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Saturday, November 26, 2005
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I just keep having babies!
This is Sophie. We adopted her from the humane society today, kind of on a whim. She's a six-month-old basset hound who was surrendered because the previous owners "weren't ready for a puppy" (one of my least favorite excuses). She's a big, sweet, lazy lump of dog, and despite having been scared of people when she arrived at the shelter, she's quite friendly and outgoing. She's not housebroken or trained yet, so we've got some work to do. Even the cats are getting along with her: Emma, usually timid, is just sort of hanging around, and Reggie is trying to kick the dog's butt (but at least he's not scared).
I think she'll be a wonderful addition to our family! And that she'd be really cute in a sweater.
Tipper @ 9:01 PM * link
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Friday, November 25, 2005
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Thankful for yarn, and for Matthew, and for knitting, and for turkey, and for yarn...
I hope all you 'Mericans out there celebrating Thanksgiving got stuffed to your gills with delicious food and your souls topped off with family and friends. We didn't have many people over (my sister and a friend of ours) but we had fun and fullness. I cooked an enormous feast.
The spread.
But you're here to hear about knitting, aren't you?
You can see my progress on Fair Isle Jazz in that there picture. I love the saturated colors of the Peruvian Highland Wool, and it's surprisingly soft. I messed up the cable a little, somewhere, so I'm fudging it and it'll work out just fine.
I whipped up this Love Bite last weekend, using some handspun and adding vintage buttons from my button box. I wish there was one extra wedge of lace in the bottom, since it doesn't quite flare enough and ends up curling up at the bottom, but that's hardly something that will be noticed when it's wedged under a coat.
Speaking of coats, my new one should arrive today or tomorrow. I bought a new coat really cheaply (80% off) last year, at the beginning of spring, but despite it being a $350 coat, it is not very warm at all. The weave of the wool makes it entirely non-windproof, and quite unsuitable for a Minnesota winter. Maybe even worse was the difficulty in knitting things to match it. My hat goes with it, but that's about it. However, most of the winter accessories I have now, or am knitting, have orange in them. Heck, the Fair Isle Jazz scarf has orange and the weird green that matches my boots. It's like fate.
It's snowing outside, and I'm so thankful that I get to spend the day in a warm house, gazing out the window, knitting in hand, kittens by my side, and Law & Order on all darn day!
Holiday yarn sale alert!
I'm not sure how long it lasts, but if you enter "November" as a coupon code at Carodan Farm, you'll get 25% off your order. I believe there's a minimum purchase required, but I'm not exactly sure of the amount (over $20 and under $40, I know that much!). Right now I am hemming and hawing about some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock.
Tipper @ 8:07 AM * link
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Saturday, November 19, 2005
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This and that.
Apparently, I am offically "that girl who knits" on my bus. The other night a woman sat down next to me and asked, "Where's your knitting?" (It wasn't being knit; some nights - most knits - it just tends to lull me to sleep, and although moving vehicles frequently put me to sleep, I get freaked out when that happens and it's best to avoid the situation if at all possible.)
The first completed wrap has been posted in the Scarf/Wrap Style Knit-Along. Isn't it cute? I think the subtle color variation in the yarn makes it look a lot more vintage and stylish than the sample in the book. Of course, now I want one.
Tonight I cast on for, and am about halfway through a Love Bite neckwarmer using this handspun (it's much brighter in person). It's going quite well. I hope it a) fits, and b) I can find some awesome vintage buttons in my button box for the finishing touch (finding three matching ones should be no problem).
Also tonight: spinning, for the first time in a long time. I wanted to do something sheepy; the only thing that fit the bill was some lincoln lamb/silk. I spun up the two ounces and really want to ply, but, alas, it needs a rest first. I doubt I'llg et much yardage out of it - 150, I'd guess.
In other news, I also cast on for the Fair Isle Jazz scarf the other evening and I'm about 2/3 through the first colorwork section. The color combo is looking quite spiffy, if I say so myself. The green could be greener and the orange could be darker, but it's working out a-okay.
I've had pretty much the whole day to myself and my crafting. It agrees with me.
Tipper @ 9:02 PM * link
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Monday, November 14, 2005
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I kick designer butt.
So, remember how I said that I was totally baffled by the decrease instructions for the brioche hat? Well, that hasn't changed, although I did what a lazy person does, and on the third attempt, I just thought, "Hey, screw it. This doesn't make sense. I'll do what DOES make sense." In the end, there was a victorious me and a hat with decreases that look nice... and a four-row repeat instead of 21 rows of instructions written out.
I'll share:
Round 1: This round is the same as the first decrease round, using dark yarn: (k2tog, sl1, yo) twice, k2tog, k3tog, sl 1 with yarn in front, move yarn to back, slip next to stitches as to knit, slip next stitch as to knit, slip all back to left-hand needle and knit through the back, (k2tog, sl1, yo) 3 times. Repeat til the end.
Round 2: Knit as in previous (non-decrease rows), but when you encounter two dark stitches next two each other, slip both as to purl, with yarn in back.
Round 3: Knit as in previous rows, knitting together the dark stitches.
Round 4: Knit as in previous rows.
Repeat these rows until you have 20 or so stitches left (including yarn overs). k2tog or k3tog until you're left with enough stitches for it to be reasonable to pull the yarn through.
That's it. Ta-da!
Tipper @ 9:23 PM * link
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Sunday, November 13, 2005
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Screw pictures, I need to whine.
Since we were last with our slightly crabby heroine, she has finished one very belated sock for the sock exchange, but has not yet cast on for the other (recipe for disaster?). She has gotten to the point of decreasing on her two-color brioche hat, but flung it away in disgust last night because the decreases are 20-ish lines long and really counterintuitive and the first try looked awful.
She has also crocheted a tad, attempting to create teeny thread snowflakes in some attempt to reclaim her youth and connect with her past. She sucks at it. One snowflake is done, and others keep trying to enter into existance, but they are daunted by their creators pure suckage with thread and hooks.
This ambitious-nearly-to-a-level-of-insanity woman also spent countless hours putting the first layer of wax on 9 eggs, yet foiled her brilliant dyeing plan by putting the eggs with a dark first layer in before those with a yellow first layer, setting the stage for disaster in the form of smudges.
Very little productive knitting has been done, and for this, she is ashamed. She cannot seem to sit still without falling asleep or becoming dreadfully bored or being lured to the kitchen by the siren song of dishes that need to be washed. At this rate, she will be done knitting at quarter to never.
Also, she realizes she is running out of room for yarn. Again. (And she wishes people would stop crediting "Knitty" for patterns, rather than the actual designers.)
Tipper @ 7:42 PM * link
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Wednesday, November 09, 2005
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Slow and steady wins the race
That, my dears, is two-color brioche stitch's personal credo. It sure ain't fast, but it sure is pretty.
This is the first time I've knit with Malabrigo. I love to softness and the squoosh, not so much a fan of how the light blue ball had four breaks in it or how it doesn't like to be ripped out. The fibers cling together like they're impersonating mohair.
As you can see, I did end up buying Weekend Knitting. I got a tremendous deal, actually. I had a gift card, which Matthew won at an employee meeting. (He's a certified professional framer. Hot, eh?) I grabbed a Christmas stamp set for card-making, and that was 25% off. I got up to the register and the nice checkout girl scanned a 50% off coupon for my book. The total for my book and stamps was about $13, less than the regular price of the stamps. I love it when that happens.
And I do dig this book. Although most of the patterns are a little more basic than I usually use patterns for, all the patterns have an interesting twist (the fingerless mitts, for example). I love the argyle slippers (and will use Naturespun for those) and the perfect pie shawl. And, of course, this two-color brioche hat. The two-color tubular cast-on sure is crazy, though. Remarkably, I didn't twist the cast-on either of the times I did it. My first attempt at this hat kicked my rear, as I thought I was too smart to use a stitch marker. Trust me, no one is too smart for a stitch marker when dealing with this pattern.
Q&A
I love it when I have questions to respond to!
Delana asked if I liked the Bearfoot. I love Bearfoot. It's so very soft, yet strong (I bet it wears like iron), didn't split for me except on cable crossing rows when I wasn't paying attention, and it creates a dense-but-soft fabric. No problems with getting dyes on my fingers for me, either.
Carissa wants to know the name of the cable in the sleeve in my last post. It's an upsidedown staghorn cable (or Staghorn Cable II, according to The Harmony Guides 450 Knitting Stitches Volume 2, which is a great stitch library for the money):
Knit over 16 stitches.
Set-up row: p across
Row 1: C4F, k8, C4B
Even rows: purl
Row 3: k2, C4F, k4, C4B, k2
Row 5: k4, C4F, C4B, k4
I purled through the back for stitches 8 and 9 on row 6, to tighten the cable up a bit.
Renada commented on my Tudor Roses buy. I didn't know it at the time, but apparently it's out of print (am I right?). Yarnzilla had several copies, in hardcover. Thank goodness I bought it - I was balking at the $28 price tag!
Speaking of sales...
I went to the Yarn Cafe to check out their sale on Sunday, and left without anything. Why? Their sale - apparently - was one where you pick out all your yarn, then pull out a colored chip that tells you your discount. Now, I'm not going to spend time picking out yarn only to find out I get a whole 10% off. I'm not going to buy yarn I don't need unless I'm getting a significant discount up front. Maybe the hoity-toity fancy people in Maple Grove (or executives who own yarn shops) are cool with that, but I'm po' (relatively speaking). And cheap.
I didn't have much luck at Amazing Threads, either, although they had some really nice stuff discounted (like Optima, 30% off). Nor did I have luck at Three Kittens when I breezed in and out (I was in a hurry). I'd love to make these Norwegian stockings (don't we all after seeing that picture?) and I'd love to use Dale of Norway yarn, but, man, that's an expensive pair of socks, and they don't have the colors I want to use (I'm thinking brown main color, light green/celery contrast color, and a darker green or orange or ivory for the second contrast color along the top). I have poor knitting-fu lately. Or at least, poor yarn-fu.
I'm going to go now so I can knit on my brioche hat for a few minutes before having to jump in the bathtub and start my day. (I have Friday off. You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to that.)
Tipper @ 5:03 AM * link
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Sunday, November 06, 2005
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Do not let the quantity of pictures fool you
I have been knitting almost every second possible. I'm a knittin' foo' lately.
My favorite project on the needles is the sweater I'm making for my sister. Knitpicks Merino Style is incredible. (I believe that Grumperina and I seem to disagree on every single yarn. First Merino Style, then Bearfoot. When will it end?) It should say enough about the yarn and project that I knit on it when I need comforting.
This is a long-delayed photo of a long-delayed sock, one I'm swapping with a (former) member of Advanced Knit, using this pattern. I'd never done an eye-of-partridge heel until now; it looks pretty darn cool with handpainted yarn. The yarn is something-or-other I bought off of eBay ages ago. The seller (I think it was lotusblossom and that this is Twinkletoes sock yarn) sent me TWO hanks in two colors, when I had bid on two. I ended up selling off one hank recently. It's a good thing, too, as I think I'll get about six socks out of the ball of yarn I have. I'm halfway through one sock and have barely made a dent.
The sales. Oh, God! The sales!
It seems that this weekend is Official Twin Cities Yarn Shop Sale Weekend. Today a friend and I stopped by Yarnzilla. I ran into quite a few people I know (hi, people!) and came out with 11 skeins of Cascade 220 ($5 each!) in a nice grey-brown heather color, Tudor Roses, and a pair circular needles for my brioche hat. The yarn is for a sweater for my honey, and I think Henry VII (link is to the women's version made by Alison - gorgeous!) would be a good choice. I would need to upsize somehow (in true me fashion, I haven't really considered gauge yet), but how often do I not have to upsize?
As Christy kindly (or evilly, depending on your perspective) pointed out, Yarn Cafe is having a sale this weekend. Amazing Threads has one going on as well. There are a couple of other stores having sales, too, but neither of them are stores I like to visit.
I have a grand plan for tomorrow that involves hitting the gym, going to Michael's to buy either a) Weekend Knits - I am obsessed with this book for some reason or b) things to do - gasp! - stamping (I went to a Stampin' Up party today and actually succumbed; I'm going to make my Christmas cards. I cannot resist the cuteness any longer.). Then I shall visit Yarn Cafe, just down the road, then Amazing Threads. After that, it's off to Roseville and a meeting with the lovely ladies of the Yarnover committee. And then... I have another Stampin' Up party to go to. (At least I am getting six free cards out of the deal, eh?)
I guess that this is what having a life is like. It's about time I learned! (And in the meantime, I will try not to think about everything that isn't getting done.)
PSA
Yarnzilla now carries Handmaiden and Fleece Artist yarns!! They're amazing. I did an excellent job restraining myself, although I fear it will not last long.
Tipper @ 12:20 AM * link
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