Where has my knitting gone?

First and foremost--knitting news (this is a knitting blog, isn't it?!?) I frogged my third Turn A Square hat because I did not have enough grey yarn to go on, and the Noro was turning a gorgeous shade of pink and magenta, but the recipient is a man who does not love pink and has a firey red beard... not sure hot magenta would look so awesome.


Good bye first Noro project (in its third iteration)..... I loved you so. I will move on to some more grey stash yarn, and throw in some Rowan natural silk aran (same as my cowl) for the stripes. I am visiting this mountainous recipient this weekend, so hopefully I can get most of the hat done on the car ride there.











In sewing news...


My bag plan seems to be working. I wanted to make a small reversible tote, with a bottom panel that I can use as a fun purse. My plan was to make two bags sans handle, of the same measurements, then put there wrong sides together, and sew the top.



This is completely fly by the seat of my pants, and it seems to be working. I labored over how to sew the bottom panel in last night, and after an hour we had this:








I love the sewing. It has such a different process that knitting, but is still as just as intensely process oriented. In sewing it seems to be in the prep, the geometry, the pressing, the pinning, the cutting. The actual time using the machine has comprised a surprisingly small amount of my sewing time--its mostly prep.



Did you know Chinatown is colorful and vibrant on a dark morning at 6am? Please forgive crappy ISO...it was early...



PS. Dearest Swallotwail, I have not forgotten or forsaken you. I have come to the conclusion that lace knitting might not be my favorite kind of knitting. Perhaps I will like knitting lace in a chunkier sock type weight. I will finish you, I will. --rosa

The Fog Repeller

As mentioned I was working on Jared Flood's Turn a Square pattern, very generously posted as a free download on Ravelry. Before downloading, beware...very satisfying and addicting pattern.



The Fog Repeller
Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease (grey) and Noro Silk Garden color 84
Needles: 4.5mm bamboo dpns



Let me tell you, this is just a lovely little knit. Its simplicity is gorgeous and makes the raglan style decreased stand out as the main attraction. The raglan style decreases make the stripes on the crown square, which I love the look of. Pictured below before blocking, the raglan decreases are a bit puffy/stiff. The hat is going to block tonight, hopefully! I have read much about raglan, but this was my first try. I have to say, its fun, easy, and almost makes me want to start a some sort of knitted leviathan/simple raglan top down sweater (we all have different definitions of intimidation!)




Some close ups of the yarn. I am not a huge Noro fan in FOs, and this was my first time working with it in a project. I have to say I loved it! Its incredibly soft, and the colors are subtle, and beautiful. I think the colors are extra gorgeous isolated into the grey. The grey makes them look extra spectacular, and takes the edge off the sometimes overwhelming effect of all-Noro FOs.



I really enjoyed this pattern. It is perfect Olympic knitting, as it does not require much fussing, and the decreases are intuitive. I made only one mod, and knitted them on dpns not circs, owing to only having long circs and a strong aversion to magic loop.


This is an instant gratification project, it only took a couple hours to complete. This is coming from a super slow knitter. I consider myself a bit of a knitting manatee or sea turtle, while Kristina is an agile, speedy dolphin or swordfish... or something fast and sea dwelling.


This knit was so fast and fun (and I had left over yarn) that I promptly cast on and finished a second one for a friend's birthday. And then I cast on another one (more leftover yarn!) for a third friend...its an addicting pattern!



Picture of the day of China Beach, Sea Cliff, Baker Beach, and in the very back, the Presidio. It looks so summery! In sad news, my 6:12am wake up is getting darker by the day, and thus harder to drag out of bed.

Happy Friday!

Current WIP: Brooklyn Tweed's Turn A Square Hat. I cast on yesterday afternoon and expect to cast off tonight, its a quick knit.

This is my first project involving Noro. I have to admit, I have been a bit skeptical of Noro, despite its massive fan club. I love the idea of a natural, not overly processed silk, but have never fallen in love with a Noro FO. I decided to give it a try for this hat, knowing that the grey would need the wonderful Noro colors to bring it to life. This is Noro Silk Garden color 84, ordered from Webs.

There is a bit more pink in it than I would have liked, since its for my bf, but its easy to exclude the pink given the striping pattern. I do have a bunch of pink scraps now...perhaps destined for a smaller turn a square for my sister this winter.


The grey yarn is some ball band-less lion brand wool ease from my stash. It has been at the bottom of my oldest stash tote for as long as I can remember. This project is a great stash buster, even though I bought the noro for this project, I am using stash wool ease!

Seen below, my birthday stitch markers hand crafted by Kristina in action:





In non-knitting related events, I loved the Chihuly exhibit so much that I revisited today. Below is one of the outdoor pieces, seen below in Golden Gate Park from the tower of the de Young museum. It lights up at night and is amazing.

And a forest inspired indoor piece (I never thought I would be one of those people who takes pictures in museums, but I wanted to share!) It doesn't do the piece justice, but you get the idea.


Some yummy treats I made Wednesday night...
and the parting weekend shot of Dave, the Mountain Dog: