Delinquent Blogger

I've been up to a lot recently.
Let's start with what I was up to in 2010.

1. Pearl Ten Malabrigo Feather and Fan Cowl
2. Bergen Street Mits
3. Sock 2 of the Pinstriped Jaywalkers - I got sock one and skein 2 at a swap, I just needed to complete the second sock
4. Hoot - an owl barrette for Kara
5. Sparkly Spiral Knee Socks
6. *KNITTING OLYMPICS PROJECT* Tangled Yoke Cardigan (didn't finish in time for a medal, but I did finish it, and I wear it all.the.time.)
7. Ingenue from Custom Knits
8. Bee Sweet Mohair shawl on the Bias - this was a sample I knit for Annie & Company Knitting
9. Damson - this was also a sample for Annie & Company Knitting. I loved this pattern and will no doubt knit it again.
10. Brown Baby Bobbi Bear for Desi, Illanna's baby!
11. Ishbel - this was also a sample for Annie & Company Knitting. They forced me to knit it out of Jade Sapphire 2-ply Cashmere. It's dreamy. I ended up returning some yarn at Purl yesterday and got some Jade Sapphire 2-Ply Cashmere/Silk to knit one for myself.
12. Rainbow Half-Assed Leyburns - Maybe I'll knit the actual pattern sometime. I was too lazy and the pattern wasn't showing up in the solid colored yarn I was using. Still love these socks though. They make me happy.
13. Seraphim - I started this shawl in Hawaii in 09 and finished it sometime in the summer of 2010.
14. Silken Straw V-Tee - I decided to turn this into a tank top, but I might try to put some sleeves on it anyway. Kaplan has some sort of policy where you can't wear tank tops to work.
15. Monhegan - I knit this sample for Nora Gaughan. Unfortunately, every time she's pinged me to knit a sample for her after this I've been busy. The most recent time with freelance for The Knitting Book
    - forthcoming from DK Publishing. :(
16. Kai Mei socks by Cookie A.
17. Twisted Carrot pillows for Heidi & Stew's wedding gift
18. Briar Rose Quincy hat - which I've already forgotten in a cab and have lost
19. Briar Rose Quincy Scarf - which still matches the hat, wherever the hat is...
20. Nutkins out of Mountain Colors Barefoot in Mountain Tango colorway - God, I love these socks. This yarn is still one of my favorite sock yarns.

The only reason I got so much done was because I spent a few months there being unemployed. The stash came in REAL handy, I'll tell you what. I really wish there were a viable way for me to just knit all the time and support myself that way. The amount of money I was bringing in during that time from knitting, however, just wouldn't have cut it on its own (I should give a shout out to the Federal and NYS Department of Labor for those unemployment benefits).

In 2011 so far, I've managed to knit two baby gifts already.
A Robbie Robot from DangerCrafts for Bess and Jeff's baby boy (born this week!).


This pattern was fun, but for some reason kept crashing the Goodreader app on my iPad. It worked fine on the Goodreader app on my iPhone 4 though.

And yet another Baby Bobbi Bear for Beth and Erich's baby boy to come. (I can't get enough of this pattern, it's so adorable!)



I'm working on a gift for my brother's wedding and I'd also like to knit an Ishbel before wedding season because I know I'm going to get cold at all these weddings. I had some extra yarn from the Robbie Robot and the Baby Bobbi Bear to return to Purl on Friday, so I picked up some Jade Sapphire 2-ply Silk Cashmere in Sterling:


I think that'll be a gorgeous Ishbel, right?!

I have so much more I've been thinking and knitting about, but I'm really interested in drawing a little tonight, so I think I'll hop on that instead.

I made it!

This is the Baby Bobbi Bear I knit for Illanna's baby. She seemed to like it, so I'm excited! I think he turned out really cute.

Ishbel has been cast on. I'm using Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere 2 ply and I ended up on size 6 needles. The gauge is super loose for this, so I hope it works out well. I'd rather not have to rip back lots of cashmere. That would be kinda sad.

Good news!

I did manage to finish the gift for Illanna! I'll post a photo of it tomorrow.

I have the yarn and everything ready to go for my next project, Ishbel by Ysolda (Ravelry Link). Bummer is that while swatching today on size 3 and size 4 needles and somehow, though my gauge recently has been looser than...well, let's say it's been looser than loose...my gauge with these needles is actually too tight! I will probably be swatching at the party!

In other news, I think I've figured out what's been going on with my gauge. Since maybe February, my gauge has been super loose. I wasn't exactly sure what this might have been until recently. I think I used to wrap the working yarn with my pointer finger on my right hand around the needle. Doing so used to tighten the stitch before while working the current stitch. At some point, I think I actually cut my index finger. Perhaps it was a paper cut even. While I only vaguely remember this, I think I might have started using my ring finger to wrap the yarn around. I don't think that tightened the stitch before the working stitch like wrapping the yarn around my index finger did, which then made my gauge all together looser. I've started being more conscious about knitting with my pointer finger instead of my ring finger, and I think it's made a difference. Mystery solved!

Taking Bets...

I just started Illanna's baby's shower gift today. Who thinks I can finish by the time the car service comes to pick me up on Saturday?

I can't tell you what it is besides the fact that it's not a blanket and I don't really like knitting baby clothes since kids grow so quickly. I know Illanna's out there possibly even reading this blog. Also, it's knit out of this:

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.

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.

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.

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!

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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.

Follow Up

:-o

I just got home from SNB. Illanna just told me she got engaged!!!

CONGRATULATIONS ILLANNA!!!

Dedicated to Illanna

Yup, that's right. This post is dedicated to Illanna. Let's call it part of her birthday present. I won't even refer to her gub or the fact that she's a knitting siren that makes me buy all sorts of expensive yarns (except for just there).

First things first, I finished the project she and I were knitting "together." I put "together" in quotes because she finished like a month ago. That chick knits faster than a speeding bullet! I'll have better photos after this weekend, but here's one visual just to prove it's been finished:



Oh! And what do we have here?


Gorgeous buttons! At least, they're gorgeous when you don't look at the fact that they're crooked! I'm not as familiar with knitting sweaters as Illanna is, so I knit in the round up to the armpits and knit the top in separate pieces (back, sleeves, 2 front pieces). The top was huge at first, so I re-knit the sleeves on ones and used the instructions for the next size down. I then knit the garter part of the top on size zeroes (which was so much fun by the way!). I cast off tightly along the sleeve edge as the directions said to. I didn't realize that such a simple step could make such a big difference! it fits perfectly now!

I know, I finished it a little early for next spring didn't I? I figure that I can layer it with some long sleeved shirts until winter.

So, if you're curious as to who this Illanna person is, you can visit her blog or her Ravelry Profile. She and I have decided that we're pretty much the same person (besides the fact that I like new country while she like old country music, she's got longish curly hair to my short straight hair, she can design her own garments while I follow patterns... besides all that, we're identical!). But her awesomeness will be obvious once I show you the below:


Want a closer look at that pattern?


Can you believe she made those for me!? What an awesome birthday gift! She found the fabric on Etsy somewhere. There's a sweater sized project back and a sock project bag (both with drawstrings!) and even a tote bag! I felt so awesome carrying that tote bag all over the city this morning (my commute from hell is a different story, however).

Illanna is also awesome because she exposes me to all this amazing yarn. she kept letting me fondle the Bog Jacket (Ravelry link) she was knitting out of Malabrigo to the point where I had to go buy my own Malabrigo so I could knit an awesome sweater just like hers.


Yeah...I'm the reason The Point has no more Pearl Ten. I'm going to start swatching for my Bog Jacket when I'm finished with Lucille's socks, the Dairy Queen hat for Stan's niece, the hat for Stan's nephew, and the half socks for my brother's girlfriend. You know how it goes, you gotta get through that Christmas knitting first. I'm hoping I can get the hats going and done this weekend when I go visit another awesome friend, Beth in Washington DC.

I started the heel flap of Lucille's socks. the pattern is going really quick and is coming out beautifully. I dont' have any new photos though.

Well, this is long enough, and my Red Sox just won their game against the Anaheim Angels, so we're going to the Division Championship! Time to celebrate!!