Ravelympics Finish Line:

Well, I didn’t do as well as hoped in the Ravelympics. The combination of my broken finger and the migraines just made me sort of give up towards the end. Plus I was getting annoyed at NBC for not showing events that I was interested in, and that just put me in a bad mood. (AND they didn’t show most of the closing ceremonies because of some stupid marriage advice show. Lame.)

I did finish in one event, though, which was the Platter Lift for all the tawashi I made. I set the bar pretty low, so it’s not that big a deal. I never did complete a Japanese pattern, which was the one challenging thing I set for myself. And I ended up not competing in the Skelegurumi event. I had this wee little fox I was going to make for that event, and I just never got around to it. Oh, well. I do have some cute washcloths to show for it, so it certainly wasn’t a waste. Plus, I got a crochet scrotum out of this whole endeavor, and that’s got to be worth something, right?

Here are the adorable and cheery tawashi that now hang above my kitchen sink:

I got some mug hooks so I could hang them above the sink. I still have one more to finish (in the shape of a lavender macaron), and that will take its place on the empty hook.

See? You’re actually supposed to use the pretty things you make. What’s the point of making dish cloths that aren’t actually used on dishes?

Ravelympics update, or “how I accidentally crocheted a scrotum”

[Note: This should have been posted over a week ago, but we lost the wee dongly thing that lets me take photos from my camera and put them on the computer, so I had to wait ’til a new one came in the post. The next post will feature the rest of the tawashi that I made for Ravelympics.]

I had two major handicaps last week that prevented me from crocheting as much as I would have liked: broken finger was aching something fierce, and a migraine kept me out of the world for three days. I bounced back a little this past weekend, by making a few more tawashi. Two for the kitchen, one for the bath. I made another puzzle knot, like the ones previous, a cookie, and a couple of fruit slices (an apple and an orange).

All that working from a pattern business was making me a little twitchy. I hardly ever use patterns, and my free-form crochet mojo just needed to be indulged. So I decided to make a little wash cloth thing for the shower. I wanted to modify the bath mitt idea. I wanted it to hold the wee pieces of soap that I didn’t want to waste. See, I use expensive and wonderful soap from Lush, so this seemed like a good idea. I started with the bottom of the bag, making a disc shape, then the plan was to decrease from there and continue up the sides in a sort of cylinder type of shape.

First off, I made the bottom disc shape a little too wide. Instead of ripping back and going from there, I decided I’d just decrease a bit more. This turned into a sort of coin shape, and not so much a cylinder. Instead of ripping back, I just kept going, decreasing a little more slowly. By the time I got to the part where I should have bound off, the thing sort of looked like an upside-down cone with the pointy top chopped off. Not what I was going for, but it was good enough to not prompt me to rip back for a do-over. But I still had some yarn left. I knew I wouldn’t use it for anything else, so I decided to just keep going. By the end, it looked like one of those beakers from a chemistry set (the one on the right). Oddly shaped for a bath washy, but whatever, it was done.

It wasn’t very pretty, so I didn’t even think to take a picture of it, or include it among my Ravelympics tawashi. It was just an un-noteworthy one-off experiment. Then I went to use it.

When handmade cotton wash cloths get wet and soapy, they tend to stretch out just a bit. And the formerly firm structure gets a little, well saggy. I washed with it. (It works wonderfully for this purpose, I’d like to note. Wee bits of soap saved!) Then I hung it up by the string at the top. And it just sort of dangled.

This is where I lost it. If I hadn’t been running late for work already, I would have laughed a helluva lot longer than I did. I can’t believe I didn’t notice before. I crocheted a scrotum. A yellow and white cotton scrotum. With which to wash my body.

The week has been devoted to telling as many people as possible that I accidentally crocheted a scrotum. This news, of course, has been met with laughter, incredulity, clever names for the scrubbie, and of course a request for photographic proof. So there you go, world. At first I thought about unraveling it after I’d made my discovery. But now I think I’ll keep it. I’ve sort of resigned myself to washing with a scrotum. It could be a metaphor for life, or something. I dunno.

This, as many of my close friends will remember, is not the first time I have accidentally depicted male genitalia in a crafting experiment. Let us never forget incident with the Venn diagram and dangling oblong shape in the modern art display of 1990. And, just like that eighth grade presentation where everyone laughed at me and wouldn’t tell me why, when I told Jesse about it, he said “Oh, yeah. That’s what I thought when you first showed it to me.”

The next time I accidentally make another set of testicles (and let’s face it, we all know that will eventually happen) please alert me to the nature of my creation. Just tell me: “It’s balls.”

Lost: Season 6, Episode 6, “Sundown”

Once again, here is my live-blogging-style reaction babble post on this week’s episode. It’s up a bit late, because I only just watched it tonight. Hurrah for internet viewing, because derby interferes with my TV watching in real time. Anyway, here goes (this time with no edits because I am tired and lazy… I’m sure you can figure out the typos and what not yourselves):

Awww. Nadia. His brother’s wife. Oh, shit. A picture of Nadia. Oooooh. Is this going to raise a ruckus?

for every man there is a scale… Magic or science, Dogen? Turns out it’s asskicking time. ROCK!

Woah. Did anyone else see that? The ball paused above the ground! Holy schnikies. What was THAT about? Or was that just abc.com freezing for a moment. (I don’t feel like watching it again to check.)

You’ll only hurt the ones who won’t listen, Not Locke? Well that’s comforting. Not.

And Omar’s in trouble. Great. This does not bode well for Sayid, me thinks. Omar looks really afraid. Probably gonna get the chop if he doesn’t pay his debts.

Maybe you should send somebody he won’t kill? Good line.

Dogen: You. My room, 10 o’clock. You. 10:30. Bring a friend.

Banished, and now a special guest. Way to be confusing, Dogen.

Um, what kind of special crop do you have there now? Looks like it’ll either give you a rash or get you high.

So, Sayid has to kill Not Locke/Evil Incarnate? On your word, Dogen? Why should he trust you?

Everyone thinks that they’re the good guys. ‘Kill this dude if you want to serve the greater good.’ Ugh. So confusing.

Yeah, probably should’ve borrowed money from less gangstery types, Omar.

Ohai, Kate. Nice of you to make another cameo in this episode. That shirt makes Kate’s boobs look weird. It’s a high-neck t-shirt. You don’t wear that kind of a bra with that shirt. Odd.

Acting all weird… still hot though. Oh, Miles.

Smokey’s paying Sayid a visit. And, stab. But you let him speak first! Didn’t you listen to Dogen!? Now it’s too late!

What do you want, Not Locke? Everyone’s your errand runner? How can you promise him the world? Manipulating him with the promise of Nadia? That’s just cruel.

Ohai, Jack! And this is where Nadia and Sayid weep and then make out. And go. Oh, damn. No makey outey. OMG, Sayid, you’re so sad and awesome. ::sniff sniff::

So the people have to leave with so-called-Evil Not Locke or die. Helluva choice.

HAH! Awesome, Kate. Smarmy little prick deserved to be thrown against the wall.

Oh, but Kate… um, you might not want to tell Claire that you took the baby. Oh crap. Uh… you might want to step back from the crazy girl, Kate.

Oh, crap… Sayid has to “return” the knife to Dogen. Return it to his face, no doubt.

Uh oh. Don’t you DARE hurt those kids you creepy gangster guy. Stupid Omar for taking their money. Zoom in on the meat. Great. Nice. Just what we needed to see. Will Sayid be on the menu next? Ohai, Keamy. Of course you’d be working for these guys.

Here comes the beat down, Keamy. Don’t choke on your eggs. Make that a gun down, instead.

Hey, what’s that noise in the meat locker? JIN!

So, Dogen, are you able to kill Sayid? Why do you have to have other people try to do it?

Oh, Dogen, you killed your son in a drunk driving accident? How sad. Oh, so he wasn’t killed, but Jacob let him live in exchange for a lifetime of service. Okay, then.

And Sayid chooses to stay. By which he means drowning Dogen in the murky magic hot tub.

Damn. Both Sayids are on a rampage, it seems.

So, Dogen being alive was what was keeping the evil out? Why wasn’t that more public knowledge among the temple dwellers? Then they might not have panicked so much. And if that was the case, then what is up with the ash ring technique?

Damn, Smokey. Way to raise hell! WOAH!

Hey, the reinforcements!

Um, Claire, you might not want to fall into the pit with crazy Claire.

Sayid. Don’t you kill Ben. Ok, whew. For now.

Yeah, Sun, Jin’s alive! YAY! Oh, I hope they find each other soon.

Well, that’s a helluva mess. And I can’t tell if Not Locke looks pleased to see Kate or not. Lots of creepy smirking, though, from Not Locke, Claire, and Sayid.

And we’re done. Holy hell. That was a crazy-good episode.