Sunday, November 07, 2010

Rippled, Frayed, Unraveled...


Not me!
Okay, a little bit me... rippled, frayed and unraveled, but mostly I was thinking about the yarn I have been toting around these days.

Before Maria was diagnosed with whooping cough, she and I were at the craft store, fondling the yarn.

Maybe this is a good time to interject an apology. Maria has been sick since mid-October. It started mildly enough, and out of concern for her cousins, I took her in to the peds. to rule out anything ghastly. Dr. Peds. gave her a clean bill of health, assuring me that the tickle in her throat was minor, and of no consequence. But the tickle became a chronic cough, which gave way to sleepless nights, which progressed in to projectile vomiting. Back to Dr. Peds., where her immunization records were reviewed. She is allergic to the pertussis vaccine, and therefore susceptible to whooping cough, which we learned does not always come with the tell tale whoop. We had to do some searches to track down meds without dyes, so her treatment could come with fewer side effects. (Artificial dyes are from the devil, and if you have noticed children behaving irrationally, crankily, out of sorts, or spastically-hyper after eating dyed foods and treats, you may want to get the red out too. I am hard core about this. Thank you. PSA over.) Found the meds, endured two more really bad nights, and have progressed to noticeable improvement.

Oh.
Wait.
An Apology.
First I had to make myself as blameless as possible. teehee.

I am sorry. To Bill and Alison, and my dear nephew and niece. I am sorry that I was exposing you guys to something ghastly, which I had hoped was not actually ghastly. I hope nothing bad has come of it.

I am sorry Gabe and Ashley. You were here during the ten day incubation period. I hope nothing bad came of it.

Southern California, I am sorry. We did not know we were ghastly. We tried to be diligent and prudent and appropriate. We coughed in to our elbows, washed our hands, drank plenty of fluids, and sought appropriate and immediate medical intervention. In spite of our best efforts, we apparently were funky, and we may have shared too much.


Before Maria was diagnosed with whooping cough, she and I were at the craft store, fondling the yarn. Maria fell in love with this very pink, very whimsical pom-pom yarn. It came with directions for knitting a scarf, but my skills lean toward the one hook crochet method. It is weird stuff to work with because of the pom-poms, and I had to squeeze two stitches between each pom, without pulling the pom through the loop. It got even weirder when it came time to adding the next row, because it was hard to distinguish the stitches, and funny working around the pom-poms. But none of this was too too deterring, because it feels so fabulous! As the pom-poms gather closer together, and a fabric begins to take shape, all of the little fluff balls become a fluffy mass of soft, pink comfort. I made four rows, and the rosy, soft scarf looks like a lei, and Maria loves to put her face all over it.


My second... Ferris!


My second yarn... Kitty!


My second yarn project is a ripple!
Or a cat toy, depending on who you ask.

I have wanted to make a ripple blanket for a very long time. Years. Now that I am this far along, I feel kind of silly for not jumping in sooner. I have yet to find a friendly yarn shop (shocking, right?) and I knew I was not going to figure it out from a book, so I finally turned to YouTube.

YouTube = Awesome tutorial resource = Awesome ripple crochet lesson. If you want to try this, look for both parts of the ripple crochet videos. I find learning by watching is my best way to go, so this was great.

I can see it looks a bit wonky, and the first three rows had me convinced I would never succeed in my ripple dream, but I am getting the hang of it, and actually enjoying the eight double stitch, three increase, six double stitch, three reduce rhythm. Wait... is that right? Maybe it's best to not think about it too much, and just let my fingers do what they know, which is exactly the right prescription for my rippled, frayed, and unraveled head these days!

15 comments:

CarrieMarie said...

Pretties! And I love the Ferris action shot. The paw outstretched to bat at the yard, awesomeness!!

Katie said...

Oh I'm glad to hear Maria is on the mend. Whooping cough is scary.

Tiglizzyclone said...

Ha Ha! Of course it would have to be a cat toy! Here they thinks all your treasures are cat toys!

Lesley said...

Poor Maria and you! How ghastly - let's hope it'll all be gone soon. Must have been scary for Maria.

On a more cheerful note, the pink fluffy scarf looks like fun, and does resemble a lei. I too have long fancied a ripple, and never got the hang of the ends and coming back at the end of the row. I never even thought of YouTube, though much more recently I've used it's brilliant, generous, resourceful videos to help me with free-motion quilting, origami and crocheting amigurumi characters. I'll give rippling another try!

Val said...

Here's to continued healing. And I love that first photo. 'Makes me glad it's bedtime, as I just want to cuddle up and rest now. :)

Rois said...

Don't feel to bad about spreading the Whopping cough,I have heard of several families who have come down with within the last 3 months.So it's plainly traveling around the country.
Get well soon Maria!

Anonymous said...

Big hug to Maria. Join www.ravelry.com where you will get the pattern for a ripple blanket and much more (for free), I have made 3 of these they are a great idea for left over yarn too. BTW my name on ravelry is 'Lusks' if you wish to friend me and if you look in my projects page you will see a ripple.

Oiyi said...

I got some of that pom pom yarn at Michaels! Melody fell in love with the purple colorway. I plan on making the scarf on the label for her.

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Oiyi... tutorial please! I can knit, and know the instructions were pretty simple, but if I could see some pictures it would be so helpful to me. I know all about that purple one... I may have to go back!

Lusks... I haven't had the nerve to join ravelry. Either I would be intimidated by the awesomeness, or I would find myself neglecting all duties (even more than usual!) Ah, but to see your projects, I think it could be worth the risk. Thank you for the hug, and the ravelry suggestion.

Rois... It certainly is getting around, and I have confirmation that Maria got it from school, so we are at least a bit blameless... *grin*

Val... it's fun fun stuff, and feels like a cloud. Definitely cuddle inducing!

Lesley... she is still coughing, but things are every day slightly less ghastly. And the ripple! Oh, the ripple is fun! Do give it a try.

Tig... you know kitties! I can't work too near him. He already cut my yarn once!

Katie... thank you. At least we weren't panicked the whole time. But there were a a few nights that had us on edge, so it's a relief to see improvement.

Carmar... I love digital... if I paid money to develop the shot from film I would have been bummed to get a blurry shot, and waste of film. Like this, I can amuse myself with the memory of our kitty at play with yarn... so classic!

ArtyZen said...

Love your style, Natalie - hope Maria is on the mend and the ripple continues apace! I feel a ripple coming on at my end of the world - you're creating ripples!

d.a. said...

Speedy & thorough healing to Maria. And you... you're making me want to take up crocheting again! :-)

Tracy said...

So very sorry to hear the Maria has been unwell. Whooping cough ban take its time... I hope and pray she will be feeling better very soon. And hoping all of you be keeping well. I've not been well myself recently, hence slow to visiting around blogland... but getting there. :o) LOVE your ripples. I have started a crocheted ripple blanket/throw too, it's been slow going. I feel more comfortable with knitting, but am keeping going... LOL! Wellness & Blessings to you all. And many thanks for the very kind comment at my place yesterday.. ((HUGS))

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Thank you D.A. The crocheting is awfully nice in the down times... and a even little bit at a time gets me something useful after a while!

Tracy... Maria is improving. Thank you. You knit so beautifully, I can understand wanting to put down the ripple, but don't they look fun? Keep it up. ((((hugs))))

Natalie, the Chickenblogger said...

Annie... hola! I would love to see the ripples spread. They are fun... I can say this as I am getting the hang and rhythm of it. Do share yours if you make one. Thank you.

Jennifer said...

I'm so sorry to hear of Maria's illness, and do hope she's continuing to feel better and stronger. Of course you did everything you could do, and that's just how life works sometimes -- despite our best efforts.

The thing about photography is that you DO have to take lots and lots and lots of pictures to get one great one. I'm excited to hear that you're taking a class and hope you love it and feel empowered by it and just keep taking more and more photos....