Friday, November 13, 2009

I really love my job

And I know that a lot of people can't say that....

But I really do.

The ONLY bad thing about my job is that it takes away from knitting time! :-P

Being able to knit for people I work with is really fun, too. Especially when the recipient is as grateful and adorable as this one.



Sarah came to visit us at work today and she was kind enough to bring along the blanket that I knit her AND a smile for the camera.

So freaking cute.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

It's October? Really?!

There's something a little weird about knitting mohair



in 80 degree weather.



That up there is one of the sleeves for Lucetta.

I've decided to follow another Raveler's suggestion to knit the sleeves first and forgo the shaping for the waist. I tried to follow the directions, but the maths didn't make sense. The Raveler also said it looks better without the shaping. So, I'm crossing my fingers. I'm about a third of the way up the back.

Meanwhile...

I have a queue full of things I'm restless to knit:
1) The Lightweight Pullover (that Fresco yarn looks YUM-MY!)
2) Another cardigan (using Plymouth Baby Alpaca)
3) Baby-doll Cardigan (I've got the silk yarn and the beads all ready to go)

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

anticiparcelation

First off, thank you to everyone who sent their thoughts and prayers to us after Wendy passed.
Your kindness is very much appreciated.

It's still weird that she's not "here." The latest KnitPicks catalog came last week announcing a book sale and my first thought was, "Oh! I wonder if Wendy needs any books..." We're all getting used to the new normal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am having about my Sexy Vesty.



After running out of yarn - oh yes - running out of yarn - but not just any yarn, a discontinued yarn, I went on to Ravelry to see if anyone had it in their stashes for sale. No luck.

So I posted an ISO post and within 12 hours TWO PEOPLE had contacted me!

A very nice woman from Canada said that she had two bags of the stuff and put it in the post last Monday.

I have been not so patiently waiting for the two skeins to arrive and e-mailed her last night to see how long it takes yarn to travel from Canada to California. Apparently 7-10 days (I've been so spoiled by Elann and their priority shipping...).

I am super eager to see if the yarn matches - it wasn't the same dye lot - but closer in number than the other offer - I don't know if that means anything...

Friday, September 11, 2009

Unfinished Knitting

When Wendy, my sister-in-law, first saw me knitting she knew instantly that she wanted to learn. That day, we drove to Beverly's so that she could pick out yarn and a crochet hook. She wanted to crochet a blanket.

She became a regular at her local yarn store and quickly learned knitting.

She loved knitting. She gushed, "I've been searching for so long...I have finally found my passion."

Whenever we would visit, we would share what we were working on with each other.
Birthday gifts to each other always included something yarny.
She gave me the yarn, bamboo DPNs, and a pattern for the first socks I ever made.

Wendy adored my husband, she was 13 when he was born, and he was really like her first baby. While he was still very young, she got married and had two sons of her own, who are now both in their 20s.

Wendy graciously agreed to be my bridesmaid. She was kind and generous, she held my bridal shower for me at her house. I asked her to say the blessing before the meal at our rehearsal dinner, and she spoke beautifully, quoting from The Song of Songs. She danced all night at our wedding. She said it was the funnest wedding she'd ever been to.

And she always had something nice to say. She would tell me that my hair looked nice, she would ooh and ahh over whatever FO I showed her. She devoured whatever my husband cooked for her, especially his breads, pastas, and pies.

Wendy passed away yesterday after a long, three-year struggle with lung cancer. It was the kind that Christopher Reeve's wife, Dana, had. She wasn't a smoker. She endured misdiagnosis, thousands of pills and pain patches, Prednisone, and multiple courses of chemo, each more toxic than the next. She coughed constantly and ate very little.

The beginning of the end was about three weeks ago, when she went into the ICU. Her husband fought to get her out of the hospital as quickly as possible, and she decided to stop fighting the cancer anymore, she just wanted to be in her home.

No matter how much we mentally prepared, it was still a shock when the call came in.

We went to her house immediately to be in the comfort of friends and family and really her - because her house is her. Everything you see is something she created, decorated, arranged - just so, and it is so her.

And it was there in the living room that I saw her knitting basket and lost it.



For me it's a symbol of all the things she'll never be able to finish, and the things she'll never be able to start. And the unfairness of it all is unbearable at the moment.

Before we left last night, my nephew asked if I had gotten my knitting mojo back. And I said, yes, more or less. ;-) He said, "Because Mom was working on a sweater for Brittany (his girlfriend)...and you're the only knitter I know...I wondered if you'd want to finish it?"

I said, "Of course I would. I would be honored."

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Pets - 4, People - 2

I never posted a FO pic of my pullover - you know the one that got all sandy from being knit on the beach in Mexico ;-)


I really like how it turned out!!


I knit the hood doing the smallest size.


The Elann Camila yarn was a PERFECT substitute.

Besides how poorly I felt the pattern was written - I am really glad I knit it.

I finished Dave's German Cabled sweater; it's blocking.
If I like how it looks on him after it dries, I'll show you a pic. If you never see a pic, it's because I've hidden my head in shame.

The front and back looks really nice - but I'm concerned about the armholes....

And this may be part of the reason of my inability to focus on my knitting:


We've spent the past month getting her acclimated to the house and trying to introduce her to our resident cat. We adopted her from a local shelter - she's a Maine Coon. Her name is Chloe!

I cast on for Snezi on Friday and I'm about 50% through it.
Ravelry link for the one that inspired mine.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Knitting MoJo, where are thou?

I've spent the past few weeks knitting.
And ripping.
Knitting.
And ripping.

Evidence #1:
Look! Socks! Almost done! Right?
Second sock was not without its troubles - the heel was too big, I couldn't remember what I had done for the first sock - modified the pattern - but how?
I ripped the heel out twice.
Look - I'm almost to the top!



I was even going to turn the other way every time I looked at the toes.
Look! They're different! One I did on the plane without a pattern.



But then I looked at the heels again.

The seond sock on the left has a nice stockinette heel (which is still too big).
The first sock has a nice K1, Sl1 ribbing.


These will both be frogged today.
And I will never be knitting one sock at a time ever again.

Evidence #2.
German Cables sweater for Dave.
Look! The back! I finished it!! Great!!! Right?!



Please examine more closely! You will see what I affectionately call - Donuts.


Right at the armhole - the wrong part of the pattern or the right pattern off by eight stitches - has created donuts across the fabric - where donuts are not needed.

The only bit of joy in this exploration of missing mojo - the front of the sweater. I ripped out the armholes, oh, about three times. No, maybe four, if you count yesterday.

This looks much better.



I'm going to put the front on hold and rip out the back and knit it again before I forget what I did yesterday.

Wish me luck.

Friday, August 14, 2009

I'm just sayin'...

The only yarn I Really REALLY want in the whole wide world is available as a custom-dye job.

That is all.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Vesper

This project could not have been completed if:
1) A very nice Raveler hadn't've sold me her left over yarn.
2) I hadn't ripped out the Drops pattern because it was WAY too big.
3) Or I hadn't followed Roko's mods (now there's a talented knitter!).



Mmmmm box pleats!


Et Voila! Zee back!


Used Elann Lara, it was a fantastic substitute.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

It's serious.



I am over-the-moon in love with knitting.

This pattern really sent me over the edge.

And yes, it's because of the knitting bunnies.

I have this mug. My very kind neighbor brought some back for me from Finland.

I gave one to knitting friend JoKnit because she is the only person I know who loves knitting AND bunnies as much as me.

I immediately plunged into my stash knitting pictures on Ravelry, and although I don't have the yarn picked out yet, I got a little giddy imagining which yarn would be perfect for these socks.

I hope you get to swoon over your knitting (or crocheting) today, too.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Adios!

Where you might find me this week, on vacation.

thanks to everyone who voted on the yarn color - it's a tie between moss and orchid!!

Monday, June 08, 2009

Vote for a color -->

This cardigan is in my Ravelry queue:

ETA: this pattern is from Knit.1 Spring/Summer 2009

and I really want to try Patons Silk Bamboo.


But I can't decide on a color!
What do you think?

I'm thinking about adding beads, as that's an option for the pattern.

I'm excited to try and add them using the crochet hook method. Hooking Beads As You Go.

I finished the Wide Rib Hoodie, which required completely different-sized needles than the pattern called for.
I used US 11, US 10.76, and US 10.
The yarn is Schachenmayr nomotta Extra Merino. I had 12 skeins and I barely had enough to finish - only got to knit 4 inches of the ribbing vs the 4.5 inches required.






I washed it yesterday and it got VERY stretched out :-(
It's drying now - hopefully it didn't completely lose its shape.

The yellow yarn project was ripped out.
It was way too wide.
I started my own personal pattern - the idea was to have a fitted waist, scoop neck, fluttery sleeves.
I knit most of a front (or back) and part of a back (or front) and sewed it together to see what it looked like on me - it was Meh.

It sort of deflated my knitting mojo.

I switched to crochet this weekend for (another) sooper seekrit project - I'm crocheting spirals!!!

I've got two done and will just keep on keeping on until the yarn is almost gone.

I have two projects planned for my vacation.

I'll be knitting a pair of very simple, but finely ribbed socks using the Crystal Palace Panda Cotton (below) and this pullover.

Just waiting for my KP bamboo needles to arrive...(US 0, 1, 2, 3, 4).

Friday, May 22, 2009

when needles lie

My favorite knitted item to date:

Provence Marl Empire Waist Cardigan

Whisper Caridagn #2:

Knit Picks Shadow in Papaya

Diagonal Baby Blanket for co-worker Ethan

Sugar and Cream, Butter Cream

RosiG's A Little Nightcap

Dave thinks I look very ethnic is this thing that makes my head look ginormous because I have so much freakin' hair.
Used leftover Brown Sheep Cotton Fine in Alpine Lilac.

This.... this is a mess. knit about 10 inches and decided to iron it to see how wide it actually is.

It's 40" in diameter. When I can stomach it, I'll rip it out and figure out what the hell I want to do. At this moment in time, it just makes my head hurt.

On to bigger and better headaches. Pebbles Wide Rib Hoodie.

This is from the same pattern book as the Empire Cardigan.
I'm using Schachenmayr nomotta Extra Merino.
The pattern calls for DK double stranded, US 8 to get 10 sts/ 4 in.
I swatched - I don't know why - but I did.
US 8 didn't work. I got at least 14 sts/4in.
So I tried US 9, then US 10, then US 10.5, and finally US 11.
US 11 is pretty spot on.
There are three needle sizes used, they claim that they are US 8, US 7, US 6.
I had an AHA one morning this week - I think they transposed millimeter sizes with US needle sizes as US11 = 8 mm, etc.
So I e-mailed them and they responded right away - said they'd re-check.

It will be interesting to figure out how I'm going to come up with a 7 mm needle.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Butterfly 2.0

I originally started Butterfly at the end of July in 2008.
I got all the way to the end, put the elastic in, did the crochet edging, tried it on.
It was WAY too big.

I was so disheartened. I put in a plastic bag and stuck it in my closet with my more well-behaved yarn to let it think about what it did wrong.

About six months later, it told me that it might be willing to be unraveled and start again.
I took this under consideration.
I started looking at other people's Butterflies on Ravelry. What yarn did they use? Did they get gauge? What tips or tricks could I garner from their lovely Butterflies?

Then one day, I stumbled across someone's FO. They mentioned that the sizing was based on the circumference under the bust.

I then realized why my Butterfly never took off.
I had knit the incorrect size, based on my bust circumference.

So out came the Butterfly and the ball winder and the yarn was wound back into little cocoon balls.

On March 20th, I began again.
On March 31st, Butterfly 2.0 took flight.






I omitted the crochet edging on the arms and bottom.

Knit Picks Shine Worsted, Laurel
Addi Turbos US 9

Friday, April 10, 2009

Remember Nutkin?

It turned into Coin Lace Scarf.



While I was finishing that, I also knit Retro Rib Socks in Araucania Ranco Multy.



And for my co-worker that I'm teaching how to knit: Mr. Mousey, stuffed with catnip. An un-felted version.



Kihei hides the mouse and brings it out from time to time and drops it at her feet.



Also, Pasadena, which took a wrong turn on the Raglan I-5 and wound up in Armsyce Hell.


I will be ripping this apart at some point and re-doing all of the pieces down to the arm holes. Why? Because I'm crazy like that. I used Plymouth Encore Worsted.


Can't go to work without socks! Patons Kroy sock yarn (Summer Moss Jacquard), basic toe-up sock pattern with 3 x1 ribbing. One sock down, one to go.



The Whisper Cardigan in Argosy Luxury Yarns, Haiku 2-ply, Wedgewood.







And my current project - which is going REALLY well.
Provence Marl Empire Waist Cardigan in Filati Torre Lino (a PERFECT yarn sub) from Florence, Italy.



That's one sleeve, I've knit across the back and started down the second sleeve today.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Sooper Seekret Project

for his birthday, dave is getting a new coat.
his old one, a very nice gap coat, disappeared when we were remodeling.
bags of coats from our closet somehow got mixed in with a giveaway pile.

what do scraps have to do with his birthday present


can you tell now?


what he'll find when he puts his hand in his new coat pocket:


the prez!

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Chunky Cabled Tam #13

Cast on last night, knit it in about 5-6 hours today.

Knit.1, Fall/Winter 2008
Manos del Uruguay, Heather #50, @2.5 skeins
Addi Turbo US7 and KnitPicks Options US 11

I couldn't find three consistent dark skeins at Purl Soho, so I mixed in the lighter one as the last one.

Dave asked, "Is it warm?"
Yep.