Virginia is for...

Hap Blanket and a Felting Fail

2012-01-18T06:22:00.000-05:00

My husband commissioned me to make a Hap Blanket (my rav link) for our (well, more his, but I know them, and they're great) friends that are having a baby in February. I grabbed some Berroco Comfort from Knitty City and cast on, ending up with a lovely little (machine washable) gift.

Pattern: Hap Blanket by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Berroco Comfort in Breezeway and Tidepool
Needle: US 11 (8mm)

I also attempted to make some of the Children's Felt Clogs for my daughter, which was a total fail. As you can see in this next picture, they felted with one foot opening far larger than the other, and one foot far larger than the other:

We also attempted to felt this by hand, having no washing machine handy in our apartment. FAIL. It took hours just to get a little felt going, despite adding boiling water, felting it with rubber gloves, abrading it, putting it in cold baths, etc. And yes, this is a very feltable yarn. I checked ahead of time.

So I sent it off with our laundry to be done, hoping that it would felt more there. NOPE.

Here they are on Georgia's feet. Far too large and oddly misshapen.

Maybe I should not do felty things from now on, given the washing machine/control issue I've got at home.

And I started a Cria by Ysolda, from her new book, Little Red in the City. The sweater is simple, but has amazingly cool construction, and I'm definitely learning a lot from it (like how to knit set-in sleeves in the round). I've also had to rip back a few times because I simply wasn't paying attention to the pattern. Oops. Might also be a function of having been sick for a while and attempting to knit things that actually require my attention.

I'm using Classic Elite Fresco for this sweater, and it feels really lovely. Unfortunately, the sweater knits up on size 4 needles and it feels like it's taking forever.

Additionally, the steeking on Georgia's sweater was quite successful, however, one of the button bands really wasn't. I think I'm going to have to rip it out and do it again (which will now make either the third or fourth time I've had to rip out that SAME BUTTON BAND), and I decided not to put a zipper in, due to the disaster of Bruce's Brigade sweater, which I suppose I should write about as well.

Next post, I suppose, will be the two failed sweaters of this winter. Sigh.

Juneberry Tricolor

2012-01-16T09:39:00.000-05:00

Now that I have returned (more or less) to the land of the living, I figure it's time to post again. I've got a few posts lined up in my head, due to some new experiences (felting and steeking on two totally different projects).

However, first, the Juneberry Tricolor.

I love this thing so much. I even bought a shawl pin for it, which is a first. I've been wearing it around and getting tons of compliments.

It wasn't too difficult to knit, however, I did have to plan extensively, take tons of notes and mark up the pattern a bunch in order to get through it. I spent probably two or three hours reading the pattern, taking notes, etc. Amazing how much of a difference that makes. (sarcasm).

Prior to doing this, I could TELL how much of a difference it would make, but somehow, never did it? Go figure. I feel like an idiot for not doing this before, but of course, I've totally neglected this step on subsequent projects, and have either failed (or frogged) as a result. DUH.

I used three 230-yard skeins for this project. The lightest color and the medium color both used about half a skein. The edging used a full skein.

Charts A, B and C of the pattern were done in the lightest color. Chart D in the medium color and the Edging chart in the darkest.

After having declared numerous times that I am a bobble hater (I really do hate them), I actually found myself loving them on this shawl. I like the way Flood set them up, although I wish he had said (or I had knew) that the bobbles would stand up better if you pull the slipped stitch all the way over the entire bobble (kind of like a tiny little bobble bra), rather than just passing it over the last stitch knitted.

When I make this shawl again, and I very likely will, I will not make the mistake of using superwash wool, as I'd like the blocking around the edging to be more dramatic. As it stands though, I love it! It is still not the most complicated thing I've ever knitted, although I guess it kind of looks like it. (most complicated honors go to the Cherry Fizz scarf, which forced me to leap forward in my knitting skills in order to complete successfully.)

Pattern: Juneberry Triangle by Jared Flood
Yarn: Periwinkle Sheep Merino Worsted in Suede, Truffle and Oxblood Lily
Needle: US9 (5.5mm)

Made from yarn purchased at Rhinebeck! I've been very good at using up my purchases this year.

Been sick.

2012-01-12T10:50:00.001-05:00

Hence the lack of blogging. I have, however, been productive. Finished two projects and started a sweater.

When I re-emerge into the land of the living, I'll post something substantial.

Year End Round Up!

2011-12-31T11:49:00.000-05:00

Time for my once-annual FO roundup! This has been a pretty productive year. In actuality, I think I have something like 80 FOs, but as 52 of these were the flowers for Ella's wedding, I'm just counting them as one. So my total on the year is 31, broken down as follows:

8 cowls
3 hats
5 scarves
5 shawls/shawlettes
3 sweaters
4 pairs of socks
1 blanket
1 pair of mittens
and the damned flowers

I also have one sweater for Georgia that is nearly done, the lamb for Georgia, also nearly done, and the Snapdragon Flip Tops, nearly done.

I've learned a few new skills this year, such as cabling without a cable needle, turning a heel on a sock, making socks, and making bobbles. Which isn't something that I'd ever thought I'd do, as personally, I HATE bobbles, but they look nice on my one bobbly project.

I've also learned that I love knitting lace, pretty much more than anything else, socks are fun, but knitting the second one sucks, and I absolutely LOATHE knitting mittens. Go figure.

This marks my third year as a knitter, which is pretty amazing to me. The craft has seen me through a lot of stuff personally, and it is definitely a form a meditation. Especially lace knitting. I've grown as a knitter, and have seen definite improvements in my skills, which is hugely encouraging. Additionally, I've seen improvements in my own attitudes, both towards knitting and towards the rest of life. While I still occasionally swear, scream and get frustrated with myself (or with the pattern, let's be totally honest here), my reaction to mistakes or whatever has definitely gotten calmer, and I'm now vastly more likely to tink or rip back to where the mistake was, rather than make a huge production of it and set the knitting aside for three weeks and mentally grumble at it whenever I see the offending project. With the exception of the Snapdragon Flip Tops, which I'm still swearing at.

Here's the round up, from the beginning of the year. (all links are Rav links to my projects):

January

Cynthia's Cowl, Mittens and Shroom:

These were commissions. Quick knits, fortunately, as I discovered that I hate commissions.

Meretith's Eternity Scarf and Propello Hat:

Also commissions. I loved working with the wool, and I found it's a lot easier to do commissions for people that I know pretty well.

Ella's Second September Circle:

To replace the one she lost. Sigh.

February

Clapotis:

This one I made with really horrendous Noro yarn, that I later overdyed with Black Cherry Kool Aid. Here's the after. LOVE this scarf. Love love love. It's warm and I wear it all the time.

Lace Flower Pins (also in March, April, May and June):

Feh. Still tired of these things:

March

Idlewood:

I wear this one fairly frequently, and the Cascade Eco + has really worn well. No pilling so far. Also, I love the giant cowl, which keeps me from having to wear a scarf.

Monkey Socks (my first socks!):

Turning a sock heel? Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Actually quite easy, to be honest. Still not sure what all the fuss is about.

Vine Loop Cowl:

Hated the original color, overdyed it with acid dye, REALLY hated the second color. Fail. Gave this one to Ella who wears it all the time.

Madeline Shawl:

Love the color, love the pattern, love the wool, wear this all the time. Awesome scarf. And yes, despite the wool's softness, this has worn quite well. However, I probably wouldn't use it for a sweater.

April

Bruce's Socks:

Really thick and warm. Enjoyed making these. Bruce seems to enjoy wearing them. Win-win.

(and about 30 lace flower pins. Sigh)

May

Embassy Scarf:

I REALLY hated the colors on this thing, but my sister-in-law Jen loved them, so I gave her the scarf when it was done.

Lumina Scarf - Green:

Quickie scarves for my mom. Just flashy enough for her, and they took about 15 minutes to make.

Lumina Scarf - Blue:

June

September Circle the Fourth:

This one was for me. I still haven't blocked it, (heh, lazy!) but have worn it constantly. LOVE this one. And the silk garden sock definitely softens up with wear.

Mom's Monkey Socks:

She really liked my Monkey socks, and had to have a pair for herself. She picked the yarn, as she didn't have any yellow socks in her wardrobe. Georgia modeled, as her feet were the only ones in the house small enough to fit in them.

July

Seduce Shawlette:

Another quickie for my mom. Georgia is modeling. This month was light on the FOs as I was working on the Breezy, which took forever (next project).

August

Breezy Cardigan:

This took forever. Also, the Knit Picks Shadow Lace? Not so good for sweaters. This sweater pills like heck. I'm a little unhappy, as I absolutely adore the sweater, and it's really flattering. And I REALLY don't want to make another one, as this one was like three miles of stockinette.

Northampton Neckerchief:

Quick, fun, easy. Loved it. Got to wear it approximately once as my friend Cara accidentally tore another scarf that I made for her, and she needed another scarf. This one looks awesome on her. Speaking of, I need to darn that other scarf. Sigh.

September

Jorie's Baby Blanket:

This pattern gets quicker the third time around. Jorie loved it. Hoping her baby boy does too.

October

Bruce's Brigade:

I should really get a better photo of this sweater, as I finished it, and Bruce has been wearing it. I finally gave up and took it to a tailor to have the zipper inserted, as my efforts were... horrible. No more zippered sweaters. URGH. Anyway, the tailor kinda (ok, really) screwed up the insertion of the zipper, however the sweater is functional, and looks great on my husband, if I do say so myself.

My Eternity Scarf:

Loved Meredith's (see above, in January) so much that I had to make one for myself. This scarf matches my Shroom perfectly, so I've been wearing them as a set.

November

Herbivore:

Took me a while, but I finally mastered this pattern. I tried to make it a year and a half ago and failed. Don't know why I failed so spectacularly, but I'm glad I finished it this time around. Gave this one to my sister-in-law Susan, who looks great in it. I hope she actually wears it.

Tide Pooling Socks:

Loved the yarn, was a little annoyed at how the pooling didn't match up. However, they're thick, warm and cozy, and I love wearing handknitted socks. Must make more.

December!

Jordan's Cowl:

Jordan fell in love with some sparkly novelty yarn, despite my best efforts to dissuade her. So I made her this cowl as a surprise. Looks great on her. She wears it every day, which I can check on, as she is my coworker...

Peaks Island Hood:

Jordan modeling a commission that I made for my friend Katie's mom for Christmas. Really quick project, despite all the seed stitch. Will probably make at least two more (as Katie seemed to really like this one, and I kinda want one too). Also, yet another Ysolda project. I may make all of her patterns yet. I really liked this pattern, as it was quite cleverly put together.

Norie:

Great hat. I think I've worn it nearly every day since. However, not warm AT ALL.

Mohair Cowl:

I wanted to use up the extra mohair from the wedding flowers (see above), and decided to pair the yellow and gray. Here is Jen, my sister-in-law (one of them, anyway) modeling. I ended up giving it to her, as it looked fantastic on her. LOVE the yellow and gray color combination, although it's proved to be quite controversial. Bruce hates it. Susan (another SIL) hated it, though was too polite to say so, Ella (SIL), Jen and I all loved it.

Juneberry Tricolor:

This one will rate its own blog post. I finished and blocked it yesterday. LOVE this thing. Adore. Love love love. Can't wait to wear it.

And my UFOs:

Grow Like a Weed:

I've bound this one off, I just need to steek and add a zipper. I REALLY don't want to add a zipper, after the Brigade debacle. Steeking is not as scary as the zipper adding. Sigh.

Snapdragon Fliptops:

I tried and failed three times to knit the fliptops. Razzle frazzle frigger frag. Still swearing about this one.

I'd REALLY love to wear them. But you know what? Still ticked. Ticked to the point where I just went and BOUGHT handknit mittens from the Union Square Christmas Fair. $20 well spent, my friends.

And that's all folks. See you next year!

Fluffy cowl and juneberry progress

2011-12-27T12:09:00.002-05:00

After finishing a few projects and realizing that we were travelling to Connecticut for the holiday weekend, I decided I needed a mindless knitting project so that I could actually be social with the family. While the juneberry isn't that difficult it does require concentration and counting so I can't really talk and work on it at the same time.

Apparently my family actually wanted me to engage with them this weekend. Go figure.
Anyway I grabbed some of the leftover mohair from the wedding flowers earlier this year and started knitting up a garter stitch stripey cowl in yellow and gray. On 10(us) needles, it went fast.

I've also made progress on the juneberry despite actually talking to people. I'm now on the border chart and it is moving fast.

Actual Modeled FO pix!

2011-12-19T13:14:00.001-05:00

I suckered my coworker Jordan into modeling for me, after I made her a scarf and plied her with chocolate.

First, her cowl (my rav link) (no, I did not make the hat. I will have to rectify that at some point in the future):

My own Norie (rav link), which I finished on the train to the spot where we took photos (Lincoln Center, if anybody's interested):

And the Peaks Island Hood (rav link) for Katie's Mom:

And that is all for today.

And yes, J, at some point I'll post some stories of living in NYC, but lately I've been too busy to enjoy it. Sigh.

FO: Peaks Island Hood

2011-12-18T15:15:00.000-05:00

So I finished off the Peaks Island hood about 30 minutes ago. It is now blocking. Here is a requisite crappy photo:

I'll post better pix once the thing is dry. Also, I should probably have somebody model it so that I can show it's recipient (my friend's mom) how to wear it, as I imagine it might be a bit confusing.

Anyway, I used the yarn the pattern called for, Green Mountain Spinnery - Mountain Mohair in Grey Birch. Just under three skeins. Same needles also, size 10 US (6mm).

Everything else went on hold for this project, so now I have to get back to Georgia's lamb so it'll be ready by Christmas. I need to knit an arm and the head, but I don't think that'll take too long.

In other news, we went to see the worst production of The Nutcracker I've ever seen yesterday. I won't call it out because they were well-meaning and earnest, but yeah, it was comically bad.

Also, Georgia lost both of her front teeth, so we've been attempting to bribe her to sing "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth," because really, how often will she be able to do THAT?

Anyway, here's a link to the song, for those of you who might not know it. This video is somewhat nauseatingly cute...

Not sure if I'll be able to post again before Christmas, so in the event that I'm not around, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to everyone! Have wonderful holidays!

New on the Needles

2011-12-11T14:55:00.000-05:00

Lessee. In the past week I've had no less than three failures trying to finish up my snapdragon fliptops. It's the fliptop bit that is driving me batty, so I guess for the time being I may just have cold hands. I didn't really enjoy knitting the other fliptops that I made, so I'm thinking traditional mittens for me from here on out.

I also started a Juneberry Triangle by Jared Flood with some of my Rhinebeck yarn and I've made it through the first three charts. I have not, however, made any photos of it yet. Then again it is lace and it will look crappy until it is blocked.

Additionally, my friend Katie commissioned me (sort of) to make a scarfy thingy for her mother. She said her mom was asking for a big cowl to wrap around her head and neck, and we both agreed that would look ridiculous on her quite petite mother, so I chose the Peaks Island Hood by Ysolda.

I cast on yesterday and I'm nearly at the hood, so this thing is flying off the needles:

I'm using the yarn specified in the pattern, and the same needle size, which is nothing short of a miracle.

Anyway, it's Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair in Grey Birch, and if this were knitted at a tighter gauge, it would be a very stiff fabric. However, because I'm knitting it so loosely, it's got a lot of drape and feels pretty fabulous. Size 10 (6mm) needles. I should be done with this in the next couple of days and then I can completely finish up Georgia's sweater, her lamb toy and the Juneberry. And maybe actually post pictures.

Quick FO: Sparkly Cowl

2011-12-04T11:41:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine (who, incidentally, occasionally reads this blog, but never on weekends) fell in love with some sparkly yarn at the yarn store not too long ago, so I whipped up this cowl (my rav link) for her yesterday:

I held together a bulky yarn and a novelty yarn to make this. I must say, it is my first use of a novelty yarn. It wasn't completely awful. You can see the sparklies if you click on the photos to make them bigger.

Yarn: Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks Homespun and Dark Horse Twinkle
Needle: US 13 (9mm)

I'm hoping that this friend of mine likes it, and that it isn't TOO sparkly. We'll see.

Anyway, it was a fun, quick knit. I might have to make a few more of these for family members for the holidays.

Also, I'm mostly finished with Georgia's sweater. I need to cast off and steek at this point, however, I guess she can wear it once I cast off if she wants.

Lovely Gifts and a Work in Progress

2011-11-25T12:52:00.001-05:00

The first awesome gift I got was from a giveaway off of Jenny's blog. She sent me some chocolate and some yarn. The chocolate was immediately consumed. I haven't used the yarn yet, but it sure is pretty:

It's Malabrigo sock in Violetta. I love that hint of blue that you can see in the yarn if you make the photo bigger:

My friend over at Leonorasfoto (who in addition to being a knitter is an awesome photographer) and I did an impromptu pattern and yarn exchange. I sent her the yarn for the Northampton Neckerchief and she sent me the yarn for Ulmus. She also packed in a few other goodies for me (and Georgia). Here is a lenscap holder that fits onto my camera strap, which is just awesome:

The yarn, which is a really amazing alpaca. From a local (to her) Norwegian store.

Super cute card:

Little wallet for Georgia (with a tiny charm bracelet inside, which Georgia has not taken off yet):

Lastly, I've been working on Georgia's sweater for the past few days, and have made quite a bit of progress:

And I've been working on a secret toy for the kiddo for Christmas, as she asked me for one. I'm making this guy. As she doesn't read my blog, I don't have to hide it, but right now I have both legs and the body completed, and it doesn't make for a very good photo.

New Skills

2011-11-18T14:31:00.000-05:00

Today I learned how to cable without a cable needle. Fancy. It's still as slow as cabling with a needle, but I'm hoping that my speed will pick up as I practice it more. Also, trying to learn how to cable without a needle is not really a good activity for the subway.

I'm doing this on Georgia's sweater. Here's a picture of the first two inches (or thereabouts) of the body:

The sleeves are done for this sweater, so alls I need to do is finish up the body. And then steek! I'm learning all kinds of new stuff for this sweater. The section to be steeked is visible towards the back of the photo, in the center. It's that strip of plain stockinette.

I also got a package from Jenny, as she had a giveaway on her blog and I won! We have decimated the chocolate (that happened yesterday), and I left the yarn at home, so I couldn't get a picture of it in the sunlight, but I promise to try in the future.

Busy. Lazy. And Busy.

2011-11-16T15:43:00.001-05:00

Here are the finished pix of the Herbivore. I gave it to my SIL, and she loves it.

Yarn: Madelinetosh Pashmina
Needle: US 6 (4mm)

Georgia took the last photo. Then she took a bunch more. THEN she decided that SHE wanted a DSLR for herself, because it is "so much better than the littler cameras."

That is the last time I let her play with my DSLR. At least until she gets older. The light was really gorgeous and we took some awesome photos out by the river that day. I stuck them up on my other blog, here (cute pix of the kid), and here.

Anyway, I'm knitting away on Georgia's sweater. Got both sleeves done and started on the body this morning. I will hopefully have it done by the end of November.

I will eventually have pictures. The sweater is very pink, and the Briar Rose is, as always, a dream to knit with. I don't know why I don't buy from them when it isn't Rhinebeck, but I should. They're just great. As always, I am not being paid to shill for Briar Rose, but it sure would be nice. I would totally take yarn as payment. Hint, hint.

Finished Object: Herbivore

2011-11-07T17:10:00.000-05:00

However, due to previously mentioned secret status, I can't really post pictures here.

I can post a Ravelry link, as the recipient is a non-knitter. You can find it here.

Georgia got a picture of me modeling it. It's a pretty good shot too!

Finished Object: Tide Pooling Socks

2011-11-05T14:31:00.002-04:00

I finished my Tide Pooling socks (my rav link) today, and they're pretty awesome. The second sock was disastrous, and I had to rip and re-knit three times.

The first time, I'd gotten all the way up to the toe and discovered I'd dropped a bunch of stitches when I was doing the gusset decreases. Oops.

The second time, I'd picked up the stitches wrong.

The third time, I got all the way to the toe, kitchenered it, and then discovered the sock was a half inch shorter than the other. Sigh.

Anyway, here they are:

Interestingly, even though I had the exact same gauge and everything, the blue pooled pretty badly on the second sock, right above where I started the heel, and then went back to striping around the fot. Also, on the second sock, the white stripe is much more prominent than it was on the first sock.

Anyway, here's another shot:

Not too concerned about the lack of matchiness, and I adore these guys. So YAY!

Oh, and I also finished the Herbivore, but still need to block it. I think that's going to a friend who may or may not read this blog, so I won't post pictures, however, I will post a link to my Rav page.

Two WIPs

2011-10-23T12:29:00.000-04:00

I finished the first Tide Pooling sock about five minutes ago. I don't want to take it off, but I suppose I must:

I used the pattern Simply Splendid Socks from Lucy Neatby's book Cool Socks Warm Feet: Six Exceptional Sock Patterns for Printed Yarns.

I figured it would be a good idea to learn the basics now that I've knitted a few pairs of socks, and using a simple pattern also seemed like a good idea for this busy busy yarn. I love the blue spiral stripe. The yarn is Socks That Rock Medium Weight in Tide Pooling. And I love the way that Neatby did the heel, with the slip stitch. It made the heel super squishy.

However, I have learned that I need a slightly smaller heel than she calls for in her socks. She says to make the heel as long as it is wide, which is about a half inch too long for me. Other than that, I didn't really learn anything new from this one, although my sock knitting skills have definitely improved.

I'm also working on a Herbivore shawl in madelinetosh Pashmina. The colorway is Fjord. I decided against making the Ode to the Bay pattern, as the lace wasn't really meshing well with my head. It is also the first release of the patterns, and there were definitely some minor errors in it, which annoyed me. I may wait until she releases an update before attempting it again.

I had originally tried to knit the Herbivore almost two years ago, and it was completely beyond my abilities at the time. I couldn't get past the two set up rows. Now, I've realized that the problem was I couldn't figure out how to make a yarn over between a knit and a purl stitch, and that is why my counts were so far off from the designer's.

Anyway, I'm breezing through the Herbivore now, and I'm pretty darned happy with my level of GAAK (Growth As A Knitter, and thank you Rose Red for the concept.) over the past two years. My twisted stitches also look LOADS better this time around with the Herbivore, as compared to the last time. I think the pattern may have made me cry in frustration the last time around, before I chucked it and knitted up a Simple Things shawlette instead.

I may eventually finish the three outstanding pairs of mittens that I have going, but I just really... I don't know. I have a block against knitting them. I've only finished one pair so far, and honestly I just find them dull. Not sure why.

Jeg lærer norsk.

2011-10-22T19:38:00.000-04:00

Look what I picked up at the thrift store today:

Given my Norwegian friend Leonora's and my translation issues, I couldn't resist picking it up when I saw it.

(for instance, me attempting to translate English knitting instructions into, well, English this weekend for her. Also, Google translate caused some hilarity when I originally discovered her website and it very incorrectly translated her profile.)

Now all I need to do is get her a dictionary of American idiom and we'd be good to go.

Heh.

Next post: Actual knitting content.

$%$#*! Blogger. %$#$@# Internet. RAR

2011-10-18T21:44:00.000-04:00

So, for the past two weeks, I've been all "WHERE ARE MY COMMENTERS? WHY DOESN'T ANYBODY LOVE ME???"

And then this weekend, when I did have time to sit and look at blogger, our $&^#$! internet was on the blink. According to Verizon, the outage was across four of the five boroughs of NYC. Guess which one still had internet. Yup. Manhattan.

ANYWAY, apparently blogger decided that all of my comments needed to be moderated, so everybody's comments were sitting in an inbox somewhere in blogger until now. Sigh.

Thank you all for the lovely comments. I am sorry I haven't been more active on your all's blogs lately, but things have been difficult, what with not having internet on the only weekend I've been home for the past month or so.

Enough with the excuses. Off to comment on everyone else's blogs!

Rhinebeck Purchases and WIPs

2011-10-18T14:37:00.000-04:00

I've got a few Works-in-Progress (WIPs) going right now:

Snapdragon Flip Tops

Simply Splendid Socks

Eternity Scarf (ok, this one is actually a Finished Object)

I also bought some yarn at Rhinebeck:

Briar Rose Fibers in Angel Face - 2500 yards of lace weight alpaca

Briar Rose Fibers in Abundance - 750 yards of worsted weight Corridale

Periwinkle Sheep worsted in Oxblood Lily, Truffle and Suede

I have no idea what I'm going to do with the laceweight, but it sure is pretty. And soft.

The pink worsted weight is for a sweater for Georgia. This one, as a matter of fact:

Photo Courtesy of Elinor Brown

It's called the Grow Like a Weed Jacket and it is a pretty sweet pattern. Plus, steeking! I haven't done that before.

And the three colors of worsted weight will become a shawl of some sort. Probably one of Jared Flood's worsted weight shawls.

I actually have one more WIP going, which is the Ode to the Bay Shawl by Liz Abinate, but it is too small and crumply to really look like anything right now. So eventually I'll post a pic.

Rhinebeck!!!

2011-10-15T21:06:00.000-04:00

We went today and had an awesome time. It is definitely worth going to, although I have to say, I get Rhinebecked out after about four hours and just need to leave.

Alpaca in soft focus.

Georgia and the alpaca.

Some locks from some sheep or another. Sorry. I was crushed and didn't have the chance to see what kind of sheep they were from.

Awesome Rasta sheep.

Bruce playing around with some locks.

Georgia playing around with some locks.

Sneak preview of my purchases this year.

And another thing

2011-10-08T14:58:00.001-04:00

In addition to all of my insanity over the past few weeks, I also had a bunch of Groupons to Knitty City, one of the best knitting stores in NYC. Not only do they have an awesome selection, but they are also quite nice.

Anyway, I had three days to use up three Groupons, and I was only allowed to use one at a time, so I had to go back each day. I know. Total tragedy.

Here is some of my booty:

madelinetosh toshsock in tart

Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in Peat Mix

Four skeins of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in Cardinal

Four skeins Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in Tiger Eye

madelinetosh pashmina in Filigree

madelinetosh pashmina in terra verte (I think)

3 skeins of Rowan Lima in La Paz, which are already being turned into an Eternity Scarf.

Here is a picture of Bruce's sweater, unfinished:

LOVE the applied icord around the top edge and the neck opening!

Also, I managed to finagle a new camera (by saving up some amazon gift cards that I got from a rewards program, and selling another camera), so I got a Canon Eos Rebel something or other. It's pretty darned awesome. And it doesn't mangle the colors. Well, most of the colors. It didn't do too well with the Berroco yarn in Cardinal above. But that may also be my own ineptitude with the camera right now.

So. There you go. My yarn related activities thus far.

Also, I hear that many of you have been having issues leaving comments on my blog lately. I'll see if I can get that worked out with blogger.

Uber Busy

2011-10-06T14:44:00.000-04:00

Life, it seems, has mostly gotten in the way of blogging. It has also gotten in the way of knitting the past few days, much to my dismay. I am starting to get grumpy.

However, since I last posted, I actually finished the knitting on Bruce's sweater. I now just have to weave in all 40 million ends, graft the underarms together, and sew in a zipper. I should be able to get that done in a week, in time for Rhinebeck, right?

Also, since I've last posted, we traveled to Massachusetts for Bruce's uncle's memorial service, celebrated Georgia's 6th birthday (that was yesterday), dealt with a bunch of school related stuff for the kid, and worked.

It's been a wee bit busy. Georgia's birthday party is this coming Sunday (I'm having minimal children attend) and then the week after that is RHINEBECK!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!

It will be a relief to be able to sit down and knit this evening in knitting group.

At some point in the near future, I'll attempt to post pictures. I swear.

Why Mommy Needs a Drink.

2011-09-28T20:08:00.000-04:00

1. Thought oh, I'll make dinner. I have all the ingredients for mini pesto/prosciutto pizza cups.
2. Can't find the muffin tin in which I make the mini pizza cups.
3. Can't find any cookie sheets on which to bake pizzas.
4. Realize I don't have any mozzarella that is not in the form of string cheese. Tear up string cheese to put on pizzas.
5. Decide to make mini pizzas on the pizza stone in the oven. Brilliant!
6. Read instructions on pizza dough container. Preheat oven to 475 (F)
7. Assemble pizzas.
8. Put pizzas on pizza stone.
9. Read instructions on pizza dough container. Set timer for 13 minutes.
10. Child spills huge glass of water all over everything in dining room.
11. Oven starts pouring out smoke.
12. Mommy starts to go insane opening windows and trying to remember where the smoke detector is so that I could turn it off.
13. Child starts going "what's happening? Can I help?" and getting underfoot.
14. Mommy moves fan from bedroom into kitchen, whacking child in the head in the process, due to item number 13.
15. Fan does not help.
16. Mommy remembers the pizzas. Opens the oven to take a look. After the smoke clears, realizes that all of the pizzas have burned.
17. Daddy, who has been recovering from a respiratory illness, comes home to find the house full of smoke. Starts coughing. Not good.
18. We scrape the tops off the pizzas and eat. The tops were good, if a little smoky.
19. The apartment still smells of smoke.
20. Begin consumption of alcohol.

Epic Pattern Reading Fail

2011-09-22T10:38:00.000-04:00

So I started on the Snapdragon Flip-Tops on Sunday, and had a long day of knitting and ripping and knitting and ripping and knitting... I kept reading half of the line on the pattern and not to the end. Smart, I know. And then I'd get to the following line of the pattern and nothing would match up. Sigh.

Finally on Monday morning, I just ripped the whole mess back to the ribbing, and reknit the silly thing. Looked much better. I'm now on the second mitten, which is going fairly smoothly, now that I got most of the bumps out of the road on the first and second go-rounds.

No pictures yet. Sorry. It's been crappy weather lately, and I've been at work a lot, so I haven't had any time to get pix.

On a totally different note, I have many many back issues of Interweave Knits to give away. After we moved the last time around, I swore that I would purchase all of the Interweave Knits magazines on CD and get rid of the paper copies, just because they are so darned heavy.

I have all of 2009 and 2010, so if there's one you want (or if you want the whole shebang), drop me a line and I'll ship them off to you. Yes, I will ship internationally, however, if I do that, I won't send them all at once, just because the postage will be so ridiculous. I'll probably only send two at a time in the fancy flat rate international envelopes.

First come first served. Leave me a comment letting me know what you want and how to contact you for an address.

Knitted Flip FLOPS

2011-09-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

For the amusement of all (But especially Ms. JMac), I present knitted flip flops:

The pattern is Felted Flip Flops by Kelly Jensen. $6 USD on Ravelry.

See, J? Knitters can knit ANYTHING.

I'm going to cheat on Bruce's sweater

2011-09-18T09:03:00.000-04:00

This morning, after sitting down with a cup of tea and reflecting on the fact that I can sit down with a cup of tea and not melt instantaneously, simply because the temperature today is considerably more civilized than it was three days ago.

I was writing a sentence with a point...

Oh yes, so after sitting down with a cup of tea, I determined that knitting on Bruce's sweater right now was driving me insane, and it was time to cheat.

So a year after I made my Snapdragon Tam (which I love, and was the first piece I broke out as soon as the weather got cooler):

I am making the matching Snapdragon Flip-Tops:

Photo Courtesy of Ysolda

And as Bruce just pointed out, I did the hat in the color that Ysolda suggested, which I think is a first for me. However, the color is just so bright and cheery and is so wonderful to wear in the dregs of winter that I couldn't resist. The mitts will match.

I have about three more pairs of Snapdragon mitts to knit for other people after I get done with this pair. One out of madtosh and another out of malabrigo silky merino. However, I'm a little concerned how well the silky merino will hold up as mittens.

Anyway, so yes. I am cheating. I have informed Bruce of this. I'm sure he's disappointed in me, but I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with myself for staying monogamous for a whole month almost.

Duh

2011-09-14T07:35:00.013-04:00

I totally forgot that I can share my mystery project from earlier this month. I made a baby blanket for my friend Jorie, and even managed to get it done in time for her baby shower.

Both she and the baby's father are of Scottish heritage, so I decided on yet another Hap Blanket (by Ysolda) for her gift. Though honestly, this probably won't be the only baby gift I make her as there are some super cute patterns out there for kiddos.

Here's my latest Hap (rav link):

Two patterns of great awesomeness

2011-09-12T20:58:00.000-04:00

While browsing around on Rav, (and fantasizing about new projects) I found these two patterns which were released recently and look awesome.

First, Octopus Mittens:

Heck YEAH!

Secondly, the super cute Winter's Tree cardigan:

Here's another version:

Yes, I am still working on Bruce's sweater. I've finished one sleeve and am working on the second. Should be done with sleeve two in a few days. Then onto the yoke and collar.

Mystery Project Done

2011-09-03T19:54:00.001-04:00

Pictures of my latest FO can be found on Ravelry here. (Sorry, the link is only for Rav members).

I'll be able to post pictures of it next week.

Bruce's sweater is still green, and still in stockinette and 3x2 ribbing. I'm not complaining. I just had to set it aside to work on the secret project before I had to give it to its recipient.

In actual knitting news, I recently acquired a copy of Knitting Rules! by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who is also known as Yarn Harlot.

Yes, the book is funny. Yes, it has lots of excellent knitting advice. Yes, unfortunately, it is making me desperate to knit another pair of socks. Which I shall be doing while I am knitting on Bruce's sweater. I'm thinking of using some of the Socks that Rock yarn I got in Oregon and knitting some plain vanilla ones.

So NOT Exciting

2011-08-30T19:25:00.001-04:00

In a completely non-dramatic turn of events, I competently and quickly ~~knitting~~ knitted (but apparently can't competently and quickly type. Oy) approximately 15 inches of the body of Bruce's sweater.

In other news, the sweater is still green.

Sorry I'm not more exciting today. Although the very good part of all of this is that I am a vastly faster knitter than I was a year and a half ago. So that's good news. The last sweater that I knitted for Bruce I think knitting all of the stockinette body took me about three months. So cutting that down to a week or so is pretty darned good, right?

Also, the secret project is nearly complete. And I can't talk about it. Sigh.

We are Fine

2011-08-28T13:37:00.000-04:00

So far, haven't even lost power.

Sadly, I haven't gotten as much knitting done as I'd like, but other than that, all is well.

Busy prepping for the hurricane

2011-08-26T17:37:00.000-04:00

Sorry, not much time for posting as we are currently battening down the hatches.

As soon as the storm is over and I have power/communications back on, I'll post to let everyone know that we're ok.

Lovely August

2011-08-23T19:44:00.000-04:00

The weather in NYC has been amazingly awesome for August. It's been reasonably warm (80F, 26C) and we've gotten a lovely breeze most evenings coming off the East River, which is very close by. Tonight, Bruce, Georgia and I dined outside on the balcony, and I spent a little time knitting on Bru's sweater:

We're all relaxed, with our feet up, recovering from the earthquake... Yeah, earthquake. For those not from North America, we don't generally get earthquakes on the East Coast. This one's epicenter was in Virginia (the state) I'm hoping that all of my Virginia (the state) friends are ok, and aren't experiencing too much trauma from the event.

Speaking of trauma, we had one heck of a storm this past Friday. I managed to get this one shot of the clouds moving in (this was during the day time, not at night at all) before it hit and everything was obscured. Poor Bruce got stuck out in it.

And apparently we're supposed to get hit with a hurricane this weekend. So while the world may be ending (or something), I'll hopefully get some good knitting time in.

Northampton Neckerchief Done

2011-08-20T17:26:00.000-04:00

I finished the Northampton Neckerchief (my rav link) yesterday, and it looks faaaaabulous, if I do say so myself.

The details:

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in Steel Cut Oats, Boysenberry Mix and Prune Mix
Needle: US 5 - 3.75 mm

Also, I have my internet back up, so I can actually catch up on everybody's blogs!

I'll be casting on for Bruce's sweater and a secret project today that is for a gift for a friend who may or may not read my blog. However, details of it will be on Rav, if anybody is terribly interested.

Technical difficulties

2011-08-19T21:10:00.001-04:00

Due to the verizon strike, i'm reduced to a quickie update post from my phone as we have no internet service.

Jelly side: less internet = more time to knit.

Finished the neckerchief, will post pix from phone after blocking.

Projects, Current and Future

2011-08-14T13:13:00.000-04:00

After I finished up my Breezy, I jumped into the Northampton Neckerchief (rav link) from the book New England Knits: Timeless Knitwear with a Modern Twist (amazon link). I'd purchased the yarn for it earlier this year, and have been excited about it, simply because I love the purply stripes and everything.

Photo from the book, courtesy of Interweave Knits.

However, it is a wee bit dull to knit, as the main part of the shawl is stockinette. And I eliminated the beads, as I didn't have any and I was feeling too lazy to go out and find all of the necessary supplies. Also, I wasn't too wild about them, hence the laziness. I'm also using slightly different colors than what was specified in the book, though I am using the same yarn (Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine).Here's my progress:

Secondly, I'm starting in on Bruce's second sweater. Hopefully it will go more quickly now that I'm more experienced and a slightly faster knitter. Plus, it's August, and I'll hopefully be able to finish this sweater by the time Christmas rolls around. I'm making him Brigade by Todd Glocken:

Photo courtesy of Todd Glocken.

For this sweater I'm also using Berroco Ultra Alpaca, this time in the worsted weight. Bruce picked the colorway "Pea Soup Mix" which is actually much deeper and greener than it appears in this photo:

I think I'll be able to cast on for it this afternoon. We're experiencing some rain, and have no desire to go gallivanting around the city.

Vacation Knitting Booty

2011-08-10T10:14:00.000-04:00

I did a little (but not much) shopping during the vacation.

In Roanoke, VA, we went to an awesome used bookstore in the Grandin Road area, Too Many Books, and I found the following, which are very exciting:

Unexpected Knitting by Debbie New

Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks Warm Feet

At the Mosaic Yarn Shop in Blacksburg, VA, I picked up this yarn, which is awesome. It's spun at a new mill (!?!) near Pearisburg, VA, which is where Bruce and I were legally married (we had our ceremony in Stuart, VA, a few hours south). The yarn is from Back Country Ranch, and it is unbelievably soft and squishy. I also love that it has the photos of the alpacas that the yarn came from on the front of the label. I may be keeping this ball band:

Finally, my completed, but as yet unblocked Breezy Cardigan. I'll be blocking it in the next few hours and will post modeled pictures later on.

Back from vacation

2011-08-09T20:49:00.002-04:00

Tired.

Photos can be found on my other blog here: http://trailingoffintosilence.blogspot.com/2011/08/random-selection-of-vacation-photos.html

Will have knitting related content tomorrow.

Finished the Breezy Cardigan. Just need to wash and block it.

Interchangable Needle Comparison

2011-08-01T21:43:00.003-04:00

Ok, as promised, a comparison of Knit Picks, Addi Clicks Lace and Hiya-Hiya interchangable needle sets. I have one metal set and one wood set from KP, metal from Addi and metal from Hiya-Hiya. And apologies for both the crapitude of the photos and the entirely knitting-related content for my non-knitting readers.

Tips:

Knit Picks tips are by far the sharpest of the three, and they have a great taper. Hiya-Hiya is somewhere in the middle, and Addi, despite their "lace" moniker, are the bluntest, and are, in fact, a bit too blunt for my liking, especially in the smaller sizes. The Hiyas look the bluntest in the photo (for whatever reason), but they feel and knit a lot sharper than the addis (having worked with both needles on the same project, with the same yarn now).

From left: Knit Picks, Addi & Hiya-Hiya

From left: Knit Picks, Addi, Hiya-Hiya

Joins:

Knit Picks and Hiya-Hiya have excellent joins between the cable and the needle. Very smooth and hardly noticeable at all. Addi has a very bumpy join, which is absolutely impossible to deal with on anything smaller than a fingering/sock weight yarn.

From left: KP, Addi, Hiya

Addi

Addi (you can actually see the bumpy join there)

Hiya

Ease of joining:

KP is definitely the most difficult and it involves a little key thingy (or a paper clip in a pinch) to fully tighten the cable into the base of the needle. This annoyed me, so I got the Addis, which just click on (hence the name, Addi Click). However, the join sucks. Subsequently, I got the Hiyas, which are awesome, and can be screwed in by hand, or using a teeny little silicone gripping pad for extra tightness. (that sounded wrong somehow).

Cable Flexibility:

All of the cables seemed to have similar levels of flexibility to me. I really didn't notice a difference.

Finish:

They all have pretty slick finishes. However, for whatever reason, the finish on the KP needles wears off (including the finish on the ferrules) making the metal needles and the metal base on the wooden needles extremely sticky. Which infuriates me. I sent back two pairs of needles to KP, and they replaced them without question, but the same exact thing happened again, and I was annoyed. KP has truly excellent customer service, but I'm getting tired of sending their products back over and over again (more on this later).

Cases:

I think the winner is clear (Hiya). But this one is totally subjective, I know. Not that the rest of my review isn't, but at least I have something other than opinion to back it up.

Needle Size Range:

I think KP has the best range for purchase overall: US 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10.5 and 11

Addi: US 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11

Hiya: US 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 and another set (purchased separately) US 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Price Point:

Addi: Approx US $169

KP: US $69.99

Hiya: Approx US $70

Other Considerations:

KP has a great price and a decent product. I have had some problems with the cables pulling free of the ferrules in the middle of the project:

I am excited to see how the Hiya Hiya's wear, as I've now knitted almost an entire project with them (Breezy, almost done) and so far so good!

The Addis are really amazing in terms of the convenience of just snapping the cables into the needle, but are vastly better for thicker yarns.

All in all, I probably wouldn't buy another set of Addis. I feel like they are far too expensive to have such crappy joins.

I have had to replace numerous cables on the KP set, and as noted above, have issues with the finish deteriorating on the metal parts of the needles. However, they are a great value, have an extensive range of sizes for purchase outside of the set, and excellent customer service.

The Hiyas are definitely too new to tell, but I'm liking them initially. Great price point, interesting size range, so far so good on the cables.

And that is that. I am now off on vacation (going to Virginia - the state). I may be blogging from my phone, but those posts will likely be very text light.

I am also nearly done with the Breezy, so hopefully will have photos of it very soon.

Rainy Day Book Review

2011-07-25T15:17:00.000-04:00

Today is a rainy day in lovely Astoria, and I'm home sick with a nasty tummy bug. So to comfort myself, I've been knitting (on the second endless Breezy sleeve) and watching knitting videos.

I've become a fairly big fan of Interweave's videos (especially when they're on sale), and picked up the Introduction to Fair Isle with Eunny Jang, and Knitting from the Top Down with Wendy Bernard from the digital downloads a while back. On sale. A lot of sale. I really, really want to get the Reversible Cables with Lily Chin one, but it is $30, which feels a lot steep, and I haven't seen any good sales, discounts or coupons lately (hint, hint, Interweave, ahem).

However, today I've been watching the Sock Knitting Master Class video that came with the book, and it is awesome.

While a lot of the information in it is basic, I learned a great deal about knitting technique (even that which has nothing to do with socks) from it. Plus, Ann Budd is really really cute. I was mentally compiling a list of Ann Budd quotes while I was watching the movie, such as:

"Kitchener stitch: It's that easy!" (said in the style of an infomercial)

and

"There's nothing worse than running out of yarn on a bind-off. Well, there are plenty of worse things, but we won't talk about those today."

I've been reading Ann's blog since her first post, and she's got a wonderful warm writing voice. Also, she's currently knitting through all of the socks in Sock Knitting Master Class, in a kind of KAL with a bunch of other folks from the Interweave boards. (which, honestly, I never read. Ravelry is more than enough for me.)

Anyway, the book has some gorgeous patterns, and with the accompanying video is well worth the price of admission. I imagine super experienced knitters wouldn't get all that much out of the video, but the patterns... some of those socks are downright sexy, with all kinds of fun technique and stuff.

One of my favorite aspects of the book is that Mistress of All Things Yarn, Clara Parkes, writes a sidebar with each pattern about the types of yarn that would be most appropriate for it. She discusses the differing qualities of the yarns and why smooth yarns may be more suited than fuzzy yarns (or vice versa).

More pictures of Astoria

2011-07-24T15:53:00.000-04:00

Last night Georgia and I went out on a little photo walk through Astoria park, and got some pictures of the two bridges and the East River.

The RFK Bridge (nee, Triboro):

I particularly like this shot:

The Hell's Gate Bridge:

And this shot is a favorite:

The Hell's Gate Bridge is particularly massive. Each of its trusses is huge, and they make the RFK bridge look almost delicate in comparison. In the second photo from the bottom, I wanted to show the scale of the bridge, with the light post in the frame for comparison.

The last photo is a favorite shot of Georgia's, as she says it looks like the bridge is cracking.

This shot, from Wikipedia, shows how close the two bridges are, RFK on the left and Hell's Gate on the right:

Seduce Shawlette

2011-07-23T20:14:00.001-04:00

I finished up the Seduce Shawlette today and got some lovely photos of it (if I do say so myself).

The yarn is pretty awesome to work with, despite the fact that it is, technically, a novelty yarn. It looks really pretty knitted up, and looks great in this pattern. Additionally, it wasn't splitty, and the nylon wrapped construction really helped keep everything together. As far as the feel on the hands, it was a little rough at times, but that was mostly when I was knitting in 100 degree F (38C) heat.

Speaking of the heat, one thing that it is very good for, is blocking. When I blocked the shawl, I didn't even bother to wring out the excess water. I just pinned it and left it sitting out on our terrace in the afternoon for about 20 minutes. It dried superfast, which was particularly awesome, as it was near instant gratification for photos.

Here are the details:

Pattern: Seduce Shawlette (in-store pattern from a yarn store in Oregon, the TSpot)
Yarn: Berroco Seduce in Dreams
Needles: US6 - 4mm

My lovely model, Georgia, was exceedingly cranky about having her picture taken. I might try to convince her again, but I have no idea if it'll work.

To my friends across the sea...

2011-07-23T18:17:00.001-04:00

(photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

We're mourning with you.

Cheating on my Breezy

2011-07-20T13:39:00.000-04:00

Last night I finally got fed up with the neverending sleeves, so I wound up some Berroco Seduce (Colors) and started knitting on a shawl (my rav link) my mother fell in love with.

It's from a store pattern, and I'm a little weirded out by the shawl's cast on, and initial rows, but c'est la vie.My mom likes it, she got me the yarn and pattern, and I shall knit.

Here it is thus far:

The stitch pattern is really pretty, but again, I'm not thrilled about the beginning of the shawl. I might rewrite the pattern a wee bit to be a little more sensical. Then again, maybe it will block out.

Then again, again, I'm not sure that patterns that need extreme blocking in order to look somewhat normal are really something I'm thrilled about.

Anyway, it's a fun and pretty stitch pattern, and I'm enjoying the break from endless stockinette. All is well.

The Sleeves That Never End

2011-07-18T21:34:00.000-04:00

I am getting so bleeding tired of working on my stupid Breezy Cardigan, that I'm starting to really dislike knitting. The sleeves are going on and on and on and on... Anyway, all this means that it is time for another project.

While I am deciding on that, I will give you some photos that I took recently of my neighborhood, and at least one knitting related item. I know. Don't faint. There is actual knitting-related content in this post other than me whining about knitting endless stockinette sleeves in lace weight yarn on DPNS and being completely and utterly BORED.

Photos:

The Lion Brand Studios store window. It's the tradtional tacky NYC tourist postcard (which I love) done up in knitted items!

The Triboro Bridge (now the RFK Bridge, I guess) at night, overlooking the Astoria Park pool.

Another shot, in B&W. Love the light pollution haze coming from Manhattan. You can really see it in the B&W.

Happy birthday to me!

2011-07-15T15:33:00.001-04:00

Madelinetosh tussah silk lace 1000 yards

Posting from my phone, apologies for short text.

Manhattanhenge (pix heavy, but no knitting)

2011-07-13T20:17:00.000-04:00

Last night was Manhattanhenge, when the setting sun lines up perfectly with Manhattan's street grid. It's a pretty awesome sight, and this year Georgia and I got to watch it from Queens. We were running along the waterfront on Hallet Cove near Socrates Sculpture Park trying to find a spot that lined up with the grid. Finally found one, about two seconds before the sun dipped below the horizon. And then my stupid camera wouldn't focus... fortunately it has a fast shutter speed.

Out of focus, but I thought it was still pretty damn cool.

Finally got the shot!

The last of the sun.

We then went into the park and I got a sweet shot of the kiddo in the falling light. Amazing that she stood still long enough for me to catch this one.

Georgia and I also found some awesome street art (or graffiti, if you will) on our walk to the waterfront, on 30th Ave near Main Street:

Breezy

2011-07-12T14:00:00.000-04:00

My work on the breezy came to a screeching halt this weekend when I got to the sleeves. I've been using addi clicks, lace needles on this sweater, and while running the stitches over the truly craptacular joins on the needles was annoying for the body of the sweater, it became completely unbearable when attempting to magic loop the sleeves.

(By the way, I will be posting a side by side comparison of the addi clicks, Knit Picks interchangable and hiya hiya interchangeable soon)

So I went to my knitting needle collection to dig out a pair of DPNs. None in size six. Sigh. I decided to break out the KP interchangeable needles to magic loop, because at least the join is decent on those. Nope. No cables in the size I needed, because all of those cables had broken because of the crappy glue used between the cable and the ferrule. Sigh. I do not have to matching pairs of size six circs, so I couldn't use that method either.

I tried to knit another row on the addis and nearly threw my knitting across the room. Obviously, it was time to stop.

Yesterday I went out to Seaport Yarns, which is near where I work, and picked up a pair of metal hiya hiya DPNS, and as I was complaining about my interchangeable needle issue, the owner handed me a set of the hiya hiyas and told me to take them home and try them out. SWEET!

Anyway, I've now worked on the sleeves with the DPNS, it's looking ok. I'm not really thrilled with the laddering problem between each needle, but I'm not sure there's really any way to avoid that when working with lace yarn on size 6 needles.

I haven't knit with the hiya hiyas, but I will finish up the ribbing around the collar and front edges of the sweater with them, and leave the addi clicks for bigger yarns that won't snag quite as much.

Sorry for the no pix post today... I'm away from my camera at the moment.

Also, my blogiversary, birthday and wedding anniversary are coming up on the 14th, 15th and 17th, respectively. (two, 35 and seven, also respectively)

Plugging Away

2011-07-09T16:31:00.000-04:00

I seem to be plugging away at a number of things recently: unpacking, working, finishing up my Breezy Cardigan.

We are making progress with the unpacking, but so far, the balcony/terrace/veranda/patio/whatever is the only place in the apartment that is not at all chaotic.

The view from the balcony. We have a cheery red patio umbrella! The tall buildings in the distance are at the intersection of Astoria Blvd and 21st St. for those who are interested in such things.

Bruce has done an amazing job of putting away and reorganizing our rather gargantuan collection of books. So yes, the books are mostly put away. For now.

There really isn't *that* much left to do, just finding places to put all of the stuff we have sitting around. It's not a huge job, just annoying. And tiresome.

Anyway, my new commute offers me exactly zero time for knitting, which is frustrating. Ok, that's more of an understatement. It is driving me absolutely freakin bananas.

However, I have managed to get the body of the Breezy Cardigan done:

Georgia also joined me on the balcony for the brief photo shoot, but she insisted on making weird faces the entire time. However, the light out there is gorgeous today:

You can just see my landlord's garden behind her. He's this lovely old Italian gentleman, who lives with his incredibly elderly mother. They grow grapes, figs and garlic in the back yard. His mama braids the garlic in the old school way, and gave us some when we moved in. YUM.

Done moved.

2011-07-05T11:36:00.000-04:00

We moved successfully from the Bronx to Astoria this past weekend. Amazingly enough, it was accomplished in a single day. And now we are exhausted and trying to reorganize a three bedroom apartment into a two bedroom apartment. However, the large balcony is nice, and I love our new hood. The neighbors are lovely and have introduced themselves, which is a rarity for us. In the Bronx we only knew about four of our neighbors.

Anyway, it's nice here. Georgia and I have been camping out on the balcony all morning because it's been sunny and warm.

I may actually get over my sleep deprivation sometime soon. Within the next few days, I hope.

And yes, I know exactly where all of my yarn, knitting books and needles are.

-v

The Epic Pigeon Scam

2011-06-28T20:31:00.000-04:00

Warning: The following content has absolutely nothing to do with knitting. Other than the fact that it was written by a knitter. Who is currently not knitting to bring you this story.

Every day on the train, at least once, somebody comes through begging for spare change. The spiel usually goes like this: "Excuse me ladies and gentlemen, I don't mean to bother you, and I hate begging, but I just got out of prison and I am disabled, and I have nowhere to go, and nothing to eat. Please, please spare some change..." Usually this is accompanied by a severe (seeming) limp.

I generally see the same guy on the train every day, and I can tell you, he lives in my neighborhood, walks perfectly fine when he's not on the train, and apparently has "just gotten out of prison" every single day of the week. Not that I'm cynical or anything. In fact, there's another beggar that I've seen in midtown, a small Indian lady, who dresses in beautiful saris, and is about 20 years old. When she's begging, she has this crutch that she leans on with one arm, back all hunched, and her other hand extended with a cup in it, and she says "Please, please" in the most pathetic voice EVER. Her disabilities look truly painful. Yeah. I've also seen her running up the stairs of the subway with cane and crutch in hand.

ANYWAY. Today I saw the pigeon version of this particular scam.

I was sitting in Bowling Green park eating my lunch, when all of a sudden I hear people around me exclaiming "oh, that poor thing" and "Oh, his wing is broken" so I look up and this pigeon limps by with his wing stuck out at a weird angle.

Bowling Green

All these people are throwing the pigeon bits and pieces of their lunches, and the bird is eating voraciously. Then, as somebody went up to grab the pigeon (ostensibly to take it somewhere it could be helped), the pigeon folds up its wing perfectly and flies off.

I'm sitting there laughing my fool head off, going "Boy, y'all just got scammed by a bird."

Finished Object: Mom's Monkey Socks

2011-06-27T18:51:00.000-04:00

I finished up my mother's Monkey Socks today. She has admirably tiny feet. Size 5 US (Size 35 European). Dinky. Which is TOTALLY AWESOME for sock knitting.

Anyway, Georgia modeled them this evening, as my big size 9 (Size 40 Euro) feet won't fit into them, and my mother (and her tiny tiny feet) are in Oregon. Which is not anywhere near New York City.

Pattern: Monkey
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in the Ochre colorway
Needle: US 1.5 (2.5mm)

And a gratuitous Beezer shot, since he hasn't been on the blog lately. I love the fact that he can't pull in his fangs for this one.

New Pictures of an Old (Young) Favorite

2011-06-25T10:05:00.000-04:00

I made this Wispy Cardigan (my rav link) for Georgia more than a year ago. She's grown an amazing eight (!?!) inches since then, but it still fits her. LOVE this pattern. I'll definitely be making her another one when the time comes.

Here are some pictures from today:

And some pictures from last year:

We Survived The Wedding!

2011-06-19T20:41:00.000-04:00

Although we are completely exhausted. Some photos:

The flower girls amid chaos

The bride and much of the bridal party

The bride and her brother

That's my husband walking his sister, the bride (Ella), up the aisle, and making a rare appearance on the blog. The knitted flowers looked really beautiful in the bouquets and as boutonnieres for the men. After the ceremony I took no pictures as I was pretty busy (and entertained) running around after the girls and carrying around my four-month-old nephew.

In Bloom.

2011-06-16T08:28:00.000-04:00

I've finished the multitude of flowers for the wedding bouquets. The bride's will be white, the bridesmaids are getting colors:

I'm now working on the pins for the wedding (which is on Saturday). So far, two finished, about 10 to go.

I also went back to work at my former position at a company downtown. My boss' wife became suddenly, terminally ill and he asked me to come back and see to things for a while.

Hence, things are a wee bit busy. The wedding is this weekend, Georgia's Kindergarten graduation is today, we're moving in two weeks and I'm working full time outside the home again.

Blogging will probably be somewhat on the backburner for a bit.

I am, however, getting LOTS of knitting done on the subways.

Quick Update: Found an Apartment!

2011-06-09T09:34:00.000-04:00

We'll be moving into Queens (Astoria)! YAY!

Phew. That was only one of the most stressful times I've ever had. But it was over quickly, and we're getting an awesome apartment.

September Circle The Fourth

2011-06-07T10:42:00.000-04:00

I've been working on my Breezy Cardigan, but got stockinetted-out after I got under the arm holes. Plus, I was falling asleep on the plane coming back to NYC and needed something to keep me stimulated. So I started another September Circle, this one for me.

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock, color 252

Needle: US 7 (4.5mm)

Time: Four days off and on

Here it is in its unblocked glory:

I'll block it and model it at some point in the future. Now I'll be going back to the Breezy.

Things right now are rather tumultuous. I'll have news I can actually share in a few days, I think, regarding jobs, apartments, etc, etc, etc. There are rather a lot of et ceteras right now.

In the meantime, photography-minded peoples should head on over to my friend and fellow NYCer Urban Muser's blog. She's having an AWESOME giveaway that I would totally enter if I weren't committed to keeping as much stuff as possible out of my apartment before the move.

Zonked. But home.

2011-06-03T16:59:00.000-04:00

Phew. Jet lag from east to west wasn't bad at all. Coming home however is a different story. It was a little rough getting up at 6:30 this morning to see Georgia off to school, as it was 3:30 a.m. by my body's time.

Anyway, I knitted a bunch on the plane yesterday. Started a new project. And more yarn was purchased immediately prior to my departure from Oregon, which I will eventually photograph and stick up on the blog.

Right now we're apartment hunting like mad, and have appointments to see four places tomorrow.

I was super happy to see my family. I swear that Georgia and Beezer both grew massively in my absence.

Well, I'm in Oregon

2011-05-25T23:53:00.001-04:00

About an hour after we got back to my mother's house, we discovered that the surgery that was scheduled for tomorrow was cancelled by the doctor. This was in addition to a bunch of other incredibly annoying crap that happened on both coasts.

On the very positive side of things, today at dinner I sat at a table in front of a huge picture window and watched elk cavort across an uninhabited island in the bay. Then we went at bought ice cream and I took the dog down to the beach for a run.

After that I took pictures of the flowers in my mother's front yard:

I have no idea what these flowers are. If anybody is desperate to know, just post a comment and I'll ask my mother.

Also, I got a TON of knitting done on the plane today.

Actual Knitting Content

2011-05-22T20:02:00.000-04:00

Try to contain your amazement.

In a few days I'm traveling to the Oregon Coast to care for my mother after she has some surgery, and I don't know how much blogging I'm going to get done. Also, when I get back, we're going to be doing some serious apartment hunting and moving, as well as Ella's wedding on the 18th, and about 50 million other things we've got going on (Bruce's book proposal has been sent out to editors and we're waiting to hear back from a publisher who might want to buy it!)

Anyway, I finished the Embassy Scarf (my Rav link) and gave it to my sister-in-law, Jen, who fell in love with it as I was knitting it. It was a fun pattern, easy to knit, and will look great with just about any yarn.

I used about a skein and a half of malabrigo lace in the noviembre colorway.

Pix:

Today I started the Breezy Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. I'm pretty excited about the pattern, as it is really relaxed and lovely, and I started a KAL for it on the Hannah Fettig group I moderate (with Implausible Yarn) on Ravelry.

My Little Flower Girl

2011-05-21T16:54:00.001-04:00

Still working on the knitting content, but it may come eventually. I'm almost done with the Embassy scarf. I was hoping to get it done before the rapture (wrapture? Heh), but alas. Oh, funny story about that: Georgia and I were on the bus yesterday and a bunch of church ladies were complaining that they couldn't get in for their regular Friday hair appointment because everybody was in the salon getting their hair did for the rapture. Yeah. Gotta love the Bronx.

Anyway, Ella and I just bought the flower girl dresses for Georgia and her cousin Emily (who is just three weeks older than Georgia, so they're the same height, look similar, but Emily has curly hair).

Here are some pictures of my kid and the cuteness:

Stoopid Blogger Problems

2011-05-17T19:15:00.000-04:00

Today is the first day I have been allowed into my own Blogger account.

Also, I haven't even been allowed to comment on other people's blogs.

Sigh.

I'll actually stick some knitting related content on here soon. Providing that blogger doesn't crap out on me again.

The Embassy

2011-05-08T16:34:00.000-04:00

After knitting a full 42 of the flowers for Ella's wedding, I got completely exhausted by them and am officially giving up on a full effort (instead leaving it to whenever I need something brainless to knit on). I've only washed and blocked 20 or so of them, and because they have to be sewn up and then attached to buttons, and then attached to pin backs or stems, or something... yeah. It's tedious.

She wanted a Rock Island shawl by Jared Flood, which I started up, and realized that I had absolutely no freakin desire at all to spend that much time, energy and effort on another project for somebody else (sorry El), so I'm putting that one in hibernation for a while. It also took a bit too much mental energy, more than I'm capable of right now. I couldn't memorize the 8 line repeat for the edging, and it was taking a Herculean psychic effort to concentrate on the silly pattern. I'm not saying I'm not going to make it. I'm just saying that when I do make it, I will damn well not be giving it to somebody else.

I realized that the stupid flowers were sucking all of the knitting energy out of me and not really refilling the well, so I moved on to another project. I saw the Embassy Scarf (rav link) in the Summer 2011 issue of Knitscene and realized that I had two skeins of Malabrigo Lace in Noviembre that I had no idea what to do with, as they were variegated and, well, we all know about my success rate with variegated yarns.

I decided to make the Embassy Scarf with it, as I figured the pattern would lend itself to the yarn. Or vice versa. Whatever. This scarf may not be the prettiest thing in the world, but I'm really enjoying the knit and finding it fairly fun. It looks cool, even if the yarn isn't the prettiest, and if I hate it when it is done, well, then I have plenty of Black Cherry Kool Aid from my Clapotis experiment.

ANYWAY, I started on it last night and I'm about 25% done. It's knitting up quickly (although that may be due to the fact that I've mostly sat around on my butt knitting all day today - my choice for mother's day).

Pictures:

I'm feeling more knitting energy right now and I'm pretty excited about new projects! Yay!

Feeling terribly terribly British today for some reason

2011-04-29T19:42:00.000-04:00

And in honor of that feeling (for whatever reasons it may have arisen, ahem), and also because I'm somewhat too sick to think clearly at the moment, I present you all with the following:

A new form of hiphop called ChapHop:

And Jersey Shore done in the Style of Oscar Wilde (thank you, Tom, for the heads up, old chap):

Somebunny in Texas Wuvs Me!

2011-04-25T15:10:00.001-04:00

The exceedingly awesome Kael read all about my whining regarding knitting socks (prior to actually knitting some, and probably my whining during the knitting process) and made me a pair.

Well, to tell the truth she's technically made me two pair, but she gave the first pair to somebody who is VASTLY more deserving than I, a friend of hers who got quite ill. Which is really really awesome of her. For the second pair of socks she asked me what color I might like, and I said the louder the better. You know, speak softly, wear loud socks. Or something like that.

So she made these:

FREAKIN AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They came in the mail today. I am happily wearing some truly amazing socks on my feet. They fit perfectly, by the way. :)

She also sent me this book, due to my whining about having to knit a second sock:

Because, as I mentioned, she is amazing. AMAZING, I tell you. Thank you, Kael, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

It's truly amazing how everytime I manage to have a really crappy week and feel completely overwhelmed and horrible, I get these amazing little packages from knitters that really brighten things up.

I think maybe I have a wee bit of a karmic debt at the moment. Best get knitting. :)

Arr... I am a yarn pirate.

2011-04-22T15:49:00.000-04:00

And I've captured me some Australian booty.

Miss Fee posted about some really AWESOME Folca boxes that she picked up in her hometown in Australia, and I commented back with utmost lust. So she said she'd pick me up some. Because she is AMAZING. So I offered to send her some stuff back in exchange, and it turned into something a bit more than just Folca boxes and coil-less safety pin stitch markers. We are knitters. Knitters are a little bit ~~insane~~ wonderful.

First off are the stamps. Georgia and I had a moment in the Post Office where we were squealing over the really cool stamps, and that I got a package from Australia (it's a first for me!) and all of a sudden we'd gathered a small crowd of people who were all exclaiming about the stamps and the general coolness of getting a package from Australia. One person said "That's a real motherf$#!ing platypus, yo." Yup. Gotta love the Bronx.

Platypus stamp is on the far right.

Miss Fee also sent me some yarn:

Fibreworks Laceweight. Sooooooo pretty. And about 100 yards!

Ms. Gusset Sock Yarn (proudly grown, spun and dyed in Australia!)

Knitabulous Sock Yarn in the Impossiblue colorway.

Patons Sock Yarn. I think maybe Miss Fee is trying to tell me something?

A kookaburra postcard. Georgia has claimed it.

And lastly, the Folca boxes. These are so awesome. I was completely right in lusting after them. Also, when I pulled them out Georgia said "can I have them?" and I wasall "HECK NO" and she said "Ok, I'll just wait until you die." Um. Thanks. Always nice to have your five-year-old wishing for your imminent death so that she can get her hands on your jewelry collection and your Folca boxes.

Stitch marker organization, HERE I COME! I'm so excited. These boxes are so flippin cool.

Thank you, Miss Fee.

Lame. And Then Some.

2011-04-20T22:08:00.001-04:00

Sorry for not posting.

Life. (somewhat overwhelmingly). Got in the way. Again.

Anyway, I finished Bruce's socks, as I know you all were dying to hear about them. They are nice. Used a different toe on the second sock and it is much less square. No, I will not be ripping out the first toe.

I'm currently in the middle of knitting approximately 50 billion flowers for Ella's wedding. I have 22 done.

Yowza.

And, Ella also requested the new Jared Flood shawl, which is gorgeous. So I will be casting on for that.

The shawl:

Rock Island

Ella's will be in bright red. Then, honestly, she is probably off my knitting list for the rest of the year as she ended up with the Vine Loop cowl that I will not wear.

I may be absent from the blog again for a bit. We'll see.

Doesn't mean that I don't love you.

Absolutely nothing new to report.

2011-04-11T16:12:00.000-04:00

With regards to knitting, anyway. Arm/shoulder pain kinda prevented it, and then we took a trip this weekend which afforded absolutely no knitting time, AND involved lots of driving, which contributed to the aforementioned arm/shoulder pain.

Our trip was to DC to attend the wedding of a former student of Bruce's. Was nice. The drive down was interesting, as we kind of got to watch spring happen. As we drove further south the trees got progressively greener and fluffier, and the cherry blossoms were in bloom in DC.

Also, Bruce landed a literary agent who has super big plans for his book. Which ROCKS. I'm incredibly excited about that. I'm sure you all will be hearing more about this as the book process progresses. Very proud of my lovely husband!

Latest (and Cheapest) Obsessions

2011-04-06T16:43:00.001-04:00

I discovered the magazine Ready Made (amazon link. only $6.99 for a one year subscription!?!?) last issue and I am deeply deeply obsessed. The rag is all about stuff you can make at home like furniture and food and planters and AWESOMENESS.

Here's the last issue's cover:

It has a gypsy car! Homemade! On the cover! I want. I've wanted a gypsy caravan wagon ever since I was a little girl. And you can do it with a crappy 90s hatchback? SOLD.

So I got the magazine and immediately fell in love. This month's issue has 100 projects from readers that are awesome, AND it includes directions for all the projects. Which are things like deck chairs made with beautifully woven ropes. And lamps made from old books. And bookcases that are also stairs. And televisions that have been converted into bookcases (book storage is a problem in our apartment, if you haven't noticed my theme already).

Anyway, yeah. Totally obsessed. TOTALLY.

Also, I've been listening to a British genius named Ellie Goulding (also amazon link. $5.99 for the album!) lately. She makes kind of poppy electronic music and sounds like a more commercially viable version of Bjork (not all the time. Just sometimes). She's amazing. And upbeat. And fun to dance around to. Here's the cover of her latest album:

So yes. I'm totally into the cheap right now. Two awesome things for under $7? HECK YEAH. They make me so very very happy. I am going to go fondle my new issue of Ready Made now. While listening to Ellie Goulding. Unfortunately I have not mastered the art of knitting and reading yet. Otherwise the above scenario might be somewhat close to heaven on Earth.

A sock for Bruce.

2011-04-05T09:30:00.000-04:00

I don't have anything brilliant to say about this sock. I knitted it. Knitted the toe twice. Still not really thrilled about having to knit ANOTHER sock after I've finished the first one.

Pattern: So Simple Silk Garden
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock
Needle: US 2 (2.75mm)

Here it is:

Bruce may still be wearing this sock.

I'm not really thrillled with the toe. There's a squareiness that I'm not loving.

So far conclusions on sock knitting: I love knitting. Knitting socks involves knitting. Therefore I enjoy knitting socks. However, thus far not loving sock knitting more than any other kind of knitting, such as sweater knitting. And honestly, I really really love lace knitting. I am going to tackle a complicated lace project (or two. Or three) soon. WOO!

Finished Object: Madeline Shawl

2011-03-29T10:07:00.001-04:00

Quick. Easy. Squishy. AWESOME.

I love the color. LOVE.

Pattern: Madeline Shawl (my rav link) from Vintage Modern Knits (amazon link)
Yarn: Fibre Company Organik in Atoll
Needle: US 10 - 6mm

I put on lip gloss so that my lips would be extra pouty for you, Janey. :) And yeah, could my nose look any more broken? (I've broken it more times than I can count and have never had it fixed.)

Anyway, I do not want to take this shawlette off. LOVE, love love love it. LOVE.

And hey, on the plus side, my camera got the color right in the first two photos! Amazing. See, even my CAMERA likes this thing.

Dyed Vine Loop and the Madeline Shawl

2011-03-27T14:21:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned yesterday I dyed my vine loop. Unfortunately my camera seems incapable of conveying the depth of the dye. It's a nice color, just not me. At all. In any way. Well, as someone pointed out, it'll be a nice gift:

I also cast on for a Madeline Shawl yesterday, and will probably finish it up today or tomorrow (it is a ridiculously quick easy knit). It is from the book Vintage Modern Knits: Contemporary Designs Using Classic Techniques from the ladies at Kelbourne Woolens in Philadelphia. I'm using their yarn, Fibre Company Organik in the Atoll colorway, and it is gorgeous; soft, squishy and yet feels silkier than malabrigo. Somehow my camera actually managed to pick up both the color and the glowy properties of the wool. And it really does seem to glow when you look at it:

I love the picot edging. It's really really pretty and feminine without being over-the-top girly.Yes, I will wear this color. I'm VERY excited about finishing up this shawl(ette).

Finished Object: Vine Loop

2011-03-26T14:36:00.001-04:00

So, after my initial shock with the yarn color I ordered (it was, um, green and not gray) I decided to go with my traditional knitting philosophy (damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead) and knit it up anyway, figuring that if I didn't like it I could dye it, and if I still didn't like it after that I could give it away.

Here it is pre-dyed (and pre-blocked). Also, the color does not show up well at all. It's much much greener than it appears. If it had been the color shown below, I wouldn't have dyed it:

ANYWAY, I dyed it. Apparently if you attempt to overdye something green with teal dye it comes out a deep emeraldy/malachitey color. Who knew? Unfortunately it is also not a color that I can (or would) wear. When it dries I'll post another photo. Sigh.

However, the yarn is nice and soft (Cascade Dolce, worsted weight) and the pattern was well written. I only used about 250 yards of the yarn for this.

I will knit another one out of a yarn in a color that I DO actually like. That should help. :)

And Then There Were Two

2011-03-22T16:26:00.000-04:00

Monkey socks, that is.

YAY!

Pattern: Monkey (free!)

Yarn: Knit Picks Imagination Hand Painted Sock Yarn in Ruby Slippers

Needle: US 2 (2.75mm)

They're nice and cozy warm. YAY! Socks for Bruce are forthcoming. Not sure what pattern to use for him. Any suggestions?

I also started a Vine Loop in Cascade Dolce, which is a yarn I've never used before. Began this morning and it is moving pretty quickly.

Also, minor medical problem turned out to be minor after all (YAY!). Life is good. Yup.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2011-03-19T12:07:00.000-04:00

Well. It's been a busy two weeks, with lots of ups and downs, and very little knitting.

In order:

Major work drama for me (which seems to have died a quiet death, thankfully)
Major workplace drama for my husband (it seems to have all turned out all right in the end).
Earthquake/tsunami in Japan, making me worried about my mom on the Oregon Coast (she was fine) and bringing to the forefront of my mind some major personal nightmares stemming from when I survived a fairly major natural disaster with my folks. (one that nobody knows about because it happened in an area with less than 1,000 people, and nobody died. Thankfully).
Stomach virus or something. Not fun. Couldn't even knit. Feh. What use is an illness like that?
House guests last weekend. That was fun.
Jenny and her husband visited NYC from Sweden on their way to Virginia (the state) to meet up with another knitting blogger (Sarah, The Student Knitter). I took Jenny on a mini yarn crawl through NYC (we went to Knitty City, Annie & Co and School Products) and we had a blast. And completely forgot to take any pictures
I've discovered another small medically-related problem which I won't have any conclusive answers on until Tuesday morning of next week.
Bruce and I actually got to have a date night last night, and we went to see The Fantastiks, which was a really really really good time. Plus, awesome to have a date night.

Alls I wanna do right now is knit.

Mon...

2011-03-15T14:40:00.000-04:00

I finished one Monkey sock last night (hence the title of this post. I presume the ...KEY will come in a few days).

Pix:

It was fun! Really well written pattern and quite easy. Not sure what the fuss is about turning a heel and grafting the toe is all about. Then again this encompasses my basic style of knitting: FULL SPEED AHEAD. DAMN THE TECHNIQUE (or torpedoes, really). Plus I am very good at teaching myself stuff, be it from books, articles or videos.

I am a little dubious about knitting the second sock. Didn't I already do this once?

And honestly, the whole product vs process debate that "rages" on in the knitting world is moot. I am both a product and process knitter, depending on what the project is. And sometimes I'm both at the same time. For socks, it is definitely product. I am motivated to knit the second one because I want a damn pair of red monkey socks.

Ok, ok, FINE! I get it. Finally.

2011-03-12T20:11:00.000-05:00

The Monkey, as it stands right this very second. (this picture was preceded by an incredibly amusing swearing and hopping session across the living room to where I left my camera. Yeah. Probably would have been smart to get the camera first.) Sorry about the crappy pix quality, but, I really just had to share.

Turning the heel and doing the gusset weren't too bad. It took about an hour to figure it out. I discovered that actually reading the directions helps. Go figure.

And yes, I sort of "get" socks now. Not in their entirety. But sort of. I still find them a little fiddly, less so than mittens. Additionally, I'm not really a fan of knitting at tight gauges, though the Monkeys are totally bearable.

I just looked at the patterns in Knit. Sock. Love. and yes, Cookie A.'s patterns are art. They are breathtaking. And I will likely knit quite a few of her designs. Maybe even this year.

Finished Object: Idlewood

2011-03-10T08:18:00.000-05:00

I finished the Idlewood (my rav link) last night and am happily wearing it today. Georgia has informed me that she wants one exactly like mine except in red and not itchy. I LOVE this sweater. Bruce likes the cowl neck and the fit, but he hates the short sleeves (it was a little hard to take pix of the short sleeves on my own. Sorry). Ah well. I'm enjoying the sleeves and I might have enough yarn to make them longer in the future if I so choose. But I'm pretty happy with the short ones for spring.

Pattern: Idelwood (Rav pattern page) by Cecily Glowik MacDonald

Yarn: Cascade Eco +

Needles: US 10.5, 10, 9 and 8 (6.5, 6, 5.5 and 5 mm)

Modifications: I switched the garter stitch bands at the hip and arms to 2x2 ribbing, as the garter stitch was not flattering on me at all. In any way. Nope. I made the sleeves about three inches longer than the pattern called for as cap sleeves are not flattering on me. To reduce the circumference of the sleeves I ended up graduating downwards in needle size on the ribbing so that I had a nice tight finish without having to reduce stitches. I also left off the pockets. I am such a minimalist.

I also cast on for some Monkey socks yesterday. It has been at least a year since I picked up double pointed needles, and I have to say, still not really a fan. I don't find them difficult to use or anything, just annoying. But I figure I should at least give them a fair shake and attempt to get more comfortable with them before I consign them to heck.

See, Kael, even just a mention of handknitted socks inspired me! Thank you again!

Also, my buddy over at Annie Mall got me some graphite Smencils. So I got us some color Smencils. And we are going to have a Smencil party soon. Very exciting. Thank you, "Annie."

Two totally random acts of kindness for Kael and Annie brightened my Tuesday (and numerous other days for the foreseeable future) immeasurably. I'm feeling very very lucky right now to have these two awesome ladies in my life. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Lil Bit More Inspired

2011-03-05T15:03:00.001-05:00

Lots of knitting has been happening here. I've knitted what feels like 40,000 of the flowers for Ella's wedding, but in reality it is only 10. I blocked all of them and sewed some of them, however I got burned out on the sewing after a while and had to stop.

Sewn Flowers

Un-sewn Flowers

I've also made a great deal of progress on the Idlewood:

A mere seconds after I snapped the first photo, Beezer decided to make a guest appearance:

Next, on to socks and a sweater for Bruce. And also to start/finish up a few mittens here and there for a variety of folks.

Been kinda Meh.

2011-03-01T19:09:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been working on more of Ella's flowers, and on the interminable stockinette of the Idlewood sweater and waiting for the appropriate yarn for Bruce's sweater to finally show up from Webs (it did). I don't really have any good pictures of the Idlewood, as it basically looks like a giant lump of knitted fabric, and Ella's flowers all look pretty much the same, although they will be coming in different colors soon as I just got all of the Aloft yarn from KnitPicks. We got eight of the available 15 colors. It doesn't feel as nice as the Lion Brand Silk Mohair yarn, but we'll see how it feels when it knits up.

And I've been feeling pretty meh. I think it is the end of winter blues. I just haven't been that interested or excited about much of anything. I have been meditating, and that's been pretty good. I just got a book called Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation by Sharon Salzberg, which should prove to be interesting. I was reading the first few chapters of it in the post office while listening to people argue with postal employees. Seemed appropriate, somehow.

However, there is one thing I am very very excited about. I finally purchased Barton Hollow from Amazon's MP3 store, as it is on special for a whopping $5 this month (the linky above takes you to the $5 awesomeness).

The album sounds like bluegrass re-imagined by somebody who had spent an awful lot of time listening to moody jazz in Paris in the rain. It. Is. AWESOME.

We Have Been Blinded By Science

2011-02-26T16:11:00.000-05:00

Today's knitting has been pushed to the side in the name of science. A kindergarten science project for the school science fair.

We were required to come up with a hypothesis. Georgia can't even SAY hypothesis, much less spell it. Or write it.

Our project was "Why Do Things Float or Sink?"

We took pretty pictures of stuff:

We dumped stuff into the water:

We observed whether the stuff floated or sank:

We put together a gigantic (and supersecret) science project display.

We tried to teach the kids to present what they did.

We have a headache.

We want to go hide in a dark and silent room and curl up in the fetal position.

We want to know if people are available for hire to help out with kid's science projects.

We want beer.

Little Things Adding Up to Great Big Things

2011-02-25T11:34:00.001-05:00

I will not be making my sister-in-law's wedding dress after all. Which, I have to tell you, is a great big relief. Part of this is due to the fact that she wasn't sure when, and/or, if she was going to be able to get married until early January of this year. She set a date for June 18th. I looked at the dress pattern and laughed, she went off and purchased one.

However, I will be making flowers for pins, corsages, her bouquet and anything else we can come up with to stick knitted flowers on. The pattern that Ella fell in love with is the Flower Pin (my rav link) from Brave New Knits (amazon link). I made the first one last night:

Looks great on my charcoal gray sweater today!

Honestly, I figure I can churn one of these out per day. It is slightly larger than the palm of my hand and it took somewhere between 15 minutes and an hour to make (I was pretty distracted), plus a little bit of time for blocking and seaming. So, as Knitpicks just released their new mohair yarn, Aloft, I'll be ordering some of that and knitting away. I'm shooting for somewhere between 60 and 90 of these suckers. Anyone wanna help?

The Electric Kool-Aid (not really) Acid Test

2011-02-24T08:41:00.000-05:00

I've been wearing my big ugly Clapotis lately, despite the fact that I hated the colors. It is soft and exceedingly warm, and it was MINE, damnit, so I wore it. So there.

Wearing it around Manhattan has been... an adventure. I've gotten a range of comments from totally random people on it, such as, "Wow, what an... interesting scarf." or "I LOVE IT! WHERE DID YOU GET IT?" or people giving my poor scarf a total stink face. I had a couple of random knitters pop out of the woodwork to ask if it was Noro (yes), but they declined to comment on the color until I mentioned how ugly it was. Then I got some heartfelt agreements. Heh.

ANYWAY, I'd had enough of the adventure, and honestly, making something so ugly got my knitting mojo into a little bit of a bind. Yesterday morning I took myself off to Target to buy groceries and found a huge selection of individual Kool-Aid packets, so I picked up some Black Cherry. Sounded appropriate. Y'all should have seen the look on the cashier's face when she got to the 50 packets of Kool-Aid. She desperately wanted to ask what they were for, but didn't. I was so tempted to tell her I was going to snort them (or something).

In the afternoon I commenced dyeing. It didn't take long at all, only about an hour. The general rule of thumb is two packets of Kool-Aid for every 50 grams of yarn you're dyeing. I put a huge stockpot on the stove, filled it with water, dumped in the Kool-Aid and the Clapotis and let it heat until it simmered. Then I shut off the heat and let it cool. My apartment smelled like Black Cherry drink mix for a few hours afterwards. When I rinsed out the scarf, I had no bleeding at all. Pretty sweet.

The Before:

The After:

I also have a couple of other projects going, and I finished tearing apart that sweater. I now have approximately five billion cakes of yarn waiting to be hanked, washed and dyed.

Cute, cute, cute

2011-02-18T12:56:00.000-05:00

So there's this awesome thing called Groupon, which recently had a deal for half off an Amazon gift card. Which is like butter to my bread. Of course I got knitting books.

The first is Colorwork Creations: 30+ Patterns to Knit Gorgeous Hats, Mittens and Gloves, by Susan Anderson-Freed. It is chock full of cute (and I do mean CUTE CUTE CUTE!) patterns for hats and mittens, most of which are interchangable.

I am currently obsessed with these:

Chickadee Hat

Nuthatch Mittens

Reindeer Hat

Plus, as I haven't done any colorwork yet, other than stripes, they should be an interesting and fun challenge.

Personal knitting is coming along, but as it is acres of stockinette, is rather boring.

Still haven't gotten my package from Webs. As soon as I do, there will be yarn porn. Oh yes, there will.

[Insert Clever Title Here]

2011-02-16T18:46:00.000-05:00

I finished the Clapotis, but I'm not posting any more pictures until I dye the stupid thing. It's a really pretty knit, if dull. The final results will be lovely. Really. Even if I have to dye the thing black.

I might try the kool aid dyeing thing. And then I'll have a clever post title of like "electric kool aid acid test" which probably nobody will get. Except possibly Bruce.

Anyway, I have had a completely UTTERLY failed order from Webs. Totally not their faults. Well, kind of their faults, but not really. That was supposed to be for a sweater for Bruce. Eventually I will get the yarn. I swear, I've been on the phone with their very nice customer service representative, Theresa, about 16 times about this damn order. Poor lady. She will be very glad to see/hear the last of me.

So in the meantime, I am making this:

Idlewood by Cecily Glowik MacDonald

From this:

Cascade Eco + in some color or another.

YAY!

Ketchup.

2011-02-14T16:09:00.001-05:00

My hands seem to have recovered nicely, which is a positive thing. And I actually got off my butt and took pictures of FOs that I shot unblocked a couple of weeks ago.

Also, we went to Philly this weekend, which was a blast. I saw the Italian Market there, which is AMAZING and, of course, went to a LYS, (loop, and quite nice). Next trip we're going to see the Mutter. I SWEAR.

We walked past the Philadelphia Magic Garden, which I definitely have to actually go into next time. It was rather mindbogglingly awesome.

Photo courtesy of Craftgossip

Anyway, knitting pix:

Project: Meredith's Propello
Yarn: Rowan Lima

Project: Ella's Second September Circle
Yarn: Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball

Project: Clapotis
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden

I am not sure what I think of this colorway. No, that's not true. I think it is U-G-L-Y. It ain't got no alibi. It's ugly. I believe I see an overdye in its future.

And I find the pattern, for the record, hecking boring. Although it will make a really beautiful finished object. After I dye the heck out of it.

Also, I got this enormous knee-length hooded sweater coat from a thriftstore last year. It's made from bulky yarn, mohair, cashmere, angora and awesome, and I discovered it is hand made. So I am tearing it apart. It is also filthy. So after I wash the yarn, this too will go straight into the dye bath. And then I shall make something awesome.

That is all for now.

MWAH! (Happy Valentine's Day. Now go tell some yarn how much you love it.)

Awesome

2011-02-09T20:00:00.000-05:00

Want to make all of these things RIGHT NOW:

Halliard by Kate Gilbert
Twist Collective

Pookies by Barbara Prime

Miske by Julie Weisenberger

All of the patterns from the Book of Gray by Veera Välimäki

Stupid hand.

Primal Picnics

2011-02-07T13:44:00.000-05:00

My brilliant and talented husband recently had a short story published in a collection called Primal Picnics, which is now available for order on Amazon!

I'm pretty darned excited about this! Woo hoo!

However, when I say "recent" it means that the book was published recently, although I think he wrote the story three years ago and the publication schedule was pushed back ad nauseum until it was finally released this year.

My hand/wrist/arm still hurt, and I think it is stemming from a shoulder issue. Regardless, I'm taking a few days off from knitting at the moment, and if I'm lax in commenting on everybody's blogs, it doesn't mean I'm not reading. It just means that my stupid hand hurts.

Also, we went to the New Year parade in Chinatown yesterday. I'll save the pix for another post with relatively few words so that I don't have to type too much.

It's all in the wrist.

2011-02-04T21:10:00.002-05:00

Which, unfortunately is the case at the moment.

This, my friends, is what hurts:

Too much knitting and typing I suspect. I'll be laying off for a bit on both. Sigh.

The following, however, does not hurt at all. Although once again, I'm amazed that Beezer can actually sleep in this position for a long period of time:

(note the curled toes)

Anyway, I started my Clapotis. The magic has not happened yet, but I expect it too as soon as I'm able to get back to it. I also started a design for Eternity Mittens which will match the Eternity Scarf I made for Meredith. I contacted the designer of the Eternity Scarf, Michele Wang, and she was lovely about the entire thing. So. I shall be releasing it as a pattern at some point in the near future.

New Addition!

2011-02-02T12:46:00.001-05:00

As of this morning, I have a nephew!

Here's little Aaron:

He now officially gets the title of cutest baby in the world.

Congratulations Sue & Paul! You did an excellent job. I can't wait to meet him.

Unblocked.

2011-02-01T09:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I finished up Meredith's hat, which is from the Propello pattern. It needs to be blocked, but here it is in its unblocked state:

Me, wearing it unblocked. It fits, but it doesn't have the drape that I'd like it to have. (the first photo, miraculously, shows the color fairly well)

I also finished up Ella's September Circle last night. Here it is in all of its unblocked glory:

A quick break from the yarniness to show you all a photo of Georgia's wildest outfit from this weekend. Yes, she put that outfit together herself. Yes, she does have quite the interesting sense of fasion. And yes, somehow she makes it all work.

Also, in my total laxitude, I forgot to post pictures of the lovely giveaway that I won from Caffeine Girl.

A fair bit of the giveaway was edible and it got, well, devoured. Georgia helped me open the box and as she was pulling out chocolate after chocolate she turns to me and says "I'll share this with you. You can have the yarn." Thanks, kid. Anyway, we ate all of the chocolate. It was AMAZING. Georgia was totally entertained by the Cow Pie chocolate.

The things that we didn't eat were yarn and some really lovely earrings. The yarn is from Four Crows farm in Wisconsin, and it is truly lovely stuff. It's got a really springy, lofty texture to it, and it feels wonderful on my hands. It's not soft, but then again, I'm a HUGE fan of non-soft wools. (Ok, if we're being honest, I could just say I'm a huge fan of wools, period.) I can definitely wear it against my neck (she writes as she has the yarn tucked between neck and chin) and the skein has generous yardage (230) at a slightly heavy worsted weight. YUM. The colors are also really pretty.

I also got this lovely card, which I suspect is hand made:

The box that the earrings came in. It cracked (quacked?) me up:

And the earrings themselves. They're so cute! I love the little scarves. Very knitterly. :)

Thank you, Caffeine Girl! It is an awesome package, and pretty darned thrilling to get in the mail.

Psychic Messages from the Ether

2011-01-30T09:55:00.000-05:00

I'm somehow getting a message from somewhere about... men's sweaters.

I've had a difficult time finding men's sweater patterns that I like, as I feel that most of them are deadly dull. However, I do have a few men's sweaters in my queue. Here's a selection (kinda per Kate's request):

Smokin'
Jared Flood

It's from Son of Stitch and Bitch. Tragically, I don't have this book. Then again, I think Smokin' is one of the few patterns I actually liked from the book.

Daniel
Kate Gilbert

This is an asymmetrical cardigan pattern from Twist Collective. Love the inventive construction and stitch patterning.

Brigade
Todd Gocken

I like the asymmetry. I also like the fact that this pattern is seamless, as really, seaming a man's sweater after spending approximately 15,000 years knitting it is just... insulting.

Classic Oak Cardigan
Alexandra Charlotte Dafoe

Love the classic look of this pattern, even if it is seamed. I'd probably rewrite the pattern to be in the round. Or at least do afterthought sleeves with short rows or something. I'm not sure how that would work over cables though.

Saturday Morning Hoodie
Lion Brand Yarn

Nothing particularly spectacular about the sweater, but it looks so... cozy. The kind of sweater that Bruce (or anyone) would be pulling out of their closet with pleasure on weekends for years.

Shredder Pullover
Jennifer Hagan

I LOVE the cables going up the raglan sleeve line and down the side of the sweater. This has been on my queue since I originally saw it. Love it!

Tragically, I am not on fire.

2011-01-28T09:00:00.001-05:00

Which yes, is an odd statement to make. But I'm not. I'm knitting along on Ella's second September Circle, and while I think there is definite value to knitting a pattern twice, the third time around in the same damn wool is... irritating.

That's the only thing I have on my needles at the moment. I want to be knittng something else, but haven't really had the wherewithal to do so. Been a little tired, run down, etc.

Additionally, I have two finished objects that I think I'm going to frog and use the yarn to knit something else. Problem is, I wear one of said FOs (alpaca scarf) on a daily basis and it is doing an admirable job of keeping me warm. It's just ugly.

The other is my Francis Revisted sweater. I ripped out the cowl to make it cowlier, however I'm just not very happy with the sweater itself. It doesn't fit quite right, I really don't enjoy pullovers (sorry Bruce, but it is true) and I don't really feel like the yarn (cascade eco) does it justice. Plus, I don't like the white, and I'll be dyeing the yarn using some technique or another. I recently wrote a few articles on dyeing yarn and I'm dying (ha!) to try out some of the techniques. Maybe koolaid.

I also need to block Meredith's hat and work on the mittens, but I haven't figured out how I'm going to block the hat yet. The mittens should take no time. Flip top. Should be fun, once I cast on. And after that I'm free to knit whatever I want (socks).

Sheer Manliness

2011-01-25T14:17:00.000-05:00

I've been so lucky to receive photos of the recipients of knitting projects wearing them this month!

My soon-to-be brother-in-law (gee, we like hyphens today) Ryan sent me a picture of himself wearing his Very Manly Cowl at the top of some mountain in some wilderness somewhere in British Columbia.

Gear! Dog! Mountain! Wide open vistas! Snow! Sheer Manliness!

Also, as promised, here is the stash enhancement I did at Vogue Knitting Live. The lovely ladies at Woolstock gave me a GREAT deal on the yarn, so I'm pretty thrilled.

Here is some Noro Silk Garden Sock that is destined to become at least one pair of socks (for Bruce) and maybe something else for me:

And some regular Noro Silk Garden that will become at least a Clapotis and something else. I'm not sure what. I feel kind of guilty (I know, this is ridiculous) about not having knitted a Clapotis yet, because apparently everybody else in the knitting universe has. Also, it's a pretty scarf. And goodness knows I don't already have enough (at least six) handknitted scarves of my own. (sarcasm.)

Lastly, I got some knitpicks yarn (not at Vogue Knitting Live) to make myself some socks. It's the Imagination Hand Painted Sock Yarn in Ruby Slippers. Awesome.I'll probably start the sock knitting with this. It is red. RED! I like red. Red socks are awesome. Maybe some Monkey socks. Henceforth:

Aside from all the yarn porn, things are REALLY looking up for me professionally. I'm exceedingly excited about the opportunities that are starting to become available to me, and yeah, I think some of my goals for the year on a professional front will be more quickly and easily achieved than I'd originally imagined. I'll talk about them in more detail as they come to fruition. But HECK YEAH! I'm excited.

Vogue Knitting Live

2011-01-24T09:39:00.000-05:00

Vogue Knitting Live was this weekend in Manhattan and it was crazy! I spent the weekend working at the Woolstock Yarn Company's booth which was pretty much mobbed the whole weekend. We sold some yarn, lemme tell ya. The work was professionally (and personally) AMAZING and physically grueling.

The event was exceedingly well attended, and I got to spot some of the "knitterati" including nearly mowing down Debbie Bliss near an escalator. I also saw Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (YarnHarlot) in her amazing Bohus sweater. It was really really lovely. I actually recognized the sweater before I saw her face. Unfortunately, didn't have a chance to talk to her as I was working with customers.

I also saw Ysolda, Melissa Wherle, and Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochi Land. Anna and I got to have a lovely conversation, as the booth she was in was right next to the one I was in, and I got some pictures of her stuff:

There were some other really cool things at her booth, by other fiber artists (whose names I didn't catch), like these knitted animal skins:

And this lady who knitted a huge Beluga whale and other, smaller animals:

Anyway, I'm still a little delirious from exhaustion and stuff. I'll write some more tomorrow about the event, and show off the stash enhancement that occurred (yummy noro), the finished object (Meredith's hat) and yeah. Stuff.

Just gotta say though, it was REALLY amazing to be around so many knitters. I loved talking about knitting and yarn and fiber arts and everything else. I just had the best time!

Not just a finished object, but a job well done!

2011-01-21T21:40:00.000-05:00

I made the Snug (my rav project) sweater for my friend Josephine's baby. I so rarely get photos of the recipients of my gifts, so I was pretty thrilled when Josephine sent me this photo last night:

Well done, Josephine... he definitely is the cutest baby on the planet (except, of course, for Georgia). And I'm TOTALLY not just saying that because he's wearing the sweater I made for him.

Also, finished my first day of working at Vogue Knitting Live (with OfTroy, my blogging buddy!). It was insane, but a pretty good experience. I really LIKE talking to knitters about yarn. And knitting. It was pretty awesome. I am plum tuckered out though. And have two more days to go.

Spoiled by Shrooms

2011-01-20T11:28:00.000-05:00

I'm working on the Propello hat for Meredith, with is a really nice knit and all, but five hours into the project and I'm all "THIS IS TAKING FOREVER" because I'm so used to finishing up hats in five hours or less due to the huge number (ok, fine, three) of Shrooms I've knitted. Yeah. I need to reset my time expectations for hats.

We actually had a moment of sunlight this morning, so I managed to sneak in a couple of photos. (Pshaw, buy a light? That would be... easier.)

The Propello:

September Circle the Third:

And I am jonseing (that means wanting really really badly, for those who aren't up on American drug vernacular) to start a HUGE project. Which means a sweater. Which likely means starting a sweater for Bruce. Maybe one for me. I just need to get through the remainder of the projects for Meredith before I move on to something bigger. Must finish the hat and some gloves/mittens for her. Then all will be clear.

Well, heck.

2011-01-19T09:07:00.000-05:00

I have two new projects on the needles, and the light has been so dim that I haven't been able to get a decent shot of either of them.

The first one is another September Circle for Ella to replace the one she lost (she purchased the yarn, so I'm not out on that front). It's a new color of the Crazy Zauberball, and if the sun ever decides to come back out again, I'll photograph it for you.

Secondly, I'm making Propello for Meredith, minus the silly little tag thingie on the top. (my hardcore minimalism is rearing its head again). Still using the Rowan Lima, which is still a joy to knit with.

It's a hat designed by Woolly Wormhead and can be purchased on her website for only £2.50 GBP.

Her patterns are really brilliantly written, and I'm enjoying knitting this one. I also got Twisted Woolly Toppers from her last year, and the hats in there are so darned awesome. I really need to make some more hats as I have only two.

Anyway, here's Propello:

(photo courtesy of Woolly Wormhead, totally without permission, sorry!)

I also recently published a knitting article on eHow that I'm pretty darned proud of:
How to Evenly Space Sleeve Decreases in Knitting Top Down Sweaters

I did actual math! With numbers and everything. And, as always, if you click around on the ads, I will actually make money from this article.

In other news, the meditation is going pretty well. I've managed to do it most nights for the past two and a half weeks, and I'm starting to want to do longer stretches, so I'm upping it to 30 minutes. It's enjoyable, or getting more so, and it is definitely helping me out.

Well, I'm off to write, and work on knitting related job searches, and other fun and exciting things!

Finished Object: Meredith's Eternity

2011-01-16T14:28:00.000-05:00

Which, ironically did not take an eternity to knit. To be honest, only three days of off and on knitting. Fun little knit. A little repetitive after a while, but the cartridge rib is really fun. I like how the designer did it both horizontally and vertically.

Pattern: Eternity Scarf
Yarn: Rowan Lima in Cusco
Needle: US 9 - 5.5mm

It's hard to photograph this thing in the afternoon light around here. Mornings are really best, as we get ambient light instead of direct light. Plus, the snow is REALLY making our photos look overexposed. Not too bad on the knitting itself. Very very bad on human skin.

(Thanks to Bruce for the photo of me!)

Eternity in Progress

2011-01-14T13:44:00.000-05:00

Meredith's Eternity Scarf (rav link) is going beautifully. This is out of the Rowan Lima, and lemme tell you, this is one sexy yarn. It feels amazing on the hands. It produces a lofty yet thick fabric. It has great stitch definition. It's got a little bit of a halo, but not too much. Oh YEAH, baby. It may be my new favorite yarn.

Here's a progress shot:

Yes. I will start a pair of socks. Soon. First, I'm going to get through Meredith's set. After the scarf, it shall be a hat and some sort of hand covering.

But I am actually somewhat motivated to knit socks now. Took me long enough. :)