What I "inherited"

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

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)

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

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

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...

...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

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!!!

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...!

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

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

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

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

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?

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!

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)

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

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!

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

...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!

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!

Cover Girl!

I would like to present the new face of the Yarn over Manhattan blog... (drumroll)



Please welcome the lovely Gina Stangl!

I've been looking for a hat/scarf photo model for a while, and quite frankly, most of the mannequin heads I've seen have been _way_ to creepy for my taste! This girl is the perfect combo of practicality and glamour for me!




Having barely a moment to take a breath after being unwrapped from a coccoon of bubble wrap and a frenzy of styrofoam peanuts (don't worry, I recycle), Gina is immediately thrown into the limelight with her first photo shoot!

Here is Gina modelling Odessa (pattern found at the amazingly talented Grumperina's website...Grumperina is my hero! She is seriously inspiring!)

I love knitting hats, so I'm sure Gina will be sporting the next season's coifs soon!

FO River Rapids

Yeay! The STR Fairgrounds yarn has become the River Rapids Socks! Pattern to be found at Sockbug

Modifications: I wear a 9 1/2 size shoe, but my feet are pretty narrow. Add that to the fact that I knit on the loose side, and I found myself having to shrink from 64 to 48 stitches! I know, it may sound extreme, but these socks fit me perfectly so I had to do what I had to do! I used Addi turbos #2, and went for the cuff down Magic Loop method. I think I like cuff down better...when going toe-up, I can't get the bind-off perfect...
Oh, also, to make the ribbing match with the rest of the pattern, you should start the ribbing with P1, K2, P2, K2 (etc.) ending with P1. Starting with a Purl stitch can cause ladders, so make sure to pull tight at the joins!

Splitting Up

Okay, so here's how I split my STR yarn so I could have 2 balls of yarn to do Magic Loop:


First, I weighed the yarn. Although it said 5.5 oz on the label, it's weighing in at 6 oz, so I want to split this into two 3 oz balls of yarn.



Here is the STR yarn happily coiled around the swift. That's felt I'm using with the clamp so it doesn't damage the table.




I wind my yarn using a Nostepinne or Nostepinde. (I've seen it spelled both ways). I bought mine here, but many people have had success using medicine bottles, toilet paper rolls, broken off legs of chairs, etc. You start by winding the yarn in a horizontal spiral, and then gradually tilt the Noste so the yarn is wrapping diagonally. You then start turning your Noste away from you; counter clock wise. With practice, you can shape the ball however you like; I like mine to have a flat base so I don't have to contend with balls rolling under the couch to the nether regions of Dust Bunny Land from which few things return unscathed.

In this case, I kept winding the ball until it reached 3 oz (once in a while, I would take the ball off the Noste and weigh it to see where I was.) Once it got to 3 oz, I looked for the same area of color where the ball began and cut the yarn there. This way, both balls of yarn start with the same color pattern repeats, which is good if you're using self striping yarn and want your socks to match. If you're nervous about cutting the yarn, leave a long tail off the end of the first ball and then start winding the second. When you're done, weigh both balls to make sure they're the same, then snip!