craftoholic

Summer happenings

2010-08-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

Summer just started in SF. July and August had been unusually foggy and chilly, so I ended up spending more time indoors working on projects. Sorting through my fabric storage I came across a few yards of Kona cotton in bright greens and blues, destined for a quilt I was no longer interested in making. But the longer I looked at it I realized that one of my best friends, who also happens to be my cousin thrice removed, loves these colors. Though we live thousands of miles apart we are very close and I decided to make a quilt for her, big enough to cuddle under on the sofa, or take outside for a picnic. Using five colors total, I paired each dark or cobalt blue triangle with a green, jade, or light blue one and put them together randomly. Unfortunately I discovered the awesome half-square-triangle (or hst in quilter's lingo) technique after I was done cutting my squares into triangles. I read somewhere that triangles aren't maybe the best project for a novice quilter because the bias edges can stretch, and yes, my resulting squares don't all line up perfectly. But she won't care, and I, despite my perfectionist tendencies, don't really either, and love how the quilt turned out, crooked squares and all. For the back I used what was left of the green and jade Kona cotton, divided by a band of blue. I machine-quilted it with turquoise cotton thread and diagonal lines, and applied the binding using this awesome technique by turning*turning. Voilà!

It felt good to use supplies I already had that were perfect. I started the quilt in July and completed it just last week.
Back in July I also won this beautiful owl softie in a give-away hosted by Emma, creator of the wonderful blog the marion house book.

I recently cleared out a lot of style blogs from my reader, because I got tired of looking just at stuff. The marion house book though has a wonderful mix of interior design (love the hello! neighbor house tours), recipes, art, and diy projects, and every post is inspiring. The beautiful owl is one of a kind made by artist Becky Lane, you can see and read more about her work at i beast you.

Gina asked after my last post what ever happened to the Aaren dress I was knitting last year. Hmm. So this is what happened: I knit both the front and back up to where I needed to decide on the neckline (didn't feel like the crew neck, didn't want a turtle neck either) and then totally lost steam. I know it wouldn't take that long to finish it, but at this point I'm not even sure if I still want to make and wear a knit dress, even though the pattern is so pretty. So I plan to wait until it gets cold again to get in the mood for cozy knits and revisit the dress. Finish or frog, that'll be the question.

Catching up and starting again

2010-07-02T17:53:00.000-07:00

Well, hello, I missed this spot! It's summer, and though I'm not taking classes two very awesome internships are keeping me busy. One more semester to go and I'll have my degree. Unbelievable. I've been able to make time for crafting though, now I just need to get the blog going again. If you're a flickr contact you've probably seen some of the things I've made since I last posted.

First, a pair of Bella's mittens. Practical me didn't quite understand why I needed woolly mittens in a mediterranean climate. But I loved how cozy and comfy they looked, and they knit up very quickly. Perfect for winter beach walks. I used less than two skeins of Plymouth Yarn Galway Worsted, held double, and US 8's.

A new favorite, the Cousteau hat, knit with two skeins of Louisa Harding's Kashmir Baby in a rich dark navy. It's super soft and not itchy at all on my wool sensitive head.

I made a necklace with Thai silver beads I've had for ages and dark gray embroidery floss, which I crocheted with a tiny hook.

And a small bag, perfect for carrying essentials when going out for breakfast Sunday mornings. I pieced this together from leftover fabric used for my messenger bag, but used the reverse side, which has more texture.

I also made a shirt with all the trimmings (cuffs, collar, button band, still need pictures) and joined a quilting bee with some very talented ladies. A quilt for a dear friend is currently in the works. More to come soon!

And I think it's gonna be a long long time...

2009-09-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

until I'll be able to wear this, at the snail's pace I'm knitting. But I'm just happy to knit, for ten minutes here and there. Can't wait for winter break!

The yarn I'm using is Valley Yarns Northampton. It's very similar to Cascade 220, but I think it's softer and cheaper. It's a bit fuzzy and the cables don't pop so much, which I was convinced I didn't want anyway (the photo makes it look more contrasty than it really is). I wanted them to be more subtle. But I keep thinking about it.

Squeezing in a few projects

2009-08-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

I miss coming here, but school is keeping me busy and I was silly enough to enroll for summer as well, so there has been little time to craft. But I'm not quite ready to give up the blog, so it'll probably straggle along until I graduate. I managed to squeeze in some knitting a few months ago. There have been many lovely textured shawls on ravelry and the gorgeous skein of Malabrigo sock yarn I got for my birthday didn't want to be socks. It's more of a kerchief than a shawl, but that works; it's lightweight and soft and great for when it's just a bit chilly.

Pattern: textured shawl recipe by orlane, available here
Yarn: 1 skein of Malabrigo sock yarn in eggplant
Needles: US 5
Mods: The number of rows had to be adjusted due to the smaller gauge: I knit 4x 26 rows alternating stockinette and textured pattern, 22 rows of stockinette, 6 rows of textured, ending with 19 rows of garter st.

Right now I'm working on a sewn bag, all that's left is the zipper and the lining.

I should be cataloging

2009-03-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

But I'd rather be blogging. So this will be just a quick post, and then it's back to homework.
What do you do with knits you don't have much use for? I admit to being rather reckless when it comes to things that have outlived their purpose or aren't quite right. They're either frogged, given to someone who will love them more than I do, or passed on to Goodwill. That is how this blanket came to be:

It once was this:

Was that a gasp I heard?
My Flicca was lovely, but except for the photoshoot and one other time I never wore it. It was just a bit too heavy and cumbersome and sat neatly folded in my sweater drawer for a good year or so. Between two humans and a cat, we had only one wool blanket in the house (so you can guess who got to use that blanket) and another was desperately needed. Frogging went rather quickly without any pangs of regret, and in about a month I had a big almost 6'x5' garter stitch blanket with a scalloped crochet border. I've used it a lot and feel so happy every time I do.
Lesson learned: People use yarn with acrylic for a reason: it's lighter than 100% wool. I'll remember that next time I feel like knitting a coat again.

Sanity Beret

2009-01-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

I was afraid blogger wouldn't let me log in after not having posted for so long but it still works, yay! Where have I been? Alive and kicking but really busy. I started grad school last fall and took a full course load on top of working 40 hours a week. There was no time for anything not school related, no knitting, no blogging, no watching movies, no socializing. I got home from work and hit the books. I woke up on the weekends and started to study right after breakfast. It was hard but it was also fun and I kept surprising myself by pushing the boundaries of what I thought I can do further and further. There was however one point right after midterms where I needed to knit something so my mind could relax a little and my senses enjoy something other than a plastic keyboard. It needed to be quick and useful so I picked the cabled beret from Debbie Bliss new magazine and soft non-itchy wool. It took me just a day to finish it and it is perfect. I've been wearing it a lot since then, but during our annual Bodega Bay outing last weekend it was actually too hot (we've had crazy warm temps in California the last week) to wear.

It was a lovely day, not a cloud in the sky. The seals were having fun bodysurfing the waves, it was amazing to watch. I could stare at the waves rolling in all day long.

Pattern: Cabled Beret from Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine Fall/Winter 2008
Yarn: 2.5 skeins Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran, color 13
Needles: US 5 / 3.75 mm and US 8 / 5.0 mm
Mods: I knit this in the round instead of flat to avoid seaming (to keep the pattern correct I cast on two sts less).
I'm not sure I would use the yarn for a sweater (it was difficult to get the sts even though it may have been me), but it feels very soft without being itchy on my head. After wearing it now for a few months I think it was a great choice for the beret.

More citrus dreaming

2008-07-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned before, I love citrus, especially in the summer time, when my sweet tooth craves something that's also tart and refreshing. I've been favoring cookies over cake/pie lately, so I dug through my recipes binder and found three Martha Stewart Living recipes I've been meaning to try.
First the Lime flowers, which I turned into rounds for lack of a flower cookie cutter.

lime flowers (app 2 dozen)
1. Sift together 2 c all-purpose flour, 1/2 ts baking powder, and 1/4 ts salt in a large bowl, set aside.
2. Put 1 c granulated sugar and 2 TS lime zest in a mixing bowl, mix on medium speed about 1 min. Add 1.5 sticks unsalted softened butter; mix until fluffy, about 2 mins. Mix in 1 ts vanilla extract and 1/4 c fresh lime juice. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.
3. On a lightly floured work surface, halve the dough. Flatten each half into a 10" disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill dough in freezer 30 mins.
4. Preheat oven to 325 dF. Roll out disk on parchment paper to 1/8" thick. Using a 3" cookie cutter, cut shapes from dough. Space on baking sheets 1" apart. Repeat with other disk.
5. Bake until set, about 16 mins. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool. Before serving, sift confectioners' sugar over cookies.

Omitted: I didn't sift confectioners' sugar over the finished cookies. I like sweets, but I don't like them too sweet.

Next time: I loved these cookies, however, sometimes I could taste the vanilla extract and it just didn't seem to go. I'll omit the vanilla extract when I make these again.

Next up, Lemon Poppyseed cookies. I omitted the last step of adding more poppyseeds on top. Like the lime flowers, they are buttery and have the perfect texture just between soft and crunchy.

lemon poppy-seed cookies (app.30)
1. Preheat oven to 375 dF. Bring 1/4 c fresh lemon juice to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook until reduced by half. Add 1 stick butter, stir until melted.
2. Whisk together 2 c all-purpose flour, 1 ts baking powder and 1/2 ts salt. Cream 1 stick butter and 1c sugar on medium speed. Mix in 1 large egg and lemon butter, mix until pale, about 3 min. Mix in 2 ts pure vanilla extract and 2 TS freshly grated lemon zest. Mix in flour mixture and 1 TS poppy seeds.
3. Stir together 1/2 c sugar and 1.5 ts lemon zest. Roll spoonfuls of dough into 1.25" balls; roll them in sugar mixture. Place 2" apart on baking sheets. Press each with the flat end of a glass dipped in sugar mixture until 1.25" thick. Sprinkle with poppyseeds.
4. Bake until just browned around bottom edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks; let cool completely.

Omitted: Rolling the dough balls in the sugar mixture. I thought there was already so much sugar in these cookies, more would have been overkill.

Next time: BF thought they were perfect, I found them a tad too sweet. Compared to the other two recipes, there is an extra half cup of sugar in these cookies. I'll use one cup of sugar when I make these again.

Last, and definitely my favorite, are the Lime Cornmeal Glazed cookies. I was very curious about using cornmeal in cookies, I haven't really tasted it in anything else besides cornbread. The cookies are a bit fragile (they crumble easily) but they taste amazing and are well worth the work. I often forgo glazes (too sugary), but this glaze (with bits of lime and orange rind) is so good, I even ate the leftover glaze by the spoonful.

get the recipe here: Lime Cornmeal Glazed Cookies

Omitted/Substituted: I used whole wheat flour instead of regular. It was a great choice and went incredibly well with the lime. Sometimes Martha's recipes use too much zest for my taste, here I used 2 ts of zest instead of the 4 ts suggested.

Next time: I'll omit the almond extract. Like the vanilla extract in the lime flowers, it adds an somewhat odd aftertaste I can make out now and then. I think these fab cookies will be better without.

Last thoughts: Yummy cookies, all of them. They had in common an incredibly sticky dough, but rolling it out between two sheets of plastic wrap made handling it much easier.

c = cup
ts = teaspoon
TS = tablespoon
dF = degree Fahrenheit

Bear Love

2008-07-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

I'm not much of a toy knitter. It's not that I don't like knitting toys, but that the toys never make it to their intended recipients. Blame for this solely rests on bf, who, after watching limbs and heads and ears emerge from my needles, gets, ahem, somewhat attached and looks at me in wide-eyed terror when I try to tell him that they are supposed to be gifted....(haha, he hasn't been checking out my blog in a while, so let's just hope he's not reading this post ;-)
But, I love bears, polar bears especially and when I first saw Ysolda's Otto, I knew I had to make one for myself. I had a few balls of leftover yarn, and born was Bina

and since I still had yarn leftover, she got a younger, slightly larger brother, Rudi

they are so adorable

Pattern: Otto by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: 3 skeins total Louisa Harding Grace, Otto also has some Kidsilk Haze in his head and body until I ran out
Needles: US 3
Mods: I made the bear snout a little shorter by omitting the knit rounds at the end (I only knit the decreasing rounds). Also, I took me forever to figure out the disappearing loop cast-on. I think I’m still not doing it correctly, but fudging it worked.

Summer Roadtrippin'

2008-07-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

Well, actually I've been back for a week, but as always after some time spent in nature, it's taking me a while to get back into the city living groove.
BF and I spent two weeks visiting places that have been on my dreamlist for a long time. We flew into Salt Lake City, drove up to Grand Teton National Park, spent a week at Yellowstone National Park, headed through Montana to Glacier NP, traversed Idaho to check out Craters of the Moon National Monument, then finished the loop by skirting the Bonneville Saltflats in Utah to SLC. What an amazing trip! My hopes of spotting some wildlife no matter how far away were rewarded by fairly close but respectful encounters with lots of the local fauna.
I love love love geothermal areas, and Yellowstone is a great place to experience lots of different features, here's just one of many colorful hot pools

We were lucky to not only see Old Faithful erupt a few times, but to experience some other geysers who erupt less frequently

Buffalo often wandered into the campground

my favorite, Glacier national Park

where we saw these guys, two adolescent grizzlies

lots of moose

we meet this mountain goat on hike

I loved the eerie lava landscape at Craters of the Moon in Idaho, but man was it hot!

It was wonderful to spend two weeks without many creature comforts, just living simply, and in the moment. My senses heightened, I became able to spot animals at a distance that would have been a blur before, and smell and hear better (unfortunately I'm hoping to lose some of that sense of smell, the first few days in the city made me almost nauseous, what with all the paint fumes and exhaust hovering in downtown).

Some of my favorite experiences on this trip:
- watching a grizzly and her cub being stalked by a coyote at dawn
- huckleberry ice cream
- friendly Canadian border officers letting us into Canada for a few hours despite our lack of appropriate ID
- meeting a group of Hutterite people at Waterton Lakes Park I spoke German with
- hearty breakfasts at family diners in small towns
- dipping hot feet in glacial lakes after long hikes
- BIG skies
- seeing a baby moose on our last day at Glacier
- cooling off in icy lava caves after hiking in 94 degrees through black lava

I'm already dreaming about the next roadtrip...maybe drive from Canada to Alaska on the Alcan, maybe revisit the Southwest....
What have your most memorable roadtrips been?

Jonna

2008-05-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

I've been on a minimalist trip for a while. My favorite colors right now are white, grey and blue. Simple shapes. No patterns, no frills or details. So I surprised myself when I felt the desire to knit the Jonna scarf from Berroco's Norah Gaughan Volume 1. Was I really going to wear are scarf with, ugh, bobbles dangling from the edges??? Well, yes indeed. I had a few skeins of yarn in my stash in a beautiful steel blue color, which would help tone down those frivolous bobbles just a bit. Paired with dark jeans, a white top (my favourite uniform) and a vintage coat, the bobbles add some spark to an otherwise unassuming outfit.

pattern: Jonna, from berroco Norah Gaughan Volume 1
yarn: Poshyarn sock yarn held double
needles: US 8 circs
mods: I knit the bobbles in the round on dpn's instead of flat and seaming them up; and I used cotton quilt batting to stuff the balls instead of polyfill (the name alone sounds itchy and scratchy).

Next on my plate is the lovely Shalom cardi by Meghan. I am pretty excited about this pattern because many months ago I had ripped out a picture of a Paul & Joe cardi with the intent of copying the design. Meghan loved that cardi too and wrote up a pattern for it. How awesome to find something you've wanted to make and then another blogger writes up a pattern and shares it. Thanks Meghan! I'm making this with Rowan Big Wool that was meant for another cardi that never came to be. And I'm thinking of adding sleeves. Sure it's already pretty toasty here in SF, but bulky wool knits up pretty fast, right? Right!

Shedir #2

2008-05-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

Shedir is on its way to hopefully give its recipient some cheer and comfort. Calmer still isn't my favorite yarn (I get confused by its odd stretchiness), but I love how soft it is. I have another skein and may just make a hat for myself, with a different pattern though.
Pattern: Shedir from Knitty
Yarn: 1 skein of Rowan Calmer in peacock
Mods: All knit sts are tbl, for more stretch and definition.

I dream of citrus

2008-04-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

Thank you all so much for your suggestions and well wishes. Shedir and Calmer it was, started the same day and now finished. I will have pics soon.
Here a picture from my trip, which can be descriped as fun and frosty.

Yes, this picture was taken in APRIL!!! I'm glad I'd packed the long undies. I hadn't seen snow like this in a couple of years, so it was actually quite wonderful to wander through this snowy wonderland.
Back in SF, life took off almost immediately. I'm working again and I got accepted to start grad school this fall. I look back at the past few months with deep gratitude. When I quit work last summer, I'd had all these crafty plans....lots of knits and sewing projects, quilts (plural!) were to be made. In the end, I spend a lot of time doing nothing. Literally, sometimes I would just sit for hours on the sofa, watching my cat sleep. I read a lot, and I baked a lot (and henceforth went to the gym a lot). It was the best thing I've done in a long time, and I feel recharged and happy. The baking frenzy I went through is taking a backseat now, but I wanted to share a few recipes with you that I thought were just fabulous (which is high praise from a picky, fresh-loving country girl). All these recipes contain some kind of citrus, which is just my favorite flavor and scent ever! This recipe from Martha Stewart had been on my list for a long time, Pistachio-Lime Tart.

It takes three days to finish (you have to drain ricotta, make lime curd, and let the tart rest overnight). It's really worth the trouble though, the end result was delicious! The crust is made with pistachios, whose flavor get a little lost in the lime, but tastes awesome when you have a crumb by itself. The lime curd was so good, I could have eaten it just like that (never mind that there are 20 egg yolks in there).
The only adjustment I would make next time would be to substitute drained greek yoghurt for the ricotta. I'm not sure I love the ricotta grainyness, I even pushed it through a sieve once more to get it smooth. It tasted wonderful, however, I was envisioning thie filling to be super smooth, like the curd. I'm going to make this again, just thinking about its tangy goodness is making my mouth water. You can get the recipe here.

Quick Question

2008-04-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

What would be a good yarn for a chemo cap? For a pattern, I was thinking Shedir, or does anyone have a better suggestion? If you are sending good thoughts into the world today, could you please send some to a girl named Sarah, who is 29, a mother and wife, and undergoing treatment for AML (leukemia)? Thank you so much.

Souffle, demystified

2008-03-20T02:17:00.000-07:00

I need to remind myself more often that when I started this blog, I meant it to be a log for all the things I love to do. My creativity needs are constantly in a state of flux. Sometimes, it's all about the knitting, then the sewing, baking, cooking,reading, bookbinding, jewelry making etc,. But I usually just post about my knitting and sewing projects, and when I don't do any of these, you guys think I've fallen of the earth yet again. So, I'm going to post more about the many other things I enjoy doing besides stuff with needles and thread. Since the beginning of the year I've been really into trying new things in the baking department. I bake almost every weekend, mostly recipes I've been making for years already. It was time for something new, something a little challenging. I decided to make a souffle. The first time I've ever had a souffle was at a wonderful restaurant not far from SF called Manka's (which unfortunately burned down a year ago) and I still dream about it. It was savory with little bits of fresh asparagus throughout. Now, If you like to cook and read cooking mags and books, you've probably heard how difficult it is to make a souffle, how a drafty kitchen or opening your oven door can immediatley ruin it, or that it'll probably deflate the second you remove it from the oven before your guests have a chance to see it. I decided not to think about what could go wrong and just go for it. I made it for myself, so if it did turn out badly, it could just go straight to the green bin, no stress involved. I used this recipe from Gourmet magazine.

I opened the oven door twice to check on its progress, because the parchment paper collar was too high to see anything.

After I took it out of the oven, it stayed nice and fluffy for a photostuff until I attacked it with a spoon. It was light and fresh and airy, just perfect. The only change I made was using regular lemons instead of Meyers (to be honest, I'm not a big fan of Meyers...they have a peculiar taste. I prefer the tartness of regular lemons).
Btw, I'm blogging long distance. A week ago I decided spring break would be a fabulous time to go to Europe for cheap, so I'm enjoying Bavaria's cold and snowy capital right now, going to museums, eating, and eating some more. I'll be back in April, then I'll show you the sparkly skirt I made.

The Sophia Carry-All

2008-02-26T10:04:00.000-08:00

Maybe some of you have worked on a project with this tiny gnawing feeling in your tummy that something is not going to work out, and that you really should do it the way YOU think is the right way, but you don't. Then you finish, and you look at it and think: "I wish I had "insert solution here". See, back when I made my Weekender Bag, I also fell for its little companion in this photo. There was no pattern for it yet, and I wasn't feeling the need to just figure it out on my own. A year and a half later, the pattern for the Sophia Carry-All becomes available and I'm super excited. It's the bag! I've got some gorgeous vintage linen in my stash, lining too and I'm hitting JoAnn's to get the interfacing. Here's my first problem. Both JoAnn's and another fabric store I check have Thermolam Plus, but it's not fusible (like the pattern says). The product called fusible fleece is not fleecy at all, it's more like a very thin version of Timtex. I ended up using the non-fusible Thermolam, only to find out later that there are two types of this stuff. 970 is what I'm using, 971F is what I should be using. But the whole time this little thought is gnawing away, saying, you really should be using Timtex (that heavy stuff that makes my Weekender Bag looking so sturdy and neat), because really, I want that crisp bowling-ball bag look from the picture, not the squishy smooshy look of the bag that is staring at me from the pattern envelope. But of course I'm so wrapped up in sewing, I'm not listening. But I wish I had. So here's the bag,

and before you say that it's fine, here's a better picture to illustrate the smoosh:

Not at all what I wanted, and I just have myself to thank for that. I just have to put it away right now, because I'm not in love. Unlike my Messenger Bag, which, despite its lack of cuteness, loves me right back by being so sturdy and useful. Or maybe I just need to get rid of the initial expectation, and accept it for what it is, and not what I wanted it to be (man, I think all those self-help books are finally paying off!)

Pattern: Sophia Carry-All by Amy Butler
Fabric: vintage midweight decorator's linen from my stash. It was a bit smaller than the suggested yardage, but I've found that if you use your own pattern arrangement, you can often get away with getting less yardage. The lining came from some scraps of silk wool. I cut the fabric for the piping on the half bias to save some more fabric, it worked just fine. Sewing this took almost as long as the weekender, the piping on the bottom part is difficult to handle.
Mods: I used a regular zipper instead of a purse zipper (which I couldn't find anywhere and didn't feel like ordering.

Let the sun shine on me

2008-02-13T09:40:00.000-08:00

In the past few weeks, life has thrown me some of the bad, the ugly and the just plain weird, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and mine is slowly getting brighter by the day. Yesterday was my birthday, and though I'm usually a bit mum about it, I decided to fully enjoy myself, with all the bells and whistles. I haven't done much crafting lately, but there are still a couple of things that got done a while ago, but haven't been blogged about yet. First off my sunhat:
I don't even remember anymore when I actually finished this (a year ago?more?). But it was even longer from conception to completion. It all started out with Vogue pattern 7600, version A. Looks simple enough. But the crown part of the hat ended up having this ridiculous shape, sort of like a shortened bishops hat maybe. I couldn't figure out how to fix the existing pattern piece, and designing a new crown seemed to be a little over my not so math loving head. Enter my best crafting buddy yaiAnn and her wonderful mom. As we were fidgeting around with elongated triangular shapes after realizing that six individual sections (sort of like a beach ball) would make a better fit, y's mom donated one of her gardening hats for us to take apart. After making individual adjustments, each of us managed to get a perfect fitting and nicely looking crown for our noggins. I truly love this hat. Its wide brim, which is lowered in the back, is perfect for keeping my face and shoulders from getting sunburned and for making me feel like a Bloomsbury Lady and Paddington Bear at the same time. It's perfect for travelling, you can just smoosh it into a bag, and remold it into desired shape when you put it on.

Pattern: The brim from Vogue 7600, the crown from 6 individual segments.
Fabric: Plain medium weight cotton from my stash, interfaced brim, crown is lined with lightweight cotton.

On the knitting front, I just got the new Rowan Studio 8 booklet. There are some beautiful designs, my favorites being the textured cardigan, long waistcoat, flared jacket and double yoke jacket. Just until a few days ago it was still very cold here, and despite the welcome warmth and sunshine I still feel like knitting warm stuff.

Also, I wanted to thank the wonderful crafters queenofthefroggers, yaiAnn, a Mingled Yarn, knits, notes, etc., poshyarns and Nonnahs who have given me a "you made my day award". Thank you so much for enjoying my blog and putting up with my irregular posting. I'm not good with the mushy stuff, but I also wanted to say thank you to all my readers, you all make my day and inspire me. I will pass this award on, but if I tried today this post would never get posted. Next time :-)

Retro Redux Shrug

2008-01-13T17:37:00.000-08:00

Mmmmmmmalabrigo. Not much needs to be said. If you haven't treated yourself to a skein or two or ten of this stuff, you really should. This shrug is supersoft and perfect over a tank top for a San Francisco summer.

Pattern: Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style, Interweave Press
Size: Second (42")
Yarn: Two skeins of Malabrigo worsted in Polar Morn
Needles: US 8, 9, 10, 10.5
Mods: I lengthened the shrug so the ribbing of the sleeves would start/end below my elbow.

Herringbone Handwarmers

2008-01-07T11:40:00.000-08:00

The little garageside office I'm currently blogging from is freezing most of the time. I needed something to keep my hands toasty, but not obstruct finger movement, so I converted Elliphantom's cute herringbone mitts pattern into simple handwarmers.

Pattern: Herringbone mitts by elliphantom, available free on her blog
Yarn: 2 skeins of Koigu, in lilac and brown (lost the tags). I used a bit more than half a skein of the brown, and a third of a skein lilac.
Needles: US 1 dpn's
Mods: I converted the pattern from mittens to fingerless gloves, and cast on 66 sts to make up for the smaller gauge (I added 16 sts to the pattern, which is two of the herringbone repeats).

My crafty goals for the new year are to get better at sewing. I'm pretty happy with the accessories I've made this year, but garments still make me freeze up with fear. The problem is that I have high expectations of craftsmanship, and my enthusiasm starts to crumble as soon as the pieces don't quite match up. So, first, I'm gonna lighten up, because I'm not planning to become a dressmaker at the house of Chanel, and second, I'm gonna learn as much as I can and start off with a (hopefully) easy project. Also, I'd like to use up all the odd balls of yarn I have. Some are leftovers from projects, others just single skeins to 'try out' the yarn, so there will be more hoppelpoppel projects. Once I've got 50% used up, I'll get to reward myself with yarn for a planned project. That should be motivation enough ;-)

High Street Messenger Bag (the craftoholic edition)

2008-01-02T23:36:00.000-08:00

What happened?? Wasn't it just the middle of December a few days ago? Well, happy New Year then, I hope you all survived the holidays as well as I did. There was lots of crafting, albeit little blogging, but I'll make it up to you. I've got quite a few fo's to show you, but it's gonna be bit by bit.
On my last trip to Europe I realized that I needed a new purse/bag, one that could hold my camera, maybe a laptop, and all the other stuff I like to drag around, and still have enough room for me to squish in an extra jacket or sweater. Regular purse and tote doesn't work when you're transiting Heathrow, trying to shove the former into the latter because you're allowed only one thing to take onto the plane. Which I'm not really complaining about, it's much easier now getting on and off the plane without everyone wrestling loads of plastic and shopping bags.
I didn't feel up to creating my own pattern, so I used this one by Amy Butler, adding lots of mods to turn it into the bag I need and actually use.
Here's the action shot, taken on a hike around Bodega Bay:

here you can sort of see the inside:

the back:

and one more, just so:

Pattern: parts of High Street Messenger Bag by Amy Butler, plus my own
Fabric: Denim for the exterior, heavy cotton twill for the lining
Changes:
I made the bag twice as wide, it now measures 6" instead of 3".
I eliminated the pocket on the inside flap (I didn't think I'd really use it, besides, it seemed awkward to access), instead, I put a pocket on the outside flap.
Instead of making an exposed the zipper on the outside back of the bag, I opted for a lapped one.
I changed the tool pocket in the inside to my specs (special compartments for lipbalm, phone and iPod) and attached it to the body side (not the opposite side as the pattern states). I also added an adjustable water bottle holder.
Didn't use canvas as an interlining, as my fabric for the bag and lining is already heavy enough. I just ironed medium interfacing onto some parts I wanted to have a little more structure (front and back main panel, outside pockets).
It made no sense to me to have a messenger bag with a strap you can't adjust (if I do ride a bike with this bag, I want it snug against my back!), so I used the hardware from an old bag to make an adjustable strap.
I'm really happy with how this bag turned out, I'm using it all the time.

My Jana tunic (from Rowan Studio 3), hasn't been going quite as well. I've reknit it now for the second time, and I'm still not happy. It just seems so....big. It'll hibernate for a little until I can look at it with semi fresh eyes.

Hoppelpoppel Socks

2007-12-14T16:35:00.000-08:00

As leftovers of sockyarn were piling up, I figured I'd have enough to make a whole new pair of socks for bf out of them. They are rather ugly; yet at the same time, I love them for what they are, something useful made from leftovers, like a scrap quilt, or a rag rug. Bf loves them too, the crazier the better, he says.

Pattern: Basic top down 2x2 rib
Needles: US 2
Yarn: mostly Lana Grossa Meilenweit leftovers

soon: sewing fo's.
btw: hoppelpoppel is a dish made from leftovers...so it can be pretty much anything.

Deep-V Sweater

2007-11-25T17:21:00.000-08:00

When I first flipped through Erica Knight's Classic Knits I was more impressed by the beautiful styling and photos than the actual projects, they seemed almost too simple. But over the next few months I kept coming back to that book and started to fall in love with the projects in it, especially the Deep-V sweater. I've had a bag of Debbie Bliss' Cathay in my stash, which is the suggested yarn. All that stockinette didn't put me off, I wanted some mindless knitting for a change. Well, that pattern turned out be an absolute joy to knit. Cathay, despite being a bit splitty at first try, is wonderfully soft; it reminded me of melting vanilla ice cream. After a nice steam, any uneven knitting transformed into an even, drapey fabric.

and check out the lovely decreases:

Pattern: Deep-V Sweater, from Classic Knits by Erica Knight, second size
Yarn: 11 balls of Debbie Bliss Cathay
Needles: US 5 (3.75mm)
Mods: I used a tubular cast-on and knit in the round instead of separate pieces. If I were to knit this sweater again however, I'd knit it in pieces and seam it up (yes, me, the I-wanna-turning-everything into-seamless knitter). Why? Because you end up weaving in lose ends within the knitted fabric, and no matter how careful I was, you can see a slight indentation on the other side. When you have such a smooth fabric, seams provide a place to weave in your ends and keep the rest of the fabric looking perfect. Lesson learned. Sometimes, seams are good (argh).
The only thing I would change is to make the sweater a size bigger. It fits great, it's just that when I started, I wanted something more fitted, something I could wear to the office and look professional. Now that I'm freelancing from home, I crave the casual lounge-around look that enticed me to the sweater in the first place. I guess I could always frog it....;-) Yeah, no way!
I see more Classic knits projects in my future, the kelly cardi and maybe the slouchy socks, but right now, there is more stockinette going on, and a little bit of cabling. I'm making the Jana Tunic from Rowan Studio 3. There are no sleeves so this should be a quick knit.

I've added some more details of my mods to Flicca, you can find them here.

Peaches on my head

2007-11-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

One of my cousins still has every little piece of craft from her childhood. This is a good thing for me, because between being slightly o/c about getting rid of stuff, having moved a lot and having a bad memory in general, trips back in time to my childhood tend to yield murky pictures. On my recent visit to Germany my brain got a refresher when she brought out a box filled with stuff from our childhood. As kids we loved clubs, and in our years playing together must have formed a dozen or so, all either about animals or TV shows or even hats. Yes, hats. Berets, to be more exact. I had a black one, my cousin's was red, and we were the club of the Basques ( in German, a beret is called a Baskenmuetze). Looking at our manifesto and handdrawn passports, this club seemed to have been a spy club (don't remember who we were spying on), and my code name was Britta (which was my favourite name at the time, stemming I believe from some kid's book about a girl named Britta and her pony, Silver. Oh, the memories, they're coming back..)
So, this is a pretty long intro to be telling you that I still love berets and have been excited about so many of them popping up in blogland. But hey, I usually don't tell you much, so here you go. This is the second Kim Hargreaves kit I made, Peaches, from her 'Summer Breeze' collection. Described as a "slouchy crochet beret" it was anything but on my first attempt, though I can't really fault Kim for that. Everyone's head is a different size, and mine must be huge, since the first version of the beret perched on top like a deflated muffin. Easy to fix, I just ripped back to the increase rows, added two more of those, one more regular and one more decrease row. I'm still not sure if it's ok the way it is, I may wash it and stretch it a little, to get it more relaxed and not so flowery looking.

Pattern: Peaches kit, from Kim Hargreaves' Summer Breeze collection.
Yarn: 2 skeins of Rowan handknit cotton in 'thunder'.
Mods: Added more rows to make the beret bigger.

Monkeys on my feet

2007-10-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

In more than one way. I've been back from Europe for awhile, but the travelling hasn't stopped. I've been spending my days hiking around Northern California and just a few days ago bf and I came back from a week-long roadtrip to Pinnacles NM and the deserts of Southern California. My mind is still boggled by all the wildlife we saw - a bobcat upclose, a fox, bats, wild turkeys, a tarantula, weird bugs and tons of birds I can never identify. I'm having a hard time sitting still, and need to get re-aquainted with yarn, fabric and thread. Checking through my bloglines feed was a little daunting at first, but it really kickstarted my desire to pick up the needles again thanks to all the great projects I've seen there.
Anyway, here is a pair of socks, finished right before the big trip, that I forgot to photograph and blog. What with all the pretty monkeys out there, I needed a pair myself. A skein of squishy soft pureknits sockyarn in a barely there creamy pink was the perfect fit.

Pattern: Monkey socks designed by Cookie A., available at Knitty.
Yarn: 1 skein of Pureknits sockyarn in 'alabaster'.
Needles: US 1 bamboo dpn's.
Mods: I knit these toe up. In order to have the pattern face down as it does in the top-down version, I sliced the pattern repeat through the middle and tucked the left part onto the right side of the right part.

Now I'm just one sleeve away from finishing my Deep V-sweater from Erika Knights "Classic Knits", and I've started a pair of socks for bf with this Aloe & Jojoba sockyarn I've had in my tiny stash for ages. It doesn't feel as extra nice and soft as I thought it would, but maybe it'll feel good on bf's feet. I lost the ball band, but I think it's from either Regia or Lana Grossa.

Somewhere on a distant planet...

2007-08-28T03:48:00.000-07:00

ok, maybe I‘m not quite that far, though I am currently on another continent, and California does feel like it‘s on a different planet. Call it early midlife crisis or the thirst for something new, a few weeks ago I quit my job and went to Germany to visit family and friends. I just got back from the most northern part of the country and will stay in Bavaria until mid September or so. I brought some knitting, but have yet to pick up the needles. Back in SF, a pile of FO‘s is still waiting to be photographed and blogged about, but for the next few weeks, I‘ll remain silent. When I get back, who knows what‘ll happen? Anything is possible, and that thought is incredibly thrilling.
With love from the seaside,
Steph

Flicca

2007-06-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

or, summer in San Francisco

Pattern: Flicca by Anna Bell, available here
Yarn: 15 skeins of Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Chunky in 'Stout'
Needles: US 9
Modifications: I made plenty though not because I didn't like the original pattern or found mistakes. First off, I decided to knit the back and fronts in one piece so I could avoid seaming. The sleeves were knit in the round as well, then attached to the body by knitting the front, sleeve, back, sleeve and front all in one piece (this was definitely not a portable project). I opted to knit a raglan yoke and because I was afraid that the weight of the jacket would have me constantly tugging at it, I attached two buttons to the front bands which were knit a bit wider than the pattern states. In the end, there were just a few ends to weave in (hooray). Oh, and I used size 9 needles by mistake! I had swatched with the suggested 10.5 but when I cast on I grabbed the wrong needles and didn't notice my mistake until I had finished the first tier. In the end it was a lucky mistake because I wouldn't have gotten such a nice fit with the bigger gauge. The pictures may not show it but instead of using regular knit stitches, I used ktbl on the right side and ptbl on the wrong side to get more defined stitches.
I really love it! It's a beautiful design and a very well written pattern. I can't wait for Anna's book to come out!

*mods in detail:

Flicca mods:
Here is a more detailed description of my Flicca mods. I took no notes during knitting, and I've forgotten a few things over the last few months, but it should give you a good enough idea how to adjust the pattern for yourself. I'm not giving any stitch counts as I don't want to interfere with Anna's pattern sales, you'll still have to buy the pattern for details.

A big help in grasping the idea of knitting three tubes onto one needle was the
Vogue Knitting book. Check out page 190, the chapter on 'Circular design with Yoke'. It shows three tubes (two sleeves and one body). You'll have two tubes (the sleeves) and the third tube is open (because it's a cardi, not a sweater).
How I started:
Instead of knitting two separate fronts and a back, I knit everything in one piece, from the bottom up. I made sure to place markers between right front and back and back and left front. Knit to the desired height to cast off for the armholes.
Now knit both sleeves in the round (I first used circs, then dpn's, or magic loop is another possibilty), until ready to cast off for the armholes.

Depending on how many stitches the pattern tells you to cast off for the first arm hole decreases, put the sts form the right front and back and from the left front and back on scrap yarn. Do the same with the sleeve sts.

Pin the sleeves to the body, the holding sts facing each other.
Now start knitting:
Knit right front until you get to the pinned sleeve, knit the sts of the right sleeve onto the same needle (you're omitting sts on holder), then knit back sts, knit sts of left sleeve onto same needle, then sts of left front. Knit one row (WS).
Now you'll have to do a little math. You need to figure out how many sts you have to decrease until the neckedge (use your washed and blocked gauge swatch). In my case I knit a few rounds back and forth, then started the raglan decreases on every RS row until the yoke reached the right height. The decreases on the front edges were started at the same time. I followed the pattern for the collar and frontbands, but I added a few shortrows for a wider collar, making sure to add the same number of extra rows for the frontbands.
Good luck :-)

Down Under Socks

2007-06-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

I don't have too many words this week, but I wanted to show you a pair of socks knitted from the toastiest sock yarn my feet have ever felt.

They are so cozy!

Pattern: Cable Twist Socks from Hello Yarn.
Yarn: Cherries sock yarn from The Knittery, sent to me by the lovely Jaqueline
Needles: US 1 bamboo
I loved knitting these, the yarn is so soft and the pattern was easy to remember, though I did get a case of pattern envy after seeing isel's pomatomus socks knit in the same yarn and color. They are gorgeous!
Soon I'll have a finished Flicca to show you, all that's left to do is the collar and frontbands (and I'll be adding buttons!).

Let me eat cake!

2007-05-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

Thank you all so much for your comments and emails, I'm still working on returning them!
In order to not spend too much time knitting, I've spent more time baking. I've always loved baking because it lets me create something from scratch in a relatively short amount of time which others get to enjoy as well (I am a bit selfish when it comes to sharing other crafty output, bf socks excluded). I tend to stick to my favorite cakes from my childhood, but with all the wonderful recipes available on the internet, I've been trying to expand the repetoire (and hopefully not the waistline, tehee. How I love a bad pun.). Here are some old stand-by's, and a new recipe that's so good, I've made it twice already:

hmm, rhubarb crumble cake from my favourite food blog, delicious days. I love Nicky and Oliver's blog so much, they always post recipes I've been craving (lots of them good old Bavarian fare) and can never seem to find. It's getting a bit strange actually, I'll be intently thinking about something and visit their blog and they'll have posted about it! If you think German food is all about heavy, stomach cramps inducing dishes, you should go and take a look through their archive, if just for the amazing photography! Anyway, this recipe is just perfect. Tart, moist rhubarb and sweet crumbles are a match made in heaven. It's become bf's favorite. You can find it here.
Next, my grammy's sunken apple cake, or in German "versunkener Apfelkuchen", because the apples sink into the dough as it bakes. This is a very easy recipe that requires the apples to be coated in lemon juice. The result is a very light and fresh tasting cake that I can't get enough of.

The grooves are made by running a fork down the back of the quartered apples. It looks pretty and soaks up the lemon juice well.
When I get the craving for a little bit of chocolate, I make this recipe from an old roommate's cooking light cookbook (which I'd lost, then found again on their website). Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread:

Don't let that picture fool you, I usually mix the cocoa powder in the whole dough, so that there's chocolatey goodness everywhere, instead of it looking 'marbled'. What I love about this recipe is that it uses just half a stick of butter instead of oil. Most 'breads' you get in stores or coffee shops are too greasy for my taste, this version is not greasy at all, and may seem a bit dry to some palates. Just add a little bit of milk to the dough, or get a big cup of coffee or tea with your slice. I've made a few changes to their recipe: Instead of egg substitute, I use one real egg, instead of chocolate chips I use organic cocoa powder, plus a bit of milk to keep the dough moist enough. I mix my dough really well instead of "just combining it", because I don't like to bite down on bits and pieces of banana.
Ok, now back to knitting..or maybe I should go the gym...

Look who's back!

2007-05-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's mid May, I can't believe how fast time went by. I had to take a break from crafting and blogging for awhile as I was sick through most of March and then had to recover from some whiplash I got in a small car accident. It all turned out to be a blessing in disguise though; at the beginning of the year I had felt a bit uninspired and uncreative, butI'm now pretty excited again about knitting and sewing, and rested enough to have the energy for it. To ease my body gently back into slouch position, I've finished a pair of socks in the loveliest yarn:

Sundara Yarn sock yarn in 'charcoal over rose'. The colors are so beautiful, and I wanted a simple but interesting pattern to show it off.

Specs:
Yarn: Sundara Yarn sock yarn in 'charcoal over rose'
Pattern: Snicket Socks from MagKnits
Needles: Us 1
Mods: I used the short row heel I always knit, instead of the one in the pattern. I also knit these socks a little shorter than all my other socks, as they will stretch out a bit over time from washing and wearing.

I'll have another pair of socks to show you very soon!
During the last few months my computer time has been limited as well, so I would like to apologize to everyone who has commented or asked me for a pattern or anything else without getting a response. Since it's not possible for me right now to wade through all the past emails, if there's anything you still need answered, please email me and I will get back to you as promptly as possible.
It's good to be back :-)

Not so Deep V Argyle Vest

2007-01-29T09:25:00.000-08:00

Mental blocks are a curious thing. Why can I breeze through a pattern in a matter of weeks only to be waylaid for a month by something so simple as picking up stitches for the armbands and sewing down the neckband ends? The very thought sent shivers down my spine. A couple of weeks ago I had enough, sat down to my Eighties! playlist in i-tunes and finished that baby. Nothing like a good dose of Morrissey to get the hands moving.

Pattern: Deep V Argyle Vest by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas melange, 4 skeins of pesto and 3 skeins of relish (though I prefer to call those colors olive and green)
Needles: US 4
Mods: Plenty. I knit a big gauge swatch in the round, it made all the difference. My row gauge was off, instead of getting Eunny's 7.5 rows, I got 6 rows. Having to knit less rows is great, though I had to do a fair amount of adjustments to get a perfect fit. I divided the chart into three areas (beginning to waist, waist to bust, bust to end) and converted the actual number of pattern rows in each area to my gauge. I also wanted a little less plunge on my vest and moved the start of the neckband further up, and used tubular cast-on for better looks and more stretch. I'm very happy with my changes, my vest fits perfectly. It wasn't all beer and roses though. The steeking was easy, yet I didn't really trust the whole idea and ended up running a few seams with my sewing my machine along each crocheted edge, just to be safe. Blue Sky Alpaca is supposed to felt well (at least the scarf I saw at my lys made of BSA sportweight felted really well), but melange seemed a little slippery. It's beautiful yarn though, so soft, and really made me look forward to knitting.
Opinion: This is a great pattern, especially if you're new to fair-isle. Make sure you pick the right yarn and take the time to swatch and adjust the pattern to your stitch and row gauge. I put my vest on scrap yarn and tried it on multiple times to make sure it was ok. BSA is usually not within my budget, and I didn't want to mess it up. I love the warmth of the vest, worn with a thin silk blouse underneath it's perfect for SF climate.
The next couple of weeks will be devoted to my secret knit, but after that, I'll be working on the lovely Flicca coat by Anna. I've also been itching to sew again, thinking about quilt patterns.

Where did you get that yarn??

2007-01-16T09:44:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of quick notes on the last post: The Malabrigo (hmmm-ahhh) is called pink frost, number 17. I got it at my LYS, but you can probably find it somewhere on the internet. The Yarntini sock yarn can be purchased
here. It sells out super fast so you may want to get on the mailing list.
Stay tuned for more socks, a polar bear and a 2006 review. Oh, and a vest. Soon :-)

Knits for others

2007-01-10T16:53:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had lovely holidays! Mine were relaxing and definitely not long enough. I made a few presents, socks for my boyfriend which you'll see in another post (of course they're in Lana Grossa, what else?), jewelry and cards. I forgot to take a picture of the cards, but here are the two gift knits I managed to do:

A pair of 2x2 rib socks in the lovely 'vintage' colorway from Yarntini, knit on US 2's. The tablecloth my feet are resting on inspired this colorway, I wanted something cute and stripey, but lacked the energy to take up dyeing as yet another hobby. But there are fabulous people on the internet who help make your ideas come true, and soon enough I had a skein of sockyarn in my hands that I didn't want to unwind, it was so pretty. Initially I meant to make socks for myself, but a sweet girl at work was going through some rough times, and since she had admired the colors when I was knitting during lunch, I decided to gift them to her. Good thing she has the same shoe size.
I also made a simple garter stitch scarf for my niece with one skein of Malabrigo.

My hands start to twitch whenever I think of its softness. I definitely see a Malabrigo sweater or cardi in my future. Maybe a Malabrigo blanket, or wait, even better, a sleeping bag...or a head to toe body suit! Ahhhh, soooft.

The sweetest words

2006-12-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

A girl could her from her squeeze:
"Will you teach me how to knit (omg, is he really asking me to teach him to knit, that is so awesome, I never thought he would ask!!) a pair of socks (what??? Oh no. Not socks, way to complicated, lets see if I can divert)
"That's great, but how about we start you on a scarf first?"
"No, I want to make a pair of socks for you"
Aaahhhh. So sweet. How can I squash his ambitions now? And why not socks, he's good at figuring stuff out quickly. So what will bf find under the ficus on Christmas Eve? His very own yarn! I haven't quite figured out what to pick, though trust me, it'll be aran weight or bigger. Any suggestions?
I've been busy with knitting. Bf's Christmas socks are finished and I started his birthday pair. The argyle vest is still waiting for its collar and armbands. After having breezed through the pattern, I'm experiencing a strange stiffling fear about these last few things that need to be done. Here's a picture how the vest looked a few weeks ago.

Lovely Blue Sky Alpaca melange, you make me swoon! And then more swooning over this.
I already starting swatching for this lovely coat, with Rowan Yorkshire Tweed Chunky, but I'm having a hard time getting the regular k1p1 ribbing to look neat and even. I've tried to k1tbl, p1 on one row and p1tbl,k1 on the next, and that gets me better results. Are there any other tricks I could try?

Buttercup, at last.

2006-12-11T11:21:00.000-08:00

I blame winter time. Plus bf has got all kinds of funny shifts at work, so it's hard to get some pictures taken. I had also run into serious finishing issues, but more on that later.
With buttons closed:

Sideview:

Buttons open:

Pattern: Buttercup by Kim Hargreaves, available from her website as a kit.
Yarn: 5 balls of Rowan Cotton 4ply in Ripple, knit with US 2 and US 1 needles.
Mods: Plenty.
This knit was an exercise in emotional detachement. So much went wrong, I won't bore you with the details, but I'll share a few things. Cotton lace patterns are stretchy! I'm glad I realized that early on, frogged, and cast on for the small size. The explanations for how to keep the lace pattern intact while doing armhole decreases are non-existent. I tried many times and resorted to sending Kim an email. Her mom replied the very next day (nice) with an explanation that was about 75% helpful. Once I got the gist of it, I was able to figure out the rest on my own. If you're making this and are having problems with the decreases, send me an email and I'll be happy to forward you my version. Trying to seam this was a nightmare. If I had listened to my inner knitter, I would have used two edge stitches before starting the lace pattern, instead of one. The seams looked terrible with either matress or backstitch because the lace pattern would never line up. I ended up using my sewing machine and the seams came out perfect. I did frog the sleeves and reknit them in the round (but they're tiny so it took me only an evening). Instead of knitting a separate tie, I picked up stitches on the bottom, knit a few rows garter stitch, then crocheted little loops for the buttons. Now it looks good whether I wear it open or closed with no funny ties dangling around. I'm happy with it, but I don't think I'll order another kit any time soon. Her designs are lovely, but it was a lot of money for a little shrug that could have been made a lot easier by adding a few more explanations to the pattern. The good side is that I learned a few lessons about what to put into a pattern and what to think of before I start a project.
There is so much stuff I've been working on these past weeks, bookbinding projects, jewelry, and more knitting. My Argyle vest is almost finished and hopefully I'll get some pictures of it next weekend! Bf is getting socks for Christmas again; I'm making a few sewn presents, but more on that next post. No, it's not going to be another month until then ;-)

Eye Candy Friday

2006-11-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

Here's looking at you, green eyes!
I'm on schedule with Buttercup. Seaming tonight, photoshoot this weekend, blogging Monday the latest.
Have a wonderful weekend!

So much stuff, so little to show

2006-11-06T05:02:00.000-08:00

In the past few weeks, my visits to other blogs have been taunting me with all sorts of lovely projects. Maybe it's just me but somehow it seems that with the beginning of fall, you guys are churning out more socks, sweaters and shawls than in the months before. While it is always inspiring, it was also giving me a little anxiety. Usually I'm a one-project-at-a-time kind of girl and stuff gets completed at a moderate pace. Lately though I've been gripped by startitis and while it's been fun to knit a little here and sew a little there, nothing gets finished, everything just drags on in various states of completion. I'm missing a sense of accomplishement and I miss putting something on my body that doesn't have ends hanging out and pins poking me. As much as I wanted to indulge in an orgy of projects, I've got to stop. No more gazillion projects, just one or two please. Oh and in case you're wondering just how many unfinished knits I have, I won't tell you, because you'll just laugh at me. That's why I'm only going to tell you about two! Sewing excluded.
Thanks to Vanessa, who I got to meet two weeks ago for the first time and already feels like an old friend, I picked up Buttercup again. We're having a short spell of really beautiful days here, and if I finish it this week I may actually get to wear it once before it gets rainy and cold. The body is blocked and seamed and it fits perfectly. Thank god, for awhile I was afraid this little shrug would end up in the hate pile. I finished a sleeve over the weekend which is blocking this very moment, and tonight I'll baste it in to check its fit. Just one sleeve and the tie left, it should be done next weekend, hooray!
My latest project is Eunny’s Argyle vest. I’ve been wanting to knit this for a long time, but I’ve never found the right yarn (pure dk wool in colors I like) until two weeks ago, when I spied some Blue Sky Alpaca Melange at my lys. It feels even softer than their regular dk and comes in few but lovely heathered colors. I chose an olive shade as my main color and a slightly lighter pine needle green for contrast, the difference between the colors is subtle, which is what I was hoping for. I can’t wait to wear it with some tweed pants and boots and indulge my Scottish Highlands fantasies. I’m not sure yet if I’ll actually do the steeking bits. I’ve been reading the knitalong blog over and over and it seems that a lot of people have fitting issues. My plan is to make the v-neck a little less plungy and to eliminate some of the fabric around the shoulders and armholes, not too difficult, right? I got some good hints on how to fair-isle from Mr. Brooklyntweed himself. Weekend before last, Jared was in town for a few hours and the girls and I got to hang out with him. Breakfast at San Francisco’s most coveted bakery, admiring each others projects (man, the finishing on the Jarrett, so perfect!), shadecards (oh, the shadecards!), learning a few tricks, knitting a little, taking pictures, rounding it off with a visit to Imagiknit, which as always is just sensory overload. So much fun! I wish I could hang out with my knitting peeps every weekend.
Christmas is in seven weeks. Since my family is far away we don't do gifts, bf is the only one who gets something knitted. Socks, of course. Friends and bf's family have gotten handmade photoalbums, cards, and jewelry in the past, so this year they get something sewn. I've decide that Denyse Schmidt's ovenmitt is a fairly quick and easy project (maybe together with an apron if I like you lots), great for using up spare fabric.

I may have to undo the red mitt again, in my eagerness I forgot to add another layer of batting (I'm using warm&white 100% cotton and it's not as thick as polyester stuff). It's a fun project though, to be completed when I get more of the filmy silver stuff that goes in between to prevent heat transfer.
For all you guys wondering what Kureyon colors I used for the Rainbow scarf: Two skeins of #95 and one skein of #148. The latter had a lot more yardage than the former.

Rainbow and Rhubarb

2006-10-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

Last week it seemed like summer had said good-bye to the city and hello to fall. I'd been poking through my yarn bin hoping to get an idea of what to do with odd balls of yarn when I found my unfinished Kureyon scarf. I'd started it back in february when it was grey and dreary outside and I desperately needed some color. There's no better yarn to pick for some instant happiness than Noro (ok, Malabrigo), it's like the chicken soup of yarn, knit it and you'll feel better. I'd wanted a grown-up version of the Child's Rainbow from Last Minute Knitted Gifts and got two skeins of Kureyon, thinking that would be enough. But then one color ran out much earlier than the other and the scarf wasn't long enough, I didn't want to purchase more yarn. I lost interest. So when I picked it up last week I decided to get one more skein and knit from both ends.

The colors are so beautiful, I want to hang it on the wall so I can look at it all the time.
During my vacation I finished a pair of socks. They were supposed to be for me but then I started missing my boyfriend and they morphed into socks for him!

It's just a standard top-down rib pattern, but the yarn is a treat. The colorway is called 'Rhabarber' (rhubarb in English) and it made my mouth pucker a lot during knitting because the colors are just like the real thing. You can buy it here. I got mine as a surprise from Suzi, who I got to meet while I was back home! It's a pretty exciting thing to meet someone you've only known via blogging and email, but it's even more exciting when you have so much fun together you don't want the day to end. It was just a perfect day of sitting in cafes and talking, shopping a little, ending with a wonderful dinner. I was a little sad afterwards, because it'll be another year before we get to have another day like this. But I'm so happy to have experienced that day at all. The possibilities of the internet still boggle my mind!

A Hop, Skip and a Plane Ride

2006-10-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

I'm back from a very sunny and lovely trip to Munich, which was almost perfect except for the masses of people in town for Oktoberfest (I wish it would have been Socktoberfest!!). I'm not big on crowds. But I got to meet my niece for the first time and that was incredible. I know childbirth is the most natural thing in the world, but seeing this little human being that is part of my sister - and therefore a part of me as well- was very moving. I get all choked up just thinking about her. Here she is with her new quilt:

It was difficult to get a good picture of it, here it is a little wrinkled after the long plane ride.

And a close up of the front and back:

Size: 36"x45"
Pattern: I don't have the book so I came up with my own wonky shapes of Denyse Schmidt's 'A Hop, Skip and Jump' pattern from her book Denyse Schmidt Quilts. You can also download it for free here, just scroll down to Flea Market Fancy.
I used four different solids, all Robert Kaufman Kona Cotton, the rest is a mix of fabrics I purchase online and at my local quilt store. I was especially happy to find the musical kitties fabric which I used for the binding, both my sister and her husband are musicians. The batting is almost 100% warm&white cotton JoAnn's sells from the bolt. It's all machine pieced and quilted, and since the fancy walking foot I bought for exactly this purpose messed up my stitches, I used my regular foot which worked fine. This was my first quilt, and I'm glad I had no problems with it at all. Otherwise I wouldn't have wanted to try quilting again, but now I can't wait to make a big one for myself! I have to give lots of credit to The Modern Quilt Workshop by Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr, their quilting instructions worked really well for me and I followed their quick binding technique, which doesn't use bias strips but has you cut strips on the straight grain, thereby saving a lot of fabric.
I didn't think too much about how I wanted to quilt this project. It had to be quick and easy so I could finish it the weekend before leaving. I did a few figure eight shapes (the ones you see on many of Schmidt's quilts) on a practice swatch, they look really pretty, but took too long. I went with diagonal lines for simplicity but also because they add a little bit of movement. On a larger quilt, I would definitely take the time to either machine quilt very dense shapes if that's the look I'm going for, or I'll quilt by hand. For some reason I feel a real need to once quilt by hand, I just love the look of handquilted stitches and their soft tension.
I've got some knits to show you, but no photos yet. Sunset tonight is 6.54pm, maybe a few rays will stick around long enough for a little photoshoot.

Crafty Bootcamp

2006-09-06T10:01:00.000-07:00

While the blogging has been sparse, the crafting is going full throttle! I'm leaving for Germany next Wednesday and though I had done such a good job these past weeks in adhering to strict crafting schedules, I'm running behind all of a sudden. A few things I hoped to have done will have to wait until I get back (my sunhat may just turn into a rainhat then). I wanted to sew a dress and a top, that'll have to wait too. Buttercup may not get done either. I finished the back and front pieces, but now I'm stalling on the sleeves. See, I'm wondering if it wouldn't be more useful if the sleeves were elbow length instead of short (I'd be eliminating the button closure part). Also, having stared at the tie closure for awhile, I picture that tie coming undone easily unless I double tie....but do I want a chunky knot right above my belly button? No. Should I just do a button closure? What do you guys think?

I finished the quilt top for my niece and I'm really happy with it. It's based on Denyse Schmidt's 'A Hop, Skip and a Jump' quilt from her book. I don't have the book so I made up my own pieces. For those of you unfamiliar with the design, yes, they're supposed to be crooked. I'll machine quilt it this weekend, so you'll see it finished before I leave. At the top right corner you can see a bit of the green backing fabric, it's called "Happy Homemaker". Nothing like subliminal programming starting in the crib (I love those little irons, I started ironing my family's laundry when I was five or six, it was my absolut favorite thing to do. My sister may thank me a few years from now). Did I ever mention that I went to a girl's high school AND a women's college? A double feminist education and all I dream of is being able to stay home all day to sew, knit and bake. Well, and travel.

Do over. And over, and over .......

2006-08-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

That's been the story of my crafting life these last few weeks. Some of you have wondered whether I'm still alive and kicking, no worries, all is well, I've been reading a lot more than usual lately, and putting my bookbinding skills toward repairing some old books. A lot of my crafting hasn't resulted in any mentionable fo's so far, and I didn't feel like talking about the many incarnations of works in progress. Like this floppy hat I've been sewing. When I finally made crown number seven, which at last fit perfectly on both my head and the brim part, I got dirt on it. Beats me where it came from and it doesn't come out. So I had to take a break. I made this instead, a cover for my sewing machine.

You can't go wrong sewing a rectangle! All you Pure Knits addicts will recognize the cute ribbons Miss Y ties around her shipments. Yay for recycling!
I've also started working on a baby quilt for my niece. I'm still waiting for some more fabric so no pictures yet, but the design is based on Denyse Schmidt's 'Hop, skip and a jump' quilt. In various pinks, a lot like this fabulous piece. Isn't that beautiful?
Knitting is back on the program. I had finished the back of Buttercup using my own modifications, when I ran into serious problems on the left front. So I gave up and emailed Kim for some help. That was on a late afternoon, and the very next morning I had got an answer from her mom. She was so nice and helpful, it really resolved any resentment that had grown towards the pattern. I re-knit the back and finished the left front, it's pretty quick knitting now and I hope to have it done in a couple of weeks. I love the new collection, especially Beth. They've also got a preview for the newest collection, Light and Shade up, it looks like some of the pieces are recycled from previous collections, but there are a few new designs as well. I like the beret, but it seems to be made from fuzzy wool and I can't wear wool on my head, too itchy!
When everything else either take so long or doesn't work out I grab my bead stash and make jewelry. It's quick and satisfying and I love dainty sparkly necklaces. Here a three I made over the past week:

On the left, a very long gold chain with blue quartz beads, it can be worn doubled up; in the middle, a piece of rutilated quartz on gold chain; on the right aquamarine rondelles with a lemon quartz drop.
Saving the cutest for last, a squishy squirrel from knotty bits.
Go check out her etsy shop, the are some more squirrels and adorable kitties, all lovingly and perfectly stitched.

Kiri

2006-07-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

I finished this shawl over a week ago after almost two weeks of intense knitting. Kid Silk Haze is lovely and works so well with my cheapy Phildar needles, but the pattern rows grow mindnumbingly looong towards the end. I was getting bored fast, hence the (for me) quick turn-around.
When I blocked it, the points on the left side refused to get as pointy as the ones on the right, and I have no idea why. The cast off turned out loose enough with US8's. It's not really bothering me though, I'm happy with it.

Pattern: Kiri, available for free here
Yarn: 2.5 balls of Rowan Kid Silk Haze in 'bleached' (discontinued color)
Needles: US6 for the shawl, US8's for binding off
No changes, no problems, ahhhh.
I never thought I'd jump on the shawl bandwagon, but after Kiri I'm craving more, something open and crisp and possibly black.

A little give-away

2006-07-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

Update: It's all taken! Lori, c.e, and Elizabeth, please email me your addresses. Thanks guys!
Here are some fabrics and yarn that deserve to be used and loved. If there is anything you'd like, just leave me a comment and some way I can get in touch with you. Everything is from a smoke-free home, has been safely stored in plastic, but may have been exposed to cat hair at some point.

On the left is a high quality olive wool jersey, about 67"lx41"w, it feels like liquid wool. The photo doesn't do it justice.TAKEN. c.e. it's yours, email me your address!
In the middle, a 24"x25" piece of cotton-linen mix, with a cute muted orange-y fan print.
On the right, a long piece of Thai Silk in blue-purple-gold-black. It is 80"lx39"w, and stunning in person.
2 balls of GGH Soft Kid in a terracotta color. One ball has been used a little and rewound. TAKEN.

TAKEN.

Connecting

2006-07-12T03:12:00.000-07:00

It truly is amazing what a few days off and good company can do to restore balance and happiness in your life. Before my roadtrip, I'd felt so out of sorts and disconnected that it even affected my speech. I used the wrong words, my grammar was off and at times I was just completely lost for words. Though this can also happen to me when I'm feeling happy, when my highs are so high that the intensity of that emotion leaves me speechless, and I become very quiet and calm, which is often misunderstood. Often, there just isn't any adequate language to describe what is going on inside of me, or sometimes, it's not the right language. It fascinates me to see how much language reflects a society's culture, how some languages have certain words available to describe a particular thing or state of being, that others don't. My good friend M feels 'round' when everything is in balance, and that comes really close to what I've been feeling these past two weeks, just round (and I've been eating so much yummy food lately that it can be applied physically as well ;-)
On the fourth of July I had lunch with Mary of Mamie makes, who was in San Francisco on business. We meet at a tea house right across from Imagiknit, which luckily was closed, no temptations there! Mary's blog has given me so much inspiration over the months, and I always hoped I'd get to meet her someday. Some people you just know you're going to click with, even if you've never met them in person. Three hours later, I wish I could have kidnapped her to chat all night! She brought me surprises from NY, Japanese pastry that was devoured, eh, savoured instantly and a beautiful Japanese book with designs of Japanese fabric. Thank you Mary, for the gifts, but mostly for the lovely time I had.
Surprises also came by mail from across the ocean. First, an envelope from Finland from Mari (who doesn't have a blog, I think), containing beautiful self-striping Novita wool yarn in beachglass colors. Definitely socks, I'm thinking.

I love the bird motif on the envelope!
A package from Germany arrived on my doorstep yesterday. Suzi sent me a spare Rowan magazine and as a surprise included this beautiful yarn dyed by her friend Claudia, aka Die Wollmeise.

The color is 'Rhabarber' or rhubarb, and so luscious I want to eat it. She also included this cute card from a bazaar, what a great idea to use up left-over yarn.
Mari and Suzi, thank you both so much, I'm so excited about these beautiful presents!
My little give-away (some fabric and yarn) will happen tomorrow around 9am. Whoever leaves the first comment, gets what they like. I'll pay for the shipping, no matter where to.

Back and busy

2006-07-10T23:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been an amazing July so far! Right after bf and I got back from our fantastic roadtrip we celebrated his sister's wedding and spent time with all the family that came to visit; I also enjoyed a long lunch with a lovely blogger from NY and I've been knitting and trying to sew. I'm still so full with impressions so I better start from the beginning. But there might be a sequel to this post in case I can't concentrate long enough.
The roadtrip was amazing and I'm still experiencing a sort of reverse homesickness for that nomadic lifestyle. Lava Beds National Monument is an amazing place in the north eastern part of California which no one ever seems to have heard about, hence the area lacks chain stores and strip malls and feels forgotten. While it may not be too interesting for the standard roadtripper, it's a fantastic playground for geology lovers like bf and myself. Lava flows, caves and lava tubes, a mountain covered in black glass (obsidian), hiking on wilderness trails with no one else around, except the occasional jack rabbit, kept us happy and if we'd realized just how busy the coast was going to be, we'd have stayed here the whole time.
Here is the view from a fire tower, that white peak is Mt Shasta 200 miles to the west.

Yours truly on top of the most recent lava flow which happened 800 years ago.

Crater Lake. Pictures don't do it justice. The water is the bluest blue you'll ever see.

Old Coca Cola ad on a reststop off Interstate 5. The little guy looks crazed.

Our last days were spent on the Northern California coast. It was so busy and everything booked, we were quite overwhelmed being surrounded by so many people after the solitude of the first days. But we always manage to find an emtpy spot, like this beautiful beach to watch the sunset.

The time flew by as it always does when you're having fun. Back home, we got ready for bf's sister's wedding and I made her a guestbook incorporating the wedding colors red and gold. Never mind that I added a touch of patriotic pride with the black cloth (it wasn't intentional, but nothing else I had matched the paper ;-))

I didn't knit as much during the trip as I thought I would, there was too much to do and see. When I'm camping, I always fall into a cycle of going to sleep at sunset and getting up at sunrise. Knitting has become a late in the day activity for me, something I do after work, I've been reserving my lunch breaks for reading which I've neglected for a long time. But my socks got finished eventually. Made of lovely Sundara yarn in 'bisque', I've renamed them Ambrosia socks, inspired by the colors of some store-bought Ambrosia salad (first time I've heard of and last time I tasted this concoction, in case you don't know it either, it's fruit and lots of whipped cream mixed together.) Though the salad didn't sit well with me, the socks do. I've knit them toe-up with a pattern made up of knits and purls on US1's, and finished them with a picot bind-off. They fit so well, but I really loved that the water was crystal clear after I washed them, just like the red Sundara yarn I used before. It makes me feel better knowing that the dye isn't absorbed by my skin.

Buttercup is still sulking in the cupboard and I've yet to email KH about the mistake. Indulging my procrastination skills I have thus another project in the works, Kiri! I'm using 3 balls of KSH in 'bleached', a bunny white which unfortunately is discontinued. I'm already through one ball, it's such an enjoyable project, my first lacy shawl. How can I knit sticky mohair in the middle of summer? Thank you, coastal climate! While our days are warm and sunny, the nights are chilly in my basement lodgings. It's the perfect yarn cellar.
Mmh, my brain is getting fuzzy and yours probably too, but there is still more to tell, about my blogger lunch, lovely mail from Finland, and free fabric....though unlike PBS who makes me wait another week to find out what's happening on Miss Marple and the Moving Finger, you'll get the second part tomorrow :-)

Here and there and nowhere

2006-06-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot about my vacation! Bf and I are leaving tomorrow to explore the Lava Beds in the north-eastern corner of California, circle Crater Lake in Oregon, confuse stalactites and stalagmites at Oregon Caves, and shiver in foggy Redwood National Park. I can't wait to get out of the city and be surrounded by silence so my synapses can fire again. I've been so fragmented lately. I'm using the wrong words all the time, except when I'm not able to spit out any words at all, in either language. I feel, I think, it just gets lost somewhere on the way out.
When I get back in ten days, I might have a finished oject for you (and no, it won't be Buttercup, that one is staying home!) and some free fabric to give away.
Auf Wiedersehen!

Berries and Butter

2006-06-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

I just spent the past week and a half in the land of misery, first accompanied by a painful sinus infection, which later in the week traded places with a wheezing cough. It is said that you’re supposed to stay positive because mental anguish keeps your immune system down, but that’s not so easy when you can’t do any of the things that make you happy! I did manage to finish a pair of socks I’ve been working on though, toe-up with a k2, seedstitch 2 pattern in lovely Sundara yarn which I snagged while it was available from Pure Knits.

The color is called cupid, but I’ve named my socks Berrystain Socks because they look like they were stained by smashed blue-, rasp-, black- and strawberries. Hmmm, berries…. I also started the back of Buttercup after I received my exchange yarn, pale grey-blue Ripple. Kim Hargreaves does have excellent customer service, they didn’t charge me for shipping (I only paid shipping the yarn back to them) and my yarn got here so fast. So nice. But (oh why does there have to be a but), the pattern leaves me with questions already. It’s a bit vague sometimes. When you’re supposed to do a k3tog for the armhole decreases (at beg and end of one row), why would you not do k3togtbl at the beginning of the row and the k3tog at the end? I mean, I know I don’t have to follow the pattern exactly, but is there a reason for doing it this way? And when it says: continue in pattern after the k3tog, is the pattern only the pattern repeat, or does that include the k2 with which you start and end the row? And if it does include the k2, wouldn’t it be better to k1, then k3tog, then k1 before going into the repeat, to make seaming nicer? Have I confused you yet? Maybe I should wait until I'm off the medicine.
Here is the back so far:

If you're thinking of ordering a kit from her website, check the size diagram closely, you might be able to save some money by ordering your right size. I ordered the medium but ended up casting on for the small, thanks to a lucid moment where I compared the back measurements to a fitted cardi I have. My gauge was so spot on I measured twice just to make sure.
Thanks for all your input on the quilting! It's been very helpful and I've decided to make a baby quilt first, that way I can approach it with a different eye. My sewing machine is in the repair shop right now, the weekender bag left some scars and it refuses to stitch anything other than straight stitch. But until it gets back home I've got plenty of time for fabric shopping. My eyes are glazing over at the very thought.

Fabric on my mind

2006-05-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

Or to be more precise, the combination of patterned and solid fabrics and squishy batting into a quilted object. I've been reading The Modern Quilt Workshop over and over, and leafing through Denyse Schmidt Quilts at the bookstore. I would love to make a quilt, but find it rather intimidating. Not the sewing and quilting part, though I'm sure I'll complain if I ever get that far. I'm just having a really hard time in choosing colors and patterns that look good together. I've been collecting pictures of fantastic quilts I found on the internet and just marvel at how beautifully they work. My favorite has to be the verb quilt by Jane. This surprised me as I always think of myself prefering subtle colors, but the simple squares and the vibrant combination of the red and soft blues takes my breath away. It's beautiful. Very different, yet equally stunning to me are these wool& cotton quilts on Denyse Schmidt's website. They remind me of some of Mark Rothko's paintings.
Whenever I get into something new I often make it hard on myself by starting out with something difficult, which in the end gets tossed into a corner for lack of success. I'm getting tired of these sad ufo's taking up space and decided on starting with a small object. Man, I think I'm growing up! My hot-water bottle needed a cover, I'm sure some of the funny dreams I have come from my toes touching the cold wobbly rubber in the middle of the night. I got some cheapy cotton fabrics at Joann's, all in pink and aqua (my current obsession), made a pattern by tracing the outline of the bottle and added three or so inches on each side. It's a bit misshapen. But here you see my dilemma with the fabrics. It's too bland. I think it's the fault of the top print, because its background is the same pink as the solid on the bottom. What do you think?

Let's not even talk about the quilting. At that point, I just wanted to have a one-night project, hence the boring squares.

My Weekender Bag

2006-05-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

After a 10-hour sewing session on Saturday and a few more hours on Sunday, I finished my Weekender Bag. I can't find the words to express how thrilled I am to have finished this and to be completely happy with the outcome. Seriously, it took me ten minutes to write that last sentence and I'm not even sure it's grammatically correct. But enough stammering, here you go:

I started this bag 4 or so weeks ago, enamored with its cute vintage look and oblivious to how much time this would take to make. The outside fabric is from Amy Butler's Sunbloom line, for the lining and piping I got cocoa colored denim at my local Discount Fabrics. If you make this bag and want to center and match up your pattern, I suggest getting at least 2 yards of the main fabric. Instead of timtex I got peltex, which the sales lady claimed to be the same. I wonder though if it's not a bit thicker, as my bag is pretty sturdy and keeps its shape very well. Buy more than one big roll of thread and buy extra needles as well, I broke so many trying to go through a 3/8" layer of fabric. Because I couldn't find a 30" non-separating zipper in the color I wanted, I got a 36" separating zipper, sewed a zipper stop at 30" and chopped the rest off. It works perfectly. While the pattern instructions are easy to follow, they often didn't work for me and I used this book to help me especially with the zipper. After many failed attempts to have my pieces lining up correctly I stopped the pinning and sewing method. Instead I pushed the pins straight through

then handbasted the layers, then sewed. Basting everything all the time through such thick layers takes a lot of time, but it was worth it, I had to rip and redo a lot less than in the beginning.
I would have liked some more explicit instructions on the cording/piping as well, instead of just "don't crowd the cording". When I made the piping, I sewed app. 1/4" inch from the raw edges, with my needle positioned in the middle (my sewing machine has a dial to adjust the placement of the needle, 3 is the middle, 4-5 move the needle to the left, 2-1 move the needle to the right). After you make the piping you will have to sew twice more, always to the left of the previous stitching line. When it came to sewing the piping onto the panel, I moved my needle to position four, while my zipper foot still sewed 1/4" from the raw edge. When you sew the last layer on with a 1/2" seam (the piping is now sandwiched between two layers), I moved my needle to position 5, my zipper foot still aligned to the raw edge (but the distance from the needle changed from 1/4" to 1/2" from the raw edge). I hope this is helpful. I'd recommend this project if you have patience. Mine was just about to run out, but my happiness over it now is already clouding the bad memories.

Hmpf.

2006-05-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

My Kim Hargreaves kit came yesterday.

And this is how I feel about it:

I don't like the color. I've seen it before in the store and remembered it as a rich dark pink. In reality (the photo didn't bring it out well) it looks like a strange faded bubblegum pink. Maybe it needs to grow on me.
The weekender bag is getting there. I made Saturday my deadline.

Sewing and sewing and sewing

2006-04-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

is all I've been thinking about this weekend. I've looked at my yarn in a daze wondering how big of a needle I would need to get it through the sewing machine. Then I remembered I've used two to five sticks to make loops out of yarn. Knitting, hmm, I can't get my mind around the knitting lately. Instead of frogging, there's lots of ripping going on. Every step of the weekender bag requires at least two or more runs to come out acceptably. I'm not following the steps outlined in the pattern, because I still haven't made up my mind about what color piping I want to use as contrast. This is what I've done so far:

Sunday was zipper day. And let me tell you, pinning a zipper and then seaming it was just not working for me. Pinning isn't working for me most of the time, because as soon as I stick pins in the layers, they shift. As a result, I've been hand-basting everything before sewing it together, which is cumbersome as there are so many layers, but worth the trouble. I managed to put a decent looking zipper in! Hooray!!!

I actually thought I would finish it this weekend, haha! At this rate we might be looking at another two weeks or so. But it's fascinating to watch it take shape.

This is a view from above, with the zipper disappearing into the small side pocket.
BF's mom was admiring the bag and wondering if I worried about getting it dirty. Did any of you weekender makers treat your fabric with anything to make it stain-resistant? I probably didn't pick the most sensible colors, but I don't really care, I love the green and white print. While I was sewing, the handles landed in the wet soil of my potted palm and got dirty, but a quick rinse under the tap took it right off.
During one of the few moments that my brain wasn't occupied with the weekender, I succumbed to ordering this from the Kim Hargreaves website. Shipping is free until the end of April!

Weather-induced insanity

2006-04-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

Normally I'm not a big complainer when it comes to weather as I figure there's nothing I can do about it anyway, except dress appropriately. But I'm really glad the Bay Area is having a short respite, because my online shopping has gone overboard. See, normally I don't enjoy shopping, going downtown is always accompanied by pangs of anxiety due to crowds, and I don't like accumulating so much stuff because of my nomadic lifestyle (less stuff means easier moves), but the rain has kept me staring at the computer screen instead of out the window, and for the last few weeks little packages have arrived containing old buttons and vintage fabric from ebay, more fabric from Reprodepot.com, an out-of-print book by my favorite photographer, Sarah Moon, and yarn!!! Not just any old yarn, but four skeins of Sundara yarn, ordered from Yahaira's new online shop, Pure Knits.

From top to bottom there are two skeins of cupid and two skeins of bisque sockyarn. Opening the package was like unwrapping a present, so beautiful in pink and brown tissue with lovely ribbon. I sniffed the yarn, thought about Purly dyeing and Yahaira sending it, two fellow knitters whose blogs I've been reading for a long time, looking unsuccessfully for a little Simon or Eddy fur in there, and just felt the love. It is gorgeous, and the first time since last year that I've bought yarn without a project in mind. So yes, while the shopping has been most gratifying, the crafting has been all over the place with not much to show for. My top-down Big Wool cardi is still only a few rows long. I've spend a lot more time recently with this:

The weekender bag by Amy Butler (really though, this is more purse-size by my standards, all the stuff I need for a weekend would never fit in there!). I may be in way over my head with this one, but it is so cute I had to give it a try. Underneath the pattern is my main fabric, from Amy's Sunbloom line. If you haven't been to her site recently, she's just put out a couple of new lines that are very pretty, with muted colors that I like much better than some of her very bright earlier designs.
It took me two weekends to find all necessary supplies for the bag, though I'm cheating with some. Instead of Timtex I got Peltex at JoAnn's. It's pretty stiff and should work just as well. The next problem was locating a 30" non-separating zipper, so I ended up getting a 36" separating one which I'll just shorten. I found it in the parka zipper section, lots of color choices there, though mine is just plain white to go with the green and white fabric. Cutting all the pieces out is taking a long time, and I've been secretly fearing my sewing machine may not be up to the task of chugging through a quarter inch thick layer of material. I'll find out this weekend.
I wanted to add a thank you to all those who left a comment on my Kathy cardi, they made me very happy. I'd gotten so many emails from people asking for sock patterns, after Grumperina had posted about my Mata Hari's, that I was quite overwhelmed. I sent over a hundred emails to people, but the comment thank you's suffered. So, thank you :-)

Kathy Cardi

2006-04-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

It's been gloomy inside and rainy outside, adverse conditions for a photoshoot, but last evening offered a few dry minutes. Here is the Kathy Cardigan:

Pattern: Kathy from Rowan's 'Cork Collection'
Yarn: 12 balls of Rowan Cork in 'Chilly'
Needles: US 10.5
The pattern calls for US 11 needles which I got perfect gauge with, but really, my stitches looked a lot better with the 10.5's and the gauge wasn't that much off. There is often a bit too much ease for my taste in Rowan patterns, so it worked out just fine. I shortened the front and back by about 4" and added some length to the sleeves. The sleeves are knit using two alternating skeins. I had purchased the bag of Cork some time ago and needed two more balls, which I found on ebay. It wasn't the right dyelot but at this point I was happy to have found that colorway at all. The new balls were a little lighter, but the yarn is heathered and you can't tell. Finishing took forever, there were soo many ends to weave in. I re-did the sleeve cap because it was a little short, the three-needle bind-off didn't look good with the ribbing so I undid both shoulders and used backstitch. Now I'm glad I did, the yarn is pretty stretchy and backstitch provides a little more stability. I'm happy with this jacket. Though it wasn't a love at first sight project, once I started I enjoyed the process so much. Cork feels a little crispy at first and my stitches looked wonky, but it blocks out very nicely. It's so soft! And warm, though the fabric is light.
What now? I'm feeling lost, like a dancer who just finished a great show and now sits in her dressing room in stillness, wondering where the magic went. The next project is already waiting for me in its bag, but somehow I can't start just yet, I need a little more time to...I don't even know what. Maybe I should finish my skirt for Isew?Iknit! so I can start planning the next sewing project, a bag. I've picked a pattern but I may be in way over my head with this one. More about this soon.

Work of Art

2006-03-29T11:43:00.000-08:00

All pieces of my cardi are knit, the body is sewn together and just waiting for its set-in sleeves and the last ends to be woven in. I'm very excited, it fits beautifully. Hopefully I don't have to wait until the weekend for photos, but we're about to break a record here in SF for having the most rainy days in March since 1904. I'll leave you with this truly stunning work of art, a woolen coat by Balenciaga. I wish I could see this in person:

Red Sweater Bearing Tree

2006-03-17T13:32:00.000-08:00

Wow! Thanks so much for the great compliments on my Mermaid gloves. I'm excited about all the comments and have discovered lots of new (to me) blogs.
While I was working on the gloves my imagination got a little carried away and I thought about a whole knitted skin-tight Pomatomus outfit. For Halloween, of course. Yes this is a crazy idea and I'm not considering it seriously, but it's just a cool thought, just picture it.
Last week one of the blogs I read featured photos of the Redsweaters Project. I had heard about it, but didn't know it was just a few minutes away from my house. Driving up the street all of a sudden a bright red tree pops out from amid the greenery leading up to Bernal hill.

It was a beautiful sight, and at this sunny carefree Sunday it was hard to think of its reason for being. When I went to the website last week, 87 more sweaters were needed. Today it is 93.

Here are a couple of links I wanted to share with you:
Quilter Ian Hundley has currently a show in New York. His quilts are influenced by aerial views and maps. I think I saw a link to another quilt artist who works like this on whip-up the other day. Unfortunately there is only one quilt on his site. I'm particularly fascinated by these types of quilts as they remind me of a childhood thing I used to do on train or car rides. I'd be staring at the side of the road, watching all the shapes and colors meld together and wishing I could make it into fabric. Wouldn't that make some interesting clothing? I'd still love to do this someday.
For my birthday last month I gave myself a subscription to Selvedge, a British magazine featuring all things textile. Purchasing it at my bookstore here has always given me pangs of guilt as it is rather expensive, but a subscription is much cheaper. You save even more if you go for the online version instead of the paper. Maybe you could get your local library to subscribe to it. The last issue had articles on vintage feedsack clothing, the Jaipur Arts festival, silk walls, the Korean craft Poyagi and other textile artists. The photography is beautiful. I always learn something new and it is tempting me to go back to school to get a degree in Textiles.

Mermaid Gloves

2006-03-13T14:59:00.000-08:00

I've been working on so many projects all at once that I needed a little helper with my Mermaid gloves, aka Pomatomus sock turned fingerless mitts:

"I'm tired, you try kntting with no thumb. Now where's that tuna she promised me?"

I love, love, love this pattern, it's so beautiful. The first glove took me about two weeks because of a broken dpn that needed replacing and because I figured out a neater way of doing the increases after I completed the thumb gusset, which then got ripped.

I was afraid there would be a snafu waiting, some place where the pattern just wouldn't work for a mitt. But it didn't happen, it worked perfectly! Yeah!

I inserted the thumb gusset between a horizontal pattern repeat and made it one vertical pattern repeat high.

After I completed the gusset, I knit one more pattern repeat, followed by a row of k1p1 ribbing before starting the fingers, which allowed the pattern to sort of flow into the fingers.

Can you tell I'm really excited about these? My first FO for myself this year.
Specs:
Yarn: Koigu in a light silvery blue shade, I always lose the ball bands at my LYS when I wind the hanks.
Needles: 2.25mm Crystal Palace Bamboo dpn's for arm and palm; 2.25 Brittany small dpn's for thumb and fingers
Pattern: I figured out the gloves on my own after checking out glove patterns all over the internet. The stitch pattern is from Knitty's Pomatomus socks.
I cast on the same number of stitches which, combined with a smaller needle, makes for a snugly fitting glove. Despite the thin yarn, small needles and lacy pattern, these gloves are very warm and squishy, due to the ribbing I think.
My Kathy cardi is just missing its sleeves. Since there are no cables on the sleeves I'm hoping to complete them this week so I can have a seaming party next weekend and hopefully pictures.
My skirt...ahem. I got another pattern, more swingy and made another muslin. It ended up being so long and full that I just need a matching top to have appropriate attire should I consider becoming a nun. Good thing there is another weekend before the deadline.

Lot's of WIP's

2006-02-28T14:12:00.000-08:00

I've been hit by that cold that seems to be going around everywhere but thanks to some mean sinus medication my head is working at the moment. So what have I been working on?
The Koigu Pomatomus fingerless mitts are being renamed Mermaid gloves. They are my first pair of gloves and I was a little scared as I couldn't find a pattern using dpn's and thin yarn, but in the end I think I got the concept and now I'm halfway on the thumb gusset. This pattern is so beautiful, it's hard to put the needles down. The project had stalled a bit because one of my dpn's broke, and though the socks are knit with four, I prefer five needles. In the mean time, I've been working up my Rowan Cork. It's reached its final incarnation, Kathy, from the Rowan Cork Collection.

I think Barbara Walker was getting to me with her talk about listening to what the yarn tells you. I really had my own ideas what this yarn was supposed to be, first, self-designed stockinette sweater (it turned out to look like a sack), then Raindrop from the Plaid Collection (didn't really work gauge and lookwise) until I looked through the Cork Collection booklet I'd gotten as a freebie when I ordered the yarn. And there it was, a cardi that was pretty, for sure, but didn't really blow me over. At this point my need for de-stashing this yarn was greater than my need for the dream cardi and I cast on. And finished the back in a week and the left front. It's such a fast knit and I'm loving it more with every row. I'm a happy knitter right now! But I'm not a happy sewer. I'm not happy at all with my skirt pattern. When I cut the tissue pattern I was already suspecting that this skirt might not be as A-line-y as I'd like it to be. Yes, it is smaller at the waist and then slightly flares out, but it looks more like an H when I wear it, making me feel sort of compact. Good thing I made this out of an old sheet first before cutting into my lovely silk wool. This pattern would work better for a stiff cotton, so I need to look for something more swingy that brings out the drape of the fabric.
Thanks for your great suggestions on chocolaty places to go and brands to try!

Color, Chocolate and Jewelry

2006-02-15T16:21:00.000-08:00

Mmhh, rolls right off the tongue. My chocolate consumption has gone up quite a bit lately, not because it was Valentine's day, but because I found a new love: Dark chocolate. I never used to like it, but for Christmas a kind coworker gave me a sample box of the most delicious dark chocolate by Vosges Haute Chocolate. The Oaxaca bar has bits of chili and pepper in it which combine so well with the dark chocolate. I'm also curious to try their
Red Fire bar with ancho&chipotle chili peppers and Ceylon cinnamon or the Black Pearl Bar with Japanese ginger, wasabi and black sesame seeds. On top are two bars by another favorite, Dagoba. On a trip to Anthropologie long ago I found Marie Belle's Chocolate Rose Tea. So yummy. This makes me sound like a chocoholic...I'm not really, but these are so tasty! I eat my bars very slowly, so one lasts about two weeks. The Oaxaca is long gone, but I got the two bars of Dagoba for my birthday last weekend which are current wip's. There was also a new yarn purchase. I know you want to give me a hard time when you see the photo because you think it's socks....

nooo, I'm making fingerless mitts, using the Pomatomus pattern from Knitty. I was going crazy not having a portable project (a Big Wool cardi is not portable whatsoever. I've tried) but didn't want to do socks. The silvery aqua Koigu was so pretty and really asked to be knit up in that wonderful pattern. It's gorgeous, and easy to memorize. I'm using US 1's instead of the called for #2's and so far the so.., eh, glove fits perfectly. I'm getting a little creeped out at times when the veins in my hands are popping, because their color match the yarn exactly. Can you see it?

The Big Wool cardi is still not progressing because I keep changing the design. I'm reading Maggie Righetti's Sweater Design in Plain English and she's making me a little insecure with her expertise. I wanted a sweater with purl side out but Maggie says this creates funny bulges. Maggie also says that 2x2 rib is a bad idea for a button band, because it will stretch out infinitely. Now I'm not sure if I believe everything she says, but it's hard not to listen to a woman with so many years of experience. Just from reading blogs alone I've learned a lot of what not to knit. But come on, a 2x2 rib button band? They're everywhere! And unless you have a toddler pulling your cardi all day long, how much can it really stretch out? I'm going to ignore the button band advice.
Here is the necklace I've been making for my co-workers, just a simple gold wire circle on a delicate chain. There was no morning sun and I took this myself, but you get the idea.

Oh. Hello!

2006-02-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry for being a tardy blogger, it's February already (I'll be thirty soon for the, oh, gazillionsth time) and time is flying. January was fun and crafty all around, one of its highlights being the great knit meet-up I had on MLK day with Angela, where we talked and knit and ohh-ed over cute Japanese craft books for almost 7 hours! It was great and I hope we'll do that again soon Angela, if you can squeeze some crafty time in between your training schedule! Angela also had a hard time talking me into joining the SAL that she, Stephanie and Mari dreamt up. I'll be using this pattern:

I forgot to jot down the pattern number but I'll update that soon. The fabric I'm using is this gorgeous light-blue silk/linen/wool blend peeking out underneath the envelope. I'm making skirt B, one color instead of two. Burda patterns are nifty in that they already have the seam allowance included in the pattern, so you draw the pattern outline on the fabric only once. I've been sewing on and off since I've been a teenager and at one time even took an advanced sewing class where I made a lined jacket with bound buttonholes and welt pockets. But I don't remember how to do all that fancy sewing stuff anymore and I'm glad these days if I can manage to put a zipper in a pouch. Also, this is my first -along ever, funny that it's not about knitting.
So on to the knitting. I got rid of the last skein of sock yarn in my stash, that crazy red-blue-green-brown-orange Lana Grossa Meilenweit. Socks are for bf. Sometimes I wonder how outrageous I could get with the sock yarn, where would he draw the line? But I won't find out any time soon, because this is it, people, at least until Christmas. I'm officially socked-out. Don't care to make another pair for the time being. I mean it!

I spotted this a couple of weeks ago on the cover of DNR and had to share because it's funny:

A fair isle sweater, sleeves are right side out but the front and back are wrong side out. Reminds me of the Eighties, when we turned our clothes inside out because we couldn't come up with anything else new. Probably not a great idea for my first fair-isle project. Which I've picked, but I won't tell yet, as other stuff needs completing first.

This Big Wool cardi I've been working on since the beginning of January. You're looking aghast at the ten or something rows I've done? Yeah, me too. First I had to wrap my head around the concept of knitting top down. It is embarrasingly simple, really, unless you happen to be me and to be looking at the Vogue Knitting book. Now that I've got the idea down, I'm having problems increasing at the front edges. This is not going to be a v-neck cardi (oh how easy that would be), but the neck will be rounded and I have to cast on ten or so stitches. Whenever I try that though I get big holes or funny looking stitches, so I know I must be doing something wrong. I have consulted several knitting books without finding anything on how to increase multiple stitches in your knitting. Anyone got a book or website info they could share? I'd be ever so grateful and might actually finish the jacket this month.
The other project I've been obsessing about is this cardi, 'Raindrop' from Rowan's 'Plaid Collection'. I'm using the unravelled Cork that was once a slightly boring half-finished sweater designed by me. Now, even though both Cork and Plaid are similar in gauge, I get 15 sts to 4", while the pattern asks for 11 sts. It calls for 8 skeins, and I have ten skeins of Cork. I want to knit this top down as well because I'm not sure I'll have enough yarn, but the pattern conversion is tricky, what with all the diamonds having to line up at the neck edge. But it's a V! The jacket is straight down but I'll add some waist shaping to it.
I've also had a little jewelry factory going. I had made a very simple gold wire circle necklace for my office secret santa, and a lot of my coworkers liked it so much that they put in multiple orders for one. I didn't get a chance to take a picture yet, but I have one more to make and will photograph it.
Judy asked me how I arranged my photos into a grid pattern for my 2005 FO review. I copied and pasted each photo in Powerpoint and then cropped it. There are probably many easier ways to do it with Photoshop or other programs, but it's what was available to me at the time. Copy and paste are my friends.
Thanks Marie for enlightening me on tracing back comments! Ahh, the craftoholic and the internets. A pair at odds.

2005 Review

2006-01-17T10:09:00.000-08:00

I've been planning on doing a little inventory on my 2005 knits, maybe frog stuff I'm not wearing and re-using for new projects. It's all about recycling these days at Craftoholic. Or so I tell myself. The boyfriend sock don't need much review, they're so loved. Let me just say that the GGH Marathon I used for his for two pairs over a year ago is holding up extremely well. And they've been washed and worn a lot! No complaints about the Lana Grossa Meilenweit so far either.
The first 2005 knit was the
- Debbie Bliss Cabled Jacket. I love this so much and I've worn it a lot. The Rowanspun Chunky I used is holding up rather well, there is only slight pilling under the arms, which isn't really noticeable as the yarn is heathered.
- Leaf Scarf in Rowan Big Wool. Haven't really worn it too much, it's so toasty. I think I'm just too lazy to bother holding it together with a brooch. I might frog it, haven't decided yet.
- Clapotis. This kept me happily warm in freezing Europe. I wear it a lot and love that the Silk Garden gets softer after a wash, and doesn't lose its sheen.
- Lady Eleanor. Ten balls of Silk Garden make this shawl a bit heavy. I haven't worn it all that much because most days I can't be bothered to fuss with accessories. But knitting it was fun and the end product is so beautiful, I want to just display it as a wall hanging. I'll put this in the category 'knitted art', which doesn't require usefulness ;-)
- Debbie Bliss Rib Detail Jacket. After I tried it on for the first time, it itched. I didn't wear it much until I tried it on and it didn't itch. The ribbing on the sleeves still feels a little snug, but blocking should take care of it. Let's revisit that one next year after more wearage.
- Shedir. I use this a lot, mostly as a liner underneath wooly hats that make my head itch. Sure my head looks like a big ball, but I'm warm enough so it's a good trade-off. I'd wear this more if it was a bit longer, but I was insistent on using just one ball!
- Rebecca Wrap Top. I've worn this a few times over a long white top. It's cute enough, but there's that one spot at the back of my neck the GGH Soft Kid likes to itch attack. I still wear it, but won't make anymore garments out of Soft Kid.
- Aimee. Oh Aimee. I hate your ribbon. I'm going to try to stitch the ribbon opening up and I'm thinking about a dye bath as well. I love that green, but it does make me look anemic.
- Springgrass socks. The Nature's Palette definitely loosens up a bit after washing, and gets fuzzy too. I wear them, but mostly at home.
- Orchid socks. See above.
- Mata Hari socks. I love them so much and wear them all the time. The Koigu is getting a bit fuzzy but still nice. There may be more Mata's in the far future.
- Eowyn armwarmers. They were made only to get rid of two lonely balls of yarn, Rowan Yorkshire Tweed dk and Crystal Palace Merino Frappe. I wore them a few times in Europe, but they're just too bulky for my taste.
- Gothic Knee Highs. They bound off a little losely, so I need to fix that or else they'll be crunched around my ankles.
I'm pretty happy with half of my 05 knits, I have learned soo much and really figured out what I want to knit and what not. My plans for this year are to
- tackle a fair isle project
- try felting
- make a quilt
- design more knits
- sew leather

Ends with socks, starts with socks

2006-01-09T09:39:00.000-08:00

Sometime around Christmas, a shift occurred, and with the new year I feel a new me emerging. It's time to get back to sweaters and cardis. I'm done with socks for now (though I think I've said that before) I still don't know why I lost my knitting confidence after I finished Aimee, really, all those successful modifications should have done the opposite. Somehow my real life fears manifested in my knitting and I got scared of sweaters, scared of my yarn choices, scared of not being able to make something I can be proud of. For the past few weeks I've been drawing and designing and getting excited about all the ideas flowing through my head, and I'm curious to see what is going to come out. So here are the last pairs of socks you'll see for awhile, gifts for boyfriend:

Saturday socks knit with Lana Grossa Meilenweit, 1 skein.
And these are for his upcoming birthday:

Sunday socks knit with Lana Grossa Mega Boots Stretch, 1 skein. While this yarn felt softer compared to the meilenweit while I was knitting, it's not as soft on the foot. I'll go back to the meilenweit. The sock ban doesn't extend to bf because I get so much pleasure out of his unbridled excitement for the socks I make him.
Right now I'm working on a plain stockinette cardi out of that ice blue Rowan Big Wool. The color is lovely and I might add a little bit of embroidery in something sparkly when it's done. I'm still experimenting with the knitting, I'd love to knit the sleeves in the round on two circs to eliminate bulky seams, or I might knit it top down. I've never knit anything top down but it should work with any kind of yarn, right?
I've also gotten hooked on two activities that are taking away knitting time: I signed up with my local gym before the holidays and have been working out almost every day. And I got addicted to playing the Wallace & Gromit PS2 game I got bf for Christmas. Somewhere pigs are flying and hell has frozen over.

Lost in Yarn

2005-12-23T12:26:00.000-08:00

Right before my trip to Europe, stressed from moving out and moving in, I allowed myself a little bit of shopping therapy. The packages came just days before leaving:

Eight balls of Rowan Big Wool in ice blue, and my new love, ten balls of Rowan Felted Tweed in watery. I'm so completely, head over heels crazy about this color, I almost took a ball on the trip for fear of separation anxiety.
Have you ever wanted something really bad and when you got it, you realized you weren't crazy about it anymore? That's how I feel about the Big Wool. I had been gawking at this for over a year, and when I saw this, there seemed good reason to give in and purchase. But I think I'm over it now. But maybe I'm not. Why is it that one day, all I want is soft, barely there color, and then next I crave dark rich jewel tones? The jewel tone phase is now, and I will hold on to Big Wool, hoping the desire will be rekindled before spring. It's not just that I crave different colors, I want different projects as well. Last night I frogged my almost finished 'Lila' sweater. I just wasn't 'feelin' it' anymore. So here I sit surrounded by beautiful yarns and I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with them. Maybe I need to do a little more shopping, for pattern books instead.
As for the rest of the stash, here is the sock yarn I bought in Munich at Wollkorb ( I went to the one by Sendlinger Tor, though I much prefer the one close to LM university) :

All these are for bf. He loves the self-patterning yarn, the crazier the better. I had to keep that in mind while selecting the colors. On the bottom are his socks for Christmas, the only gift knitting this year chez craftoholic. I have now finished those socks and wrapped them up, so there will be pictures after Christmas.
I got a pair of socks as well, knitted for me by my cousin in Germany, who knits nothing but socks:

She makes me a pair every year. It's fabulous to get a knitted gift, even if the colors are a little bright. I love them nonetheless. I'll be back after the holidays, hopefully with some ideas for a new project. Have a very Happy Holiday everyone!
And thank you to all those who commented on my gothic knee highs who didn't have emails listed!

Gothic Knee Highs

2005-12-19T10:05:00.000-08:00

These have been finished for over a week, waiting to be photographed which proved very difficult given availability of light and photographer, but here they are. The dark red almost black color of this yarn made me think of Sadie Frost in Frankenstein, the dark ages, Gothic architecture. After studying drawings of the cathedrals of Reims and Strasbourg, I came up with a simple yo, k2tog/ssk pattern design of gothic windows. I used three skeins of Koigu and had just an inch of yarn left over after weaving in the ends. They would look great with a black taffeta skirt.

My knitting hasn't been very exciting lately, I'm working on a pair of socks for bf, a Christmas present, which means nothing else gets in the way until they're done. I'm past the ribbing on the second sock, so just a couple of days should do it.

There and back again

2005-12-07T14:05:00.000-08:00

I've been back just a little over a week and already it seems my vacation was just a dream. I do this every year and yet I still experience culture shock both ways. This time held surprises such as my grandma offering me leftover chocolate from Halloween. Halloween? Since when do Germans celebrate Halloween??? Apparently they have been doing so for a few years now, as well as shopping at Staples, Toy's-R-Us and Eddie Bauer, and paging through Land's End catalogs. I dread to imagine what else will be there by the time I visit again. Munich is still the beautiful glorious city I left, busy yet always ready to sit down and have a beer or coffee and cake. For five days I accompanied my mom to a conference in Warsaw, Poland, where I spent a lot of time in the many beautiful city parks, wandering along the river Wisla, warming up in lovely cafe's with hot chocolate and apple pie. Poland was very exciting, it is so rapidly changing into a western society. Amidst the grey and heavy whales of communist architecture, steel and glass highrises announce the indelible establishment of capitalism. Krakow, a two hour train ride south of Warsaw, is beautiful and busy even on a chilly winter day, but then you slip into a little coffeeshop where time turns back and you expect Kafka to stop in on his way to Prague. South of the castle, Kasimierz is Krakow's old Jewish neighborhood, a place with little alleys and dark houses and street vendors selling old books.
Back in Munich, the opening of Christkindl's Markt (Christmas Market) a day before I left meant sipping Gluehwein and hot blueberry wine, eating roasted chestnuts and enjoying the sparkly lights and sounds dissapearing in freshly fallen snow. It was lovely. A few of my pictures can be seen here
Now what about the knitting? I almost finished my knee highs, both are just waiting for the ribbing on top and are hopefully ready to be photographed this weekend. My yarn purchases were extremely modest, three skeins of sock yarn, all picked for bf's eclectic taste, was it. But a tv station had a feature on a woman who is knitting a very long scarf incorporating the flags of all soccer teams participating in the WM. She's not knitting this all herself, but knitters from all over Germany are helping and sending her the pieces to sew together. I've never been a soccer fan, but in Germany it's better to feign interest than admit that out loud ;-)
Also coming, pictures of goodies I received from Janette's on ebay right before I left. It's hard these days to photograph things when even the daylight isn't light enough.

In Poland it's a muffinka, in Germany grandma calls it a 'mooffin'.

Auf Wiedersehen!

2005-11-04T12:32:00.000-08:00

I'll leave you with a knitted, typically Bavarian snack: White sausages, Brez'n (pretzel), white radish and beer (why didn't they knit the beer?)
This image is from a postcard I picked up at a German yarn shop last year. I'll be back in three weeks!

Out of the cardboard

2005-10-31T02:18:00.000-08:00

Thank you all so very much for your well wishes regarding my neck and the compliments on the sweater. Your comments have been a great comfort over the past week and a half. I usually try and respond to everyone and I'm so sorry I haven't been able to this time, so instead of something written, I've been sending kind thoughts and wishes to each of you. If you had an eye tick, that might have been me ;-) While the chiropractor visit was successful and made me feel better, all of the sudden my fingers started cramping up, something that's never happened before. So there was little knitting and blogging, but lots of packing, because last weekend people, was 'The Move'. Where I crammed some more stuff into my already existing 3'x4' storage locker, and the rest of my possessions into a 5'x7'x7' plywood box, which now sits 20 feet up in a warehouse. A few choice items now reside in bf's room. Yarn and needles, of course, laptop and various i-gadgets. After running 31 stairs up and down countless times, I'm sore. Everywhere. Even my eyeballs hurt, after looking at 353 cubic feet of stuff.
But here goes the knitting: First a pair of man socks aka Thursday socks for bf, made of Lana Grossa yarn, meilenweit something, his pick. Modeled on me.

Second, a pair of man socks aka Friday socks for bf, made of Lana Grossa meilenweit something. Modeled on me, a surprise for bf, to be handed over while saying good-bye at the airport come Friday. See, bf said a while ago that he would love to have a pair of handknit socks for every work day, because they feel so good and keep his feet so toasty. While I told him sternly that no way was he getting another pair until his b-day in January, my melting heart went to the LYS right away for more Lana Grossa, his favorite. And because he wanted 'a pattern' after seeing all my socks, he got some fancy 2x2 rib down to the toe!

So my socks and Lila have been on the back burner. I'm not sure I'll finish either before Friday, what with the sausages dangling from the logs attached to my body.
But here is a question for you guys: Anyone been to Poland, specifically Warsaw or Krakow? Are there yarn shops, or anything cool aside from the obvious Lonely Planet listings that you've seen or heard of? I'll be there(Warsaw) for four days while my mom is attending a teacher conference. I'm taking the train to Krakow for a daytrip.
One of my huge Noro shawls will be with me, to shield me from the Siberian winds. Bring on the vodka!
Oops, I almost forgot! Two fabulous knitters (Angela and Winnie) have tagged me with a knitting meme:

What is your all time favorite yarn to knit with?
Oh, knit with is different than wear, right? I love knitting with Noro Silk Garden, it's exciting to see the colors melt into each other, and the sheen and touch is beautiful. I also love Debbie Bliss Cathay, because it slips so easily off the needles. Nature's Palette is such a treat, despite it's tendency to split. I happily wear Calmer, but I didn't really enjoy knitting it.

Your favorite needles?
A couple of years ago I purchased a complete set of old Phildar circs from eBay for $20. They've worked fine for me, as do the old unidentifiable plastic ones I have. My dpn's are all bamboo, whichever brand is cheapest at my LYS. I haven't tried any of the needles people rave about, so maybe I'm missing out? I did finger a pair of Lantern Moon needles at the LYS yesterday, but I've been hesitant to spend this much ($32) on needles, when I already have every size.

The worst thing you've ever knit?
I look at my projects like ex boyfriends, while some weren't great, I learned from all of them, so it's hard to pinpoint the worst. Maybe that vest from a 1920's knitting book, which is so nicely knit yet so impractical. I was in a Great Gatsby mode and the yarn went so well with a pair of Marlene style trousers I have.
But the worst I've ever knit WITH.....oh, that'd be Rowan Yorkshire Tweed DK.

Your most favorite knit pattern? (maybe you don't like wearing it...but it was the most fun to knit)
Clapotis - so simple, such stunning results. Wendy's toe-up socks - this pattern launched the sock knitting addiction.

Most valuable knitting technique?
Grafting!

Best knit book or magazine?
I like Nancy Wiseman's Finishing Techniques, which has helped me lots. I love the instructional drawings in Interweave Knits but rarely their patterns. Knitty has been helpful many times.

Your favorite knit-a-long?
I've never done one.

Your favorite knitblogs?
Well, there's the list to the right which hasn't been updated in ages, but there are so many more, all for different reasons.

Your favorite knitwear designer?
Kim Hargreaves and I'm always inspired by fashion designers such as James Coviello, Alexander McQueen, Yoshi Yamamoto and Dries van Noten.

The knit item you wear the most? (how about a picture of it!)
Debbie Bliss' Cabled Jacket from The Cashmere Collection, knit in Rowanspun Chunky cardamom. Favorite hang-out comfy cardi in squishy soft yarn.

Who's next? You guys are it.
Lori, Blossom, Tari, Annie, Jo

The Yoshi sweater

2005-10-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend was supposed to see Lila finished, pictures taken of sweater and bf socks and more socks, but nothing happened. I've become stuck, or more precisely, my neck. I've noticed that sometimes my body tenses up while I'm knitting. Not just lightly, but my jaw will be clenched, my shoulders are rolled forward, my head is bend down. I have to constantly tell myself to relax and sit properly, straightening my back and shoulders the way I do when I'm not knitting. But unless I hold up my hands level with my eyes, the head droops. Shoulder muscles turn into steel blades, neck and head aches ensues. And sometimes, a vertebrae gets stuck. It's time to see the chiropractor. Until then, not much knitting.
But I did a little bit of packing and stumbled upon the sweater that marked the re-entry into knitting fever two plus years ago. A sweater I made up from scratch, using Peruvian wool and Rowan Kidsilk Haze stranded together, inspired by this Yoshi Yamamoto design:

It was described as a two piece, and I thought it would be very easy to copy. Knit a top, then a looong scarf seamed up at the ends to create sleeves. Here is my version:

Even though I've been knitting since I was little, it's only in the past two years that I've learned more about yarn and its properties and different knitting techniques. Had I known then what I know now, I would have used a thinner, and stiffer wool for this project, or maybe just mohair double stranded. I would have tightened my stitches to eliminate the 'ladders' you can see in the sleeves (the arms were knit in the round, as was the top). Or I might not have knit the sweater at all, as it is too warm for this here climate and requires a lot of fussing to have the wrapped shawl look good and stay put. Which it only does if you stand perfectly still.

The armscarf is about 11' long and knit in garter stitch while the top is stockinette. It was easy mindless knitting, and I made up the instructions as I went along. While I don't wear this sweater, I love it nonetheless. It was started with a "hey I can make that myself" and I did. Lesson learned: Think hard about copying another designer sweater.

New Beginnings

2005-10-10T09:01:00.000-07:00

Thank you all so much for your encouraging words on the crochet squares. I think having been a professional bookmaker has given me the ability to become easily detached from my works, which transferred over to my other crafts. There wasn't much love left for the squares, but I view them differently now and started to mull around ideas, and suggestions from you guys. It'll be a while though before I'll get working on them, as everything is being packed up right now. I'm moving out of the flat at the end of October (bye bye messy mates), my stuff gets put into storage, I'm going to Europe for three weeks, and when I get back, I'll be homeless. Well, I'll be staying with BF until I find a place with fewer and neater roomies (with rent going around $1200 for a one bedroom, living alone in SF is unfortunately not an option), hopefully a garden, in a quieter neighborhood. Hooray!
I was more than pleasantly surprised this morning when I looked at the newest Vogue Knitting preview. I've never bought a copy before, because there ususally were only a couple of pieces, if any, I liked. Sure enough, in the upcoming issue they have some not so pretty items, but they also have these:
Something for KSH fanatics maybe

This jacket is simply gorgeous

I love the idea of translating a typically Victorian high-neck lace blouse into - my mole eyes can't quite make it out - crochet?

It's hard to see but I think it's a pretty jacket. No zipper for me though.

There are also some cute capelets/ shoulder warmers, and while I'm not sure I'd wear these out, I might make one as a "house" capelet, the perfect accessory for a hermit. I'm not really one for fussy accessories when I'm out and about, a long scarf is usually all I can deal with. But go check it out, there are also some nice projects in Highland Swing.

When Pigs Crochet!

2005-10-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

That Anthropologie shawl? Yeah, soo pretty and what a match for the Koigu. To be honest, I posted that picture because I feel like I always have to include a picture in a post, for interest, because I'm not writing any dramas here. And it went so well with the Koigu. But there won't be any crocheting multiple pieces that need to be connected chez Craftoholic unless I finish this:

This is the oldest and biggest UFO in my life. It's supposed to be this:

Well, actually, my version is larger. A lot. I saw this pretty tablecloth maybe thirteen or so years ago in a women's magazine. Back in those days, dainty crochet was big. And boy, was I into crochet. I was also into all things lacy, dried roses, china painted with Peter Rabbit and leather hatboxes. Those days are over, though I still have the Peter Rabbit set and a couple of hat boxes. In storage, for when I have a cute Victorian in SF (insert title). So this tablecloth, started in the early 90's, originally measured five by five feet, consisting of crocheted squares (most are still unblocked)

and embroidered linen squares. But sometimes my ideas tend towards the megalomaniacal, and I wanted the ultimate, amazing crocheted-linen-ed bedcover. Or even more romantic, having something to drape above a four-poster. I got crocheting with a tiny hook and white thread, and seven years later there were 31 crochet squares, just waiting for the linen squares. I stalled, because I never quite liked the flower motif of the magazine piece and wanted to design something more art deco looking. I think the first and only drawing is still around. Part of me wants to finish this. Part of me wonders whether I'll want to use it. Maybe I should leave the linen squares plain. Then maybe the squares should just go back into the plastic bag, so that I can take them out every ten years and wonder if I should finish this.
That cute wrap? (See title)

K.O.I.G.U.

2005-10-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

Koigu KPM, dye code: 1160, dye lot: 37.
We could do a 1160 knit-along, hehe, who's ever done a particular color knit-along??? Just joking. Pattern ideas are starting to form in my head already. Here is how it goes: It starts with the color. Gothic. This sends me thinking of Sadie Frost in Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, the cathedral in Reims, my early teens (I was more "Waver" [New Wave] though, think Gary Numan, Visage, Bladerunner). These might become knee-highs, at last. We'll see.
The BF: He's got some expensive hobbies, so he's a good enabler when it comes to yarn. But don't take him clothes-shopping. Just like a toddler with a tantrum ;-)
Here's another little wrap from Anthropologie, the crocheted Daisy Web Shawl. Would be perfect for the 1160.

A little bit of everything

2005-10-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

I tried to hold out. Honestly. But you know how it goes: you read blogs, you see people buying gorgeous yarn, making gorgeous socks and then you find yourself running errands on a lazy Saturday and BF asking if there's anywhere else you'd like to go. All of a sudden synapses are breaking down and before you can try to be stoic and restrained your heart races faster and you blurt out "yarn store!". But it is dangerous to have BF as a partner in buying sock yarn. He loves the socks I make for him and gives me the sad puppy look so that we leave the LYS not just with two skeins of Koigu for me, but also a skein of Lana Grossa Meilenweit Magic for him (he gets to pick it). So here is this weekend's bounty:

Koigu in a color I would describe as 'gothic'. The camera lit it just a bit, so imagine this darker,almost black, with cabernet tones shining here and there.

BF's Meilenweit is being turned into socks already. My hand was shaking uncontrollably when taking this picture, could it have been due to all that stripey goodness?
And here my wip du jour, the sweater which will be known as 'Lila'. Lila (pronounced lee-lah) means purple in German and is also one letter short of spelling lilac. Terribly creative, I know. I have one sleeve (pictured) finished and half the body (it's knit in the round). The yarn doesn't knit up very evenly, it's very stretchy. But I think it'll get better after blocking. And to be honest, I'm not very concerned with stitch appearance here, as it will be a lounge-about-the-house sweater.

Inspiration

2005-09-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

Here a few things from the Anthropologie website I found interesting. They would be so easy to duplicate, and in this case for a lot less money. Anyone else wonder whether the now extinct J. Peterman catalog writers are currently employed by A.? I get a kick out of their product descriptions.

Got PDF?

2005-09-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

Yes I do, yes I do!!! See the sidebar, under Patterns? if you click you will get to a site where you can download the charts for my socks as pdf's. Thanks again to Winnie who spoon-fed me how to get this set up. Now it seems all so easy. I often have a hard time just finding the right resources. Thank heavens for tech savvy knitbloggers! Let me know if you have any problems with the patterns by comment or email (see right)
A lot of de-stashing has happened. I sold a bag of Rowan Yorkshire Tweed dk on ebay, which was supposed to become the Tyrolean Cardi from Vintage Style. Let me tell you, YT is the yuckiest yarn I've ever knit with. It is dry, stringy and knits up into the ugliest fabric. The color, 'cheer' would have been pretty had it not been for the tweedy bits of intense purple. I love mauves and dusty lilacs and plums, but this purple was neon-tie-dye-eyeball hurting bad. And they dropped the Rowanspun line for this?? There you go, I've never ragged on anything this bad. But, I had a skein of YT in dark brown sitting around and a skein of Crystal Palace Merino Frappe in a pretty plum, which I bought to make the SNB Spiderweb capelet. Suffice to say that I did not enjoy knitting the capelet and knew I'd never wear it. But the two yarns combined were perfect for making a pair of Eowyn handwarmers from Rowan 38:

Knit on US 7 needles in the round instead of flat as the pattern says. I knit six repeats of the lace for a perfect width. My hands are covered, yet have enough room to move comfortably. Project two is a scarf which needs to go into a dyebath before considered finished, and I have started a sweater (yes, I have overcome my Aimee post partum) with this:

Rowan Cork in Chilly. Lately I'm in love with purl. Not actually purling, no, just knitting and then turning it over to drool over those wonderful little purls. I'm making a sweater of my own design, though ideas are borrowed from this:

Beth from Rowan's Ribbon Twist collection. Because I live in a drafty old house, I often wear my comfy fleece camping jacket around the house. But I want something a little cuter, a slouchy yet shaped sweater with a tunic-style neck opening, arms and body knit in the round, for minimal irritation in regards to seaming and comfort. The cork is squishy and lovely to knit up. I hope this turns out the way I picture it!

Meet Bubby

2005-09-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hi there, my name is Bubby.

My mom had a bit of Rowanspun Chunky left and after two days of knitting, I was born. She used #7 needles, and some brown yarn to give me eyes and a really big nose. I've been bugging her to make me some clothes as this place is a bit drafty. She keeps mumbling about having some sock yarn scraps. I hope I get a sweater soon!

Mom says, go to Knitty and make yourself a Bubby too.

All about Socks

2005-09-19T10:44:00.000-07:00

Linking to a pdf. Maybe it just can't be done with Blogger?!

Believe me, for a week now I've tried to figure out how to put this picture up nice and big, but it's no use. Tried many other things. Now my eyes hurt from squinting at the screen. If you're afraid your eyes will hurt trying to decipher this chart, then please click on it; it'll lead you to a bigger one on my flickr account. Or I can email it to you. The talented Winnie of Knitting Escapism made this chart and kindly emailed it to me so I could post it. You should check out her latest post, she just finished the Springgrass knee-highs and they are fabulous. Initially mine were supposed to be knee-highs as well, but I wasn't happy with the way I worked the increases. Looking at Winnie's, she made the increases just like I did and they look fine. So, some time in the future, there will be a knee-high pair for me too. Not soon though, I'm a little socked out at the moment. This pair was finished just a few days ago, using my very own simple pattern.

It's just a yo,k2tog spaced every eight stitches, and every fourth round it moves one over, creating this simple but lovely spiral pattern. I call them my Mata Hari socks, don't ask why. Maybe it's the delicious red, and the yo's are like little bullet holes. Yes, I have an overactive imagination. My camera savvy BF also figured out a way to photograph the red in its true color (the above photo isn't) I didn't realize you could change film speed on our little digital camera, but you can, he changed the speed to 400, resulting in very true red pictures.

The color is right on, on both my iBook and the work PC.

They are knit top-down as I wanted to get better at picking up stitches without holes. These are my best top-down pair so far. But I think I prefer toe-up with short-rows for wearing comfort.

Koigu, and I just lost the band with all the info. They softened up nicely after a bath.

Knitty!!!

2005-09-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

The new Knitty is up, and I had a good chuckle when I checked out the Falling Leaves socks by Jessica Landers. She took the same pattern from Nicky Epstein's Knitting on the Edge for her socks as I did for my Springgrass Socks, except she didn't mirror it. There are some very nice sweaters and cardis in this issue, but my favorite is Bubby, a little bear with the cutest expression. Now I know what to do with all those half skeins in my stash.

New Ideas

2005-09-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

It didn't look like there was a whole lot of Lurex left on the ball, honestly. But I seriously underestimated the remaining yardage. I made another ornament last night and there is still a lot left. While it may not be enough for a calendar, I might follow Angela's great idea of using them for Christmas cards. Thanks Angela!
Lately I've been noticing some beautiful knits in fashion mags. Here are a few that I had to rip. This jacket is by TSE if I remember correctly:

Those cables are very pretty.It would look wonderful in that Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk dark turquoise shade. But I hear this yarn starts to pill as soon as you start knitting with it.
This Kimono sweater is by Akris:

I'm sorry it's hard to make out, but I picture this with very high moss stitch cuffs and hem, and a dainty lace pattern in between, in Elsebeth Lavold's Silk Wool, which makes a very drapey fabric. That skirt wouldn't be too hard to recreate either and a great opportunity to try some applique.
It's good to get excited again about knits that aren't socks.

Ornament

2005-09-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

Made from Rowan Lurex Shimmer in Antique White Gold, about 3.5" high. US#2 needles.
I've been in a stash reducing frenzy. The Lurex Shimmer, bought months ago, was supposed to become a handbag in combination with some sisal strung along. The swatch looked great, however, the sisal shedded so terribly over everything, it would not be practical for a bag. Then I had the idea to use it for a shrug, again in combination with another yarn, delicious Any Blatt Mohair. But this lurex is just too scratchy, it doesn't really work for clothing in my opinion. Since it's been all about socks lately here at Craftoholic and I love ornaments it seemed like a winning combo. I think a Marie Claire Maison X-mas issue from a few years back featured a silver knitted sock. Maybe I could make 23 more for an Advent calendar, how cute would that be? But one ball makes two socks, I need eleven more balls...oh, there would be no money left to buy the surprises to go into the socks...:(

Patterns for the Springgrass & Orchid Socks

2005-09-01T16:40:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry guys, I've been meaning to post this but due to everything that's been happening I have not been able to concentrate much. Here you go:
I won't include a tutorial on how to knit an actual sock, most of you already know how to, for those who don't, or are interested in some new techniques, here are some excellent links with pictures that can explain it much better than I could:
Socks 101, a top-down tutorial featured on www.Knitty.com
Also on Knitty, how to knit socks toe-up (I have used this tutorial to learn short-row toes and heels
And thanks to Jo, for posting a link to this great phototutorial on how to pick up stitches from the gusset without holes.
If you've ever wondered about how to do a yarn-over short-row toe-up sock, look at Purly's great photo story. Next pair I'll be trying that one for sure!
My socks are knit with 60 stitches total over four needles, so there are 15 sts on each needle. After completing the toe, I knit 4-6 rounds stockinette because I like my toes covered. Uneven rows are given, for even rows, knit sts as they appear, i.e knit the knit sts and the yo's, purl the purl sts. Pattern covers needle 1 and 2, do same for needle 3 and 4.

Springgrass Socks:

R 1: k1, p2, k2tog, yo, k5, yo, k3,skp, k2tog, k3, yo, k5, yo, skp, p2, k1
R 3: k1, p2, k2tog, k5, yo, k1, yo, k2, skp, k2tog, k2, yo, k1, yo, k5, skp, p2, k1
R 5: k1, p2, k2tog, k4, yo, k3, yo, k1, skp, k2tog, k1, yo, k3, yo, k4, skp, p2, k1
R 7: k1, p2, k2tog, k3, yo, k5, yo, skp, k2tog, yo, k5, yo, k3, skp, p2, k1
R 9: k1, p2, k2tog, k2, yo, k1, yo, k5, skp, k2tog, k5, yo, k1, yo, k2, skp, p2, k1
R11:K1, p2, k2tog, k1, yo, k3, yo, k4, skp, k2tog, k4, yo, k3, yo, k1, skp, p2, k1
Repeat rows 1 through 12 as many times as you need to achieve the wanted sock length.

Orchid Socks:

This pattern requires the shifting of sts in some rows, so don't be alarmed when you have to move them. You will only shift between needles 1&2, and 3&4.
R 1: k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, k1, skp, k1, k2tog, k1, yo, p1, skp, k1, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
R 3: k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, k1, skp, k1, k2tog, k1, p1, sl1, k2tog, psso, yo, k3, yo, k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
R 5: k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, k1, yo, skp, k1, k2tog, k2tog, yo, k5, yo, k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
R 7: k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, k3, yo, sl1, k2tog, psso, k1, yo, k1, skp, k1, k2tog, k1, yo, k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
R 9: k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2, yo, k5, yo, skp, k1, skp, k1, k2tog, k1, yo, k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, yo, k2
Repeat rows 1 through 10.
If you encounter any problems please leave a comment and I'll try my best to help.
k2tog= knit two sts together
sl1,k2tog, psso= slip one st, knit two sts together, then pass slipped st over the the one just made
skp= slip one st, knit one st, pass slipped st over
yo= yarn over
Oh and what's the deal with the Koigu? My beautiful, sinful, blood red Koigu feels like package string compared to the Handjiveknits Nature's Palette. I washed a swatch and it hasn't gotten softer. Could it be the needle size, I'm using US#2's? What size needles are you guys using? Has anyone had a bad experience? I've read nothing but praise so far about Koigu.

Orchid Socks

2005-08-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

These have been done for a week, but due to a nasty head cold I had to quarantine myself and deny the photographer access so he wouldn't get sick. I remember reading blogs, so if I've left a comment on anyone's blog that made no sense, I'm sorry! Sinus meds put me in a haze. I also owe some emails, soon soon! Anyway, these here socks are made from Nature's Palette Fingering Weight Merino in orchid. I did them toe-up, short-row toe and heel. The lace pattern is a mix of doing yo, k2tog twice and the leaf pattern is from a sweater in Rebecca 28. It looks identical to MJ's scarf, so you could also look it up in the book she references. I might just write it up together with the Springgrass socks pattern, let me know if you're interested in the patterns and I'll put them on the blog.

Initially I wanted to make them knee-highs, but I didn't place the increases right, the lace pattern stretched too much and it looked bad. I frogged the trial sock, but not enough, so now one sock is one pattern repeat higher.

I'm not sure yet if that will bother me...you know, trying to be non-chalant about the mistake while the inner perfectionist is having a fit. Let's see who wins.

What else is new? I've been hovering in the knitting doldrums lately and I'm not sure why. I've noticed that other knitters have been feeling them too, so I'm not alone. In my case, I feel a little overwhelmed by my stash. You'd probably laugh if you saw it, as it all fits in one bin. So I've been trying to come up with projects to reduce it, yet nothing has caught my fancy. I frogged Butterfly because I dropped a stitch and wasn't able to retrieve it. The Corset Pullover is scaring me because it looks so tiny even though I know the yarn relaxes after a wash. I've lost my confidence, and that's why I've been sticking to socks (since I for sure don't need any more scarves). So here's what I got from my LYS to keep the hands busy until I figure out how to get back on the horse:

Two skeins of Koigu, in a color that can't be photographed, a color that I have a hard time describing, a dark red with a hint of magenta. Glowing from the inside like the sun shining through a red robe in a stained-glass window. It's religious and sinful. It'll be the antidote to the blues on a chilly winter morning. Did I mention it'll be another pair of socks?

Ignorance sometimes is bliss

2005-08-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

It's not a Debbie pun.

A couple of weekends ago I attended a one-day encaustic workshop. Encaustic is a process of layering beeswax mixed with resin on a panel (preferably wood). You can create collages covered by the medium, or mix the medium with colors, scratch into it and fill the scratches with oil pastels. There are a lot of possibilities and one of the reasons taking this class for me was that I wanted to create images like these. I've seen Thea Schrack's work in person during the Hunter's Point Open Studios here in SF (this was a yearly event that sadly will no longer happen as the area is being transformed into new housing). They are really stunning, and the color seems to be glowing from within. Very ethereal, hence perfect for the romantic Craftoholic. I had brought a bunch of photographs I took in India(copies of them, as the beeswax won't stick to photo according to my teacher) and a lot of excitement which got toned down when I realized that I wasn't going to do what I thought I would. Working with the medium is extremely difficult as you're holding a heating gun in one hand to keep everything warm, and a brush with the hot medium in the other. It's very hard to produce a smooth even film, which didn't seem to be the purpose though. I tried to work on some collages, but couldn't get into the groove of it. As I got increasingly frustrated with my lack of creating that perfect piece of art in my mind's eye, silently berating myself for having spent money for this when I could have bought yarn and beads instead, something snapped in my head. I decide to just have fun. To not care to make it beautiful, to keep the oil paste neatly in the ridges, to not worry about whether this would look like my imaginary 4-year old had drawn it. I slopped on the wax, carved and mushed paint into the grooves, and stopped thinking.

It was the most fun I've had in a while. Letting go of the thinking and just enjoy the doing.

Butterfly fluttered by

2005-08-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Here are four repeats of the hem, knit on US7 needles.

It looks so...loose, but I guess that's the point. I'm just not used to the look because I'm more familiar with crocheting lace, where thin cotton yarn and a tiny needle give you very crisp stitches and a defined pattern.

The color is 'bleached', which is a milky white. I may end up dipping this in hibiscus tea once it's done, to give it a hint of color.
And here is a peak at one of my orchid socks. It is in limbo at the moment, mid-calf high and awaiting a fancy don't know what yet bind-off. I'm past the ankle on the second sock. I wanted to make them knee-highs, but have had trouble getting the increases to look good. I wonder if it's better to make knee-highs top-down instead of toe-up? Anyone know?

The colors in this picture are incredibly accurate...what with all the gloom outside.

Earthly Treasures

2005-08-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

Kim is popping out one gorgeous collection after another. Why oh why couldn't all these be in the new Rowan mag??? I love every single item! Now lady, you did it. I swore I wouldn't support that whole kit thing. But my willpower is deleted away click by click.....

Orchids and Butterfly

2005-08-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

For the past week and a half or so I've been stuck in a biorythmical valley the depth of the Mariana trench. This was due to things unavoidable, like the chilly weather, messy roommates, homesickness, anxiety about my review at work (it was great), and the bad news that a friend had an aneurism. But things are looking up again, my friend is recovering, and my spirits are coming back. There has been knitting, but BF's sister borrowed the camera, so no pictures yet. I'm working on another pair of socks in that Nature's Palette 'orchid' I showed you a few posts back. I'd like them to be knee-highs, but will most likely stop when the yarn ends, as I don't want to buy a third skein. And inspired by Blossom I started Butterfly from Rowan 37, again. I've started and frogged it so many times in the past year, I'm surprised I'm still into it. But what else am I going to do with three balls of KSH in 'bleached'? I'm all shawl-ed out at the moment, so no suggestions needed ;-). I had used the suggested #8 needles and found the resulting swatch to be just a mess of holes instead of beautiful lace. The #7 I'm using now are making it look better, but as soon as I get a picture I'll need some input on whether it looks like it's supposed to. More satisfying at the moment is the corset pullover, which I decided will be knit in the round. There's no reason why not. I knit a few rounds the other day and the Cathay is still amazing. So soft and drapey, it's tactile Prozac. After I had knit up my swatch, I took to carrying it around with me and kept it on my leg while driving to work. No more road rage for me, whenever someone cut me off, I just petted the swatch. Instant calm, I tell you.
I've also shared my disdain about the new Rowan mag with a few bloggers, but it looks like I might have been beating it up a little too quickly. Now that there are more and bigger pictures abound, I've found a few pieces that are very pretty indeed. With some I'm hovering in that nebulous area of ugly pretty, that feeling where you somewhat repulsed, yet strangely in love. Like this, they call it a poncho, but is it really? I don't think so...is it a swoncho? A sweater with huge dolman sleeves?

And this..scarf? Have I fallen on my head? I think it's ridiculous, I don't think I'd ever wear it. But I want it.

Now this coat. I might choose different colors, but it could be quite nice, I will have to search for a belt just like this though, because the belt gives the coat that 'je ne sais quoi'

This pattern look interesting, though I could see that sweater requiring some shaping adjustments:

And these gloves are very cute, but I really want the dress:

I love this jacket but it's made from 'Big Wool'. I love BW, it's so soft, but it makes the model look like a football player, and she's probably a size 2

This issue has a few things that inspire me to change them around rather than follow the pattern exactly. Maybe some stash busters as well.
Oh and I bought more yarn. Where's that camera.....?

Lambtown USA

2005-08-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to my first ever sheep festival, which happened in Dixon, about 65 miles west of San Francisco. Somehow I had completely missed out on all the great events that had been happening so far this year in California, I wasn't going to miss this one. BF and I got up early, dressed in very little with warm jackets on top ('cause it's barely 60 in the city but probably 90+ out there) and set off for a day of watching sheep, eating lamb (BF) and buying yarn (me). They had a special pavillon filled with fiber vendors and I have to admit that I was completely overwhelmed (though I'm sure that seasoned fiber festival people might have found it small). There were heaps of fleece, gorgeous yarns, spinning wheels whirring, a teenage boy needle-felting and this little cutie:

I had to keep an eye on BF so he wouldn't sneak the little guy back home with us. We petted sheep and watched the sheep dog herding competition, chatted with an ostrich and emu farmer and just hung out. Dixon is a small town and this festival had a very smalltown feel to it. In another building, the local library sold off old books for 10 cents, and I found some vintage children's books with beautiful illustrations. Because I freeze up when I'm bombarded with a lot of pretty stuff I didn't end up buying very much. One booth I couldn't resist though, Janet Heppler of Nebo Rock Textiles had the most beautiful hand-dyed mohair, and also some gorgeous woven scarves. I bought this from her:

32 oz of the softest mohair dyed in dark plums with hints of caramel and grey blue shining through.

I'm not quite sure yet what I'll use it for, most likely a scarf or wrap. Right now it just sits happily on my desk where I can fawn over it. I also bought something else....but I'll leave that for another post. Janet also gave me flyers to some upcoming events which I won't be missing:
* The 8th Annual California Wool& Fiber Festival in Boonville, Sept 16-18 (www.fiberfestival.com); and the
* Natural Fiber Fair in Redway, Oct 1&2. If you need more info let me know and I'll email you.

Silly Socks

2005-08-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

About a week ago I started a pair of socks for BF, knit with Lana Grossa Meilenweit Safari. He picked the yarn and it was a lot of fun to knit up, I finished them on Saturday. My internet connection has been problematic, so after many attempts, here they are:

At some point during the second sock, I must have knit more loosely as the pattern stopped matching. But they are pretty silly to begin with, and BF loves them.

I've been stalling on my Corset Pullover. I made a swatch with the Cathay, and after washing and tossing it got bigger and I got perfect gauge. So I cast on for the 35+" size and knit a few inches, but it looks tiny. Now, I know that it will expand after washing, but it's scary to knit something that looks like it'd be perfect for a six year old. Then it occurred to me I might want to knit it in the round. So it's been stewing, and I just need to sit down and do some math and tell myself it will work out.

More boxing than knitting

2005-07-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

First, thank you all for your nice comments on my socks! I'm still feeling the euphoria from having learned new things and completed something I like 100%. I promptly went to my LYS to pick up more sock yarn, some for BF, because he asked for another pair of socks, he chose the yarn ( I actually forgot what it was, but should have some pictures this weekend). And some for me. More of the Nature's Palette, which has really grown on me after a short initial dislike. Their colors are just too pretty. This one is called orchid

I'm working on the BF socks right now but I won't be getting too much knitting done over the next couple of weeks as I'm making a whole bunch of these guys:

marbled paper covered boxes for a client. A few years back, I made my living as a bookbinder, and I still do some work here and there.

Spring-Heeled Steph *

2005-07-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

Somewhere at the beginning of my blog I mentioned I wasn't too excited about knitting socks. Oh man, was I ever wrong! During the whole Aimee trial I went to my LYS and picked up two skeins of Nature's Palette in the color spring grass, which is a softly variegated mix of aqua and snowpea green. I knitted them toe-up with short row heels, with a branch pattern from Nicky Epstein's 'Knitting over the Edge' which I mirrored to create the leaves in the middle. I love these socks, they were so much fun to knit! So please excuse the deluge of pictures:

close up

the yarn also dyed my needles:

* I've been dancing around to Morrissey; 'Spring-Heeled Jim' is one of my favorite songs.

Aimee, at last!

2005-07-21T19:11:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help it, I had to finish the new Harry Potter book first. And then I had to get over its outcome. But here is Aimee:

close up and a bit overexposed

I started on June 1st and finished last weekend. Since the yarn was recycled from a former (awful) poncho, I don't exactly know how much I used, I think the pattern calls for 4 balls. I made a few modifications: Added two more pattern repeats, changed the waist shaping, changed the arm shaping, omitted the shoulder shaping and used a three needle bind-off. The best change I made was knitting one st stitch after each edge stitch, even when the pattern asked for a yo or a k2tog after the edge st. It made seaming much easier. At some point I wondered whether I should have left out the ribbon opening, but the weight of the ribbon helps to keep the shape, as it has a tendency to get wider. I need to put it away now. I'm sure I'll get excited about it again when I pull it out in autumn.

Much better!

2005-07-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for their feedback on Aimee. I knew I needed to rip but sometimes you just need to get that nudge to feel confident about it. My needles and fingers have been on fire as I will have no desire to pick this up once the new Harry Potter comes out and I get my Cathay. On the right is the new back (old front on the left):

I did a lot less increases and added another pattern repeat as I wasn't quite happy with the length (the pieces have the tendency to really stretch out horizontally). What a difference!
(Oh no, the postman just brought the Cathay. I'm shoving it in a drawer. It's not here. No, it isn't)
On to the front.

Ripping Aimee ?

2005-07-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

It was one of those weekends where I attempted to work on so many projects that I became completely overwhelmed and ended up just eating and snoozing a lot. I also tried to avoid thinking about what to do with Aimee, though deep down I think I do.

See the bunching by the armpit? It does that on both sides. You can't see it too much on the front because it gets smooshed towards the back. When I first posted about this sweater, I mentioned concern about how far the little 'wings' (that area where you have increased from the waist and now decrease for the armholes) were coming out. I really should have trusted my inner knitter and changed the increases. But I trusted that the wings were ok, because they seemed ok when I draped the pieces on my body or when I compared them to another sweater. What happened? Everything else seems to be just fine, but all I see when I try it on is the bunches. Should I rip the front and back and do less increases? What would you do?
(add: My former MIL used to call me Perstephanie. She thought it was a "cute" way of calling me persnickety without incurring my disdain, because I insisted on washing my whites in the hot cycle and making mashed potatoes from scratch....so in regards to Aimee, am I being too perstephanie??)
Excuse the picture, that's what you get when you try to photograph yourself from the back. Made me wish I was a contortionist.
Because craftywise nothing was going right, I took comfort in food. I made a huge batch of Butternut Squash Cannelloni with Sage-Walnut Cream Sauce (recipe from Martha Stewart 2002 cookbook) and this amazing Strawberry Salad

If you're close to a Trader Joe's, get a bag of their Herb Salad mixture, some strawberries, TJ's Strawberry Balsamic vinegar, a tub of Gorgonzola crumbs, olive oil and black pepper. Mix to your liking. It's incredible and so easy to make. (I tasted this in the store from their little test kitchen)

Where's the love?

2005-07-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

Whenever I held Aimee's parts to my body, they looked PERFECT. I was so happy with the way I shaped the neck and shoulders. The three needle bind-off looked awesome. Then I tried Aimee on.....guess what? The armholes are toooooo big! So big that, if I turned into an Indian goddess and had two more arms coming out of the sides of my body, they would easily fit through the armholes. I don't know how this happened. I put Aimee on top of another sweater and it all looked fine. Did she secretly stretch out over the weekend while I was gone, trying to get a peak at the fireworks outside the window??
Unfortunately I have no photo at the moment as I misplaced the transfer cord. I thought maybe I could reblock the pieces, but the lacepattern is very stretchy and not willing to get any smaller. So I'll just have to unravel and make the front and back shorter. That should do it. Hm.
I comforted myself with a trip to the LYS to pick up two skeins of this:

Nature's Palette in the colorway springgrass. This is going to become a quick make-me-happy knit, maybe a pair of socks or a little scarf, something I can take along. Usually I try to have just one knit going, to avert the fate that has befallen so many of my sewing projects, which is the ufo limbo. But I crave some knitting satisfaction, this week please, or maybe next, but soon!
At least the jewelry isn't getting all bendy on me. Here are some more necklaces I made:

On the left, gold-filled wire. In the middle, labradorite and carnelian round beads. On the right, moonstone and freshwater pearl.

Yarn breaks bones (sort of..)

2005-07-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you how back in March I managed to fracture a rib whilst shopping at my LYS. If you're expecting something dramatic, like a crazy lady holding up the store for yarn and me tackling her, or me climbing up on a shelf because I spotted discounted Noro, I have to disappoint you. It wasn't that glamorous. But it reinforced my decision to not, ever, go near a ball of eyelash yarn again. So, here it goes: Having a leisurely Saturday at my LYS, after working my way through the wools and the cottons, I ended up in front of the, uh, blends and others section. I looked at it and had to sneeze. It was the biggest sneeze ever but I tried to keep it quiet and demure. My body contracted and I heard and felt a crack, followed by the most breathtaking pain. Really, I just stood there, staring at the eyelash yarn, unable to move, eyes popping. I didn't know what happened. I managed to pay for some cotton I had picked out, walked out of the store and decided I had pulled a muscle and would be ok. But the pain got worse, so I thought, hm, maybe I should go to the ER. The closest medical center was about five blocks away, on top of a hill. I didn't even have the sense to get a cab, so I walked there. X-rays were taken, ribs got poked (ouch, did 'ya have to poke where it hurts???), painkillers were given. My rib was fractured, and it would take almost two months to not feel like a had a blade stuck in my chest. Two months of no LYS.
I blame the eyelash.

New Patterns

2005-06-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

I flipped through the new Interweave Knits during lunch today. I've never bought a copy before as I've only ever liked one project or two. It's the same this time:

The Greek pullover and the vintage jacket are pretty. I like some of the bulky sweaters as well, but they're not practical for our climate. I also love this scarf from Kim Hargreave's website:

This pattern is called 'Flourish', and just like everything else on her site it only comes as a kit. But it's not offered in a color that I'd like (Candy Girl, Villain or Bleached), so I'm going to try to figure it out myself. It's crocheted with, I'm pretty sure, two strands or more of KSH.
The new Phildar Summer magazine is out and I'm not overwhelmed. These two cardis are cute:

There are similar ones in the previous mags though, so I won't be buying this one either. I'm so curious about the new Rowan and Rebecca, and it's only June!

On Aimee, finery, and the future

2005-06-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

Aimee's front is finished. I have no picture because it looks pretty much like the back (see a few posts ago). I've made some changes to the front and will change the back accordingly. The pattern calls for a a shaped shoulder (you know, where you bind off some sts, turn, bind off some more, turn and then bind off the rest),but with the yo lace pattern it looked sloppy and impossible to seam. So after I finished shaping the front neck, I just knit all the rows straight up, ended with a row of stockinette, and kept the sts on a holder for a three-needle bind-off. I think this will turn out much neater and result in a sturdier seam. The sleeves are a different story. I want to knit them in the round, but dpn's made the lace pattern rather complicated (=I just couldn't deal). Now I'm going to try the two circs method. If you'd like to check out what that is all about, there is an excellent tutorial here.
To ameliorate my anxiety about seaming this oh so innocent little thing (how do you seam holes???) I relied on good old retail therapy:

Hmm, a whole bag full of Rowan Cork in the color 'chilly'. This will be for a self-designed cardi I was planning on making in fall. But if it continues to be gloomy and cold around here, I might get an early start on it.
I also thought more about the corset pullover. Initially I decided on Rowan Calmer. But then I got a ball of Debbie Bliss Cathay to play with, and I have to say, this stuff is abolutely gorgeous. Even stitches (with Calmer they always seem wonky), wonderful feel and shine (Calmer is more dull); I think Cathay may be the one. Now I know it's not really the right gauge...but I'll make that work somehow.
Because it feels good to finish at least something over the weekend, here are some necklaces I made:

On the left, gold-filled wire with labradorite; in the middle, gold-filled chain with half-opaque half-translucent aquamarine; on the right, gold-filled chain with tiny aquamarine rondels.

Ubiquity

2005-06-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

In the wintertime, chilly mists are hovering in the narrow alleys of Venice, perpetual soft-focus vision sharpens the hearing so I hear sooner than I see. It's the water, lapping lapping lapping gently, everywhere. Venetian water green he called the color of my eyes. Venetian water I think of when I wear this little wrap.

Pattern: Rebecca magazine 29
Yarn: 3.5 balls of GGH Soft Kid in light petrol, US5 needles
This was a fast and easy knit for me. Like many other knitters, I picked up the sts for the wrap-ties. I also crocheted around the front and back opening. For the sleeves I cast on with US4's because I wanted them to be snug, then I switched to 5's. I'm in love with this yarn.

Shedir

2005-06-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

I love a toasty head. Unfortunately most wooly hats make my head itch, even the soft cashmere one I got on sale from BR. Then I saw knitbloggers making Shedir from Knitty. The pattern was intriguing, plus the comfort of Rowan Calmer. I got a ball in the shade 'calmer' and knitted the hat on dpn's from beginning to end. My stitches look rather wonky and it took me over a week to finish it, but that's fine. I wore it today (June gloom is ripping through SF)

Knitting is my prime passion right now but I also sew, make jewelry, bind books, well, I'm your classic 'I can make that myself' girl. Sewing is the hardest for me, and despite having taking classes, I still feel like a total beginner. This Kimono top was a painless project. I used a McCalls pattern and a tan-indigo cotton fabric from my stash. I thought it would be a great lounging top for those hot days when my room turns into a sauna. Where are you, hot days???

Aimee in progress

2005-06-21T08:42:00.000-07:00

This is the back piece of Aimee from Rowan's Vintage Style. I pinned it to the wall for a better perspective. See, I thought I might have too many increases before the armhole, creating little wings that jut too far out. It seems ok when I put Aimee on a similar size sweater. I guess I'l just have to finish the front, sew 'em up and try it on. It wouldn't be too tragic if I had to rip it back, the lace pattern is worked on US7 needles and goes pretty fast.

Knitting hasn't progressed as much as it could have. The reason for this is that I've been dreaming about possible next projects and spent more time on the internet checking out yarns and knitting blogs. I love the corset pullover
(you can download the pattern for free from the website). For an absolutely gorgeous version, check out Cosmicpluto. I love the ribbon accent,this girl has great taste, evident in the color of her walls ;-)
Then there are countless Phildar cardis I'm oggling, as well as Tyrolean from Vintage Style and Laurent. Ah, choices...

Bliss-ed out...

2005-06-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

Since the pattern for the Debbie Bliss' Cabled Jacket was so much fun I decided to try another cardi from the same book, the Rib Detail Jacket (renamed Pool by me). It calls for aran weight yarn so I got some inexpensive Jaeger Shetland Aran from Jannette's on ebay. I chose the bright blue because I was in serious need for some intense color, but it was a close race because the light-turquoisy blue looked pretty as well. Light blue happens to be my favorite color, so I always think I have too much of it and must try something else(but a serious closet cleaning this weekend revealed very little light blue indeed. Hmmm...) Anyway, knitting this cardie during our grey March was very therapeutic. The yarn, despite coming unspun as you work with it, results in a very even fabric and drapes nicely. The Alpaca content gives it a slightly fuzzy finish. I used bluish grey mother-of-pearl buttons from my bottomless button bin (I had used white mop buttons for the Cabled Jacket). Problems I had with the pattern: The cuffs and lower arms were too tight, I discovered that after I had already finished one sleeve and was about to start the next. I cast on an additional eight stitches, added two more inches to the ribbed cuffs, and stopped the increases according to the pattern. I now wish I would have made less increases, as the upper sleeves are a little baggy. To save the first sleeve, I cut the buttom off (at the point were it had enough stitches to correspond to my new desired width, reknit the cuff and grafted the two pieces together. It worked really well, after blocking, you couldn't tell where the seam was).
The buttonholes are done with a YO and I love how they came out (unfortunately my camera doesn't do well upclose) While the yarn feels soft, I can't wear the sweater on my bare skin, yet the collar doesn't bother my neck, so it's fine with a thin long-sleeve underneath.
I don't know what's up with those Simpson's fingers, or the disappearing arms.

and bigger

I thought I'd be done with the front of Aimee by the end of the weekend, but I haven't been in the mood. It's getting warmer out, so either I hurry up and finish or get another project going.

Noroholism manifests in Lady Eleanor

2005-06-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

Soon I won't be just throwing this year's FO's at you (first socks and Nancy were made in 04) but show you what I'm working on now, which is this little sweater. I'm using the specified yarn in jelly, a gooseberry green. This yarn used to be the capelet from Judith Swartz's book 'Hip to Crochet'. What a failure! I ended up using nine (!) balls of ksh instead of six even though my gauge was right on. It looked terrible on and off, so I frogged it. I've heard many knitters freak out about frogging knitted ksh, but crochet takes the terror one step further. It became a battle of the wills, Craftoholic versus KSH. After a week, I won. Yes, I can be tenacious, hehe, I mean, no way would I let all that pretty (expensive) yarn go to waste. So far, the back is finished and the front is halfway done. I added one more pattern repeat right before the arm decrease so it would hit at the hips instead of the waist. I'll take pictures this weekend.
Oh and here is Lady Elenaor from Pam Allen's Scarf Style, which I knit in March. I bought a bag of Silk Garden #203 on ebay and aimed for a skein a day. Used 9.5 skeins for the scarf and the rest for the fringe (Grrr, fringe takes sooo loong). I finished after ten days of crazy knitting. Silk Garden makes me obsessive, the yarn just glows. I had to stop knitting for a while though to give my wrists a break.

At first I was scared I'd look like a jester wearing it, but now the colors put me by the Northern California coast line....green fields, oceanblue, redwoods and granite cliffs.

How I became a Noroholic

2005-06-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

During my trips through knitblog world I'd see so many beautiful Clapotis, in all kinds of yarns. I envisioned a summer Clapotis made of champagne colored silk, very subtle and elegant. Then one day I went to my LYS to get some inspiration and found, stuffed away on a bottom shelf, some Noro Silk Garden. I always thought I didn't like variegated yarn, but the soft colors of SG #88 were gorgeous, so I bought a skein, just to play around with. Back home, I remembered the Silk Garden Clapotis on the web. I cast on and was hooked. After seven days and almost seven skeins, she was done. One pattern repeat less wide, but six more repeats long, Clapotis got even longer after blocking. I've never been so happy with a project before. Here's to you, Kate Gilbert!

And here is the 'look how long it is' shot, sorry, it's a bit dark

I made the dress from a tan paper-like silk and dipped the bottom 12 inches into a bath of wild plum RIT dye. The pattern is a vintage slip.

Leafy Scarf

2005-06-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

Usually I have only one knitting project going. That said, there are times when that project bores me and I want to knit something start to finish in a day or two. While knitting the cabled jacket, I needed such a project. It became this scarf:

I got the pattern from the website of a German women's magazine, but I just went there and it looks like they're not featuring it anymore. I used two skeins of Rowan Big Wool #21, US#17 needles and after a couple of days I was done. It's so thick that I didn't make it long enough to wrap around my neck. Instead it's held together with a vintage pin. The wool has enough stretch so I can just pull the scarf off and don't have to unpin it, which would get old really fast ;-)