Adventures with a knitting spaz

Placed Cable Aran

2007-11-25T14:09:00.000-08:00

Pattern: Placed Cable Aran by Cathy Payson in Fall IK 2007
Materials: K1C2 Angora Soft ( ) 6 balls in color Dove. US8 Addi Turbo Circulars 24, 32".
Gauge: about 18 sts and 24 rounds per 4"
Finished size: 32" bust

Started: September 7, 2007
Finished: November 18, 2007

Modifications:
Plenty. I didn't care for the boxy look of the original pattern, especially the modified drop shoulder sleeves. I'm petite, so I thought that this would look silly on me and overwhelm me. I'm also lazy, so I knit the thing in the round using a column of purl sts to create a faux seam and threw in some waist shaping for good measure. Then I knit flat after dividing for the arm holes and decreased out another inch or so of stitches at the armhole so that the shoulder seam would lie on my shoulders instead of below them. I may have decreased a bit too much, but oh well.

I knit the cowl as directed, but then I picked up stitches for the sleeves around the armhole, 1 st for every 2 rounds because I wanted narrower sleeves. See my previous post on how I wrestled with this. I decreased every 6th round to about the elbows then decided that I didn't like the deep ribbing at the cuffs in the original pattern since I didn't think it matched the rolled hem or rolled cowl neck. So I decided to increase every 10 rounds or so to the cuffs to mirror the shaping through the body and just left the cuffs with a natural roll. I found that a sewn bind off gave a nice roll here.

Discussion:
This should have been a very fast knit, but I ran into knit lethargy. I didn't use the pattern all that much except as a reference point for sizing and for the cable pattern placement and cowl neck shaping. I found on Ravelry that some people didn't much like the cowl, but I think it can work nicely, especially since I don't exactly live in a climate where a turtleneck is really an option. Also, since I think I might be a bit sensitive to angora, the looseness of the neck is a blessing.

The yarn did absolutely nothing for me as it had a tendency to be a bit thick and thin which is not what this yarn should have been. I chalk it up to bad manufacturing. It did however cost a whopping $18 for the whole sweater, so I can't complain that much, and the drape suits the cowl neck well. So the yarn it served its purpose and now I still have 7 balls of the stuff left over. I'll have to find it a new home.

Pushing the rock off...

2007-11-20T18:45:00.000-08:00

And emerging from underneath to say hello! I didn't want the few of you who still check back every now and then to think I'd died or anything. Actually, I've been focusing on other things like

BUYING A FREAKING HOME!

Yes, we took the plunge and are officially homeowners. Well, not exactly officially since we don't close escrow for another few weeks, but official enough to be feeling really poor. Once we move in, I'll share better pictures with you, but for now, here's the highlight of the place for me and likely where you'll find me for the month of January after we move in (yes, those are jets):

But apparently, buying a home made something click inside because I finally finished two projects that have been looming for the last two months. I only have pictures of one, the socks, but I'll save the Placed Cable Aran sweater for another post.

Fan Panel Socks

Pattern: Based on Fan Panel stitch pattern in Vogue Stitchionary Vol 1
Materials: Mind's Eye Merino/Tencel hand-dyed sock yarn (about 400 yards per skein - no specifics available as this yarn came with no ball band)
Gauge: about 10 sts/in
Finished size: fit my US6 women's feet

Started: September 24, 2007
Finished: November 12, 2007

Discussion:
I wanted a better heel than I'd been using for heel flap, toe-up socks. Previous attempts had me using short rows on half of the total number of stitches. After working short rows, I'd then pick up all of the wraps on one side, knit back to the other side and pick up all of those wraps. This yielded a very shallow heel flap determined by the number of increases I added for the gusset.

I liked how a top-down heel flap extends almost to the bottom of the foot. I decided to try working the heel turn as a triangle starting with only 1/4 of the total number of stitches and working enough rows so that if I picked up 1 st for every row, I'd end up with a heel flap comprised of 1/2 the total number of stitches. Okay, I can't describe what I did, but at any rate, I like how it turned out. Well, except for the tiny hole at the top of the heel flap, but I'll get over it. If I were to make these again, I'd omit the patterning on the bottom of the foot and across the toe as it really doesn't add anything. In fact, it creates unsightly little peaks on the toe since the toe increases are on the top and bottom instead of the sides. I'll let it go and chalk it up to a design element. This time.

Also, check out this finished ruffled cable cardigan... makes me want to finish mine and hope it turns out half as nice!

You guessed it...

2007-11-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

I still haven't gotten back my mojo. Oh well, that's okay. This is probably the longest I've gone since I started knitting without producing any FO's - over two months! And I haven't even started anything new.

But in other news, I did get a chance to visit with BB again a couple of weekends ago. He's too cute for words, and one big boy! At 3 months he weighs 16 pounds already. I'm looking at my brother and his wife and wondering if this kid is alien spawn because honestly, we're just not big people round here. Well, except for maybe DH, whom BB looks at with complete puzzlement because DH just doesn't look the same as the rest of us. Anyway, for lack of any better pics to show, I'll post some my brother took of my favorite nephew.

Geez, if I'm this incessant with someone else's kid, I can only guess what you people will have to suffer through if I ever take that plunge. BTW, that's the baby bolero from One Skein by Leigh Radford. It's sized for newborns, but as we've already established, he's a large 3 month old, so it can apparently be worn for a while if you don't mind the abnormally short sleeves in comparison to the sleeve width.

And one more thing before I sign off for who knows how long - we're looking at buying condos. It's super scary, especially in the LA market. Any thoughts?

No mojo

2007-10-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

Somehow I've lost it. My mojo. Knitting and otherwise. You know what I mean, right? Just kind of a case of the blahs and you just can't shake it? Well, I've taken to cheering myself up with video of BB doing nothing but hiccuping or lying there looking cute (what else do 2 month olds do?) and my worst guilty pleasure of all, Gossip Girl.

And somehow, my anniversary is already coming up. It's been almost a year since I've become Mrs. McSpazzitron, and I still don't have wedding pictures printed out and sent to my parents or in-laws. Or even a wedding picture on my or DH's desk at work. Maybe for our anniversary, I'll get my butt in gear and finally get my album approved and prints ordered. There's just not much hope of it happening by Sunday, our actual anniversary. We're celebrating in style by whipping out the frozen year old cake and popping open some brachetto.

Anyway, knit-wise, I have for whatever reason, managed to have the most projects on my needles than ever before. A few pictures:
My placed cable aran is slowly growing sleeves. I changed my method of adding sleeves from the top down because my short row wraps look all kinds of ugly. Instead I picked up only the top 20% of stitches around the armhole and then turned, worked back, and at the end of the row, I just picked up another stitch, turned, and slipped the stitch just picked up and worked to the end of the row. Repeat until all stitches are picked up and voila, a sleeve cap with no math involved. Lazy, I know, but I still think it looks better than my old way.
I cast on for new socks because I don't have the heart to rip back the others that have been on the needles for months being too big for their recipient. The toe on these socks have a bit of n*pple going on with them because I moved the toe increases around from where they normally are. But I like the fan panel stitch pattern, and I have ideas in my head of a different to me toe up heel flap sock, so we'll see if it works out. I'm sure this heel is out there somewhere, but I'm too lazy to find it and wouldn't even know what it's called. Also, my picture taking skills are on full display here - the yarn is really more brown than red. If only my red sweaters looked this red.

Lastly, I'm working on a Vogue Knitting pattern now. I had some Berroco Pleasure sitting in my stash originally intended for Blaze, but then I discovered something called gauge and realized that this yarn just wouldn't work for that sweater. Two years later and here we are finally. Big gauge, small jacket, sounds like instant gratification, right? Well, not when there's as much seaming as is involved with this pattern. So far, I'm ignoring that part and just knitting the pieces. We'll see if I lose all my hair when it comes time to seam not one, but two borders all the way around this sweater.

The purple jacket, by the way, has an error in the chart - or at least I'm convinced it does, though I haven't yet received any sort of official confirmation as such. The first picture is the cable panel as published. The second picture has the modification thrown in (changed the center 16 stitches to 4 repeats of k1, p2, k1 - all credit for this mod goes to Veronique). Not much difference, but enough in person to make it worth ripping the whole back and starting over.

Some progress

2007-09-17T11:40:00.000-07:00

I have been knitting, really! Just not blogging much about it. I started the Placed Cable Aran from Fall 2007 IK a couple of weeks ago. It's progressing nicely. Above you can see the cable detail which I think is looking lovely. The yarn I'm using for this was a heavily discounted and discontinued yarn I picked up from WEBS for something like $2 a ball. It's Knit One, Crochet Too Angora Soft. The yarn has a cabled construction to it, or at least I think that's what it is since I can't seem to figure out how to coax the plies back together once I stab the yarn and random bits of it come undone.

And yes, there are lots of modifications afoot. I won't bore you with details yet - that's for a later post. But what I AM worried about right now is the cowl neck. Given the fit of the rest of the sweater, is it looking a bit, um, large? Guh... this picture could just as well be my pre-booking mug shot.
I went to see the Yarn Harlot speak at the central library over the weekend. Good good stuff. I failed at taking any pictures at all, so for more pictures and write-ups, go check out Teresa - who modelled a very cute and very new FO for the event, Mary - please go tell her she does NOT have a whale stomach, or Jillian - who for some reason I had expected to see bring about 30 FO's with her given the dizzying speed with which she seems to be finishing projects these days.

That's all for now! Before you go though, BB sends farewell kisses to all who visit chez Spaz. Have a great week!

Tangled Yoke Cardigan Finished!

2007-08-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

Tangled Yoke Cardigan
Pattern by Eunny Jang in Interweave Knits Fall 2007
Materials: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool (65% wool/35% silk. 191 yds per 50g skein) 265g in color 13 (light blue). Size US4 and US3 Addi Turbo and Knitpicks Options 24 & 32" circulars.
Gauge: Flat - 24 sts and 36 rows/4". Circular - 26 sts and 36 rows/4".
Finished size: 34" bust when buttoned, 20.5" long from neck to hem.

Started: August 8, 2007
Finished: August 23, 2007

Mods:
None - at least not any intentional ones. My sleeves were measuring a bit short when I came to the part in the pattern where I was supposed to join them to the body. I ended up adding in an extra increase spaced out the same as the previous increases and knit an extra 10 rounds to get the correct length sleeves. I then decreased out these extra stitches half way up the section that's knit even after joining the sleeves to the body.

Discussion:
I really like this sweater. After the initial shock of doing cables for the first time in many many months - perhaps even a year? - the cable section went by at a reasonable clip. It was utterly amazing watching the pretzels form before my eyes and those 5 into 1 decreases sounded a whole lot worse when reading the instructions than they actually were knitting.

The only thing that I might tweak on this pattern is to add some sort of turning row for the collar. Other than that, I think the design has everything I like in a sweater. Wearability, a little design element to keep things interesting, but not too much going on so as to take forever to knit or give you a headache. The pattern itself is well written - I might even say there's more instruction than you might really need. But it was appreciated as I didn't run into any problems at all or find any errors in the pattern in the size I knit.

I'm still not 100% sold on the buttons. The ones here are like perfectly round pearls, but they don't hold the sweater closed so well and they might be a touch small for the button holes. But until I find a better alternative, this is what I'm going with.

As for the silky wool, I'll reiterate how much I like the finished fabric, but not so much the experience knitting with it. It's probably the nature of tweedy yarns, but switching back to my Anastasia socks after spending two weeks straight working on this was heavenly. MMM - Koigu. Right... the silky wool was a great yarn substitute, and hey, it's even on sale right now at WEBS for only $3.50! I ended up yet again with a ball plus 0.7 of another left over, so I should be able to get a pair of gloves out of the leftovers. That would make 2 sweaters and a pair of gloves for less than a pound of yarn? Sweet.

BTW, I'm noting in the picture above that indeed I do have a sputnik shaped head. DH always teases me that my head is proportioned to my body more like a baby than an adult. I never notice this when I look in the mirror, but in the picture taken from above, my head is giNORmous! Maybe that's why he thinks my head is so large... he's always looking down on it! Or maybe it's the new haircut... I think I look a bit like a lightbulb with it. Eh... it'll grow out eventually. DH made me take the profile shot... I was thinking it was for the sweater, but now I think it's for the haircut. Damn that DH!

Ready she ain't

2007-08-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

So generally whenever presented with a brand new baby to ogle, people try to hand the baby over to me. Some think this will make me want one more, I guess. Usually, I end up making a face that makes it fairly clear that this is the worst possible idea. It looks a bit like this:
Or if you're lucky and I managed to take the baby and get it AND me reasonably comfortable and not crying, I might still look like What the heck am I supposed to do with this now? For example:
But then a miracle occurred this weekend and I managed to actually hold BB and he didn't cry the whole time. Actually, we managed to spend a bit of time checking each other out. I'm probably biased, but I think he's really darned cute. This is also the FO picture I had promised for the Harvey Sweater. In case anyone is curious, I measured BB and his chest is about 14 inches, he's 3 weeks old and weighs about 9 pounds and the newborn sized sweater fits really quite nicely with some room to spare.

Also this weekend, I made a bit more progress on the TYC. The sleeves were joined, and the underarm stitches grafted and ends so far woven in. And then I hit the wall. I zoomed through the 3 inches of yoke (half a ball!) and then came to a screeching halt once I arrived at the chart. It took me a whopping 2.5 hours to do 2 rows of the chart (and one of those rows was just purling). My advice is to look at the chart carefully. I missed a knit stitch in between the two cable crossings on the first row of the chart and so had to tink back half the row. Add on to that the fact that I had an extremely hard time cabling without a cable needle with the 1 into 5 increase stitches and that's how you get one row taking 2 hours. Guh. I just hope that the rest of the chart doesn't take near as long...

At least it looks like it's fitting so far...

Sleeve island

2007-08-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks everyone who provided such positive feedback on my last post. The recommendations for cookbooks look great and I'll definitely look into them. I just know that there's a way that DH and I can compromise here - after all he's just looking out for my health. I'm starting with cutting back on the amount of actual meat that I consume and then I'll take it from there. DH pretty much went cold turkey and hasn't had any probelms adjusting, though he's not strict about it. He'll still have a bite of my food if he wants to try it.

Anyway, back to the knitting. I'm working exclusively on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan right now as I just bought a little spaghetti strap dress for my BIL's wedding over Labor Day weekend, and I think this cardigan would match nicely in case the weather decides to be cold that day. I finished the lower body up to the armholes over the weekend - and yes, it took less than two full balls (yardage still amazes me):

I will say that I didn't break the yarn after finishing the body as I didn't see a real need to do so - the instructiions for joining the sleeves to the body say to rejoin yarn back to the body exactly where you left off, so I figured I'd just use up the rest of the ball and have one less end to weave in.

Now I'm working on both sleeves at the same time. The garter rib in the round is much more bearable as I had predicted, but I was still happy to switch to stockinette above the cuffs. And I had wondered why people call it sleeve island. Now I think it's probably because people feel like they're trapped on a desert island they've been working on these sleeves for so long. Mine are coming along okay - about 2/3 of the sleeve rows are complete here. But it looks kind of short. I can never figure out how long sleeves are supposed to be in seamless sweaters, but seeing as I'm not terribly tall, I'm guessing that the sleeve length in the pattern should be just fine.

BTW, I experienced a rarity with this project. I met stitch AND row gauge. I didn't block my swatch, so we'll see if this stays true in the end. I know, I know - I'm totaly living on the wild side.

A slight detour

2007-08-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

Normally I post nothing in the least bit controversial because honestly I'm just not a controversial person. And you're all knitters, so you naturally want to see my knitting. Which, by the way, I will digress back on track to say that the Tangled Yoke Cardigan is progressing nicely. I've finished the main body up to the armholes and have just started the sleeves. So far so good.

Oh, so the detour. A fair bit of whining and temper tantrum-ing has been going on at Chez Spaz as of late. Okay, so maybe it's just the Spaz doing the whining and not so much DH. But anyway, I just want to put this out there. DH read a book recently which has made him convinced that a vegan diet has enormous health benefits. He claims that the book gives plenty of evidence that eating animal derived products has a high correlation to not only heart disease (as I probably would have expected) but also to cancer, osteoporosis and a host of other diseases.

Now I would never try to argue against eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes and reducing the amount of fats, cholesterol, and processed sugars that seem to be everywhere. But I can't buy into the idea that skim milk, eggs, cheese in moderation, and lean meats and fishes are bad. Maybe I'm a product of a highly effective ad campaign launched by the meat and dairy industry, but an entire category of food can't simply be BAD. I'm sure that anything in excess is to be avoided.

So anyway, this has sparked heated debate about what Chez Spaz as a whole should be eating. I apologize in advance if I offend, but I can't help it. I LIKE meat. I was raised on meat. I ate meat at just about every meal. A meal felt like a side dish if there wasn't some sort of meat involved. I've always been a picky eater, and many dinnertimes in my youth were spent in a stare down to see who would give in first. It wasn't easy to get me to eat at least the minimum amount of food, so my parents often resorted to bargaining with me to at least eat the meat if nothing else. So I'm used to the idea of meat being a highly integral part of my diet. I don't change readily, so I'm not doing so well with the idea of mostly NOT eating meat.

Anyway, the question for you is, are any of you vegan or mostly vegan? If so, why are you vegan, how did you successfully make the tranition, and do you have any recommendations? I'm currently aiming for most meals to be meat free and allowing dairy products. But even this is hard for me.

Enough of the cute stuff

2007-08-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

It's time for some boring WIP pictures. Or rather 2 WIP and one semi-FO.

Harvey Kimono
Pattern by Louisa Harding in Natural Knits for Babies and Moms
Materials: Jaeger Extra Fine Merino DK (100% wool, 131 yds per 50 g) 100g in color 218. US5 and US6 needles.
Gauge: about 5.5 spi
Finished size: 17.5" circumference, 7.5" long. I supposedly followed the 3 mo size, but it looks closer to newborn size.

Started: July 20, 2007
Finished: August 7, 2007

Discussion:
Uncomplicated pattern and awfully cute. The length is a bit short, but that's mentioned in the pattern errata which I didn't consult. Oh well. I'll just need to find buttons, and then find BB and get a real life FO shot for y'all to up the cute meter. Also, I'm guessing that the fact that I ended up with a sweater that's newborn sized may answer the question as to why I only used enough yarn to get a newborn sized sweater despite following the directions for the 3 mo sweater. Eh. Babies change sizes quickly and I'm told this on is a bit on the skinny side.

As you can see, I cast on for something new. Yes, this is the much hyped Tangled Yoke Cardigan by Eunny Jang in the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits. The Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool seemed a perfect substitute for the Felted Tweed since both yarns appear to be sport-DK weight and have a wooly tweedy look to them. And I just so happened to have the exact amount in my stash that the pattern called for that's been marinating for two years since I finished Hopeful. But, oh, how I forgot how much I dislike knitting with Silky Wool. Don't get me wrong, I love the knitted fabric, but the process ain't so much for me. Good thing I'm a end-product knitter.

Also, can you believe how much sweater I'm getting out of one ball of yarn? That's half of the body you see up there. And thank goodness the garter rib is done! I couldn't see the difference between reverse stockinette and garter stitch for squat on the wrong side of this piece. At least the sleeves will always have the right side facing so I won't have to worry about that again...

Lastly, here are the Anastasia socks that I started on July 29. I whipped out this much progress by Friday, but then put them down when I got home from my business trip. I feel un-productive working on socks at home when I know I can be working on full sized garments. Is that weird?

Okay, you can puke now

2007-08-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

from all of the cutesy baby pictures that follow. But hey, I can't help it, I want to see more of BB at least virtually since I can't be there in reality for another two weeks.

So I present you with the cutest knitwear model of the year (a bit pinker now that last week's jaundice has subsided):
Grandma and grandpa also like to get in on the cute action:

And dear brother - he looks like he's a bit jealous of his wife's pregnancy, dontcha think?
There would be actual knitting content, but let's face it, even knitters prefer cute baby pictures over boring WIP pictures. Quickly though, I finished one baby sweater, am 99% done with another, turned the heel on a pair of Anastasia socks, and need to rip back on a pair of grey socks now that I know the recipient's correct shoe size. I'm also likely to cast on the tangled yoke cardigan from IK Fall 2007 and maybe even the summer sky pattern from August Magknits, both because I have stuff in the stash that I can use for these. Never mind that I just bought like 4 bags of yarn for projects for lace style. Oh, knitters are a fickle bunch...

On names, part 2

2007-07-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

I did get a chance to visit with my grandparents last week and get a bit more information out of them about names. Turns out that they gave DH a name while they were on a naming roll after successfully coming up with something quite nice for Baby Buddha.

So for DH, they gave him the name Wang-Aun. Which when I first asked what it meant, my mother told me, well Wang, that's just a name. And Aun, well that means "peace". Which yields - that's right - peaceful wang. I'll tell you what... DH certainly is no peaceful wang. If anything, that wang is pretty darned aggressive.

But then my grandparents clarified that Wang can be translated into Brilliant - not like supa smaht or anything, but more of the "awesome" variety as one might observe in England. I like that much better, Brilliant Peace.

Does your name have any special meaning?

That's right... it's auntie spaz to you

2007-07-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

And I must say... my nephew has just the cutest little buddha face I've ever seen. Baby Buddha was born early early early on Wednesday morning about 10 days early.

And the best thing about a brand new baby? Little baby toes... I can make socks for those pretty quickly, right?

Tagged

2007-07-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been tagged by Kate for a meme, so here goes. I think this is a variation on the 7 things meme, except that it's 8 things. Okay, here goes.

Players start with eight random facts about themselves.

People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I have an unnatural fascination with cute furry animals. DH couldn't help but be amazed at my capacity for giggling at the thought of sheep! running! in a row! on a hill! while we were in a country where sheep outnumbered people 20:1.
2. My favorite food is bacon. Wrap any food in bacon and it's immediately better. I can only imagine bacon wrapped bacon, but that might be a bit much.
3. Despite my love for all pork flavored foods, I'm doing my best at eating vegan at least some of the time. Now ask me how well that's going.
4. I have an addictive personality - witness the binge knitting that goes on around here, and in case you haven't noticed, a nosedive in my knitting output since the acquisition of a certain video game which I'm too embarassed to even talk about. Don't tell DH that I'm waiting for this to come out...
5. I don't really have a favorite color, but it appears that I tend to knit only in pinks, reds, purples, blues, and greens. Hmm... That pretty much just leaves black and white out, now doesn't it? Oh wait, there's still yellow and orange. Um, okay, there must be a reason why I always had a giant stack of yellow, orange and brown construction paper left over in elementary school.
6. My memory is not what it used to be. I used to memorize everything from my driver's license number, to all my credit card numbers, to my car's VIN, to my friends' SSN. That last one, let me tell you, used to freak people out. Now I can't even seem to remember my DH's birthday!
7. I've never *knock on wood* been to the hospital. Well, work doesn't count, does it?
8. I've never had a favorite number. But if I were an actual traditional and therefore superstitious Chinese girl, then I'd be extrememly happy to be ending on an 8th random fact about me. As it were, I just ran out of interesting facts considering I did the 100 things meme a couple of years ago and not much has changed.

Anyway, who to tag? How about recent visitors to chez spazalot?
1. Batty
2. Dave
3. Faith
4. Jo
5. Carol
6. Aura
7. Sara
8. Annette

And because it's been so long since I've posted an FO - a shift from the days when I'd just post the next FO when it was done, or maybe even save up 3-4 of them at a time - the lowdown on Christmas gift number 1.

Peek-A-Boo Cloche
Pattern by Mona Schmidt in Lace Style
Materials: Reynolds Soft Sea Wool (100% wool. 162 yd per 50g) 35g in 320 (purple) and 45g in 221 (charcoal)
Gauge: 7.5 spi
Finished size: About 19" circumference

Started: July 9, 2007
Finished: July 15, 2007

Discussion:
Not much to say here. It went really slowly because of the game I was(am) playing non-stop, punctuated here and there with fits of Harry Potter 6 reading. The pattern is perfectly written and I love the idea of a two layer hat where the contrasting layer shows through. I just wish that I had picked more contrasting colors. You can barely see the purple underlayer peeking through the charcoal top layer.

Reynolds soft sea wool has a whole lot of twist to it and feels not unlike Koigu. I haven't washed it yet, but if it similarly softens up in the wash, then I'm in love! And how could you not? The yardage for the price is ridiculous! It also has a slightly textured feel to the fabric when knit up even in stockinette.

How do I hate me... let me count the ways!

2007-07-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

I quickly solved the problem of having nothing on the needles and decided that the 4 for me, one for you problem has gone on for too long and I cast on for the peek a boo cloche on Monday night. Here we have it, and also progress on our heirloom tomatoes as well!
I've just turned the brim to start knitting the outside lace part and I'm loving the whole idea of a dual layered hat of contrasting colors. I can swap out the lace pattern (assuming I can figure out the decrease thing) and I'll have a whole new pattern! Great idea Mona!
BTW, those are lady bug stitch markers made by Kate. Aren't they too cute?

Anyway, but that's not why I'm apparently masochistic. Re-reading that last post and planning for hats for everyone for Christmas is sounding a bit like I hate myself. But even better, how about this: An ENTIRE lace sweater made from fuzzy unphotographable black yarn that needs to be seamed. Pshah! More pain please!

extra ravelry invite

2007-07-11T19:53:00.000-07:00

okay, so apparently I was a touch on the anxious side when I first found Ravelry. I put my name in the queue twice. So if anyone out there hasn't signed up for Ravelry yet, leave a comment and make sure you specify your email address and I'll forward my invite to you.

Purple Rain Socks

2007-07-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

Purple Rain Socks
Pattern: Based on stitch pattern #222 (Tiny Scales) in Vogue Stitchionary vol. 1
Materials: Socks that Rock Lightweight (100% wool, 370 yd per 4oz skein) 1 skein in Purple Rain colorway. Size US0 Addi Turbos.
Gauge: about 10 spi
Finished size: 6.25" leg from top of heel shaping to cuff, 7.25" circumference, 8.75" heel to toe.

Started: June 12, 2007
Finished: July 8, 2007

Discussion:
I needed a stitch pattern that would minimize any pooling inherent in handpainted yarn because let's face it, this spaz doesn't deal well with unpredictability. I'm far too square to just let it all hang out. So I thought that the Tiny Scales stitch pattern worked well for the handpainted yarn so that it highlighted the changes in the color while not being too busy to get lost. Just enough texture to make it interesting, but not too taxing either so that I couldn't read HP5 at the same time. :-)

In the end, this stitch pattern has no elasticity whatsoever, so precise fit is an issue here. I just hope that this sock will not shrink when I wash it! But, it's also a super dense fabric, so I expect that come winter time, my toes will be extra toasty in these babies. Too bad that's another 6 months away...

Also, can it be that I have nothing on the needles right now? Nothing cast on at all? I think my next project will be Lacy Waves, the Norah Gaughan sweater or the Peek-A-Boo Cloche by Mona Schmidt both from Lace Style. I'm even considering getting a head start on my holiday gift knitting. At least the hat could qualify for both. Or maybe Odessa if I could figure out how to get the beads on the yarn. What do y'all think... a flock of hats for everyone I know for Christmas?

Sahara... take two

2007-07-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

Thank you everybody for the really kind words on my Sahara. Given the positive response on the last post, you're probably all going to think I'm a nutter (sorry, been re-reading/listening to too much Harry Potter lately) when I report what I've been up to.

So DH thought that the top didn't look bad per se, just a bit like a hippie top - a smock if you will. That wasn't the look I was going for and I decided that it was because the neck border just extended too far down the front of the sweater. I knew correcting these issues would require a lot of ripping and I didn't like the idea of all that work being unravelled.

But, in classic Spaz fashion, I couldn't take it anymore. On July 4, I celebrated my independence the only way a knitter could. I ripped back an FO. I ripped out the neck trim and ripped back the bottom all the way to the third waist decrease. This is before stitches are cast on for the bottom of the neck and the piece is started in the round. So I ended up spacing my decreases evenly apart, every 6 rounds, thus removing about 2 inches from the total length and raising the neck line up about 2 inches. I tacked together the front a bit higher and the result: a slightly more petite sweater that I'm much more comfortable wearing. Even if no one else can tell the difference and you're all calling for a straight jacket.

Let me also say that if you don't wash your frogged ramen yarn before re-using it, your stockinette is going to look like total crap. But take heart, at least in this case everything evened out nicely after a quick soak and I really can't tell that this was ripped out and reknit. Well, except that I like it more now.

Sahara

2007-07-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, this is the most posts this year on a single project. I must have felt guilty after the Destash blog people said I didn't post enough.

Sahara
Pattern by Wendy Bernard available at Stitch Diva Studios
Materials: Plymouth Royal Bamboo(100% bamboo. 93yd per 50g ball) 330g in color 24. Size US7 and US5 Knitpicks Options.
Gauge: About 5 spi.
Finished size: 29" bust, 25" waist, 23" length when laid flat

Started: June 25, 2007
Finished: June 30, 2007

Modifications:
I spaced out the waist decreases and increases to be every 6 rows for the first 3 decreases, then every 8 and added one more set of decreases/increases. I omitted the shirt tail hem and knit the bottom straight for 8 rounds before starting the diamond rib pattern.

Discussion:
I'm not terribly happy with how my yarn substitution came out. The bamboo itself has a great sheen to it and is silky and cool to the touch. It was a touch annoying because with the pointy tips of the KP Options, I ended up splitting the 12 2-ply strands quite often. I had envisioned that 3" of negative ease would be stifling, but in this yarn, it feels almost loose. I probably could have gotten away with knitting the next size down. I also didn't know that this would grow so much vertically when worn. Laid flat, the garment is the same dimensions as the schematic shows, but worn, it's almost tunic length and the neck line is at my navel. I suspect, however, that this might be a row gauge issue. I thought that I was getting the same row gauge, and so followed the directions row by row instead of measuring. Damn that lying gauge swatch!

If I were to make this again in this yarn, I'd probably shorten everything up. I'd probably also add in a bit of shoulder, back of neck, and armhole shaping to give this more of a set-in sleeve look. As it is, it fits me more like a modified drop shoulder sweater as my actual shoulder width is closer to 12" compared to the sweater's 14".

I should point out, however, that the pattern as written gives very good results without all the fuss of this extensive shaping. The only reason I consider adding shaping is because I just plain like doing it. It helps keep my attention.

But what do y'all think? Is this a keeper for me or should I find someone who's taller and more long waisted than me as a lucky recipient?

on babies and names

2007-07-02T16:36:00.000-07:00

Since I have absolutely nothing to show you today as my Sahara is still blocking (yes, I finished it on Saturday - I had a bit of a knitting binge while DH was away last week), I have only one random thought to share. Babies are freaking everywhere.

First of all, I'd like to give a little plug for my friend Peggy who is trying to start a career as a doula. I had no idea what a doula was before Peggy started talking about it, but they sound like great resources for expectant mothers. I'd also have to say that Peggy is probably the best person to have around when you're giving birth because, let's face it, having your nether parts exposed to strangers as you're in the worst pain you could imagine leaves no room for niceties. Peggy is one of the straightest talking people I've met, with a real warmth to boot, so I think this combination will serve her well in this chosen career. Go check out her website, Little Bird Birth.

Next, my brother and sister-in-law are nearing the arrival of my nephew. They're either undecided on a name, or being secretive about it as they haven't shared anything with me. The closest thing I have to a name for him is the name my grandfather gave him. See, my grandfather on my dad's side gets to name all the kids who have his name. So what's his name? Well, for lack of being able to spell in Chinese, it's Wah-Sun. Or as my parents would say, Watson. Good thing that's going to relegated to middle name status or this poor kid will end up with too many Sherlock jabs. As with all Chinese names, there is a literal meaning - his name means something along the lines of "problem-free Chinese person". Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, eh? But hey, that's a whole lot better than the literal translation of my Chinese name, "precious flower peasant". ugh, I'll stick with Jen thanks.

Can't wrap this

2007-06-28T17:01:00.000-07:00

I'm such a child of the 80's. Now I have samples of Superfreak going through my head and images of a man wearing ginormous pants with a crotch down to THERE side stepping across my television screen. But there's a point here - I can't short row wrap and turn. For example:

My purple rain socks (again, what a nod to one of my lingering favorites artists from the 80's) are just past the heel turn. Being that I found just the right number of stitches to avoid any kind of pooling whatsoever, I wasn't keen on the idea of doing a bunch of increases for the gusset and ruining all that perfect distribution. So short row heel it was. But I've decided that no matter what I do, one side of the short row heel always looks a bit looser, wonkier than the other - in this picture it's on the right foot. Maybe I'm just anal, but I can see it, and it bothers me at least until I'm finished knitting.

Exhibit two: I had a marathon night listening to the Goblet of Fire and I made it through the shirt tail short rows on Sahara. I've always had trouble picking up wraps on the opposite side from when I originally wrapped, but it has never been more evident than on this piece. There's just way more holes than there should be. I may have to go back and rip out the hem and redo this. As it is, I forgot to change needle sizes on the border anyway, so I'm thinking that maybe the border will neaten up on the correct needle size.

Anyway, I leave you then with well wishes for the upcoming weekend (oh, it can't come soon enough... my DH comes home!) and progress pics on my only two remaining WIPs. I got sick of seeing zero progress on the Mason Dixon baby sweater and the Ram's Horn Jacket, so they're officially gone now. I will also go on record saying that I'm hoping that the neckline closes up a bit after putting the border on Sahara...

An actual WIP

2007-06-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

It's occurred to me that I've gotten away from showing any progress whatsoever on this blog, as if these projects just materialize out of thin air. Some have even commented on the speediness of these items. I have a very good explanation for that. I've been knitting A LOT. In the past 2.5 weeks, I've been on a plane for over 20 hours and sitting in airports for probably 6-8 more hours and then staying in a hotel room for several nights in a row. Of course I'll have my knitting to keep me busy, and so, yes, I make quite a bit of progress. Plus, DH is out of town, so I can indulge in the knit addiction when he's not around while listening to the Harry Potter audiobooks for the first time. I find them quite enjoyable!

Anyway, so I thought I'd actually show you something in progress. I cast on for Sahara last night in Plymouth Royal Bamboo. This is the first time I've tried bamboo before, and I'm liking it so far. It doesn't seem all that different from knitting with cotton except that it doesn't feel as dry. The shininess and cool to touch properties are quite enjoyable. And boy does this stuff DRAPE.

Of course, I hope that all of these things are good qualities for Sahara. So far, the instructions have been pretty basic. I was sort of surprised that there wasn't more shoulder, neck, and armhole shaping in a garment described as "pinpoint fit." But hey, if it turns out the same, I'm all for eliminating the fussiness! So here I am after joining the fronts to the back after the armhole shaping.

Lastly, thanks everyone for the postive feedback on my Coachella. I'm planning on wearing it later today, so here's hoping it holds up to a few hours of wear.

Coachella

2007-06-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

Coachella
Pattern: Coachella by Fathom Harvill in Knitty Summer 2007
Materials: Knit One, Crochet Too Wick(53% Soy, 47% polypropylene. 120yd per 50g ball) 190g in Avocado. Size 7 and 9 Knitpicks Options.
Gauge: About 4.25 spi.
Finished size: 26" chest when laid flat

Started: June 20, 2007
Finished: June 23, 2007

Modifications:
I spaced out the waist increases to every 8 rows instead of every 4. I reversed the armhole shaping on the upper front so that it was k1, ssk, work to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1. I picked up stitches around the armhole (1 for every cast on or bound off st, and 3 for every 4 rows), worked 2 rows in twisted stockinette and bound of.

Discussion:
A quick and easy knit. Well, except if you count that I cast on for this in the next larger size at a smaller gauge (4.75 spi, slightly looser than the labelled gauge as the pattern suggests) and had to rip it out after deciding that it was just way too stiff. I was already at the point where the fronts and backs were rejoined.

The mod about the armhole finishing I thought was necessary because I tried this on without it and ended up feeling like I was a bit too exposed. Putting in a few rounds at the armhole helped to prevent the armholes from stretching out way too much and added a 0.25-0.5 inches extra coverage. So yes, I am wearing a racerback bra in this picture, and it seems to stay relatively put.

My only issue with this top is that in the smallest size, it appears that the front drape is just a little bit too much. I'm not sure how I would modify this at all, but I wonder if one could cast on a touch fewer stitches at the neckline and gradually increase to the correct number of stitches by the time you get part way through the armhole shaping.

I knit this up in Wick mostly because it was already in my stash. I had picked it up at a 75% off sale in Hollywood a couple of months back, so it was the bargain basement price of $8 for all their remaining Avocado balls. I had no idea what I was going to make with this, but I knew because of the polypro content that I wanted it to be a tank for those ridiculously hot days when the Santa Ana winds are blowing.

My thoughts on Wick: well, it's kind of stretchy, and it has a chained construction to it. So it feels like there's a thread or something wrapping the core and I was constantly snagging that thread. It didn't pull back into place, so if you're planning to use this yarn, I might suggest being careful not to stab the yarn, or use your blunter needles. I had a hard time maintaining gauge because of the slight stretchiness of the yarn, but most of it seemed to come out in the blocking. Which, I might add, for a yarn composed of absolutely nothing animal related, it smelled remarkably like a wet dog while taking a bath. Go figure.

Ten years ago...

2007-06-23T23:06:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago, I had just graduated from college and was driving cross country to settle in to my first job in what I had affectionately referred to as the armpit of America. I was a synthetic organic chemist way back then, which basically meant that on my performance evaluation, if I hadn't blown anyone up that day, I was meeting expectations. Let's just say that I didn't always meet expectations.

This week, I was back in the armpit, commuting up and down Route 1 and marvelling at just how unwilling New Jersey drivers are at letting you in their lane even when you're signalling. I was struck by how how weird it was to be back in the same place starting a new job once again. Only this time, it was ten years later and Hong Kong wasn't in the midst of being handed back to the Chinese and I'm not in any particular danger of hurtling hot silicon oil and shards of glass at anyone.

Lest you worry, no, I'm not moving to the Garden State... I was just there for the training.

The point being that I started my new job this week! It's going well - or at least as well as one can expect when all you're talking about is the company vision and how to log in to your computer. But oh, how I missed the pizza. As much as I love the food in LA, I still haven't found pizza here that rivals the pizza at D'Italia's. Sigh.

Anyway, having travelled to the east coast two weeks in a row now, I have managed to get in quite a bit of knitting time what with 10 hour airport/airplane wait times each way. So, I cast on for Coachella earlier this week, ripped it out a third of the way through, and then cast on again on Wednesday and finished it today. Here it is blocking and I'll try to get a pic sometime soon when it's dried and I can find a bra to wear underneath it.

And since I haven't posted WIP pictures in about 30 thousand months, here's the texture stitch I had mentioned before for that hank of irresistible STR Purple Rain. Also, you may notice that there's no pooling of any sort at this sock's 68 stitch size... happy dance!

A bit o' pron

2007-06-12T19:22:00.000-07:00

So apparently, it IS all about blogging more. As soon as I blogged about how much I really wanted my Ravelry account, I got my invitation to join. So. freaking. psyched. It's amazing of course that I'm actually posting because all I really want to do is surf Ravelry all night long and upload all of my projects and find people to stalk and be a general groupie. Anyway, if you're already on Ravelry, come find me and be my friend! I'm of course, the Knittingspaz.

So DH and I have been partaking of the Santa Monica Farmer's market the past two weekends after listening to a lot of the Good Food podcast. Something about shopping directly from the people who grow your food makes me feel that much better. Anyway, we've discovered Camarosa strawberries, and they are well worth the $2.50 per pint price tag. So YUM.

And after blogging 4 FO last week, I suddenly found myself without anything significant on the needles. So what's a yarn ho to do? Why go and check out the anniversary sale over at A Mano of course! I picked up an obscenely lovely hank of Socks that Rock in the Purple Rain colorway (at 25% off!) and started swatching over the weekend. I think I've found the perfect stitch pattern for variegated socks in the Vogue Stitchionary volume one. I already cast on, but decided to rip out the cuffs and start them toe-up so I can use up as much of this loveliness as I can.

And of course, since I promised to make DH sweat for my craft...

Not Quite Seamless Hybrid Shirt Yoke Sweater
Pattern: Based on recipe by Elizabeth Zimmerman in Knitting Without Tears
Materials: Fare Baruffa Settembre (100% wool. About 130yd per 50g ball) 375g in a navy/English tan heathered color - sorry, I don't have the ball band in front of me. Size 6 and 7 Addi Turbo needles.
Gauge: 5.25 spi on US6 in the round, 5 spi on US7 in the round, 4.75 spi on US7 flat, and 5 spi on US6 flat
Finished size: DH sized! about 42" chest

Started: April 29, 2007
Finished: June 8, 2007

Modifications:
Well, since EZ doesn't exactly see fit to tell you exactly what to do, I say the whole thing is a mod. Maybe even an original pattern!

Discussion:
This one was NOT a labor of love. In fact, I'd say that there was almost no drama at all in the knitting of this sweater. At the time that I purchased this yarn - at the Yarn Lady bag sale eons ago - I had already envisioned a polo shirt style. I then decided to add in the graduated ribbing at the side seams to fake side seam shaping and also emulate DH's favorite variable ribbed Capilene shirts. So before I started knitting, I had already sketched out what I wanted and used EZ's recipe as a guide and voila, a finished object.

The good: I like the shirt yoke back, the easy collar and split neck and the wonderful heathery hue.

The bad: the construction of the shoulders - think turning a heel - leaves a proportion of 2 rows at the saddle to 1 stitch for the front and back. That's way more rows per stitch than one normally would use if say picking up stitches, so the first time I knit the back neck according to EZ's instructions, it puckered like mad. I changed the back neck so that it was just a flap and then seamed this to the held stitches for the back. I know this doesn't really make sense, but if you really want to know, I'll draw you a diagram.

The take-home: Seamless sweaters have definite advantages - like weaving in the ends and calling it done after casting off. But seamed sweaters I find just lay better. If feels like you have more control over how the parts fit together even though I find the seaming process time-consuming and a bit of a pain in the ass. So for now, I like both. I can go either way. I guess that makes me bi-seam-ual.

OMG - sorry for the bad pun. I am most definitely my father's daughter.

FO Catch up part 2

2007-06-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

In miscellaneous rants, I tried to sign up for the destash blog because frankly, our apartment is just not large enough to accomodate two people's passions for collecting. His: wine and whiskey. Hers: yarn, yarn, and more yarn. And then soon to be added... fabric! I've on the verge of catching the sewing bug, but as there are two small hurdles in my way, I've managed to resist the urge to start a fabric stash. Those small hurdles being 1. a sewing machine and 2. the ability to sew and actually, 3. the discretionary cash to blow on said stash. Pshah, I say! Small details for those who are truly obsessed. Now, where can I score some nice fabrics in the LA area?

OH yeah, back to the rant. They said that if I increase my posting then I could join because I'm just not a prolific enough blogger. I beg to differ. I just like to save it up and put it all in one big post. Like today's where I'll amaze and shock all of you with how much I have managed to keep as a surprise.

Before that though... I must say, WHERE'S MY RAVELRY ACCOUNT? Kate showed me the Ravelry website a month ago and I was all, holy CRAP this is the place for me. Myspace and the like just don't appeal to me, but a place where everyone talks about knitting, and a site that ORGANIZES all your knitting is right up my alley. But really, a month to wait for something so spectacular? I only wish they'd let non-members peruse, but not post or comment and whatev.

Finally, long overdue FO postings. I've been lazy about picture taking, so forgive the crappy pictures.

Eyelet Blouse by Mari Lynne Patrick
Pattern in Vogue Knitting Winter 2006/7
Materials: RYC Cashcotton DK (35% cotton, 25% nylon, 18% angora, 9% cashmere. 142 yds per 50g ball) 250g in magenta. ??? needles. I'm guessing size 5 since I don't remember swatching. (slap!)
Gauge: 22 sts/4 in
Finished size: 32" bust

Started: March 27, 2007
Finished: April 17, 2007

Modifications:
Narrowed the yoke. Added decreases at the bottom of the V neck edging so that the neck edge would lay flat. Raised the neckline by crocheting the fronts together a bit higher than the pattern indicates. Apparently, the girls just don't fill out the bustline as much as the designer had intended. Knit the edging on the sleeve at the cast on instead of as an afterthought edging.

Discussion:
The backs, fronts, and sleeves flew by without a hitch. It was just the yoke instructions that killed me. Either I didn't read them correctly, or the instructions were wrong. But I ended up taking out a few rows across the back neck so that I could seam the yoke to the back without major poufing. There's still a little bit, but I can at least live with it now. Also, setting in the sleeves was a bit of a challenge and they're a bit uneven at the first stitch of the cast off row, but again, I'm dealing with it.

The one thing I'm having trouble dealing with right now is that I find the sweater slightly itchy. The yarn is soft as can be, but dang it if I think I might be sensitive to angora! Another note about the yarn, it sheds like crazy and I end up with unsightly white tufts coming off under the armpits. Yuk!

But the fit is good and the design is flattering, so this one's a keeper.

Milan Jacket by Louisa Harding
Pattern in Natural Knits for Babies and Moms
Materials: Misti Cotton (83% cotton, 17% silk. 191 yds per 100g) 175g in Olive Khaki (7032). Size US8 Addi Turbo needles.
Gauge: 18 sts and 22 rows/4"
Finished size: 12.5" from shoulder to hem, 23" at chest, 8" sleeve from shoulder seam to cuff.

Started: April 17, 2007
Finished: April 21, 2007

Modifications:
none, except if you count the totally wrong gauge!

Discussion:
Perfect example of playing the gauge game. Jillian did a very nice post a couple of days ago about changing gauge in your knitting, so go check out her post if you haven't already. Whenever I do this, I take it one step further than what Jillian mentions. I'm usually changing whole dimensions with yarn substitutions, so I figure that this should apply to length as well. So I usually calculate out the instructions that say "Knit until piece measures..." and figure out how many rows they mean and just knit that many rows to keep the proportions the same.

Anyway, I cast on for the 6 month size with my larger gauge and ended up with almost the exact measurements for the 12 month size by following the instructions for the smallest size. Worked like a charm.

Okay, so this sweater isn't EXACTLY finished as I'm still in search of buttons, but what the heck, I'm on a roll here.

There would be a posting for the knitting that was done from April 21-28, except that the twist front top from VK Spring/Summer 2005 done in Knitpicks Salishan (red clay if you must know) was too ugly to even picture. It has since been RIPPED! If you do want to knit this pattern, I recommend not only achieving gauge, but doing so with lots of drape at that gauge. Otherwise it looks like crap. I'd also recommend calculating out a different sleeve cap and armscye shaping than the pattern recommends as I've never seen set in sleeves that look like narrow triangles before, and unless you have triangular shaped shoulders and no biceps, it just doesn't work.

Also, somewhere in here, I cast on for DH's hybrid sweater short sleeved polo based on a pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears. The knitting was finished on this last night, but the ends need to be woven in and a good blocking is in order before an FO picture with DH sweating to death in his wool sweater in June can be taken.

Ripple Weave Socks by Charlene Schurch
Pattern in Vogue Knitting Fall 2006
Materials: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock (100% wool. 420yd per 4oz hank) 3.4 oz in Northern Lights. Size 0(!) Addi Turbos 24 and 32".
Gauge: 10 sts/in
Finished size: 7.2 in circumference and 9 in long

Started: May 4, 2007
Finished: May 20, 2007

Modifications:
Only repeated 2 full charts on leg instead of stated 7. What were they thinking? 5 additional repeats would be obscenely long, given that 2 already measured 5" from the cuff to the top of the heel flap, and I didn't have THAT much yarn left over...

Discussion:
These socks look a lot like the Pomatomus Socks, but I don't think they're quite as pretty. There seem to be a lot of random holes between repeats that I suspect may cause undue wear patterns in the sock. But, the twisted 1x1 rib throughout is quite nice, and even though there's a bit of flashing going on in the sock, I can actually deal with it. If I do go on to make the P socks, I'll probably replicate the twisted rib on the toe of those as well.

Basic Mittens
Pattern in Handy Book of Knitting Patterns by Ann Budd
Materials: Knitpicks Decadence (100% superfine alpaca. 131 yds per 100g ball) 75g in Winter Berry. Size US9 circular needles.
Gauge: 4 sts/in
Finished size: 8" hand circumference and 8" from cuff to finger tip.

Started: June 3, 2007
Finished: June 3, 2007

Discussion:
Talk about instant gratification... these mittens didn't even make it onto the On the Sticks section of the sidebar! One evening of movies later and the leftovers from my MIL scarf became a matching set of mittens. I would have liked to knit these one needle size down so they'd be a bit denser, but I was concerned about how much yarn I had. Turns out I had enough left over that it shouldn't have been a problem. I'd also recommend not using alpaca for mittens (at least not this one anyway) as it seems to shed a lot and it doesn't seem hard wearing enough to be appropriate for something as chunky and utilitarian as mittens. Just my opinion though.

Whew! And if you're still with me, thanks! Another FO posting is apparently due, as if this weren't enough. I'm also thinking 2.5 months worth of FO's is not a good thing to try and tackle all at once. Maybe those Destash blog people have a point...

long belated honeymoon album

2007-06-01T11:36:00.000-07:00

I've been blathering on and on about how behind I am in blogging, so here's the latest update:

My honeymoon album is finally up with draft captions. Go check it out.

I will be starting a new job in mid June, so that means that I'll be posting even LESS often (if that's possible) due to the hefty travel load. But it's a good career move for me and it should offer some new challenges. Very excited about that.

My clavinova is a bit dusty... but I can almost play Linus and Lucy now and I'm working on a Joplin piece. I took 12 years of classical piano as a kid, so these kinds of songs just weren't included in my repertoire. I'm even considering dabbling in some Elton John (Your Song in all its cheesiness still works on me).

I've been knitting quite a bit. I've still yet to post a baby sweater for my nephew, the eyelet blouse from VK Winter 2006/7, a twist front blouse that didn't have the drape required and so was ripped out AFTER seaming (hear the groan on this end), a pair of socks that look suspiciously like Pomatomus socks, and I've started a polo shirt for DH of my own design.

So I guess it's been busy on this end... must be a good start to summer!

FO Catch up part 1

2007-04-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I've been admittedly absent from the blogosphere, but to make up for the past month, I'm going to show you some stuff that I've been working on. Only a little it for now because I don't seem to have the attention span anymore.

Ebb & Flow Socks
Pattern: by Cat Bordhi in Vogue Knitting Fall 2006
Materials: Knitpicks Essential (75% wool/25% nylon, 231 yds per 50g ball) 50g in Grass, 50g in Fawn. Size US4 Addi Turbo 24, 32".
Gauge: 6.25 sts/in in St st.
Finished Size: to fit women's size US7 feet.

Started: March 12, 2007
Finished: March 15, 2007

Modifications:
None really except for the misguided yarn sub. I did only 3 pattern repeats for the cuff instead of the 7 called for.

Discussion:
There's nothing particularly wrong with these socks except that well, the pattern calls for doubling up fingering weight yarn and using 200g of sock yarn for the whole pattern. I only had this stuff in the stash, and I figured that it could be okay. Well, I think it sort of ended up looking like cat barf, but I needed a whole lot less of it that I thought I would. So now with the leftovers, I'll be able to make some boot socks for my dad. I think it'll be a bit more appropriate for him as he's ex-Army than these were for my great-grandmother. I thanked my stars when I finished these and got a good look at how god-awful they were that my g-grandma is practically blind. But then she went and had her cataracts removed and can see again. Drats! Foiled again!

Anyway, if I were to do it over, I'd have just used one strand of DK weight yarn instead of fingering doubled up. The doubled up yarn made the lace tops (yes, that's supposed to be lace, not crappy textured stuff) way too stiff. And mixing two different colors was a bad idea as the lace pattern was completely lost in the marled look of the sock. The construction of the sock was interesting (putting the gusset on the top of the foot), but I didn't like the way the heel looks, so it's not something I'd repeat. Oh well, knitting fug every now and then isn't a bad thing. I only wish I were a process knitter so that I could be more satisfied with what I've learned instead of wishing it came out prettier.

I also churned out a couple of hats out of leftover yarn. The one on the left is from leftover TLC Cotton Plus (maybe 15g)from my nephew's blanket. The one on the right is 50g of Cascade Pastaza from when I made the Buttonhole bag. Both were churned out in a day.

I'm in this one for you and one for me mode right now. I figured that while I'd like to be a totally selfish knitter, with the number of other events I have to knit for, I can't totally ignore everyone else. So that's why next time, I'm showing you another one for me (the eyelet blouse from VK Winter 2006/2007) and one for you (actually, my nephew - the mandarin collar sweater from Natural Knits for Babies).

Almost famous

2007-04-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

Remember a roadtrip a few months ago where I got some random guy to take pictures of me climbing? This, BTW, never happens because, DH is always spotting, so who's gonna wield the camera? Anyway, we're up at Bishop again a few weekends ago, and what do we find? I'm almost famous! Huzzah!

Yup, that's me front and off center and to the left a bit on page 72 in the new Bishop Bouldering Guidebook. The guidebook itself is beautiful and well photographed. Couldn't ask for more. I fully support everyone going out and buying a copy. And of course, bookmarking page 72.

Woo-hoo!

2007-04-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

Yup... happy birthday to me again... or at least belatedly.

Surprises

2007-03-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

My dad likes surprises. He once unwrapped one of my Christmas presents to take out the real gift and wrap it up in a different box after he figured out that I had taken a peek inside the package. He couldn't stand me not being surprised on Christmas morning. The best part for him though was chronicling the whole humiliating affair for all to see what a bad little 13 yo I was. He'll gladly show you the pictures if you ask.

So when my brother announced that his wife was expecting, he didn't want to know the gender of the baby. I say screw that! I wanna know! Well, the surprise didn't last long because apparently my mother had to just blurt it out. It's a boy! I'm going to have a nephew!

So much for that surprise, but I still like good surprises. Like DH springing a Galen Rowell print on me as a wedding gift (it's the one with 2 emperor penguins greeting each other). But, since this is a knitting blog, I have knitted surprises for you too!

Nephew's Log Cabin Blanket
Pattern: Log Cabin knitting in Mason-Dixon Knitting
Materials: TLC Cotton Plus (51% cotton, 49% acrylic. 168 yards per 100g ball) 1 ball each in spruce, cream, mint, yellow and kiwi. Size 7 Addi Turbos 32"
Gauge: Irrelevant!
Finished size: 25" x 32"

Started: February 19, 2007
Finished: March 10, 2007

Great, mindless knitting. The yellow in there sort of bothers me, but this project was great in that I could control just how much yarn I could use. I used up all of the Spruce and Cream, but I still have a little of the mint, yellow and kiwi left over. I'm okay with that as I'm sort of growing a mini Cotton Plus leftover stash that I think will turn into a crazy striped baby sweater.

Indigo Ripples Skirt
Pattern: by Kat Coyle in Interweave Knits Spring 2007
Materials: Elann.com Sonata (100% mercerized cotton. 116 yards per 50g ball) 6 balls EXACTLY in color Deep Olive. Size US6 Addi Turbo 24" and 32" needles.
Gauge: 22 sts and 30 rows/4"
Finished size: 26" waist, 34" hip and about 23" long

Started: February 24, 2007
Finished: March 6, 2007

Modifications:
Increased in stockinette section every 4 rounds for 3 sets of increases, then every 8 rounds until there were 14 sts fewer than called for. Omitted last purl round on ruffle before binding off. Changed bind off to purl 2, *transfer 2 sts back to left needle, then p2tog, p1* repeat to end. Did not do i-cord tie.

Discussion:
Y'all know how I like to live on the edge. Well, I was stash diving and found that I had almost enough DK weight cotton to make the smallest size in this pattern. I figured that with the tendency of cotton to stretch out as you wear it and with the hip measurement being a few inches larger than I needed it to be, I'd be fine if I just didn't increase as much and eliminated enough stitches to contstitute one repeat in the lace section.

Well, the skirt turned out to be a bit clingier than I think it was intended, but as I wear it, it does seem to stretch out as I predicted and it will be fine. I was happy to get the rush towards the end where I joined in my last ball of yarn as I started the ruffle, and I discovered the ruffles eat up yarn like nobody's business. I had to eliminate the last row before the bind off and I ended up with absolutely no leftovers. I think maybe 5 yards if you count all the excess I trimmed off when joining in new balls at the side.

If I had to do it again, I probably would have eliminated the last 10 rounds of lace to shorten the skirt up a bit as I'm short and it currently falls to just on the knee and I like my skirts a bit shorter than that. I may also have added in a bit more length to the stockinette section as the lace can be a bit revealing and not for the faint of heart. And certainly not for anyone who wants to bend over. If you ever worry about coverage on your rear, definitely lengthen the stockinette section. I'd also skip the waistband instructions and just do a hemmed waist band with elastic inserted. I think that would be a much cleaner finish, though I do like the brown suede ties I used here instead of the i-cord.

I would caution anyone who's thinking of doing this... I think the yarn requirements (at least for the smallest size) are not very generous. If you substitute like I did, give yourself a bit more yardage than they call for in the pattern unless you like to live on the edge like I do. I was smug thinking that I'd have leftover when I didn't have to join in the last ball until I started the ruffle. But just know that the ruffle took the entire 116 yards in that ball! Here's a pic of the lace pattern detail and the ruffle.

Okay, they weren't really knitted surprises, just I hadn't posted about either of these projects and then Pouf! they were finished. Well, no need to go into the gory details on such straightforward projects, right?

BTW, today's walk with a bit of running in it was 5.5 miles and took 1:08:15. Same time as last week's long run. I'm actually pretty pleased with myself here as I was pretty dumb in my selection of time of day to do this. When the Santa Ana winds are blowing in LA making it about 85 out and you're planning on running on concrete with little shade, do you think it's wise to start your run around noon?

Lookee!

2007-02-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

Look at what arrived today!

That would be a gently used Yamaha Clavinova CLP-240. And it plays pretty well for it not being an acoustic piano. Well, at least well enough to fool this piano player. The sound is great, and I'm surprised I'm actually blogging instead of playing it.

A few answers to reader's questions: Chrissy - no I haven't found a distance where running starts to feel good. It just seem to hurt less now, but I suspect that might be because I'm walking most of it with only short bouts of slow jogging. Actually, my walking is sometimes faster than my jogging, so wrap your head around that! Steph - I'm training for the Disney half marathon. Supposedly DH's family is going to make a trip of it and DH promises that he'll do a Goofy (marathon plus a half on two consecutive days) if I do the Donald (half). I think he's pretty goofy.

But this post has been long overdue, so I'll just show you quickly the couple of finished objects that have been off the needles for what seems like forever...

Helmet Liner
Pattern: Found at Operation Home front here.
Materials: Cascade 220 (100% wool. 220 yds per 100g) 75g in color 8407. Size US8 needles.
Gauge: approximately 4.5 sts per inch

Started: February 6, 2007
Finished: February 20, 2007

Yes, this is finished, but I unfortunately have no pics of this to share. Maybe after I do another one. I gave this already to the ladies at Compatto, so you'll have to wait for the next. Fortunately, I have some black Cascade 220 in my stash with no particular plans for it. Off it goes to become yet another liner for the troops! Somehow, the charity knitting gives me so much satisfaction that I've dug out some old orphan leftovers from my stash to try to make some preemie hats for Stitches from the Heart. Yay me! Sorry... I'm trying to have a much more positive mental attitude, so you'll have to suffer through all of the sunshine I'm blowing up my own rear end for a while now.

DH's Koigu Socks
Pattern: You're Putting Me On Socks by Judy Gibson
Materials: Koigu KPPPM (100% superwash wool. 175 yd per 50g ball) 100g in color P830. Size 1 US Addi Turbos, 24" and 32".
Gauge: 8.5 sts/in in st st.
Finished size: to fit a Men's size US11 foot

Started: November 6, 2006
Frogged: November 7, 2006
Frogged: November 12, 2006
Re-started: January 26, 2007
Finished: February 19, 2007

This was a standard 68st toe up sock with 2x2 ribbing for the leg. Boring as all get out to knit, but DH loves them. I was having serious trouble getting the fit right with the Chevron pattern from Sensation Knit Socks, so I punted. DH wanted plain socks anyway. He commented when he first wore them (unblocked of course - I hang my head in shame) that they had a certain texture to them. Not bad, but definitely noticeable. We threw them in the washing machine and they softened up REALLY nicely. I might be a Koigu convert now! If only the pooling didn't bother me so much...

Godson Sweater
Pattern: Top down simultaneous saddle shoulder sweater in Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top with argyle border from Nicky Epstein's Knitting Over the Edge.
Materials: Knitpicks Shine (60% cotton, 40% modal. 110 yards per 50g ball) 175g in Sky and 25g in Cream. Size US3 Addi Turbo 24" and 32".
Gauge: 25 sts/4"
Finished size: 22" chest and 12" from top of shoulder to hem and 6" from underarm to cuff.

Started: January 27, 2007
Finished: February 13, 2007

What finally worked for me on the border? Well, I took a hint from Eunny and spread apart my stitches on the needle every few stitches, and that seemed to help me from making my floats too tight. That worked like a charm for me! Anyway, I'm quite proud of this sweater, but I don't really have the energy to blog much more here.

Besides, the piano is calling...

Happy Wednesday everyone!

No knits for you!

2007-02-15T18:10:00.000-08:00

So I haven't been knitting that much lately... well save for a little charity project that Compatto is organizing. I've been in many times since my last post about them, and I'm really getting to like it there and keep wanting to go back. It doesn't hurt that I run by there about 3 times a week these days. I'm trying to convince myself that I'm training for a half-marathon, but I do have issues with follow-through at times. Keep me honest, and keep asking me about it!

Anyway, I did manage to finish a DH's godson's sweater on Tuesday at SNB this week. For such a small sweater, boy did it have a million ends to weave in! I'll post the FO picture at some point when it's finished drying. IF that ever happens.

So I'll leave you today with pictures. Yes, I know, wedding and honeymoon pictures are SO trite, but that's all I have and I still have yet to finish going through them all. And I swore to myself that I'd post about my entire honeymoon, so you are unforunately the ones who have to suffer through the slideshow.

For some reason, I really like this picture. Can't explain it, except that I think it's because neither of us looks like we have a stick up our butts posing for the camera. And well, we look happy. Can't ask for much more than that, right?

Routeburn Track Jan 1-3
The Routeburn Track is designated as one of New Zealands' Great Walks. They apparently go through and designate some of their hiking paths that they think are particularly beautiful or whatnot as Great Walks and then put in extra plush facilities. I think I'd agree that this one was a great walk. It was my first multi-day hike and yes, I carried a pack with my gear in it. It only weighed about 15 pounds, but I'm still proud of myself for doing it!

Anyway, here we are looking clean on our first day... that wouldn't last. This was just one of many mini waterfalls we encountered on the first day of the hike through the forest. Lots of crystal blue streams and swing bridges. We stayed at the most flash (not flash pasteurized as I originally thought, but rather swank, fancy, upscale) cabin you could imagine in the wilderness: gas stoves, mattresses, lights at night, flush toilets and running drinkable water were all provided. This was the view from our cabin at the Routburn Falls.

The second day we ascended above the tree line and walked up to a saddle between two mountains. I can't tell which is exactly the view from the saddle because it was all just so darned gorgeous, but here's what I think it looked like:

After the saddle, we walked along a very dry ridge which was really weird considering the lush green terrain we had experienced the day before. It's a good thing we like mountains because that's pretty much all we saw for this entire section of the track. We then descended back into a different type of forest that reminded DH of the Ent forest from Lord of the Rings and then arrived at our cabin. Again with a spectacular view:
The last day was spent again circling around a valley along a ridge with intermittent breaks in the forest to reveal more mountain scenery, but the highlight of the day was definitely the giant waterfall:

We like waterfalls. I don't like how dirty I was by this time, and thankfully you can't smell us here, but we still had fun.

And I dare say that I might have liked this hiking thing. *gasp!* Don't let DH find out or else he may send us on some two week winter camping expedition through the Andes with a 3000 vertical gain daily.

On hold

2007-02-04T08:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the last couple of posts lacking content. I think the template has figured itself out on Blogger, but y'know, these things never really are finished. I'm just putting my frustration with the lack of comments on old posts on hold.

Also on hold is DH's godson's sweater. I'm mad at it. Check this out:

Yeah, so if this were a waist cinching sweater for me, the 2 inches of puckering (10%!) would be okay, but let's face it... the waist isn't exactly the trimmest part of a baby. So, out goes the border. I've yet to pick it back up, but I think at least the yoke turned out okay.

I also discovered a new (to me) LYS in my neighborhood. I literally ran into this one while deluding myself that I could in fact manage a half-marathon in one year's time off the couch when I hate to run. Sometimes I wonder about my logic. Anyway, the store is called Compatto Yarn Salon and they seemed like a nice little store. They have a selection of yarns that complement the offerings of the other 6 stores within a 5 mile radius of me (obscene that density, isn't it? lucky for me though...). The owner, Nancy, is quite friendly and is willing to talk with you for days. The shop dog is fluffy and mellow, both a big plus in my book. If you're in the area, go check out Compatto. The other 6 shops in case you're interested are of course, A Mano (the furthest, but still my favorite), Stitches from the Heart, Jennifer Knits, Yarns Unlimited, Wildfiber, and L'Atelier on Montana.

Belated FO postings:

Grandmother's Pink Socks
Pattern: Petticoat Socks by Veronik Avery in Weekend Knitting
Materials: Elann Esprit (98.3% cotton, 1.7% elastic. 100yd relaxed per 50g ball) 150g in Pink Pearl. Size 4 Addi Turbos.
Gauge: 15 sts & 24 rounds/2" in st st.

Started: October 25, 2006
Finished: January 24, 2007

Modifications:
Most importantly, this sock was worked from the toe up instead of top down, so the lace motif is actually upside down. I also figured out what pattern to use half-way through the sock, so the instep pattern is omitted. Here, I used a short-row, heel-flap heel and worked the lace pattern as specified. After the sock was long enough, I threw in 4 m1 increases evenly distributed and did this once every 2 pattern repeats. I tried to alternate the locations of the increases such that the lace pattern stayed symmetrical.

Here's hoping that my grandmother's much more shapely calves fit into these socks. They're pretty stretchy, so I'm hoping the elastic will do its job...

MIL Scarf
No pattern
Materials: Knitpicks Decadence (100% Alpaca. 131 yds per 100g ball) 200g in Winterberry. Size 10.5 Knitpicks Options.
Gauge: What, does gauge matter on a scarf?
Finished size: 5" wide by 54" long unstretched

Started: December 7, 2006
Finished: January 27, 2006

This scarf was a winter gift for my new mother in law. A couple of years ago, I gifted her with the Branching Out scarf, and she loved it. I figured this time, I'd go for something warm instead of decorative, so I just cast on something like 22 stitches and worked a fisherman rib with slipped stitch edges until I ran out of yarn. The scarf stretched A LOT when worn, so it should be plenty long enough to wrap around her neck and keep off the mid-winter Ohio chill.

Yeah, all the self-portraits I took with this scarf made my nose look ginormous, so you don't get to see any. I'm vain.

Dunedin Dec 29-31

Ha, ha! I'm barely a month behind. That's not so bad, right? Yeah, at this rate, I'll be done telling you about my honeymoon by the time our one year anniversary comes around.

We drove down the coast towards Dunedin and on the way stopped off at Oamaru. There's a blue penguin colony there and disappointed though I was to discover that blue penguins are nocturnal animals. We didn't have time to wait around, but I would have loved to see the little guys hopping out of the ocean and marching home to their nests across the beach. As it were, this was all I got to see:

We were told that Dunedin is the most Scottish of all the New Zealand cities. Cities is a term I of course use quite loosely here as it's home to around 100,000 people and that would barely register as a city back home. Anyway, the architecture was all quite beautiful with churches taking center stage. We did attend mass during our stay in Dunedin, and well, I was just creeped out that Away In the Manger didn't sound at all like the tune I know. The church also bordered on sadistic wth the unpadded, fixed kneelers and 8 inch deep pews. I'm glad that masses don't last for 2 hours. No pics of the inside, but it was actually more attractive than the outside.

The sole reason for us traveling this far south was because I have a certain thing for animals. And the Otago reason is one of the best to see them all. So we signed up for the best tour of our trip to see the royal albatrosses, fur seals, sea lions, and yellow-eyed penguins with a bonus Fjordland crested penguin thrown into the mix. I was suprised to see the fur seals and sea lions in such close proximity to the penguins as I though the former ate the latter. But I guess if you're hanging out on the beach, you live and let live. Here we are a few meters from an adult sea lion and a group of adolescents:
The rest of our time in Dunedin was spent at the Speight's brewery and the Cadbury chocolate factory. The former was actually an excellent tour on the history of brewing, that facility in particular, even for a non-beer drinker like myself. The latter, well, let's just say that dumping a ton of chocolate from 20 meters up does NOT qualify for an interesting attraction. And DH never let me live it down. Here's the highlight of the Speight's tour... Yes I am ridiculously pleased that the sign actually applied to me.

Comments

2007-01-30T08:06:00.000-08:00

AAgh!

All my comments seemed to have disappeared when I switched to the new Blogger. I've been using Haloscan, and well, this didn't work out for the old posts even with their nifty installation wizard.

I've supposedly turned on Blogger comments since they now have the email me when a new comment is posted feature and trackback and that's what I really wanted anyway. But I can't get that to work either on the old posts.

Any help here?

filler

2007-01-29T09:35:00.000-08:00

because you need a vacation from my vacation...

Forgive me for all of the old posts that may be showing up in your bloglines account if you actually subscribe. I just switched over to the new blogger and saw that they have a categories function now. If you've been with me for a while now, you've probably discovered that I'm a bit anal and well, organizing information makes me absurdly happy. So I'm going back through ALL the posts and adding tags to them all. Anyone know how to add the categories to the sidebar?

I also saw this meme over at Every Word's a Purl and thought that it might give you some insight into what our house is like.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.

Well, our place is in a state of perpetual disorder, so I knew that I wouldn't need to go to the bookshelf to find a book. What, like bookshelves are meant to store books? More like whatever falls out of your pocket, right? Anyway, I clearly live with an engineer. I have plenty of brochures on my desk, but none of them go up to page 123. The only real book, well...

"...Given the generator polynomial g(x) for a cyclic code C, however, we can make meaningful comments about C's ability to detect errors in a variety of situations. We consider three situations below that are generally considered in the design of computer communication systems.

Error pattern coverage." - Error Control Systems for Digital Communication and Storage by Stephen B. Wicker

What I want to know, is, who is this C person, and I want to be able to detect errors in more than just 3 situations! And the rest of the page is some sort of table, so sentence five was actually at the bottom of the page. BTW, I think that "Error pattern coverage." isn't actually a sentence, but since they bothered to put a period at the end of it, I figured that they considered it a sentence and so should I for this exercise.

Feel free to self-tag as I did.

First FO 2007

2007-01-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

Before I get to any knitting content, I just have to say that today is my DH's birthday. Today he turns 28 and it seems only yesterday... Anyway, after all of the stress that we went through over the past year, I'm surprised he still married me. I guess it's a testament to his patience and understanding of me. He shows me every day what it is to love someone through thick and thin. And of course it doesn't hurt that I find him totally hott!

Triangle Edge Cardigan by Debbie Bliss
Pattern in Quick Baby Knits
Materials: Knitpicks Shine (60% Cotton, 40% Modal. 110 yards per 50 g ball) 190g in Cherry. Size 3 Addi Turbos.
Gauge: 6" sts per in.
Finished size: 23 in wide... I hope this is one perfectly round baby!

Started: December 24, 2006
Finished: January 15, 2006

Modifications:
Used short rows to shape collar instead of joining new yarn for each point. Omitted buttons.

Discussion:
Another basic baby sweater with a twist here. The triangle edging (which you can't see in this craptastic photo) adds a little bit of interest to this basic drop shoulder cardigan. I considered putting the buttons on, but frankly, I just didn't understand her instructions and I don't like YO buttonholes. So it'll be a little jacket type thing that will just be worn open. This one is for DH's cousin's as-yet unborn but due at any second now daughter. It's roomy enough so that this baby can spend then next 6-9 months growing into it. I'll once again voice my concern over Debbie Bliss baby sizing, but then again, I've never had a growing like a weed baby before either, so maybe the generous sizing is a good thing. Do tell if you have an opinion.

Lorna's Laces Quarter Socks
Materials: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport (100% wool, 200 yd per 70g) 1 skein in Mixed Berries. Size 1 Addi Turbos 24" and 32".
Gauge: 8.5 sts per in
Finished Size: 7.5" circumference, 8" foot length

Started: January 16, 2007
Finished: January 23, 2007

These were some quickie socks that I started while in New Zealand. I decided that they had been in my stash for long enough, but I didn't have any particular pattern in mind and knew that 70g was going to be a stretch. I didn't think it would be quite as short as they turned out, but I still think they're a reasonable length. I'd just have preferred that they were an inch or two longer in the leg.

I started these toe-up using a 24 st Turkish cast on. I increased every other round until I had a total of 64 sts on the needles. I worked one round of k4, p4 alternating with one round of all knits until the sock was long enough to reach the pointy bone on the top of my foot, which I guess to most people would be the start of their arch. I increased every other round until I was two inches short of my heel and then turned the heel a la Beaudelaire. From there it was knit in pattern until I was almost out of yarn, and then I started 1x1 ribbing until I actually did run out of yarn save a few yards. I cast off with the faux kitchener cast off.

Meh... the socks are a touch on the large side, but I have a tendency to slightly shrink my socks, so this isn't a bad thing. I was just surprised at the gauge I got with sport weight yarn. Do I really knit this tight, or is this typical for Lorna's sport?

I also finished off the MIL scarf on 1/27 and my grandmother's pink socks on 1/24, but I don't have a good picture of either of those yet. Maybe DH will be nice enough to take a picture for me sometime this week when it's not grey and raining out.

After having wiped ALL of my WIPs off the plate, I dug in for baby #2 of 5 for the year (that I know about). This one is for DH's soon to be godson! We were really excited to hear that DH's cousin wanted him to be the godfather, and this is DH's first time in that role. So I wanted a little something special for this baby in hopes of kissing up to the parents so they don't change their minds about making DH his godfather. I pulled out Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top, and just went for it using her saddle shoulder sweater outline as a guide. I say outline because it really is just an outline. I cast on yesterday and the above picture was taken this morning, but I've already divided for the sleeves and body and have about 2 inches of body done. I love how small babies are...

I'll finish up with a quick update on the next leg of our trip...

Christchurch/Castle Hill Dec 27-28
We arrived in Christchurch after a long delay at the airport in Auckland late on the 27th. It didn't give us much time to look around the city, so we got up early the next morning so we could pick up the rental car and get on the road. Let me just say that adjusting to driving on the left side of the road took a while. The rental car did have a nifty reminder on the dash board in the form of a giant yellow arrow saying "stay left", but well, if you're looking at that too closely, you're surely not watching the road to see if the oncoming truck is in your lane or not.

But we drove out to Castle Hill and checked out the climbing. It's supposed to be a world class destination for bouldering, and I can see why. The entire area looked like a god had sprinkled giant boulders across a golf course. Or someone came by and knocked down Stonehenge. I can't decide which. Here's the two of us at the start of the day 50 yards off the road and about half way to the first rocks. Nice, short approach, eh?

The climbing itself wasn't my style. It's limestone and heavily climbed, so a lot of the rock was polished and at least for the problems I was trying, didn't seem to have much by way of feet. The style was also much more throwing for slick slopers, then beached whale mantling to top out. The boulder below was one of the exceptions to the yucky top out trend and the only boulder I got to the top of during my entire trip. Of course, I wasn't really trying either, opting instead to just enjoy the scenery. Fields of green, long grass blowing in the wind, and meadows of small wildflowers peppered with limestone of all shapes and sizes all with the southern Alps as a backdrop. Can you blame me?

She returns!

2007-01-25T18:05:00.000-08:00

and you thought I'd been swept away by an albatross...

no, no, just off on my honeymoon. In case I didn't mention it before or you hadn't gleaned it from my last post, DH and I took a delayed honeymoon to the bottom of the planet where we drove around a lot on the wrong side of the road, stalked wildlife, sheep and people's dogs, laughed at roadsigns and billboards, hid from the sun, fell for all the tourist traps and otherwise had a grand old time. I'll be slowly posting the highlights from our Kiwi adventure over the next few days (weeks? I hope for your sake not...) so be forewarned that I'm going to hijack this knitting blog for some travel pr0n.

But before I dive in, I should mention that I did manage to finish 3 projects since last we left off. I just don't have any progress pics to show you and everything's wet still from blocking, so watch this space for a cute baby sweater, some quickie socks, and finally polishing off the g-ma socks.

Auckland Dec 25-27

DH and I left on Dec 23, lost Christmas eve somewhere over the Pacific and landed in Auckland on Dec 25. We figured that we'd go with the good old standby for Christmas evening of Chinese food and a movie, but we found out that Kiwis really do take their Christmas holiday seriously and completely close up. So we took our loopy sleep deprived selves for a walk about the city center and marveled at the funny sounding signage: "Dogs on Lead", "Beware of trucks maneuvering", and "Park and Display" (which immediately brought images of Hugh Grant and Divine Brown to mind).

The next day, we met up with a friend of a friend for some Boxing Day fun. We took the ferry out to Rangitoto but we might as well have arrived at some beautiful deserted island in the middle of the Pacific. Lush greenery around and some of the best views of Auckland to behold:

Okay, from the top there were definitely beautiful views of Auckland, but I have a thing for lighthouses.

We then rewarded ourselves after the 3 hour hike (boy does that cure jet lag!) with a visit to a Belgian beer cafe. Belgium is known for its mussels, and so is New Zealand for their green-lipped variety, so we went for two pots of steamers there. The waiter was so apologetic for the mixup with our order that they decided not to charge us for the drinks we had and brought another round, supersized, again for free. I think DH had almost a liter of free Lefft Dark, so he was happy. I was happy with the Texas sized mussels:

We were told that it's actually illegal to pull anything out of the water less than 4 inches there, so apparently this is normal. If I were home, I'd be wary of eating anything this large for fear of toxic waste contamination causing the mutant gargantuanism, but hey, this is New Zealand, nobody lives here to dump anything in the water!

We toured 2 of the extinct volcanoes that make up the seven hills of Auckland and discovered that Kiwis are a practical bunch. Not only do they use their public spaces as park land, but they also use it as farm land. I was very pleased to see the bovine and other inhabitants of the park:

The next day, we explored the city to check out the various churches and their stained glass windows. Then we ventured out to the Waitakere area to hit the black sand beach. I guess these beaches aren't exactly LA beaches where people hang out all day basking in the sun:

Next up: Christchurch

Post-Script: If you're still reading this, then you must be truly interested in my ramblings. So I have more to share. Turns out DH's brother popped the question to his girlfriend while we were away! We're extremely excited for the two of them and cannot wait to see them wed. They are a loving couple and very good for each other. We wish them all the happiness in the world.

Post-Post Script: My brother announced to me yesterday that he and his wife are expecting! So I guess that makes me an auntie-to-be, and one crazy busy knitter. I have burp cloths, blankets, bibs, sweaters, hats, booties, and toys all lined up, so get ready to see a whole lotta dishcloth cotton at Chez Spaz. Just don't tell DH that it also means a few more trips to Michael's since dishcloth cotton is hard to find round here. Unless you think babies will like the scratchy tweed?

TTFN

2006-12-21T19:06:00.000-08:00

As if this blog weren't neglected enough... I'm heading out for the honeymoon and honestly, I'm not going to think about blogging for the next month. So I'll see you on the other side and have a merry Christmas, happy new year, happy MLK day and well any other special events you may be celebrating over the next four weeks. Here's hoping that when I get back, there will be lots of pics of DH on the volcano, in the sound, on the glacier, with the penguins, and of course hanging from a rock.

Oh yeah, and maybe some knitting pics as well.

Equestrian Blazer

2006-12-13T18:44:00.000-08:00

So now that we're hitting the two month anniversary, people have been asking us how married life is. What am I to tell these people? My response has been sort of flippant... At least now my parents won't be embarassed if I get knocked up, and people don't start to shift from side to side and hang their head as if they just heard some dirty little secret when I mention LIVING with a MAN. But honestly, I don't really feel like anything has changed except for the outside world's view. I feel just as committed today as I did a year ago. I just have extra bling now. Okay, and maybe it's just less pressure. I'm hoping that this is all good, and not just the honeymoon period. Oh wait, that starts in about a week! Yay!

Enough about that already... I know what you're really here for.

Equestrian Blazer by Kate Gilbert
Pattern in Interweave Knits Winter 2006
Materials: Rowanspun Aran (100% wool. 220 yd per 100g skein) 340g in Gables. Size 5 Knitpicks Options needles.
Gauge: 19sts/30 rows = 4" pre-blocking
Finished size: 33" bust, 22" long (neck to middle of back hem), 21" from shoulder seam to cuff after AGGRESSIVE blocking.
Total yarn cost: $26 from Cucumberpatch UK

Started: November 8, 2006
Finished: December 12, 2006

Modifications:
Accidentally removed 1" of length just before shaping for armhole. Fudged the edging.

Discussion:
Where to begin. First, the fit I think turned out okay. I wore the sweater a bit more and it stretched some in addition to the aggressive stretching and pulling while the whole thing was wet to adjust the size. I attribute all remaining issues I have with the fit to the -1" of "petite fudge factor" I accidentally added. The collar opening is pretty wide, and since the whole thing is about an inch higher than it should be, the collar sort of sits on my chest a bit strangely. If my girls were any bigger, I think this would be disastrous. As it were, it doesn't seem to be a major problem, but I don't love the way the bottom of my shirt sticks out from the hem of the jacket. The jacket just isn't long enough. No, I'm not going to cut and graft in extra length. Not on a seamed sweater. I'll live with it, thanks. BTW, here's where I'm trying out the new camera's 3 second delay function. The old camera only had a 10s option. Yeah, 3s is just not long enough.

The edging is where I last left off, isn't it? Well, I decided to go back and pick up 4 sts for every 5 rows for the collar edging and 1 st for every cast on st for the bottom edging. I knit one more row and bound off in purl so it would be a looser bind off, and this worked like a charm. An unexpected hurdle was the simple instruction, "seam the short selvedges" between the collar and bottom edgings. Great, the only problem is that the edging switches right sides between the collar and the front opening, so it'll just look weird if I seamed it straight up. So I decided to sort of roll up the edging into a tube at the point where it meets and I seamed the pick up st of one to the cast off st of the other and worked around. At least this way, the reverse stockinette side is always facing, even if it looks a bit awkward upon REALLY CLOSE inspection. The only issue remaining was the collar's tendency to curl. The collar then met the steam iron and decided to behave. BTW, that one row buttonhole is my new favorite as it just looks so clean and has nice firm edges.

There were two things about the pattern that I would change if I had to do it all over again in addition to the edging modification I mention above. The sts for the left front (but not the right) were a b*tch to pick up on collar shaping rows. Upon careful consideration, I think this is because the increases on the left are done on the edge stitch, but on the right, they are done 1 stitch in from the edge, thus creating a nice selvedge to pick up sts from. It boils down to changing the collar shaping directions to ... purl to the last collar stitch, with the left needle, lift the purl bump two rows below last st completed and purl it, purl 1. See "Knit Left Loop" at knittinghelp.com for an example of this on the knit side.

I'd also change the sleeve increases. I followed the pattern exactly and had to knit straight from the last set of increases for 3+ inches before starting the sleeve cap shaping. This indeed formed a little, barely noticeable point under the arm as Jenna Wilson warned me. I asked the designer if this was as she intended it to be since the schematic made it look like the increases ended just before the sleeve cap shaping. She said it'd be fine, so I went with it. The sleeves look okay, but they do look a bit more roomy through the forearm than they do at the bicep, and I think that's because too many of the increases were placed lower on the sleeve. For my taste, I'd spread them out more and increase the overall length a bit as well. The sleeves seem short to me (and I have short arms!) and I made them to the specified length. It boils down to adding 2 rows between sleeve increases in the pattern.

Overall, the look is classic and there were plenty of clear, shaping instructions to keep your attention. This was certainly not a boring knit and if you like short rowing, this pattern is for you! The knitting was also pretty fast as it took less than 3 weeks of off and on knitting to complete all the pieces. It took just as long to seam and decide the fate of the edging.

A word about the yarn: Rowanspun Aran is a great bargain since the yardage is unbelievable and can be found on sale since it's been discontinued. The labelled gauge of 16 sts/4 inches seamed too loose for the yarn, but 17-18 sts was just fine. The yarn is a bit of a pain to work with as it's dry and stringy, but once washed, it softens nicely and fluffs up into an attractive fabric. There are definitely variations in the thickness of the yarn and the tweedy flecks make it a pain to maintain consistent tension. But of course, I love the look of tweed, so I'll put up with it. But DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, attempt to mattress stitch with this yarn! Pulling more than a couple of stitches together resulted in yarn breakage, so I had to be very careful to adjust the tension of the seam on EVERY row and even then I had a few breaks requiring me to undo the seam by an inch or two and felt the yarn back together. It was a royal pain and took me the better part of a day to seam everything! Unfortunately, I was stuck away from home due to a snow storm and had no other yarn to seam with, so this was my only option. A crocheted seam might have been okay, but I'd just as rather recommend seaming with a different yarn.

Previous posts about this project:
Just do it! on November 7, 2006
Progress on November 10, 2006
Why we block on November 20, 2006
The Suspense on December 8, 2006

the suspense

2006-12-08T08:25:00.000-08:00

is apparently killing me. Will the jacket turn out? Will it fit? Will I ever learn to photograph red?

This is the state that the Equestrian Blazer has been in for the past 10 days. Seamed and ready for the border. Only I suck at picking up stitches again, so I've done it twice and ripped it out twice and I'm reconsidering my options. The instructions tell you to pick up one stich for every row. Common knitsense tells you that this is more stitches than one would normally pick up to expect it to lay flat. Sure enough, the border ruffled. So I ripped out and picked up 2 stitches for 3 rows since the gauge is 19 sts/30 rows = 4". This resulted in the bottom fitting like a boa constrictor and the collar ruthlessly curling inwards as if to hide underneath the rock that I'm calling for my own when I finish a whole sweater that doesn't fit. Should I crochet a little border on here? Maybe a little picot edging could be cute instead of a standard bind off? Or perhaps pick up some number of stitches between these and use a stretchy lace bind off?

I'm THIS close to finding a small friend to give this away to because I picked the wrong size to make. A word to the wise, when choosing sizes for this pattern, make sure to consult the schematic. The finished size that I was intending to make is 32.5". I met gauge exactly (that never happens, I should have been suspicious) and so my piece measured exactly the same across the back as the schematic shows for the back. Only, if you multiply the measurement for the back on the schematic by two, the result is 31.5".

Yes, I understand that the front has a deep V and so there's a bit of wiggle room when it comes to fit across the bust. But it just FEELS small. I wanted it fitted and have usually never had a problem with making something with a bit of negative or only one inch of ease. This one though... I don't know.

You'll have to wait though until it's sunnier out and I'm having a good hair day before I show you the fit. And maybe by then I'll figure out the trim.

Why we block

2006-11-20T18:59:00.000-08:00

Mostly, it's because otherwise, our knitting would look like total crap. See example. I'm going to lightly block here just for ease of seaming, but I'm hoping a full-on soak will make the fabric bloom a bit to fill in those holes where the spin was a bit on the thin side.

I finished the fronts and back of the Equestrian Blazer from just two balls of Rowanspun Aran. I'm trying to figure out exactly how two sleeves and two rows of stockinette around all the edges of the jacket can possibly add up to another 2+ balls of yarn. I WILL however be slightly annoyed if I end up with almost a full 100g ball again when I'm done.

Cuz I'm living on the edge y'all. I decided that since I almost always (except just ONCE) end up with at least one full ball and maybe a partial on top of that after swatching and knitting up a garment that I'd just to hell with it go with what I had in my stash for this project even though I was a full 50 yards short of the specified yarn requirements in the pattern. What the heck. I can always make sleeves shorter to match my smaller frame.

Or inadvertently in this case, take out an inch throughout the body because I can't read directions. Check your pattern schematic, or else you could end up shortwaisted in your sweater. Which, in my case, might actually be a nice surprise.

Since I probably won't be posting again this week, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

One step forward...

2006-11-15T17:06:00.000-08:00

Woohoo! I figured out what lace pattern would work for my grandmother's pink knee highs! I knew it had to be relatively simple, so a row of eyelets was about all that could work here, but hotdamn if that doesn't count as lace! I'm using the leg chart from the Petticoat Sock pattern by Veronik Avery in Weekend Knitting. I also came up with a plan (a plan! from the Spaz! say it ain't so...) for how to do the calf shaping relatively in pattern. I won't tell you now for fear that actually vocalizing it will curse me to fugly results.

but as the rest of the saying goes, ... two steps back. In the middle there are DH's Koigu Chevron socks. Clearly I had a serious case of denial going on when DH kept stretching the things THAT FAR just to get them over his toes. Somehow, I thought turning the heel would make it all better. *sigh* If only positive progress were as fast as negative progress. I swear I knit at like 30 sts/min, but gosh darn it if I can't unknit at something like 15000 sts/min. These poor things have been frogged TWICE in one week. I guess Koigu holds up like a champ to frogging.

BTW, did y'all see the Sahara pattern that Knit and Tonic Wendy did for Stitch Diva? That's right up my alley! Only maybe tack up the neckline a bit more... no one wants to see that because let's just face it, cleavage is a whole lot sexier than no cleavage and a whole lotta sternum action. Long sleeves maybe? I'm thinking maybe a bit more fitted sleeves and belled just at the cuff instead of from elbow to cuff. Will have to wait for the pattern to come out and see how I feel then.

And because I haven't done one of these in a long time...

You paid attention during 91% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

Damn! I love taking tests (freak) so I was pissed off at #10 and #14.

Progress

2006-11-10T00:18:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me that DH hadn't made an appearance on this blog in quite some time, so I thought perhaps that I should remedy that and also show you my WIPs at the same time. So here ya go. That's my Equestrian Blazer on the left, a little bit past the armhole shaping on the back. DH's Koigu Chevron socks are on the right just after turning the heels.

That's DH in the back. How he falls asleep like that (for HOURS I tell you) and doesn't wake up with a charley horse in his neck and rug burns on his knees is beyond me. Why he felt the need to fall asleep sniffing the corner of the couch I also couldn't tell you.

I blame it on the Glenrothes and 17 yo Glenfarclas.

Yes, in fact, I just left him there and went to bed after snapping this picture. What a loving wife I am...

Edited to add: DH wanted me to clarify because apparently I made it sound like he'd had too much to drink and passed out this way. No, in fact, my DH is talented enough to do this stone cold sober. To be fair, he had come over into my knitting space to nuzzle his head in my lap as I knit and fell asleep that way. But when I got up, he didn't seem to notice and just kept right on nuzzling with the couch as a suitable substitute. I still don't get how one can fall asleep kneeling, so I stand by my initial assertion that this is a weird sleeping position.

Just do it!

2006-11-07T17:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm one of those people who isn't a well informed voter. I don't know where all the candidates stand on specific issues that I care about. I don't know the pros and cons for all of the fourteen bazillion ballot measures that are to be decided. But I'm still planning on voting. At least I can and I am free to make any decision I want, as uninformed as it might be. So my question is, which is the lesser of two evils: to vote unintelligently or not vote at all?

So when I last left off, I was contemplating the pink socks. Several of you left me fantastic links for lace knee highs and I checked them all out. So, here's where I am now.

Yeah, not so much. I found out after a couple of inches of a very simple lace pattern that this super sproingy cotton yarn has something of a boucle texture to it that looks like CRAP in lace. So I think I might have to revert to plain knee highs here and tell my grandmother that her cotton pink lace knee highs might need to wait a little longer for the right yarn. Knee high Hedera sounds good... I just need to find a mostly cotton, smooth yarn that stretches appropriately for socks. Anyone? Anyone?

But since I couldn't just be stalled doing nothing, I decided to cast on for a pair of socks for DH. That's Koigu in a chevron pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. It looks a lot like the zigzag Jaywalker pattern, but oh well. I tried to swatch for 4 other patterns with the Koigu, and nothing would show up with the short color changes there to muddy everything up. So, back to zigging and zagging.

I also tried a different toe here... something that Charlene Schurch refers to as a star-toe. I have no idea what that means, but I figured that with as mauled as DH's toes are from climbing, his toes tend to curl under slightly. I thought that a more round like toe might fit his feet better than the flat toe that seems to be pretty common to most patterns. We'll see how it turns out. But right now what's bothering me is the cast on. I did a Turkish cast on and then started increasing 4 sts evenly spaced every other round. So now I have stupid pointy places on the toe which I dislike. Do I pick out the cast on and just run the end through the live sts that I free to close up the toe? I'm scared of doing that, but I think it'll work. Anyone think this will be turn into another entry for Dumbest Thing I Did Today?

Finally, I got the Winter 2006 Interweave Knits on Friday. I knew there was a jacket and a sweater in there that I both have a comparable yarn for and want to make. So I started swatching for the Equestrian Blazer. First on US6 (bottom) and then also on US5 (above the purl ridge). Anyone notice a difference here? Yeah, neither could I. What's up with that? I think I'm just going to go with the US5 since neither seems tight enough to meet the gauge, but as it is, my overall size is only going to be 3/4" larger and I can deal with that for a jacket.

And yet again, forgive my inability to photograph red yarn. What's up with that?

Now, off to vote!

Winging it

2006-11-02T05:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, so despite the horrific outcome that was my last attempt at winging it, I'm going with it again. This time, I blame my grandmother on it. So you see, something like 5 months ago, she requested a pair of lacy pink cotton over the knee socks. I'm wondering as I sit here and type this if this isn't some sort of sick dress up fantasy she's been harboring for years and years, but ewww, it's my grandmother!

Anyway, that's all the direction I got. I've been looking but just haven't found a pattern that I like, so to heck with it... I'm winging it. I decided that she didn't really want all over lace on the foot anyway, so I went ahead and knit the foot plain. I had read the directions for Widdershins or maybe it was Baudelaire on how to do a heel flap toe up sock, but of course, I decided to start these while traveling and I didn't have the foresight to print out either of these patterns. So, random spazzing ensued, but I managed to reinvent the wheel correctly.

Wow, do my feet always look that flat and squat?

Anyway, I really like this toe-up heel flap thing. DH has extremely deep heel cups, high arches, but very low volume feet, so the short row heel didn't seem to fit his foot type as well. In fact, he can barely get his Jaywalkers over his heel, but once he does, those babies are NOT going ANYWHERE. So I think I'll be using this construction for all his socks in the future.

Another plus... no picking up stitches and the slipped stitch heel flap thingie hides my embarassingly sloppy wrap and turns quite nicely. Now if only I can come up with a better way of hiding the holdes at the top of the heel flap and gusset intersection... something better than Elizabeth Zimmerman's advice of knitting a stitch together with its neighbor. Any ideas?

So now, it's off to research some sort of lace pattern to use on the leg. What do y'all think? A large lace panel up the front of the sock, or two smaller ones on either side? Any suggestions on a lace stitch to use?

So now what?

2006-11-01T18:12:00.000-08:00

I'm sure that anyone who's had a big blowout wedding has probably experienced this... the so now what phase. I've spent most of the last year stressing out about getting married (notice I didn't say planning... my mom took care of everything. I just stressed out) so now that I am married, what the heck to worry about now?

Well, conveniently, the holidays are coming up! I could stress out about how I've spent the past many months selfishly knitting myself 4 sweaters, but I've decided that a stressed out Spaz is an unpleasant Spaz. So, people get what they get if I decide to make them something. I may even NOT knit for one or more of the three newborns coming up this spring. Who'd a thunk it? Does that make me self-centered? Maybe. But does that also make Mr. McSpazzitron happier? I'm quite sure it will.

Decided to finish up a UFO after having absolutely nothing new to cast on for. Yes, I guess that means that technically I was lying about not having anything on the needles, but long forgotten projects don't count, do they? It was a bag that I had looming for quite some time. So long in fact that I can't even remember when I cast on for it. Anyway, it required about 3 balls of Kureyon, and I had visions of an uber-cute flap type bag along these veins. But instead... here's what I ended up with:
I knit fug. I'll admit it. It was best laid plans, but it's just plain fugly. I think it had promise, but it just turned out strangely proportioned: 13.5" wide and 5.5" tall... aesthetically unpleasing. It started out as a good enough idea... knit a multidirectional bag using two circular needles to avoid seaming that still ended up with a three dimensional bag instead of just a flat pouch. If I had it to do over, I would have added an extra ball, shortened the straps and knit it a bit taller and omitted the flap. Yes it would have ended up being a run-of-the-mill bucket bag but the corners knit on the diagonal at least would have provided some interest . I took notes as I went in case anyone else wants to reproduce my fug.

The worst part of it all? Kureyon felts SO slow and I spent an hour and a half of my life standing over a steaming kitchen sink hand fulling this thing, and it's not even completely felted. I'm starting to rethink my luck with knit bags. Witness the tweed misproportioned flatness completely devoid of any function despite its promises of being a "roomy tote". And yet...

BTW, did anyone notice that the top in the picture is actually a real pattern? How did I miss that before? If only I had tons of scraps in the same yarn to play with this. I could totally go for a tartan plaid top... maybe just without the shoulder draping panels though. Whoa. I think I just got my engineering geek on there. Only engineers and the late Payne Stewart can pull of plaid.

Mrs. McSpazzitron!

2006-10-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, I did it! I'm officially Mrs. DH! We had a great time at the wedding, and for the most part everything came off without a hitch. All I can say is that when they opened the doors to the church and I started walking down the aisle, I couldn't stop myself from smiling from ear to ear and had to restrain myself from giddy laughter. It was such a high. And marrying my DF, now DH, is everything I could have hoped for. But he still smells. Anyway, I posted a link to the photographer's webpage on my wedding blog, so if you're really all that interested, feel free to flip through the 1400 pictures...

But nothing's changed on the knitting front... I'm still madly knitting away.

Icarus Shawl by Miriam Felton
Pattern in Interweave Knits Summer 2006
Materials: Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud (100% alpaca. 440 yards per 50g ball) 80g in Horizon. Size US3 32" Addi Turbo circular needle.
Gauge: Does it matter on a lace shawl?
Finished size: 32" from neck to center point and 75" along neck edge.
Total yarn cost: $8 from Knitpicks

Started: August 1, 2006
Finished: October 9, 2006

Modifications: eliminated one of the stockinette repeats... so how did it end up this BIG?

Discussion:
One of my friends said that triangular shawls are like puppies, they start out all cute and small... and then they grow. I'd have to agree with this project. I just about wanted to pull all my hair out so that I'd match DH by the time I got to the second to last chart. Then he went away and left me to my own devices. Which meant that I ate too much junk food, drank a lot of soda and watched the entire first season of Grey's Anatomy as I finished the last two charts of this project.

I had intended to finish this shawl in time for the wedding. I did... and it was blocked 4 whole days before the wedding, but alas, it stayed in the car in the mad rush to get dressed. So while I was freezing in my reception for the first hour, it sat idly by and watched me freeze from the garage.

But, it's not too awful. I didn't have a shawl pin, and I have absolutely no idea how to wear a shawl. See picture at right. We'll see if this one's a keeper. Hard to say because it's just so yummy soft, but again, I'm pretty petite and this shawl certainly isn't.

Previous posts about this project:
Last post as Miss McSpazzitron on October 6, 2006
MIA again on June 9, 2006

Sienna Cardigan by Anne E. Smith
Pattern in Interweave Knits Fall 2006
Materials: Plymouth Suri Merino (50% alpaca, 50% wool. 109 yd per 50g ball) 340g in color 799. Size 8 24" Addi Turbo circular needles.
Gauge: 18 sts and 24 rows per 4"
Finished size: 32" bust, 20.5" long, 22" from shoulder seam to cuff.
Total yarn cost: $25 from Bo Peeps Wool Shop

Started: October 4, 2006
Finished: October 22, 2006

Modifications:
I changed the gauge because I didn't think that the published finished size was a good size for me and also because I didn't think I could get gauge with this yarn. I went ahead and just used the same stitch count and row count for everything and went with the principle that all proportions would shrink down appropriately with the smaller gauge. Also, picked up button bands and collar stitches all at once instead of separately and seaming the collar to the button bands.

Discussion:
Okay, so the style is a tad on the old librarian side, but hey, everyone needs a cardigan, right? At least it's not black. But more importantly, this is my first seamed set-in sleeve sweater, and I didn't have any major seaming issues this time! It took me the better part of 4 hours to just set in the sleeves, sew sleeve and side seams, but I honestly think I did a pretty good job. I even took a picture of it. Okay, most normal people don't take pictures of the inside of their sweaters, but I thought the seams and the places where I picked up stitches around the button band and collar look very nice. I'm taking a step away from the super Chinese mentality and actually allowing myself to say that something is good without wishing it would be better.

The shape is pretty classic, so what makes this sweater different is the details. First of all, I don't think that the picture in IK did a very good job at actually showing what the faggoting cables along the front edges looks like, so I took a close up here. I didn't realize that the inside of the cables was open until I started knitting the front... and that was a pleasant surprise.

I even had a good time picking out buttons for this piece. I chose these buttons because they're a classic shape and color, but the swirls of green in them picked up the color of the sweater so perfectly it just made it that much better. And by the way, when sewing buttons to your sweaters, how do you do it? I took one ply of the yarn I used on the sweater and used that, but the individual plies are so easy to break that I'm a bit worried about it.

And the cuffs. There wasn't a good picture of what the cuffs looked like in the photo spread either. So here's mine. The directions tell you to go back to the cast on edge at the cuff and pick up stitches and then immediately cast off. I tried this, but my usual cast-off is so tight and when I went up a couple of needle sizes, it still didn't look like anything much. So I decided to try out the lace cast off that was used on the Icarus Shawl. I like the way it looks... kind of like it was crocheted on, and it's stretchy!

So now what? I have absolutely NOTHING on the needles right now. How crazy is that? I guess I could start on my Christmas knitting, but I'm feeling really selfish right now. I think this is a holdover from last year's crazy holidy knitting blowout. How much fun will this be when I start to panic come November? Stay tuned...

Last post as Miss McSpazzitron

2006-10-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

Because next time, I guess I'll be Mrs. McSpazzitron! and DF will turn into DH. Sadly though, dear husband just doesn't have quite the same ring as dumb f*&^#! or *sigh* dear fiancee. Wish me luck in the next week and hope that we come out on the other side of it okay. But, we'll be wearing these when all is said and done, and I LIKEE!

But in the meantime, I should probably show you all the pictures of everything that I've been working on in the past two months of non-blogging.

I started on Icarus and while it's STILL not done, it doesn't look that much different from this:

Sadly, this picture was taken two months ago, and it's still not done. At least now I'm done with the stockinette part and only have 23 really LOOONG rows left to go.

But here are the FO's in finishing order:
Two-Tone Bag
Pattern by Kathy Merrick in Fall 2005 Interweave Crochet
Materials: Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed (100% wool, 100 yd) 200g each in color 06 and 04. Size H hook.
Gauge: 15 HDC = 4"
Finished size: 23" wide and 16.5" deep

Started: August 4, 2006
Finished: August 28, 2006

Discussion:
I see why crochet is so popular. It goes just so darned fast! The only problem with this bag is that the handles stretch a lot and the size. I've decided that the red-headed Interweave model must be about 7 feet tall because in the picture it looked like a great roomy tote, but on my it's clown-sized. Completely out of proportion for my height-challenged frame. I was planning on using it only for a knitting bag since it's huge and well, knitting doesn't tend to be very heavy but can definitely be bulky. It doesn't keep stuff in very well, so I might consider felting the whole thing, but I'm still as yet undecided there.

Previous posts about this project:
Really MIA on September 24, 2006
43+ on August 31, 2006
Back again on August 13, 2006

Hooded Pullover
Pattern by Vladimir Teriokhin in Fall 2005 Vogue Knitting
Materials: Filatura di Crosa Ultralight (53% alpaca, 22% wool, 25% nylon. 154 yards per 50g ball) 270g in color 61. Size 7 Addi turbo circulars.
Gauge: 4 sts/in
Finished size: 34" chest

Started: May 4, 2006
Finished: September 18, 2006

Modifications:
Knit the sleeves in the round from the top down by picking up the total number of stitches called for in the pattern before sleeve cap shaping and reversing the sleeve cap shaping with short rows around the armscye. Lengthened the length of the hood.

Discussion:
I discovered yet again that I'm short with a long neck and sputnik sized head with this sweater. The high empire waist ribbing on the model looks cute, but on me, DF says, what's up with that weird ribbing thing around your middle? It's supposed to accent the boobage, I think, but I'm not sure. Instead it just sits in a weird place on my ribcage. Oh well, it's roomy and comfy and just a little warm. Not as warm as I had hoped because well, the huge slash down the neckline to my belly button allows for a lot of heat escaping.

Also, this was a good candidate for playing, "What's she hiding?" The model is looking down at the ground and has her hands up by her ears supposedly "pulling" on exercise rings on the beach. Okay, we all know that these models are starved to the point of not being able to hold themselves up, so what's really going on here? Well, it's the abysmal hood shaping really. The instructions have you knit until the hood measures 6.5" from where you pick up stitches around the neckline, then knit about 1" of top shaping and bind off. Well, the last time I checked, most people have necks AND heads, so the hood comes out to be way too small to allow for anyone to have both of those body parts without the shoulders of the sweater pulling up around your ears. So much for the "roomy hood" in the description.

A note about the yarn substitution... I'm pretty happy about the alpaca blend that I used here. It's a bit rougher than I'd have hoped for an alpaca, but it certainly gives the same fluffy appearance as the Skacel Alpaca Leggero that's suggested in the pattern. But given that I couldn't possibly afford (at least I don't really want to) 16 balls of the stuff at about $10 a ball, I was especially happy with my substitution at $25 for the sweater. The color really isn't that neon pink, BTW, it's much more muted, but still hot pink. Yes, my wonderful photographic skills when it comes to reds rears its head again.

This sweater was really pretty straight forward. The time it took me to knit it is not at all indicative of how difficult it was. I blame the protracted knitting time on alpaca not being terribly fun to deal with when it's 100 degrees outside.

Previous posts about this project
Really MIA on September 24, 2006
Decision point on June 2, 2006
Designing on May 31, 2006
Legacy on May 9, 2006

Cross Over Tank
Pattern by Gayle Bunn in Spring/Summer 2005 Vogue Knitting
Materials: Patons Katrina (92% rayon, 8% polyester. 163 yards per 100g ball) 240g in Lilac. Size 7 Addi Turbo circulars 24".
Gauge: 21 sts/4"
Finished size: 24.5" bust (unstretched)

Started: September 24, 2006
Finished: October 2, 2006

Modifications:
Omitted side seams and neckband seams.

Discussion:
Who in the world would want to seam with elastic yarn? With my finishing capabilities, I knew that the seaming would have been a disaster if I had elastic yarn thrown into the mix, so I deferred to seamless knitting. In the end I had a total of 6 ends to weave in. I like that.

And let me just say, never again will I knit a tank top with 6 inches of negative ease no matter what they say about the stretchiness of the resulting fabric. It's just plain scary to see something that small come off the needles. I like it too though, and with the help of Elann I think I managed the cheapest garment of the year. Okay maybe my super on sale t-shirts from the gap were cheaper, but can you really beat $8 for a hand knit garment? For an adult?

Oy, I just noticed that I'm wearing this tank backwards in the picture. There's supposed to be interior waist darts on the front that you don't see here. Oh well, at least it's mostly reversible!

Ugh. Gotta get my hair chopped off after the wedding. These last few pictures were just HIDEOUS! If you're still reading this, man are you devoted! Thanks for hanging in there with me and I'll be gone for at least a week or two. Hopefully there will be more non-knitting related pictures to share by then.

Really MIA

2006-09-24T20:37:00.000-07:00

So sorry about not posting in almost a month... it's been a bit crazy here. I think in the past 6 weeks, I've been in LA for all of a 2 weeks TOTAL if you add up the weekends here and there and random days I've dropped off my bags to dump the dirty clothes and immediately pack again. Anyway, the rantings and ravings will be on pause for a little while longer. I promise some effort in this blog in, wait, what does the countdown tell me... 19 days or so.

The quick and dirty (and pictureless) update is:

tension is mounting as the date draws closer... I think everyone just wants it to be here already and we're all just getting antsy
finished VK fall 2005 hooded pullover on Sept 18
finished my first crochet project (two tone bag in Fall 2005 Interweave Crochet)since forever ago on Aug 21, but it's a bit strangely proportioned for my body and the straps stretch
clearly I'm almost exactly a year behind in my projects!
am about 75% of the way through Icarus
have been a bad bad girl when it comes to sock yarn

Pretty much, nothing really changes around here except for the frequency of my posting! Hope all is well with all of you, and thanks for the kind comments on the pics from my last post.

43+

2006-08-31T21:25:00.000-07:00

So yes, I have disappeared off the face of the planet. But it's because I have been working on that thing that I'm counting down to on my sidebar, which right now tells me I have a little over 43 days remaining. Yes, it's been hectic, but actually things are coming together nicely.

I won't bore you with all the details, but I thought I'd at least share a pic with you. This is what we paid a professional to do to my hair:

Okay, not really. This is after I took out all of the pins and elastic and everything that was holding it all together and all that was left is the hair spray. I took my ~~mug shots~~ bridal portraits today and was just happy to let my hair down afterwards and give my scalp a break. If you're not DF, click HERE for a really FUNNY outtake from that session that my dad took. No, you don't get a real one until after the wedding.

On the knitting front, I finished the Two Tone Bag on Monday. Apparently I've been extremely horrible about blogging because I haven't yet managed to actually post any progress pictures. Oh well, I guess you'll just have to wait for the FO picture. I'm hoping it won't be 43 days from now.

Blogiversary

2006-08-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

Oops! I managed to completely miss the fact that it's been just over a year since my first post. I was reminded of it by Karen, who just about shares my anniversary.

I never actually thought that anybody would ever actually read my blog, but somehow people have drifted over from various places. You've seen me through my engagement, histeria over my first almost entirely knitted Christmas list, reckoning with an increasingly unwieldy stash, a death in the family, wedding planning, and some 34 finished objects. Wow, I just realized that's more than an FO every other week. Huh... when did I get to knit that many items? Oh yeah, when babies started popping out of everyone around me.

That, ahem, is not what's in store for the next blogiversary...

I don't have any fancy contests or giveaways planned for this blogiversary... just a heartfelt thank you to everyone who's ever read or commented. Your praise for my work and encouragement for the many spazzing moments accompanying my knitting and life in general mean quite a lot to me. Who knows where we'll be in a year, but it'll be fun finding out!

back again

2006-08-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone who complimented the wedding dress. I've been so excited to have it and it's been really difficult to not take it out of the bag and play dress up. I had to promise the dress shop ladies that I wouldn't handle it except to take my bridal portraits and get the train bustled (which BTW, means that they attach loops and buttons onto the back of the skirt to pick up the enormous train so I can walk around without tripping).

Sorry I've been so remiss in my blogging and commenting. I've had two work trips over the past two weeks, so I've just been too zapped at the end of the day to post any new progress. I've started two other projects since last posting... a bag that's (gasp!) crocheted in tweed started on Friday, Aug 4 and the Icarus Shawl finally on August 1. But here are the two finished objects that I've finished a while ago but am just now getting around to posting:

Sweater with Interlacing Cables
Pattern 37 in Rebecca number 25 (Jan-Sept 2003)
Materials: GGH Goa (50% cotton, 50% acrylic. 66 yards per 50g ball) 5 balls in SH24. Size 11 Denise Interchangeables.
Gauge: 11 sts/4 in
Finished size: 32" bust

Started: July 27, 2006
Finished: July 31, 2006

Discussion:
Huh, I must be knitting for sheer relaxation these days because this is the second project recently where I actually used the specified yarn. And on top of that, no mods! This one went extremely fast and I like how drapey the fabric is at this gauge. I used Goa for the baby sweaters on a much tighter gauge, and I didn't like the drape near as much. The only complaint I have about this sweater is that the yarn ends like to poke through to the right side (and there were many) and the armholes are a touch large. I might go back and crochet around the armholes to make them a bit smaller and have them lie flat too.

Otherwise, I'm suprised there weren't more issues with reading the pattern. I'd heard how notorious Rebecca patterns were at leaving things to the knitter's imagination. The only thing I noticed was that the instructions specified a number of rows for the front but had you knit to a certain measurement for the back. This is fine if your row gauge exactly matched theirs, but mine didn't, and so I had to fudge the chart for the front a bit so the back wouldn't end up shorter than the front. They also conveniently left off a bit of information about the chart... namely that the chart represented the middle stitches and you were supposed to work the rest of the sts not shown on the chart in stockinette. Okay, so you could figure that out based on the picture, but it's still frustrating that they publish patterns this way.

Hooded Sweater
Pattern by Debbie Bliss in Special Knits for Babies
Materials: Caron Simply Soft (100% acrylic, 396 yards per 198g skein) 180 g in Autumn Red. Size 8 Addi Turbos.
Gauge: 18 sts/4 in.
Finished size: 22" chest

Started: July 11, 2006
Finished: July 25, 2006

Discussion:
Pretty straight forward knitting with a sole intention of having something to do while trapped in a Montana airport (no one guessed it... I was in Dillon, MT and the closest airport was Butte, MT). It worked, and I have a baby in mind for it, just not yet born. I did the sleeves top down once again, but I noted that for these kinds of sleeves, I needed to leave a bit of a tail so that I could close the small hole formed by changing from knitting in the round to dividing for front and back. The only other thing is that I found the Simply Soft to be soft indeed, but not nearly as soft as other natural fiber yarns I've been working with lately (Malabrigo and Calmer come to mind). That being said, the yarn requirements were a steal at $3. A little squeaky to work with, but good for its intended purpose of keeping a baby that may have its moments of mess warm.

Wedding dress!

2006-07-31T17:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I shouldn't post it, but I just can't help myself. I just picked up my dress over the weekend and I LOVE it! The manufacturer doesn't have a size chart, so they just cut the dress to your measurements, and let me just say, no alterations for fit are necessary. Whew! I just have to get the train bustled and that's it.

Anyway, for anyone who may be curious to see what it looks like, CLICK HERE or HERE. Please ignore the bad tan lines and funny look on my face on the latter... I didn't want the dress shop to have to stand there taking pictures of me all afternoon until I looked right. I think I showed DF already, but just in case I didn't and he wants to be surprised (which the answer is, I'll look if you want me to - how frustrating to not just get a yes/no answer!), I didn't want to just put the pictures up for accidental viewing.

Also, I finished two more objects... or at least one plus close to another. One is a baby sweater and the other is a tank top for myself. I'm not quite done with the tank since I need to weave in the ends and block. But it should be done tonight with no pics until later this week since I'm in San Francisco almost all week.

BTW, it's cooled down here significantly... I was walking at lunch wishing that I had brought my Blackberry it was so cool: 60-65 degrees!

Men's Zippered Raglan

2006-07-26T18:50:00.000-07:00

Men's Zippered Raglan
Pattern: in Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson
Yarn: Malabrigo (100% wool, 215 yards) 6.5 skeins in Burgundy. Size 10 circular needles.
Gauge: 4 sts/in.
Finished size: I'm guessing here... 46" chest, 22" sleeves, I have no idea how long.

Started: January 14, 2006
Finished knitting: June 28, 2006
Finished: July 24, 2006

Notes:
Yarn substitution resulted in a smaller gauge than the pattern, so I had to modify everything to correct for my new gauge. And I decided to make a size that was between 2 of the sizes in the pattern. I used the sleeve modifications from Alison to get the raglan to look nice on the front and back. I added 1.5" of armpit depth before starting the armhole shaping. I decreased to the neck until it looked right rather than the specified raglan length. I ripped out a bunch of times.

Discussion:
The verdict? DF says he likes it! It's soft, warm, and apparently fits okay. He must like it okay if he'll model 1.5 pounds of wool in our 90 degree apartment. But only if you give him a popsicle. I must like him if I'll keep 1.5 pounds of wool in my lap for hours on end installing the !@$#%^ zipper!

I'm actually quite proud of the finishing on this sweater. You can barely tell the difference from the inside and the outside of the sweater and the neckband seam and zipper installation are both quite nicely done if I say so myself. I backstitched the zipper in place at virtually every row of the sweater front. There were times when I skipped a row, but not that many! I am still, however, paranoid that the thing will fall apart. I'll blame it on the softness of the Malabrigo though if you ask for my official stance.

This is the longest enduring project I've ever finished. I love how five months ago I called this sweater something that's been on my sidebar for ages. Little did I know. To give some perspective on how much I dilly-dallied on this project, in the time it took me to cast on for this project and weave in the last end:

I cast on and finished 5 pairs of socks (finished a 6th pair that I cast on for two weeks before), Clapotis (if you count the second time I knit it), a pair of armwarmers, 4 hats (one pattern I knit twice and never mentioned it), 2 baby sweaters, a bolero sweater, 2 headbands (I knit the second Molly without mentioning it and one headwrap I ripped out), a baby dress, and a tank top - 19 objects.
3 different seasons of Knitty have been up.
The temperature has gone up 70 degrees.

Much angst went into this project so I'm happy that I managed to finish it in time for DF's half birthday. Now I need to find a meat locker for him to stand in so that he can get around to using it!

Since this one's been blogged to death, I'll leave you with just a list of previous posts if it's been so long you've forgotten how I felt about this project.

Previous posts about this project
Pictures galore! on July 21, 2006
Dried berries on June 30, 2006
Tweed indeed on June 29, 2006
Do I look like the FBI? on June 26, 2006
Candy Cane Hat on April 17, 2006
No knitting pictures here! on April 10, 2006
He's too sexy for his sweater on April 3, 2006
It's not election day but... on March 5, 2006
Hey that's not burgundy is it? on February 23, 2006
So much for being regular on February 16, 2006
Let's play a game on January 19, 2006
gotta love having a camera on January 17, 2006
Beware! on January 16, 2006

Next up: Another baby sweater finito!

Deciduous

2006-07-24T22:08:00.000-07:00

Deciduous
Pattern: Deciduous by Marnie Maclean
Yarn: Rowan Calmer (75% cotton, 25% acrylic. 175 yards) Exactly 2 skeins in color Laurel (474). Size 7 Addi Turbo circulars (24").
Gauge: 22 sts/4" in st st.
Finished size: Length - 12", Width at bust - 12" relaxed and laid flat.

Started: July 19, 2006
Finished: July 23, 2006

Notes:
Followed pattern exactly except omitted last 4 rows of chart and used 3 st i-cord for straps.

Discussion:
As I mentioned before, I absolutely loved working with Calmer. It couldn't be nicer stuff... so soft, so springy and the color is just so... calming. Which is good because right about now I about want to tear somebody's head off I'm so miserable from the heat. Anyway, I highly recommend the yarn, but it can take some getting used to to get a consistent gauge and the yarn has a tendency to split.

As for the pattern, who couldn't resist a pattern that calls for a measley 2 balls of yarn? Especially when the requested yarn is more than I'd usually pay for yarn and it magically appeared on sale right when I wanted it? Anyway, I was superpsyched to make a whole top for about $17... the only problem was the yarn shortage.

I'm not sure if my gauge was a bit off or what, but I most certainly ran out of yarn here. I started to panic as I was ending the chart and watching my ball of yarn dwindle down to nothingness. So I aborted the pattern 4 rows early in hopes of managing to get the back to stay up. Thankfully, I got to about here and weighed the remainder of my yarn. I decided to plow ahead and add straps using an i-cord instead and I even had a whole 1g of yarn leftover! If the i-cord straps didn't work out, I was planning on using a length of wide ribbon to hold the thing up. Honestly, the lacing appears to be what's holding the top up - not the straps - but I figured it'd look pretty dumb without any straps at all. I do absolutely love the back of this top. The pattern also gives alternate instructions for making a straight across high back. But the combination of the heat, my cheapness (I'd have to buy an extra ball for the high back), and DF's fondness for seeing my back made me give the low back a go.

All in all, I'd recommend the pattern for its simplicity, lightning quick finishing time, and super sexy (at least I think so) results. I might just warn those who are thinking of making the smallest size: buy 3 balls if you want wider straps or don't want to unravel your gauge swatch or want the last 4 rows of the chart I omitted. You could probably also omit a few rows at the beginning (I'd guess 5) to get away with 2 balls without making any other changes.

Next up: DF's zippered raglan is done!

Previous posts about this project:
Pictures galore! on July 21, 2006

Pictures galore!

2006-07-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a really long time since posting, but I completely blame it on Delta Airlines once again. This time, in touring the Lewis and Clark region of the country where the explorers picked up the lovely and indispensible Sacajawea, I had to endure two cancelled flights in a row! Can we call that fun? Brownie points go out to anyone who can name what town the Spaz was working in at the time. Hint: I picked up some less than half price rain pants at the Patagucci outlet in this town of approximately 5000 where the closest airport is an hour away up I-15 and has a grand total of one gate and three flights daily.

But, of course, flight delays do mean that I get a good bit of knitting in. I cast on July 11 for another baby sweater since they're also super portable knitting and DF has told me that I have too many knit socks. This one is the hooded sweater in the Debbie Bliss Special Knits for Babies book. Again, this one is going seamless, so I've finished the body and half of the hood. I tried to sew the shoulder seams so that the seam is invisible, but I think it looks a bit funny. The 3 needle BO seems to be the least bulky of all shoulder seams I've tried so far.

Upon my return, I spent a good day relaxing and knitting in the park. If you can call it knitting. I decided to push through and finally finish DF's zippered raglan. It took me something like 2 hours just to baste the zipper in place so that the zipper lined up on both sides. Then, actually sewing it in place with backstitch... just shoot me now. This is how much more I have left to do on the last side after 3 hours of sewing by hand. The white thread is the section that's just basted in and remains to be sewn. I sure hope that sewing down the collar doesn't take as long.

Having burned myself out on sewing, I decided that some good old-fashioned knitting was in order. Some of you may have noticed that I went yarn shopping with Jillian a couple of weeks ago. I decided to turn my purchases into something a bit more in season than the fuzzy alpaca long sleeve hooded sweater I've also been sorta secretly working on (working on the sleeves top down like you all egged me on to... it seems to be working!) So, I cast on for Deciduous by Marnie Maclean on Wednesday in the oh so delectable Rowan Calmer. I'm so in love. Just for scale, here's Deciduous on top of DF's zippered raglan. The thing is so SMALL.
On the wedding front, it's less than 3 months away and I'm getting more nervous. My Dad sent me a CD of my baby pictures to be used in an unabashedly cheesy, tear jerking video story of the two of us for the reception. Most of the pictures contained were just awful Go Fug Yourself moments (see them on the wedding blog, but please come back here to comment). But since this is a knitting blog, I thought I'd share these two:

I want to say that this little cardigan was hand-crocheted by my grandmother, but I can never remember her having crochet needle in hand. Even now, I think this one's too cute! I might however have to question my parents' judgment at pairing a pink cardi with a red checkered pant suit and sailor themed bucket hat.

Same thing with the crochet look here. And um, no, I didn't have the mumps. Clearly, it's drug store cheap acrylic, but darn it if there wasn't some impressive stitch pattern and colorwork going on here. Go grandma!

Ribbon Tied Dress

2006-07-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

Ribbon Tied Dress
Pattern: by Debbie Bliss in Special Knits for Babies
Yarn: Lion Brand Microspun (100% acrylic, 168 yds in 70g ball) 2 balls in French Vanilla. Size 4 Addi Turbo Circulars, 24" and 32".
Gauge: 22 sts x 30 rows = 4" square in st st.
Finished Size: 19" chest

Started: July 2, 2006
Finished: July 10, 2006

Notes:
Many pattern modifications. I wanted to use stash yarn but my gauge at 5.5 sts per in was larger than the pattern gauge. As it was, the fabric was stiffer than I like, so I wasn't about to go down a needle size to achieve gauge... hence recalculating all the stitch counts. I also downsized the pattern by about 1 inch in length and width.

In addition, I changed the instructions to be completely seamless. For the body, this was straightforward. For the sleeves, I decided to knit from the top down to avoid seaming the sleeves into the armholes.

The sleeve is a modified drop-shoulder sleeve. I re-calculated the number of final bound off sleeve sts from the pattern to adjust for my different gauge. Then I picked up half that number of sts up the front and the other half down the back. Finally, I picked up 1 additional st per bound off stitch at the base of the armhole. These additional stitches were decreased at either end of the sleeve one at a time every two out of three rows, kind of like turning a heel on a heel flap sock.

This is where I differed on either side. On the first sleeve, I used SSK with the body st and the first sleeve stitch, knit to the the last sleeve stitch and k2tog with one body st. On the wrong side, it was p2tog, purl to last st, then p2tog-tbl. This left visible strands (picture on left), so I reversed the decreases on the second sleeve. I think the strands disappeared into the faux-seam (picture on right), so I think this approach is worth doing in the future.

Discussion:
I love the look of this dress, but for some reason, the fabric came out really stiff despite being a chunkier gauge than what's specified on the ball band. Weird, huh? Anyway, if I make this dress again, I won't use Microspun. But hey, I used up 2 out of the 3 balls in my stash. Only 2! According to the pattern, I was supposed to need more than 3 since the labeled gauge for Microspun is the same as the recommended yarn, Baby Cashmerino. Hence I opted to downsize the dress by an inch in width and length. Apparently, I over-did it. I guess I'll have leftovers for a hat and booties for the next time.

The modified drop shoulder sleeves knit from the top down were great! I don't think I described it very well, but it really was pretty easy. The armhole "seam" is not bulky at all, and it would have been even less bulky if I had picked up sts a half st in instead of a whole st in. Given my track record with seaming, this was the perfect solution for me. Now if only I could figure out how to tie a proper bow...

BTW, these drop shoulder sweaters just scream to me, "Hug me! Pick me up!" which is good since they're for babies. I just need a baby to actually model these sweaters to see if they don't look so home-made when on a real body.

Previous posts on this project:
Nightmares on July 6, 2006

Nightmares

2006-07-06T17:51:00.000-07:00

I've been having nightmares lately. I'm not sure what it says about me that I dream about my wedding, but I have the wrong dress and it doesn't fit. Or that I'm getting on the plane to go to New Zealand for the honeymoon and all of the sudden, the flight went from being a 12+ hour flight to an 20+ hour flight and darn it if the only thing I have in my knitting bag is a sweater that I only need to weave in ends on.

After waking up in a cold sweat from the last dream, I made sure that for this last trip, I had plenty to keep my needles busy despite recognizing the need to sleep on the redeye on the way out. I did manage some progress though:

Molly's Headband
Pattern: by Pam Allen in Interweave Knits Summer 2006
Yarn: Zen Yarn Garden Superwash Merino (100% superwash merino wool, 250 yards.) ~20g of a 117g skein in color Passionfruit.
Gauge: Didn't measure it! Knit on size 6 Addi Turbo circulars, 24".
Finished size: 17" long without ties and 3.25" wide.

Started and Finished: July 1, 2006

Quick to knit and easy to memorize. It's a great use for leftover sock yarn sitting in your stash. In fact, I still have enough Zen Yarn Garden to make a slightly smaller version. I think I made it a bit too long and too wide for my head. Despite what DF would argue (my head is not the size of Sputnik, nor do I need snaps at the shoulders of my shirts to allow for the passage of my ginormous head!), I think I have a relatively small head. The next one I make will have one fewer stitch in the stockinette panels and I think I'll make it shorter.

For the cheapskate in me... How cool is that? A pair of socks and 2 headbands from one skein of yarn?

For the rest of you, would anyone be interested in taking this larger version off my hands? Leave me a comment if you know someone who might like a very girly colored headband...

Okay, if you can tear your eyes away from the train wreck that is my hair in the above picture, I actually have more knitting projects previously unblogged. Having completed the above headband in record time (for me anyway) I cast on for a baby present on Sunday after an all day and not quite all night Fourth of July picnic - my hands were a bit twitchy from not having knit all day... I had to at least cast on and get a few rounds in!

My friend is due any day now, so I'm feeling the heat to get this one done. The pattern is the Ribbon Tied Dress in Special Knits for Babies by Debbie Bliss. I'm using up some Microspun left over in my stash. Yay for stashbusting! Anyway, I have woven in all the ends on the body and am getting ready to add the sleeves. Of course, I could just give up now and call it a jumper, but I sort of like the idea of a winter dress. It's freaking huge at 19" across the chest (despite downsizing from the 3-6 month size specified in the pattern), so by the time the baby has any chance of fitting into it, it'll be winter anyway.

The ladybug is just because it seemed appropriate for a child's sweater and the SD card is for scale.

Dried berries

2006-06-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

So we put the blocked sweater on DF last night and he had it on long enough for him to determine that it fits, but not long enough for me to get a picture. Sorry, y'all. You're just going to have to wait for DF to strut his stuff for the camera until it's not 10000 degrees in here. I'm hoping also to install the zipper and get a REAL FO picture out of it since DF doesn't much like wearing sweaters in the summer. I'll have to agree though, the sweater is freaking warm! Now I want one.

But, I'm not above a little bit of overheating for my readers. So remember the incredible growing sweater phenomenon with Blackberry? Well, it took me almost two months to get up the guts (and get off my butt to soak the sucker... the wet dog smell just isn't pleasant) to try and resize the sucker. After a little soak and pat dry, I threw Blackberry in the dryer with a load of whites. DF insists that he needs socks and underwear to wear to his parents for the Fourth, but is his family really checking to see if he's going commando?

Sorry, getting my mind out of the gutter to get back to the story. Like Jillian suggested, I stood by the dryer and checked every minute to see if things were progressing too quickly. Did I mention it was hot? That didn't last very long, so I had to step outside the laundry room and keep going back. During this whole process, I had these nightmarish visions of locking myself out of the laundry room with my sweater held prisoner in the dryer shrinking down into nothingness. Thankfully, this didn't come to pass. Twenty minutes and no noticeable difference later, I gave up. I wondered if Rowan had somehow mislabeled the yarn as it was clearly not falling apart or shrinking like mad so it must be superwash.

But I think it must have shrunk slightly because it seems to be a whole lot cuter on now. The sleeves are at least 2 inches shorter, so that makes it infinitely more wearable. Or at least it looks like it fits better through the shoulders in looking at this picture and the last one. What do you think?

Also, I was just noticing... a post every day this week! When was the last time that happened? Never as far as I can remember. I must be glad to have not gone anywhere this week. Anyway, we're off for the Fourth, so happy grilling, happy birthday America, and I'll see you on the other side.

tweed indeed

2006-06-29T17:42:00.000-07:00

So I made the mistake of visiting my favorite eBay store today - Jannette's Rare Yarns (though for the life of me, I can't seem to figure out which of the yarns she carries are rare). I got the twitch. And by the title of this post, you can probably figure out what did it.

But in an effort of trying to consult DF in the habits of mine that may lead us both to the poorhouse down the line, I called him.

DF: What's up?
Me: Yarn.
DF: What yarn?
Me: You know the stuff I made my Blackberry out of? I saw it on eBay.
DF: How much tweed does one little girl need?
Me: The question is not how much tweed, but how much aran weight tweed?
DF: And what did you do with that whole box of orange tweed you got off of eBay?
Me: You don't understand... I swatched with that and the red tweed and neither was right for that one sweater. And it's discontinued... I might not be able to get it anymore... and it's half price... and there's free shipping...

Can you say, beg much? I did pick up 5 balls, and it was indeed a great deal. Now if only it weren't 1000 degrees in my apartment I might actually consider knitting with heavy wool.

The good news is, the heat has made blocking DF's sweater go much faster. Wait, that means, yes, take a deep breath, I finished knitting DF's sweater. I couldn't believe it either, but proof positive that it's off the needles and that I have no freaking clue how to block...

Yup, that's me being a spaz in DF's fresh off the needles sweater. Unblocked it measures a whopping 32", but with the length through the shoulders and arms, I don't think I could pull off this look. Not for me then. I'm still waiting to see what it looks like when DF actually puts on the blocked version.

BTW, please ignore the mess in the background. It's like that all the time. You can, however, spy on top of the filing cabinet what DF has stashing issues with. It's only there because his other stashing locations are full.

Warning: Long vent ahead!

2006-06-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

I received a letter from Delta a few days ago telling me that I have xxxx miles that may expire and wouldn't it be great if I redeemed those miles for one of many fabulous magazines! DF says, well, can you transfer your miles to me and we can combine our miles to use for a free ticket instead?

So I go online because I generally hate talking to customer service representatives to see if this is a viable option. They want me to log in. I have no idea what my pin# is, so I click on the link for a forgotten pin. They tell me that they'll mail my pin to me.

Being the ever-patient spaz, I decided this was not good enough. So with dread, I called customer service. They ask for my membership number and then my address or date of birth. I give my address since clearly they already have that. "I'm sorry, that's the wrong address for this account. Please give me your date of birth." So I do. The rest of it went something like this:

Me: I'd like to see if I can transfer my miles to another member.
Delta: You can log in to delta.com and transfer miles through our easy to use website.
Me: I tried that already and I can't log in and the website told me to call you to help me out.
Delta: So you cannot log in?
Me: No, I don't know my pin.
Delta: I can't give you your pin, so I will have to mail it to you.
Me: That would be great, but the address you read back to me is my old address from two years ago. Can you change it to my current address?
Delta: I would need your pin number to change your address.
Me: But I don't have my pin.
Delta: We can mail your pin to your home address.
Me: So, wait, you're telling me that you need my pin to change my address, but I can't get my pin unless you mail it to me at my incorrect address.
Delta: Yes ma'am.
Me: *taking deep breath* Is there any other way I can have my address changed?
Delta: Yes, you can mail a letter to us requesting a change of address. You must show proof of your new address and proof of identity such as a government issued identification card.
Me: I don't really feel comfortable sending you copies of my driver's license for this. I try to minimize the chance of identity theft whenever I can. Is there anything else I can send?
Delta: Yes, you can also send a copy of your social security card.
Me: How about if I just mail back the letter you sent to me with my membership number printed on it and the correct address and circle that and with a note to change your damn files!
Delta: I'm sorry, we'll need a social security card or passport or other government issued identification.
Me: Thanks. Have a nice day. *click*

I just hate circular logic.

let's play a game

2006-06-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

poker? No, too overdone right now.
cribbage? Um, that involves a board with pins and cards or something like that maybe I think...
ultimate frisbee? right... didn't you read the post about my boot camp class?

I know, how about find the keys!?!

Yes, this is a game that we play at La Casa de la Spaz at least twice a week. DF's keys hide in various locations... in the bathroom, on top of the refrigerator, on the filing cabinet. Usually, I try to make a mental note whenever I see DF's keys. That only works when they actually make it in the house. Today we found his keys in the most obvious place we should have looked. No, that wouldn't be the bucket for keys by the door that I keep mine in. That's too inconvenient. No, the more logical place to keep your keys is the last place you used them: in the front door.

Lessons learned:

our neighborhood is reasonably safe: your keys can stay outside in the door all night and still be there in the morning.
this is an inherited trait - my future FIL does the same thing. Let's just hope it dies out over the generations.

Also, I did the unthinkable. I THREW AWAY YARN.

Okay, it was really just scraps from the socks I finished yesterday, but there was almost 5 g of yarn in those scraps! The cheap side of me is considering never buying self striping yarn ever again to avoid having to waste yarn by cutting out pattern repeats to get the stripes to match up. Which will win: my cheap streak or my anal retentiveness?

Do I look like the FBI?

2006-06-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

So having lived at the same phone number for the past almost two years, it depresses me to think that an old lady named Dorothy, Great Expectations dating service, and the FBI all get more phone calls than I do at my current home phone. I've gone so far as to reverse lookup Dorothy in an attempt to be able to redirect her phone calls to her instead of having to disappoint yet another little old lady or doctor's office that I'm not Dortohy. The good news for the day however, I now have Dorothy's phone number! One of her regulars gave it to me today... Why is it the little things that make me so happy?

What's making me ridiculously unhappy right now is this scene out in front of my apartment at 7:00 am:

*Beep, beep, beep* that's all I hear all freaking day every day except Sundays for the past several months. Why oh why do trucks have to ever BACK UP? I'm considering sabotaging the reverse gear on every single truck that comes 'round these parts while the construction guys are taking their lunches.

Okay, knitting content. I finally finished the quickie socks for my Grandfather and they took quite a bit longer than they really should have. These were done on size 1 Addis two at a time at a gauge of 8.75 sts/in with Schachenmayer Regia Patch Antik (75% wool, 25% nylon, 432 yards) color 48030 with 11% of the ball left over. Finished dimensions: 10.25" long, 8.25" circumference. Started June 4, 2006 and Finished June 26, 2006.

Check it out though, the stripes are matched and go uninterrupted up the front!

And back from the dead is DF's zippered raglan sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I finally brought myself to rip out the yoke (for the second time) and reknit it without shaping for the first two inches after joining the sleeves to the body. That gives the sweater significantly more room through the shoulders... and I can use all the room I can get with as broad as DF's shoulders are. It still fits like a shrunken T right now, but still hoping for the magic of blocking.

Since I forgot to mention it in my last post (excuse the unbridled lust, I didn't have control of myself when I posted), I did get a chance to stop in on the Purlygirls while I was in Seattle last week. They were all quite nice and welcoming, and I'll definitely be back next time I'm in the area. I also have to mention that about half the group is training for a triathlon. More feelings of guilt for not being in better shape and and shame for my performance in my recent exercise endeavors washed over me as I listened to the ladies recount their training regime for the weekend which included a race on Saturday morning, a training ride on Sunday and a half mile swim on Monday. I'm tired just thinking about it. Jessica and Molly, if you're reading this, it was great to meet you and the other blogless purlygirls!

more lust

2006-06-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, sorry right up front for having nothing to show you YET AGAIN. I didn't think that the same pair of socks in progress was interesting enough to shoot before just getting the FO picture.

What I will go on about today though is the discovery of lust incarnate: Knitpicks added a line of interchangeable needles that apparently have a finish as smooth as Addis, a point as sharp as my Denise needles, and a cord more flexible than Addis. The set comes in 9 sizes from US4-11 and they charge $60 for the set. I WANT. Check out this mini review by All Things Heather and also an unofficial review by Clara at Knitter's Review (scroll down). I wonder if it would be possible to add this to my wedding registry? Hmm, I'm guessing Macy's, BBB, and Amazon don't link to the Knitpicks site, huh?

today at boot camp...

2006-06-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

So have you ever seen that early Buffy episode where Amy's mom switches bodies with her daughter and tries out for the cheerleading squad and hexes another competitor to spontaneously combust? Yeah, kinda like that.

Total exercise time: 56 minutes
AVG HR: 168 bpm
Peak HR: 230 bpm (I think this must be an error)
Time within 155-175 bpm: 31 minutes

In other news, I'm heading out of town for another couple of days, but I wanted to make sure I finished lengthening Hopeful before heading to Seattle. I'd seen on Jenna Adorno's blog that she sometimes goes to the Purlygirls meeting, so wouldn't it be cool if I wore one of her designs there and got to meet her? I think it's a much more wearable length now and looks like it flares less even though it's still the same shaping. I like it even if I'm having a bad hair day and can't take a reasonable picture...

I'm pointing at where the shirt used to end.

bonnie sweater

2006-06-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, thanks everyone for your votes. It looks like Icarus is officially going to be blue. As Karen correctly pointed out, the last time I asked for a vote about the W-day, I managed to completely ignore the overwhelming majority and go with my own feelings. Thankfully, this time it matches what you guys think! Now, when will I actually be able to cast on for this? Oh yeah, I'm waiting for stitch markers before I can get started on anything remotely lace.

In the meantime, remember that Hopeful sweater I made last fall? The one that went through 8 incarnations of sleeves (and makes me wonder about my idea of picking up sts around the armhole and knitting the set in sleeves directly onto the body on the current VK hoody)? Well, I decided that it was definitely too short, so last night... off with its hem! I was too scared of the effect that the scissors were having to take a picture, so unfortunately, no images of knitting massacre to show here, but I think it will turn out just fine. Ask me again next week.

In more pictureless news- I went to WWKIP day outing in the park on Saturday. I'm of course a horrible blogger, so you'll have to visit Rain, Teresa, Janet's blogs to see what it was like. I should also warn you of the dangers of KIPing... you might get a really BAD sunburn! Of course, in true spaz fashion, I managed to burn just my knees and left shoulder and produced a nice defined line of sunburn along the side of my thigh. Which of course, is exactly why I'm not showing you.

Lastly, the title of this post. Go check it out. Apparently Eunny gets her inspiration from Go Fug Yourself, too! Ok, not. She's probably a whole lot more sophisticated than the spaz (C'mon... the words "Oh, I guess the New Yorker is probably a bit more highbrow than my US Weekly" actually came out of my mouth) as she actually has SEEN the Faye Dunaway movie from which this picture was taken. Her version is BEAUTIFUL in concept, but for this lazy knitter, out of reach at 8 sts per inch and cabling from waist to bust. i think if I actually get around to doing this sweater, I'll stick to the original inspiration and try in a chunkier yarn. As if sport or DK is all that chunky...

MIA... again

2006-06-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes... I've been traveling once again, although this time not for the freedom killer event that's apparently less than 130 days away. Just a work trip this time, although I did at least get a chance to hang out with two of my ushers while away. They are REALLY enjoying the fact that I've asked my brother to be a bridal attendant. They'd like it even more if I asked him to be my matron of honor... I can see some teasing in his future.

Anyway, thanks IronSteph and Chrissy for your thoughts on my hummingbird heart. I keep trying to just do some walking with my heart rate monitor on and spend all but my warm up and cool down time in my training zone around 130-150. It's really hard though because it just doesn't feel like "work". I'm trying to persevere, but how long should I expect it to take before I can actually do more than just walk? Hmm, maybe this is why I don't like hikes over 9 miles...

So not much to report on the knitting front except that MJ has been making me obsess more over the Bonnie and Clyde sweater I mentioned a few posts back from Go Fug Yourself. MJ has been nice enough to explain smocking to me and I've been reading about top down seamless set in sleeve sweaters (I'm probably going to go with body and sleeves done simultaneously) in Knitting from the Top, so who knows... we might have a swatch on the horizon.

Okay, I lied. I cast on for the socks my grandfather requested a month ago while on the plane on Monday. It's boring stockinette with short row toes so far, so it's really not all that exciting of a picture. Another inch or so and then it's time to turn the heels. I decided to try the yarnover method of short rows this time since it really ticks me off that my wrap and turn method looks different on one side of the heel than it does on the other. This method is a bit more balanced, but it's MUCH looser for me and looks a bit more holey than the wrap and turn method.

One last thing... I don't think I clarified here about the Dream Swatch head wrap. I really do like the pattern - it's a great result for minimal effort and it knits up so fast. I liked the yarn with the pattern, it's just that I didn't have near enough to make it that great length that Wendy shows in her version so that it cascades down over your shoulders. After tying my shorty version on, I ended up with stumpy ends left over that just added bulk underneath my already poufy hair. I'll probably make this again when I have more yarn to dedicate to the project and make it long enough to double as a head wrap and skinny scarf for those slightly chilly spring and fall evenings. For now though... the yarn has been recycled and is waiting for another stashbusting project.

really, this truly is the last thing... I'm thinking of making the Icarus Shawl. Which do you think would work out better with my Dress: undyed merino or pale blue alpaca? I'm not sure I'd actually plan on wearing a shawl with my Dress, but for some reason, I'm feeling like it should at least not clash as long as I'm bothering to make it and leave my options open.

Decision point

2006-06-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

First, thanks for the encouragement to keep on working out. I really truly do look like that after doing any sort of cardio. To answer Karen's question, I don't think 190 is good. According to most information I've read (this site seems to explain it best) it's best to stay in the 60-70% range for fat burning and 70-80% for cardiovascular improvement. Since I'm aiming for the latter and using the simple age formula, that would put my target range at closer to 133-152. Um, yeah. That's like walking down the street for me. Supposedly, I'm at "redline" and "should be cleared by a doctor" before doing this. Yeah. I'm only going to the doctor if I pass out and they carry me there. Um, did I mention I'm the worst patient when it comes to compliance?

Anyway, am I that ridiculously out of shape? I try not to think of it that way, and prefer to lump myself in with Lynda's husband: just one with a naturally fast ticker.

Okay, so after I picked myself up off the floor Wednesday night, I couldn't manage to do even the slightest bit of knitting. So despite the fact that I'd cast on for the VK Hooded Sweater about a month ago, I have been making miserably slow progress on it. I sat down last night after what felt like a well deserved rest, and finished up the back so I could have something respectable to show:

I think that's officially respectable progress. This sweater is actually pink unlike DF's UFO. Yes, I know. I'm stuck in Project Spectrum March these days.

Question now is: do I just follow the instructions and knit the sleeves flat? Or should I seam the shoulders and side seams and pick up stitches around the armhole and knit down from there like MJ and Karen B do? I'm leaning towards the latter given the fit I pitched on the finishing for the Twinset. And I just don't trust myself to not spaz when it comes time to set in the sleeves. Am I crazy?

Conversations with a Workout Spaz

2006-06-01T16:50:00.000-07:00

So I started going back to the gym because I was feeling like something of a slug. Blame it on the wedding, but I feel like I should be in better shape for the special day. After all, people are supposed to let themselves go after the wedding, not before it, right? And let's face it, knitting isn't exactly working out. Of course, I like knitting a whole lot more than working out.

The problem I usually have with working out is that I never really learned how to pace myself. Go figure, I am a spaz! So I got a heart rate monitor. I strapped it on the first day I got it and wore it for several hours while working. On average, about 65 or so. Okay, that sounds about right I guess. But then I went to this boot camp class that my gym offers with the thing on. Five minutes into class after the first of infinite sets of jumping jacks, I look down at the watch: 170. Huh, I don't feel like I'm going to die... I must be okay still.

Instructor guy is supposed to be motivational, yelling at us all "drill sargeant" like, except he's a bit too smiley for that to work. So I'm certainly not afraid of him, and well, I don't find him to be terribly motivational either. He barks, "High knees! Keep them up! Higher! Higher!" I just think, "I don't see your knees going anywhere, mister." He screams, "We're losing weight here... work harder!" I'm smirking back at him, "You work harder! You look like you could be standing around eating a candy bar." I guess like my knitting, I have a hard time listening to someone else tell me what I should be doing. I'd rather do it my way.

At the end of class, I look back down at my heart rate monitor and note, max HR: 190. Well, at least I didn't pass out today. I wonder if this is normal?

As promised, a picture of my retarded looking Dream Swatch head wrap. Thrown in for good measure (we're into full disclosure here!), a visual of what an hour at a heart rate of 170+ will do to you:

DF found me on the floor for the rest of the evening. I just hope Molly treats me better...

Designing

2006-05-31T00:09:00.000-07:00

I'm glad I'm not the only one lusting over the Bonne and Clyde sweater. If I could do it, I'd probably try to do it top down a la MJ's beautiful Gedifra cotton sweater. A slip stitch pattern over 2 rows to get the faux stripeyness going on, and well, since I don't really understand smocking, maybe a cable pattern might achieve the same effect? I've been looking through the BW fourth treasury of knitting that I got on sale from Stitches from the Heart (20% off of a Schoolhouse Press book - now that's a sale!) and I think there may be a cable pattern in there that might look a bit like smocking, but I don't think it'll draw in the waist that much. Hmm, I see a swatch in my future.

I ignored all of you (I'm a spaz, what can I say) and went with the Wendy's dream swatch head wrappy thing. I cast on for it on Saturday on the way down to Costa Mesa to go to the largest freaking Macy's I've ever seen... and I didn't even go to the main store! I finished it today, and well, it's sort of retarded looking. Not retarded as in I hate the stitch pattern or anything, it's just too short. I didn't weave in the ends, but I can't quite bring myself to rip it out either. When I get the energy up to take a picture, you too can vote for ripping out knitting and listening to your sage advice to knit Molly's Headband instead.

On the other knitting front, I've been off and on knitting the pieces of the VK Fall 2005 hooded pullover. The front is now complete up to where I need to start the armhole shaping. Except I had such a great time at SNB tonight that I just kept on knitting and forgot to stop to shape the armhole. Up next: fun with frogging furry yarn.

Oh yeah, and in case you've been wondering why I've been so spotty with my blogging, there's that wedding thing coming up (see sidebar). I'm about 4 and a half months away now, so apparently I'm supposed to be thinking about what gifts to ask for. With some 300 people invited to the wedding, I'm wondering if I'll need to rent out a small storage closet for the gifts since I already live in an apartment the size of a closet. or at least it feels that way with the amount of camping/climbing gear taking up the closet. Oh and I guess the yarn I have in case the sheep decide to stop growing wool probably isn't helping our cause.

And then I'm supposed to publicize all this to a website. I'm using blogger since weddingchannel.com is pretty limited in its ability to link to outside websites. My problem is this: why is it that every template I pick (I'm using Minima now) seems to eat the sidebar content on the individual post pages? This blog doesn't have that problem, but apparently I'm completely HTML inept. Anyone have suggestions?

Random lust

2006-05-25T18:48:00.000-07:00

Okay, one of my favorite blogs to read has nothing to do with knitting.

*a hush falls over the crowd*

But I still have knitty thoughts while reading them. Take today's Go Fug Yourself entry. I saw the sweater from the old photo of Faye Dunaway and I just WANT TO MAKE it. Simple short sleeve crewneck with smocking to draw in the waist... that could be really cute in sport weight yarn...

No pictures today, but go check out Aija's (Quickeye) headwraps. I can't decide which one my leftover (from the Simply Lovely Lace Socks) Zen Yarn Garden pink yarn is destined to become. What do y'all think?

Hello from under the pile of FO

2006-05-23T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't think it would be two whole weeks before I'd post again, or else I would have apologized in advance for my unexplained disappearance. The road called once again and in addition to the week I spent in my hometown for work and coincidentally planning a little event in October, I also traveled to Florida for a meeting last week. Not much time for blogging, but lots of time for knitting.

First off, not much progress was made on the hoody the rest of the week I was home for event planning. I just finished the back of the sweater and have since cast on for the front and am not quite up to the section of ribbing at the empire waist. No pictures today since there are a bunch to follow, but how exciting is a piece of hot pink fuzzy back?

I just have to say, I think it's totally funny that everyone commented on the last post about finishing the second sock up in no time flat and maybe even give it away if I really don't like it after I finish the second. I don't think anyone noticed my use of plurals when referring to the socks that I was thinking of ripping back, or the 99% completion in the side bar. Yes, I was indeed considerig ripping out two almost complete socks in all my spazzy perfectionism. I decided against it, and now I present to you:

Simply Lovely Lace Socks
Pattern: by Karen Baumer in Interweave Knits Spring 2006
Yarn: Zen Yarn Garden Superwash Merino (100% superwash merino wool, 250 yards.) ~80g of a 117g skein in color Passionfruit.
Gauge: 26 sts/4 inches on size US3 Addi Turbo circulars, 24" and 32".
Finished size: 4" from cuff edge to top of heel flap, 7" circumference, 9" from toe to back of heel when laid flat.

Started: May 5, 2006
Finished knitting: May 7, 2006
Finished: May 13, 2006

Notes:
Only a minor adjustment of decreasing one extra stitch on either side of heel gusset (by mistake, but it's okay since my feet are narrower than my ankles might suggest). Also started decreasing more frequently in toe shaping a bit earlier than the pattern would suggest since it looked like the toes would end up too long with their original shape. Also used twisted 1x1 ribbing for the cuff.

Discussion:
Mindless knitting at its best. Had to be the easiest lace pattern to memorize, though the K-tbl stitches between the yarn overs just about made me want to tear my hair out and slowed me down considerably. I couldn't decide if I'm sort of meh about these socks because they're sport weight and seem a bit chunky or if it's because the lace pattern looks like there's a column of knots running down the instep and cuff. Oh well, the Zen Yarn garden superwash is dyed beautifully and it's oh so soft. It does develop a bit of a fuzz to it after blocking, but I like it. Slipping the edge stitches of the heel flap made picking up stitches so much neater. I'll definitely have to try this on all future heel flap projects.

Previous posts on this project:
Legacy on May 9, 2006

Halley's Comet Hat
Pattern: by Marnie Maclean
Yarn: Cascade Sierra (80% cotton, 20% wool. 191 yards per 100g skein) 50 g in color 42.
Gauge: 18 sts/4 in in st st on size US8 DPN (Susan Bates aluminum)
Finished size (when flat): 8 inches tall with brim unrolled, 9.5 inches wide

Started and finished: May 18, 2006

Notes:
No modifications to pattern except yarn substitution.

Discussion:
I loved this pattern! Partially, this was because I managed to finish the hat in one plane ride to Florida which would have been really nice except that I made it too long and had to rip out some of the length. Even that was easy because the lace pattern was so straight forward.

The hat is a great lightweight summer hat and it'll be perfect for my great grandmother for the arctic air-conditioning. Yes, it's sort of a girlie color, but she deserves something nice is what I think. The pattern used exactly half a ball of Sierra, so now I have enough to make a second one for myself to match! Thanks Marnie for an addictingly quick and beautiful pattern.

In case you're wondering, the color is slightly dustier than shown in the photo of the top, and no, the socks and hat are not the same color. The socks are closer to a bubble gum pink but this doesn't show well in the shade.

And last and also least:

Magic Stripes Socks
Pattern: none
Yarn: Lion Brand Magic Stripes (75% wool, 25% nylon. 330 yards) approximately 40% of one ball in color Denim Stripe. Patons Kroy Sock Yarn (75% wool, 25% nylon, 203 yards) approximatey 40% of one ball.
Gauge: 8 sts/in in st st on size US1 Addi Turbo circulars 24" and 32".
Finished size: 5.25" from sole to cuff, 8.75" long, 6" circumference relaxed.

Started: May 19, 2006
Finished: May 22, 2006

Pattern notes:
Cast on 28 sts by Turkish cast on in CC. Worked short row toe on these 28 sts down to 12 sts. Worked one round plain then changed to MC. worked 28 sts of instep as *K2, K-tbl, P, k-tbl, K2* repeat to end. Worked sole sts in plain stockinette. Heel turned exactly as toe in CC. M1 corners where heels meet and decrease extra stitches away on next round to avoid holes. Worked cuff entirely in pattern stitch as established on instep until ran out of MC. Then switched to CC and worked one round even in stockinette, then 1x1 ribbing. Just before cast off, worked two rounds of "double-knitting": round 1 - Knit 1, wyib, sl 1 as if to purl, repeat; round 2: - wyib, sl 1 as if to purl, purl 1. Cast off using faux kitchener bind off or tubular cast-off.

Discussion:
This project was mostly intended to use up left over yarn. I did manage to do that, but I still have 8g or about 30 yd of Kroy sock yarn left over. Maybe I'll use that to tip some gloves or some other kind of contrast.

I listened to Brenda Dayne's Cast On Episode 22 the other day and she describes the 3.5 rules of knitting. One of them was Knit Crap. I think this one definitely falls into the Knit Crap category. It's kind of freeing to think that it's okay to knit Crap since it gives you an idea of what you really don't like.

In this case, I discovered that I don't like the way the twisted stitches on either side of purls looks. I did this originally because my knit stitches before purl stitches in ribbing inevitably look sloppy and loose so this definitely fixed that problem. But now the purl columns look WAAAY too wide in proportion. I would have done bettern to drop all of the twisted stitches. I also could have flown through this so much faster.

I also learned that I like 1x1 ribbing in twisted stitches for the crisp look, but I HATE weaving in ends with this kind of ribbing. Of course, if I wove in ends like a normal person, and didn't duplicate stitch my way to insanity, then it probably wouldn't bother me that much.

I also learned that I really don't like the link above for the tubular cast-off. It was just ridiculously confusing, and even after I thought I had corrected their seemingly erroneous instructions (they don't seem consistent from beginning with a knit vs. beginning with a purl), the cast off flares and just plain looks ugly. So, *gasp* I tried a different cast off for the second sock, and PEOPLE, the SOCKS DON'T MATCH and I'm okay with that. I definitely like the grafted bind off shown in the link above much better and will be doing this in all toe up socks with 1x1 ribbing from now on. The part where the tubular cast off people say to work 2 rounds of double-knitting? Yeah, that's crap. I don't see any reason to do this if you are working the grafted bind off, so I'll skip this next time.

Whew! What a long post! Thanks for hanging in there and I'm off now to go catch up on all 300 of the posts that I've been missing. Sorry in advance for not commenting on your blogs, but 300 posts!

Legacy

2006-05-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

Energized by my quick completion of Blackberry, I cast on for a new sweater on Thursday night. Yes, I'm still casting on for wooly sweaters despite the fact that it's almost summer. I get cold easily, and well, summer in Los Angeles close to the coast is all of 10 degrees warmer than winter, so I'd have to swear off of sweaters entirely if I paid attention to the weather here. Thankfully, I get cold easily.

I'm loving the Filatura di Crosa Ultralight that I'm using for this sweater. It's soft and fuzzy and has no mohair content to make my eyes water. Plus, I got it for practically nothing from WEBS a while back. They still have the color I'm using for $30 a bag if you're interested.

And with a long plane ride ahead of me, I decided to start some socks as travel knitting. I finished knitting these on Sunday night, but I didn't graft the toe closed because I'm sort of feeling meh about these socks. What do y'all think? Should I rip them out and try something different?

I had a chance to visit with my grandparents this weekend. My grandmother took one look at the socks above and said that I should make her a pair like them for her. Only in cotton instead of wool because wool is too itchy and knee high since her knees always get cold. My grandfather was nice enough to only request crew socks, and my great-grandmother decided that socks like these are too cute for an old lady, but a lightweight hat would be nice instead. I'm thinking of using Marnie Maclean's Haley's Comet Hat pattern in Cascade Sierra. I'll try not to pick something "cute" and offputting for old lady sensibilities.

At the end of my visit, my great-grandmother took me aside and started to excitedly rummage through her drawers. Hands waving about and unintelligible Chinese flowing, she pulls out her collection of needles and her stashette. I have no idea what she was saying, but I at least understood that she's a knitter.

Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!

2006-05-05T18:59:00.000-07:00

Before we move on to the best quickie ever, I'd like to give a shoutout to Lisa over at PurlThis. She was kind enough to send along a nice like RAK from the Knittyboard this week in response to my desperate plea for more sock yarn. Go check out her blog and the very cute pictures of her cats in their new kitty bed.

So remember how I needed something quick and painless after my seaming disaster? Well, Blackberry turned into just that. Well, quick at least, maybe not quite painless...

Blackberry
Pattern: Blackberry by Jennifer Thurston
Yarn: Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Chunky (100% wool, 109 yds). Just under 5 skeins in color Stout. Size 11 Denise Interchangeables.
Gauge: 11 sts/4in in stockinette
Finished size: 40" (includes overlap) at bust, 19" from collar to hem, 20" from underarm to cuff

Started: April 23, 2006
Finished: May 3, 2006

Notes:
Followed pattern almost exactly except that body was worked in one piece and arms were worked in the round. Body and sleeves were joined and worked in one piece to collar. Did not break yarn but instead continued picking up sts down right front, across bottom, and up left front to work ribbed edging. Total # of ends to weave in: 6. Priceless.

Discussion:
I was worried that this pattern would look ridiculous on me since I'm a small person and generally think that chunky yarn would overwhelm my petite frame. But looking at the pictures closer, I realized that the designer is about my size and she didn't look ridiculous, so I'd give it a go.

Converting the pattern from flat pieces to seamless wasn't that bad. I just had to keep a closer eye on where I was in the shaping of each piece and how that related to the shaping on the other pieces. Thankfully, everything pretty much lined up on the same rows, so that was a relief.

The only problems I ran into were the bobbles, which I mentioned before and my idiotic displacement. Dropping down those two columns of stitches and reworking the bobbles again worked pretty well, and I can't really tell that I moved my bobbles over except that the sts around the bobbles are a bit loose now. I'm okay with that. Did you hear me? I'm okay with the slight imperfection. I know. Go get some smelling salts.

What I'm less pleased with is the apparent growth of my sweater during blocking. I swear that I blocked my swatch and took my gauge after blocking. Still, my sweater turned out to be a whopping 2" larger around and 2" longer afterwards. Before I blocked it, it was this cute, cropped, fitted top with sleeves that just covered the backs of my hands. Now, they pretty much cover all of my fingers and even with a DPN to secure drastically overlapped fronts, it's still baggy under the arms. See this throwaway picture (DF said, "look constipated!" right before snapping the picture) for an idea of the actual sleeve length.

I'm okay with folding up the sleeve, but the width of the body just bugs me. I'm considering spraying the sweater down with a bit of water to get it sort of damp and throwing it in the dryer to see if it'll shrink a bit. Anybody have any suggestions? I know I don't want it felted...

Anyway, this sweater did turn out to be a very quick knit, which is quite satisfying. If I can get the size a bit better, I'll probably live in this sweater during the evenings (believe it or not, I do actually get cold during the summers at night!) I even have an untouched ball of yarn left over. I see a hat or mittens in its future if I have enough to go around. Do patterns always build in an extra ball of yarn just in case?

Previous posts about this project:
Quick, somebody toss me some nail polish!!! on May 03, 2006
a WIP or Two on April 26, 2006

Quick, somebody toss me some nail polish!!!

2006-05-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

After all of the excitement with getting my sockapaloooza socks yesterday, I don't know what to do with myself. Knit some more, I guess.

When we last left off, I was frustrated with the tiny sweaters from the twinset and had to go do something still quick, but without seams this time. Blackberry in a traditional Elizabeth Zimmerman style. Well, my back and tiny sleeves have managed to grow significantly since their humble beginnings. Not quite the quick one week knit that I was hoping for, but anyway... the sleeves are just about ready to attach to the body. See?

Wait, what's that? Do those bobbles seem a bit wrong? Like maybe the ones on the right look just a little too far from the cable compared to the left? Um, yeah. They're a measly one stitch further to the right. With 17 inches of sleeve done on both sleeves that are identically WRONG, what would you do?

Now that you know what a normal person would do, what would you do if you were the Spaz? Clearly, the obsessive compulsive side would overrule any sort of rational thinking here that says no one's ever going to notice a one stitch displacement. Knit spazzing, of course, ensued.

The long and the short of it is shown below. The bobbles look a little bit wonky now, but I think blocking will fix most of that.

The sleeves are now attached and I'm just decreasing away. I'm still holding my breath to see if I managed to successfully translate a flat pattern done in pieces to a seamless pattern. I think I'm now purple, so what color comes after that?

Also, because I know some of you can share in my glee... I wrote to the publisher's general information address when I came across a perplexing issue with one of the charts in the Barbara Walker Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns hoping that they might have a book corrections page or something available. I got a response from a real person, and at the end it's signed simply "Meg". I'm sitting there wondering, wait a minute, did I just get an email from Meg Swansen? Holy Crap!

They're heeerre!

2006-05-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

Lookee what I got in the mail yesterday... Yes, a package from my sockpal! Already! I was lucky enough to receive a package from my sockpal Beth and it was totally unexpected. For some reason, I had thought that the packages were supposed to go out in the mail today, not be received by today. Uh-oh. To my sockpal: I'm sorry I misunderstood... your package is on its way today!

I was so excited to get my package that it was all I could do to pause for a second between reading the card (from Boston, hey wait, didn't I just live there?) and pulling the socks on to take a picture. Sorry, I didn't manage to get the picture of them in the sock sleeve, but just imagine it's there... Anyway, the moment of truth...

They fit! They are probably a touch longer than I'd like, not enough to be bothersome at all, but I attribute that completely to my inability to measure my own foot. Overall, they're comfortable and they're a BEAUTIFUL color of blue TWEED with subtle specks of orange, green, and purple! How can Beth have guessed that I've been on a tweed kick lately and have recently come into 40 balls of tweed? I've never seen this pattern before, but it's a clean pattern with a small lace panel down the instep and along the sides of the cuff that really jazz up the sock without detracting from the super classic and oh so me understated tweed. Beth, you absolutely pegged me perfectly with these socks!

If you'll allow me to gush just a little bit more, it appears from Beth's blog that she started these only a couple of weeks ago, but she must be a master knitter because you'd never be able to tell that these were a fast knit for her. Absolutely no shortcuts taken here and as you can see from the closeups of the picot cuff, round toe, and heel that she knits beautifully.

The finishing is impeccable. I wouldn't normally show the inside of a sock, but it's just so well done that I felt it necessary to show off. How come I can't pick up stitches from the heel flap this well? If you're turning your head this way and that like I was after looking at this picture, the lower right corner is the leg and the top left corner is where the heel turn would be.
At any rate, thank you so much Beth for sending me such beautfiul socks. I LOVE them!

Is it normal that now I should feel a little less confident about my own socks? They're in the mail now, so there's not much I can do about it, but still...

Geez, finally!

2006-04-28T00:21:00.000-07:00

The Twinset Plus
Pattern: loosely based on Shawl Collared Sweater by Debbie Bliss in Quick Baby Knits and Boat-Neck Sweater by Debbie Bliss in Baby Knits for Beginners
Materials: GGH Goa (50% cotton, 50% acrylic. 66 yards) in color 44, I call it salmon. About 4-4.5 balls each for sweaters and 1.5 balls for hat. Size US9 and US8 Addi circular needles.
Gauge: 3.5 sts/in
Finished size: 24" chest circumference, 12" long, 7" sleeve. Hat circumference ~21.5".

Started: March 27, 2006
Finished: April 27, 2006

Notes:
Hmm, well there are too many modifications to get into detail, but the main point of departure on both sweaters was the gauge. The original pattern for the Shawl Collared Sweater called for super chunky yarn at a gauge of about 10 sts/4 in. The original pattern for the boatneck sweater called for a gauge of 18 sts/4 in. I fell smack in the middle for both sweaters, so I essentially just knit to the finished dimensions on the boat-neck sweater ignoring the stitch count. For the Shawl Collared-Sweater, the smallest size was way larger than I wanted, so I just cast on the same number of stitches and went with it. I changed the neck shaping on the shawl collared sweater for fear of a Sputnik sized baby head not fitting through the scaled down neck opening. I also knit on the collar instead of knitting it separately and sewing it on.

For the hat, I had no other designs on the lonely ball and change of leftover yarn, so I just decided that Mom needed something to slap on on the days when taking care of twins leaves her no time to do her hair (so what's my excuse today?). So I just used the same gauge as I had on the sweater and cast on an appropriate number of stitches for my head figuring I'm about average and went with it. When it looked like I was going to run out of yarn and the it covered most of my head, I started decreasing 6 sts every round. Thankfully, I had enough yarn to close it up and not be a ridiculously short length.

Discussion:
Well, it's been a saga what with the seaming and the poor yarn choice to start with, but I'll just leave it at this: I sure hope mom and babies like their new stuff.

I'm sorry for the less than inspired photo shoot... we were sort of in a hurry as DF's dad was about to leave and I wanted him to take the sweaters back to DF's cousin so she could have them when she gets home from the hospital. We did get it all done in just under the wire (I was furiously weaving in ends while DF and his dad were visiting), but at least I'm on time!

And how did that hat sneak in there? It was nothing but a lonely ball of yarn in my leftover yarn stash just last night! Hmm, I guess that's what happens when you're 2/3 of the way through Da Vinci Code and feel some guilt about what to do with your leftovers but don't want to tear yourself away from reading.

I don't know why, but I didn't really enjoy this project all that much. Maybe because I'm selfish and I knew that I wouldn't get to use it. Maybe because it was stockinette and dropped shoulders. Maybe it was the serviceable but less than exciting yarn. Eh. I'm hoping they like it though and at least I can move on.

Previous posts about this project:
a WIP or Two on 4/26/2006
Anybody want a toy sausage? on 3/29/2006
So much for being regular on 2/16/2006

a WIP or Two

2006-04-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

Wow, such an overwhelming response on the last post, maybe I'll try including pictures in this one...

So DF called me the other day and asked me why I hadn't posted in a while. I said, well, probably because I didn't have anything to show. He says, what do you mean, you've got two sweaters finished and started another!?! As if to say, if that doesn't count for much, exactly how much knitting do you need, woman?

I gently reminded him that while I finished the knitting and seaming, they were waiting for the ends to be woven in. Guess who had volunteered to do it during one of my seaming fits? Yep, gotta love DF! Of course, he figures that at least this way he can say that he helped out when we send it along to his cousin who just had her babies yesterday.

So in an effort to keep you guys interested and admit to all of the ugliness that goes into my knitting, I hereby present to you the twinset 99% complete except for a few errant ends to weave in. Okay, maybe it's more than just a few...

And DF was correct in saying that I started another sweater. I did. The decision came during a fit on Sunday night during my FOURTH night of seaming these !$%^* sweaters. My mistake was assuming that since a dropped shoulder sweater is probably the easiest sweater possible to seam, it shouldn't be a big deal. Except if you're an idiot like me. I was just fine until the final seam on my final sweater. Somehow it was about 2 inches shorter in the front than on the back. In horror I thought that the one side of the front was shorter than the other and I'd have to rip out the collar that I had already attached, rip out the shoulder seam and add a few more rows, and then put the collar and shoulder seam back in to get back to where I was. I decided gifts should not be abused prior to giving and calmly put it down.

I needed something instant gratification for myself. Something without seams to mess up. Something like Blackberry. I even happened to pick up some Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Bulky that day. (c'mon... it was on sale for 40%, it's okay to stash enhance when it's a discontinued yarn on super sale, right?)

Eek. It's raglan, but it's still knit in 5 pieces. Why oh why do the finishing gods test me?

Screw that, it's a raglan. It can be done in one piece, darn it. And so I began. Here's what I have so far... the fronts and back done in one piece up to the armholes and two sleeves done two at a time in the round. We'll find out soon enough if this was a good idea. Here's hoping it doesn't turn into a saga like some other raglan cardigans I know...

Sorry for the weird color in the pictures. It's been pretty gray out lately and we all know my skillz at photography. I still wanted to show the detail on the cable and bobble despite the awful color. Anybody know if it's normal to have a giant hole in the stitch before you make a bobble?

A Tale of Two LYS

2006-04-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

Text heavy ramblings ahead... be warned!

I'm probably one of the worst offenders when it comes to not supporting my LYS. The problem I end up with is that I don't usually find the yarn that I want at a price that I think is competitive with what I can find online. I know, this is going to make it harder for LYS owners to make a living, and then where would I go to fondle yarn IRL? So I should make a conscious effort to go and show my support. So, in keeping with this theme, I dedicate an entire post to my LYS.

Starting it off on a good theme, I had the chance to meet up with Knittin' Mom Chrissy, Sknitty Jillian, and Chewy Spaghetti Khris over the weekend. If you've been keeping up with Chrissy, she was in town to take her kids to Disneyland, support Bill in his relay marathon, and of course, meet up with some fellow knitbloggers. I'm late to the posting party and wasn't a very good blogger having left my camera at home, so go check out Chrissy, Khris and Jillian's posts for more details. I'll leave it at this: We didn't get into any accidents on the 110 this time, we did manage to take the scenic route to Unwind in Burbank (which apparently includes the wrong freeway), we all found out that Jillian would make an excellent LYS employee as we all ended up with yarn in the end, and knitbloggers in general must be more advanced knitters than the general population.

Both LYS we visited on Saturday were quite nice, so Jillian is really good at picking out good spots to take people on yarn crawls. Closer to me, I am a devotee of A Mano Yarn in Venice. They have a reasonable selection of yarn at good prices, all kinds of needles and cute buttons and bag handles to finish your kntiting projects, and LOTS of books and back issues of magazines for inspiration. Best of all, they have a very helpful staff that will let you fondle for as long as you want uninterrupted, but they also give great advice when you need it.

Maybe I should get down to why I gave this post its title. I told a story on Saturday about my LYS that people felt should be posted far and wide. Or at least as far as my little realm of readers. A couple of weeks ago, I was charged with finding yarn by my co-workers for a blanket that several of us were to give to another co-worker as a surprise. The recipient has a small child already so I set out to my LYS in search of something nice (it's a gift and we're splitting it 4 ways after all) but still reasonably easy to care for.

I walked into A Mano as my first stop and set forth my question: what would be good for a baby blanket if you want it to be easy care and fairly soft? The staff there suggested 5 different yarns that were all machine washable and dryable as long as you don't leave it in the dryer until it's beaten to death. I happily took pictures of several color schemes and was on my way.

I walked into another LYS that is actually closer to my house, but I tend not to go there very often because I've always had sticker shock when I set foot in the door. I wanted to give it another try in the off chance that they might have a better color selection. I set forth the same criteria and the response was, "Well, if your recipient truly appreciates hand knit gifts, then she won't mind hand washing the blanket." I pressed on saying that I'd really like to give her the option to just throw it in the washing machine for convenience. The clerk's response was, "If you really want easy care, then what you should get is acrylic. And we don't sell that here." Nevermind that two of the yarns that I was suggested at A Mano were on the shelves (for a dollar more a ball). She didn't quite say Please Leave, but she may as well have.

I decided to turn around the next day and go back to A Mano and spend $100 on yarn for one project.

Anyway, the point of the story is that I highly recommend A Mano as my favorite yarn shop on the west side of LA. If you're ever in Santa Monica or Venice, stop by there and say hi to the nice ladies!

And now for my gratuitous photo of the post. I present you with two squares for the baby blanket. Three left to go for me! Yes, I know, sort of boring looking at really large swatches, but it all has to start somewhere. I would show you the back, except that they look exactly the same.

BTW, the yarn I ended up choosing is Mission Falls 1824 wool. A Mano doesn't carry 1824 cotton, but I'm sure that I'd have thought about it if they did since it's supposed to be great stuff. The wool version has a very high squishy factor, in fact, I got a gauge closer to 1520 the first time because I thought the yarn was so elastic. After adjusting the tension, I was right on the labelled gauge with the recommended needle size. Nice fabric in the end, and machine washable and dryable, so I highly recommend it!

Candy Cane Hat

2006-04-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

Remember how I thought DF's sweater was too tight across the chest and so I riiiiiipped back to the armpits? Well, I was so disgusted with the negative progress that I didn't pick up the sweater again until Sunday night. I wanted to watch some silly girly movies, so I rented Fever Pitch and Just Like Heaven* and sat down for some good mindless knitting time. Mindless is right. After a whole movie, I discovered that I had managed to put the raglan decreases right back in where I had previously ripped out. I didn't have the heart to rip out just yet, so instead...

Candy Cane Hat
Pattern: by Penny Kolb in Handknit Holidays
Materials: GGH Samoa (50% cotton/50% acrylic, 100 yds) in colors Barbie Pink and Espresso. half skein each. Size US8 16 inch Clover bamboo circular needles.
Gauge: 19 sts and 26 rounds = 4 inches
Finished size: 18.5 inches circumference, about 8" from cast on edge to crown.

Started: April 15, 2006
Finished: April 16, 2006

Notes:
Cast on 90 sts instead and began decreasing for crown when I was panicking that I'd run out of yarn. Really, though. How many mods can you make to a stockinette stitch roll brim hat?

Discussion:
I was looking through my stash of yarn leftovers and decided that I could do something with that yarn from DL's bones hat. I weighed it and figured that I had a little bit more than one ball left. I'd seen people make hats out of one ball of Silk Garden, so I should be able to do the same with Samoa, right?

I picked this hat because I thought that the color work would help stretch my yarn as far as I could. I probably could have striped it as well, but that would require more weaving in ends than I'd want. I discovered that with Fair Isle, my gauge is tighter than my gauge swatch (in plain one color stockinette, *slap hands*) would say. Thankfully, I just wanted to use up my leftovers, size be damned!

I think the hat came out cute, if a little girly. Since it's easily too small for me or any other normal sized adult, I decided that it's definitely bound to be a gift for a friend's 3 year old daughter. Hopefully, her head isn't the size of Sputnik.

This post isn't picture heavy enough, so I'm taking a deep breath and showing you my floats. It's a good thing that there weren't that many yarn ends to weave in because I couldn't see much with all of the floats in the way! Kind of looks like a hypnosis wheel. Now if only you could rotate your head that way to get it spinning...

*Edited to add: I meant to comment on the movies. They were both enjoyable in that sappy sort of chick flick way. BUT, the standout in Just Like Heaven was the movie's eponymous opening theme. The original is by far my favorite song made in the 80's and to say that I like any remake of it is utterly amazing. But I LOVE it. Go check out Katie Melua's website for samples of her music. I sure will.

I'm sort of motion sick from the Vertigo picture above too.

Another one...

2006-04-12T16:52:00.000-07:00

I'm on the bandwagon with the Wiki-meme.

After typing in birthday into Wikipedia, here are my 3's:

Events:
1948 - President Harry Truman signs the Marshall Plan which authorizes $5 billion in aid for 16 countries.
1968 - Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "mountaintop" speech.
1996 - Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski is arrested at his Montana cabin.

Births:
1893 - Leslie Howard, English actor (d. 1943)
1924 - Doris Day, American actress
1968 - Sebastian Bach, Canadian musician (Skid Row)

Deaths:
33 - Jesus Christ, founder of Christianity (b. 8-2 BC [disputed])
1882 - Jesse James, American outlaw (b. 1847)
1998 - Rob Pilatus, American entertainer and criminal (Milli Vanilli) (b. 1965)

I think the most entertaining this about this meme is the summary that Wikipedia comes up with. I mean really, did they need to clarify "founder of Christianity"? And which part is disputed, the birth year (huh, I always thought it'd be 0 AD) or that he was the founder of Christianity? Oh yeah, and the Rob Pilatus one. I love that Criminal is one of the descriptors for him!

No knitting pictures here!

2006-04-10T17:43:00.000-07:00

Random post today since I don't really have a lot of knitting content to speak of.

DF's zippered raglan: thanks for all of the reassuring comments about ripping back. I still haven't managed to pick up the sweater again as I'm still a bit depressed about it, but Chrissy's post yesterday reminded me of one of the other pictures from that photoshoot that I didn't use. I'm putting it in here since there were more than a couple of comments about how hot DF is (which I agree about). DF reads every comment on my blog and could barely fit through the door his head was so big thanks to his adoring fans. So for all of DF's fans, a picture for you.

*hiding* I love you, DF!

We went climbing this weekend again, and wouldn't you believe it, an actual picture was taken of me in front of the camera! Turns out some guy is writing a guide book for the Bishop, CA bouldering areas and was out this weekend getting photos for the book. Who knows... maybe I can get in the guidebook!

Knitty: I was so looking forward to the new issue. I even gasped for glee upon return yesterday, and went right to perusing all the patterns to find my next project. All I can say is: meh. The only thing that I may add to my to-do list is the new pair of socks by Cookie A. as a quick project. I still have Pomatamus to do, so we'll see how that goes.

Final note, I went on a yarn buying spree with some birthday cash from my parents. I picked up some Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed for the Blissful Jacket from the Fall 2005 IK. I just love winning auctions... Also, I'm thinking of buying some Rowanspun Aran in red for the Sunrise Circle Jacket by Kate Gilbert in the Spring 2006 IK. Anyone interested in splitting the bag with me? I'll have 6 balls (1200 meters) left over which is enough for the size 41" jacket.

Embossed Leaves Socks

2006-04-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

Pattern: by Mona Schmidt in Interweave Knits Winter 2005/2006
Materials: Knitpicks Essential (75% wool/25% nylon. 231 yards) in color Grass (23695). Much less than 2 skeins - about 280 yards. 2 Size US1 (2.5 mm) Addi Turbo circulars.
Gauge: 8.5 sts/in in st st relaxed.
Finished size: 6.5 in circumference, 7.5 in from back of heel to toe relaxed (and unblocked *slap on the wrist*). Nice and snug on my 8" circumference, 9" long, size US women's 6 narrow feet.

Started: March 19, 2006
Finished: April 3, 2006

Notes:
Followed pattern except I used a long tail cast on instead of tubular cast on since I didn't print out the tubular cast on directions. I also didn't meet gauge at all, but that's okay because my feet are smaller than the finished size in the pattern. I also only did 3 pattern repeats on the leg instead of 3.5 and I did a total of 3.5 pattern repeats on the foot instead of 4.

Discussion:
This was another nice lace motif to make for mindless knitting with beautiful results. This was my first attempt at a heel flap, and though I've never made socks for myself to have another heel type to compare the fit to, I think it fits just fine. I actually find the short row heel to be much easier to execute than picking up stitches on the side of the heel flap. I guess I'll just have to make another pair of socks for myself to see if the short row heel fits me better.

I also found that cutting the yarn after knitting the heel flap and before picking up stitches was a bit inconvenient. The next time I do a heel flap, I'll probably pick up sts on one side of the heel flap, knit around the instep sts and then finish picking up sts on the other side of the heel flap rather than cut the yarn. I hate weaving in ends unnecessarily, even if it's just 2 more. But for my first go at the heel flap and gusset, I thought I'd go ahead and try to actually follow the directions.

The toe is actually quite pretty. I wasn't sure if the extra work involved with this star/swirly shaped toe was worth it over a standard flat toe, but at least there was no kitchener involved!

I'll admit it, the socks are probably a touch too small, maybe by like 1/4 inch or so. But given that you had to end on a specific row to get the toe shaping to line up right, I'm okay with the guesstimate that I made. I actually like the fit since I'm pretty sure I won't have the bunching up in my shoes problem that I often have with athletic socks.

Oh yeah, and in case you were wondering how I guesstimated 280 yards used, I got a FOOD SCALE for my birthday. Pocket sized and perfect for estimating the amount of left over yarn. I think this means I have enough for some anklets...

Previous posts about this project:
Answers to burning questions on March 28, 2006

He's too sexy for his sweater...

2006-04-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

So the latest in the saga of DF's zippered raglan. It's the project that won't end. I attached the sleeves how many weeks ago? and still, no FO picture yet. I decided to do a little finishing along the way and go ahead and graft my underarms while taking a break from the ~300 sts on my needles. So I proceeded to kitchener, and lo and behold, my fantastic grafting job:

What's up with the giant holes? Yes, DF is a man and therefore requires a bit of ventilation in the underarm area to keep from smelling too bad, but I was thinking pit zips would be more attractive than a gaping hole. Gotta fix that. So I tinked. And I remembered how much I hated tinking kitchener stitch.

This time around, I thought, well, maybe I'll just weave the yarn through the neighboring stitches before threading the first sts on my needle.

Voila! Pink underarms! Hmm, I have to figure out why it is that my sts seem to be out of alignment by half a stitch. Anyone know?

Well, I got a good way through the raglan decreases, and had DF try on his sweater. Yes, he can channel his inner Right Said Fred, but he'll still look ridiculous in this SKIN TIGHT sweater. He assured me that it'd be okay if I just keep going and block it within an inch of its life, so I finished the raglan decreases and got rerady to start on the collar. Second fitting made me realize this was ridiculouly tight across the shoulders and chest even assuming LOTS of blocking. I decided that Elizabeth Zimmerman's approach of having a couple of inches of even knitting after attaching the sleeves to the body made a whole lot more sense. RRRIIIIP! I won't even show you how much un-progress I made...

In other fronts... where's the Spring Knitty? I could use a little pick me up on my rainy Monday birthday.

Next up: a finished object that warrants an A!

Anybody want a toy sausage?

2006-03-29T17:39:00.000-08:00

Hmm, maybe I should rethink the title of this post...

So if you've been keeping track of the WIPs on my sidebar, you'll have noticed that the twinset hasn't been progressing AT ALL. I mentioned WAY BACK that I had picked up some yarn with my future MIL. I swatched and even though it took me over an hour to swatch 20 sts of stockinette I convinced myself that the cuddliness of the resulting fabric was reason enough to press on.

I didn't cast on for this project until March 14 out of sheer dread of working with eyelash yarn. Over the past 2 weeks, I managed an incredible progress of 5 inches (two sides though...) on 46 sts of Pitter Patter yarn. Overwhelming isn't it? Need I mention again that this is for baby sweaters and is supposed to be a quick knit?

Feelings of guilt washed over me as I promised DF that I'd knit with this yarn and not go out and buy yet more yarn. And the fact that my future MIL purchased it for me doesn't help. So I pressed on even though I kept hoping that it would spontaneously burst into flames. But somewhere over the weekend, I thought, Why the heck am I doing this? If I wanted to give them something cute, I could just as easily go out and buy the darned things and probably spend less. The point to making something by hand is to pour your energy and good mojo into something and have that reflected in the finished product. All I was pouring into this gift was pure rage and despair - not something I'd want to pass on to innocent infants.

So out with plan B and back to plan A. I purchased a bag of GGH Goa at the Yarn Lady bag sale a couple of months ago intending to make baby sweaters out of it (machine washable, amen!). The chunky gauge didn't seem to fit with any of the baby patterns I have, but eff it... I'm winging it. So I cast on for baby sweater #1 of the twinset take 2 on Monday night and here's a few hours progress: a finished back. Note how much that is in comparison to two week's worth of knitting on the eyelash yarn from hell.

So, what do I do with my 2 rectangles of discontinued baby sweaters? I was thinking that I could make them into stuffed toys of some sort, but then DF was quick to point out that it would be a bit strange to present these babies with stuffed sausage toys as that's about all you could turn rectangles into. I agree.

Also, in case anybody ever wondered about what happens to Baywatch alumns: they make music and film Spongebob Squarepants.

Answers to burning questions

2006-03-28T17:07:00.000-08:00

So waaay back when, I posted a teaser which led some to wonder, what the heck does that mean? God has a backhoe? What in the world is a backhoe? Well, it appears that unless you have worked in construction or possess a Y chromosome, it's likely that you don't know what a backhoe is. Or at least by name. If you type "backhoe" into yahoo, this is one of the first hits you'll get:I dunno. I guess it's possible that this is could be an excavator, but I'll leave it to the heavy machinery people to argue this one out. I mean it to be that oversized shovel that's digging and clanging away at 6:00 am across the street and severely depriving me of good REM sleep.

I digress. Anyway, DF and I make the drive up 395 fairly frequently and 9 times out of 10, car coma hits and I pass out about 30 minutes into the 4.5 hour drive. But for some reason, right around Olancha, I wake up just in time to see this:

A giant pile of red dirt. We are convinced that this must be evidence that God exists, and that he has a backhoe. Cuz, c'mon people, who else can make a perfectly shaped pile of dirt of THAT ENORMITY?

I digress. The point of this story though (for a knitting blog anyway) is that much knitting was accomplished this weekend. I had cast on for the Embossed Leaves Socks in the last issue of IK while flying cross country (again) last Sunday. I tell you, sock knitting is SO great for taking on the plane with you. And, it's also the perfect car knitting companion. I think DF likes it because it keeps the both of us awake. I knit instead of pass out so I can keep him company while he drives. Although I think he'd propose that it's not my scintillating conversation that's keeping him awake, but rather the aroma from my feet as I try my socks on:
I am pretty pleased with the results so far. This is my first attempt at a heel flap and gusset for socks, and I think it went okay. The designer specified garter stitch edges for the heel flap and I have a hell of a time picking up stitches in garter stitch. I think I'll omit the garter stitch next time and/or add a slip stitch edge on the heel flap to make picking up stitches a bit easier. But look, no holes at the heels! I tried to take a picture to show the decreases on the bottom to turn the heel because I think they look a bit wonky, but my camera skills in a moving car are pretty lame.

Next up: look, it's a stuffed sausage toy!

Filler post

2006-03-27T08:27:00.000-08:00

Umm, yeah. It's been a while since I last posted so sorry for being so MIA. I have lots to blog about, but no time right now to do so. So instead, I bring you a map of where I've been. There are two states on here that I definitely would like to tick off my to-visit list so I can see Denali and Yellowstone. I'm sure at some point, work will send me to the other non-red states sooner or later as I'm sure I never would have visited North Dakota if it weren't for work...

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

On a somewhat related theme, note that Alaska is yet again drawn out there in the Pacific Ocean right next to Hawaii. At least this map puts the disclaimer on there that Alaska is "not in scale". Does that mean, not drawn to the correct size relative to the other states, or not drawn in the correct position? We need clarification people! It's so bad that we've heard of a guy who had to end his relationship with a sadly misled girl who was convinced that Alaska was an island right next to Hawaii because of these poorly marked maps.

A decision... and an FO!

2006-03-13T00:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks everyone for piping in with your opinions on the wedding dresses. It appears that the winner of the popular vote by a landslide was for dress #1. That one BTW was the most expensive by a good margin... you guys have posh taste! So in keeping with a true dictatorship that chez Spaz is, I've polled the people, heard their desires, and decided to go with dress #2 instead.

This was an interesting lesson in psychology here. I seriously didn't know which one I was leaning towards when I posted the pics. But when the votes started coming in, I found myself getting all kinds of defensive for dress #2: I cheered when people voted for it, I sneered when people voted for #1, and I got downright ugly when the votes were tallied. I figured that this must mean that in my heart, I truly wanted dress #2 if that was my reaction. So, this isn't quite the Today Show throws a wedding, but I really truly do appreciate your opinions. Thanks so much for taking the time respond.

And on to what everyone really wants to hear about... an FO!

Sockapaloooza Socks
Pattern: Yukon Leaves
Materials: Regia 4ply Stretch (70% wool, 23% polyamide, 7% polyester Elite. 200m) A little under 2 skeins in color 87 (denim). Size US2 Addi turbo circulars , 24" and 32".
Gauge: 7.5 sts/in in stockinette
Finished size: 8" circumference, 10" toe to heel.

Started: February 24, 2006
Finished: March 9, 2006

Notes
I think I may have mentioned this already, but I deviated from the pattern by working the socks toe up using a Turkish Caston and substituting a short row heel for the heel flap and gusset. Otherwise, no major modifications.

Discussion
I loved making these socks. The lace pattern was incredibly easy to memorize (I managed to get the hang of it after I *gasp* swatched). I'm loving the 2 socks on 2 circulars method even though I never feel like I'm going very fast.

I worked a regular toe shape for the first time on this sock, and I'm not sure I got the increases quite right. I think my increases look a bit wonky in general, but I ended up using K1, M1B (insert left tip under strand between needles from the back and K), K to within 1st of end of row, M1F (insert left tip under strand from the front and Ktbl), K1. I'm not sure if you can see this from the photo, but I didn't end up with crisp increase lines like I usually get with paired decreases, but instead it looks like there are little purl bumps running alongside the increase sts. Does this mean that I reversed the direction of the paired increases?

And, drumroll please... no gaping holes at the sides of the heel! I used that magic trick of pulling the sts around the holes tight to close up the hole and distributing the excess yarn through the rest of the row. So the holes are much smaller, though still a bit noticeable if you look carefully.

I really hope that my Sockapaloooza pal likes these... they're not quite solid like she asked, but I just couldn't bring myself to using a completely solic color. I'm also paranoid about the fit since this is the first time I've made a garment that's meant to fit snugly without having the actual recipient on hand to try them on as I went along. The lace is pretty stretchy so it fits both my feet and DF's feet when we tried them on at the beginning, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Previous posts about this project:
It's not election day but... on March 5, 2006
Mission accomplished on February 26, 2006
So much for being regular on February 16, 2006
Blogging grand rounds on February 7, 2006

It's not election day, but...

2006-03-05T20:39:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know that I said that I wouldn't hijack this knitting blog with wedding related stuff, but I could use some fresh opinions. I've been dress shopping since it's getting to the point where those in the bridal fashion industry start to insist that you make a decision NOW or else threaten to charge you some sort of a ridicuous rush fee to make you feel even more stressed despite hello, there's still 6 months left, why are you rushing me?

Anyway, I've probably been to 10+ different shops and managed to narrow it down to the following four dresses:

Dresses 1 and 2

Dresses 3 and 4

What you can't see in the pictures:
Dress 1: Alencon lace bodice with double pleated organza at the neckline and a tiny organza bow that hits at the high waist. Matching lace border around the hem with a line of buttons down the back onto the chapel length train. (I'd lengthen this to cathedral length).

Dress 2: Alencon lace panels on the sides of the bodice. Fabric is specially treated so that it has an extra iridescent sheen to it. Semi-cathedral length train would be lengthened to full cathedral.

Dress 3: A few more pickups (those areas where it looks like someone gathered up some of the skirt and attached a beaded applique to keep it in place) are scattered across the back of the dress. This makes the back appear partially bustled, but there is still a cathedral length train.

Dress 4: The skirt really is asymetric like that. It's not the way the model is standing. There is a train on the back as well.

Here's my dilemma. In case you haven't noticed, my personality tends towards the dramatic - e.g. OMG it's the end of the world because there are tiny holes where I turned the heel on DF's Jaywalkers or OMG it's the end of the world because I missed a YO on the edge of my great-grandmother's Charlotte's Web. Also, I probably haven't mentioned this before, but I definitely fall under the category of spoiled youngest child. Therefore, my heart is tugging me in the direction of having a GIANT dress where I can arrive for a solid 10 minutes and channel my inner Scarlett drama queen.

On the other hand, I also would describe myself as low maintenance in the personal appearance department. I'm certainly no fashionista, and I can't be bothered by accessorizing or the perfect hair and makeup. I guess I'd probably describe my fashion taste as classic and minimalist.

Do any of these fit the bill? Please vote here or leave a comment! Sorry that I couldn't figure out how to include a blogpoll in my post. Anyone? Bueller?

In knitting news, the sleeves are now done and just barely attached to the body. I felt like the biggest dumba$$ trying to figure out which end of the needle to start knitting from when I was joining the sleeves to the body. Maybe I should have had more wine.

The Sockapaloooza Yukon Leaves socks are also coming along. I turned the heel and am 3 lace patterns into the leg now. Thanks to those who offered suggestions on the length of the foot. I tried to go with the 90% rule, but I ended up getting closer to 95% because I didn't know how much extra length the heel cup would add. Sigh. Oh well, the swatches don't seem to stretch as much length wise as they do width wise anyway, so maybe this is a good thing.

Sorry for the lack of knitting pictures today... I'm on the road yet again!

Mission Accomplished

2006-02-26T22:51:00.000-08:00

Thanks everyone for your reassurance that the acopalypse was not at hand, and generations of in-laws for thousands of years had in fact managed to meet without killing each other . My parents met DF's parents with nary a hitch worse than several hours of awkward confersation on the first day. That's nothing that a good mango mousse and cat skinning (a.k.a. karaoke) could't alleviate. My apologies to all of you cat lovers out there. And *gasp* they found that they may have something in common: complaining about their children.

Also accomplished this weekend, a friend I've known for almost 20 years got hitched. It was worth the fondue set and the plane ticket to see half of my prom date get lassoed into matrimony while the other half stood by in utter shock like the rest of us. In case you missed that, I asked, strike that, told, two of my high school friends that they were coming to the prom with me. I believe it went something like this:

Me: Joe, you're not going to prom, are you?
Joe: No. *suspiciously* Why?
Me: Okay, you, Drew and I are going. I bought tickets for the three of us already. I think you and Drew should pick up dinner.
Drew: Huh. It's like an invitation and a bill all rolled into one.

Fast forward 19 years:
Joe: Drew asked me to be in his wedding yesterday.
Me: Really? Are you a groomsman?
Joe: No, I don't think so. He would have mentioned that. He just said I didn't have to do much.
Me: Are you sure? I was looking at the website and there were five bridesmaids and four groomsmen and all the other slots look filled.
Joe: No, I really think Drew would have asked me to be a groomsman, not just to be part of the wedding.
Me: okay... if you say so.

Two days later:
Joe: yeah. Apparently I'm a groomsman. I saw it on the webpage.

Poor Joe. How does he always manage to be on the receiving end of all of our crap? At least I managed to make roles clear even if I didn't manage to get around to asking for permission first. If only I could combine efforts with Drew, we could maybe get it right eventually.

To characterize Drew as saying that he's incredibly efficient with the words he does manage to utter would be selling him short. He's a genuinely good guy, and I'm happy to see that all the years of waiting to see if the right girl could possibly motivate him to date and move out of his parents' house have paid off. J is so sweet and giving, and he totally needs someone to take care of him. She brings out a side in him that we've never had the chance to see. That probably makes her perfect for him.

In less sappy news, I did manage to swatch for my Sockapaloooza Yukon Leaves socks. This Regia Stretch color is perfect. The variegation is so subtle that it just makes the fabric shimmer. And be proud: I actually SWATCHED and *gasp* blocked my swatch instead of making a full sized swatch. Roll your mouse over the picture to see Before Blocking pictures.

Incidentally, I found that my lace pattern gauge is the same as my stockinette gauge. Did you hear that? Not only did I swatch, but I swatched in two different stitch patterns! Hell is definitely getting a bit chilly these days.

I cast on Friday toe up again. I am all kinds of paranoid since I used up some of the yarn for the swatch and I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't run out (my sock pal apologized for having big feet). I used the Turkish cast on yet again, and I'm still loving it. I had to rip out my first attemp because I was using raised left and right increases to shape a standard toe, but then I ended up hating the way it looked. I changed the increases to M1B (insert left needle under the loop between the sts from the back and K), K2, M1F (insert left needle under the loop between the sts from the front and Ktbl) and I liked that a lot better.

So far, I've finished the toes and have gotten 3.75 inches into it. I'm not entirely sure what to do about the foot length though. My sock pal gave me measurements of her foot, but she didn't specify what she'd like the finished measurements to be. I'm going with the guideline of 90% of actual foot circumference for the sock circumference, but I'm not sure about how long to make it. Should I go with 90% of the length as well?

Hey, that's not burgundy, is it?

2006-02-23T18:30:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. I didn't think Audrey would get such a positive response, so thank you thank you thank you for the little ego boost.

For those of you who expressed interest in making Audrey, I would definitely put out a word of warning. Shine is supposed to be a sport weight yarn, but I ended up getting something more of a fingering weight gauge out of it. I'm not sure if I ended up really stressed or what, but please keep that in mind so you can make adjustments. Also, I did end up making these gloves pretty small in comparison to my actual hand and forearm measurements: My hands are much more like 6.5" circumference. I did this because I had heard that Shine grows a bit after washing and I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be swimming in them when I was done.

Anyway, if you do end up making Audrey, please send me a picture or a link to your post, 'kay?

I haven't had much to report on knitting wise lately because it's just more and more of the sleeve on DF's zippered raglan. I swear the man has arms of a length to suggest that he may be the missing link between apes and man. Why oh why can't DF be a little person? I still have one last increase on the sleeves and then ANOTHER 3 inches of straight knitting before joining the sleeves to the body. It's the neverending sweater.

What do y'all think by the way of the increases in the ribbing? I have think that increases in ribbing looks a little strange, but maybe I'm just weird. Sorry for the dark picture, at least the sweater's not bright pink this time.

Sorry for the bland background. The porch is about the only place in my apartment building to get natural sunlight and prop up the camera for a self-portrait, so get used to the green stucco.

On another note, DF's parents and my parents are meeting for the first time tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. I'm keeping the hard liquor handy. At least the plane ride will give me ample time to swatch for my Sockapaloooza socks.

Something Pink

2006-02-20T08:56:00.000-08:00

Audrey
Pattern: My Own
Materials: Knitpicks Shine (60% Pima Cotton/40% Modal, 110 yards). Exactly 2 skeins in Blush. Size US4 Addi Turbo circulars, 24" and 32".
Gauge: 27 sts and 40 rounds = 4x4" in stockinette st
Finished Size: 6 inches around hand, 9 inches around widest part of forearm, about 13 inches from tip to cuff

Started: February 7, 2006
Finished: February 17, 2006

Pattern
Cast on 38 sts using long tail method, divide between two circular needles and join in the round being careful not to twist. Cast on for second glove and work simultaneously from here. All sts on Needle 1 will be worked in St st and will be considered the palm side.

Beginning with a purl round, work 4 rounds in garter stitch. Knit across 19 sts of needle 1 and then K1 on needle 2, work across chart, K1. Continue in this manner for 2 pattern repeats. On last row of chart for glove 2 on needle 2, work across chart, pm, then cast on 10 sts using backwards loop technique.

Thumb gusset shaping
Knit across needle 1 for glove 1, pm, then cast on 10 sts using backwards loop technique. Cast on an additional 10 sts on glove 2 (a total of 20 sts, including those cast on at the end of the last round), then knit across. Continue on Needle 2 glove 2: k1, work next row of chart, k1, sl marker, knit to end. For glove 1, cast on an additional 10 sts, pm, k1, work next row of chart, k1.

The cast on sts between the two markers on either glove form the thumb gusset. Continue working the hand sts in stockinette on the palm side and in chart pattern on the back of hand as before. Work the thumb sts in stockinette on even rounds, and decrease on odd rounds as follows: after working hand sts, sl marker, SSK, knit to 2 sts before marker, K2tog. When 2 thumb sts remain between markers, on next decrease round consume 1 hand st on either side for the decreases.

Wrist shaping
Continue working hand sts as before for one more pattern repeat. Continue working the chart, but switch palm side sts to 1x1 ribbing for two more pattern repeats. Switching back to st st on the palm side, work to row 4 of chart.

Forearm shaping
Next row palm side: k1, m1, knit to within 1 st of end of palm sts, m1, k1. Continue working from chart for sts on needle 2. Work this increase row 2 more times every 8 rows, then every 4 rows 6 times.

Border
Finish working chart, then work row 1 of chart one more time. Work in st st all the way around glove for 6 more rounds. Switch to garter st for 5 rounds. Bind off with picot bind off as follows: BO 2 sts, *return st on R needle to left, cast on 2 sts using cable cast on technique, BO 4 sts repeat from * to end of round. Weave in ends and close gap between thumb gusset and hand sts.

Discussion
I started off making these because I wanted to make use of some gift yarn and I wanted to keep my hands warm while sitting in front of my drafty window at the computer all day. That definitely called for fingerless gloves if I'm going to be able to type at the same time.

I have never worked with Shine before, so originally I thought that a cute grapevine cable pattern would dress up an otherwise plain tube. The Make Bobbles though, about drove me crazy so that idea was abandoned. I then tried a lace panel going up the back of the hand, and I'm not sure if it's me or what, but I tried 3 different lace motifs and all of them looked terrible. Maybe it's the Shine, but I finally settled on a simple knit and purl motif you see here. Maybe it was the subliminal messaging from reading all about Eunny's adventures in argyle that did it. Who knows.

These gloves could have easily taken only 1 ball of Shine for the pair if I had stopped at the ribbing for the wrist, but I decided to just continue until I ran out of yarn frankly because I had no other plans for what would have been a leftover single ball of Shine. The result, practically elbow length gloves harking back to Breakfast at Tiffany's.

They're totally impractical because let's face it, who wears elbow length fingerless gloves anyway, but I still think they're fun. And well, they only vaguely match the pajamas I tend to wear all day while working at my computer...

So much for being regular

2006-02-16T17:21:00.000-08:00

And it's not because I don't eat enough fiber. It's just that I thought I'd be able to post a bit more regularly that I have been. I'm all spurty for lack of a better word. But anyway, life just has a habit of getting in the way, eh?

So rather than spoiling you with pictures of a WIP that's this close to being done, I'd rather just unveil the whole thing all at once. Seems more magical when you haven't even seen anything about it before.

But I really have been knitting. I swear. Even on things that have been in my sidebar for ages. Like DF's (pink) Zippered Raglan sweater. I finished the body up to the armpits and have worked a few sets of increases on the sleeves. I carefully consulted Alison's corrections to the arm instructions (thanks for the reminder IronSteph!), and I realized that all she was trying to say was just make sure that you replace the ribs that you take out from the body with the ones you're adding back in for the sleeves. It doesn't really matter how much you increase or whether you finish with knits or purls under your arms so long as it matches. In my case, I'm taking out 4 purls, 4 knits, and 4 purls from the body where I'll attach the sleeves. So, that means that when I increase for my sleeve, I need to end up with 4 purls, 4 knits, and 4 purls centered around the underarm "seam". So pathetic that it took me reading through Alison's post about 40 times and tearing my hair out to figure this simple thing out.

Because you guys just can't get enough of the pink (burgundy) sweater...
I've also been planning out my future projects. Namely my Sockapaloooza socks. I just received my yarn in the mail. I went ahead and purchased the Regia Stretch and it's just as fabulously subtly variegated in person as it is on Sue's website. I think this should pass nicely for solid, while giving a little bit of oomph in the visual texture department.
As for the pattern, I've been debating this at length. My sock pal wants lace socks, and there are so many lace patterns that I've been wanting to try, but frankly, I'm a bit selfish. I know that if I make something for my sock pal, I won't get around to making them again so that I can keep them (serious 3rd and 4th sockitis here my friends).

Then it hit me, I should pay it forward. I was recently gifted with an amazing pair of Yukon Leaves socks that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE and wear as many days as I can without grossing out DF with my smelly feet. But, I figured, hey, I love these socks that I already have, but I haven't had the opportunity to knit them yet. If I make them for my sock pal, everybody gets what they want. She gets lace socks, I get to work on a pattern that I think I'll enjoy, and I'll still have a pair of these socks even after I give them away. I think we have a winner people!

Only question: is stretch wool a bad idea for lace?

Next up, DF's cousin has twins due in April, so with my lightning knitting pace, I should probably be starting their welcome present now or two months ago. Probably the cardigan (shown left) from Debbie Bliss' Baby Knits for Beginners book. At least I managed to start swatching with yarn that my future MIL purchased for me during a shopping as therapy session. Normally, I don't like novelty yarn so much, but this stuff I swear feels like a fluffy bath robe. Perfect for baby. Despite fondling the swatch, I didn't think too far ahead until I got home with my loot and actually read the label. Yes, it does say "eyelash" yarn on it. And what's up with not putting a knitting gauge on the label? Crochet only?

So if you actually rolled your mouse over the picture to see the back of the label, you may have noticed that they suggested a US8 crochet hook. So I figured I'd swatch with the same size needles. Disaster. I finally got a reasonable fabric after going down to size US3 needles to get 18 sts/4 in. Anyone know if crochet gauge is the same as knitting gauge, because damn I've never had to go down 5 needle sizes to get gauge before.

Here's what the swatch looks like BTW. I'm thinking that for the solids, I don't like the way the knit side looks as much as I like the purl side. There's a remarkable lack of stitch definition on the purl side that almost makes it look like I didn't even knit it but rather wove it that I really like. The colors come out funny on the purl side with the variegated yarn so I think I will use the knit side as the right side in this case. What do y'all think? Again, roll over the picture to see the purl side. I blatantly stole this HTML trick from Nona btw.

Oh, okay. Here's a sneak peak of the almost FO. Anyone up for Name that Yarn?

Patently untrue!

2006-02-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Knittingspaz!

Japan provides over thirty percent of the world's Knittingspaz supply!
The international dialling code for Knittingspaz is 672.
If you toss Knittingspaz 10000 times, she will not land heads 5000 times, but more like 4950, because her head weighs more and thus ends up on the bottom!
Knittingspaz can drink over 25 gallons of water at a time!
68 percent of all UFO sightings are by Knittingspaz.
Ancient Greeks believed earthquakes were caused by Knittingspaz fighting underground.
Forty percent of the world's almonds and twenty percent of the world's peanuts are used in the manufacture of Knittingspaz.
There are 336 dimples on Knittingspaz.
The horns of Knittingspaz are made entirely from hair!
Knittingspaz can be found on a Cluedo board between the Library and the Conservatory!

Saw this one on Beth's blog, and I just had to pass it along.

Not without comment though:
1. And here I've gone my entire life telling people that I'm in fact NOT Japanese but rather 100% chinese as far as I knew.
2. Wow, I didn't think my a$$ was big enough to warrant a whole dialing code. An area code, maybe.
3. Actually true. Why do you think I talk about myself so much?
4. A wholesale lie. People who have managed to observe me for a weekend in the desert have made comparisons of me with kangaroo rats.
5. That's only because most observations of the world around me usually go over my head.
6. Probably true. DF calls me quite scrappy when we wrestle. I have been known to kick and bite and pull hair. Quite the feat if you noted DF's hairline in that last picture.
7. I'd believe it. DF always claimed I was nutty!
8. Again, all on the a$$ the size of a country code.
9. Hey, if I can have hairs in my bathroom stuck to the CEILING, then I'd believe I have horns made out of hair somewhere that I have yet to find.
10. Wouldn't that be Colonel Mustard in the billiards room?

Finally... a Clapotis!

2006-02-08T08:28:00.000-08:00

So I realized that it probably takes most people about a week to 10 days to finish this project, but lo and behold, it wouldn't be a project at Chez Spaz if it didn't look like this at some point. This was taken on 1/31. Note that at least this time, I had enough sense to remember to put in a lifeline. I debated about this one for a while actually. I had changed needle sizes and the ball looked quite large for some reason and I just thought, well heck, maybe changing gauge will be enough to lengthen the scarf without altering the number of increase repeats. I'll go another repeat. I should learn to never trust my judgment on these things.

I have to say that I've become trusted friends with my ball winder. With the number of times that my ball winder has turned a mass of ramen into something more manageable, I'd have to be. I should get it a Christmas present... And with as much as I trusted my ball winder, I never thought that shortly after this picture, it would conspire against me to be the Stupidest Thing I Did This Week*.

* Blatant swipe of a brilliant idea by Carrie over at Every Word's a Purl. She does an occassional, but hilarious series of the Dumbest Thing I Did this Week. See Here for an example.

So, have you ever thought, darn... I wish I could wind my yarn barf back into a center pull ball with my WIP still attached and not have to work from the outside of the ball. Well, I'm here to tell you that yes, you probably can do this if you wind by hand (I haven't tried), but please, don't try this with your ball winder. I did. It doesn't work.

If I must elaborate, I attached the yarn going up to my Clap-in-progress to the winder, strung the yarn through the guide, and started to crank. I quickly realized that my winder was going to try to wind from both ends (and frog the Clap) so I clamped down on my WIP end. Well, it didn't wind around the spool, but all that turning had to do something. A couple dozen cranks later, I found out what: my beautiful flat ribbon yarn turned into a dense single ply tube. Yes, my first experience with spinning, and wow was that effective. An hour later, I managed to de-spin less than a yard's worth of yarn and start working again from the outside of the re-wound ball.

Thankfully, this one's done:Clapotis
Pattern: by Kate Gilbert in Fall 2004 Knitty (as if you didn't know)
Materials: Southwest Trading Company Phoenix (100% soy silk, 175 yards). Exactly 3 skeins. Size 8 Addi Turbo 32" circulars.
Gauge: 5 sts/in
Finished size: 14" x 46"

Started: January 1, 2006
Finished: January 14, 2006
Frogged: January 16, 2006
Finished: February 5, 2006

Notes:
Followed pattern, except repeated increase section a total of 6 times and repeated straight section a total of 12 times. And frogged a lot. Kate Gilbert doesn't tell you to do that.

Discussion:
I actually liked working with Phoenix. After reading the review on Knitter's Review I was a bit skeptical that I'd eventually get the feel of working with a "wet noodle", as some had described. But the reviewer was right, and the very occassional snags were unnoticeable. I highly recommend this stuff if you can find it on sale somewhere. For the first time though, I couldn't meet gauge and get a fabric that I was satisfied with. I ended up meeting gauge for the lighter weight version of this yarn, Oasis. Makes me wonder if I'd turn Oasis into a sport weight yarn...

The pattern is about what I expected it to be. Pretty mindless, but it kept me motivated because I just wanted to get to the next dropped stitch. I just can't figure out how to get the edge stitches on either side of the dropped stitch column to stay tight. Yes, they stay nice and taught when pulled the rows tight, but when you pull the columns tight, the edges of the columns, despite their twistedness, still loosen up. Sigh. I'm living with it, and hopefully the recipient won't notice.

If I ever make this again (doubt it since I already made this one twice) I'd definitely do it in stole size instead of small scarf size. See how it's not as Mr. Yuck short now? I only managed to add 5 inches on to the length, but because of the gauge change, I also took out 4 inches in the width to make it a bit more proportioned.

Previous posts about this project:
Good to be back on 1/11/2006
Too square on 1/14/2006
Beware! on 1/16/2006

Blogging grand rounds

2006-02-07T00:15:00.000-08:00

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I had a chance to get out and see what everyone's been doing lately and try and be a better blogger.

Caitlyn just finished up a fair-isle hat and was daring enough to show the floats. Suffice it to say that she wrestled with those floats a bit before she was happy with the outcome (like most of us would... except if you're Eunny and have such ridiculous fair isle skills that you can design a beautiful pattern for which the rest of us have to join the knitting olympics to tackle... just ask IronSteph). It's weird how the knitting world is so small. I happened to get my VK winter 2005/6 issue yesterday, and while I probably wouldn't make a single pattern in this issue, they happened to have an entire article on Armenian Knitting by Meg Swansen. MS described a fair isle technique that ends up looking like intarsia, where you float ENTIRE BODIES of solid colored sweaters before getting to the little intarsia panel at the neck. Interesting enough to at least check out next time you're browsing the knitting magazine racks.

I did finally get my Sockapaloooza match after anxiously checking my email every hour last week. My sock pal wants solid color socks, but I sort of thought that this was so incredibly subtly variegated, that it might as well be solid. What do y'all think?

Also, there's yet another fun You Knit Too Much contest going on over there to test your fiber and pattern knowledge. I think the signups might be closed, but definitely play along!

And finally, I was tagged by Cristina for a meme way too long ago, so at long last...

Four Jobs you have had in your life:
1. Lab teaching assistant
2. Princeton Review instructor
3. Chemist
4. Professional nag

Four movies you could watch over and over:
1. The Princess Bride
2. Sixteen Candles
3. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone
4. When Harry met Sally

Four places you have lived:
1. Brooklyn, NY
2. Houston, TX
3. Boston, MA
4. Princeton, NJ

Four TV shows you love(d) to watch:
1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
2. Friends
3. ER
4. That's Incredible!

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Disney (world/land)
2. Maui
3. Caribbean cruise
4. London

Four places you want to visit:
1. New Zealand (Honeymoon, baby!)
2. Australia
3. China
4. Japan

Four websites you visit daily:
1. google
2. amazon
3. bloglines
4. web mail

Four of your favorite foods:
1. Does Chinese count?
2. sushi
3. soup (ANY kind)
4. NY style pizza - lots of sauce, minimal cheese, one or two toppings max

Four things currently on the floor in your car:
1. Windshield wipers
2. umbrella
3. climbing gear
4. rice (it's not my fault the bag broke 9 months ago...)

Four bloggers you are tagging:
I don't really believe in tagging, but please join the fun if you haven't done this one already!

Next up: Another FO!

Jaywalkin'

2006-02-06T17:04:00.000-08:00

First of all, thank you to everyone who extended their well wishes to DF's family and me over the past week. It was very much appreciated. We returned from Ohio last night in a haze, so I guess that means we're back to our regularly scheduled programming.

When we last left off, I was traveling and having a fantastic time (an anomaly for travels involving work, I must admit). I hopped up to San Francisco for the week and managed to make it to TWO knitting related events: Chicks with Sticks and Knit and Wine at Urban Knitting Studio. The ladies (and gentleman!) at Chicks with Sticks were very open and friendly and two are even fellow knitbloggers. Cristina has tagged me for a meme (I swear I'll get to it) and Beth made sure I didn't get lost on the way back to my hotel (she also managed to find a way to stretch a turkey from here to Friday). Go check out Cristina's and Beth's blogs to find out what the heck I'm talking about.

The Urban Knitting Studio hosted a great little get together. The owner Helen has fabulous taste in yarns and I've never seen that kind of selection of yarns before. Helen stocks more than just the standard Debbie Bliss/Rowan/Cascade mix, so if you're in the SF area, go by and check out her store. I managed to extend the non-yarn purchasing stretch just a bit longer. I scored back issues of IK (Fall 2004) VK (spring/summer 2004, winter 2004/2005) and Rebecca (25) for half off. I also picked up Rowan 37 for full price, but the LYS around here don't have any in stock, so I figured that was a find. I'm not sure that I actually like the Fall 2004 IK, but since it was sold out on the IK site, I figured that it must be a commodity of some sort. Heck, if I didn't already own the FBS pattern, it would have been cheaper to buy the whole magazine at this price rather than just the pattern anywhere else. I may put it up for trade at some point, but I'm debating about trying to collect the whole library of IK magazines...

Since I had the opportunity to stay in SF for an ENTIRE WEEK, I did get a chance to breathe a sigh of relief at the return of common sense. For example, when your parents told you as a young child to look both ways before crossing the street, what did they tell you to do in the following scenarios?

At a crosswalk with cars coming:
a. step out in the street and hope the cars have good enough brakes (which are never required to be formally inspected by the state) so that they can slow down from twice the speed limit to zero within 20 feet
b. wait for cars to pass, then cross

At a red light with no cars coming:
a. wait for walk signal, then cross assuming that all the cars who run the light will swerve to get out of your way
b. cross

Not at a crosswalk with no cars coming:
a. Walk over two blocks to find a crosswalk and step out into traffic
b. cross

I'm happy to report that pedestrians in SF tend to choose B in most of the above scenarios. I can't vouch for LA pedestrians.

Speaking of the road rules, I did manage to finish DF's birthday present and only be a few hours late!

Jaywalker Socks
Pattern: Jaywalker by Grumperina
Materials: Vesper Sock Yarn by Knitterly Things (100% merino wool, 440 yards). 1 skein in Neapolitan (test batch so it's different from what's available now) gifted from Keohinani. 2 Size US1 Addi Turbo circular needles (24", 32")
Gauge: 10.5 sts/in in pattern
Finished size: 8" circumference, didn't measure length of foot and cuff, but fits SNUGLY on DF's size 11 feet

Started: December 26, 2005
Finished: January 29, 2006

Notes:
Worked as 2 socks on 2 circs. Cast on 38 sts with Turkish cast on and turned short row toe (decreased to 20 sts unwrapped). Knit one round across cast on row and toe sts then increased evenly around to a total of 84 sts. Worked in stitch pattern as for larger size. When length looked "right", turned short row heel on half of the sts (decreased to 16 sts unwrapped) and continued in pattern. Started ribbing when DF complained the yarn left over wouldn't be enough to make ribbing as long as he'd like. Kept going until I ran out of yarn.

Summary:
I think I get why everyone in blogland is making a pair of these. First of all, they count for my J in the Sock-A-Month KAL (thanks Chrissy for posting these pics for me in time). More importantly, they really show off self-striping yarns and make it look like you did a whole lot more work than you really did.

For the knitpicky (ahem, *me*) there were some things I thought worth pointing out. First of all, I still can't quite close up the hole at the ankles when turning a short row heel. The toes don't have this problem, but it's a whole lot more noticeable on the heel. SEE?

If you didn't notice so much from the picture above, somebody up there decided to align the sun, the moon, and the stars so that the striping went completely uninterrupted across the cuff and the instep despite not doing an afterthought heel. Makes the OCD knitter in me extremely happy. And for the thrifty knitter, the beauty of knitting toe-up:

Yes, that's less than 1/2 yard of leftover yarn. A word of caution though, binding off takes a whole lot more yarn than you think it will, especially if you go up a needle size to avoid the tourniquet effect. I thought I had enough for one more round before the bind off, but the bind off ended up taking what seemed like twice as much yarn. So I had to tink back ON THE NIGHT OF DF's BIRTHDAY. I tell you, if it weren't for that, they wouldn't have been done on time!

Clearly, I didn't really follow the pattern as written, but I'm still calling them Jaywalkers!

I'll leave you with one last pic of how DF feels about his new socks...

*note to self: do NOT take pictures of DF after he's had a nightcap*

Previous posts about this project:
I'm on the wagon on 1/24/2006
Pretty in Pink on 1/18/2006
Gotta love having a camera on 1/17/2006
Beware! on 1/16/2006
Good to be back on 1/11/2006

to be continued

2006-01-30T13:16:00.000-08:00

I apologize for my absence... before mentioned trip was too exciting to interrupt with a blog post. Lots to catch up on: observations on life outside LA, new knitty folk in REAL LIFE, DF's birthday on Saturday, God has a backhoe, Jaywalkers done, progress pics...

Unfortunately, I'll be away again this week unexpectedly. DF's grandpa passed away this morning and we will be going home. If you're the spiritual type, please keep Grandpa Russ in your thoughts and prayers.

I'm on the wagon

2006-01-24T07:51:00.000-08:00

I thought it was bad when I jumped on the bandwagon to knit Jaywalkers (which btw, are nearly there... they even cover DF's ankles!) and Clapotis. Now, I've gone and done it. I actually signed up for Sockapalooza!

Sign ups close at midnight (GMT -5:00) TODAY, so go there now if you're interested...

Short post with no pics today since I'm actually on the road this week. More about that later...