Paul Newman just died

Paul Newman just died.

Why does my sadness that he has died settle me down, when I've been in a headless chicken snit since the Presidential Debate (my lordy, isn't this a world of fluid chatterers!), not sleeping till three hours after the commentators gave it a rest. Knitting this little hat (Jared Flood's Turn a Square) was my "keep it together" project for attending to the debate, but though I've now got a slightly-short-over-the-ears cap, I have hardly kept it together, roiling for a spoil.

Paul Newman just died. Ohhhhhh. What will I knit to honor and grieve for him? Something gold-- for the lion in his middle name (Leonard) and his ambition into gently grizzled old age.

I knit this hat because everyone else is knitting it, a model (by Melanie Towner) stands at the check-out desk in Knitting Etc., so I didn't have to wander around looking for a Presidential Debate project. It should be a little deeper/longer, though the circumference will suit pretty much any adult head.

I don't particularly like all the (Cascade 220) green, or that particular dark heather green, though I chose it to pick up on the greens in the Noro Kureyon. It's, ah, okay, a sort of "whatever" little cap, that got me through the evening. And I do like Jared Flood, his blog (Brooklyn Tweed), and his gift/ free download of this pattern.

And I liked learning the jogless jog--what was that Seventies movie about doing it without touching, in Paris, the touchless touch,as it were? Or do they do it without talking? Or speak without names? Too bad it's not Paul Newman, for neatly connecting here on his death multiple times . Instead--it comes to me-- Ultimo Tango a Parigi/ Last Tango in Paris, it's Marlon Brando, before he ballooned into Jabba the Hutt (when he was still jabbless Jabba?).

Paul Newman just died.

The Sting
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Cool Hand Luke
Hud
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
The Long Hot Summer
Torn Curtain
The Verdict
The Color of Money
Mr. and Mrs. Bridge
The Hudsucker Proxy
Road to Perdition

Whew, each one of those encapsulates or calls back to me a vivid moment in my life.

Long Live Butch Cassidy.

I don't yet know if these completely suit the dancing girls, but legwarmers are rolling off my needles nonetheless, as the perfect knitting through the dog park in the early morning project--stuff a few colors into the pockets, and go, round and round the park, back and forth the needles.

some solutions

These little mis-matches definitely solve the leg warmer puzzle. From Kat Coyle's Boho Baby Knits, knitted up in Rowan Wool Cotton, these are the new blueprint for many leg warmers to come. I'll finish up pairs from some of the other singlets, ones the girls have approved of the fit of, but then go to town with the BOHOs--perhaps sewing in a little elastic. Thirteen inches long, knit flat and seamed, eight rows of 2x2 ribbing at top and bottom: what can be simpler?

I'll top the purple one with another two inches of white 2x2 ribbing, so one could fold it over (or not), throw away the Cascade Fixation pinky, and complete the Dreams in Color all in ribbing pair.

And the Cable/Heart Aran continues apace: I'm crawling up the two sleeves, for a saddle finish.

Sample leg warmers

Scrimpy first leg warmers, about to be mailed to the twins, so we can learn what textures they prefer and how long to make them (I did not bind off, awaiting news of leg lengths, which I find curiously hard to envision or mentally measure at this distance).

The light pink one, worked in Cascade Fixation (cotton and elastic), was the first one I did. I opted for elastic content to ensure that it would stay up. It's butt ugly, the 2x2 ribbing at the bottom does not grab, the stockinette of the body is boring, and the 1x1 ribbing for the top--which I'd probably extend so one could fold it over as a cuff on the thigh--is marginally better than the rest. Overall, stitches don't look clean and interesting.

The next, worked in a colorway from Dream in Color--a superwash hand-dyed yarn I bought two years ago, and am using mainly for the slow and elaborate Aran sweater I'm back to work on--I like. I did it all in 2x2 ribbing, wonder if it's too thick, and too short (one of those is remediable).

The third, another superwash, is at work in Lamb's Pride superwash Bulky, odd bits stashed from numerous sweaters. It's even thicker than the Dream in Color (Classy).

We'll see. Leg warmers are certainly not interesting to work on. Yet I did get to master the Magic Loop method of little rounds, so find myself eager to make fancy mittens, perhaps even some socks, now that I've got a speedy way to (continue to) avoid double-pointed needles.

And, here's the second Big Sven Sveater, done like the first one in Louet Riverstone. I made up some different-from-the-pattern fair isle patterns for the yoke, and stuck in a few lines of alternative colors across the body and the arms. Mastered the short rows along the upper back, and did 2x2 neck ribbing as soon as I came off the fair isle yoke (the neck was too high on the first one, so I had to turn it twice, instead of once, having mis-measured. I did inattentively misdo the Kitchener stitch under one arm, so can show the class what NOT to do (and will fix it myself before sharing it with Ainsley and Eliza, after the class studies the two samples).

I'm wandering and wondering what big and contained new projects I'll undertake. I want to find a good sweater to make for Elizabeth, for Christmas, make myself a vest, make varieties of , as I said, mittens, socks, and tams/hats. We'll see. My knitting picks up as the Fall semester picks up, each activity compensating for the other...or something.