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Sunday, October 30, 2005
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The usual
I cast on for a hat last night - two-color brioche in the round! How exciting! - using my Malabrigo. At 64 stitches on size 7's, it fit perfectly, but was not as dense as I desired. Of course, I have no 16 inch circular needles in either size 5 or 6. I have a size 4... somewhere. I am saddened. I must now either buy another needle now (oh how I want to!) or wait until next week (both Yarnzilla and Amazing Threads are having sales) and hope I run into a discounted needle.
I'm knitting a sock that is cute and the right size, but it keeps outwitting me. It's making me forget yarn overs that I fail to notice for eight rows, and then have to drop down and pick up teeny-tiny stitches in a lace pattern. Oy.
I am trying to talk myself out of buying the yarn for the embroidered jacket AGAIN. See, Bea Ellis is having a sale on Falk - 20% off - and I picked out perfect colors from the colorcard and I can't stop thinking about this sweater! Maybe I should think about my huge stash, or the fact that I'd have to alter the pattern in order for it to fit me (it goes up to a 43 inch bust, which I will never have unless I get a boob reduction surgery). Chances are I'll just sit and think of how pretty it is.
I went to stitch and bitch at Insomniac Beads (best SnB location ever!) last night, and pretty much drooled on Nicole's fair isle skirt. Oh, how I want one! It's glorious.
So, as you see, the usual: needing needles, being thwarted by patterns, and wanting yet more yarn, with a sprinkle of project lust.
Tipper @ 5:39 AM * link
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Friday, October 28, 2005
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I may be nuts, but...
I really, really dig this free pattern from Berroco. A legwarmer/sock/thing sewn to a clog to make a BOOT! This is a step up from my knit clogs (and maybe a way to get boots that are a) funky and b) able to fit around my calf, as apparently I have monster calves in addition to monster boobs.
Tipper @ 9:04 PM * link
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Wednesday, October 26, 2005
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Where do I cash in?
In other news, I finished my gloves this morning before work. I decided to leave the right thumb as it was; it really looked and fit no different than the left. I'm happy to report that my hands are happy and snug as bugs in rugs.
Tipper @ 6:39 PM * link
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Finished gloves are within my grasp!
...and then I realize that:
a) My provisional thumb on glove #2 has way too many stitches. This is, of course, after I have completed two fingers.
b) Hey, if I can graft some of that closed, I might as well rip out the thumb of glove #1 to make it fit!
Someday, I will have gloves. I hope this day will arrive soon, as it is getting quite chilly out there. I plan for that someday to be today, since I wrote this TWO DAYS AGO and haven't bothered posting it.
I am thoroughly divided as to what to do next. If I'm knitting my sister a sweater, I should get on that. At the same time, I feel like I spoil my sister by knitting her a sweater. Sure, I just knit my mom a sweater for no reason at all, but what'm I going to get her for Christmas? Also, I don't know if I bought enough yarn; guess it's time to swatch and see.
Heck, I kind of just want to make it because I *can*. I really love recreating things I've seen elsewhere; it's almost as much of a challenge as coming up with the actual designs myself.
Tipper @ 5:04 AM * link
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Saturday, October 22, 2005
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What did I say about getting distracted by shiny things?
Take away my check card. Seriously. Even if I have the money, I shouldn't buy another skein of Malabrigo (a dark teal blue, a counterpoint to the light teal I bought before, so I can make a hat/mittens set) just because it's $2 off cause it's the last of its color. I suppose it was okay to buy another ball of Crystal Palace Merino Lace, since I needed another to make Wrapped in Tradition. But did I need to buy four balls of Galway wool in a pretty rose color to make the Grand Plan Cabled Turtleneck Caplet (actually a poncho) even if the yarn was 20% off and I only needed four balls and the sample in the store was just so cute? However, I must be commended for my resistance to beautiful Schaefer Anne at 20% off. So soft! Makes such beautiful socks!
Seriously, I'm not allowed to buy yarn in, like, forever. STOP TEMPTING ME, YARNS!
Edited to add: The Bead Alley in Stillwater, Minnesota, is the location of aforementioned 20% off yarn. This store, by the way, is the increasingly typical bead + yarn store combination. Interestingly, however, their yarn stock consists of mainly 100% wool/other animal fiber yarn, since their focus is on felting. Now, I don't much care for felting (although I loved their Fiber Trends clogs on display), but the yarn selection was excellent. It was organized by color, so it was difficult to find specific yarn, but there were some very practical, inexpensive, traditional yarns on display. Er... looks like the 20% off sale ended today, though.
In further news, I wish to report that my hot lava cardigan sucks. I tried it on last night - thank goodness I did. After getting halfway through the final bust increases, it reached about an INCH down my bosom. I have sizable bosoms, I know, but this made me feel like some sort of monster (albeit a voluptuous one). Had I continued until my breasts were covered, I'd end up with a collar a foot long. Compounding the problem was the fact that the back was really friggin' tight. I was knitting to size, not to pattern, so I had fewer rows on the back than called for; I wanted to avoid that ugly puffy-back look. Unfortunately, it just made it unwearable.
My plan is as follows:
1. Rip out everything of the body that I've done.
2. Cut across the back and add an inch or two, then graft it back together.
3. Pick up stitches for the back as called for, but more stitches for the front.
4. Do short-row shaping, along with an increase on each side, avoiding the "collar" area until much later in the process. I want a 2-inch (or so) collar, not a big clown thing.
And that should do it. Only problem is that I refuse to start until I have my camera back up and running, which means I'll have to wait for my mom to send my charger, or buy a new one (it'd be $30 so IIIII don't think so).
Tipper @ 6:15 PM * link
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Friday, October 21, 2005
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Camera as a procrastination tool
I haven't posted - although I have plenty to post about (I'm going through a talkative phase) - because I'm saving my camera battery. Genius me forgot it in Arizona, the battery indicator has turned an angry red, and I hesitate to take silly pictures of knitting at the expense of taking silly pictures of... Um, do I take pictures of anything else?
I finished Larch on Tuesday night, and it looks much better off the needles than it did when I was knitting and knitting and knitting on it. I'll block it this weekend. 1/4 ball of yarn to spare!
My goal of finishing the arms of the hot lava cardigan last weekend was reached, and now I'm about midway through the body. It won't take me any more than four skeins, which annoys me quite a bit. That's $28 I didn't have to spend!
The Viennese Shrug and I have spent some time together the past couple of days; it's been my bus knitting. The "seam" between the two halves does not look perfect. The pattern calls for a provisional cast-on and picking up stitches for the second half, and this half is looking like it's half of a stitch off all the way across. Easily fixable, though somewhat irking.
Planning
I need to sit down and plan. I have yarn for about 500 projects waiting for me, but I keep getting distracted by shiny new yarn (and big needles). There are several colorwork projects that have been waiting for me, and I feel awful about neglecting them.
My Sisik yarn and colorcards arrived (Falk would be great for the Norsk Strikkedesign embroidered jacket that I lust for) on Wednesday; pretty darn fast, having come from Massachusetts. That's just another project to add to the list (and it's colorwork, too!).
WIPs really need to be inventoried as well. I'm trying to whittle them down (hence taking the Viennese Shrug with me on the bus). Two huge ones that I need to finish as soon as possible are those for Matthew: his Rhapsody in Tweed sweater and handspun socks. The first has two sleeves and half the back done; he wants it as a cardigan, so I will need to modify the front when I get to that point. The latter are too big and need to be ripped.
For Christmas this year, I'm going to turn to pysanky rather than knitting. I haven't done it in awhile and would like to do some; it would be nice to have a reason to do it. I'm going to organize it in a very productive manner, doing one color at a time on a half dozen (or more) eggs. That will also take care of what tends to be a problem - colored smudges.
The biggest project on my to-do list is FINALLY FINISHING MY WHEEL. It has sat unfinished - though not unused - since May. I hope I didn't do irreparable damage to the finish with the oil stains, although I'm staining it with oil, so that shouldn't be much of a problem, eh? This is one of those projects that makes me want to sit in front of a fire to do, with snow falling outside. Hey, we do have a fireplace - a fake one in the basement (hey! There's also space to do such a thing in the basement!) - although there aren't any windows I could use to see snow.
I want to finish hot lava before Saturday so I can wear it on our trip to the orchard. I will match the fallen leaves and will thus be invisible!
Tipper @ 5:01 AM * link
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Saturday, October 15, 2005
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My hand is in glove.
One glove down, one to go:
It's mostly perfect. It's not a tight fit, but it's not simple to throw on. The thumb is too wide; I corrected this initially by throwing in some decreases, but it now feels like it starts too far over. I am pleased, however, and will cast on for the other soon. The weather (balmy, sunny, and gorgeous in general) is not encouraging such activity.
Here's my progress on the hot lava cardigan:
I'm six inches down the second sleeve and have only used two skeins of yarn. I find it hard to believe it will take six for the whole thing. I omitted the ridiculous "spine" on the back, since I thought it looked like a mistake, not a design element.
And the above is Larch (my fake Birch), not very many rows away from completion. It's going to be BIG, but I haven't even gotten halfway through skein number three of Kidsilk Haze.
Recent acqusitions
Thursday, an envelope was awaiting my arrival home. Inside was Knitscene, Interweave's answer to knit.1. It certainly surpassed that, in quantity (44 patterns!) and quality. The items are wearable, yet trendy, and made out of a wide variety of yarn (i.e., more than just Lion Brand). There's even a non-ugly men's sweater. Select patterns are available on the web.
I have not yet received it in my hot little hands, but I have ordered Dale Sisik for Gerbera. Bea Ellis Knitwear has Sisik for 40% off; I've been eyeing it for a long time and decided to take the plunge. I'm going the purple/green route, although I already have a tweedy purple sweater and countless green ones in the making. One can never have too much tweed or green. I also purchased color cards for Helio and Falk, in hopes of possibly using them for a Norsk Strikkedesign sweater or two.
Goals
I like knitting toward goals. Christmas is a huge goal date coming up, and I haven't even begun to think of gifts to knit for people. (Ideas are appreciated!) I could always go the scarf route, but that gets boring after awhile, for everyone involved. Maybe I'll pick up Handknit Holidays somewhere or other and there will be something in there that jumps out at me.
Short-term goals (i.e., this weekend) are to finish Larch and the second sleeve on Hot Lava. I'm also making it a goal for the second week in a row to start Wrapped in Tradition, but I will wait until Larch is done for that.
So much to knit, so little time!
P.S. to limedragon: the Barnes & Noble with the best selection of knitting books I've seen is the one in Har Mar Mall.
Tipper @ 3:35 PM * link
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Thursday, October 13, 2005
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I like yarns.
My Elann and Knitpicks stuff came, and so I am happy. The deep blue sea is a little darker than I expected (I was hoping for something a little greener), but the colors work together well nonetheless. It's my first time ordering Knitpicks brand yarn. The Sock Garden in Morning Glory is gaudy (luckily it's not for me). The Essentials in Pumpkin is just right, and the Merino Style in Moss is a perfect color, and soft, but all of it seems so insubstantial. Maybe it's just the packaging (boring and loose). Maybe I'm just annoyed because I didn't get a response to my "um, why is there no order history?" email until AFTER I got charged for it. Not to mention, there's still no order history.
I'd have a finished glove to show you, except for that it's not finished. I'm on the pinky, will redo the thumb by adding a bunch of decreases (I *totally* don't need the 1.5 inches IK says I do for MY thumb), will redo ends, and then I'll be done. It's luscious and the colors are amazing. I recommend Mountain Colors Bearfoot for all of your knitting needs.
It would be finished if it didn't seem like I was spending every waking moment at work. Last night I was so stressed out I couldn't even knit and went to bed just a little after 9. That explains why I'm up at 5:30 a.m. and have no excuse to avoid the gym (though I'm trying to think one up).
Knit Out Review
This years knit out was much smaller and less organized than last year's. There were fewer knitters and non-knitters, although we got plenty of strangers coming up and admiring our work. I didn't win a door prize (though witnessed a good idea: including an addressed thank-you card with door prizes) or win the fastest knitter contest. I did, of course, enjoy spending time with mon amie Nicole.
Tipper @ 3:44 AM * link
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Saturday, October 08, 2005
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A very knitterly day, the first of a very knitterly weekend.
Today was all about knitting. I dropped my honey off at school and spent the morning with myself (I'm a bit of an introvert, and solitude recharges my batteries like nothing else), having breakfast and reading Drums of Autumn and starting my gloves. After picking up said honey and dropping him off at a comic book convention, I attended a meeting of the committee of the Minnesota Knitters' Guild Yarnover; I'm so pleased that my friend Nicole invited me! I absolutely adore planning events and I hope I can bring something useful to the table. If nothing else, I can do the grunt work. Hey, I'm new - consider it hazing.
We were at the Barnes and Noble that has a remarkably good crafts section; two entire bookcase sections devoted to knitting, and they even carry some spinning books on occasion. This gave me a chance to check out Knitting Vintage Socks (a disappointment; I'm glad I didn't buy it before seeing it), Alterknits (I've heard rave reviews and thought it was a great idea, but didn't see anything I would knit), and my new favorite must-have book: Melanie Falick's Handknit Holidays. Holy tamoley, is that book beautiful. I want to make almost every project in there, which is a remarkable statement.
Tomorrow is the Minnesota Knit-Out, and I'll be there with bells on. If anyone's interested, we're meeting at Big Bowl for lunch at 11 a.m.
Tipper @ 7:31 PM * link
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Friday, October 07, 2005
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Ah, new projects
...or at least, the promise of them.
One scarf in Scarf Style I've had my eye on since the very beginning has been Fair Isle Jazz. The center is full of cables and bobbles, the ends a funky fair isle, punctuated by pompoms. Last night I just felt like buying some yarn, so I did. I'll be getting these colors of Highland Wool from elann.com.
 Claret
 Victorian Rose
 Deep Blue Sea
 Mesa Teal
 Eggplant
 Harvest Heather
 Oregano
The deep blue sea will be the main color. Now I just hope that Highland Wool is as nice as everyone says and that the colors work as well together in person.
I also placed an order at Knit Picks this morning, but they seem to have no record of it, and I didn't get a confirmation email because I changed my email address to the wrong thing. I did, in fact, order some Merino Style to make something like this:
That is, Laurel, from Jo Sharp Knitting Book One, which I am too cheap to buy.
I can figure it out, and I think it'd be a nice Christmas gift for my sister. (I have no idea why I am so compelled to knit her sweaters every Christmas, aside from the fact that she's a good wee sister. Maybe it's just because she's skinner than me so I can create SMALLER beautiful things for a change.)
Four balls of sock yarn made it into my shopping cart as well - some Sock Garden for socks for the future mom-in-law, and plain ol' orange sock yarn because I want orange socks, because I'm in love with orange lately.
This weekend I am going to indulge in some startitis: casting on for gloves in Mountain Colors Bearfoot in "Thunderhead" and Wrapped in Tradition (from Wrap Style) in Crystal Palace Kid Merino.
Tipper @ 9:13 PM * link
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Tuesday, October 04, 2005
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I was going to blog, but...
Sunday night I was going to blog about my progress on the Hot Lava Cardigan. Then I was hit with an attack of hives (out of nowhere) and freaked out. I went to bed with lots of antihistamine flowing through my veins.
Last night I was going to blog about said progress on said cardigan, but I got a few more hives and was also very tired by 10 p.m.
Tonight I was going to post pictures of said cardigan, seeing as though I am a) not full of itchy welts, and b) awake, but after reaching mid-back, I looked down at my work to discover that the second skein of Manos I wound was one with super-thin and super-thick places, plus a very slightly different shade of colors. Yes, I know, I should have knit from two balls at once, but that sounds like a recipe for "this knitting project sucks" to me. I decided to risk it, as my eyeball said that the dyes were similar enough (they are, really). But I never thought of the thick/thin business. Now either I have five skeins of thick/thin stuff and one skein of nicely thick-enough stuff, or the other way around, and either way, I want to rip out what I just knit. It would suck if there was that one patchy part amongst lush parts.
Matthew said that it looks good, but it's $85 worth of yarn so I want it to be PERFECT, dammit. I guess I shall rip out all the work I did during tonight's very riveting SVU episode.
The good news is this: I'm making the largest size (even larger than largest, since I apparently have long monkey arms*) and used one skein for just a bit over one sleeve. Now, the pattern calls for six skeins of Manos for the two largest sizes. I can probably do it in four, which means I'll have two skeins to do something else with and I won't have to live with the idea that I made an $85 sweater.
The other good news is this: my hives seem to have been caused neither by chocolate nor wool. Yes, there was a possibilty of allergy to either, but so far I've been hive-free and have consumed both items. (I did not eat the wool.) I believe I would rather be allergic to chocolate. Cheesecake can be at least as good as chocolate, but cotton will never be as good as wool. Of course, I'm left wondering what caused that little outbreak; let's hope it was just stress.
*Seriously, do I have long monkey arms? Why is it that I have to extend every single sleeve by at least three inches (this time it was four, and it still wasn't quite long enough; at least, it wasn't knuckle-length) beyond what the pattern calls for? Am I an apewoman? Do aliens come and stretch my limbs as I sleep? And why can I still not reach things on topmost shelves if this is the case? I want a refund.
Tipper @ 8:07 PM * link
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Saturday, October 01, 2005
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Who says handknitting isn't appreciated?
I finished three Jayne hats (an easy task; each one took under three hours altogether) in time for a showing of Serenity last night. Matthew, his friend Zach, and I wore ours into the theater and during the show and afterwards. Zach was most impressed with my creation, as were his friends (one told me, "You did a really good job." and I thought that was sweet).
What was funny was that immediately upon entering the theater someone yelled out, "Jayne hats!" and rushed over to ask where she could get a pattern. I let her know that if you type in "Jayne Cobb hat" in Google, you'll get a lot of hits, and I used the one from craftster.org. It'd be funny if she got this entry as well! (If you do, say hi!)
This evening I was considering the appreciation of handmade items, in the context of gift-giving. Last year I made my sister a sweater, and she loved it. I knew she would, as my family really appreciates the hard work that goes into crafts. She'll definitely be gifted with another sweater this year, it's just a matter of which one. I was thinking of a funky fair isle vest; I think colorwork suits her personality well.
I really appreciate that my hard work is appreciated. Since I've been knitting, I've taken the time to knit scarves or small gifts (like teeny sweater ornaments) for relatives, and they ooh and ahh. It's amazing how something so small can make such a huge impact, and I'm grateful that my family and friends are the types to be impacted so strongly.
Tipper @ 8:39 PM * link
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Of interest to Minnesotan knitters
KNITTER/DESIGNER WANTED: Minneapolis/St. Paul/northern suburbs area. If you
are a productive well-versed hand knitter and can knit from conceptual ideas
and patterns we want to talk to you today. Please e-mail your design resume
along with photos of two of your designs to linda@blueskyalpacas.com (If only I had the time, and a decent design resume, I'd totally do it.)
SECOND ANNUAL MINNESOTA KNIT OUT (Twin Cities) - October 9 - Activities include: Free knitting lessons, Fashion Show, Knit Guru, Displays of the latest yarns, patterns, tools and accessories, Minnesota Knitters' Guild (MKG) information, Raffle drawings, Charitable craft projects, Speed knitting contests,and Grand Knitters (FYI: These are MKG members who sit in big chairs and knit while people come up and ogle what they're knitting. It's the perfect knitter's gig!).
Location: Ridgedale Shopping Center, 12401 Wayzata Blvd., Minnetonka, MN
Contact: (Patsy Fisk at pfisk@mn.rr.com
Time: Noon - 4:00 pm
Tipper @ 1:20 PM * link
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