Hoodie-lem

The last couple of times I have been to Germany (okay, every time I've been to Germany), I've gone on a yarn-buying extravaganza. It's new, it's exciting, and it's often very cheap. My German cousins are well aware (as is everyone that knows me) of my knitting obsession. So when we were there last Christmas, their Christmas gift to me was a big bag of yarn. Very clever, those Germans.
It's not actually a yarn I would have chosen myself, but it's good to expand the horizons. It's Schachenmayr nomotta (excellent German yarn brand) Bravo Baby, 100% acrylic sport weight yarn. I don't usually go for acrylic, but I'm not going to turn down free yarn. In the band it looked white with blue flecks, but the overall effect knitted up is a speckled light blue. My cousin bought me a bag full of yarn, specifically enough to make a sweater.
This was over Christmas. I'm going back next week. Therefore, I had to have something completed in that yarn. It had to be for myself since it was a Christmas gift, and I don't really knit for myself that much. It also had to be a sweater, since that was the amount she had insisted on buying.
I pored over pattern books. I considered designing my own. I ran from that idea and went back to pattern books. I scoured the internet. I had to find a pattern that fit this small gauge and still looked good in a varigated yarn. After much frustration, I found myself back at my favorite knitting book, Stitch 'n Bitch, looking at a sweater I had planned to make at some point anyway. It's called Under the Hoodie, and it's shown in the book in mohair with red and pink stripes. It's cute in that pattern, but luckily I saw the basic shape and realized there is nothing more comfortable than a hoodie.
The gauge was perfect, and it fits really well (see what happens when you do go check the gauge?). The hem wants to roll on me, I want to block it into submission, but it's acrylic. But then, it's a hoodie, so I don't think a little roll on the hem is going to bother me too much when I'm in a hoodie kind of mood.
It's a lot of stockinette. It's a whole lot of stockinette, and most of the sweater is a really basic shape. The pocket and hood, both new to me, were pretty fun to knit though. The pocket was picked up at the bottom and knit together into a row at its top. The hood just kind of continued from the neck, with a really cute pattern at the neckline, and ended in a three-needle bind off. Even the ribbing at the edges is really cute, because it's a broken rib pattern that minimizes the frustration of actually ribbing. Overall, I'm happy with the finished product. Go go gadget gauge swatches!

Pattern: Under the Hoodie from Stitch and Bitch
Yarn: About 6 1/2 skeins of Schachenmayr nomotta Bravo Baby, sport weight, 100% acrylic. (I still have just under 4 skeins of it left.) Christmas gift
Needles: Size 7 (4.5mm) straight, Size 8 (5mm) 24" circular . Had to buy the circular, but that's okay, as I promptly picked it up again for a baby blanket
Price: $14.95 for the needles, the rest was in the collection or a gift
Time: Once I started knitting, it took about a month of farting around. Had I focused, I think it could have easily been done in two weeks.

Note: Please ignore the devil eyes and crazy hair in the photos. I had a long day and it was raining.

Sunburst Sling Bag

The truth is, I actually finished all the actual knitting for this bag some months ago. I just hadn't finished. That was partly because I'm lazy, but also because I could decide what kind of lining I wanted. There are so many rich colors in this bag, it didn't seem fair to pick just one. I tried, I even picked out some Indian cotton in a deep red, but when it came time to sew it up, it just didn't look right. I decided the answer was just to sew up the bag and worry about the lining later, by which I mean if I do decide on a lining, make my mom do it. The fabric actually seems dense enough that it's not going to be a problem. And the bag is large enough that I could fit a small European country (say, Luxembourg) in it.
The pattern was really fun to knit. It's the Sunburst Sling Bag, and it's a bunch of wedges made by short rows. I'm in love with short rows because they're easy enough that you can knit them in public, but not so boring that you want to chew your own arm off. It's a little stretched out in the picture because I've actually been using it, which is a bonus. I probably should have checked my gauge and not made it this big, but I really like it.

Pattern: Sunburst Sling Bag by Just One More Row, bought by a friend off eBay for $3
Yarn: Recylced Sari Silk
Needles: Size 8, in the collection, but clearly was wrong for the gauge. I maintain that this is a happy accident.
Price: We're not going to talk about that
Time: A few weeks of sporadic knitting, several months before seaming

Cupcakes!

I didn't think I was the type to knit food, I really didn't. But then I saw these knitted cupcakes in One Skein, and they were too cute to pass up. I'm mildly impressed with the people that seem to be able to turn any shape into a knitted item (see Knitorama) but it didn't really seem like my thing. But behold the cuteness. Don't look directly at it, it may be so cute it burns the retina. From left to right, we have a plain cupcake with white icing and blue (button) sprinkles, German chocolate, marble with white icing, and plain with lemon icing. I think there's something slightly wrong in the actual pattern though. When I first made them, the bodies of the cupcakes were way too tall. All but the German chocolate here were doubled over before I attached the tops. And the tops could be bigger in proportion to the base. I even used larger needles than recommended. Perhaps I just feel that the tops of cupcakes should be overstuffed, as they are clearly the best part. Either way. Great way to use up scrap yarn, and would make an adorable part of a birthday gift.

Pattern: Knitted cupcakes from One Skein
Yarn: Various scraps
Needles: Size 5 and 9 (though I used 11) dpn
Time: About an hour or two per cupcake

An Almost Disaster

Newly enamored with Last Minute Knitted Gifts, I decided to try the silk camisole. Only I decided not to make it with the recommended silk because 1. I'm cheap, 2. according to Knit and Tonic it pills the minute you sweat in it and 3. I'm cheap. So I hopped around the LYS and discovered some beautiful sock yarn in exactly the right gauge. The colors were rich and subtle. The feel was soft and smooth. Yes, Cherry Tree Hill, you had clearly gotten something right. I, however, had gotten something drastically wrong.
Actually, I had gotten several things wrong, but we shall see which is the most glaring. The first was gauge. I hadn't checked my gauge, was a needle size too big, and was knitting something that could have just about fit my dad (a 6'2" 220 lb ex-marine), when I was making it for me. Okay, minor setback. Ripped it out, checked the gauge dutifully, and I was back on track.
Then I couldn't read the first part of the pattern. As I was casting on, it gives instructions, then says place marker and repeat. I had not repeated. Well, at least it was the right gauge this time. Ripped it out, gave it another go.
Then came the lace border. The camisole itself has a little lace edging at the bottom, which is not the prettiest lace I've ever seen, but I was going to give it a try. Somehow, I kept getting the wrong number of stitches. I tried to fudge it, but the right number would never come out. I toyed with the idea of just skipping the lace entirely, but no, I said to myself, that would be lazy and wrong.
I checked the errata. I had already checked the errata when I first bought the book, but I checked it again just to be sure. Nothing wrong with this pattern in my edition. I tried the lace again. Still no luck, I kept getting the wrong number of stitches. I emailed the author. She told me to check the errata. I wrote out the lace pattern explicitly for my size and counted. No, it should be right. This time, armed with an army of stitch markers, I was going to get it right.
As I ripped back the yarn this last time, I marveled at it's beauty once again. And such a good deal, I thought to myself. All this was just one skein of sock yarn, enough to make a tank top.
Then it hit me. I had bought sock yarn. If you are a knitter, your ears (or eyes, or whatever part of you that's supposed to perk up when you're reading) have perked up at this point. Why yes, the very lovely Cherry Tree Hill Supersock.
Supersock. I had almost knit lace with a superwash. Lace, which must be blocked within an inch of its life, with a superwash, designed to defeat my every blocking effort.
Well, fine. I'm still going to make the tank top, just without the lace pattern, which was my original plan of retreat. The lace pattern really isn't that pretty anyway, and I can just echo the picot edge on the neckline. I'm just really glad I caught it now, before I did finally get the lace pattern right, and had no way to save it.
Although the way this tank has been going, other disasters may lurk in the future. So much for a six-to-eight hour project.

Wedding Pictures

Yes, I know. The wedding was a month ago. But I finally got around to taking the red eye out of the pictures, and here they are. Here's one with a nice closeup of me in my shawl, and one with me and the bride. I think the professional photographer got a really nice picture of Cassie in her shawl, but I haven't seen it yet. Sadly, I don't have a picture of my whole outfit complete with awesome shoes. You'd think, being 5'2", that it would be fairly easy to fit all of me into the frame, but I don't control my mother's camera. Well, I assure you, the shoes were stunning (if somewhat dangerous).
I also want to point out that I got a lot of teasing about wearing a watch with a semi-formal dress, but 1. I feel absolutely naked without a watch and 2. it matches! How could you pass up wearing a watch that matches? I stand by my decision.

Comments

So I wondered for a while why I never had any comments on my blog, I figured everyone who read it just talked to me in person or emailed me. Turns out I had "moderate comments" on the whole time. I apologize to everyone who posted.
And I call myself a geek.....

Baby Bolero

The latest knit for the shop is the Baby Bolero from One Skein. The shop got in a new yarn, Ultra Alpaca from Berroco. It's a nice 50/50 blend of alpaca and wool. This little sweater took well under a skein, so I made another mini sweater for the millions of naked dress forms in the shop as well.
It has a cute little lace motif at the back that is supposed to be good luck. Whether or not that's true, I think it's really cute. I do, however, need to stop taking pictures of things while they're blocking. You can still see soaking wet patches. The yarn itself does have a nice even tone and is quite soft to work with.
The pattern was really quick, I had most of it done in one evening. The only thing that took me longer was picking up all the stitches for the border. I'm pick up challenged for some reason. It finally turned out okay after two really hideous attempts. The first time I was distracted by the belly dancing though.
The mini sweater is again the one from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, which is a lot of fun and takes less than an hour. I can see this little guy on handmade cards, as a part of a wrapping on a gift, strung together as holiday garland, and of course, on all sorts of cute little dress forms at the shop.
But the summary for the bolero is:
Pattern: Baby Bolero from One Skein
Needles: Size 8, any kind (in the collection) and size 9 24" circular (borrowed from the shop)
Yarn: Ultra Alpaca, regularly $8.95 for 216 yards, 50/50 alpaca wool blend (available in lots of colors)
Time: Could easily be done in an evening if you can pick up stitches better than I can

Sweater seen in the wild

Look, here's Nancy, the owner of Fringe, wearing my hourglass sweater at Veronica's birthday party. The party was pretty awesome, btw. Not only was it a party in a yarn shop, but there was also lots of food, cake, beer, and belly dancing. Yep, belly dancing. I'm so going to learn.

Mini Sweater

So after I finished the marathon sweater, I wasn't quite done knitting sweaters, or with that yarn. Also in Last Minute Knitted Gifst is the really cute mini holiday sweater. I made it in the same yarn and changed it to a boatneck to match the hourglass sweater. Here it is on it's own, and with the mama sweater for scale. It went really quickly, probably an hour or hour and a half including seaming. I plan to make one of these little guys in about every yarn I use. This is convienient, since the LYS has lots of little wire dress forms that need covered. So 1. buy this book and 2. make this sweater.

I'll take that challenge!

I'm completely enamored of knitting up shop samples for my new LYS, Fringe. The owner set me up on another shop sample and challenged me to have it done in a week. This was last Thursday evening. I'm blocking it now. Hopefully it will be dry in time to take to the shop tomorrow.
The challenge was the Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts in Knit One, Crochet Too's Paint Box. The book itself is divided into sections based on how long each knitted gift will take to make. It's a good thing this sweater was in the More-Than-Eight-Hour category, or I would have been really cranky. It should have been in the Way-The-Hell-Longer-Than-Eight-Hour category. I have worked obsessively on this since last Friday, and I just finished hemming it. Yes, hems.
Now, I thought I would be cranky about the hems. It's knit in the round, so there's no side seams to sew (except for a small underarm section). However, the entire thing is made with a hem on every single edge. So take a pattern with no finishing, and add more finishing to it than you would put on any sweater, ever. But like I said, I thought I would be cranky about this. It actually turned out so cute that I'm not the least bit mad, I actually kind of enjoyed it, and will definitely do it again. It's an unexpected look for a sweater that turns out looking really nice.
The part I was really cranky about was the yoke. The first few rounds where you attached the sleeves to the body were really tight to knit. I wound up using my smaller needle to sneak them over sometimes. After that, it went pretty well. The neckline worries me. It seems a bit floppy, and that's what I had read on lots of online reviews. I even knit a few extra rounds as some of the knitalongs had suggested, and it still seems floppy. Hopefully I can whip it into shape with blocking.
The yarn, as it turns out, had me alternately mesmerized and cursing. The colors are beautiful, and it's really great to watch the changes as you're knitting. For a large part of the pattern, it's the only change in miles of stockinette. However, it's single spun, which means it's fairly weak. I found that the yarn tore apart on me as I was knitting, pretty much any time I pulled back with a lot of tension. Now it is 100% wool, which means you can split splice it back together, and to join a new ball, but it was still a hassle to have to deal with. It will felt, which could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you want. It makes me a little nervous in a sweater. It will run a little bit too. When I was washing it, the blue seemed to leak in particular. Once I squeezed it out, I left it on a beige towel to dry (stupid, I know, but I have no other color) and it was okay. It was scratchy to work with, but I'm told after using a wool wash it softens up nicely. We'll see. I had a free sample of a wool wash called Eucalan, maybe that will do the trick.
That said, I really do think I'll make the pattern again. The miles of stockinette were really boring at times, but it's a great movie sweater. The fit is really flattering, even though I tried it on before blocking. I have some delicious malabrigo yarn that I plan to make it in for myself. Hey, I already bought the needles, right?
The jury is still out on the yarn. We'll have to see how well it softens up. For me, it was a bit too scratchy, but I think it would felt really well. It would make an awesome bag, I'm just not really sure I want to work with it again. I'm the kind of person that would sleep in cashmere sheets if it were at all affordable (and it isn't, especially after last month's credit card bill), so softness really matters to me. And if it's too bright for you, don't worry, this is the brightest colorway, a #19 that doesn't seem to be listed on the website. There are some nice muted blues and purples or pastels.
In summary:
Pattern: Hourglass Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, in the collection.
Needles: Size 7, 32" and 12" circulars, had to buy the 32"
Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too's Paint Box, about 9 skeins to make the second smallest size, regularly around $10 a skein. Damn. Good thing it's a shop sample.
Time: 5 1/2 days of obsessive knitting and finishing, and a rare wool wash and block from me. The blocking was totally worth it though, look at the difference in the two photos.

Renaissance Faire

So yesterday, my mom and I went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire. You can see the pics here. It's mostly just entertaining to watch the shows and see all the interesting costumes, but I also got to pet a zebra, which was very exciting.
There was also a woman who did a demonstration about how to fold a kilt, and did various spinning related things. Here's a picture of me pretending like I can spin at her spinning wheel. I learned all about how to process and spin flax. It looks pretty much like straw when it's unprocessed, and then you kind of beat the heck out of it to turn it into to linen. You have to keep it wet when you're spinning too.
I also learned all about how to dye things with natural plant dyes. Queen Anne's Lace gives a lovely light green. There was a skein dyed with real indigo. There's a root that gives a reddish color. You can use black walnut to get a dark brown. Aparently there's a fungus that gives you purple, but I didn't see that. And if you want different shades of black, brown, or grey, you just get it from that color of sheep. Although I've dabbled in spinning, I really don't ever see myself going farther up the production chain than that. Still, it might be interesting to try the organic dye sometime.
Sadly, her yarns were not for sale since she used them as samples. I really wanted some nice handspun. You'd think at a Renaissance faire there'd be at least something knitting related, but that was it. Aparently last year there was something, but they cancelled this year. I was a little cranky about that. I even heard some other woman in one of the little bookstores asking her friend, "Did you find knitting?" Clearly, they're missing their market here.
Well, I still had fun. And I got to pet a zebra.

On Display

Here I am, on display at the Local Yarn Shop. That's the Ballet T from Loop-d-Loop and several of my hat designs, all in Brown Sheep Company's Cotton Fleece (80% cotton, 20% wool).
I was so excited to walk in and see my stuff hanging right next to the professionally knit sweater. The picture's a little bright, but it does fit right in. I'm going to have to take better pictures of the hats for the pattern.
This may possibly be the best deal ever. Not only am I not spending my own money to knit, I'm even getting something back for it.
But to summarize:
Ballet T:
Pattern: Loop-d-Loop, in the collection
Needles: A fun size 15, in the collection
Yarn: Brown Sheep Company's Cotton Fleece, no cost to me! Two skeins, regularly $8.50.
Time: About 4 hours for the larger size
Total Cost: Nothing!

Baby Hats:
Pattern: Mine! And you can get it at Fringe.
Needles: Size 7, in the collection
Yarn: Brown Sheep Company's Cotton Fleece, again, no cost to me. Two skeins will make 6 hats.
Time: About 2 hours per hat, three of which I did while on shift.
Total Cost: Nothing!

And while I'm at it, go see the absurdly cute JackRocketWear. You may hear more about them later.

The First Pattern!

Well, I've finally done it. I've written a pattern. An incredibly creative, awesome pattern, if I do say so myself. I've been knitting baby hats for years, mostly donating them to charity. I've based the hats off a couple of different patterns, but made many a modification along the way.
Now, for your knitting pleasure, all those possibilities are in one booklet - Choose Your Own Baby Hat Adventure.
It's written in the style of the choose-your-own-adventure books I read a lot as a kid. You know those? "You come face to face with fire-breathing dragon. What do you do? If you run and hide, turn to page 5. If you slay the dragon with your hero's sword, turn to page 17." Well, I would turn to page 5, get burned crispy, and that would be that.
However, knitting is an entirely different subject. For this hat, you choose each type of brim, body, top, and extras that you want for you hat, making the decisions by turning pages along the way. It winds up being 24 pamphlet pages, including charts and instructions. It was a bit tricky to figure out how to print that, let me tell you. But the prototype looks good, and I think all it lacks are a few more pictures.
The best part about this pattern is that I'm actually going to sell it at my new local yarn shop, Fringe. Friends who ask nicely may have a copy, but everyone else will just have to get it there. And on the pattern, I do highly encourage the knitter to make at least one of these hats for charity.
Start knitting!

Which do you prefer?

In the midst of shawl madness, I took a little break to make these sweet little baby booties. It took about one evening's worth of TV, and I've had them done for a little while. The trouble was, I debated for a long time on how best to show them off on the blog. Should I show off their tenderness by posing them delicately next to a flower? Or should I instead put them on a plush Albert Einstein?
I think this could be a new personality test. And I think I prefer the Einstein.

Pattern: From Simply Knitting, a fun little British magazine in the collection.

Needles: Size 4, in the collection

Yarn: Dale of Norway Baby Ull, leftovers

Time: One evening of TV.

Total cost: Nothing! Take that, all ye who mock the yarn stash!

Master Knitter - Part 1

Well, the Master Knitter packet Level 1 arrived the other day, and I tore into it.
It's pretty serious. There are sixteen essay style questions, a one-page report on blocking, and 16 swatches to knit. So far.....I have one swatch knit and the questions mostly answered in my head. The questions cover gauge, casting on, binding off, increases, decreases, cables, yarn size and type, and joining. Two swatches involve ribbing and basic stitches, one has seed stitch, three kinds of increases, three kinds of decreases, three with yarn overs and decreases, three with cables (including one you pick), and one using two colors.
Suprisingly, I'm having a really hard time with ribbing. I hate ribbing. I've hated ribbing for some time now. Not only is it irritating, it's not coming out neatly. No matter what I do, it still winds up coming loose between the ribs. Normally I would let this go, but I know they're going to be scrutinizing it, in exactly the way that a baby throwing off a hat I'd made them wouldn't.
Then, all of this has to be organized in a binder with page protectors and sent off to them.
And this is all only level one. It could take a while. Then add 4 - 6 weeks for review, possibly sending more than a few items back to be reworked.
Just as well. I can't afford level two yet anyway.

Marathon Lace Knitting

So I finished Cassie's wedding shawl a few posts back. Oh, I thought to myself, now I need a shawl too. And since I have more time, I can make something more interesting, in a yarn that really shows off the stitch pattern.
What the hell was I thinking?
Intricate = looking at the pattern every row
Shows off the stitch pattern = rip out every mistake
Luckily, I realized in time that I was going to have to finish it today to block and dry it before the wedding on Saturday. And when I thought I couldn't do another pattern repeat without throwing the shawl out the window, I took a break and made a little matching purse. Stockinette stitch in the round has never felt so good.
The shawl is soaking wet in these pictures, the purse is the color it will be when dry. And more importantly, it matches the amazing dress and shoes. The dress could look more flattering in that picture, but it's hard to take a picture of something while wearing it. It's actually strapless, those are the just the hanger straps. Just wait two more days before you start critiqueing. I'll post better pics from the event itself, including the wedding shawl in action.

At any rate, I'm incredibly glad to be done with it. I probably could have squeezed one more pattern repeat out of the yarn, but I'd hate to run out, and I'm too tired. I want to give this bad boy as much time to dry as possible.

The next time I plan to do something like this 1) slap me upside the head, and 2) make sure I give myself a little longer to do it.

In summary:

Pattern: Free Lacey Stole from Lion Brand

Needles: Size 7, in the collection

Yarn: Karabella Vintage Cotton (100% mercerized cotton), 6 skeins for shawl and purse at $6.75 a skein.

Total investment: $40.56 plus tax (the dress was only $9.99 from Ann Taylor)

Time: Two weeks of fairly hard core knitting, especially the last few days

Master Knitter

Did you know you can be certified to be a Master Knitter? Well I didn't, but I do now. I was hanging out at the local knit shop talking to people, and it turns out The Knitting Guild Association has a program to do just that. You join, pay a lot of money, then they send you instructions. You follow the instructions, mail back your samples, and get critiqued. When you pass each level, you get certified. And when you pass Level III, which involves designing your own Aran sweater and hat (and paying even more money), you get certified as a Master Knitter.
Now, I like a challenge. Especially a challenge that doesn't have a time limit and involves me doing something I'd do for fun anyway. I have offcially embarked down the path to becoming a Master Knitter. I also get to be a member of TKGA and get all four yearly issues of Cast On magazine to boot. Marvel at my newfound coolness. Part of me wants to recommend this to people, but I realize that's not realistic. It's just an absurd amount of money to be spending to have someone give you a pat of the back for knitting. While I know this logically, I'm still also really excited.
I have no delusions about passing easily. I know full well how capable I am of screwing up a garter stitch. Well, I know reasonably well. I'm sure I'll continue to amaze even myself with my own ability to mess things up in new and interesting ways. However, I do think this will make me pay a lot more attention to detail (something I have a problem with in all areas of my life) and think critically about my knitting. (Is knitting something you should think critically about? This is one of the critical issues to consider.)
Don't mind those screams you hear coming from the direction of my apartment. That's called progress.

Cute Overload

Go forth and discover the aptly named www.cuteoverload.com .
Warning: do not look at this in the office as people will wonder why you're cooing and speaking in a squeaky voice.

Quizzes

Inspired by Kristine's country quiz, I wandered over to bluepyramid.org myself. They didn't really get the country thing right for me, I'm so not Vatican City. (Anyone who knows me will laugh until they get stigmata from that one. ) However, it did totally nail the book quiz.

You're The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!by Douglas AdamsConsidered by many to be one of the funniest people around, you are quite an entertainer. You've also traveled to the far reaches of what you deem possible, often confused and unsure of yourself. Life continues to jostle you around like a marble, but it's shown you so much of the world that you don't care. Wacky adventures continue to lie ahead. Your favorite number is 42.

I am, in fact, right now, wearing my high school volleyball jersey. My number is 42.

I love internet quizzes. They make my insomnia worthwhile.

Gifts delivered

This weekend both my mom and Cassie got their respective gifts. My mom wore the T to work Monday. She put it on inside out at first and didn't realize it. I'm just not even going to comment further on that.
Now I'm working on a shawl for myself for the wedding to match my pretty turquoise dress (from Ann Taylor, originally $129.00, purchased for $9.99. I think I deserve a pat on the back for that one). I'm using a random lace pattern that I found online, but it's looking pretty cute. Íf I'm lucky, I'll have enough yarn to make a little bag too.
In the meantime, everyone should go see these patterns, because they're ridiculously cute. Hello Kitty has just the kind of cuteness that posseses my body like a demon and makes me speak in a high pitched voice and mispronounce words. You know what kind of cute I mean. The little kid in the sweaterset totally qualifies.

Mom, Don't Look

I mean it. Stop reading, and don't look at this picture. You'll get it soon enough. I had been planning on making this for my mom's birthday for a while, but this weekend I needed a break from tiny lace weight and made this tee in two strands of worsted. Ah, instant gratification. Out of curiousity, I timed myself, and I made this shirt in exactly three hours. And since it's knit from the top down with no seams, that included all the finishing, which just meant weaving in ends.
It's the ballet tee from Loop-d-Loop, which is an odd book, but entirely worth it for this pattern alone. This is the third incarnation I've made of this tee, and now that I realize I can do it 3 hours with a mere 400 yards of worsted weight yarn (see here in Classic Elite Provence Egyptian cotton), they will probably start mulitplying like rabbits. Or at least chinchillas. I've also made it in hot pink for myself (and wear it all the time) and a shiny beige for my mom before (so I know it fits). I also ordered her some matching flip flops from Teva, one of her favorite brands. Strange coincidence, actually. The book is by Teva Durham and the sandals are from the brand Teva. I totally didn't plan that, but should try to pass it off as if I did.
Anyway, in summary:

Pattern: From the book Loop-d-Loop, already owned
Needles: Size 15 circular needles, already owned
Yarn: Classic Elite Provence, two skeins at $8.50 each
Total investment: $17
Time: 3 hours

Wedding Shawl Finished!

So after some hard work and recorded TV shows this weekend, I finished Cassie's wedding shawl.
Even though it's not very wide, I'm still proud that it's thin enough to fit through a wedding band. Admittedly, it's a man's wedding band (my grandfather's, which I wear on a necklace), but I can still say I did it. Hopefully I'll be able to see her this weekend and drop it off. The finished product is a foot and a half wide and four and half feet long. I tried it on to see how it fit, I might have pranced around a little, and it wraps nicely around the shoulders. It's not so short that it falls off, but it's not so long as to get in the way of things.

In summary:
Pattern: Feather and fan lace, free from Sheep's Clothing, and a little bit of math
Needle: Size 10 circular, already owned
Yarn: Two skeins of Kid Silk Haze (75% mohair, 25% silk) at $15
Total cost: $30, but totally worth it for a good friend's wedding
Time: About two weeks, including the time I was moving apartments

Attention Bloggers!

You! Yes, you! All of you!
Start posting.
I know I've been lazy, but I'm making an effort. Time to step up, people.
I'm bored and need something to read. I'm making it your responsibility.

Evil Stores

So I moved this weekend. That's not the exciting part of the this post. I was back in South Bend finishing up some business, and I happened to pass by Erica's. Despite being mostly a quilting store, they have a very nice little yarn section in the back. I was going to resist going in there one last time, I really was. Then they had a sign out front that said everything you could fit in their bag was 20% off. Everything. 20% off everything.
It's evil, I tell you. And it's going on tomorrow still if you want to get sucked down too.
So I picked up Modular Knits, which I'd been coveting for a while, and a nice pair of size 8 rosewood needles. You wouldn't think rosewood needles could be so nice. Especially not for the price you normally pay for them. But at 20% off, who could resist just one little pair?
In essence, this is really a victory. I made it out with a book I'd been planning to buy eventually and one pair of needles. Believe me, I wanted to fill that bag full of yarn. They have Manos del Uruguay, Noro, some basic cottons and wools, some interesting novetly yarns, etc. All of these could have been mine for 20% off. But moving really puts the size of your yarn stash in perspective. Three enormous boxes is probably enough. For now.

Wedding Shawl

No, it's not one of those wedding shawls. I don't have the concentration or the year out of my life to make one of the fabled Stonington shawls thin enough to pass through a wedding band. However, I do have a long time friend getting married this June, and she's going to wear it at her wedding reception. Let's face it. It's quite an ego boost to have something you've made be a part of one of the most important days of someone's life, especially when it's someone you really love.
I sent her these WIP pics so she can match it with her outfit. I wish I had the time to make something at least a little more intricate, but at least it looks pretty. It's about a foot and half wide, and should be a little over 4 feet long when I'm finished.
It's two skeins of Kid Silk Haze (70% mohair, 30% silk) knit in feather and fan on size 10 needles. I had never done feather and fan before, and it's amazingly simple. (But don't tell the non-knitters that, I want them to be impressed.)
Here's how it goes:
Multiple of 18 stitches, a garter stitch bottom is nice (I did 4 rows)
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: * (K2tog) x3, (yo, K1) x 6, (K2tog) x3, * repeat from * to end
Row 4: Knit
Repeat until desired length. Amaze and astonish your friends.
Now the trick is just getting it done before the June 24th deadline.

FOtos

Okay, I've been a bad blogger recently. But here, to make it up to you in one big post are several pictures. I haven't been lazy. Well, yes I have. But I've also managed to knit a few things as well.
For mother's day, my mom got two shawls. One was going to be for her birthday, but I'm not very good about keeping presents once I've finished them. The crochet shawl in beige is the Sweet Pea shawl from the Happy Hooker. She's actually posing, so you can tell she likes it. Look at the close-up.
It's huge, and took a little while, but it was far easier than the other one. So of course she likes it better.
The other is the Sheer One-Piece Shawl by Iris Schreier. I really like the whole modular knit thing, but this had a lot of stitches and took a long time. Luckily, I had a lot of presentations to sit through while I was knitting it. I'm tempted to buy the book, but that requires money.
And rounding things off is the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch and Bitch, made on commission for one of my mom's friends. She's very feminine, so I added some pink ribbon.

Everyone go see Amanda!

One of my friends just started knitting not too long ago, and she's already seriously addicted. So go see Amanda at amanda-knits.blogspot.com .
Mother's Day shawls were knitted and crocheted, and I'll have to bug my mom for pictures because I forgot.

New Thoughts

Yes, I know you want shiny, pretty pictures of knitted objects, but I'm going to disappoint you once again. The only thing I've (mostly) finished is a crochet shawl for Mother's Day, and even it still needs fringe. I've been working on unimportant things, like final exams.
However, something occured to me today, and I think it might need mentioning. (I'm probably wrong, but am going to mention it anyway.) In the Yarn Harlot's first book, she talks about all the tape measures she has lost over the years and estimates the number of tape measures that much be hiding in each room of her house. I totally understand, and except for being younger, have probably lost nearly as many and still have no idea where they're hiding. They're probably in the same place that socks in the laundry go. However, what disturbs me more is the number of little yarn scissors that I've lost over the years. If, for instance, you lost a knitting item in the couch, wouldn't you much rather it be a tape measure than a tiny pair of absurdly sharp scissors? Sitting on a tape measure would cause a lot less injury to the person and the tape measure.
Think about that the next time you sit down. I've probably lost something at your house too.

Because I'm feeling a little self-absorbed right now

Go to Wikipedia. In the Search box, type your birth month and day (but not year). List three events that happened on your birthday. List two important birthdays and one interesting death. Post this in your journal.

Events:

1871 - Four major fires break out on the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois, Peshtigo, Wisconsin, Holland, Michigan, and Manistee, Michigan. The Great Chicago Fire is the most famous of these, having left nearly 100,000 people homeless, although the Peshtigo Fire killed as many as 2,500 people making it the deadliest fire in United States history.

1939 - World War II: Germany annexes Western Poland.

2004 - Martha Stewart goes to jail.

Births:

1890 - Edward Rickenbacker, American pilot (d. 1973)

1943 - Chevy Chase, American comedian and actor

Death:

1869 - Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States (b. 1804)

Note to Self

Next time you try to sneak out before a seminar, make sure you're not wearing an ankle bracelet with bells on it.

Stuff On My Cat

Wow. I've found an incredible new way to waste time. Check this out: www.stuffonmycat.com .

Kids these days...

What is the with the number of people having kids these days that don't want to know the sex of the child? Two of my friends are about to become uncles for the first time and neither, I repeat, neither family wants to know. I mean, sure, miracle of birth, blah blah blah, but there are purely practical concerns here. What color do you paint the nursery? What kind of clothes do people buy for it? And more importantly, what am I supposed to knit?
Well, luckily I'm clever.
Even varigated yarns tend to have pink or blue in them, and if parents are picky, it might look more masculine or feminine. I don't like green, at least not baby green, and it tends to look boyish anyway. Yellow is safe, and I have a thing about ducks, so I made this little fair isle duck hat. I charted the little duckies myself. This would become my standard "I don't know what I'm having" baby hat, except for a few small issues.
I can't give both friends the exact same hat because one, that would be lazy and wrong, and two, they're roommates. Luckily, Kristine was around to make a few suggestions. She said she uses a lot of white for babies. Since the hat pattern I like to use is pretty simple, I knew I needed a little more to it. She suggested making it with an eyelet row and weaving in the appropriate color when the baby is born. I need to pass these off before the kids are actually born, though. I could have sent it with a plain eyelet row and let the parents weave it in, but I'm pretty sure that's the last thing new parents would want to so. So, and here's the clever part, I wove in both pink and blue ribbons. That way, when the kid is born, they can just pull out the wrong color. It's a lot faster, and also sort of fun and destructive. I think even new parents can handle that. This would also work with just about any kind of baby item, so I now have a solution when these new-fangled parents get crazy ideas in their heads.
If I spawn, I'm so finding out what it is the minute I can. Technology is here for a reason.

A dangerous new addiction

So last week the 13th anual Fleece Fair in Greencastle, IN. I say that like I know, but it was my first time anyplace like that. It was pretty impressive. There were three big fairground buildings full of wooly goodness. I expected to buy a lot of yarn, but I actually wound up buying a lot of things to start spinning. I bought three different kinds of roving, and two drop spindles. I had the first 6 oz. of roving spun and plied withing 24 hours. If I were a good blogger, or had some self control, I would have documented this process by taking pictures along the way. Well. I also knit it right away. Here's a little picture of the yarn left over. And here's the little purse I made out of it. Not bad for a first try, if I do say so myself.
Unfortunately, I'm now hooked. I've been eyeing spinning wheels for while, but I got to try some out at the Fleece Fair. I'm still madly in love with the Kromski brand (it's just so pretty), but after playing around I think I want the castle style instead of the other kind (whatever it's called).
The stuff I made first is bulky, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I am going to try to spin a little bit thinner next time. I also got this purplish-pinkish-with-some-white roving and some electric blue. That picture may look like a Care Bear barfed on my floor, but trust me. I'll spin it eventually.
The spindles are cute too. I had tried spinning on a bottom whorl spindle, and it didn't go so well. It turns out that the top whorl is actually easier. This wooden one is painted like a night sky with stars and a crescent moon. The little one is made of fimo clay and is really psychedelic. I think the blue is going to look so cool spinning on that.
It is becoming increasingly clear that this is not so much a hobby as an addiction.

Bad Blogger, Bad!

So I really haven't posted in about a week. It's not that I haven't been making things. I've been making way too many things. I've just suddenly become too lazy to take pictures. And right now I'm trying to avoid doing homework, which is pretty successful, really.
I took a trip home and passed off an awful lot of things to my mom. She got a crochet little handbag, a big crochet bag that just needs handles, a scarf, and a corset style belt. I made her promise to take pictures, but I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen.
It's surprisingly hard to take pictures of yourself, so please enjoy these pictures of Hello Kitty wearing a shawl and a hat and scarf set and a monkey wearing a scarf. The scarf is really cool, look at the closeup. It's recycled sari silk yarn, which I adore but really can no longer afford, and it's in a modular knit pattern. The pattern was so fun to make I'll probably do it again, which is pretty rare for a scarf. Although I think I'll use much cheaper yarn. This little bag is exactly like the one my mom got, only hers is in denim blue. This one has an extra eyelet row that's going to get a little white ribbon as soon as I stop being lazy.
Another advantage of the trip home was that my mom bought me some books. I generally try to support the LYS, but when my mom is paying, I'm not going to complain about where she gets it. Besides a couple of Jane Austen books (don't ask, I'm just in the mood), I got two knitting books. First, was the Yarn Harlot's new book, Knitting Rules. I was expecting another book full of rants about knitting, but it turns out, this one has some practical knitting advise too. She has basic patterns for hats, socks, and scarves, and funny justifications for why you should knit them all. I read it cover to cover the first day I got it. The other book was Posh Pooches, a kit that has tons of patterns for dog sweaters, polo shirts, etc. and comes with needles with little dogs on the ends. It's incredibly cute and silly. I was immediately commissioned to knit sweaters and scarves for my parents' dogs, Bob (full name: Wild Bob the Nerf Herder), a Welsh corgi, and Bullwinkle, the world's stupidest Weimareiner. I made the first scarf that night for Bob, and it looks pretty cute. I've been promised a picture, but we'll see how that goes. It's a cute little scarf, actually. It's an oblique rib pattern, so the ribbing goes on the diagonal. It's so much better than regular ribbing, which generally makes me want to stab myself in the eye with my knitting needle. It's also got a little keyhole so it stays on (fairly) well. I'm making a matching scarf for Bullwinkle. They want me to make the sweater for Bullwinkle that's based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi shawl. I've been meaning to try a pi shawl for some time now. It figures that the dog will get the first one.
Anyway, back to work with me. Look at some pretty pictures.

Yarn Frenzy

Okay, this crochet thing is really starting to take a hold of me. Turns out, doing it right is actually faster, and looks better too. I'm doing a project a day or so. The only trouble is finishing, which takes me a while to get to. So I promise, eventually, I will sew on buttons, zippers, snaps, etc and weave in ends and ribbons eventually and show you pictures of my latest obsession.
But one of my guildies alerted me to a sale of CottonTots at Hobby Lobby, and I think I'm going to be in trouble. It's pretty much my go-to yarn for baby and generic projects, and at $2 something a skein, it's nearly half price. I'm not really sure whether I should be grateful for that or not. I'm going to have to go buy a ton of it.
One scary thing I found out yesterday is that I'm frighteningly consistent in my idiosyncracies. I picked up a little notebook I'd used for yarn data before and scribbled down my yarn requirements for a few projects I'm interested in. They tend to frown on you pulling out entire books to look for that sort of thing, and it keeps it all in one place. After I was done, I looked back and found that I had written all my previous entries in exactly the same way. They had messy and cursive writing, though I rarely do either, the exact same bits of information in the exact same order, and the same defiant check mark and "done!" written in the margins.
I'm inclined to believe that different types of handwriting from the same person imply using different sides of the brain dominantly. So you all know, because you're smart like that, that the left side of the brain does the analytical thinking and the right side does the creative thinking. I find when I'm doing physics or math, or even writing about physics, I tend to print. But when I'm doing something like a language class, or writing about knitting, I write cursive. Has anyone else ever noticed something like that? I'm sure it varies quite a bit, but I'm curious about that. It seems true for me at any rate.
Right. Off to buy lots of yarn.

Have you ever noticed....

Have you ever noticed that when you leave the house without knitting (or something), you always regret it? Today, I thought, oh, I'll be busy, I won't bother carrying anything with me. Then I had to wait for half an hour. I should just know better, and keep knitting on me at all times.
Several relatively exciting things have happened in my little knitting world, although none of them actually involve finishing a project (except for a few charity hats), but I have a couple of "almosts". I'm nearly done with the baby sweater I started ages ago. The child it was originally intended for has probably totally outgrown it by now. But it's almost done.
Secondly, the happy guild meeting was yesterday. One of my friends found a pattern I wanted for the Sunburst Sling Bag on eBay for $3 (including shipping) and bought it for me, so I procured that and the delicious recycled sari silk for it. I really can't justify spending the money on that yarn, so I'm not even going to try. But it's on the same plane as chocolate in my mind. Really.
I bought more of that same fantastic yarn to finish the modular scarf I'm working on. Again, can't justify it, but it's really really cool. So that should be done before too long.
Finally, something I can justify. I used a Christmas gift card to Barnes and Noble to get The Happy Hooker, which is Stitch and Bitch for crochet. If you don't know about Stitch and Bitch, you're missing out on the best knitting book ever. (The sequel is a little weird, but fun.) Well it looks the crochet book is the equivalent. These are great learn-to books with great references for every basic stitch, and cool, wearable patterns. Seriously, check both these books out. I knit my way through most of the first Stitch and Bitch, and the crochet bug has bitten me lately.
In theory, I knew how to crochet, but after 30 seconds of reading this book, I figured out I've been doing it "wrong" my whole life. Not that the things looked bad before, it's just good to know. And I'm a lot happier doing it right. I'm working on a one skein little handbag that is incredibly cute. Unfortunately, I still have to do it the wrong way to finish they crochet baby blanket I'm in the middle of.
Also arrived, the Yarn Harlot's Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much. The things she does and says related to knitting are completely insane. I totally relate. Aparently she's got a new book coming out before too long. I'm hooked, despite my previous reservations.
The yarn finally arrived for a knitted baby blanket I'm supposed to be working on. It's just so hard to work on something I know I have to do before I can cast on all these fun things. Now with crochet in the ring too, there's just going to be trouble. I think I'm going to have to drop out of school so I have time to do this all.

St. Patty's Day

Okay, this actually has nothing to do with knitting. I'm going to complain about it anyway.
Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, and I went to Chicago. I turned 21 not too long ago, so this was my first legal St. Patrick's Day, and I was looking forward to green beer.
I couldn't find it. Anywhere.
Chicago has a very large Irish population, and Chicagoans like their beer. There was plenty of beer, but none of it was green.
How much food coloring can that really cost? Hmm? $0.03 maybe?
So after a long day wandering around Chicago, I came home, bought some Harp, and dyed it green myself. My hands may now be quite stained, but it was so worth it.
And yes, it really does taste better when it's green. That's the taste of satisfaction.

German Yarn

Now, every knitter with a blog has to pay homage to the Yarn Harlot. For a while, I resented her. Why should she get to be popular for writing about knitting when I don't? Other than the fact that she is clearly more talented than I am at both writing and knitting. But then I caved and read her book. And it's funny, and is possessed by the same yarn demon I am that makes me stash, take on bigger projects than I can handle and be emotionally connected to my yarn. I was seduced by the Yarn Harlot.
Today's post is something that I can totally relate to. She picked up a pattern in Finnish and decided to try to knit it. Not two months ago, I did the exact same thing with German.
Now, I speak a little German. I'm of German decent, I have German relatives (though none that are both German and knit). I was pretty sure that if I sat down with a dictionary and the German knititng pattern I would be able to knit anything in this pattern book of cute, traditional German clothes. Boy was I wrong.
It's not the words. Even if I couldn't figure out the words from the real dictionary, there are online knitting dictionaries. The trouble is that the entire pattern is constructed differently. Numbers and symbols appear in no apparent order. Clearly, this is the famed German efficiency and I'm just too slow to understand.
So if anyone thinks they can explain to me how to read a German knitting pattern, please, please do. Because did I mention I bought the yarn for several projects in it? And I want to knit them. Desperately. And it wants to be knit. The yarn is sitting in my closet, sobbing softly.
Someone save that poor, innocent yarn that just wants to be made into German clothing. Hilfe!

And Tonight's Feature Film is.......

She Gods of Shark Reef!
Oh yes. It's bad and it's beautiful. It's also part of my 50 SciFi classic movie pack that I bought a while for $20. I think it's a good deal, possibly one of my best investments. Think about that, only 40 cents per bad science movie. That's less than a penny per minute of bad scienceness. Really, what's the point of Mystery Science Theater when it's so much more fun to do it yourself?
Also, I now own knitted shoes. Sadly, I did not think of these, nor did I even copy them and knit them myself. Nor was I the first person I know to own them (my cousin had them at Thanksgiving). However, I now own them, and cheaply. Marshall Field's is going out of business, which is a terrible thing. That won't stop me from taking advantage of the sale.
More knitting things will appear someday, I promise. I made a Shaker Rib hat that's a little iffy, but kind of cute. It would have been cuter if I had a) paid better attention to gauge (this one always gets me) and b) not run out of yarn. You'd think I'd learn. But you'd be wrong.
I made one of my baby hats with little fair isle hearts. It came out incredibly cute, and entirely by accident. Once again, I started a project and nearly ran out of yarn. So I switched colors and popped in some hearts, and made something that may be too cute too look at. It leaves me itching for more fair isle.
And yet I should so be working on one of my big projects, or perhaps, real work. Spring Break has in theory already started, but I've still got some work to do before I can relax. Then there will be much knitting.

The Dangers of Knitting in Public

I like to knit baby-sized projects. They go very quickly, so you get that sense of instant gratification. I can make my favorite baby hat pattern (the Umbilical Cord Hat from Stitch n Bitch) in 2-3 hours. If you don't think that's instant, clearly you knit entirely by machine/not at all. Also, my knitting guild does a lot for charity, and one of our projects is hats and things for the YWCA women's shelter.

However, one of the dangers of knitting in public is always having to explain yourself when making baby things. I don't have children, nor do I want any in the near future, so whenever I'm caught knitting baby items in public, it's immediately followed with an explanation.
It goes like this.

Someone: What are you knitting?
Me: A baby hat, it'sforcharity/it'sforoneofmymom'sfriends/myfriendsbrother, etc.

(I endured a decent amount of teasing before I figured this out.)
However, at least 25% of the time, when I answer "It'sforcharity," someone inevitably wonders, "Who's charity?"
Don't believe me? Ask my dad.

Nerd Knits

So here's the thing. Once a week, my department has a physics colloquium, where someone comes in from another department or another school and gives a physics-y lecture. Naturally, I use this time to further my physics education by exposing myself to a broad range of research, by which I mean knit. Besides being fun, it also keeps me awake. I'm one of very few women, and, I thought, the only knitter. Until a week or two ago, one of my professors came up and asked me about my knitting. She looks like your typical knitter, but also happens to be a professor of physics. I was working on my double knit scarf, which looks exactly the same only marginally longer, so I'm not going to post another picture. She was fascinated, and started talking about the topology of knitting. This goes way beyond a mobius scarf, but I'll get to that in a moment. I confessed to here that I want to knit the chart of the nuclides every time I see it. Actually, these days it's fairly often, as I'm taking my nuclear physics elective.
I let her borrow the double knitting pattern; it's really simple and I'm sure she'll have no trouble with it. In return, she sent me these links, part of the beauty of nerdy knitting.
First, she told me about this DNA scarf, which she adapted into an afghan for one of her sons. The cable pattern really looks like the DNA chain. It may be biology, but it's still nerdy enough to interest me.
She also found this DNA baby toy, which actually has the correct base pairs. (If you don't care at all about DNA, just translate "base pairs" into "pretty colors," but if you don't care that much, you probably won't knit DNA.)
But it turns out there are many, many nerds out there, which you can easily see thanks to Google. You can crochet a Lorentz manifold. And there are a bunch of other mathematical functions you can knit/crochet here. You can also quilt math things, but I'm not so good at that. In fact, the only quilt I ever tried was assembled completely backwards, and is sitting in my parents garage. Not only was I totally bad at it, I also broke up with the guy I was making it for. This was before I knew about the sweater curse. Aparently there's a quilt curse too.
The moral of the story is, I'm not the only nerdy knitter out there. People have designed these things. And I'm so going knit them.