Travelling Yarn Gifts

There's not much to post here. I'm still working on a Christmas gift. It's taking a while, but it's a lot of fun to knit, so there's that. I'll chat about it after it's been gifted.

To prepare for life without Christmas knitting, I feel like I'm bringing an overabundance of yarn with me to Rhode Island for the holiday. Granted, I'll be there for a good week and a half with not much else to do but knit, I still feel like I'm bringing too much. Here's the list:

• I've got yarn to knit another cowl out of (the light blue one is awesome, but it doesn't match my hat!).
• Yarn for a pair of fingerless mitts for me (my hands keep getting cold!)
• Yarn to finish the Christmas project

Once I get to Rhody, I'm going to have to pick up an aran weight yarn to knit a pair of fingerless mitts for my brother's fiancee's mother. She's cool and will actually wear them. You know, looking at that list, I'm not actually sure I did pack too much yarn. Maybe it's the christmas gifts in my backpack that are taking up all the space. I totally should have mailed them instead of bringing them. Maybe I'll mail them once I get to work.

I should send out a public huge thank you to blogless NanLam. She gave me the coolest bit of yarn:


It's Dream in Color Knitosophy in the Superhero color way. It's a really great blend of colors. Kalajoki (RavLink) popped up when I did a search and I knew that the two were meant to be together. I'm stuck now though. Because this yarn would be perfect to tout around Comic Con and use for Yarn365. While I want to cast on RIGHT NOW for those socks, I should wait. I'll have to come up with something else in the meantime.

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Today's Yarn365 shot is of a centerpiece of knitting needles. In order to get this shot, I pulled a bunch of knitting needles out of the tin I keep all of my needles in. I seem to have a ton of needles I'll never actually use ever again. I think 2010 for me is the year of getting rid of clutter for me - liquidating material things that don't need to be around etc. I'll post a list of the needle type, size etc. once I get back from Rhode Island and y'all can see if there's anything you need. I figure I should just donate them somewhere to charity after that. Anyone know of any charities that accept knitting needles?

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I want to post about my visit to La Casita Yarn Shop yesterday, but I've REALLY got to get this damn gift finished!

Christmas Gift #1 and Gotham Fine Yarn

Christmas gift #1 is finished! I've got 2 1/2 to go! The half a project is a pair of mitts I told my brother's fiancee's mother I'd make for her. I don't really think it needs to be done by Christmas, but if I can finish them before Christmas and have them count, I think that'd be nifty.


I held 3 strands of Lacey Lamb together and had a tough time with that. They kept getting tangled and the insides of the balls liked to get knotted. It wasn't really a fun project, but I think the recipient will like it.

I finished weaving the ends in while visiting Gotham Fine Yarn in the lower east side. I kinda fell in love with this store. She had some really great yarns. Quite a bit of Louisa Harding, which is interesting and different, I think, for the city. She's got Noro and Lamb's Pride and Malabrigo (for a really great price!) and Madelinetosh (which i completely fell in love with!). She has a knit and wine night every other Friday, which I think I'll have to take part in more often. The knitters there were super friendly and working on some pretty interesting projects (including a Tea Leaf cardigan that's on my queue!). I can't wait to go back to that shop! Click here to get a look at what her shelves look like from Yarn365. I took quite a few photos there, so you'll end up seeing some more of her store on the Yarn365 blog soon. But anyway, just go there, it's so much better in person!

Oh, ad I'll leave you with a photo of the pretty Madelinetosh I picked up there. The colorway is called Logwood.

Yarn 365 Is A Month Old!

That's the most recent yarn photo which looks way better on the Yarn 365 Blog. I want to thank Illanna for helping me out with the project the week I was in London. I think the photos I've been taking of yarn have gotten better recently because of the constant practice. Hopefully that will be helpful with regards to other aspects of photography.

If anyone else is interested in photography like I am, I just found this awesome group on Ravelry: Yarnographers. They have photo assignments every now and again, and I might be taking part in some of them to keep myself challenged while doing the Yarn365 project

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Oh, and just one other thing: I'm loving that the yarnharlot's 365 calendar that Beth gave me last year for Christmas has a note for a Nonknitter Who Loves a Knitter up today. I know it's recycled from a book, but it's the most thoughtful thing ever. Also, since it's written like a note, it's perfect to leave lying around *someone's* house. You could even make copies of it and leave it lying around multiple houses! :-o

I'm noticing that there are a ton of 2010 kntiting/yarny calendars out there. I might have to review them at some point.

I Think It's Time

Firstly, I didn't realize when I started writing this post that it was going to be so critical. Even so, I'm still going to post it because I think these things need to be thought through more. I understand that there were several different issues going out this season (another sore spot), but Interweave Knits' track record has made me expect more from them.

Yes, it's time to say goodbye to Interweave Knits. I've stuck by them for the past four years. They were the first knitting magazine subscription I've had (actually, so far, the only). Remember that summer issue one year that had all those winter sweaters and hats in it? I subscribed to it. Remember the old style with the patterns following right after the main images? I was there for that. Remember when Eunny took over? I was there for that too. Now, I know I'm not anything close to a "long-time subscriber," but I've been around for the most recent changes, and I've believed in a good many of them as they seemed to be logical.

Some of the most current changes, also seem to be logical. I find one especially confusing. But here's my list of what critiques for the Winter issue:

• If you're an editor for a magazine that makes such an intense stylistic change, freaking announce it in your letter to your subscribers
• There's no need for 2 mastheads. I really don't think that the company information needs to be in the magazine, and we're crafters. For crying out loud, we know what other magazines you do! If not, we can always hop on the google.
• That brings me to another point: stop being so pushy. We get it. We know you have an online thing. We know you want subscribers to both of these different places, but geez, there's no need to advertise it 13 times (I counted the ads, ad that's not even counting the blow in cards).
• The articles seem to be a little out of date. Also, wasn't there an article about Cowichan sweaters earlier this year? Why is there another one? If there's an article about a sweater style, I feel like there should be a pattern describing that sweater style. But there's no Modern Cowichan sweater in the magazine...
• Artist Spotlight: I don't want to discount the work that Mark Newport has done. I actually think it's really cool. I feel like this article is redundant considering they profiled him in 2005, and I think there have to be other knit artists out there to profile that we haven't seen before.
• The knitting needles on the top left corner of every page are throwing me for a loop. They make me think I marked the page for some reason.
• mtfyed?! When did that become an acronym? Aren't acronyms capitalized? Also, sorry for not adding this to the advertisement piece, because it doesn't really try to give you inspiration to make time for yarn every day. It just points you to one of their Knitting Daily TV episodes (heavy handed much?).
• It seems like they made a compromise with their style and what their readers wanted, and they put the patterns after the editorial sections in the magazine. While this is a valiant effort, really, it's quite confusing.
• That hat on p. 51: I can barely tell what the cable is, and it's pretty small. Why wasn't it just put on the model who's rummaging through her purse for something? Then you might have been able to see it.

So, if it were just this issue, I'd say fine. Leave it at that, and maybe continue subscribing. But it's not just that stuff. The major one of those reasons I'm discontinuing is the pushy bit. You may be thinking "but in this economic climate, you can't be too pushy as a business..." I totally disagree with that. I do think that you have to be more aware of things, and certainly, you have to have an online presence as a magazine in this day in age and a way for folks to digitally get your patterns. But there's nothing out there that says you need to club your consumers with a 2x4. While we're at it...normally, if someone subscribes to a magazine they get every issue. That's the point of subscribing to the magazine. While I'm glad that I didn't get the Accessories edition of IK (it was all re-runs from other issues!), I still kinda think it should be something they at least give you an option of adding to your subscription.

The third main reason is that after having read Yarn Forward from the UK and even Vogue Knitting, I feel like I get an idea as to where the knitting events are taking place, what kinds of notions are newish, and more of a who's who of today's knitting world than IK has been providing me with over the past 8 issues.

I used to really look forward to getting IK because the articles and profiles were really cool and awesome and the patterns were stunning and things I wanted to knit. There were maybe 2 patterns in this issue I wanted to knit, and nothing I felt the need to cast on for right away. I wasn't excited to get this issue. And I don't think I have been for quite a while. There's a lot of competition out there, though. And it's not the only fish in the sea. I still love you, IK. I'm just not in love with you. :(

Glass Needles!

OMG. I LOVE the glass needles I bought at Yarn Diva & More a couple of weeks ago. They're not only beautiful, but also they're quite pointy and slippery and, to me, the perfect needles. The Yarn Diva gets her needles from Michael & Sheila Ernst. But look what happened:


My needle broke! I was on the couch lying on my back talking to Stan on the phone and went to roll over to grab something from the coffee table and I heard it snap! :( They were my favoritest needles!

But not to worry, I emailed with Michael and Sheila Ernst. They have a warranty on their needles and will fix them for just the shipping costs! I'm so excited, I can't wait to get them in the mail on Monday!

Getting Warmer

So, I found my cowl. It was in my hooping bag from last week!

I still want to make another one with the Scrumptious yarn (no really, that's the name of it, it's made by a company called Fiberspates) I picked up in London.

Getting Chilly

I'm wearing grey pants and a white shirt today. My black, purple and kahki scarf wasn't going to look right today. So I decided I'd wear the cowl I knit last year.


But I totally can't find it. it wasn't anywhere in my apartment I'd think to put it. There's only one pile of clothes it might still be in, but I'm not hopeful. This kinda bums me out because it was the softest thing ever. And also is somewhat annoying as now I totally have to knit a new cowl pronto while I'm in the middle of Christmas knitting. :( Hopefully I'll whip this one Christmas project out during Thanksgiving so I can just quickly knit a cowl before getting back to the other Christmas project I've got to finish before the big day.

Travels

The past couple of weeks have been somewhat of a whirlwind.


It started with a work trip to London last week. I was there for the better part of a week, but I did get a bit of time to go wandering. I walked from my company's offices on The Strand (practically on the River Thames) to Liberty. I was totally blown away by the exterior of the store:


And the interior was just as amazing. There were gorgeous scarves, beautiful wood architecture, some amazing Christmas displays, soft Rowan yarns and beautifully printed fabrics. I managed to score 2 meters of these fabrics:


I gave the one with the stars to Illanna.

After I spent too much money in Liberty, I wandered on over to I Knit London for their Thursday night Knit night. They were all so friendly there and the yarns at the store were all so beautiful! There were even a couple of people there that were good enough to tell me if a yarn I was looking at wasn't available in the states! It was the kind of knitting group that I wished I could knit with all the time actually.

As soon as I got back to the states, I headed on over to Illanna's place. We had organized a weekend of sewing together. I passed out super early on Friday, but ended up waking up rather early on Sunday. We sewed the pajama pants from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing. After breakfast we traced the pattern pieces out and then traced them onto the fabric. We took a break and wandered over to Yarn Diva & More.

Now, if you've never been to Yarn Diva, let me describe it to you (because I'm too shy to ask to take photos of a yarn store from the inside): it's pink with floor to ceiling yarns. They've got EVERY yarn imaginable from Patons to Berocco to Malabrigo, Handmaiden and Blue Heron. Amazing colors and notions and it's kinda the bee's knees. I ended up getting a new tape measure there (my old one is starting to rip actually!), an amazing button, and a pair of amazing glass needles that I absolutely love knitting with:


The stitches just fly off the needles and I can't wait to find another excuse to knit on size 5 needles!

We came back from the yarn store, cut the fabric out, and started sewing. We even managed to finish relatively early that evening (maybe around 8?)! I'm still so shocked I haven't managed to snap a photo of the pj pants yet. I love wearing them, they're super comfortable, but next time I think I'm going to put a draw string into them as well. The elastic is great, but it's too loose around my waist. However, if it were tighter it wouldn't fit over my hips and would make getting them on rather a pain.

The next day, we wandered over to south jersey to WoodsEdge Wools Farm. They have over 300 Alpacas and Llamas. Someone from the farm was nice enough to explain the differences between the Alpacas and the Llamas to us. The Alpacas, she told us are more like cats in that they're not really that friendly to people they don't know, and they won't really come when you call them. I still think they're really cute. A Suri Llama named Firefly (I think that was the name anyway) was super friendly and adorable:


It was a great weekend filled with fun, awesome food and wonderful friends! I did end up buying more yarn, and as I take photos for Yarn 365 I'll be posting them. I might actually round them all up together. In the meantime, you can check out more photos of London, llamas and alpacas on my flickr stream.

Stash Overhaul 2009

This weekend was a little nuts. There was paintballing and getting ready for a business trip to London and amazing BBQ at Hill Country. Somehow, in all the craziness, my first priority on Friday night was not packing for a week long trip to London, but organizing my stash.

90% of my stash has been located in bags. Not necessarily in the bags they were bought in, I did try to consolidate things a bit. All the sock yarn was together at least. All the yarn fit either under a plastic Ikea chair, or right in front of it. First step was to take the yarn out of all the bags so it could be organized into piles by what type of project I had in mind for it. This is what I ended up with:


That's yarn for sweaters to the right, and the sock yarn is next to that. Then there's yarn for tank tops and summer stuff and on the far left is yarn for lace projects.

I had bought some plastic boxes from The Container Store (which were surprisingly cheap actually) and started shoving yarn into them in ways that made sense, trying to keep together the organization I had already put in place. The lace project and the tank top boxes are a little mixed in together since the lace yarn is small enought to fit into small spaces left by tank top yarn. The sock yarn box starts with solid colors at the bottom and becomes more and more multi colored as it gets to the top of the box. The sweater yarn actually had to be split up, so that there's a bag and a box of that (there's also a WIP yarn bag). And here's what I'm left with:


The boxes are labeled on their front and I have a list of whatever yarn is inside the box on top of it (index cards are awesome). It might be a little anal. It might have taken me 2-3 hours to complete all of this. I might have packed last minute last night instead of on Friday night like I had anticipated, however, that corner of the apartment is way neater, and much more organized. :)

Knitting Meme

I found this on the blogosphere and rather enjoyed it. I think I might post about it every year just to see where I am and what new skills (if any) I've picked up.
THE DEAL: You mark the things you have knit in bold, you italicize the things you intend to try, and everything else you just leave in regular font. Because I'm not one to leave well enough alone, I'll probably end up putting in little comments about techniques that went exceptionally well, and ones that didn't so much, vs. things I want to try.

Afghan
American/English knitting
Baby items - A few bibs and a stuffed bear
Bobble - Thank you Tangled Yoke Cardigan!
Buttonholes - They ended up a bit too big, so I'll have to give this another go
Cable stitch patterns - LOVE em!
Cardigan
Charity knitting - I think I knit some squares and helped seam a couple of blankets for Katrina victims at The Point
Combination knitting
Continental knitting - I want to like it, really, I do!
Darning
Designing knitted garments - I have a couple patterns in my Ravelry Store
Domino knitting - I might want to try this if I knew what it was...
Drop stitch patterns - Hello Clapotis!
Dyeing spinning fiber
Dyeing with plant colors
Dyeing yarn
Entrelac
Fair Isle
Free-form knitting - I'm also not sure what this is...
Fulling/felting
Garter stitch
Gloves
Graffiti knitting - I want to tag my whole neighborhood!
Hair accessories - Well, they will be hair accessories when I get the hair clips!
Hats: Cuff-up
Hats: Top Down
Holiday knitting
Household Items
I-cord
Intarsia
Jewelry
Kitchener stitch - LOVE IT!
Knitted flowers
Knitting a gift
Knitting a pattern from an on-line knitting magazine
Knitting and purling backwards - I'm not sure why I tried this, but it was kinda cool!
Knitting art
Knitting for a living - It's worth a shot right?
Knitting for pets
Knitting for preemies
Knitting in public
Knitting items for a wedding
Knitting on a loom - I didn't know you COULD!
Knitting smocking
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)
Knitting to make money - Technically I got paid for that pattern published in Not Your Mama's Knitting
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously
Knitting with alpaca
Knitting with bamboo yarn - It was a blend, but I think that counts!
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Knitting with beads
Knitting with camel yarn
Knitting with cashmere
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with cotton
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Knitting with dpns - I hate it!
Knitting with linen
Knitting with metal wire
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn - I know, call me a yarn snob...
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn
Knitting with silk
Knitting with someone else’s hand-spun yarn
Knitting with soy yarn
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Knitting with wool
Knitting with your own hand-spun yarn
Lace patterns
Long Tail CO
Machine knitting - That just seems to take all the fun out of it!
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip Down = meh.
Moebius band knitting
Norwegian knitting
Participate in an exchange - I thought about it once...I think I'd feel too much pressure and shut down.
Participating in a KAL
Pillows
Publishing a knitting book - Well...working for a publishing company that published a knitting book? Publishing a pattern in a knitting book? Consulting on a needlepoint book? I think all of those together count as me publishing a book. :)
Purses/bags - Nah...I feel like it's going to sag.
Rug - Maybe...maybe one from Mason Dixon 2
Scarf
Shawl
Short rows
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Slip stitch patterns
Slippers - I knitted slippers for my mom. The ones from Weekend Knitting. I can't figure out how to put them together STILL - 4 years later. But they're knitted, so they count!
Socks:toe-up
Socks: top-down
Steeks
Stockinette stitch
Stuffed toys
Swatching
Sweater
Tassels
Teaching a child to knit - I gave it a good old college try...I don't think she's keeping up with it.
Teaching a male how to knit
Textured knitting
Thrummed knitting
Toy/doll clothing - Only if I have children of my own someday will I consider this...
Tubular CO
Twisted stitch patterns
Two end knitting
Writing a pattern
Double Knitting

I added Double Knitting because it wasn't on the list!!

Yarn 365

I've started a new adventure!

Ruth and I were chatting on our subway ride back from SNB this week about coffee table books. I mentioned that it'd be really cool to have a book of just really good yarn photography. I started thinking that it might be fun to do a 365 project where all the photos were of yarn. I'll take a photo a day and add it to a flickr website and then to a blog I just created called Yarn 365. There's a few fun categories that I'll be posting into:

• Yarn in the Wild - this category will encompass yarn in places you don't generally see it such as: chilling on a stoop, maybe a green hank hanging out with some red apples in the produce section of whole foods, or even balancing on a sheep's head
• A Close Yarn - this category will be for close ups (macro shots) of yarn
• Glamorous Yarn - this category will be for photos of yarn that strikes a pose in a studio setting
• Puppy-Eyed Yarn - this category is for the yarn that stares at you from the cubby holes at the yarn store. You know, the hanks and skeins that beg you to take them home with you regardless of how much space you have for them or what you'll knit with them
• Yarn Transformed - this category is for photos of yarn that has been knit, crocheted, or played with in a way that makes it no longer string-like

I can use all the encouragement I can get I think. It's really hard to do something every day of the week. I have a lot of momentum going on this project right now and I'm really excited about it, but I'm sure that will fade at some point, and I might need some cheerleaders. Can you help me out? I'll make you some pom-poms if you want them... :)

Malabrigo Intervention

I might need one. I think the blanket that I'm knitting out of the Malabrigo is making me want more Malabrigo.


Doesn't it make you want to squish it? The project is the Fireside Afghan (RavLink) from Continuous Cables (amz link). I'm knitting it for a friend who got married in May, though, I might actually end up knitting him a Hemlock Ring Blanket and give this to my brother and his fiancee instead. I'm still up in the air about it.

Back to the issue at hand though: I'm thinking about the Malabrigo here at work. I'm almost twitching and drooling at the thought of it. After Bev wore her Side Slip Cloche (RavLink) from Boutique Knits (amz link) to SNB last night, I've been thinking about knitting it, and knitting it with Malabrigo. But if I do that, surely I would have to knit myself a cowl out of Malabrigo to match the hat right? Maybe some matching mittens too?

This seems like a slippery slope, you see? We so quickly went from 1 skein for a hat to 3-4 skeins for a wintery set. I looked at my stash on Ravelry though, and didn't see anything really appropriate (besides the 5 skeins of mint green Malabrigo already in my stash, but that's not a wintery enough or neutral enough color for a hat/cowl/mitten set), or anything I had enough to make the whole set from. Would 3-4 skeins of a wintry or neutral color (Think ravelry red, cabernet, more Polar Morn or Simply Taube, watery green or some sort of blue) be condonable?

Flash Me!

For various reasons, Stan and I have been having stash conversations recently. I'm sure you've all been there at some point. You have too much yarn, or you haven't been knitting enough of the yarn that you've got or something along those lines to make your significant other question the amount of yarn you've got. Stan, I think, has a hard time grasping the yarn collection aspect of my hobby because he doesn't collect anything himself.

Until recently, Stan thought my entire stash fit in a milk crate between my roommate's room and mine. He has since been assured that such a divine spot in front of the TV is used only for pretty yarn (and that I actually do stare at it often), and there is quite a bit more yarn under a chair behind the TV (he didn't even know there was a chair behind the TV). He thinks (probably rightly so) that I have way more yarn than I could ever knit. And the stash has come up for some spatial concerns as well.

I've decided that I really should go through the stash. I need to photograph it all and list it all on Ravelry. Random leftover balls (but not remnants from socks that are lying around for mending) and all. Regardless, there will be one glory shot of it all together (if I can fit it in with my wide angle lens!). I might even look to part with some of it. Maybe.

I pose it to you, what's left of my dear readers: Flash Your Stash 2009! I think it would be way fun to put the size of my stash in perspective. Take a photo of your stash all together! Show me how much you've got! Slap it on your blog, then drop a comment to this post with a link. I'm giving all of us (myself included!) until January 1, 2010 to photograph and list it all.

I'm contemplating making this interesting by adding in a yarny incentive, but I'm going to hold off on that in the event I find that I can't part with my sock yarn. I'll figure it out and post something either way soon.

Halvsies Pattern on Ravelry!

Since my Halvsies pattern wasn't accepted by Berroco for their contest, I'm publishing it on my own, with Ravelry's help! click on the link below to download it!


Ravelry says that you can use that link to download the pattern even if you don't have a Ravelry account. Though, the Ravelry link for the pattern is here

I'll remind you as to what the Halvsies look like with a couple of glamor shots:





If you remember, I knit these last year for my brother's girlfriend. She loves them, and I wanted a pair to wear at work. I knit a pair out of Berocco Sox Metallic for their contest, but didn't manage to make it to the voting part. Now, I want to knit another pair so I can have a pair at work still! They're knit from the toe up to the heel and bound off loosely with Elizabeth Zimmerman's sewn bind off.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pattern, and if you have any issues, drop me a line on Ravelry!

Rhinebeck Tank Sundress

Where have I been? Well, most of late August and Early September were in preparation for this:


Clicking on that will take you to a nifty slide show.
Stan and I went to Hawaii. It was utterly amazing and if you ever get the chance to go, you certainly should! They're not kidding, it truly is paradise.

You may remember right before I left a couple of posts on the sizing of a tank top. I'd like to show you the results, if I may:


From the Spring/Summer Vogue Knitting, this is pattern number 25. I knit it up with Handmaiden Double Sea Silk on size 6 needles for the most part. Funner details can be found on Ravelry. I did end up knitting the size 36 and it fits PERFECTLY. I might have done with another set of smaller bust darts, but it does fit fine and dandy. You'll also notice it's a better photo of the hat that I made at Illanna's that one time.

Also making it's debut in Hawaii was a dandy new sundress I sewed up from a Heather Ross pattern:


I just love the pattern on this fabric. It's Marcus Brothers from their Rainbow Gardens design line called Pink Paisley Garden 1139-0126. I fell in love and purchased it at Purl Patchwork.

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So those are new FOs. I regret to inform everyone that I won't actually be making it to Rhinebeck this year. I was really looking forward to it, but it's not going to happen this year. My stash is already massive, so it'll survive and I think it will only make things better for next year. If someone wants to pick up some beautiful Briar Rose for me though, rest assured that I'd find a way to get some dollars to you for it!

The reason I can't go is actually quite a joyous one. My little brother recently got engaged to his girlfriend! While they don't have a date exactly yet, they're thinking it will happen April or May of 2011. We're all super excited for them, and their engagement party is the Saturday of Rhinebeck. So while I'm bummed I'm missing Rhinebeck, I really couldn't have asked for a better reason to miss it!

Now accepting interesting ideas for knitted wedding gifts. I really want to knit her a garter, I don't know why, I just do. So if you come across any interesting patterns for garters, drop me a line. I found one on Ravelry, that I've added to my queue, but if anyone finds another one that's equally interesting, let me know!

Continous Cables Disaster

So, I don't have any photos to share, but I will say that I'm having serious issues with the Fireside Afghan I'm knitting for a friend. Row 12 seems to be quite wonky and it seems as though there are some places where stitches are being increased, but there's no mark to let you know to increase there. It's all rather frustrating.

Anyway, does anyone have time to check this chart out and to confirm my sanity?

Help!

A Bit More Time

So, Illanna came up with a great idea to put the side I've half completed on a holder to try the second size for the other side. I'm so ready to do that! Except that I'm at Stan's in Staten Island and the tips for my interchangeable needle set are still in my apartment in Brooklyn and I will need tips 2 sizes smaller for the ribbing at the bottom. Now, this is not a long term problem. I also forgot my camera for our trip to Boston so we're picking that up on out way. It's just going to be tough tonight since I don't have another project with me to work on!! My computer's also in Brooklyn and Stan's computer is locked so looks like I'm going to get a LOT of TV time in.

Sigh.

Time Sensitive Question...

I need a bit of help here...

Pattern link in Ravelry

I’m seriously wondering if I’m knitting the right size. I’ve got a 41” bust, so I thought I’d knit the large in a size 39” bust. I’m halfway done with the back, but I’m thinking it’s going to be too big. So now I’m wondering if I should knit the next size down. Which is to fit a 36” bust. I figure that if I give it bust darts, it might not matter…

I've looked at a few of my store bought wife beaters. They're also made of cotton, but they stretch a LOT (one was 13" wide where it would hit my hips!). I feel like if this knit stretched too much it'd be a bit indecent. But 3"...that'll make a difference, probably for the better right?

I've got about half the back done, but I did it in like three days. If I knit less stitches, I can probably get back (get the pun!?) to where I am now by Saturday.

This yarn was kind of expensive and is a dream to work with. All the same, I don't like re-knitting things, so once it gets finished, I'm not going to go rip it and give the pattern another go. So, what do you think I should do, folks?

A) Forge ahead
B) Rip it already and knit a size you think will fit better before you lose momentum!
C) Didn't you want to knit a shawl?

Thanks folks! I'm probably going to try to work on it more tomorrow night when I'm at Stan's by myself. We're trekking up to Boston, and it's easier to just head straight to Staten Island versus him picking me up at 4am when he gets out of work.

Bust Darts

Oh wow. I have a blog! Hello blogosphere! I am terribly sorry for having forgotten you. I've been somewhat busy. Hope you're prepared for a long blog post...I'm ready to eat your lunchtime up! I know from the top that this post looks identical to the last post, trust me, it's different.

I had a great crafting weekend about a month ago with Illanna. She showed me the gift I gave her for her wedding. It's hanging across from their bed, which I think I kind of special! I got to take a much better photo of it...with like stitch definition and everything!


One of us had a bit of trouble winding our bobbin (uhm, I'd only threaded a bobbin once on my machine, and had completely forgotten how to do so - I've since reminded myself), but once we got through a bit of that trouble we were mostly ok. We sewed hats! Here's mine:


The fabric is some sort of disco circle something or other according to Illanna (that was such a half assed description eh?). I got it at Brooklyn General and kind of fell in love with it. We couldn't sew the whole weekend though. That would be crazy. So we visited Ridgewood Needlepoint since I've been doing a bit more of that recently. I had been waiting for a flag canvas to come my way from Annie & Company, and I wanted to stitch something while I was waiting for it. So I bought a belt at Ridgepoint Needlepoint. I've got to be honest though, I haven't even started it yet. It's a pretty cool pattern though. It's chocolate brown and a nice pastel teal color. A combination I happen to totally love.

Illanna's a bad influence. We've known this for a while. So, even though I'd spent a decent chunk of change at the needlepoint store, she brought me to Yarn Diva & More, her favorite LYS in Hillsdale. This range of yarns at this place is amazing! From acrylic to silks and cashmeres, Pattons and Berocco to Handmaiden and Tilli Thomas, the place was ceiling to floor filled with yarn! They barely had any books because, Illanna told me, they have so much yarn that they want to display! We're friends on Ravelry, this yarn store and I. It's really too bad that all these awesome stores are far away from me! The owner of Yarn Diva and her daughter are amazing people, so friendly! It was one of the few places you can walk into for the first time and feel completely welcome. As Illanna pondered what colors of Malabrigo she was going to get, she pointed me in the direction of the handmaiden silk (I told you she was a bad influence, you've had your warning!). I had to, of course, wipe them out of a color:


There's a really great tank top from the spring 2009 Vogue knitting I intend to knit it into. Hopefully soon. It's a really simple pattern, almost wife-beater esque. I'm seriuosly hoping I can bang it out with only 5 skeins. We'll see. I'm now taking bets....

While I was on the floor staring at the Handmaiden Sea Silk, however, I saw this beauty just lying there in a bookshelf, and thought it looked pretty lonely. So I decided to adopt it:


It's a laceweight yarn by a company called Prism. It's going to be such a gorgeous lace shawl, I almost can't wait to knit it up (but I have to knit that Briar Rose stuff first because it's been beckoning to me from the stash for longer!)!

I finished a pair of socks that weekend as well. Beth had given me some Schaefer Yarns Heather sock yarn to play with for my birthday last year. It took me a while to figure out what to do with it and exactly what pattern it wanted to be. I finally settled on the Primavera sock pattern (Ravelry Link).



I knit it on size 0s, which was probably not necessary, but they'll be amazingly warm. That weekend was so amazing that I really can't believe it was so long ago and that I'm going to have to wait soooo long for the next one!! All the sewing and knitting and crafty store goodness and awesome food (Illanna's a great cook!) and hooping! I'm like booked solid through October now, because I'm crazy. Sick thing is that I can tell you what I'm doing each weekend - and yes, there is plenty of time for knitting.

I have also been sewing and needlepointing, however. A few weeks ago, I took a class with Heather Ross author of Weekend Sewing (a great book if you haven't checked it out yet) at Purl Patchwork. That was a linkfull wasn't it? She taught us how to make her Smocked Sundress. The folks that took the class were pretty good (one of them was a mega-marathon runner who was going to run a 100 mile race that weekend!). While I didn't have my awesome camera, I did have my crappy iPhone camera, and here's the shot I got of all of us in our respective sundresses:


I love wearing this dress, even though I have to be careful of it falling! The fabric is really cool and very me. It's so cool to know that I made it all myself, and it was so incredibly easy to make! I even hemmed it myself (which was a bit of a challenge, but I got through it)! It hits just above my knee. I'm planning on making another for when Stan and I go to Hawaii, and a different type of sundress that I'll take from Heather's book to sew.

Ravi took me to The Eduardian for a bit of needlepoint a couple of weeks ago. The owner of that store was totally amazing. I don't think she even charged me for a lesson on how to lay threads. I'm practicing that a bit on a blank canvas (!!??) that I'm stitching as a headband. I think it looks pretty good so far:


It's just a simple chevron pattern, but I wear all three of those colors quite often, so I think it'll be quite wearable.

All I did this weekend was knit. I met up with my friend Nancy from work at Knitty City on Friday. I was particularly surprised that Pearl remembered my name. There's so many people that frequent that shop, and I come in so rarely, she must have some sort of magical way of knowing it! As infrequently as I go to that shop, it really is one of my favorites. I walked in and told myself self, you're not to buy any yarn. We need size 7 dpns, so you're allowed those, and I guess those new Norah Gaughan books will be ok. Fine...add in the new Jared Flood book from Classic Elite. But that's IT!. I took a hard look at myself, and did just what I told myself. Then I sat down, and knit.

Someday, I'll remember to write down the notes I make to myself when I create bust darts. Hopefully, I'll do it with this shirt, so I don't forget for next time. I put Morocco (it's a sublime pattern - ravelry link) down for quite a bit because the bust darts were making me a bit nervous. I wasn't sure exactly how to do them, and I didn't have any information on how I'd done bust darts before, but I knew this pattern needed it. Once I sat down to knit at Knitty City, though, for some reason I felt really confident. Maybe it was just that I was knitting around a TON of knitters, maybe it's because Knitty City is the friendliest place on earth. Whatever it was, it made me feel like there was a huge safety net and that I should just go for it! Which I did. A bit too early, actually. I started in on my short rows, and when I measured the back after I had done them to find out how much more I had to knit, I found out too quickly that I needed to actually start 2" later than I did. So out it all came, and I re-did it. There was a lot of knitting with the Ella Rae Bamboo Silk this weekend. Probably too much.

For the first time since I really started knitting, my hands are KILLING me. To the point where it's actually hurting me to write this post almost. I really want to keep knitting tonight though. While I pop a couple of Moltrins, check out the yarn I ended up getting on Friday at Knitty City (really, did you think I was going to be placated by knitting books?).


I have no idea what this colorway is called, but it's quite pretty. I know it's sock yarn, but I really don't think I've bought any sock yarn all year, I'm allowed to slip up every now and again. Or think of it as my consolation prize for not being able to go to Rhinebeck this year. I can't explain yet why I can't go, I just can't, but I think that means that the year after will be just that much better.

In other news, look out on the Berocco newsletters for voting on their sock contest. I think the voting starts on September 25th or so. I entered a pair into the mix, and I really hope they like them. If they don't publish them, I'll probably whip them up into a pdf and publish it myself on Ravelry.

Well, is your lunch break over? If not, I think you should just knit for a bit until it is. I'm going to watch some Adult Swim and let those Moltrins take my pain away so I can knit again.

Finished things!

Let's start at the top!

I was finally able to meet up with Illanna and give her the piece I've been working on for her wedding!


I apologize for the blurriness. :( I'm kind of upset that I didn't make sure the photos I got of it were in focus before I gave it to her! You can, however, get the general gist of this, and see that it's all stitchery and looks great with the matting and the frame. Annie from Annie and Company Needlepoint and Knitting affixed the red vase on and it was no small feat. She's awesome. Illanna and Danny seemed to like it, which I'll consider a success!

My next needlepoint project will be an American flag that's done in squares of different stitches. I'm excited about the project because it will help teach me new stitches, and because my roommate and I have decided that our apartment is just a touch dormy, and that we should start putting adult type things on the walls like photographs and art.

But on to the next finished object! I finished the Bog Jacket that I put on hold while I stitched Illanna and Danny's present.


My hair's a little wild there, and I've actually lost weight despite the fact that the combination of that shirt and sweater make me look pregnant. The sweater is done and I think it looks great!

I also think it's the only v-neck bog jacket. I kinda mis-read the instructions and instead of continuing the neck stitches but just splitting them in two, I put them on hold and knit each side of them. Then I sewed the edge before the neck stitches to the main part of the bottom cardigan bit and did a sewn bind off on the neck. I got the clasps at Brooklyn General. I didn't think I was a clasp kinda gal until I saw them. I LOVE them! The sweater is kinda perfect. It's warm and soft and I love the colors.

I've started work on the Indigo Ripples Skirt from IK. After I un-did about three inches because I'd twisted the cast on (awesome), I'm not sure my gauge is on. I'm hoping it won't be too big of a deal. It should be 21 stitches to 4" and I'm knitting it at 22 stitches to 4". I knew my gauge was off, so I think I calculated for it a bit, but maybe not enough. I'll probably try to add in a few extra stitches. Maybe. We'll see.

BEA 2009

This past weekend was Book Expo America in NYC. Some publishers scaled back significantly, some publishers didn't even exhibit. Unfortunately, Interweave Press wasn't at the show, which is a serious bummer because I love checking out their books. But many other publishers were there, and while they didn't all have dummies of the books lying around, I was able to nab some cool catalogs. Here's a recap with reviews of what I saw:

RANDOM HOUSE - POTTER CRAFT
The Knitter's Book of Wool
$30.00 | October 2009 | Hardcover
Clara Parkes

This looks to be a fabulous companion to 2007's A Knitter's Book of Yarn. There are tips as to which types of wool should be used for which types of projects as well as 20 projects. The projects look to be rather classic items (just the kind I like!). I'll probably end up buying this to compliment A Knitter's Book of Yarn. It seems to be a rather helpful reference.

The Sewing Bible
$35.00 | November 2009 | Hardcover
Ruth Singer

This seems to be a be-all-end-all sewing reference with 204 pages. Its got how-to info as well as patterns. It boasts the ability to guide one from beginners lessons like threading a needle to masterclasses like couture hemming. While this book seems all-encompassing and amazing, I'm sure it won't come near DK's The Sewing Book. Firstly, DK tried to show beginner and advanced skills, but I think we keep it to skills we think people will actually use. Ours is also 400 pages and has an index. So there.

Men's Knits
$21.99 | September 2009 | Paperback
Erika Knight

Men's knitting books are always a little dicey for me. I worry that the design might not be manly enough. I worry the colors won't be right or that even if I knit a monstrous sweater for one of the guys in my life that it will sit in a drawer un-used. I'm pretty sure that's where the Reflection Aran Pullover is (Ravelry Link). Erika Knight's book seems to be an answer to that, but I'm not convinced that some of the patterns are...shall we say, British.

RANDOM HOUSE - WATSON-GUPTIL
A Rainbow of Stitches
$24.99 | October 2009 | Paperback
Muriel Brunet

Now, it's a bit of a miss-placed book here I guess. This book is about embroidery and stitching, not knitting. The book looks much more contemporary than Super Stitches Crochet and Super Stitches Knitting (the comparative titles listed on the catalog page). I actually got quite inspired looking at the few spreads in the catalog. I've given embroidery a shot and kind of liked it, so maybe I'll pick this book up.

Haiku Knits
$29.99 | October 2009 | Hardcover
Tanya Alpert

Not surprisingly, Haiku knits pulls its inspiration from both Japan and nature. The sample garments shown in the catalog look rather simple, classic, and chic like you'd expect them to. From the catalog each pattern is introduced by explaining the inspiration behind it and there are five nature-themed categories

• Lingering Snow - covers cold-weather wear


• Wind and Stream - includes transitional garments for spring and fall


• Ocean Breeze - comprises of summer designs


• Fading Light - has designs for night time


• Beauty in Motion - is comprised of garments with a casual, relaxed feel.

I can see myself enjoying this book for similar reasons I enjoyed Knitting Nature.

STERLING - LARK
Luxe Knits
$24.95 | August 2009 | Hardcover
Laura Zukaite

there wasn't a lot of information on this book or the patterns within in Sterling's catalog. they mainly focused on Laura Zukaite, the author. She's billed as a rising star, though most of the information I could find on her was from 2005-2006. I do seem to like her style (think Dragonfly from Knitty and Rambling Rose from IK - both Ravelry links), but I'll wait to see more designs before I decide to buy the book or not.

Pretty Little Presents
$17.95 | August 2009 | Hardcover

There's not much to say on this book. It seems to be in direct competition with Last Minute Patchwork Gifts (just minus the patchwork part). The projects include coasters, napkin rings, a notebook cover, wedding portfolio, a doll and hanging art. I must say, I can't wait for this book to come out so I can whip up a few gifts of my own!

The Joy of Sox
$22.95 | October 2009 | Concealed wire-o
Linda Kopp

Something about this book is missing the mark for me. Maybe it's the fact that a pair of legwarmers are on the cover of this book when it's supposed to be about sox. maybe I feel they're using my team's name in vain. I'm not quite sure. It does look like it will include a diverse array of sock-like projects. it seems they had an online sock poll and the results of that are in the sock book. They'll also be offering a free pattern online when you buy the book. I just can't pin my finger on why I don't like this book...maybe it will surprise me.

AwareKnits
$22.95 | October 2009 | Paperback
Vickie Howell

There's not much on this book except its by Vickie Howell and uses "green" yarns like soy, corn and hemp. I'm not a fan of her style, but I am somewhat curious about this book.

Pure Knits
$19.95 | November 2009 | Paperback
Yahaira Ferreira

The author of Sensual Knits is back with this book! All the patterns in this book are knit in white luxury yarns. if you can look beyond these constraints (white for me is a magnet for pasta sauce and luxury yarns tend to be beyond my budget, but substitutions can always be made), I'm pretty confident you'll find some beautiful designs here.

Pretty Little Things to Make
$19.95 | August 2009 | Hardcover
Judith More

I really love vintage stuff from the 20s, 30s, and 40s. I know it doesn't seem that way, you never see me wearing such thing, but it's true. Especially when you throw kids into the mix. All 20 projects from the book are for babies and toddlers, so all you folks I'm friends with that have gotten married, you should like, start procreating so I can finally start working on smaller projects. Oh, and this is a sewing book, not a knitting book.

Knitting a Kiss in Every Stitch
$19.95 | November 2009 | Hardcover
Nicky Epstein

This book is sure to be as fabulous and ornate as Nicky's previous titles, though the cover is rather simple. I've heard of knitting a prayer with each stitch, but appreciate the title of this book for its secular (if cheesy) nature.

Noro
$24.95 | October 2009 | Hardcover
Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton

You know the yarns, you know the colors, you've seen their patterns, but this...this is different. This brings the yarn back to the maker: Eisaku Noro. he discusses knitting, his craft and his dedication to sustainability. The book also have 40 (!) patterns, but honestly, I want to know about the man behind the yarn!

Hattitude
$19.95 | November 2009 | Paperback
Cathy Carron

Did you ever know there could be over 40 hat patterns? Well, it seems like there are because this book has patterns for so many. All hats all the time. This would probably be a rather fun reference to have, and great for anyone that knits hats for charity. Too bad it's not coming out any earlier so you could use it for holiday charity work.

Cardigans
$24.95 | January 2010 | Hardcover
Louisa Harding

OMG. Simple title, simple style, amazing designer, what more can one ask for in a book? Maybe a sooner pub date because I know I'm going to want to knit from this next week!

WORKMAN
Stitch n' Bitch Extreme: Take it to the Next Level
$16.95 | January 2010 | Paperback
Debbie Stoller

Yup! She's back! For those who want to go beyond the basics, Debbie's here to guide us! This book will go into lace, color work, double knitting, beading, steeks and crochet embellishments. She'll instruct how to make your own lace panel and how to design your own garments. if that's not enough, the book also boasts 41 edgy patterns, more than double the number of patterns in her previous titles. The description of this book is making me wonder if she's not the new Elizabeth Zimmerman (in the "you're the boss of your knitting" kind of way).

WORKMAN - Storey Publishing
One Yard Wonders
$19.95 | October 2009 | Paperback
Rebecca Yaker & Patricia Hoskins

I just sort of started sewing. I do have a stash, but it's a pretty small one. the one skein wonders books are good for stash busting, but I anticipate this book to be great for leaning how to do stuff with minimal amounts of fabric so that if I want to cheap out on a project, I can. This book is on the top of my Fall 09 want list.

STEWART TABOORI & CHANG
Knitted Socks East and West
$22.50 | September 2009 | Paperback
Judy Sumner

This title somewhat confused me until I read the subtitle: "30 Designs inspired by Japanese Stitch Patterns." The Japanese stitch patterns bring a fascinating new dimension to sock design, and all the socks in the book are named after an intriguing part of Japanese culture. I wonder if there's a cute pair of socks with a cherry blossom motif...

One More Skein
$19.95 | September 2009 | Paperback
Leigh Radford

The thing I hated about One Skein is that a lot of the projects took more than one skein to complete. There are many ways to use one skein of yarn, I feel, and if the majority of patterns in a book require more than one skein, the title should be changed. this book seems to be of the same vein, and I'll probably boycott it for that reason.

Reversible Knitting
$29.95 | October 2009 | Hardcover
Lynne Barr

So this book looks awesome! Stitch patterns that are reversible are swatched and photographed. But there are also 20 projects int a range of categories to knit with some great designers behind them (Norah Gaughan among them!). those of us who crave reversible scarves and blankets will be all over this like chocolate to a kid's face!

TAUNTON PRESS
Rowan's Greatest Knits
$24.95 | September 2009 | Hardcover
Edited by Kate Buller

So many popular musicians put out "best of" albums that I'm surprised that more magazines don't do so. Without really looking at all of the patterns in this book, I can't really say how good I think it will be. Kaffe Fasset wrote the foreword to this book, which also includes his design talent, as well as the design talent of the usual Rowan suspects.

I hope you find something in here you like. I know I did. I added so much to my amazon wish list while writing this post!

While I Swatch...

Now, you see, I'm living in the Devil's Playground.

I'm sure that's not the first time you've heard NYC called such. But for a hardcore Red Sox fan like myself, well, that's exactly what's going on. If you remember, I knit a pair of Red Sox socks for my friend, Beth. They looked like this:



Well, I actually wrote up the pattern! It's up for free on Ravelry! You can add it to your queue, download it, and check out the pattern on Ravelry!

The Next Project Has Been Chosen!

Indigo Ripples Skirt from IK Spring 07: 7 votes (41%)
Seraphim Shawl by Miriam L. Felton: 5 votes (29%)
Twisty Tank top from Sublime Soya Cotton DK 2 Booklet: 5 votes (29%)

I'm going to admit off the bat that I voted twice. Once from work for the Seraphim shawl, and once from home for the Indigo Ripples Skirt (I changed my mind that quickly). Even taking those votes away, while the vote was close, the clear winner is the Indigo Ripples Skirt. I'll begin swatching as soon as I've finished the trim on the Bog Jacket.

Yup! That's right! It's all seamed together, all I have to do is add the icord trim and sew in a zipper. maybe I'll see if my mom can't snap a photo of me in it this weekend. I'm hoping to finish the icord by the time I get off the train in Kingston, RI tomorrow. We'll see...it might take more than that.

Bogged Down

Firstly, I want to mention that the above poll closes on May 21st at 9:30pm EST so that I can pack for Memorial Day. Currently, two of the options are tied, so if you could weigh in, that'd be awesome. It looks like it's between the Sublime pattern (You folks really want to torture me with the knit stitch don't you? Y'all realize I'm going to knit that sucker in the round.) and the Indigo Ripple skirt.

---

What I really need to figure out, however, is this:


You see that those stitches aren't even don't you? I certainly do. I removed the green yarn holding all of the stitches. I didn't have a problem figuring out where the stitches were in the part that I knit the waste yarn into. I did have a problem figuring out where the stitches are in the part where I cast on provisionally for the arm. There are 28 stitches there that are supposed to be on the needle on the right side of the yarn poking up.

Not only do I want there to be 28 stitches to the left of that yarn, I want them to be as even as the stitches on the left side of this photo:



I'm seriously hoping that SNB can help me find these stitches tonight. Next I have to come up with a better way of getting the stitches off the yarn from the provisional cast on for the next sleeve. I must say, that trying to do this around 12:45 this morning probably didn't help. I have to go back home to pick it up so I can work on it tonight at SNB. I thought I had to go to a meeting tonight, but I don't. I left the Bog Jacket at home, and am actually feeling kind of anxious thinking about it sitting on the couch right now...

Poll!

This poll closes on May 21st at 9:30pm so I can pack accordingly for Memorial Day weekend in Rhode Island
Check it out! I figured out how to add a poll into blogger!

Because it was just showing up as naked code when I put in links, I took out the links to the photos. Here are the options:

• Indigo Ripples skirt (Ravelry link)
  
• Seraphim Shawl (Ravelry link)
  
• Twisty tank from Sublime knits - i should note that I want to do the sleeveless version of this shirt. And that's not the actual name of the pattern, I forget what it is, but I'll edit the post/poll tonight.

Have I mentioned that I'm bored to death of Garter Stitch?

Stash Busting disclaimer

I just realized I posted this huge thing on the enhancement to my stash, after we'd already talked about Stash-Busting 09.

I'd like to assure you that even though that Kraemer Sterling Silk and Silver is of sock weight, I bought it with the intention of knitting a shawl out of it.

kthnx

Busy Busy!

I have certainly been busy! Most of my April was finishing up on Illanna's wedding present. It's done, sort of. It's being finished. Stan and I will be giving it to the Shapiros in a couple of weeks. Once I get a photo of it (and after I give it to them!) I'll post one!

I also knit Veronique (ravelry link) from French Girl Knits for the wedding. It ended up being WAY too big. I think I just need to take some yarn and pull it through the back seam to sort of pull it together in order to make it wearable. I'll do that eventually I guess.

Since the wedding, I've really been knitting on the Bog Jacket. I started the front side of one of the sleeves, so it's coming along. I'm feeling really good about it. I don't have any photos of that, of course. :) Really just imagine what you've already seen of it, but like, a TON more garter stitch. It's been really boring to knit which I think is one of the reasons I put it down, but I've recently really got back into it and am enjoying the meditative calmness it affords me.

I also started a new pair of socks out of some Scheaffer yarns that Beth gave me. I decided to use a rather simple pattern, so I'm knitting the Primavera pattern. It's a free pattern I found via Ravelry. It's simple, not too much going on there, and seems to be fitting the bill. As soon as this Bog Jacket's done though, you can be sure I'll be casting on for something way more lacy! I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve!

---

I'm sure most people know by now that I used to hang out at The Point all the time. And I'm sure a lot of people know that Helene closed The Point recently. It was quite sad. I'm still kind of bummed by it because it was always the place I'd go when I didn't know where to go after work.

My dad has always taught me, however, that for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. So, while The Point's closure was a bad thing, I must say, I'm not too bummed with what I got out of the sale!

2 skeins of Kraemer Sterling Silk and Silver in White Veil


9 skeins of Ella Rae Bamboo Silk in Black


5 skeins of Rowan Calmer in a light blue
and a copy of A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swansen.

I've recently gotten quite a bit more yarn, but I'm afraid of making this post super long, and my lunch break is over!

+1 Pair of socks

That's right! I finally finished the Jaywalkers!


I love the way they stripe! And the fit! They fit...well...they fit like a sock, I guess it'd be odd to say that they fit like a glove.

I've really only been knitting on these socks for the past few months. One of my best friends, Illanna is getting married soon. I've been working on something special for her wedding. I know I have a year after the wedding to give it to her and her fiance, but I feel like I should try to get it done by their wedding if possible. It's coming up pretty quickly, but we'll give it a shot. I'd love to show you what it is, but I shouldn't in case she's reading. ;)

I'm also working on Veronique from French Girl Knits (Amazon link) and hope to wear it to Illanna's wedding. It's a gorgeous little shrug. And hardly takes any yarn at all. I'm knitting it in the round in a bit of a tweaked fashion that I read off of the Ravelry French Girl Knits group's KAL for Veronique. I really haven't gotten that far, and, actually, I'm not even sure I've finished casting on. I kinda hope it gets done in time, but I'm sure that if it comes down to that I'll start knitting every possible moment. I'm hoping that I can finish the gift this weekend so I can start in on Veronique, but we'll see.

At Least it Feels like Spring

I can tell it feels like spring because I'm at the point where I want to knit everything in sight and do everything that's possible to do!

I met with Chiara yesterday and started my project. I can't really talk about it, but she thanked me for sending some of you folks her way. If you haven't talked to her and still want to take part, you should drop her a line at cl1388@nyu.edu. The project's pretty neat, but that's pretty much all I'll say.

So that's in the works right now, and the Bog Jacket is still being worked on as are my Huron Jaywalkers.

I've got about half the Bog Jacket left to do, essentially just the sleeves and the neck and all that. That's kind of intense though, so we'll see how it goes. All the shaping is there which is refreshing after having essentially knit a garter stitch rectangle so far. Now it's garter stitch with some shaping, which will be good. As soon as I figure out how to do all those short rows for the sleeves. Anyone know? I'm figuring it says to start the short rows four inches before the cuff and then I think it says to every now and again knit all the way to the end, but that doesn't quite make sense. I think I should be knitting only as far as the wrap, turning around and knitting back the way I came until I get to the second wrap. None of it really makes sense though, so I think I'll bring it to Annie's tomorrow and see what they say. It sort of looks like this all laid out:


That green line of yarn is waste yarn for when I fold over the sleeves. If you've done this pattern before you'll probably get it, if not, it's described in Knitting Around.

I've also been working diligently on the Huron Jaywalkers. I even have one to show for it:


I love the way the colors are pooling in this sock. Essentially, they're not pooling, and you can see all the colors and how they work together. It's so magical. That did not end up happening with the second sock, probably because of where I started in the color repeat. To be honest, I don't mind. I'm not one of those people that needs two totallly identical socks. For me, that's what you buy socks for. I wish I'd taken a photo where you could see the pooling of the second sock, it's really cool. It's striping in a light green/blue to dark green/blue way. I'll get a good photo eventually and put it up that compares the two legs.

I'm at the heel flap of the second sock. Which is exciting.

Annie's has put some Rowan Kid Silk Haze on hold for me. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow. The plan is to knit Veronique (Ravelry Link) from French Girl Knits (AMZ link). The idea is to be done with it by May 1st so I can wear it to Illanna's wedding. I got a really nice pastel green color that I think will go really well with the aqua dress.

In addition to the two squares I have to do for a couple blankets our SNB group is putting together for friends who've moved away, there's a lot of knitting to get done. And so much of it is on a schedule! We'll see how that goes...I think I can actually do it...

Teaser Photo

Wanna know how the Bog Jacket's coming along?

Stash Busting Clarification

Alright, I realized that there was a bit of confusion on the Stash Busting front from the comments on my post from last week. This confusion would probably be clarified by a couple photos of my sock yarn stash and a few stats as to what percentage of my stash it takes up (honestly, that would be interesting to see as well - I should work on creating a pie chart of types of yarn in my stash from excel). Alas, I've been rather busy as of late and haven't had a chance to do any of that. My goal for this week is to get on that though.

PassionKNIT Stash Busting 2009 is all about the socks. I have a ton of awesome sock yarn. This yarn should be knit. The goal of 2009 is to not augment the stash of yarn. This means not buying any new sock yarn. Katy's right, if I knit the yarn as I buy it, it doesn't hit the stash, however, when it comes to sock yarn, that kind of behavior is not going to help me diminish the stash at all.

And so this brings me back to the gift card to Purl. For Christmas, my aunt gave me Knitted Lace of Estonia, so maybe I'll get some nice lace-weight yarn. Or maybe I'll get a happy cashmere yarn that I can just pet (that's a really compelling argument you make there, Chiara). Anyone want to weigh in?

I'm a Lab Rat!

It's been a really long week, despite the fact that it has been a "short" week. Because I don't have enough going on in life (aheh), I thought I'd sign up for a knitting/creativity study at NYU. It seems like fun anyway. If you're interested in doing it, here are the details:

As part of her research on creativity, Prof. Anne Laure Sellier (NYU) is running a Creativity Project with advanced knitters at the Purl yarn store in Soho. If you can knit, purl, do stockinette, seed stitch, increases / decreases, and create cables, and you are NOT color-blind, you can take part in this study.
The study will be run until March 9. It involves you coming to Purl for 15 minutes to get yarn and needles that we provide you with. With our selection of yarn and needles, we'll ask you to create a scarf in a week's time. At the end of the week, you will be asked to come to our lab at NYU (West 4th street), to present your work, and fill out a questionnaire.

Participants receive a $20 gift certificate to get yarn from Purl once they have complete the study!!!

If you are willing to take part in the study, please directly contact Chiara Longoni who supervises the study. Her e-mail is cl1388@nyu.edu.

We hope to see you soon!
The Creativity Study


My question to you is, if I get a $20 gift certificate to Purl, can I use it on sock yarn, or does that go against the stash busting mode I'm in?

Socks

So I tore my apartment up tonight looking for a ball of Malabrigo in Bijou Blue that I knit my swatch out of. I was going to use it as waste yarn because I'm getting really close to the arms and I need some waste yarn. Well, I couldn't find it. I've no idea where it went.

You're asking yourself right now, how does this tie into the subject line "socks?"

Here's how:

I went through almost every box/bag of yarn I have looking for this damn ball of Malabrigo. And dudes, I have a literal S**T TON of sock yarn. There's a huge bag stuffed to the brim of sock yarn under a chair. There's ends in a box in the middle of the living room. There's "nice" sock yarn on TOP of the ends in the box in the middle of the living room. I know that it doesn't sound like a lot, you're just going to have to trust me.

I've been good though. I haven't bought any new sock yarn since I last posted about buying sock yarn. I've knit with sock yarn that wasn't mine. I knit a sock for Annie's. I don't remember what the yarn was, but I loved it and would totally buy a ball (except for that moratorium on sock yarn).

I totally need to get a photo of all my sock yarn so that you can get an idea as to how much we're working with here. I could probably sock a full platoon at this point.

Comics

This past weekend I was at New York Comic Con for work. It was a little odd, however. There were by far more knitted hats around the con than I've ever seen before.


I saw 10 of these hats in a weekend which is more than i can say I've seen knitted hats at any Comic Con before. Some con recon proved that it's Jyane Cobb's hat from Firefly (that's a ravelry link). I'm surprised that I don't remember the hat, so I might have to go revisit the shows at some point.

I also saw this hat, which I'm pretty sure is machine knit and mass produced, but I really liked it anyway.


The show itself was interesting as always with crazy costumes and rediculosity. I met Marnie there (Marnie, I forgot which blog was yours! Please let me know which one you are!)

In other knitting comic news, I recently received a review copy of Handknit Heroes. It's a new comic that focuses on a couple of teenage kids that have superhero abilities. It looks like it's off to a good start. I'm already rather curious about what's going on in it and what connection the knitting has in the strip. The comic comes with a knitting pattern too which is pretty cool.

I've been rather addicted to Wonder Woman right now. The January and February issues were awesome. Anyway, I think that's enough dork for the blog for now. I've got a BUNCH of reviews of knitting books I want to get up sometime soon. I'll work on that.

Ravelry in the News!

Well, I heard from twitter, but if you don't twitter, check out the NY Observer's article on Ravelry here.

My only comment would be that I don't really agree with them saying that we users call it "facebook for knitters." It's really not. It's much more hardworking. I doubt any other hobby has a similar networking site. I have a Shelfari page and while I can connect with other people that read, it just seems so much less interactive in a way. Maybe that's because reading exists so much in my head that I have a hard time connecting with others (or vice versa) about the things I read. It's a lot easier to chat while knitting than it is for me to chat while reading.

It's probably actually better for me that there isn't any iPhone app for Ravelry. I'm sure my battery would die so hardcore.

Hemlock Ring FO and other WIPs

The Hemlock Ring Blanket has been done for quite some time. But it's finally blocked!


Really, it's only marginally smaller than my queen sized bed. I'm actually somewhat surprised in that when it's blocked, the fabric is much thinner than it was when I was knitting it. I wonder why that is. But anyway, I think it came out great. I can't wait to use it.

What else have I been working on? I finally cast on for the Bog Jacket in the Pearl Ten Malabrigo Worsted.


I've found that knitting it while watching tv, movies, and horrible football games (seriously, I thought that Super Bowl game was horrible until the last two minutes) I've knit 17 inches of garter stitch. I've got 4 inches to go before I have to split for the arms. But it's feeling great, if a little warm. I think it's going to be really cozy to wear.

I've also been working on a pair of Jaywalkers.


I had forgotten how slow this pattern goes. It's taking forever to finish even just one sock. I really need a new pair of socks before winter's over. Especially since two pairs I knit last year are pretty much done. I also want to get through quite a bit of my sock stash this year, and if this pattern takes forever, it's never going to happen. My next pair need to go quicker.

I have a ton of books/magazines here that I want to review. Some of them might get done this week. Most of them probably won't. Work is kinda crazy. Speaking of work, though, if you're heading to NY Comic Con this weekend, stop by DK's booth. I'll be there all day every day!

On the Hemlock Ring Blanket and Apps

First things first. I pretty much finished the Hemlock Ring Blanket a bit ago.


The bind off kind of took forever and a day. But she's about 95% done. She needs to be blocked hardcore. I was going to do that this weekend. Stan and I are headed to the Poconos to learn how to snowboard and I thought it would be great to get it blocking so that it'd be dry by the time I got back. But I'm feeling somewhat lazy tonight, so I'm not blocking it tonight and instead am using my bed tonight (he's picking me up when he gets out of work, sometime before 8am). I just decided that I'll block it next weekend.

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So, I haven't really knit a lot this week because I got an iPhone on Monday (I named it stitches and my wallpaper is the awesome photo of the Monkey socks I knit out of Great Adirondak's Silky Sock). I've been staying up till 2am every night pretty much playing with it because it's fun. I was kind of suprised that there weren't all that many knitting apps. So here's my wish list for the worlds iPhone app programers out there. I think these ideas have merit, hell, I'd even pay for a few of them myself, and honestly, I don't have the capability to create them. I have created iPhone app type names for them for your amusement.

• iQueue: This app would let you import your Ravelry queue onto your iPhone/iPod touch. You could then use the queue as a guide at yarn stores and sheep and wool festivals to determine how much yarn you would need to create the project.


• Yarn Requirements: Pretty simple. You know those Yarn Requirement pamphlets you see at the register of your LYS? Digitize-em! Maybe even put in an estimate for a lacy version and a cabled version.


• Knitionary: A dictionary that takes knitting shorthand and translates it into English or the developer's preferred language (but really, English would be awesome!)

I felt like I had more than that but I can't remember any of them. What do you think? Anyone want to take a stab at them? Anyone have any further recommendations? Kinda makes me wish I knew more programmers, or even how to program. Unfortunately, the world has moved way beyond my rudimentary knowledge of BASIC and QuickBASIC, so everyone loses!

Last Minute Craziness

Anyone interested in meeting up at The Point to knit for a bit?

I'll probably get there around 5:30 or so.

Confessional

Thank you Blogland. It has been 3 years since my last confession.

The first thing I'd like to confess is the 5 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted I took off of Illanna's hands.


I have no idea yet what I want to do with it. Only that it's pretty and soft and green and happy. I took her and Danny out to dinner at Do Hwa in Manhattan (mmm...Korean!) as payment. It was totally worth it. I think.

The second sin I confess to are 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces sock yarn in some happy green color.


You see, I have these embossed leaves socks that have holes in the heels now. So I need to re-knit them. Re-knitting them with a sock yarn that has nylon in it seems like a good idea. So now I have sock yarn to knit another pair. Still, I didn't really need to buy the yarn for them.

And then tonight happened.


I couldn't control it somehow. It just leapt into my hands. It was so pretty and what happens if they don't make any more of it? I'd be stuck without it right?

I'm wondering what it will take for me to hit rock bottom. To realize that I have an addiction and to seek some sort of help. I stuffed the Franklin's Panopticon Lorna's Laces into the bag under the extra chairs that holds all my sock yarn. I realized then that...well...that I have a shit ton of sock yarn. Please excuse the language, I don't swear a lot on this blog (even if I curse like a sailor in real life), but you have to understand that the best way to convey the sheer amount of sock yarn in there is by swearing.

I didn't spend a ton of time looking at all the different sock yarn, I must say, but I did see a few skeins in there that I thought to myself Geez, there's some nice yarn in there. I should knit some of it. So my new resolution (yeah, it's a little late for that eh?) is to knit socks ONLY from my sock yarn stash. I thus proclaim 2009:

THE YEAR OF THE SOCK