knitfolio

This is the beta Dune worm, unstuffed, and not yet toothed.

sci-fi knitty

I love science fiction. I love knitting. Here's the beta pattern of the sandworm from dune:

Size US 5 double pointed needles.
worsted weight yarn

( i used my 'scrap' yarn, el cheapo rojo from red heart.)

cast on three stitches, one on each needle, knit four rows.
increase by knitting into the front and back of each stitch, then knit two rows. (6 st. total)
increase by make one on each needle, knit six rows. (9 st. total)
Increase by make one on each needle- i like to put these increases in the center of each needle-
knit 6 rows, ( 12 st. total)

continue to work in this way, knitting between 5-8 rounds between make one increases,
untill your worm is the desired length. for this example, i stopped when i had 12 stitches
on each needle. Make sure you have an even number of stitches on each needle! 10, 12, 14, 16,
whatever.

now get ready to turn the mouth petals. It's just like socks, but simpler!

start with one needle, letting the other two hang. knit across all stitches and turn work.
purl back across, but do not purl the last stitch, just leave it on the needle and turn.
knit back across all the stitches except the last one, just leave it on the needle unworked, and turn. You can see where this is going? continue to knit and ourl back and forth, always leaving
one more stitch, untill you are down to 2 stitches on your needle, and a staggered row of left
behind stitches. Time to pick them up! work those two stitches, and then work that closest
third one across the small gap. turn, and work back untill you pick up the closest stitch on the other side. keep doing this untill you have gone back and grabbed all of those stragglers. you
now have a folded triangle.

make sure you pull those end stitiches tightly, or gaps will form.

now that you have worked all 12 (14, 16,18...) stitches back down to your starting place, purl one row on back but knit the last stitch!!!!. turn your work. now for decreases and selvedge edges to form the inner mouth.

slip your first stitch purlwise, with your yarn in front. now slip, slip knit the next 2 stitches to form 1. knit untill three stitches from the end. Knit two together, and then knit the last stitch.
turn your work. Slip the first stitch Purlwise and then purl across untill the last stitch, knit the
last stitch. Continue in this pattern of decreases on the knit side untill you have four stitches remaining.

slip that first stitch, slip, slip, knit the center two, and knit the last. turn your work.
slip the first stitch, purl the second, knit the last, turn your work.
slip the first stitch, then knit the last to together. turn your work.
purl those last two stitches together, cut a nice tail from your working yarn, and bind off that single stitch.

repeat this process on the other two petals, joining your working yarn to each petal like joining for a new row you had changed colors on, or added an new skein.

now, when done, you should have a nicely tapered tube with three petals. You could add embelishments in duplicate stitch for the segmented lines that the worm has in the movie, or not. but do add small bits of white yarn drawn through the stitches of the mouth interior. Add them like you are working a latch-hook rug, using a small crochet hook, or a yarn needle. it really does make for a better worm with teeth. stuff with some cotton balls or fiberfill, or yarn scraps, what-have-you, weave in the ends, and join the mouth segments at their seams, just whip stitch them, the selvedge edge produced by the slipping of the first stitch and knitting of the last should give you a smooth edge.

I'll post my picture tomorrow, 'cause i'm lazy tonight.

next project: face-hugger!

mmmm....chili dogs!

The chili is simmering on the stove now. I like lots of onions, in the chili and sprinled on top. No one's kissing me tonight, hah! So as I was cutting the onions, I was reminded of the poem 'cut' by Sylvia Plath. I read the bell jar when I was around 17 or 18, back when books like that and Siddartha seemed very important. I didn't really dig on it, and it surprised people who knew me at the time. "what's the big deal? She's depressed cause she's so pretty and in NYC and has a free ride to a good college and talent and working at a glamour magazine?" yeah, I'd be so sad myself. It's not a bad book, Just boring. But I always loved that poem. Last week I picked up a book of her journals, and they are a great read! I once read that you should really read journals and diaries one entry a day, so that you can better apreciate the passage of time, but hell with that. I stayed up untill 2 am the other night, just unable to put it down. It's just everyday, really, everyday of a very smart girl and for some reason absolutely compelling. especially where she talks about her future married self. Well, we all know how that turned out. But it's still amazing. I want to transcribe that poem and hang it up over the stove in the kitchen. So everyday. I know there's a lot of crazy folks out there reading in to poems and books and all that, but I am a shallow person. She cut her thumb while fixing dinner. I've done the same thing, but I don't write poems.

Thank goodness.

Scorpio!

November first, full on, and in Scorpio, because I am one. that's why. Guess what? That's what! hah! So the little boy is sick, and so begins the scooby-doo-ing of his illness. I thought that I wouldn't ever do it, I see so many who do. Little Johnny gets illness x, an so the Mrs. calls all her known friends and mother's of little Johnny's friends (usually these two groups are identical.) and lets them know every detail of the boy's sickness. Snot colour and volume, constancy, every nuance of the cough, vomit, if there is any, and don't forget the poop. Much of early childhood discussions are about poop. How much does your kid make? How often? What did it eat? It got all over what? And how did you get it out? My kid is sick, and so he gets to watch the star wars trilogy as he lays on the couch and eats one piece of toast all day long. Original trilogy, not the prequels, and not the special edition with all the new improved Wampa blood and extra explosions. He's the whinenenest kid when he's sick, weather it's the flu or just a snotty nose. Doesn't matter, the world is over and he's too sad to do anything. Oh well. In a few years it'll be Godzilla movies all day long, if he turns out to be like me. I still don't understand this compulsion to try and track down the patient zero, but I do call around. Mostly to warn others we may have exposed in the day or two before he got sick, to let them know they may be infected with some monkey pox or something, like it'd make any difference to know after the kids have traded snot. Like the chicken pox episode of South Park. The boy will never get chicken pox! He got a vaccine! Imagine that. I remember the chicken pox as a week of Godzilla movies, although I'm sure my mother remembers it differently.

books currently: Everything bad is good for you: done. So cool!
Demolition writers club: Famous authors write secret short stories. eh.
three or so were really good, the rest were so-so.
Foundation: I just picked up all five books at the library second hand shop
for $$2.50! I am so stoked, I haven't read them since high school.
The god particle: So trashy! I'm only half-way through, but man! It's
fairly drek-y on the side of the Da Vinci Code. I think it would make a better
movie. I'm sure the Davinci Code will make a great movie. Full of car chases
and explosions. I wonder if they'll get Ron Perlman to be the Albino?

Knitting currently: L's poncho: 1/4 of the way done, in a orange-gold-red boulce, very
autumnal. It's a big thank you for her generous loan of some very fancy
bedding her company makes that we used for our open house.

Husband socks: Sadly only part way through the leg of the first sock. It
is the smallest project, so it winds up being the travel project. Only
worked on buses and trains.

Test sweater: done! and I fitted it to her this weekend, to tweak the
pattern to her specifically. Now we must buy the yarn. Something nice
with a good drape. I'd love to do it in silk at around 6 sts per inch.
but of course, that'd be even more expensive.

Found: A new yarn store! It's called Sheep City USA, and it's only open 12-6
Wednesday, Thursday , Friday, and Saturday. Difficult.

Brain Balm: Lost is beginning to annoy me. A repeat already! And far too little
information is being given in each episode. too many re-hashes of scenes
we have already witnessed. I don't need to see the same exact thing three
times to get a lead-in to a different perspective. And why the hell isn't
Bernard trying to get to his wife???? I didn't see if the shark logo was
different from the 'swan' version of the dharma logo, did you?

Surface: The same thing as lost. Too little is actually happening in the
show. Did I really need to see the kids chase the lizard around the
PigglyWiggly for 30 minutes? No. No I did not.

The Daily Show: It scares and amazes me every time I get actual news
on this show. I have got to try to stay better informed. But there is such
a thing as Hufu, and that scares and amazes me too.

Adult Swim: Is always refreshing and soothing. Samurai Champloo, Fooly
Cooly, Tom Goes to the Mayor, Aqua Teens, Squidbillies... Only 12 oz.
Mouse and Scryed are really a let-down. And let's all give it up for Space
Ghost and Cartoon Planet. But of course, my favourite is Sealab. The
'waking quinn' episode was on last night, and that is the best episode ever.
EVER.