Flamme rouge
In cycling, the flamme rouge is a red pennant that tells the riders there’s one kilometer left in the race. For knitters, and I suspect for anyone else who makes their holiday gifts by hand, Thanksgiving serves as the flamme rouge. It’s time to dig deep and knit hard if you want to finish in time. Here’s my red pennant:
A little sample hat from the Colinette Arboretum book I knit up for the store. It’s simple as pie: a bias rectangle (a rhombus, technically) with the CO and BO edges plus two of the sides seamed together and the corners folded in and tacked down at the crown. I knit this one with alternating rows of Pagewood Farms worsted-weight merino and ShibuiKnits Silk Cloud. It was so easy and it’s such a good way to use up remnants that I may have to whip out a few more for holiday gifts.
I also cast on for a secret Christmas-in-Tallinn stocking from Knitting on the Road. I don’t think the recipient reads here, but I’m going to hold off posting pictures just in case. And unfortunately I can’t show you my finished sweater for Shibui, which has now gone to the tech editor. So I’m going to have to distract you with what’s distracting me:
Meet Lark. Nine pounds of irresistible mutt, and really a very good girl. She made the journey from Texas without any fuss at all, and she’s already charmed Mr. G’s relatives, half of whom she met yesterday when we trucked her up to Olympia for a big Thanksgiving feast. She’s a sweet little thing, not without her moments of puppy sass, of course, but smart and people-oriented and so far pretty darn good with the cat. Mingus is taking the whole thing better than I could have hoped. Lark got her face smacked for licking his butt and for chewing his tail, but he didn’t use his claws. He’s still sleeping in bed with us and demanding lap time, even with the pup nearby. And since he gets his breakfast an hour earlier than usual as we stagger out of bed before six, he may even be seeing some benefits from the arrival of his new canine sister.
Okay, off to do some frantic holiday knitting before the little one wakes up from her morning nap!
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 10:06 am
A warm welcome to Lark! What a cutie, and good luck to Minugs, who will probably need a little extra love during the adjustment.
The hat is just great, and I love how the two yarns work together. I’ve never seen that Colinette book — I’ll be on the lookout.
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 10:11 am
Cute puppy – love the name!! Glad that Mingus hasn’t revolted against the dog. That’s a good thing! Happy belated Thanksgiving!
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 10:21 am
Oh the new puppy is just so cute! And seemingly aptly named. I can’t wait for more puppy pics!
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 10:27 am
Oh my gosh, how cute! Is she part Sheltie or Collie? She looks a lot like my old dog, Merrie. I always loved blue merles, and Lark is a perfect name for her.
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 10:39 am
[…] Brit Music Scene wrote an interesting post today!.Here’s a quick excerpt In cycling, the flamme rouge is a red pennant that tells the riders there’s one kilometer left in the race. For knitters, and I suspect for anyone else who makes their holiday gifts by hand, Thanksgiving serves as the flamme rouge. It’s time to dig deep and knit hard if you want to finish in time. Here’s my red pennant: [IMG bias_garter_hat.jpg] A little sample hat from the Colinette Arboretum book I knit up for the store. It’s simple as pie: a bias rectangle (a rhombus, technically) with the […]
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 11:22 am
What a cutie! Can’t wait to meet her. Have great fun–I know you will with her.
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Aw, welcome, Lark! What a sweetie. Happy Thanksgiving to the Blue Garter family.
Your new hat is beautiful and I’m glad to hear that the Shibui sweater was finished in time. Can’t wait to see more of it! 🙂
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Lark is definitely adorable – looks full of spunk too! Thanks for the hat idea, I like the look the bias garter stitch gives to it.
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 1:22 pm
What a cutie.
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Oh, she’s adorable! I agree that Lark is an excellent name :). Plus, yay Olympia! For now, it’s the city I live in.
My knitter’s flamme rouge is also red, but it involves stranded knitting and intarsia as well. Three commissioned Christmas stockings, and I hit the ground running last night. Good luck with your frantic holiday knitting.
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 4:36 pm
What an adorable baby!!
Yes, I finished two projects which weren’t gifts this week so that I could start two more that are!
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 5:20 pm
cute puppy! Good luck finishing those knits!
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 5:45 pm
She’s ADORABLE!!!! And it’s great to hear that she’s getting along with the cat so well this early in- usually it takes weeks/months. Congrats on your newest addition!!!
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 6:13 pm
This little creature is even more adorable in person;)
Posted: November 23rd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
I’m so glad Mingus is taking his new sibling so peaceably. Maybe he can give Tim some pointers? I’m glad Lark has found a good home, and I know Mr. G and you are spoiling her properly.
Posted: November 24th, 2007 at 11:31 am
Oh man, she’s just the cutest puppy. Puppy!!!
Posted: November 25th, 2007 at 10:29 am
i think i might need one of them there flamme rouges. yep. and the puppy? forget about it! too cute. those paws = big dog later.
Posted: November 25th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
I love puppy paws! Such a smart looking dog. I had never thought of Thanksgiving as the flamme rouge for Christmas – any excuse to use Tour terminology year-round!
Posted: November 25th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
She’s sooo cute! I want one.
Posted: November 26th, 2007 at 8:01 am
Another cute hat! 🙂
Posted: November 26th, 2007 at 10:02 am
Oh how sweet! Congrats on your new family member! He is adorable- you are lucky she and Mingus are getting along well. Where did you get her from in TX?
Posted: November 26th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
darned cute! congrats on the new addition to the family!
Posted: November 26th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Oh puppy! Such a cute little ball of fluff.
I’m always on the lookout for interesting hat patterns, though I want to make the Fleece Artist hat from a few weeks ago first. It was too gorgeous for words.
Posted: November 26th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Welcome to this new addition to your family! Lark is a great name for her!
Posted: November 26th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
How sweet! Welcome Lark!
Posted: November 27th, 2007 at 5:18 am
How cute is she!!!!!!!!! I love her ears!
Posted: November 27th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Your new family member is ridiculously cute!
Posted: November 29th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Aw, BABY! She’s just a cute one. I just want to snurgle her. So, what will you be knitting for the pup?
Posted: November 29th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Pretty hat, and OMG Lark is SUCH a cutie!
Posted: November 30th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Stunning hat. It kinda reminds be of Doctor Zavaco (sp?) – you know what I mean – Russian love story 🙂
Posted: December 3rd, 2007 at 4:53 pm
she looks so sweet, and i love the gloves
Posted: December 13th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
oooh, PUPPY!!! Lark is a darling!! 🙂
Posted: January 3rd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Hi. I love your red hat. It inspired me to purchase that book and yarn. I just have a quick question. I knit but don’t crochet. I’ve looked over the instructions and the only thing that is not clear to me is the double crochet edging. Did you do a single or double crochet edgeing? Thank so much.