The sweetest words

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.