Adventures in Knitting

Um yeah, about that blog.......

2009-07-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post again before a full year has passed. Because a full year passing would mean this blog is officially dead, not just in lifeless limbo. Or something like that.

So, since I last posted a few things happened.

Our miracle Natalie Marie arrived May 20th. It was a bumpy arrival, involving 7 days in the NICU due to breathing problems related to the c-section. Yes it sucked. I really had hoped we would dodge that. But, she's here, she's almost 10 weeks already, she's amazing and beautiful and healthy and a chunky 12 pounds already.

I have managed to finish one wool soaker for her. It only took me most of my pregnancy to finish. It's the Curly Purly pattern in my very own handspun - whoot! My first handspun knit. The handspun is BFL, from SpunkyEclectic in her Sangria colorway. I didn't ply it tight enough, but it worked in spite of that.

The only other knit I've made for her are her leggings. They're cute, but the thighs are big, even though her's are plumping up nicely.

So there you have it. She is officially my very best finished "object" ever :-)

More fiber goodies

2008-09-25T15:22:00.001-07:00

First I shall announce the (almost) completion of Eris! The only thing that remains is that I sew in the zipper, well first I have to find a zipper to sew in. Regardless of zipper status, she shall finally get worn this winter!

There she is blocking.

Wing of the Moth is coming along slowly but surely. I am going to love this when it's done!

And here is the unveiling of more fiber. I'm finding fiber to be far more addicting than yarn. Good thing I've been able to sell off some of my yarn stash!

Spunky Eclectic Burning Bush colorway, merino and silk. My first attempt at spinning singles. Slow and steady is the key. Amy's colorway's are amazing!

Luscious Abby Silk, Tuscany colorway, purchased from The Spinning Loft. Beth is awesome! My first attempt at lace weight yarn. It's slow going because it's so thin, but this fiber is so amazing!

More goodies from The Spinning Loft. I love doing business with great people! On the top is some Australian Wool, hand dyed by the amazing PippeeKneeSocks. The 2 braids in the middle are more Abby Silk, Faded Rose colorway. The braid on the bottom is more PippeeKneeSocks in the Pagoda colorway. The fiber is Masham which is a long wool and Beth has raved about.

I'm also super excited to be able to take advantage of some of the classes that Beth is offering. I'll be taking all 3 of the classes that Abby Franquemont is teaching December 5th and 6th - Low and High Whorl Spindle, Fabulous Blended Batts and Blended Fibers: Carding and Spinning. I have a feeling I'll be wanting a drum carder after this. I'm also debating going up for the November 1st Breeds Exploration class. I think that would be a lot of fun and a great opportunity to learn about different wools. I feel so lucky that Beth is within driving distance, about 3 1/2 hours.

And from the lovely Amy at Spunky Ecletic I have some Blue Faced Leister (BFL) top. The top braid is Gin & Tonic colorway and the bottom braid is Sangria.

More Spunky Eclectic goodies. We have BFL in Toronto (on top) and Alpaca/Corriedale in Monkey Farts (how could anyone resist a name like that?!). I am also super excited that this month spaces opened up in Amy's fiber club and I moved off the wait list into the club!! Each month she hand dies a club exclusive. The suspense builds until some lucky person gets their package in the mail and shares pics over on the Spunky forum on Ravelry.

And now is the unveiling of my goodies from the annual Yellow Springs Wool Gathering last weekend. My goal was to get fibers that I haven't yet played with. I achieved the goal :).

Yes, this is an Abby Batt. And yes, I have 2 other Abby Batts. But it was so much fun to spy these in the middle of the tent and ask the vendor "Are these Abby Batts??" I unfortunately didn't write down the fiber info, but I'm pretty sure the colorway is Grape Crush and it's merino and tussah silk. And unfortunately I don't know the name of the vendor.

Here we have llama fiber. So amazingly soft. I purchased this from Donna Berbig of Berbig's Woods Llamas in Bristolville, OH. Funny story here. Last year when we went I was dying to try out a spinning wheel. Donna was kind enough to let me try her's - I think she had an Ashford Kiwi. I was afraid I was going to completely mess up her yarn but she was very gracious. It was great fun to see her again this year and tell her that I now have my very own wheel.

Here are some silk hankies from River's Edge Weaving Studio
Can't wait to give those a try.

Also from River's Edge Weaving Studio is White Baby Camel and Mulberry Silk Top 50/50 and the caramel colored one is Baby Camel with Bleached Tussah Silk Top 50/50.

Last but certainly not least is some luscious alpaca. Yuuummmm. This is from Frontier Fiber Mill in Indiana. Lisa is a hoot. She loves mixing fibers and creating yarns. Kind of a mad scientist type :). The lighter caramel colored one is 4.8oz and the striped one is 7.5oz.

All in all it was a lot of fun!

Introducing Queen Julia!

2008-08-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

Drum roll please........

Yes, it is the fair Julia. She is officially out of the closet! Haha. She was a piece of cake to put together. Great directions. And she is positively dreamy to spin on. I'd heard someone mention that it was like learning to spin all over again switching from bobbin lead (the Louet s15 I've been learning on) to flyer lead (Julia). Fortunately this was not the case for me, although it could be the fact that I haven't been spinning for very long on anything. Or, it could be my tremendous just getting tapped spinning talent. Hahaha. Yeah, that's it!

I started off with the Louet Corriedale sliver. My first time with sliver. It spins up kind of fuzzy. Or at least this did.

After a little bit of that, it was time to move on to some colors. So I whipped out my Fiesta from Woolly Wonders. I'm loving the colors and can't wait to see what it looks like plied and knit up.

Dan watched me unpack my latest spindle arrival last night and wondered why in the world I bought one of those "tiny" things when I had my wheel now. Well..... it's hard to explain, but wheel love does not replace spindle love. I used to think spindles were just to hold you over. Now I'm realizing just how much fun they are. It's a different experience with a spindle. Obviously it's a slower process and when you have yummy fiber to play with it becomes this amazing tactile and visual process, quite different from wheel spinning. Especially when you have a good spindle - and now I have 2 really good spindles. The one on the top is a True Creations .8oz bubinga and the one on the bottom is a Greensleaves .5oz Ethan Jakob. Plus they're gorgeous!

And a sweet spindle bag for them, handmade by Woolly Wonders.

And speaking of delicious, yummy, amazing, gorgeous fiber. Here are my latest acquisitions. Probably the last for a bit - time to get spinning and knitting.

This is a merino/silk blend from Amy over at Spunky Eclectic. Just gorgeous. It's the Burning Bush colorway.

This is a Grafton Batt - lovely purples and gold. Corriedale fiber.

Then we have the famous Abby batts, made by Abby Franquemont, but sold by the lovely Spunky.

First up is Sunrise. An amazing blend of 50% Corriedale, 30% tussah silk, and 20% camel down. Drool. The pictures don't do the colors justice. I started spinning Sunrise on my bubinga spindle.

And in honor of the approaching fall, we have Autum. 60% superwash, 30% tussah silk and 10% camel down. More yum. I'm amazed how much fiber is wrapped into one these little knots.

Spinning and fiber

2008-08-19T18:19:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely the spinning is coming along.

My beginning efforts were Shetland. It produced yarn only a mother could love.

I spun more of the Shetland and was still having a hard time avoiding the corkscrew effect of overspinning. Then I finished the Shetland and broke into my BFL. Something clicked at that point. I don't know if it was the fiber change or the learning curve, but needless to say it was a relief to be seeing some improvement and a decrease in the corkscrew effect.

Here's the Shetland and BFL plyed together.

Here's the BFL by itself. I think it's underplyed.

And of course that meant I needed to buy some more fiber. Below is TerraCotta from Tuscan Grove. It's Australian wool. I love the colors, not all that crazy about the fiber. It's a bit sticky. I need to pre-draft it a fair bit - which creates these beautiful, fluffy piles. I think this might be roving vs. top. The Shetland and BFL were both top (I think).

Then I heard about Iron John and his Etsy shop. So I bought some hand dyed Rambouillet top. I haven't done anything with it yet, but it sure is pretty.

And in spinning wheel news. I have purchased a spinning wheel - a Louet Julia. I bought her from the one and only Amy over at Spunky Eclectic. Amy rocks. She threw in a some of her amazing, hand dyed fiber. Black Cherry to be exact. It's an alpaca/corriedale blend.

You might be wondering about pictures of the wheel. Um, yeah. About that. She's still in the box. I know, it's a crime, it's a shame. So here's the story. DH and I have been saving up our own personal "stashes", money that goes to our own fun purchases. We split the proceeds of the garage sale, Dan puts his wire money in his, I put the proceeds of my stash sale and book sale into mine and
the occasional tip. Dan knows my stash money goes towards the wheel. His is going towards who knows what. I thought a new bow, but now that he's shooting really well with his current bow, who knows. My stash has been climbing pretty steadily. I was only $60 short. Until I went to Salt Lake City last week for a conference. Hopefully the books I have listed on Amazon will sell. Plus I have audio materials to put up. When those sell, I'm golden. Here's hoping. Then the unveiling of sweet Julia will occur. Oh and yeah, dh has no idea what's in the closet. Oh and the reason I purchased it "prematurely" was to take advantage of the intro special.

And a bit of progress on the knitting front. I'm finishing up the left strap for the 2nd side of the tank Amelie. I'm tired of this project and I still have the hem to do. Sigh.

Only 1 sleeve left on Eris, although she's been put on the back burner due to spinning and Amelie.

Maybe for my next update I'll have a picture of Julia! Actually, if all goes as planned on the IVF front I'll be leaving for Denver Sept. 2nd - decided to road trip it vs. mess around with coordinating flights with Dan and not knowing when we'd be returning. One of the other motivating factors for driving was being able to take my wheel with me. Julia will be the wheel traveling with me - so adequate stash money or not, she will be coming out of the closet by Sept. 2nd. Here's to speedy selling!

Vacation

2008-08-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to Michigan a few weeks ago for the family vacation. This was the first time we'd met my niece Mallory. She turned 4 months while we were there. As you can see, she's completely adorable.

Here's my "little" brother Eric, Mallory's dad. Yes, you can play cards and put the baby to sleep.

Dan looks very sweet with a baby in his arms too.

We climbed to the top of Hog's Back Mountain. It's one hell of a climb, but the view is totally worth it.

Here's my brother Ryan and his wife Sandra (Ryan's my sibling after me).

Here's my sister Katie - the youngest at 17 1/2

Me and Katie

Dan and I

And here we have all the siblings together - a rare event. From the left:
Dan, me with Mallory, Eric (#4) sitting in front, Amanda (Eric's wife), Katie (#5) sitting in front, Sandra (Ryan's wife), Ryan (#2), Laura (#3), Ben (Laura's boyfriend).

I won!!

2008-07-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty psyched. 7 skeins of Cascade 220. I can't believe I've never knit with this before. I love the color too! Thanks Claudia and Bonne Marie! Maybe my abandoned Ribby Cardy will finally get made - I stopped liking the Knit Picks pumpkin color, oh and if I recall correctly I also screwed up when I attempted to avoid seaming by knitting the sides and back all together.

Knitters Connection was loads of fun.

I took a beginners spinning class with Shannon Okey and a class with Amy Detchen on stranding. They were both great - very personable and funny. Amy is a riot! She brought several of her Fair Isle sweaters to share with us - gorgeous! I loved hearing her little tips and tricks.

As for spinning - unfortunately I spent the first hour trying to feed fiber onto my leader. I really thought I was going to be the only person in class not to get it. Sensing my frustration, Shannon let me try her wheel, an Ashford Joy, and it was a "holy shit, I really CAN spin" moment. Later as I was lugging my Louet S15 around the vendor's area, a lovely vendor offered to take a look at it and realized that I had the wrong band on the wheel and it was way to tight. $8 solved the problem and while I still liked the Ashford Joy better, it's at least workable now.

Last Friday I drove up to Cleveland to take another spinning class with Susan from Conover Workshops. There we discovered the miracle of pencil roving. Pencil roving can make anyone feel like a competent spinner. Then we moved on to real fiber, and experienced the frustration of drafting. Needless to say I'm hooked and I can't wait for September's Wool Gathering where I'll be able to try a variety of wheels and see what suits me.

Back to Knitter's Connection - Thursday night I went to the talk that Jess, Casey and Mary-Heather gave on Ravelry. Jess was squishing a skein of neon green yarn most of the time to calm her nerves. She did great. They all did. It was so cool to see them live and in person and to hear their story.

I also had the pleasure of meeting the Briar Rose gals. After hearing Brenda talk about them on Cast On for so long, it was like arriving at Mecca.

I wasn't planning on buying any more yarn. Famous last words. Well my loophole was "unless it was something extraordinary", like not something I could buy at the LYS down the road. So I bought a skein of Celebration - a lovely, gorgeous colorway and I suck at describing colors, so see for yourself.

It's a luscious blend of merino/bamboo, worsted weight and will grow up to be some kind of sweater.

I also bought a skein of Angelface in these gorgeous blues. Laceweight - 100% alpaca. Yum! It will grow up to be the Feather and Fan shawl from A Gathering of Lace. I think.

Other purchases included a spindle. Because I was going to be in Denver for 2 weeks without my spinning wheel for our IVF adventure. Only the trip got canceled because for a nanosecond I was pregnant. On the pill, while taking injections for our upcoming IVF. Uh huh. Nanosecond being the key word. Now we're back to square one and I'll be in Colorado after all, just a few weeks later than anticipated. Better late than never I suppose.

And some roving - the grey is shetland, the white is BFL.

Eris is chugging along. The body is done and I'm in the first few rows if the left sleeve.

I also bought some Malabrigo online that was on sale for making xmas presents for my mom and sisters. I thought it would be fun for us to all have Koolhass hats.

And 4 skeins of Jaeger Trinity.

It's the first time I've ever bought the yarn that a pattern was written for. I've cast on and knit 4 rows of a summer tank. It's the first time I've knit something I can wear in the summer, provided I finish the damn thing soon enough. Let's not talk about the 4 inches of knitting I already frogged because I had 1 stitch too many. Nor the huge amount of time I spent trying to figure out where the fuck the extra stitch came from, and surely I must have forgotten a decrease and why does 122 minus 10 equal 113????? Only to realize I really did cast on an extra stitch. Sigh.

Wing Of the Moth is also coming along, growing slowly. But oh is it lovely to fondle.

We're taking off for the North Pole aka Marquette, Michigan tomorrow bright and early. 10-11 hours in the car = lots of knitting time. I can't wait to see the lake and my siblings. Looking forward to some R&R.

Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

2008-06-16T04:32:00.000-07:00

Ok gals, this was pretty measurement free, but you'll get the gist.

2 cans organic black beans
1/2 cup quinoa (could use more, that was all I had in the cupboard)
handful fresh parsley choppsed
handful fresh basil chopped
1 chipotle pepper in adobe sauce diced up (with or without seeds, your preference)
1/2 lemon, juiced
olive oil
2 cloves garlic crushed
salt to taste

Cook the quinoa, let it cool, mix with black beans, basil and parsley

Mix lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and chipotle together - pour over the rest, mix, salt to taste. Eat at room temp or refregerate.

Variations I'd like to try - add fresh tomoatoes either cherry halves or diced romas and sub lime juice for lemon juice

Enjoy!

The garden's growing!

2008-06-15T20:14:00.000-07:00

It's not knitting, but I got some great pictures of our garden this morning. We use EarthBoxes and they work great (well, except for last year when we forgot to use potting mix instead of potting soil).

We've planted tomatoes - cherry, roma, yellow, and yellow pear. We have lots of baby tomatoes.

We also have zucchini, yellow squash, red peppers, yellow peppers, orange peppers, dill, rosemary, basil and parsley. Last week I made a kicker black bean and quinoa salad with fresh parsley and basil from the garden - yum!

Why hello!

2008-05-11T08:29:00.001-07:00

It was a toss up between the embarrassment of not having posted in 6 months and the desire to share some progress. I did finish my dad's socks. I have a picture of them somewhere. In the midst of getting a new camera, I'm not quite sure where that batch of pictures ended up. Well, what do ya know - I dug a little and found them.

The finished product.

This is why they took forever. And can I just say it was a bit disturbing when the gals at knitting group went on about how looonnngg my dad's feet are. Ick!

Used the i-cord bind off that Brenda from Cast-On likes. I like it.

Also for Christmas I made felted mittens for my sisters. Wanted to also make them a KoolHaas, but it just didn't happen. There's always this year :-).

Here they are all done with the cuffs. I ended up being able to give them to them in person because we were all together for my Grandma's funeral in Toronto mid-December. Also meant I got to give dad his socks in person. Grandma was 95. She was the first person to teach me to knit. Whenever we'd visit or she'd visit she was almost always with her knitting needles. My first knitting role model. Thank you Grandma!

It's jumbo pre-felted state.

And then there's Mariah. Zipper installed FINALLY! The yarn is getting pilly. Not sure if it's just because it's Merino or if it's because it's Patons. I wish it fit a little bit better, but for a first sweater I think it's pretty good. I'd love to have a really experienced knitter look at it and tell me how I could improve it, because I just don't know what I don't know.

It's the armpit bunching I'm not too thrilled about, and the way the zipper doesn't lie flat. The zipper and the knitted fabric don't seem to like to play nice together.

Dan got "artsy", haha.

So now that I've caught up on the old, here's the new. Wing Of The Moth shawl in Kid Seta. I love knitting lace. Looks like crap before it's blocked, but that's part of the fun of it. I love the feel of the Kid Seta unless I have to unknit it because I forgot to count my stitches and realized after a purl role that I forgot a YO. Oh well. I'm getting better at counting. I need to mark the pattern repeats which will make life easier.

The early beginnings.

Still plugging along on Eris. More gauge snafus, more frogging. I changed needles from KnitPicks to bamboo Addis because the KnitPicks were to slickery. Then I started purling backwards to even out the tension between my knit rows and purl rows. So I was getting 6 spi instead of 5. I then changed to KnitPicks Harmony needles which I LOVE! I think I am now good to go. I'm about 2 inches past the armpits. Just imagine it because I'm too lazy to take a photo :-).

I'm restraining myself from starting anything new, although I'm tempted to start on some socks. Would really like to finish Eris tho, so I'm restraining myself from starting anything new. The lace is a nice change when I'm bored of stockinette.

Well, that's all for now!

Ravelry is a drug

2007-11-10T11:09:00.000-08:00

I finally got into Ravelry - yay! I'm KnitLisaKnit over there.

I've been having so much fun posting pics of my projects and stash. Who knew I had so much yarn! You know you have a problem when looking at pictures of your yarn is a soothing experience.

So have I been doing any knitting in the midst of this? Yes indeed. Bit by bit.

Eris Update
Poor Eris. Remember the 2 different dye lots horror? Well I got all the way to working on the bottom hem and realized it was too big. And it was my fault. I really thought I could get away with having my guage being too big over the chest area and then go down a needle size when it tapered in at the waist and no one would notice, right?

Wrong.

I had little wings where there was too much fabric along the side under the arm pit and it was puckery where I went down needle size. Plus the dye lot fiasco. I decided it was too many strikes against it. So I ripped. it. out. All the way back to the cable collar which thank god happened to be done all in the same dye lot.

I've seperated out the 2 dye lots and think I'll have enough to do the body all in one. Ideally I'll have enough in the same dye lot to also do the sleeves and then use the other dye lot for the body and sleeve cuffs. But the sleeves may end up being a different one.

Dan thought I was being too picky. But you know, if I'm going to spend that much time on a sweater, it might as well be what I want. And if I don't get to wear it for another 2, 3 or 4 months it's not that big of a deal. So what if it's 3 steps forward and 2 steps back if it's what I want in the end. Back to it's humble beginnings once again.

Finished my first Christmas present. My brother Ryan's scarf - the seaman scarf Matt. It's made from good 'ol Plymouth Encore. I would've liked to use a nicer yarn, but wanted something he could wash. I hope he likes it. He's the last of my siblings to get a knitted gift from me.

Other Christmas goodies - socks for my dad. Slowly but surely. 2 on 2 circs, toe up, Queen Kahuna style. Knitted in Araucania Ranco, Size 1s. Taking freakin' forever. I'm sort of in the home stetch, or at least working on the cuff.

In the queue - a sweater for Dan. Purchased some nice tweedy yarn from Beaverslide Dry Goods, on the recommendation of Brooklyn Tweed. It's an oatmeal tweed, with little flecks of buttery color in there. Not the best color for Dan, but he likes it, and oh by the way, it's a good color for me, so I might be able to borrow it occasionally. Heehee.

In other news, a friend of mine is letting me borrow her ex-husband's spinning wheel. It's a Louet S15, single treadle. Very pretty. And a big, gigantc garbage bag full of fleece to go along with it.

Right now I'm doing far more swearing than spinning, but every now and again I get the hang of it for a nanosecond. It would probabl help if I did it a little bit everyday instead of once every couple of weeks.

I may have to hand in my knitting needles

2007-08-18T18:37:00.000-07:00

Good thing there aren't Knitting Police in real life. Sigh.

How many books, how many times have I read about dye lot color. I'm heading into the home stretch of the body of Eris. I count my stitches to make sure I'm on track. I measure how many inches I've knit from the armpit down. As I spread the sweater out on my table I notice that there's this odd variation in the color. In stripes. What the........?? Maybe it's the light. Nope, not the light.

Maybe it's one of those freak dye lot "accidents" where it's the same dye lot but definitely not the same shading. Or maybe I didn't pay attention when I bought the yarn and bought 2 different freakin' dye lots. Ding - we have a winner!

By god, I bought 2 different dye lots. Such a rookie mistake. Ugh. I can't freakin' believe it.

All I can say is that I was under the siren song of a yarn sale. And must've mistaken the color number for the lot number. Criminey.

There's not much I can do about it at this point other than to frog the entire sweater. I'm not about to go back and knit each row in alternating dye lots. Even I am not that anal. And I don't have enough of each dye lot to use just one. But I've separated what I have and should have enough to finish the body with one and do both sleeves with the other. Maybe.

One dye lot is more grey purple, the other less grey more purple. You can notice the lighter stripe right across the boob line.

Other than that it's coming along nicely. It's a bit longer than it should be at this stage so I'm going to frog 4-6 rows before heading into the hem section.

Stopped by my LYS yesterday and picked up some very yummy sock yarn they just got in.

Araucania Ranco - hand dyed in Chile by Araucunia Yarns. Yum, yum, yum. 75% wool, 25% polyamide, 376 yds. The plan is to transform it into a pair of socks for my dad for xmas. Starting in August means there's a pretty good chance they'll be ready in time.

I also picked up some good 'ol Plymouth Encore. I'm going to swatch it with some DK alpaca I have. Curious to see what it looks like stranded together. Hopefully it will become a scarf for my brother. The scarf I talked to him about before last xmas. I was originally going to use the alpaca and make him Matthew's Scarf. Unfortunately the stitch pattern didn't show up for shit in the black. So it was put on the back burner. If they don't look good stranded together then I'll just use the Encore and it will be something he can throw in the washer and dryer.

While I've been working on Eris, Dan mentioned that he'd really like to have a sweater. Especially since I have so many. I only have 2 1/2. I had actually bought a skein of Peace Fleece last winter in this really nice deep blue greenr that I thought he'd like. The plan was to swatch it and see what it wanted to do.

I've been keeping my eye out for different men's sweater patterns. There's lots that I like. Unfortunately Dan and I don't have similar tastes. I like cables or interesting stitch patterns. He likes simple, plain, aka b.o.r.i.n.g. I thought he might like Cobblestone Pullover. Nope. He wants a plain stockinette stitch raglan with ribbed cuffs and bottom band. Yawn.

Oh well, I guess it'll be good tv knitting. Not sure if I want to do it top down or bottom up. But if the pattern's going to bore me to tears I damn well better enjoy the yarn. I think Peace Fleece should fit the bill.

I bought the new Interewave Knits. And it's so tempting to say I will only knit for me, me, me!!!

I actually have some yarn in my stash that should work nicely for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I bought they yarn almost 3 years ago before my first LYS went out of business. It was on the 40% off shelf. I had no idea what I was going to make from it, I had only just started knitting. But I thought it was a good deal. It's Jo Sharp DK Wool Tweed in Oatmeal. I've started swatching it and it's interesting. Reminds me a bit of cotton - not a lot of give to it, but nice and squishy in the swatch.

Other lusts from IK are the Tilted Duster - love, love, love it and the Minimalist Cardigan - although I'd probably make the sleeves full length.

Then there's the socks. My favorites are Ambrosia, Genome, and Honeycomb.

And branching out from IK, I have my eye on Banff from Knitty. I've got some nice brick red Jamieson's Chunky Shetland in my stash that could work quite nicely.

As soon as I finish my Christmas knitting :-).

Pictures

2007-07-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, first up Cat's Paw lace scarf.

Blocking on my interlocking fitness mats. Really like how they worked out. Especially like having the flexibility to go long or wide depending on the shape of the FO.

Close-up of blocked pattern.

Indulged in an "artsy" shot :-)

Details:

Pattern: Northern Lace by Elizabeth Lovick. It's using the cat's paw stitch pattern. Elizabeth can be found here.

Yarn: lace weight merino from Hand Painted Yarn,.

Needles: Knit Picks Options size 7 (I think),

Comments: The yarn was nice but seemed a little splitty, although since it's my first lace project I really don't have anything to compare it to. Using the Knit Picks helped avoid splitting since their tips are so pointy. I didn't know most people don't like metal needles for lace until after the fact. They worked for me.

Around the Bend with my Head Hugger Hat.

Details for Round the Bend:

Pattern: can be found in Handknitting with Meg Swansen I actually used the video that she made for this pattern. Schoolhouse Press is in the process of changing their videos over to DVD and it appears that they're out of stock for the video of this pattern. Hopefully it will reappear on DVD soon.

Yarn: Unspun Icelandic Wool in Caramel and Dusty Pink.

Needles: Addi Turbo circulars and I can't remember what size I used - wah!

Comments: This yarn is incredibly warm. Because it's unspun you have to handle it a little more careful than plied yarn. If you yank on it, it will stretch out. Sewing up the shoulder seams got a little tricky because of this. Once it's knit up, it's a stable fabric. I used it double stranded throughout to meet gauge.

Easy Head-Hugger Hat

This back shot shows the pattern of the band nicely.

Side view - I lurv Noro :-)

Details on Easy Head-Hugger Hat:

Pattern: Easy Head-Hugger Hat

Yarn: Noro Kureyon

Needles: Knit Picks Options size 5

Comments: You do have to pay attention though because something different is happening each right side row. I think if I hadn't put this down and picked it up over 2 months it would've been easier to get in the rhythm of the pattern.

When gauge goes bad

2007-07-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

Sigh.

I frogged 4 inches of yoke on Eris this morning. After staying up until 1:30am happily making progress. The little voice in the back of my head said I should probably stop and double check I was still on track with my gauge. The big voice said "just one more row".

I had originally started this using KnitPicks Options, which I love. But the yarn was just too slippery on them once I got past the cabled collar. So I changed to Addi bamboos which were perfect and quite nice. I figured even though they were the same size (5) since there was more grip on the bamboo I could knit it more tightly. Which it appeared I was for a little while, because all was well in gauge land. Somewhere along the way however I got comfortable and my gauge expanded instead of shrank. 5 stitches per inch turned into 5.5 stitches per inch.

Sigh.

Then there was a little bit of an argument inside my head.

Slacker: It's just the yoke, how big of a difference can it make, really? If I change needles now it should be fine.

Perfectionist: Well, let's just see shall we? Let's do the math.

(whip out cell phone calculator)

Perfectionist: 3.5 inches too much

Slacker: hmmm, is that really such a big deal? Let's try it on just to see.

(spread stitches of yoke over 2 circular needles, drape over shouilders, stand in front of mirror)

Perfectionist: looks kind of baggy

Slacker: sigh

Perfectionist: you know you'll hate it if you spend all this time on it only to have it look like crap because it's TOO BIG in the yoke

Slacker: big sigh.

(rip out yoke, rewind yarn, pick up yoke stitches, put stitch markers back in place)

And we're back in the saddle again............

In other news - my blocking wires arrived from Knit Picks today and I blocked my Cat's Paw lace scarf. It looks quite loverly. You'll have to imagine it because I'm feeling too lazy to get up and actually photo it. Maybe tomorrow. Oh and I also finished my hat. Stayed up until 12:30am Thursday night to finish Kitchering it together. Oh yeah, I was loving life Friday morning. However, it's sweet and it fits!

That's the news.

Whoa - I'm still alive

2007-07-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

Drum roll please, I actually have finished objects!

Finished my socks with Lorna's Laces Child's Play yarn. Love having my very own socks.

Cat's claw scarf is finished. Still needs blocking. Waiting on my lace wires and flower pins to come from Knit Picks. I ordered these sweet foam blocking boards from Amazon. Saw them on Wendy's blog. They're TKO 2'x2' Fitness Flooring System interlocking mats. The only downside is they're black so not the best background for photographing things, but oh well.

Lace close-up.

Completed Around the Bend Jacket, courtesy of Queen Elizabeth Zimmermann. All bow before her knitting wisdom :-). It's really warm and cozy thanks to the unspun Icelandic Wool. It's not the most fashionable piece of knitwear, but I do like it. My goal is to eventually have some nice, classic pieces of knit wear. The kind of stuff that never goes out of style. Not my strongest talent, but I'll work on it.

Close up of the buttons and closures.

Finally finished up the cuffs on the soaker. It's a Wooly Wonder. Now for the baby butt to fill it........

After all those finished objects, you may be wondering just what in the world am I doing now??? 2 projects on the needles. First up - Eris.

This is the neckline of Eris (I'm doing the cardigan version). After drooling over this sweater for a long time, it is finally on the needles - yay! This pattern is AWESOME. The details are so clear. And I love cables. Love, love, love. There's not a lot of cabling left now that the neckline is done. Soon it will be nice, soothing stockinette for miles and miles.

Close-up of center back.

Left side close-up.

And last but not least, the Easy Head-Hugger Hat using good 'ol Noro Kureyon. I have no idea what size head it will fit when it's finished. Um yeah, the gauge swatch kinda didn't happen. Oh well, it'll be a surprise!

That's all for now. Hopefully it won't be another 7 months (gasp!) before an update. Dan and I got back from vacation up in the "North Pole" of Marquette, Michigan on Friday and I must say this whole work thing is really for the birds. I think I could be quite happy parked on a beach, knitting and riding my bike. It's so beautiful up there even if Lake Superior is like ice water.

Today I was fantasizing about working in a yarn store. Ah well. Until next time.......... Happy knitting :-)

Knitting Porn for Korin

2006-12-13T07:10:00.000-08:00

Korin currently has limited use of both hands due to her bundle of joy Ruby. As a result knitting is on the back burner so for the time being she's living vicariously through other knitters.

So here's an update to satisfy the knitting jones'.

First my socks. Not a whole lot of progress, but I'm about to start the gussett increases.

The Around the Bend jacket has been getting most of my knitting time. I have the left half complete except for the i-cord trim. The sleeve is a bit long (someday soon I'll get that measurement right). Fortunately it doesn't matter too much since the cuff holds it at the wrist and the sleeves are designed to be a bit puffy.

I started a lace class at the LYS 3 weeks ago - last class is today. We're cutting our teeth on a simple lace scarf. The pattern is Northern Lace by Elizabeth Lovick. It's using the cat's paw stitch pattern. Elizabeth can be found here. I'm using lace weight merino wool from Hand Painted Yarns. It's nice and soft although a little splitty.

This is my first foray into lace. I can definitely see why people say lace is addictive. I suspect it's also good for the brain. Focus is a necessity. It's amazing how quickly I can loose focus. Jan, who's teaching the class, told us to knit in a quiet place with no distractions. I, of course, thought I'd be the exception to the rule. I'd be the one to multi-task with the best of them. Hahahaha! It's good to be humbled. It started out as one of those 2 steps forward, 1 step back processes. Lots of tinking. Now there's more knitting than tinking so that's progress. Can't wait to witness the magic of blocking when I'm finished.

And to round out the update - 2 purchases. Merry Christmas to me :-). The downside of taking class at the LYS is sitting right next to the 25% off shelf. The other downside is that everyone in the group is a yarn ho and we love to enable each other. It requires very little arm twisting. Three of the four of us in class partook of the yarn last week. Only Carol stayed strong and resisted the call of the yarn.

Meet the latest acquisition:

It's lovely yarn. Kerry, made in Ireland for Tahki Stacy Charles. 50% wool, 50% alpaca. She will grow up to become the cardigan version of Eris. Knit on my 2nd acquisition - Knit Pick's Options needles!

I started playing with them yesterday - transferred my lace scarf from Denise's to the Knit Picks. Quite nice. I can tell they're heavier, but that doesn't seem to be a big issue at this point. One of the joins has a teeny snag on it - I'll see how much that bugs me. The others seem nice and smooth. The cables are beautifully flexible straight out of the bag. I also like that the calbes are more narrow than the Denise's. The pointier tips are quite nice too, especially for the lace.

That's all the news from the needles for now!

Have a wonderful holiday season everyone and in the midst of the hustle and bustle remember to take a breath.

And the knitting rolls on

2006-11-19T18:02:00.000-08:00

I finished Dan's camo socks. They took longer than they should have. A few false starts, one major rip back because they were too wide. However, they fit pretty darn well and the hubby is happy.

They're on my feet so they look a little big :-)

New projects on the needles:

First up - my very own socks! Finally! In Lorna's Laces child's play - nice bright colors to fight the winter grey of Ohio. Toe up, two circs, Queen Kahuna recipe. My third pair of socks.

Balancing a size 1 needle project with a size 10 needle project, I've started the Around the Bend Jacket. If you scroll down the page you'll see it on the cover of the video. Pattern by Queen EZ and daughter Meg Swansen. I'm using un-spun Icelandic Wool. It's an unspun, hairy kind of yarn. Supposed to be amazingly warm. My LYS carries it. It comes in these fun little yarn cakes.

It needs to be handled gently otherwise it stretches out since it's unspun. Once it's knit up though it's quite sturdy. I'm knitting it with two strands - one chocolate, one pale rose. It actually reminds me of chocolate and strawberry ice cream.

One sleeve is done up to the gusset increases. The other is about 1/2 way.

Here's the I-Cord trim around the cuff.

Thus far it's a pretty brainless knit - garter and stocking stitch. It gets more interesting as it goes along. I ended up buying the video - it's nice to have Meg flesh out the details visually.

Tomorrow evening is knitting night at the LYS. November 29th I begin a 3 week lace knitting class. I haven't ventured into lace yet, although I have the yarn and the patterns. I've learned so much on my own from books and the internet which is great. However I think doing some live learning is good to add into the mix. And it's good to support the LYS.

A couple weeks ago they had a weekend knit-in. It was lots of fun. I learned a few things (crochet cast on, and the right way to do a provisional cast on) and enjoyed checking out other people's projects. And as always there were some good munchies to sustain us :-). They also had the most amazing give-aways. Very, very generous. Fabulously nice yarn - Gerry won 10 skeins of Noro Kureyon for crying out loud! Unfortunately I didn't luck out in the prize department. Better luck next year :-).

I interrupt your regularly scheduled knitting news

2006-10-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

to talk about infertility. I began knitting 6 months afer my first miscarriage. It was a way to pass the time, take my mind off trying to conceive, meet challenges and create tangibles when that wasn't happening in the arena I was most hoping it would.

My journey has been extremely difficult for me to talk about. Even with those who know me and love me the most. I do best with writing. It has been an alienating journey. It has been a heartbreaking journey. It has been the most difficult thing I have ever tried to do. It has been my Olympics, my marathon, my triathalon, my Mt. Everest.

K introduced me to the blog Stirrup Queens and Sperm Palace Jesters. Oh yeah, infertility can bring out the best in creativity. They've started a movement called Common Threads. It's the "secret handshake" for those who struggle with and those who have struggled with infertility. It's one way to share the journey and know we're not alone.

Wish List

2006-09-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

I love my library. Love, love, love my library. Dan loves my library too because of all the money it saves! I pass by one library on my way home and my office is next door to another library. Yay!

My latest visit to the knitting section brought me Knitting Lessons by Lela Nargi It's a very sweet book. The author interviewed knitters from all over asking them how they got started and what they love about knitting.

I also found Meg Swansen's Knitting: 30 Designs for Hand Knitters. Wonderful storytelling in it along with gorgeous sweaters. Not all of them are ones I desire to make, but interesting to look at for sure. Meg shares a little bit about her husband Chris aka Camera Guy, "For over three decades I never plotted a design without Chris's input. I am unable to summon the words to impart the importance of my husband to my life. He was my business partner as well as my life partner, and the depth to which I miss him is indescribable."

On my book wish list:
Sweaters From Camp: 28 Color-Patterned Designs from Meg Swansen's Knitting Campers

Knitting Around by Elizabeth Zimmermann That one will round out my EZ collection.

A Knitting Glossary DVD This looks like a gem of a reference.

EZ Knitting Workshop DVD I've seen Part 1 on video. It's quite fun to see EZ in her element.

The Handknitter's Guide to Sweater Finishing I saw this in Pattern Works catalog. As I finish Mariah (now that the sleeves are the right length) my seaming has definitely improved. I'm so glad I redid the sleeves and seeming. However, I'm sure there's more to learn and I'm curious to see what this DVD offers.

Aran Sweater Design by Janet Szabo I like arans and I like cabling. This looks like a good reference book.

Fishermen's Sweaters by Alice Starmore A book by Alice Starmore that doesn't cost a freaking fortune. Rumor has it she's a guru :-).

Cable Needle Freedom by Carole Wulster While I didn't use a cable needle on Mariah, I think my technique was a lacking and more due to luck than talent. So I'd like to learn how it really should be done.

The Treasury Set: 4 Books by Barbara Walker The stitch pattern guru, a definite for the library.

Now for the doodads.

Knee-sel This looks so handy to be able to hold a pattern or chart upright on my knee at an angle I can read it.

Magnetic Magnifier - save my eyes and magnify chart lines!
EZ Tote Bag with the famous phrase "Knit on with confidence and hope through all crises", what's not to love about that!

Options Needle Set Yeah, yeah, yeah I'm joining the band wagon. Most everyone loves these. Some people are concerned because they're much heavier than Addi's. Most don't think it's a big deal and love the pointier tips. I think that would be fabulous, it's the only thing I don't care for about my Addi's, especially when doing socks on 2 circs.

Circular Needle ID Tags Staying organized is a good thing.

And last, but not least Training!

The Knitting Guild Association, Master Knitting Program for Advanced Knitters Part of me really likes the idea of structure and getting feedback. Part of me really likes the whole title idea. Yeah, that'd be the 'ol ego. However, I'm all for improving and given that my knitting has been via less than formal instruction, this could work nicely to clean up my technique.

Knitting Camp with Meg Swansen If I haven't popped a kid out by July and I'm not super ripe with child, I am treating myself to knitting camp.

As for knitting news - Mariah sleeves are done, one side and one sleeve is seamed and looking mighty fine. The rest will be done by this weekend. Dan's socks are chugging along, hoping to reach the gusset by the end of the weekend. One leg cuffon the soaker is underway.

I treated myself to yarn this week. Lamb's Pride worsted at a ridiculously low price at the Sheep Shed Studio. In Chili Pepper Red. Which is Very. Red. Clifford the Big Red Dog red. I was thinking of using it for Rogue. I'm not sure. The Knitter's Guild is having a Knit Out Saturday so I'll solicit opinions there from my gurus. Yay for all day knitting with company!

Well that's all for now. If you haven't visited Cast-On, Go Now. Check out Episode 8 for the song "The Boob Fairy Never Came for Me" and Episode 9 for the classic "My Enormous Penis". Guaranteed to put a smile on your face!

Toodles fellow knitters!

Back again in the same month!!

2006-09-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

Whoo hoo! More pictures in store. More proof I'm a knitting nerd.

Best of all, I've discovered Cast On with Brenda Dayne. I LOVE this podcast!! Love, love, love it. I'm in the process of downloading all the old episodes. She's funny, she's liberal, she plays fabulous music I wouldn't take the time to find, she writes wonderful essays - touching and poignant. Go and listen. You must!

Have I mentioned I love my library? They are the BEST! Ohio sucks in many ways, but we do have a damn fine library system. So I watched a couple of Meg Swansen's videos. Learned a lot. And also watched Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop volume 1. Somebody walked off with the other volumes evidently. She's a trip. I really want to go to Meg's camp. Might put that on the schedule for next summer, just in case I'm not otherwise entertained.

This week instead of taking advantage of the sinfully tempting sale at WEBS, I satisfied my retail therapy need by purchasing a couple of patterns for lace. The first one is Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl by Susan Pierce Lawrence aka I'm Knitting As Fast As I Can. The second one is Wing-'o-the-Moth Shawl or Scarf. It is beautiful! And I have some Kid Silk Haze crack, I mean yarn, for it. I know K, you think that stuff is the devil, but it's so soft and so tempting and............ I. Must. Try.

And in the ongoing Mariah saga. They said it couldn't be done. Even Grand Dame Elizabeth said not to do it. You cannot shorten a sleeve that was knit from the bottom up. Well I didn't know that before I had the "brilliant" idea to do it, so I did it anyway. I can certainly see why she says it. It's not something I'd recommend. Picking up stitches is all funky when you're going the opposite way. You can't just unravel a cast on edge. Then there's the added complication of figuring out if you just picked up right side or wrong side. It made my head spin.

And so it begins

Yes I took scissors to my knitting

The red dots show how knitting in the opposite direction results in a bit of a jag. If it's not pulled out like that it's not as noticeable, and I think it's worth it to have sleeves the right length vs. rolling up 6 inches of extra sleeve.

I finished the cuff on the first sleeve and managed to pick up the stitches on the 2nd one all by myself! Just the cuff portion to finish up and then it's back to seaming. I will ask for help on that.

Dan requested a pair of socks for deer season. I went to the LYS and what the hell did they have but Lorna's Laces in Camoflauge for crying out loud! I had to have it. Dan did point out however that he doesn't take his shoes off when he's hunting.

Now you might notice how craptacular (to borrow from Cast-On) my increases look. That was me trying to get all fancy and follow in Meg/Elizabeth's footsteps. Apparently I didn't take as good of notes as I thought I had. Even though it's tempting to leave as is and just start doing the right way from now on, I cannot let my standards slip. I have a husband to impress afterall! Although truth be told I'm sure he could give a shit what my increases look like. But still, I have some standards remaining!

And because I'd eventually like to knit a pair of my very own socks for ME - Lorna's Laces in Childsplay. Something to brighten up the impending winter doldrum's.

Here's the blue soaker for my baby stash. I conquered the kitchener stitch! I am proud - took a bit, but Queen Kahuna's sock book saved the day. She is the bomb. I was reciting her saying in my sleep..........same on, opposite off, same on, opposite off....... It did the trick.

Voila! Almost done, still have to finish the leg cuffs.

So there you have it. News from the needles.

Next up I plan to create my knitting wish list in pictures. Stay tuned!

Yes, I still live here

2006-09-04T05:23:00.000-07:00

Good God where does the time go?! I thought there had to be a mistake when I was that the last time I've updated was DECEMBER of LAST YEAR??!! Eek!! Suffice it to say it's been a bit of a whirlwind, and the knitting may have slowed, but it did not stop.

Fall is in the air and it's a 3 day weekend. I have been severely rebitten by the knitting bug. This means I have caught up on all the bazillion knitting blog entries from my bloglines. I have also been sniffing around various knitting message boards, including joining 4 sock yahoo groups. Uh huh. AND it's the month of my 2nd anniversary of knitting - whahoo!! Thank you Korin and Adina for inspiring me to join the knitting craze - it's the best therapy a girl could have!

So, first of all proof that I've been knitting - it's been a baby summer and I've discovered how fun it is to knit for babies, especially cute and delicious ones like Della, Ruby and Brigit.

Ms. Della's booties. I'd be pleaseantly surprised if they fit her for more than a nanosecond!

Made from Socketta using the pattern Newborn Crawling Booties from somebody's blog I forgot to make a note of. For some reason I had a tendency to knit tight on this. Combine this with itty, bitty DPNs and it wasn't my favorite knitting experience - led to sore fingertips. This was also my first experience with the infamous Kitchener stitch. I'm expecting it will look better in future endeavors.

Ruby's Baby Surprise Jacket

Button close-up, everybody go "awwwww......"

Back of Ruby's Surprise Jacket - I love how the colors pooled here

The entire ensemble - first soaker I've ever made, sniff :-)

Ok, now for the details.

Sweater Pattern: The Baby Surprise Jacket is from the Grande Dame of knitting Elizabeth Zimmerman. The pattern's in her book Knitting Workshop (I'm seriously lusting after that DVD).

Comments: The pattern was a bit tricky form me to translate out of the book. EZ is an intelligent knitter and she expects others to be as well. I'm striving to become that intelligent, however in the meantime I thankfully found a yahoo group specifically for EZ patterns and all my questions were answered.

Sweater Yarn: Interlacements Toasty Toes superwash merino

Comments: I love Interlacements yarn. Love, love, love it! I used a different blend of theirs for my mom's felted bag.

Soaker Pattern: Wooly Wonder Shorts from Wooly Wonder - very nice pattern.

Comments: Had a bit of a short row hole issue but it was solved when I made these again for Brigit thanks to Interweave Knits online shortrow help - I switched to YO short rows and was much happier with the results.

Soaker Yarn: Cascade Pastaza, 50% Llama/50% Wool

Comments: This is another fabulous yarn. Similar to Lambs Pride, but without the mohair, and yet still a bit hairy from the Llama. I'm hoping its soft enough for babies.

And now for Queen Brigit's wardrobe.

Katja Halter

Close up of Feather and Fan edge

Complete Ensemble

Halter Pattern: Katja from Knitty's Spring edition

Comments: I wasn't able to get guage with the yarn, so I tweaked the pattern accordingly. After finishing the pattern, I took awhile to complete the soaker and Brigit did was babies do so well - she grew! I needed to add more length and was bored with the pattern so did a yarn over round, and then did some increases to accomodate feather and fan. I have to say I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Halter Yarn: New Cotton Print, Lana Grossa, 60% cotton/40% microfiber

Comments: I liked this yarn. I'm not a big cotton fan because it's hard on my hands, but this had enough microfiber in it and was really easy to knit with. Nice and cushy too.

Soaker Pattern: Wooly Wonder Shorts from Wooly Wonder - same as Ruby's.

Soaker Yarn: Cascade Pastaza, 50% Llama/50% Wool - same as Ruby's

Then there was the saga of my foray into Fair Isle for my sister Laura. For Christmas. 2005. Finished in May. 2006. Oh well, sometimes that's just how the knitting needles crumble.

Hat Pattern: based on Fair-Isle Chullo from Knitty Winter 2004

Comments: Laura wasn't fond of the whole cross-country ski theme in the original hat pattern, so it was tweaked. By moi :-). I did get pretty darn good at knitting with both hands. However when it came time to do the ear flaps they were knit flat and purling with my left hand was a bitch and a half. But I perservered and conquered and have decided if I never purl again with my left hand I'll be quite happy.

Hat Yarn: Red: Baby Ull by Dale of Norway, 100% superwash wool White: Jawoll by Lang Yarns , 75% superwash wool, 18% polyamid, 7% acrylic

Comments: You might be wondering why 2 different brands of yarn? Well it turns out that red and white are pretty popular colors come winter holiday time. So I turned to 2 different sources, my LYS for the white, and WEBS for the red. I'm more fond of the Baby Ull than the Jawoll. Knowing both were fingering weight I didn't bother to look at actual stitches per inch until after knitting enough to convince myself that I couldn't convince myself they were the same weight. 32 stitches per inch compared to 30. Yes it did make a difference and ruin a completely even appearance, not that my yarn tension had anything to do with that as well. Live and learn. The blocking done after the picture was taken helped a little bit.

So, what's next you ask? Well hot on the needles is a Mini WonderSoaker for my very own stash. Lest you get too excited and think I have "news" to share, it's all about keeping the hope at this point. Should be quick to finish as soon as I figure out the damn Kitchener for ribbing. I'm having a hard time translating Pam's instructions on Wooly Wonder. I shall perservere.

Also going on is Mariah revamping. Yes, I took scissors to my sleeves. I cut, I cut some more, I cut even more, and then realized I needed to seek help. Which makes me appreciate the talents of my LYS, the Knitter's Mercantile. They rock. Jan was a patient and willing problem solver - she spent an HOUR picking up stitches so I could start again. No charge. I offered, thinking it's not fair to get free service on yarn I didn't even buy there. She graciously refused. I'm a loyal customer. As for the sleeves, they're too long and I didn't like my seaming so I figured what the hell. Last night I spent a few hours figuring out where in the hell I was in the charting pattern. After a few false starts and a few tinking of rows, I've got it! Knitting in pattern down a sleeve that was originally knitted up is not recommended, but I think I can pull it off :-). Stay tuned.

Waiting in the wings are socks, for ME - well, yes I did promise Dan a pair of his own too. If I'm feeling particularly ambitious I might get some Christmas pairs in as well. Also there is lace waiting, and sweaters waiting. I frogged Ribby Cardi after realizing I'd screwed up the ribbing when trying to knit the body in one piece. It was a blessing in disguise, the pumpking color was seriously getting on my nerves. I do like that pattern though, so will look for a better color.

If you're still reading by now - bravo! I shall do my very best to post more often resulting in (hopefully!) shorter entries.

Stash Enhancement

2005-12-27T14:37:00.002-08:00

Hi, my name is Lisa and I have a yarn addiction.

You know you have a yarn problem when your husband asks "so just what hole is it you're attempting to fill by buying all this yarn?". No fair when he plays therapist like that! Somehow responding "but it was 40% off!" just doesn't do the trick.

This is a sweet olive green tweed. Maggi's Tweed Fleck Aran to be exact. I'm thinking of using it to make Rogue but I'm just a couple skeins shy. I'm playing with a swatch now to see if I like it enough to hunt down more.

Stash enhancement 1

This is Kid Seta - mohair/silk combo, in a lovely midnight blue. I have been warned against this, but the lusciousness of it was difficult to resist. I have enough to do a lace shawl. We'll see which one strikes my fancy.

Stash enhancement 2

This is Jamieson's Chunky Shetland. Not only 40% off, but discontinued. I love the brick red color. I think I have enough to make a short Einstein jacket. Hopefully my SIL gifted me with that book. Only 2 1/2 weeks to go for gift exchange!

Stash enhancement 3

Last but not least - Fusion, another mohair yarn - this one with acrylic and wool. I really like the colors of it, kind of a plum/purple/mauve. Sort of. Not enough for a shawl, but could make a nice scarf solo or in combination. We'll see what it grows up to be.

Stash enhancement 4

I think I have plenty to keep me busy, once I get some other projects out of the way. Currently on the needles is my sister's hat. After that, I'm making a chemo cap for my friend Candee who's currently going through the hell of chemo and loosing her hair. Then, if I'm in the mood and time is on my side, I'll whip up another pair of socks for Katie in her second color choice for her bday Jan. 24th. Then I think I'd better get cracking on baby goodies for friends - yay!

Christmas gifts

2005-12-27T14:34:00.000-08:00

Yes, after talking about it for how freaking long? I finally did it. For my sister Katie, I made my very first pair of socks. And gave them away, gulp. The good news is they fit her super long, super narrow feet "perfectly". Yay! Thank you Queen Kahuna - her book rocks! These were knit with Knit Picks Parade yarn. It was fine. Not the softest, not the tightest plie twist so some snags, but it worked. I'm curious to see how the sock yarns people rave about compare - ones like Kiogu, or Lorna's Laces.

First pair of socks

stripey goodness

Next up - my mom's felted bag. Oh lordy. There must be some kind of psychological profile in knitting things for other people. This pattern uses the feather and fan pattern to create nice wavy stripes of color. I tweaked it and used variagated yarn for the sides (Interlacements - 50% alpaca & 50% wool, this stuff is goregous!) and Lamb's Pride for the base, ends, and cover flap. Feather and fan is not a hard stitch pattern, it just requires that you remember how many rows you've just knit and when you need to do your lace pattern. I figured I'd whip it out quickly, it'd be a piece of cake, and easy to do while watching tv - HA!! I realized a) I have a short attention span and b) it took me awhile to learn to read the lace pattern so I could tell how many rows I just knit. A and B led to many, many frogging's. So many, I lost count. I even broke the connection to one of my Denise needles during the process. Sigh. Not that it's indicative of any "issues" or anything. However I perservered and realized that things went much smoother when I gave it my undivided attention. Hmmmmm.

pre-felting - feather and fan pattern

feather and fan closeup

Post felting

After all the blood and sweat (yes, I really did bleed over this when installing the grommets for the straps to go thru), I must say it turned out super duper sweet. I even felted a swatch and sewed it in for a pocket, complete with snap closure. Plus snaps for the flap. Yes, I am a suck-up overachiever. And yes, mom loved it. Score brownie points for me!

That is the end of my Christmas knitting. Sort of. There's a hat in progress for my sister Laura. I told her it wouldn't be done by xmas. It's my first foray into fair-isle, and I'm torn between a sense of accomplishment for rising to the challenge and realizing it's a total pain in the ass. The pattern I'm using is a take off on this Chullo - but tweaked.

Fall Wrap

2005-12-27T14:32:00.000-08:00

I made this using Hand Painted Yarns thick/thin yarn when it was on sale. After a false start on a bad color combination, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It's nice and warm!

Baby booties

2005-12-27T14:31:00.000-08:00

These are for my new nephew (well, not so new anymore, a big 5 months now). I used Little Turtle Knits pattern, that's currently unavailable until the book comes out. I liked the pattern. I wasn't all that pleased with how the yarn felted (also used LTK for yarn). The top yarn felted nicely, but the yarn for the soles seemed to have too much lanolin in it to completely felt (this pic is before felting).

Dan's currently visiting said nephew. I wonder if they'll fit. I had a bit of a mental block/personal issue with getting motivated to send these off and procrastinated instead. Sigh. Bad auntie.

It's a good day to knit

2005-10-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

I love my LYS. I love getting out and being with people and not thinking once about fertility and pregnancy and miscarriage. Well, maybe once. My LYS had an all day knit. It was great. Knitters are nice people. I reconnected with a woman who a year ago helped me at the local Knitter's Guild when I was hopelessly trying to figure out my first knitting project of a shawl in cotton yarn. She showed me how to tink. It's been a valuable skill. She's currently working on a "plain brown sweater" for her husband out of yarn she spun and took the time to take me on a "tour" of her sweater. When I grow up I want to be able to knit sweaters like that. I want to know what I'm doing well enough to tweak here and tweak there and here's how to shape this shoulder, etc., etc. A smart thinking knitter vs. a pattern dependent knitter.

I also got to watch someone do seaming. Someone who knows HOW to do seaming. That was really helpful and I'm tempted to redo my Mariah sweater seams. Very tempted, especially since they look like crapola.

I found some lace yarn to go with my Handpainted lace yarn for the flower basket shawl. I'm working on reading colors better. Colors that work with each other. It's a bit of a challenge for me. But I have to say I'm pleased with what I picked - the 2 colors balance each other well. One gives a spark of color and the other grounds it nicely. Now I've just got to work on getting the right guage. It will be my first lace attempt.

I made my first pair of felted baby booties for my nephew Tyler. I've been a negligent auntie. Oh well. They look pretty cute and I'll post pics soon. The soles didn't felt up as much as I wanted them to in spite of god only knows how many cycles of agitation in the washer, boiling water, cold rinse, etc. But they're good enough. Except my seaming yarn shows and it's totally visible being dark yarn on a lighter color. Oh well again.

Other projects in the works - finishing my sweater sampler from the book Sweater Workshop, felting my guage swatch for the Fiber Arts felted slippers for my MIL (xmas), casting on for my socks on circular needles now that I've got a good guage, and finishing Ribby Cardi even though the pumpkin color is starting to really grate on my nerves and I'm questioning whether or not I'll be the least bit inclined to actually wear it (part of my color challenge).

I also need to decide what to do with Rosedale (have about 6 inches of a sleeve done) - not sure how much I like the asymetry of the intarsia pattern for the body, maybe I'll do it on both sides instead of just one to balance it out. Also one of the colors in the colorway is this super bright green that is like nails on a chalkboard but I adore all the other colors so I'm debating about going through all my skeins and cutting out the bright green. Just not sure if that will cause a yarn shortage or not. One of those yardage measuring things would sure come in handy. Of course there's always the old fashioned way!

Holiday projects include socks for my youngest sister, a felted hat for my other sister, and a felted bag for my mom. The LYS had a feather and fan pattern felted bag that looked really cool. One of the employees is just finishing up writing the pattern. I think I'll do that for mom but add a closure flap vs. the drawstring. Feather and fan will be little more interesting than a booga bag. Waiting on foot measurements from K (she's freaking big foot, and narrow as all get out). Then it's just a matter of picking out yarn and getting started. I'm hoping to avoid the holiday project last minute scramble.

I also want to knit a sweater for Dan. Which might be a tad bit ambitious given the sweaters I really want to knit for ME - I'm lusting after Eris in a big way. I think it would look luscious in Knit Picks Andean Silk in Cranberry. Yum! Plus there's still Rogue. Peacefleece is calling me for that one. I love that color. I'd like to give Ribby cardi another whirl with different colors. Maybe a nice classic navy. Can't go wrong with that for sure.

But back to the sweater for Dan :-). I'm thinking cables and seed stitch and taking the plunge to make it up on my own. My mentor at the LYS told me that when it comes to what men like, keep it simple. Make something fancy for myself, but nice and basic for the hubby. I think she's right. I picked up a skein of Peace Fleece at the LYS in this color to play with. The picture doesn't do it justice, but in real life it does lovely things to Dan's eyes! As soon as I finish my sweater sampler I'm going to start clarifying the creation.

So much to knit, so little yarn. Oh and here's a laugh. I was discussing knitting with a client who knits and is new to town. I asked her if she knew any of the local yarn stores. She didn't but said there's no way she needs anymore yarn "I already have an entire plastic storage bin filled with yarn!" I cracked up. Only one?! Pansy :-).

Ribby Cardi has begun

2005-08-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

My 2nd sweater is officially on the needles, and I think it's pretty reasonable to expect to wear it this winter. It better be because I've got 3 others behind it. Yes, I'm a sweater aholic. The pattern is from Chicknits and I'm using Knit Picks Wool of the Andes - which I'm pleasantly surprised with given the totally to die for price. The plies aren't super tight, but once it's knit I'm not noticing it.

I decided to tweak the pattern and do the body in one piece until the yoke part. I also decided to do the sleeves on double pointed needles in the round. No, I do not like seaming and after reading The Sweater Workshop (which I highly, highly recommend), I am determined to get creative and avoid it whenever possible. Or at least until I get better at it, as in take a class or have someone hold my hand. I wasn't too pleased with how my Mariah seams turned out. So, someone knit their Ribby Cardi with seam minimization and I've decided to follow suit. We're going on vacation and it's a long ass drive, so I'm planning on getting lots of this done, as well as officially casting on for Rogue. And some socks. Yes, I'm ambitious.

Beginnings of Ribby Cardi in Pumpkin and Maple Syrup

Cuff of the body

Clapotis is Done!

2005-08-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

Finally finished. I ended up running out of yarn and had to buy more and in the midst of that life happened, so it took longer than expected, but I do like it. The yarn is Knit Picks Andean Silk Twist and it's so, so soft. I'd like to do something else with the same yarn but in a solid color.

Kudos on the pattern, found at Knitty. I love Knitty.

Clapotis finished and blocked

Clapotis up close

Sock Yarn

2005-05-24T18:13:00.000-07:00

Yarn just waiting to become socks.

I am determined to enter the world of socks. No longer will I drool over delicious hand made socks that belong to others, I will make my very OWN!! I've founds some great help online. Cybersocks is a wealth of info and they had this great walk through on toe-up socks. Then there's Queen Kahuna (love the name!) who came highly recommended by Suzanne. And last but certainly not least there's Wendy's generic toe-up pattern. Decisions, decisions. In addition to the sock book I have. I think I've settled on toe-up socks, and for now, something basic will work just fine before I branch out into more creative sock knitting pastures.

Knitter's Night Out

2005-05-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

After the sad closing of my favorite LYS, it reopened under new name and new ownership (they bought out the inventory) Knitters Mercantile. Last night was the first gathering - potluck style and a drawing for prizes. Yay! I was lucky and won 4 different sizes of Susan Bates Quicksilver single point needles. Pretty fun.

It was great to gather with other knitters and share projects and ideas. Saw the pattern for Matthews Scarf - really sweet. Julie was swatching Knit Picks Elegance for it. That yarn felt absolutely amazing! Definitely on my list now.

Sara's planning a Knit Along for Knitty's Peek-a-Boob. Carrie had this fabulous wire woven shawl on display. It was amazing - although I can only imagine the time involved. It was such a treat to have another gathering place to meet new people.

Speaking of knitters in real life - I reconnected with my long lost friend Suzanne (hi Suzanne!), a fellow knitting addict and all around very cool person. We've been having great fun swapping photos and patterns. She's made some amazing felted bags, and these cute hooded sweaters for her boys, as well as a gorgeous cabled sweater for her dad that she steeked (gasp!). When I grow up I want to steek :-).

Mariah yoking is complete!

2005-05-24T15:50:00.000-07:00

Finally! The yoke that never ended, ended. I was all set to start seaming and then opted (after reading suggestions) to do the right thing and block her before seaming.
Mariah is blocked!

I opted for a collar vs. a hood. It's a better fit for me.

Things I have learned from this pattern (so far, I'm sure more awaits with the whole seaming process):

1. Charts are read right to left AND left to right depending on right side vs. wrong side. Fortunately I realized this before making any deathly errors.

2. If you are tired, do NOT attempt chart reading and cabeling. Something will get messed up requiring more time and effort and irritation.

3. Pay attention if doing both sleeves at a time - it's really easy to add an extra row to one sleeve and wonder why your side cables don't look right from sleeve to sleeve. Which (depending on how anal you are) will once again require more time and effort and EXTREME irritation.

4. It is easier to lengthen a sleeve with blocking vs. shrinking a sleeve with blocking. Those of us with long arms frequently suffer from in between sleeve length issues - the item initially fits until washing and then once it is washed is somewhere between being 3/4 length and looking just plain dorky. Wanting to avoid the dorky syndrome - especially with my first sweater - I opted for a little extra length, then found myself needing a couple extra rows due to where I was in the chart, and have now found myself with sleeves that I know are going to be too freaking long. Won't know just how too freaking long until assembly is complete.

5. Expect mistakes. Then expect to learn to live with them, or drive yourself insane. Some of my cabeling took interesting turns in retrospect. The good news is I kind of like it and fortunately it's consistent on both sleeves.

It's nice being in the home stretch of sweater making. Once she is seamed, I'm taking her to my local dry cleaners so they can put the zipper in. I don't (yet) own a sewing machine and feel better having someone with experience do this.

I'm no longer a monogomous knitter

2005-05-24T15:49:00.001-07:00

While working on the endless yoke of Mariah, I treated myself and started Clapotis.

Clapotis in Knit Picks Andean Silk Twist

Close-up of dropped stitches.

I like this pattern. Not too mind bending but entertaining enough and goes pretty quickly. All was going smoothly until the last time I dropped a stitch and realized I had dropped one stitch AFTER the one I was SUPPOSED to drop. Sigh. It's such a bitch when good knitting goes bad like that. I couldn't figure out how the bottom of the ladder was really supposed to be, and yes I admit I did contemplate (briefly) starting over and then the voice in my head shouted "who the hell's gonna notice anyway?!" so I refrained and just threaded the misled stich back up the ladder. I'm sure blocking will also be helpful. So much for my fantasy of perfection..... I'm sure sooner rather than later knitting will break me of that.

New Knitting Toys

2005-05-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

New knitting bag from JoAnn's!

Needle case that comes with the bag.

This was such a sweet deal from Joann - the bag was marked off 40% (actually it still is!) so it was $24. I love having a drawstring close to keep things contained. The sides and bottom are fabric covered plastic so it holds its shape nicely. All in all a very good purchase.

A yoking we will go, a yoking we will go........

2005-04-24T18:40:00.000-07:00

drum roll please........let the yoking begin! Just when I had decided that there's no rush for the completion because sweater season is over - HA!! Snow yesterday, snow today. Mother nature is just freaking rude! So who knows, I may get to wear it sooner than I think if I hurry up and get it done. She's still the only project on my needles so there's hope if I don't get distracted by socks :-).

Proof that I am indeed still knitting

2005-04-08T13:23:00.000-07:00

Here's what Mariah's growing up to be slowly but surely. My side cable corrections on the sleeves took forever and a day to finish, but since then progress has been steady and no frogging (knock on wood, knock on wood). I'm pretty close to venturing into the land 'o the yoke. Probably could knock it out this weekend but the weather is going to be gorgeous and I'm feeling the need to play in the yard so we'll see. If not, flight time to and from Denver next week should get me there as long as I can find the room to bring it along. Otherwise I'll have to start another project so I'll have something to bring. Can't believe I only have one WIP?! Standing in the wings are Clapotis, Ribby Cardi, and some socks.

My sleeves, my sleeves, my sleeves - only 4" more to go!

I realized when I got to my 2nd cable repeat that my first repeat is extra-special. At least I'm consistent on both sleeves. Even though it's not "right" I kind of like it, and have no plans to change it!

I did it right the 2nd time!

Left and right side panels - 10 1/4"

Back panel - 12 3/4" almost done

My very first sweater

2005-02-20T19:13:00.000-08:00

Mariah begins her gestation with humble sleeve beginnings. Knit from Patons merino wool in denim. Note to self - do not do detailed cable project when tired, will lead to confusion, delay and frogging.

Irish Hiking Scarf

2005-02-20T08:47:00.000-08:00

Eric's completed Irish Hiking Scarf aka the world's longest scarf for the world's tallest brother (well, ok, I am exaggerating a bit, but not much).

Confession - if you look closely (and let's pretend you have to look really closely) you will notice that the last gray stripe on the left is shorter than all the others. Yes, I ran out of yarn and yes I decided to forge ahead without buying a whole new skein because I a) wanted to finish b) promised I wouldn't start Mariah until I was finished and c) my favorite LYS store where I had bought the yarn closed and I'm in mourning.

Close up of the cables

Baby Cables Poncho

2005-02-20T08:40:00.000-08:00

This beauty is from Weekend Knits and is knit from Patons merino wool. I had to block it twice because the first time it turned out gigantic. Fortunately wool is very workable.

Katie's Booga Bag

2005-02-19T18:20:00.000-08:00

Katie's xmas Booga Bag in Noro Kureyon

Close-up of these colors that I LOVE, even if my brother says they look Jamaican mon and only further contribute to Katie's hippy tendencies - hehe.

Entrelac Scarf

2004-12-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

My first entrelac project is finally done!

Entrelac close-up

2004-12-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

Entrelac scarf project made from Noro Kureyon

Vogue Knitting Poncho

2004-12-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

Poncho from Vogue Knitting magazine Winter 2004 knit in Gedifro Scarlet. Christmas gift for my sis Laura over in Wales playing nanny.

I love cables. Not as tricky as I thought they'd be.

More cableing and the ribbed edge.

Seed Stitch

2004-12-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

The infamous seed stitch. I learned a valuable lesson on this - how to correct a purl that should have been knit and a knit that should've been purled without ripping it all out - yay!

2004-12-07T17:41:00.000-08:00

Baby Z's blanket

Mitten cuffs

2004-12-07T17:40:00.000-08:00

The cuffs make these extra sweet I think

Felted Mittens

2004-12-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

Felted mittens - I FINALLY figured out those damn double pointed needles!!

When knitting goes bad........

2004-10-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

Grrrrr. Starting my next project. Perhaps I should rephrase that TRYING to start my next project. A baby blanket for a friend. First try of casting on I didn't have a long enough loose end. Second try, still not enough. Third or fourth try finally worked. It's knit on circular needles, but not in the round. Well, I screwed up and knit in the round. Unravel, cast on again. This time much better. Until about 4-5 rows into it I notice that there aren't as many rows on one half as there are on the second half. How does this happen?!? I guess that'll teach me to not knit and talk on the phone at the same time. Sigh. And did I mention it's in seed stitch, which I'm still getting used to, so it's a pain in the ASS!!!

My First Knitting Project

2004-10-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

Ta Dah!!! My Booga Bag is done. My very first completed knitting project. Grandma would be proud to know that all those attempted scarves and potholders eventually led to this.

I made it with Plymouth Yarn Outback Wool - it felted up pretty darn quick, 10-15 min.

2004-10-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

Dan, the ever willing model

2004-10-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

After felting - drying

First Booga Bag

2004-10-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

Completed bag and i-cord before felting