Creature of Mad Enthusiasms

I know everyone is going to be talking about the new episode tonight (that'll be me too in about two hours), but in the meantime, the linkdump has been growing exponentially and hasn't been cleared out in months.

So...

Elizabethan Lemon Cake Recipe

Lemon Cakes, part 2 | Inn at the Crossroads
http://www.innatthecrossroads.com/2011/04/11/lemon-cakes-part-2/

These are mostly for me, but public for the interested - I want to learn muffin-tin cooking, as it seems both bento-sized and pre-portioned.

Do You Know the Muffin Pan?: Muffin Pan Recipes
http://www.doyouknowthemuffinpan.com/p/recipes.html

10 Things to Cook in a Muffin Tin
http://www.feelslikehomeblog.com/2010/07/10-things-to-cook-in-a-muffin-tin/

CUPCAKE PAN COOKING
http://pinterest.com/shellymabe/cupcake-pan-cooking/

Muffin Tin Cooking
http://pinterest.com/lc5970/muffin-tin-cooking/


General
Someday I have to actually stop and read this sometime:
Mindfulness Meditation Could Lower Levels Of Cortisol, The Stress Hormone
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/31/mindfulness-meditation-cortisol-stress-levels_n_2965197.html?utm_hp_ref=healthy-living

Hilarious Star Trek-based Barbershop Quartet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHIrlcmHTME

This is for me, but I'm adding it because other folks may be having trouble arranging the part of your house where you dump stuff on entering - The "landing strip" (Who knew it had a name?)
All About Landing Strips: Projects, Ideas and Inspiration | Apartment Therapy
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/all-about-landing-strips-project-ideas-and-inspiration-184493

The 10 Best Moments in "The 24 Hours of Gallifrey One" - Exactly what it says on the tin.
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2013/02/top_10_gallifrey_one_daleks_sylvester_mccoy_freema.php

Another archive for me, but useful to all knitters - all kinds of advice, including bindoffs, needle pushing, increases, etc. I"m going to have to go through the whole archive... someday
http://techknitting.blogspot.ca/2008_12_01_archive.html

Whole index here:
http://techknitter.blogspot.com/2010/04/revised-unified-index-for.html

Cabin Pressure
Cabin Pressure mini-icons: spoilers for all of series 4
http://redscharlach.livejournal.com/247574.html

John Finnemore discusses the Wokinham episode, and includes a picture of the scene where Martin's brother picks him up... and the actor playing him picks up Ben. I cannot actually figure out where Ben's legs are.
Forget What Did: Wokingham
http://johnfinnemore.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/wokingham-place-holder.html

Elementary
Elementary meta discussing a scene from about 8 weeks ago. My general dislike made me bleep over this moment, but the OP made me stop and rethink because this IS a big deal; like the OP, I can't think of a similar situation on TV (and precious damn few in real life):
I wanna talk about this scene for a second. Until that moment I never realized that I needed to see this on television; a man asking a women that she seek out opinions other than his.
http://nursecafe.tumblr.com/post/43156950715/i-wanna-talk-about-this-scene-for-a-second-not

Sherlock

Like this black and white art of Sherlock
http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/46952772412/sdkay-is-amazing

The story I was raving out earlier. Snapshots of a long J/S life - Genus: Apis
http://kate-lear.livejournal.com/21522.html

Red Scharlach takes a line from the new Star Trek movie promo and turns it into a put-your-drinks-away-from-the-monitor icon
http://redscharlach.livejournal.com/248445.html#cutid1

If you are EXTREMELY phobic about the SLIGHTEST suggestion of a spoiler, don't click this one. For anyone else, Red is riffing off of a twitpic of part of the set, which in my mind doesn't tell you anything. Except that Red's funny.
http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/45916630261/redscharlach-more-sherlock-season-3-excitement

Vashtra and Jenny recreate a scene from Holmes canon
http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/45254541496/tumblebuggie-vastras-sketch-of-events-in-my

Mark Gatiss plays with the skull onset
http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/45205769042/rox712-arwel-wyn-jones-arwelwjones-i-just

More Holmes canon art, now with snarky subtitles. Some bad language, if you work at a very conservative workplace
http://boyinthemachine.tumblr.com/post/42502721410/okay-by-just-looking-at-the-artwork-i-deduce-that

Ghostbees points out that "I hear 'punch me in the face' every time you talk; it's usually subtext" applies nicely to canon
http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/45177835891/ghostbees-a-taste-of-your-own-medicine

The evolution of Ben and Martin at Sherlock readthroughs
http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/45136157888/suddenlyfalling-sherlock-read-throughs

"A gaze from Watson is..." (gigglesnort indeed!)
http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/44932127825/gigglesnort

I just like this art
http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/44885972151

Remember that story where Martin Crieff was Sherlock's half brother and Martin had a stuffed airplane named Planey? Turns out it's part of the Thicker than Water series.
http://archiveofourown.org/series/10156

The crackiest of crack: a zoologist's report On the Courting Behaviour of the British Sherlock
The Sherlock was standing on the top of an outcrop of rocks to one side of his enclosure, staring out over the zoo in a dramatic fashion. Posing, thought Poppy privately. Despite the lack of breeze his coat and scarf swirled around him as though caught up in a storm. No one had been able to work out how he did it.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/428236

Moffat & Gatiss are such geeks that they cast a former Holmes as a cameo in the Diogenes Club
http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/44135018380/tea-at-221b-douglas-wilmer-as-sherlock-holmes

Exactly what it says on the tin
Sherlock: The Reichenbach Fall – live chat with the co-creators
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/may/21/sherlock-reichenbach-fall-live-chat

Scenes from BELG done Disney-style.
http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/42613983671/cosmic-nerd-angel-if-sherlock-was-an-animated

Molly done Disney-style
http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/42342410693/artbylexie-disney-lock-study-of-molly-hooper

Yet more Disney art; Sherlock (looking remarkably like the guy from 101 Dalmations)
http://shaddicted.tumblr.com/post/42342397879/artbylexie-disney-lock-a-study-in-sherlock

Sherlock: Last Friday Night vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT0CKpxe0gg&feature=youtu.be

I spent rather a lot of a work night reading up on this series about little Sophie growing up on Baker Street. (This is not the same as the Sophie Lestrade series). What can I say, it has a ferret in it.
http://archiveofourown.org/series/19811

As I wrestle with mitered box mark 3, I have learned one very useful tip:

If you're doing a centered double decrease and you don't want to count stitches every row, use double-pointed needles. DPN1 holds the stitches up to "slip two knitwise" and DPN2 holds the rest. So every decrease row (using DPN3) slip the last two on DPN1, knit one from DPN2, psso, and drop DPN3; it will be the new DPN1 when you come back to that side and it will have exactly the number of stitches you'll need for the center double decrease to work.


Do I need to illustrate this? The instructions seem to be coming out as word salad.

Tonight I did the gusset and heel turn for a toe up sock perfectly on the first shot. And best yet, the instructions were given generically, so they can be applied to *any* toe-up sock.

( Archived because if I lose these instructions I'll cry; public in case any other folks want to know 'em )

From the person who brought you numbered needles, another way of keeping track of knitting patterns: color-coded chain row counter. ( digression with picture link )

So many patterns are really just every *other* row. You know the kind - "every even row knit" or "every odd row purl." So what happens if you make a row counter with the rings color-coded to tell you what to do on the alternate rows, the ones that change? Turns out you've got a great little cheat sheet, and all you need is a single box of Boyes locking markers and 1 ring marker.

I test-knitted two: an equilateral triangle and alternating bands of garter, stockinette, and eyelet.

( Alternating Bands )

That was pattern. Next up: shape, and the ( Equilateral Triangle )

I need to clean up the language, but having proven the technique, I'm going to send it off to Monica Ferris. This is why I was in bead stores in NYC - looking for beads that would fit on a split ring.

Tech Question: Can anyone recommend a good flv to avi converter?

Knitting Technique (from Lime and Violet): YouTube demonstration of no-wrap short rows. It's all K2t & m1, which breaks the rhythm much less than wrap-1-turn, and it's a nice clear video you can pause or replay as much as possible.

PS - Know what I'm liking most about Ravelry right now? Being able to see certain yarns in use, so I can decide if they'll give me the look I want before I buy them.

tchwrtr has a huge post of links to assorted ways of doing short rows.

And then there's... this. All righty then. No wonder the site is called "Why would you knit that?"


In personal knitting, after staring at that kitchen cotton for so long, I suddenly realize three major projects I can use it for. Which is probably not a bad thing, because if I'm going to buy yarn in bulk, it ought to be the cheap stuff; with it, I can make gigantic blankets for under $100.

So while the Sudoku blanket is suddenly refusing to work out yet *again,* (six out of nine blocks done; I will conquer this!) I can cast on "When I'm 64" and "Time Flies" (a blind intaglio variant on endless stair - I can't believe I can't find a good photo online - and good old flying geese, both of which will probably be in the book.)

The New Adventures of Queen Victoria weighs in on the election. Liberals will find it hilarious. Conservatives probably not so much, but the comment about America as a whole is certainly true.

On the non-political side, a fascinating article on how to do cabling without a cable needle. It's not just "slip it to the other needle." Well illustrated, if you click.

Hmmm... I'm just about to start a cabled project...

Every time I mention this, everyone from beginning knitters to knitting shop proprietors goes "Oh! What a fabulous idea!" (It may even show up in a Monica Ferris needlework book.) So while I've mentioned it in passing here before, here's a complete how-to for the biggest, best, and apparently most unique knitting tip I've got:

Number your needles.

So many patterns, especially for the beginner or low intermediate knitter are two or four row patterns that this is a real lifesaver, particularly if you're the sort of person who has to put their projects down for days or weeks on end.

Straight needles are easy. All along I'd already been painting one with nail polish (the flat top of a Clover, the decorative ball on a Brittany, a band at the decorative join on a Lantern Moon). That way, I could tell at a glance which row was supposed to be purled in stockinette, or which one started with a purl for seed stitch, or which one was the decrease row in a mitered square.

When I moved up to beginner's lace and cabling, I stuck with 4-row patterns and simply bought a second pair of needles. The elongated top of a Brittany was perfect for using a sharpie to mark 1 to 4 rings, and I just had to remember to drop a needle and pick up a new one at the end of the row. I may have miscounted what I was supposed to be doing between the stitch markers, but I never got confused as to which row I was on, no matter how long I'd set the project down.

Now I've moved to using circular needles as very long straight needles by tipping one end, and my favorite, the Knitpick, is too well polished for the sharpie to stick; I've tried marking the metal, the wood, and the cord and it doesn't work.

It took a little engineering, but I've found a way to number them that doesn't interrupt the rhythm of the knitting and (bonus) is easily expandable to any number of needed rows.

Get a bag of the locking stitch markers, the ones that look like tiny padlocks, and use the sharpie to number them. Lock all the odd numbers in a chain (1 connected to 3 connected to 5) and all the even numbers in a separate chain.

Slide the loop of the #1 lock onto one needle and cast on as usual. Before you start knitting, slide the #2 lock onto the empty needle. There you are, ready to knit from Needle 1 to Needle 2.

As you reach the end of your row, right after the last stitch will be the chain of odd-numbered markers. Move Lock 1 off the needle and drop the next in the chain, Lock 3, back onto the now-empty needle. (If your needles are small enough, this can be another "stitch," as it is the same motion as "slip 1, pass slip stitch over.")

In one quick flip, you're now ready to knit from Needle 2 to Needle 3. As you reach the end of the row on the other side, do the same maneuver to change the now-empty Needle 2 to Needle 4. Continue knitting, always moving to the next lock in the chain as you move the yarn off each needle.

Someday I'll do this with beaded markers (a completely unsubtle hint to the beadworkers out there). There are chain row markers out there, but they are for circular knitting; this technique needs two chains; one odd and one even.

Oh, and if you are fond of a pattern that has particular stitches on every row (say feather and fan?) Those little markers are inexpensive... why not make a specialty set that actually lists the stitch for that row? Anywhere there's space enough to write a "4" there's space enough to put "P," "K" or chart markings.

Feel free to link this post around anywhere you consider it useful.

I've learned more about joining yarn from this post from who_knits than I have in a year and a half of knitting experience.