Yarn over Manhattan

What's With all this Technology?

2009-12-18T21:06:00.000-05:00

So after being a techno-hermit for the past few years, steadfastly refusing to join things like Facebook, I completely flipped, not only joining but creating a Facebook Fan Page (which has hit 100 fans, woohoo!), joining Twitter (which, incidentally can be linked to Facebook), and of course tweaking my Etsy store by setting it up for Google Analytics. I don't think I'd ever done so much computer stuff ever!

Knitting and Crocheting are less often illiciting that raised eyebrow and "my grandmother used to do that" comment by mystified onlookers - It's definitely to do with the surge of young girls and boys who are proudly brandishing their knitting needles on the subway, on airplanes, in restaurants, and... hey, is that a glimpse of a yarn-and-needles tattoo I see? And those grandmothers who knit? They are all super-cool and trendy and many are jumping onto the techological bandwagon with as much verve as their younger counterparts. Buying any yarn you want anywhere in any color online is so amazing (and so addictive it's killing my wallet and taking over precious apartment space). And the thousands upon thousands of patterns out there! My computer is bursting with all the patterns I've stored over the past few years. Thank goodness for backups, because if I ever lost that stuff I would be royally p----d.

Here's a Steampunk Version of my Swirls Cap

Have a great weekend everyone!

of Turkeys and XOXO Boyfriend Hats

2009-12-10T13:12:00.001-05:00

Still trying to get back into the swing of blogging, but in the meantime, some stuff I've been working on:

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I brought this as part of a gift for the people who hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year:

Gary the Turkey Cloth

It was a pretty fast knit, although I did have to add some single crochet edges and it needed a bit of blocking. It might be fun to make a few of these in matching colors and join to make a tablecloth or runner, or even a kitchen towel.

I also can't believe there are almost 600 projects for my Swirls Cap! I'm totally flabbergasted that it ever got this much interest!

Swirls Cap

I've also finally made my boyfriend a new hat for this year (seriously, he gets 1-2 new hats every year):

XOXO Boyfriend Hat

I made the first variation of this hat when I started knitting in 2001 (pre-Ravelry, pre-Blogging, Prehistoric, totally!) I believe this was my 3rd or 4th project ever, after I had mastered the cabled hat in "Idiot's Guide to Knitting", which was my first ever knitting book. I had also made a pair of matching fingerless mitts. They've been totally stretched and worn out of shape, almost to the point of felted, but here's a couple pics:

I had used some bulky Cherry Tree Hill wool from an annual sale they had... I think they sold through ebay back then, but am not sure if they still do... Anyway, as you can see, the elasticity did not hold up well over the years...which is why the newer version of the hat has more ribbing. It's funny looking at my earlier knits, as I'm a lot more picky now about finishing techniques and the different types of increases/decreases I'll choose for a particular project.

Back from Hibernation

2009-11-07T18:20:00.000-05:00

I'm really quite embarrassed that it has been over a year since I last blogged! I don't really know how to explain my falling off the planet; I was starting to get burnt out on knitblogging, I was totally stressed out because the place where I work was threatening to not exist anymore (it's still sort of a cross-your-fingers-and-see sort of situation), then mix in the fact that Ravelry (wonderful though it is) became a surrogate blog-substitute, and well, poof!

Many apologies to those who wondered what became of me, and I will try to slowly get back into blog reading and posting once in a while...

What got me interested in coming back was a combination of knit/crochet designing and opening my own Etsy store (doremiknits.etsy.com). The knitwear store was in response to the many requests I'd get from people asking me to make things for them. Since I obviously can't sell stuff from other peoples' patterns, I had to come up with some designs of my own. Then, a curious thing happened: I started getting messages from knitters and crocheters wanting to buy my patterns.

Swirls Cap

available on Ravelry

(and soon at my Etsy store)

Now, the other reason I wanted to blog again, unfortunately, is a vent: I had some unpleasant experiences with this whole designing thing. This cap was originally a free pattern. Then some people decided to ignore my copyright and terms of usage and sold hats made from my patterns. Although I was able to work things out with these people, I must say it's not a fun experience and I don't wish it on anyone! I spent many hours on my patterns so people would enjoy making them for their own personal enjoyment. I assumed people realized copyright laws prohibit things like people using your patterns to make things for sale, or that changing one or two things in a pattern does not give you the right to call it yours. Most people do understand these things, but I was really surprised that there were people who didn't... So... those of you who are excited about sharing your patterns with the world - be prepared for the occasional headache ;)

Nevertheless, I won't give up on designing so easily! This is a sneak peek of a pattern I still have to write up (I don't use charts but feel other knitters might like to use them?) Once I figure out how to do that this puppy should be up on my Ravelry store:

Climbing Leaves

Hat

(shown on left in Dream in Color Classy, and on the right in Karabella Aurora 8)

Well, I'm off to play an opera, so I must go and dig out some black clothes... and bring candy for intermission!

Bon Voyage Hats!

2008-09-18T15:30:00.008-04:00

It was recently suggested to me that I join Kristy's Quest, where as many hats as possible were to be knitted and crochetted so that Kristy could take them to orphanages in the Ukraine, where it's extremely cold and the indoor heating is pretty unreliable. The deadline was Sept. 5th, so I've been busy churning out hats like a maniac the last few weeks. I made 9 total.

4 basic crochetted hats (improvised pattern)

3 smaller crochetted hats (bottom center has a lining),
an improvised cable hat and an Elizabeth Zimmerman Maltese Hat.

...and then this one came about, but it was too small to send (baby size). So, I wrote out the pattern, and here it is:

Mini Muffin Hat

1. Free Ravelry Download
2. On my Free Patterns Page

...and then I wanted an adult sized one, but a little different, and for self-striping yarn and I came up with:

Rook Hat

pictured hats made with Noro Kureyon (left) and SWTC Karaoke (right)
1. Free Ravelry Download
2. On my Free Patterns Page

...and finally, of course, I ended up wanting a matching, reversible scarf...

Rook Scarf

1. Free Ravelry Download
2. On my Free Patterns Page

There is more knitting and crochetting going on that I can't blog about yet, and one more free pattern coming soon (crochetted newsboy cap)!

The winners are...

2008-08-03T16:56:00.003-04:00

First of all, a big THANK YOU to everyone for participating in this little drawing. I loved reading all your comments about your favorite Mozart compositions; there were such varied and interesting responses!!! It made me hunt through my recordings to go listen to all of them!

FYI: When tallying up everyone's choices, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik was the most popular (hard to beat that piece), followed very closely by the Clarinet Concerto and Requiem. As for me, I do have multiple Mozart faves, but my current ones are Don Giovanni and Symphony #25 (which I get to play next week!)

Here is my oh-so-scientific selection approach... having the BF pull out 3 folded up pieces of paper stuffed in one of the first hats I ever knit. It happens to be the only hat the BF actually wears, despite the many other hats I've knit him since...

The names he pulled out were:

#1: EJ (for the Kaalund Lace)

#2: Miss Ewe from miss ewe knits (for the Regia 4-ply)

#3: Teri E. (for the Opal 6-ply)

Will the three of you lucky winners please email me your snail mail address to:
violiknit@yahoo.com

Thanks again everyone for playing along!

I was...

2008-07-26T14:30:00.006-04:00

...burnt out, to put it simply...

I must admit, knitting and blogging just slipped away from me for a while. I feel bad that I let it get there, but with all the work and the auditions and the fact that I was crazy enough to take a Japanese class on top of everything else, I just needed a break.

...so...

I went on a vacation to Puerto Rico for a week:

"Aaaaaaahhhhh...."

Much revived and refreshed, the knitting mojo started flowing again:

Vine Flower Dress
by Anne Hanson of Knitspot

Yarn: Knitpicks Cotlin in "Moroccan Red"
Very soft yarn, except for little pokey wiry bits sticking out of the yarn. They softened with washing, but gave me a scare initially.

Circle Socks
by Anne Campbell

One of the few WIP's I've got going. I'm using yarn from Twisted. It stripes, but at different intervals, so no matching (took me a while to get over that). I like the yarn very much, but ever since Twisted started its own site, buying yarn from them has become a bit more challenging. They do a pre-order thing (which I'm not into), and an occasional "instant gratification" thing. Honestly, I have better luck scoring fabled Wollmeise.

Dream in Color Shrug

I'm using the colorway "Giant Peach" for this (like in the pattern pic), because I happened to have some in my stash. It's very soft, squishy, bouncy yarn that smells really nice. I'm knitting this shrug because the air conditioner keeps things at arctic temperatures where I work.

Lawrence of Arabia?/Fun with Earflaps
Maltese Fisheraman's Hat
by Elizabeth Zimmerman

I am obsessed with this hat. There is lots of potential for variation, it's ergonomic, and weird enough that I keep wanting to tweak the design. Yarn is a combo of some colorful Insubordiknit and Morehouse Bulky in colorway "Oatmeal".

Mods: I switched to the contrast color when you start the shaping for the earflaps, and switched back after knitting the "one full row". When you start the row that ends with CO 14 sts for the forehead, that should be back in the main color. I added more rounds of garter ridges for symmetry and hat depth, and slip stitched along the head for that "ridge". Also crocheted one row around the hat opening. I also decreased at a faster rate for a rounder top: when it should be K2tog (or P2tog), K10 around, I changed to K2tog, K4 around.

Chullo inspired Maltese

Here's another one, but this time I tried for some patterning at the top. It was improvised from some Peruvian wave designs I've seen. Earflaps were knit with some bulky hand dyed that I lost the label to, and the top was Misti Alpaca worsted that I used quadrupled. If I ever visit Minnesota, I'm taking this hat - it's that thick and warm.

Some kitchenalia knitting mojo kicked in as well. Here are some variations on the:

Crocheted Folded Potholder

Mods: I cast on 41sts for a larger potholder, and lined them with felt for more heat protection.

These were pretty cute too, and super fast to crochet:

Crochet Flower Hot Pad

Yeah, I know, this is a totally photo-heavy post. But if you've made it this far, here's the...

CONTEST!!!

It's Mozart season again! To enter, leave a comment telling me what your favorite piece by Mozart is! It can be an opera, symphony, chamber piece, concerto, whatever!

Prize#1: Kaalund Lace yarn hand dyed in Australia
100% kid mohair 460m colorway "Pawpaw"

Prize#2: Regia 4ply Crazy Color in colorway #5402

Prize#3: a huge skein of Opal 6ply in color #1714

Contest ends on Midnight, August 2nd, and the winners' names will be posted the next day. Good Luck!!!

Still Playing Catch-up

2008-06-21T19:54:00.004-04:00

Since my return to NYC, I've been scrambling to find the time to catch my breath. First I took yet another audition (this was for a neighboring opera house to where I currently work): I did better this time, making it to the finals. There were 4 finalists in all, and between 250-300 people who took the audition from around the world, so I'm not feeling too bad about losing.

Taking auditions is definitely a marathon ordeal! Once you get there, there is a lot of sitting, waiting to be assigned a practice room, finishing your snacks and getting hungry, trying to stay focused while being surrounded by other auditioners, waiting for results between rounds... It's really exhausting, and it can take hours (the last day, I got out at 8pm. I had been there since 2pm, and was there the day before as well.)

After that was over, I thought, great, I'll have some free time now... and then I caught a nasty cold. I've finally gotten over the cold, and have been practicing like a madwoman for an upcoming chamber music concert.

The knitting has been sparse, but here is a pair of socks I knit for my mother as her get-well present after her knee replacement surgery. Thank you everyone for your kind words for my mom's recovery:

"Lotus" by Robyn Gallimore
yarn: 2 skeins Lorna's Laces in "Periwinkle"
mods: didn't like how the original cuff curled, so picked up stitches and added ribbing,
finishing with a tubular bind off.

closeup of the "lotus" stitch pattern

Well, otherwise, I missed my blogiversary (argh!), so I will be putting together a contest soon!

Not to be an enabler but Knitpicks is having their 40% off all books sale again!

Off to catch up on blog reading!

Quick Blurb

2008-05-26T00:39:00.006-04:00

My apologies for suddenly having disappeared from blog-land; my mother recently had knee replacement surgery and so I've been in California the last few weeks helping her with her recovery. There has been a lot for me to do around the house, and very little free time as a result. I miss reading everyone's blogs-! Luckily my mother has started feeling better the last few days, so I'm looking forward to finally catching up on some reading :) Woohoo!

Before leaving for California, I managed to churn out a couple of knits:

Lacy Flower Sweater
yarn: Rowan Handknit Cotton in "Mango Fool" (great name, huh?)

...for some reason I'm having trouble linking to the free pattern:

www.knitrowan.com/images/freepattern/lacy_sweater_feb_04.pdf

There are errata in the edging: it's supposed to be 14 (16:18:19). The instructions are a bit confusing because there are several different ways they ask for a Yarn Over. If you ever knit this, just do a regular YO every time. I modified the shape into a bit of an A-Line with some flair by decreasing under the arms to a 20" chest circumference.

Child's Cable Jumper
yarn: Katia Diana in a seafoam green

Pretty sure there's an errata in this one too, for the 18mo size; the cast on number of stitches is correct, but the subsequent rows have one too many stitches on the second half of the jumper (there is a P4 that should be a P3.) Both halves of the round should be symmetrical, in other words.

Wine Cozy

Used for a 60 year old bottle of Madeira which was a B-day gift for a 60 year old friend. I used the bobble and leaf patterns included in the instructions, but assembled them into one big grape cluster. Modified to knit in the round. I had to go up a couple of needle sizes for the base; it kept turning out way too small. :(

...and the Winner is...

2008-04-21T22:10:00.003-04:00

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

2008-04-11T12:35:00.004-04:00

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!

2008-03-17T21:43:00.009-04:00

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

2008-01-22T17:54:00.000-05:00

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)

I'm Addicted to Ravelry

2007-11-24T20:18:00.001-05:00

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

2007-11-02T20:50:00.001-04:00

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!

Rhinebeck!

2007-10-31T11:41:00.001-04:00

I got to go to Rhinebeck! It was my first ever fiber fest. There was SO MUCH YARN. I got really dizzy from trying to look at it all, and I don't think I got through half of it. If I go next year, I'll definitely go both days and start early.

From the alpaca/llama tents:

This guy had such a charming smile, I just wanted to take him home with me!

Loved this guy's color and big eyes!

This bunny has both his front feet in the food dish...

In the sheep area, this guy had the most intense look...

This was a "judge my rump" contest. There was a judge explaining what she did and didn't like about all these sheeps' backsides...hmm...do you have a favorite?

This has got to be the biggest spinning wheel ever. You could sell tickets and ride that thing.

Rhinebeck was a really beautiful place with all the foliage turning. I highly recommend going if you ever have a chance.

Alright, on to the important stuff...
...drumroll...

The haul:

A couple of skeins of Glimmerglass Alpaca yarn made from a blend of 3 different alpacas.

Some very pretty roving from Steam Valley Fiber.

From the Fold: STR, Gypsy Girl Creations (can't wait to try this stuff) and a Brioche sock pattern.

2 skeins of Flock Sock from VanCalCar Acres. These were on sale because they weren't skeined "prettily" enough. Clearly, that didn't bother me.

Finally a couple of scarf kits from Morehouse Farms: Rat Race and Baby Alligator.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Finally, a day off...

2007-10-14T14:36:00.001-04:00

Sorry to have disappeared again... I'm playing in 2 orchestras right now, and my life has gotten a bit busy as I sandwich rehearsals for orchestra #2 in between performances of orchestra #1. My biggest concerns are to remember what days I need to be wearing concert clothes and to show up at the right building for the right rehearsals. Playing the music is the easy part. I can't tell you the number of times musicians have shown up to concerts having forgotten part of their concert apparel. "Does anyone have an extra jacket? Bowtie?" Once, a colleague of mine showed up to a concert with a mismatched pair of black shoes...and no, the heels were not even the same height.

I knit a pair of socks for a friend's B-day. These are the Crosshatch Lace Socks from More Sensational Socks, knit toe-up with Fleece Artist Merino sock yarn in the colorway Mermaid. The most exciting thing for me was that I conquered my fear of the short row heel!!! I still think double wraps are finicky, but it was much less of a strain on the needles for 2 at once Magic Loop. Cat Bordhi's YouTube Video on Wrapping and Turning was a great help.

Stitch Pattern closeup:

I also built a Lazy Kate following the instructions in Spin to Knit. The BFL Roving was from Spunky Eclectic, and the spindle is one of my new Avi Wassermans.

You slide the cop onto a straw,

Slide the straw onto a metal rod (regular nails were called for, but I didn't have any long enough...so I used some odd dpns)

Pull the singles through the little hook, and ply. (Plying spindle is a Cascabeles)

The spindle got REALLY heavy.
The Lazy Kate worked okay, but it did get stuck often, so I had to gently untangle (yank violently) the singles to fix things.

My B.F. went to Virginia, and brought me back some beautiful Cria Alpaca yarn from a local farm.

They even give you a pic of the Baby Alpaca and it's name: Snow White. How cute!

p.s. I'm in Ravelry! Yeay! Those who haven't signed up yet, go do it! You have to wait a little while, but it's worth it!

BSJ hybrid

2007-09-22T13:55:00.001-04:00

BSJ with Mods complete!

Back View:
The story is: I had 2 skeins of L.L.'s Worsted that looked completey different despite being from the same dye lot. I made one "standard" BSJ with one of the skeins a few weeks ago for my B.F.'s niece. I showed it to my friend "L" who has a daughter the same age, just to double check with her that it looked the right size. She loved it so much, she asked me to knit her daughter one too. I hate knitting the same thing twice; I get really bored, so we decided to tweak it a bit.

This BSJ has:
1. The Tomten Hood, a BSJ addition recommended by Meg Swansen in The Opinionated Knitter (both the BSJ and Tomten patterns are in this book) The hood opening was finished with a sc edge.
2. Longer sleeves following the instructions at this website except, I still used a crochetted chain provisional cast on, and I knit extra garter rows onto the sleeves at the end.
3. Longer body: where it says to work on the middle section only for 10 garter ridges, I knit until there were 19 (would've done 20 if the yarn didn't run out)
4. No button at the bottom; it's longer after all, and the baby is starting to walk.

Measurements:
Cuff to cuff: 23"
Arm length (neck to cuff): 9.5"
Shoulder to bottom: 13.5"
Underarm to bottom: 9"
Across chest: 9"
Across bottom: 10"
(I wanted it to fit loose so she can wear it through the winter)

Materials used: Addi turbo #6 24" (my gauge was about 5sts=1"), 1 skein Lorna's Laces "Embers", 4 skeins doubled Dale Baby Ull (burgundy), 1 skein Jaeger Matchmaker Merino DK (grey). All Machine Washable.

The Mittens:
Those super-cute mittens are the result of leftover yarn. The pattern is from Robin Hansen's book, Favorite Mittens. I'm loving this book; it has great mitten patterns based on traditional mittens found in Maine (not as fancy as the lovely mitts in Selbuvotter, but still nice). It also includes a pattern for beautiful gloves, thrummed mittens, shrunken mittens, some baby/children's mittens and several matching hats.

I got some presents...
My B.F. recently returned from a trip abroad, and look what he brought me: 2 Avi Wasserman Spindles! The one on the left is made of Carob wood, and the one on the right is Olive wood with turquoise inlay. What's really cool is that my B.F. went to Mr. Wasserman's home/studio to pick these beautiful spindles for me! Of course I had to go get some yummy Fleece Artist BFL roving to spin with for these special spindles.

Fifi Fi Fo Fum!

2007-09-11T15:15:00.001-04:00

It's pouring rain out, so sorry about the picture quality here...but this is what I've been working on the last few days:

Pattern: Fifi
Yarn: 5 balls Rowan Calmer in Tinkerbell (which I finally used after "aging" it in my stash for a year)
Needles: Knitpicks Options sz 7
(btw...have you seen their new wooden options? I'm waiting for mine to arrive in the mail!)

I realize it's a bit late in the season to start knitting such a thing, but I figure if I can finish it soon, I can wear it through October or so. (fingers crossed). Rowan Calmer is very stretchy, and it almost reminds me of Cascade Fixation, so it took me a while to get used to the feel of the yarn (translation: man, it was annoying at first!) This is my first top-down wearable, and it's pretty cool that I get to try it on as I go. It's meant to be cropped length, but I'm going to hope I can make it a bit longer before the yarn runs out. (so far, I'm on ball #2 of 5)

In other news, that BSJ made it to its recipient. She just turned 1 year old, so the 5sts=1" formula worked well! I've been requested by a friend to make another one for her daughter, but this one will have some mods...you'll see...
Answer for JUDE: With the button placement, the last 12 rows of the BSJ become the band where the buttons go, so what I did here was change to a contrasting color (red), and knit 6 rows. The end of Row #7 (RS) is where the girl's button holes go. In this example I left 4 sts between the neck edge and the top button hole, and spaced the other button holes 7 sts apart. (Since the girl's button holes start at the "bottom" of the jacket, I counted the number of sts along where the button band is, did a "yo" where I wanted my bottom button hole and continued: *K6, K2tog, yo* 4 more times, and ended with K4. Had this been a boy's jacket, the holes would be on the other side, so you'd start Row #7 with K4, *yo, K2tog, K6*, etc.) As you can see from the pics in the last post, I chose to leave a few extra stitches between the last button and the bottom of the BSJ (for room when the baby sits). Finally, I cast of in purl, so there was no visible "edge". If you need more info, you can email me at violiknit@yahoo.com

Back to my regularly scheduled life...

2007-09-03T18:25:00.001-04:00

...or so I'm hoping!

Many apologies for being such a lax blogger lately; my exhausting summer gig is finally finished, so now I finally have time to go catch up on my fave blogs!

(btw: "exhausting summer gig" = 10 services per week, which means a combo of rehearsals (3 hours each) and concerts (about 2.5 hours). Not including NYC subway commutes, changing into concert clothes, and painting makeup on my face (I gave this up towards the end because humidity makes things melt, and I didn't want to look like Munch's "The Scream").

Here are some pics of E.Z.'s famous Baby Surprise Jacket that I knitted for my b.f.'s niece. After showing this to a friend of mine at work, I promptly got a request to make one for her daughter, and then another co-worker announced she was pregnant and asked if she could have one too. Lesson learned: the BSJ is mighty popular with the Mommies!

Yarn used: Lorna's Laces Worsted "Embers" 1 skein and leftover bits of grey and red Dale Baby Ull (doubled)
Gauge: 5 sts=1" on Addi turbo size 6. To fit a 1 year old.
Grey Kitty Buttons from M&J Trimming

I have a couple more friends who just had babies, so it looks like I will be making quite a few of these BSJs in a row. Perhaps I'll finally be able to make a dent in my mammoth sock yarn stash!!! (I swear the yarn is multiplying when I'm not looking...)

For Halloween: I made the b.f. some socks in Duet Sock Yarn (colorway "Eye of Knute"). Toe up, afterthought heel in garter rib. Size 3 needles (woohoo!) Talk about a fast knit. Although there is only supposed to be enough yardage in the skeins up to Lady's Size 10, I had a good bit leftover after knitting these Men's Size 10.

Also, re: my last post, I would like to thank Weaver for letting me know that aromatherapy yarn does actually exist! I might just have to get some so I have a skein in my stash to sniff whenever I need the courage to frog :)

Living in a cave (a.k.a concert hall)

2007-08-11T12:10:00.000-04:00

This is the busiest month of the year for me. I feel I should change my legal residence to the concert hall I've been working at because I spend more time there than at home. The upside is that I make some money which I then use to buy yarn...

...but sometimes, yarn magically appears...

A while back, I gifted Monika a bit of Vesper Roving, and to my surprise she spun it into some gorgeous yarn and gifted it back to me! What a beautiful gesture! I hope I can do it justice and knit it into something lovely. Definitely a modern Rumplestiltskin story! Thank you Monika!!!
She also included a wonderful lavender sachet; I love how it smells and the poochie pattern is so cute!

(Maybe I should just let the violin keep the yarn as its new scarf!)

I still have leftover yarn from that baby blanket, so I knit up some booties and a hat. The booties are a very modified pattern from the Morehouse Farms Book. The only original bit I kept from the pattern was the number of cast on stitches and some rows... The pattern calls for knitting these booties flat on 2 needles with worsted yarn, but I didn't want bulky seams so I knitted them in the round using the magic loop method, starting at the base of the sole with Judy's magic cast on. I switched to dpns when I reached the top of the foot.

The hat is Kate Gilbert's Shining Star. The pattern comes with instructions for sizes baby through adult. It's knit top down, so the beginning was a bit fidgety...I ended up starting the hat by picking up loops through the back of a provisional crochet chain. This gave me a neat top with no gaping hole. I modified the pattern by ribbing the last inch or so, and cast of with the crochet method found in my 2 favorite books on basic techniques.

Oh, and because I've been living and working in a freezing air conditioned cave, I knit up the Retro Redux shrug from Lace Style.

Really fast and easy knit. I used 3 balls of Misti Alpaca Worsted for the yarn, and I must share a warning with all of you...

When you receive yarn you buy over the internet, remember to CHECK THE DYELOTS!!!

Don't assume the store will do it for you. Anyway, long story short, ball #3 was a different dyelot, so I contacted the store with fingers crossed, because this order was from months ago. Luckily they had more yarn in the lot I needed, and the owner got on the phone to apologize to me personally. They also gave me a free ball of yarn to take the edge off of this frustrating experience. People need to make "aromatherapy" yarns so I can sniff the yarn and chill out when this kind of sh*t happens.

I'm such a delinquent...

2007-07-18T15:13:00.000-04:00

...delinquent blogger, that is... I'm so sorry I've been bad about posting and commenting; the bf was working out of town, and coupling that with my own crazy workload had me taking much longer at getting things done around here (I had come the realization that my coffee does not, in actuallity, "magically appear" before me every morning. There is no such thing as the Coffee Genie. Repeat to self.)

So, I finished the baby blanket I was working on. I had originally planned for 12 squares excerpted from Barbara Walker's Learn-to-Knit Afghan Book, but had to settle for 9, because the blanket would've been huge.
Yarn used: Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton (no dyes, bleaches, etc.) in colors Sand (5 skeins MC), Bone (2 skeins CC1) and Nut (1 skein CC2).
Needles: size #9 & Crochet Hook: size "J"

I went with this yarn because it's eco-friendly and also because my expectant friend wanted something gender neutral (and, she's from California, so the organic yarn thing was too cool to pass up). In the book, it calls for crochetting 20 sts per side of each square, but I increased it to 26; however, it still looks a bit "pinched" in places. I'm hoping washing and blocking will fix that.

With the leftover yarn, I made the Baby Bolero from One Skein, which happens to call for one skein of this yarn. HOWEVER, it took me a little more than one skein to make this sweater. Also, there are errata in the pattern.
Here is the back view with the optional eyelet pattern. The way it's written is not symmetrical; I had to change the second set of K2togs in to SSKs in each line of the pattern. Finally, because I must have OCD or something, I refused to do the K3tog at the top, and opted for: slip 2sts at once, knit 1, pass the 2 slipped sts over the knit st. This way, the center of those 3 sts is in the middle. (Oh, and I increased a stitch in the ribbing up top so it would be symmetrical over the center of the eyelet motif. I need help. Seriously. But in my defense, you who have this book, go look at the pictures and you'll see how un-centered it'll look if you don't fix it.)

This is my new Golding Spindle. I love it, love it, love it! I haven't been tempted to buy any more spindles because I like this one far more than anything I've ever seen.

I finally got around to plying that Spunky corriedale wool I was spinning. It's only 77 yds because I threw away some earlier botched attempts. I spun with the Spindlewood (left) and the Bosworth (right), and plied with my huge Cascabeles (center).

Ren tagged me for a meme, so I hope I'll be able to get to that soon.

knitting book sale at knitpicks!

2007-07-05T20:40:00.000-04:00

Quick heads up-- Knitpicks is having a 40% off sale on all their books. It's cheaper than Amazon now. I just stocked up on some things I've been coveting like this and this and this!

...When it's time to dump a pattern...

2007-07-01T14:09:00.001-04:00

...but first,

I just found out that Hakucho has nominated me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger! I'm so excited and honored! Thank you, Hakucho!!!

Hakucho has a really fun and informative blog; she always comes up with the most ingenious and creative ways to improve patterns - sometimes even taking them to another level and using the stitch pattern to create a whole new knitted object (you should see what she's done with the famous "Ballband Dishcloth"!) Anyway, she's currently working on a fantastic piece-by-piece fish afghan - please go take a look!

Well apparently, it's now my job to nominate another 5 Rockin' Girl Bloggers:

Monika, at Smokin' Hot Needles- This girl is a Rockin' master knitter. Period. And she knits super-fast! She's got a great flair for design and colors, and her projects and her own patterns always inspire me to challenge myself. She also shares the antics of her two gorgeous white german shepherds: Sam and Biko.

Dipsy, at Dipsy Doodle- Blogging all the way from Austria, Dipsy gives me a glimpse into her picturesque home town of Innsbruck while churning out beautiful sock patterns and other wildly beautiful knits. I especially love seeing her knit from patterns that aren't available here in the U.S.; I appreciate being able to see the different knits out there!

Kate, at Miss Ewe Knits- A fellow violinist, Kate always shares hilarious knit-related pictures on her blog (running sheep with stuffed sheep animals tied on their backs being the most recent pic). She's always in the know about the great new yarns out there, and I like hearing her reviews and seeing her gorgeous knits!

Courtney, at Yarn Tootin'- Another fellow musician (violist) who's up on the best sock yarns available; especially indie! The only blogger I've ever met in real life (went to school together, played quartets with, and went to Tanglewood with), I never knew she was into knitting until I happened upon her blog one day. She always knows what the hot projects are, and knits them up beautifully; she's a real inspiration!

Ren, at Ren Knits- A grad student (accounting major!), Ren somehow manages to find the time to knit really cute socks, house projects, and she SEWS! Makes her own needle cases and everything!

Okay, on to the griping....
I present to you this innocent looking, cute, clearly easy and fast knit (size 11's)

I knit and frogged a good chunk of this blanket 3 times because I couldn't figure out why it looked so weird. The blanket has two rows of staggered eyelets separated by some stockinette rows. I really wanted to believe in this pattern, you know...I mean, it looked so professionally printed, and I paid money for it and everything...

Here is my low-tech charting of the pattern. See the problems?
Not only are the eyelets totally not centered on the blanket body, but they don't even line up symmetrically when staggered!!! WTF??? Oh, and there was an errata page on Blue Sky Alpaca's website. However, it only mentions some major boo-boos about the ruffle (which I hadn't even got to), and nothing about the messed up asymmetrical body. Oh yeah, by the way, the errata page did mention it takes 7 skeins of yarn, not 6. Nothing major, right? (grits teeth).
Anyone doing this pattern out there - unless you're willing to rewrite the main pattern and deal with the errata and lacking skein of yarn - I highly suggest you dump it. It is soooooo not worth the trouble!!! Shame on you, Blue Sky Alpaca! I will always love your yarn, but I'll never buy one of your patterns again!

Anyhoo, Barbara Walker to the rescue:
This is a great book! I've learned to do some things I never knew how to do like LT, RT and purling through the back loop. I'm planning on knitting 12 squares from the book to make a baby-sized afghan.

Squares #7: Garter and Rib Pattern and #25: Wave

Squares #3: Basketweave and #48: Vine Leaf Panel (my fave)
Finally, I leave you with the debut haul of my market bag. Eat your greens!

A Little Bit of Everything

2007-06-23T16:00:00.001-04:00

Not giving up on the spinning yet! Even with my really amateurish lumpy-yarn producing skills, I can see/feel the difference between the spindles.

Clockwise from the left, my heavy-duty Cascabeles had me spinning a really chunky yarn which I crochetted into a baby hat. The Forrester, a little lighter, got me producing something more worsted. The tulipwood Bosworth Midi, the latest addition to my spindle collection, is my favorite so far. I can spin thinner and more even yarn. Sheila Bosworth test-spun the spindle before sending it to me, and when it arrived, I dissected and studied the small sample of fiber and spun yarn she left on it. (Hey, I'm desperate; there are no spinning classes around here!)

...and if I'm spinning, I will eventually need to use this Niddy-Noddy. (As if I need more things to collect...)

I'm knitting too; an organic cotton baby blanket (pic soon), and a thin scarf made by alternating every couple rows between some Koigu and STR.

Here is a close-up of the 2-Colour Star Stitch Pattern found in Harmony Guide's "44o More Knitting Stitches". Using 2 contrasting solids would make the "stars" pop out more, but I'm liking this Impressionistic look.

Continuing with the stash-busting, I used the leftovers from the Flore hat combined with some Reynolds Saucy Sport to crochet a market bag. I'll take it for a test run soon.

D'OH!!!

2007-06-19T01:38:00.001-04:00

There are reasons why one should never, ever, attempt to do fancy stuff with one's Blogger template late at night after drinks. I erased all my stuff. I'm sooooo stupid! It will take me a while to get all my links back up... At least my posts survived! ARGH!!! Anyway, it's a good excuse to try out a new look, I figure. I'm going to go kick myself some more now.

Several Hours (and many cups of coffee) Later: Okay, most of my links are back, and I'm still having fun tweaking the look. Thanks to blogger-saavy Rachel - when I followed your instructions, my links did reappear! I erased too much to get back all the little buttons, etc., but I'm still quite happy! Thanks again!

Trying it again...

2007-06-18T21:08:00.001-04:00

WARNING: Lots of Fiber Tool Pr0n...

Getting inspired by Monika, I figured I should give spinning another try. I think last time, I got very impatient with the whole inch-worm/park-and-draft stuff, and sort of...well...gave up.
I de-stashed (and then bought more) Spunky Eclectic fibers (pictured is Corriedale), and got a good spinning book.
And then...I caved and bought this Cascabeles Spindle to add to my Forrester and to the small No-Name spindle (waaay to light for me, whatever it is).
They fit really well in this crochet hook holder I made for myself a while back. I think it would be good to use for knitting needles too, if it were taller.

Closeup of my crochet collection: a few are Brittany Walnut, but the others are Graydog Woodenware which I painstakingly collected over several years. Their stuff is really gorgeous, but the bidding wars can get fierce. (As with all auctions, you have to practice self-control and know when to walk away. Which will happen a lot...)

...and finally...
I need some help! I don't know what to make with this! I got two grab bags at a really steep discount, thinking there would be lots of colors that wouldn't go with each other. Then these showed up and the colors match really well! It's machine wash, so I was thinking baby stuff (I need to get crankin' for 2 summer babies). However, that would leave a lot leftover. There are 1,520 yds all together. Any ideas? I've considered a blanket or a sweater, but otherwise, I'm totally stumped!

Finished Flore Hat!

2007-06-11T18:32:00.000-04:00

Woohoo! Finally finished the Flore hat from Knitwhits! This also marks the first time I've used my new camera; it has 10 megapixels (my old one was 4), so I'm curious to see what the differences are...

shown in the "Red Pepper" colorway
blocking=stuffed with plastic bags and unceremoniously crammed on top of tupperware

This pattern was pretty fun for me; it's worked in a series of layers. It calls for 2 sets of size 5 16", but I only have one set, so I just used a size 4 as a large stitch holder while I worked on the next layer. I misread the pattern, and did twisted M1's (I know, just making it harder for myself...D'oh!...) Next time, I think I'll try casting on in purl to match the purled third round of every layer (a little OCD, perhaps). Truth be told, there were lots of ends to weave in, and you have to tack down the points of the petals (good Zen exercise), but I didn't mind because the hat is so cute!

The Winners Are...

2007-06-03T10:32:00.001-04:00

Okay, first of all, sorry for the delay-! My camera is almost dead, and I haven't figured out how to use my new one...

A huge thank you to everyone for helping me celebrate my blogiversary and for leaving such fun answers for what they'd like to have in the middle of a ball of yarn!!! It seems "chocolate" was the most popular answer; I guess there are a lot of chocoholic knitters out there!

Without further adieu, here is my lovely assistant again, who is wearing some Fixation "practice gloves".
...and the 5 winners are:

1. Courtney, (Claudia's HP)

2. Rachel, (Opal Parrot)

3. Ren, (keychain)

4. Jeannette, (keychain)

5. Adrienne, (keychain)

Congrats to the 5 winners!!! Please email me your snail mail address to:
violiknit@yahoo.com

Thanks for playing, everyone!!!

First Blogiversary!

2007-05-25T12:45:00.000-04:00

Yeay! I made it to my first Blogiversary!!! (To be fair, it was yesterday, but after 8 hours in the recording studio, I had no energy to blog. Incidentally, this marks the first time I've ever used my Adobe Photoshop for anything other than cropping and red-eye reduction...wow, I'm lazy.)

Okay, the fun part! BLOGIVERSARY CONTEST!

Leave me a comment answering this question that my bf came up with:

If every ball of yarn came with a prize in the middle, what would you want that prize to be?

Prize #1: 2 skeins of Claudia's Handpainted in "Pink Posey"

Prize#2: Opal Rainforest in "Parrot"

Prize #3, #4 and #5: Sockblocker keychain with mini sock pattern

Good Luck!

Some Tour Pics

2007-05-22T19:55:00.001-04:00

Warning: no knitting content :)
Here are some pictures from the Korea Tour I went on:

The food was good (and very spicy!), but the translations were sometimes weird..."Fork Velly" (Pork Belly) gave us all a giggle:

The streets were lined with food cart after food cart - occasionally seperated by a stand selling sunglasses and hair bling.

One of my favorite meals: huge dumplings submerged in a spicy simmering casserole of mushrooms, beef and greens.

Again, bling seemed quite popular over there, as you can see from these gowns (there was a whole block of shops with glittery dresses like these).

I'm glad I got to go out a little, but this was a working tour, after all. One of our rehearsals with violin soloist Sarah Chang was filmed by a Korean TV crew. She's playing Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", which we are recording with her this week.

A little heads up: I nearly forgot, but my Blogiversary is on Thursday! I will definitely be having a contest then! Stay tuned...

I'm Baaaaaack!

2007-05-20T12:21:00.001-04:00

Wow! Crazy fun trip to Korea, but it was lots of work too (actually, it's not over yet; we're doing a recording starting tomorrow)! Since I can't stuff all my pics on one post, I'll do the knitty things on this post, and the non-knitty pics on the next one.

The flight to Korea is 14 hours one way. (talk about a sore bottom!) When I wasn't sleeping, I was working on this Knitwhits Flore Hat Kit. It's a layered flower petal design in cotton yarn, sized for an infant.
I dragged this hat with me on all our bus trips to the various concert halls (Traffic in Korea is a major pain. It would take our bus a good half hour to go around the block. Being able to knit kept me sane.)

On one of the bus trips, I showed my little hat-in-progress to the woman pictured on the left. As it turns out, she is none other than the famous knitwear designer Melissa Leapman!!! She was at our concerts! Melissa mentioned she knew the designer of the Flore Hat, Tina Whitmore, and said she'd tell her I was knitting her hat. I was totally blubbering and rather embarrassed that all I had to show a famous designer was a couple rows of knitting... I was even too shy to fully blurt out the name of my blog.

My friend brought her baby Ayano on this tour. She's wearing the booties I knit for her!
And yes, the Flore Hat is for her too!

I didn't see too much yarn-related stuff in Korea, but I did buy this ultra-cool metallic crochetted bag from a vendor in Insadong. Turns out he went to the Parson's School of Design here in NYC, and currently teaches crochet in Korea. This was the only non-reproduction souvenir I found in Korea.

Packing, last minute knitting, etc.

2007-05-06T09:33:00.000-04:00

I'm off to Korea tomorrow, so my life has been rather dedicated to lots of rehearsals and concerts lately...I've hardly had time to pack, knit, or decide what knitting to try and take on the plane (so far I'm planning on a baby hat and a pair of socks on bamboo needles, with metal back-up needles in the checked luggage)

Anyhow, just to show that I'm still working on those Lozenge socks during rehearsal breaks:
Here they are lounging on a first row seat of A Very Famous Hall here in NYC. (I think I'm not supposed to take pics here, so I'm playing it safe. Used my crappy cell phone camera.)

I also made a reversible name bib. The general bib pattern is in this book, but all garter stitch was boring, so I knit the baby's name into it. I didn't like how the "wrong side" looked, so I picked up stitches along the bottom of the name panel on the back, knit another name in contrast color (next time will try different language), grafted it to the top of the panel, and seamed the side bits. Added buttons to match the name colors, crochetted an edge, and voila!

Dishcloth Diversions

2007-04-29T11:42:00.000-04:00

First of all, many apologies for being so invisible lately; I'm going to Korea on a tour next week with an orchestra, and the rehearsals are keeping me waaaaay busy.

Meanwhile, you can see my current obsession piled atop the Lozenge Socks pattern. (I'm not UFO-ing those socks, but I needed to knit something fast on bigger needles. Mental thing.)

A friend of mine collects all things Squirrel. The famous Ballband (middle one) is from this book, but I added extra sts on the sides and did a couple rounds of crochet on the edge.

My friend's baby has started eating solid food, and my poor friend shows up to work with splotches of stuff on her shirts. I'm hoping these bibs will help, but I may have to make a burp cloth as well.

A pair of really orange dishcloths. I saw the music notes one on Hakucho's blog, and had to have one too!

Eye Candy Friday (belated)

2007-04-29T11:40:00.000-04:00

Squeaky Clean after Bath

I hate all things size Zero...!

2007-04-20T10:48:00.000-04:00

Pathetic progress report on the Lozenge socks here...turned the heel and went a teeny bit further...

I am totally never going to knit anything on size 0's again! I would much rather do some algebra and move it up to tolerable size 1's or ideal size 2's or even ultimate fantasy size 3's. I'm having the worst time keeping my tension even with these size 0's - a problem I've never had before. Also, my hand totally cramps up with minimal knitting, so progress is incredible slow. Argh! Is there anything I can do to make this last stretch of sock go faster? Any advice from you wonderful sock knitters out there?

...and the winner is...

2007-04-18T12:10:00.000-04:00

First of all, thank you everyone for your wonderful vacation suggestions (and links!) My bf and I really appreciate the ideas you gave us; there are enough potential vacations in there for several years!

I also had a great time visiting all your blogs; some new ones there that I'm happy to know about! I've been swamped with work this week, but I promise to visit and comment on your blogs soon!

Here is the hat with the names on the papers...

To make it as fair as possible, I enlisted the help of my lovely assistant...

...and the name he pulled out...

Dipsy, of Dipsy Doodle!

Congratulations!!!!! Please send me your name and snail mail address so I can send you your prize!!! (my email is violiknit@yahoo.com)

(p.s. to answer "Ladybird" about what's in the Matzia: it's 2 sheets of matzah cracked into bits, you add some water, and when when the matzah bits are soft, squeeze out the water. Add 2 eggs, a pinch of salt, and mix. Add oil to a pan and spread mix into the pan like you would an omelette. I'm told it's traditionally served with apple sauce, and is also called matza brai.)

Thank you all for playing!!! I have a blogiversary in a couple of months, and will be giving away some prizes for that as well.

Contest Time!

2007-04-11T10:34:00.000-04:00

Okay, here it is:

I need a vacation. I have been working like mad for several months. The thing is, I haven't been on many vacations...so I need your help! Please leave a comment in this post telling me one of your favorite vacation spots, and what you liked most about it.

The contest ends on Tuesday April 17th at midnight. On Wednesday, I'll put everyone's name in a hat, and randomly choose a winner.

The prize: 2 skeins of Regia Cotton Color (#5407) 41% superwash wool, 34% cotton and 25% polyamide. Perfect for warm weather sock knitting!

Thanks, and Good Luck!

Eye Candy Friday

2007-04-06T16:49:00.000-04:00

Edible Eye Candy: I woke up this morning and my bf had made me this "Matzia" for breakfast. It's topped with Dulce de Leche...I love that stuff...yum...

The impossible can be possible: I managed to score one skein of Yarn Pirate sock yarn!!! Once her store is updated, the yarn sells out in a couple of seconds, so I would rate Yarn Pirate yarns as difficult to obtain as Vesper yarns. I'm hoping to one day get some Yarntini as well...it's also pretty hard to come by.

Since everyone seems to like these new Lace Addi's so much, I thought I'd give them a try too. I'm planning on knitting socks with the size 2 47" ones; I'm curious how comfortable they'll be...
Oh, and...
My next post will have a contest! Details soon! (as I promised, it won't be music-related)

Do I have a problem?

2007-04-02T12:24:00.000-04:00

...yeah, so I bought some yarn recently...

Okay, I'm bad, I know! It is all sock yarn, so I'm not breaking the rules, but I think I've been using it as an excuse to buy truckloads more sock yarn than I need or will ever use-! Also, I've noticed I shop more when work gets busier (7 operas, 2 rehearsals and one recording session in the last 6 days...)

Going clockwise from the top: those 3 variegated skeins are Wool Dancer, from Australia, followed by Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the "Steelhead" colorway, a skein of A Piece of Vermont, Opal, more Opal, 2 skeins of Fearless Fibers (like the colors, but the yarn was damp when it arrived). In the center is a cotton/elastic yarn from Greenwood Fiberworks flanked on either side by some Lorna's Laces.

Good thing these books arrived, so I can attempt to make a dent in my mammoth sock yarn stash.

I finished the Broadripple socks! They fit my friend perfectly. (Side note: this same friend once came over to my apartment and saw my gigantic tower of a yarn collection. It was taller than her. She was speechless with shock for about a week. I think the experience has scarred her, because she's never been able to look at me the same again.)

Is there a "socknitters' block" like there is a "writers' block"?

2007-03-28T10:16:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm currently working on a pair of Broadripple socks from Knitty. This is for the same friend who has moth problems in her house, so I am using Cascade Fixation, as is called for in the pattern, because it has no wool. Just cotton and elastic.

I'm having some issues with the heel; I'm afraid it will be too baggy for her...she's very pettite, and wears a (get this) size 4 1/2 to 5 shoe. (Socknitters dream, no?)

While I wait until tonight so I can try these socks on her, I dug these out of the dark recesses of my UFO bag to work on: Gentleman's Lozenge Socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks.

These are for my father, who wears a size 12, so these will take much, much longer...

Congratulations Miss Ewe!!!

2007-03-23T12:41:00.000-04:00

And the winner of the contest is Kate, of Miss Ewe Knits!!!

Not only did Kate guess the right composer, Rossini, but she also was able to identify the correct opera "La Donna del Lago". It's a pretty obscure piece, and the fact that she was able to guess that from just those few pages is REALLY impressive!!!

Because of this, Kate gets a brownie point: in addition to the Fortissima Socka, she's also going to receive this set of 8 Glamscience gift cards/envelopes. Enjoy!

I'll have another contest soon, and just in case anyone felt left out, I promise to make the next one more inclusive for everyone :)

Eye Candy Fri+ Wee Contest

2007-03-23T11:05:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd share with you what it looks like where I work...

This is the most heinously arm-cramping excerpt of an opera I played last night. It is CRAZY fast. I used my meteronome, and I can confidently say each measure equals 60. For you non-music folks, that means I have to one second to play each measure. (In this example, there are about 2 measures per line. All 4 pages (including the rests) take 68 seconds to play.

THE CONTEST: Be the first person to leave a comment giving me the name of the composer of this piece, and you win this skein of "Fortissima" Sock Yarn.

(hint: he's Italian)
Good Luck!

How did this happen?

2007-03-19T19:09:00.000-04:00

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting and do it all the time. While finishing a piece is the plan, you still love the process, and can't imagine a day going by without giving some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation involves leaving ample space for the stash and supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn ends and you begin.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!

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| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

I took this quiz that I saw on Hakucho's blog, and the answer had me laughing on the floor.

Socks #5 and #6

2007-03-19T18:06:00.000-04:00

Here, finally, is a pic of my bf modelling his new socks! I tried doing the purl bind off on these toe-up socks, and it was way too tight! I ended up doing the sewn cast off, and it worked great! Some day, I'll do the kitchener bind-off, but for now, it seems so fussy to me...

I loved working with this Fleece Artist merino sock yarn, and I had a good amount left over (he wears men's size 10-10.5).

Oh, and I was also knitting some mindless plain vanilla socks during concert intermissions last week...

I used an afterthought heel because I didn't want to disrupt the pattern too much. These socks were toe-up as well.
Yes, I am one of those crazy people who has to have the stripes match...
The yarn is Regia self-patterning. There were a couple of annoying things about this yarn:
1) there was a knot, and it didn't reconnect in the same color sequence...I undid it and found the right place to re-tie it, but luckily, I finished the socks before I got to the knot. *whew*
2) the sections where the stripes are supposed to be solid colors (especially the orange and pink parts) were peppered with white chunks of undyed yarn (looked like a printer running out of ink).

I do like the colors a lot, and I've knit with other Regia Jaquard that didn't have these problems, so I hope the skein I had was just a dud. Again, I had a ton of yarn left over, which is good (I'm size 9.5 narrow).

Jumping on the Bandwagon

2007-03-12T12:42:00.000-04:00

I'm a few months behind, but I'm totally doing this:

Sock yarn is excluded. Need I say more?

Oh, and this looks fun too (in lieu of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day):

Eye Candy Friday

2007-03-09T23:47:00.000-05:00

Yet another African Violet pic for Eye Candy Friday. This guy's called "Slap Happy".

Slow Goin'

2007-03-08T13:21:00.000-05:00

I think I must've caught one of these totally heinous bugs going around NYC...at any rate, it has slowed down my knitting output somewhat...

Nevertheless, I'm almost done with a pair of socks for the bf. The yarn is some Fleece Artist merino he brought back from Canada for me, and it feels great to knit with. It came in one skein which I dutifully split into two, but the colors got progressively darker and stronger during the second half of the skein, making for some fraternal sock action:

The colors are a bit truer in this pic:

The free pattern is here. I was curious about trying it because the heel flap is located at the bottom of the foot as opposed to behind the achilles part. (Where I did an eye of partridge anyway). I also started the sock using the Knitty Magic Cast On and I totally loved it! I have some sort of dysfunction when it comes to short rows, and I really liked this alternative.

Oh, and this would be the debut of my Schnauzer sock blockers (I have a pair of sheep ones too!) When the socks are finished, I'll get my bf to model them, though.

I need to study!

2007-02-24T09:58:00.000-05:00

These came in the mail today: Sweater Workshop (I paid the extra $2 for the spiral-bound edition.) and Scandinavian Knitting.

I bought the Sweater Workshop because it is supposed to explain the Elizabeth Zimmerman Percentage System in a more user-friendly way. The fact is, I have sweater phobia. Of the two adult-sized sweaters I've knit, the first one was a total Frankenstein, and the second one, although wearable, was made with Lamb's Pride Bulky. It has mohair. Turns out that stuff sheds a ton, which is great if you consider mohair to be a necessary part of your dietary fiber because you will undoubtedly swallow lots of it as it flies into your mouth. *yuck*

Aside from some beautiful charts and patterns, the Scandinavian Knitting book had this one really cute picture of this girl knitting socks on a mountain top. Isn't her expression great?
(...and check out those clogs!)

I got an email from Sweet Georgia saying no new yarn will be produced for 6 months to a year due to travelling. I freaked out and scored this stuff here and here.

Eye Candy Friday

2007-02-23T23:52:00.000-05:00

I got a new toy: a Darning Egg! It's made of spalted maple, which is a kind of petrified mold which causes those cool black lines. This will definitely make knit repair easier. (FYI: I got mine here.)

Bootie Call!

2007-02-20T22:51:00.000-05:00

But first, the finished February Baby Sweater from Knitter's Almanac:

Yarn: Misti Baby Alpaca Worsted in "Tangerine", less than 3 skeins
Needles: size 7
Aim to fit baby 5 months old. (looked at sizings on my Debbie Bliss Baby Books for reference, and also crossed my fingers real hard)

What I wish I knew first...E.Z. mentions button holes after the yoke section is finished (sweater is knit top down). I looked at that wee itty bitty picture on the cover, and that black and white pic on pg. 16, and what do I see: there are buttons on the yoke. I had to frog. I was unhappy. I know, I should've studied more carefully. But, I figure, I learned my lesson.

I'm happy with how the seam and armpit section turned out (no bulk).

The button holes were a bit loose, so I reinforced them by slip stitch crochetting around the holes. (yes, it's a button hole, not a belly button....) I also single crochetted around the entire sweater, including the sleeve openings.

I also finished 2 pairs of bootees from 50 Baby Booties to Knit. These are my (and the mom's) fave. Yarn used is Dale Baby Ull (machine washable):

I seamed these guys up too. They're a bit bigger. Yarn is Pear Tree Alpaca.

A HUGE THANK YOU for all of you who gave nice comments about my bf's yarn shopping. He was very excited and happy, and is looking forward to the next time he gets to buy yarn for me. Thanks again all!!!!!

Better than chocolate!

2007-02-18T11:05:00.000-05:00

Last week, my bf was playing in an orchestra in Ottawa (conducted by his former teacher, "Pinky", for those in the know), and so here are the lovely Valentine's presents he brought back for me from Yarn Forward:

3 skeins of Fleece Artist sock yarn in very drool-worthy colors, a yarn-gasmic Lady of the Lake sweater kit...
...with matching brooch!

And of course, because it's not Valentine's without a little sexxxxinesssss...
He got me this book as well! Woohoo! He chose all these things himself so I'm quite proud of him!

Don't worry, it's not all PRON in this post...here is a preview of my almost finished February baby sweater from E.Z.'s Knitter's Almanac. I tried blocking before seaming this time...

Recycling

2007-02-14T10:20:00.000-05:00

Following the instructions for recycling at the back of Montse Stanley's Knitters Handbook, I embarked upon my most major frogging experience ever.

One of my earliest projects: a hat and scarf for the bf. The hat didn't fit him so well, and the scarf was too wide, so they weren't worn. Also, the yarn was full of twigs and splinters, and I naively thought back then that such things would fall out with washing (they don't).

Then I found a half of a vest meant for my Dad that I had abandoned because it was too small. (Gauge? What's that?)

All tied off and looking like moss green ramen noodles...

Washed and hung to dry in the shower...

What I used for weights...

Yeah, I know, more hats...

2007-02-11T12:44:00.000-05:00

...but the thing is, the bf's father was visiting from out of the country, and it turned out both my bf's dad and mom wanted me to knit them hats. I understood this to be the case 2 days before the end of the visit...hahaha...

Knitting at every opportunity: on the icky subway despite getting acosted by a deranged homeless guy (yep, Kate, I got me a GoKnit pouch! Thanks for the idea!), through concert intermissions and the piano concerto I didn't have to play in, and into the wee hours of the night when SSK and PSSO and all those things blur in the mind to create lovely little frogs that totally mess with my knitting rhythm...

...I was able to finish the Aran Watch Cap from Charlene Schurch's Hats On!
Oh, and if any of you ever want to make this hat, there is a MISTAKE in the pattern. It only gives you the cable instruction for one set of cables (the second set), although in the illustrations, it clearly shows the cables going in opposite directions. I actually reversed my cables because I wasn't paying attention. My concentration got totally spent on the yarn-over tubular cast-on.

I also just finished (like, 15 minutes ago) Grumperina's Odessa hat. One of my most fave free knitting patterns ever.

Eye Candy Friday

2007-02-11T12:41:00.000-05:00

Okay, this is a belated Eye Candy Friday post, but here it is:

"Birds Suspicious of Camera"

Still busy...

2007-02-03T10:26:00.000-05:00

Okay...! I have one free hour before my matinee concert at 2:00, so I'm scurrying to update my poor neglected blog. It's been a whirlwind of work lately, which is great, but I have less time to knit :(

I suppose I could knit in the subway, but the fact is, the floors of those cars are sooooo disgusting with all the sticky spilled remnants of peoples' coffee, booze and leftover takeout (and I'm leaving out the worst stuff), that I know dropping a WIP would mean instant RIP for the poor knitted item. And of course, no amount of anger or cursing or applying of bleach would bring it back to life.

I finished the Trickey Dickeys from E.Z.'s Knitting Around. I didn't do the shaping in the front bottom portion because a) I was in a hurry to finish and b) the square bottom makes it harder for the dickey to jump out of the front of a jacket (figured this out from experience).

This is the Dickey von Beethoven from the same book. I made this about a year ago, and I think it's a better design overall because it sits flat and covers more. I used a laceweight silk/mohair blend yarn for this. Sorry it's a bit wrinkly, but I wanted to include this here for comparison.

I made some booties for a friend a while back, and she has asked me to make another pair. I've decided on the Herringbone Bootees from 50 Baby Bootees to Knit. Tons of cute patterns in this book, but I wish I could figure a successful way of converting these to knit in the round. I'm not too excited about the seams, but oh well.

I also made this crochetted pair from a free pattern here. She also has patterns for knit booties; both toe up and heel down, in the round. I think I'll try that next. I used Jaeger Alpaca fingering weight yarn.

busy, busy, busy...but check out this youtube link!

2007-01-27T10:54:00.000-05:00

Tons of work lately, and not too much time to post. However, a friend sent me this crazy youtube link of obsessive knitting. C an you relate?

Yarn Diet vs Yarn Fast

2007-01-19T14:48:00.000-05:00

First off, for Eye Candy Friday...
Sock Bug "Julia" that I bought at Sockdiva's Etsy store. This bag is large enough to hold a sock project+, and is way cute.

I, like many, have too much yarn. If I knit and felt it all, I could probably make a house, with maybe some leftovers for felted furniture. I'm more of a yarn collector than a knitter (more monster than human!). I know I'd never be able to totally resist buying yarn; yarn fasting is just plain cruel. However, I need to save money, and yarn dieting sounds less extreme. SO...barring any unforseen events (like a one-of-a-kind treasure), I'm gonna try to stick with buying one to two projects worth of yarn per month. (Project cannot be the size of a knitted house...)

On to the shopping damage for January:

Really adorable buttons with a cat playing the cello.

Sweet Georgia Speed Demon sock yarn in "Firefly". Got this stuff at the Point.

I have to make 4 dickeys (seriously, who came up with this name???). These are the Trickey Dickeys (.....) from E.Z.'s Knitting Around.

I am knitting these with Lion Brand Microspun. 100% Acryllic. Sigh... because I knit these last year for the same friend and her family. I used merino wool, which the moths in her house found delicious. Let's hope the moths don't mutate into radioactive acryllic eaters. Otherwise, I might have to learn how to spin fiberglass into yarn. Ouch.

...more hats...

2007-01-16T15:50:00.000-05:00

Okay, knitting mojo still in the funk, but hat knitting mojo is seemingly unaffected...

Maltese Fisherman's hat from Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Knitter's Almanac".

I made one of these before with some bulky merino, and it looked cool, but very helmet-y. In came Mom, (once upon a time fashion designer) with the suggestion I try it in ribbon. In this example I used 1 skein of Tilli Tomas Cleopatra. 100% silk ribbon with glass beads. It had to work with one skein. No way I was going to buy another one; ouch!$!$!

So....I made some modifications...
Needle size 11; getting about 2 st to 1". I knit loose.
CO'd 30 sts.
Knit 6 rows instead of 10.
Started ear shaping rows with K13 (not K17), continued with K11, K back, etc. down to K7.
2 rows after the "Ear-shaping finished", I K13, (M1, K1) 4 times (instead of 6), K13 = 34 sts.
I cast on 8sts for the front; total 42 sts.
K 12 rounds for hat depth.
Decreased like this: (K4, K2tog) around. K 1 row even. (K3, K2tog). K 1 row. etc. Last row is K2tog around = 7sts. Draw through.

I had a little yarn left, so I single crochetted a row around the face. Tied leftovers at bottom of earflaps for ribbon-tassle effect.

In other news....the Insubordiknit monster hat made it to Sweden.

Ennui

2007-01-15T15:18:00.000-05:00

No, really, it's been quite blah lately...as if I came back to New York only to find I had left my knitting mojo back in Cali.

What do you do to get out of such a slump?

Anyway, I made a second hat from Stitch Diva. I didn't like the felted brim so I made a 2 layer knitted one. (Anything thinner and it doesn't hold up.) Added a belt and buttons too. Hats this style are all the rage here in NYC, so of course, fashionista that I am, I needed one too! This hat took less than one skein of Morehouse Merino Bulky. I've noticed they've started putting up a free pattern du jour on their site.

Some seriously decadent yarn pron: Tilli Tomas Rock Star and Pure & Simple in colorway Jade. I hope I will have the discipline to someday make this into the famed SKB.

Eye Candy Friday

2007-01-05T23:35:00.000-05:00

For Eye Candy Friday: a pic of some cute cyclamens. I just found out you can repot the tubers after the plants go dormant (I always thought they were dead!).

After several froggings that occured because of bad stitch + yarn marriages, I've finally settled on the "Slip Stitch Zigzags" from The Harmony Guide's "440 more Knitting Stitches" for my father's scarf. This is the Royal Alpaca yarn I got during my visit to Imagiknit. Darker colored yarns that stripe (more like pool) are so hard to find stitches for! What a friggin' headache!

Really close closeup:

Garter Border Ballband

2007-01-02T14:37:00.000-05:00

Something I've been working on since yesterday...

Ballband Dishcloth with Garter Border:

Here's a closeup of a corner:
For as long as I have liked this dishcloth pattern, I have wanted a border to go with it. I've tried a few options, but I think I'm finally happy with this one. I really like how it makes the discloth lie flat (Look Ma, no blocking!) It does take a little extra work though, because you will be simultaneously using a second ball of color A or the other end of the same ball of A for the border on the left. Basically, it's intarsia.

This is pretty much what I did. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section and I will answer them there.

I cast on 49 stitches (4 extra) using the usual 2 strand cast on. (When you start your first row, your cast on row should be looking like a row of purl bumps.)

I Knit for 2 rows with color A (the multi in the pic)

To make a garter ridge, you need to Knit the first two and last two stitches of every row (RS and WS)

So, in what would be Row 3 of the original pattern, K2 sts with color A, then join B and follow instructions until the end of the pattern row.

AT THIS POINT, you should have 2 sts left on your needle. Now, you join a second ball of color A or use the other end of the ball of A you already have. I'm going to call this "A2". Knit these last 2 sts with A2. Turn. K the first 2 sts with A2.

Twist A2 with color B (closes the hole). Move the strand of A2 forward, so it's resting on the WS of your dishcloth, which is now facing you (this puts it in the right spot for when you turn and work the RS). Continue working from the pattern until the end of the row. You should have 2 stitches left. Twist color B with A (the original). Move the strand of B forward so it's resting on the WS of the dishcloth. K2 with color A, turn, K2 with color A, pick up color B and continue. Keep doing this, knitting one garter border with color A and the oter garter border with A2 throughout the ballband pattern. You only twist colors on the WS. (I'm lazy, so that's what I did. Feel free to keep on twisting if you like.)

On Rows 1 & 2 and Rows 7 & 8, where the ballband pattern calls for K one row and P one row, I used color A only. Not A2. It gives you a break from twisting for a couple of rows. BUT, remember to keep making the garter border by knitting the first 2 and last 2 sts of every row.

At the end of the dishcloth, when you've finally finished row 8 for the last time, Knit 3 more rows, and Cast Off on the WS in Knit (K2 sts, pass first stitch over second stitch, K1, pass old stitch over new stitch, etc.) This way, on the RS of the work, the Cast Off row and the Cast On row will look the same (like a row of garter st)

Note: there is a way to twist strands of color without physically moving the balls of yarn around each other. It makes life easier and less tangled. I can't find a good visual of this online. If anyone knows of a site detailing this, please let me know. If not, maybe I'll try to take more pics and post it here later on.

Garter Border not your thing? Try a Seed Stitch Border. It'll be a bit fussier, but I think it would work too.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T15:11:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Here at my parents', we celebrate a traditional Japanese New Years complete with a feast that looks like this:

It's also traditional to place "osonai" in various places around the home to welcome the New Year. What you see are cakes of "mochi" (pounded rice) with a clementine on top. For whatever reasons (probably aesthetic), the leaves have to be attached.

I finished my Fetching. I didn't do the picot cast off because I didn't really like how it looked, and also because I ran out of yarn and needed to harvest it from somewhere. (that picot cast off eats yarn)

A belated Xmas gift for a family friend: a pair of ballbands with soap.

Other side:

I just went to Michael's and bought a ton of Sugar n' Cream, so I have enough ballband material to last me for another year. I should resolve not to buy any more unneccesary yarn, but I know I'd fail right away!

The Mad Hatter Lives Here

2006-12-28T19:59:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful and festive holiday!

I am writing from the windy and friggin' cold Bay Area, where I am visiting my folks. You can always tell who the tourists are here, because they are the ones wearing shorts, freezing off their bums in foggy San Francisco. Be forewarned; not all of California is warm all the time.

Before I left NYC, I finished one of the monster hats from Insubordiknit. This one got sent to Sweden as a gift. I have a feeling it will make my friend stand out like crazy.

Okay, I've tried knitting other things, but the fact is, I LOVE knitting and crochetting hats more than anything else, and well...I caved into my addiction these past few days...

L to R: modified crochetted Ribbed Newsboy Hat : (no brim, flower attached) with Lorna's Laces Worsted, another one (because my Mom wanted it) using Malabrigo, and finally a knitted brimmed hat from Stitch Diva patterns using cashmere yarn I got at School Products in NYC (a place you all must visit if you're in the city).
The scarf is some simple basket weave pattern I winged; the yarn is Jade cashmere. Soooooooo soft!

Finally, I got to visit the famous yarn store Imagiknit in S.F. This place was huge! Good sale section too! (not just some pathetic basket of tangled scary yarn hiding in the corner like some places...) I was really happy to see they carried absolutely everything; pretty much the whole range of needles and yarn out there. Really friendly and knowledgeable salespeople too. No snooty types here! Yeay Imagiknit!

The Damage: 2 skeins of Royal Alpaca (the multicolored on the left), Malabrigo (first time I got to see this stuff live; I love it), and some Colonial Rosewood needles.

Okay, I'm going back to some meditative Ballband Dishcloth knitting (Mom wants those too).

Pretty but Prickly; Have Band-aids Ready!

2006-12-17T14:26:00.000-05:00

Here is the finished Tilli Tomas Evening Trinket Bag.

It's cute and glamorous with its beaded silk yarn and lining, but it was not as mindless a knit as I thought it would be. First of all, you have to pull the yarn through the grommets one at a time with a crochet hook and slip them onto your knitting needles. The lining where the grommets were was inflexible and made it hard to knit the first few rows. The worst part was the reverse side of the grommets were sharp and kept slicing my fingers (it's hard to avoid touching those while knitting the first 10 or so rows)! Considering I play the violin for a living, this really made me upset; I'm careful about using sharp objects - I just never expected them to be in my knitting! Also, I had to muscle the beads around so that they would show up on the right side...yes, maybe that was control freaky of me...but I figured the beads should be visible.

In short, this kit was way too much trouble for me to want to make another one again. Any of you out there come across a Tilli Tomas kit with grommets, watch your fingers!

You know it's Xmas when you start playing lots of Bach

2006-12-15T21:09:00.000-05:00

...not like I'm complaining, though! I could always be stuck in the repetitive vortex of the Nutcracker or Handel's Messiah. For people who go to the concerts, it's only once a year, maybe, but for those of us who do it for a living, it can be the same thing several times a day for like a month.

But again, I have been totally spoiled so far. 2 weeks ago I played an almost all Bach concert at Carnegie Hall, last night I played an all Bach Cantatas concert at the Met Museum (let me tell you, it is so incredibly fun to be running around a museum after it is closed...spooky, but fun!) And next week I'm back at Lincoln Center for more Bach Cantatas. The spirit of Holiday Gigging has been good to me this year.

In the meantime, I finished this Baby Hat. It was a fun and moderate-speed project. I used some really soft baby alpaca yarn. Oh, and going against conformity, this powder blue hat is for a girl!

I'm almost done knitting a Tilli Tomas drawstring bag kit. Will put a pic up soon.

Shopaholic me

2006-12-08T14:17:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season to shop a lot...

I splurged and got 3 more monster hats by Jacey of Insubordiknit.

I'm using this pic of this monster trio as my Eye Candy Friday!

...and a Namaste Vintage knitting bag...complete with needle holders...

...and some insanely pricey and gorgeous Tilli Thomas yarn...very Xmassy, no?

Back from another tour and computers are messed up

2006-12-08T14:04:00.000-05:00

Sigh...I have a mac book now, and it doesn't seem to want to do what I want it to...Then the bf's pc refused to accept my pics, so this is a total experiment.

On tour this time I started making a baby hat:

...and the shawl is slowly growing...

I wish I could link things, but the link button isn't there anymore on the blogger tool bar.

But now I'm editing using the bf's pc, and I can! (I hope...)
Baby Hat pattern is free from Sundara Yarn and it's here

All Gobbled Up!

2006-11-24T09:52:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Many thanks to Colleen the Subway Knitter
for posting about this pattern on her blog. She gives the link to the free pattern, but just in case, it's here. There are other fun animal, seasonal, etc. knitted cloth patterns there too!

I added 3 rounds of single crochet to firm up the edges and stuck a loop on the corner so I can hang this in the kitchen. Oh, and this took less than one skein of Sugar n' Cream...and about 1 and 1/2 hours to knit while watching the James Bond Marathon on TV. Sean Connery is definitely my fave 007!

Okay, this is totally lace with training wheels (worsted weight yarn with size 10 needles), but I'm trying Fiber Trends Leaf Lace Shawl.

I recall making a rectangular scarf with the same leaf motif...free pattern here.

long time no blog...

2006-11-21T21:44:00.000-05:00

Sorry I've been a bad blogger lately... seems a tough rehearsal schedule coupled with the stomach flu make for unproductive knitting...

Anyway, here's the finished My So-Called Scarf

I blocked it and added two rows of single crochet around the edges to help the funkiness I encountered with this pattern; namely the diagonal slant of the rows, and the loose cast-on and cast-off edges. Also, because of the color differences, I had to alternate skeins every 2 rows (I HATE doing that), which meant the tensions of both lengthwise edges were not exactly the same (also fixed by the crochet edge).

I do like how the pattern looks, and it's a pretty long scarf; worth it for just 2 skeins of Manos! Once I got the rhythm of the stitch pattern, it was a fast knit. Besides, the bf likes it. Yeay!

Bee is for Beata!

2006-11-10T15:29:00.000-05:00

I had a very cool skein of yarn from Insubordiknit that I had been stashing for quite some while. It's a self striping waspy colored yarn with little bumble bees made of ribbon spun into it. My friend Beata (Tango cellist extraordinaire visiting from Sweden), saw the yarn and loved it, so we decided she should have it as a scarf.
Umm...the pink felt heart is an address tag, because the last scarf I made her unfortunately ran away...

I really wanted to make some mittens for me, but the bf wanted a new scarf, so I'm trying the My So-Called Scarf. Colorway Manos del Uruguay Jungle Multi.

There are three things that are bothering me with this pattern:
1) It slants upwards on the left
2) No matter how tightly I cast on, the nature of the stitch pattern draws it in so that the cast on row flares out.
3) the sides look "rustic"

I've studied pics of this scarf on other blogs, and have seen those same problems. I'm hoping that blocking and a crochetted edge will cure it of its ills, so we'll see. I do agree that the stitch pattern shows off the Manos well. My skeins looked too different, so I had to alternate between rows, which I really hate having to do, but if the bf likes it, it's worth it. Right? Right?

Mittens for M & H

2006-11-05T10:04:00.000-05:00

Just in time for the chilly weather...
The pink ones are for "M", aged 7, and her younger brother, "H", aged 4.

The pattern is based loosely on the bug mittens in the Morehouse Merino book. They have pictures in the book for several variations of really cute bug patterns, but note: they don't give you step-by-step instructions on how to recreate them! (You get a basic mitten pattern, and then it's up to you to use different stitch patterns and color combos).

Next OTN (hopefully): Thrummed Mittens (Got the kit in "Hot Rod" at Spunky Eclectic)

Back from tour

2006-10-29T12:18:00.000-05:00

Yeay! I am back from my orchestra tour, and I did some major shopping!

I found these bone crochet hooks in an antique shop; I can't wait to try them out...however, I have a suspicion they are for lace...which I am still afraid of trying...

There was this really fantastic yarn store called Yarns On First, where I picked up some Noro Silk Garden Light and some Manos del Uruguay.

I also got some Lana Grossa Soffice to make a chemo hat for my cousin. I finished it up on the bus.

I also made a crochetted baby hat that looks like a pumpkin, but I gave it to the mom before I took a pic. Pattern here.

I get nervous on flights, but find if I'm preoccupied concentrating on something, it helps. Here is a crochetted hat make with one skein of Noro Silk Garden that took me less than 2 hours to make. Another note on flights; I never had problems taking bamboo circulars before, but since they've been more strict at screenings, I didn't risk taking them. Instead, I took a set of cheap-o plastic Red Heart crochet hooks, and no one bothered me.

Maltese Fisherman's Hat

2006-10-15T10:44:00.000-04:00

Maltese Fisherman's Hat from E.Z.'s Knitter's Almanac

side view:
This hat is actually for my bf, but I think it looks pretty good on Gina too! It was a fun and fast knit, and the ear flaps and the lengthened bit at the back of the neck will undoubtedly prove useful during the NE winter.

Mods: I wrapped the short row earflaps because I was getting gaps where the rows turned. I also knit more rounds to make the hat deeper.

Yarn: Morehouse Merino Bulky; less than one skein. It was one of those "sale" skeins, and I have no idea what the color is called; it's somewhere between dark plum and dark chocolate brown.

Round 2 of pics

2006-10-06T19:35:00.000-04:00

Blogger has some limits on pics per post or something...so I split these up.

All the following are from "Knitting for Young America"

I nearly cried while laughing when I first saw this. Read the subtitle in parenthesis.
Can you imagine having one of those pigtails for every sweater you have?

The girl looks so serious in this pic...maybe she wanted pigtails too...

This set is kind of interesting...I've never seen a knitted umbrella cover before; there is probably a reason for that...like mildew...Does anyone know what that thing is on the upper right?

Again, didn't know what to make of this one...maybe it would be good for scrap yarn Xmas tree ornaments for kids to make.

I might post yet more pics a little later...these are some of the best, though.

Entertaining Eye Candy Friday

2006-10-06T19:24:00.000-04:00

Okay, so you see this guy while you're taking a walk in the forest.
Do you...
a) run away
b) laugh hysterically
c) try to figure out the pattern on those socks
d) hit on him?
(this pic is from CM's "A Man's Handmades" by Viola Sylbert)

Okay, I don't quite know how to feel about this one. There is another pic with golf club covers in this mag too. (from Spinnerin "The Knitting Racket")

Well...I suppose this wouldn't totally give you hat head in the winter...

I just thought these guys were cute. I wonder if you could fill them with something heavy and use them as doorstops?
(the last 2 pics were Coats and Clarks patterns)

What I "inherited"

2006-10-02T11:09:00.000-04:00

One of my co-workers, who is a crochetter, gave me her mother's knitting needle and pattern collection.
Some of these needles are bakelite, the rest are mostly metal or plastic. There are some singles, and check out that sz 15 yellow pair on the right where it must've broken and the person re-sharpened it. (p.s. if you want to know if it's bakelite: rub a spot with your thumb very fast until it heats up. Smell. It will give off a weird stinky chemical smell. You can also run it under hot water briefly for the same result.)

There are some really funky patterns within these pages. The ones from the 60s and 70s gave me a good laugh, but I liked the really old patterns the best. Check these out:
Amigurumi Ancestors or what?
I love these lounge socks! Total Xmas present material!

I think the look on this girl's face is priceless...

I might post more pics later of the weirder ones.

Eye Candy Friday

2006-09-29T15:14:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm trying out Eye Candy Friday for the first time; here is a pic of my african violet "Jean-Pierre Croteau" (yes, that's the real name...I have tons of designer violets and this is my favorite).

...and here is a squash I picked up at Union Square...I think it's a reincarnated swan...

Will have more knit-related stuff soon; I want to make EZ's Maltese Fisherman's hat...

Confessions of a willful yarn (and a Diagonal Scarf Pattern)

2006-09-26T12:11:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I really tried to make this scarf work knitted lengthwise, but about a quarter of the way through, the yarn said to me, "Hey, this is just not working out. Come up with something else!" Seriously, yarn only talks to me when I've had a few stiff drinks...then I start seeing things diagonally, and that's just how this scarf turned out. It's very happy now. I hope.

To Monika, here is a free pattern for a lengthwise knitted scarf. I had mine (before it was frogged) on size #13 32" circular needles and cast on 100 sts, but it was too long and I would do about 75sts next time. Depends on your gauge.

Anyway, here's how it looks worn (I'm totally wearing this next time I go to the East Village or SoHo):
And here it is lying flat:
I think the reason the lengthwise thing wasn't working for me was because I am an obsessive control freak when it comes to self-striping things, and I wanted to preserve the texture differences (they were getting lost the other way). Also, I didn't want to waste any of this yarn with Cast ons and Bind offs!

Solution? Go Diagonal!
(The above scarf was knitted with size #13 needles. The yarn was 110 yds. The maker of this yarn is Jacey of Insubordiknit. I bought it at kpixie. If you can't score any of that stuff, any self striping yarn will do)

Terms: Make One= Knit into the Front and Back of same stitch
Make Two= Knit into the Front, Back and Front of same stitch

CO 1 st
RS: Make Two: Keeping that one stitch on the left needle, Knit into the front, back, and front again of that one stitch. You now should have 3 sts.
WS: Knit those 3 sts
RS: Make One in the first stitch(K F&B), knit the middle stitch, Make One in the last st (5 sts)
WS: Knit across
RS: Make One in the first st (K F&B), knit to the last stitch, Make One. (7sts)

Continue in this manner, K F&B increasing in the first and last sts of the RS rows, and Knitting the WS rows until the scarf is the Width you want it. I increased until I had 19 sts.

Next RS row: K F&B of first stitch, knit until you reach the last two sts, K2tog.
WS: Knit

Keep doing this until your scarf is the Length you want it. I went for about 50".

Next RS row: K2tog, knit until you reach the last two sts, K2tog
WS: Knit

Continue until you've got 3 sts remaining. The next RS row, Knit these 3 sts tog. Cut yarn and draw through last loop. Weave in and you're done.

Too busy

2006-09-23T13:04:00.000-04:00

With rehearsals in the afternoon and concerts in the evening every day this past week, I've barely had any time to do anything in the knitting arena...heck, I've barely been at home!

Managed to finally finish two more kimonos from Mason-Dixon Knitting... The purple one is made with Blue Sky Alpaca cotton, and the off-white one is Katia Diana (Acrylic, polamide, viscose, 13% angora). Both machine washable, but I'm nervous about the ribbons...I was obsessive enough to sew down the ends, so we'll see.

Pic of them in the last stages of drying...

Okay, knitting baby stuff was really cute and fun, but I need a bit of a break and want a very fast, instant-gratification knit, so I'm going to make a lengthwise scarf out of this fella, spun by Insubordiknit. I like funky one of a kind things, and this yarn fits the bill perfectly. (The actual colors are more dark and saturated than pictured)

Why I love Wednesdays

2006-09-13T18:24:00.000-04:00

Morehouse Merino comes to the Union Square Market on Wednesdays!!!Yeay!!!
Pictured at top are broken skeins; it means there is a split or two somewhere in the yarn...as opposed to a knot. The yarn costs $6/skein instead of $9.50, so I love to stock up. Underneath are some partial skeins of solid and variegated yarn, and a bag of felt trims!

I came home to find the yarn I ordered this weekend arrived from Kpixie. The purple will become a baby kimono, and the variegated will be a hat. I think.

The baby items were a hit! :) Since I had washed everything, the mom had the baby try things on right then and there so it was totally worth it.

To wash or not to wash for Baby...

2006-09-10T10:39:00.000-04:00

...I washed...here is an aerial shot of drying...(blanket is elsewhere)

I have always washed my knitted/crochetted gifts because it seems the nice thing to do. However, I recently encountered an issue with baby knits. The recipients of the first set of knitted baby gifts informed me that although I washed the items with Woolite, they would need to be re-washed with a special soap. It's kind of a bummer because I won't get to see the baby modelling the items for a little while. So this time, I washed everything in the baby detergent Dreft. I discussed this with several mommies, and it seems to be the safest option. Also, I was told that parents are always more careful about cleanliness with their first child, and that they become less worried with subsequent children. This crochet set is going to a baby #3.

Oh, and I made acorn booties. Just couldn't resist.

Thank you everyone for your nice comments in the past couple of posts; these were my first baby items and I was nervous :)

Baby Stuff: Crochetted

2006-09-08T11:53:00.000-04:00

I crochetted these baby things for a friend of mine who didn't want to know the sex of the baby until it was born. This proved a bit of a challenge, because quite frankly, gender neutral baby patterns are really hard to find.

Sock monkey inspired baby blanket from Stitch n' Bitch Crochet. I didn't make the matching hat (it's red with a monkey face on it). I found the instructions for making the monkey faces a bit confusing, so I tweaked the design a bit.

To match, I made this hat and booty set from Blankets, Hats and Booties to Knit and Crochet. It's hard to see, but the top of the hat is a granny square/octagon thingy. There are some really gorgeous patterns in this book, so I'm really glad to have bought it.

This acorn hat is from Too Cute Crochet. I added a flower today because the baby was born yesterday and it turned out to be a girl! The mittens were modified from another pattern in the book. I got this book on sale at B & N for $1. I'm glad I didn't pay more, because I found several mistakes which gave me quite a headache trying to fix. Luckily, the pictures are large and clear, so I could see what I was meant to do.

Baby Gifts Complete!!!

2006-08-29T23:29:00.000-04:00

Okay, so here is the finished Victorian Baby Jacket:
Yarn: Schaefer Anne
Pattern: Schaefer
It's kind of a slow knit, so I don't recommend it if you need something in a hurry. I had fun knitting it though, and I think it looks pretty and vintage.

Here is the Baby Kimono:
Yarn: Idena Bambino Bomull (very soft cotton! held double throughout.)
Pattern: Mason Dixon Knitting
Extremely easy knit, and the parents really liked this one. I changed a couple of things...I added a crochetted tie on the inside, and moved the ribbons to the left (pattern pic is on the right). It makes no difference, really. I wore kimonos when I was young and they go this way, so that's how I wanted to make it.

My weekend overnight project was this Petal Bib from One Skein
Yarn: Sugar n' Cream Yellow. Less than one skein was used.
This bib uses short rows. I had been avoiding those like the plague. Happy to say I can finally do them. (In a not so distant past, I had a major frogging incident trying short rows on socks...)

All the above mentioned yarns are machine washable. Yay!!!

Almost...!

2006-08-26T13:33:00.000-04:00

The jacket is in the process of drying. I made the hat called for in the pattern, and added some booties (Booties freebie pattern here). I still have a good amount of this Shaefer Anne yarn left over...at least enough to make another hat...

I went to MJ Trim in NYC, which was quite an overwhelming experience. Endless walls of ribbon and trim! I went to the store to buy some light pink satin ribbon to attach to the front of this jacket, and to go through the loops of the booties. They had at least 10 shades of light pink to choose from. Dizzying, to say the least.

I'm almost finished with a baby kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting. Hope to post pics soon.

Some Assembly Required

2006-08-19T10:25:00.000-04:00

Luckily for me, the baby might come later than expected, so I have a little time to sew this together, block it, finish the matching hat, and see if I have leftovers for booties.

My summer job has been keeping me busier than I expected, so it's been hard to find the time to knit and post. The good thing about this week's concert program is that there is an extra long intermission for the orchestra, giving me a whole hour to knit on the couch in the orchestra lounge. But then, of course, curious people come over and want to talk and ask questions about what I'm knitting. I appreciate their interest, but I can't knit at all when I'm in a conversation. Anyone have tricks about getting around this situation? Thanks in advance!

Ballband Trio

2006-08-09T16:48:00.000-04:00

Ballband Dishcloths from Mason-Dixon Knitting.

It's just a trio now, but I can see an army of these things evolving into a fun solution for Xmas gifting madness.

I experimented with how loose and tight I cast on and off. Left: loosely, Middle: less loosely, Right: squeezing stitches off the needle. The squeezed one looks the neatest, and still stretches, but I guess the true test will be when it goes through the wash. These were a fun knit, and I got to use up scraps of cotton yarn leftovers...and then I went online and ordered more...

Way too friggin hot

2006-08-05T14:37:00.000-04:00

It has been waaaaaaaay too hot to knit anything of note. I feel like I've been living in the exhaust pipe of a car running on diesel. The subways have been disgusting. On the worst day of the heat wave, I somehow had to pull it all together and look purty for TV for Live from Lincoln Center. I did get some closeups, so it was worth it I guess. :)

I finished the log cabin blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I did a different border; a few rows of single crochet followed by picot edging. I'm looking forward to curling up under this blanket when the weather gets cooler.

In need of a new dishcloth, I made this following a pattern from Criminy Jickets blog.
I crochetted the edge here too. Then I chained 10 to create a loop, and then sc'd in the loop as many times as it would fit.

I'm going for the Mason-Dixon ballband dishcloth next. I'm a bit stuck in the color combos I want to use. I have to promise myself to get to my UFO's after my kitchenalia addiction subsides.

Izzard and STR

2006-07-22T11:06:00.000-04:00

I'm calling this my Izzard Green Lettuce Bag, because I knit it last night while watching British comic and transvestite Eddie Izzard. He literally had me in stitches (go ahead, groan at the bad joke)!

I did a little lettuce-like patterning along the border this time. It made the opening less flexible, but I figure it won't matter unless I want to fit a watermelon in there or something. I wanted to take this to the local farmer's market today, but it's looking pretty grey outside...darn...

I didn't like how the carried along yarns looked like on the inside of the bag, so I covered them up by slip stitching and double crochetting along the inside border. It looks cleaner and it blends alright with the garter stitch pattern. I used Sugar n' Cream colors "hot green" and "cream". Otherwise, the pattern is the same as here. I've never linked to myself on this blog; hope it works.

Oh, and this came in the mail yesterday...it looks fun, but I have way too many projects OTN right now, so this probably won't get knitted for a while. The last STR kit I got also had festive colors. I like festive, but I wonder if they'll send something darker at some point.

Ack! Who was I kidding?

2006-07-17T16:18:00.000-04:00

Much to my dismay, a crazier than expected schedule coupled with size 0 needles means there is no way I can get these done in time...I'm gonna have to send an IOU.

I did 4 repeats of the lozenge pattern, and there are 4 more to go...and that's just the leg part.

Also, despite the fact I'm knitting tighter than usual, the yarn keeps sliding and the stitch loops get bigger than I want them. I'm wondering if this is because of the needle size or the yarn?...whatever it is, I never had this happen to me where the stitches won't stay put. Frustrating.

Gotta do this!

2006-07-11T23:32:00.000-04:00

It's my father's birthday in a week, and I got the idea in my head that I could knit these and have them mailed off by then. I think it's possible, and I always do well in last minute crunch situations. I hope for minimal frog time.

The pattern is "Gentleman's Sock with Lozenge Pattern" from Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. Although the pattern calls for dpn's, I've converted it to Magic Loop.

The yarn is Lorna's Laces sock in the colorway "Cedar". To me, it really looks like cooked artichokes.

Although I've got a sizeable stash of L.L.'s, this is actually the first time I've knit with it. The first few rounds felt a little sticky on the needle cables, but after that it was smooth sailing. The stitches are showing up really crisp, so I'm looking forward to the lozenge pattern bit.

I wish there were more intermissions in the opera I'm playing in now so I could spend it knitting. The one 20 minute intermission I get is spent rushing across the plaza to get to the Ciao Bella Gelato stand. It's only a 3 hour opera, but I need my fix.

Spin and Dye (a couple of firsts)

2006-07-06T13:53:00.000-04:00

Here is my first attempt at spinning:

I used Blue Faced Leicester roving dyed in the colorway"Tahiti (light)" from Spunky Eclectic.
When I finished plying, my spindle was so full of yarn, it looked like cotton candy. I followed the instructions here for spinning. My bf helped me out a lot by holding the yarn while I wound it and plied it. I haven't quite got the coordintaion yet to do this alone. I guess I need to practice in order to spin yarn with an even thickness, but I find this thick n' thin result to be pretty cute.

And here is my first attempt at dyeing (sorry for the blurry pic; this was as close as I could get to the actual color=slower shutter speed=potential for blurrage):

I Kool-aid dyed some Knit Picks dye-your-own yarn that had been in the nether regions of my stash for about a year. I had some trouble finding packets of kool-aid..seems those sugar included tubs of kool-aid are more popular, and you can't use those. Several grocery stores later, I finally found some packets in the colorway/flavor Wild Berry Tea. The actual color of the yarn has more red than pictured. It smells wonderful; very much like berry flavored tea. I used 16 packets and the microwave nuking method (10 min total) as explained at knitty. Since the resulting color is a semi-solid muted red with some brown, I think it's a nice unisex color...this may become a scarf for the bf for Fall.

Lettuce Mesh

2006-07-04T22:17:00.000-04:00

Presenting the Lettuce Mesh Market Bag

I just came up with this pattern today while watching the World Cup semifinals.
It was fun and fast knitting because you get to drop stitches and let them run like pantyhose!

Without further adieu, Let Us Mesh!

Pattern is for the bag pictured at Top.

Materials:

yarn: Sugar n' Cream Ombre 2 balls (I used about one and a half balls, but note the ombres are 95 yards, and the solid colors are 120 yards. You can probably make this bag with one ball of solid.) Pictured colorway is "Painted Desert" for the top bag, and "Hot Green" and "Cream" for the bottom bag.
optional: Small amount contrasting color for crochet edging

needles: size 7 circulars 16"
crochet hook size G (for optional edging)

gauge: not really important. I was getting about 4 sts to 1 inch.

finished measurements:
strap width: 1.75 inches
strap length: 26 inches
bag opening: 12.5 inches across
length of bag (excluding strap): 14 inches
width of bag: will stretch from 12 - 20 inches or so

Garter Stitch Strap and Bag Rim:

Cast on 80 stitches using long tail method.

Rows 1 - 10: Knit

Bind off all stitches. You will have one loop left on your right needle. Do not cut yarn!
( I bound off in purl to keep an edge that matched the cast on)

Now we work the top of the bag.

Turn work clockwise so that the one remaining loop is at the upper right corner of the strap.

Pick up 6 stitches along the short edge of the strap (one stitch picked up per garter ridge)
You should now have 7 stitches on your needle; one loop + 6 picked up stitches.

Cast on 34 stitches using the backwards loop method.

Making sure the strap isn't twisted, pick up 6 stitches along the other short end of the strap.

Cast on 33 stitches using the backwards loop method.

You should now have 80 stitches on your circular needle.

Making sure the stitches aren't twisted, place a marker and get ready to join in the round.

Body of Bag:

Working in the round:

row1: Purl
row 2: Knit
row 3: Purl
row 4: Knit
row 5: Purl

Bind Off. (I also bound this off in purl)
Cut yarn

Rejoin yarn (in a contrasting color if you like: see bottom pic) and pick up 80 stitches along the bound off edge; one picked up stitch per bound off stitch.

Begin working in the round again.
Knit for 25 rows or until the bag is about a third of the depth you want it to be.

Next row: K1 stitch, drop the next stitch off the needle. Repeat around. (You are knitting all of the odd numbered stitches 1, 3, 5, etc., and dropping all of the even ones off the needle.)

You should now have 40 stitches left on your needle.

Let em' Rip!: Carefully holding onto your needle tips to secure your remaining 40 stitches, rip the dropped stitches down to the rim of the bag. This creates the meshed look and expands the bag. If you prefer, finish the bag first, then rip down the dropped stitches.

Next row: K2 tog all around. 20 stitches remain.

Cut yarn leaving a long tail. Weave it tightly through the 20 stitches several times to close the hole. (If you want a straight bottomed bag, bind off, fold in half and seam edges.)

Weave in ends.

Optional edge: This is if you want to keep the strap and the rim of the bag from stretching.

Using crochet hook size G and contrasting colored yarn, pull up a stitch through the back loop of a cast off edge at a corner where the strap and bag rim meet.

Slip stitch and chain 1

Continue to slip stitch in the back loop of the cast on/off edges. This is to preserve the look of the Garter Stitch borders. The exception to this is the bound off edge of the strap; here you want to slip stitch through the front loop of those 80 bound off stitches.

Slip stitch through the first chain 1, cut yarn

Repeat for the other side.

Weave in ends.

Happy 4th of July!

2006-07-04T12:03:00.001-04:00

WIP: Log Cabin Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting

In lieu of Independence Day, I decided I needed to declare some independence from my stash. It was getting way out of control, especially in the worsted and sock weight areas. The above blanket, which still has a few rows to go, is comprised of Noro, Cascade 220, Morehouse Merino, Patons Classic Wool, Rowan Magpie leftovers and Grignasco Top Print (the only Alpaca in a maze of Wool). I bought all of this yarn with various small projects in mind, but you know how it goes; the projects never reach fruition because they are "indefinitely postponed" by the arrival of newer, more exciting projects...which then become unfinished projects themselves = Gigantic Yarn Stash = Guilty Sinking Feeling Whenever Buying More Yarn.

Aside from burning up my stash, this project has been wonderful in helping me learn to knit without looking. I figure I play the violin without looking looking at my fingers, and the same goes for typing and piano, so why not this too?

I will start my KALs soon, but I must..finish...blanket...first...

Sundara!

2006-06-29T17:00:00.000-04:00

My first installment of the Sundara Yarn sock club arrived today! The yarn is soooooo gorgeous!!!!

The sock club is called the Petals Collection because the yarn colors are inspired by flowers that are in bloom during the month you receive your package. This time it's the Calla Lily.

The package was charmingly wrapped: both the tissue paper and the envelope that contained the pattern match the colors of the yarn (which I'm totally loving). Note the cute little blue lollipop that was included! The presentation definitely gets an A+++!

The pattern looks lovely as well; it's hard to see on the pic, but there's a lace motif going down the back of the leg. It includes instructions for dpns, 2 circs and magic loop, and it has already been test knitted. Wow.

Also, I'm very allergic to cats, and Sundara keeps the yarns destined for customers with cat allergies in a special area where cats aren't allowed. I don't know anyone else who does this and I'm so grateful!

To be frank, fiber is important and everything, but color is the #1 consideration for me when selecting yarn; it could be made from the magical mane of a friggin' unicorn, but it means nothing to me if it has been dyed the color of yuck with shades and stripes of blech and ewww interspersed. (You've seen those colors; you know what I'm talking about.) This is why I get soooo excited when I see gorgeous and well balanced color combos. I just get that magical look in my eye and my bf knows he's going to have to wrestle my wallet from me before I buy more yarn. My excuse that yarn makes good insulation doesn't work anymore... Anyone have any good ones?

Meanwhile...as if I needed to take this knitting thing even further...

Yes, I'm going to try to learn spinning! Armed with some internet sources, part of a book, and advice from my Yahoo groups, I'm going to go for it! The spindle was made by Tom Forrester and I bought it at The Wheel Thing (the same place I got my Noste, btw) The rovings are Blue Faced Leicester dyed by Spunky Eclectic.

Progressing and Ranting

2006-06-27T11:39:00.000-04:00

I have too many UFOs. Some are buried in the bottom of closets in unmarked bags, and I just deny that they're there...so before I get into my upcoming Maple Leaf and Tempting II KALs, I managed to finish these fingerless mitts from One Skein...

...and I made some more progress on the Victorian Baby Jacket.

The Jacket was going smoothly until I hit a few frogs. When I was working on the back of the jacket, the pattern told me to decrease 11 stitches evenly on the first ribbing row. So I did, and so it ended up looking like crap because it messed with the Lace Pattern. I ripped the ribbiting ribbing out and spaced my decreases to be above the "bottom" points of the zigzag pattern. No more weird puckering in random places for me, thank you. I wasn't going to trust that the blocking fairy would fix this later.

Happy with the result, I started on the right front, and had the most fiendish time with the decreases along the neck shaping. The pattern called for decreasing at the neck edge every row. They said to do this by K2 tog on the RS (which slants the wrong way). What about the WS? What about when I get to working on the Left Front of the Jacket? I don't think so.

I finally figured out the decreases that looked the same on both the RS and WS, and also slanted the way I wanted: S1, K1, PSSO for the RS, and P1, S1, PSSO on the WS. Also, on both sides I slipped the S's as if to knit to make the stitches lie correctly. I'll have to decrease differently to adjust for the Left Side.

I know, I'm lazy and easily annoyed. I shouldn't expect to have patterns that tell me everything so I don't have to work my brain. I should enjoy these headaches (I say, trying to suppress a snarl) because they'll help prepare me for future projects, right? So I'll turn into a hair-pulling frothing growling maniac once in a while, and I'll entertain myself with the thought that some patterns writers of the world are either 1) trying to mess with me and waste my time or 2) assume I know better than to blindly follow all suggestions. At any rate, it just means I'll appreciate even more the patterns writers of the world who are kind enough to specify what decreases/increases you need to achieve the right look, so you don't have to bother desperately rooting through your knitting reference books after midnight, which, as I've now discovered, turns me into the monstrous Legendary Knitting Werewolf.

AROOOOOOOOooooooooooOOOOOO!

Souvenirs

2006-06-24T16:08:00.000-04:00

I'm back from my vacation to sunny (except for one day of continual tropical downpour) Puerto Rico, and this is my haul (sunburn not pictured):

The sock coinpurse and finger puppet (which I really hope to be able to duplicate someday!) were from the gift shop of the hotel I stayed at. 99.9% of the stuff they were selling was made elsewhere, so I'm pretty sure it applies to my purchases as well...However, the sand-bleached shells and brain coral came directly from the beaches.

When I was a kid, I went on a trip to Monterey, CA, and brought home some shells like the one pictured bottom right. I lay them out on our backyard and smiled with childish glee at the impressive collection of shells I had accumulated. I sat down and dutifully started cleaning the shells to rid them of some of that "oceanic" smell, when suddenly, something jumped out of one of the shells and grabbed my thumb. Much screaming insued, and to this day, my sea creature phobia causes me to make doubly sure that those things are empty before I take them home. Maybe that's why I collect yarn now; it doesn't bite.

I have two KALs starting in a few days and am getting my supplies together. More knitting related things to be blogged about in the near future.

Yeay! It's here!

2006-06-16T22:00:00.000-04:00

I just got my Lexie Barnes Lady B bag today!!! The pattern is called Neptune and I bought it at kpixie. Happy-happy-happy! The extra "happy"s are there because I had to go through a bit of an extra hassle with this bag - my fault, though. I had initially ordered this bag in the print called "Makiko". It is a red bag with cherry blossoms in the background, and in the foreground are large circular bells with pictures inside of them. When it arrived, something looked funny to me with the pattern...the images inside the bells were all upside down...! At this point, I must say that if you're not familiar with traditional Japanese imagery, you would probably not notice. However, I am half Japanese, and I did...and it bugged me. The images included: gourds, stylized bonsai and hollycock leaves; these are things you would see in old paintings. They are also used in some family crests; examples are most commonly found on laquerware and armor.

I wrote to both kpixie and Lexie Barnes. Kudos to both companies for immediately offering to exchange the bag. I was very happy with the customer service I received! Lexie Barnes even wrote back to me, explaining that they chose to show the Makiko pattern the way they did so that the cherry blossoms in the background would appear upright. (however...cascading cherry blossoms are another popular traditional Japanese image...) I totally understand it was a design choice, and I respect that, but it will always look upside down to me (and my mom and all my friends of Japanese ancestry).

Anyway, I exchanged the bag with kpixie, and I got my Neptune bag today - all this happened in less than a week! Talk about fast! I love kpixie (they even credited me for the shipping charges) and I must say, I really love this knitting bag! Tons of sleeves for accessories and 2 for straight needles. Waterproof, dirt proof exterior, nylon interior, and non-slip handles. Really cute and holds a ton of yarn. A sweater would fit in there no problem!

Lesson learned: look closer at what I want to buy...

Travel Diversions

2006-06-14T14:45:00.000-04:00

I went on a little trip to Boston for a couple of days, and took along the Fingerless Garter Mitts from One Skein for the train ride.

The patterns in this book all call for the use of one skein of yarn (various weights of yarns for different projects). It's a really appealing concept for a person like me who has a silly habit of picking up lone skeins of yarn just because I like collecting them.

I had some major frogging issues early on: the instructions say to "slide bead into place close to needle", so I just knit the beads through the stitches like for Grumperina's Odessa. Nope, turns out, I was just supposed to literally slide the bead up to the needle and NOT knit it through the stitch (grumble-grumble...wish they could've included some illustration). I do like the book though, but apparently there are mistakes. The designer Leigh Radford has listed errata here, but according to some things I've seen on message boards, there may be more mistakes lurking about.

Oh, and I MADE THOSE NEEDLES! The night before I left, I realized I didn't have any 2.25mm needles, so I sanded down a couple of bamboo skewers until they passed through the 2.25mm hole on my Susan Bates needle size/ gauge checker. Then I cut a couple of cubes out of a wine cork, and sanded those down too. In case you're curious, bamboo skewers start out at a size 3.

While in Boston, I went to A Good Yarn, a LYS recommended by the Subway Knitter on her blog. It's a great little shop, and I came away with a set of 10cm long ebony dpns. I have never seen such short needles! How perfect for knitting the fingers on gloves! The yarn is from Seacoast Handpainted Yarns, located in Brentwood, New Hampshire. This colorway is called "Strawberry Patch", and the colors are deeper than what's on screen. I could only find their yarns on their ebay store.

Finally, an embarassing story; the other night, a bag of yarn fell off the top of my stash tower, and when it hit the floor, it woke up both me and my bf. I really have too much yarn. I admit it, but will keep buying it.

Better pic

2006-06-10T16:19:00.000-04:00

...mental note: nicer weather and a tripod make for better pictures...

I've started the back of the Victorian Baby Jacket, and have come to realize the hypnotic similarities between say, a swinging pocket watch and K1 P1 ribbing. Also, I'm counting the rows (bo-ring!) using one of those red Clover Kacha-Kachas. Incidentally, "Kacha-Kacha" just means "Click-Click" in Japanese. The yarn is pooling a tiny bit in the ribbing sections. I wonder what will happen when I get to the front R and L sides???

Crunch time!

2006-06-09T19:35:00.000-04:00

It seems baby season is upon us! I have a couple of friends who will be having babies by the end of summer, so I figured I'd better get knitting already. Nothing worse than a baby gift that's too small for the recipent to wear!

The weather has been perpetually gray and therefore unfriendly to picture taking...sorry it looks so dark.

I'm making this baby jacket/hat kit from a Shaefer Yarn Pattern which calls for 1 skein of their "Anne" yarn. It's 25% mohair, 15% nylon and 60% Superwash Merino. It looks delicate but it's machine washable! Score! Also, there are a whopping 560 yards of this stuff to work with. I would never again have to fear running out of yarn making a pair of socks. I love this soft and durable yarn!