A Cold Bright Day in April

Hybrid Vigor

2008-08-16T17:13:00.000-07:00

Something odd happened to my knitter's brain the last few months: not only did I stop knitting altogether, but I did so just after finishing what is easily the most demanding project I have ever attempted, and couldn't even be bothered to take some pictures and write a post.

Then I quit my job, and that very afternoon I found myself sitting at my kitchen table and I felt... restless, somehow... itchy-fingered... it took me a few minutes to recognize it, but let's just say I've cast on at least 4 things since then. So I've got all sorts of things to show and tell, but I can't let THIS go any longer.

The Lady models The Hybrid.

I sort of can't believe it really worked out. I started imagining this mutt of a sweater almost a year ago. I had loved Eunny's Venezia Pullover from the first moment I got a peek at it but was a bit overwhelmed by the enormity of the thing. And I loved Road to Golden but didn't feel the geometric pattern would be terribly flattering on me. So the seeds of a hybrid started germinating...

Honestly, combining these two patterns was entirely straightforward. I essentially followed the pattern for Golden, adjusting the numbers for a sportweight yarn based on my swatches, and substituting the brocade pattern from Venezia for the diamondy, argyley thing that Golden's got going on. I of course had to adjust the colorwork pattern horizontally to make sure it was centered, given my total stitch count, but that was the heaviest math involved.

I did more bust increases than called for and left out the gussets, which in retrospect may have been a poor choice, fit-wise, but I do think it makes the patterns come together more cleanly.

The colorwork sleevecaps are basically made up on the fly. I wanted something a little rounder and smoother looking than the simple stripes from the Golden sleeves, so I improvised these. I'm fairly pleased.

All in all, this is both my proudest knitting achievement, and my greatest disappointment.

The disappointment is due solely to the fact that the damn thing doesn't fit. I gained 10 lbs this spring, and this sweater would have been annoyingly snug even on the slightly svelter body that I started knitting it for. It just didn't grow as much as my swatch did when I blocked it. Luckily I have a girlfriend slightly smaller than myself who doesn't resent the fact that this cute little garment didn't start life with her in mind. (AND will model for pictures on the hottest day of the year. Such a trooper.)

I'll probably get more satisfaction out of seeing it on her than I would out of wearing it myself, anyway.

All the basic stats are on Ravelry, but it's been so long that I'm sure I'm leaving out some relevant details, so feel free to ask questions! And thanks again for sticking around through my highly spotty blog attendance. :)

Resurfacing.

2008-06-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

So, I kind of disappeared, huh? Well, I'm getting my feet under me again, and I may just become less of a sorry excuse for a blogger here any day now. My life is really, really fucking great right now, but I am pushing myself to the limit and will be for another couple weeks at least. But I'm here because I missed y'all, a lot. (And thank you thank you thank you to everybody that emailed me making sure I was ok. It meant more to me than I would have imagined to get unsolicited just-checkingin emails from people I've never "met". I truly love our little corner of the internet.)

So yes, I'm back, and here's a smattering of what I've been up to:

1. I got into nursing school, and gave my notice at work. I could NOT be happier with this turn of events.

2. I joined the cowl craze. Details here.

3. I ate some tasty foods.

4. I blocked a sweater. (!!!) FO post to follow, very very soon.

Aaaah -- it's nice to be back.

Accidental Fire.

2008-04-01T18:12:00.000-07:00

I didn't think I'd do much in the way of intentional Project Spectrum-age this year (the Ribbed Lace Bolero was entirely incidental), but when I was deciding which of my single socks to finally pair off, the classical elements seemed as good a means as any for making an arbitrary decision.

I stand by it, too, because seriously, why did I let this singleton linger so long? These puppies belong on feet. Preferably mine.

Pattern: Twisted Tweed, by Schrodinger
Yarn: Trekking XXL, in Color 147
Needles: US 1s

At any rate, by halfway through the second sock I was hooked on this whole element thing. Maybe because I saw this, and like everyone else and their respective uncles, I had to make one. I was looking for something, ideally a non-sock something, to do with my pretty but bound-to-pool Shibui sock yarn, and clearly this was it. And it's orange! So obviously I had to finish the above sock before midnight last night in order to cast on for this before PS: FIRE ran out. Which I still maintain is totally logical, but I'm sort of glad none of my housemates asked me to explain.

And just wait till you see what I've got cooking for PS: EARTH. Er... actually you've already seen most of it, but this time I'm actually going to finish something during the allotted time, rather than just start it.

The Road to Venezia

2008-03-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, so that was a little harder than I thought. But two of you guessed one of the designs, and since Sula already owns both books (and has an unfair advantage anyway since she apparently shares half of my knitting brain), our winner is the lovely Ms. Macoco. (Check your email!)

So yes: I'm taking the Venezia Pullover and Road to Golden, smashing them together, shaking well, and hoping they'll make beautiful babies. Horribly mixed metaphors aside, I'm frankly not positive this is a well-conceived plan.

Roughly speaking, the construction is mostly Golden, the colorwork pattern is all Venezia. That much should go fine. But between the coarser gauge and the simpler color scheme (I've scaled back from 10 colors to 5), I'm starting to worry that I'll sabotage what should be a beautiful brocade pattern and look instead like I've plastered myself in wallpaper. But maybe not. It could be gorgeous and intricate and awesome, or even garish in a cute way -- I'm remaining optimistic for now. Should I totally hate it, I can always rip back the colorwork portion, order more brown, and make a yoked sweater instead.

(Con)testing your skillz.

2008-03-04T12:44:00.000-08:00

It's getting to be that time of year when I've fully recovered my post xmas mojo and harness it to knit myself a sweater that will be done just in time for the temperatures to preclude wearing it until next fall. I am nothing if not predictable. (I KNOW I could knit a summer garment, but I just don't want to, okay?)

Last year it was the stripey hourglass. This year I'm hybridizing two recent* sweater patterns, and I want YOU to guess which two. (There's something in it for you, as you might've guessed.) This was going to be my blogthday contest, and then it was going to be my knittiversary contest, but various factors intervened, and now it's a Just Because contest. You get three hints:

1. The authors of the two respective patterns are colleagues. (And not just in the sense that they're both knitwear designers -- they're employed by the same company.)

2. The titles of both patterns are at least vaguely geographical in theme.

3. One of the patterns is written for a fingering weight yarn, and the other for a worsted. I'm splitting the difference and using a sport weight:

Why yes, I AM more concerned with st gauge than row gauge. What tipped you off?

I'm only showing you the stockinette swatch, because obviously the pattern swatch would give away at least one of the two answers. But if you know my tendencies at all, the fact that I knit a pattern swatch in the first place might tell you something.

I can't tell if this is going to be super easy or super hard. I mean, it obvious to me because I already know. I've been thinking about this for months now and can't see it with an outsider's eyes. So if either lots of folks or nobody guesses correctly, I'll draw randomly. Partial credit may work in your favor. :)

And what do you stand to win?

We are loneleeeee and unused.

I've realized that owning knitting books is a silly venture for me. I rarely want to knit more than one or two patterns from any given book, and my library is great for that sort of thing. These are both lovely books, very lightly used, and I feel bad letting them sit on my shelf.

Comment by midnight PST on Friday, 3/7/08 with your guesses and which book you'd prefer, and I'll reveal the winner early next week. Good luck!!

*ETA: 'recent' = published in the last two years.

Repurposing.

2008-02-29T12:12:00.000-08:00

Over time I've learned that if I let a project sit on the needles for too long (read: many months) it will get frogged. I don't think this is a bad thing, necessarily. You start to think how you're not knitting that thing because stockinette in a cotton blend hurts your hands, and how the lace panel isn't quite what you want it to be, and how probably that pattern looks better on skinny girls anyway.

Or at least, that's what I got to thinking about Rusted Root. So it got cannibalized.

The ribbed lace bolero is such a cute, quick, smart little knit that I knew I had to make one. And I had a perfect opportunity, too.

My sister was born the day I turned 5 and a half, so my birthday is her half birthday and vice versa. Her whole life, I've given her a little half bday present on MY birthday, and she does the same, so when I turned 26 last week, I figured this little bolero (which is so exactly her style) would be the perfect twenty-and-a-halfth gift.

Pattern: Ribbed lace bolero, by Kelly Maher
Yarn: Cascade Sierra, in ginger, 1.5 skeins
Needles: US9 and US10, I think.

It stretches out a bit with wear, and my sewn bind off is a little wobbly, but I love the lace pattern and how it drapes in this yarn. Especially around the arm. Verdict? A winner. I'd love to try it in a 100% wool, too.

Blue x 2

2008-02-16T18:50:00.000-08:00

After that needlessly drawn out cavalcade of FOs, we bring you two blue WIPS:

First, I'm pulling a Jared on Frost Flowers and Leaves.

Second, I'm finally knitting the mate to the lovely Tyrolean stocking that Leslie knit for me back in October. Just one problem, though.

Not sure if it's evident from this picture, but although I'm matching Leslie's stitch gauge quite closely (on US3s), my row gauge is pretty off. I'm at the beginning of the 11th central cable chevronny thing, and the leg is at least an inch longer than it is at the correspoding point on Leslie's sock.

What would you do? Keep going and hope I can fudge the length difference in blocking? (I hate this idea, myself, but I'll consider all options...) Keep going and leave out half a repeat or so? Reknit on 2s and block aggressively to combat the inevitable stitch gauge difference? Something else I haven't thought of?? I have the feeling that stitch gauge is more flexible than row gauge. Am I wrong?

My thanks in advance for you knitterly knowledge, dear internet friends, and may you all have lovely President's Day weekends.

Love, hats, and more love.

2008-02-08T10:35:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry to report that the craftiest thing I've done all week was hemming my pants. However! My procrastinatory nature is the gift that keeps on giving, because I have such a backlog that I'm at no loss for postable stuff.

1. Sweater love
First off, THANK YOU for all your lovely comments about the Urban Aran -- and about Katie! (Just to clear up any confusion, Katie and The Lady are one and the same. 'The Lady' is not some bloggy pseudonym but rather, it's what I actually call her, most of the time. As in "How was your day, The Lady?" or "Hey, The Lady, did you feed the chickens?")

2. The last hat of 2007
Note that I didn't say the last FO of 2007. There are a couple more hanging around waiting to be photographed, but who knows when that will happen.

This hat was a special request from my friend Michael (He bought me the yarn, no fast-breaking here!), and he was very excited about the idea of a rolled up brim. So I took our favorite pattern, knit the ribbing for about 4 inches, and did 4.5 pattern repeats instead of 5.

The yarn is Malabrigo, in Black Forest, well under a skein. I may never knit this pattern in anything but Malabrigo ever again.

3. The first hat of 2008
I was on the streetcar the other day, and spotted a woman in the world's cutest hat. So I made one myself. Actually the band on her hat was skinnier than this one, and stockinette, and had a buckle instead of a button, but whatever. I give you the Streetcar Hat:

Way easy: I took some Lamb's Pride Bulky left over from the Urban Aran, cast on what looked like a reasonable (and odd) number of stitches on US9s -- i think it was 13 sts -- and knit a long rectangle in seed stitch with a slip stitch selvedge on both sides, until it was long enough to go around my head snugly with an overlap about as long as the band is wide. I did a few rows with decreases one stitch in from the edge, to round it off, and bound off. Then I picked up the selvedge stitches along one side, leaving the overlappy bit un-picked-up, decreased one (I was lucky) to get a multiple of 7, and knit stockinette in the round until it was long enough, then did your standard crown decreases. Sewed on a button and thar she be. Yes, the button is totally non-functional. I didn't think I would ever use a buttonhole, so I didn't put one in.

Got the lovely button from Josephine's Dry Goods, which you should totally check out if you're in the area. Gorgeous fabric and a whole wall of buttons.

4. Bloggy love
Can I just say how much I like this Make My Day thing? Yeah it's a nice little ego boost to get tagged, sure, but mostly what I love is that I've found SO many excellent new blogs to read, all with the stamp of approval of somebody I'm already reading. AWESOME.

So of course I was thrilled to make the days of Specs, Jennie, and Vanessa. (ETA: and Desiknitter! Sorry I'm such a spaz.) You three all make my day, too, seriously. And although many of the folks who also do so have already posted their own lists (I'm late hopping on this train, like so many others), I still want to give them a little shout out so they and y'all know I love 'em. So the remaining 7 (since I'm tagging back those three lovely ladies) in alphabetical order:

Dr. B -- Superior sewing skills, utmost humility, and the ability to make me laugh out loud at Every Single Post. The woman is awesome.
Elinor -- Is she cranking out the pretty stuff lately or what? Plus, one seriously cute baby.
Kristy -- Besides all the beautiful knitting, I love reading Kristy's blog because we have a similar career trajectory AND she's joining me in my stash challenge. Except she has to run. HA!
Leslie -- There's nothing I can say about Leslie or her blog that would be prettier or friendlier or better than the lady and the blog themselves. Go see.
Melissa -- I just started reading this, but I love it. There's something about her style that I really, really dig.
Tiennie -- How does she do it? Not just the beautiful knitting, of course, but the keeping up with everyone and their cousin in this little community of ours? A very sweet and talented lady, no question.
Whitney -- Again, there's just something about Whitney's knitting style that I really love. I'm always happy to see her name light up in my google reader.

Phew. So hard to choose!!

Happy Friday, y'all. I shall return with WIPs.

Urban Aran: Totally not a figment of my imagination.

2008-01-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

After brief technical difficulties (fucking USB cords...) we continue our FO parade with something a long, long time coming:

It's real! And it's finished! Technically the zipper didn't get sewn in until January, but I'm counting it as a 2007 FO. Because I'm the decider.

I've wanted to make this for The Lady for over a year now, but wasn't certain enough of my skills. But when the hourglass sweater went so well and so easily, I said to myself, 'Self, we can do this'. And do this we did.

The Dirt:
Pattern: Urban Aran, from Paton's Street Smart. Cardiganized a la Jared of Brooklyntweed.
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky, in Old Sage. I used roughly 2.5 1-lb cones, so about 1250 yds.
Needles: US 9s for the cuffs & hem, 7s for the collar, 10s for everything else.
Mods: I... pretty much did exactly what Jared did -- jacketified and lengthened by about 2 inches total. Oh, and I accidentally made the slanty cabley parallellogram thing at the waist one repeat too long on the first front, so I just did the same with the rest of them and it looks fine, particularly with the added length over all.

I have zero complaints about the pattern. This was my first time dealing with set in sleeves, or really any substantial seaming at all, and it was far less harrowing of an experience that I'd feared. Possibly because the sleeve caps actually fit into the armscyes, more or less. Although not always quick, everything about this was straightforward and turned out as I'd hoped it would.

The yarn is, as I can tell from experience and from you helpful internet citizens, going to pill. But frankly, that's true of any yarn that I could afford in this kind of quantity. And I'm very pleased with the texture and the color. What are sweater shavers for, anyway?

If I had it all to do again I would change one and only one thing: I'd add another row or two to the collar so that the whole thing is exactly the same length as the zipper. Right now, the very last couple millimeters of zipper peek out at the top. Which, um. I could obviously fix, and probably will. But she was just so anxious to WEAR it, you know?

ETA: I almost forgot -- I have officially decided that the Sweater Curse is, like the risks of unwanted pregnancy and mothers nagging about 'setting a date', one of the things I'm exempt from as a member of a same-sex relationship. I did, however, freak out a little once when we fought while I was knitting this. But The Lady is way too cute (and too well versed in knit-culture) for me to give her up: when I gave her the sweater she grinned and said "Does this mean I have to break up with you now?"

Reappearing

2008-01-14T13:24:00.000-08:00

I had the kind of winter break that saw me reveling in my favorite forms of relaxation, wallowing in novel forms of stress, consuming stupid large amounts of alcohol, losing and regaining my knitting mojo at least twice, and overall having the kind of time that left me needing a vacation from my vacation. But mostly in a good way.

And now here I am again, and with a fair bit to show for it. So, taking a cue from Ashley, we'll begin a mini FO parade. The Real Family (= me + The Lady + The Sis) went down to Corvallis yesterday to visit the Slightly Extended Family (= Mom + Gram) for the latter's 80th birthday. When Mom started driving us all just a leeeeeetle bit crazy, we needed an excuse to take a break -- and the Inga photoshoot did just the trick:

We drove down to our old middle school and did two things we never did while we were students there: photographed knitwear, and smoked cigarettes in the parking lot.

PSA: Smoking is bad. Except when fortifying yourself for crazy relatives.

The Dirt:
Pattern: Inga
Yarn: 1/2 skein Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, in Aran, 1 skein Knit Picks Swish in Clematis Heather, and a wee bit of Cascade 220 in Green.
Needles: US 6 (I forgot to use smaller needles for the brim, but I think it worked out OK.)
Mods: None, really. Slightly heavier yarn than called for, I guess.

I knew this pattern ran long, if not wide, but I figured since the sis has a big head, it'd be fine. Turns out it is a tad long -- if I were to knit it again, which I might, I'd take out part of the first repeat, like Adrian did -- but she loves it as-is.

This will probably go down as the project that taught me both how important even tension is in colorwork, AND how much blocking can do for you when you neglect said tension. I didn't take any pre-blocking shots, but believe me: this hat was transformed.

All in all, I am over the moon about this one. It's the kind of project that makes you look like an even better knitter than you are because it's just so damn pretty. So: go make it, now. But consider lopping off an inch or so.

In which I distract you from my slackerhood with Interspecies Love.

2007-12-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

I seem to have come down with a moderate case of false-startitis.

The symptoms?

Remember how WAY back when, I asked for color advice for a Two-Tone Shrug for my sister? Yeah. I chose a nice dark red, then got about five rows into it before i decided I was totally bored. She'll be getting a cuter than cute hat instead.

I got most of the way through a super thick, squishy log cabin sock in Lamb's Pride Bulky before I remembered Katie's dad can't wear wool. Where is my brain?

I was going to design the world's loveliest cabled scarf for my Dad, but I think I started too late. I gave it several tries, but nothing looked the way I wanted it to. Given more time I'm sure I could pull it off, but for now he'll be getting a seed stitch scarf instead. Classy and simple. (And unphotographed. Sorry.)

The cause? It pains me to say it, but all that knitting mojo I'd accumulated just drained out of me in an instant: I left myself logged into flickr on Katie's computer, and The Super Surprise Xmas Thing is a Surprise no more. I almost cried. I hardly have the heart to finish seaming. But it will still be beautiful and appreciated and loved... just not a surprise. Damn it.

In the meantime, there's one thing I have managed to commit to: Yes, predictably enough, our "foster cat" pretty quickly became our "oh my goodness, you're a kitty! yes you are! my fuzzy little dumpling cat...". He'll be staying around.

Not exaggerating. Best Cat Ever.

My one hesitation was that he was completely freaked out (and I have the claw marks to prove it) by Maya's incessant, pushy brand of affection. But this is what I found when I came downstairs this morning. Notwithstanding that someone isn't actually supposed to be on the couch at all, this is serious progress -- he'll be sleeping on her head before long.

Red and white and warm all over

2007-11-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

Somehow, in between the cooking and the houseguests and the visiting of many Portlandy institutions* and the lots and lots of sleeping, I whacked these out over the long weekend and I looooooorve them.

(4 FOs in a week? Who is this knitter inhabiting my body, and can she stick around for the next, oh, 27 days?)

Ze Hat:
Pattern: Koolhaas, by Jared Flood, in IK Holiday Gifts 2007
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran, color #11, 2 balls
Needles: US6 and 8 metal dpns
Mods: I followed the directions for the Women's size, but only did 7 rounds of ribbing, and omitted round 7 of the crown shaping, both because of yardage fears and the lofty, almost bulky weight of this yarn though which made my gauge a bit bigger than the pattern gauge. It worked out just fine: the hat fits perfectly and I had less than a yard of yarn leftover.

This yarn is fuzzy, and so the traveling twisted stitches aren't as crisp in this hat as in most other versions I've seen, but the thickness of it means they still stand out well -- the little recessed diamonds are extra deep and shadowy. Plus, you can't beat this stuff for softness. (cough It's on closeout at WEBS cough)

Ze Meeetens:
Pattern: Herringbone Mittens (pdf), by Elli Stubenrauch (elliphantom.com)
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Hollyberry, 1 skein
and Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted in Aran, less than 1/2 a skein.
Needles: US 4 and 6 bamboo dpns
Mods: None, except omitting the poms.

This pattern is awesome. Simple, well written, easy to memorize, and way, way cute. I see more mittens in my future. I found the yardage to be very generous -- I got away with half of what the pattern calls for. YMMV, though, because my colorwork tends to be extra tight. And for reference? The Hollyberry is almost exactly the same shade as the Alpaca Silk.

Also a nice complement to a Rhode Island Red, if you've got one around.

*Powell's, Armory Theater, Japanese Garden, Nicholas' Lebanese Restaurant, KnitPurl, The Lightbulb Lady, Amnesia Brewing, The Meadow, The Spare Room, Montage, Tin Shed. All highly recommended.

Three small pretty things

2007-11-20T11:17:00.000-08:00

I was just noticing that the single sock was my only FO since September, and thinking, "what kind of slacker knitter am I?", when suddenly two little O's were magically effed in one weekend.
I don't have much of an extended family: only two first cousins, both adopted. (This is what happens when your mom is an only child, your dad's brother was gay and died of AIDS, and his sister is a DES daughter.) Since Katie is siblingless and my sister swears up and down she'll never have kids, my niecephew outlook is similarly bleak. But! The adorable man whom Katie has known since babydom and is practically her brother is becoming a poppa in December.

Dudes, this is the closest I may ever get to having a niece. Ergo, Shedirlette! I followed these directions for babyfication, though to my untrained eye it looks more infant than newborn sized. I used roughly half a skein of Calmer leftover from Fifi.

Second in the lineup, proof that boring knits can be pretty.

Ignore that yarn tail for the moment. I can't find my tapestry needle.

This scarf was a request from a friend, and the yarn he chose is heavenly -- 4 balls of Elsebeth Lavold Silky Flamme in Serge -- but I have to admit it had me a bit stymied at first. I had all sorts of great ideas, but none of them seemed to fit the solid color and drastically thick and thin texture. With reassurances from the recipient that "simple is fine, really", I ended up with plain old 2x2 rib, and you know what? I love it.

Finally, the third soft pretty thing that's hanging out at my house these days:

We signed up to be a foster pet family, and this is the first little fellow to come home with us. He didn't come with a name, so we've been calling him Helo. They were going to euthanize him because they said he was unfriendly, difficult to manage, and wouldn't use a litterbox, none of which have proved even remotely true.

He is, however, hard to get a decent picture of, because he literally spends 90% of his waking hours doing this:

I'm going to have a hard time when he has to leave.

139 days (It's a leap year.)

2007-11-13T12:24:00.000-08:00

I just ordered the last of the yarn I need for Xmas projects, as well as a post-holiday project that I've been scheming about for months, now... and with that, I begin my fast. Hear me now, believe me later: I will not buy any new yarn until April 1st.

I know, I know, Gail, I said March, but after reviewing the evidence, April should be no problem. Don't you worry about me.

Here's what I've got either on the needles or awaiting a mate:

Details? Clicky clicky.

(Plus, of course, the Super Secret Xmas Thing, which is rapidly nearing doneness.)

Then we have yarn with a precise and imminent purpose:

Details? All will be revealed in the fullness of time.

(Plus what I just ordered -- a scarf and a sweater's worth.)

See? Piece of cake, right?

It wasn't actually this stock-taking that spurred me to temporarily swear off the LYS -- quite the reverse. It's just money is a little tight and I thought to myself, "Self, prolly we should hold off on the yarn-buying for awhile, eh? Maybe a few months even. I mean look at all these things we have lined up already." Once I looked, there was more than I'd reckoned. So this is more queue busting that stash busting.

After all, I'm not much of a stasher. Once we take away the leftovers from old completed projects, and the yarn bought with a specific project in mind (see above), we're left with this.

Oh, Shibui. What am I going to do with you?

Beating the blues.

2007-11-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much for all the tips, y'all! Besides getting advice, it's nice to be reminded that I'm not alone in my winter blues. It seems that the coping mechanisms fall into two rough categories: First, guarding against depression by making your body healthier and happier (light, exercise, sleep, healthy food). These were the ones that I had mostly anticipated. The second category though, I tend to neglect: making a point of ENJOYING the winter. Maybe this should have been obvious because I don't actually dislike winter itself, just the way it saps my energy. So yeah. Here's to attending to the good stuff: fires, cider, soup, and obviously handknits.

In that spirit, 3 more things that are making me happy:

1. Organizing and pretty-fying my house. Every time I walk into this room I think, "Wow. I love my life."

2. Crafting with the ladies of said house. In the organizing craze, I tackled the basement as well. It's where the TV lives, since I have a deeply ambivalent relationship with the television and won't allow it in the living room. But the basement had also become the bottomless pit of Un-unpacked Shit. So I finally spiffed it up a bit and now, although not as cute as the upstairs, it's perfect for making stuff while watching stuff.

There's The Lady painting*, yers truly working on a pretty but very boring scarf, and our new housemate Ronica, sewing lavender stuffed eye pillows. Mmmm.

3. The interweb! I love my sock, Elinor loves her sock, y'all are out there making stuff and telling me about it and it's all just so awesome. And on that note, the random number generator (actually random, since it's based on atmospheric noise... so cool) picked number 23, so Kath, check your email!

*Speaking of which, go check out her latest painting in her etsy shop. It's our first joint project!

A very merry unblogthday, to me (and you)!

2007-11-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

I've had a shitty couple of weeks. Don't worry, nothing serious -- neither I nor anyone in my immediate family is dead, destitute or seriously ill. Just work, bills, weather, and a minor breakdown where I realized I've been neglecting really important parts of my life. But it was the necessary kind of freakout and I felt better almost immediately afterwards. By last night I was 100% back in the saddle, and here's why:

First, I finished this.

I'm pretty sure that this is the Best Sock I've Ever Knit. It's on its way to a friend who lives 1813 miles away, and will knit up the second sock herself. I'm a little afraid that it will be too big, but I tried a needle size down and that was definitely too small. Fingers crossed!

Speaking of friends (oh, I am so FUNNY), this arrived yesterday, and is the second reason for my return to happytown. You have spoiled me rotten, Leslie. Thank you!!!

Thirdly, we're selling my Subaru wagon and have bought what is, if possible, the only dykier vehicle: an old compact pickup. Please welcome Smurfette to the family.

I don't know if I'm blinking or squinting or what, but don't let it confound the fact that I LOVE HER. She's cute, she's practical, and she's old enough to drink.

Lastly, rounding out the list of Good Things, yesterday was my 1st blogthday! I worried a little when I first started this blog, that I was just doing it to feed my ego. But you know what? That's not why I've stuck with it, at all. Sure, it's awesome to get positive feedback about a project, but heart of it is that I feel more pride and joy and love for this craft, and the people who practice it, every single day. There, I did it. I got all sentimental on your collective ass. And to thank you for being here and putting up with my maudlin self, what else but a contest??

So, because my streak of good vibes can only last so long in this sweet gray city I call home, I want you to tell me your tips and tricks for keeping your chin up through the winter. I don't have full-fledged SAD, but I do have a rough time of it most years. Comment by midnight on Monday the 5th, and you'll be entered in a random drawing to win a delicious yarny prize, which I have yet to photograph, but I will, by the weekend for sure. But take my word for it, it is delicious, and it is yarny.

ETA: See, I told you.

Quick, cozy and purple.

2007-10-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Every time I looked at Pam's gorgeous fall photo (which was often), I found myself wanting, nay needing some fingerless mitts, and fast. Faster than I was realistically going to finish that second Endpaper. (Yeah, remember that?)

This pair is actually for The Lady, as they're more her color than mine, and I'll whip up another pair for myself soon.

The Dirt:
Pattern: Hand/Wrist Warmers, by Joelle Hoverson in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. (Also excerpted online here.
Yarn: Cascade 220, not sure which color, at most 1/2 a skein.
Needles: US 6
Mods: 8 rows seemed too small for the thumb slit, so I did 12 instead. When I make these again, I think I'll try 10 rows, as these are tad large.

Katie loves them, and knitting them was a snap. Highly recommended for all sorts of outdoor fall activities. Like teaching your middle-aged dog new tricks.

High five. No... well, yes, that's the peanut butter. High five. High five!!

ps. Thanks for the input re: knitting in class. I think y'all are right -- I should either ask or just not knit. I've only done it twice so far and frankly I'm not even sure she's noticed, but I'm still thinking I'll go with the latter. Couldn't hurt to take more copious notes anyway.

Trying to avoid being a heel.

2007-10-11T15:03:00.000-07:00

I started my Microbio class a couple weeks ago, meaning that I don't get home until after nine two nights a week, which is totally harshing my mellow, man. It's also cutting into my already not that frequent TV-knitting time, so it's all but a miracle that I've made it halfway through the heel of the Bee.

Which I'm still loving, btw. I wasn't sure about the Pond Scum for this pattern, but it turns out it looks like twisty tangly vines. Awesome.

The other good news is that Thing Three is cranking right along, despite being a commute-only knit, for secrecy's sake. Well, commute and class. Which brings me to my dilemma, a propos of which I want to conduct a little informal survey: Is it ever acceptable to knit in class? I know some of you folks teach -- would you be offended if someone were knitting during your lectures? In this specific case, it's a class of about 50 people, I sit at the back, keep my knitting in my lap, frequently pause to take notes, and am engaged in discussion when there is any. In other words it's nearly all review so far and I'm arm-gnawingly bored, but I think I hide it pretty well. The prof is a nice lady and I don't want to be rude. I thought of just asking her if she minds but that feels weird somehow too, like it's making it a bigger deal than it is... Thoughts?

Kicking off the 'fest.

2007-10-07T21:39:00.000-07:00

What better way to start Socktoberfest than with one sock finished and one begun?

I don't think the Twisted Tweed will be getting a mate for a good long while. It's soft and beautiful and I love the pattern and everything, but there's so much else on my plate right now.

Chief among which, of course, is Drunken Bee. Jesus H. Crackers how much do I love this pattern? So much. Much more than before I started knitting it, which was already a lot. The chart was much easier to learn than I had feared, and the result is mesmerizing -- you sort of can't take it in all at once, so your eye just keeps moving, which is one of my favorite qualities of any piece of art.

In fact, I like it so much I'm having a hard time working on anything else.

I sewed!

2007-09-28T11:34:00.000-07:00

I think I got turned off of sewing for a while after I finished Plainspoken. Although I love that quilt, and it has a nice prominent place in our house, I just didn't have the tools or the time to make it as nice as I wanted it to be. So my (er, technically Katie's) little machine sat unused for a bit.

Then I realized maybe I just needed to bite off a little less at a time. Enter the One Evening Project.

Oilcloth Lunchbag!

Katie started school last week, so I figured she needed something to ~~make her classmates jealous~~ keep her lunch in.

This only took an hour or two, despite my less than amazing skills, lack of a walking foot, and the fact that these two characters were harassing me the entire time.

If I do my one and only trick maybe you will take me outside?

See how I'm gazing towards the window? I am very subtle.

They can be kinda distracting. So, yeah, don't look too closely at the stitches or anything, but this is a totally useful and very satisfying little project.

The pattern is here (identical print totally unintentional), and I found it via My Half of the Brain, which if y'all aren't reading yet, you should really check it out. That's also where I found this nifty little tutorial, which has me thinking about hand sewing... and maybe hand quilting... and what's that? Smaller bites? I'm sure I never said anything of the kind.

Came for the yarn, stayed for the fluffy bunnies.

2007-09-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, we caught the tail end of the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival -- my first time at such a yarny, fibery, ungulate-filled event. I loved it.

I harbor some not-necessarily-all-that-harebrained fantasies about being a nurse, working a couple shifts a week, and having a little farm with chickens and goats and alpaca.

I mean really. How can you resist such a fluffy beast? (Not to mention the fiber obtained therefrom.)

This dude actually came within inches of following us home. The ANGORA! And the cute! Alas, we caved at the last minute to the notion of wise deliberation and forethought, blah blah blah.

Here's what did follow us home:

If I'm ever going to have that alpaca farm, I have to learn to spin, right? I figured I'd better start small, in case I totally hate it.

My virgin voyage to the land of STR (across a scummy pond, apparently). Oh, yes, my pretty, I have plans for you already.

ps. More OFFF pics here, including a real live yak and camel.

Eye Candy Friday: Farmers Market Edition

2007-09-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

I like looking at foods second only to eating them.

Have a good weekend, y'all! I'll be spending mine recovering from a very long week by sleeping, looking at bodies, and *gasp* sewing. If it's not entirely disastrous I might even show you the results. (Of the sewing part.)

FO: Fifi pour Maman

2007-09-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the artificial light; it was nighttime when we celebrated Mom's birthday, and believe me, no one else I know could model this. She's wery leetle, my mozzehr. See how the lightswitch is at shoulder height?

She's also in ridiculously good shape. Seriously, she's about 63.2% of my size and could probably kick my ass, if she ever took the notion into her head. She doesn't really like showing off the guns though, so she doesn't wear tank tops or cap sleeves much. I assumed she'd wear Fifi under a jacket or shrug or something, but she opted to wear it over a long sleeve shirt instead.

I think it actually works pretty well.

The dirt:

Pattern: Fifi, by French Girl Designs
Yarn: Rowan Calmer, in "Chiffon", ~3.5 balls. I have no idea how I used so much less than everyone else who made this size, but I'm not complaining. Extra Calmer = Shedir!
Size: Followed directions for 33.5" bust, but at tighter gauge -- I got 6 spi in stockinette.
Needles: US7
Modifications: I added several inches to the length, but other than that it's pretty much by the book. I did lose the pattern a couple repeats into the bias rib section of the torso, so I had to make that one up from what I could remember -- I can see where the change is, but I don't think anyone else can, and both methods look fine.

This shot is 100% candid and I love it. Props to The Lady.

My thoughts on this pattern? Well, since I'm a strong believer in the Good-Bad-Good method of criticism, here goes: As far as the Big Picture, I love everything about this top. The shape of the sleeves, the staggering of the cables, the clear contrast between the yoke and the rest of the torso, yet with the continuity of that one central cable. It's great.

When we get down to the details, however, it just doesn't all come together as cleanly as I'd like. Sure, there were the errata, but since I sort of only kept one eye on the pattern anyway, I didn't even notice and just did what made sense, which was, of course, what the pattern should have said to begin with. But also, where the cables are staggered, the spacing isn't consistent or symmetrical. To correct this would have required changing the spacing of the cable twists throughout the whole garment (which coincidentally would have made the cable repeat and the bias rib repeat line up MUCH better, but that's another issue entirely), so I left it alone. No harm done really. Just my spatial, mathy side grumbling a little.

All that said, besides being cute in general, this thing is so precisely my mom's style that I can't be unhappy about it. I'm chalking this one up as a win.

"One, two, three... [Chomp.] Ah-three."

2007-09-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes you're working on something and you promise yourself you won't cast on anything new until it's done, but then it ends up taking a bit longer than planned, so that you have ample time to dream about all the many things you could be knitting if you could just finish that one damned project, and then when you finally do finish it you turn around and find you've cast on for three things in 24 hours?

Yeah, me too.

These are Things One and Two: Charade in Louet Gems Sport and Twisted Tweed in Trekking. I generally go in for intricate, lacy socks, but lately I've had a hankering for something simple and eminently wearable. Still, I couldn't decide which of these two somethings to start first -- I was actually feeling some non-trivial tension over it. WTF? I knit for fun, remember? What is the Liberation Movement for, anyway, if not to remind us that this is our craft and we can do whatever the hell we feel like with it, whether that means knitting one sock or three? Onto the needles they both go. I'm actually not finding myself all that enamored with either of these yarns, though I do love the colors (and of course, the patterns).

Speaking of three, Thing Three is top secret; Xmas knitting has begun! My sincere apologies to the Ravelry-less, but a certain The Lady is among your number, and it's the best place I can think of to keep things from her prying eyes.

Since last we spoke...

2007-09-07T10:51:00.000-07:00

I've been busy.

We tackled the next round of renovations: knocked out some walls, rebuilt some other walls, and added a bathroom to the upstairs. (Yes, we got some professional help for this part.)

I married two of my best friends from high school. (Yes, i get a huge kick out of the fact that "marry" is both a monotransitive and a ditransitive verb. As in, "The Oregon constitution won't even let me marry The Lady, but I married two people this weekend!"*)

I spent a lovely weekend at my friend Lara's parents' place on the North Umpqua River. (Yes, Lara's dog Gypsy looks just like Bailey. But with one blue eye!)

I also fell even more in love with our friend Vaden, a little fellow with a temperament as sweet as his vocabulary is enormous. How many 2.5 year olds do you know who say "Stella, you should turn around, the water behind you is so pretty. Can we go down to the river's edge?" THE RIVER'S EDGE. This boy kills me dead.

Then I came home and felted my beautiful yarn. Ugh.

Just to twist the knife a little harder, the unfelted parts look like this:

Still nice and shuzzy, and a really amazing shade of coppery brown. Note to self, and anyone else who might be embarking on their virgin dyeing excursion: Use a pot large enough to stir the yarn freely, or else some parts of the water will get significantly hotter than others. Also, don't make your first attempt with yarn you really love.

It's not actually quite as bad as that first picture makes it appear -- I might still knit up a swatch and see what it looks like. Nevertheless, I feel very very stupid and disappointed.

On a happier note, Fifi is finished (actually finished, as of this writing, not missing a wee bit of sleeve as in the picture). Full FO report to come next week when I get modeled shots from the birthday girl (my mama).

* Uh, actually those are both monotransitive... but you get my drift.