Did Gauss Knit?

Colorful dress

2010-07-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

A colorful cotton dress made from a Burda magazine pattern, with mystery cotton fabric I got in Boston. It is extremely colorful, but comfortable. It feels lovely to be wearing a dress, so I would like to sew and wear dresses more often.

Not much knitting to report lately. I think I'll try to use up some of my stash, since I have all this yarn collecting dust in my apartment. I'm almost done with a cowl in silk and cashmere.

First garden meal of the season

2010-06-09T14:37:00.000-07:00

I wish I could say I grew all everything in the following picture from seed:

... but I did not. The basil and dill came from transplants. Everything else - the oregano, several kinds of lettuce, several colors of nasturtiums - all came from seeds. The tomatoes are not ripe yet, but at the rate they are going they will be, soon.

Needless to say, this was one of the best salads I've ever eaten.

Craft cheating

2010-05-29T05:12:00.000-07:00

I've been sewing up a storm lately and I am enjoying discovering another crafty world. Knitting will probably still happen, but it's not the most exciting part of my life right now. It's also summer, and I have a garden and lots of good books, so the blog is taking a break for a while.

If you need to get in touch with me, I will still be on ravelry, nickname Gauss.

Thanks, and happy knitting!

Odds & ends & more craft cheating

2010-03-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

Some long overdue photos of the kimono shawl:

It's difficult to photograph black garments, and even more difficult to communicate how light and soft and amazing this shawl turned out. The yarn is a very thin lace weight cashmere from Hunt Valley Cashmere farm, bought a few years ago from Maryland Sheep & Wool. It took forever to knit the shawl, not only because it is a relatively fine gauge but also because the pattern itself is rather boring. I wanted a boring lace pattern for this, since I wanted to be able to see what is going on, but it meant that the shawl was never at the top of my knitting queue. Pair this with the desire to use up virtually all the yarn, and I ended up with a 2 meter long shawl that took over a year to make. I say it was worth it, though:

At the opposite end of the knitting spectrum, a quickie pair of socks for J, done mostly in ribbing, with a few twisted stitches at the top (before I realized that the twists all but invisible in this dark color, so why bother?).

What is that light green toe, you ask? That is what you do when the yarn is not quite enough. I am a bit bummed about this. I know the socks are on the longer side, as they hit mid-calf, but I've never had sock yarn run out before. Madelinetosh sock yarn felt wonderful on the needles and the color is great, I just wish it had 5 more yards in the skein!

Here is a closeup of the twists, inspired by a pair of socks in the Favorite Socks book. I hate twisted stitches with a passion, and this pair of socks confirmed that feeling. Not that I needed confirmation or anything...

Finally, what would my crafting life be without some dabbling in other crafts? On a recent visit to JoAnn's I wandered into the thread section. I think it's the most inspiring section of the big and sometimes scary store (who knew there is so much plastic crap marketed as "craft supplies"?) and armed with a 50% off coupon proceeded to ponder the counted cross-stitch kits. Something small to start with:

Peonies in a vase! I'm having a wonderful time stitching these and I am thrilled to see so many shades of pink and peach and mauve blend in one explosion of color:

The back of the work, for those who care about such things. I do, and it pains me that cross-stitch doesn't produce as neat of a back as petit-point:

Skew socks

2010-02-26T08:09:00.000-08:00

The fastest pair of socks ever: I knit one of them in a day!

"Skew" by Lana Holden, published as a Knitty surprise. As soon as I saw them I (and hundreds of other people) had to cast on. My lack of imagination in this case is clearly shown by my choice of yarn - exactly the same as in the pattern - but I hope that the color, named "Mardi Gras," more than makes up for it. I knit these on dpns, despite the warnings in the pattern, and they turned out just fine. I think if you're an experienced enough knitter to make these you can figure out how to handle 100 stitches or whatever on dpns.

Claudia handpaint is a lovely yarn, with beautiful saturated color and perfect twist. I have no idea how it will wear. It is a bit pricey, though, and $28 for a pair of socks is a bit over the psychological boundary of $25. It's awfully close to $30, but it's ok for a special knit once in a while. I had to run out and buy this yarn, since I don't have anything even remotely close to this craziness of color. I think I made a good choice, though.

It's also a bit odd how my other current project, an embroidery inspired by a William Morris design, also uses the same colors as the socks! I guess I like purple, green and golden. The Piecework magazine in the background also seems very appropriate to this situation: I am a historical crafts geek!

I've been browsing William Morris Needlepoint by Beth Russell and I am having a great time getting back into needlepoint. Here's a closeup of the design, stitched on some natural-colored linen:

One problem with needlepoint is that there is very little practical use for the finished object. I have two projects that I completed when I was in high school and they are both framed as artwork on the wall. This piece of linen is technically a kitchen towel, but there is no way it will be used anywhere near food when I am done with it...

My love affair with Ms. Bush continues

2010-01-10T17:24:00.000-08:00

Ms. Nancy Bush, that is. Here is a pair of New England socks in progress:

It was somewhat funny to read in the pattern intro that these socks are something a lady might wear to a contra dance in the village. It's funny because it sounds like the description of some old old phenomenon, and yet contra dancing is alive and kicking these days, and not just in New England. Although I do love dancing in New England and it seems that the people here are very fond of their dances.

The yarn is Grassy Wool from a company called "Scarlet Fleece". It's a blend of wool and bamboo so it's very shiny but hopefully will wear well. I might just wear the socks to a dance...

Why not?

2010-01-07T07:04:00.001-08:00

What's on the needles in early January 2010 or fresh off the needles:

Garter stitch alpaca / llama scarf

There's something magical about lengthwise scarves. I like the long long rows that allow me to zone out, and the little surprise at the end (even with the best of calculations one is never quite sure how long the scarf will be).

This one is just the perfect length and width, and remarkably luxurious in its simplicity. It's black, brown and cream random stripes but feels divine. I just finished weaving in the ends for this scarf and I've been wearing it pretty much non-stop since binding off. What, you've never brushed your teeth while wearing a big scarf?

Belinda scarf from "Mason Dixon: Knitting Outside the Lines", because I need a new mindless project after finishing the garter stitch scarf. The plaid knitting idea is pure genius, and will be a good use for two orphan skeins of beautiful yarn, a blend of mohair and wool (the grayish-blue you see) and a blend of mohair and linen (a lime green for the perpendicular direction).

Bridgewater from Jared Flood's "Made in Brooklyn" booklet. I have absolutely no use for yet another shawl, but the Silky Alpaca Lace yarn is absolutely lovely and the garter stitch center turned out appropriately squishy. The center was a great project for the week I was sick with the flu and the long rows in the border satisfy my craving for zen knitting. At the moment this looks like a green blob, but I think it will be quite nice when finished.

- Inishmore

This is on hiatus... Given that I started the sleeve when I was waiting for a particularly nasty dental procedure (which ended up not being necessary, so we didn't do it. I love my dentist!) I think the anxious vibes might be built into the fabric. Plus I hate twisted stitches, and purling through the back loop sucks even more than knitting through the back loop. I might frog this, but I don't know what to make with the yarn instead. So it stays like this, waiting for inspiration..

- shawl of insanity

Cobweb yarn, size 0 needles, traditional Shetland pattern. We'll see where this one goes. I seem to have forgotten to take a photo. There isn't much to photograph at the moment, given that I completed about 10 rows in cobweb yarn on size 0 needles, so the shawl currently measures less than an inch.

- Crosspatch vest

I did not keep my knitting resolution for 2009. Enough said. This might never get finished, but it was a good lesson in intarsia and why I will avoid it like the plague in the future.

Taking a break

2009-09-27T19:21:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

The blog is obviously on hiatus for a while. I've been knitting, although not quite as much as in the summer; having to go to work definitely cuts into my knitting time. Anyhow, in the past few months I've realized that I enjoy knitting and thinking about knitting much more than writing about or taking photos of said knitting. Projects are still posted on ravelry, so you can follow my amazing pursuits (a finished cardigan in two weeks!), but I won't be writing very often for a while.

Happy knitting!

Latvian socks

2009-08-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

I have many knitting needles, in my opinion. I have needles in almost every size, including intermediate ones like 2.5 (Addi 2s) and at least one set of double-pointed needles in sizes 000 through 4, with one exception: size 00. The only time when I don't have needles available is when they are being used in another project, and this happens occasionally with my favorite sizes (US 2, 3, 4).

The missing length, the 00s? They were just what I needed to make Nancy Bush's Chaussettes en Dentelle. I cast on for these socks at least 3 times (and the yarn itself was part of failed sock attempts at least 3 other times), but no luck. Beautiful fabric in the recommended 000s, but the socks were barely getting over my heels. Nice fabric in 0s as well, but way too big. In disgust, I ripped the sock beginning once again and cast on for something simple and dependable:

The Latvian socks from the same engrossing book, Folk Socks. They look better and more polished in person. I've been knitting a lot of socks lately and I can't seem to stop.

On a different note, this is perhaps my last post written in Philadelphia. Slightly bitter-sweet. I have a lot of good memories from this city, but a lot of bad ones as well. This entire week I've been trying to go about my daily business (or lack of) without thinking "this is the last time I'll be going into this store" or "this is the last time I am seeing this street", but it can be difficult sometimes. I will most certainly cry again tomorrow or on Sunday, whenever we end up actually leaving. I will not miss the bad smell of the city, the trash on every block, the rude drivers or the people spitting on the street, but I will miss... something. The younger me with many hopes and dreams.

Stockings with clocks again

2009-08-11T13:06:00.000-07:00

Modeling long wool socks in the middle of August is quite an experience. I could barely pull them on, not because they are too tight but because they stick to my skin. Everything sticks to my skin in this weather, though.

As anticipated, the socks were done last night during the Battlestar Galactica marathon. It's funny how I fall asleep at virtually every movie UNLESS I knit. Most of the time I knit during movies not because I am bored or because my fingers fidget, but because I cannot stay awake otherwise. It could be the world's most interesting movie (cylons! spaceships! hot aircraft pilots!) and I will still be out within 5 minutes.

Digression over. Here are the socks:

As I've mentioned before, they're not quite knee length - I don't know whether Nancy designed them this way or it's just the way the decreases fit my strong calves or whatever, but I think I'm Ok with that and I love the way they fit.

Here is the prerequisite shot of my leg up on the heater (this is where I get the best light). You can see the "clocks" at the ankle. Together with the back seam, the clocks make it very easy to count rows and figure out how to make the socks match in length and shape. Why, you didn't think I actually used a row counter or kept track of rows in any other way, did you? When I knit, I like to knit, not write or keep track of stuff. For me, this is part of the appeal of Nancy's sock designs: you can learn them very easily and not have to fidget with a pattern, but at the same time they are not boring or completely trivial.

It's difficult to photograph the back of your legs, but here's my best try: an attempt to show the back "seam" and the shaping decreases.

Fun times. I've already started another pair of socks from the book, the fancy Chaussettes de Dentelle on size 000 needles. I still don't know whether I'm getting the right gauge, so I won't say too much about them. Naturally, I don't do gauge swatches for socks, it seems like a huge waste of time. I start the sock, knit for a bit then try it on. The sock is the gauge swatch.

Real life stuff: ironically, I am moving to Connecticut, again. I know I moved last year, so how does this work? Well, my partner was still living in Philadelphia at our old place this past year, and now he is making the move as well. Since some of my stuff was still down there anyway, and his stuff is my stuff... I'm not a big fan of moving, but it is a good excuse to clean up and give away things we don't need any more. We have a lovely new place in Connecticut, one that brings out nesting instincts I didn't know I had (no, I'm not pregnant).

Stockings with clocks

2009-08-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

I left the big Starmore sweater in New Haven and worked like a madwoman on these, during what might be my last visit to Philadelphia for a while:

Stockings with Clocks by Nancy Bush, from Folk Socks, my new favorite book.

I have no idea what this yarn is called. The label is somewhere in a box; have I mentioned we are moving at the end of the week? I think this was the first yarn I bought when I re-started knitting the last time, with plans to make those insane cabled stockings from Socks, socks, socks. I realized pretty quickly that not only does this yarn not match the project (multiple plies, which is great, but splits like crazy), but I also hate, hate, hate twisted stitches and tight knitting. In a second attempt, I bought two more skeins of this yarn in electric purple, which I thought would make a killer color scheme for Eunny Jang's entrelac knee socks. Fiddly technique, crappy-looking result. I am never doing entrelac again.

Anyway, the yarn seems to work allright in this pattern. I'm making these somewhat shorter than knee socks, more like some long socks, and I'll probably add some elastic at the top to keep them up. The socks are flying off my needles and I'll probably finish the second one tonight. I am glad I didn't bring the big cabled sweater: it's been very hot and humid here and I can barely stand even this this yarn sometimes.

2009-08-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

The best way to deal with a stressful situation and painful waiting is to start a new, engrossing project. I give you the beginning of a sleeve for Inishmore:

I have a bunch of Cestari wool that I bought at last year's Maryland Sheep & Wool and I've been looking for a good project. Something cabled, earthy, traditional and with a gauge I could achieve in this yarn. Bonus points of the garment is designed by Alice Starmore. The cables are working out well, it's very easy to read them and see what to do next, and I've done more than half a sleeve in less than two days. The yarn is rough and rustic and I absolutely love it.

Incidentally, the stressful event ended up being so much less difficult than I was expecting. The dentist was able to save my tooth, I had to pay much less than I was expecting (a saving of $1,500 or so) and I now feel like a grown-up for taking proper care of my health. I blew part of the savings on the latest Rowan magazine - no yarn, so I feel like a very virtuous grown-up.

A few days with a Norwegian on my lap

2009-07-26T18:48:00.001-07:00

It could be fun if the Norwegian was tall and handsome. Instead, I was spending some hot and steamy hours with a very hairy one.

Don't try this at home on a hot July afternoon: a Norwegian sweater in your lap makes for a very hot time. I consider myself a fairly experienced knitter, and yet this was the scariest knitting I've ever done: cutting the Norwegian sweater.

A question I asked on Ravelry produced a few useful answers and links; Eunny in particular sewed her Norwegian sweater by hand, and since I don't have a sewing machine I followed her tutorial, still available here. Let me go off on a tangent: I loved Eunny's blog. I loved it so much I am reading it again these days (and it inspired me to finally finish this %$$#@! sweater). She was such an inspirational knitter and created gorgeous sweaters. I am quite mad at Interweave for taking this great blogger and knitter and making her editor at IK, thus killing both the blog and the magazine with one strike. I loved Eunny's style as her own knitter, but I find the magazine under her direction very dowdy and uninspiring. I even canceled my subscription. And no, Fall 2007 doesn't count, since that issue was still put together by Pam Allen (who by the way is producing beautiful publications in her new position).

Moving on from the politics and style issues of contemporary knitting: the first sleeve worked perfectly! I realize people have been making these sweaters for a while, and thus most of the kinks have been worked out by now, but it still absolutely amazing and delightful to see such an improbable process (measure! sew! cut! sew! what? how?) come together and produce a beautiful sleeve.

Now if I only I could match the process on the other sleeve... and if only the sweater would fit...

Here's what this stuff looked like. Please ignore my chipping nail polish (Sephora's Mermaid in the Shade, lovely color) - I've been totally checked out these past few days and too lazy to take it off.

- sewing by hand around the future cutting lines. Followed Eunny's tutorial here, but sewed two lines on each side: one half a stitch away from the cutting line and another one stitch away. I'm paranoid like that. To make things even more exciting, the sewing thread is buried completely in the knitted fabric, so there was a moment at the beginning when I was wondering whether I was cutting on the right line...

- cutting in progress. I cut some of the floats on the wrong side, just to make sure I wouldn't snip the sewing thread.

- after cutting the first one:

- sewing in the first sleeve: I pinned it on the wrong side but then used mattress stitch to attach it from the right side.
- still working on the mattress stitch. You can see here the orange facing of the sleeve (EZ said "use a lighter yarn" and I did, using some leftovers from the Kaffe non-vest). My man is man enough that he can wear bright orange and pale pink on the inside of his sweater and not mind.

- the magic moment: the underarm of the sweater looks clean and professional and somehow the sleeve matched the cut opening perfectly (I know, I know, I measured it to be so, but still - amazing!)

- this morning, even before drinking my coffee, I did this: the reinforcements for the second sleeve:

- and this is what the "steek" looks like from the inside, before the sleeve facing was attached to the body. It's a puny "steek" but seemed to hold together rather well. The humidity and ridiculously high temperature probably helped felt this as well.

- an unexpected side benefit of mattress stitch: it provides yet another reinforcement of the "steek." If this sucker comes apart, I will cry for a long time.

Breaking news: the sweater fits!! I'll just pretend I designed it to be "slim-fitting" on purpose. Regardless of how tight it is, the recipient will wear it because he loves me beyond reason :) I'm still working on the collar, but I'll have finished pictures soon.

Flower brooch

2009-07-13T16:58:00.000-07:00

Verbena was missing only one thing:

A "silk" fabric flower brooch ala J Crew. I used some of leftovers from the lining of the skirt I made a while back. It is not silk, and this item will be a mess should it ever be washed, but it looks allright and au courant:

I cannot understand how retailers can sell clothes made out of fabric with unfinished edges. The vast majority of people doesn't craft, I realize, so they don't know that such edges will unravel and look bad after one or two washings, or even as the garment is being worn. Still, for the prices these retailers charge (I'm looking at you, J Crew), you'd think they could at least finish the edges; or are we only supposed to wear the $90 flimsy top once?

Untitled (work of art)

2009-07-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

The Lazy Blogger Award goes to me this month, for making stuff and crafting up a storm and not posting anything about it until today.

I finished Verbena from Rowan 45 weeks ago, then neglected it for a while under the excuse that I needed ribbon. Of course I needed ribbon, but I don't live in a ribbon-deprived region: craft stores abound here, only a short drive away (sadly, I haven't been able to find any in walking distance in New Haven). I was also terrified at the thought that the cardigan had turned out too small. After wearing it a few times and realizing that it's not the case, ribbon magically appeared and voila: finished cotton cardigan. I am very much in love.

I don't know whether to add the embroidery or not. I kind of like the cardigan as it is, and I'm doing plenty of sewing otherwise. The trip to the craft store awakened something:

Fat quarter pillow cover for my absolute most favorite tiny pillow in the world. This pillow is one of the few items I brought with me to the States many years ago (together with a fancy teaspoon, a coffee mug now sadly chipped and a huge plush toy moose), so I am very attached to it. I also cannot sleep without it. The pillow cover is as simple as these things get: sew on three sides (the back is a plain beige cotton fabric), stuff pillow form, fold cover over and secure with a few stitches. These stitches will be easy to remove when I need to wash the cover, and it's so much faster than making buttonholes!

The big project of the week has been a set of natural-colored linen napkins and kitchen towels. Inspired by the book Linen, Cotton, Wool as well as a recent article in Piecework about embroidered Norwegian wedding cloths I bought some linen and I am embroidering it with some images from the Norwegian cloths. This is the pattern from the article, but I'll probably do something a little smaller and a little less fancy for the other napkins: if they are all this beautiful, I won't let anyone use them!

I am having a blast with this. I am also imagining these beautiful napkins and towels in my new kitchen: I've just signed the lease on a new apartment with a very nice, light-filled kitchen and... hold on to your seats... a BALCONY!!! I can have a garden again! I can dry my clothes outside again! I will be one block away from an antique Italian pastry shop! Mmmm...

I love Nancy Bush

2009-06-05T11:21:00.001-07:00

Don't we all? Her patterns are not flashy or gimmicky or super-trendy like some of the socks you see in recent publications (socks that frankly are kind of annoying and sometimes turn out completely unwearable). Her socks are elegant, timeless, never boring and always work:

Conwy from Knitting on the Road, made from Araucania Ranco on size 1 needles. Pure love.

What we did this weekend

2009-06-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely, lovely weekend, and here's a little part of it:

Hiking in my favorite state park with my favorite fuzzy dog. This park is little-known, which I like because it means the dog and I usually have the park to ourselves. It is lovely, though - all the land used to belong to one local family, and the woman who inherited the family businesses and the land was very big about never selling land. She eventually donated it all to the state, and it makes for an interesting park. It is still difficult for me to realize that all the forests around here are not virgin forest; there are walls here and there in the park, perhaps boundaries of old fields. You might also find yourself coming out of the forest into a very sunny clearing, which used to be an old field, I'm sure, and we also came across the ruins of a house. I find places like this fascinating. They remind me of the Coa Valley in Portugal, where people lived for thousands of years and carved numerous boulders, only to abandon the valley in the 1960s, or Wissahickon Park in Philadelphia, which used to be a bustling mill and industrial district a hundred years ago and is now "wilderness".

I also find it somewhat amusing that the dog and I, both raised mostly in the city, have become such outdoor bums.

Another knitting "first"

2009-05-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Remember this tank top from last year?

I never wore it. In fact, I tried to wear it this morning - it fits, but it fits all wrong. It's just a tad too long, so it bunches up around my waist and hits at that awkward spot on my hips making them look ginormous. I love my hips, but I love them just the way they are, I don't need them to be bigger. It also requires layering, and I am not a layering girl. The extent of my layering is putting a cardigan over a dress shirt. There is also no waist shaping, so one of my best features (if I may so myself) gets lost under this top. Thus...

FROGGED!

The yarn (Elsebeth Lavold's Bamboucle) is lovely, and I might make a cardigan some time; an object I might actually wear. It's time to come to terms with my fashion "style" and accept the fact that I will never wear knitted summer tops.

There are a few other items I am not entirely happy about and I've been contemplating a frogging and reusing of yarn: Tangled Yoke (the buttons gape and the yarn is completely wrong for the project) and Cable-Down Raglan. I've been very blah about the latter and frankly I don't see why it's such a popular pattern - it doesn't fit well and the cables are wonky.

My one worry as I get older is that I will become too set in my ways, too confident in my choices and tastes. This might be a step in that direction, or might be just something that needed to be done. A sort of knitterly growing up.

The "first" part refers to the fact that I've never frogged a finished object before. Taking stuff apart is more difficult in some ways: I'm pretty good at weaving in ends, for example, so good that they can be hard to find. At the same time, it took less than an hour to turn the top into yarn, much less time than in the other direction.

Inspiration

2009-05-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

Text will follow.

Shetland Fern

2009-04-19T18:07:00.000-07:00

I don't like to brag or show off (ok, maybe just a little). Anyway, I am very very pleased with how this sweater turned out:

Pattern: Shetland Fern by Jennifer Lindsay, from The Natural Knitter (what a gem of a book!)

Yarn: Yarns International Shetland 2000 in the same natural shades as the pattern. This yarn is not dyed, but comes directly from sheep of various colors! Check out the yarn and other awesome patterns here.

Needles: size 3 and size 2.5, not because they were specified in the pattern but because I had a lot of them in various lengths. Somehow, magically, the gauge worked out allright.

Love, love, love it. Words escape me at the moment. Let me just say that the pattern is fantastic and very well written. Here is a very pleased me:

Coming up soon...

2009-04-13T03:38:00.000-07:00

A big finished object is currently blocking and drying (mostly drying, since I didn't do much actual blocking). When I say "big," I mean 8 months of knitting, 14 balls of yarn, 6 pairs of needles... the whole shtick.

Signs of Spring

2009-04-06T15:16:00.000-07:00

No, not the big hairy monster, but rather the cluster of fresh grass on the side of the path. I've been looking for signs of spring since February, and I've finally found them.

Hola amigos

2009-04-05T15:08:00.000-07:00

I spent a good part of March doing this:

And this: (they're called cenotes - usually underground springs in holes in the limestone plateau)

And this (in the tiny town of Izamal):

Some knitting got done on the bus rides through the jungle:

CookieA's famous Pomatomus socks, in Malabrigo sock violeta africana. Maya ladies on the bus were always very interested in my knitting - I guess it's not a very common sight in the Yucatan...

Gauss visits Boston

2009-02-25T17:23:00.000-08:00

Boston. Cambridge. Lots of history and yarn stores and what not.

All I will remember, however, is this:

Is it juvenile that I crack up every time I remember this plaque? Perhaps, but I can't help it.

PS. I wasn't that impressed with Boston after all. But I only had a few hours to explore and it was $%^! cold outside.

More reasons to love my job

2009-02-11T19:32:00.000-08:00

Besides the awesome fact that it exists and will still exist for the foreseeable future, I also love my job because it allows me to do this:

Frolic on the beach with my dog at 2.30pm on a weekday! Granted, it's one day a week that I get out so early, but it's better than nothing.

What a beautiful day - sunny for a while and not exceedingly cold. The dog's first time to the ocean, and he absolutely loved it. The water was cold, though: so cold there were still patches of ice and snow! Even the dog seems incredulous:

Red socks and red shoes

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

Finished and worn as I am typing:

Toe-up socks knit from Mountain Colors Bearfoot, colorway "Ruby River" on once again my slightly bent but still functional bamboo dpns size 1. I followed roughly the pattern for Interlocking Leaves, but substituted my own interpretation of the Waving Lace socks pattern. Actually, I thought I could remember the pattern but obviously switched the direction of the decreases or something. Anyhow, the socks are warm, elastic, lacey and very red; they provided much needed entertainment during travels and I am very pleased with them.

And now for something truly exciting and special. Last weekend's trip to TJ Maxx (only my second such trip ever!) yielded a particularly rich assortment of high quality, comfortable shoes at ridiculous prices. The fairest of them all:

Cole Haan demi-d'Orsay pumps with the tiniest of heels and little red laquer ribbons woven through. I am in love.

Short report from the field

2009-02-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

I went out for a long walk today with the dog, looking for signs of Spring. Besides a few chatty robins I didn't see much worth reporting. It is a bit warmer today here, but we might have a bit of winter to slog through.

Fancy sweater photos

2009-02-03T03:14:00.000-08:00

I seem to be the first person on the internets making this sweater, if you don't count the one other project on ravelry; but the other person doesn't have any photos up and no details, so it doesn't quite count, does it?

Jennifer Lindsay's "Shetland Fern" from "The Natural Knitter" book, in the original yarns and colors:

Such a well-written pattern, with lots of thoughtful details (like knit rows before color changes in ribbing, thus avoiding purl blips) and a gorgeous, never-gets-boring chart. There are a couple of printing errors in the charts, but they are very easy to spot, as the charts should have a vertical line of symmetry. I cannot rave enough about how beautiful this fabric is, even in its squished unblocked state:

The collar is an exercise in wrong-side fair-isle ribbing, since it repeats the pattern at the lower edge but it worked flat: you wouldn't want to have a steek at the edge of your collar... Very distinctive and not as difficult as it seems.

This leaves the sleeves, my nemesis. I hate making sleeves, especially in the round and attached to a sweater. You need to move the entire sweater around and around... not a very zen-inducing process. I have an entire gansey that is almost finished except for half of the sleeves - maybe I should tackle that next.

Catching up

2009-02-01T04:52:00.000-08:00

My husband and I often discuss how he loves to take lots of pictures, why I only take the minimum necessary. I call him "my Japanese tourist" and he gets angry because I don't take pictures of him, etc. Such is the excitement in our lives.

I have been knitting some, but kept postponing to take photos. It doesn't help that the only times I'm at home and the light is decent are in the weekend, and on weekends I am even more of a lazy-bum than usually. Yesterday though, in a fit of productivity, I took a few pictures:

Interlocking Leaves socks from the Winter'09 Knitty, in Dream in Color Smooshy, color "Gothic Rose", on my trusty size 1 bamboo needles. The yarn is a lot darker than I was expecting, but I love its moody quality and the very romantic name. It's always difficult to balance the wearability of a sock (read: dark colors, since it is so difficult to get them fully clean) with the readability of the pattern (lighter colors! but then they will never look clean again), and I think this one is a bit on the dark side. Nevertheless, the pattern is gorgeous and the construction is genius: toe-ups with Judy's magic cast-on! The answer to the fuddly-duddly Turkish cast-on which, while doable, can be such a pain. If you don't know what it is, go look it up now (knitty has a tutorial). Then a toe-up gusset with short rows and a heel flap and everything - this is now my dream sock construction. I made the socks fairly long:

The Smooshy yardage is very generous - I still have a lot leftover - and it's nice to have longer socks. I knit the last few lace repeats on size 2 needles to accommodate my shapely calves; all those hours of dancing are showing quite nicely. Also showing: my long silk underwear, bought in the middle of another frightening winter from a specialty store in Madison, WI. They last and last and last and I'd be so lost without them.

Coming up next: fancy sweater photos.

Monday morning

2009-01-19T19:48:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning to find this at the foot of the bed:

A nice beginning for a "long weekend" free day. This has been an extremely stressful weekend so it's nice to be reminded that life can be good and calm and simple.

I am so special

2009-01-12T20:09:00.000-08:00

Blue Moon Fiber Arts has named a colorway after me! Check it out here. I think I need to buy a skein or two.

A breathtaking work of ultimate intricacy

2009-01-11T20:40:00.000-08:00

In preparation for yet another snow storm, I stopped by the yarn store - a lovely, chaotic place where it's difficult to find something if you are looking for it, but you find the most amazing things if you just wander around. I think they do good business before storms, as I'm not the only one who was ready to curl up with a good knit. This time not only did I get some yarn, but I also wound it into a ball, cast on, knit and... cast off! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:

My very first garter stitch scarf! Technically, it's a cowl. The yarn is one skein Malabrigo Aquarella in a colorway called Maldonado. The colors glow together, and through some miracle of nature the scarf came out just the right width. I am also thrilled with my decreases - I was running out of yarn and still had a bit of neck to go around, so I decreased from 21 stitches to 13 and voila! It fits around my face perfectly and definitely keeps out the snow.

It's already been put to good use as I took the dog on a romp through the fresh snow. It's so exhilarating to be the first one(s) to walk through a field of untouched snow! You gotta love wool at times like these. I played with the dog in the snow, shoveled the stairs, walked for almost an hour and my hands, head and neck were still warm and dry.

They are announcing a very cold week for the upcoming week - I'm glad I have a superthick scarf and I got some hiking in yesterday and today!

So... about that vest.

2009-01-03T21:42:00.000-08:00

I have only one knitting resolution for 2009:

Enough said.

O hai

2008-12-24T18:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the North Pole!

And this is not a deer. Notice the big butt in the background?

Elk are huge, and they love lettuce (well, most of them anyway; there was one picky eater who wouldn't nibble on the stuff):

Featured knits above: norwegian gloves, lace cashmere scarf, random earflap hat from some handspun mohair from Lesotho (yarn bought on ebay, of course).

In less happy news, I forgot the above cashmere scarf in the sleeve of the coat as I laundered the coat. It's not felted, but it certainly is different. This is why I don't do laundry...

In the frozen North..

2008-12-23T11:27:00.000-08:00

It's cold here, on the "frozen tundra", but pretty. The heavy snow and "balmy" temperatures bring a new appreciation for woolen handknits. With all the holiday traveling, I quickly finished a pair of Merino Lace Socks:

The yarn, Shibui Sock, is lovely and shiny and springy and it positively glows. It's like knitting with butter, and the colors look gorgeous on the skein. It also pooled in stripes / spirals, which I guess some people might like. I'm not one of those people, though. A bit of a disappointment, really. The pattern is fabulous, though, so I'll make these again some day in a more reliable yarn.

Secret Santa gift exchange

2008-12-16T16:27:00.000-08:00

This is my first year with a real job, and our school is doing a "secret Santa" gift exchange for faculty. I signed up as well - then a few days later cast on for a little stranded "something". Perhaps take the pattern from the Norwegian mittens, since it features the 8-pointed star, make a little bag or coffee mug cozy, and add a note explaining the signification of the 8-pointed star...

I came to my senses quickly. I don't knit gifts, certainly not as planned gifts. I might gift stuff once it's done, and I might occasionally make something for my husband (although his Norwegian sweater is languishing, and I'm out of the required black yarn), but I most certainly do not make gifts. Too complicated, too personal.

I bought a set of charity notecards instead. My "secret Santa" partner will get cute cards, and a student group will have some extra money for their service trip to Nicaragua this summer.

I am camera-less for a while; hope to remedy this soon, but I'm almost too lazy to buy batteries. This has been the year when I am embracing my inner slob.

Holiday tradition

2008-11-27T16:50:00.000-08:00

I like the idea of hiking on a holiday, and here we are - Wissahickon Park, a patch of wilderness in the middle of Philadelphia:

It has a river, to keep the pup happy, and many trails, to keep the humans happy:

I tried to be all artsy and take colorful pictures, but the truth is the palette is rather limited, and Knitting Iris I am not.

As for the knitting, I am becoming quite obsessed with the Rowan book. Bought for inspiration earlier this Fall, when I was in such a knitting funk, it has certainly served its purpose. I've even been flirting with the idea of using the precious Artfibers Sylph for a Garbo camisole:

Unfortunately, while the fabric is beautiful, the gauge is way off...

Well, hello

2008-11-24T16:16:00.001-08:00

Two weeks ago I fell in love with Brueghel. The yarn store closest to me (which will probably turn out to be my new LYS, as it's very inspiring) had the sample, and wouldn't you know... the sample fit me perfectly. Out went my yarn diet and my common sense and my credit card. Two weeks later, I finished the final embroidery touches. Yay for fast projects!

One problem with knitting traditional items or "legacy items" as the stuff I've been getting into is that they take forever and ever. A cardigan on size 8 needles was a much-needed change.

In a characteristically creative move, I chose the exact same shade as the cardigan in the magazine (Rowan No. 44):

Off to conquer the world

2008-08-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

Knitting? Check. Textbooks? Check. Make-up? Check. Dog? Check. Bike? Check.

I'm off to New Haven. Blog will continue, naturally, if a little photo-poor for the next few weeks.

Organization? What organization?

2008-08-01T10:11:00.001-07:00

I went a little crazy after finishing the huge shawl. I felt so free... free to cast on for lots of things. For the past week I've been a little obsessed with these:

Terri Shea's Norwegian Stockings from Piecework Jan/Febr '08. Free pattern. Go check it out. I was a bit skeptical at the beginning about the peasant heel and lack of gusset, but it looks like the sock will fit perfectly. Who'd have thought...

The ugly duckling

2008-07-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

Lochinver is turning into one of the loveliest sweaters I've ever made. This is not difficult, as I haven't made very many sweaters so far. However, I didn't have high hopes for this one: it's rather boxy and the smallest size was too big for me. Having lots of horizontal patterned bands clearly wasn't going to help with the body-conscious fit. Frankly, the only reason I started this is that I had the amazing Frangipani yarn in my stash and I wanted to make a sweater from Fishermen's Sweaters. Lochinver was the only pattern I thought would go with the yarn.

The knit-and-purl patterns are easy to memorize but very pretty, especially together like that. Also, my gauge is so far off the mark that this sweater will fit me very nicely! Maybe I should add "gauge tighter than Alice Starmore" to my list of accomplishments.

Picture-heavy post

2008-07-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

I finished the Swedish Heart-warmer shawl. Click below for a bigger picture.

Long overdue

2008-07-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

A post with actual knitting content is long overdue, after all the real life nonsense in the last few months. Freshly blocked, I give you:

The Hanami Stole! Another awesome pattern by the talented Melanie of Pink Lemon Twist. As soon as I finished her Mystery Stole 3, I knew I wanted to support her design endeavors, so I purchased the pattern for Hanami (the first and, so far, only pattern I've bought by itself). It is very much worth it, and you know how I feel about blocking and such (blocking chez Gauss usually involves a green bedsheet, cheap steel wires from the hardware store and even cheaper push pins):

The yarn is JaggerSpun Zephyr. It glows beautifully and all, it makes for some nice crisp lace, so I am pleased, but somehow it doesn't wow me. Perhaps it's because I am turning into a cranky old lady.

"Grown up" thoughts for July

2008-07-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

The beginning of July is the season of milestones:

* four years ago I rented my first apartment out of college
* three years ago I started teaching the first college class on my own ("Professor Gauss" sounded nice, until I explained to my students that I'm not a professor)
* two years ago I got married (and may Reverend Bill Levering be blessed forever for marrying people for free!)
* one year ago I became a permanent resident (no more visas for me, thank you very much)
* this year, two days ago in fact, I bought my first car! I am in love, although it's no Mazda Miata (my dream car at the moment).

Funny thing is, I wore the same outfit to exactly TWO of these events. Can you guess which two?

New H(e)aven

2008-07-03T18:59:00.001-07:00

I have always wanted to live close to the beach. Not a lake, not a river, but an actual sea or ocean beach. And here is the view eight miles from my new apartment:

The Atlantic Ocean. I think I will be happy here.

Strands

2008-05-31T15:11:00.000-07:00

The shawl goes on:

I am trying to finish this monster before it gets too hot and humid here. Wool and mohair stick to my fingers in the summer, and this project is already blanket-size... not fun in July! Fortunately, I am getting quite close to being done.

Haven't touched the Crosspatch vest in weeks. I'll have to weave in those ends eventually, but not today and definitely not tomorrow.

What I did this weekend

2008-05-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

Jupiter wanted to go hiking and camping on the Appalachian Trail this weekend, and we had no choice but to follow:

Pennsylvania's mountains are beautiful in the spring and everything was green, except for the rocks we had to step on for most of the way. Our muscles are sore, we have blisters and Jupiter's paws are in pretty bad shape. But it was so much fun, and very much worth it, for views like this:

... and for many other events that were breathtaking, but impossible to photograph: the huge silent owl flying above the campsite one night, the deer running through the forest, the amazing candy at Port Clinton's Peanut Shop. Also, for the joy of sharing a water bottle with a dog:

(for the obligatory knitting content, see if you can spot the handknit socks)

2008-05-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

One problem with working on big projects is that progress seems slow and I cannot finish them as fast as I'd like. I finished the neck and armbands on the Crosspatch vest, but there are still so many ends to weave in, and I really do need to weave them in before taking a "completed" picture. It will be a stunning vest, though (and not just because it's so bright!).

As procrastination, I've been working on the fluorescent Undulating Rib socks for J, and I managed to finish them - so small, so quick, a sock has about as many stitches as a few rows in the Heart Warmer shawl! I don't have a picture, it's not much to see really, but they fit well as the pattern is very elastic, and the undulating part keeps them from being too boring to knit. It's interesting, somebody at the knitting group was working on some very simple socks and they were going so slowly precisely because they were so simple. Sometimes a pattern helps do things faster.

I also saw the Yarn Harlot today and she is as sweet and funny in real life as one can imagine from her blog.

In the absence of real knitting photos, here's a picture of my pet sheep:

I am so tempted to spin his hair some time...

A beautiful thing

2008-05-10T16:27:00.000-07:00

There was a neighborhood fair adjacent to the farmer's market today, so I stopped by to look at volunteer opportunities (tree planting next Thursday!) and to look at stuff in general. And here was this table with gorgeous crochet shawls - fingering weight alpaca, made in Bolivia by a women's coop. $10 for a shawl, who could resist? I told the lady that they should sell their wares for more, and she said they are already selling them for more than the suggested price! Anyway, it really is alpaca (I think I can tell by now, and there are a few guard hairs sticking out here and there), it's expertly crocheted and it's a good size to wrap around on a winter day:

And what is that crazy-looking piece on my messy couch? Let's take a closer look:

Yes, it's the unmistakable Crosspatch vest, but something magic has happened to this vest:

I finished the intarsia knitting!!!! Off to do a happy dance now.

More proof that I am crazy

2008-05-07T14:25:00.000-07:00

I have four projects I am currently working on: two on size 1 needles, one on size 2 needles and one on size 3 needles. The two "hibernating" projects use size 3 and size 0 needles, respectively. Just thought I'd share.

Dear people of Philadelphia:

2008-05-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

Please stop riding your bikes on the wrong side of the road. Thank you!

I cannot help thinking of the soccer player, but I doubt this is who Lavold had in mind when she designed this:

A fairly straightforward knit, on big needles, in a very pleasant yarn. The one big lesson that's worth repeating: BUY AN EXTRA BALL OF YARN, DAMN IT! I ran out of yarn (boo), and this yarn is a bit tricky to find; it's new and none of the stores in town have it. Luckily, Carodan Farm had it in stock, at a discounted price, with very cheap shipping! I received the yarn within a week of ordering, and even better - it was the same dye lot as the rest of the balls!

I don't usually wear cycling tights with my handknits, but I was off to a Sturdy Girl and - why not?

Now off to finish the big headache that's the Crosspatch Vest... I altered the width of the blocks because I didn't need a 40 inch vest, and now I need to adjust the neck decreases, but I want a steeper neck than the original decreases make... fun stuff. Intarsia is annoying to knit; frogging intarsia is even worse!

The green bedsheet strikes again

2008-05-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

I suppose a self-respecting knitter would invest in a blocking board, the bigger the better, and a million "quilter's T-pins", whatever the heck they are. I am obviously not a self-respecting knitter:

Here is Pele drying on the usual green bedsheet. This is a sheet I got from my mom and it is way too bright to put in bed, even for me. I am using push pins to hold stuff in place, and the only concession I made to knitterly propriety is that I used a tape measure when stretching the top. However, it's the same hardware-store tape measure I use to measure my walls, my bike parts and my body, so maybe I don't get any points on this one either.

And how is Pele? Frankly, I have no idea yet. The cotton/bamboo/linen blend is weird when wet, and the top looked un-amazing before blocking or seaming. We'll see.

Lochinver

2008-04-28T15:16:00.001-07:00

Here is the beginning of Lochinver: the first flap, rolled up on spare needles:

This might not be my absolute favorite design in Fishermen's Sweaters but it will work very well with the Frangipani yarn I already have and it will be eminently practical. I have visions of walking the dog through New England woods while wearing this sweater, a rugged link with knitters of the past. At the beginning of the year I resolved to do more historical knitting, and this will certainly qualify for that.

Not much to report about the sweater yet, except a very warm recommendation for Jan at Frangipani. Last Fall I was looking at yarn for Jess' Gansey, and Jan insisted that she mail me (for free) a color card before I make a decision - and I bought one cone of 5-ply yarn. The pattern proved impossible to learn, though, so the yarn sat around for a while in my stash. When I decided to make Lochinver, I e-mailed Jan, in the hope that she might have more of my yarn: one cone doesn't seem to be quite enough for a long-sleeved, generously-sized gansey. Jan e-mailed me right away, and she even found my dye lot! Also, her prices are amazing: even with shipping from the UK a cone of yarn is still 1/3 cheaper than just the yarn at other stores. And shipping is very fast - one week from the UK to Philadelphia!

I haven't been much of a gansey knitter so far, but it seems like the Frangipani 5-ply is the gold standard for such sweaters. True? False? I'd love to hear from you.

Monogamy pays off

2008-04-27T05:54:00.000-07:00

I have too many projects going on, so it's no wonder that I hardly ever finish stuff. If one knits 3-4 rows on a different project every day, not much will get done..

For the past few days I've been churning away at the Lace Ribbon Scarf, in the hope that I will get rid of one thing on the list. And here it is!

I haven't blogged about this scarf much, because it's a scarf and not a particularly exciting one at that. This is what the Artfibers Sylph would have become had I not come to my senses and saved that yarn for something more special. Plus, I got plenty of scarf from 400 yards of yarn; the 780 yards of Sylph would have produced a monster.

It's blocking right now (hurray for blocking!), but it has already been worn: it made a great wrap for walking the dog and driving to the pet food store. This was an easy knit, and more than half was done on the subway, to and from my volunteer work earlier this month. Half a repeat on the ride there, half a repeat on the ride back. Got me into some interesting conversations with people. Is there something about me that makes people start to talk to me? The other day a lady sat next to me on a bench on campus and half an hour later I knew her life story, she knew some of mine, and she had prayed for me, my boyfriend AND the dog, in one very beautiful and thoughtful prayer. Anyway, back to the scarf:

Pattern: Lace Ribbon Scarf by Veronik Avery, in the Spring'08 Knitty

Yarn: The Fibre Company's Canopy Sport, 2 skeins in Kaffir Plum. ( what is a kaffir plum?.)

Needles: does it matter? probably size 3 or 4.

A hard day

2008-04-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

Today is another of those days when I am so happy that I dropped out of school*. Instead of spending the lovely April day in a depressing building, working on obscure problems that will never benefit or interest anyone, having lunch with sexist professor three times my age, I spent the lunch hours biking at one of my favorite spots in town: the 18th century mansions in Fairmount Park. The smell of grass, the colors of flowers, the chirping of the birds... sounds cliche, but it really felt like heaven. I even bumped into the model plane people, who seem to fly their planes and do some great plane acrobatics on the same field every day at noon. April might be the best month in Philadelphia: the temperatures are high, everything is blooming, but the humidity hasn't started yet.

I'll spend the rest of the day taking the dog to a park, knitting, reading... I know, my life is very difficult right now. I know that I am paying a price for dropping out of school, though, so I might as well enjoy myself and savor my free time.

Obligatory knitting content: see the photo above. I finished the roses chart on the heart-warmer shawl. Stupid @#$%! roses chart. What a pain.

* For all of you worried about my future and such: I dropped out of graduate school, after getting a masters. My career will be Ok, methinks. So I won't be able to be an Ivy League professor any more. Big deal.

"Amazing Chinese Weight Loss Cure"

2008-04-16T18:50:00.000-07:00

That's what one of the AdSense ads above the posts says today. I should share my own "amazing weight loss cure": getting off one's butt and doing stuff. The weather's turned very nice, I fixed up my road bike and hurray! A first timid solo ride happened today. It's true that you never really forget how to ride a bike, even when the bike is complicated and you need to ride through insane city traffic.

Speaking of city traffic, I am doing my share: I started taking driving lessons! If you are in Philadelphia next Tuesday (the 22nd, Earth Day), please avoid being on the streets between 1-3pm.

And the knitting? The knitting is fine. Nothing spectacular to report, just crawling along on the three active projects. As a classic solution to the "how to deal with too many UFOs" problem, I cast on for another sweater: my first Starmore! I will be knitting, hopefully, Lochinver from the Fishermen's Sweaters book. At a 40 inch waist, on size 2 needles, it will take forever plus a few years. I worked on it for a few hours yesterday and I have nothing worth photographing.

A midwinter night's dream

2008-04-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

I spent the past few days knitting and tinking / frogging almost everything I had just knit. More on that later. Here's one project that hasn't been tinked too much: the Swedish Heart Warmer shawl.
There is a row of suns (stranded), then a background transition region (also stranded), then some beautiful red roses (intarsia!!). I hate intarsia, but what can you do when the pattern needs it? So here I am, intarsi-ing away on the second such project:

The original intarsia project, the Kaffe vest of doom, hasn't been touched in more than a month. Instead, I've spent the past 48 hours knitting and frogging this:

Pele, a lacey shell from Lavold's Book Fourteen, knit in Bamboucle. The yarn and book are so new they haven't been posted on Lavold's webpage yet, so unfortunately I haven't been able to find an errata. I think I will run out of yarn, although I've never run out of yarn on a Lavold project before.

Back to the pattern: it will stand as proof that you can start a project too soon. The entire fabric you see above has been frogged, because I misunderstood the directions and didn't center the pattern correctly. Granted, I was off by only two stitches, but it will have made an enormous difference in a V-neck! There is a Romanian proverb: "Cine face si desface tot anul are ce face!" (in a knitterly translation, If you knit and then frog, you will have something to do all the time!) and I am living it.

Special non-knitting note: It seems that you can dramatically increase the number of readers of your blog if you mention... Scientology. So there, Scientology, Scientology! (I can't wait for my AdSense revenue to triple!) Also, Xenu, if you want to see why Scientology sucks.

New Haven!

2008-04-04T17:47:00.000-07:00

An unexpected apartment find in New Haven prompted a blitz visit: took the 7am train yesterday, saw the apartment, visited the school (my future employer), checked out the neighborhood, then caught a 5pm train back. I didn't find the Acela train as impressive as I had imagined - it was very crowded and the passengers were all boring businessman-type people. I'd rather be seated next to friendly grannies wearing "Bush lied" buttons and asking for my advice on knitting!

Anyway, I persuaded the landlord that I am a trustworthy person and that my dog is a medium dog (ha-ha, even the dog is laughing at this), so I got the apartment. It's in a lovely neighborhood, very green and spacious, and I have a 15 minute walk to a cute shopping area: a few coffee shops, a yoga / new age studio, a hair salon, a Scientology gathering place * and ...

... a very dangerous place: Yarn LLC. Why dangerous? Let's just say I was able to find Lavold's books one and nine (the Viking ones) for original prices, plus her latest, plus what seems like most if not all the yarns in her collection. I have a feeling a good portion of my meager future income will be paid to the friendly ladies at this store.

* I don't really approve of Scientology. In fact, the whole cult creeps me out. I was just astonished to see the storefront in what looked like a friendly, nice part of the street.

Sampler stole finished

2008-03-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

It's creamy white and lacey:

There is quite a bit of variation in the patterns. The second from the left is my "mistake lace" pattern - I misread the pattern and purled the wrong side rows instead of doing a pattern:
I'd love to show this stole on my favorite knitwear model, a.k.a the dog, but the finished piece is just a little too big:
Pattern: Sampler Shawl from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls
Yarn: 3 100g skeins of laceweight by Wool from Wales; it looks like they will attend Maryland Sheep & Wool again this year! Stop by their booth to see some gorgeous shawls and blankets.

The pattern is very well written, with both charted and written lace instructions. The yarn is rustic and strong and worth every penny. What am I going to do with a giant shawl? I'm sure I'll figure something out!

In other news, tomorrow I start my lace class at the university. It's a four-week, one hour a week class and tomorrow we'll go to the yarn store to choose yarn for the projects! I advertised it as a class to do the Orenburg-style scarf, aka my Pink lace scarf - it has a historical connection, it's pretty and it can be made with any quantity of yarn. My scarf only took one skein of Kid Silk Haze. Of course, I'll be happy to work with the students on whatever pattern they might fancy...

Not much knitting

2008-03-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

Despite a trip filled with knitting opportunities (plane rides! endless car trips through suburbia or corn fields!), I managed to get preciously little done in terms of knitting. I packed the green undulating ribs socks:

and didn't even take them out of the suitcase. I put some mindless rows on the shiny red scarf:

This is the long-awaited pattern match for the 780 yards of Artfibers Sylph. A priceless yarn from a unique trip, and I want to use every yard of it. Veronik Avery's Lace Ribbon scarf in the current knitty looked perfect. I have a million scarves, but I like wearing them and among all my knitted objects it's the scarves and stoles that get the most wear. The pattern is super-easy, but it might take a while since I will knit all the yarn. Might end up with a very, very, very long scarf!

To make up for the lack of knitting on the trip, I've finally set out to block the Sampler Stole. Please excuse the messy room and the stuffed moose feet in the following photo:

Vacation...

2008-03-21T05:42:00.000-07:00

I'm off to visit family for a few days; happy end of March!

Everyone...

2008-03-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

... meet Mariko.

Lavold in a yarn that's gathered universal acclaim but is sadly discontinued. A few skeins are available here and there, making the hunt for the yarn quite a thrill. There are a few skeins on eBay. I am very proud of myself for not buying said skeins last night.

Shopping is sometimes a cure for the blues, but resisting temptation also makes one feel better. Having just looked at my credit card statement for last month, I see way too much yarn on the list. Time to look at longer term goals, like... you know, savings and purchasing a house. I have enough yarn to last me a while.

Speaking of things that will last a while, check out the ends from the back of the Crosspatch vest:

(photo will be here once blogger cooperates)

Keefely mittens

2008-03-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

These might be the fastest mittens I've ever made.

Pattern: Keefely Mittens from Handknit Holidays

Yarn: Harrisville New England Shetland (the yellow and the purple), Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport (the red)

Comments: The Harrisville is kind of rough on the hands. I know it's Shetland wool and all, but the Jamieson's shetland is a lot softer. The pattern is fabulous and knits quickly; I especially like the thumb construction - the way you pick up stitches avoids gaps!

Disclaimer: I did not pick the two main colors and I still think they don't go together at all. But a promise is a promise! So, warning: if you take your partner into a yarn store and tell them to pick some yarn, be prepared to work with their choices! Fortunately, we are poor and could only buy yarn for a small project; can you imagine having to do a whole sweater in yellow and purple?!?!

Jade

2008-03-12T15:10:00.001-07:00

The knitting has been done for weeks, but this sweater took a bit of finishing: weaving ends in cotton yarn is not much fun.

Pattern: Jade from The Sentimental Collection by Elsebeth Lavold

Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Cotton Patine, color "denim"

Comments: For some reason I am addicted to Lavold's designs. I've just scored another of her books on eBay, The Embraceable You and I am already dreaming of the angora yarn used in that book. I don't even like angora and I certainly don't need another sweater pattern in my queue. And yet - there is something about her work... maybe the Swedish vibes? I am a huge fan of Ikea as well!

Anyway, back to the sweater. I've probably written somewhere that the lace sleeves are fiddly, since the pattern does not tell you how to achieve the increases. It's fun to figure out ways to incorporate the increases in the lace pattern, and the pattern itself is quite stretchy and forgiving. Plus, it's a very quick to learn lace. I knitted the body in the round up to armholes, then knit back and forth for front and back. The lace collar is cute and different, and I found some shiny buttons to go with it:

And here are the lace sleeves I am so proud of: I think the seam turned out allright!
Overall, a very quick and satisfying knit. It will be perfect for spring.

More colorful projects

2008-03-09T19:04:00.000-07:00

I sometimes wonder whether my "sense of color" is off. Whenever I pick up the Crosspatch vest and need to adjust my eyes, I think that perhaps I need some lessons in color theory. And then I remember that I married a man who chooses these colors:

and insists that they be used together in a colorwork project. Purple and yellow. Wow. My eyes almost hurt when I pick up this project. For the record, these are the Keefely Mittens from Handknit holidays and the pattern is beautifully written. I will certainly get my money's worth from this book.

I recently acquired a copy of Alice Starmore's "Fishermen's Sweaters" and oh! the beauty!! I think the next big project will be one of her sweaters. If I could live a million years I'd like to knit ALL her projects.

The vest goes on

2008-03-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

Third row of blocks is done, and I started the fourth row earlier today. I hate this vest with great passion. I hate the fiddly little squares, the pulling of the yarns, the non-rhythm of knitting this project. What was I thinking? And why couldn't I at least follow the colors in the pattern? I have to sit and THINK hard before choosing colors for each row, as I must make everything perfect. "Have I used this background in this column before?" "Is there enough yellow in this row?" "Has this accent been overused?" "Am I capturing the spirit of the inspiration photo?" I am too much of a control-freak for this to be a good experience.

I will have the most colorful vest in the universe, though, and this thought keeps me going.

How to lose 5 pounds in a week

2008-03-01T16:38:00.000-08:00

Days 1-3: ensure husband catches San Francisco stomach bug. Eat ... not much.
Day 4: get up at 6am, spend 5 hours on trains, 1 hour in New York subway, 6 hours in job interviews. Eat whatever junk food you can bear to buy in random train stations (although I must recommend the lime and coconut bar at Dean & deLuca)
Days 5-7: catch stomach bug yourself. You'll be too sick to think about food. Let's just say it's a deeply cleansing experience.

Enjoy your new lean body, if you are strong enough to care. You might be too tired to shower, make dinner or walk the dog.

Please don't try this at home. Being sick sucks. Being sick in the middle of a very stressful week sucks even more. And I don't even know if I lost 5 pounds.

Colorful!

2008-02-26T13:42:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I made a swatch in KnitPicks' cotton/linen blend Cotlin (very original name, methinks). I recently started using the swatch as a washcloth, and fell in love with the whole idea, so I used the rest of the skein for a bigger washcloth:

I know, I know, a bit disappointing after the miles of lace or colorwork you expect on this blog. It's colorful though, and practical, and the construction is quite clever. Also, it will help geeyouknit graduate, as this will be part of her Knitter Project.

Ummm...

2008-02-23T12:50:00.000-08:00

One thing about shawls knit sideways is that you cannot exactly see how long they are. There's just a mess of stitches on the needle, obviously scrunched up, and you just happily knit for a few months or so. And then you bind off, and even the dog is surprised with the result:

The Sampler Shawl is big, and I haven't even blocked it yet. I don't even know where I will block it.

Excitement on small needles

2008-02-19T12:35:00.000-08:00

Here are the two projects on small needles that I started last week, in the hope that having more things on the needles will somehow make the knitting go faster:

Austrian-patterned knee socks - will take forever

Swedish Heart Warmer Shawl - will be huge

Since casting on, I've had an adventure trip to New Haven; met Sunflowerfairy (hi!!) and her group of friendly knitters, who told me all about New Haven and crazy neighbors. I stayed in the second plushest hotel I've ever been in (it's hard to beat the Pasadena Ritz, but the Omni at Yale was quite nice, and I think the room was bigger than my bedroom at home), I spent an exhausting day visiting one of the oldest educational institutions in the US (founded 1660!) and received a job offer from said institution. Turned down another job offer, did two other interviews (boring consulting company and interesting Microsoft ), agonized over my life choices (again), watched TV and spent an afternoon in bed.

It's snowing today, and it's slushy, and I had a great afternoon listening to NPR and working on the Jade sweater. I haven't blogged much about Jade - it's a fairly straightforward sweater with lace sleeves and nice waist shaping. I love Elsebeth Lavold's designs and her yarns, and this sweater is a classic Lavold: clean lines and a few genius patterning details. I fussed with the construction: knitted the body in the round, shaped the shoulders with short rows and did a 3-needle bind-off. Details make a difference, and I think this will be a nice sweater. Sorry, no picture - it's already dark outside.

I'm bad, I'm bad

2008-02-16T16:24:00.000-08:00

I am also old enough to remember the good old days when Michael Jackson was the superstar of pop and all the cool kids were trying to figure out how to dance to his music (we never did, though).

I am a bad blogger because I don't have any new pictures of my current knitting and now it's dark and tomorrow I leave on a 2-day trip.

I am a bad knitter because I cast on for TWO new projects without finishing any works in progress. I am a bad knitblogger because I am telling you this and not showing your pictures. You'll just have to come back later..

A picture a day

2008-02-12T11:53:00.000-08:00

Here it is:

Brightest fugliest thing ever, or gorgeous piece of wearable art? (is there a difference?)

There are about a billion ends on the back of this piece, and I'm about to add a billion more.

And then it hit me...

2008-02-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

I was sitting in the most comfortable papason in the house, churning away at the poetry mittens (they are almost finished! I love my life of leisure) when it hit me: I hate doing intarsia. I've done less than two rows of blocks on the Crosspatch vest and I already hate this project. So not only will it be the brightest object in the universe (and thus unwearable by the newly employed me) but I also hate the process.

The problem is, I've spend way too much money on this damn vest! If I could unravel it and return the yarns, I would; however, I've already chopped them up into little pieces for those stupid intarsia patches and I doubt the store will take back yarn in little pieces.

Together with the realization, though, came a most brilliant thought (if I may say so myself): I will do a deconstructed Kaffe Fassett Crosspatch. If the little lines give me trouble, then the lines have to go! Gradually, of course. Stay tuned as the massacre of this pattern continues.

Poetry Mitten 1

2008-02-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned that these mittens are are addictive? You can see progress, or rather READ progress:

I've already cast on for the second one, but the 2x2 ribbing on size 000 needles is a little... slow going.

Because one color project is not enough

2008-02-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

One must have stranded knitting in one's life:

Poetry mittens from the current PieceWork magazine. I'm being unoriginal and knitting these in the original yarn, with the original poem. Awesome pattern, and extremely addictive.

In other (un)exciting news, the Spring IK arrived in my mailbox today and I am extremely disappointed by this issue. I am even thinking of canceling my subscription, because there is nothing in this issue I want to make and there was nothing in the Winter issue either. I admire Eunny's work as a designer, but I am very unimpressed with her editing choices. To do a quick run through the projects:
- Lisa Meyer's legwarmers: look great, probably best pattern in the magazine. I don't do twisted stitches, though.
- assorted spring cardigans and "camp jacket": why are they all in the same color family? And why do they all make the models look pregnant? I am so over the empire waist look, and if I see "dressmaker details" written one more time I am going to scream. If I want dressmaker details I will go to a dressmaker, or I will become one myself. Fussy little button tabs and attached button bands - so much fun to make.
- linen trumpet skirt: nice stuff, but the yarn substitution will be difficult, and I don't think I can afford a $300 skirt yet.
- children's dress: I actually checked if this came in my size, because I like the pattern. I'd probably get bored with all the stockinette in my size, though. It's nice to see cute children's patterns, though, especially if they are not for babies.
- banded peasant blouse: I like this, but how on earth does it stay up on the shoulders?
- dovetail pullover - nice and classic, but doesn't quite jump out at me.
- random lace stoles: I am not impressed either and have no desire to knit miles and miles of a small pattern (bleeding hearts) or a random assorted of extra-precious patterns (cobweb lace). I've always found M. Rose Orne's designs too pretentious and ornate for my taste.
- twisted tulip socks: for all I know, these might be the same pattern as the green cabled socks from last issue, because the cables were impossible to see on those. Ok, so they are socks with a cable and some eyelets. Big deal.
- the vest: I'll just shut up about this one. My boobs are obvious enough, thank you.
- staff projects: cute, but what's up with the delayed release dates?

So, yeah. What's up with this magazine? Am I getting too jaded? Have I seen too many patterns online and in books to be impressed with a magazine?

Kaffe-ing, day 1

2008-02-02T14:48:00.000-08:00

From inspiration (beautiful flowers and jewellery on a black background):

To reality (many lengths of yarn to keep track of):

The Crosspatch Vest by Kaffe Fassett has begun. There are good changes that it will be the brightest object in the galaxy. I'll keep you posted.

Lace and socks

2008-01-30T05:13:00.000-08:00

I (ahem) unvented a new lace pattern! It's a positive way to look at the silly, silly mistake I made on the sampler shawl, 4th pattern. There is patterning on both sides, but I just purled the wrong side rows - voila, instant new pattern! It looks Ok to me, in fact I was checking the picture and "my pattern" looks very similar to the original. That's the beauty of a sampler - you can play with each section and it doesn't matter what you do or not do, the sampler will still be allright.

(picture here, once it gets light outside)

Last night I finished weaving in the ends and duplicate stitching the black on the Eastern European Footlets:

(picture here)

Pattern: Eastern European Footlets by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts, in Favorite Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style in Charcoal, Pine and Crocus (the last two left-overs from Caspian Sea Socks; Pine seems to have been discontinued)

Needles: steel dpns size 0 (really). I hate these needles. They hurt my hands. But how else would you get the insane gauge of 7 st / in with DK yarn?!?!

Comments: I seem to be the only person in Ravelry who has made these footlets. Which is a shame, because they are a very quick knit and they keep one's toes very warm. I highly recommend the pattern for practicing toe-up socks (Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' method is so much better than the dreaded Turkish cast-on!!) or learning intarsia or just for fun.

Busy, busy times

2008-01-26T19:04:00.000-08:00

Looking for a job is more time consuming than I ever imagined. I spend a week writing cover letters, personal statements and polite e-mails, and it's still not over. But I have some promising signs that somebody, somewhere might want to hire me some day.

The knitting has been allright. In a fit of "I need to relax, damn it" I cast on for the second of the Eastern European Footlets (remember the first one, back in April?). As I am a much faster knitter now than I was in April, I finished this second one... in less than three days. There is some duplicate stitching to be done, but I hope to show you some finished pictures soon. A word about the pattern - I seem to be the only person on Ravelry who has actually made these footlets, and it's such a shame. It's a great pattern and very quick to make.

The biggest knitting news is that I will be teaching a knitting class! As part of a program of short, fun courses through my university I will team-teach a lace class that will meet a few times throughout the semester. We don't get paid, but the university has some money for "supplies" - so we will have the first class meeting at a yarn store!

(U)FOs

2008-01-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

The camera and the photographer are back, so here are the long-awaited pictures of Venezia and the table runner:

I love the fitted curve of the back:

There is a lot of finishing in this sweater, but it's very Zen to see the chaos of steeks calmed and transformed into the order of the folded neck band. I learned so much from working on this sweater, and I look forward to making more colorful sweaters like it.

Scary moments: As I was cleaning up the neck band I realized that I had dropped the middle stitch of the back, quite a few rows down. Somehow, however, the stitch wasn't completely lost, just... hanging in mid-air; there was a corresponding stitch on the row above. Thank the gods of knitting for sticky Shetland yarn! Also, you notice that the color bands on the sleeves match the color bands on the body. Well, I was sewing in the second sleeve when I came across a band that DID NOT match: the background color was wrong! I am normally not too fussy about small mistakes, but this was a huge mistake, so I had to cut the top of the sleeve, frog until the correct rows, pick up stitches and redo the top. Please remember that at this point the steeks had already been cut. Again, this would have sucked in non-Shetland wool.

The sweater is exciting, but not nearly as exciting as the Kaffe-inspired, Yarnplay-inspired table runner:

(pic here)

Right? Oh shoot, I forgot to take a picture of the table runner.

Camera-less

2008-01-09T16:18:00.000-08:00

It is ironic that on this most exciting week for my knitting I do not have a camera. At this point, you might as well click away from this blog - or stay and imagine beautiful things being knitted.

First of all, and first finished object of 2008:

(imagine crazy colorful cotton table runner)

After spending Sunday browsing through and thinking about Kaffe Fassett patterns, my life needed some more color. Inspiration? A table runner from YarnPlay, but with lots of colors! I remembered various odd balls of cotton that came my way, and they sort of went together. They became a length-wise knitted runner for my kitchen table, and I have to say that it doesn't look too bad! Cotton hurts my hands, though.

Secondly, and this should probably be the first: I am no longer a steek virgin!!

See, I really should have had the camera this week. I bound off the Venezia steeks yesterday, did the shoulder 3-needle bind off, cut the steeks (in semi-darkness, what was I thinking??) and started on the neck band. Picking up that v-neck band sucked big time, but the whole process was so absorbing that I stayed up 'til 3am messing with needles, yarn and scissors. I am pleased to announce the amazing discovery that Shetland wool does indeed felt to itself very easily and that cutting steeks does not immediately destroy a sweater!

It also sucked to get up this morning way too early, my head still full of wine, and not being able to fall asleep because the sweater was calling my name. Half-asleep I finished the neck band and did that insane "pick up the base purl bumps and do a 3 needle bind off with them" (one of those maneuver that requires a few extra hands). The pieces of the sweater are now blocking - I'll cut the sleeve steeks and sew in the sleeves in the morning.

The almost-conclusion to this Venezia madness is that I loved this so much I can't wait to start another stranded project. There is something so satisfying about that folded neck band that holds the steek securely inside (see, a picture would have been priceless here!). Check out Maud's photos - I used her v-neck instructions and my sweater is virtually the same.

Third and lastly, I've found a beautiful, beautiful book about textiles: World Textiles: A Visual Guide to Traditional Techniques. It's everything you'd want such a title to be, and the photos are gorgeous. It's very touching to see old French shepherds knitting while watching their sheep, or a former king of Cameroon wearing traditional cloth. I am also very humbled by the fact that knitting takes 6 pages, is described in very basic terms, and yet we know how complex the craft is. What about the other few hundreds of pages? There are dozens of other techniques mentioned in the book - and each of them might be a world in itself!

Inspiration for 2008

2008-01-06T14:44:00.000-08:00

When I'm thinking historically-significant knitting, I'm thinking this:

A beautiful Norwegian men's cardigan. Mass-produced, but beautiful. I took a few extra pictures of the details...

I'm also thinking of the happy, happy person who went home from the auction with the Caspian Sea Socks. "They match my glasses!" she exclaimed. I'm glad to see them go to a good home...

Kaffe Fassett knitting counts as "historically-inspired," doesn't it? It's history in the making! I signed up for a K.F.-inspired workshop at Rosie's Yarn Cellar and now I'm mulling over Kaffe's latest book, trying to pick a design. The only problem is the cost of any project, since Rowan ain't cheap. I might just bite the bullet and do it... Just like Venezia, such a project will take so long that the cost per day becomes insignificant!

On my way to being very, very rich

2008-01-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, you might have noticed the two small ads at the top of the blog text. I hope they are not bothering you too much, and please click on them if you find anything interesting. I signed up for google AdSense just for a kick, and in the past few weeks I've made...

.... drum roll...

$0.02.

Yes, two cents. Keep clicking on those links, ladies and gentlemen. I'm only $999,999.98 away from my first million!

It will be interesting to see what kind of ads are served on this blog. Knitting ads would make the most sense, of course, but who know what other kind of kooky things? Please let me know, though, if you see any offensive ads.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T11:59:00.000-08:00

Where I come from, you don't make resolutions for the new year. Instead, you nurse your hangover (from the big party), spend a few days eating a lot (must finish all that holiday food somehow!) then reluctantly head back to work. This January I am continuing an extended holiday, a.k.a. try to figure out what to do with my life. No heading back to work for a while, or maybe ever? In any case, here is a knitting resolution for the new year:

This year I'd like to make more traditional and historical objects. First there was the genuine Shetland shawl I mentioned in my last post. I am also having such a great time working on a pair of Norwegian gloves and I saw a gorgeous Nordic sweater at the new year folk festival I've just returned from - ideas, ideas.... And I'm falling in love with Folk Shawls, so I will definitely have to make more shawls from it. Here is the first of the Norwegian gloves:

I gave the black bunny socks to my mother-in-law, and I don't even have photos. Damn. In any case, the socks turned out gorgeous. I wasn't going to make them a gift, but she was wearing cotton socks in the middle of the midwestern winter. Nobody should wear cotton socks when it's 0 F outside.

Almost forgot: check out this idiotic anti-knitting article on our local alternative weekly paper. I bet the author eats frozen TV dinners and dresses completely in plastic, because, you know, it saves time and does away with chores.

History and local color

2007-12-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

I saw a Shetland shawl this week! A real Shetland shawl, made on the islands and brought back by a friend of a friend. It was light and warm and soft - too bad the owner had it covered in cat hair. I know one thing though - I must make one of these! I don't even know what the yarn was, but I'm sure somebody somewhere has written a tome about the shawls.

In other fiber news - Lakeside Fibers in Madison, WI is a gorgeous store. They have one of the best color and brand selections I've ever seen, and the view (they have a huge window overlooking a lake) is gorgeous.

I'm visiting relatives in "the frozen north" and boy am I glad for all the wool thingies we brought! It's been snowing heavily here, and the temperatures are scary.

We are also enjoying learning about quilts (an aunt and uncle are passionate quilters, with a quilt room and all of Kaffe Fassett's quilting books and lots of knowledge), old doilies, older blankets and the rich fiber history of the "frozen north". There was also an article in the local newspaper about a local nun who's made thousands of bears for the Mother Bear project. The story about the bears inspired me - maybe I should make some as well.

No pics in this post, but I'm making great progress on a pair of socks from Black Bunny yarn. I'll try to take a picture tomorrow.

Vacation!

2007-12-17T13:43:00.000-08:00

Just in time for the holidays and the trip to the frozen north:

Pattern: Double Bordered Scarf with Diamond borders adapted from Weldon's 1904 from Victorian Lace Today (long and inspiring name, I know)

Yarn: Hunt Valley 2-ply cashmere, 2oz, ~400 yards, purchased at Maryland Sheep & Wool

Needles: size 4, I believe

Comments: I think this yarn weighed more than 2oz, and the scarf turned out much longer than I imagines. This is a great pattern for random quantities of yarn, because you can simply knit until you run out; most of the double-bordered scarves in VLT require some more planning. The pattern is also very easy. As for the cashmere... what can I say, I am in love. I love the subtlety of the color - it has a pearly sheen uncaptured in these photos; I knew I should taken the photographs while there was still some natural sunlight!

Did I say "the frozen north"? Yes, indeed. I will be away for the next two weeks, visiting family and friends in the snow-covered frozen tundra of the north. I had a very hard time deciding what knitting to pack, and after days of deliberation I decided that Venezia will have to stay home. I'm making good progress, but I cannot take it on the plane (stupid pointy metal needles) and I would be heartbroken if my luggage got lost with the sweater in it! Instead, I cast on for a pair of socks, and I might take this sampler shawl along as well:

This is the mighty shawl worthy of the Welsh wool. I've wanted to try a shawl worked from the long edge, and once you get past the line "cast on 400 stitches" the pattern is great. The long rows are perfect for mindless TV knitting! I also knew I needed a sampler shawl, because I want to use every last yard of the wool. It's a very sticky wool, which also makes it perfect for TV knitting - dropped stitches do not run; then even keep their shape! Oh, the pattern is from Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls. I'm appreciating her patterns and style more and more every day.

Do not disturb: blocking in progress

2007-12-11T19:18:00.000-08:00

As I watched Anna's beautiful Hemlock Blanket being finished, the task of blocking my own blanket loomed on the horizon. I don't have quilter's T-pins, I don't have a blocking board. What I do have is a big dog that loves to sniff yarn - unfortunately, I have no idea how to use his talents for blocking purposes.

I finally bit the bullet, took out my pathetic box of push pins and the trusty old bedsheet, and got to work. Surprise:

The blanket is so heavy it doesn't even need to be pinned down. And it stretched to the advertised 4 feet diameter. I love Jared Flood. I need to make more Eco blankets.

Mystery Stole 3 finished

2007-12-08T20:44:00.000-08:00

The designer called this stole "Swan Lake". I call it "my ugly duckling" because despite all my previous blocking experience, I am still in awe of the transformation. From whatever mess I was showing you a few posts ago to this:

I wore it to the orchestra tonight, and I felt like the most glamorous woman there. (I usually do, but this time the feeling was even stronger...)

Pattern: Mystery Stole 3, aka Swan Lake from the wonderful, generous lady at Pink Lemon Twist

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace, 2 skeins in natural (with about 1 yard leftover!) + beads! It's a wonderfully light and soft yarn; it doesn't hold blocking as severely as wool does, but I love the slight fuzz and the incredible drape. Also, the price is unbeatable: I believe the grand total for the yarn in this shawl came to $13.

Needles: size 4 bamboo circulars

Comments: beading slowed things down, but in the end it was worth it and I even added a few extra rows of beading at the end of the wing; I love hearing the beads click together when I walk. Not many modifications otherwise. I am not so keen on the very open fabric, but I think it has a nice ethereal quality.

I love this shawl so much that I'm reconsidering my relationship with lace: I need more! I cast on for another shawl immediately. Different pattern! I think I found the perfect match for the wild, wooly Wool Out of Wales!

Blocking adventures

2007-12-07T19:49:00.000-08:00

At the time this post was conceived, MS3 looked like this:

I am using my amazing cheap-ass "blocking wires" (read: steel wire from the hardware store), tied to all sorts of heavy objects: the two crates containing my stash, a paint can, a desk.. I am proud of the fact that my stash fits into those two crates - I'll try to keep it that way as long as possible.

There is another object awaiting blocking, except that I'm not sure blocking this one will be as easy as wires and paint can:

Yes, I know, it looks like ... nothing. I haven't blogged about it at all because it's nearly impossible, for me at least, to take decent photographs of a yarn this dark. Still, a dark yarn will be perfect for this project: Jared Flood's Hemlock Ring Blanket!

The Cascade Eco was just what I needed after that awful Louet Gems experience: a wooly yarn, full of fiber and goodness and natural smells. No superwash here, and I do think it's the superwash treatment that rendered the Louet so lifeless and boring. I think the Eco stands for both ecological and economical, because pure heavy-worsted wool doesn't get any better than this! I was debating on the color at the yarn store: (a) darker yarns are harder to photograph, (b) more difficult to work with and (c) might not show the pattern as spectacularly as lighter yarns. (a) was solved by not bothering to show photos of the object in progress; have I mentioned that the blanket is finished?! It just needs a good blocking - I'll get to that in a second. (b) wasn't much of an issue either: this was TV knitting, and color isn't a factor in a dark room. Finally, (c) is a minor annoyance; it's nothing compared to the major annoyance that would be washing a blanket a bazillion times. So "chocolate" it was, and I'm glad for it - it's really a nice, warm color to curl up under in the winter.

The only problem right now is the blocking... I don't really have a blocking board (unless you count the omnipresent fluorescent green bedsheet) and I'm afraid the wires-and-paintcan method might not work on such a thick project. Moreover, this blanket really needs to be stretched; "severe blocking" I believe is the right term. Suggestions?

Edited to add: I've just returned from a fun evening out, I unpinned the shawl and I almost cried. After all my bitching and complaining and disliking the object in progress, this turned out to be the most beautiful thing I've ever made.

Mystery almost revealed

2007-11-30T14:15:00.000-08:00

As Sunflowerfairy was frogging her mystery shawl, I was repeating the one more row, you can do this, one more row mantra, trying to finish my shawl. I did feel cheated when the rows started getting longer and longer, and I know there are more beautiful versions out there. Nevertheless, I wanted to finish this, if only because frogging it would have made a mess of beads in my house. And, as EZ famously said, "it will fit somebody".

Having just bound off the shawl, I have no amazing pictures to show you yet. I am however, glad I finished the shawl when I did, because this is how much yarn I have left over:

Less than 2 yards.

More ferny goodness

2007-11-23T06:56:00.000-08:00

Some people get up on Black Friday to sit in the cold night, hoping to buy some cheap junk, as if we don't all have enough junk already. I will never be one of those people. I got up with the gorgeous morning sun streaming through the (unwashed) windows, read the news, drank a cup of coffee, then finished this:

(picture of hat)

Pattern: Ganomy Hat by EZ, in The Knitter's Almanac
Yarn: Opal Gems Sport, color fern, leftovers from J's socks
Needles: bamboo DPNs and metal circular size 2 1/2 (why not?)
Comments: Had to adjust the pattern to match the gauge in sport weight; very easy to do. It's such a quick and satisfying pattern I didn't even have time to show you "in progress" pictures.

I still hate this yarn. I was hoping I'd run out for the hat, so I wouldn't have any leftovers, but there is still a small ball of fern-green yarn. Maybe I'll throw it away or something. It's such a lifeless, inelastic yarn. Sure it's shiny and somewhat soft, but it just doesn't do anything for me. Booooring.

This brings the total of works in progress to 3! Gauss would have been so proud of me for being industrious, orderly and whatever else. Remember this:

I picked it up earlier this week, and since I'm on clue 7 I will probably finish it soon. I don't know how I feel about this shawl, but it will be warm, it will be finished, and there are times when that should be enough.

The reason for not blogging...

2007-11-17T08:35:00.000-08:00

.. is knitting, believe it or not. I've been trying to finish a pair of socks for J's birthday, so every knitting moment has been dedicated to actually knitting. The socks are the Diagonal Cross-Rib socks from Favorite Socks, and they are much further along than this picture indicates:

In fact, the socks are almost done. Which is good, because 1) I am very sick of them, and 2) the birthday is on Monday. I'll post the full project details on Monday, plus the lessons learned (I don't like Louet Gems, and I'm never knitting on a deadline again).

I will end this short post with a nugget of priceless wisdom: the body of a sweater is much wider than the sleeves:

On the bright side, having knit the sleeves makes knitting the body much faster: I've memorized entire rows of the pattern!

Busy, busy times

2007-11-05T17:44:00.000-08:00

I got a just a tiny bit of knitting done this weekend; a few rows on the cashmere lace scarf, not even worth a picture. On the other hand, I did get a lot of politics done. If only I'd been born in the US, I could have made a great president some day...

Buxom Babe knits

2007-10-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

With the much-expected arrival of Fall weather, J is appreciating his hand-knit socks more and more. I even got a request for more socks! Since the Kaffe Fassett socks didn't fit him, I rushed to finish them so I could start a pair for him:

Pattern: Plain socks with twisted rib and short row heel (see below)

Yarn: Kaffe Fassett for Regia, colorway Storm

Needles: bamboo size 1s, my favorite needles of all times

Comments: I didn't think I'd enjoy knitting stockinette socks, but this yarn made the process very enjoyable. The base yarn feels fabulous; it's silky but strong, and looks like it will last forever. And the colors are so pretty! K.F. is a genius.

I made these socks without a pattern, because after a while who needs a pattern? Started on 60 stitches (cast on using knitted method, the most elastic method, in my opinion). Work 12 rows of P1, K1tbl the stockinette for a while. Short row heel; again, completely made up; I have no idea how it relates to the short row heel found in books. The wrapping was definitely not as fancy as Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' wrapping, but the heel turned out allright. It's surprisingly flexible:

Finally, I drew the last 8 stitches of the toe into a "rosebud", thus avoiding the annoying Kitchener stitch. I much prefer the rosebud for socks.

I also finished the knitting on the Voyager Stole; J likes the unblocked version very much:

As I am a little more picky, I will wash and block the stole. Pictures to follow! Until then, here's how much yarn I had left from the four balls I used:

Yes, there is no picture. I had maybe one inch of yarn left. Phew!

As for the title, it has nothing to do with knitting. I just had to share the story: on my latest lingerie shopping trip, I had a difficult time finding a bra that would fit properly. I had a fitting and... I really should wear one cup bigger than what I was wearing before! I doubt my breasts grew, but I still felt like a movie star walking around the next day with a new, pretty bra in the new bigger size under my sweater.

I was reading somewhere that the majority of women might be wearing the wrong size bra. The most common mistake seems to be too large a band size and too small a cup size. So ladies, go and get yourself a proper bra fitting - you will fabulous wearing the right size bra!

Winter? what winter?

2007-10-19T07:39:00.000-07:00

With the record temperatures here (short sleeves in October? WTF), it doesn't seem like winter will ever come back. However, it is impossible to ignore the fact that it does get dark earlier and earlier. Princess of Pink has some great suggestions for preventing SAD:

http://princessofpink.typepad.com/princess/2007/10/changes-in-atti.html

Check it out. How do you deal with lack of sunshine in the winter months?

From the knitting machine

2007-10-15T12:51:00.001-07:00

So much for Venezia providing two years' worth of knitting entertainment:

Less than three weeks for the first sleeve. This will be done by Christmas. And what will I do then?

I will probably walk around the cold city, looking for more exciting yarn and wearing this:

Pattern: Notre Dame de Grace by Veronik Avery, IK Spring '07
Yarn: Cestari Superfine Merino, color blush, a little over 4 skeins
Needles: Crystal Palace size 8 bamboo circulars
Comments: where to start, where to start... Well, I wanted to knit the sweater because of the interesting collar construction. Therefore, I knit the sleeves first (no way I'd knit two sleeves after finishing the interesting part of the pattern!). I probably knit a total of 4 sleeves: once I was trying to use size 7 needles - fabric was too dense, so I switched to size 8. Then I messed up the increases. Then I knit the two "correct" sleeves.

The collar is indeed interesting, and takes a bit of finishing work. I think there is an omission in the pattern: you are instructed to put the stitches at the middle of the back neck on a holder, but you are never instructed to pick them up or do anything with them! I decided to incorporate them in the collar (in the last few rows of the collar, knit one of the back neck stitches with the last stitch of the collar row). Seaming was a pain, and there are a few extra ends to be woven in because of the smart collar.

The "a little over 4 skeins" also proved to be a major pain, since I'd only bought 4 skeins at MD S&W. Normally this wouldn't be a problem; however, when the producer is a small farm in Virginia, it turns into a bigger and more expensive problem. That last skein cost me $22 with shipping, almost as much as the other 4 skeins (which were 50% off). Moral of the story: buy a little extra! I know I've said this before, but maybe if I repeat it enough times I'll actually obey.

I think I like the finished sweater. The sleeves are a little wonky, but they might settle as the yarn softens (it's soft now, and will bloom some, I'm sure). The collar is beautiful. I'm not sure about the rest of the sweater. Why did I choose pink? Oh wait, it was better than all the other colors in the "mega sale" bin. It was a fine knit, really - and I enjoyed it.

Tangled Yoke

2007-10-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

Pattern: Tangled Yoke by Eunny Jang, IK Fall '07

Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, a little over 5 skeins (gotta love the yardage and price of this yarn)

Needles: size 4 and 5 circulars

Comments: where to start? The instructions are very precise as always, and almost foolproof. The infinite cable technique is nice and not too difficult. I knitted the sleeves flat, since I tend to get ugly ladders when I knit with thicker yarns on DPNs. Picking up stitches for the button bands was a pain, but doable; I divided the fronts into eights, I think, then picked up the right number of stitches in each section. Not my favorite thing in the world, but the result was worth it.

The most difficult part of this cardigan, for me, was attaching ribbon and seaming the buttons. Partly because I've never done this before on a knit piece, and knits stretch! It can be a challenge to sew on the ribbon without stretching the button band. Also, I wanted the cardigan to be fitted, and this means that the button bands gape if I button it completely. I could have made the next size up, but I wanted a fitted shirt; I could have modified the pattern, but I was too lazy. Whatever - it's a warm cardigan and I can wear it unbuttoned, I suppose.

I might have said this before, but the sole reason for making this was the appeal of that horizontal cable. It's a great pattern, and highly recommended. As for the Silky Wool, I can't say enough good things about it. It's cheap, it's beautiful, it doesn't have a single knot.

Beret Basque

2007-10-13T06:17:00.000-07:00

Finally, a finished project. No, it's not a sweater; both Tangled Yoke and Notre Dame are awaiting some finishing work. I hope to have them done this weekend. The chilly weather prompted me to finish the beret:

Pattern: Beret Basque by Veronik Avery, in "Knitting Classic Style"

Yarn: Elann Cash Soft in granite, virtually 1 ball (I had about 1 meter left at the end)

Needles: no-name size 3 circulars and bamboo size 3 dpns

Comments: this was a great one skein project. I didn't want to use all the cashmere for the Voyager Stole, and the beret was a perfect answer to that "problem". It's not a quick knit on such small needles, but it's cute. I wouldn't mind the edge being a little tighter, but it drapes nicely in this shape and texture. Pair this with the fact that grey is supposed to be Fall's hot color; how's that for anticipating Fall trends? This beret makes me feel like a movie star!

On a side note, I am also wearing the Swallowtail shawl in the picture above, and the shirt is also a cashmere shirt. I was dressed very warmly and luxuriously that day...

How to save money in the future

2007-10-07T13:18:00.001-07:00

Decide that a yarn store that is not dog friendly shouldn't get my business any more. Seriously, my dog is a fluffy "stuffed bear". Children follow him down the street to pet him. He takes orders from 2-year olds. He doesn't even shed. People who are alergic to dogs are generally not alergic to him. So why isn't he allowed into the store?

This should cut down on spending.

2007-10-02T18:37:00.000-07:00

A day's work on Venezia:

I didn't do much else on Sunday, though... The pattern is a lot of fun, once you get past the first few natural mistakes. I even made mistakes I don't normally make, like dropping stitches (in the single color part, fortunately). And there is the magic of fair isle, with its instant gratification qualities: you can actually see progress, even if it's just a few rows!

One of the "perks" of growing up in a Communist country is that you learn to do everything by hand quickly and efficiently. I can sew buttons on all sorts of fabrics, and I can sew clothes. I can put in zippers, including in pants (fun stuff, let me tell you). I can make mayo by hand and peel potatoes without a peeler, and if you ask me children would be much better off helping in the kitchen instead of watching TV or playing computer games all the time. I can darn socks, and I've actually darned socks a long time ago. These days I have perhaps more money and less free time, but the old darning skills still come in handy:

When you kitchener stitch together the arm openings for Tangled Yoke, you get two little holes. It is easy to sew them shut, but you do need to be careful not to pull on the existing fabric because you will end up with holes somewhere else!

The cardigan is currently taking a warm bath, because the knitting and the finishing are both done. I haven't had time to buy buttons this week, but I can already tell this will be a gorgeous piece.

Musings

2007-09-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

How knitting is saving me money: I have become a fiber snob. Whenever I see a cute sweater / coat / anything in a store, I now check the label very carefully. I then sneer at the large percentage of acrylic / polyester / plastic and put the item back on the shelf, shaking my head at the ignorance of the world. Exceptions: new clothes made from good quality natural fibers (which I cannot afford) and clothes from the local second hand store (which are usually cheap AND made from good quality fibers, e.g. a $5 pure cashmere sweater).

How knitting is not saving me money: I spent $80 on yarn for Venezia and bought at least $50 worth of new needles for the project (silly small needles! stupid half sizes!). I'll spend a lot of time on this project, and my time can be worth a bit (bless the rich Ivy league students who need tutoring!). On the other hand, Old Navy has recently launched a "fair isle" collection; sweaters cost $20 on sale. Now granted, they are not Venezia, and the "fair isle" is quite minimal, but nevertheless. They shouldn't call it "fair isle".

Too lazy to take pictures today. I am one bind-off row away from finishing the knitting on Tangled Yoke. There will be quite a bit of finishing work to do, all the hanging yarn ends plus buttons and all, but I am quite pleased with the result. Trying on the cardigan after binding off the neck band was a very exciting moment.