...and the Winner is...

A HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who participated in this little contest and for sharing all of your fantastic ideas and suggestions for warm weather knitting!!! I've definitely got enough inspiration from all of you to keep me knitting through the summer without the threat of bad mojo! Thanks again!

...so now here is my lovely assistant, sporting a recent F.O.

A pair of seriously decadent "Dashing"
1+ skeins of Artyarns Cashmere 5
(modified to a shorter length)

...and the winner is...

HeyCarrieAnn!!!

Congratulations! Please email me (violiknit@yahoo.com) your snail mail address, and your Trekking XXL will be on it's way to you :)

I'm off to do some serious catching up on my blog reading, and to F.O. some U.F.O.'s!

My pattern got published!!!...and a little contest

Woohoo!!! I'm so excited!!!

...So a while back, I made up this diagonal scarf pattern to go with some funky Insubordiknit handspun yarn...

Turns out, another talented spinner, Lexi Boeger (of Pluckyfluff Yarns), was in the process of coming out with her second book...

My "Go Diagonal" scarf pattern was knitted and submitted by Cindy Cafaro, and it ended up here:

"Intertwined" by Lexi Boeger
"The Art of Handspun Yarn, Modern Patterns, and Creative Spinning"

...and here it is on page 178!
(on Ravelry, it's here)

Not much knitting to show... lots of WIP's, but that's about it. The place where I work is having some major concert scheduling issues for next year, and I'm part of a group that has to deal with this headache... Needless to say, it has been sucking up almost all of my free time ("free" also goes for the fact that this is unpaid volunteer work...)

Anyhow, let's get onto the little contest:

Up for grabs is a lovely skein of Trekking XXL in color #06

Here's the thing; it's getting warmer outside, and with this sort of weather, my knitting mojo starts to sag...

Please leave a comment telling me about what kind of knitting project keeps you most motivated during warmer weather!

The contest ends on midnight, Monday April 21, and the winner's name will be posted here later that day.

Best of Luck!

Oh, Phooey!

I did not win the audition. :( Darn! Oh well, next time, perhaps...

Meanwhile, I just wanted to say:

Thank you everyone, for your supportive and kind comments!!! They always mean a lot to me, but I really appreciated them during this crazy stressful time!!!

...as a small token of appreciation, I will organize a little contest for my next post... I will try to get it all together this week... stay tuned...

I actually did manage to do a little knitting here and there:
This is the sweater from Kate Gilbert's Peapod Baby Set. (The pattern is free, but you have to register with the Knitting Daily Site. It's possible to unsubscribe later.) The yarn is Louet Worsted weight (which was more like DK weight), and the wooden ducky buttons are from M&J Trimming here in NYC. It was a bit of a juggling act keeping track of the pattern, the edging and the button holes all at once, but I think it was worth it.


And this Tulip Cardigan... yes, it's the one that was so crazily popular about a year ago... I got completely caught up in the frenzy of it all and managed to buy a kit, but after seeing soooo many people knitting it and blogging about it, I sort of lost interest and just never got around to knitting it until now...
I must say I totally love this sweater. The yarn is beautiful, and it passed the "Mommy Gaga" test with flying colors. (The "Mommy Gaga" test: I show a knitted item or its picture to several of my friends who are Mommies. If they totally flip out and ask me to knit one for their kids, it passes the test.)

I'm slowly working on this Afghan by Barbara Walker (I'm using Cascade 220 superwash):

Squares #1 and #2

Squares #3 and #4

Squares #5 and #6

And here's another Knit in Action:

Modeled by the supremely cute Miss "A", this is the February Baby Sweater from E.Z.'s Knitter's Almanac that I knitted about a year ago.

Audition Woes and Knits in Action

I have been knitting, really.... but only a little, because my hands feel totally shot.
You see, stupid me decided about a month ago that for the fun and challenge of it, I would try another audition. I figured practicing for this thing would keep me in good playing shape during my current off-season. The last audition I took was 2 years ago, and during that time, I must've gotten hit on the head or something, because I clearly forgot the craziness of it all.

For those of you who have not experienced an orchestral audition, it goes something like this:
A position is announced, and depending on the orchestra, there can be 250+ applicants sending their resumes for that one job. Of those, less than half are invited to a live audition. You are then given a list of excerpts of pieces which you practice to the point of insanity (I've been clocking about 5-6 hours of practice a day).

At some point, it is common to get "burnt out" on playing these same little excerpts over and over, but it's also frustrating because there are some beastly little passages in there that require all your attention and finger acrobatics to land safely. (Imagine knitting in stockinette stitch for miles and miles, and suddenly you have to negotiate an incredibly complicated cable stitch within a few seconds, and you're not allowed to frog it if you mess up.)

I think the worst part of these auditions is that after so many hours of preparation, you have about 5 minutes, behind a screen, to play it all perfectly. Anything can go wrong from nerves making you shake to your instrument acting up; and there's always something. You just have to ignore it and do your best anyway.

Perhaps I will come to my senses and just not take this audition; I have 2 jobs already, and I'm quite happy with them. But more likely, I will take the bull-headed approach and just do it.

...sigh...

Well, the fun thing is that my friends have sent me pictures of their daughters wearing the things I knit for them; it's great seeing knits in action, and reminds me why I enjoy knitting so much:

"A" wearing the BSJ that I modified (longer body and sleeve length, and added hood). She was stopped by a knitter in a NYC subway station who knew this was a BSJ.


"M" wearing the original BSJ. Also stopped in a T-station in Boston by a knitter who recognized Elizabeth Zimmerman's BSJ.

Both "M" and "A"s mothers are not knitters, and so were extremely impressed by these people who could recognize the "brand" or "designer" of the knitwear their kids were wearing from across the station.


"S" wearing a Bolero, booties and posing next to a baby-sized version of this afghan (I'm working on a full size one right now; pics of squares soon)

Lots of Holiday Knits!

I have something sad to report about one of my knits (which is probably why I've been avoiding blogging) ... That Dragon Scarf from my previous post was LOST the very first day it was worn outside. I'll probably make another scarf eventually. My friend was very apologetic, saying she had begged her son and nanny and all the schoolteachers not to let her boy lose the scarf. I think she was more upset than anyone. Oh, well, stuff happens. Good thing I take notes on what I knit. :)

Ironically, she had asked me to knit this Alligator Scarf to give to her nanny's son for Christmas. (I hope this one doesn't suffer a similar fate).

Yarn: Hill Country Instant Gratification in "Pecan Orchard". Had enough leftover to make a hat.

Meanwhile, a co-worker just adopted a baby, and so I made the Anchor Bootees from "50 Baby Bootees to Knit"
...and I made another one, plain, with some leftover sock yarn. Converted the pattern to use dpns.

I made these buggy mitts a year ago, and they got a huge hole in the palm! I ended up making a new pair, but thought to try and repair this one just for fun.
I picked up stitches at the bottom and knit a flap...
...and grafted them to the top...
...and did invisible seams up the sides. Cut off all the excess yarn on the inside.


These are the new pair (slightly bigger)

Here's one of the old mittens on the left, and one of the new ones on the right.

...and now for something completely different...

I've been crochetting some hats lately:

This is supposed to be the South Bay Crochet pattern, but even if you follow the instructions and the explanation at the end of the pattern, you won't get a hat that looks like the ones pictured on their site. I had to totally rewrite the thing. I'm debating whether or not to post it. Opinions, anyone?


The brim is from "Get Your Crochet On!" (really hip book; I highly recommend it!)
I improved the flower and added pink beads in the center.Yarn: Katia Diana in light pink.

This is the Stitch Diva Page Boy Hat. Again, used the same brim (because I would've run out of yarn otherwise). Squishy Malabrigo was the yarn of choice for this one :)
Top view:

I hope everyone is having a good holiday season! (and good holiday knitting mojo!)

I'm Addicted to Ravelry

I remember reading in someone's blog about how Ravelry would possibly make blogging obsolete. I didn't believe it at first, but now I understand better after all the time I've been spending there lately...

But, I just can't give up my little blog, no matter how infrequently I post. It's still fun for me!

Here are some knits I've been cranking out:

This is the Puff the Merino Dragon Scarf from Morehouse Merino. This was for a little boy, so I omitted the tassles, and modified the pattern to make a smaller dragon (about 36" long). It took one ball exactly of Morehouse's 3-ply. I also added some neon nostrils to match the neon eyes.

When my b.f. saw this scarf, he mentioned that if he ever wore such a thing to school when he was a kid, the likelihood of it getting stolen would be very high. So, I sewed on a tongue with the initials of the recipient hidden inside.

My favorite hat book ever is "Hats On" by Charlene Schurch. It's also one of my first knitting books, and I've knitted more things from it than anything else in my knitting library.

This is the "Tassled Fez" hat. If I went skiing regularly, I would love to wear this hat knit up in screamingly loud colors. However, the reality is that for practical reasons, I want to be able to wear something that I won't get tired looking at.
Side view:
The Twined Herringbone edge (at base of hat) was a little too loose for me, so I slip stitched a row below it to make it firmer.
I used Rowan Cashsoft Aran yarn, and I don't know if it's because the yarn is a little stretchy, but this was one of the most even looking two-stranded projects I've ever done. I didn't even bother to block it.

I made a checkerboard patterened scarf last year, and had yarn leftover, so I made a hat and mitts to match. It's Jade Cashmere 8-ply. I had about 2 inches of yarn left at the end. Couldn't bear to waste any of this yarn...! It's soooo soft!
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!!

Longest Project Ever

Finally!!! I'm finished with these Gentleman's Lozenge Socks!!!!!
These sat around in various stages of unfinished-ness for over a year and a half. (I'm so embarrassed to admit that...) The fact that my parents visited last week gave me the much needed momentum to finally finish these for my father. They fit, they looked great and he loved them!

Just to repeat some specs:
needles: size 0 (never again! took forever and cramped my hands!) addi 47". Knit 2-at-once, top down.
yarn: 3 skeins of Lorna's Laces Sock in "Cedar". I started the 3rd skein halfway through the toes, so there is a lot of yarn leftover. Men's size 11.5 and everything. The frugal yarn scrooge in me is crying.

I went on a mini-tour with an orchestra. 2 days of conforming my posterior to the shape of a bus seat. I finished this Odessa the first day (apologies for cell phone pic here):
Turned out a bit smaller than my other Odessas, but this was for a young girl who happens to detest anything remotely "scratchy", so Rowan Calmer yarn was a good choice for her.


The next day, I started to knit the "slouchy" version of Ysolda Teague's Gretel. I guess I was going through a Rowan phase; I used some Kid Classic for this hat.
I learned a great technique from this pattern: stocking stitch tubular cast-on. I had done tubular cast-ons before, but they required knitting and slipping alternating stitches for 4 rows. This was was so much easier, and it looks the same!

A little story about this hat: I happened to have this project with me at the reception of the orchestra's Carnegie Hall concert, and I ran into the famous knitwear designer and cable specialist, Melissa Leapman! (never leave home without your knitting!) I was having some trouble with a wonky cable stitch and she was generous enough to help me out. I must've looked ridiculous standing there in my black formal concert gown, balancing a glass of champagne while struggling to pull out a half-knit hat from the dark recesses of my purse. I'm sure people thought I was crazy, but it was worth it!