Saturday, June 23, 2007

Another project gone awry!

Well, sorry for the boob shot, but anyone have any ideas how to fix this?

Coachella tank progress


You see, the back of it looks great:

Coachella tank progress


After recalculating, it appears as though my gauge was a little off. The gauge swatch I did was done in the round because I thought that the shirt would be done in the round. Well..you see, the top of the shirt is actually done back and forth. And so, my gauge is of .5 - 1 stitch per inch. The pattern's looking for a gauge of 18 stitches and 26 rows for 4". I've got 17 stitches and 24 rows. Theoretically, that should make it shorter, shouldn't it? I even got rid of about four rows but I still need the neckline to come up about four inches at the least.

Should I start it over and try to get the right gauge and hope that evens things out (I'd probably only have to go down one needle size and it knit up pretty quickly), or should I rip it and knit a size or two smaller with the right gauge?

Votes please?!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

woohoo!

So many things to be excited about!!

1) Someone from MAP Magazine in Germany requested the use of the image below for an article she's writing!

Reflection Aran Pullover front glamor shot


2) I have finished the Rhode Island Red Sox!!!

finished Rhode Island Red Sox


I really really liked this yarn and the weight (medium). I realized, however, that the toes of my socks should generally be a bit bigger. Especially after I had followed the directions incorrectly. I thought that I should have been kitchener stitching 32 stitches together, instead i was supposed to be kitchener stitching 16 stitches together (16 on each needle vs 16 altogether). So a new goal is to actually follow the directions when I get to the toe of a sock.

3) I started a Clapotis out of some Sweet Georgia that Blogless RUTH and I got at the same time at the Point. I don't have any photos of it yet because I put it on the backburner almost as soon as I've started (Ruth and I have an understanding).

4) Why did I put it on the backburner? I saw Coachella on the summer Knitty. At first I just saw it and realized that I had enough Berroco Touche in a nice red color to knit it with. Then, late thursday night/ early Friday morning, I decided that I'm going to Burning Man. Burning Man is a giant art festival thingey held in a desert in Nevada for a week. Obviously, knits are needed. Bright, summery, light, tank tops for a hot, Hot, HOT desert. I've even already started it:

Beginning Coachella


5) I went out with Blogless RUTH and Ravi on Friday. I ended up coming back with too much yarn, and fabric!!

Goo Goo for Koigu

The mint Koigu was 40% off because there was only one left. It's going to turn into a pair of anklets. The yellow is destined to be the spiral knee socks from the Summer 07 issue of Interweave Knits.

I'm weak

You see, Ravi and I were only going to help Blogless Ruth pick out fabrics/colors for her quilting project at Purl Patchwork. I don't even have a sewing machine so I figured this would be safe. NOT SO! I found this mushroom fabric and simply HAD TO HAVE IT! When I go to Cape Cod to visit my grandparents, my grandmother's going to help me do the simple A line skirt pattern.

6) I got my Ravelry invite today!! I haven't started even setting up my profile or anything like that yet, but I'm really excited about it!! When I get it together, I'll let you all know!!

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Satuday Knits Live

One of the reasons I love working at a book publishing company is because I can do all sorts of random things. Today, for instance, there was a softy workshop. You see, Penguin is publishing this adorable book called Sock and Glove. So, I know this is a knitting blog, but the book's not about knitting gloves and socks. It's about making adorableness from pre-made socks and gloves! From 12:30 to 2pm a bunch of us crafty people gathered in a conference room on the 9th floor and just sewed and stuffed and tied and oohed and aahed and "hello my new friend"ed! I came home with a new friend:

Saturday


Saturday is so named because I accidentally sewed his head on crooked and his arms are pointing so that he looks like he's dancing a la John Trovolta in Saturday Night Live. This thing was extremely easy to put together!!

Also, look, Saturday Knits....LIVE!

Saturday Knits Live!!!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Represent @ BEA

bea


Yup! That's me from the Yarn Harlot's autograph line. My sock, frolicking with her sock. She was brilliant as usual, she recognized my Roundabout Leaf Tank from Knitting Nature.

This was the second time I got the chance to go to BEA, and I have to say I liked it a lot more than the first time. The first time I was completely overwhelmed. It is quite overwhelming when you realize just how much there is there. But if you go through the show methodically, it's not so bad. The best part about the show (besides meeting the Yarn Harlot, Debbie Stoller, Kay and Ann, God, a guy wearing a giant name-tag that said his name was Scott, and neo-nazi authors - no, I'm not kidding on that one - of course) is getting to see what all the other publishers have going on for the fall. Here's a quick run down by publisher. I wish I had cover art because some of these are beautiful, but alas, since these titles don't pub until the fall, I've got nothing.

WORKMAN

Workman publishes Debbie Stoller and Workman's imprint Storey Publishing, you'll have heard of from the Yarn Harlot. I missed picking up one of their fall catalogs (cause I can be a dope sometimes), but I did pick up a sell piece for Debbie's new book coming out.
Son of Stitch'n Bitch, like always, looks stunningly hip and awesome. I wish this had been around when I was looking for sweater patterns for my brother. This seems to be in this new trend of publishing patterns for men. I'd say DK (my company!) started the most recent burst of men's knitting pattern books with Knitting With Balls by Michael Delveccio. And includes the titles (I'm not linking to them all because I'm lazy): Men who Knit and the Dogs that Love Them and Never Knit Your Man a Sweater. This book will do really well because Debbie Stoller's amazing and the style of the patterns in her book is usually pretty hip and classic at the same time.

STEWART TABORI AND CHANG

My issues with Melanie Falick aside, I really enjoyed the Harry N Abrams booth. Only problem was that the knitting books always seemed to be right behind where a meeting was taking place. The third time i dropped by, I said screw it, and wandered back (respectfully of course) anyway. I was handsomely rewarded.

KnitKnit: Profiles + Projects from Knitting's New Wave by Sabrina Gschwandtner looks to be totally awesome. A verifiable who's who of push-the-envelope knitters. I only saw a few spreads in a dummy book, but I sooo can't wait to see it!



Knitspeak by Andrea Berman Price (seriously, what's up with the compound word titles here?) seems to be a ultimate guide to pattern reading. At 4 5/8" by 6 1/2", it's sized to fit in a knitting bag on the go for when you're stuck on the tarmac with no idea of what a sskpssoktyi (slip slip knit pass slipped stitch over and knit till you're insane - I just made that up, not bad is it?) could possibly mean.



On the short list, they've also got a book on knitting scarves (My hatred for knitting scarves is a topic for another post), knitting classic styled patterns and Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts by (guess who!?) Joelle Hoverson. If I ever get a sewing machine, quilting is SOOO next up!

INTERWEAVE

Interweave is obviously awesome (someone please remind me to renew my subscription before it runs out with the fall issue) because they perpetually have their finger on the knitting world's pulse. They've got quite a few books coming out this fall that look hot.

The Best of Interweave Knits is edited by Ann Budd, so you know it should be good. The best patterns, and articles are reprinted here in one tome, which is pretty awesome. My BEA cohort suggested they come up with a pattern index or something similar for their magazines and sell that as well. The woman responded quite well to it. Time will tell.



Knitting Little Luxuries by Louisa Harding also looked pretty cute. I'm sooo not a girly girl, but the items I saw from this really struck me as pretty. Four chapters show Details as luxury, Urban luxury, Feminine luxury, and Warmth as luxury. Looks like some of the projects might be good for a little stash busting too!



The shortlist at the Interweave booth includes Kimono Style, Bag Style (which looked REALLY good! Johanna and I got to see a preliminary copy of spreads and got kinda excited. I don't even like using knitted bags!), and Folk Style (which seemed a lot less folky to me than I generally consider folk, but whatever).

WATSON-GUPTILL

I've no idea what these folks even publish. I just saw yarn on a cover out of the corner of my eye and hurried to the booth to check out the title. There's a couple interesting ones here...Vintage Crochet (which looked good even for a non-crocheter like myself!) and Super Stitches Knitting which is basically a stitch dictionary it looks like.

WILEY

Didn't see a whole lot going on there, but definitely check out Find Your Style and Knit It Too by Sharon Turner, if only for the pattern my Smittin w/Knittin friend conjured up!

I'm sure you can tell it was quite the exhausting show...and that's only the KNITTING/CRAFT section I looked at!! There were quite a few other books (novels etc) there that caught my eye, some I even managed to drag a copy home with me. Maybe I'll share, if you're good!!

Monday, June 04, 2007

To tide you over

I have a couple posts on the way...

1) Why you should photocopy your patterns and put them in page protectors when you schlepp them around with you.
2) Interesting upcoming craft books I found at BEA
3) Re-Meeting Stephanie Pearl-McPhee at BEA (proof! here!)

But firstly, I have to commend my roommate Ann for taking a fabulous photo of the first completed sock of my new pair:

Rhode Island Red Sock

I'm calling this my Rhode Island Red Sock (when they're both complete, it'll be Rhode Island Red Sox!)

The pattern is the Cable Rib Socks from Favorite Socks. I'm knitting it with some Socks That Rock in colorway Rhode Island Red. Ravi wanted to know what weight it is - it's medium weight. If you recall, Kim from Some Bunny's Love sent this to me in a nice care package with some nifty needles and some coffee syrup. (Kim, I'm STILL waiting for an integral part of your care package to arrive...when it does...woa boy, watch out!)

I LOVE THIS YARN. It's up there on my top two sock yarns. Tied for first place with Mountain Colors Bear feet. It's just so easy to work with and pools so beautifully. I've had issues in the past with variegated yarn pooling in very odd forms (for reference, see the River Rapids Socks or the first pair of Jaywalkers, so it's nice to finally get a yarn that when it pools, doesn't pool in a horrible way. The fact that it's great to work with, AND it pools nicely, for me, that is what makes it a great sock yarn.