CogKnition

Which Came First?

CogKnition — Mon, 31 May 2010 04:24:57 +0000

Pattern: Which Came First?, by Mochimochi Land
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted #0215, Lion Brand Wool-Ease
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 6 (4.0mm)

I’ve often threatened to keep toys I’ve made instead of giving them to the intended recipient. This time I’m doing it. Sorry, Mystery Would-Be Receiver of this existential conundrum, this one really is too cute to give away. I’ll make you something else, I promise.

You’ve all heard me rave about Anna Hrachovec’s patterns before. This little guy is the fifth Mochimochi Land pattern I’ve knit* so far and I don’t plan to stop any time soon! The pattern is wonderful, as usual. The only recommendation I would make is to stuff the toy somewhat firmly. You can pack quite a bit in there and still be able to flip from egg to chick easily.

*Fun fact! This means Anna ties Eunny Jang for the designer I knit the most.

Other entries about Which Came First?:

Knittin’, and Sewin’, and Thinkin’: Crochetin’?

Pocket Protectors

CogKnition — Mon, 31 May 2010 03:08:57 +0000

Pattern: Pocket Protectors, from Knitting Mochimochi by Anna Hrachovec
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 5 (3.75mm) and US 6 (4.0mm)

Behold! Mystery Project #2 is revealed. Anna gave us the go-head to share our project photos.

I cast on for this guy a year ago (which is why the photo is kind of fuzzy—it was taken with my ancient Powershot) and am thrilled to have had a tiny role in the production of Anna’s book.

I’ve made a lot of Mochimochi patterns and I expect to make many more. I am constantly in awe of how clever all her patterns are, and how fun they are to knit. I pre-ordered Knitting Mochimochi as soon as it was listed on Amazon. You can see the Pocket Protector on the back cover.

The bow on Mama Protector is my own invention, and I also turned the baby into a pencil. Alas, I lost the baby shortly after I knit it. He is surely knocking around our apartment somewhere, probably in some strange nook. I expect to find him when we move. In the meantime, Mama Protector is hanging out in my craft closet next to Weeeds.

Other entries about Pocket Protectors:

These Things I’ve Been Knitting

Pillow-y Goodness

CogKnition — Sun, 09 May 2010 04:12:51 +0000

Fabric: The patchwork pillows used cotton scraps raided from carrollb‘s stash. The bigger pillows used a heavyweight cotton bought at Yuzawaya.

Pattern: Winged it, with an assist from The Sewing Bible

My success at piecing inspired me to start (and complete) a project that has been on my to-do list for well over a year: make new cushion covers for the living room.

You guys have seen my futon in the background of many photos on this blog. It has this not-very-attractive, slightly Christmas-meets-faux-Southwestern pattern on it. It clashed with my husband’s not-quite-as-ugly but extremely dilapidated couch that he literally found on the street during his poor grad student days. When we moved in together and did the ritual Merging of the Furniture, we bought matching covers for both to hide the ugly and bring a semblance of coordination into our living room. You see the new futon cover in the background above.

But there were no matching covers for the cushions. So we still had this fun pop of Christmas-meets-faux-Southwestern in the living room that still did not remotely coordinate with my papasan.

“I’ll just make some new cushion covers,” I told my husband. Last March. Six months later, we went to Japan and I bought fabric. “For the cushion covers,” I told my husband.

Seven months later, I actually started.

I did the patchwork for the smaller pillows first, since I was now relatively confident I wouldn’t screw that up horribly.

It became clear (somewhat literally) at this point that I would need some kind of interfacing to keep the ugly cushion pattern from showing through the lightweight cotton. I found some lightweight black fusible interfacing at Joann’s, ironed it on without incident, and then cut out the pieces for the bigger cushions. I was still afraid of installing zippers, see, and planned to put that part off as long as possible.

And this is when The Sewing Bible led me to the light.

Continue reading Pillow-y Goodness (367 words) »

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Knittin’, and Sewin’, and Thinkin’: Crochetin’?

CogKnition — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:30:10 +0000

I’m suffering from a case of multicraftual startitis. This is what happens when you commit to too many knitting projects in advance and then…oooh, shiny!

Since finishing the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, I’ve started another sweater. Behold:

It’s the Vintage Pink Cardigan that I first blogged about 2.5 years ago. I figured I’d get a jump start on it and try to finish it by January. Which is when it gets “cold” here.

I’ve also started some things destined to be gifts:

It’s Which Came First? from Mochimochi Land, because every child needs a little existential angst. Also, I can’t read. For some reason I thought this toy would be actual egg-sized. And it is, if you mostly hang around ostriches.

And finally, I had to scratch the sewing itch. I’ve wanted to learn how to do patchwork and quilting for so long, but was frankly procrastinating out of fear. Fear that, try as I might, I would never be able to achieve the precision required to make beautiful pieces. But the fabric stash wasn’t getting any smaller (which wouldn’t be a problem except our apartment isn’t getting any bigger either), so last night I decided to bite the bullet.

Continue reading Knittin’, and Sewin’, and Thinkin’: Crochetin’? (211 words) »

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Tangled Yoke Cardigan

CogKnition — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:45:24 +0000

Pattern: Tangled Yoke Cardigan by Eunny Jang, from Interweave Knits Fall 2007
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed in color 142 “Melody”, 6 skeins
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 5 (3.75mm) and US 4 (3.5mm)

Just in time for summer! It’s unusually chilly today in Houston, so I grabbed the opportunity to wear the finished sweater for the first and last time until December.

I promptly started sweating. But did I change? No. Instead, I opened the windows and let the 40-degree outside in.

Quick project notes:

Yarn—I loved working with this yarn, and it’s very warm. Highly recommended
Pattern—The pattern is very well written and easy to follow. This is my fifth Eunny pattern and I’ve come to expect nothing less from her.
Finishing—This sweater must be blocked before wearing. There’s a lot of puckering and wrinkling around the cabled yoke when it first comes off the needles. That all evens out after a proper wet-block.
Modifications—I lengthened both the body (and thus the button band) and the sleeves to accomodate my freakishly long torso and arms. I also narrowed the sleeves at the wrist for a more fitted look. Used 8 buttons instead of 9 for the sake of mathematical simplicity.

According to my Ravelry project page, I finished the knitting on this in February. Yes, it takes me a whole month to install a button band. This is why I made puppy eyes at my grandma the last time I had to do it.

Attempt #1
Critical errors:

Buying the wrong width of ribbon, which meant I had to sew two strips together side-by-side.
Buying the wrong kind of ribbon, which meant that it was a nightmare to work with.
Not buying enough ribbon.
Failing to measure. Twice. Actually, thrice. I first produced a button band that was much too short, and then produced two more that weren’t the same length. And then I cut the buttonholes before confirming they actually lined up with the buttons.

There was much cursing. And perhaps some wine.

Continue reading Tangled Yoke Cardigan (135 words) »

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An Olympic Triumph

CogKnition — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:54:52 +0000

I did not cast anything on during the opening ceremony.

I did not knit a stitch on any project for the entire first week of the Olympics.

During the second week, I attempted to reinforce the button bands for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. The US men’s curling team had more success than I did.

Finally, I cast on a small project.

It’s not a gold-medal contender, but I think it’ll be a crowd-pleaser in our host nation.

Maybe I should have knit a hockey puck instead.

Congrats, Canadians! It was an awesome Olympics.

Haiku Knits

CogKnition — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 01:19:14 +0000

Author: Tanya Alpert
Publisher: Potter Craft
Rating:

Buy Haiku Knits on Amazon.com

What can I say? I’m a sucker for elegant Asian-inspired designs. Growing up, “Asian-inspired” too often meant cheesy red and gold adorned with dragons, bamboo, or farmers in conical hats. Asian influences have become more widespread since I was a kid in Wisconsin, but I still get a thrill out of seeing Asian-inspired designs that are beautiful.

This book features 25 total patterns. Over half of these patterns are sweaters, vests, and summer tops. Most of the remaining patterns are scarves and wraps, with one hat and one skirt pattern to round out the collection.

The patterns in this book come in a very small range of sizes; most patterns only have Small (34-36″ bust), Medium, and Large (40-42″ bust). A number of the patterns are simple enough to scale easily, but I would hesitate to recommend this book for knitters who fall outside of the prescribed size range as the scarf patterns alone would not induce me to buy this book. However, if you do fall in the prescribed size range, there are some stunning sweaters to choose from.

Pick of the Projects:

The cover sweater would have made this list, except that you already know what it looks like.

Snowflake (Easy). This sweater is a beautiful example of fashion as art. The actual knitting is simple, requiring only a bit of stockinette, ribbing, and a basic lace stitch; all the magic is in the construction of the garment. The sizing is given as “one size fits most” but it probably looks best the way it’s pictured: hanging on a small frame with lots of positive ease.

Cocoon (Intermediate). Unlike the previous selection, this is a fabulous everyday-wear sweater. The picture to the left doesn’t really do justice to the cable’s subtle twists and turns. This pattern is written only for bust sizes 34″-40″, but the construction is simple enough that a moderately-experienced knitter could size it up or down.

Long Night (Intermediate to Advanced). The book calls this a capelet, but it really is more a shrug or a flyaway cardigan. The showstopper part of this sweater is the exaggerated sleeve, the construction of which I can only describe as Norah Gaughan-esque. One of the recommended yarns (the sweater is knit with two yarns held together), Blue Heron Rayon Metallic, lends a little sparkle. Unfortunately this pattern only comes in two sizes, Small (32-36″ bust) and Medium (38-42″ bust), and sizing it up farther will require some significant effort.

The review copy of this book was provided by Potter Craft.

Buy Haiku Knits on Amazon.com

The Alchemy of Color Knitting

CogKnition — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:13:49 +0000

Author: Gina Wilde
Publisher: Potter Craft
Rating:

Buy The Alchemy of Color Knitting on Amazon.com

I love color, particularly vibrant jewel tones—a quick glance through my Ravelry projects page will confirm this. I’m always on the lookout for designers who have a good eye for color, so when Potter Craft offered to send me a review copy of this book, I took it.

The first chapter (8 pages) introduces basic color theory—the color wheel, different color schemes, etc. This section seems a bit superfluous to me, as it is much too short for people who want to learn more about color and how to use it—”Trust Your Preferences” is not a satisfying recommendation—and it is totally redundant for people who have, say, read the Wikipedia page on color theory.

But if you want patterns that use bright colors and use them well, this is the book for you. I counted 25 patterns total: 11 sweaters (including a tank and a baby cardigan), 8 scarves/wraps/shawls, and assorted accessories.

The size range for the garments is a little on the small side; there are generally only 4-5 sizes for each sweater. The smallest size is usually a bust measurement between 30 and 36 inches; the largest size is usually between 42 and 46 inches.

Like Shibori Knits, another Gina Wilde book, all the yarns are Alchemy Yarns.

Pick of the Projects:

My favorite project in the entire book is the Clematis Scarf, which is the stunner on the cover. But you can see what that looks like, so here are my picks of the others.

Peacock Cardigan (Experienced). This lacy, long cardigan is knit in a worsted-weight yarn and features belled sleeves and a small shawl collar. This small photo really does not do the sweater justice. The bell sleeves add some elegance and edges of this cardigan are beautifully finished, a detail I always appreciate. The only down side is that the pattern is written for four sizes: 30″, 36″, 42″, and 48″.

The Impressionist’s Wrap (Beginner). I love ombre, as you know, so this project jumped out at me immediately. This wrap is worked in Alchemy Yarns Haiku, which is a luscious silk/mohair blend. Two strands are held together throughout, changing the color of one strand at a time to get the ombre effect. The stitch pattern creates a slightly ruching at the color changes.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow Gloves (Intermediate). This is a basic glove pattern highlighted with beautiful floral embroidery. The embroidery chart is included, but you will have to find an embroidery reference if you don’t already know how to form the stitches. The pattern is written for one size, a women’s medium (8″ palm circumference).

Buy The Alchemy of Color Knitting on Amazon.com

Getting My Brooklyntweed On

CogKnition — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:47:43 +0000

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you know that I got a new camera for Christmas! My 10-year-old Canon Powershot A20, which took the vast majority of pictures on this site, has now entered retirement.

My new camera is another Powershot, the SX20 IS. I chose this one because it’s an SLR-like point-and-shoot with a long zoom and image stabilizer.

And now I can do stuff like this:

These buttons, from The Button Drawer, are destined for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan.

All Together for Christmas

CogKnition — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:37:53 +0000

Pattern: Chinese Zodiac Amigurumi , also available from edafedd
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted, assorted colors, and Lion Brand Wool-Ease, #122 Sienna
Hook: E 3.5mm

This is the first year that I am not spending Christmas in Wisconsin. My in-laws are coming in from Japan tomorrow, so we decided it made sense for us to stay put in Houston and, y’know, clean the house.

This is the second year in a row that Christmas is…different. Last year my parents spent Christmas by themselves in Atlanta, where they were seeking treatment for my dad’s cancer, while my brothers, my husband, and I had Christmas in Wisconsin. Not only was the family not together for Christmas, but we all kind of knew that it would probably be my dad’s last.

And of course, this year is the first one without my dad. And while this Christmas doesn’t have the same dark mood as last, and I am very much looking forward to seeing my in-laws, I still wanted to do something that would let us all be together, if only symbolically.

So I made Chinese Zodiac amigurumi.

The front two are me (monkey) and my husband (rabbit). The back row, from left to right: my dad (horse), my mom (snake), and my two brothers (rat and tiger).

Of course I decided to do this on December 20. Plan ahead for holiday crafting? What’s that? After one solid day of doing almost nothing but crochet, I just had the tiger left to do. And I discovered that the best color I had was…Cheetos Orange. No medium browns, not even a red in the right yarn weight. Just Cheetos Orange.

I tried to make a tiger in Cheetos Orange. It made my eyes hurt. And there are no yarn shops open at midnight on Sunday. So I made a quick trip to Big Box Craft Store for some Wool-Ease after work Monday night (tried the LYS first but it was closed), finished the tiger, dropped everybody into a box and posted it Priority Mail on Tuesday morning.

Miracle of miracles, they arrived in Wisconsin in time for Christmas. I got a call from my mom this morning and it sounds like they’re having a very merry Christmas over there. Though she does not believe me that my husband was born in the Year of the Rabbit. And we’re having a merry Christmas here too. So all is well.

Tangled Up in Bobbles

CogKnition — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:46:26 +0000

So I have been knitting.

If by “knitting” you mean knitting and re-knitting the same section of sweater over and over again. I am now officially a working stiff (of the hellish-commuting/lots-of-overtime variety), which means on a good day I’ll get to sneak maybe 20 minutes of knitting before I pass out on the couch. Anything more complicated than stockinette is now completely beyond me.

I reached the yoke part of the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, attached the sleeves, and continued working merrily along in stockinette. Until I discovered that I’d missed the decreases on the row where I attached the sleeves. Frog. Re-knit.

Missed the first round of yoke decreases. Frog. Re-knit.

Got to the cable pattern and miscounted the number of stitches between the 5-in-1 increases. Frog. Re-knit.

Missed the second set of 5-in-1 increases. Frog. Re-knit. Re-knit wrong, frog and re-knit again. It’s still wrong, so I frog and re-knit again, this time successfully.

I finish the cable pattern, and the next round of yoke decreases, and feel all proud of myself that I finally finished the hard part and can go back to zoning out on stockinette.

And then I looked more carefully. Check out the picture above again. Notice something?

Here’s a hint:

There were four dots on the chart that I thought were purl stitches. Turns out they were bobbles.

Continue reading Tangled Up in Bobbles (142 words) »

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Stackable Cats

CogKnition — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:36:09 +0000

Pattern: Stackable Cats from Mochimochi Land
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted, #1203, #599, #194, #515, #217, #180; Pittsburgh, #9143
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 6 (4.0mm)

Three stackable cat brothers went frolicking through my in-laws’ house. They ran into cousin Maneki Neko…

…and a proselytizing flying pig.

They spent some time practicing for their Cirque du Soleil audition…

…before retiring to their permanent homes. Calico went to my mother-in-law, Siamese to my aunt-in-law, and Striped Tabby went to my sister-in-law.

This is the third time I’ve knit one of Anna’s patterns and it is once again very clear and produces adorable results. I did make a few modifications when knitting the striped tabby. If you do a straight 2-row alternating stripe as suggested in the pattern, you’ll wind up with one very fat 4-row stripe after picking up stitches to make the rest of the body. So I made the first stripe only one row thick and then resumed alternating 2-row stripes. You still wind up with a 3-row stripe (which you can see at the top of the cat’s head), but I thought that was less noticeable.

In addition, the join will wind up at the front of the cat, so I knit an extra half-round to push it to the back, where the jog would be less prominent. I also finished up the last part of the body—the flap that becomes the bottom of the cat—all in white instead of in stripes.

The cats were declared to be very kawaii by my in-laws. I think so too. And well…

Cobijita Floresita Baby Blanket

CogKnition — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:54:43 +0000

Pattern: Cobijita Floresita by Mia Zamora Johnson
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted, #180, 5 skeins, and #215, 1 skein
Hook: H 5.0mm

All the blanket needs now is a baby to sit in the middle and coo.

I have to say, I officially love crocheting blankets. It is SO FAST. This blanket is about 44″ across and I finished it in about two and a half weeks (including ripping and re-crocheting 1/3 of the petals).

This is a very nice beginning crochet pattern and a very portable project. The instructions are clear and there are lots of photographs to help you figure out how to assemble the blanket.

Although Encore is my favorite yarn for baby gifts because it is machine washable and dryable and comes in so many wonderful colors, I think this pattern would work best with a yarn that has more natural fiber.

The petals are a little cupped when they first come off the hook and need to be blocked flat. The edging around the center also wants to point towards the middle and it needs to be blocked to point towards the outside of the flower. I think I could have managed to block them entirely flat with a natural fiber yarn, but Encore doesn’t block that well and my edging is standing up like a tart crust.

Mmmm tarts.

The “wrong side” of the blanket is neat and tidy, which I appreciate a lot.

Now to wrap it up and give it away!

Other entries about Cobijita Floresita:

Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

CogKnition — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:48:14 +0000

So I finished the Cobijita Floresita blanket. After knitting 13 petals for a 10-petal flower. I discovered after the seventh petal that I’d mis-counted the rows on three of them. Riiiip, and re-crochet. But now it’s done. This is how it looks blocking.

And then I frogged a bunch of stuff to re-claim the yarn.

On the left, seven hanks of Cascade 220 reclaimed from that intarsia bag that I never felted. Then some tan Cascade 220 reclaimed from a large swatch. And finally, some Mission Falls 1824 wool superwash rescued from a sweater my brother was knitting (and mostly completed) but never finished due to fit and construction issues.

I also started a hat project. About five times because I kept changing my mind about the design of the hat. Ribbing or no? Two-by-two ribbing or one-by-one? Long tail or tubular cast-on? I thought the sixth time would take, but it turns out that the hat is sized to fit a basketball, not a human head. Riiiiiiiiiiiip.

Mental Health Break

CogKnition — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:21:51 +0000

Found via a Remnants thread on Ravelry.

I’d like to refer the Doozers to the Knot a Problem Rav group.

Cthulhu

CogKnition — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:10:01 +0000

Pattern: Mini Cthulhu , by Cherene Reyes, only available on Ravelry
Yarn: Plymouth Encore Worsted, #451, 1 skein
Hook: E 3.5mm

He gets very angry when someone says he’s cute and trust me, you won’t like him when he’s angry.

The finished toy is just shy of 6 inches tall (which means you should be extra careful around him, because he has a MASSIVE inferiority complex) and uses 8mm plastic safety eyes. It was a quick crochet, taking an afternoon-ish. Other than a brief bit of confusion when working the legs, the pattern was easy to follow. Contrary to the pattern, I chose to stuff the arms and not the wings.

I take no responsibility if you make one and then die a messy death. I gave mine away as a precaution.

A Ray of Light

CogKnition — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:00:06 +0000

There is a light at the end of the dissertation tunnel. I suppose it could still be the headlamp of an oncoming train, but I think that’s probably unlikely.

In the meantime, a bit o’ something new. And brightly colored.

It’s the start of the Cobijita Floresita crocheted baby blanket by Mia Zamora Johnson, aka Owlishly. Pattern available on Etsy and on Ravelry. Check out her other stuff too, it’s adorable.

So far the best thing about this blanket is that it’s almost entirely done in double crochet. That’s about all my brain can handle right now, cuz after a couple weeks of intense thesis writing and revising, she be fried.

I Knit Because it’s NOT Cheap

CogKnition — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:51:32 +0000

I just read a review of Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture and as a knitter, it struck a chord with me. The book is going into my shopping cart.

As knitters and crocheters, I am sure we have all heard some variant of the question: “Why would you spend that much money to knit your own [garment] when you can buy that for [ridiculous price] at [Big Box Store]?”

And if you are like me, you get deeply annoyed with this question. I realize I’m probably preaching to the converted here, but…off I go!

See, I was raised to be frugal. But in my house, that did not mean “pay as little money for any single item as possible.” In my house, that meant “choose what you buy carefully, and only buy items that are actually worth the money.” How long something would last was an integral part of the equation.

I once bought a sweater for $25 at Old Navy. Some people would consider this a bargain. I came to consider this a massive waste of $25 (which, in the poorest of my poor student days, was almost a week’s worth of meals). Two months later, it had started unraveling in three places; the ends had been clipped without being properly secured. To repair it, I’d have to find matching yarn, disassemble the sweater, re-knit parts of it, and re-seam it. I had worn it maybe ten times.

Average cost per use: $2.50.

The yarn for each of Big Sack, Hourglass, and Rogue, cost between 3.5 and 5 times the amount of that Old Navy sweater. I wear Big Sack the least, but I am sure I have worn it at least 35 times. The other two sweaters, waaaaaaay more than 50 times, and they’ve also survived a rip and re-knit when I wanted to size them down. All the sweaters remain in excellent condition and I expect them to last many more years, especially now that I live in Houston.

Average cost per use: less than $2.50. By a lot. And that’s not even counting the hundreds of hours of entertainment I got out of knitting them. Seriously, what makes more sense?

Even if I knit with luxury yarns, it is worth every penny to knit garments myself instead of buying cheap pieces, made by who-knows-who in what kind of conditions, that I’m just going to have to replace after one season anyways.

Tink, Tink, Tink

CogKnition — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:04:04 +0000

So I decided what to knit, though it’s none of the options I presented in my last post. I cast on for the Autumn Arbor stole (first introduced to me by graciechiao) with the Cherry Blossom Silk Lace from Sundara.

And then I brought it to knit night. And then I continued to work on it while attempting to watch soccer coverage in Spanish, which I barely understand but am trying to learn. This is what happened:

I was tempted to leave it. If the mistake can’t be spotted from the back of a galloping horse, who cares, right? But you know who could spot a mistake from the back of a galloping horse? An eagle.

Time to tink.

I believe firmly in tinking over frogging for virtually any kind of mistake, no matter how far back it is. Frogging is reserved for whole-project errors, or if I have less than two rows completed. They say in programming that you introduce a new bug for every ten lines of code you write. I believe there’s a similar rule for knitting, that you make a new mistake about every X stitches. Tinking means re-knitting fewer stitches and that means you’re less likely to make a new mistake in the course of your repair.

Of course, proper set-up for tinking makes all the difference. Clear your workspace. Get good light. Banish children, pets, husbands, and liquor to another room. Failure to do so is like being a surgeon at Seattle Grace.

Continued after the jump.

Continue reading Tink, Tink, Tink (322 words) »

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What to Knit, What to Knit

CogKnition — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:23:29 +0000

So uh, I’m down to one project on the needles again. And the Tangled Yoke Cardigan is mired in a sea of stockinette. You know what that means: One Project Paralysis. Must cast on something new!

However, I am (chronically) on a yarn diet. Considering the limits of space, budget, and sanity, this is the best thing, trust me. Thus I need to cast on something from stash. But I’m not sure what! Tell me, help me! What should I knit?

Lace. I have a skein of Sundara silk earmarked for a scarf/wrap thing for my mother-in-law. It’s a beautiful pink with the occasional streak of sage green. I was thinking of making one of these, but am open to other suggestions.
Socks. There are quite a few options here, but the downside is that all this sock yarn has been earmarked for my own designs. Or it might be an upside, depending on how you feel about my designs—if you like them, you might vote to kick me off my duff and get one done. The percolating designs are:
- Purple all-over lace sock
- White sock with lace cuff and eyelets down the leg and foot
- Hot pink heavily-cabled sock
- Blue-green sock with one cable panel
Toy. I’ve got yarn to make a toy version of an oomingmack.
Sweater. I’ve got the yarn for these:

Probably not the Vintage Pink Cardigan, as that’s also a sea of stockinette, but maybe the Venezia, which has colorwork to keep it interesting and would be perfect for knitting to podcasts.

Thoughts? Suggestions? What do you want to see me knit?

Free Pattern! Saturday Night Knitted Purse

CogKnition — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:08:25 +0000

Photo by Randall Smith

Pattern: Saturday Night, by Lauren Abrams and ME!
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, Cavern, 2 skeins
Needles: US 6 (4.0mm) and US 7 (4.5mm) Addi Turbos

Saturday Night, aka Mystery Project #3, is the first result of an ongoing collaboration with Lauren Abrams.

Lauren is the woman behind LaBeana Bags. Her designs are beautiful and she is a joy to work with. The look of the bag is all hers, I’m just the one behind the scenes, translating her art into a knitting pattern. Not that knitting can’t be art, but my role in this project is more of an engineer.

I hope you enjoy the pattern as much as I enjoyed helping to create it.

And yes, Mystery Project #4 in the sidebar is also a Lauren collaboration. I’ll be shipping her the finished sample this afternoon.

Other pattern news: I’ve made two small corrections to the Amy Scarf pattern (fixed a typo in row 17 of the pattern, and deleted an erroneous knit stitch in the instructions for KRL). Please download a new copy!

Weeeds

CogKnition — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:13:17 +0000

Pattern: Weeeds, by Mochimochi Land
Yarn: Plymouth Encore, #451 and #1202; Pittsburgh, #9143
Needles: US 6 (4.0mm) Addi Turbos

A-ha! The first reveal.

I was one of the test knitters for Weeeds. I love how Anna’s brain works—her style, the awesome techniques she invents (or un-vents) to make her toys, the clever names (wee + weeds = weeeds!)—and it was a treat to get a sneak preview of one of her patterns. This one’s free, so head over to her blog and check it out.

As you can see, I didn’t have a true yellow in my stash, so I had to use an off-white/cream instead.

It’ll probably be a long time before I can reveal another one of the mystery projects, unfortunately. And the Tangled Yoke Cardigan is stuck in a stockinette phase. Perhaps this is a sign I should cast on something new. I kind of have a hankering for some socks. Or maybe some lace. Hmm…

These Things I’ve Been Knitting [Two Revealed!]

CogKnition — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:48:36 +0000

It’s been a slow knitting year. Six months gone, and there’s only four items on my 2009 FO list, only one of which is an actual knitting project!

I will say though, that that list isn’t entirely…accurate. See, I’ve been working on Secret Projects. They are not my Secret Projects, or even Gift Projects. But things I’ve been testing/developing for other people, and thus they are not bloggable projects.

But I think I can get away with posting these without running afoul of my promise to keep things hush-hush:

Illuminating, I know. I will reveal as soon as I’m given the all-clear.

Update 06/29/2009: The first project revealed!
Update 05/30/2010: The second project revealed!

Two more:

Update 07/06/2009: The third project revealed!

I can tell you that both of these are purses I’ve been working on as part of a collaboration. The first one is done and somewhere in the pre-release stages. The second one is in progress. There is a third in the planning stages. Not going to say more at this point.

I can, however, post fully about this:

The long-awaited Tangled Yoke Cardigan, in progress. I’d cast it on back in February, when I flew to visit my dad for what would turn out to be the second-last time. I couldn’t bring myself to pick it up again until recently, when it was the only project of mine that I could actually knit in public. It’s chugging along now and I think I should be able to finish it in time for the sweltering heat of August. Never say I don’t plan ahead.

I’ve Been Cheating on the Knitting Blog

CogKnition — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:48:53 +0000

Again. Last time it was to blog about learning Japanese.

This time, it’s to blog about food.

Go see what I’ve been cooking. You know you want to.

Sleepy Snake & Mischievous Mice

CogKnition — Fri, 22 May 2009 01:07:07 +0000

Pattern: Sleepy Snake & Mischievous Mouse, by Mochimochi Land
Yarn: Plymouth Encore, #450, #451, #515, #1202, and #599
Needles: US 5 (3.75mm) Addi Turbos

A tragedy in four acts.

Act I—Mice Gather ‘Round

Act II—Friend? Or Intruder?

Act III—INTRUDER! RUN AWAAYYYYYYY!

Act IV—Goodbye, Cruel World

The end.

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