You rock!!

> I have prissy Los Angeles weather

Please.

Ixnay on the issypray.

Some of us have feelings, you know.

Isn't it great to see that sunshine this morning? My commute last night actually took no longer than normal because it seemed a good number of people stayed home and off the road, so even with all the Angelinos driving like morons because the roads were *gasp* wet, it all evened out in the end. I must make a magic scarf now, but first I need to learn the purl stitch. Any good online places to learn that kind of stuff? My knitting booklets and their diagrams are useless.

Oh Great Leader, I hasten to your side to do Your will!

Ummm....yeah!

Laurie, the scarf looks tres chic! (the only French I know)

Shananigans!! The best ever place online for learning stitches is this site where you can watch actual video of people knitting, it's great:

www.knittinghelp.com

And the purl stitch videos are here:

http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/basic_techniques/purl.php

I reckon that Sobakawa is just using weather control as a stepping stone to world domination.

I have a hat pattern that uses the same stitch you've made your gorgeous scarf out of. I'm in love with this hat pattern - I seem to be making these hats for everyone I know! The texture is just so great. Thanks for the idea of using it with some bulky yarn for a scarf. What size needles are you using there.

If you need to get rid of that pesky rain - send it to Northern NM. We're scary dry out here.

"I See Wet People" ... (*snicker, snicker, guffaw*)

Ah, ya slay me, chick!

Love the scarf and redneck stitch holder ;)

Thanks Laurie! It’s so much easier if you can actually see someone do it. If I get something going tonight or tomorrow I might stop in to SnB this week to work on it.

Erica! Do you have a hat pattern for that? I would love to make a hat with this stitch pattern, but I am clueless how you'd do the decreases. Maybe I'll try one out on my own and post a pattern. If I can figure it out.

Ok, scarf! I am using size 19 bamboo clover needles. And even though I am a slow knitter, and this pattern is more thought-intensive than just plain knit stitch, I'm still motoring away at a really fast rate because of the ginormous needles! Then I'm going to block it really well to make the pattern behave and add long fringe. I love long fringe sometimes.

Shan, I will try to make it on Thursday too if work calms down. (as if. LOL)

Cool pattern! I read somewhere that seed stitch (and I imagine modified versions of it) is a good stitch to use to "show off" your yarn if it is variegated. Only thing is that it's not as stretchy as say, garter stitch. So blocking like hell may be a challenge. Thank God for the Scunci steamer, huh? I got one for myself this past Christmas (whoo hoo!)

It's called basketweave stitch. Invest in a stitch dictionary. You can have endless fun with it inventing all sorts of crazy scarves. I've got about 4 different stitch dictionaries, most of which I found at the used book store.

BTW-Love the stich holder! Very ingenious.

you are so prolific.

i haven't knitted ANYTHING in ages. i feel so uncrafty it hurts.

Hey Laurie, I'll email you the pattern. You might be dissapointed, though, cause the top reverts back to straight knit stitch when the decreases start happening. I personally like the effect of the swirl on top combined with the double-seed stitch on the sides.

Good lord, size 19 needles!! That's craziness. I've been pretty scared of the huge needles, but maybe I need to give them a go.

The sun is shining now in northern California, but there is also a tornado watch in effect too. *sigh* You folks don't get those in L.A. do you?

Hmmm... I thought that was a moss stitch, either way it looks lovely. Laurie, I have knit this as a hat for newborns, but not in the round. I've had to sew up the sides. It looks cute on those teeny heads.

Soba is controlling the weater, isn't she?

Love love love the stitch holder.

There is a tornado warning for areas just north of here. (I'm sure the Sacramento area is basically paralyzed by actual weather.)

I am (still!!) stuck at home with pneumonia and so I am sitting here, working on my laptop in the living room, literally watching the clouds roll by. Wishing it would rain here.

I love the yarn. It looks so snuggly. (see...other people use crazy words too). Love the redneck stitch holder.

Dagny-- No tornado warnings here, oh my gawd can you imagine the pandemonium? I mean, the power goes out in downtown for half an hour and we have gridlock throughout the southland. A tornado warning would be the end of days LOL.

Trixie -- I think moss stitch is done in ones, this is done in pairs of two, which is what makes it "modified" or something. Maybe "Fatter Moss Stitch" is the better term heh heh

Kristy I hope you feel better soon!! I had some bullsheet 'walking pneumonia' which got me a measly two days off work ;) and kendra!! I was a bad knitter there for several weeks, I think the cold weather has put me back into the groove.

Can ya'll tell my boss is away at a meeting?

I have a question. How the heck do you pronounce "Sobakowa?" so BAK a wa? SO BA ko wa? so ba KO va?

also: hi everyone!!

and ... I think one of the cats is addicted to myspace.com.

you know who I suspect... this can lead to no good.

Oh dude, if it's Sobakowa on myspace.com, we're all in trouble.

Love the scarf! Love all the cool knitty ideas I get just by coming to your site!

Your scarf matches Soba. She REALLY DOES have some mind control.

kathy, it's pronounced SO-buh-COW-uh. It's the japanese word for "buckwheat." LOL

You're not kidding about people in LA and rain. My aunt who lives in southern CA said she can't come to our great aunt's funeral because it's supposed to rain this week.

And thanks for the fatter moss stitch pattern. I have a couple of skeins of gorgeous chunky yarn, and I didn't know what to do with them.

Wait...I thought Pudge controls the weather.

Your scarf is totally cute. I think that stitch works beautifully with the yarn.

It's certainly not basket weave, but a double moss or double seed stitch. Basket weave, which is also a great stitch for relatively mindless knitting (like in the back row at mandatory real estate continuing education classes!)would have more like five stitch and row repeats. As for your weather...you get no sympathy from us on the right-hand coast. We barely got above 17 degrees Farenheit today and it's windy. THAT's cold. I second the suggestion for a stich directory, by the way. Handy little buggers.

I've seen that pattern called "double moss stitch"--just to satisfy all the burning curiosity. I think of "basketweave stitch" as being a general moniker for anything using a magic scarf-esque pattern (i.e. squares of alternating knit & purl in a checkboard pattern). But maybe it's an "official" stitch name, too?

Helen

And now we can see why stitch dictionaries are important. Having looked it up here: http://knitting.about.com/library/bldouble.htm
I see that double moss is correct.

Thanks for the correction.

I think I have heard it called double moss, too.

We're such weather wusses. It's sunny and perfect today. I'm supposed to go to a get-together on Saturday, though, and if it rains I'll be staying home -- two hours to drive 22 miles? One way? I think not!

IT'S CALLED THE 'DOUBLE MOSS' STITCH, Kids! Hey...it's the same as a Moss Stitch, but doubled...hence THE DOUBLE MOSS STITCH. Sometimes people call this the WAFFLE Stitch...knit it in golden brown yarn, add butter and syrup...yum!

Ellen B.

mmmm... waffles! Ellen, the pic of you & Larry at LA Mardi Gras is awesome!!!

Your scarf looks great! That stitch pattern is perfect with that yarn.

I too would call it double moss stitch. More to the point, I would call it beautiful.

Here in New England it is currently 26 degrees. In French that's minus 3. Maybe a hat to go with the scarf? After all, tomorrow is another month.

I do have some grey upcountry (ha! surprised anyone?) that I want to make into a hat. I recently saw a pic of Angelina Jolie in France with her kids and she had on a black coat and a plain dark hat that had a ribbed brim, and I want one! I'm no Brangelina, but the hat... that I can do. That's next I think. Or maybe I'll do it on the plane.

Almost makes me wish I had a commute so I could get some knitting done!

Almost....

PLEASE send some of that rain our way!

Take a SASE with you to the airport in case they complain about your needles. I know, bamboo needles, can't hurt anyone, but apparently the security folk can get drunk with power sometimes.

Mmmm. Like a haunting, elusive perfume. Wet Angelino a la Metroline.

I like the scarf!

i just flew back from super-dry new mexico (also flew there from seattle) and no problem with size 9 bamboo circs (knitted laurie's cool roll brim hat - first time decreases have worked, thank you thank you thank you!) nobody even blinked once at my needles.

they did question my son's oboe, but let him through after he showed it to them.

SASE is a great idea, though.

Love the yarn, the stitch and isn't it fun to play MacGuyver once in awhile? 'Tis sunny and soggy here behind the orange curtain.

Another perfect scarf pattern! How DO you do it? I have tons of random yarn sitting around wondering what to do with it. Thanks for all the great ideas! When is the trip to Paris, so I can count the days when you get back? Will miss your posts more than you know. You bring many smiles to us! Even my 15 year old daughter Chelsea reads them and thinks you're awesome!

Believe me....it'll be cold in Paris. Right now it's really cold in Munich...and yeah, it's even cold by European standards.

I feel your ingenious stitch holder has been left out in the comments, so.. rock on stitch holder! It's so very practical and makes use of my mother's motto "I might find a use for this someday." Why, yes, she is southern.

All hail Soba...all hail Soba...

Love your scarf! And your stitch holder. :)

OMG redneck stitch holder. Hee hee that is funny. I have little tiny hairclips on the handles of my knitting bag. Now I know they are for more than just hair in my eyes!

Sorry, completely off topic here:

Happy Mardi Gras,CAP! Have a drink and laissez le bon temps rouler today.

Happy Mardi Gras to ya'll too!!! Long Live New Orleans.

Poufy and Nubby...weren't those two of Elvis' body guards?

That double moss stitch rocks! I love how it looks with that yarn! Woo hoo!

"channeled MacGyver"...mmm, MacGyver.

Just had to say...you have inspired me to knit a scarf. Nothing fancy to start, this being my first project and all. I found this beautiful egg yolk color yarn at Big Lots (my favorite store)called Adora (dont know if that means anything to anybody). And thanks for knittinghelp site so I can learn to purl!

Looking forward to tomorrow's Horror Scopes. *hint*

I've seen it called "double seed stitch", but I've also seen it called "box stitch" (the term used in my trusty stitch dictionary.) You can also find it here:

http://knitting.about.com/library/nboxst.htm

Size 19? Wow. I once knit a hat on size 15's and I had a Playskool flashback.

We'll just call you "MacLaurie" from now on. You just proved the rule that necessity is the mother of invention.

As for the tornado alerts--we've had them (actual tornados) here in So. Cal. Not the Midwesterner kind of tornadoes but bad enough that my patio roof got blown off one storm. It's so seldom we ever have real weather that any small step away from "normal" and everybody goes bonkers.

Better enjoy your commute today. I guess the rest of the week looks icky.

I love that yarn!! and the nubbyness....
YUM!
Heidi

Oh, Dude. I *SO* did not need to learn the translation of SOBAKOWA! :) Now allz I can think is "Otay, Bu'wheat!" Not so godlike after all.

I likey your scarf, and the view outside your work window. Both are beautiful!!!

one of the stitch patters I like for denser, and super-duper warm fabric (it makes thermal underwear type nubbs) is to do row one as straight knit and then row two as k1p1. repeat rows one and two until you're... you know... done. -liz

I see no wet people.....
It is a beautiful 73° FAT Tuesday here in Albuquerque, NM. Spring fever (and allergies) have taken over my head. My younger son's baseball team kicks off the season tomorrow at 3:30, rain or shine. Go Matadors!!

I'll be driving from South Orange (32º, feels like 23º sez weather.com) to Atlanta (68º, feels like 68º) and then to Alabama (69º, feels like 69º). I'm taking shorts. But I wish I were packing for Paris!

I agree that the scarf looks like Sobakowa. I think you should just name the stitch "soba-weave" to cloud the issue! I like multiple names for stitches, it gives everyone something talk about!

It rained in the "O.C." too - and was worthy of a blog post as well! ;-)
...and yes, we have tornados here too - I've seen one - drove through another. Fun.

Can you take ONE MORE stitch I.D., or will you let loose the Wrath of Buckwheat on all the bossybutt readers??

Teva Durham calls it Irish Moss stitch, and says it's named for some seaside moss that the Irish use for everything from insulation to toothpaste filler. So it's both Euro-hip and practical as all get out. The French will adore it.

I can take as many stitch names as ya'll can throw at me!! I'm looking at the charts for March again. I love astrolosluts. heh heh.

That Irish Moss stuff is carrageenan. Old cookbooks used to use it as a thickener for sauces, but it is definitely still around. Could this be carrageenan stitch?? :)

Isn't carageenen the place you go on vacation, next to the caribee'in? It could be the Bahamas stitch....

Dude. I seriously love MacGyver, and any tribute to him makes me so happy. You go, girl.

Sobakawa. We are your minions. We await your command.

I remember at one time Breyer's ice cream used carageenen in their ice cream. Maybe they still do.

As for the weather... the rain and snow and general crappy weather you've been having has finally migrated into Utah... but we're just glad the weather is warmer than last week (single digits, brr.)

Winters are cold in Paris...the kind that seeps into your marrow.

In New Orleans we call that a "damp cold." It seeps into your bones.

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!!! Ellen B. ---- LOVE the Abita Beer. I'm missing my town :(

CAP . . . the Magic Scarf is working it's magic. I keep smacking people with five and a half feet of Noro goodness. And I am not done yet! I'll send a pic if someone shows me how to work this camera . . . the last picture I attempted turned into a video.

I had to call my dad in Sacramento to tell him about the tornado warning that had been issued for Sacramento county. He peeked out the window and said, "Yeah. The sky does kind of look like it does in the South right before a twister touches down." My father grew up in Alabama and Georgia so I believe what he says.

I cannot imagine what SoCal would be like if a twister hit. I did not drive down over President's Day weekend because it was snowing on the Grapevine. I mean those folks can't drive in rain. It scares me to think how they drive in snow. Oh, and while living in Virginia, I regularly drove through tropical storms. Most folks out here just don't know what real rain is.

I know what you mean about loving a yarn so much that you don't want the project to end! Isn't it a lovely "sickness"?

Do you think that wet people end up having a smell, like a wet dog? Maybe that is what you sniffed on the bus...

I know what you mean about loving a yarn so much that you don't want the project to end! Isn't it a lovely "sickness"?

Do you think that wet people end up having a smell, like a wet dog? Maybe that is what you sniffed on the bus...

I'm so proud of you for making up a stitchholder from a pen and barrettes! If knitting were a video game, you would score mega points for that one, girl. Knitters are creative problem-solvers!

(Smacks forehead) DOH!

Sobakowa looks like she has eyeshadow on - it's cool looking.

The Redneck Stitch Holder is fabulous! This invention means you are a real Knitter (note the capital K)! If you can fashion a stitch holder/cable needle/whatever you need at the moment on a BUS, you're a real freakin' Knitter, Laurie!

A question just occurred to me while looking at the beautiful Sobakowa...how did you name the cats? Where did Sobakowa's name come from?

*snerk*
You said "re-re"
Yeah I'm 12!