It might not be knitting, but it's still stitchy

So this is what happens when cool kids with too much acrylic get together to (drink and) crochet charity afghans:


It took all night, but we got 3 squares done (I am by far the slowest hooker of the whole bunch, so the pace was probably my fault). The one on the right is officially My First Granny Square.

Now I want to make granny squares all day and night.

My mother and I went to Value World today and brought the centerpiece vase count up to 13. On the way home, the sun was setting on Colgate Street in the center of the road. I thought it was pretty, so I snapped a picture to share:

I swatched!

I swatched a piece of black felt from Lamb's Pride for Dan's hat. It's been so long (and so wedding wedding wedding) that I thought I had forgotten how to knit, but no. I need to give myself some more credit. Originally, the swatch was 10.5 st/4 in (double-stranded on size 13 needles), but after a good hand-felting in the kitchen sink:


The swatch is a total of 16 stitches across. As maths will indicate, 16 st/5.5 in is about 3 st/in (the original gauge is more like 2.5 st/inch). What will actually happen is that I'll eyeball it, cast on, and then felt the bejeezus out of the hat until the stitch definition is gone and then stretch it to fit Dan's melon.

And just because I like my wedding flowers, here's a picture of the Oceana rose, currently my desktop background:

Wedding Crafting

It's been weeks since the Knitting Olympics ended and I haven't knitted a stitch. Why, you ask?

Because I'm getting married in six months, that's why.

There are paper cranes to fold (Dan and I kicked out about 50 last night, and I've got the rest of the paper coming this week) to hold escort cards, decorate wreaths, fill vases, and generally hang around, not unlike rose petals do for other people.

I've got bows to make for the ceremony chairs with my shiny new Bowdabra. I've got invitations to make, each of which involving hand-torn paper and eyelets, which I haven't mastered. Yet. I imagine that after 100 invites I should have the technique down.

Just in time to make the programs. And escort cards.

I've got to decide on vases for the cenerpieces. I think I'm going to have a cluster of milkglass bud vases, each holding about 5-6 stems. Very simple, keeping the palate to white, ivory, and peach. The robin's egg blue and chocolate brown will come out in the linens (maybe), and the cups, paper plates, and napkins. We're doing glass for everything but beer and soda (because a keg beer in a real glass just feels weird). We just bought a bunch of mismatched silverware on eBay to go with the Mad Hatter's theme (and at 10 cents apiece, save us a dollar a person). Speaking of which, if you know of anyone who has Corelle (you know, harvest gold, crazy daisy, old town blue? look in grandma's cupboard) dinner/lunch plates, dessert/bread plates, cups, or saucers, I want to meet them and talk them into letting me borrow their dishes for my wedding.

It's going to be badass, though. The food is going to rock. The flowers are going to be beautiful. The music will be what we want with no annoying DJ trying to play music I hate. And I'm going to look gorgeous.

That's what I've got to keep telling myself.

Decidedly not knitting

Or, at least for the moment. I'm giving my fingers a rest and focusing on wedding planning. Fear not, I will begin a new project soon!

Finished: Olympic Gold Baby Sweater

I finished in time! I wasn't sure at the end, but I've actually finished the entire thing, woven ends and all.


I like this detail picture. My camera rocks!

Here's the sleeve, folded over the body. My first experience with seam sewing went pretty well, I think. The process was daunting, but I think it would be easier with a less complicated stitch pattern on larger needles (i.e., a sweater for me).

Pattern: Guernsey with bobble edging from Family Knits by Debbie Bliss (smallest size)
Yarn: Red Heart Baby Pompadour, mint green (3+ skeins)
Needles: size 4 aluminum straights, and my NeedleMaster for the bottom hem. The gauge was large, despite my swatching, but the yarn drapes better this way. Oh well.
Notes: I did a plain neckband and cuffs instead of the bobble edging,edited out the bobbles on the sleeves, and added a side placket with 2 buttonholes on the left shoulder to accomodate big baby heads.

It's going to be a photo finish

Here's some progress shots I took yesterday:

This is a sleeve. Notice the lack of bobbles relative to the front and back:

As you can see, the front and back are a little wide, all things considered. This sweater is going to have to be for a f(l)at baby.

Falling Behing Olympic Pace

So I feel like a speed knitter, pushing row after row, wondering if my pace will be enough to get me gold. I've finished the back and I'm within rows of finishing the front, and all I can say is I hate bobbles. I think I might not do them on the sleeves, and I'm just going to do garter stitch cuffs and collar instead of the joker-looking pointed edging. And although it might be a disproportionately wide (I checked gauge, damnit!) sweater, it will look really cute on whatever kid ends up wearing it.

I think.

August 27, 2006

That's the day I'm getting married.

Olympic Update

I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this project. I'm afraid that it's going to be a lot of sleepless nights knitting on tiny needles and hunched over an intricate pattern to get this sweater done, but I am up to the challenge. Here's a progress shot, supervised by Blue Laser:
That's 20 rows of stockinette stitch and 21 pattern rows on the back. I've got at least 80 rows of work to do on the back before it's done. Eeep. At least it's really cute up close:

I showed Dan the first bobbles, and his response was, "How many of those do you have to do?" When I showed him the picture, his reply was, "At least you'll get a lot of practice." There are over 200 bobbles on this freakin' sweater.

Finished: Pirate Stripe Armwarmers

Pattern: Loosely Based on the Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from Stitch 'n' Bitch Nation
Yarn: Black and Violet Red Heart Super Saver, who knows how much
Needles: size 6 aluminum dpns
Gauge: about 4 st/inch in 2x2 ribbing, slightly stretched (use your wrist/arm diameter for gauge purposes... I've got small wrists and forearms)
Notes: Cast on 32 stitches in purple (MC) and divide between 3 dpns (10, 12, 10).
K2, P2 around, changing color every 3 rounds and carrying yarn up through inside of warmer.
Round 37 (MC): K2, P2tog, K2, P2 around.
Rounds 38 and 39 (MC): K2, P1, K2, P2 around.
Round 40 (CC): K2, P1, K2, P2tog around.
Rounds 41 and 42(CC): K2, P1 around.
Continue in K2, P1 rib for 12 rounds, maintaining stripe pattern.
Round 55: K2, P into back and front of st around, making thumb gusset on 3rd (7th) knit rib as foll: K1, pm, M1, pm, K1.
Round 56: K2, P2 around, cont thumb gusset as follows: K1, slip m, K into back and front of st, slip m, K1
continue in K2, P2 rib around for 8 rounds, knitting into back and front of first and last st between markers.
Round 66: K2, P2 around, binding off st between markers.
Cont in k2, p2 rib for 6 more rounds and cast off in MC. Sew up gusset if you want to (I didn't- I like my thumbs hanging free)

Light the torch already!

I've selected my Olympian project and I'm ready to go!


Debbie Bliss designs such cute sweaters for kids, although I don't know if I'd wear any of the designs from this book... they're a tad schoolmarm.

And just as a note, I'm not doing the joker-looking collar, just the joker-looking everything else.

Gearing up for the Knitting Olympics

I'm jazzed. I've got to find some kind of... pattern for my project, but I fully intend to start on the 10th as planned. Maybe I'll go to the library today and cruise the pattern books. I want to make a fair isle baby sweater (I taught myself fair isle knitting!) in a tiny gauge knit in the round (but sans steeks) with a boatneck/placketed neckline. Yeah.

Yarn cravings

This yarn diet is starving me. I need to get a job, because when I get a job I will be able to justify more yarn. But in the meantime, I have so much crappy acrylic yarn and nothing to do with it. So I make black and purple acrylic armwarmers. And I think I've got enough Red Heart Baby Pompadour to make a couple baby sweaters. I think I might enter the Olympics. I think I can make Trellis, but it would definitely be a challenge (eep, cables!). I would also have to double the yarn, and check and see if I've got enough.

Knitting morsels

In an effort to blast through stash yarn, I'm making some armwarmers in fun pirate stripes out of (egad!) Super Saver:

I'll be wearing these at the bar, and so I don't care if they're 100% afghan. I can wash the smoke out of them, and that's really what's important.

And yes, the bar, in my case, is one of those dimly lit, dirty, goth affairs, and the whole point of the knitted pirate stripes is to make me look more, um, d.i.y. 3dgy. I'm never growing up.

And here's a peek at Super Secret Project #2, which I am building up to be the Project That Will Change the Very Face of Knitting As We Know It, rather than the Project That Isn't That Impressive Unless You Consider That I Am a New Knitter and Made It UpMyself:

Victory dance

I just did it.

I finished Super Secret project #2. It's not much, but I did it. And I did the hell out of it, too.

I'm so proud of me.

Quickie pink snow scarf

This was a quick something to pass the time as we watched Batman Begins last night, and to use up a bunch of pink Dazzle yarn. Still have a bunch of yarn (d'oh!... maybe a hat?). It's being modeled by my pal, Angel.

Pattern: Quickie pink snow scarf (my own)
Yarn: Pink Dazzle (2 strands) and white Bernat Baby Coordinates (1 strand)
Needles: size 17 straight
Gauge: Does it matter? about 1.25 st/inch
Notes: Cast on 10 sts and work in 1x1 rib until the thing almost hits the floor when you're wearing it (your mileage may vary). Fringe liberally.

Yarn porn and secret projects

So. I promised myself that I would not buy any yarn until I got a job, because it just isn't justified on our one-income plan. But since I am a damn cheater, even on the rules I set for myself, I went to a yarn swap yesterday. For shame! (Fear not, I have already forgiven myself.) We all had a lot of acrylic and a little bit of treasure. I let some things go, but I managed to get more yarn in return (damn you Holly!). I thought I had a lot of acrylic yarn lying around, until I saw this:

Actually, a lot of it is really funky vintage colors, but I couldn't bring myself to take any yarn that didn't come with inspiration. This is my haul:


The vintage acrylics on the left are going to be either a striped hat or a crocheted spiral cushion (if and when I can figure that out). The little balls on the bottom are Lion Microspun, which I have never used. I wanted to noodle around with it, and see if I still like it after all the splittiness. The Dazzle is for the sake of pink, I'm afraid (I don't know what it's going to be, and in taking it I broke my own rule... but it's sparkly!). And the awesome bunch of black Lamb's Pride is going to turn itself into Super Secret Project #1 for Dan, of my own design. We'll see.

Here's Super Secret Project #2:


This should be a quick knit if I can sit down and crank it out, but I get nervous working without a pattern and I tend to drag my feet. But I already have the buttons for it, so there is no turning back now!

The armwarmers are finished

It's been really overcast in Michigan lately. Overcast in the sky means overcast in my outlook. I hvae been very, very slowly knitting a pair of armwarmers. Here's a progress shot from last week that I never posted:

The yarn is beautiful and not as scratchy as I originally thought (or at least I'm getting used to scratchy yarn). Here they are in their mismatched, hobo-esque glory:

I love them and wear them all the time. They're beautiful.

Pattern: Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from Stitch 'n' Bitch Nation
Yarn: Noro Kureyon color 128 (2 half-balls)
Needles: size 7 dpns (next time, I'll go down a size so they fit my tiny arms better)
Notes: I did 6 rows of ribbing at the bottom and 4 at the top. I increased an extra set of stitches in the thumb gusset and increased another stitch at the end of the first thumb round to get an even amount for ribbing.

Last of the old, first of the new

Well, I'll call it the last knitting of the old year, but I actually finished this tiny camera case after the bell tolled and all the champagne was consumed (but before that champagne was... revisited, but thankfully not by me). The case , once seamed up, proved a little long, and I decided against the cutesy Mobile Monster head in lieu of buttons (yet to be purchased) to hold the top shut. Here's the progress shot:

Berocco Plush is awesome. I want to knit underpants out of it because it's so soft. And the case is holding up in my purse (although if it doesn't, I've got 1.75 skeins to go of this color).

So, I've been itching to start something new, but I have been reluctant to pull out the Noro and make the Hurry Up Spring armwarmers because I'm afraid I'll be allergic, and besides, it looks nice in the skein... I'm so lame. But screw it, it was sunny for the first time this year today, I've been carrying around this yarn in my bag for weeks, and I'm feeling brave. Today is The Day.

Stitch 'n' Bitch books? Check. Yarn and needles? Check. Peppermint tea? Check. Hot pink vinyl notions/dpn case I got for a quarter! at Value Word? Check. Okay. I think I'm ready. Baby steps:

Isn't it cute! The only thing that bugs me is that the skeins are not started in the same place in the color sequence, so they're not going to be identical without some fudging. Or maybe I should accept that they're going to be loud, and they might as well have... character.

Character like this:

She might be a crazy old lady, but she takes a cute picture.

New year, new me, new camera

So, I got a fabulous Sony DSC-200 for Christmas from my awesome parents, but as of yet I have not hooked it to the desktop. I played around with some photos on the laptop- which will soon have a wireless card in it to allow for portable blogging (I imagine me and Mikey face to face, laptop to laptop at some swank coffee shop in B-Ham). But not yet. I've already made a cute case for my camera out of Berocco Plush (it needs buttons), and I'm good to go.

On to the resolutions. I've decided to give real blogging a try. I've cleaned out my craft room (a little) and this year I'm going to recycle all those sweaters I bought in 2005 with good intentions; so far I've managed to unravel one bought in 2006 (sigh). And I'm going to knit a bunch of goodies for myself. More later.

Christmas is finished

Gnomes came in the night and felted my slippers! They're grandmother-sized now:
My family was quite impressed when I came up from the laundry room holding these. "Those were the giant socks?" Yes. "Really?" Yes. Now I need to paint some treads on them so she doesn't skate herself into a broken hip on the kitchen floor.

Also, last night I learned a new skill. After years of fighting it, I took my first baby steps last night on the path to learning to sew. Amazing! I think I could get a hang of it, now that the pain of the first time I tried to learn (and subsequently sewed my finger) is fading. I made a stocking for Dan which currently hangs next to mine on the mantle, and I finished Bonny's bag:

The chenille does not want to be photographed. The bag does not look like fuzzy ketchup barf, unless that barf came out of Bettie Page at a calendar shoot. Here's the lining, lumpily constructed but 100% machine and hand-sewn by me:

And that concludes the Christmas crafting. I actually finished most of the projects that I intended to. I am short a hat for dad and wristwarmers for mom, but as I said to Dan last night, those will happen once I've gotten a few things out of the way for me. Happy holidays!

Christmas gifts are almost done

And this is the completed hat for my grandmother, complete with earflaps and pompoms:
Mike brought Shannon over and we made more candles last night. We finished up the cranberry scent (the white one) and then made some rust-colored candles with the scent "head shop", or as we called it, "dirty hippie". The really dark ones are kind of weird (that's what I get for leaving Mike alone with the dye!), but the lighter ones are kind of Pier1 fugly cute:

The fuzzyfeet are complete. I conquered Kitchener stitch to sew the toe, and I think I can actually do it without the book now! The gnomes are soaps given to me and Dan for Christmas from friends:
And because they're so cute, these little guys have become my moment of zen:

This grad school thing will pan out one way or another! Keep your head up! Things will look better by the light of day! Your life is not a race or a competiton! Also, be good! and nice!

Thanks, guys.

I turned a heel!

Behold! Something is going right in my life! The graduate school applications don't look like they're going to be sent (because I still have no letters of reference), but hey, I can make a heel on a slipper! Things are going to be okay!

Jon Spencer Christmas Gift Explosion!

I've been a busy, busy beaver:
This hat is MY OWN DESIGN. Pattern to follow. I made it to go with the Aunt Purl magic scarf (and yes I know the join is showing):
This is the cowl for mom, way less impressive smooshed flat:
This is all the yarn left over from Cheryl's bag (five skeins my ass... Meema's Felted Marsupial Tote of Overestimation, more like). It will become fuzzyfeet for my Gramma Mae, and maybe my dad, too:
This is the beginning of the Chinese Charm Bag from Stitch 'n' Bitch for Bonny. I used Lion Brand Chenille Thich 'n' Quick on size 11 needles and cast on according to gauge. I liked the reverse stockinette in this yarn so I added a stripe. It's very soft, and I'll use this yarn again.

And yes, that is leopard print canvas:
And I made candles with my friend Mike. They're cinnamon (and then I stayed up till 5 with Dan and made some cranberry scented ones, too).

I'll elaborate later. Dan and I are going to Hastings!

What project is that? They all look the same

Or so says Dan. I love him, and I know that he's trying, but he thought the dreaded navy yarn was black for the first week or so I was knitting with it. There has been some progress, thank Jeebus, in the form of a cowl for mom:
The edging is a spiral rib pattern I cribbed from Last Minute knitted Gifts, because I still intend to (someday) make her the book's wristwarmers to go with this. The stockinette stitch is my favorite mindless thing to be doing while Dan plays Final Fantasy Tactics on the PS2. The inch and a half of ribbing at the bottom gave me terrible hand cramps, and I've already been scolded for knitting "too much" (a such thing?). Knitting in the round is amazing- I can see why it liberated Elizabeth Zimmerman. I find that when knitting flat I am driven to inspect my work at the end of each row, and my flat projects take longer for that reason (among others, I'm sure). The scarf is done:

I've got a hat in the works to match the pattern. In the round. And I think I'm going to give the two-circular thing a try because I'm too cheap to buy the needles becessary to knit the top of the hat. We'll see.

Last night, after some craftiness on Dan's part, our little friend heretofore known as Little Fucker, earned the name Worthy Adversary:

That damned mouse has been making me crazy for a week, and Dan finally got his spaghetti-jar-and-peanut-butter(-and-BRIE) trap to work last night. I think that WA is giving me some kind of sign in this picture. He was scuttling around in the jar, and then suddenly stopped right in front of the camera lens and put up his paw. Maybe he's giving me the finger.

We let him go into a pile of leaves a couple blocks away. Good luck, Little Fucker!

So I lied about the Boobholder. Again.

I. hate. finishing. Which explains the ends hanging out in most of my photos, and the general lack of blocking that makes my knitting look like it just woke up after a bender only to discover it has no idea where it has been or why it is wearing no clothes. Case in point:

Branching Out has got a terminal case of The Wrinkles. That's what I get for using acrylic. The pattern was so easy, though, that I'll definitely make it again. On either side are the hat and scarf for Pippa (please to forgive the lousy color/contrast). At least I won't have that Supersaver in the stash anymore. Huzzah!

And here's the beginning of the Irony scarf, named because I find it ironic that I'm knitting a scarf for my grandmother, who does not knit:

There has been no progress on the finishing of The Boobholder. Those sleeves will just have to stay unsewed until I get through the holiday knitting gauntlet. That way I won't be tempted to knit a bunch of things for myself.

That's what I keep telling myself.

More knitting than posting

So, who wants to see pictures of Cheryl's Christmas present?

Well, tough. Here they are anyway:

This is the before picture, with the pattern book as a handy reference. The handles were disturbingly floppy, and the whole thing had a tendency to stretch out. I was a little concerned. It was surprisingly soft to my tender skin (hence the itchy in itchy stitchy), and I think that I could maybe wear a hat made out of the stuff. G-d bless you, Merino sheep!

It took about ten minutes to turn into this:

The handles are still a little floppier than I'd want for my own use and the bag got a lot more shallow than I wanted or expected, but my mother thinks that it's just gorgeous. I don't know about the colors, which is why I picked them- I think they're right up Cheryl's alley but I feel no covetous urge to keep the bag.

The Pippanator's hat and scarf are done (ends darned and everything!), but there's not enough light at the moment to take a good picture. I've started a scarf for the Grammies hat/scarf combo in a dumbed-down basketweave pattern (I don't want to have to think about this one). My mother gave me six skeins of Woolease in a navy tweed from Value Village and drecreed that all shall have winter accessories for Christmas. Sure thing, I thought, as I won't keep navy yarn (ick), and I don't have to pay for anything (ah, so many broke-ass Christmases now). How many winter accessories can I squeeze out of this yarn? Here's what I'm hoping:

• Scarf and hat for Grammies, in basketweave pattern and with earflaps (as per her request)
• "I just want a hat for Christmas" hat for dad
• A cowl and wristwarmers for mom because she already has a brazilian hats and scarves and gloves
• and as many other things that I can squeeze out because I don't need navy tweed with primary color flecks taking up room in the yarn box

Tracy, you'll notice you're not on the list because I know you feel the same way I do about navy tweed Woolease. Expect something cool for the holiday, but maybe not something handmade.

In other news, I hatehatehate this graduate school application process and the subesquent tracking-down-old-profs-to-get-letters-of-recommendation game that includes such choice moments as having to explain that no, I haven't done much with myself since college except wait tables and work on a couple shows, and no, I'm not sure what I want to do but I'm applying to (good) schools less than four hours away because as soon as Dan and I get married the forecast calls for scattered chance of babies, and I'm sure as hell not risking that without mom nearby to bail me out of my infant ineptitude.

...Stay tuned next time for the exciting conclusion of The Boobholder!

I smell like a wet sheep

My first felting project is done! I have pictures, too, and I will post them once I get off the treadmill tonight. Other completed projects of note include Branching Out and a scarf for Pippa (a matching hat is on the needles right now).

I got a little farther on the Boobholder, but I'm going to rip out the body stitches because my increases look funky (I am so happy I left in the lifeline!). I'll finish that this week. Promise.

Too cold for a short-sleeved shrug

I haven't made any more progress on the Boobholder because I've been noodling around with winter accessories- the weather has taken a chillward turn in the last few days. The melon-holders that were too big for Nicole were replaced with an actual gift hat. I wish I had a picture, but I put it together in two hours and immediately took it over to her for her birthday. I used the Hot Head pattern from Stitch n Bitch in some spare hot pink Homespun (I think it was called Coral Gables) but it was too floppy on size 10.5 needles, so I switched out to size 8 and tried again. I did 25 rows instead of 29 because I thought I was running out of yarn (I wasn't), so it was a tad short for my personal tastes. To add a touch of length, I crocheted a lace edge with some black Super Saver, picking up and sc for each bound-off stitch, and then sc and ch 4, skipping every other sc from the previous round. It made a loopy lace that looked great in contrast to the ribbing. The hat was super stretchy and would fit all different head sizes. The fabric was really plush and dense, too. I'm definitely going to make myself one, a little longer and maybe in a different color (and I'll bet I would get at least two hats or a hat/scarf from one skein).

I've also started Branching Out from Knitty. I had to learn 4 new decreases and how to yarn over to do this, and it's coming out great on some light teal TLC on size 9 needles. I sew a lifeline in every repeat because I already had to start over once (and I hate starting over) but I think lace knitting is going to be my favorite varitey of knitting! Pictures as soon as there's light tomorrow.

I've forgotten it before

I don't want this to slip my mind again, but I really, really must make a case for my digital camera. Something fuzzy and protective out of a yarn that won't scratch the screen.

That is all.

Photos at last

Here's a little something I like to call "No Boobs, All Shoulders":


As you can see, the left sleeve is done, the right sleeve is almost there, but I have yet to join the body. Who knows what this is going to look like, though. I've never worn poofy sleeves.

In the meantime, I finally finished this:


Dan insisted that it reach past his knees, and damnit, it does.

Then there's this melon holder, which is too big for me (and thus the intended recipient) but it seems to fit Dan:


I just wrapped up another one in black with a cuff, and it seems to fit better. I don't know if Nicole will like it, but here's to hoping.

No pictures yet but a flurry of activity and bullet points

My camera makes me mad. I need to get it to communicate with my new desktop, but it's not working. Yet. I have been knitting, I swear! I put the Boobholder on hold for a moment to work on some other stuff:

• a ribbed scarf for Dan made of crappy Red Heart acrylic (which will take a tumble with some fabric softener) which was the first project I cast on and got tossed aside when I decided I more urgently needed a crappy knit bikini (the top fits great, but I lost the bottoms while swimming to the amusement of my friends)
• a series of hats for Nicole's birthday- the first one, made of Woolease worsted according to the devil hat pattern in Stitch n Bitch, was waaaay to big, so I cast on 7 fewer stitches and tried again with some black Red Heart (still too big I think but it's not off the needles yet)

I also need to form some kind of queue to organize the growing pile of intended projects like:

• Lelah in Bernat Cottontots
• the Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers from Stitch n Bitch Nation, despite my severe allergy to wool
• the Mobile Monsters, too- one for my phone and one for my mp3 player (for this and the armwarmers, I bought the recommended yarn!)
• the Loopy Velez cowl from Stitch n Bitch in Takhi tweed in an olive color (I have five of those and 1 skein of a wine color)
  
• and eventually one of each from Knitty

I want to make a bunch of Christmas gifts, but every time I knit or crochet something, I want to keep it for myself. I think I should start making things in pairs.