Knittin & Bitchin

Third time's a charm

2010-01-04T19:45:00.003-05:00

So, this is the time of year when I usually post my completely unrealistic New Years resolutions and then disappear for several months.

Here's the list for 2010!

1. Complete one sweater per month. I tried this in 2009 and made it to April. I have a feeling I can be much more productive this year.

2. Work out 4-5 times per week. I did this for about 3 months in 2009 and actually lost a few inches and firmed up and felt great. So I know I can do it again.

3. Take at least one picture per day. Post said pictures on Facebook, Photobucket, and/or my blog.

4. Learn Spanish. My (semi) new boyfriend is from Guatemala and installed Rosetta Stone on my laptop for Christmas so I can learn to speak his native language.

5. Save up $1000. I got close during the middle of the year in 2009 and then had to spend a bunch on car repairs.

6. Get rid of all the unnecessary junk I still have. I think a couple trips to Goodwill should do the trick.

And the biggest one of all:

7. Quit my awful soul-sucking job and find something more tolerable to do for a living.

See ya in a few months!

Four down!

2009-05-01T19:14:00.003-05:00

It turns out last time I was wrong about the sleeves. The one with the longer sleeve cap was actually the correct one. I realized this after I ripped it back & started re-knitting it. So I ended up fixing both sleeves.

I really need to find someone to take pictures of me in my finished items.

I plan on starting sweater number 5 tonight!

A productive weekend!

2009-04-26T20:12:00.003-05:00

I got quite a few things done this weekend, amazingly. On Friday all I had planned to do was work out on Saturday morning, and after my alarm went off I was really second-guessing it. But then once I got up & started moving around I felt really good. So I did about 30 minutes at the gym, came home & did a bunch of cleaning for about an hour, then later in the day went for a 2-mile walk around the neighborhood. Today I was sitting around and had thought it was supposed to rain, but then once I was pretty sure it was going to be nice all day I decided to go for a hike, so I Googled hiking trails near Albany & found a nice, semi-easy one about 2 miles long and drove out to do that. It was nice, there were falls & stuff, some wildflowers, and I saw a snake! I took pictures but they're all blurry and crappy so I won't bother posting them.

When I got home I finished the last piece of my fourth sweater in my sweater-a-month series. It's blocking now. But I'm pretty sure I made a mistake because......

This is the right sleeve. See how the cap curves nicely like a proper sleeve is supposed to do?

Well, the second picture is of the left sleeve with the body. It does not look right. I think I may have fudged the insructions a little when doing the left sleeve, because I did that first, and I just did the right sleeve tonight and I was following the instructions exactly. I thought maybe my eyes were just playing tricks on me but then I measured. There is a difference of almost 2 inches in length of the sleeve caps. Clearly I made a mistake.

I rarely block at all, so if I had followed my normal procedures, I would have never noticed this til the assembly phase. The only reason I blocked this piece was because the sleeve & hem edges were rolling something fierce as I was knitting so I wanted them to lay nice & flat. So tomorrow when everything's dry I'll just have to rip back the one sleeve cap & fix it. Then comes the fun of putting it together. Buttons!!!

February & March Sweaters

2009-03-28T22:04:00.004-05:00

It's 11 on a Saturday night and I'm hanging out at home watching movies & knitting, and I am not embarrassed by that at all. My neighbors sure are having one hella loud party though. Being in a neighborhood this close to a college has disadvantages I guess.

Since I'm definitely not gonna get to sleep anytime soon with all the ruckus outside my window, here's a post!

I'm right on schedule with my one-sweater-per-month goal. Here's the one I made for February:

Pattern: Dainty Pinstripes Pullover, Interweave Knits Winter 2008
Yarn: Queensland Uruguay DK...I don't think they even make the stuff anymore, I haven't been able to find it anywhere.
Mods: Made mine in a single color. Made sleeves & body longer than the pattern called for. Otherwise followed everything exactly.

And for March and the first quarter of Project Spectrum:

Pattern: Tree Jacket by Zephyr Style

Yarn: KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Worsted

Mods: Made the sleeves in stockinette instead of garter stitch. Made everything a bit longer as usual.

One thing I've noticed about Zephyr Style patterns is that they run big. At least for me they do. I tried to make Juliet a few months ago and even after making the smallest size possible it was too big & completely unflattering on me. I plan to try to make it something more lightweight so it has some drape to it. I had exact gauge on this one & made the size that would have been appropriate for me based on that. I got almost all the way through it only to try it on & discover that it was too big. So I made the next size down & I'm happy with the results.

Branching Out

2009-03-15T15:21:00.002-05:00

I thought I would use Project Spectrum as an opportunity to experiment with different media. I love knitting, but it doesn't get me out of the house. One of the ideas I saw was to do a photo essay. This seemed like a good way to explore something new. I've been meaning to take more walks and explore my neighborhood a bit so I'm planning to take my camera along with me on my little tours of Albany in the upcoming months, searching for things that fit into Project Spectrum.

Everyone was celebrating St. Patty's Day this weekend, so yesterday probably would have been a good day to spot some green. But instead I spent the day enjoying fine beers and eating Reubens. Then I went to a party with the guy I've been seeing. I don't feel as though I fit in with his friends too well. The only topics of conversation tend to be sports & politics so most of it just goes right over my head and I have very little to contribute. Oh and his ex was there! Based on the way he talks about her like she's a crazy person I was kind of afraid. She came over & chatted with us for a few minutes and she was really nice but it was still completely awkward. Then he kept talking about her after we left the party. Maybe it's time to branch out in terms of men as well....

Project Spectrum Knitting

2009-03-08T14:07:00.003-05:00

I decided to actually take part in Project Spectrum this year. I had planned to last year & then just started knitting whatever so I didn't really stick to it. I'm already about 80% of the way through my first project for the first quarter, and it's going so fast that at this rate I think I will have plenty of time for a second since each quarter is 2 months long. Here's what I've got so far:

This yarn was originally Wool of the Andes worsted in Tan. I had tried to knit an aran sweater with it a couple of years ago but that didn't work out. And it turns out I wasn't crazy about the way the color looked on me anyway, so I dyed it green. I had about 3/4 of a sweater made out of it after that and it didn't look like I was going to have enough yarn to finish it so I figured I'd use it for something that required less yarn. Enter the Tree Jacket. It'll do. It's not going to be my favorite sweater necessarily but it will look nice. I plan to post more pics when it's blocked and finished. :)

January Sweater

2009-01-25T15:35:00.006-05:00

My 2009 resolution to complete one sweater per month is coming along well. Note I said "complete", not "make". My point? this sweater just doesn't seem to want to get finished in a month's time. I'm in the home stretch right now; I've got the body & sleeves done. Now comes the business of assembling everything, which pretty much sucks for me because I hate seaming. I decided to put that off til the very last second by making the neck first. Here's some pics so you can get an idea of the texture:

It is going to be DAMN warm, maybe even excessively so, meaning I'll probably get about a month of use out of it before I have to stash it til next winter. I'm also knitting this for the Sexy Knitters Club Q1 KAL. Yay for killing two birds with one stone!

2008 in Review

2009-01-06T09:02:00.002-05:00

I called in sick today. My head feels like a balloon & I'm sneezing a whole lot and I don't think I would trust myself with State workers' health insurance today. I'm relaxing & knitting & getting some other things done. I went through and found the list of resolutions I made last year. Let's see how I did:

-Blog once a week....didn't happen by a long shot.

-Take more photos....not really. I guess I should have specified a number of photos.

-Exercise minimum twice a week (will be easier since they're putting a 24-hour gym in at work)....I did this for about 2 months then decided I was kind of uncomfortable working out in front of people I work with.

-Get my own place....yay I accomplished one of them! (Well, I guess it's not my own since I share it with two roommates but it's my own in that I'm not sharing it with a boyfriend).

-Learn how to play SOMETHING on guitar....I know bits of about 3 or 4 songs.

-Get one of my student loans paid off completely....done.

-Get out more....done.

-Save up $1000....pah! Moving into a new place and having to buy new stuff kinda put the kaibosh on that plan. I racked up about 3 times that much in credit card debt. :\

-Knit something in fair isle, and something with steeks, possibly both in the same project. And a vest. All this will probably culminate in Eunny Jang's Deep V Argyle Vest which I have been eyeing for some time now....I did knit the Eunny Jang Deep V Argyle Vest right at the beginning of the year.

-Use up all that crappy acrylic yarn I bought 3 years ago on an afghan so I can restock my stash with nicer yarns....It's still packed in the trunk in the corner of my room. That hasn't stopped me from adding more to my stash though.

I accomplished 50% of my goals for this year.

---------------------------------------------

Resolutions For 2009:

-Blog once a week. With more pictures.
-Find a better job.
-Save up $1000.
-Pay off all my credit cards.
-Take a trip somewhere outside of New York State.
-Drive less, walk more. I think I can handle this in lieu of working out.
-Complete one sweater per month.
-Use up the partial balls of yarn I have leftover from previous projects.
-Get a tattoo.
-Make something out of really nice, special yarn.

---------------------------------------------

Gonna go take care of some business now. Happy New Year!

I'm still alive, I swear!

2008-11-30T10:51:00.003-05:00

So, I haven't posted in months. Obviously. It's not because I don't have anything to write about but because I've just been too dang busy! I'm too lazy to check what I wrote about last time but I guess I'll begin with the biggest thing that's happened in the past year: I broke up with my boyfriend of 5 & 1/2 years. Whenever I tell people about it they say "I'm sorry", but the truth is it was the most peaceful breakup anyone could hope for. It basically went like this:

Me: I still like you and I think you're a good person but I don't think we should be together anymore.
Him: Me too.

That was that! This happened probably around the end of March or April, I can't remember exactly. After that it was kinda weird because we were still living together. He started sleeping in the spare room that we had because one of our roommates had moved out, and I started looking for my own place. I ended up finding a nice apartment in the Pine Hills area in July with a PhD student who is hardly ever here and when she is she's studying so it's nice & quiet all the time.

We had a third roommate who turned out to be a nightmare. I called him Caveman. Enough said. We ended up kicking him out at the beginning of October. We're currently still looking for a third person to take the spare room but a guy came to look at it yesterday (another student) and he's totally mellow and nice and seemed pretty interested so I hope he calls us back.

I've been working overtime whenever it's offered at work. I racked up some credit card debt buying new stuff for the apartment when I moved so I'm trying to get that paid off. I also joined Literacy Volunteers and am now working as an ESL tutor twice a week. I'm just starting out with them so I'm trying to get a feel for it but if I do decide to pursue this line of work as a career someday this is probably a good place to start. I feel pretty good about it.

So, that doesn't leave a whole lot of time for anything else. On weekends I mostly stay in & knit. I have been dating some, or trying to, but it seems like every guy I'm interested in "needs some time" to figure out what the hell he wants which makes me wonder why they're dating in the first place. I'm actually dating a couple of guys right now which is totally not like me but neither one of them is looking to get serious right now and as much as I would prefer to be in a committed monogamous relationship I think it's a good idea to explore my options a bit right now before I settle down with someone new. I think I like one guy more than the other but the one I like less seems to like me more. Story of my life.

The now-ex BF and I are still very good friends. We hang out about once a week and still talk about pretty much everything. He knows about the guys I'm seeing but he doesn't really make an effort to meet new people so he's not dating anyone right now. I didn't think there was any point in losing a friend just because we weren't going to stay together & get married someday. I'm sure if we actually still had feelings for each other it would be very different but any chemistry we used to have burned out a long time ago so there's no awkwardness and it's pretty great.

But even with the lack of free time I've had, I've still gotten a lot of knitting done. It turns out when I have less time to spare I become better at managing it. I can knit pretty fast now and am whipping up a sweater every 1-2 weeks, which is great because my yarn stash grew far beyond necessity at one point and I'm trying to get it down to a reasonable quantity.

Anyway, I've posted some photos of a few of my finished projects on Ravelry. I hope for this to return to a knitting blog soon so I'm trying to move some things around to make some time for taking pictures and posting. Hopefully I'll be back soon!

Weekend Knitting

2008-02-17T21:46:00.002-05:00

I did nothing but knit this weekend. It was heaven. I finished the Eunny Jang vest and it's blocking as I type this. The steeks were not as difficult or scary as I was thinking they would be and I'm glad I have that skill under my belt because now I feel like I can do anything. I posted some pics on Craftster for the New Years Resolution knitting challenge.

I'm trying to finish Oblique. It's getting there. The sleeves are going kind of slow so I'm itching to start something new but I won't do it til this one is done because I really want to wear it. I think I can have another sweater this week if I really stick to it.

Project Spectrum knitting still hasn't happened yet. Though my Oblique is kind of yellow which I think would fit appropriately in the "fire" category even though yellow has been designated for a later month. Luckily the current theme of fire lasts through March so I still have some time to make something red--and I do have a couple red things lined up.

I ended up buying more yarn for myself. I'm going to wait til next week's paycheck to buy some supplies for Etsy projects. I've been seeing a lot of things that sell on Etsy like hotcakes and they are pretty simple items that I know I can make. Like chunky wool scarves in garter stitch that sell for $50. I have a couple ideas for something just a tad fancier that I know I can still make pretty easily. Hopefully people will like them enough to buy them. If I can make just $200 extra per month on the side it would help out so much and I might actually be able to afford my own place.

For now I'm sticking with the boys. I'm feeling a little less stressed about it lately. Moving would just be too big a headache right now and I don't want to deal with all the little details until I feel right about what I'm doing.

This weekend went by much too fast. I can only hope the rest of this week zips by too.

WIPs

2008-01-27T15:12:00.000-05:00

Here are some things I'm currently working on:

Eunny Jang Deep V Argyle Vest in KnitPicks Merino Style, colors: Storm (teal-ish) and Nutmeg (beige)

Oblique by Veronik Avery from Knitty in Patons Classic Merino, color: Old Gold

Self-designed cardigan based on the German Herringbone stitch from one of Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitting Patterns in KnitPicks Bare Peruvian Wool hand-dyed green using McCormick gel food dye

I also ordered 3 Phildar catalogues. After seeing so many beautiful Phildar projects on Ravelry & Craftster I checked out the website and I want to make about 80% of the pieces on there. I wanted to order more but I think I'll hold off for a while. My yarn stash is already kind of out of control so I decided I'd get some patterns to use it all on. Now to get back to work on my current projects. :)

Finished!

2008-01-21T17:17:00.001-05:00

Fetchings are done. I finished at about 2PM today. So it took me about 24 hours to complete them! Not bad.

I'm pretty excited because I just got tickets to see Ani DiFranco next Tuesday at the Palace! I heard about the event a while ago but just forgot about it until I looked at the calendar the other day. Sammy is not really down for it so I'll be attending by myself. I can't wait! She is so prolific that the number of her songs that I actually know is probably just a drop in the bucket, but I'd consider myself a fan.

Last night I made a delicious dinner. It was super-easy. I cut up some boneless skinless chicken breast and red peppers into chunks, threw them in a skillet to cook, then cooked some tortellini & poured a whole jar of Classico pesto over it. Then I added a bag of spinach to the chicken & peppers & cooked that for about 10 minutes. Then I mixed it all together. YUM!

I've spent the whole weekend playing around on my laptop. We just got the wireless supplies for it the other day so now I can surf the web anywhere in the house. It's so great!

Oh and I've been watching America's Next Top Model marathons on MTV the whole time too. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I watch it, but I find it very entertaining. My call coach at work told me I should go to the casting call they're having at Colonie Center on Feb. 2 because I'm 5'10" but I don't think I could ever subject myself to the humiliation that comes with being a reality TV star. That and I'd have to lose probably 30 lbs. and 4 dress sizes to even be considered or the show. I'll just have to live vicariously through the girls on TV. :-)

I'm dyeing!

2007-04-11T12:36:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what I think of this color yet, but here it is. It started off as KnitPicks WOTA worsted in tan, then I added a few different food colors to it, hoping it would turn out green.

It looks like celery.

Wanting to branch out more in terms of colors I knit with, I tried to find out what my skin tone is (i.e. warm or cool). After looking on the internets for a while I am pretty sure I have a warm skin tone. I snapped a pic with a newly-dyed skein for a scarf to see how the green reacts to this. What are your thoughts? The red sweater right next to it was probably a bad decision, but at least the green is next to my face, and I'm too lazy to fix it now.

Any feedback would be helpful. This is going to be made into a top-down raglan, simple & classic. If I decide I hate it on me, I'll just have to find someone to give it to.

I look slightly drunk in this photo. I assure you I'm not always this wonky-eyed.

Blockity blocky block

2007-04-10T07:54:00.000-05:00

I give you the process of blocking as shown by Serrano.

Sleeves, pre-block

Sleeves while blocking:

I realize they kinda look like bat wings. I think that can be fixed with steaming after they dry. Also they will probably be two different lengths. For some reason these didn't turn out the way the schematic suggested they would, but the body did. I know I made them a couple inches longer, but they seemed to stretch a little longer than I had planned. We'll see how they turn out in the end.

My blocking board is admittedly pretty ghetto. I was going to go to Home Depot & JoAnn's & get all the supplies to make a really nice one, but then I realized I don't really want to have anything really nice in this house because everything gets trashed sooner or later with three males living here. So I went down to the basement and found a big piece of cardboard that BF had underneath one of the things he's working on so he wouldn't get paint on the precious concrete floor (strange the way these boys think). I flipped it over to the clean side and cut a piece off of the roll heavy duty plastic tarp stuff that we use for camping to put on top of it. I don't have t-pins so I used normal sewing pins, and I barely had enough to pin both sleeves, hence the bat wing-ness of them.

I'm hoping they don't reek of cigarettes when it's all over. One of the roommate's friends came over to help install a new water heater and decided it would be cool to stink up our front porch (my blocking area) with his dirty smoking habit. I am glad he didn't do it in the living room, mind you, but it is still gross. Thanks dude. I Febreezed the hell out of the porch this morning and left the windows open for a couple hours, and I got it to be mostly normal-smelling again.

Now to show you what this thing looks like when it's done being blocked. This is the body, in all its post-blocking beauty. I heart it.

News

2007-04-09T17:47:00.000-05:00

Serrano is nearly finished. And I am happy to announce that it popped my blocking cherry. I never EVER block anything, and if I do, it's completely the wrong way, as in putting a steam iron directly onto the fabric. Even though I know you're not supposed to do that, I don't care. You can't tell me what to do, especially when knitting is involved. I won't obey. The one sweater I blocked that way actually turned out exactly the way I wanted it to, i.e. it fit me when I was done. Being that it was made from Wool-Ease, normal wet blocking was not really an option, so I did my own thang.

Back to Serrano. It is beautiful. Unfortunately it's too late in the day to get a decent picture of it in good light, so I'll try to do that tomorrow somewhere in my busy schedule of watching TV and doing one load of laundry. The body was all wavy and wacky looking when I finished knitting and I assumed it would never be as pretty as the original. I was wrong. Blocking is magic, and now I understand why it is so important in lace knitting. Not only will the thing actually fit me now, but the lace pattern looks like it was crafted by a chick who knows what she's doing and not some blind hooved creature that can't even hold needles cause it ain't got no opposable thumbs.

So the body is blocked, shoulders are attached together (I used kitchener instead of 3 needle BO, cause I like to shake things up like that), and the sleeves are done so I'll be blocking them tomorrow and assembling the whole thing. I could not find hook & eye tape anywhere, and I'm now convinced that such a thing doesn't even exist and it was just made up to toy with my mind while scouring the bra parts section at JoAnn's. So instead, I bought some double-fold bias tape and a bunch of hooks & eyes and I'm gonna wing something with that and hope for the best.

I decided, pretty much the second I finished it, that I hate the Anthropologie capelet. And judging by the fact that it received 0 votes in the Craftster challenge, which I think I half-jokingly entered, most other people who see it think it's crap too. Thus far I've received a total of 4 votes through all 3 challenges, and they were all for February's entry. Who cares, I'm still going to keep submitting crap just because I can.

But, the capelet--I'm never going to wear it. The thing is not practical, unless I find myself with a sudden case of shoulder-chill while the rest of my body is nice & toasty. I hate Homespun and everything I've ever made from it. The clasp will be cut off so I can use it for something else while the piece of crap I've been calling a capelet like I'm some kind of superhero will be going in the trash. Not worth salvaging.

In other news, I have a job now. I found out last week and I'm pretty friggin excited. This opportunity is not my dream job per se, but it is what I would consider a "real job", meaning I will be working a full 40-hour week and receiving more than $6k per year along with benefits. Not to say that people that work less than 40 hours and don't receive benefits don't have real jobs, but this is pretty professional compared to anything I've done before. In addition to that, I've got an internship thing going on the side (telecommuting, you see), plus some volunteer work once a week.

I don't start for another two weeks, so I'm enjoying the time off by sleeping till 11:30 and staying in my jammies until 4. But I am looking forward to the end of this 4-month blob of boredom and depression in my life. It makes me happy to have so many things occupying my time because then it doesn't leave many hours in the day to focus on crap that I feel badly about. Plus I have more things to put on my resume besides the whole two jobs I've had where the interview basically went like this:

Potential Employer: So do you have your own transportation to work?
Me: Yes
PE: And you're available weekends?
Me: Yes
PE: Well, I'm going to go ahead and hire you then.

I'm not joking.

Pretty!

2007-04-03T09:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I dyed yarn.

This is KnitPicks Shadow in Oregon Coast. I obviously forgot to take before pictures of it, but it was a beige, oatmeal-y shade. It was a nice color on its own, but I decided it wasn't going to look good on me. I wanted something nice & bright to make a summery lace item. So I put it in a pot with some red food dye. This was the result.

I love it. This was the first skein. I accidentally felted the second one by leaving it on the stove and sitting down in the living room to watch TV. I still have not learned to stay in the kitchen and keep an eye on the pot. I probably would have just let it sit there all night if I hadn't heard the lid pop off of the pot. It was a mess, but I re-skeined it while it was still slightly damp and I think it's going to be OK. I just have to add a little more dye to it today to get it to match the first skein.

I used about a teaspoon of McCormick's red food coloring in about a half gallon of water. I soaked the yarn first & everything, but ignored everything I had read that advised me to add vinegar to the water. After about 15 minutes of being frustrated at watching the dye sit there in the pot, and realizing I had no vinegar, I grabbed a lemon from the fridge and squeezed some of the juice into the water and cranked the heat up a little more. After about 5 minutes, all of the dye soaked in. And now it's beautiful and red.

I love dye!

Anthropologie on the cheap

2007-03-30T16:22:00.000-05:00

For Craftster's March Knitting Challenge, I decided to make a capelet. Namely, this one.

The results:

More accurate color:

Yarn: Less than one skein of LB Homespun in Antique.

I found the clasp at JoAnn's the other day for $2.50.

Total cost: $7.49

Yesterday I had two interviews. At least the first one seemed good, and that's the job I want, so I hope I get it. I'll find out in a few days. I was really nervous the night before, so I only got about 3-4 hours of sleep. I never know how to answer questions about what my best qualities are or anything like that, so I have a feeling I rambled on like a weirdo for most of it.

One thing that REALLY bothers me during interviews, and it comes up again and again, is when they ask, "Oh, you just graduated with a degree in Anthropology, what are you planning on doing with that?" or "How did you make the move from Anthropology to this job?"

I just have to say, when I was in high school trying to figure out what I wanted to study in college, a lot of my teachers said that they majored in something completely unrelated to what their careers turned out to be. In fact, I think that it ends up that way for most people, unless they major in something like business administration or education which seem to be specifically geared toward careers in those fields after graduation.

I went to college to learn, not to get a job. I got a degree and studied a lot of different things while I was in school, so I don't think I should have to limit myself to one thing for the rest of my life. And I don't know if these people have noticed, but Anthropology doesn't pay. Ideally, I would love to go do ethnography for the rest of my life, but I also have about $25,000 worth of student loans to pay off and living with a bunch of natives and studying their culture is not going to accomplish that.

I just get really discouraged when people seem to think that because I have a degree in a field that isn't very popular that I am not deserving of working in any other field and I am never going to get a job. I worked my ass off in school, and I got good grades, and I think that is definitely worth something, regardless of what it says on my diploma. I'm almost thinking of just telling future potential employers that I never went to college, because I might actually be better off that way. It's really depressing to know that none of the work that I've done matters to anyone.

Anyway, yesterday when I got home I sat on the front porch (it's so nice and warm with the sun coming in the windows out there the past couple of days), and I worked on Serrano for a couple of hours, then when my eyes had had enough I went upstairs to take a nap. I ended up sleeping until 9 PM, then stayed awake long enough to order some Chinese food and eat it, watched part of the Office marathon, then went back to sleep for the night.

This weekend I'm thinking of going to the hardware store and JoAnn's to pick up some supplies to make a blocking board. I don't have a whole lot of space in this house to breathe much less block my knitting, so it would be nice to have a place to do that. Anyway, I'm off for now, we're grilling tonight because it's so nice outside!

I fell for the beauty of Serrano.

2007-03-26T11:21:00.000-05:00

Here is my progress on Serrano:

It's a cloudy, rainy day. Lighting is not so great.

I'm in love with this pattern. The lace is simple enough so that I can watch TV while I'm working on it, and at the same time so interesting to me that I got through all of the waist shaping over the weekend. I added an extra inch to the smallest part of the waist and will add an extra inch to the overall lenght, because I've found out the hard way before that my torso is abnormally long.

I'm really enjoying it, but I'm pretty sure that once I finish it, it will sit around for two months before I get around to buying hook & eye tape for the closure on the front. I went to JoAnn's yesterday, assuming I would find it there, but they don't carry it. Where on earth am I going to get hook & eye tape? Maybe I'll have to come up with some alternative closure. Anyway, I'm happy with the progress I'm making. I can't wait to see it blocked.

But I did have a regression over the weekend as well. I caught wind of a crazy delicious yarn sale from the boards at Craftster and somehow blacked out long enough to buy enough Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky to make the Buttony Sweater that I've had my eye on for the past few months. I also procured buttons for said sweater while at JoAnn's yesterday, so the trip was not a complete waste of my time.

About six months ago, I started the Too Many WIPs-Along at Craftster, hoping it would motivate me to actually get a few projects done, and since then I have finished quite a few things, but I've also taken on even more and my to-do list has never had fewer than 5 items on it. Every time I get into a project and really start to like it, I go and buy more yarn for something else, telling myself I'll start it when all my current work is done...but then I just start working on it right away. What is wrong with me???

Reckless Abandon

2007-03-22T12:53:00.000-05:00

I'm just noticing now how angry I look in the pictures I posted last time. I'm not really that unhappy, I'm just weird about taking pictures of myself. Anyway, on to the matter at hand:

As much as I like to see projects through to the end, regardless of how long the take to complete, I think it's time to finally let go of one that's not working out for me. I've been trying to duplicate a really cute cowl neck sweater that I saw on Anthropologie's website a few months ago, and I'm now at the point where I absolutely hate it. Something about knitting miles and miles of stockinette in fingering-weight yarn on teeny tiny needles is really destructive to my soul. That and one of my size 2 dpns snapped in half mysteriously while I wasn't using it, and knitting the sleeve on 4 needles instead of my usual 5 is extremely unpleasant to me.

I can tell right now that I will never wear this thing once it's done if it keeps going the direction it's going. It will be too close-fitting, the hem will incessantly roll up, and I keep kicking myself for not making the lower part of the body in ribbing instead of stockinette.

Another reason I think it's wise to let this one go is that I am fairly positive I didn't order enough yarn, something I've been guilty of for just about every project I've ever taken on, and the particular color I'm using is no longer in stock.

Enter Serrano:

Spring is here, at least according to the calendar, and it's about 50 F here today, so I'm starting to think lace. I also got the new issue of VK in the mail yesterday and it's got me itching to make some nice airy, warm-weather pieces. I originally wanted to make this:

But the yarn I've got is too fine. I love knitting lace and keep telling myself I should do it more often, but I rarely do. I don't own a single lightweight cardigan, and would like something to wear at night when it's still slightly chilly without having to pull on a bulky sweater. And I might actually look halfway stylish with a nice classic lacy cardigan.

I'm going to frog the green sweater today and get to work on swatching for Serrano. Oh and then I need to get some grocery shopping and dinner-making in there someplace...I'm thinking mac & cheese.

In the meantime, Bijou will be eating Sammy's hand.

Lookee here!

2007-03-20T13:39:00.000-05:00

Have a look:

My previously scattered stash (I didn't take before pictures because there just would have been too many of them) now fits in this one small corner of my bedroom.

From left to right: The green messenger bag holds the purple clover lace sweater that I've been working on forever, and the yarn to finish it. The two clear plastic bags at the bottom, one holds my green Anthropologie-inspired cowl neck that I'm working on, and the other one just has a couple other plastic bags in it. The small cardboard box on top is empty, and the bigger one underneath holds the squares I've finished so far for the Psychedelic Squares afghan and the yarn for it, and the white bin on the right has all my knitting magazines, books, and binders with printed-off patterns from Knitty, etc.

The inside: You can't really see but on the left there's a black bag that I used to put little balls of yarn and scraps from old projects in, then there's a tiny plastic bag that I used for TINY balls of yarn that I didn't think were quite small enough to throw away, and the rest is yarn that I haven't done anything with yet. After putting it all together, I realized that my stash is pretty puny. But I feel like I have quite a bit of control over it, so that is nice.

And now some FOs, neither of which has been properly blocked yet:

Here is a sweater that I designed myself. It's a hoodie knit in the round. The brown yarn was recycled from a sweater that I've had for years but I didn't like the way it fit me. The beige yarn is Lion Brand Jiffy. I can't really remember what needles I used...I think size 8? No idea, I'm just glad the friggin thing is finished.

Though I think I like it a bit better with the hood down.

And here's a Sesame, which I altered and took apart and Frankenstein-ed back together so many times that I'm not even sure I should call it a Sesame anymore. I had to alter the sizing a bit because I guess I have an absurdly long waist, and I decided to put braided cables on it instead of just plain stockinette. Oh yeah and I put a hood on mine, because I originally thought from the pictures on Magknits that Sesame had a hood but after I realized I'd been deceived I had to wing it.

The gray yarn was recycled from yet another sweater that I got for Christmas one year that didn't fit quite right. I didn't have enough to make the whole sweater in that color so I used some KP Wool of the Andes worsted in Arctic Pool Heather for the trim. I had originally used some Wool-Ease for that but I didn't like the end result. I think the gray and blue together give it a pretty raincloud kind of feel. (As you can probably see, I haven't woven in all the ends yet, but hey, close enough).

Cables:

Hood up:

Celtic knot buttons:

I think I've been sufficiently boring with my stash and shared plenty of pics, so that's all for today.

22 Questions and YARN!

2007-02-28T10:13:00.000-05:00

Good morning!

Yesterday I finally got my order from Knitpicks. It was free shipping, so I shouldn't complain about the length of time it took for delivery, but for about a week I had projects I wanted to work on but couldn't because I didn't have the yarn. So I feel better now.

What did I get?

Peruvian Wool to dye so I can finish up the Clover Lace sweater, and some superwash dye-your-own sock yarn so I can make the Eunny Jang entrelac socks from the new issue of IK.

Some Wool of the Andes in Arctic Pool Heather to fix the trim I put on a Sesame that I tried to make this summer.

Memories in Cape Cod. Not sure what these will be yet but I'm thinking something like these.

Memories in Redwood Forest. No idea what these will be yet.

I also got some Essential in Navy and Fawn to make Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts (I'm a bit fascinated by her patterns). I'll post pics of that when I'm a little further along on the progress.

Oh, AND we're getting a washer and dryer delivered today, so not only will I be able to do laundry without spending tons of money, but I'll also be able to try felting for the first time! Very exciting.

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And now some questions!

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?

I prefer natural fibers. I use wool the most often, and basically anything I can get from KnitPicks is a favorite of mine because it's so cheap and decent quality. I also like alpaca/silk blends. I generally don't like acrylics unless they feel nice, like Caron Simply Soft. I have a skein of it that I got to practice on when I first started knitting and I have yet to make anything out of it. I just like to feel it from time to time (it totally lives up to its name).

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I have a needle case that the boyfriend gave me for my birthday last year, and for a while I had my needles in it but now they're scattered around in different boxes and bags that contain WIPs around the house.

3. How long have you been knitting how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I've been knitting a little over two years. I learned from Stitch & Bitch. I'd consider myself intermediate right now just because I've never done Fair Isle. I did, however, just start last night on the Eunny Jang Endpaper Mitts so I could ease into it. I've done some lace, but nothing extremely intricate, but I am planning to start work on the Heere be Dragone shawl sometime within the next few weeks. I've also never made anything with steeks. Those are three things I find really intimidating, and I think maybe after I've at least somewhat successfully tackled all three, then I can call myself advanced.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

I don't have an Amazon wish list but I have a mental wish list of things I want from Amazon.

5. What's your favorite scent?

Tomato leaves. I have a bottle of Vampire Garden that smells just like tomato leaves and dirt. I rarely wear it, I just sprinkle it around my room sometimes. My other favorite is cloves.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

OF COURSE I have a sweet tooth. I'm not crazy about chocolate. I prefer fruity-flavored things, like Jolly Ranchers, especially the Passion Mix (strawberry, raspberry, fruit punch, orange, and peach).

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

The only other DIY thing I do sometimes is dye my own yarn, though I haven't done it much. I used to crochet when I was really young, but I'm not sure I was even doing it right back then. I might try doing some in the future though. I also (very rarely) sew and I'm not very good at it. I would love to spin if I had more money and space to accomodate all the supplies for a new craft, but at the time I don't.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?

I like tons of music, but I think I'm pretty touch with the current music scene. Here's a random list: Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper, Allman Brothers, Aesop Rock, Amy Winehouse, Bjork, Ani DiFranco, Led Zeppelin, MIA, Diplo, El-P, Gym Class Heroes, Counting Crows, Fiona Apple, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Etta James, Billie Holiday, Radiohead, Lily Allen, A Tribe Called Quest, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Widespread Panic, Tragically Hip, and about a million others that I can't rattle off the top of my head right now.

And I think my (boyfriend's) computer can play MP3s, but I'd much rather just listen to a CD.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

My favorite colors are purple and red. I don't like yellow, and I'm not crazy about orange.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

The family I came from is spread out all over. My dad lives in the town I grew up in, my mom lives an hour away from there, I live 3 hours away from there, and my sisters live in Denver. Right now I'm living with my boyfriend in a house that his friend bought. His friend is only here on weekends so we keep an eye on the house and give him money toward the mortgage payment every month as rent. We had another roommate who was only here on weekends but now he pretty much just lives at his girlfriend's house. And I have one cat named Bijou.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

I wear all of those except ponchos. And I knit all my own winter accessories.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Socks and sweaters.

13. What are you knitting right now?

Two sweaters, a pair of Endpaper Mitts, and a Psychedelic Squares Afghan.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Sure.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I prefer circular bamboo needles.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

No. If I have to wind yarn off of a hank, I turn a stool upside-down and drape the hank over a couple of the legs and wind it into a ball with my hands.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

A couple of months since the last time I did any work on it.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

Halloween.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

I don't have the money or space to collect anything right now. I would like to collect music on vinyl though.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I would really like to knit something in cashmere. Again, it's a money issue. I have a subscription to Vogue Knitting and Interweave Knits.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

I'd really like to know how to do steeks, just so I could say I understood it.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

Yes, I love to knit socks. I don't know my exact measurements, but I wear a US size 10 shoe. I usually just keep trying the sock on until it looks about right and then I start the shaping.

Some finished projects

2007-02-21T17:22:00.000-05:00

Today I posted my entry for Craftster's February Knitting Challenge.

Since I've been on such a DIY (design-it-yourself) kick, I decided I'd just come up with something myself to enter in this month's challenge. I love clothing from the 1930s and 40s, so I started looking on websites for inspiration and found lots of deep v-neck gowns that I loved, so I thought I would take that idea and translate it into a sweater.

I used a yarn called Peru DK. I've looked everywhere for it online, but the only place I've ever been able to find it is at AC Moore. It's a blend of alpaca, merino, and silk, and it's very soft and nice. This is the yarn's third incarnation as a sweater (yes, it's been frogged twice), and I think I'm finally happy with the result.

I realize that it just looks like a plain old v-neck sweater, but this sweater was constructed somewhat uniquely. For the top, I made two pieces that go over the shoulders kinda like saddles, then worked the bottom part in the round from the ribbing down and sewed the "saddles" onto that. Then I made the sleeves and sewed them on and added seed stitch onto the neckline. The original idea was for the front and back to be much more plunging but I then decided that I might actually want to wear the thing out in public once in a while, so I sewed the saddles together in the middle of the front and back so they'd be a little less revealing.

Here's the back:

I'm happy and proud.

And another couple less-exciting items I've finished:Freddy Kreuger socks!

This sock doesn't have a mate yet, but I'm working on it. I just like blue & brown together.

The Anthropologie-inspired cowl neck sweater that I was working at so diligently has been brought to a screeching halt because my dang 3mm circular needle broke! I should know better than to buy Brand X needles on Ebay. As soon as I get a job (which I am hoping and praying will be within the next week or so), I am going to treat myself to some of these.

Over the weekend I ordered the yarn I need to complete the clover lace sweater. As soon as I get that, I'll dye it and get to work on finishing up. I also ordered some yarn to finish up a hoodie I've had lying around, and some sock yarn, just because I love knitting socks now.

I think I've been sufficiently long-winded for today. Auf wiedersehen!

Enter the Dragon

2007-02-18T14:56:00.000-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I am about to take on something much greater than myself. I am excited and terrified all at the same time. I present to you:

The Heere Be Dragone Shawl.

I don't think it's sunk in yet just how crazy I must be in order to attempt this. I've been eyeing it for months, and just last night finally decided it was time to jump in. I have Googled it a couple times to see if anyone else has tried it, and it turns out that there are folks out there who have not only gone for it, but finished and succeeded. This gives me hope.

The more I learn about the pattern, the more I'm fascinated by it. There are absolutely no repeats in this pattern, which means that every single row is different and every single stitch is charted. Every. Single. Stitch.

My dilemma right now, besides how to retain my sanity through the duration of time it takes me to complete this project, is what yarn should I use?

At first I was thinking of using this, of which I have one skein in Lost Lake Heather. After reading a couple of other blogs I learned that the pattern will probably only take about 1100 yards to complete, so I would have to buy a couple more skeins. I like the color (green), but 100% wool doesn't seem quite right for a project like this. I see myself wearing this primarily in the summer, so I want something very light and cool.

I'm thinking silk.

When I think of dragons, I think of Asian culture. For me, silk is the only appropriate choice for this shawl. It needs to be shiny, bold, and exotic. There is some yarn at this Etsy shop which looks absolutely stunning, but I am conflicted about it. If I use a variegated yarn with lots of different shades in it, will it distract from the pattern itself? I would be very upset if after putting all that work into something it turned out less than I had hoped for. The yarn is beautiful though, and I may consider it for a different future project. If anyone has experience using variegated lace yarns and ideas on how it would affect my finished work, I welcome any suggestions you may have.

I also would like to know where I can find the right yarn for this project at a reasonable price. Like I said, I would need about 1100 yards of yarn (but I'd like to get 1200 or so just to be sure I have enough), and I REALLY want 100% silk, but a smooth silk blend will do (I basically don't want anything too fuzzy), laceweight, and it should be about $40 or less for the whole 1200 yards. I would also like a nice bold color, like dark purple or blue or red. Does this yarn exist? I hope so.

If there's anyone out there who can help me, I would be very grateful for any advice you can offer.

Once that's settled, the next step will be documenting this adventure. I can't wait!

Designs in the works

2007-02-13T13:43:00.000-05:00

In addition to the clover lace Anthropologie-inspired sweater I posted a few days ago, I've got a couple of other pieces I'm trying to put together with my own patterns with good faith that my math and instincts are accurate enough to create the results I hope to achieve.

Here's one of them:

I'm making mine in Devon in Deep Olive. This yarn is advertized as sport weight, but I think it might actually be fingering weight because it's pretty similar to lots of other sock yarns I've used. For me, the way that yarn weights are classified is pretty confusing. Either way, this sweater is going to take FOREVER for me to knit. I might not be able to wear it until next winter. I've got about 6 inches of it done (I made a casing for the drawstring & everything, which I'm very proud of).

The other sweater I'm making that's putting all my other designs on the back burner is for the February Craftster Knitting Challenge. I'm not going to mention too much about it until it's actually posted up on Craftster, but let's just say it's coming along nicely. It will be done in a few days and then I will be experimenting with finishing touches to it for a few days after that. I think it will be nice. Maybe not nice enough to win, but it's something I will be proud of.

While I'm typing this I'm watching to Lisa Lampanelli on YouTube. I'm crazy about her. I'm hoping to see her at the Palace in March.

Oh, and I'm still looking for a job too. If anyone knows places in Albany that will hire a college graduate for full-time work, please share. Everyplace I look either tells me I'm overqualified or I don't have enough experience. So somethin's gotta give.

That's all for today, later gators!

Three sweaters!

2007-02-08T14:19:00.000-05:00

Today I managed to get decent pictures of the sweaters I've been trying to photograph. I found the perfect spot in the house where there's plenty of natural light and a nice height to set the camera.

This is Topsecret. I knit it over the summer. It was a pretty quick project. I used Homespun in Antique. I personally don't like Homespun, but I had a ton of it lying around from when I first started knitting two years ago and I needed to use it up. For the record, I still have a ton of it and need to find something else to do with it. Also, I never noticed until I took a picture that the skeins I used were from different dyelots. I don't think it looks bad or anything though, and I only wear the thing around the house anyway, so I'm OK with it.

I ended up making the neck extra long:

It's pretty cozy on days like these.

Next up is the Michael Kors Split V-Neck Tunic from last spring's issue of Vogue Knitting.

The original sweater in the magazine was much longer and had contrasting yarn around the cuffs and waist and neckline. Obviously, I made mine hip-length and in one color. This is in Paton's Classic Merino Wool in Peacock. Don't be fooled by the pictures--the color is actually much brighter in person. It's a dark teal shade. Very pretty. This is the yarn's second incarnation as a sweater, and I am much happier with the results this time around, and the sweater is getting plenty of wear.

Last is Tubey: (pardon my blotchy skin)

This is also in Paton's Merino, in Burgundy. Though I didn't actively participate in the Knitting Olympics last winter as I was without internet access for the entire month of February, I did knit according to the rules & regulations as established and finished this sweater on February 15th. This was the first wearable sweater I ever completed.

There were many challenges along the way, though. I had to resize the sweater about 3 times (the body "tube" was turning out way too loose on me so I had to remove quite a few stitches). When I finally got it right, I was completely satisfied and it is now one of my favorite pieces in my whole closet.

Voila!

Lesson learned

2007-02-07T17:29:00.000-05:00

Today I tried to take photos of three sweaters that I've made in the past year that have been lying around so that I could post them on here. No matter what I did, I couldn't get them to look good. I tried putting the camera in different places, taking the pictures with flash and without, and nothing seemed to look good. So I looked at lots of other peoples' pics to see what was different about them, and I realized that most good pictures are taken in natural light. And since I got around to taking pictures way too late today, I don't have any natural light to work with at the moment. So I suppose I need to blog primarily during the daylight hours, and I also need to find a place to put the camera so that I can get a good shot of just the top half of my body so as to focus more on the sweater.

Anyway, I'm going to work on it tomorrow morning, and if all goes well there will be photos to share in the evening. Wish me luck!

Starting over

2007-02-06T13:22:00.000-05:00

So this is a second attempt at blogging for me. I've been knitting more and more, and designing my own pieces more and more, so I think it's appropriate that I start documenting the process before I lose all motivation.

A lot of the time when I'm seeking inspiration, I look at the Anthropologie website. I think I first looked there because I earned a B.A. in Anthropology and while I was in college I thought it was amusing that there was a clothing company named after my field of study (with French spelling, no less, which I also love because I speak French). But I digress.

Despite the fact that they make beautiful clothes, I will probably never ever buy anything from them unless by some weird twist of fate I end up with a cool million in my pocket. And then maybe I'll buy one piece and spend the rest on yarn and other knitting goodies. There are a couple of pieces I'm trying to copycat at the moment. The green sweater above is one of them.

Here is how mine is turning out thus far:

This is the front, with my cat Bijou modeling her beautiful raccoon tail at the top. The back basically looks the same but without the v-shaping on the neck.

I used Maggie Righetti's book (and a knitting bible of sorts, for me), Sweater Design in Plain English to figure out how to do the drop-shoulder part, then kinda winged the v-neck shaping, then used the clover lace pattern from the blue wrap sweater in SnB Nation, which turned out to be a perfect match.

I dyed 5 skeins of Bare Worsted from KnitPicks with Kool-Aid. I wanted them all to be purple, roughly the same shade, but I was unsuccessful in my attempts. The variation is growing on me though. This was knit on 3 mm needles. But of course, as I have been known to do in the past, I did not order enough yarn to finish it.

But before I can put in another order, I need to find a job. I have been looking for work for the past month. I'm afraid that if something doesn't turn up pretty soon I'm going to have to apply at McDonald's. And I really don't want to do that. But given that I have limited work experience and a degree in a field that is not screaming out for employment opportunities, I have to take what I can get.

Anyway, I think I've made a good start on this whole blog thing, and I'm looking forward to continuing with it as I've made it my New Year's Resolution to try to be more diligent. So there you have it!