Sunday, December 25, 2005

Happy Holidays!!!

Ok, somehow my original post got eaten. I'm sure that this won't be as good as the original, but I'm going to give it a shot.

I SURVIVED CHRISTMAS KNITTING!!!


Everyone's gifts were knitted for them before they had to actually unwrap them. I barely made it with my cousin's fingerless gloves, but they still made it under the tree before she had to open them, and Uncle Steve actually caught the last stitch on tape (and me cutting off the excess yarn with the recipient's fingernail clippers). I have made Rullo Christmas history!



I even managed to walk away this Christmas with some knitting related gifts! My aunt gave me Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick. I remember showing her the book at Thanksgiving and saying that it was awesome. She said she thought the patterns were up my alley. Shrug. It will be returned, and I'll chip in a bit for Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book. I've had my eye on that one for quite some time now. She also got me a subscription to Interweave Knits. My mother got me a ball winder. I was kind of confused because I opened it Christmas morning, and I wasn't sure how to use one without a swift (I'm sure it's possible). I was excited nonetheless. However, my grandmother gave me a swift, which is even more exciting! Here are the instructions to the swift. I find them as amusing as hell because they're poorly translated, and well, just amusing!

K.M ALL-POWERFUL REELING MACHINE
Main Features:
  • Being equipped with convenient metal connector, this tool is attachable to wherever you may wish, in the three directions - vertical or horizontal or diagonal. So there is no trouble at all like entangling of thread or yarn.

  • It is holding type, and made entirely of metal. The connector is of the utmost convenience and permanent use.

  • This reeling machine can be used for all kinds of thread or yarn. Because you can expand or contract it as the case demands, either for hand knitting thread of small reel or for woolen yarn of large reel.

  • The part where thread or yarn are reeled on is covered with vinyl. By this protection, thread or yarn never gets tangled or dirty.

  • This machine is also convenient for washing of old woolen yarn, as small or large reel is made at your will by the use of handle attached

  • Push the red buffon and adjust the size of machine - reel. Please.


  • Yes, that's typed in word for word. My cousin's hat doesn't fit her - it's way too big, so I'm starting it over again. The plus of this is that I got to use the ball winder to wind the yarn up again! It was kinda fun.

    So while I'm here in RI for an extended period of time (I don't have to be back at work until January 3rd!), I thought I'd check out some farther yarn stores that I haven't gotten to. I added a link to the side that has yarn shops in RI. I'm headed to A Stitch Above on Wayland Avenue at some point this week. Doug from The Point (what would a post be without a reference to The Point?!) said he used to frequent there and that it was a good place. I'll give it a shot. Maybe I'll get some koigu yarn for the socks in this season's issue of Interweave. Then I'll be able to use the swift and the ball winder!

    Tuesday, December 13, 2005

    Definitely Adolescent Socks

    Yes, quite adolescent. No other stage of sock would be so troublesome. To prove my point:



    Since I've been home, I realized the reason why that sock has about half a heel and looks like crap. One of us was so intent on remembering how many stitches needed to be in between the goddamn increases that they forgot to knit the rows in between the decreases. Some may say that it was me, but personally, I blame the sock. It obviously doesn't want to be knitted. But too bad, because it's going to be knitted, and before Christmas!!!!

    It will, however, experience a time-out as I try to start my brother's girlfriend's scarf. I don't want to defenestrate the socks, they still need to be finished. I can't let them think that they ever had the upperhand. I've had control the whole time. Yes. Yes I have.

    In other news: I went searching around my apartment this morning looking for my little notions case. Here is what is inside my notions case:

  • Wonka Runts Tin - contains: 1 paper tape measurer, 1 small row counter, 1 pom pom maker, 1 pair of itsy bitsy scissors that came with a travel sewing kit, several safety pins, 2 point protectors, 2 cable needles (of different forms, 2 darning needles

  • Bag of loose safety pins

  • Envelope of large stitch markers

  • Envelope of small stitch markers

  • Aforementioned travel sewing kit

  • Papers - 1 set of Pom Pom making instructions, 1 Knit NY business card, 1 Metropolitan Impex business card (I think this is where I got the paiettes for the Sparkly Hat from SNB

  • Set of made by tags

  • 1 permanent marker

  • 1 broken tape measurer

  • 3 different sized crochet hooks

  • pins

  • A spool of grey sewing thread

  • a stitch marker

  • a stitch holder

  • 2 different sized and shaped cable needles

  • 2 more point protectors

  • Yet more safety pins

  • A hair clip


  • So this makeup case has a lot of shit in it that's kinda helpful to get things done. Hence losing it this morning was a big deal. I searched everywhere for it. Up, down, all around. I was late to work because I was searching, yet it was no where to be found. I gave up. I thought I might have left it at The Point last night. But when I got to The Point tonight, it wasn't there. :( Where could it be? I panicked. I thought, I must have left it on the bus when I got off of it on Sunday night. I resigned myself to calling Bonanza, the bus company that I take to get to RI and back. I sadly walked home tired, and extremely frustrated after an SNB session spent swearing at delinquent stitches.

    I get home and walk to the bathroom. Now see, the funny thing of having a makeup case for a knitting notion bag is that if you have a makeup case holding makeup that looks just like your knitting notion bag, you're in for a fun time. Yes. Both green bags were sitting neatly next to each other on top of the John just waiting for me to play with them. I must have put the knitting notion bag in there while I was unpacking on Sunday, and just didn't realize that there was already a makeup case in there. Here is a photo of the culprit:



    It's one of those Clinique bags they give out if you get like lipstick and eyeshadow or something. You'll notice the purpley Lamb's Pride Bulky tied to this sucker? That's so I know it's the Knitting Notions Purse and not the makeup bag.

    Lessons learned:
  • Make sure that your knitting notion case looks different somehow from your makeup case
  • Follow the pattern instructions.
  • Monday, December 12, 2005

    Adolescent Socks

    The socks are well on their way and unless I break my hands or something, they should actually be done by Christmas!


    This one by itself looks like some sort of freaky fish doesn't it?


    This one's just lounging around


    Bad sock! Don't bite your sister!


    The imminence of these socks being done, however, still leaves several projects left to go:

  • A scarf for my brother's girlfriend (I think I decided to make her a ruffle scarf just like mine in a different color)

  • Fingerless gloves for my cousin


  • I decided to make one of my co-workers something knitted related, but I'm not sure if she reads this, so you're going to have to wait to see what that is. I'm hoping to have it done by Friday so I can give it to her when we go to a comedy show we're going to together. But it might have to wait until after the holiday.

    I was bad again today....I saw that The Point got in some Alpaca with a Twist Baby Twist. We're lookin at 1,200 yards here in my bag! Unfortunately, the sweater that i wanted to use as a template for the hoodie I want to make seems to have disappeared from my sweater chest, my drawers, the pile of clothes in my room, the reserve duffel bag full of spring clothes and my closet. I have no idea where it went. So I guess it's a good thing that I just got more yarn to make it a replacement right? Only sad thing is that it fit so perfectly that I really wanted to get the measurements and everything to make this right. I guess it could still be at Greg's or my parents'. Regardless, this sweater, especially since I can't find the original, have jumped to the top of my "Must Make" list.

    I've been wearing my Sparkle Hat from Stitch'n' Bitch a lot recently. Mostly because it's been cold and I don't have another hat, nor enough time to make another hat before Christmas. And because it's my first hat and has sentimental value. I really like it. I was wearing it today as I left The Point tonight. At West Fourth, waiting for the D to Brooklyn, this guy says "How do you clean a hat like that?" I say "you don't. It's made of wool, if you wash it in a washing machine it will felt." He says "but the plastic things would melt. You haven't washed it!?" I respond by saying no for the reasons I've already provided him. "How long have you had it?" "About a year." I say. "You've had it for a year and you haven't washed it?" At this point, I no longer care about the conversation. The guy didn't look especially well kempt himself, and I was kind of insulted. Do people really wash hats? I think of outer-wear as being ridiculous to clean. It's just going to get dirty again, why bother washing it? Do guys wash their baseball caps? My brother doesn't. Am I insane? Should I be washing my hat and coat (and for that matter mittens)? My coat is black and will never show any dirt.

    More importantly, who looks at a hand-knit hat and says to themselves gee, I wonder how you wash that?

    What a silly place I live in.

    Official holiday countdown:12
    *holy shit!

    Thursday, December 01, 2005

    Sock Zygotes!

    Mom, if you're reading this, don't! <3

    I just realized that there's only 24 days really until Christmas! Holy Crap! How did that happen!? Here's the list of things that need to be knitted for gifts (they'll be joining the WIP list soon):

  • finish the Argyle Slippers from Melanie Falick's Weekend Knitting that were my mother's gift last year (I don't understand the instructions to put them together which is why they're still in pieces in my yarn box)


  • Scarf for my brother's Girlfriend

  • Wrist warmers for my cousin to match the newsboy hat out of the leftover Cascade Quattro

  • Beanie for my friend Kat (I have at least found the pattern for the hat!)

  • socks for mom (see below)

  • hat for my vegan friend


  • So because I have all of these projects to do, I was looking for a way to knit socks quickly so that they might be done by the time Christmas is here. I'll feel doubly bad if my mom doesn't get a present this year because I can't knit fast enough. I decided that I would try this pattern from KnitPicks to knit two socks at the same time. It's going quite well!



    Those are my little Sock Zygotes as My Big Fat Needle donned them. Actually, looking at that photo again, they kinda look like breasts huh? Well, they won't when they're done. Damnit.

    My mom didn't tell me until last weekend that she's "allergic to wool" (more and more I'm thinking that people aren't really allergic to wool, they just choose to wear scratchy versions of it, but if I tried to reason that out with her she'd get pissed at me, so whatever). This put me in a mad scramble to find appropriate yarn that's made of cotton. I came up with Cascade Fixation. It's fun to use, but I seem to be pulling it a bit too tightly. Oh well. I like working them from the toe up because if my gauge is off by a bit and I'm using too much yarn, I can just shorten the cuff of them!

    The Opera gloves are still coming along. I worked on them for a bit yesterday. They're starting to look fancy. I'm still working on the pattern, but they're going to be awesome, I can feel it!