all done, except to finalize and apply her ribbon trim. I’ve collected about 20 different candidates, but still haven’t landed on the combination I like best. Stay tuned for the final result, but in the meantime I thought my “minimalist” knitters would like to see this naked (sans trim) version.

The next step will be writing the actual pattern, then the grueling stamina-enhancing math challenge that is garment sizing, and then, finally, the technical editing process. This last, of course, is when the inimitable Karen takes my (terrifying?) pattern draft and distills it into knittable form. I have no idea how she achieves this, but it seems to me like equal parts solving for X and Witchcraft. Watch this space for updates on the kits and class.

3. THE OTHER

Last of all, I thought I’d finish out the year by showing you this little bit of fun I’ve been having: My BFF Sweater. It’s a 2-person knitalong I browbeat convinced my bestie to do with me. Mine’s just now done, and his is mid-way through. Please feel free to visit his website and offer encouragement/see his progress.

I’ll be wearing this as 2024 winds down, and I quietly reflect on the many blessings of my life in knitting, and on the love and joy you all bring.

Perserverence > Skill

Greetings, Gentle Readers! When last we checked in with Campbell’s sweater, it was still a big nondescript pile of undyed yarn. In the days since, I’ve been doing a fair bit of trial and error in the hopes of getting the color he requested. As a dyer, it turns out, I make an excellent knitter. Which is fine with me. I don’t expect to be good at everything I try - in fact I like to keep the bar low in some areas (I’m looking at you , kitchen) to lessen the pressure.

In fact, I’m a big advocate of sucking at some things, just so I look better at others.

So when my Boyo chose Aubergine for his Aran knit, I determined that anything in the general zip code of eggplant would be good enough, and screwed my courage to the sticking place. Congratulations to Lindsay M., by the way, for the closest guess to what color I’m planning! Drop me an email with your mailing addy so I can send out your prize. And as always, to everyone who played: thank you so much for jumping in with your guesses!

Here’s how the adventure went down: First I made a few test swatches in little jars in the microwave, just to see what would happen. I was really happy with the Aubergine (#475) color I ordered HERE, just as it came out of the pot. That simplified everything, because I could abandon thougts of blending and then scaling the “perfect” combination of red-violet and blue-violet with brown, etc. to get aubergine.

The center one is darker than the one on the right, if you’re wondering - turns out this is a tricky shade to photograph. I liked all of these, actually. I eliminated the darkest one, because knitting really dark colors in the winter, mostly at night, is no longer the rollicking good time for my eyes that it once was. I was sure I’d like anything close to one of the other two, though. Armed with some measuring tools and the force of my steely will, I leaned in to Operation Aubergine.

I had a lot of free-floating anxiety about getting all the skeins to match. So even though just about everything I read cautioned against it, I decided to dye all 4,185 yards in one go, in my washing machine. I cranked the hot water heater up, removed the agitator from my trusty top-loader and stood by with an electric kettle of boiling water, leaving nothing to chance. Yeah, that failed. As you cen see above, the color that happened was less eggplant and more Grimace.

I still considered myself on the right side of the Dyeing Gods though, because A. I hadn’t felted the yarn, and B. the gross color was very consistient across all 17 skeins.

So next stop: Dye Pot on the stove. Did I mention we’re having a blizzard? Sure would suck to lose power in the middle of this project, I realized in the middle of this project…

With better control and higher heat (DUH) I was able to exhaust all the dye into the yarn, where it belongs. I did it in four batches because this is my biggest pot. I recorded the time and temperature for each step and repeated each exactly, including the bonus round of using the snow to accellerate each cool-down.

I reported my progress to Campbell, who was also celebrating nature by being trapped at his place on the other side of the Columbia River from me.

Still wet, the yarn looked miles closer to what I was going for. The only question remaining was would it all match from batch to batch. Ruby both approved and reassured me as she supervised.

I still wasn’t able to see whether my batches looked the same until the following morning, when they were dry and we had daylight.

Atlas was a fan of the drying process, and of the color, too.

And here we are! I couldn’t be happier with this color. I could honestly eat it with a spoon.

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On behalf of rank amateurs everywhere, I’d like to report that tenacity can sometimes make up for a lack of experience. As long as the standards for success are low.

Would I ever do this again? Well, I didn’t bore you with what happens when you overflow your washing machine with aubergine dye in the middle of a blizzard. No one who’s met me will be surprised THAT happened. I also won’t point out that I’ve now got two whole days invested here, between re-skeining and dyeing (twice) all 4000 + yards. So yeah, it’s already a labor of love. Cheap in terms of cash outlay (between gift cards and multiple coupons, etc. I have around $40 invested in the yarn). Expensive if measured in time and anxiety. But worth it? Hell yeah. What else was I gonna do with my bonus blizzard day off?