Yarned Forces

Kiri Shawl

2011-04-16T11:27:00.000-07:00

Yarn: Argosy Yarns Shikoku, 50% silk, 50% seacell

A large hat, and random photos

2011-03-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

FO: Purple Habitat
Pattern: Habitat, by Jared Flood
Yarn: Garnstudio, DROPS, Alaska
Needles: US 8, DPNs

I love cables! The hat came out too big for me, but I am hoping to shrink it a bit though some hot water blocking.

March of the Shawls

2011-03-07T14:47:00.000-08:00

FO: The Tiny Shawl
Pattern: Shetland Triangle Lace Shawl by Evelyn A. Clark
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merinocash in Stonechat

Needles: 4.0 MM Addi Lace Needles

This is my first lace pattern made with lace weight yarn. Yay, one thing to check of the knitting to-do list. I loved making this, but it turned out so very tiny. A shawlette, for certain. It looks cute worn kerchief style or under a jacket. I have tons of yarn leftover, so it will hopefully appear again on these pages in the not to distant future.

The yarn is very soft and cozy. I bought it at a sample sale at Imagiknit in San Francisco, and was unable to find it on the Malabrigo website just now when I looked it up. Its a merino-cashmere blend, and it is pretty divine.

FO: Betsy's Shawl
Pattern: Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante
Yarn: Zitron Trekking Pro Natura

Needles: 4.5 MM Bamboo Circular Needles

I made this shawl for my friend Betsy who just finished taking the California Bar Exam (woot for Betsy!) The shawl is perfectly named for her, as she spent the last year in London and is spending the next year in DC and Switzerland.

This pattern is always a joy to knit, and really looks great in most yarns. Its a great stash buster for me because I have a ton of sock yarn but it takes me eons to make socks. Shawls seem much faster for me (yay big needles).
This shawl has more drape but less definition than the last two. I love the color, which is darker than these pictures show. I made the shawl as directed, no size mods. I made the last one bigger, and wished I had not, as it resulted in long thin ends to the shawl. I think this shawl is best made as directed.

Frogged: The Sweater Fail

2011-02-04T06:11:00.000-08:00

A couple years ago, one of my knitting goals was to knit a sweater. I knit the pieces, and I had a bad feeling about the bulky yarn, the boxy shape, the horror of seaming. So I stuffed it into a tote bag and pushed it out of my mind. I decided to get this knitting resolution off my chest, so I could say I had followed through. Sure enough, the finished product was super heavy, bulky, and made me look like I was wearing a gross chunky cape. No insult meant to the Nimbus pattern, I have seen many cute renditions on Ravelry. This knitting resolution was just not meant to end in success. I do feel vindicated however, that I made a technically wearable garment from a bunch of string. The yarn is now frogged and re-wound, awaiting a new life as a new project. Perhaps a lovely Brooklyn Tweed stole.

I solemnly declare myself an accessory knitter.

Onward and upward, I am trying out a new-to-me skill in knitting: Enterlac! I was a bit intimidated at first, but its actually quite easy. I am using the ubiquitous Lady Eleanor pattern from Scarf Style paired with Noro Silk Garden. I love it so far. I am about one skein into the pattern, and really enjoying it so far.

WIP: Thorpe Hat

2010-12-03T07:29:00.000-08:00

This week I started my first stranded color work project that involves more than simple stripes. I have been wanting to try for a while, inspired by all the glorious Estonian mittens and socks out there. As with lace, I decided to make my first color work project in a thicker yarn than the more advanced things out there knit up in sock or fingering weight. I chose Kristen Kapur's Thorpe Hat. Thorpe has been in my queue for ages (over two years, according to Ravelry!) and I thought it would be a perfect starter project. I am knitting it up in some Lion Thick and Quick that has been in my stash since my days as a knitter began.

The stranded nature of the project is making for very dense fabric. It is taking me forever since I have not yet mastered the art of changing colors swiftly. Each time I have to change colors I am dropping my yarn and picking up the other one. It definitely takes a while, but I am liking the results.

I loved this sculpture I came across at Civic Center while doing my Jury Duty this week:

WIP: Sock Yarn Scrap Blanket

2010-11-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

I started an ongoing scrap yarn project-- a granny square blanket. With the fairly thin sock yarn, the squares are coming out very delicate and lacy. I crocheted about 13 squares this weekend, and do not have too much scrap yarn left, so this is bound to be in the works for a while, unless I break the rules of a scrap project and buy some assorted skeins to finish up. I love making up the squares with unlikely color combinations and seeing what happens. Below are the scraps from my last Traveling Woman shawl and some teal socks I knitted up last year.

FO: Sea Silk Traveling Woman

2010-10-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

My mom gave me a skein of Handmaiden's Sea Silk about 2 years ago, after several years of lusting over the product. As knitters tend to do with coveted yarn, I hoarded it until I thought I found the perfect pattern.

I loved the Traveling Woman Shawl I made for my mom so much that I decided to make myself one, too. Paired with the Sea Silk, the FO is beautiful and wearable.

I did make some mods to the project. I knit extra stitches in the garter portion to give me an extra repeat of the first lace pattern. Then I knitted an additional repeat of chart A, to make a bigger shawl. Naturally, I made no calculations, only guesstimates, and ran out of yarn midway through chart B. I just cast off when I ran out of ran, because I do not tend to be overly controlling about my knitting. I have no problem casting of mid chart if the project still looks good, which I think it does.

I blocked the shawl to have a round edge versus points, as I usually wear this type of shawl bandanna style and I like the way the rounded edge drapes.

I am having some problems cutting the ties with this pattern. I currently have another one on the needles, hopefully to be cast off today. Its a gift for my aunt in a very fall colorway. I think I will have to take a break from the pattern after this project, but its so fun that it might sneak its way back into my queue in the not so distant future.

The Secret Is Out

2010-10-14T21:56:00.000-07:00

If I've been gone awhile, it's only because I couldn't show you what I've been knitting the entire year. I still love you. Promise.

But now that I've gone ahead and gotten married (if only in God's eyes since we can't seem to find our marriage license) and gifted this year's loving labors, I can finally reveal:

THE BRIDESMAID SHAWLS. All five patterns plus my own wedding shawl were knit from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush. It is maybe the best knitting pattern book I've ever bought, and actually knit from. All five bridesmaids' shawls were knit using Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk in the colorway so aptly named "Dark Gray." See Ravelry links for all mods, dates, needles, etc.

"Shells" aka Peacock Tail and Leaf Scarf

"Double Leaves" aka Leaf and Nupp Shawl

"Waves" aka Madli's Shawl

"Single Leaves" aka Lilac Leaf Shawl

"Holly" aka Triinu Scarf

I can't say that every moment working on these shawls was a joy, but I will say that it was worth every second of it. The time spent knitting these shawls for my wonderful bridesmaids cannot even compare to the love, appreciation, and gratitude I feel for each of them.

To my ladies: Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Fall Knitting

2010-09-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

A few FO posts to come, but for now, a taste of my fall knitting.

A Romney Kerchief inspired shawl for mom, in Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool.

Another Traveling Woman Shawl, this time for my aunt, in a lovely colorway of DIC Smooshy. The color is Chinatown Apple and it makes me feel fall festive even though our trees don't really turn here.

FO: Wispy

2010-09-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

FO: Wispy
Project: Wisp
Yarn: 1 Skein (250 yards) Louet Kidlin Pixie (mohair/nylon/linen)
Needles: US 8 Bamboo Circs

Another yarny gift from my mom! Louet Kidlin Pixie lace weight, a strong, fluffy mohair/nylon/linen blend. Looking at the yardage for Wisp, I thought I would need both skeins my mom gave me, but I decided to cut it off after one, lest I make the world's longest Wisp. This has been happening to me a lot lately, thinking I will need more skeins of a particular yarn than I actually do. I suppose that is better than running out part way through.

Nothing like modeling one's handmade knitwear for the camera in a crowd of eager museum goers!
I have been wanting to make Wisp since it came out in Knitty a few years back, but more exciting projects kept usurping its place in my queue. When this mohair blend yarn strolled into my life, I wanted to choose a project that would make frogging a non-issue. Something simple that eliminated the possibility that I would have to rip back the mohair and end up with a tangle of sadness. So, Wisp re-entered my radar. In the end, I am glad I made it, but it was kind of a boring knit. I was itching to cast on another Traveling Woman shawl in Sea Silk, but I needed my Wisp needles to do so. I spent most of the project knitting as fast as I could to get to the next one, which does not happen to me all to often. Usually if I don't want to knit on something, I fling it aside and knit what I want. But here, I wanted this off the needles.

All in all, I like the finished product, and I think it will be wearable for the days/nights here when a full on wool ensemble is to warm, but the fog and the breeze require some sort of protection

FO: On the Silk Road

2010-09-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

Love: long weekends, friends and family, and luxury fiber. I have been knitting with some nice stuff lately, all thanks to my yarn patron numero uno, my mom! This was an amazing fiber gift-- silk, cashmere, camel, and alpaca spun into a really smooth yarn with a nice sheen. I have really been liking projects lately that combine stockinette with random (or seemingly random) garter ridges. I really like the fabric the stitch combination makes.

FO: On the Silk Road
Pattern: Reversatile Cowl by Katie White (free pattern here!)
Yarn: The Road to China, The Fibre Company, 65% Alpaca, 15% Silk, 10% Camel, 10% Cashmere
Needles: US 7 bamboo DPNs

I only used one of my two skeins of this lovely yarn on this project, and am contemplating a cabled cowl for the other skein. I was thinking of doing matching fingerless gloves, but the yarn is so soft that I did not think it would be a practical choice for handwear.

The color is a very lustrous jade green that I think will look great for fall. We have finally been having some warm weather here, so I will have to put off wearing it a bit longer.

The cast off edge is a tad tight...

Traveling Women

2010-08-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

FO: Red Traveling Woman
Pattern: Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante
Yarn: Rowan 4-ply Soft, 100% wool, fingering weight, 2 full skeins
Needles: 5.0 mm bamboo circs

Yay! I loved this pattern. I usually like most patterns I knit, aside from a few epic fails (including a short row hat) but I LOVE this pattern. Quick, fun, accessible lace. Pretty, too. I really like lace patterns in fingering and sock weight yarns. I like the increased stitch visibility. I still have a lot of trouble seeing my stitches when I knit in lace weight. The pattern was intuitive, and since I was able to see my stitches much better than when I use lace weight, things went quickly, easily, and happily. Usually I spend a ton of time counting, recounting (every repeat!) and then at the end of the row I am still off. This has dominated my lace experience until Aestlight, which I knit in sock weight. I am now a big fan of the lace pattern-sock/fingering weight combo. Not as delicate as a lace or cobweb shawl, but much more realistic and enjoyable on the knitting end.

This yarn was given to me by my mother, my number one source of amazing yarn. She loved the yarn so much, that I always wanted to make it into something for her. I have had the yarn for at least two years, maybe more, before I found the perfect pattern. I am so glad I waited for it. The yarn looks great with the pattern, and was very easy to work with. I have read critiques that the Rowan 4 ply soft is anything but soft, but I did not find that to be true. I thought it was springy, soft, and held its shape really nicely as I knit. It only got softer with blocking. I am a bit sad its discontinued, personally.

Happy wearing, Mom!

Preview of the next Traveling Woman, in the oh-so-lush Sea Silk:

Preview of another FO, a Mohair/Linen version of Wisp:

I've been blocking....

2010-08-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hemlock Ring

Traveling Woman

And yes, I block with safety pins. They work much better for me than straight pins that tend to pop out when I stretch the fabric.

Cashmere preview

2010-08-03T22:52:00.000-07:00

Lovely Handspun

2010-08-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

For this amazing handmade, undyed yarn, I decided to go with a basic stitch pattern that would let the focus of the project be awesome yarniness. My mom and sister got this yarn for me as a graduation present, from a shop in Point Reyes that sells the work of local, Northern California Fiber artists. This particular yarn is the softest yarn I have ever used or even touched, and is 100% angora goat. Here are the specs for the yarn:

100% Angora Handspun
The Studio by Alice Rantos
Inverness Park, CA

Purchased at Black Mountain Artisans in Point Reyes Station, CA.

FO: Handspun Cowl
Pattern: Shetland Feather and Fan Cowl by Tara-Lynn Morrison (free pattern!)
Yarn: 100% Angora Handspun (169 yards, about worsted weight)
Needles: US 9 bamboo dpns

I knit in the feather and fan pattern until there was no more yarn, making for a fairly long tube-- about 12 inches. I have noticed that with some of my shorter cowls, the whipping winds still find their way onto exposed neck in winter. Problem solved! I can wear this cowl all scrunchy as pictured above, but it is also long enough to fold over double and wear that way. Both ways are incredibly warm.

This yarn is almost worsted, I think. It seems a bit DK in places, and a bit Aran in others. At times the yarn was smooth, others, it was a bit nubbly. The yarn is so gorgeous, and so soft. I was overly excited to wear it, and had to take it off because though summer in SF is not warm, it does not quite call for double layer wool on the neck. I do look forward to using it a ton in winter and fall.

Catching up with Lenin in the Ukraine.

Loving Linen

2010-07-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in the last post, voila, here is the fringed version of the Moonlight Sonata Wrap. Usually, I am not a huge fringe fan, and opt to leave it off most projects when the pattern calls for fringe. I felt like in this yarn, which is nice and drapey, I would not mind the fringe so much. I also had the advantage of seeing this wrap modeled in my hometown LYS in the same yarn with the fringe. The girl wearing it was wearing just a t-shirt and jeans, and the wrap looked very cute and nice, fringe and all. In this picture, the wind was nearly blowing my whole self sideways, the the fringe is a little out of control, but you get the idea.

FO: Sage
Pattern: Moonlight Sonata Wrap by Shelli Westcott and Marilyn Webster
Yarn: Berocco Naturlin, 60% rayon/40% linen, 2 skeins, 230 yards total
Needles: US 10.5 bamboo circs

These wraps practically knit themselves on the 10.5 needles. I made them both over the course of a week, I think. I liked doing the project in two completely different yarns, and seeing the results. The cotton scarf is thick, curls a bit, and looks great wrapped around my neck and tucked in so it looks a bit cowl-like. This one, which is light and drapey, I prefer to wear kerchief-style, with the point in front. I have worn it with cardigans, with t-shirts, and find it to be versatile. I love it!

This yarn, which is softer than 100% linens due to the rayon content, has really nice drape and comes with a much smaller price tag than the 100% linens. Win-win in my book.

Summer wool/sun update: Two days ago it was crystal clear and warm all over the city. Today, I sported my woolly clapotis. My favorite part about San Francisco summer is seeing tourists wearing the SF fleece jackets. They are available for about 10 bucks in Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown, and are the true mark of the fickle and ever changing weather here. It can be so cold one afternoon that tourists are buying fleeces by the dozens, and the next morning it will be warm and beautiful. When it was warm and beautiful two days ago, we set out for a nice walk in North Beach, stopping at one of my favorite Italian bakeries. Nothing like finishing off a warm day with raspberry almond tarts.

Charming village Spain.

Technology

2010-07-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

My original post was lost to the black hole of technology failures, so here goes for a second writing.

This next summer FO is made from a heavy cotton yarn I inherited from my mom. It was an old frogged project of hers from maybe 5 years ago, and the yarn was tangled beyond belief. A giant, two skein wad of tangles. The untangling took nearly as long as the project, which was a fast knit. I think there are about two skeins worth here, but it might be closer to 1.5. I still have some odds and ends of this yarn left over. All told, there were two skeins to begin with, but the yarn has been on quite the journey since that time.

FO: King Tut
Pattern: Moonlight Sonata Shawl by Shelli Wescott and Marilyn Webster for Alchemy Yarns
Yarn: Knitting Fever King Tut, 100% cotton, I think about 1.5 skeins.
Needles: US 10.5 Bamboo circs
Ordinarily, cotton is not my favorite yarn to work with. This cotton seemed nicer than most I have used, buttery and smooth, and not prone to splitting. It was all those things, which made it pretty easy to de-tangle, too. Unlike some wools that felt while tangled and tugged on, the cotton was fairly painless to extract from its knotted nest into nice center-pull balls. This also meant it was nice to knit with, especially paired with such a simple pattern.
Since there are no cables, no cross stitches and no lace, the cotton was easy on the hands as I sailed through all the stockinette. The pattern is simple, perfect for showing off a nice yarn, a mass of stockinette that starts at the right point and ends at the left. When you decide you are half way done, you simply switch from increasing to decreasing. There is a four stitch garter stitch border that can be snipped with scissors to create a fringe that will stop after 4 stitches when you reach the stockinette. For this particular shawl, I chose to leave the border intact. Tune in later for the fringed version, in a linen yarn.
This pattern was co-written for Alchemy yarns by the owner of my hometown's LYS, Knitterly. Alchemy is a local yarn brand in my home county, so the pattern and company have a nice nostalgic feel for me. Incidentally, the LYS owner is also my 3rd grade softball coach, my one and only attempt at a sport involving hand eye coordination. I played third base, and I think the ball only came to me once, and I remember being shocked to see the ball had ended up somehow in my mitt.

Fairy tales are alive in Bavaria's Neuschwanstein Castle

Summer in the City

2010-07-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

Taking a break from some lovely Silk Road cashmere to bring you another neglected FO post. Here is the market shawl, knitted with two skeins of light, itch-free yarn, perfect for your walk on the beach in gale force winds! I find myself knitting scarf after cowl after scarf after cowl, but this city is perfect for knitted accessories of all weights, thicknesses, and fibers. San Francisco attire requires layering, as a cold day can turn into a hot afternoon if the fog lifts. My next couple FO posts are some summer scarves and shawlettes I have been using a lot in all types of weather.

FO: Market Shawl
Pattern: Sunday Market Shawl by Vanessa Carter (free pattern!)
Yarn: Adagio, Scackel Collection, Inc., colorway 4, 2 skeins, 220 yards total
Needles: US 10.5 bamboo circs

70% Llama, 30% silk-- soft, cuddly, light, and warm. Perfect for unpredictable San Francisco weather in summer when wool is too hot but the icy breeze is a bit much for a bare neck. This yarn also blocked very nicely, creating a perfect drape with no curling at the edges. I also love the color of this yarn, it makes all of my boring grey shirts look a little more fun!

Morocco. I can't wait to go back.

Feeling Green

2010-07-25T18:44:00.000-07:00

In true San Francisco form, it is nearing the end of July, and all of the sun I have seen in the last ten days has been outside the city. I knit a lovely gray cowl, but its the color of fog, and I thought I could at least spice things up with a colorful FO post.

FO: Boomer Socks
Pattern: Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern, by Nancy Bush (Knitting Vintage Socks)
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Happy Forest
Needles: US 2 Metal DPNs

I knit these socks starting in November 2009, and wrapping up in June of 2010. Essentially, I always have a sock going, but I tend to work on it in random spurts. I pick up socks in between projects, when I cannot decide what to do next, or all my WIPs are feeling bleh. I knit the first sock almost entirely back in November, all but the end of the foot and the toe. I cast on and knit the second sock in a few days this June. Given the time difference between the two socks, gauge is different in each sock!

One sock is much looser in the leg than the other, which is much tighter. Thank goodness my sister/sock recipient has one foot smaller than the other! This was a fun pattern, no mods. The mini-shells come off the needles so quickly, I found that the repeats were flying by in a very satisfying manner. That said, at this rate, I will never even start to make a dent in my sock yarn stash. More FOs to come, following today's windy and foggy photo session at Ocean Beach....nothing like a day at the beach in July where wool is actually needed for warmth!

Istanbul, my new favorite city

2009's Lost Projects: Cowl Edition

2010-05-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

Here is another edition of my 2009 lost projects. I made six cowls this past year, two of which have already been featured (Sara's Fairisle and the Checkerboard Cowl).

The first cowl, which was actually made last, is a pattern of my own design that I've been calling the "New Beginnings Cowl." A pattern may be posted one of these days.

Yarn: Pagewood Farm St. Elias in "Ireland"

Needles: US 3 circ's

Started: 12/22/09

Completed: 12/25/09

FO: Quick and Dirty

Pattern: Crofter's Cowl by Gudrun Johnston

Yarn: Catalina Yarns Baby Silk in the oh-so-exciting colorway "509"

Needles: US 8 DPN's

Started and Completed: 09/26/09

FO: Darkside Cowl

Pattern: Darkside Cowl by Sarah Fama

Yarn: Sundara Yarn Aran Silky Merino in "Charcoal over Blue Lagoon"

Needles: US 8 DPN's

Started: 04/12/09

Completed: 04/15/09

FO: Herringbone Cowl, herringbone stitch taken from a stitch dictionary, knit flat, ends grafted together.

Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in "Bobby Blue"

Needles: US 8 DPN's

Started: 01/17/09

Completed: 01/19/09

Looking over these, it has become very obvious to me that I need to break out of the blue family and add some spice into my cowl wardrobe...

Silky Mitts

2010-04-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

The Malabrigo obsession continues.....this time a tryst with the silky merino.

FO: Silky Mitts
Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts by Janelle Masters (free!)
Yarn: Less than one skein Malabrigo Silky Merino in a pretty lavender color
Needles: Size 5 DPNs

I love fingerless gloves! I find them to be functional and cute, and I wear my other pair all the time. I have been eyeing these for eons, and finally knit them up over my spring break. I was quite pleased to find that I could knit the smallest size with less than one skein of the Malabrigo. Short and sweet. I like the scalloped edge and the easy lace combined with the simple stockinette. I love lace bits thrown into stockinette or garter pieces. Contrast is good.

I think it goes without saying that I heart the yarn. I started with three skeins, I now have one fab cowl and these gloves. What will my awesome third project be?

March of the Malabrigo

2010-03-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

The Malabrigo FOs continue to march through March....

FO: Whoville
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted merino in Pollen and Sweet Grape
Pattern: Improvised, see details below
Needles: US 10 1/2 bamboo circs

When I first started this project, I thought it has a certain Seussish quality-- something about the combination of the colors, the stripes, and the ruffles. As I knit on, I thought perhaps the stripes had an H&M type look to them, but the name of the project remains true to my Seuss instincts.

I cast on this cowl after reading Sundara's blog post on her version of the Chevron Scarf, which is in garter instead of stockinette. I adapted her pattern notes to be knit in the round, and adjusted gauge for worsted weight yarn.
If you would like to make your own, cast on 96 stitches on 10 1/2 needles, join in the round.
Rounds 1-3: K all stitches
Round 4: K2tog 8 times, K1M1 8 times

For my color pattern, I knit the first 4 rounds in purple, then began to alternate my color every two rows. I ended with 4 rounds in the yellow. Any fun variation of stripes would work! I chose mine based on yarn available for the project-- a great way to stash bust some odds and ends. I used less than half a skein of each color.

FO: Professor Plum
Pattern: Meret by Woolly Wormhead (free pattern on her blog)
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted merino in Sweet Grape
Needles: US 8 bamboo DPNs

I made this little number for my sister, upon her request for a slouchy beret. I chose this pattern because the lace was simple and pretty. I am not a huge fan of fussy hat knitting. I am really pleased with the way this turned out, and will probably knit another 'cause I am boring like that.

By far the prettiest crown shaping I have ever knit up. This pattern is definitely a keeper.

Bringing some light to the Darkside

2010-03-14T17:49:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago, my hometown's LYS hosted a "For the Love of Stitches" sale. They do not participate in Stitches, but instead mark all their inventory down at least 25% for the weekend of the expo. Needless to say, there were deals to be had! I picked up a couple skeins of Berroco Naturlin, and my sister picked up two skeins of Malabrigo that immediately came home with me to fulfill their accessory fate. A funny thing happened at the sale-- a woman giving a spinning demo overheard me telling my mom that I was an accessory knitter, not a sweater knitter as we examined a gorgeous sample sweater. The woman was overjoyed to hear that language. She too, felt she was an accessory knitter and not a sweater knitter, but found that there is much "pressure" in the knitting world to knit sweaters, as if its the mark of a true knitter. Fiddlesticks! I am so happy to have realized I do not totally love sweater knitting, and that I much prefer some choice accessory knitting.

And now on to the main attraction-- accessories!

FO: Brightside Darkside
Pattern: Darkside Cowl by Sarah Fama
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Pollen (I think about 1/2 the skein)
Needles: Size 7 bamboo DPNs

Here I am on a very blustery evening, sporting a slightly smaller than I would like Cowl. If I had it to do over, which I suppose, I do, I would go up 1 or 2 needle sizes. The BO edge is tight! The cowl looks better with a coat than with this open sweater I am wearing here. I do like the pattern though, very simple and intuitive. I like the geometric theme, and I think my sister will enjoy it.

FO: Misti Cowl
Pattern: Cassie's Cowl by Thea Coleman
Yarn: Unidentified ancient skein of soft wool. I think its Misti Alpaca chunky.
Needles: US 11 Bamboo straights

After I finished this delightfully soft cowl, I put it on and decided it was way too droopy. I took it off and decided it looked like a dried up sea urchin. Instant solution-- add an awesome button. Controls the floppiness and the similarity to an urchin shell.

Spring is here!

And a slouchy hat is underway for the little sister, also in the glorious Malabrigo worsted merino.

Back to Basics

2010-03-06T14:46:00.000-08:00

FO: Sulka Slouch
Pattern: Speckles and Swirls Beret by Gillie Parsons
Needles: US 10 and 11 DPNs, bamboo
Yarn: Mirasol Sulka, 2 skeins

Supasoft yarn (very nice and squashy) + simple and quick pattern= me back on the knitting bandwagon! I had not knit in months, and picking up any old WIPs seemed both intimidating and exhausting. I pulled out my sweater pieces to seam, only to stuff them out of sight, my brain unwilling to comprehend the whole shoulder seaming process. Conflicting online tutorials did nothing to ease the braincramp. So, when in doubt, knit something fun, pretty, and instantly wearable.

I heart slouches.
FO: Giant Garter Cowl
Pattern: knit a giant tube of garter stitch!
Yarn: Malabrigo Gruesa, 2 skeins, colorway Torerro
Needles: the biggest I own-- I think a US 13, bamboo

Excited to be knitting again, I cast on the world's most simple project-- a garter stitch cowl. I had two skeins of Malabrigo Gruesa, their thick and thin variety, in a deep red. Yarn is so fun-- infinite permutations of texture and color. I cast on a bunch of stitches, and knit until I had no more yarn. The result is a beast of a cowl. I can fold it down to double its thickness, it is so long. I am modeling it here with a different color red sweater that clashes in the most hideous of ways, but you get the idea. Warm, quick, and fun. Garter stitch let my lovely Malabrigo do all the talkin'. Up close, I think the stitches look kind of retro and designy. Fun.

The day these pictures were taken, my fave LYS Knitterly in my home town was having a big sale, so some new Malabrigo and some Berroco Naturlin came home with me. The Malabrigo is from my sister, and destined to become 1-2 cowls and a slouchy hat for her. I have already cast on the Darkside Cowl in Malabrigo's Pollen colorway.

2009's Lost Projects: Sock Edition

2010-02-25T16:34:00.001-08:00

Since I was too busy to post almost everything I made last year, I thought I'd do a series of posts on these forgotten projects. This first installment includes the four pairs of socks that I managed to knit in 2009. I also finally finished my Snicket socks in December, but technically those were started in 2008.

FO: Vinnland Socks

Pattern: Vinnland by Becca Compton

Yarn: Claudia Handpainted Fingering in "Butter Pecan"

Needles: US 1 circulars

Started: 11/27/09, Completed 12/07/09

Mods: Used my own toe and short-row heel

FO: Retro Rib Socks

Pattern: Retro Rib Socks by Evelyn A. Clark as found in Interweave Knits "Favorite Socks"

Yarn: Dale of Norway Baby Ull, 2 skeins

Needles: US 2 circulars

Started: 05/25/09, Completed: 06/18/09

Mods: changed to toe-up with a short-row heel

FO: Christmas Slippers for Grammy

Pattern: Two-Needle Slippers by Dagney Lilley

Yarn: Madelinetosh Worsted in Dahlia (name now changed to Madelinetosh DK; I completely agree that this is too light to be worsted.)

Needles: US 5 straights

Started: 11/04/09, Completed 11/06/09

Mods: Held yarn double since it felt too light to be worsted. Because I did this, I had to modify the top of the slipper because I ran out of yarn. I just ended the slippers earlier, and maintained the decreases during the top garter rows so they lie flat against the top of the foot. I also sewed on little circles of no-slip fabric in varied sizes on the soles to prevent falls. (Can you tell I'm now a nurse?)

FO: Sherbert Socks

Pattern: My own. CO toe up, knit in stockinette 4-5", add short-row heel, continue knitting stockinette 4-5", add 1-2" of 2x2 ribbing, BO.

Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi

Needles: US 1 circulars

Started: 11/10/09, Completed: 11/23/09

I think it's obvious, I really love knitting and wearing handknit socks. In fact, I am wearing a pair right now! I've already finished another pair this year, but that is a post for another time.

My Wedding Shawl

2010-02-04T22:28:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to finally cast on for my wedding shawl. I got engaged last June, but I didn't have time to sit down and really think about which pattern I wanted to use. I bought the yarn a few months ago. I think it was only $36 for 3800 yards of 100% cashmere. How could I resist!

In December I joined the Ravelry group "10 Shawls in 2010." So, while I had finally picked out a pattern, casting on had to wait a little while longer until the stroke of midnight on January 1st. She turned out a little shorter than I had hoped, but I am still loving it:

FO: My Wedding Shawl

Pattern: Queen Silvia Shawl by Nancy Bush

Book: Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush

Yarn: Colourmart Cashmere 2/46NM Cobweb Weight

Needles: US size 2 circulars

Started: 01/01/10; Completed: 01/25/10

Mods: Since I used cobweb weight yarn, I decided to go down a needle size. Of course, that would make the overall dimensions smaller so I added 4 center repeats. I should have added 10! I also had to change the number of stitches picked up for the edging. At the beginning of the book, Nancy Bush recommended picking up 3 sts for every 2 selvedge sts. I basically did that, but had to add a couple of sts to make it divisible by 8 (number of sts in pattern repeat). I also had to change the bind off. The cone makes binding off with two strands a little difficult, so I whipped out an old skein of Misti Alpaca Laceweight, which is why my bind off edge looks a little thick.

So, there you go. This book is amazing, Nancy Bush is a pattern genius, and the Estonian knitters that she takes her inspiration from are... inspirational!

Christmas Hats revisited

2010-01-12T18:55:00.000-08:00

Hats make such great gifts-- they are so quick, so functional, and appeal to both genders. I gave the hats below to my uncle and cousin. Gotta love matching family accessories!

FOs: Forest Cables and Cabely Cap (I give projects such amazing names)
Pattern: Dean Street Hat by Nina Machlin Dayton
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL in Forest and Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted in Cafe au Lait
Needles: US 8 bamboo DPNs

The hat pattern looks cabely, but its a cross stitch, requiring no cable needle. I feel like I am the only person out there who still uses cable needles for cables. For those who are still using cable needles, this type of stitch is a nice option for the cable look with out all the picking up and putting down of the cable needle.

Each hat took me a couple hours, the second one being finished just a couple hours before being gifted on Christmas Eve.

The Elsebeth Lavold AL is great-- incredibly soft, but shed quite a bit on my clothes. I was pleasantly surprised by the Lamb's Pride-- it is so inexpensive, and is not very soft in the skein. It knits up in a nice fabric, not as stiff or scratchy as I thought it might be. I decided to try it, having found it on sale for extra inexpensive, and have been pleased with the results. I have another skein in a gorgeous color called Persian Peacock that I look forward to using it to make a nice cowl.

Sara's Fairisle Cowl

2010-01-10T15:16:00.000-08:00

Nursing school is DONE! And to celebrate, I've written up a pattern for Sara's Fairisle Cowl (original FO post here). I couldn't NOT write up a pattern for this cowl. Mainly, so I could make it again for myself. The PDF is available on Ravelry HERE for free. I am a big fan of free. I know you are too.

I hope you all enjoy it, although it hasn't been test-knit by anyone else. If you see anything I should correct, drop me a line!

The Nimbus 2009

2009-12-17T21:34:00.000-08:00

I have officially finished all the pieces to my first ever sweater, Berroco's cropped cardigan, Nimbus! All that awaits is the seaming. Must do some research-- do I seam with the chunky yarn used in the sweater or a lighter yarn to avoid bulky seams?

FO: Aestlight Shawl

2009-12-05T11:47:00.000-08:00

Winter break!!!! Thank goodness. Yesterday I took one last giant exam, and now, I am blissfully embracing winter break. The Nimbus Sweater pattern is cruising out of my printer as I type.

N and I ventured on to the roof on a blustery San Francisco morning to photograph my latest FO.

FO: Starry Nights
Pattern: Aestlight Shawl by Gudrun Johnston
Yarn: Dream in Color Starry in Purple Paisley (same as the Smooshy, with 2% silver woven in for some sparkle.)
Needles: US 6 circs (knit picks options)

One of my knitting goals for 2009 was to complete a lace shawl. I have two true lace shawls in the works, but they will not be completed by the end of the year. While this shawl is not knit with lace yarn, it is a triangular shawl with two lace charts, so I am calling this one a victory.

As soon as I cast on this DIC Starry, a birthday gift from my little sister, I began scouring the web for sales on Starry. As you may remember, I used my Sonny and Shear Stash Bustin coupon to purchase a skein in a deep chocolatey color called Gothic Rose, which I hope to use on the Multnomah Shawl (free pattern available here.) That was a long roundabout way of saying that I loved working with this yarn, and look forward to working with it again. I like how subtle the silver is. The pictures of skeins online make the yarn look quite sparkly, but in person it is much more understated, which I like better.
I really loved the pattern-- giant garter triangle with a couple easy to follow charts at the end. I would certainly knit this again. A classmate requested one, so you may see another one here in the future. The second chart that comprises the triangular border absolutely flew off the needles in a couple sittings. Very satisfying way to close the project!

Gloomy day makes for dark pictures! Hope you are all enjoying lovely weekends.

Mad Cowl Disease

2009-12-01T18:44:00.000-08:00

I got a fever! And the only cure, is more cowls!

Cowls must be the perfect knitting project. Fast, portable, warm, snazzy. They make a great gift and add the perfect finishing touch to any outfit. Three FO's today- two were birthday presents and one was a random project for myself.

FO: Fair-Isle Cowl
Pattern: improvised
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy, "Spring Tickle" and Miss Babs Yummy Superwash Sock, "Sunflower"
Needles: US 2 circ's
Started: 11/17/09, Completed: 11/22/09

This was a birthday present for my good friend Sara. As always, the smooshy was AMAZING and I love the Miss Babs Sunflower colorway. This was good practice in fair-isle. I've been working on keeping the stranding looser so the stitches don't pucker. I think I succeeded!

FO: Checkerboard Cowl
Pattern: improvised
Yarn: Lily Chin Park Avenue Printed
Needles: US 6 circ's
Started: 11/13/09, Completed: 11/16/09

This cowl was a birthday present for another good friend, Savilla. It was pretty easy to make, and the results look great. The pattern, if you care to make it yourself, is simple:

CO 150 sts
Row 1-6: K5, P5 around x6 rounds
Row 7-12: P5, K5 around x6 rounds
Repeat these 12 rows for a total of 5 times or until length desired.
BO following knits and purls, weave in ends.

Last FO: Quick and Dirty
Pattern: Crofter's Cowl by Gudrun Johnston
Yarn: Catalina Yarns Baby Silk
Needles: US 8 circ's
Started and Completed: 09/26/09

I love this cowl. I think I grafted it one stitch off; it doesn't line up EXACTLY, but for me it's close enough. I pair it with a classy wool swing coat or just under a sweatshirt. I may or may not have worn it every day for the past few weeks...

It's the winter of the cowl. Time to cast on for more!

FO: Liliana's Socks

2009-11-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

I uploaded the pictures for this post exactly seven days ago, and have not had a moment since to write the post! Between school, elementary school, holiday prep, and ignoring the dishes, things have been busy around here. Tomorrow I am cooking my first ever Thanksgiving and having 12 people in our wee apartment to celebrate. We have had that many people for dinners before, I am more worried about my ancient oven tackling the 20 lbs turkey.

FO: Liliana's Socks (for my MIL)
Pattern: Burning Rings of Fire, a free pattern by Kristen Kapur
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Sockotta Sock Yarn, purchased from Birds-N-Yarn
Needles: US 2 Knitpicks Options DPNs, my current weapon of choice for socks

I impulse bought this cotton blend while ordering some Lorna's Laces online. I do not know what came over me at the time, because I like neither cotton socks nor self-striping yarn. You know how enticing yarn sales can be, mystery items just appear in your cart. When the yarn arrived, it occurred to me it might actually be perfect for some MIL socks. I had a feeling she would like a cotton blend rather than 100% wool, since she tends not to get cold too easily.

Now that they are all bound off and blocked, I am a bit concerned they will be too small for her. I think I will try and block them again. I made the largest size indicated on the pattern, and knitted a longer heel flap and thus longer gussets, and knit an extra 1.25 inches into the foot of the sock. I will give them another block just in case, and then make N try them on for fit. The MIL's feet are rather on the larger side, which makes for all the more sock to knit!

I cast on these socks mid-August. They have since lived exclusively in my purse, acting as my bus and car knitting. I cast off about two months later, showing that time on the Muni bus need not be wasted. These socks will make their way to my Christmas knitting pile, which is pretty measly, but does include a hat for my Grandmother in law, and will hopefully accumulate a few more hats before Christmas rolls around.

Note to my neighbors: A top sign your neighbor is addicted to yarn is the erratic sticking of feet out of the bedroom window followed by a series of foot contortions, all of which said neighbor is simultaneously photographing with enthusiasm. Do not be alarmed. If you fear for the neighbor's sanity, the best course of action is to drop by with a care basket of chocolate and, um, more yarn.

From Sweden with Love

2009-11-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

More fiber goodies to share! As a wedding gift, a friend from Sweden sent us this crochet lace doily.

Now gracing our dresser, the doily lays under my jewelry boxes, and continually reminds me how awesome the fiber arts are! Transcending generations and continents, the traditions perpetuate. How can you not love it?

Stash Bustin

2009-11-15T15:13:00.001-08:00

More like yarn shopping... Sonny and Shear is a lovely online yarn and fiber retailer that is family owned and stocks the good stuff. They offer a "bust your stash" coupon--send them 2 lbs worth of ball bands, they email you a 10% off coupon. Some incentive to bust that stash! I just cashed in my bust my stash coupon on a skein of Dream in Color Starry in Gothic Rose. Dream in Color yarns are right up there with Malabrigo for me in fabulous factor. Better get knitting, so I can earn more coupons :)

Mosaics by the pool, Hearst Castle

Magic

2009-11-13T18:07:00.000-08:00

I think its a widely recognized feeling in the fiber arts that part of the magic we feel is a connection to the past. A knowledge that we could make socks if all the sock factories in the world disappeared, just as women (and men!) did in the pre-industrial days. Knowing that the art we practice connects us to thousands of women all over the world, all across time is magical.

As a wedding gift, my aunt made me lace trimmed pillow cases. My grandmother was an avid knitter, a master of everything from the cable to the bobble to fair aisle. Another of her loves was lace trimmed linens, always pressed perfectly, and always in use. Another thing that makes knitting magical for me is using something so beautiful, and making something that is both inherently gorgeous and functional.

My grandmother passed away when I was fourteen, before I grew into a knitter. Knowing my love of knitting, and my Grandmother's, my aunt made me this gift in honor of my grandmother. She made and attached the lace, and wove in a ribbon to match the shirt my husband sported at our wedding.

Magic.

Notes on sanity

2009-11-12T08:17:00.000-08:00

It has been an incredibly busy couple months, semester, year, etc. The last two weeks have been particularly insane at school, with state assessments, standardized tests, arranging student teaching placements, and big projects due left and right. When I get this busy I tend to pull in, be more introspective, and sadly, I stop doing things that keep me sane! So here I am, tests looming, writing on the blog again, looking for my sanity. If you find it, do let me know.

There has been some knitting. Not much knitting, but some. I am almost done with my on-the-bus socks, a gift for my MIL. I am on the second repeat of the second chart on my Aestlight Shawl, in DIC Starry. I must echo the Yarn Harlot's thoughts on the Starry, its lovely, but not quite as silvery as one would hope. Yet, I love it, and want more of it! Kristina recently introduced me to the Dizzy Sheep, which features one yarn for sale per day at bargain basement pricing, and I have since been checking every day, hoping for more Starry.

Knitting is one of those things that keeps me sane, but the time in which to do it evaporates in the face of other tasks. I can see why doctors prescribed knitting as a cure to anxiety to housewives in the old days. As I knit each stitch, I can feel my mind sifting, processing, and clicking things into place. I am always glad when I sneak some time to knit a few rows. Most of my knitting is 6:30 am bus knitting at the moment, and I won't lie-- I have nodded off once or twice!

In good news, Thanksgiving and Christmas are nearly upon us, which for me means vacation and knitting time! In preparation, I ordered some yarn for my first sweater! I bought Valley Yarns on Webs, my first time buying their in-house brand, in a chunky weight, dark blue heather. They were offering a sale for knitting daily subscribers, so I hopped on it. I got enough yarn for a sweater plus a free pattern for 25 bucks. I am planning to knit the sweater featured in the latest Berroco newsletter, Nimbus. Its more of a sweater coat, which comforts me since I won't have to be too worried about a precise, tailored fit.

Some photo documentation of my last few busy months:

Married!

Central CA Mini-Honeymoon aka Mini Moon: Hearst Castle

Mini-Moon: Castoro Cellars Vineyard

Mini-Moon: Sculpture Garden at Clautiere Winery

I'm not dead yet...

2009-10-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

(Five points to whoever got the Monty Python reference.)

Although my blog posts have been few and far between (almost none, in fact) I've been doing just as much knitting as ever. I just had to take a time-out from school to post what may have been my most important FO of the year.

FO: Rose's Wedding Shawl
Pattern: Aeolian Shawl by Elizabeth Freeman
Yarn: Jade Sapphire Lacey Lamb
Needles: US 4 circ's
Other odds-n-ends: used a crap-load of mauve beads, size 8/0
Started: 08/05/09, Completed 08/20/09 ...technically ends were woven in on 10/03/09.

With only two months of notice, I worked on this night and day so I would be sure to finish in time. It actually only took two weeks of non-stop knitting and beading. I think I lost about fifty beads in my couch.

I am always so surprised and pleased after blocking. I swear, it is black magic.

Finally, here is a picture of the whole thing, with my fiance (!) for scale. (Don't mind the empty bookshelves in the background; we were in the middle of moving.)

FO: Silk Wool Spiral Cowl

2009-10-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

Do the joys of Malabrigo ever cease? I think not. I love the feel of Malabrigo on my needles, and on my skin. Knowing this, my mom bought me some of Malabrigo's Silky Merino for my birthday. It is glorious. Its soft, light and warm, like the worsted merino, but has the most beautiful silky sheen.

FO: Silky Wool Cowl
Pattern: Spiral Cowl by Keri McKiernan of Knitty Gritty Thoughts (free pattern!)
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino
Needles: US 6/ 4.0 MM knit picks options nickel plated fixed circs
Mods: I omitted the button, as the cowl was not loose enough to warrant it. I would make it again, a bit bigger, just so I could use the cute button accent.

This was a fun, easy knit, mostly completed in the car. I ordered the knit picks nickel plated needles for this project and the Aestlight Shawl (by the Shetland Trader) which I am knitting up with Dream in Color Starry. I like the needles-- light weight and fast. I always am a bit slower with circs-- no matter how smooth the join, it slows me down. For me, these were much faster than the bamboo needles they replaced.

A fun, useful knit with fall around the corner. Its time to break out shawls, scarves, and cowls to ward of the morning frost!

Pictures taken at Clautiere Winery, in Paso Robles, CA on my mini-honeymoon :)

FO: The Nantucket Purse

2009-09-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

My friend recently sent me a picture of a FO I gifted her in action, and I realized I had never shared it on the blog.

FO: Nantucket Purse
Pattern: DROPS Cable Bag (free pattern!)
Yarn: Peru Naturtex Partners Pakucho Organic Cotton (mine was cheap on elann.com)
Needles: US 10.5 Bamboo Circulars

I named this purse the Nantucket Purse for my friend Amelia who spends some time every summer in Nantucket. Here she is on her way from Nantucket to Boston, with the purse in action.

I love this pattern and this bag! My friend Jess added the handles and the sewn in lining. I did not like this yarn, it had almost no twist, and was splitty like crazy. I prefer cottons with a strong twist like Rowan cotton rope. The cotton was not fun, but I did love the outcome. Very slouchy and cool.

Night at the Museum

2009-09-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

Assumptions. When I was a kid we said assumptions make an a$$ out of you and me.

When I started the Ring of Fire socks, I assumed the pattern was written for 3 DPNs because that is what I use. I cast on as instructed, without thinking much, 34 stitches per needle. I joined, then knit a row, again, not thinking at all. I looked down at a massive beast of a knitted circle. I looked at the directions, confirming I cast on correctly. Yup, 34 on each needle. Yet, I seemed to have a third more stitches than I needed! I reread the pattern again, finally actually reading the beginning instructions. The pattern was written for 2 circulars, not the 3 DPNs I was using. I frogged my giant, 112 stitch sock, and adapted for 3 needles, scaling back to the more normal 68 stitches :)

I saw King Tut at the De Young last night. It was a lovely exhibit, really well put together. Much improved from the version I saw 5 years ago in LA. The sky was crazy last night, unusual high clouds (we usually only get low fog) made for a dramatic sky behind the modern towers of the De Young.

Sock in Progress

2009-09-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

Kristina visited San Francisco this past weekend. We had an awesome time scoping out cool places to live in the Bay Area, playing cards excessively, knitting, eating delicious Burmese food and sushi, and walking about.

Kristina slumbers peacefully with a cake of DIC Smooshy Yarn in Pansy Go Lightly

Kristina brought me the most amazing gift ever. She knitted me an amazing wedding shawl, using Knitty's newish Aeolian Shawl in a gorgeous chocolatey brown, and with beads! It is both perfect and totally awesome. She is such an amazing knitter, and friend. I am so grateful to have her :) Thanks, friend.

Some sock in progress shots! The pattern is a freebie, Ring of Fire, by Kristin Kapur. This will be a Christmas gift for N's mom. Her foot is a bit larger than mine (about 4 sizes!) so I lengthened the heel flap quite a bit and am making a longer foot.

FO: Pomatomus Socks

2009-08-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

Cookie A is such a fun designer. I love her wacky, innovative sock patterns, they are so much fun. Pomatomus is no exception.

FO: Sunset Pomatomus
Pattern: Pomatomus, by cookie A. (free pattern!)
Yarn: Knit Picks Bare - Peruvian Highland Wool Fingering Weight hand dyed by Kristina and myself. A fun, but very smelly project ;)
Needles: Knit Picks metal DPNs. I loved working with these. I switched mid-project after snapping a bamboo needle in twain.
I started these socks back in March, and they have served as my go-to project between projects, and often got cast aside for other things. I waited a while between finishing the first sock, and casting on the second. Between this and the needle change, the second sock is a bit snugger than the first, but both fit just fine. I knit a lot more quickly and tightly on the metal needles than on the bamboo.
On the second sock I played around with the number of stitches grafted on the toe. In the above picture, the right sock is knit precisely as the pattern specifies. This makes for a very point sock. I have very block like non-pointy feeties. Only my big toe fits into the toe point, which sort of makes the whole sock twist a bit on my foot. So, on the second sock, I decreased less on the toe, and grafted more stitches. The sock is much comfier in the toe area as a result. In the picture above, my left foot is closer to the camera than the right, its not actually noticeably more giant than the right in person.

I had fun knitting this pattern. I think I would do it again, in a sock weight yarn. The fingering weight is enough smaller that the scales (which look like fans to me) have less pop and 3d texture than the ones I have seen on ravelry knit in sock weight yarn. I like using fingering weight because it produces a tighter, less slouchy sock, and slouchy socks are a bit of a pet peeve of mine. I might try the adaptation of this pattern to fingerless gloves, because I love the definition of the twisted rib in the sock weight yarn. In fact.... I have some new Dream in Color Starry that would be perfect for it.

Have a happy weekend!

How to begin....

2009-08-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

Three incredible weeks in the Dominican Republic...I haven't blogged about it because I have not quite figured out how to sum it all up in a blog post! In lieu of, here is a short reflection piece I wrote, and some more pictures, of course!

As the airplane soared through the darkness towards Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic, I wondered where the city was, where the lights were. Though I had signed up for the volunteer trip and read about the Dominican Republic for months, my sixteen year-old self had no conception of the all-encompassing nature of poverty; the city was below, but the electricity was out for the night. Later, as our bus hurtled through hazy dawn in the countryside, my eyes drank in every detail, every mango stand, every machete-wielding sugar cane worker, and every stray dog. I returned the next year, to repeat the experience, and in 2009 I returned a third time, as an adult chaperone on the same trip for high school students. These trips changed my worldview, shaped my values, and gave me a new perspective of the world, and my role in it.

For the first time, I stepped out of middle class America and into poverty, with the goal of building houses and helping rural people. I gave up the comforts of home: showers, plumbing, air conditioning, cars, a house full of gadgets, and days packed with activities and obligations. I stayed with a local family, ate what they ate, bathed in the local swimming hole, abandoned my reliance on cell phone and internet access, and adopted a slower pace of life. The family I stayed with and friends I made in the Dominican Republic taught me more and gave me more than I could have ever hoped to give to the people I had come to help. My family and friends in the Dominican Republic are poor by American standards—spotty electricity, occasional running water, no cars, and few material possessions. Yet, they give with open hearts. They give time and energy: a helping hand, a cup of coffee, an able body to help a neighbor dig a hole, or a couple hours playing cards with the grandmother next door.

In the town of La Desucbierta, you cannot stop by someone’s house without drinking a coffee or lemonade, being offered a banana or mango, or even being served a full meal. As I opened up to the Dominican way of life, I felt my heart and my mind expanding and growing as I adapted. When given an invitation to do something new or go somewhere, I replied “yes” instead of responding with the usual barrage of detail-oriented questions Americans ask. I extended my hand, hugging an elderly woman in the mountains of Haiti with an infection in her leg, speaking with my heart when I lacked the words to communicate. I abandoned American fear of making mistakes, and learned to dance the Bachata with the family who owned the local corner store. By adapting to the conditions and customs in the Dominican Republic, I opened myself up to an enriching cross-cultural exchange that has contributed to my development as a person, and certainly fueled my desire to continue to work to change lives.

Renovated house, featuring windows, doors, and floors!

Me and David, a child from an orphanage in Neyba. We did arts and crafts with the kids from the orphanage. It was so amazing to see....they definitely do not get to play with markers and construction paper all too often. Excuse the blurriness...photo taken by a 6 year old!

Signing our lovely latrine. After the cement dries, a corrugated metal house-like structure goes on top.

Adorable kids at a swimming hole near Los Rios.

Wendi, a third generation servant who received a scholarship to attend university, studying by generator lamp-light. No computers, all paper! She is studying to be an elementary school teacher.

Back From the Republica Dominicana

2009-08-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

Building houses, doing arts and crafts with kids, meeting fabulous people, enjoying an incredibly warm culture, and eating a glorious amount of Mangoes....

Mom...no knitting to report, but I will try to change that ASAP. :)

TTFN

2009-07-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of knitting lately, as I have been preparing for a few weeks building houses in the Caribbean. I will be back in August. In the words of the very wise Tigger, Ta Ta For Now! I am taking my simple shawl with me for the plane trip, so perhaps some knitting to show when I return. I hope everyone has a great rest of the month.

Pacific Northwest

2009-07-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

Just back from Portland and Rockaway Beach, Oregon. I had a lovely trip, and reunited with a bunch of college friends, Kristina included.

We had a great time seeing Portland, a really fun, quirky city full of independent shops and yummy food.

Among my favorite stops were the International Test Rose Gardens, the Chinese Classical Gardens, Voodoo Donuts, and Powell's Books. I could have spent days in Powell's. The knitting section alone was an entire aisle, with a great selection. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Pittock Mansion, Washington Park

International Test Rose Garden

Delicious cappuccino

Chinese Classical Garden

Victorian Lace Today

2009-06-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

More historical knitting! About 3 weeks ago I checked Jane Sowerby's Victorian Lace Today out of the Library. I love this book beyond all reason. Jane Sowerby draws on several historical sources of knitting patterns, offering as much biographical information as is available on the early knit wear designers. I like to think these ladies are as saucy as today's Harlot and co. The book shares a source with Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks-- Weldon's. It is so interesting to read about the trends in clothing and knitwear as the Industrial Revolution spread across Europe.

This book is ideal for your average lace loving history nerd. Plenty of informative text (which I have now read twice!) as well as tons of gorgeous patterns. Of the dozens of patterns in the book, there is only one I would not knit, and that is based solely on my prejudice against bobbles.

The patterns are marked easy, intermediate, and experienced. I decided to cast on for one of the easy shawls. I do have Shetland Triangle on the needles as well, but I really wanted a confidence building exercise in lace knitting. I know the Shetland triangle is supposed to be pretty easy, but the Shoulder Shawl in Syrian Pattern from VLT is downright simple.
Plus, I have an amazing new yarn to play with, which is always fun. Thanks to Saviche's birthday present to me, I have 925 yards of Fiesta Yarns Ballerina lace, an Aplaca-Tencel blend. I love it! So soft, so pretty and colorful. Because the pattern is so simple, I chose a more colorful yarn to add some visual interest.
This is my plane/vacation knitting as I head off to the Pacific Northwest tonight.

This weekend we did a bit of historical tourism here in SF, visiting the mission for which the city is named. It just so happens to be 5 blocks from a fabulous yarn store and 3 blocks from an amazing ice cream shop! I bought this lace yarn with my gift certificate, enjoyed a cone of salted caramel ice cream, and took in the history!

The Mission Saint Francis de Assis (aka the Dolores Mission), San Francisco

FO: Douglas Fir Lichens

2009-06-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

FO time, before I head out for another week of vaca, this time up in Oregon. I finished the Lichen Ribbed Socks, washed and blocked them, and finally took some pictures! These socks have served me well as my go-to mindless knitting-- some soothing ribbed stitch for the car, where I don't like to tango with charts.
FO: Douglas Fir Lichens
Pattern: Lichen Ribbed Socks, Nancy Bush, from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock Solid, in Douglas Fir
Needles: Knit Picks US 1 Metal DPNs
N requested a pair of simple socks, and picked out the color of Lorna's Laces online. I adapted the pattern, written for a women's foot, to accommodate a men's 10.5 shoe size. I cast on 80 stitches instead of the recommended 60, and went up a needle size from 0 to 1. I used just under 2 skeins of yarn, and probably could have made each sock about 1" taller.

I loved using the metal needles! I have knit all my other socks on bamboo. This is WAY BETTER. I have a full set of bamboo needles, so I tend to use them for everything, regardless of whether or not the yarn and pattern are a good match for the bamboo. I broke a bamboo DPN a while back, and ordered a couple metal pairs on knit picks, for sock knitting. Best thing ever. So much faster and cleaner for picking up stitches, and doing decreases.

I loved this pattern and Nancy Bush's book. I loved learning a new toe and heel, and revelled in the thought that someone in the Victorian age used these techniques, so different from our usual, to make socks. I repeatedly and enthusiastically bored several family members and friends with my knowledge about sock construction from the 1850s. The book includes enough history to appeal to my history nerd side, and enough different techniques to keep me interested for a long while. A solid investment, indeed. A local yarn shop, Marin Fiber Arts in San Rafael is going out of business. I hopped over to their liquidation sale and picked up some worsted wool to have a go at color work. Fair Isle has been calling my name lately.
Some of San Francisco's more colorful buildings:

Picture sharing

2009-06-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

Still trucking along on my lichen ribbed socks...not a ton of knitting time the last couple days.

Some lovely pictures, however:

Mt. Tamalpais

Pride month in downtown San Francisco

Back from Vaca

2009-06-22T09:44:00.000-07:00

Back from vaca! I have been knitting so furiously on my Lichen Ribbed Socks that I have two throbbing puncture wounds on my left pointer finger. The sacrifices we make for the art!

I blocked and photographed my second crocheted hat, a gift for a friend moving to London in fall.

FO: London Diva Hat
Pattern: Darling Diva's Snow Day Hat by Kirsten Kapur (free pattern, would be great for beginners!)
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Brush, 80% alpaca, 20% acrylic , color 109 (main color) and Malabrigo Worsted Merino in Cornflower (trim)
Hook: Good old Boye, size I, shiny magenta.

I had almost completed this hat, all but the last two rows crocheted, when I ran out of yarn. I rustled through the top level of stash, and pulled out the Malabrigo Merino I used for the Cornflower Beret. The colors match well, and I like the visual contrast between the wispy Alpaca and the smooth Merino.

I just love giant flowers! They have these in Union Square, and I always found them quite enchanting. Something very Alice in Wonderland about the giant size of them. You can see my vast quantity of vaca induced freckles in this picture!

Not too much to say about this hat, since it is the second I cranked out. The yarn is quite warm, despite the openness of the fabric. I think it will make a super cute fall accessory for my girls in Boston and London!

And a few vaca pictures to share on this Monday morning... I love the California Coast...from waterfalls to old growth redwoods to white sand beaches, dolphins, and art galleries, the coast seems to have it all :)

Jellies, Monterey Bay Aquarium

Coast Art Gallery, Big Sur

The Lone Cypress, 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach

Julia Pheiffer State Park

Nepenthe, Big Sur

Star Toe of Three Points

2009-06-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

The fun thing about Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks is being exposed to older methods of sock construction I just don't see in contemporary patterns. Here we have the Star Toe of Three Points. I had to modify it a bit, since I had more stitches on the needle than the pattern specified. I simply added in a couple more repeats of the decreases.

The decreases are formed by p2togs and p3togs, which are placed in a way that forms a star made of 3 diamonds.
I am hoping that the p3togs flatten out a bit with blocking-- unblocked they are a bit bulgy. Overall, I like the look of it, and the construction seems good. The final stitches are not grafted together, but closed up like a hat. I am not sure about the stability of that...if its a problem I will go back and graft.
I tried to get some pictures that showed the star pattern, but the toe was quite baggy on my foot, so here is the toe on a bottle, and on an apple! Not quite human-like, but they give a general idea of the toe construction.
I am off on a short vaca, back next Monday or Tuesday...until then, please indulge my love of sharing photographs! Like a good knitter, I packed more yarn than is sensible, and more patterns than I will have time to knit up!

San Francisco, from my roof:
Artsy shot taken by N at Ocean Beach:

FO: Cornflower Beret

2009-06-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

I know its a bit early to be talking Christmas, but I am a bit of a slow knitter, and as the holidays ramp up, I don't do a ton of knitting. Here is my first Christmas FO!

Cornflower Beret
Pattern: Last Minute Purled Beret by Wendy Bernard (free pattern!)
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted Merino in Cornflower
Needles: US 9 bamboo DPNs

I knitted this pattern as directed, in the smaller size. The beret came out a bit less slouchy, as I subbed worsted weight in for Aran weight yarn. This is not altogether bad, since N's grandma seemed to want a not too slouchy beret.

She saw my megahuge Star Crossed Beret, and commented that she would like one that was smaller, and less bright. I found a gorgeous more muted blue, in the same Malabrigo worsted, and a less slouchy pattern. I think it will get the grandma stamp of approval. I really enjoyed the subtle variegation in the Malabrigo. In some skeins there isn't much variation, but this one has a really nice blend of blues in it.

Thanks to N for the after-work photo shoot on our roof :) I re-organized my stash last night from a bunch of disparate tote bags to two large rubbermaid boxes, and he was slightly stunned that I had so much yarn. Personally, I was impressed it fit into one large and one small rubbermaid box. Different perspectives....

The Welsh heel

2009-06-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I turned a Welsh heel, from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage socks. The only heel flap I have worked before is as the Harlots directs in her Basic Sock Recipe. I thought it would be fun to try something new.

Please forgive the pictures...there was some degree of acrobatics going on as I tried to photograph the bottom of the heel. I nearly pulled something. Also, the sock is for a largeish boy foot, so the heel is baggy on me, which does not show the shaping in the most attractive light. No one likes sagging. Also, I did not want to force the DPNs too much, lest they bend, so the heel is not sitting on my true heel.

Anywho, the heel is a short row heel, with YO wraps-- a new technique for me. There is also a seam stitch running down the heel. I am not sure how I feel about the seam stitch. It did not bother me when the sock was on my foot, as I thought it might.

The YO wraps look really good and neat on one side, and really funky on the other. My tentative hypothesis is that this difference is caused by my YO technique-- I do YOs differently depending on if I am knitting or purling the next stitch. The YOs that are followed by a knit are on the neat side, while the YOs that are followed by a purl are kind of lumpy.

The lumpy side:
The lumpy side and the seam stitch:
The neater side:
A semi-look at the whole thing:
The seam stitch, and accurate yarn color:
Overall, I like the way that the stitches head diagonally towards the seam stitch. I like the look of that. On the other hand, this heel came out kind of square. Heels are not square. Thankfully knitting is stretchy. We will see how N likes the feel on his foot (for reference in the next pair. There is no way I am ripping back to re-do the heel.)

Happy weekend to all!

Light

2009-06-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

My Boston friend, hat recipient noted below, recently commented to me how she misses the light in Northern California. Shortly after our conversation I took some pictures at dusk that perfectly exemplify what she is missing.

I love the light here, too!

FO: The Boston Diva

2009-06-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

As promised, I have a crocheted FO to share today.

FO: The Boston Diva
Pattern: Darling Diva's Snow Day Hat by Kirsten Kapur (free pattern)
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Brush, 80% alpaca, 20% acrylic , color 109 (gotta love that descriptive name)
Hook: Good old Boye, size I. I love the metal hooks in the lovely bright colors. My I hook is magenta.

I made the hat as directed, but wished I had made it just a hare smaller. It was a bit small for the head its pictured on here, but I think the recipient's head is a bit smaller than the model (model= my unlucky friends who stop by when I have FOs lying about.)

This hat took up about one hour of my time! I felt so speedy and productive. Not only that, due to the open nature of the clustered stitches, I was able to make one hat with about half of a 50g ball of yarn, which is often not the case with knitting! Its hard to get a whole hat out of a 50g skein, often.

I love knitting with Aplaca! Its so gloriously warm, soft, and fluffy! This hat, while holey and open, is quite warm. It will be keeping my best friend in Boston warm this winter! Happy early Birthday Amelia!
The crown, along side my current reading material, the ever entertaining Harlot:

This hat was pretty easy-- a suitable first crochet project. The only stitches used are the chain and the double crochet. I have not crocheted in years. I had such fun making this hat that I immediately made another one!
Thanks to Mariam for modeling!

FO: Sock Yarn Clapotis

2009-06-09T15:12:00.000-07:00

FO: Sock Yarn Clapotis
Pattern: Clapotis, by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Handmaiden Casbah Sock Yarn, 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon, colorway: Stardust
Needles: Can't remember... I think a US 4/3.5 mm bamboo circular needle. The join on the circ broke as I started the decreases, and I finished up the project on straights.

Mods: I used a gorgeous Handmaiden sock yarn for this project instead of the recommended Aran weight. I knit the shawl variation of the pattern, but my yarn choice left me with more of a scarf-sized shawl. I love it!

It is so drapey (a word Kristina used so aptly when describing her Clapotis!) and soooooooo soft. The yarn is really fantastic. I love basically every handmaiden yarn I have laid my eyes and fingers on. Those folks really know what they are doing.

The color is so saturated, and there is a gentle, subtle sheen. The yarn is so soft, and oh so warm. I wore it out last night to a fabulous Burmese dinner in SoMa. The pattern lived up to its reputation as simple, clever, entertaining, and fun. I hope to knit this again, I thoroughly enjoyed it from the cast on to the cast off. I am constantly impressed by the cleverness of the pattern whenever I think about it. Yesterday one of my friends said it looks professional! She will be rewarded with some fingerless mitts, I hope :)

Many thanks to Jess for indulging me in a modelling session before dinner :) She was wearing a lovely cowl she made from Misti Aplaca chunky with the most gorgeous buttons.

A day at Ocean beach, with some of my favorite people and one of my favorite dogs:

Joy

2009-06-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

This afternoon there will be a quick modeling session for my recent FOs, so hopefully there will be nice pictures to post tomorrow. I am thinking of crocheting another hat today, for a friend moving to London soon! I am having dinner with her tonight...luckily crochet is quite quick!

Here are some pictures from May, when Kristina was in San Francisco for between semesters break.

Some purple flowers, Kristina's favorite:

Our picnic spot, golden gate park:
The pure, unbridled joy that is vast quantities of wool (at Imagiknit):
I bought the Malabrigo in my right hand, but not the GIANT hank in my left. I felt like a sport fisherman holding that thing up.

Introspective beach glamor shot of Kristina:

Origins

2009-06-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

I learned to crochet when I was about 8 years old. I churned out a couple lumpy granny squares, and put down the hook until I was about 20 years old. I asked my mom to re-teach me to crochet over thanksgiving break that year. I churned out a ton of scarves, and then two blankets. As I continued to crochet, I got the thirst to learn to knit. Being busy with school and work, I fiddled around a bit with knitting, but did not really learn until I was 22. Once again, I appealed to the mother, who taught me the to knit and purl.

Knitting was so appealing and so versatile that my crochet hooks got buried in the stash, and I have not crocheted much in the (almost) three years I have been knitting. Today I got back to my fiber origins and crocheted a hat.

My lovely friend Amelia described to me a knitted hat that she wanted, noting that it was holey, but not quite like lace. I realized that what she was describing sounded a lot like crochet. Her birthday is coming up, and and her crocheted birthday hat is blocking as we speak (along with the completed beret and clapotis).

One of the wonderful things about crochet is the speed! About an hour of work yielded just the result I had envisioned for her hat. I used Kirsten Kapur's Darling Diva Snow Day Hat pattern, omitting the attached flower.

A few pictures from my Memorial Day weekend, spent with friends and family in sunny Southern California:

State of the Knitting

2009-06-06T13:09:00.000-07:00

A long, slightly disorganized post about what I am knitting at the moment.

1. A super soft scarf for me
Turbulent Indigo, Kirsten Kapur (free pattern)
Yarn: Rowan RYC Silky Wool, 50% merino, 50% silk.

This yarn is soft, smooth, warm, and luscious. It has a lovely gentle sheen, and the purple is nice and the purple is nice and saturated. The picture below shows the yarn with a bit of a halo, but it is much less apparent to the naked eye.

Mods: I cast on two extra pattern repeats, and went up two needle sizes. I wanted the scarf to be nice and open. The yarn is DK weight, as is hand spun the designer used. I have had this yarn in my stash for probably over two years now. I have been keeping my eye out for a good scarf pattern for DK weight yarn, and this one struck my fancy. This wool is so soft and silky (as the name silk wool implies!) that it belongs next to the skin.

2. Lace!
Pattern: Shetland Triangle
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace, purchased at a sample sale, in a fabulous merino-cashmere blend.

Every knitter has a conception of the type of project that will make them a "real knitter." Something beyond the basic skills that come easily to each particular knitter. Something the knitter values for both the skill required and for its beauty. For some it is color work, or sweaters. For me it is lace. I love the way lace looks, and to me, that is the ultimate knitting goal. Yes, I would like to do some color work, and I would like to knit a sweater, but for me, its the lace that does it for me. My first attempt at lace did not go well. It is frogged.

For this, my second attempt, I picked an "easy" pattern, Evelyn A. Clark's Shetland Triangle from Wrap Style. I also invested in Addi Turbo's lace needles. I figure, the last thing I want to get in my way is a crappy join or blunt bamboo needles. They were a bit pricey for needles, but they are beautiful to work with.

3. Fun socks!
Pattern: Pomatomus, by Cookie A
Yarn: Hand painted by Yarned Forces

Once sock done, one to go!

4. Plain socks
Pattern: Lichen Ribbed Socks, Nancy Bush from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock

When I first started this sock I sort of guestimated how big to make it. I was converting the pattern written for a ladies' sock to a man sized sock. I did not measure, and just sort of went with it. Not a good idea. Before knitting the heel flap, I had N try on the sock, and the cuff would not even go over his foot. Lesson learned, I got out the measuring tape, did some calculations, and cast on a MUCH larger sock.

This is my simple mindless knitting of the moment. I am really liking the Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock....its my first time knitting with the stuff.

I have some FOs to quickly report on as well, with full posts on the way. Both are still awaiting blocking.

A beret for N's grandma....

My Clapoits, which I love, which broke my circular needle. They were cheap needles, purchased on eBay, and the join was not the best. I had to finish off the project on straights. Not a big deal, since I was already to the decreases by the time the join bit the dust. I tried a scotch tape repair, but it did not hold up for more than 1.4 rows.

A couple pics of my knitting related goodies, mentioned previously: my namaste purse, and the project bag it came with:

Finally, a picture of Kristina and I over Memorial Day, on a boat ride around Newport Harbor. Not the most awesome picture, but it is proof she is still out there :) Beleive me, she is still knitting in all her (few) spare moments, and when she graduates school, will be blogging again!

Enough rambling today. Have a great weekend!

Tourism

2009-05-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

I love travel. I love local travel, US travel, international travel. I like volunteering abroad, being a tourist, and being a local. I love exploring new places. I am always mentally planning more trips than I am knitting projects, and for a knitter, that is sayin something!

When I read blogs, I like to feel like a traveler. A glimpse into some one's knitting basket, their town, their music, their food, their way of life. I think that is why I love reading blogs not on a daily basis, but in chunks. I prefer to read a month or more in one go, versus a little bit each day. When I read the bigger chunks, I feel like I am traveling, in a way. The same sort of exploration, and exposure to some one's culture takes place. I love that!

This past weekend, I was talking to Kristina about the Yarn Harlot, and she said once school was over, she was going to do some major catching up. That got me thinking about what I like about blogs, since my response to Kristina was that I preferred reading a few months worth of entries at a time. Its that sense of exploration, and cultural exposure. Every knitter posts different pictures, discusses knitting in a different way, and shares random tid bits about travel, food, life, family, shoes, etc. I just finished reading the knit and tonic archives from the first entry to the most recent, and now I have moved on to through the loops. To me, its like reading a great novel.

Hoping to finish my clapotis tonight. Until then, please indulge my obsession with the following things: digital macro mode, flowers, and sharing pictures!

When Nature Calls

2009-05-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

Not terribly much knitting to report. I cast on and off for Wendy Bernard's Last Minute Purl Beret. The pattern knit up in a jiffy and is just waiting for me to block it. Its intended recipient is N's grandmother, probably for Christmas. I know I just said "Christmas" in May, but I have always been one to over prepare. I had the urge to knit the beret, a grandma who said she liked
blue berets, and a gorgeous skein of Malabrigo Worsted Merino. My rationale is that it is better to impulse knit it now, when fancy strikes, and save it until a gift giving time rolls around rather than on the eve of said gift giving occasion, buy a pashmina because I did not have time to knit something on time. The logic works for me. I am not a deadline knitter. Deadline knitting makes me want to do everything but knit the deadline project.

I am a flighty, lax knitter. A flighty, lax knitter with a sweet new Namaste bag :) Last week Kristina alerted me to a Memorial Day Sale at Hip Mountain Mama's shop. The lovely, practical, and stylish Newport Bag by Namaste was going for $40 bucks. A heavy discount indeed. I ordered it from Kristina's apartment (in olive green) on Friday morning, and returned to San Francisco to find it on my stoop Tuesday. YAY! We are now super cool bag twins.

Some pictures from the gorgeous Muir Woods, California:

Knitting the Socks, Vintage style

2009-05-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

I have cast on my very first Nancy Bush project. Its very exciting, except I chose a very unexciting pattern. The socks are for N, who is not much into the YOs and whatnot that make socks fun and pretty. The pattern is from Knitting Vintage Socks, which I picked up at Imagiknit.

Here we have the Lichen Ribbed Socks in Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock Solids, color Douglas Fir. The pattern is basically a 3x1 rib. The pattern is written for the ladies, so to accommodate a man foot, I went up a needle size and cast on for 8 extra stitches. I think I should have cast on 12 extra. Socks stretch though....right?
The Lorna's Laces is lovely to knit with. No halo, no splitting, just springy goodness.
The pattern is a bit more evident looking at the inside:
The outside looks a bit like lumpy stockinette, when its not stretched out a bit:

A random Gothic style church, near Pacific Heights:

Butter Cream Cap

2009-05-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

A wee FO to show you today. I finished a baby cap for the girl in my program who is preggers, and due this summer. The baby's sex is a surprise, so the cap is a quasi-gender neutral yellow. I saw quasi because I think the whole thing came out rather feminine looking. But so cute!

FO: Butter cream Cap
Pattern: Quick and Easy Baby Hat by Emma Waller
Yarn: about 3/4 skein Berroco Cotton Twist
Needles: US 7/ 4.5 mm bamboo dpns

Mods: As written, the pattern is knit flat and seamed. I modified the pattern to be knit in the round. I am undecided about adding the ribbon featured in the pattern. I might try out a couple different colors to see if I like it, but right now, it is staying ribbon-free. A verrrry fast knit, and a very cute result.

This yarn has a nice sheen, though the shiny strand woven in was occasionally splitty, especially on the k2togs. Great for a quick baby project or a wash cloth, but I don't think I would use this yarn for much else. I think it retails for like $4.00 a skein, and my mom got a bunch for 40% off at the LYS.

After a doctor's appointment yesterday, I did a bit of exploring, and walked to a French bakery. My test of any French bakery are the Madelines, and these were pretty awesome. I had one lemon and one raspberry. I would definitely go back, but I think there are a few more French bakeries in this area I should sample first :) The bakery is on the edge of Pacific Heights, and I walked by a bunch of lovely San Francisco Victorian homes to get there. I love these houses!

You know you have too many projects on the needles when an attempt to clean up the couch-side project bag results in the likes of this:

Local Color

2009-05-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

MMMM NEW YARN! And I can't blame Kristina for enabling me this time. The good new is I have been using yarn, and I donated a bunch of acrylic stuff, so the yarn in-yarn out balance is not out of whack.

I might have mentioned the need, the burning need, for socks? Yes. I treated myself to some new sock yarn after a rather rough bout of food poisoning last weekend. As a loyal Grumperina reader, I can't help but be curious about Lorna's Laces, as she eternally sings praise for the Shepard Sock Yarn. I even purchased my goods from Grumperina's fave Lorna's Laces Dealer.

I have made one pair of socks from self-striping yarn. At the time, I loved knitting with it, and watching the colors change, but did not love the final results. I swore that self striping yarn was not for me. Yet, what managed to find its way into my online shopping cart, alongside Lorna?

Yes. Self striping yarn. Its so yummy looking. Like a mango and strawberry gelato skein of luscious color! And I can't wait to cast on!

One of my classmates is preggy, so I cast on this hat for her soon to be baby in Berroco Cotton Twist. They don't know the sex, so I thought I would go with a gender neutral yellow, but its looking kind of feminine to me. Ah well, still cute! So teeny!

Last week I was lucky enough to play tour guide to some friends from Finland, along with a friend from the South Bay. Here are some shots of the glorious Golden Gate, which I find eternally photogenic.

Updates

2009-05-04T12:37:00.000-07:00

In lieu of a longer and more interesting post, here is my WIP line up, which is actually not bad at the moment. There was a time when I was a monogamous knitter. One project at a time. Then one day I woke up, sullied by love affairs with different yarns, with 5 projects on the needles. These days I try to keep it a bit more under control.

Most knitters have some criteria for what types of projects they like to have on the needles at a particular time. I myself like to have at least one easy project, and one harder project on the needles at a time. Something interesting I can sink my teeth into, and something boring I can zone out to. Then I like to throw in quickie projects, like hats or fingerless gloves that quench the thirst for an FO while longer term items are on the needles.

The Clapotis:

The Pomatomous:

No picture, but I am on the foot of the first sock.

Hemlock:

No picture, not much to report. I WILL get cracking on this at some point. Kristina and I started this as our own KAL, and hers is done and blocked. I am still on the inner lace portion. Oy. I had to frog a couple times, but I think I can do it this next time around.

Mental Queue:

3 Pairs fingerless gloves. One for me, one for a friend moving to London, and another to a friend in Boston.

SOCKS SOCKS SOCKS. I want to gift some socks this Christmas. Better get started now! I just ordered some Lorna's Laces from Birds N Yarn to move toward this end. Additionally, I have a ton in the stash. Perhaps about 8 pairs worth. I want fun patterned sock, plain vanilla socks, ribbed socks, boring socks, fun socks, the works. Right now, I just gotta have socks.

Shetland Triangle: I have the yarn, I have the book. Now I just need to summon my courage and conquer some lace.

A lovely gift from the mother, pictured below. A fun scarf book with some gorgeous patterns, all inspired by the ocean, and a couple skeins of super chunky Malabrigo. Perhaps a Cowl or shorty scarf should be added to the queue!

Discoveries

2009-05-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

Knitting Discoveries:

Needle jackpot! A while back, I went to cast on a hat, and both my US 7 and US 5 DPN sets were missing a needle. A very annoying occurrence, since those are prime worsted knitting sized needles, and my intended yarn was worsted. I wound the yarn up, and never knit the hat, due largely to the needle shortage, and partly to the distractions of other projects.

Today I was knitting along on my sock, and put the needle down for just one mere second. Instantly the couch devoured the needle. I pulled up the cushion and reached to grab it, but somehow created a new crack for it to slip through back down into the innards of the couch. I cursed, pulled out all the cushions, and rolled up my sleeves. I tried to stick my hand in, but the springs from the couch were exerting too much pressure for me to get more than a finger tip in.

By applying all my weight to the springs a void opened up, and I was discovered the land of lost needles. Out came a size 5 DPN. Some more digging yielded the size 7 DPN. Some more digging, and I found my favorite crochet hook, which I did not know was missing.

Finally, a few minutes and two bruised hands later I found a remote control, circa 1999. A rare JVC specimen, it appeared I had found a remote from the nearly extinct VCR!

Then I found my sock DPN. A good haul, all things considered.

Non Knitting Discoveries:

I love exploring San Francisco's numerous and diverse neighborhoods. This week I started volunteering at a preschool in the outer sunset, where there are rows and rows of brightly painted stucco homes. And very grey skies, the outer sunset is right by the ocean.

I expected the neighborhood to be primarily residential, but there was a strip of lively shops.
I absolutely loved this awesome mural on what looks like a fun pizza place.

Bohemian Princess

2009-04-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

My style is a hybrid hippie-preppy- California comfortable. I think the CA comfortable style is a hybrid hippie-preppy style in itself. One thing I can tell you I am not is a bohemian princess. I may not be hip and boho enough to pull of my newest knitted creation, but hey, I totally love it anyway. And I will wear it. Hipsters will judge me, and I won't care. I will be wearing a wool hat and flip flops.

Bohemian Princess Hat
Pattern: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Turquoise
Needles: Size US10 and 11 bamboo DPNs

The cables are fun, the yarn is awesome, and the decreases look purty. The yarn originally intended for Short Row Glory, but that road did not end in Glory. It ended about 1 gagillion miles south, in massive failure. I did not want to subject the yarn to another attempt, in case that failed too, and another ripping was necessary. I can't bear to waste the lovely Malabrigo on repeated froggings. Must buy more Malabrigo, and try short row hat again!

Have I mentioned my undying love of Malbrigo? This was my last skein in the stash. I am now longing. Thinking, brooding. I stare at my remainder skeins listening to U2's "with or without you." Then I comfort myself with a few rows of the Clap with Handmaiden glory. Enough yarnporn for today.

I totally recommend this pattern! Easy, fun, pretty, sassy, boho, matches my flip flops, and very quick. Instant gratification quick. I needed this after my unsuccessful short rows. That, and my other projects on the needles have been there for a while, and I needed the satisfaction of a finished product. A little fix to convince me to pick up Pomatomus again.

Does this look like a hat to you?

2009-04-24T12:08:00.003-07:00

Cause it sure does not look like an effing hat to me:

Its not the raised up diamond shaped pouches or the pinched in part along the cast on that bugs me I suspect those could be taken care of with seaming and blocking.

It is the GIANT holes.

Giant. Gaping. Holes.

Part of the awesomeness of Veronik Avery's pattern is that there are no gaping holes in her short row technique because of the use of clever decreases that eliminate the holes.

But I have holes.

I hate holes. They make a hand-knit look shoddy and sloppy. Its totally my fault, too. I have seen two of these bad boys, made by Kristina in person, and countless others in pictures online. Those hats do not have holes. No gaping, giant holes. My YOs must be too loose or something. I knit on the looser side, and have noticed before that my YOs can be a bit loosey goosey.

No question about it, this is getting frogged asap. I have pulled all my hat patterns out of my big ole pattern binder, and this yarn will become a new hat. I really love Veronik Avery's pattern, and the results I have seen with it in solid colored yarn. I don't want to knit this up again in the same Malabrigo in case I have to frog again-- I do not want my lovely Malabrigo to get yucky from repeat frogging. Off to frog and re-start afresh.

Arboretum, Davis, CA:

New Techniques

2009-04-21T15:48:00.000-07:00

I have been plugging away at my Clapotis, which is shaping up nicely, and got the urge to cast on a project that would allow me to learn some new techniques. Last week I decided on my pattern, Veronik Avery's Short Row Hat, and grabbed a skein of worsted Malabrigo and wound it into a ball. This week, I cast on.

This pattern uses two techniques new to me: the provisional cast on (invisible cast on) and short rows. I have done short rows in socks, but not in a hat. I am have not yet completed a full repeat of the diamond pattern, and I am excited to see how the short rows unfold into diamond shapes. I already love the pattern's strategic decreases that eliminate the holes created by the yarn overs.
The provisional cast on took a few perusals of the demo video on knittinghelp.com (very clear and helpful, as always) and a couple practice tries before I got it down well enough to actually cast on for the hat. I used a cotton yarn as my spare yarn, which I think was a mistake. The figure 8 twists were a bit tight in the cotton yarn, and took some finagling to get things in order.

As always, Malabrigo is a treat to knit with, so smooth and lovely. The pattern is clever, and is knitting up quickly. This seems like it will be a instant gratification project!
Spring roses from my mom's backyard:

I love Udon

2009-04-17T13:36:00.000-07:00

FO: Udon Scarf
Pattern: Improvised, with a 9 stitch braided cable
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick
Needles: US 13 Bamboo Straights

Another chunky white scarf! This one is for me, to match my red pea coat. Most of my scarves are blue, purple, green, pretty colors that clashed awfully with the red coat. I wanted something to warm my neck, and this creamy white yarn fit the bill.

A quick knit, I kind of cast this on impulsively. I did not have anything easy peasy in the works, so I just picked up this yarn and started tinkering with cable patterns. I have been working on it here and there, and it finished up a couple weeks ago, and then spent a couple days blocking. The air here is quite humid and the yarn was very thick, so drying took a while.

Jess named it the Udon Scarf, due to the giant yarn's resemblance to udon noodles. She came over for a craft night, and I made an udon soup for dinner. Sure enough, the noodles and the yarn are quite similar in size and color!

Since this scarf is meant to go under my cropped pea coat, I did not want a long scarf. Something to warm the neck, but not necessarily to wrap around my neck. The scarf is chunky enough to keep my neck warm without needing to be wrapped around my neck.

Easter at Doran Beach:

Odessa Hat

2009-04-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

FO: Odessa
Pattern: Odessa, by Grumperina
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft DK
Needles: US 5 Bamboo DPNs

I loved this yarn and this pattern. Quick, easy, and attractive. Unfortunately, the tight beanie style hat does not flatter my large, egg-shaped dome. I think this hat will eventually make its way to the Ukraine, to grace the head of a 4 year old cousin of N's.

I hope to knit this again, with a chunkier yarn. I used the DK yarn called for in the size called for. I think a chunkier yarn and a slightly larger, slouchier Odessa would look better on me.

The yarn is springy and works up very nicely in this pattern. My K2Togs on the decreases became quite pronounced--raised up. I could not get them to smooth down while knitting, or in the blocking process.

Hellllooooo handsome:

Beaded

2009-04-01T12:09:00.000-07:00

This morning my beads and beading tools saw a little action. The Clapotis requires more stitch markers than I had on hand, so I whipped up four more, and continued knitting.

Now my Clapotis is strutting its stuff with a ton of bling:

Secondly, I told a friend months ago that I would re-string her bracelet. I will be seeing her this weekend in sunny San Diego, so I thought I should get to work, and not miss another chance to get her bracelet back to her!

The bracelet and the bejeweled Clapotis became friendly. I love the deep blue next to the gentle shimmer of the shell beads.

Handmaiden

2009-03-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

I covet Handmaiden Fine Yarn every time I go to a yarn store that carries the luscious stuff. I have been lusting after the Sea Silk for, um, 2 years now?

A 40% off sale at Knitterly inspired the acquisition of my first skein of Handmaiden yarn. It is Sea Silk, and it is heaven. I only have one skein, and have not yet decided what to make with it. I love it. Thanks Mom!!

When I left my job at the beginning of March, my org generously provided me with a lovely gift certificate to Imagiknit. I headed there Sunday with my Mom, the gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket. Must. Have. Luxury. Yarn. Now. I went with the intention of picking up a Nancy Bush sock book (which I did, Knitting Vintage Socks) and some Clapotis yarn. I know I am a bit late (5 years!) on the Clapotis bandwagon, but I nonetheless love the design. Plus, I did not knit back then, so it did not enter my radar until a year and a half ago.

Picking out yarn at Imagiknit is nearly impossible. They have every gorgeous yarn under the sun (and even a few exclusive yarns, like the Malabrigo cashmere lace I picked up last time), shelves upon shelves of books, and a lovely sales staff. I picked up yarn after yarn that would have made a gorgeous Clapotis, and even carried a choice three skeins around the store for about 20 minutes before coming across a basket of Handmaiden's Casbah sock yarn. 81% merino, 9% cashmere, and 10% nylon, this stuff is so silky, so soft, and saturated with an incredible and subtle range of blues. It was love at first sight and soon to be my very own Clapotis!

Its not stash enhancement if I spent no $$$, right?

Broken

2009-03-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

For some time now my sock sized bamboo dpns have been bent into a somewhat drastic arc. The arc was bugging me as I knit along, forcing me to hold the needle slightly differently to compensate. After knitting the heel flap on my first Pomatomus sock, I decided to try it on, perhaps snap a picture. In the process of jamming my foot through, one of the severely arcing DPNs snapped in twain!

While this is a little frustrating, as it slows down sock progress, I am not all that heart broken. The bend in the needles was bugging me, and I was starting to want a more slippery needle anyway. I hopped onto Knitpicks, and ordered their nickel plated DPNs in the sock making sizes (US 1 and 2, for me) , as well as a circular pair of US 2 needles so I can have a good go at magic loop. My one magic loop effort failed miserably, but I think it is worth mastering to help avoid laddering.

Last week, I headed to SoCal to visit friends (and local yarn shops, of course!) Here is my belated long weekend/mini vaca photo montage:

Balboa Island

The Getty Villa

Balboa Island

Enabler? Moi?

2009-03-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I cast on Grumperina's Odessa Hat. I have been reading her blog archives lately, and was overcome by grumpy fever. Next thing you know, I pulled a skein of Rowan CashSoft out of the stash and cast on. I am omitting the beads, but using the same yarn and needles called for in the pattern. The Rowan CashSoft DK is so squishy squashy, I love it.

Now, lets just get on thing straight here. Kristina is the enabler. She takes me yarn shopping at a shop with a 30-50% off sale, and forces me to pet every kind of Frog Tree Yarn. Like she said, when we visited Suzoo's we found out the shop was going out of business, we felt we had to help out the shop owner in the liquidation process! Here are my new acquisitions:

2 skeins Scackel's Adagio from the Primera Collection. 70% baby llama, 30% silk

Lamb's Pride Worsted in Persian Peacock, 85% wool, 15% mohair

Lamb's Pride Worsted in Cafe Au Lait, 85% wool, 15% mohair

Claudia Hand Painted Yarn sport weight in Butter Pecan

Distractions

2009-03-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

Right now I should be cramming a billion different drugs into my system (via studying that is) but I think I will post a few pics of my recent stash enhancements. Rose is such an enabler. I never see her without somehow adding yarn to my stash. We went to my LYS, Suzoo's Woolworks in Costa Mesa, only to find out that they are closing! SAD FACE!!! Please go support Suzoo and help her liquidate her stock so she can get out from under the rent. (Everything is 30-50% off, including Claudia Handpaints!) I think she said that someone was interested in buying the business, but it will be an online store only. Suzoo, your store will be missed!

Here are a couple of my purchases:

Claudia Handpainted Yarns, Fingering Weight, Butter Pecan

Austermann Bambou Soft, Worsted Weight, Color 019

Frog Tree 100% Alpaca, Sportweight, Color 61

And here is a little teaser of an FO:

Go ahead, guess what it is.

My coffee table

2009-03-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

My coffee table, before I did a bit of cleaning up:

I visited Kristina and my other SoCal friends for a long weekend, so not much knitting was completed. I turned the heel on my first Pomotomus Sock, and the project has since befallen a tragedy that will sideline it until new needles arrive in the mail!

The Creamy Cables scarf, as I am now calling the giant white thing, is coming along, and I hope to get a chunk done tonight, which is craft night here. My friend Jess is coming over for knitting and eating! Two of my favorite activities :)

Spring flowers, both inside...
and outside....

New Beginings

2009-03-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

Two new projects to report, one not yet cast on, and one very impulsively cast on.

Here is the yarn for my first real attempt at lace. I knitted about 60% of the Swallowtail before I finally admitted to myself that something was wrong, a la Yarn Harlot. First, I noticed I had one stitch to many on one row. I threw in a haphazard K2Tog, and thought all would be fine. It was, for a few more inches. Then it happened again. And again. Sometimes I would be over by a stitch and sometimes under. I could not see the errors in my work, I just knew they were there. And so it continued. I became disenchanted. The Swallowtail was placed in a time out in the back of the closet.

The Swallowtail has reemerged, awaiting frogging. I can't quite bring myself to do it. When it comes to me and lace knitting I seem to be dealing with a dichotomy that I haven't quite managed to control yet. On the one hand, I think knitted lace is gorgeous, versatile, phenomenal, and all around wonderful. On the other, I did not enjoy knitting on my Swallowtail. The yarn was nearly threadlike (KnitPicks Gloss Lace). The needles called for seemed so big compared to the yarn, it was a bit awkward for me.

However, my enduring love of the patterns I pour over online and in books continues. All I can think is "I want to do that!" And I will.

I am having my second go (which I am calling my first REAL go at lace to make myself feel better) with a yarn that is a tad beefier than the threadlike lace weight yarn I was using before. The yarn is amazing. I bought it at Imagiknit at a sample sale. Its Malabrigo 80% Merino, 20% Cashmere in a colorway that looks like its called "Stonechat" (the handwriting is a bit hard to read.) It is SO soft. The colorway is gorgeous and unique, and a bit different than I usually knit with.

It also is taking me ages to wind into a ball. I have neither a swift nor a ball winder, so its just me, a jumbo needle, and the back of a chair. It is slow going 45 minutes this morning, and all I have to show is a half wound ball. But look, so pretty!!

Here is my chosen yarn alongside my chosen pattern, Shetland Triangle by Evelyn Clark, published in Wrap Style. I had been coveting this pattern for ages, and my mom gave me the book for my birthday back in June.
Here is my impulsive cast on. The other day we were settling in to watch the Sharks game, and I did not feel like knitting on my Pomatomus socks, and all my other WIPs are in time outs (Swallowtail and Hemlock). I grabbed a skein of yarn, and started knitting a huge braided cable. I frogged several times before coming up with a simple pattern that focused on the cable. I did not want full ribbing on the sides but, but not plain garter stitch either.

So, behold my chunky monkey cream colored cable scarf. I don't love the way the braided cable warps the CO edge, but I was unable to find a solution without starting the cable much later, which I did not want to do.
I have two skeins of this yarn left, after about 6 skeins mysteriously appeared in my stash. I honestly don't remember exactly why I have this much Wool Ease Thick and Quick! I might use both, or I might make another short scarf with a button. We shall see. I will let impulse carry me.