Pink Lemon Twist

From the Deepest, Darkest Corner of the Stash Closet...

2009-12-09T08:32:00.004-05:00

...where wooly dreams wait for their day in the sun and naughty projects go to think about what they've done, comes something from Blog Past. The Bohus Gray Mist pullover!

I don't think I've done anything with this since we moved to Texas. According to the project page for this on Ravelry, I started it in January of 2007. I set it aside during the move, knowing that I'd mess it up, and then every time I thought about it, I remembered that I needed to weave in ends (the pattern specifically says to do them as you go) and stitch down the neckband facing. I got the ends woven in a couple of nights ago and yesterday I stitched down the neckband facing.

Now it's full speed ahead on the colorwork and I did get a little more done in the knitting department too. I'm more than halfway through the chart for the colorwork (though not by much), but I'm not quite to the halfway point visually in the colorwork - make sense? I've just started the lightest color and then I'll start fading back to the darker colors of gray and blue. I was sitting on the floor with Finn curled next to me, sleeping, looking at the way the colors work together, and thinking of the traditions behind this Swedish style of knitting, with the fine needles (US 1.5 - 2.5 mm), tiny wool and angora yarn making tiny stitches, the patterns of color and purl stitches growing beneath my hands and listening to Aerosmith scream about how "Dude Looks Like A Lady." Yes, just like they did it when the designs were fresh and new!

For those of you who are wondering, this was purchased as a kit from Solveig Gustafsson (click Bohus Stickning for the Bohus kits) . I just checked out the "newer" kits (they are all traditional Bohus designs, reproduced as kits for knitters now, the "new" ones are just new to the site - not new designs) and I can see I'll need to add the New Azalea to my stash - I love the pinks and reds against that black. I already have the Forest Darkness in Black and the Large Lace Collar Jacket kits stashed away. I'm playing with the insane idea of making one of these for the Olympics - we're supposed to push ourselves, right?

Cassidy

2009-12-08T09:14:00.002-05:00

I've finished up the back of Cassidy! I finished it over the weekend and have cast on for the fronts but that's about all I've done on them. In Christmas knitting, I've finished one project and I've started a second project. The second and third projects are going to be pretty fast but last week I got a request for a fourth project. Fortunately, it should also be fast. I am taking pictures of these things when I finish them and I'll blog them after Christmas, I just can't blog them right now.

I did find another unfinished project that I need to get back to work on that is bloggable so you won't have to see Cassidy every single day. I'm going to have to do some archeological reconstruction to figure out where I am on it, but I tend to be pretty OC about making notes so hopefully I can figure it all out quickly.

In upcoming pattern design news, I've started a design for a new wrap that is pretty different from everything else I've done so far. The design is charted in the computer and I'm test knitting it now (but it's not bloggable). I'll also be designing the sock pattern for Yarn 4 Socks' February sock club (which is not bloggable either). I realized a couple of weeks ago that the only new design I did for 2009 was Flamenco. I know I moved last year, but I would have liked to do another pattern or two.

Fortunately, everything that has a deadline will be finished in time for the Olympics. I'm on Team Cardigan for the Ravelympics but at this point I have no idea what I'll be knitting. The Olympics are 16 days and last time I cranked out 4 pairs of socks. I don't have to knit a cardigan (even though I'm on Team Cardigan), but I'm having some trouble getting my head around that so I'll probably choose a cardigan pattern anyway. Any ideas or suggestions for Olympic knitting? I can knit a fairly simple cardigan in about 2 weeks (and could probably do Cassidy in that time if I tried), so it's got to have more going on than stockinette or a few cables. Ideas?

Tiny Ornament Socks

2009-12-03T09:01:00.002-05:00

Every year in December, we pull out Caleb's little advent cabinet. It has 25 small doors and little compartments for small gifts. Each night he gets to open one little door as we count down to Christmas. This means that I need 25 tiny things to put into each compartment. We usually go with small ornaments and this year I decided to knit some tiny socks for some of his gifts. This is a great way to use up the tiny bits (and sometimes not so tiny bits) of leftover sock yarn.

Here are two of the socks I've done so far. I'm not really working from a pattern, I'm just casting on 24 stitches on my size 1's (2.25 mm) and winging it. The sock on the right has a heel flap and probably should have had more rounds on the foot before I started toe decreases. The sock on the left has a short row heel and I like the foot length better. They measure about 2-3 inches long. If I took the time, I could probably find a free pattern (or 10) on the Internets for tiny ornament socks, but I'm having fun just making it up as I go.

A Surprise this Morning!

2009-12-02T09:36:00.002-05:00

This is what we woke up to this morning. The roads were mostly just wet (with a little bit of slush), so the critters still had to go to school, but it was a beautiful surprise to wake up and see this. I think it will be gone before lunch.

Cassidy

2009-12-01T09:37:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a great weekend and if your weekend involved turkey, I hope there was lots of it and good friends and family to go with it!

I'm still working on the back of Cassidy. (Actually, I'm working on more than that, but Cassidy is all I can show right now on the blog.) I've just started the armholes, so the rows have gotten shorter and things should really start moving along quickly now. The cabling is easy and since I made a few notes, I can work on this while I watch TV without too much trouble. Ramius has been helping me with it a bit - by helping I mean that he has been sitting in my lap while I knit on it - he hasn't actually been knitting on it himself in his spare time. It seems to me, that with the amount of spare time cats have (and by spare time I refer to 25% of the time spent sleeping), if cats could knit, they'd turn out an amazing quantity of work. I mean cats don't have to do laundry, pick up kids from school, cook, vacuum, clean the house, do the grocery shopping or any of the other things we have to do and it's not like a cat will get sucked into Ravelry for hours, looking at knitting. If cats had thumbs and could stay awake, they could be the perfect knitters! Just something to think about...

Pretty Quiet Around Here

2009-11-25T09:08:00.002-05:00

Not much to post about today. I've been working on Christmas knitting and doing some designing, but I can't post any of it. I'll be baking pies today for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I probably won't be back this week to blog. I hope everyone has a lovely week and weekend. If you're celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow - Happy Thanksgiving!

Cherry Blossom Shawl, Done!

2009-11-24T09:04:00.004-05:00

I finished the Cherry Blossom Shawl this weekend, and got it all blocked. It's just gorgeous and I love it! After briefly considering a more elegant photo shoot, I decided to go with the tried and true Pink Lemon Twist model, Finn. He's always happy to help out and since he's never modeled a circular shawl (because this is the first one I've ever knit), it was exciting for him too. I tried to get him to turn around so you could see the back view of the shawl, but Finn was having none of that - either we photograph him from the front, or not at all.

The pattern is the Cherry Blossom Shawl that originally ran in IK back in 2002, but is now available as an individual pattern - either from IK directly, or from the designer. I believe it's available in downloadable form as well as a hard copy. I used Shibui Knits Silk Cloud in Blossom as my yarn (4 skeins) and knit it on US Size 6's (4.0 mm). The lace is very easy to work, it just takes some time to get around the longer rounds at the end. I had no problem knitting it while I was watching TV.

Because it's Friday...

2009-11-20T08:17:00.002-05:00

...I give you two dogs on a rock.

On a lovely November morning.

Have a great weekend!

The Fluffy Pink Squid of Doom Gets an Edging

2009-11-19T09:28:00.003-05:00

I've started working the edging on the Cherry Blossom Shawl which both binds off the shawl, and finishes the edge nicely. If you've never done a knitted on lace edging, I'll explain it. After knitting the main section of the shawl, I have a giant circle of live stitches on the needles. If I were to try to bind them off in the traditional way I would never be able to get it loose enough for the lace to stretch during the blocking and it would look terrible. Fortunately, some long ago lace knitter figured out that if you add a decorative lace edging perpendicular to the live stitches, you can work one stitch of the edging with one of the live stitches from main part of the shawl and fasten off these main stitches without an actual bind off. Attaching lace to lace and live stitches to live stitches allows everything to stretch properly in the all important blocking phase. If you're looking for a design that uses this edging technique to finish off a shawl, in addition to the Cherry Blossom Shawl, my own designs Leda's Dream, Scheherazade, Moon Dance, and Atlantis all use this technique. There are other designs that use this technique as well, of course, but this will give you a sample.

At this point, I'm about 1/4 of the way around the shawl (assuming I'm doing the math right) and I'm estimating that I have about 6 hours, give or take to finish the edging up. The edging stitch pattern is easy to memorize and is working pretty quickly. The more I do on the edging, the less it looks like a Fluffy Pink Squid of Doom!

Cassidy

2009-11-18T08:11:00.003-05:00

I am loving this design! The cabling is zipping right along and I'm doing increases after the waist shaping. You can see a little bit of the side shaping in this photo, which should make this hoodie fit nicely. The back measures 12 inches right now and I've just finished my first ball of yarn. Despite the shaping and the cabling going on, I don't find this too involved to work on it while I'm watching TV. I don't think I'd recommend this for a first sweater (try the Basic Chic Hoodie if you're looking for a hoodie for your first sweater), but it's not a difficult one to knit. I am also loving the color of this yarn (which is probably why I bought it in the first place). It's funny how that happens!

The Fluffy Pink Squid of Doom is Eating Ramius!

2009-11-17T09:03:00.003-05:00

OK, that's not actually happening at all. Ramius is fine. This is an "action shot" of my lap while I was working on the Cherry Blossom shawl and Ramius was sitting in my lap, under the shawl. Didn't mean to frighten you.

Know what I did this weekend? I finished the round and round knitting of the shawl! Now I just have to do the edging (all the way around) and I'm done! I'm a little more than halfway into my third ball of Shibui Knits Silk Cloud and knowing how edgings can eat yarn like it's going out of style, I think the four balls that were called for in the pattern will be just right. I know I'll have some left over, but I'm pretty sure I will have to use part of that fourth ball. (Just to clarify, the pattern calls for 4 balls of Silk Cloud. If you're using KSH, you'll need 5 balls of that as it's slightly heavier weight and has a bit less yardage per ball as the Silk Cloud.)

Kitty Cat of Legend

2009-11-13T09:36:00.002-05:00

While Ramius is fabulous and very well known to those who've purchased my patterns, there is another cat in my life who has been important to me since I was a very tiny toddler. As I've mentioned before, Mom and Dad have moved into the area, and of course all of their stuff has moved with them. This means that all of my stuff that I had left at their house, for safe keeping in this case, has come here as well, and as it gets found and unpacked, it gets sent over to my house.

Yesterday, one of my two very bestest friends when I was growing up came home. I had left him at Mom and Dad's house because I knew Mickael and I would be moving around a lot, and he was just safer there, but now he's back home with me and back on the bed where he belongs. Who is this friend? I'd like to introduce you to Pink Kitty!

Pink Kitty has had a rough life, as happens with most toys that are loved this way. (Caleb has a bear that's had more cosmetic surgery than Cher.) He's stained from all of his adventures and he's taken some injuries from those adventures too. He's been mended until there wasn't anything left to mend and then Mom gave him the iron on bandage you see across his middle. He still has the toasty smell the iron left when that was applied. He also has a gash just above the bandage that I've got to figure out how to repair - there's not much actual fabric around it. He might get a scarf/neck brace type thing. At one point, Mom found a new "Pink Kitty" and tried to swap them out, but this counterfeit impostor was hard where Pink Kitty was soft and he didn't smell right. Definitely no iron-on-bandage-toasty-smell on his tummy. The fake "Pink Kitty" was rightly tossed in with my other stuffed animals and ignored. The real Pink Kitty kept right on tagging along with me on my adventures until he became too delicate to do so. Now he's home, and while he's still too delicate for doing anything other than sitting on the freshly made bed, he's happy to be here.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering who my other bestest friend was when I was little? It was my belly button.

Have a great weekend!

Ramius Thursday

2009-11-12T09:13:00.002-05:00

Instead of showing you the pathetic little bit I've done on the Fluffy Pink Squid of Doom since you last saw it (sorry Cherry Blossom Shawl, that's just too good of a name for you), and that I haven't even picked up Cassidy, I give you Ramius! Ramius did help me work on the little bit of shawl I did last night, but eventually it made him feel twitchy and anyone who's ever tried to knit with a twitchy cat in their lap will understand why I put the shawl away. Ramius is very happy that he has the house back to himself - even if he has to share it with Silly Finn. He'll be even happier later today when Silly Finn gets a bath! (Finn hates baths, but desperately needs one and today is the day.) Nothing like a sad, wet, doggy to really make your day special!

It Begins

2009-11-11T09:06:00.002-05:00

You guys overwhelmingly voted for me to do Cassidy, so here it goes!

This is the back and as you can see I've just started the actual cabling portion of it. I decided to add a couple of inches to the length and I'm also starting out at the 38 inch size. I'm going to decrease to the stitch count for the 36 inch size at the waist and then I'll work the top part and the sleeves to the 36 inch size. This will make it fit me better than if I just choose one size or the other. The only other mod I know I'll make at this point will be to lengthen the arms. I always have to lengthen the arms though so this really isn't a mod.

At the moment, Cassidy and the Cherry Blossom Shawl (AKA Fluffy Pink Squid of Doom) are the only things I have on the needles that I can show you. Everything else is Christmas knitting and must be kept hidden. This means that you'll probably get to see a lot of those two for a little while.

Beware the Fluffy Pink Squid of Doom!

2009-11-10T09:08:00.002-05:00

I would totally see a movie with that title - just to see the Fluffy Pink Squid of Doom! Sounds scary! OK, the Cherry Blossom Shawl is moving along, without the doom part, but you have to admit that in the picture, it looks like a legless squid, or a tentacle-less jelly fish. I apologize for the undersea creature pose, but it's not easy photographing anything this big on circular needles and there aren't very many choices you can make in posing a circular shawl. This pose at least sort of shows off the lace patterns. Kind of.

I've just finished the 10th repeat of the last pattern before the edging so I've only got 2 more to go. That's just 16 rounds of almost 400 stitches each before I start the edging! I might actually finish this project this year.

Juno

2009-11-06T08:28:00.001-05:00

After over a year (due to no fault of it's own), Juno is finished! No one was around to help me with modeled pictures of it when I finished it and being a black cardi, I really wanted pictures before the sun went down.

Details: The pattern is Juno by Amanda Crawford from the Rowan Book 40. The yarn is Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Aran in the Darkside colorway (I just love that color name!) I used 8 balls of yarn and made the 35 1/2 inch finished size. I added some length to the sweater so it hits more at mid-hip length. I took out the shaping on the body since the entire body is 2x2 rib. (I am of the opinion that there isn't much out there that's stretchier than 2x2 rib - maybe a slinky.) I also didn't put a button hole in the collar because I knew I'd rather pin the crossed collar ends. It also seemed to me that this would make the collar lie better, since I'd be pinning it after putting it on instead of trying to figure out the exact perfect place for a button while I was making it. (Yeah, it gives me adjustability for push-up bra days.)

Just in case anyone is curious, the pin is from R.E. Piland, purchased at MDS&W a couple years ago.

I love the way it fits and as soon as it cools off around here, I'll be able to wear it! (Hello, January!) Have a great weekend! It looks like Cassidy is your preference so I'll get started on it soon. For those of you that loved the other two, don't worry, I'll do them later.

Choices, Choices, Choices

2009-11-05T08:35:00.002-05:00

Now that I'm seaming and finishing up Juno, I've been trying to pick my next cardigan project. I did some stash diving and I have three possiblities, so I thought I'd let you guys choose since you're going to be the ones who read about it anyway. So, take a look, check out the yarns and the patterns (I'll try to give both Ravelry links and non - Ravelry links for each pattern - for those of you not on Ravelry), and leave a comment in the comments section (really the best place for comments when you get right down to it). Whichever potential project gets the most comments will be cast on next!

Project One - Coraline in Mojito Love in an Ice Blue Mist. (Coraline Rav link / Coraline Free Range Internet Link)

This yarn is something I handspun from three different batches of fiber that were similar colorwise. I finished it at the end of 2007 or so. The yarn is not solid, but shades between lighter and darker tones of the pale blue green and is a 3 ply. I may or may not put the buttons where they are in the pattern. If I change the button placement, I'll put them lower, right about bust level.

Project Two - CeCe in Berry Merino. (CeCe Rav link / CeCe Free Range Internet Link)

This is also hand spun yarn from a merino color blend made by Ohio Valley Natural Fibers. I spun this right after I finished the Mojito Love fiber, so it was finished in early 2008. It's a 3 ply, heathered yarn. I would make the version with the 3/4 length sleeves.

Project Three - Cassidy in Jaeger Shetland Aran. (Cassidy Rav link / Cassidy Free Range Internet Link)

This yarn is a non-released color of a discontinued yarn so I've been hoarding it for ages. It's a gorgeous Robin's Egg blue (a little more blue than Mojito Love) and it is a solid yarn. The Cassidy design is the type of thing that's a classic in my wardrobe and I do need a hoodie in this color. The solid will make the cables pop and texture should show up well.

So, take a look at the yarns, take a look at the patterns and leave a comment!

No, I didn't lose it.

2009-11-04T09:07:00.002-05:00

I know it's been ages since I did anything on the Cherry Blossom Shawl, but here it is! I got back to work on it yesterday and I'm halfway through the eighth repeat on the last pattern before the edging. I have to do a total of 12 repeats of this pattern, so I'm almost 2/3 of the way done with it. I also started the third ball of Shibui Silk Cloud (colorway is Blossom) yesterday. I'm not entirely sure yet, because the edging will probably eat yarn like a ravenous beast, but I think I might be able to finish this on just the three balls of yarn.

Now that I've pulled the project out again, I'd really like to get it finished up. As I've said before, it's not a difficult project and it does just fine as a TV watching project.

Guess what this means?

2009-11-03T09:54:00.003-05:00

Do you know what this is? It's the collar to Juno blocking!

Do you know what this means? It means I'm finished knitting on Juno!

All I have to do is sew it up and add buttons and I have a finished cardi. I can't wait to get this done. It really feels like I've been working on it forever, and I guess since I started it over a year ago and moved across the country while I was working on it, I maybe have been working on it forever.

As soon as the collar finishes blocking (dries), I can get finishing! I've already got a couple of things picked out for my next sweater, but I'll show you another day just to keep you in suspense.

Have a Great Weekend!

2009-10-30T09:13:00.002-05:00

I won't bore you with another picture of the Juno collar today. It's going to look remarkably the same as it did yesterday except longer until I get it finished.

Mom and Dad closed on their house this week and the movers have dropped off their stuff. Yesterday Barclay, Shibori, and Cinnamon moved over to the new house and they all seem to be happily exploring their new surroundings that are filled with boxes with all their stuff. The cats are particularly happy with the new set up, seeing as there are all sorts of kitty cat tunnels, hiding places, and short cuts they can take. Mom and Dad have a lot of unpacking to do, unless they decided to adopt a Corrugated Chic decorating theme (which they so far aren't embracing - I'll give them a couple more days to think about it).

Ramius is thrilled that the Invading Hoard has left, but Finn seems a bit lonely and sad that his buddy left. We will be getting him and Barclay together for doggy play dates so they won't be apart for long. Since Mom and Dad are an easy walking distance from our house, the dogs will still get to spend plenty of time together.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Watch out for the little ghosties and goblins. Mine is Jango Fett this year and it's the first year in about 4 or 5 that he's not wearing black!

Yesterday and More Juno

2009-10-29T08:22:00.003-05:00

First of all, this is what we did yesterday:

Yes, Caleb got braces! He's been in expanders since the first of September and they are actually still in his mouth with the braces, but yesterday his orthodontist trimmed the top expander out some and put brackets on his top, front teeth. Caleb chose the red rubber bands. He'll get braces on his lower teeth next month when they take out his lower expander. He's very proud of them and has even shown them to Ramius. (I don't think he's shown them to Finn, but Finn tends to kiss whatever part of Caleb he can reach, so it might be best not to show Finn.)

I've also gotten a little more done on the Juno collar. I'm now past the 5th repeat. I haven't measured it against the neckline, but I think I've probably got enough collar for the right front and might even be partway into the back neck section. As I said in the last blog post, each repeat really goes pretty quickly. What I've found though, is that working in black yarn isn't very easy to do at night (we desperately need better lights around here) and in order to save my sanity and avoid frogging in the morning, it's better if I only work on this during the day.

The Juno Collar

2009-10-27T08:19:00.002-05:00

I decided that the best solution to the cabled edge on Juno's collar was to follow the suggestion of the commenter and add a selvedge stitch to the inner edge of the collar. I frogged the few rows I had and restarted with an extra stitch. This means that there is an extra stitch on the outside of the small edge cable on the inside of the collar and not on the outside (which I totally could have compensated for if I had been thinking, or if I wanted to start a third time, but I didn't), but I think that since I'm working in black, it will just disappear and not be noticeable unless I point it out.

So far I've worked a little more than 3 repeats of the cable pattern and it's really going pretty quickly. I will probably just keep going on this (which means lots of blogging of black cabled stuff) until I get it finished because I'd really like to get Juno all done and wearable.

In doggy news, Finn and Barclay have become delinquents. We came home one day (Mom and Dad are back in town now) and found that they had dumped out the kitchen trash and chewed stuff up and made a big mess. The next day they got a loaf of bread off the counter and ate the entire thing (1-1/2 pounds of whole wheat - yeah that was fun). We've decided that Barclay is the brains behind the operation (Finn has never done stupid puppy stuff and he just isn't smart enough to carry out this kind of nefarious plot) and Finn is his henchmen - Barclay couldn't reach the bread on the counter - he's too short. Our suspicions were confirmed when we put Finn in his crate the next time we left and Barclay got into the trash again all by himself. Who knew such a cute little Sheltie dog was an evil genius?

A Former Sweater

2009-10-22T07:18:00.003-05:00

This past weekend this yarn was a sweater. It was an oversized sweater that didn't fit well and I've been planning to take it apart and ravel it for a while. The yarn is from Beaverslide Dry Goods and I think the color may have been Jersey Cream - I purchased it a long time ago. It's an aran weight yarn and the sweater that it used to be was knit at 4 stitches per inch.

I'm loosely thinking about making it into a top down, raglan, V-Neck, cardigan, but since it's going to be a while before I get to it, I'm not fully committed to that idea yet.

As much as I enjoy knitting, getting to frog an entire sweater is pretty fun too!

Crochet!

2009-10-21T08:14:00.001-05:00

I finished my Crocheted Star Flowers Scarf and got it blocked! I ended up using 3 1/2 balls of the yarn which was JoJoland Melody Superwash in color MS 26. I used a 2.75 mm hook (Size C) and the star motif is Motif #49 from Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs. I joined the stars at the points as I went (I explained this in a previous blog post with pictures and everything), and I made a total of 57 little stars. The finished size, after blocking is 73 inches long by 10 1/2 inches wide. When I blocked it I actually blocked it upside down because the stars were trying to "cup" towards the front. This seems to have worked pretty well because finished scarf lies completely flat.

This was a fun first crochet project for me and I don't think the idea of an entire throw is beyond my attention span. It's entirely possible that the color changes of the yarn kept me amused also.

Juno Returns

2009-10-20T08:00:00.003-05:00

Once I pulled Juno out and figured out where I was, it was pretty fast to add the front bands. Here is a detail of the front bands all finished up! (the left front band is hidden behind the right front band.) I haven't put the buttons on yet because I plan to steam block the front bands and the collar - both before and after I sew it on the neckline. I've also sewn the shoulder seams together but I'm going to wait before I seam up anything else. I want to get the collar on before I add the sleeves (just so I have less to deal with while sewing the collar) and then I'll do the side seams.

I've barely started the collar, so I didn't bother photographing it for today (it looks like a tweedy black worm on a knitting needle - very exciting, no?) As I was working on it, I realized that the directions have you work a 2 stitch cable on the first two and last two stitches of the front. Why? I've got to use the first stitch of one side of the collar to seam it to the edge of the cardi. Isn't a cable there just going to make it almost impossible to seam well and look like a demented pelican did the finishing work on my sweater? Unless anyone who has done this sweater can give me a good reason for this, I'm not working the cable on the inside edge of the collar. I'll put it on the outside, but that's it. (I've already checked for any "selvedge stitches" that aren't given in the stitch directions but are there anyway to make sewing it up easier - there aren't.) I looked at the Juno's in Ravelry, but I only looked at about 20 of them and no one seems to mention this issue.

In other news, Finn has gotten protective of Barclay. Ramius seems to have had enough of the visiting animals so he's taken to randomly chasing Barclay and smacking him around (no claws). Ramius gets in trouble when I see him do it, but like any self respecting cat he doesn't really care about anyone else's opinion. The other night, he went after Barclay again and was chasing him down the hall, smacking at Barclay's rear legs. Finn was farther down the hall and he ran towards Barclay and Ramius and chased Ramius back up on the bed, away from Barclay. Barclay seemed to appreciate it, as he doesn't really understand Ramius' problem and he kept either Finn or me between himself and Ramius all night. The next morning, Ramius walked right by Barclay as if he wasn't even there, which is much nicer than chasing him.