The Great Jayne Phenomenon

There's this show, called Firefly. It's kind of a sci-fi western, and the guy who made the Buffy the Vampire shows (Joss Whedon) also made Firefly. Well, actually, there *was* this show, because it got cancelled before they even showed all the episodes, but anyway.... it gained a large cult following which has somehow seeped into Unique One, and the large number of cult-y fans chanted We Want A Movie! Make It Now! So of course, the cult fans got what they wanted (I wish I were a cult fan) and the movie Serenity, based on Firefly, premieres this very night. I know about 8 people who are at this very moment watching the last few moments of this movie in Rockland, and at least 4 of them are wearing a hat. A particular hat. A Jayne hat.

There was this character, Jayne (played by Adam Baldwin), a big lummoxy guy who isn't too quick mentally, but a very rough character and a good man to have on your side in a pinch, if you know what I mean. Not the sensitive, tell-me-about-your-feelings kinda guy. EXCEPT -- when his ma sends him a knit hat, which he dubs a "cunning" hat: "Man wears that hat out on the street, shows he's not afraid 'a nuthin'!" (or words to that effect). At least 4 of the 8 friends at the movie right now are wearing their own version of Jayne's Cunning Hat, knit with great excitement in anticipation of the movie. Knit, in some cases, at the last minute and ON THE JOB no less (Victoria)(good thing the boss likes you).

The knitted Jayne Hat is part of a nation wide movement of Jayne Hat Knitting, covering the country in orange, rust and gold earflap hats, and it is in honor of these intrepid creators of the cunning hat that I give you the following song, by Stan Peal:

Listen to Jayne's Hat, by Stan Peal.

I love the song credits from Stan Peal's web site:
"Written and performed by Stan Peal
With Apologies to Joss Whedon
And Sincere Apologies to Adam Baldwin"

Thanks, Stan! I hope someone knits you a Jayne Hat!

I've been promised pictures of the Unique One Firefly Gang all wearing their Jayne hats at the movie premiere, and you can bet yer cunnin' lid I'll post 'em here if I do indeed get them. :)

Look, I'm Famous Again!

A wonderful reader named Lia who lives in Spain recently contacted me to ask permission to translate my Rainy Day Scarf pattern into Spanish, and post it on her blog. I of course said yes. (I was thrilled.) So now you can go to her blog and see Lia's Rainy Day Scarf and the pattern for it in Spanish.

That is so cool. :) :) :)

Here's a picture of Lia's beautiful scarf:

(Click here to go to Lia's blog.)

Little Projects Here & There

I have been picking away at a few projects here and there, cleaning up a few UFO's, making them into FO's. Here's what is going on -- took some pictures this morning:

Longtime Demonic Progress readers may remember this from January 2004. It was a spoke-motif shawl, crocheted in cotton (specifically, Regia Crazy Cotton; the pattern is in the Vogue Knitting On the Go Crocheted Scarves book). I started it then, thinking it would be a good Christmas present for Brenda next year. But then, she died, and I had a hard time working on it after that. It was the last thing she saw me working on; she actually looked at it the last day I saw her. So everytime I picked it up, I felt like crying. Now it's been over a year, and I decided I either needed to finish it or throw it away. Couldn't throw it away, of course, and it was nearly done anyway, so a couple of weeks ago I picked it up again and finished it. Here's the finished product, and a closeup of the edge:

---

Then, I had odds and ends of handspun to use up, so I knit a hat -- this picture is from this morning, and I have since finished the hat and given it away already:

---

I knit a scarf for Somebody for a Christmas present last night; I've had this rayon chenile and purple eyelash from Knit One Crochet Too for a long time. It was in their "Monaco Scarf" kit. I decided I didn't really like the pattern that came in the kit, so I just made a quick garter stitch scarf. Instant present!

---

And I'm halfway through a pair of Mt. Colors "Bearfoot" sock yarn socks. Just plain socks. I like the color: it's called "Crazy Woman". I actually need a new pair of socks. Again, I took the picture this morning, but I just turned the heel on the second sock earlier tonight.

---

Finally, here's the shot of Flirty Ruffles so far. It's in the alpaca laceweight I got from Lisa Souza, that I dyed in oceany colors. I've only completed Chart 1 so far.

iTunes, Coldplay, and a Warm Fuzzy Feeling

Not knitting related, but I'm always up for a good cause: over on iTunes, Coldplay has an EP called "Fix You". iTunes, Coldplay, and Capitol Records will donate 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this EP to the American Red Cross' Hurricane Katrina Relief and the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences' MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund.

Pretty classy.

It's only $2.99. I must say, I'm enjoying it in the earphones right now. :)

Giant Pink Bunny

Okay, this is just too bizarre.....

Dozens of "grannies" knit a GIANT (200 feet long and 20 feet high) pink bunny out of "wool" -- and Viennese art group Gelatin erected it on Colletto Fava mountain in Italy, where it will stay until 2025.

And the weird thing is, I kinda want to go climb it and relax on its belly, like they say....

Read the whole story here.

Mindless Entertaining Activity

1.Be glad you are not a Mother Chicken. Chicken socks require 3 toes!!!

2. Grim Humor.

3. "OK. It's simple. The two greatest accomplishments of mankind are knitting and beer."

4. Knit your breakfast. Then wear it as a fashion statement.

5. Scary Ski Masks.

6. Ask Miz Cox About Socks. (Scroll down past the first 2 pictures.)

7. Knit for Brains.

8. And you thought "K3tog" was hard? Try this.

9. It Takes Balls....

2005 Isaac Evans Knitting Cruise

What a great knitting cruise! I'm so tired! We had a lot of fun. Lots of knitting, lots of sailing, lots of knitting, a little spinning, a LOT of eating*, a great lobster bake, a lot of knitting, a LOT of sun (not one raindrop the entire trip!) and a lot of friends. There were schooners and Elmo and bubbles and eagles and chocolate liquor and cannons and seals and singing. And knitting. Look at the 2005 Isaac Evans Knitting Cruise in my photo albums section for pictures!

*Pssst! Ann! Kathy! The Marinated Mushroom recipe is on the Isaac Evans' website! And the Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie recipe is there too!

Goat Taxi

heh heh

I used to have a goat, a little goat named Marta, and I loved her very much. But goats, ya know, they have a personality. And, they can be really really realllllllly stubborn. The world revolves around them, and it's just your tough luck if what you want the goats to do doesn't coincide with what the goats want to do. Actually, I know some people like that, too....

So anyway, when I ran across this picture, an "ad" for a goat taxi, I chuckled and I knew other goat owners would chuckle too. Click here to link.

While you're there, check out the rest of the Panda Express! It's an online comic, and it's a little off the wall. But then, aren't we all?

Did you know...

... it takes a little over two hours to hand wind 2400 yards of laceweight alpaca yarn? I didn't go dig out my swift and ball winder, thought I'd just wind it up into a ball. Now my hand is kind of sore. But, I did it! Thanks to Joe, who held the skein for a while towards the end, and kept it from getting all tangled up.

I hope to start the Flirty Ruffles shawl soon. I love the yarn and I know I'll enjoy working with it.

Look, I'm Famous!

I guess you all know how I can go on and on and on about how great Alchemy Yarns is. No, I don't work for them. No, I don't get a cut of their sales. I just love them.

Back in June, at the TNNA show, Gina and Austin gave me a sample skein of Sanctuary yarn, and I whipped up a simple scarf and gave it to them. It was pretty, I must admit, but 99% of its beauty was the yarn itself. Okay, I'll take 1% credit for it being beautiful, too. Anyway, they took a picture of it and put it on their website: Click here and scroll to the bottom of the page. And you can not only see the scarf, but you can also get the pattern for it -- it's free! Hope you have as much fun making it as I did, and I hope you try some Sanctuary. I love that yarn.

Also, make SURE you check out the great picture of the Alchemy Yarn pet pig, Purl! Purl and her canine friends send off every shipment of Alchemy Yarn with their blessing. (The cookie they get from Darla, the UPS driver, may play a part in this.) Thanks for the picture, Gina & Austin!