I think I'm gonna purl

Follow me!

2008-02-02T17:33:00.000-08:00

I've been working on a new venture (explains my absence) and, because of it, I'm moving blogs! Come visit me in my new home, won't you? I explain it all over there and I have a CONTEST to celebrate! Don't forget to add my new blog to your rss reader. I don't want you to be left out!

Blogger, you've been alright but I'm outta here!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T23:15:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope you had a fabulous day. We stayed home and it was so nice. I got some fabulous knitting-related gifts that I'll share with you later but for now, I want to show off my Christmas knitting. I finished my BPT earlier this months and it has been a most wonderful Christmas sweater.

I opted to forgo the hood and I'm really happy with it. I used just about 5 skeins of Cascade 220. I didn't do the i-cord edging either. Instead, I did 2x1 ribbing, so it isn't very obvious ribbing. I liked the neat edge that the i-cord gives but didn't want to deal with trying to get it not to roll. I also changed the sleeves a little by not decreasing as much. I did 10 decrease rows instead of the 13 (I think) the pattern called for. I did one sleeve with the specified decreases and it was way too tight at the wrist. I also lengthened the sleeves and body just a little. Here I am cutting down my Christmas tree, being careful not to get any sap on the sweater! For the collar, I just picked up stitches did 2x1 ribbing as well and continued the cables to the edge. have I said that I love this sweater?

I also have been furiously knitting a stocking for the babe. I really wanted her to have one this year, even though she wouldn't know the difference.This is me knitting furiously at about 2 in the afternoon today. I wouldn't let Mike open his stocking until she had hers all done so I was under some pressure. I decided on the stocking from this year's holiday IK. I used Wildfoote sock yarn (double-stranded) in red and white and also a little bit of Knit Picks Essentials in the cranberry color. I used the darker red for the middle few rows of each chart. I didn't do the top row of snowflakes and put her name on it instead. It needs a good blocking but I love, love, love it and am so happy I finished it before Christmas was over!

I Survived, Barely

2007-12-02T21:10:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving week was madness! A 600 mile road trip, 2 families, 2 Thanksgiving dinners (thankfully on 2 different nights), tons of family, several baby meltdowns because of an inability to sleep in a strange place and, to top it all off, my husband's high school reunion. Whew, I'm tired all over again just thinking about it. It's taken a while to recover. As nice as it was to see everyone, I'm really happy we're staying home for Christmas.

Sidenote: I was unenthusiastic to say the least about going to the reunion. To make it worse, we get to the place in SF and it's right next door to a YARN STORE! Oh, how I wanted to break in and spend a couple hours knitting in my $400 party dress (of course I didn't spend that much- $32 at Nordstrom Rack!!) while Mike talked about the good ol' days with people I didn't know. It wasn't that bad, though , and I even got the compliment of all compliments from a stranger- the coveted "You just had a baby?! You look amazing!" So it was pretty good after all.

I did get a fair amount of knitting done. My bpt only needs a zipper sewn in and then I'll show it to you. I did cheat and wear it today with a pretty pin to close it. I will sew in the zipper. I will.

In the car, on the way to California, I started knitting the Spiral Scarf from Knitting Nature. I'm using yarn I dyed a year ago and I've wanted to knit this scarf with it ever since I saw the pretty shades of blue and green that appeared. I'm really excited to finally be knitting it!

I'm pretty sure there's an error in the pattern, even though it's not on the official errata for the book. I hate that. Each hexagon is 1 stitch smaller than the previous one so there are basically 2 patterns- one for hexagons with an odd number of stitches per side and one for even numbered sides. The problem is for odd numbered sides. The directions say to knit, purl across, ending with a knit stitch. The problem is that now the next side starts with a knit stitch so there are 2 columns of knit stitches next to each other . It messes up the ribbing and looks bad on the reverse side as well. It doesn't look that way in the photos in the book.
So, the next time I started and ended my rows with a purl. Yes, there are two purls stitches in a row, but the last 2 stitches of each side are knit together on every round. This means that after the first row, it's a regular 1x1 rib. Perfect, right?That pesky purl stitch makes an unsightly purl bump in an otherwise pretty column of knit stitches. I just wasn't happy with that. So, I tried again. I still started each side with a purl stitch but I knit the last 2 stitches of each side. On the second row, where the decreases begin, those 2 knits are knit together and everything else falls nicely into place. See?Perfect. By the way, this is the real color of my yarn. Pretty, no? It reminds me of a slightly foggy day at the beach. I love it. You probably haven't even made it to the bottom of this post but one day you just might want to knit this scarf and you'll Google it to see if there's a pattern error or if your hexagons are supposed to turn out differently. You'll find this post and then you'll thank me. I hope.

EDIT: I love Ravelry! Nora Gaughan herself replied to me to tell me that I was right and no one had pointed that mistake out to her yet! I'm just excited that she "talked" to me.

Knit on, people.

Check it out, I'm famous!

2007-11-16T14:23:00.000-08:00

I'm on Craftzine! Check it out here. I feel so special. Craftzine has some great projects. Y'all should take a look.

pants for the baby seamstress

2007-11-16T09:28:00.001-08:00

Silly baby loves chewing on the tape measure. She tries to eat my patterns too. Yum, paper. These are the Perfection Pants from Wooly Wonder. We use cloth diapers so these wool pants (longies in cloth diaper speak) are the waterproof outer layer and they're warm and snuggly soft. I used Knitpicks Merino Style. The light blue is called Tidepool and was left over from my ogee tunic and the dark blue, Frost, was in the stash too.I didn't have enough of the light blue to finish and I didn't want an abrupt change to the dark blue so I opted for a slip stitch pattern to make it pretty! I love slip stitching! I'd never done colorwork like this before and it was so easy.

Happy Thanksgiving next week! We're off to California for the whole 2-turkey-dinner-shuffle-back-and-forth-between-2-houses-until-we're-exhausted-
and-the-baby's-cranky kind of holiday. It will be great. Really, it will. Oh yeah, I also get to go to Mike's high school reunion. That I'm not too excited about but I'll survive.

Take Two

2007-11-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

Or: Why it just might be in my best interest to spend all waking hours surfing Ravelry.

It's getting cold here and I decided to knit a headband since it's hard to wear hats with all of my hair. I picked Calorimetry because it looked easy and cute. It was easy. I knit it in a day and a half, which is pretty impressive since I don't have much time to knit because little sesame demands most of my attention. I then tried it on and it was too big. Not just a little loose but covering-my-whole-head-like-a-giant-knitted-multicolored-toupe too big.
Here's where ravelry comes in. I looked the pattern up on there and discovered that out of the thousand or so people who have knitted it, a great majority found that it came out way to big. I hate that! It's one thing to have it be too bog for me but when it's that many people, something is clearly wrong with the pattern. Was she designing for a freakishly large head and didn't tell the rest of us?

Silly me though I was spending too much time on Ravelry. Clearly it wasn't enough, though. It had the power to help me make a properly sized Calorimetry the first time around but I didn't take advantage. Lesson? Look stuff up on Ravelry before I knit it! My knitting time is precious and should not be wasted by frogging and reknitting!The pictures are all of the good one (which I knit in only a couple of hours, by the way). I cast on 96 stitches instead of 120 and worked 6 pairs of short rows. It's nearly perfect. The yarn is a mystery. ! got it from a secret pal and I lost the label. All I remember is that it's wool with a little acrylic blended in and it's hand-dyed.
Here's something I finished a while ago but can finally show you because it's been gifted. The pants and the silly little baby scarf are knit with Jo Sharp Desert Cotton Aran. The yarn feels nice and is washable so that's good for baby but I don't think I'll use it again. It's made up of what seemed like a million little plies and it got super twisted and kinked up when I was knitting it up. It was really annoying! I used this pattern but omitted the cargo pockets. The little guy should grow into them soon.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T18:39:00.000-07:00

I hope you're all having a great Halloween! We grew pumpkins this year and were very excited about it but we didn't get a chance to carve any of them! Between having the baby to deal with, I mean take care of, and being out of town last weekend, there just wasn't any time. It's a little sad but sesame is so cute that it's worth it to have her around.

I fixed her hat. I went the route of frogging an inch or so, decreased and reknit those rows. Then I turned the hat over and the smaller side is the bottom! It was annoying to have to redo but now it fits. I used Knitpicks Shimmer in the color Happy Dance. It's triple stranded since that's how I knit my clapotis and this was the leftover yarn. I used size 4 needles and it made a nice, soft fabric for baby's head. I wanted just a few more rows on the top so I used some sock yarn leftover from my over-the-knee socks.
P.S. I'm on Ravelry now!! Come visit me! I'm caseyk.

Am I the last one on earth?

2007-10-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

Am I the last person out there who has knit a Clapotis? I did this summer and now I know what all the fuss was about. What a great pattern!I used Knit Picks Shimmer in the Happy Dance colorway. I triple stranded it and the result is a lovely fabric with a lot of drape. It's thick enough to really keep out the chill but it's light and airy at the same time. I love it! The alpaca and silk is a fabulous combination. I could wear this every day.

I had a little bit of yarn leftover and I decided to use it to knit the baby a hat. We went to visit my dad this weekend and I knit it while I was there. I was distracted by visiting with all my relatives and, of course, by a crying baby, so I didn't try it on her while it was in progress. Bad decision. It's really cute but a little too big around. The best thing to do would be frog it and start over but I have so little time to knit nowadays that I don't know if I can do that. I thought of taking out the top seam and frogging an inch or so, then decreasing for a few rows when I reknit it. That way, I can flip it over and have the narrower "top" be the bottom so it's snug around her head. I can seam the cast on edge to then be the top. Or, I could just leave it alone and knit a chin strap to keep it on her head. What do you think?

Here's a picture from our trip. This is the southern CA part of my family. That's my 94 year old grandpa on the right! I'm so happy he got to meet his great granddaughter. My dad is next to my grandpa. To see more cool photos (some of my fam, but mostly not) visit my cousin's blog. She's an amazing photographer!

Darn dog!

2007-10-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

My dog has done the unthinkable. Something he's never done in the 3 wonderful years that I've had him. He ate my knitting! And not just any old knitting- the first thing I managed to complete since Sairshe was born! I was so happy to have finished something and then, before I could even block it, stupid Bradley ate it. It was a pretty lace scarf knit with Kidsilk Night. A little fuzzy, a little glittery, and now totally ruined. Impossible to frog. Nothing can be salvaged. It feels terribly wrong to throw Kidsilk in the garbage. I think Bradley's suffering from a disastrous combination of baby jealousy and boredom. I would feel sorry for him if he hadn't EATEN my scarf!! And he occasionally gets to curl up on my Boppy. Is that so terrible? Is it, Bradley?! No, I thought not. DON'T eat any more knitting!

My current project (that is staying far away fro the dog) is Bpt from Knitty. I'm using Cascade 220 Quatro in the Jamaica colorway. The color is so pretty in real life. This picture doesn't quite capture it. It's much more green but it's cloudy and blustery outside so I can't get good light for a true picture. I'm doing a turned hem instead of the applied I-cord and I'm undecided on the hood. I'll decide when I get there. Here is proof that the girl is going to be a knitter! We went to an alpaca ranch last weekend and Sairshe loved them! With this kind of beginning, how can she not grow up loving fiber? That's Snow White that she's petting and you can see her cute little baby next to her.
P.S. I hope you like my new look! I decided that it was time for a fresh start and there's nothing like some pretty flowers to get you through the cold, gray seasons.

When I last left you . . .

2007-10-12T13:59:00.001-07:00

. . . I was about six months pregnant and knitting and working and waiting for baby. A lot has changed since then! I got busy and then I got tired and then I got hugely pregnant and cranky. I was focused on getting everything ready for the little girl and though I was still knitting, blogging got dropped from my to-do list.

I'm back now! I'm not working (for now at least), not waiting for baby (because she's here!) but I am still knitting. Well, I should say knitting again because there were several months there that I wasn't even doing that.

Between the end of February when I last left you and the end of May, nothing much happened except that my belly got bigger and bigger so I'll just recap the highlights since then for you.

Baby Sesame was born in the morning on June 2 (only 3 days late) and it was amazing and fabulous. Thanks to Hypnobabies, I had a wonderful, relatively short labor and a natural birth. Little Sesame was a whopping 8 lb 13 oz and we named her Sairshe (it's pronounced like seersha). It's a Gaelic name (we changed the spelling a little) that means freedom. Here's a picture of her when she was 3 weeks old. I can't believe she's 4 months old already! I haven't yet decided how comfortable I am putting pictures of her out in internet-land for everyone to see but you at least get this one!
I quite my crappy job! It was a glorious day. I even had an exit interview with HR where I got to tell them how terrible their employees are treated. It felt nice. I will have to find another job in a month or so but I'm trying not to think about it yet.
I finally finished my frost flowers and lace shawl/blanket. I really only use it as a blanket. Since I left for the hospital at 2am, I brought it with me. I loved having it wrapped around me while I waited for Sairshe to make her entrance. I also knit a lovely clapotis but I don't have a picture because I left it at a friend's house.
I entered knitting in the state fair! I won 8 1st place ribbons and 5 2nd's. It was awesome!
Ravelry!! So cool! Okay, at least it seems really cool. Since I've been out of the blogging loop, I only recently was made aware of it so I'm still on the waiting list. Hopefully I'll be a member soon!

To catch up on my knitting life, here are some things I knitted for Sairshe before she was born. I've forgotten most of the details now so this it a little bare-bones. This is a little shrug and the pattern is from some Debbie Bliss book and I think it's even knit with Debbie Bliss yarn. Does anyone do that anymore?!
Anouk from Knitty made with some long forgotten cotton. I started it years ago for an acquaintance's baby. Needless to say, I never finished it for her. Good thing I had a girl baby!

This is a blanket knitted with Rowan dk Handknit Cotton. I think the yellow color has been discontinued. I love the ruffly crocheted edging! I'm think I'm mostly impressed that I remembered how to crochet something.

Bigfoot Bunny

2007-02-21T20:42:00.000-08:00

Sesame has her first stuffed animal! I knitted this mess in a little over a day but little did I know that it would take me a lot longer to turn all those pieces into this!Sewing, stuffing, sewing some more, taking an ear off, sewing it again. It took so much longer than I thought it would but it's so cute, it was worth it. It's the bigfoot bunny from Zoe Mellor's book Knitted Toys. The main yarn is Lorna's Laces shepherd worsted in the colorway safari. It was given to me by the very nice Sarah. (Go visit her and congratulate her on her good news!) It was lovely to knit with, as all Lorna's Laces yarns are. I wanted something fluffy and soft for the feet and ears so I broke down and bought some icky acrylic. It's Caron Bliss and while it feels kind of wrong to pair such nice yarn with cheap, crappy yarn, the effect is worth it. Hopefully sesame likes it. I did already take the rest of the skein of white fluffy stuff to the goodwill, though. I don't know who was happier about getting it out of the house- me or Mike. I have turned him into a yarn snob.Speaking of Mike, my newest project is a sweater for him. I have both sleeves done but it wouldn't make for a very exciting picture so I'll wait to show it to you. I've also pulled the frost flowers and leaves shawl/blanket out of the basket and started working on it again. I have added one whole repeat. Still a long, long way to go. At this point, each row is almost 1000 stitches long and altogether, I've knitted almost 58,000 stitches on this darn project! No, I didn't count them all. There's a frost flowers and leaves yahoo group and someone figured out all the stitch counts and made a spreadsheet. I'm not that crazy.

Busy, busy

2007-02-04T21:25:00.000-08:00

I've been so busy knitting that I haven't had time for blogging. I've also had a hard time actually taking pictures of my knitting so that I could have something to show you.This is the Mommy Snug sweater from last summer's IK. I made the smallest size and knit one set of short rows for the belly. I figure it's only going to be cold for a few more months so I don't need it to be too big. The only change I made to the pattern was to lengthen the sleeves. Does anyone else always have to do that too? I used Knitpicks Wool of the Andes. It's the 1st time I've used that yarn and I really like it! It's soft enough to wear against my skin. This picture was taken at the dog park but you can't really see the details and I don't even look pregnant!

So, I took another picture. This is a different day and it was really cold and windy and I just wanted to hurry up and get the picture taken. That's why I have a stupid look on my face. But you can see the buttons on the side. When I knitted the sweater, I didn't think about having to sew on 14 buttons. 14! I hate sewing buttons but I managed to get it done. I also knit Mike a new hat since he claimed his grey one doesn't match his brown coat. Apparently green is a much more fashionable choice. He wanted a tank on it so that's what he got. It's made with a mystery alpaca yarn. I lost the label. If you need to know, I can probably figure it out but you probably don't care that much. He likes it and now he doesn't have to be a walking fashion faux pas with his grey hat and brown clothes. I also knit a cardigan for sesame. Well, it started out as a cardigan for my coworkers baby. Her shower is in a few days. I kept thinking of things to add to the cardigan to make it cuter and tonight I realized I needed to keep it. I'm not really that close to this particular coworker and it just seemed too nice to give her. It would have felt awkward to give someone I don't know very well this little cardigan that clearly took a lot of time and effort to make. So sesame gets it! Since I do need a gift, I'm going to part with the Miss Dashwood I knit for sesame. I have another skein of that yarn so I can knit another for sesame.

I used Bernat cotton tots and followed the pattern for the kimono cardigan in the summer 2005 issue of IK. The Ik cardigan is in garter stitch but I don't really like knitting garter stitch so I altered it for stockinette. To keep the edges from rolling, I sewed satiny blanket binding to the inside edges. It'll be soft against little baby's skin.
Last but not least, little sesame will need socks- cute socks! This pattern was also in the summer 2005 Ik but several similar baby socks are free online at Interweave Knit's website. These are with Wildfoote sock yarn and I used size 0 needles. Before I knit them, I thought these might become my baby shower gift of choice (I have 3 pregnant coworkers!) but that won't be the case. I realized I don't like using size 0 dpns, and I like cabling using size 0 dpns even less. It sure made for some cute little socks, though!

Sesame is . . .

2007-01-17T08:39:00.000-08:00

A girl!! I was actually really anxious about finding out baby sesame's gender. It's not that I was hoping for one or the other, but I found that I kind of liked not knowing. Then I realized that when I found out, I could start knitting cute baby boy or baby girl clothes. We're thrilled that sesame is a little girl (for the record, we would be just as thrilled with a little boy) and little girl knits are so cute!
Take this Miss Dashwood hat from knitty. (Even if you're never going to knit this hat, it's worth clicking on the link just to see the adorable baby modeling the hat.) It snowed yesterday so I got to stay home and knit. It was great. I knit this hat out of Knitpicks Main Line. It's 75% cotton, 25% wool. The picot cast on took an eternity but it's so cute that it was totally worth it. The pattern has ear flaps on the hat but since sesame will be born in the spring, I don't think ear flaps will be necessary. I used almost an entire skein and if I'd made the ear flaps, I'd probably have needed to use part of a second. I hope sesame likes it. This is my favorite picture from the ultrasound. Sesame is punching me but I know it's out of love.

A month!

2007-01-08T20:42:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been a month since I've posted! This is what I've been doing.
Vacationing! We spent Christmas at the beach in L.A. this year. My dad lives 2 blocks from the beach and the weather was a nice change from the freezing Portland temperatures! This photo was taken on Christmas Eve. It was so warm! It's been hard adjusting to Portland again.
All my Christmas gifts were received well. My Aunt Judy loved her scarf and happened to be wearing an outfit that matched it when she opened it! The story is that My Aunt Karen was jealous and wanted one for herself. She was out of town for Christmas so she didn't open her gift from me until a few days later. She was really excited to find this:I'm happy that my aunts liked the scarves! My mom loved her blanket too. I was so glad to finally finish it that I wrapped it up before taking a picture. Sorry.

Now that Christmas is over, I've been knitting for myself. I finally finished my Over-the-Knee Socks, though not by the Christmas deadline I had set for myself. They are so pretty, if I do say so myself! I have also started a new sweater for myself. It's a maternity sweater from last summer's IK. I'm using Knitpicks Wool of the Andes and I'm really liking it. The bump in the front is because it has short rows under the bustline to accommodate a baby belly. Here's a modeled picture of the front. I can't believe I'm half done with being pregnant! One good thing about being back from my beach vacation is that I get to go to the doctor tomorrow and see if baby Sesame is a boy or a girl! I'm really excited but a little nervous too. We call the baby Sesame because when I first found out I was pregnant, I read that the baby was as big as a sesame seed and the name stuck. It's a lot bigger than a sesame seed now but my family is starting to think that maybe the baby should actually be named Sesame!

I need to say a great big THANK YOU to my secret pal! She got me a ball winder!! I have already used and I love, love, love it. I don't know how I went this long without one!

Gifts galore

2006-12-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

I'm getting my Christmas tree today and I've been planning my Christmas gifts. Hopefully I'll be ready to give them when the big day comes!

First things first. Here's my Christmas gift to myself. You should never overlook yourself in all this holiday planning. I'm making the over-the-knee stockings from the book Handknit Holidays. The cable ribbing is what (supposedly) keeps them in place above the knee and the darker line you can see running down them is actually a little cable lace pattern. The lace runs down the back of them, mimicking a fancy stocking seam. I'm using Knit Picks Essentials sock yarn and it's treating me fine so far. I think I can get them both done by Christmas. I'm giving my aunts pretty lace scarves this year. One is getting the trellis scarf I finished a while ago. I bought some beads to add to the ends of the points to fancy it up a little. I have another skein of the same yarn so my other aunt is getting a similar scarf that I recently started. The pattern is from the cathedral lace afghan in the Interweave Holiday issue and I added a wavy edging.

Next up is a blanket made of old, felted sweaters. It's really big and I haven't started sewing the squares together. I'm kind of afraid to start because I'm worried it will be harder than I'm anticipating. When it's just all planned out, it seems so nice and simple. I'll let you know if it really turns out to be nice and simple. I think I'm going to give it to my mom. It seems like her kind of colors. I finished my yarn-dying class. Here are my skeins! I'm in a hurry (Mike's rushing me to go out and get our tree) so I won't take the time to dredge up from my memory what dyes I used. If you want to know, just ask and I'll try to remember. The one on the left is a skein I dyed last week. It's the one on the right in the last picture- the one that's yellow and grey and green. That's right, the ugly one that you were all too kind to point out. I decided I hated it so I took it back and dunked the whole thing twice in the indigo dye. Now it has really pretty shades of blue and blue-green and it's one of my favorites! It's great to able to fix your mistakes by just dunking it in another color. I think I'm goint to knit the hexagon scarf from Knitting Nature. It's probably not quite enough yarn but I'll figure something out.

Lastly, another gift for me! My lovely secret pal sent me some gorgeous yarn, candles that didn't make it into the picture and some candy that is already eaten. Thanks secret pal!

Answers

2006-11-29T19:50:00.000-08:00

Hi readers. The 2 questions I got about my last post were: Where did you get the elephant buttons? and Who is the lucky baby that gets the sweater?

I got the buttons at a store here in Portland and I don't remember the brand. Sorry to disappoint those of you who wanted to buy then online. They're probably there somewhere but I don't know where.

The baby is, or will be, MY baby! My lack of knitting and blogging lately is because I have been feeling really sick and tired. I think I went almost a month without knitting because all I could do was sleep or lie on the couch watching stupid tv. I'm starting to feel better now so I'm happier and slightly more productive.

I've been knitting my frost flowers and leaves blanket but it doesn't seem like I'm getting anywhere. It's quite repetitive.I took it off the needles and spread it out so I could see that it really has gotten bigger. It's about 2 1/2 feet square so I still have a ways to go. It was fun to see it all spread out but it took almost an hour to get all those stitches back on the needles!

My other project has been dying yarn with natural plant dyes. I'm taking a class at Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks and it's super fun! I think I'm hooked. The little skeins at the top of the post are tiny mini skeins I dyed at the first class so we could practice. They're tinier than they look in the picture. I could maybe knit one baby bootie out of each one. Any ideas for what to do with them?These are my skeins from the last class. The blue is indigo, the pink is cochineal (actually a bug, not a plant) , the yellow is osage orange and the purple is logwood. I don't remember what the other dyes were. Next week I get to dye the rest of my yarn and I can't wait!

I've been knitting!

2006-11-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

Remember me? Not only do I still know how to knit but I've been knitting again!

I picked up my frost flowers and leaves shawl/blanket and have started working on it again. I was surprised at how easily the pattern came back to me. Even though I hadn't worked on it in weeks, I don't have to look at the pattern very often. I'm going to put it on scrap yarn soon because I have no idea how big it is! It doesn't look much different than the last photo I posted but trust me, it is.

I also knitted this quick baby sweater last weekend. It's Inca Cotton and I wish I had enough to knit myself a sweater with it. It's so soft! I found these adorable elephant buttons and they really finish the sweater. I sewed a ribbon to the inside so the buttons wouldn't pull on the stitches too much. That's all for now! You'll be hearing from me more regularly now that I have things to show you! There's nothing like the cold, rainy fall weather to make me start knitting again.

A Day (or 2) Late

2006-10-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

So, I joined Secret Pal 9 and I was supposed to have my answers to the all important questions posted by Sunday. Needless to say, that didn't happen.

I haven't touched knitting needles in over 2 weeks now! I think that's a record for me. My rusted root was coming along nicely. The weather was still warm and I put it on scrap yarn so I could try it on. It looked fabulous and I thought to myself "I can totally finish it before the weekend is over." That was nearly 2 weeks ago and it's still on the scrap yarn.

Life is beating me right now and I have no energy for anything once I get home from work. I want to knit but I just can't pull myself out of my stupor of tiredness. Now it's cold, which I am enjoying, but I fear I've lost my chance to wear rusted root this year. I could fix my ogee tunic, though. That would be productive. Hopefully I'll pull myself out of this funk soon. I really do want to knit again!

Okay, the questions. They're pretty much the same as those from the last round of secret pal so if you feel like I'm repeating myself, I am. 1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love soft yarn. Alpaca, cashmere, merino, any soft wool. I don't like acrylic in large quantities but have seen some nice blends.
2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a case for my straight needles and my circulars are all dumped in a drawer. I would like to organize them better.
3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting for 4 or 5 years and I'm entirely self taught. I'd say I'm advanced. I feel like I could pretty much knit anything that I wanted to. I don't mean to sound cocky but I'm pretty good at following patterns and I've tried a lot of things.
4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Nope.
5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)
I love natural scents like vanilla and lavender. I like citrus too. I hate really sweet scents and things that smell artificial.
6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
I like really dark chocolate. The darker the better. I'm not a chocoholic, though. I could kind of take it or leave it. I like fruity candy too like gummy bears and starburst.
7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I love to sew and I took a drop spindle class and even made some (lumpy) yarn but I definitely wouldn't call myself a spinner.
8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?
I can listen to mp3's and the only music I really don't like is country. I have pretty eclectic taste in music and am open to new things.
9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love color. While I wear grey, brown and black, they're not my favorites. There's nothing I really dislike.
10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have husband who knows everything there is to know about knitting except for how to actually knit. I have a super cute dog, a fluffy bunny and 2 cats.
11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I love scarves! I wear mittens occasionally. I'm particular about hats because my hair is usually out of control and hats look dumb stuck on the top of my crazy hair. I do have a few that I love, though. I do not like ponchos.
12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I like to knit sweaters but I've been knitting a lot of lace lately as well.
13. What are you knitting right now?
I'm trying to finish rusted root and the frost flowers and leaves shawl from A Gathering of lace.
14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
I love them!
15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I don't really have a preference. I use whatever seems to work best for the yarn and project.
16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
No, but I wish I did.
17. How old is your oldest UFO?
I started a baby blanket about a year and a half ago but then decided I would never finish it in a timely manner so I gave a different gift. Now, I'm just waiting on the right baby to come along so I can finish it.
18. What is your favorite holiday?
I love Christmas and Thanksgiving. Oh, and my birthday!
19. Is there anything that you collect?
Other than yarn, I collect floaty pens. I don't know if there is a better name for them but they're the touristy pens that have little scenes and people or a boat or train or something floats back and forth when you tilt them.
20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I subscribe to Interweave knits. I'm sure there are thing I'd like to have but I can't think right now.
21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I would like to try more fair isle but buying so many colors for one project seems daunting.
22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I have knit socks but I wouldn't call myself a sock knitter. I wear a size 7 1/2.
23. When is your birthday?
January 20th.

Flock and Fiber and Finished Things

2006-09-29T20:20:00.000-07:00

I finished the trellis scarf! This is the first lace item I've knit that looked all bunchy until I blocked it. It came out so pretty that I'm rethinking my plan to give it away. I don't really need it, though. I want to put some beads on the ends of the points like I did with the wavy scarf I knit last year but I'll wait to do that until I know who it'll be for. The picture is shadowy. The true color is the deep purple in the upper right corner.
Last weekend I went to the Flock and Fiber Festival with my friends Lisa and Kirsten. We saw a lot of animals and a lot of fiber! Even Lisa, who's not a knitter, had fun. At least until she saw people buying really ugly shirts and was disturbed.

We saw a lot of great yarn and a lot of great fiber that made me with I could spin. The highlight, though, was the animals. Alpacas are the cutest!! Just look at this one munching his hay. How could you not want to take him home?

This pretty trio was for sale. Each a different color. I wanted them. I still want them. The weirdest animal was the Jacob Sheep. Look at all the horns! We weren't allowed to pet them. It was probably so we didn't get impaled by all the horns. They looked friendly but we followed orders. I got a great deal on some Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece. They were seconds so each skein was only $3! I have been wanting to knit Rusted Root for a while now so I bought some cotton fleece and started knitting. It's a quick knit so hopefully I'll get to wear it before the weather gets really cold. I also bought a big skein of organic Inca cotton and knit a quick little washcloth. It's so soft! I wish you all could feel it! The pattern is from Mason-Dixon Knitting but the pattern is free on the web (that's how I got it!) here.

Family + Knitting = A Happy Weekend

2006-09-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

I brother came to visit for 5 days and we had a really good time. This was his 1st time visiting Mike and I in the 5 years we've been married so it was nice to have him at our place for once! We did the grand tour of Portland and the gorge, ate a lot of food and had a nice time. Ryan was even so kind as to wait patiently for me to finish seaming my ogee tunic before we went out one day because I really wanted to wear it. The only thing I like about the sudden cold, cloudy weather that's hit Portland is that I can wear my sweater! It needs a little tweaking, though. I need to redo part of the shoulder seams so you'll have to wait a little longer for a better picture and I'll have to wait to wear it again. In addition to my new sweater, I also have a new knitted bag! My lovely secret pal, Nicole, knitted me a fabulous felted bag using Peace Fleece. She even sent me the leftover skein along with a bunch of other great things. Thank, Nicole, for being a great secret pal!

I'm still working on the diamond trellis scarf, one repeat at a time. My new project is the Frost Flowers and Leaves shawl from A Gathering of Lace. I'm not really knitting it as a shawl, though. I'm using Devon from Elann. It's 100% wool that they call unshrinkable. That seems like it should mean superwash but they say to handwash it. It's really soft and nice to knit. The color is called mineral green but Mike insists it's blue. Whatever it is, I like it! It's sport weight so I'm making a light blanket instead of a shawl. I love the look of shawls but don't really see myself wearing one anytime soon.

Oliver is cute

2006-09-10T20:06:00.000-07:00

Oliver is so cute!! He's my new bunny. His color is called chocolate but he's really a light orange. I don't know who comes up with the names. Here he's eating weeds like a good little bunny.
Since Kathy asked, here is some info about angoras. (If you're not interested, skip this part) They are more work than your average bunny. He lives outside but has a roof so he doesn't get rained on. Since they have so much fur it's important they don't get wet. They also don't do well in the heat. Again, because of all the fur. When it's really hot, we freeze a liter bottle of water and put it in the cage so the bunny can cool off. They also require brushing so they don't get mats in their fur. We'll see how this guy does but once they're over a year, most don't need to be brushed more than once a week. Different angora breeds need different amounts of brushing- it depends on how many guard hairs they have- and individuals vary too. They are the softest bunnies you'll ever feel and I love petting Oliver!

Besides knitting, my project this last week has been painting my bathroom. My bathroom used to be terrible. Here's the before:
It doesn't look that bad until you see the walls up close.
It's wallboard with wallpaper attached. (It's popular in trailers and manufactured homes. Classy stuff.) It was super old and dirty and we couldn't take the paper off because it's fused to the wall so we had to use a nasty oil-based primer to cover it all up. Fumes filled the house for days. How I love inhaling chemicals. It was all worth it, though, because now my bathroom looks like this. The color is called spring rain and it reminds me of a robin's egg. I love it! No more dirty, nasty walls! We even had this pretty print that matches perfectly.I haven't been neglecting my ogee tunic. I started seaming it together the other night and it's coming along slowly but surely. It's still summer so I'm not in a big hurry to finish it. It's not like I'll get to wear it soon. It's looking like it'll fit nicely and I am excited to see it all finished!

Proof is in the pictures (a.k.a. Why I love the fair)

2006-09-06T22:34:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun at the fair on Sunday! I took lots of pictures, petted lots of animals and ate lots of sugar. I told you before that I won ribbons so here is the proof.
My river stole only got third but everything else won a blue ribbon! They hung my backyard leaves scarf backwards so no one got to see the pretty pattern. They also really packed the things in the cases. My soleil tank top was barely visible and The lace on the bottom was almost completely hidden. I'm not complaining, really. I won ribbons so I'm happy.

My bread also won a blue ribbon! I love baking bread and last year I entered a recipe I had never made before. Bad idea. This year I entered my favorite recipe and it turned out great. It looks a little weird in the picture but remember people- at this point it has been sitting out in the open for almost 2 weeks. It looked beautiful the day I dropped it off. Other Oregon State Fair highlights included:

My friend Amber eating a fried snickers bar. Hey, someone had to do it and it wasn't going to be me. After the funnel cake and giant sno cone, I couldn't eat anything else.
(For the record, she liked it but doesn't think she needs to eat one again. Mike feels the same way about the one he ate last year.)

I think these are the cutest tomatoes ever! I'm glad they won 1st place.
There was an entire display devoted to vegetables with faces. This was my favorite. Do you think it's "supposed" to be a seal?This won the most unique vegetable award. I wish I had a vegetable that unique in my garden!This is a "cute vegetable." I think that's fair code for smallest vegetable. This bitty carrot lost to a teeny ear of corn.
Baby piglets (is that redundant?) are so cute!! They were sleepy. I wish I could have picked one up and squeezed it- not too hard, of course. This fluffy bunny won the award for "Best Wool." It looks well deserved. The cutest bunny at the fair was a baby English Angora that won 3rd place and then came home with me! Yep, I bought a bunny from a 4-H'er and he's really fluffy and cute. I don't have a good picture yet but when I do, I'll show him off.

I hope all of you had the chance to go to a fair this summer. If not, go next year! It'll be tons of fun, I promise.

Fair Ribbons!

2006-08-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

I have had some really crappy stuff happen in the last few weeks but still . . . I didn't realize how long it had been since I've posted. I apologize and if I haven't commented on your blogs lately, I will be back soon. I'm doing better now.

So, the fair!! Mike and I went to a concert at the fair lastnight (The Decemberists, Violent Femmes and Cake- So Good!!) but on our way to the concert pavilion, I made him run through the home arts building, looking for our entries. I couldn't be at the fair and not find out even though we didn't have much time to get to the concert. Out of 5 knitted items, I got 4 1st places and one 3rd! I also got a blue ribbon for my bread but the judge thought my jam was "sticky." At least that's what she wrote on the back of my card. Oh well. Mike got a blue ribbon too! I think I'm more excited than he is. I'm going back next weekend to actually go to the fair so I'll scope it out better and take pictures then.
I finished knitting my ogee tunic and it's really pretty and sems like it'll fit well but I won't know for sure until I block it and sew it all together. I think I've finally cleared enough space in my messy house to block it so hopefully that'll happen soon.

This fine piece of knitting is the trellis scarf from the spring IK. It's Shadow from knitpicks that my fabulous secret pal sent me a while back. The color is called vineyard and it's more of an eggplant color than the picture shows. I started this on the plane back from El Salvador and didn't think I was going to continue knitting it because of the K7tog! But, I got past that and knitting 7 stitches together really isn't that bad. It helps that it makes a pretty pattern.

I hope you all had a great weekend. This is my last weekend ever of having to work both Saturdays and Sundays, so that helped get me through it!

Catching up

2006-08-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

Everything is ready to be taken to the fair tomorrow! I'm so excited. I hope I win a ribbon! The only thing missing from my pile of entries is the ogee tunic because all I have finished are the sleeves and this: It's coming out really well and I changed it from a tunic to more of a standard pullover with the addition of some waist shaping. A-lines just don't work for me. Here's a detail of the cabling. It's so pretty! (A while back Anna posted a comment asking about the gauge for the ogee tunic. I don't have her email address so here's the answer to the question she asked. The stated guage deson't seem to match up with the number of stitches you cast on and the measurements you're supposed to get. The math doesn't work out right, but everything turns out fine. The edges of the pieces have a small amount of ribbing, lace and cables, which apparently changes the gauge just enough that you end up with the right measurements even though it seems like you have a lot of extra stitches. So, my advice to Anna, and anyone else who is thinking of knitting this, is that as long as you get the same guage as stated, trust the pattern's stitch numbers and measurements. It works out. )

Backing up a little, here's a picture of me knitting the second sleeve in El Salvador. The cute yellow building is the hotel we stayed at in Apaneca, a little town in the mountains. Rocking chairs and hammocks- what more could a knitter want? Okay, maybe cooler weather so that I actually felt like knitting, but I didn't want to be picky.

Finally, here is a finished picture of the pillow I knitted for my friends that got married. I am still finishing the second, but the 1st one had a special assignment.
As part of the ceremony, they got lassoed together. As my friend Cindy said, "I't like a unity candle but we get lassoed together instead." Yep, those are exactly the same. Anyway, they needed a pretty pillow to kneel on so my gift was very fitting. You can just barely see the corner of my (their) pillow below.I had to fancy up the pillow a little for it's big day. I folded the flap inside and then safey pinned some ribbons to the inside so I could tie it closed. To make it look balanced, I tied some bows and pinned them to the other end as well, keeping the pillow case snug around the pillow. The happy couple loved it!
Last but not least, my secret pal deserves a huge thank-you shout out. I got this great package, along with a stitch pattern book that didn't make it into the photo. I got some soap (I love cute soaps!), pretty needles, felted tweed to make the knucks from the latest knitty, and some really pretty hand-dyed yarn that I've already started swatching.
Thank you, secret pal and good luck to all you knitters who entered things in your local fairs this summer!!

Picture Time

2006-08-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

In no particular order, here are some pictures of El Salvador. I know you came here for knitting content but I don't have any pictures of knitting to show you right now. I do have pictures of knitting in El Salvador but those will have to wait for another day. I am making progress on my Ogee Tunic and even (with lots of wishful thinking) entered it in the fair. I really don't think It will be finished by then because I didn't take going on vacation into account when I planned out my state fiar knitting. I have other things to enter, though, don't you worry! As I said, I did knit in El Salvador, just not very much.

This was my 1st (and last) view of El Salvador as it's the view from the airport window. Getting off the plane, it was immediately apparent I wasn't in the US anymore! It was a great feeling. Mayan ruins near the location of my friend's wedding site. It's the rainy season so we were caught in a rainstorm there. The ruins in El Salvador aren't as big as those in Guatemala or Mexico and they're not completely excavated yet, but still interesting to visit. For me, the highlight was learning how they used to make indigo dye. The wedding was fun! That's my soleil tank top that I knitted and the skirt I made. I didn't set out to wear a totally handmade outfit. It just worked out that way.This is Apaneca, the highest town in El Salvador. We spent a few days there and it was really nice. It was cooler and less humid than the city, which was a nice break. If you look closely at the picture, the bright orange house on the left is where we stayed. The hills are covered with coffee trees as it's one of the coffee growing regions in the country. This is Moke and our guide from the hotel taking us on a hike through a coffee plantation and the surroinding beauty. We were on our way to see some old Mayan statues that are on the property. Everything was so green and pretty thanks to the rainy season. It was really fun and I will show what I've been knitting soon.

I wish I were still on vacation!

2006-07-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it back from El Salvador and now am back at work. Work is definately not as fun as El Salvador! It was awesome to se my old friends and the wedding was fabulous. They loved the tree pillow and my pillowcase with the lace insert that I made for them even got a special place in the ceremony. More on that when I actually havesome pictures to show you.

You could be looking at pictures right now but Blogger is being stupid.

I saw Mayan ruins, cool birds, and lots of tropical flowers. I hiked through a coffee plantation, ate lots of pupusas (kind of like tamales but better), got caught in a rainstorm, stayed in a hotel in the highest town in the country, ate breakfast for only $1, rode buses with crazy drivers, saw only 2 other Americans (other than my friends who also came for the wedding) the entire time, drank soda out of a bag, learned that my Spanish is not as good as it used to be, got stuck in the biggest market in San Salvador between 2 buses that didn't move for the longest time, knitted while at a bus stop at what felt like the middle of nowhere, met lots of nice El Salvadorans and generally had a great time!

And now, for your knitting content, here are my answers to the latest batch of secret pal questions:

1. What is your favorite season of the year and why?
I love the fall. I love the leaves changing colors and the (usually) slow transition from flip flops and tank tops to long sleeved shirts and then sweaters and jackets.

2. Summer is hot. What do you knit in the summer?
Usually I knit tank tops and lacey things. This summer I'm knitting a wool sweater, though. Hopefully I'll have it done in time to enter in the fair although time is starting to run out.

3. If money was no object.....what would you buy at the LYS?
Everything. To narrow it down, I'd have to say everthing that's soft. No scratchy wool for me. I love merino and angora and alpaca. Mmmm . . . soft . . .

4. What are some activities that have become family traditions for your family?
Mike and I love to go camping and every year my extended family and friends have a reunion camping at Fallen Leaf Lake near Lake Tahoe. We try to go every year and it's a lot of fun. We coulnd't go this year because of our trip to El Salvador.

5. What is the weather right now?
It's cool and cloudy in the mornings but sunny in the afternoons. It's pretty nice. We missed the crazy hot heat wave that happened while we were in El Salvador and I'm so thankful for that! I do like the summer but I'm definately more of a cool weather girl.

knitting + sewing =

2006-07-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

This!!I finally finished sewing the pillow I made for Cindy and Camilo. I made the knitted part a slipcover so it can be taken off and washed as needed. It's not a "standard" size so I couldn't use a pillow form. I had to sew a pillow and then stuff it so it was a little more work than I had originally planned on but I'm happy I did it that way. Here's the back.My camera can't take a close up of the fabric without it being blurry, which is too bad. It's really pretty up close and actually has a fair amount of blue in it. It took just under 2 skeins of knitpicks merino style in the color frost and comes out to be about 13 x 17 inches.

It's going to be really hard to part with this pillow. I want to keep it! Cindy will love it, though, and I even found a great quote about love and trees (I can't remember it right now) that I'm going to write on the back.

Also for their wedding gift, I'm knitting some pretty heart lace using Mandarin Petit cotton. It's so soft! Lastnight I told Mike he had to feel it. He did to humor me and I could tell he wasn't excited to touch my yarn but then he exlaimed, "Wow, that is really soft!" I'm going to sew it onto some pillowcases like the ones in Weekend Knitting. I don't know if I'll have these done by their wedding since it's just over a week away! I can't believe we leave for El Salvador on Tuesday! I'm so excited but I have lots of packing and trip planning to do before then.

I don't think I'll be needing these inEl Salvador. I finished them because I went camping in the mountains last weekend and I needed some warm clothes. I finished the second one while I was sitting by the campfire just as the last of the light was leaving the sky. It was perfect timing and as soon as it got chilly that 1st night, I got to wear them!
It's a great pattern. I totally recommend it! You can find it for free here. The only modification I made was to extend the cable pattern all the way to the top instead of ending with a few rows of plain ribbing. I used Lamb's Pride worsted and used less than 1 skein!

Do you notice the green in the picture? That's my new backyard!! It no longer looks like this. Our baby grass grew up and it's a real lawn now!

Lasly, I'll leave you with a pretty purple picture. This is lettuce that I got from the farm last week. It's the prettiest lettuce ever and it tased really good too.

Cable-y goodness

2006-07-06T15:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the nice comments about Phoebe. I realize I didn't actually put in the link to the picture of her fur that I spun. If you still want to see my sorry attempt at spinning angora, it's here.

My good friend is getting married this month. I've been planning on knitting her something and at the beginning of the week I started to panic that the wedding is only in 3 weeks and I have nothing. I had just finished the sleeve to my ogee tunic so it was a good time to take a detour and turn my knitting attention to something else.

Cindy loves nature and so I got the idea of knitting a pillow with a pattern of intertwining trees. None of the existing patterns were exactly what I wanted so I read this article 3 or 4 times and then set out to design my tree pattern and chart it out.

After two nights of Mike getting tired of papers spread out all over the couch and me too involved to talk to him, I ended up with a crazy chart that looks like this.I thought of knitting a practice version out of some crappy yarn but then realized that if this didn't work, I didn't have the patience to redo it. And, if it did work, I didn't want to have to knit it again.

So, I dove right in with some Knitpicks merino style in frost and this is how it turned out. I actually knit it in only 3 days! I surprised myself.I used size 4 needles so it's a fairly tight fabric- good for a pillow. I got some great fabric to make the back with. It kind looks like tree roots so it's very fitting and it even has the same blue color in it! It's much cuter than the picture shows. (This photo shows the color of the yarn better then the previous. Neither is quite accurate, though. It's a little more turquoise than this picture)Now I just need it to finish blocking and I can sew it up!

The prettiest bunny ever

2006-07-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

Phoebe, my pretty princess of a bunny died on Sunday night. She was lethargic and not breathing well so we rushed her to Dove Lewis- the emergency clinic I was hoping I'd never have to take a pet to. After several hours we cried and decided to euthanize her and then cried some more. It was really sad but best for her.

She's a german angora and I have tons of her fur safely stored away that I've been wanting to spin. You can see my first attemps at spinning her fur here. I though I had lots of time to learn and lots of angora fiber to proctice with since she kept growing more. Now that I don't have her anymore I don't want to waste all her fur learning to spin it.

Is there anyone out there that can spin angora and would do that for me? For a price, of course. I just want some mittens with a Phoebe cuff or maybe a little mini-Phoebe to snuggle up with.

Summer = Fair Time

2006-06-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

The state fair is coming and I am so excited. I was practically raised at fairs. My mom is, and my grandma was, a fair judge. They judge baked goods, jams, jellies, sewing, crafts, you name it, they can stick a ribbon (or not) on it. Some of my earliest memories are of hanging out watching the fair get all set up while my mom and grandma fed me bits of cookies they were judging. They say that when I was a baby they used to stick me in the closet at one particular fair to take naps.

When I was older, I was in 4-H and I had animals so I practically lived at our county fair. I accumulated boxes full of ribbons and my grandpa and uncle were embarassed every year when I made them drive me to the fair to pick up the boxes full of stuff that I had entered.

This is a long intro to explain to you how excited I was to see that Larissa started a State-Fair-Along! I entered some things in the Oregon State Fair for the 1st time last summer (I am not a native Oregonian) and was excited to win a blue ribbon for some cookies but was disappointed at the lack of competition in many of the categories, including knitting. So was Larissa. There are so many crafty people that aren't entering things in their fairs! So fellow Americans, knit, sew, bake, make something to enter in your local fair this has started a summer. It will be fun!

I just made this skirt but it is not fair quality. It's summertime-fun-in-the-sun quality and that's all I was going for. Please forgive the wrinkles, the white fabric is linen and I have been wearing it all evening. I used some of the fabric previously seen here.
So, what will I be knitting for the state fair? After much deliberation, I have decided on this:It's the ogee tunic from Knitting Nature. I'm using Knitpicks merino style in tide pool and I am already almost done with the 1st sleeve! Pretty exciting, huh? What could be more exciting than a partially finished sleeve? A package from my secret pal! I was so excited to get this in the mail! It's 2 skeins of knitpicks laceweight merino and a pattern for a shawl. The blue yarn is Cascade Pastaza-wool and llama! I've been fondling this yarn for a while now and have been wanting some. How did you know, secret pal? The colors of both are gorgeous- just what I'd choose for myself. I also got some great chocolate and fabulous stitch markers so I don't have to use those cheap plastic rings anymore. Thank you, thank you!

Finally a finished picture! (and the letter M)

2006-06-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

It's done and it fits!! I love my corset pullover. If you like it too, the pattern is free! That makes it even better in my mind.

Yarn: Knitpicks shine sport in hydrangea. The pattern called for a worsted weight yarn so this involved a LOT of math to adjust the pattern. I love the result. If anyone is interested in the pattern using a sport weight yarn, I can hook you up.
Needles: Size 6 denise interchangeables.
Ch-ch-changes: Besides the extreme change in gauge, not too much. I made it about an inch longer (as I do nearly everything). I also omitted the cinch straps on the sides and the sleeves. I didn't wan tto make the top any "fussier" than it already is and I also just wanted to be finished. The top is pretty and doesn't need anything else. I love the lace edgings and its femininity.

Speaking of femininity, I mentioned last time that I have a solution for my too-big, super-feminine "modern bustier." I haven't yet fixed it, though. I need a little distance from it right now. I'm mad at it for being too big but it'll eventually show up fixed.

I have a backlog of pictures to share with you so my letter M is going to be a couple of things- Monolith and Mt. St. Helens. In the last week, I've been to both of these famous Pacific Northwest landmarks. Last weekend my mom came up from California and we had a girl's weekend at the beach and went here.It's Haystack Rock, the 3rd largest Monolith in the world. A monolith is a feature that is made up of a single stone or rock (what's the difference?) and this one is 235 feet tall! It's in Cannon Beach, Oregon. Supposedly, puffins live on it but I didn't see any. My mom and I had a great weekend and it was so pretty at the beach! Today, Mike and I went to Mt. St. Helens - the volcano that erupted in 1980. It used to be pointy on the top but that blew off in 1980 and covered the area in massive amounts of ash. This web site has some cool pictures of it erupting.

Today we went to the Ape Cave Lava Tubes. It's a giant underground tunnel that was created by a lava flow when the volcano erupted somewhere around 2000 years ago. It was so cool! We climbed over huge boulder piles, navigated out way around puddles and had to wear sweatshirts and long pants even though it was 80 degrees today (it was cool 42 degrees in the cave). All of this in total darkness. Well, we had headlamps and a mag light but it was still dark! When we turned of our lights, I couldn't even see my hand when it was inches form my face. It was cool. Here are the best pictures we managed to take. I have a new knitting project but I think I've posted enough pictures for today and there's really not much to show yet, anyway.

Yeah summer!

2006-06-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

Happy summer solstice, everyone! My summer started out gloriously sunny and not too hot. A perfect day except that I was at work. At least I get to work outside. When I woke up this morning, my plan was to come home from work and put on my corset pullover and take some pictures out in the sunshine. (In my mind, my days don't really start until I come home from work. It's sad, really.)

It would have been perfect.The 1st day of summer was just so pretty that it made me think of strawberries and how I had to have some. So after work I bought pesticide-free strawberries from the farmer that grew them! and that had just been picked this afternoon! They are the best strawberries I have ever had and I don't say that lightly.

So, instead of modeling my corset pullover for you, I made strawberry-mint jam with mint from my garden. It's delicious. I wish I could share it with everyone.

Meanwhile, I am busy planning my next project. I'll just say that it involves the state fair and something from this beautiful book and I'm looking forward to knitting it. Details coming soon.Something else I'm excited about is my LAWN!! This is my "L" for the abc-along. For the last few months, my lawn has looked like this. Then it was seeded and mulched and for a while it looked like the back yard was a stable with all the straw. But now, after countless hours of hard work, baby grass is starting to grow through the straw mulch. I WILL have a lawn before the summer is over! Can you tell I'm excited? Croquet, here I come.

The sweater reincarnated

2006-06-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

This post is going to be mostly pictures and few words because it's late and I'm tired.

You may remember this sweater from a while back. The sweather that I loved for many years that finally got too many holes to wear. Well, I have transformed it into this!I felted it, embroidered it with spiderweb designs and added a lining and handles. The handles are just plastic tubing from Home Depot with some orange Lamb's Pride threaded through it. I love bags.
That's armwarmer #2 in the bag. The lining is a fun comic book print. I sewed 2 pockets to the inside and I matched the fabric exactly! I was quite impressed with myself. You can barely see them in the picture. One pocket is the lady and the other is the beach scene.I finished my corset pullover! It just needs a light blocking and then you'll get a modeled pic and all the details. It fits nicely and I'm really happy with it, which is exactly what I needed after the modern bustier disaster. Sorry I never posted a photo of that, by the way. Blogger freaked out on me and then my mom came to visit (so fun!!) and then I figured out how to fix it. Details to come.

In honor of Project Spectrum, here is a beautiful rainbow of flowers. Pioneer Square was all decked out in flowers in honor of the Rose Festival last weekend. Here's an ariel view and a picture of me and my hot, tired pup.
I love Portland. I also love knitting again, now that I am reminded that I can do something right!

I hope your week is off to a great start, fabulous blog readers.

I finished it. Kind of.

2006-06-05T22:53:00.001-07:00

Aaaahhhh! This is why it was better to have my bustier unfinished in my knitting basket. It is too big!! I measured and it seemed fine but when I sewed on the fabric and laced it up it's too big.

Just when I think maybe it's not that big and I can live with it and wear it, I move a certain way and the back of the top sags unflatteringly. I took a picture to prove that it's too big and I'm not just being everly critical but Blogger isn't letting me upload pictures right now.

I'll try to figure it out in the next few days because I really want this top to work! I love the yarn and the pattern is really pretty.

I have some ideas of how to fix it but I'm not too thrilled with any of them. I thought of sewing the knitted fabric closer to the grommets inthe back but even that won't tighten it up enough. I'd have to lose the lace-up back altogether and I don't want to do that. I also could fold the the knitted fabric and sew some darts into the back but I'm not sure how that would look. I'll try to figure it out in the next few days.

Any suggestions? I'm open to anything as long as I end up with a pretty tank top that fits!

Fear of finishing be gone!

2006-06-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

It is becoming apparent that I have a problem. A serious problem finishing my projects. I finished knitting this lovely tank top ages ago but only 1/2 the fabric is sewed on.

I try to make myself feel better by saying that I knit 2 mother's day scarves and 2 silly apple cozies in the meantime, proving I can finish things. But there's really no excuse. I've had plenty of time. The sunny weather has again turned rainy and grey so I couldn't even wear it if it were done, I tell myself. Again, not a worthy excuse. I could have finished it before the weather turned bad again.

I'm afraid of screwing it up in the final moments. It's knitted beautifully, the grommets are perfectly aligned but I'm afraid my sewing will mess it up. I need to get over this. Tonight, people, I will finish the stupidly named but very pretty Modern Bustier.

Ah but the finishing will not end there. I have finished knitting all the pieces of the corset pullover. Here is the 2nd sleeve. It will not sit in my basket for weeks. It doesn't matter that I have other projects I want to work on or that I enjoy knitting more than finishing. I will finish this in a timely manner.

I must admit, though, that once I finished this sleeve, I started something else. I have a good reason. Really, I do. Mike and I took the MAX downtown on Thursday night and the thought of sitting on the train with nothing to knit was terrible so I knitted this: It is much more suited to Portland's current weather than a summery cotton shirt. Sad but true. I finished it last night but I will not start the other until I finish seaming my other things.

We took MAX to the Rose Festival Waterfront Village. A fancy name for a carnival and we went because it was the 1st night so it was free. It was grey and rainy (no surprise) but still fun! We rode the ferris wheel. I hadn't ridden one in years so it was really fun!This is the carnival as seen from the ferris wheel. It's blurry because the ferris wheel was moving.

The carnival didn't have tickets for the rides, they had a credit card thing that you add money to and gets scanned at every ride! Everything is getting so modern. I liked tickets better. One benefit (maybe) is that the ferris wheel lady forgot to scan our card so we got to go on another ride for free! We picked a spinning ride and this is Mike, mid-spin.
On a completely unrelated note, I greatly enjoy seeing other blogger's lovely pictures of their cats. You probably are aware that I have a dog, but I like cats too and even have 2 of them. but they are greatly under-represented on my blog.

Because of this my letter K for the abc-along is for KITTIES! Before you get too excited, my pictures are boring because my cats are not nearly as interesting as yours seem to be. They sleep all the time. When not sleeping, they are outside far away from the camera.

This is Gatsby.I found him on Craigs List and after a rocky start he's a happy member of our household. He was freaked out by the dog even though the dog didn't bother him and then he ran away and we didn't see him for almost 2 weeks and I felt really, really horrible for losing him. Then he appeared on our front steps and wanted to come back in. During his adventure he must have decided that the dog is better than whatever he encountered while he was gone. His favorite thing is to get petted. Mike says he's pushy and needy while I just think he's lovey and snuggly.

This is Ramona. The pest. She is the prettier of the 2 and she has extra toes on all her feet. I got her before Mike and I got married and while he did help pick her out, she lived with me. After we got married, Ramona decided Mike is a million times better than me. She's a traitor. She lets Mike do whatever he wants to her but if I just walk by her the wrong way, she hisses and attacks me. Sometimes I think Mike loves her more than me. The only time Ramona ever wants to sit on my lap is when I'm knitting and I don't want her on my lap. I'm convinced she does it just to spite me.

I don't want to leave you with Grumpy Ramona so here is something more cheery. These pretty cotton prints were on sale the other day. Check back for some sewing projects in the future!

Apple Cozy Pattern

2006-06-01T23:26:00.000-07:00

Okay y'all. The Knitorama pattern sucked so much that I totally changed it when I knit my apple cozies. There's been some interest so I'll share it with you. Materials: I used size 8 dpns and Lion brand woolease. Guage doesn’t really matter, you just want it to fit an apple. If you get to the end of the increase section and it doesn’t seem big enough, add a few more increase rows and the same number of decrease rows to compensate. This will make your cozy both wider and taller to better hold those gigantic apples you can buy at the supermarket. This will also work if your yarn is thinner than worsted weight. Don’t forget, though, that the finished product will stretch!

CO 12 stitches and divide evenly on 4 dpns. Join for knitting in the round.
Row 1: knit across
Row 2: make 1 (m1) stitch at beginning of each needle – 16 st
Row 3: on each needle knit to 1 stitch before end, m1 – 20st
Rows 4-13: Repeat rows 2 & 3 five more times – 60 st

(This explanation might help you visualize the pattern. Each dpn holds the stitches for 1 side of the apple cozy plus 1 stitch to simulate a seam between each side. So after casting on, 2 stitches on each needle are the beginnings of one side and the 3rd stitch is the “seam” stitch. On the first increase row, you increase at the beginning of each of the four sides. On the next row, you increase at the end of each side, then knit the “seam” stitch. By doing this, you create evenly rounded sides and, therefore, an evenly rounded apple cozy. If you use fewer dpns or magic loop, just place markers between the stitches for each side and follow the instructions.)

Rows 14-15: knit across
Beginning with the next row, begin knitting back and forth, not in the round! (you could switch to a straight needle but I found it easiest to stick with the dpns)
Row 16: On each needle, purl the first stitch (this is your “seam” stitch), purl 2 together (p2tog), purl to end – 56 st
Row 17: slip, slip, knit (ssk) 1st 2 stitches on each needle, knit to end – 52 st
Rows 18-25: repeat rows 16 & 17 four more times – 20 stitches (5 on each needle)
Row 26: on each needle, purl 1, p2tog twice. On last dpn, CO 8 stitches.
BO all stitches.

Finishing: With scrap yarn, sew end of 8 cast on-bound off stitches to the edge of the cozy, making a loop.

Bobble button and leaf: I knitted these as written in the book, Knitorama, so I won’t post the patterns. It’s really easy, though. For the bobble, CO a few stitches, increase a few more, decrease and cast off. Then roll or fold up the tiny knitted piece you just made and sew it across from the loop you just made. Viola- a button!
The leaf is knitted the same way only bigger. CO a few stitches, increase a few more, knit several rows even, decrease down to 1 stitch to make a nice, pointy tip and bind off. Sew it on wherever you would like to embellish the apple.

1 more day to win yarn!!

2006-05-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right, you can win yarn. And knitting books, or a Starbucks card. How can you win you ask? Let me tell you.

Seven friends including fellow knit-blogger Kirsten are going to Croatia to work on a ship called the Logos Hope. Kirsten, Lisa and Julie used to live on a ship called the Doulos that was part of a Christian ministry. They went to countries in Asia, bringing a floating bookstore, conference center and hope to people that really needed it.

Now, years later, there is a new ship-the Logos Hope- that is in dry dock in Croatia being revamped an refitted to be part of this mission. My friends are going for 3 weeks to chip rust and do wahtever needs to be done but they need money to get there. It just happens that Croatia is an expensive place to fly to.

Enter the contest! Jen set up a contest to help them raise money. Donate $7 or more and you will have a chance to win a fabulous prize, but you only have until midnight Wed, the 24th! Sorry I didn't let you know soomer but I was out of town for the weekend. Visit Jen's blog for details about the contest and Kirsten's blog for details about the trip. There's a link on her sidebar to a letter she wrote about it.

The pictures are just part of the possible prizes you may win. Vesper sock yarn, Socks that Rock yarn and others could be yours!

As a last note, for the record, Kirsten and the others are the fabulous kind of Christians that are more about "what can I do for you?" than "believe what I do or else." If you choose to support them, they would be very thankful.

Letters and packages

2006-05-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the letters and packages, I would like to tell you about my outfit today. It's really pretty boring- kakhi capri pants (because it's HOT here in Portland!) and a white t-shirt. My job has a pretty relaxed dress code. We can't wear jeans and polo shirts or collared shirts are preferred. T-shirts are okay, though, as long as they don't have logos and are made out of "nice material" and v-necks are usually fine because somehow they are nicer than crew necks.

Whatever.

I bought a new white v-neck t-shirt last night and decided to wear it to work today. I felt slightly uncomfortable despite the fact that it's within the dress code limits because it's still just a basic, white, bought-it-at-Target t-shirt that in the right light you can almost see through.

I shouldn't have worried, though, because I had not one, not two, but three different people tell me that I looked nice today and it seemed like I had dressed up. Now I'm wondering what I usually look like because all that was new was a white t-shirt people!! I didn't even wash my hair this morning and the only make-up I had on was mascara. Seriously, a white t-shirt is dressing up? I work with crazy people.

Okay, pictures. I got a lovely package from Ms. Bugheart a few days ago with a lovely skirt from her Great Monday Giveaway. I thought I was just getting the skirt but this is what she sent me! It was very happy to come home to.I got cute Japanese stickers, a note pad and the dark blob is a ball of green yarn. I have also recieved some lovely fabric from Yahaira from her Monday giveaway but I haven't had a chance to take a pitcure yet.

I also came home to these on the same day! I was so excited that someone had sent me flowers. Then I read the card and realized they were not meant for me. They were for the lady who lived in my house before I bought it. It was from some organization to thank her for "all she does" for them. I don't know what she's been doing for them in the last year that I've been living in the house and she has been living 2 states away but whatever. I got pretty flowers! Because I'm behind (what's new) in the abc-along, I'll have my letter I stand for Identity mix-up.

And the fabulous letter J: July wedding! One of my dearest friends is getting married in July and she lives in El Salvador. Mike and I just bought our plane tickets. Central America, here we come! I need a vacation badly. July can't come soon enough.

No knitting today! My moms loved their Mother's Day scarves and sleeve #1 of my corset pullover is coming along slowly. I won't bore you with pictures.

Green knitting

2006-05-09T21:43:00.000-07:00

Last month, I didn't do any Project Spectrum-themed knitting. This month, by accident I already have!

When I realized last weekend that Mother's Day is coming up soon, I decided to knit something for my mom and my mom-in-law. I needed something quick, since I have to send it early enough for it to get there on time, and easy and pretty so I decided on the Airy scarf from Last-Minute Knitted gifts. Mike helped me pick out the color and it's kid silk haze in a pretty seafoam green. I didn't even think about it being a project spectrum color until today. I finished the second tonight and there's enough yarn left over that I can probably knit a 3rd and have a matching scarf too! I followed the pattern almost exactly. I added a selvedge stitch on each edge and I did a few extra repeats because it was shorter than the pattern said it should be. I haven't blocked them yet but they're about 6" wide and 34" long. Still 2 inches shorter than the pattern says to knit it but they're long enough.

I know this because I tried one on.
I hope my moms like them! I know I do. I'll knit one for me in a while. After cranking out 2 of them in only 3 days, I'm not really in a hurry to knit a 3rd right away. Besides, I have my corset pullover to get back to. I had about 4" of a sleeve done but then I ripped it out and started over because I didn't like it. Now I only have less that an inch done. The scarves were a nice interlude but back to the sleeves I go.

Questions and more questions

2006-05-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

I joined Secret Pal 8 and I am so excited! Part of the deal is that I have to answer some questions so here goes:

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love wools that aren't too scratchy and alpaca because it's really soft. I recently knit a scarf with Rowan felted tweed and fell in love with it. I love pretty much any natural fiber. I never knit with fun fur or eyelash yarns because I like a more natural aesthetic. Acrylic has a weird feel that I'm pretty sensitive to but blends that have a very small % of acrylic are usually okay.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
My circulars are all in a desk drawer but my dpns and straight needles are in this that I sewed myself.

3. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting for about 5 years and would say I'm pretty advanced. I've knit sweaters and socks, lace and cables. I can follow any pattern put in front of me and I love learning new techniques to improve my knitting.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I love earthy scents like sandalwood and vanilla. I love citrus scents and lavender too. I don't like anything too floral or too sweet. Mike got this air freshener for his birthday and it is NOT a scent I like. That's right, it's meat scented. We're vegetarians so it was a gag gift.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
I do have a sweet tooth but I don't like candy very much. I love really good chocolate, the darker the better and scarffen berger is my favorite brand. I really like any combination of chocolate and peanut butter. Besides chocolate, I love lemony desserts and candy.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I love home improvement/ decorating projects and gardening, which is good because my house needs a lot of work! This is my backyard! Hopefully, not for long. I like to sew but haven't for a while. I would like to get back into it more. I took a drop spindle class and spun some yarn but I haven't been bitten by the spinning bug. I only have so much time to spend crafting and the things I do, I want to do well. I still have some roving but I'm thinking of felting it.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like a lot of music. Anything that makes me happy, so no death metal like my husband listens to while I'm gone. I love bands that have been around a while like U2, the smashing pumpkins, james, jackpot, the chili peppers, cake, beck. I like some newer groups like the yeah yeah yeahs, modest mouse, the killers, the smiths. I also like spanish music like bebe. I love it when people share music with me that I haven't heard before. I can listen to mp3s.

9. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
Yellow is my favorite color, but not necessarily to wear. It's just such a cheery color and it makes me happy. I like most all colors and I've knit with a wide range of colors. It really depends on the mood and what I want to make. Sorry, that's not much help. Just scan through my blog if you want an idea of what I like. I knit mostly with solid colors although I love the yarns that look like solid colors but have a little variation. I like knitting things with cables and textures so they would get lost if I used multi-colored yarns. They look so pretty in skeins, though. Maybe I should branch out.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have a goofy, hyperactive dog who has made a few appearances on this blog. I also have two cats and the prettiest, fluffiest bunny ever seen.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I love scarves and mittens. I love hats, too but my hair is usually so crazy that it looks stupid shoved under a hat. I have 1 hat that looks good on me so I stick with that one. I never caught on to the poncho craze. I don't think they're hideous, they're just not for me.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I love knitting tank tops because they're pretty quick to knit and they don't take much finishing. I like sweaters too but they take more time, stress and yarn so I haven't knit too many. I always fear that they will turn out badly but they don't so I really should knit more of them.

13. What are you knitting right now?
I'm knitting a 3/4 sleeved cotton pullover as seen in the previous post.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes, I do! Who doesn't?

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I usually knit on circulars though that's mostly because I have more of them. I love bamboo and plastic is okay. I do knit with aluminum needles but they're not my favorite. I love all the beautiful straight needles taht are out there but I can't justify spending a lot of money on needles.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
No but I wish I did!

17. How did you learn to knit?
I picked up a cheesy learn to knit book and taught myself. I have never taken a class or had anyone even give me a lesson. I'm a good book-learner, I guess.

18. How old is your oldest UFO?
A baby dress I started 3 years ago and then lost touch with the mother-to-be before the baby was born. It's really cute but I probably won't pick it up again until I know a baby girl to knit it for.

19. What is your favorite holiday?
I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love winter weather and family.

20. Is there anything that you collect?
Besides yarn and knitting books, I collect floaty pens (I don't know if there's a better name for them). You know, the pens that say Dinseyland (for example) on one side and then have a floating Tinkerbell on the other. I covet this person's collection. I spent a month in Europe once and get some really cool floaty pens and then the airline lost my bag. It was very sad.

21. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I don't have a lot of self-control when it comes to knitting books. If I want something badly enough, I tend to go out and buy it. I don't have any magazine subscriptions but usually buy every Interweave issue. I really should just get a subscription.

22. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I would like to do more colorwork.

23. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I have knit some socks but wouldn't call myself a sock knitter. I'll probably knit another pair sometime but I'm not in a hurry. I do love looking at all the beautiful sock yarn out there, though. I like sock yarn that has 2 colors (maybe 3). Like mostly brown with a little bit of pink. I'm not into rainbow socks or crazy tie-dye lookin' socks. My shoe size is 7 1/2 .

24. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
January 20

The Bins + Silly Knitting

2006-04-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

For my birthday Abby gave me this funny book and have been wanting to make something from it since.It has patterns for silly things like a knitted hand grenade, a glass of beer, picture frames, ear muffs shaped like fried eggs and lots of knitted cakes and sandwiches. Abby and another friend who is also a knitter just had a birthday so I knitted the ever-useful apple holders for them! It protects the apple from bumps and bruises when you take it to work or on a picnic and makes the apple oh-so-stylish! Is the A for Abby or for apple? You decide. (Shelley, if you're reading this, I hope you don't feel left out, not getting a letter. I didn't think of embroidering something on the apple until after I gave you yours. If you bring it on Monday, I'll put a letter on yours too if you would like one.) The bobble is actually a button so you can get the knitted apple off of the real apple.

After knitting this pattern, I realize that the book's directions are a bit sloppy. Every decrease is a k2tog and the finishing directions are lazy. The apple holder was to be knitted in 4 flat pieces and then sewn together. That seemed like too much work so I knit it in the round, added paired decreases to make it a little neater and modified it some. I used size 8 dpns and some yarn left over from this project.

I went to the craziest place yesterday! The Bins, aka the Goodwill Outlet. Yes, Goodwill has an outlet. I guess it's all the stuff that hasn't sold in the regular stores and is an inch away from the landfill. I've been hearing about the place from my friend Rosie a lot and finally decided to go see for myself.

It's a warehouse filled with huge plastic bins. Fabric items and books are seperated from everything else but that's as far as the organization goes. People dig through these huge bins looking for treasures and most things are sold for $1.29 a pound! It's insane and a little disturbing. They have signs cautioning the shopper (aka bargain vulture) that there could be sharp objects in the bins. I spent a fair amount of time dreading the used syringe or dead rat I was sure I'd come accross in the next bin. I even saw some "professional" bins shoppers wearing gloves to sort through the stuff. I'm not exaggerating. This is how some people make money. With enough determination, there is some valuable stuff to be found and purchased for $1.29 per pound.

I came out feeling grimy and dirty and $9 dollars poorer. I got several sweaters I'm planning on felting, some linen fabric I'll make into a skirt. a really cute, old apron and one of those woven grass mats people take to the beach. This is what I did with one section of the mat. With some hot glue and scissors, I transformed my old, ugly, plastic planter to the new, improved tiki planter!
It now holds mint and chamomile plants. Come join me for some sun tea later this summer!

A little progress

2006-04-23T12:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted, I know. Life has been insane lately but I think it's getting back to normal, whatever that really is. I still haven't finished my "modern bustier". I think that's a stupid name for the pattern. Does anyone have a better name? I did buy the things I need to finish it and I made progress. Here are the lovely rows of grommets I put in on Friday.All I have left to do is sew the fabric to the knitting. I was scared I was going to mess it up so I put it off for a few days. I think I've mustered up the courage now so hopefully you'll see it in all it's completed glory really soon. The weather is getting so nice that I really want to WEAR it!

I am making progress on my corset pullover. I finished the front and am about halfway through the back. I like how it looks so I'm just hoping that I'll like how it fits. No matter how well I measure and swatch, I'm never really sure it'll fit right until it's all done. It makes me kind of anxious if I think about it too much.
In other news, my grandpa had a birthday this month so my letter H in the abc-along is going to be for Happy birthday, Hugh! That's him in the picture with my uncle on the left and my dad on the right. Any guesses as to how old my grandpa is? The picture is from last year so add a year to how old you think he is in the picture.
He just had a big health workup and the only recommendation the doctor had was that he shouldn't drink anymore. My dad says that the only sign he's slowed down is that he doesn't do very many home-improvement projects anymore. He still drives, has a lovely girlfriend and is in really good health! All that and he just turned 93!!

Another rainy day

2006-04-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a nice week weatherwise here in Portland. Then I woke up this morning, my ONLY day off this week (I get to work 9 days with only 1 day off in the middle- it's great.) to a grey sky and drizzly, constant rain. That's the worst kind, in my opinion. I have been knitting, though, and I actually have some progress to show off. First, though, I have a pink/red Project Spectrum loose end to tie up. Here is the postcard I sent to my postcard pal.
It's a collage made from magazine pages. It's being propped up by an angel bell that was my grandma's. I haven't seen any mention of it on my pal's blog so I thought I'd post it here since I think it's pretty and I'm proud of it. Hopefully she got it. Sadly, I received not a single postcard in the mail last month but this month's pal seems promising. She has already sent me a recipe for an orange cake.

My "modern bustier" from alterknits is almost finished. The knitting is done and last weekend I bought fabric, ribbon to lace it up with and grommets. I got home allready to finish it and then realized that the grommet setter didn't work with the size grommets I bought. WHY does Michael's place things next to each other that don't actually work with each other?!?! It was very annoying and I haven't been back to Michael's yet to get what I need. In the meantime, here's a preview. The fabric is a really pretty grey-green silk. I initially wanted chocolate brown fabric but the store didn't have a good shade of brown silk and then I fell in love with this color and all was well.

Since the bustier doesn't require any more knitting, I have a new project. It's the "corset pullover" from interweave knits. I've seen pictures of the pattern and have been wanting to knit it for some time and then I just saw that it's free on their website! Here's my progress so far. The yarn is knitpicks shine sport so my guage is really different than the pattern. Luckily I am one of those strange people that loves math.Yellow is my favorite color so I'm really excited that it's yellow and orange month at Project Spectrum. Here are some of those colors around my house.

Finishing is fun

2006-03-29T16:00:00.000-08:00

I have finished another project that was cast aside last summer! My satisfaction with Soleil led to my finishing of this: It started out as Tempting from Knitty but quickly morphed into something different. I hate knitting ribbing so I chose a cabled rib pattern to jazz it up. I don't know if it was because of the cables or if I miscalculated last summer but when I picked it up a few months ago, I realized that I didn't have nearly enough yarn to knit the sleeves. I looked in all the Portland yarn stores but couldn't find the yarn. Of course I no longer had the labels and I don't remember what brand I bought. All I know is that it's 100% merino. I narrowed it down to 2 brands and considered ordering the closest color of each to see which is the match but it all seemed like too much work, so back in the basket it went. I finally decided to just finish it as is, which means it's a tube top! I wove some brown ribbon around the top to make it prettier and I really like it! I also really like that it's no longer in my knitting basket haunting me. I wan't super excited about a tube top because I've never worn one before but I have 2 strapless dresses that I like so this shouldn't be any different.

I am now knitting the "modern bustier" from Alterknits with Main Line from Knitpicks. It's a new yarn from them and it's 75% pima cotton, 25% merino and it feels lovely! I don't have any pictures yet but it seems to be a quick knit so check back soon for an update.

In non-knitting news, I present my letter G for the ABC-along. G is for Garden, and since my vegetable garden isn't growing yet, I am showing you my cactus and succulent garden. I used to think that crowing cacti was a stupid idea because they're all prickly and not very touchable. Then my great-aunt Amy died. I couldnt go to Colorado for her service but my mom told me that she had a huge cactus garden in her yard and that at her memorial service, all her friends brought a plant to add to the garden. My mom was telling me about all the interesting plants people brought and it made me look at them in a new light. Then in May, Mike and I bought a house and it has a great enclosed front porch with huge windows and we wanted to fill it with plants. I decided to make the porch my cactus garden and that expanded into a cactus and succulent garden because there are some cool succulents out there! It makes me think of Aunt Amy and, in a way, my grandma, who was her sister. This one reminds me of seaweed, though it also looks exactly like the things that come off the heads of the Snorks. This is a string-of-pearls and is my most special plant in this collection. My grandma (other one-not Amy's sis) gave my mom a lot of plants when she moved into a smaller home. My grandma had a lot of really unique plants and the string of pearls was one of my mom's favorites that she got from her but my mom wasn't able to keep it alive. This was all before I was old enough to remember but I heard the story. I saw the plant in a nursery while I was on vacation and really wanted to buy it but I couldn't. Two Christmases ago, Mike found some at a nursery and bought me 2 little plants. It's not thriving the way I would like it to but it's a really slow-growing plant so I'm being patient. It reminds me of my grandma and I love it.

Some of you may have noticed (although you probably didn't) that I skipped the letter F. I just wasn't feeling inspired so I skipped it. Maybe it'll make a surprise appearance later but don't hold your breath. Blogging should be fun, not forced.

Hurry up spring weather!

2006-03-21T22:13:00.000-08:00

I finished something! I started knitting soleil last summer and just now finished! I didn't quite finish it last summer when the weather started getting cold so I put it away until now. In honor of project spectrum, I decided to finally finish it. I thought I had a bit more to knit on the straps but when I pulled it out of the basket a few days ago, I realized that all I had to was graft the straps together and crochet around the edges. Why couldn't I have quickly done that last summer? I figured I'd have it done in 1/2 hour or so but three evenings later, I was still crab stitching around the edges! I do not like crab stitch but it did turn out nicely. Here's a close up of the lace edge.
Here are the details for all you detail lovers:
Pattern: soleil, from knitty. It's a great pattern.
Yarn: Bamboo from southwest trading company. It's really shiny and has a really nice drape. This yarn feels a little rough but it's nice to wear against the skin. I guess rough isn't the right word. It just has some texture to it that is really interesting. I think it'll be great in warm weather- I just need that warm weather to get here!
Modifications: I made it about an inch longer than specified and I think it's perfect!

In other news, I'm behind in the ABC-along (again) so here is my F photo. F is for Farm Fresh. I belong to a CSA, which stands for community supported agriculture. In my case, I'm a member of the 47th Ave Farm in Portland and every 2 weeks inthe winter months and every week in the summer months I get a bunch of seasonal, locally grown, organic produce. Here is part of today's share.
Clockwise: Sprouting broccoli florets, rosemary, broccoli raab (actually not related to broccoli!), the prettiest head of cabbage ever, an entire salad bowl of kale and purple broccoli. We also got potatoes, onions and parsnips. I love veggies!
Support local farmers and get organic veggies by finding a CSA in your area!

Last scarf of the season

2006-03-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

This winter knitting season, Mike has gotten a sweater and now a scarf. He's made out better than I have and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Actually, I have really enjoyed getting in touch with my inner gift-knitter this last fall and winter. Thinking about all my thousands of stitches keeping a loved one warm and oh-so-stylish makes me feel about as warm and fuzzy as wearing my own hand-knits does. Here are the details of Mike's latest accessory.

Yarn: Rowan felted tweed. I used 2 strands held together. I really, really like this yarn. It's not the softest yarn for a scarf but Mike picked it out (he wanted tweed or nothing) and he's really happy with it. If it weren't so expensive, I would knit myself a sweater out of this yarn. Every picture I take makes it look like a different color but this picture is the best (color-wise). It has flecks of white, light blue and dark orange which really gives it a lot of depth and interest. Needles: Size ? bamboo (I set them down and now they are lost)
Pattern: My own. It's a saxon braid cable with 5 stitches of garter stitch on each side. Here is a picture that shows the cable pattern clearly.
All in all, I am really happy with it and, more importantly, so is Mike. I'm also happy that my next project will not be a scarf.

As I've been knitting this brown scarf, I've been very envious of all you project spectrum participants and your lovely pink and red eye candy. My next project will be red and just to prove (mostly to myself) that I am participating in project spectrum, here are my favorite pink and red things from my house. The first is Cradle. She is a fairy and was named by the artist I bought her from because she looks so comforting and watchful. Like she's cradling the viewer. She's really big- about 3 1/2' x 4 1/2'- so it really is like she's watching over us. It's actually dark pink fabric that was marked off with tape and the negative areas were bleached lighter. It's very cool and I love her. Here are some other things.

Pink, Red and the letter E

2006-03-06T11:46:00.000-08:00

E is for evergreens and emerging life.

One of the great things about my job is that there is a trail through the woods on the property. I love the evergreens for their height and beauty and I get to look at them all day. When not looking high in the trees, though, the trail hasn't been very pretty this winter. With the coming of spring, I have been discovering life emerging from the seemingly dead vegetation. It takes some close inspection but things are starting to grow and emerge from the bare branches. I thought I'd share some of my pictures with you because I love this time of year!
(If you're just here for the knitting-I've got that covered! It's after the nature pictures)

I wish I could tell you what all these plants are but I really don't know. I'm pretty good at identifying trees but that's about as far as my plant knowledge goes. I wish my backyard were looking this pretty and full of life. It's a mess of weeds, bare ground and a lumpy lawn but I need the rain to stop before I can fix it!

This isn't on the trail through the woods but I thought I'd include the flowering cherry tree because it's pretty and pink and it's pink and red month at Project Spectrum.

Speaking of Project Spectrum, I have some knitting to show you! I finally finished my red Cascading Leaves sock. I finished the 1st one right after Christmas but then I got sidetracked by other projects so it's been sad and alone- until today! I love, love, love this pair of socks because it's the first pair I've ever knit for myself! The yarn is sock garden from knitpicks and it's so soft and snuggly on my feet. Look how nicely they fit my feet! The only drawback to the sock garden is that it's 100% merino -that explains the super softness but it also means they won't be the most long-lasting socks unless I treat them very carefully.
I used this pattern to make my mom some socks but I didn't really like how square the toe was on her pair, (sorry, Mom!) so I changed it on mine. I'm looking for a new sock project now! Now that I have 1 pair, I think I need some more. I don't want my 1 pair of handknit socks to be lonely in my drawer. What is your favorite sock yarn? I've only used the sock garden and Lorna's Laces shepherd sock which is lovely but a little pricey.

D is for . . .

2006-02-25T15:15:00.000-08:00

. . . Done!!! I finished my River stole with suprisingly few difficulties! I finished the knitting on Thursday and I blocked it last night.Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze, color is called jelly.
Pattern: Rowan mag #38
Changes to pattern: I knit it with #9 needles, not the specified 10.5's. I also purled all wrong side rows, making a stockinette lace pattern because I thought the garter stitch looked sloppy.
Finished size: 16 x 66"Look at the miles (okay, feet) of lace I knit! I pinned the edges out to form little points and it turned out really well. The picture in the Rowan mag is so bad that I can't really tell if the edges are straight or not but I like my pointy border.

It's so light and airy and I love it! I really like the Kidsilk haze and I didn't find it difficult to knit but I don't think I love it the way many of you out there do. I would use it again, though.

This olympics thing has been fun and I really like the challenge to finish something in a timely manner but I am more than ready to get back to my usual multiple project self.

Speaking of multiple projects, I have branched out beyond knitting! Kirsten and I took a drop spindle class today! It was so fun and the teacher was great and we made yarn!!Check out my first yarn! It's so pretty and even and not lumpy like most people's first yarn. It's not spun perfectly, though, because it doesn't hang straight. It twist on itself a little. I feel like I should knit something with it but it's such a small amount that I don't know what to do with it. Any ideas? Lest you think I'm over here gloating over my pretty first-yarn-ever-made, let me show you what I did next. The whole reason I want to learn to spin is because I want to spin the fur from my angora bunny, Phoebe, that is starting to pile up in my basement. So, when I came home from the class I decided to spin her fur. It's is a lumpy mess!I must point out, though, that's it's the softest lumpy mess that I have ever touched! Angora is slippery and has short fibers but I am determined to spin it well. I owe it to Phoebe to make something pretty out of her lovely fur. I am encouraged that although much of my mini-skein looks like this or worse:there are some short sections that look like this:Do you see the perfect twist and the smooth edges? It can be done and I can do it!

Goodbye sweater

2006-02-20T10:30:00.000-08:00

My most loved sweater has died. It's a heather grey v-neck sweater that I bought from J Crew almost 10 years ago! It has long been relegated to the wear-only-around-the-house-or-to-work category (I have one of those strange jobs where I wear my nice clothes on weekends and my grubby clothes to work) but I'm still sad to see it go. It spent a month backpacking through Europe with me, studied abroad with me in Spain and has been a really good sweater so I'm pretty attached to it. It has stretched a lot and is now pretty baggy and shapeless. For the last several years, I've had to fold the cuffs back so they don't cover my hands and they've worn thin at the fold. Here's what happened on Friday.
That's the right hand. Here's the left:That's Ramona, my cat who only likes me if I'm knitting. I didn't mean to get my pets in the picture but they were all enjoying the litle bit of sun that was coming in the window. About the sweater- I was htinking of cutting off the ripped part and hemming the sleeves since they're too long anyway, but then I noticed that the elbows were about to wear through as well. So I had to say goodbye to the sweater. It is going to be reincarnated, though, so stay on the lookout for it's reappearance.

On the knitting front, I have my handy olympics countdown timer from Anny on my sidebar. It's even adjusted to my time zone so I know just how much time I have left to knit River. I'm onto my second (and last) ball of yarn, so I'm right on track! Here's a picture of the halfway mark. A Team Portland blog has been created for the knitting olympics. If you're curious what some other Portlanders are knitting, here's your chance to find out!

Last but not least, here's a token food picture. I love food pictures, a trait I must have gotten from my dad. To use up some random leftovers. Mike made the best egg dish for dinner. It's basically scrambled eggs with leeks, asparagus, wild rice and swiss cheese. I thought it might be a little weird, but it was an excellent dinner.

Olympics are 30% over!

2006-02-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

The olympic knitting continues. We're over 30% through the olympics and amazingly, I'm over 30% done with River! I had a minor setback when I had to tink back 3 rows but that little problem of an extra yarn over has been fixed. I knit a ton on Monday because I had the day off and Mike worked so I had nothing to take my attention away from knitting. Even the dog left me alone because he was tired from our hike the day before. This week has is pretty busy, though, so I don't know if I can keep up this quick knitting pace. Here is River so far:The weather is again conducive to knitting. It actually snowed at work yesterday! Last weekend I had a hard time knitting because it was sunny and beautiful. How quickly the weather turned! Here are some pictures from my hike on Sunday. I hiked with Mike and some friends in Forest Park, the largest wilderness park within city limits in the U. S. (Conversely, Mill Ends Park is probably the country's smallest park-a mere 24 inches! I encourage you to look at the link, it's quite entertaining!) We hiked up to the Pittock Mansion which none of us had ever been to before. I was excited to see my first flower of the spring. It's not spring yet but don't tell these flowers.It was so beautiful and clear that we could see Mts. Rainier, St. Helens, Adams and Hood as well as the whole city of Portland. It was amazing! In this picture you can see Mt. Hood.On our way up to the mansion, We hiked through Balch's Canyon, named after the guy who used to own the land and who, interestingly, was the 1st person to be hanged in Portland. Apparently he shot his son-in-law. L-R: me, Bradley wearing his doggie backpack, Amber, Noel, Laura and Andrew.(You would never know it, but River is actually neatly stowed in Mike's backpack, just in case there were a few moments to knit. There were not.)

I have been knitting and watching the olympics. In my last post I talked about Kirsten and Lisa's party and their lovely country flags. She posted a great picture of us and our flags. You may remember that I chose Japan and lastnight I had my 1st opportunity to see a Japanese athlete compete. It was a speed skater and he won his race but I don't know if he got a medal because I didn't stay up to see the whole event. I was very ecxited to see his race but Mike is still waiting for his 1 Venezuelan dude to show up on NBC. I have a feeling he may have to wait forever.

The olympics have started!

2006-02-11T12:22:00.000-08:00

Oh, the fun has begun! Mike and I went to an opening ceremonies party last night hosted by the lovely Lisa and Kirsten and I made a great start on River. You can't tell in this picture (Mike, the photographer, stood in the wrong spot but that's okay) but there were two other knitters and a crocheter present as well as Kirsten who didn't actually knit anything but tormented us fiber lovers by sharing the new and fabulous yarn she has gotten recently. Mike even played the part of a good knitter's husband and tried to steal Kirsten's beautiful Vesper sock yarn for me. Unfortunately he was unsuccessful. I may have to buy my own. It was a fun night and Kirsten and Lisa painted flags and we all got to pick one to cheer for. I picked Japan and am pleased that they have a fair number of athletes so I will probably get to see some of them compete. That's probably not the case for Amber who is rooting for Kenya- they only have 1 guy but I do hope he wins something (although winning isn't everything). Julie was disappointed in Germany-her chosen country-because their opening ceremony outfits were so ugly. Hopefully their athletic skills will make up for their outfits. I was hoping that Japan, with all their uber-trendy fashion would be wearing something interesting but they went with boring white with a splash of white. (Speaking of outfits-did anyone else notice Belarus' scarves? They were so pretty! I want to knit one.) It was really fun and I loved having the flags. It really made us all pay attention to more than just the US. There are those commercials that say that during the olympics we are all rooting for the same team-the US- but we are a country that has people of all races. As Kirsten put it- Go team world!

Back to the knitting- check out my River! It's looking good and even though I had two drinks lastnight, I found no mistakes this morning. It was kind of daring of me to try to watch the opening ceremonies, knit lace and drink at the same time but I'm here to tell you that it can be done.

Lat night we all thought the opening ceremonies were too long and we were almost asleep by the time they ended but I must say that the lighting of the torch was really worth staying up. It was really cool looking and there's something so great about the tradition.

Is anyone even reading this or are you all too busy knitting?

Catching Up

2006-02-09T11:15:00.000-08:00

B is for . . . Bradley and his Blue Bone. The blue bone is his favorite toy. He got it a year ago for Christmas and it is still remarkably in pretty good shape. A goofy dog with a blue bone hanging stupidly out of his mouth is a common sight at my house.

B could also stand for broken computer. My laptop is broken so my posts have been a little sporadic lately. I've wanted to post more often but I just can't.

C is for . . . Cables!! I have postponed my second red sock in order to knit Mike a scarf. I know I said I was done with gift knitting but he's been wanting a scarf forever and after the fun I had knitting my backyard leaves scarf, I decided to do it for him. He picked out the yarn- Rowan felted tweed- because he had to have tweed even though it's not the softest yarn ever. He also picked out the cable pattern. Sorry about the slightly blurry picture. I had a hard time getting the cables to show up with the lack of natural light to help the camera out. This is the best one I got. The color is a pretty chocolate brown with little flecks of white and light blue. So far he really likes it but I'm not going to finish it for a while because the olympics start tomorrow! Good luck everyone!

I broke down and did it

2006-02-04T12:41:00.000-08:00

First things first. I have been totally slacking as far as the ABC-along goes. I have not posted a single photo and we are quickly approaching the letter D. (Imagine Big Bird doing a little dance here.) So, in an effort to catch up, I present my letter A:

A is for . . . Apple green yarn. Kidsilk Haze to be exact and the color is really called "jelly" but who has jelly this color? It looks like a granny smith to me. This leads to my title. "Did what?" you may be asking. I broke down and joined the knitting olympics and this apple green yarn will be my main (only) event. I have swatched and frogged anout 5 times and cast on for real and frogged 3 times so I'm hoping that if I put it down and knit it during the olympics, the moral support will help me actually knit it. What is it, you're asking? I have decided on the River stole from Rowan # something-or-other.
Since you can't really see the pattern in Rowan's picture ( I hate it when they do that!), here's a link to Diana's very pretty finished River.

I was going to knit a different pattern(s) but I didn't like it and then I was going to knit the main River pattern but add my own border but I think now I'm just going to knit it like Rowan designed it. Except with smaller needles and in stockinette and not garter stitch. Oh, and a different color.

It was nice of Lolly to delay the beginning of Project Spectrum until March, well after the Knitting Olympics craziness. I am really excited about the project. I so often focus on patterns and ideas and not so much on colors. It will be fun to see what examples of the chosen colors people come up with. Since March is red/pink month, I was thinking that would be a good time to finish my second red sock since the 1st sock is getting really lonely. Now that I can't (re)start the river stole until next week, I need something to knit until then and the red sock is it. It won't be hard, though, to find something else red or pink to make in March!

All for me!

2006-01-31T19:41:00.000-08:00

I finished my backyard leaves scarf and I love it so much!
Pattern: Backyard leaves scarf from Scarf Style
Yarn: 3 balls Cascade Yarns "Cloud 9" 50% angora, 50% merino 50g/109 yards
Needles: size 7
Finished size: 72" long- 6" shorter than the pattern states, but plenty long for me-it almost reaches my knees when it's just around the back of my neck! I only have a few yards of the yarn left, maybe enough to do 1 more repeat on one side, but then the 2 halves would be different lengths and that would have bothered me. I'd say that my ~~guesswork~~ meticulous yardage calculations gave me perfect results.Here's a close up of the pattern for those of you who haven't seen it. It's so pretty and a lot easier to knit than it looks. I just couldn't knit it while watching 24 on tv. I tried but it didn't go so well. The only flaw I found was the directions for joining the 2 halves. The cast-on edges were shaped oddly and didn't seem to fit together and there were some weird yarn-overs that confused me. Other bloggers got them too, so it wasn't my mistake. In the end, I just seamed to the best of my ability and this is what it looks like. It's not bad, but a picture in the book would have helped, or at least eased my perfectionist mind. If you've knitted this scarf, is this what you ended up with too?I love this scarf! It's soft and warm and soft and pretty and soft. Oh yeah, did I mention it's soft? Scarves always make me feel warm and safe, like a little kid all snuggled into bed. What is it about something wrapped around one's neck that feels so nice? I think it's that it's something 'extra'. Most people go out into the cold with a sweater, jacket, maybe even gloves, but a scarf isn't a 'necessary' thing for many people. A nice, beautiful but functional scarf seems so perfect and almost indulgent. Maybe it's that I didn't grow up in a really cold place (Northern California) and have never really lived in one. Maybe you cold-climate folks see scarves as essential as wool socks but not us west coast people. Anyway, I love my scarf so much that I wore it before I blocked it because I was so excited about finishing it. (The picture of me wearing it is post-blocking)

Because I'm on a scarf kick, here's a photo of the 1st scarf I ever made. (That sounds like I've made a lot. No, only 3). It crocheted because I am one of those knitters who converted when I realized crocheting was very limiting. A crocheted sweater? I don't think so. It wasn't for me, anyway. I love this scarf and crocheters always want the pattern but hell if I remember it. I don't even remember how to crochet. The yarn is Plymouth Encore which is 75% acrylic and 25% wool. I don't knit with acrylic anymore, but for those of you who like it, this is a really nice yarn. I've had this scarf for almost 10 years and it's held up really well and it's really soft.

I was going to give my 2 cents about Lolly's project spectrum but I'm tired after all the scarf blogging so that'll have to wait until tomorrow. I'll just tell you to go check it out, it's cool.

I'm done with gift knitting!

2006-01-27T12:49:00.000-08:00

Well, for a little while at least. My mom's socks were finished, mailed and recieved so that was a success.
They turned out really well and they are SO soft! I used Knitpicks sock garden and I recommend it. After finding a pattern that didn't result in horrible color pooling, I really enjoyed knitting it up. The colors are really pretty and 100% merino wool always feels so nice! The only downside it that they are not machine washable so if you don't want to handwash your socks, don't use this yarn.

The pattern I settled on (for those of you that missed it in my previous posts) is Cascading Leaves from the Towsend socks knitalong yahoo group. I changed it by making the ribbed section at the top longer, making the leg of the sock a lot longer that the original pattern, and by extending the pattern down the top of the foot. I think it makes for a much prettier sock. The only thing I'm not 100% happy about is how square the toe is. It rounds out nicely when the sock is being worn, but I prefer the look of a rounder toe so I think I'll modify that when I finish my own pair. All in all, I find this pattern really fun to knit, which is good because I still have to finish my own pair!

1st in line for finishing, though, is my backyard leaves scarf. It's almost done so I'll post an updated picture soon. I didn't think I would be this excited about a scarf but I simply can't wait to wear it!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

2006-01-22T10:11:00.000-08:00

Hi mom, welcome to my blog! I've been working on your gift for awhile now but I couldn't quite finish in time for you to get it on your Big Day so a preview is in order.I thought you might like some pretty, handknit socks to put a little spring in your step. Literally- the yarn color is called daffodil and a friend brought me a daffodil last night so, voila, a photo was born. They're merino wool so they're really, really soft and warm, too. I will finish them today and mail them tomorrow so they should be coming to a mailbox soon. If you read some of my other entries, you can see some other pictures of your socks if you'd like. I hope you have a great day!

Happy Day

2006-01-20T12:36:00.000-08:00

Blogger was being stupid yesterday and it wouldn't let me post this. Stupid blogger. So here is my posting that should have been here last night.

I went out to dinner tonight for my birthday and the restaurant printed special menus for us that looked like this:It was so cool to open it up and see my name! Little things make me happy.

In honor of my birthday, I started a project for me (sorry, mom, your socks will get done!). It's the backyard leaves scarf from Scarf Style. The yarn is Cascade Yarns Cloud 9 that I got on sale last weekend. I't 50% merino, 50% angora and it is SO soft and pretty! I don't really have very many scarves even though I love wearing them so I'm excited about this one!
I was tagged by Marie over at Brooklyn Handspun so here you go- a meme. Just what you wanted, I know- more info about me!

I tag my fellow Portland knitters! You're it!
Kirsten
Laurie
Shelley
Abby

What were you doing 9 years ago?
I was a freshman at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and I remember well because today's my birthday so it also was 9 years ago. I took a nap (because that's what college is all about, right?) and woke up to find that my roommates had sprinkled confetti all over our room in celebration. Yes, I was lucky enough to have two freshman year roommates. I think I remember this so well because the pieces of confetti were shaped like suns and moons and the little jagged edges of the suns embedded themselves in the super-short industrial carpet that we were lucky enough to have. The 3 of us spent the next 4 months yanking them out of the carpet whenever we were bored. There may still be some there. I'm not in touch with those girls anymore but also that year, I developed a great friendship with some lovely ladies that are still dear and close friends even though they live so far away!

What were you doing 6 years ago?
I don'r remember this birthday, but I was just starting my 2nd semester of my senior year and totally overwhelmed by my thesis. I also had just begun a relationship with the person who is now my husband. I had planned on being able to go anywhere and do anything after graduation as I was previously single and had nothing to keep me in any one place. That all changed because our relationship got serious pretty quickly but I did manage to find a job close to him that I liked. We never lived in the same city, though, until we got married a 1 1/2 years later. I don't recommend that- our phone bills were out of control for a while.

What were you doing one hour ago?
Standing outside in the grey drizzly weather while a bunch of crazy dogs ran around, playing with toys and getting wet in the rain. Now you're all probably wondering where I work. I'll let you guess if you so desire. (I'm actually posting this lots later than I originally wrote it. An updated 1 hour ago, I was at Jake's Famous Crawfish eating my complimentary chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and a pretty pink birthday candle on top. I'm not really a chocolate-loving gal but it was delicious!)

Name 3 movies you can't turn off if you stumble across them on television.
I am not someone who likes to watch movies over and over. My standard response is usually: "I just saw that, I don't want to watch it again!", to which my husband will tell me it was 6 months ago that I saw it. Hmmm . . . still too recent for me. I also don't have cable so I rarely stumble upon interesting movies on tv. I also don't use my cell phone for much of anything. I think I'm part of a dying breed.

Name 3 things you want to improve upon this year.
Keeping my house more orderly and free of clutter- mostly all the paper and junk mail that piles up. Recycle, recycle, recycle should be my new mantra.

I would like to improve upon my job situation. This would mean working harder to find a job I really like.

I would like to improve my understanding of knitting so that I could maybe design a pattern more complicated than a scarf.

Name 3 things you can't live without
My dog, yarn and hair products, in no particular order. My family, too, but I think that's kind of obvious.

Name 3 things you could....
Having to vaccuum, having to work, having to wake up before 8 in the morning.

Name 3 things you really like about yourself.
Despite being a slave to hair products, I really do like my hair.
I also like being able to do "domestic" things like cook, sew, knit, bake bread, but it's something people who don't know me well wouldn't guess about me.
I appreciate nature and can see beauty in a lot of things around me.

Slimon

2006-01-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

I finished my 1st sock for my mom's birthday! I started it no less than 4 times so finishing it is a big deal. You may remember that I started it as a cable and rib sock (well, yes, a jaywalker sock 1st but that hardly counts). That was all going well until I realized that it hardly fit on my foot and no one wants a sock you have to pull and stretch and beg to get onto your foot. I tried one other pattern but that seemed to be too small as well so I gave up and knitted another cascading leaves sock- the same pattern I was knitting for myself so I knew it would fit on my (and, therefore, my mother's) foot. Here's a preview. It's not a great picture but I'm saving the good ones until I have a finished PAIR to show off. Mom's birthday is in 8 days so you won't have long to wait. I would have used that pattern the 1st time around but boredom comes easily to me and I didn't want to knit 4 socks using the same pattern but, that's what I ended up doing anyway. I haven't woven in the ends yet and this is what heppened this evening.
It got slimed by this big guy.
That's Simon, aka Slimon. Were're watching him since his owners just had a baby. Little baby Hudson who will get to wear a beautiful striped sweater when he gets a little bigger. Simon is great and I really like him but he drools some. You can see it hanging off his lips in the picture. I wasn't planning on washing my mom's socks before giving them to her, to save time, but now I just might have to.

Scarf Patterns!

2006-01-12T09:57:00.000-08:00

Wavy Razor Shell Scarf

I used 2 balls of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino: 55% Merino Wool, 33% Microfibre, 12% Cashmere, Approx. 137 yds/50g
Size 5 (or 6) needles- I don't remenber.
Gauge isn't really important but my completed scarf was about 6" wide and 4.5 ft long.

CO 42 stitches

Row 1 (ws): purl across until last stitch, slip last stitch
Row 2 (rs): K2, yo, K2, sl 1, K2tog, psso, K2, yo, K2, yo, K3, sl 1, K2tog, psso, K3, yo, K2, yo, K3, sl 1, K2tog, psso, K3, yo, K2, yo, K2, sl 1, K2tog, psso, K2, yo, K1, sl 1

Slipping the alst stitch on each row makes a nice, smooth edge on each side.
Repeat these 2 rows until you reach your desired length. See notes below about knitting in one or two pieces.
Wash and block, being careful to pin each point so they will end up nice and defined.
Sew on beads, if desired. I just used thread in a matching color to sew them on.

To help you visualize the pattern a little better, The blue font shows the small edge shells and the red font shows the larger, middle shells. This pattern is easy to modify. You could knit just one large panel instead of two in the center or knit only 1 knit stitch in between the yo’s separating the shells for a more delicate look. Play around with it and you’ll get a beautiful scarf tailored to your yarn.

If you want the ends to match perfectly, knit scarf in two pieces then graft together. If you choose to graft, I recommend ending each piece with a right side row and then grafting. This makes the pattern at the join more continuous. You can use a 3-needle bind off to attach pieces but that will leave a seam. I grafted my pieces together and you could tell that something was going on there although it looked neat. It’s the part of the scarf that will be at the back of the neck and not really seen so I wasn’t bothered by my less than perfect finish.

If you don’t want knit the scarf in 2 pieces, it will still look nice knitted in one piece. The red line in the picture below shows how the bound off edge will wave if you knit it in one piece. You will end up with 1 more point on this edge than on the cast-on edge.

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John Muir Scarf

More pictures can be seen here.
I used 4 skeins of Knit Picks Andean Treasure: 100% baby alpaca, 110 yards / 50 grams

I used size 5 needles. Guage isn't important as it's just a scarf! I was in such a Christmas hurry to send this off, I forgot to measure it. I think my finished scarf was about 7 inches wide and you can see it being worn if you click the link above to give you an idea of it's length.
CO 54

Row 1: K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P44, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1

Row 2: K1, P1, K1, P1, K46, P1, K1. P1, K1

Row 3: K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P44, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1

Continue working 5 stitches on each side in seed stitch for the rest of the scarf.
Rows 5-?: work 5 stitches in seed stitch, P2 (K2 on wrong side), work chart, P2 (K2 on wrong side), work chart, P2 (K2 on wrong side), work 5 stitches in seed stitch

When you reach your desired length, repeat rows 1-3, bind off.

On my chart, empty squares are knit stitches on the right side and purls on the wrong side. Squares with dots represent purl stitches on the right side and knits on the wrong side.

Twist 6 Left rib: Slip next 4 stitches onto cable needle, hold at front of work. Knit next 2 stitches from left hand needle, slip the 2 purl stitches from cable needle back to left hand needle and purl them. Knit 2 stitches from cable needle.

Twist 6 Right rib: Slip next 4 stitches onto cable needle, hold at back of work. Knit next 2 stitches from left hand needle, slip the 2 purl stitches from cable needle back to left hand needle and purl them. Knit 2 stitches from cable needle.

(Cable pattern taken from The Harmony Guide to Aran and Fair Isle Knitting, edited by Debra Mountford. )

The baby sweater is gone!

2006-01-07T21:47:00.000-08:00

Gone to it's recipient, of course. Well, it's recipient's mother to be exact. The little guy is yet to be born, though it will be any day now! I don't have a photo for you of the finished project because I finished it in such a hurry. I finished sewing the snaps on during my lunch break today and had to wrap it the minute I got home. To be honest, I would have taken the 5 seconds it takes to photograph it if it weren't for the fact that I thought I'd be bringing it back home with me. Let me explain. At lunch today, while sewing on the snaps, I realized that when I sewed the snaps onto the front flap, the thread I used could (faintly) be seen on the front of the garment. I used some thin, cotton yarn in a VERY similar yellow color to sew them on so it really blended in well. I, of course, was not satisfied but I had no time to do anything else. I thought that I could get some cute buttons and sew them on to the front of the flap to hide the evidence that I sewed something (gasp!) but that wasn't going to happen tonight. So I decided that I would give it and then take it home, finish it, and give it back. A good enough plan but a strange thing happened. Once my gift was opened and oohed and aahed over, I deceded to let go of my (not-so-hidden) inner perfectionist and let it go as is. Chances are, I'm the only one that would ever see the yellow threads in the midst of yellow seed stitch anyway. So, I did not bring it back home and you don't get an "all finished!" picture but I don't want you to go home empty handed.

With the leftover yarn, I knitted up a quick hat for the little one. I used the pattern in the most recent Interweave Knits. "But there isn't a pattern for a baby hat in that issue", you're saying to yourself. You're right, but there is a cute kids hat. It's the wedge hat and I discovered that if I used the cotton classic and size 4 needles (or maybe they were 5's . . .) and knit 6 wedges instead of 7, it would be just right for a newborn. So here it is. The colors are supposed to be added with a knit row, but I didn't want 6 little rows of purl bumps against the newborn's head and I kind of like the stripes I get this way.

I'm also giving you a picture of my experimental finishing technique because in the finished sweater, it looks darn cute. I was afraid that pulling on snaps sewed to the front flaps would cause the stitches to pull out of shape so I found some cute striped ribbon and used fabric glue to attach it to the inside of the flaps. Then I sewed the snaps on and also sewed around the edges of the ribbon so they woudl't pull up at all. It gave the closure more stability and added some unexpected cuteness to the inside of the front flaps! It looked something like this (except yellow knitting, not orange). I tried it on a test swatch to see how the fabric glue would work. The sweater and hat were a hit and I got a "I was hoping this would be something you knitted!" from the new mom-to-be (and the ribbon detail was fully appreciated) and a "This is like something people pay a lot of money for at Baby Gap!" from another attendee. Although I don't ever set out to knit something that looks like a Gap product, I take that as a nice compliment.

I also found a good number of stitches for my mom's socks. It makes some pretty stripes and they's absolutely no pooling but the stripes obscure the cable pattern. It's the rib and cable sock pattern from the Fall 2005 Interweave knits. I though about nixing the cables but I like them, even if you can't really tell they're there. It gives me something interesting to knit (I hate knitting ribbing!) and when the sock is stretched, you can tell there's a pattern. You can see it better in person than in this picture. Happy Saturday night everyone! I'm rejoicing in the fact that this is my last weekend having to work BOTH days! I still have to work tomorrow but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Starting next week, I get Sundays off. Yay!

It's new year and I have new projects!

2006-01-04T19:42:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a lovely holiday season! Everyone loved their knitted gifts. My mom wore her cabled top to Christmas dinner at my aunt's house and Mike wore his flame sweater. It was beautiful. I love seeing people wearing things I made. The compliments are nice too, of course.
In the days before Christmes, when all my gifts were knitted and wrapped up, I thought I would want a short break from knitting since that's all I'd been doing. My break only lasted a day and then my sock yarn started calling and I really wanted to knit something for myself. So here is my 1st sock knitted for me! The pattern is the cascading leaves sock from the Townsend sock knitalong. That's a yahoo group that has a lot of free sock patterns . It's worth joining just for that. The yarn is knit picks sock garden in zinnia. I have yet to graft the toe but I'm waiting unti the second is finished so I can do all my grafting at once. I really don't like grafting. Once I finished that sock, I started feeling the pull of gift knitting again. My mon's birthday is in a few weeks and I really want to give her some knitted socks since she wanted socks for Christmas but I didn't get her any. I thought the jaywalker socks would be nice for her and it seems to work out well for so many of you out there in the blogging world. I started the forst sock for mom while waiting for my plane to come back to good old Portland. It was New Year's Eve and our plane was delayed by 4 hours! I was sick and it was storming outside (we went to N. California just in time for the flooding!) and it was pretty miserable (the airport, not the whoel trip) but luckily I had lots of yarn with me. A few rows into the sock I realized that I had horrible color pooling. See the pictures below and you'll see that it was unnacceptable.
I was forced to abandon that project. I'm still looking for another suitable pattern that hopefully will work better with the yarn. My ugly sock put me in a worse mood so to cheer me up, I started something else. That's right, 3 new projects in only a week. Project #3 is a baby sweater for my friend who's baby shower is this Saturday. I thought it was later in the month but, no, it's Saturday. So while I was in CA I had to make a quick trip to a yarn store. I decided to make the baby pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts because the corrected pattern is free on the web and it looked easy enough. So easy, in fact, that I had to go and make it more complicated. My first idea was to do a fair isle pattern around the bottom to make it more interesting but that turned in to stripes over the whole thing. It's really cute but I don't know what I was thinking. The book has it in the "4-6 hour projects" section but I think I'll be spending 4-6 hours just weaving in ends! See what I mean? The picture was even taken after I wove in about 5 of them AND I carried the yarn up the sides as much as possible so I WOULDN'T have so many ends to weave in. I don't know what happened.
I don't know when I'll ever get back to that second sock for me.

snow and knitting go together

2005-12-21T11:48:00.000-08:00

I have pictures of what I've been up to since my last post. Knitting, knitting and more knitting.
I knitted some bath puffs out of cotton chenille for my girlfriends and was in such a hurry to send them off that I forgot to take a picture. They turned out really cute and just when I finished them, my yarn order finally arrived on Friday so I've been knitting my dad's scarf like crazy. Every spare moment I was knitting and I finally finished it last night. When I got up this morning my first thought was that I didn't have to knit that scarf today and I was thrilled! I have so many other Christmasy things I want to get done and now I can because the scarf is no longer consuming me. Part of the reason I was able to finish so quickly (really in 3 days because I didn't knit Monday because I went and saw U2 on their final show of the tour!!!) was that it snowed on Sunday! I got sent home 3 hours early from work and went in 2 hours late on Monday because it was icy so I had more time to knit. Portland doesn't usually get snow so the city kind of freaks out. My dog had never seen snow and he went nuts! He ran around like a crazy possessed dog and scooped up lots of snow in his mouth. Here's a picture of us in my snowy backyard. So my dad's scarf is knitted out of Knit Picks Andean Treasure. It's 100% baby alpaca in the color Granite and it's so soft! I love it. If it weren't such a boring, masculine color, I would be tempted to keep it for myself. I don't think any of my pictures captured the true color. It's a pretty medium shade of brown mixed with a little grey. I think my dad will like it. I knit three braided cable patterns with a seed stitch border. My original plan was to knit a complex celtic braid since my dad is Irish and loves all things Celtic but that was before the yarn took so long to arrive. Since I was running out of time to knit, I realized I needed a simpler pattern that wouldn't take so much brain work to knit. So this is what I settled on. Before I blocked it, the seed stitch edges curled in.But after blocking, it looks great. I woke up this morning and it was actually dry. I was hoping that it wouldn't take forever to dry as I only have a few days to get it in the mail but all it took was one night. I love this yarn!
I made Mike model it to see how long it turned out. Notice his cute grey hat knitted by me a few years ago. It's the only hat he wears. I'm such a good knitty wife. Did you notice his arm in the picture above? That's his flame sweater he's wearing! Here's one last picture of my dad's scarf. This shows the back, too. This pattern makes me think of the forest and I think the back looks like tree bark, althoughit's kind of hard to see in this picture. I hope all of you have a great Christmas and a happy new year! I don't know if I'll post again until the new year as I'm going to California to hand out some lovely knitted gifts to the family!

Another finished gift!

2005-12-15T16:59:00.000-08:00

I am on a roll. Christmas is almost here and my presents are almost all done! Well, except for the scarf I haven't started yet because the yarn is taking forever to get here. My most recent finished project is a scarf for Margitha, my stepmom. This is the scarf that started out as gloves and then briefly was the ruffles scarf from Scarf Style but now it's a lace pattern with beads. The beads are little pale pink leaves. I finished sewing them on earlier this week and I just wrapped it all up today.
The yarn I used was Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino. I used exactly 2 skeins and the finished size after blocking is just over 6" wide and 4' 5" long. I don't remember what size needles I used. I took it off the needles a while ago. 6's maybe?
I didn't use any particular pattern. It's just a simple lace pattern. The two panels on the sides are slightly narrower than the middle panels to give it a little variation. I hope Margitha likes it!

Several people have commented on my little stocking Christmas ornament that has the dtar of David on it. It's for my friend David who is Christian but since his name is David, he likes the star of David a lot.

Millie

2005-12-13T22:36:00.000-08:00

I ordered some yarn from Knit Picks over a week ago and it's not here yet. It's yarn that I want to use to knit my dad a scarf for Christmas. My dad lives in LA so I have to mail it and I am starting to run out of time! I didn't really think about this when I ordered the yarn or I would have had it shipped the quicker (more expensive) way. Now I don't want to go out and buy yarn, start the scarf and then have my knit picks yarn arrive the next day so I'm in kind of a bind. So, yesterday, I decided to call knit picks and ask them for the tracking number for my package so I could see where it is and maybe gauge when it might get here. Here is my conversation:

Millie: Hi, this is Millie. I can answer your questions regarding blah blah, blah blah, or knit picks orders.
Me: I have a question about my knit picks order.
Millie: Do you have the order.
Me: No, but I have my order number. (I tell her the number and she verifies who I am.) I haven't received my order yet and I'm wondering if I could get a tracking number for the package so I can see where it is.
Millie: I know you're anxious to get it, dear. We say that it should arrive in 5-14 days so it's a little soon to be worried.
Me: I understand. I'm not worried but it's been over a week and I would just like a tracking number. I'm just curious where it is.
Millie: Dear, I know things never come as quickly as we would like them to but you just need to be patient. It will get to you. I could track it but it would just say "in route" and that wouldn't tell you anything. We say it takes 5-14 days so give it some more time, dear.

At this point, I give up because I'm at work and am really not supposed to be on the phone so I can't take any more time to squeeze the tracking number out of Millie. The damn woman has it but won't give it to me!

Today, I asked my husband to call again on my behalf. Hey, my name is gender neutral, he could be Casey. I came home and he said that his conversation went something like this:

Mike: I'm wondering if I could get the tracking number so I could find out where the package is.
Someone other than Millie: Sure, I can look that up for you. . . . It is in Kent, WA but it hasn't reached the post office yet so it probably won't leave Kent until tomorrow.
Mike: Could you tell me the number so I could look it up on my own?
Someone other than Millie: Sure, it's blah, blah, blah.

Why do companies employ super UNhelpful people like Millie? It seems like I always get the Millies of the world. It was nice to find out where my package is and getting the number would be nice if it worked for anything. I can't actually use it to track my package, but giving it to me was a nice gesture, I guess. Hopefully it won't take another week to get here from WA and I hope your holiday odering is going well!

I am a Christmas elf

2005-12-09T19:02:00.000-08:00

Really, I am. All I need now are little slippers with the toes curled up. I have been a busy Christmas knitter and it's been fun. I started knitting tiny sweaters and stockings for Christmas ornaments and I think I'm addicted. After all my bigger projects, it's really great to knit something that I can finish in an hour. They're really fun to decorate and personalize, too. The books Weekend Knitting and Last-Minute Knitted Gifts both have mini sweater patterns but since I don't have either of those books, I just made up my own. If anyone is interested in knowing how I made them, let me know. Here are what I've made so far.

I'm going to use them as decorations on my Christmas packages and I think my family will be impressed. This way, everyone will get something knitted. It is going to be a knitted Christmas for my family. Here are my mother-in-law's socks all wrapped up and pretty.

I also made a label for my mom's gyrid top. (This is the last picture you'll see of this top. Well . . . unless I get a picture of my mom wearing it) I used iron-on transfer paper and ironed it onto a ribbon. It turned out really professional looking, if I do say so myself. I even tried it on and I couldn't feel it at all. No scratchy label for my mama.

Flames are done and the tree is up

2005-12-07T11:58:00.001-08:00

We got our Christmas tree on Monday! It was muddy and cold but I loved getting the tree. This is our first Christmas in our own home and that is really exciting. We have big windows in the front of our house and the tree is going in front of them so we had to find a tree that looked good from all sides. This year, there is no wall to put the "ugly side" against. We found a really good tree and Mike cut it down. After all his hard work, I thought he deserved nothing less than a nice, warm sweater. Before I show you the sweater, though, here's a cute dog shot. This is Bradley supervising the placement of the tree on the roof rack. Here is it! I thought I would never finish, but I did and Mike loves it (as he should). The tree only has light on it because I was getting tired but I wanted to finish the sweater so we didn't decorate the tree. Hopefully it'll get some ornaments on it tonight. I don't think Mike will usually wear a nice collared shirt under this sweater (they don't quite go together) but I made him try it on over his work clothes. Here are the specs:

Pattern: Jesse's Flames from Stitch 'N Bitch Nation
Yarn: Lions Brand Wool-ease. Not my favorite yarn but the sweater is soft and arm and Mike likes it. What more do I need?
Changes I made: A lot. My guage was really different than the pattern. Luckily I like math so it all worked out. I made it a little longer because Mike wanted it that way and left out the red stripes around the cuffs and neckband because, again, Mike wanted it that way. He really wanted the yellow edging around the flames that the sweater had but when I started duplicate stitching it on, we both agreed that it looked really sloppy. It wasnt my fault (really!), it's just that the yellow didn't cover the black very well so it didn't look crisp and nice at all. Looking closely at the picture in the book, you can tell it looks kind of sloppy there, too. That's not a good sign. Mike was disappointed about not having the yellow but I think he's over it now. If you're thinking of making this, I recommend knitting the yellow in intarsia even though it's only one stitch wide. You'll appreciate it when it's done.
What I learned: How to do intarsia! And that it's not hard! Although I think that more colors would challenge my coordination. I also have come to the conclusion that neckbands suck. I have never knitted one right the first time and this was no exception. Maybe someday I'll get one right on the first try. I also learned that knitting something as complicated as a sweater for a man is really interesting. I loved knitting for Mike but the next thing he's getting is a smaller project.

knitting for men

2005-12-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

I was seaming my (Mike's) flame sweater lastnight and feeling unappreciated. Since I've started seaming it, I've made Mike try it on several times to make sure it's fitting right, the sleeves are long enough, etc. When I ask him to try it on he kind of grumbles and then once it's on, while I'm marveling at it's great fit and my amazing knitting skills, he jokes about it being in tatters and talkes about all the strings hanging off it. I was starting to feel unappreciated because he hasn't said anything like "it looks great" or "it seems to fit really well".

Then I realized I am being stupid. It's not that he doesn't appreciate all my work, he just has never had any doubt that it's going to be great. He figures that if I'm knitting it for him, it's going to fit him and look awesome. I really should just shut up and be flattered that he thinks my knitting is that great. He has none of the paranoia that I, the knitter, have that it's not going to turn out well. And, to top that off, he constantly says that he wants me to finish it so he can wear it on Halloween/Thanksgiving/to church/to the party this weekend, blah, blah, blah. You would think the fact that he is so eager to wear it and really wants me to finish it would be all I needed to feel appreciated.

So, as of now I am going to stop coaxing the "yes, Casey, I really like it" comments out of him and let him show me that he likes it in his own way. Why do I sometimes make things more complicated than they need to be? I am going to finish the sweater tonight. I'm close, really. Just seaming the sleeves and knitting the neckband. Stay tuned for the picture . . .

I'm back after my tryptophan coma

2005-11-30T19:12:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a happy turkey day! My mom and her friend Allison came up from California and we had such a nice time. It was really fun to have our first holiday dinner in our new house. Despite my absence from my blog, I did do some knitting. I was just too busy entertaining to take any pictures.

Since I last posted, I started knitting the ruffles scarf and then ripped it all out. With the baby cashmerino it was looking much too much like a corkscrew and it didn't have any of the flowiness that the one pictured in the book did. So after a few more swatches I finally settled on this stitch pattern.I didn't think I would ever decide on a pattern that I liked but I'm over half done with this scarf and I think it's a keeper. I don't know I was being so picky.

I've also been working on my fog sweater. I really like it now that it's not just ribbing. It's going to be really warm, which is good because it's super cold here! It might snow tonight. I kind of hope it does. I don't have to do anything tomorrow and it would be nice to see snow out the window. I just walked outside barefoot and now my toes feel like icicles.
I'm almost done with Mike's flame sweater. I keep getting distracted and can't seem to finish. He's gone this evening so I think I'll work on it. I really am close to finishing and I do want to get it done.

Still Knitting

2005-11-20T10:02:00.000-08:00

Since I last posted a few things have happened. My car got broken into last Tuesday. We were at a bar and came out to find my window smashed. It was pretty upsetting but luckily nothing of mine was stolen. My friend's briefcase was in the car and that's all they took. He didn't have anything too valuable in the briefcase but some personal things that can't be replaced like a scarf his grandma had knitted for him. (Even my break in is knitting related!) My car still has glass in it- the window broke into a million pieces! The window is fixed now but I hated spending the money to do it. It sucks to spend money because someone else comitted a crime! It shouldn't come out of MY pocket but it did.

In other news, I bought some lovely baby cashmerino in a pretty soft pink color and started knitting gloves from the book Handknit Holidays.
The picture is so pretty and I thought they'd be great for my stepmom who is very classy and likes nice things. I got about halfway done with the 1st glove and decided to frog it and find a new idea. I tried it on and it was really loose around my wrist. Gloves should be more snug. I thought about starting over with fewer stitches around the cuff but I was also scared they wouldn't fit her hand because they were knitting up to be not very stretchy. I didn't want to guess on the finger lengths and then have them not fit. I got cold feet (or cold fingers?) and scrapped the idea. It was a hard decision because I want to make my stepmom something nice and had the gloves worked, they would have been perfect. Oh well. My new idea is to make her the ruffles scarf from Scarf Style out of the baby cashmerino. I'm a few inches into it but haven't really committed yet.
That's all for today. I should have pics of my finished flame sweater soon. Well, as soon as I finish sewing it up.

My socks are done!

2005-11-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

Ta da! Here is my very first pair of knitted socks! I was happy to have finished the 1st one but a complete pair is much more exciting. I wore them for a few minutes last night but then put them away because they're a Christmas present. I will miss them but (hopefully) they will be loved my my mother in law. It's exciting to finish projects. Now the only thing I'm knitting is a sweater for myself. Mike's flame sweater needs blocking and then it'll be done. I might just have to start something new.

Here's the info on my socks:

Pattern: Dublin Bay Socks- a free pattern found online. I have a link to it on my sidebar.

Yarn: Lorna's Laces shepherd sock. The colorway is called watercolor. This was my first time using this yarn and it feels really nice! It's 4-ply, though, and can be splitty.

Knit for: Diane, my mother-in-law since she often buys me cute socks.

Changes I made: I decreased a few extra stitches so the foot was 4 stitches smaller then the pattern called for. I tried them on when I'd knit the "correct" number and they felt loose around my foot. They feel perfect now so I only hope Diane's feet are the same as mine!

What I learned: How to knit a sock! It was easier than I imagined and much quicker than I thought knitting on size 1 needles would be. I need to make another pair, this time for me.

Gyrid is all finished!!

2005-11-10T12:49:00.000-08:00

I finally finished my gyrid top! Here it is! I didn;t mean to not show my face in the pictures but I was using the self-timer and that one happened to be the best picture of the shirt but I didn't have it lined up right to get my face.
The finishing was the hardest part because a lot went wrong! Nothing I couldn't fix, though. I seamed the sides and knitted the neckline a few nights ago and then tried it on, expecting it to be fabulous and was very disappointed to see that it bunched a lot around the bottom of the waist. It was pretty bad. That was the biggest problem and it was totally my fault too. I discovered after I had knitted a fair amount of the front that there was an error in the pattern and instead of knitting for 3 inches before starting the waist shaping, I should have only knitted 1 1/4 inches. I didn't want to start over, naturally, so I assumed it wouldn't really matter only to discover that it really did matter. So, when I thought I was done I had to go back and rip out the first 15 rows on each piece, and reknit the bottom edge. The result is that it's about an inch shorter than it was originally but it's okay. I also had to knit the neckline 3 times because it was too bunchy and scratchy and then it was bound off too tightly and didn't stretch enough but I finally got it right!

Here are the details:

Pattern: Gyrid from Elsebeth Lavold's book 'The Viking Knits Collection'
Yarn: Silky wool (actually the same yarn the pattern was written for- that hardly ever happens!)
Knit for: My lovely mother
Changes I made: I made the armholes 1 inch shorter that the pattern was written and added 1" to the body to keep it the same length. I also knit the bottom edge and neckline with size 5 needles instead of size 4. I picked up way more stitches around the neckline than the pattern called for because it was too bunchy with the 'correct' number of stitches. Finally, I added a cable detail on the back because it was too boring for my taste. The cable pattern was from the same pattern book.
Lessons learned: Look for errata BEFORE starting a project! That was a hard lesson. Because of my error I unravelled from the cast-on edge for the 1st time. I learned that it's much more tedious but less difficult than I had thought it would be.

That's all, folks! I hope my mom appreciates it come Christmas!

Off to the coast!

2005-11-04T13:18:00.000-08:00

I'm off to the coast this evening! My church home community is going on a retreat in Lincoln City. It'll be windy and rainy but that's fine with me. That'll just leave more time to sit inside, knit and hang out with friends. I'll be bringing Dublin Bay sock #2 (cast on yesterday morning) and my new project! I just got my order of knitpicks yarn in a pretty gray color (called fog, perfect for a weekend at the coast!) so of course I had to cast on and start knitting. I'm making this sweater my Adrienne Vittadini.
It's beautiful but I'm making some changes. I'm eliminating the eyelets to make it warmer. I'm also knitting it in the round and am making the ribbed section at the bottom a little shorter and so far, I've just about finished knitting it (the ribbing that is). I haven't forgotten the flame sweater. I ran out of yarn (again!) and haven't been able to get to the store to buy more. It's close to completion, though.
Have a good weekend everyone!

Happy All Saints Day

2005-11-01T22:13:00.000-08:00

Socktoberfest is officially over and I have 1 sock to show for it! Being my very first sock ever (a knitting milestone!) I am pretty happy. I actually didn't finish sewing the toe until today but that's close enough for me. Here is sock #1. It's a little loose around my ankle but it doesn't matter because it's not for me. Hopefully my mother in law's ankle is a little bigger than mine but if not, it's still super comfy! These are going to be hard to give away.

I hope you all had a great Halloween yesterday! I handed out candy to trick-or-treaters and it was fun- my first halloween in our new house. Here's a picture of the pumpkins we carved.

As promised a whie ago, here's Phoebe minus a lot of fur. She doesn't really hold still so it was hard to get a non-blurry shot.While I'm showing off my pets, here's a picture Mike took. It's a rare occurance because my cats hate each other. Well, it's really just one that hates the other but we rarely see them both in the same place at the same time. Here they are, though, both sleeping on my bed. The top one is Ramona and the bottom kitty is Gatsby.

Ahh, daylight savings

2005-10-30T07:12:00.000-08:00

I've got three things to share with you this morning:

Daylight savings sucks for me this year. I went to the store this morning to get some breakfast on my way to work (yes, I have to work on Sundays) and was surprised that the store was closed even though the signs said it should have been open. So I went to a different store that was open and thought I was going to be late for work, and was getting stressed out and driving faster than I should have when I realized that I never set my clocks back last night! So, here I am, an hour early for work on a Sunday. It sucks but at least I have my sock with me to knit!
I've been doing some frogging! Speaking of my sock, I have successfully turned the heel (I don't know why that scared me so much). I couldn't tell from the pattern what was going to happen to my sock when I started knitting and turning my work but miraculously, a turned heel appeared! This sock thing isn't so hard after all. I did frog several rows lastnight, though, because it was a little loose around the foot and I wanted to decrease a little more. I'll post a picture tomorrow- I'm going to a comedy club tonight so that doesn't leave time for posting pics. I also frogged about 8 inches of the last sleeve of Mike's flame sweater because I realized that 8 inches back I somehow switched knitting needles and so my gauge was all wrong! How do I do things like that? Does anyone else make such dumb errors and not notice?
About comments: I know you're out there reading my blog but nothing makes me happier than comments from you all. I know you've got something to say! A reader of another blog said that she didn't know that bloggers really appreciate comments so if you're like her, I'm here to tell you that they do! I never realized this myself until I became a blogger.
Okay, I know I said 3 things but here's a 4th. I haven't forgotten that I promised you a picture of Phoebe post-haircut. Once I finished cutting her hair I didn't want to immediately torture her more with a flashing camera so I decided to wait a few days. It will come tomorrow.

Meet Phoebe!

2005-10-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

Check it out- 2 posts in the same day!
Meet Phoebe! She's my hybrid German Angora bunny. Isn't she beautiful? I have tons of her fur saved and really want to learn how to spin it. Nevermind that everyone says angora is hard to spin. I have dreams of mittens with super soft cuffs made of Phoebe's fur. I started giving her a haircut tonight. It takes a long time since her fur is so thick so I'll finish tomorrow and post an after pic later. Here's one of her getting a haircut. I gave her a giant chard leaf to munch on to keep her occupied.
Here's a Gyrid update. I finished the back and added a small cable design just below the neckline to spice it up. It's blocking on my bed. My bed isn't usually covered with black plastic. Mike painted the bedroom today (see the pretty grey-blue wall in the background?) so that's a tarp to keep paint off the bed. It still smells like paint in there so we're going to sleep in the guest bedroom. In the meantime, the bedroom's a pretty good place to block some knitting, don't you think?
And . . . Here's my sock. It just keeps growing because I don't know when to start the heel! I think I'm going to have to soon. I'm just scared I'll mess it up. But it's pretty so far.

Socks and Pumpkins

2005-10-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

We went to a pumpkin patch on Sauvie Island on Friday and it was so much fun! We got lots of cool pumpkins, went through a hay bale maze and saw cute farm animals. They have a big corn maze too but we're waiting to go through it with some friends next week when it's haunted. Bradley was very well behaved at the pumpkin patch (except for peeing on a pumpkin) and he liked sitting in the pumpkin cart.
I'm plugging away on my dublin bay socks. So far, my 1st sock is almost 7 inches long. This being my first pair of socks, I'm not sure when to stop. How long do you like your socks? I'm using Lorna's Laces sock yarn and I don't know exactly how much they'll stretch lengthwise when they're on and I'm knitting them for my mother-in-law so it's not like I can try them on and knit until they fit me well. How long should I knit it before starting the heel? Advice is appreciated.

New Addition

2005-10-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

I added something new! Check out my links on the right to free patterns I've used. There are so many free patterns on the web that I could spend all my time looking at them. If only I had time to knit them all! As I use free patterns I will add them to my list.

I also found this link to a good cast-on for socks. It's called the twisted german cast-on. Unfortunately I came across it AFTER I started my first sock! My sock is going well, though, so I will probably knit another pair and then I can use that cast-on. There is always something to look forward to!

Socktoberfest!

2005-10-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

I discovered socktoberfest over at Lolly's blog. Click on the button below to check it out.

Since I am a socktoberfest member, I thought I'd better start knitting my socks. So, 3 attempts later, here it is- My first inch of a beautiful sock! I started with a different pattern and then changed my mind. Then I read the pattern wrong and cast on too many stitches. When I cast on a third time, I counted wrong and cast on too few! I realized about 10 rows down. Oops. I was starting to feel stupid because I couldn't count but then I finally got it right.

The pattern I'm using is Ryan's free Dublin Bay pattern. It's a simple sock but has a small lace pattern down the sides. I'm excited that my stitches are starting to look like a real sock!

I also finished the back of my Gyrid top but couldn't get a good picture tonight.

Shopping!

2005-10-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

I went shopping yesterday! My desire to knit my 1st pair of socks and my desire to knit Christmas presents led to a great idea. I will knit socks for my mother in law! This seems so simple that I don't know why I didn't think of it before. I've been thinking a lot about what to knit my mother in law since she lives in a fairly warm place and doesn't need scarves or mittens and I want to make something that takes less time than a sweater. She always buys me cute socks so hand-made socks for her will be perfect. So off to the yarn store we went (husband and I). I found some beautiful Lorna's Laces variegated yarn that will be perfect. Now all I need are needles and a pattern.

While I was looking at all the yarn (because who can go into a yarn store and simply buy what they came for and not look at everything else?), Mike sat on the couch and looked at pattern books and found a great holiday book- Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick.

He was particularly excited about the Aran tree skirt because we need a tree skirt and I'm Irish. It would be perfect! So when I came home, I bought it from Amazon. Now I have to wait for it to come to me but I have enough to occupy me until then.

Speaking of other projects, I have started sleeve #2 for Mike's flame sweater and am only 2 inches away from having Gyrid finished. Unfortunately I ran out of yarn! The pattern says 4 skeins. I had 3 and was hoping that would be enough since I'm making it a little smaller but I didn't quite make it. The yarn store I got the yarn from is closed today so I have to wait.

Knitting ADD

2005-10-09T13:13:00.000-07:00

I am beginning to think that I have knitting ADD. I am knitting the flame sweater and the gyrid top, as you know, but I can't stop thinking of other things to knit. I really want to knit socks because I haven't done it before and I can't stop thinking about soft, warm socks made by my own 2 hands. Are toe-up magic loop socks too much for a 1st-time sock knitter to tackle? I also want a soft fuzzy hat to keep my ears warm since I work outside a lot and it's starting to get cold here in Portland. I also want to knit a pillow for my dad for Christmas and I want to start now so in case my idea (more on that later) doesn't work out, I have plenty of time to figure out another plan. I'm also jealous of everyone who's knitting a sweater for herself right now. Being in the "Christmas project" spirit means I'm neglecting myself and I really could use a new, warm sweater. I just need to finish what I've already started!! Self-control is so hard sometimes (okay, always)!

Gyrid front almost finished

The good thing is that I have done a lot of knitting lately. My husband is sick and we went to the emergency room yesterday (he's okay, the Dr thinks it's a virus) so there was a lot of waiting and knitting. A fellow knitter came up and showed me her project (a baby's dress- pretty, pastel and lots of eyelets). I love the way knitting brings strangers together. After coming home from the hospital, Mike took some medicine that made him sleep so there was nothing for me to do but watch tv and knit. I'm almost done with the front of Gyrid! (I must admit that while Mike was sleeping I seriously contemplated going to the yarn store to look at sock yarn but I decided against it.)

I found this sign of fall in the parking lot leaving work last week. I love the acorns still attached. Some of my coworkers laughed at me for picking it up and keeping it but fall is my favorite season!

Gyrid

2005-10-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

After lots of attempts, I finally took some okay pictures of my Gyrid tank top. It's from Elsebeth Lavold's book The Viking Knits Collection. I'm knitting it with her Silky Wool yarn in a mossy green color and I really like it. I originally bought it for another project but I decided it wasn't really my style. With Christmas coming up (okay, it's a ways away but planning early never hurts) I looked through my stash and rediscovered this yarn and realized that it is totally my mom's style- earthy color, kind of tweedy. So I found this pattern that uses the same amount of yarn as I have so it's kind of like my mom's Christmas present will be free.

The pattern is pretty simple except for the cabled part. She uses lifted increases that I've never seen in a pattern before but I think I've got them figured out. Here's my progress so far. I've actually done a lot in only a few days!

The color is kind of off in this picture but you can see how the cable pattern is turning out.

Lazy knitting days

2005-10-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of plans for my days off (Fri & Sat) but then things got in the way. I really wanted to go hiking and finish painting my bedroom since right now only half of a wall is painted and that's nor exactly the look I was going for. Then I woke up to a torrential downpour and a hurt shoulder. What was there left to do but watch Smallville on DVD and knit? Good thing knitting doesn't use the shoulder muscles. I finished the back of the husband's flames sweater from the 2nd S nB book. Now all I have to knit is one more sleeve and then my LEAST favorite parts of knitting a sweater- blocking and seaming.

Knitting the flame on the sleeve was my 1st attempt at knitting intarsia and it was totally successful! I was expecting lots of frogging but after only having to rip out a few rows at the beginning, I got the hang of it. Here's a close up of my 1st intarsia motif. Pretty nice if I do say so myself.

As a reward for finishing the back, I started a new project.

The reasons I deserved a reward:
1) Knitting a large man's sweater is a LOT more work and takes a lot more time than what I have been knitting all summer- small women's tank tops for me.
2) Also, I'm knitting it with Lion Brand Woolease, which is not my favorite yarn. I started knitting it though when I lived really far away from a yarn store and only had access to Lion Brand yarn (well, Red Heart too, but I won't sink that low). Buying yarn over the internet didn't occur to me as I'm much too impatient to wait for it to arrive. So I wanted to take a break from the Woolease, though it's really not that bad.
3) Knitting miles of stockinette with a few increases thrown in is boring after a while. I love lace and cables and patterns- anything interesting.

So . . . The new project I started in the Gyrid tank from Elsebeth Lavold's book The Viking Knits Collection. I already have half the front finished and I must say that her cable patterns are not for the faint of heart but they are really cool! And her silky wool yarn is really nice to knit with. The finished top is going to be a Christmas present for my mom.

Last-minute flowers

2005-09-27T21:25:00.000-07:00

Here's another project picture. Unfortunately, it began as a result of a big problem. Earlier this month, my mom-in-law called to inform my husband that he forgot her birthday! He, and I, felt horrible. After4 years of marriage I really should keep track of such things. So I immediately started these lovely flower washcloths from the book 'Weekend Knitting'. It took me less than a weekend, thank goodness and we sent them off with some lovely soap and the gift was a hit. Hopefully it made up for the forgetfullness!
They're knitted with cotten chenille yarn. It feels really nice but I didn't really like knitting with it. The finished project feels so soft though, I think I need to knit one for myself now!

Introducing . . .

2005-09-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

. . . me! Before I get too far ahead of myself with pictures and knitting stuff (as good as all that is) I think I should say a little about myself. I live in the greatest city ever - Portland, OR- though I'm one of those people who was raised in California. I have lots of pets,

Bradely, all wet and happy after swimming.

one husband and 1 new (to me) house. The house, by the way, is the reason I missed going to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival this weekend! I got so caught up doing work on the house that I totally spaced on the festival and forgot it was this weekend! Of course I remembered too late to get there yesterday and today I have to work. Anyone buying an old, fixer kind of house should definitely weigh risks such as this. It's probably a good thing in the end, though, because I shouldn't be spending any more money on yarn right now. I have a lot of projects that need finishing.

As I mentioned yesterday, I sewed a great roll-up knitting needle case. Here are some pics. The print fabrics are cotton upholstery fabrics and the solid is a sateen cotton.

Now my needles can be neat and tidy! I just need something for those pesky circulars . . .

Yeah, blogging!

2005-09-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

This is my blogging debut and I'm very excited. I love other knitting blogs and seeing what everyong is knitting up is so cool and inspiring that I thought I should join in the fun. Currently, I am super proud of myself for a lovely knitting needle case I sewed, loosely following the pattern from the 1st Stitch n Bitch book. I'll post pics tomorrow.