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!!

Jasmine Issues

Ugh. I was doing so well. I finished the front and the back. I finished the sleeves. When all was said and done, it looked like this:


Which looks great right?
Too bad it hung off my shoulders. When I say that it hung off my shoulders, I mean that my massive breasts couldn't even keep it up, which means it was humongous. Upon further investigation, Illanna and I found out that my gauge was 28 stitches to 4 inches. The pattern called for 24 stitches to 4 inches. It's just a tad bit different.

So I cast on for a pair of socks for Stan's Mom.


I'm knitting them out of Knit Picks' Felici. I haven't been a huge fan of Knit Picks, but it worked for that sweater I knit for my brother. I just wanted to see what this yarn would be like, and it seemed appropriate to knit it for someone else so I wouldn't be stuck with it. :) But it's actually really soft and machine washable and can go into the dryer too!

The pattern is a free pattern I found on ravelry. It's Criminy Jickets' Ridges and Ribs. It's really easy to memorize and looks really great with all those stripes!

While I knit on that, I decided that I'd knit the sleeves for Jasmine a size smaller on size 1s (I knit the body on size 2s). While I did that, I'd knit the top part of the front and back on size zeroes. I think it's working, but I've only finished the sleeves and the back so far. I'm hoping to be done with the front by the end of next weekend so I can put it together and all that. Wish me luck!

Sock Meme

I was reading Blue Garter this morning and found a nifty sock meme. Since I haven't had much sock specific on the blog in a bit, I thought a sock meme was just the thing!

When did you first learn to knit socks? A couple of years ago. I think I was looking for things that would be relatively cheap to make (compared to sweaters and afghans).

What’s the first sock you ever knit? It was a custom dealy from Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks Warm Feet (ravelry link) I knit them out of mercerized cotton at 9 sts to the inch. They make my feet sweat, and I don't wear them ever. Cool colors though. They were stockinette with a short row heel.

Favorite Sock Pattern? I'm not sure I have one. I like a lot of the patterns I've done. Maybe the Monkies by Cookie A or the Jaywalkers by Grumperina.

Favorite needle method? I really only knit my socks in magic loop. I feel like other methods are fiddely and take too long.

Favorite sock needles? Addi Turbos, size 1 32"

Who do you knit socks for? Me. I have knit socks for my roommate and my mother though. Stan's mom wants a pair next, and my brother told me that his girlfriend folds her socks so that she only wears them up to the heel. He asked me to knit a pair of those, whatever you call them.

How many pairs have you knitted to date? My sock drawer says: 9, hurt bag says: 3 and I'm reminded of two pairs i've knit for others. Grand total: 14.

What is on your sock knitting to-do list? In no particular order: Spiral Boot socks, Coriollis by Cat Bordhi, argyle knee socks, nutkin, Narragansett Bay socks (for my home state!), scroll lace socks

What kind of socks do you like to knit-
striped? Meh. Not unless it's self striping. I don't really dig weaving in ends.
colorwork? I'm not big into colorwork either. I have done one pair of color work ones, and they were a bit tight.
plain stockinette? I do like a good stockinette sock every now and again. especially with some good colors.
cabled? as long as the cable isn't too intense. I'm not a fan of using cable needles on such small yarn, so i'd have to be able to rearrange the stitches sans needle.
lace? I think these are my favorite socks to knit. They just can't look too girly, cause that's not really how I roll.
anklets? I knit a lot of anklets because they're nice to wear in the spring. I soon found out, however, that I should be knitting nice long legs to my socks to keep my legs warm!
knee socks? I have a few knee socks on my queue. I knit a pair of over the knee socks and I didn't mind them so much. So I think that regular knee socks won't feel as bad.
solid colors? I think I've only knit one pair of socks in a solid color. It worked for that pair. It just seems like I gravitate towards variegated yarns.
bright and crazy? I do tend to lean towards bright and crazy color combinations that don't match anything I wear.
Faux Faire Isle (where the yarn is doing all the work) I haven't ever used those kinds of yarns. I feel like my gauge would be off and they wouldn't be faux faire isle at all.

Tag a few sock knitters: Claudine, Illanna, Beth, and anyone else really that wants to. How about that!?

Jasmine Frustration and Pause

I'm at the point where I'm breaking for the armholes. I've been kind of stuck for a bit. Not that I don't want to keep knitting it, just that I have a vision of how I want to knit it, and I'm having trouble translating that to English. :)

I wanted to knit it all in the round. Because let's face it, seaming sucks, and the more seaming that's involved, the less I really want to complete this project. So I started looking at ways to get it to work that way. The sleeves in the pattern, however, decrease at a different rate than the front and back. Also, there's that whole thing in the front with the eyelet trim of the button hole band. It just came to a lot of different instructions to process at the same time. So, I decided, I'm just going to knit it front and back from here on out. I've got a flight to Vegas tonight, and then one from Vegas back to JFK on Tuesday night. I'm hoping that with those 10 hours in the air that I might be able to finish it altogether.

I found some nice mother of pearl shell buttons at M&J this week when I was with Illana. Illana has already finished hers. I blame that on the fact that she knits at the speed of light and she was knitting a smaller size than me. I do kind of feel like this size of shirt is going to be massive, but we'll see. Oftentimes I think these things are too big and when I try them on they're either just right or a bit small.

So that's that. I took about a week to figure out if I wanted to knit it in the round or flat from the pits up. And now that I've decided, I just have to actually knit it.

Finished Passionflower Tank!

So, I neglected to mention that that date I went on a year and a half ago kinda stuck. :)

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And now back to knitting!

I have a finished object for you to see!


That's my Passionflower Tank out of Louet Euroflax Linen. It fits quite perfectly, and I think that once it starts to stretch out with wear, and once it's washed a couple of times it'll be even better.

I do have two more skeins of the Louet Euroflax Linen left. Does anyone want to make any suggestions as to how I should use it? I think this tank top took me only 3 skeins somehow...

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Next up, is Kim Hargraves' pattern Jasmine.


This photo is from someone on Ravelry. Her Jasmine is quite beautiful. My yarn will be Rowan 4ply also that same color, even though it looks much more red in the photo below:

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I met up with Illanna today at The Point to hang out and knit for a bit after work. I was really amazed though, I didn't realize she was such a violent person. I went to look at some sparkly silvery variegated yarn. I showed it to her because I thought she might like it. Next thing I know, she's telling me I'm buying it. I tried really hard to resist. I told her I couldn't. "What about the children!?" I pleaded. But my words fell on deaf ears. She pulled out that PPK I've seen on countless occasions. I knew what was next. My credit card came out of my wallet and through my tears I signed the receipt for some of the most beautiful yarn I've seen this year.


I don't know who spun it, or who dyed it. Really, all I know is the content of it (there's superwash merino, silk, nylon, and silver) and that it's pretty. If you want more of it, you should probably contact The Point. They didn't have a lot left there after I was forced to buy this skein by Illanna.

Anyway, time for me to watch more Olympics. I'm heading to Rhode Island this weekend, which means lots of travel time to get some knitting done. Hopefully I'll be able to get Jasmine started (I'll be trying to knit it in the round instead of seaming it like it says to).

Let's hear it for the Stash!

About a year and a half ago I went on a date with a guy I started talking to online from a craigslist ad. I told my roommate I'd check in with her at midnight, and that if I didn't make it back, she should find a mariachi band to hire for my funeral.

After reading Stiff by Mary Roach about the secret life of human cadavers (historically and currently - it's a great book you should totally read it) I decided that I want my body donated to science when I die. I don't need it, and it's rather wasteful to just bury it somewhere or to burn it.

It was while reading the Yarn Harlot's newest book Things I Learned from Knitting that I started wondering...what's going to happen to my stash once I'm gone?

I mean, I could die at any time, and what happens if people don't know who should distribute my yarn, and who's worthy of my yarn? Surely, my cousin who just started knitting and can only knit garter stitch scarves (she's mentally disabled so the fact she can knit that is impressive) wouldn't do much of my yarn justice. No, this yarn should be used by someone who would truely understand and appreciate the wonders of the fibers I've bought over the years that I've been knitting.



So, I think I put Ruth in charge of distributing my yarn once I'm gone. I trust her to make good choices. However, there's a hierarchy to my stash (to be explained in a later post), and certain skeins should probably be given to certain people.

But choosing someone to inherit a skein of my luscious stash is more than choosing the person that wants it. It's choosing the person who will see the potential I see in the skein and knowing that they'll help the yarn achieve that potential. Additionally, it's a matter of choosing someone who's worthy of receiving skeins from my stash. So how do you know if someone is "yarnherit" worthy?