The thoughts of Phyllis Evans aka Redford Phyl

A Rant

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:06:42 -0400

I wish someone could explain why games like Mafia Wars are perfectly acceptable, while games concerning things like slavery or the KKK or glorifying Nazis would never be tolerated. It’s not proper to name sports teams after native American tribes or warriors, but we can glorify the criminal element that came from the land that gave us some of the most beautiful music and art the world has ever known.

We stopped playing cowboys and indians. Let’s stop playing Tony Soprano vs the FBI. There’s nothing amusing about it.

Memorial Day

Mon, 25 May 2009 09:18:54 -0400

Sgt. Philip Simonte, lost in action, August, 1943. I wish I had known you, Uncle Phil.

Hooked on Lace

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:39:32 -0400

The spring Knitty is up, and I’m in love with a lace shawl — Aeolian. I’ve had a skein of merino laceweight from the Plucky Knitter sitting in my stash for a long time. Never found the right pattern for it — until now. Color is called Groom’s Cake, and it is 900 yards of soft, soft goodness.

Everything else in progress has been put on the back burner. The pattern, combined with the yarn, is just too nice to put down. Every so often, a pattern will turn me into a monogamous knitter. Aeolian is one of those patterns.

Frogsville, USA

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 17:39:14 -0500

Not much knitting this week. More frogging than anything else. Oh, plus venting on my other blog. And reading. Amazon released Kindle for iPhone & iPod touch this week. I’m hooked. This could get expensive.

I’m A Geek

Sun, 1 Feb 2009 12:44:21 -0500

So, this last December I bought a new MacBook. Actually, it was the discontinued black MacBook with a 2.4 gHz processor and 250 gig drive. Love the drive. Love the 13” widescreen LCD. Love everything about it.

The old iBook is now residing in California with a good friend’s 7 year old grandson who is competing with his 9 year old brother to see who can create the best songs with Garageband. Big brother has Grandpa’s Powerbook and Grandpa has a new MacBook Pro.

Back to the subject — new MacBook meant new case, but finding a nice compact case is not that easy. I hit every store in the area and found absolutely nothing that appealed to me. Web search time! Retro! My first iBook sported a neat, rounded two-tone case that matched the iBook. I loved that case, and apparently, I’m not alone. The designers decided to rerelease the case for the new MacBooks and MacBook Airs, with a few improvements in construction. Yes! Mine, pictured above, arrives tomorrow. It’s fun to be a geek.

Has it really been that long?

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:09:49 -0500

Can’t believe that I have written something in more than three months. Bad Blogger! No cookie.

Life has been much the same as always, knitting, spinning, office work. Photo above is my newest drop spindle. It’s a Tabachek made from Birds’ Eye Maple and Purpleheart. One of these days I’ll add a Golding to the collection.

New this week — a new MacBook. The old iBook is on it’s way to Oakland, CA. It’s a Christmas gift for a very bright 7 year old. He’s been using Garageband on his dad’s laptop, even cut his first CD. Hopefully he will follow in his father’s footsteps and be an award winning producer/writer/director one of these days.

It’s Not a Pool, It’s a Stream!

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:33:47 -0400

Strange things can happen with hand dyed yarn.

Take this stuff, for example. The colorway is Dew It Baby from Whimzy Pinzy Creations. It was one of those colors that I had to have.

With one pattern, it swirled and spiraled and pooled, but not the way I like.

The more I knitted, the less I liked it. It went to the frog pond.

Then I found the pattern at the top of this page : The Wasp Woman by Heatherly Walker, YarnYenta. Same number of stitches, same size needles, but what a difference. The “pooling” streamed straight up the front of the sock. I kept waiting for it to start to spiral, but it didn’t. I decided to do a short-row heel and use the other end of the skein so I wouldn’t disturb the pattern. It worked! The “stream” continued all the way to the cuff, where I did a non-traditional cuff to force it to swirl.

I’m about 4 inches into the second sock, and with only one adjustment when I finished the toe increases, it is duplicating the first “stream.” This will definitely be a one-of-a-kind pair. I’ve already had one offer to buy them, but I don’t think they’ll be going anywhere other than the guild meeting for show and tell.

A Break from the Usual

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:36:59 -0400

I love knitting socks. They don’t take long, and I have a few go-to patterns that are great for knitting on the go, sitting in waiting rooms, at meetings. And I always seem to have at least one or two scarves and shawls on the needles. So, time for something different.

I’ve started a lacy sweater. Yarn — Malabrigo, the softest yarn you can find. The pattern is called Liesl by a designer who goes by the name Ysolda. It’s a simple but easy to customize pattern. Have a feeling I’ll knit it more than once.