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Thursday, September 30, 2004
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I'm having major sweater lust. The old favorites are all coming back to me, begging to be knit. Like Rosedale and Salt Peanuts (if only people would stop talking about it!). Damn you, cardigans! Let me knit in peace!
I have a really good idea for my sister's Christmas present, and I wish I could talk about it here, but she might know I do that stuff here. So shhhh. Suffice it to say it's one of those ideas/patterns that jumps into your head right as you're waking up, the kind of thing that uses up the stash you've been wondering about and fretting over, the kind of idea that moves mountains and makes you a hero, and the kind that disappears really quickly if you don't talk about it. So I better find somewhere to write it down.
My Interlocking Balloons scarf is a skosh over 1/2 done. It's no longer for the boyfriend, since he's very tall and needs a long scarf. Since the scarf isn't long to begin with and I went down a needle size for aesthetic reasons, I have to give it to someone much shorter. And I know just the person.
Dear Twin Citians,
The Twin Cities Knit-Out is this Sunday, October 3, at the Ridgedale Mall in Minnetonka, from 1 to 5 pm. I'll be there! I'm also going to be helping teach people to knit.
I'm up earlier than usual today. I blame being excited. Today I'm going with a friend to a new spinning shop in the northern suburbs. Huzzah!
Tipper @ 6:19 AM * link
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Monday, September 27, 2004
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Progress and musings.
Thank goodness. The Interlocking Balloons scarf is a lot lot less complicated and faster-moving when a) not watching an attention-hogging movie and b) after you "get" it. See? I've made progress:
I had to go down a needle size in order to make a decent fabric, but that makes me happy; I get to use Addi Turbos now instead of bamboo needles. Yay speed!
I've been thinking a lot about what projects I should be working on. Yuletide is coming; gifts must be made. Last year I gave my aunts scarves (such as this one and this one and another I don't have a picture of and have entirely forgotten). This year I think I'll work on some fancy keyhole scarves. I have a couple of random skeins of Koigu and some Kidsilk Haze and other stuff. I'd like to give something to my older lady relatives, as well; I think some bed slippers would be nice. For everyone else? I have no idea. I suppose there's always the felted bag route, and felting isn't too entirely bad when you have access to a most excellent and free felting washer.
I am very tempted to do the thrum-along with the Yarn Harlot, et al. Why? I think it'd be cool to make some thrummed mittens with white wool and multicolor roving. And whaddya know - I've got a ton of multicolor roving sitting not 20 feet away fro me! But, alas, no white yarn. (That can be remedied. Y'all know how I hate going to yarn stores.)
Tipper @ 7:44 AM * link
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Friday, September 24, 2004
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Boyfriend sweater, boyfriend scarf, boyfriend cat... Madli shawl
The very hunky postman (he has tattoos! *growl*) brought me a nice ol' box of yarn yesterday. In it was the 20 hanks of Classic Elite 03 Tweed I bought from ye olde elann.com, colorway "reindeer." It is most satisfactory, not scratchy at all, nice and slubby, and will be perfect for my very own adaptation of Rhapsody in Tweed from the Fall 2004 IK (scroll down about 1/3 for the picture). The boyfriend wants a cardigan, I wanted something cabled and ribby, so I'll be taking out the front cable and changing the collar and making something hopefully non-ugly. And something that gets done.
This is Reggie, the boyfriend's cat. I suppose he's my cat now, too. I'm his mommy. I promise you I won't start posting cat pictures, but Reggie insisted that he be the one to show off my progress on the Interlocking Balloons scarf from Scarf Style. That's almost three hours worth of knitting, folks. It is the most complicated scarf ever to grace the Earth. This scarf may very well be for the boyfriend. He deserves pretty things.
So, here's Madli's Shawl, all finished. It's biiig.
Tipper @ 3:55 PM * link
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Thursday, September 23, 2004
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Because I am obsessed
I love Scarf Style. So I started a knit-along.
My first project from the book shall be Interlocking Balloons by Shirley Paden, using two skeins of Brown Sheep Naturespun Sport. At about $7.50, that makes it a lot more reasonable than the $44-worth of yarn she used. I hope to start it today!
(Yesterday I spent a grand total of $20 on yarn, enough for two projects. I also got two balls of Misti Baby Alpaca to do the Flower Basket Shawl in IK Fall 2004. This must be the most reasonably priced IK project ever.)
Tipper @ 8:06 AM * link
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Wednesday, September 22, 2004
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Long time no me.
I haven't much to report. Sorry. I did get Madli done - did I mention that? Thursday morning I spent about an hour grafting the border to the middle. It was a piece of cake when accompanied by Theresa's grafting article. No pictures, because I keep forgetting to arrange something. It's difficult to photograph in my apartment, particularly when it's such a dark object. But, I love it, and it's helping to keep me slightly warm at work.
Yesterday Scarf Style came in the mail for me. Looking at it for the umpteenth time, I'm now sad, because everything wants you to use very, very expensive yarn. The least expensive seems to be the one I really want to knit (the rose trellis one), but, still $45-ish for a scarf is a little extravagant, especially when I just shelled out $80 for yarn for a sweater for the boyfriend (Classic Elite 03 Tweed from Elann). AND I just bought a bunch of yarn for me.
I guess it's time to clear out the stash and sell some again. It's not getting knit up; it might as well find a new home.
I solved my Charlotte II problem, I think. Instead of getting more of the last color (I emailed Threadbear, with no response...grr), I dug into my pile of Charlotte I leftovers and found a green that works well with my topmost green color. So, I'll use that as an extra and hope that by the time I get to the last color, it doesn't look too silly. I suppose the way the colors blend, having not as much of my beautiful 128 at the bottom won't put a pox on the entire project.
Charlotte II hasn't been started yet, though, and I don't know when it will be. I'm still plugging away on my Curry Cable Cardigan, even though I don't really want to. I promise myself that when I finish this sleeve, I can move onto something else for a little while. That was after I tried putting it down and doing something else (a feather-and-fan scarf out of my other Charlotte I leftovers) and having the something else not work out in the least. It was a sign.
The boyfriend and I have signed up for Netflix. Feel free to shout out movie suggestions. Maybe it's the weather, but all I wanna do lately is watch movies and knit.
Tipper @ 6:05 AM * link
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Saturday, September 18, 2004
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I'm recovering from several days' worth of excitement. Today was spent with a friend (and later the boyfriend) eating brunch and being read to by Neil Gaiman. Yesterday I started my internship; that went very well and it was so good to be working. Thursday is what y'all would be interested in: yarn store extravaganza, yo.
Bobby and I had some Indian food, then we were off to Yarnzilla. What's good for them and bad for me is that they didn't have the skein of Koigu I wanted; either I gotta find it elsewhere or find another complimentary color for Charlotte II (maybe one of my last Charlotte's colors will work). I did not, however, leave emptyhanded.
The five skeins of Rowan Magpie in "Gurgle" (which, I was told, matches my eyes perfectly) is for a yet-to-be-designed cabled vest for yours truly. The pink stuff is Rowan R2, the paper kind, which I got for free because I signed up for the mailing list (y'all can get it too if you stop in!). The Magpie was on sale, and I couldn't resist, especially since it's so soft and lustrous and it's been haunting me. We had a good time chatting it up with Linda and meeting more folks.
Then I made the decision to drag Bobby to meet my boyfriend, and since we were going to be in the area, I also decided to drag him to Amazing Threads. Their new store still isn't unpacked, but it's almost done. It's a nice space, but I don't think it's much bigger than the last space. The natural lighting is a definite plus, but it's one of those yarn stores I feel so overwhelmed by that I never know what to buy. The big ol' hank of Cherry Tree Hill Merino Laceweight (the color is "River Run") in the picture above is from there, though. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but I've wanted some of that stuff for awhile (and I HAD to spend my gift certificate before I exploded!).
I was stumped as to what to pick up next, so I decided to finish the Curry Cable Cardigan from the Fall 2002 IK. I re-knit the collar and started on a sleeve:
The sleeves, I think, might look a little silly when sewn up. The increases are done in reverse stockinette on the edges, so by the time I sew it all up, there will be about 30 purl stitches along the seam. Had I thought of it earlier, I might have devised a way to make it look less silly. (But I sure as heck ain't ripping out now.) I wish I hadn't read the chart wrong when I started the whole thing, since I miss that little extra twist in the big, fat cable. Ah, well. It's still cute.
Tipper @ 11:18 PM * link
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Wednesday, September 15, 2004
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Honestly, I posted yesterday, or tried to. But there were server problems on my part so it just got posted today. I still get credit.
So, I was really pumped to finish the border of Madli. Last night I cast on, and messed up. So I cast on again and knit a few rows before retiring for the night. This morning I did some more knitting, got halfway through the border... and messed up even worse. I didn't even bother to rip it out; I just threw it away. So tonight I cast on. And messed up. Cast on again. Messed up again. After maybe my fourth attempt I realized I was knitting the first row entirely wrong (a really stupid mistake) and cast on again. THAT time didn't even take.
Eventually, it did, and I'm about a third of the way through.
I was beginning to think I was losing it for awhile. I suppose knitting on very little sleep and while feeling icky didn't help any.
Tomorrow I dragging my friend Bob (I actually typed "Bobo." That should be his new name. Yay!) for a feast of Indian food and then a feast of yarn. I hope I get a good night's sleep, despite the impending excitement.
In blog-related news, I would like to express my surprise and pleasure at my blog hit count jumping from 30-odd hits a day, to 50-odd, to now over 70, in very little time. In no time at all, I will be the Wendy of the Midwest! (I wish!)
Tipper @ 8:22 PM * link
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Tuesday, September 14, 2004
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At present, I am avoiding the final border of Madli because earlier today I cast on and knit one row and messed it up. Now I'm frightened of it, or just very lazy. Maybe I'm trying to avoid grafting 101 stitches for as long as possible.
I took a picture. It's not worth the bandwidth.
Another skein of Koigu is on reserve for yours truly at Yarnzilla. It came to me that if I want a bigger Charlotte, I'll need more of the last color. They also have Rowan Magpie on sale. Please do not buy all of the teal; I want it. I think. I can't decide. I have dreams of a zippered cabled vest.
I want to make every single scarf from Scarf Style. I'm starting with that rose trellis scarf. The fact that it utilizes crochet just makes it more appealing to me, for some very strange reason.
The Mists of Avalon is my current read. It's full of spinning references and it makes me want to spin constantly. (I wish I had the energy to do so!)
Tipper @ 9:02 PM * link
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Monday, September 13, 2004
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Presents, patterns, and buttons, oh my!
Look what I got in the mail today!
My wonderful secret pal sent me The Knitter's Handy Guide to Yarn Requirements (this'll definitely come in handy), a yarny card, and 825 yards of so, so soft and so very pink laceweight yarn from China. After listening to me exclaim and praise my gifts, my boyfriend's response was, "I'll leave you two alone for a moment." Thank you, Secret Pal! You're right - I do love it.
I also took a very bad picture of me wearing a creation of mine:
I call it "Cape Mohair" and you can find the pattern here. I have issues with being too cold all the time (I think I'm part lizard). Maybe this'll help.
And to make this a three-picture day, I thought I'd share the box of buttons that my mom gave to me, which she got from her aunt who collects them. There are lots of little treasures in here, including several that say, "Put me on a sweater!"
(Did you notice that I'm trying to put the "daily" in my blog name? It turns out I do have something to say about knitting or spinning or sewing or something at least once a day!)
Tipper @ 11:59 AM * link
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Sunday, September 12, 2004
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Knitting thoughts
Knitting perfectionism. I tend to be a perfectionist, at least in theory, not necessarily practice. I want things to be really good all the time. (Okay, maybe I'm more like a really-goodist.)However, when it comes to things like knitting or (especially) sewing, I tend to throw it all to the wind. I'm not naturally good at artsy things beyond a certain extent (meaning I'm better than the average person but still don't have that click with anything that artists tend to have), and I've accepted that.
When I knit, I make a lot of mistakes. A lot of them are the simple ones we all have, easy to tink back and fix. Some of them are more complicated ones that I'll rip back to or drop stitches down and wrangle with them a bit. But do I aim for total perfectionism? Absolutely not. I don't think it's possible; if you raise that bar towards perfectionism in your own work too often, you'll eventually be satisfied with absolutely nothing.
Why take the enjoyment out of knitting by perfecting it to death? I like the attitude of the Shakers and Amish, deliberately leaving mistakes in their work to show that only God is perfect, even if it doesn't jive with my particular religious or spiritual beliefs.
I may make mistakes in my knitting, but people still admire it. If someone more experienced with garment-making or crafts or arts wants to cut it down and tell me how awful it is, they're someone that doesn't understand the heart behind arts and crafts. It's not about perfection. It's about loving what you do, what you're working with, or who your work is for.
What's the biggest reason I don't fret over most of my mistakes? I have too much else that I allow to bug me without bringing one of my favorite things in the world into the mix.
Skin-tight cropped sweaters for fat girls (and guys). I'm not a skinny girl by any means, though I'm very grateful that my non-skinniness includes lots of strategically-placed curves (though maybe too many, sometimes). I say this as a preface.
I mentioned in LJ Knitting that although the new Knitty contains extended sizes, the garments aren't exactly those that someone of those extended sizes should be wearing. I got several responses saying, "I'm this-and-this size and I wear skin-tight stuff and I look awesome!" Well, more power to you. But by skin-tight do you mean skin-tight, or form-fitting? If you have tummy rolls like I do, you may realize that wearing clothing that sticks to them makes them show. If what you're wearing is a sweater, you'll look like you've got a lot more fat than you really do. Is that attractive?
Now, form-fitting, that's another matter. But a lot of the stuff in Knitty isn't form-fitting; it's skin-tight. If you wear stuff that hits you right on your curves and doesn't cling to your less-desirable parts, you'll look better than in skin-tight stuff like Blaze.
And cropped? Cropped is reserved for the precious few who have absolutely no stomach fat. Yes, I'm well aware that one can alter a sweater's length, but sometimes, the charm of a sweater is in its cropped-ness (or it's skin-tight-ness).
Even the men's sweater in the issue isn't going to look how it's meant to look on someone who isn't skinny.
Interestingly, I'm cool with ponchos. Unless I see someone's fat clinging to them, I'll assume that the person underneath is not, in fact, in the form of a tent. I do, however, hate ugly ponchos.
But, anyway, my comments about the sizing/design are more about the idea that Knitty's saying, "Hey, we'll make them happy by offering extended sizes" but not, "We'll offer them patterns that will look decent on many sizes." If you can wear the stuff, more power to you, but I think that most people, striving to make a sweater's just like the models', will find themselves falling short of their goal as long as they don't posess the models' physiques.
Tipper @ 7:24 AM * link
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Friday, September 10, 2004
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New and extremely good
My search for unique secret pal gifts led me to the Alchemy Yarns website. Since I wanted to visit the yarn in person, I clicked on "Retailers." Lo and behold - the sole vendor in Minnesota was a yarn store I had never, ever heard of.
I was shocked! I thought I knew about all of them! It turns out that this one was brand new; in fact, only open a little over a week.
Yarnzilla is the new store, and a fabulous store it is. I stopped by today after successfully obtaining a really great internship (*bows* *waits for the applause to stop*). I knew I had to go, as soon as possible, because of the yarn they carry. Everything I love is there!
The shop is wonderfully organized and full of great stuff. Lots of Dale of Norway, Noro, Barlett Yarns, Koigu, Manos del Uruguay, all sorts of stuff. It's a really well-balanced selection. And it's all 10% off retail price. And, yes, you can order from their website.
Needless to say, I was much impressed by the management, as well. Friendly and funny and weird. Yay!
I restrained myself, walking away (after paying, of course) with only five skeins of Koigu (oh, how happy I am that I can now buy Koigu around here!) for another Charlotte's Web.
Gorgeous, eh? I'm planning on modifying the pattern a little, adding more repeats of the lesser-used colors, in order to get more length.
Tipper @ 4:27 PM * link
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My Knitty review
Cozy - If I'm going to spend that much time/money on a shawl, I'm going to choose a more interesting lace pattern. (But that's just me. I like 'em complicated.)
Clapotis - Cute idea, but are the scarves they wear really that thick?
Leaves+Waves - Pretty lace pattern. Poorly written introduction. Looks like black part was stopped an eighth of the way through due to boredom. If it was me, I would've knitted the black panel entirely in lace and attached it to the pink panel perpendicularly. Or left it entirely stockinette with the border. I do like the idea of contrast, though.
Belle Star - Cute. I like it. Wouldn't wear it, but it's cute. Looks like it might fall off model's hips at any second.
Holey moley - BLECH. And am I the only one who thinks it's weird and a bit not-good that this one's done by a yarn company? Is it all gonna be yarn-company stuff now? I sure as heck hope they paid to have their design in there, cause it's pure advertisement.
Boo, too - Even if I could afford it, NO. Just because you *can* make something, doesn't mean you *should*.
ZigZag - Interesting that it's by Veronik Avery. It's cute, but cropped. I hate cropped sweaters so much!
Blaze - it's cute. Ain't about to wear anything that clingy, though. (This must be the "small tummy" issue.)
Giraffe - quite cute. I'm undecided as to whether or not I'd want to knit it.
Colorlines - *hides eyes* It's like reading Knitter's!!!!
Leo - Hmm. A ribbed sweater. Probably would only look good on skinny European-flavored men.
Petrol - tasteful. I'd make one for ME!
Big rock, little rock - Ooh! A zippered vest! I want one! I would omit the front pockets (or at least omit the fancy yarn on them; maybe I'd omit the fancy yarn altogether). Of course, I'd have to sell my soul to be able to afford it. Maybe I'll just use the idea and use something like Lopi. But that's boring. I guess I won't make it at all.
Tigger - adorable. Makes me want to procreate just so I have a reason to knit it.
Skating queen - So cute! I like how more and more knitted skirt patterns are coming, and this is a very functional one, in addition to its cuteness. I'm tempted to make it, but I think I'll wait til my ass shrinks a little first. (You are going to shrink someday, aren't you, ass?)
Unbiased - I want one! I've wanted an excuse to buy some of that yarn. But, of course, it's WAYY outside of anything I can afford reasonably. Maybe. Maybe I'll treat myself (and I do have a $20 yarn store gift certificate...).
Hallowig - very, very clever. I might have to do this one, just to do it.
Good points about the issue:
Hallelujah for the lack of kids' patterns!
Hallelujah for the extended sizing! (But it'd be nice if it was stuff a chubby girl could actually wear.)
Yay for some different designers!
Yay for lots of articles that I will get around to reading eventually!
Tipper @ 6:56 AM * link
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Thursday, September 09, 2004
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Daily Fiber Therapy my arse!
Isn't it annoying that it's more like weekly fiber therapy? I know, I know. I wish I had things to report, as well. Maybe I should spend more time putting my knitting rants, etc. here, instead of in my Livejournal. Goodness knows I have enough of those.
Madli is my main gal lately. I'm currently midway through the 17th repeat of the middle, meaning I have 13.5 repeats to go. I've finished one ball of my Domy Heather. Now I just have to find the other skein and we'll be rockin'.
The middle, spread out so you can see the lace pattern a little better.
And the border, pinned out. The color in this one is spot-on.
I'm not happy with my bobbles for the first six inches or so of the shawl. These are the ones I did by purling through all 7 stitches. I'll have to go back and do some tweaking. None of the bobbles are really popping right now, so I'll have to manhandle them a bit.
Secret Pal stuff
I've been wracking my brains trying to figure out what to get my secret pal; I'm surprised it's so difficult for me. I've bought a few things and need to ship at least one of them out. I hope she's pleased. I want to be one of those secret pals whose presents make the recipient pee their pants with glee. Or at least, want to start on the project right away.
I'm eagerly awaiting my first package, which my secret pal says is on its way. YAY! It's better than Christmas!
Project ponderance
I have absolutely no idea what my next project will be. I'm not feeling a pull towards anything in particular. Since I'm in such a nice work-on-one-thing-til-it's-done groove, maybe I'll start another sweater. Finishing a sweater is very satisfying.
It's almost unnerving to me how difficult it is for me to buy yarn these days. It's like pulling teeth! Maybe I'm not inspired... or maybe I'm just holding out for the really good stuff since I know it's more satisfying to complete one big expensive project than several little projects.
Tipper @ 12:24 PM * link
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Thursday, September 02, 2004
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It's Secret Pal time!
Here's my little secret pal questionnaire. I took out some stuff that I didn't feel was pertinent.
1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high-end/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?
I'm a proud yarn snob. It;s not that I hate Red Heart or Lion Brand, it's just that, all things considered, it's not worth it to me. I can spend just a little bit more and get exactly what I want. Why settle? I do love the new yarns that Lion Brand is developing, though I don't have much reason to use them.
2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I do spin, with a wheel (Ashford Traditional). I also kind-of crochet; I can't pull myself away from knitting long enough to get more into it, though!
3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)
None.
4. How long have you been knitting?
Off and on since I was nine, but I never really got into it until a couple of years ago, after I picked up Knitting for Dummies. Then I became obsessed. I consider myself an advanced knitter; I haven't done it all, but I'm pretty certain I can!
5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes - Amazon wish list.
6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I like almost anything, except for things scented like food.
7. Do you have a sweet tooth?
I have a whole mouth full of them.
8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I sew a little, and do Ukranian egg decorating sometimes, but that's about it. I don't have time for anything other than knitting!
9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?
I can play MP3s, but I don't listen to music much and it's difficult to categorize what I do like (Bjork, Sigur Ros, the Coral, the Beatles).
10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?
I love them all, but I especially adore leafy greens and pink and teal blue.
11. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
I prefer animal fibers, and I love handpainted yarns. My biggest weakness is laceweight yarn.
12. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I'm not a big fan of mohair, unless it's blended with something, or in the form of Kidsilk Haze/Douceur et Soie.
13. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
I love lace knitting.
14. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Shawls and scarves are always a favorite; they can be really interesting and they're easy to give to people.
15. What are you knitting right now?
Madli's Shawl from the Summer 2004 Interweave Knits.
16. What do you think about ponchos?
I want one, but I haven't gotten around to making one yet. I'm not sure which yarn I want to use and what style it should be.
17. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Circulars, specifically Addi Turbos and shiny Inox circulars. I prefer metal needles in general.
(Yay! I got a comment from my secret pal!)
Tipper @ 9:56 AM * link
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