Superstarra-ville

Bibbidy Bibs!

2010-04-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

Excitement! A friend is having a baby! YAY! The shower isn't for a few months, but I had to start knitting the new baby's gifts as soon as I got my invite!

I earmarked the Baby Bib O' Love for a long time ago and am happy to finally have the opportunity to buy some cheap-o cotton yarn and knit up a few cotton bibs.

I finished this yellow one Monday and am planning on making two more...one purple [the parent's preferred color to pink] and natural. Leftover yarn will become striped Baby Genius Burp Cloths. My grandmother also had the brilliant idea of crocheting edges to plain terry bibs, so I may throw in a few of those too.

This bib was so fast and easy. Y'know, I almost forgot what it was like to actually finish a project. can you believe it?

The Road To Organization, Part II

2010-04-21T10:37:00.000-07:00

I have a large stack of printed patterns.

Some are single leaflets.
Some are working copies from books and magazines.
Some are patterns from kits.
Some are printouts from websites.

All of them, however, have been sitting in the corner collecting dust and being an eyesore.

I made a plan this week to get them organized and put away. So, I purchased four 3-ring binders and some tabbed dividers, borrowed a hole punch from the job and got to work.

Dividing the patterns up wasn't too hard...cardigan or pullover [further divided by short or long sleeve], scarf and shawl, accessory, etc.

The problem I'm running into now is organizing the patterns I've printed from my books and magazines. I'm wondering if, rather than included the working copies I've made into the notebooks, I should put those sheets into the book/magazine from which they came. My thinking is that I may go directly to a book for a pattern and not cross reference the notebook and make yet another copy. Not exactly Earth-friendly.

So, I put this question to you, citizens of Superstarra-ville - is there any method to your particular madness when it comes to organizing your printed patterns?

It's Alive!

2010-04-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

Since moving into my own place a few months back, I've been really trying to be more proactive in the kitchen. I've always considered myself more of a baker than a chef, as I tend to make stupid mistakes when I cook. I'm inspired by all the wonderful foodie blogs I read, basic cable food channels [since I can't afford watching premium channels] and just being hungry on a regular basis. Why do they all make it seem so easy? I suppose it is...and I'll never know until I try, right? Since deciding to make an attempt to find my inner Emeril, I've been really wanting an little kitchen herb garden. It would be so nice to just pick herbs off the plant right?

Well on a recent trip to Joann's I found a little herb garden starter set. I couldn't resist. I got it home, opened it up and started planting. I think the waiting for something to break through the surface is the hardest part. I looked every day, but nothing seemed to be happening.

...sigh...

Then last night, while making some subpar pasta sauce, I looked at my little garden and guess what I saw?!?!

Sprouts! Little basil sprouts! They're so cute!

And three little thyme sprouts too!!!

The sage is giving me nothing. I'm being patient though.

Sigh Of Relief

2010-04-19T14:11:00.000-07:00

I actually finished knitting the Waves of Grain scarf this weekend. Sunday. Sunday afternoon. Early Sunday afternoon, to be exact.

Tell me about it. I'm flabbergasted as well.

It needs a block and a seam and it's totally done. Can you believe it? I know, I know...I can't either.

It's supposed to rain the next few days her in LA, so I'll probably leave the blocking for when it warms up this weekend.

Now what do I work on?!

Weekend!

2010-04-16T10:59:00.001-07:00

Here we are! It's the weekend again! It's been a pretty uneventful week, to be honest with you, but I'm still thankful for the beginning of the next two days away from the office. I don't have many plans, other than eating badly, being slothful and maybe breaking one or two more of the 7 deadly.

I'm still knitting away at the Waves of Grain scarf...I've been very spotty with the knitting, but I still feel I've made some really good progress on it. I knit until I get tired then I set it aside until the next time I find my ass firmly planted on the couch again. Which, let's be serious, is the following evening. Maybe I'll try to push through this weekend just so I can get it finished. In between naps, of course.

I'm Knitting!

2010-04-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

I know! I can hardly believe it myself.

I went to Vegas with my mom and two Aunts last weekend and knew that I would need something to do on the long road trip. I have plenty of wips to choose from, but finding the exact right one was a bit of a challenge. I didn't want to have to deal with dpns, so all the hats I have on the sticks were out. I didn't really want to have to deal with a chart, but wound up bringing the Waves of Grain scarf along for the trip.

I had quite a few issues with the first half of the scarf, but after casting on I made quite a bit of progress and haven't had to frog my work too much. I'm almost positive that I jinxed myself with that last statement.

I'm going to try to dedicate some serious time to finishing this half and getting this project out of my hair. Wish me luck!

The Road To Organization

2010-03-11T16:23:00.001-08:00

I bet you thought I was trapped under a mountain of yarn during my fiber organizational mission. Almost. Thank god Poppy was there to save me. Once I was able to get a look at all my stash, I was able to see that organizing by fiber/time of year was my best choice. All my wool related yarns went into one bin, and the cotton and misc yarns went into a second. I also decided to keep a third bin which would continue to house all of my remnants and singles.

I figured I'd put out some guidelines for those crazy enough to take on this project.

The Road To Organization

The first step is always the hardest. Step 1 requires admitting to yourself you have a stash so large, that in order to keep it manageable, it should be organized into like groups. Now that you know you could have gone across the world if you haven't spent all your money on yarn, you are ready to organize. Just put the block off a weekend day [or a month and a half, depending on the stash size] and get ready to make it all better.

1. Pull all of your yarn out into the open. Even those yarns that you hate to admit you have. Yes, I'm talking to you, bright green acrylic eyelash yarn. And those yarns that would cause your partner to drop dead if they found out the price point for a 50yd hank. Try to recall all of your hiding places and write yourself a note to bring home the yarn you keep at work.

2. Place all the yarn in the most inconvenient place in your home [optional depending on house to stash size ratio] . This could be the kitchen table, on the couch, in the middle of the hallway. The inconvenience of having to hurdle bins and bins of yarn will be your motivation to finish the organization process as soon as possible.

3. Check it out! This is the time when you remind yourself of all the yarns that have been hidden away. Open all the bins, bags, drawers, suitcases, space bags, pillowcases, etc and see what lurks within! I'm sure you'll be surprised and inspired by what you actually have!

3 1/2. Do not be seduced by a newly discovered yarn. You will find some gems. Trust me. Don't be lured in by this yarn. It will try to seduce you with its soft hand, and its deep color. It will convince you that you have to find a project for it immediately. Don't let it play you! Ravelry will be there when you get done.

4. Separate the keepers from the chuckers. Depending on how long you've been holding a stash, you may find that you have outgrown some of your yarns or maybe you finally realized that yellow really does make you look jaundice. It's time to pull those yarns from your collection and destash or trade for yarns you'll use!

5. Figure out your organizational style. Now that you have all of your keeper yarn before you, it will be easier to figure out your organizational style. Maybe you want to organize by color. Of fiber. Or finished project. Or quantity. Or maybe a combo of two! Organize by what fits your style and your stash.

6. Channel your inner Librarian. This is the fun part. Organizing! Sticking it all in bags and labeling. I can't say enough about how awesome those vacuumy space bags are. You will be amazed at how much space you have when you yarns are properly vacuum sealed [I found that I have quite a few balls of yarn that are on cardboard cylinders. These I put all together into an old zipper bag my comforter came in since vacuum sealing wouldn't do much].

It would also be a good idea to have a computer with your Ravelry stash page pulled up at this point. As you organize and group your yarns, you can be sure that your online stash reference guide is up to date also.

7. Store properly and label! However you decide to store your stash, be sure to make sure it's kept safe from all the things that mean to do it harm: moths, cats, dogs, dust, little children with dirty hands, other knitters, etc. And don't forget to label your newly organized stash so when you have to find those 10 ball of Rowan Calmer you don't have to destroy all your hard organizational work looking for them!

8. YAY! You're done! Stick your newly organized yarn back into its proper hiding place and call it a day!

Organization Is A Mofo

2010-03-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

Seems I've fallen off the blogging face of the Earth again. I'll try to stop it.

Thanks for all the well wishes on my new place. I've been trying to get it all together, but have seem to have lost steam somewhere along the way. This happened, of course, because I only have less than 5 moving boxes to unpack. Yeah. And I certainly don't have the excuse of the Olympics anymore...although I am 4 episodes behind on Lost...I think that's excuse enough. Ok, I know. I'm getting on it.

One thing that has come to my attention during this move is my stash. I know I said it before, but I have a lot of yarn. Not crazy amounts, but certainly enough to keep me occupied for long time. Last year, when I started the Stash-to-Accessory Knit-a-thon, I pulled all my odds and ends yarns out and put them in their own separate-but-equal bin. That left all the yarns meant for larger projects. Now these yarns are stored in their own bins, but I don't have a specific system by which they are organized.

So this is where I throw the question out to you:

How do you organize your stash?
Do you organize by...

1. ...weight? Sock yarns, bulkys, worsteds...
2. ...fiber? Cottons, wools...
3. ...intended projects? shawls, sweaters, hats...
4. ...time of year you would knit/wear said fo? Summer/Spring, Winter/Fall...
5. ...where ever there's room?

I was first thinking to organize by season or by intended projects. "here are all my yarns that are a sweaters worth or more..." or "it's summer, what can I knit" [because we all know in the heat of August no one even wants to think about, much less see a hank of wool].

So give me some suggestions. I look forward to your thoughtful advice.

Movin' On Up....

2010-02-23T15:21:00.000-08:00

to the Valley!!!

I'm officially a Valley Girl. I don't know how I feel about it. Not that there's anything wrong with the Vally, but...well...you know. Two weeks ago, I moved from LA/Hollywood [aka Hollywood Adjacent] up to the San Fernando Valley. Yes, the Valley...cold in the Winter and stifling in the Summer. Lucky me.

The actual move was a pain, I'm loving my new place and am slowly but surely finding a place for everything. I wish I had enough space for a Crafty Corner, but alas, it was not meant to be. Why have a corner, when one can utilize an entire one bedroom apartment? Can I tell you how horrified I am at the amount of yarn I have? I need to get to some serious knitting, STAT! I have three huge tubs and a few bags and...ugh. There is SERIOUSLY no need for me to buy even a single ball of yarn for a very long time. I'm toying with the thought of destashing some of it...so stay tuned. Once I get settled in, I'm going to have to take a long hard look at what I have and what I can part with.

I can't wait for this to all be done so I can get back to knitting!

The Agony of Defeat

2010-02-05T14:56:00.000-08:00

My boss just told me she's not going to the Olympics.

This is how an athlete must feel when they get ready to go compete for their country just to find out they didn't make the team on a technicality.

Ok. Maybe not. But close.

It's okay. I will be moving into a new place next weekend and really don't have the time nor the wherewithal to finish the second mitten right now. There's yarn to pack, for pete's sake. I will try to work on them as much as I can, but there is a slim chance they will be done in time for the Opening Ceremonies. Oh well.

Two other pieces of business...my former commenting system, Haloscan, has gone the way of the Dodo Bird. So I've switched over to something called Echo...mostly because I didn't want to lose all the comments telling me how awesome y'all think I am. haha. It would be funny if we all knew it wasn't true. Since this new system doesn't ask the commenter to leave an email address, I've decided to try out leaving my responses in the comments section also. We'll see how this works out. It's not like I get that many comments anyway. haha. Again, sad, but true.

And speaking of commenting...my sister has finally decided to join the blogging world. You can find her Slangin Some Strang on her new blog. Go forth and comment.

Sad Day

2010-02-03T11:14:00.000-08:00

It's a sad day when a knitter begins a yarn diet.

Life changes are presenting me with numerous financial restrictions...and honestly, yarn purchases are the one thing I can certainly cut from my discretionary budget. Besides, I was looking at the stash and there is more than enough yarn to keep me interested for quite a while.

I did need to have one last fling though.

I've been so excited about how the fair isle has been coming along with the Anemoi set that I wanted to try it in a larger, more colorful way.

Knit Picks to the rescue!

I had seen the Corrie vest in various KP emails, but had resisted, despite its seductive $20 price tag. Then an email came through heralding the kit at $13. Self restraint flew out the window and an ordering frenzy commenced.

To my credit, I was able to resist ordering more than just the vest.

Not much, but it's a start, right? Everyone knows once you get going on that site, it's hard to stop.

So this goes into the ever expanding queue. At least I know I have the yarn for it, right?

Anemoi/Enemy

2010-01-29T16:35:00.001-08:00

I'm sure you've all been losing sleep wondering how I've been fairing with the Anemoi mittens.

Fear not, friends. I have completed a single mitten.

I have had some issues, but from the comments I've been getting I can see that I'm not the only one.

Despite all of my issues [personal and knitting related], the pattern produced a very lovely mitten. I'll reserve final judgment until it's properly washed and blocked.

I'm not really looking forward to casting on mitten #2 to be honest with you. The only consolation is that it will go much faster and easier than this bugger.

There are two things that are bugging me.
The first is the top. It came out okay, but the edges look a bit sloppy.

I'm hoping I can shape it properly so it doesn't look so messy. I don't think it was my grafting job as much as it was confusing decrease instructions and trying to turn the damn thing inside out with the needles still attached so I could get it all grafted together. I just don't know.

The second thing that is bugging me is the thumb. I was trying to figure out what the instructions were instructing and where exactly to pick up the extra stitches and somehow I picked one up in the oddest of locations. Stitch, they name is Ugly. Since it's just the thumb, I don't really have a problem with ripping it out and reknitting. Besides that, the whole thing is a little short, so it needs to be ripped out anyway.

On to Olympic trial #3. Wish me luck.

Amemoi Mitten

2010-01-20T13:11:00.001-08:00

THE OLYMPICS ARE COMING! THE OLYMPICS ARE COMING!!!

Amemoi Mittens
Originally uploaded by superstarra

And my first mitten is only half complete! You know I'm breaking out into a cold sweat every time NBC runs a promo...

STARTING IN 22 DAYS!!!
The Vancouver Olymipcs

Whatever.
I eat knitting deadlines for breakfast.

After I completed the tubular cast on obstacle, everything was going smoothly. I went up a needle size, the knitters intuition was eerily silent and the cuff fit over my hand. JOY!

Then I completed the rib section. You know what came next.
All hell broke loose, that's what.

For some reason, I couldn't get the hand portion of the mitten to cooperate. I had too many stitches or too few stitches or the chart scrambled itself or the gauge was off or the instructions were in Greek. You know. The usual. I knit and frogged back. And knit. And frogged. After 5 or so attempts over two nights, I sat myself down, read the instructions and tried to figure out where I was going wrong.

Seems reading helps!

I took my time and was able to get passed the first 4 rows. Seems it's a good thing I didn't get too far anyway, because on my previous attempts I had totally left out the thumb gusset. And the boss has thumbs. So, as you can see it's all working out, Anemoi and I are friends and getting along splendidly. I should have these babies done with plenty of time to spare.

Of course, today I casually ask my boss when she plans on leaving for Vancouver. She pauses and says...'Well, things are crazy and I don't know if we're actually going to go!'

Then I said, "OH HELL NO! I AM NOT SLAVING OVER 5 TOOTHPICK SIZED NEEDLES AND FINGERING WEIGHT YARN FOR YOU TO BACK OUT NOW!!!"

No, I didn't say that. But I was silent for a long while. Then I said, "we're just going to hope that it can happen".

Regardless, she'll have a beautiful pair of mittens and a lovely hat. And I'll try not to be sad that they might not get it's debut at the Vancouver Olympics.

Totally Tubular

2010-01-14T22:13:00.000-08:00

I've been learning a new technique! The tubular cast on. I haven't been blessed with an opportunity to use this particular cast on before so you can imagine how excited I was to attempt to teach myself a new technique on a project that has a definite deadline and utilized size 0 double pointed needles and stranded colorwork.
OVERJOYED!

So for the past two days I've been trying to figure out how to make this cast on work. Wednesday night, I had figured it out. I was ready to roll. Once got going on the cuff, the Knitters Intuition decided to speak up.
'Wow, that sure looks small.'
'I hope that cuff stretches.'
'Did you cast on for the adult size or the kiddy size?'
'Did I mention how small that looks?'
'hmmm...hmpf.'

I finally had to give into the voice in my head and came to terms with the fact that I would have to frog and start over. I pulled out the needles and wouldn't you know, that damn cuff wouldn't stretch over my hand at all. I definitely casted on for the infant size.

At least I was only 4 rows in.

I'm going to go up a size and see if that will solve all my issues...

And here's a scale picture, just in case you might thing it was joking about how small it was.

Back to the drawing board.

Panic Attack

2010-01-12T10:50:00.000-08:00

We all know how cool our knitting community is, right? Well back in November, I participated in a little contest Leslie was having over at Nake-id Knits. I participated just for fun - and wouldn't you know it, I won!
Well, the poor package that she sent me languished in my PO Box while I made desperate attempts at finishing Christmas knitting. Yesterday I finally was able to remember to get over to the Post Office.

First off, the cutest little card! I love stars! Like you didn't all know that already.

I can honestly say I didn't see the post revealing what the prize was, so imagine my surprise when I pulled these out of the box!

A huge cone of lavender alpaca fingering weight yarn. I love purple and oh-my-god there's so much of it! The possibilities are endless! I've actually been wanting to make the Forest Path Stole for forever, so that will be my first choice for that yarn.

Then I pulled out a massive hank of Lisa Souza lace weight. When I say massive, it is no exaggeration! It's like 2,500 yards of massiveness! I have never been so excited to knit some lace in my life...and if you know me, you know that's some serious excitement. I now have to do some serious research as to what this will become. Something not too taxing to my non-lace knitting brain.
Something rectangular.
Something fabulous.
Something that will lend itself to the colorway.

Is that too much to ask for? Suggestions always welcome, of course!

Thank you, Leslie...I really can't believe you sent all this to me! I'll make you proud, I promise!

Oh, I have something else to share with you!
The finished Anemoi Hat! I will admit now that my panic over it being too big and too busy may have been premature.

Once I finished up the crown decreases, it all seemed to pull together. The pattern doesn't seem as busy and although it still seems a little long, it's not as bad as I thought it might be. It covers my eyebrows and ears, which will probably be good for my boss who is a total So Cal girl and hates the cold. I'm going to give it a nice wash and block and see how it all comes out on the other side.
I still fully intend to make a second, plainer hat, if there's time before she leaves. I just want to have all my gifting bases covered. And who knows, if the plainer hat and mittens seem more suited to my boss' style, this lovely hat may just have to stay behind with me. Bummer, I know.

Gauntlet: Thrown

2010-01-11T16:30:00.001-08:00

I love a challenge.

Ok...that's not entirely true. I will admit, I will knowingly wander outside my knitting comfort zone, but there are times it would seem that my knitting projects are purposefully trying to break my spirit.

Yesterday, I gleefully wrote about my progress with the Anemoi hat. After posting, I knit a little here and a little there and before I knew it, I was working the crown decreases.
JOY!

We all know the moment of anticipation when first try on one of our projects. And that moment always comes at a point where success is close within our grasp and to turn back would be folly.

Anemoi and I crossed that threshold at about 9pm last night.
Upon putting Anemoi on my head, I realized I had two problems.
1. It was too big.
2. I love the pattern, but think that it will be entirely too busy for my boss.

So with a heavy heart, I removed Anemoi from my head, returned it to its bag and considered its fate.

As for the size issue, I realize now my gauge was off. In trying to keep my floats loose, my gauge got a little crazy. I should have dropped down to a size 1 needle. I considered washing it in some hot water, but this is a superwash wool, so that option isn't an option. As the brim of the hat is well below my eyebrows, I could frog back the pattern and shorten the crown. I could also rip out the entire thing and start over with less stitches. As it took me only a week to get to this point, starting over is actually a viable choice. But that doesn't take into account issue #2.

I love this hat pattern, but somehow, I think this hat and matching gloves may be too much for the boss. I'm considering a plain hat with maybe just a little colorwork.

So...what to do? I think I'm going to finish off the hat tonight then start on the mittens. I'll definitely be more diligent about staying on gauge. Once that's done, I'll take stock of my leftover yarn and find a hat solution. As the hat has only used up less than 1 skein of each color, I'm confident I can get the mittens and a second hat from the unused 4 balls [two of each color].

This project is really testing me... and in the Olympic spirit, I shall rise to meet that challenge head on.

Winter Winds May Blow...

2010-01-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

Hey all! I bet you thought I disappeared. Yea, you're right, I kinda did. But I'm back! With a project to knock your socks off.

Ok...maybe not. Humour me.

At least its a new technique for me...that has to count for something!

Earlier this week, I casted on the Anemoi Hat.
Yes.
My first Fair Isle project.
In fingering weight yarn.
On size 2 needles.
In the round.

As you can see, my progress has been pretty steady. This is one technique to which being a left handed knitter really lends itself. Two handed knitting has really come naturally to me...now my biggest concern is keeping a steady tension and my floats loose. What a conundrum. Regardless, I'm totally loving it.

Once the hat is done I will cast on for the Anemoi mittens. The set is for my boss, who will be attending the Vancouver Olympic Curling event. It's her Christmas gift, but I figure I have until February to finish them. Totally do-able, right? Right?!?!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2009-12-25T11:34:00.000-08:00

I'm knitting as fast as I can!

2009-12-08T09:41:00.001-08:00

AUGH! The holidays are starting to stress me out! I'm trying to knit gifts, but I don't know if it's going to be possible. I'm making stuff with stash yarn, with no intended recipient and have a feeling that I'll wind up feeling that nothing I've made will be good for those I have to give to!

What to do?!?!

I guess it's time to take the stress away and just buy gifts.

A few things...

2009-11-12T17:21:00.001-08:00

Life here in Superstarra-ville is hectic as usual. I'm becoming overwhelmed by my unfinished projects and by the need to cast on for yet another project. It's exhausting! I think I have a good handle on the holiday gifting and am working at a good pace to get quite a few gifts done in time for the 'C' word.

No, not that C-word.

But I digress...here are a few new and exciting things to share...

Flicker 2.0.
Right now I'm working on a second Flicker. V requested one after she saw and fell in love with mine, so here I am again. This one will be beadless as we couldn't seem to find a single bead store in LA that was open when we were out shopping. Amazing, I know. Especially when there is a huge fabric district Downtown with numerous, insanely stocked bead stores.

I'm using a yarn I've never used before, Filatura Di Crosa Zara, and I have to say, I'm really liking it. I'm having a little issue with splitting, but I think that's mostly due to the pointy needles, o' pointy-pointy, I'm using. It's coming along pretty quickly and I'm hoping to have it done asap...

I've also bought some yarn.
BAD!
BAD!
BAD!
I have a single ball of Malabrigo in purple that a received and it was so lonely, I thought I would buy it some purple friends to play with. Sadly, my ball didn't play nicely, so I exchanged those two hanks for burgundy instead. I have no idea what to do with it. I think a third burgundy friend would be a good idea and broaden my options.

Why not, right? You can't take it with you and it is Malabrigo, right?

And a single hank of Malabrigo. I've gone crazy, I know. Green is one of my favorite colors and this hank with it's drab green and streaks of pink really caught my eye. It's Malabrigo, there's no way it would pool ugly, right? Right? Well it won't really matter, since I"m planning on making the Crofter's Cowl with it. The lace will break up the colors and it will be beautiful. Because I said so.

Catching Up...

2009-11-08T12:47:00.001-08:00

Here are a few of the projects I've recently finished...

Backstory

Pattern: wham bam thank you lamb! neckwarmer
Yarn: Lion Brand Thick & Quick
Needles: US13
Exposition: This neckwarmer took a bit less than skein. I was able to knit this up in one evening. I'm not too happy with the bulky seam, so I think I'll pull it out and graft those stitches instead.

Other than that, warm & cozy. I love the offset-ness of the edges and that you can fold and twist it around your neck...so many different ways to style!

Backstory

Pattern: Marian Cowl
Yarn: Not 100% sure. Did a burn test and am still not sure.
Needles: US13
Exposition: Another super quick, super easy project. My first mobius. I made a bit of a mistake, as I seem to have two twist, instead of one. Can't tell, really, but I'd like to try this again.

And seed stitch is so much less annoying on size 13s...

Backstory

Pattern: Claudia Beanie
Yarn: Patons Merino Wool
Needles: US 4 & 6
Exposition: I got this off the needles and was immediately taken with what a great looking hat this is.

I made a bit of a mistake on this one too. I did the ribbing on size 4s and immediately switched to 6s for the cable trellis section. Lo and behold the instructions say to switch needle sizes after the cable section. OOPS. Why can I never remember to read the freakin' instructions? ugh. Didn't make a big difference though...it's for a guy with a big noggin. I love this hat! You all must go forth and knit one.

And lastly...I'm sure you can guess what this single crochet beaning is going to become...

Fiber!

2009-11-02T09:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went down to Torrance for the So Cal Handweavers' Guild Weaving and Fiber Festival. I didn't really know what to expect, but thought it would be a fun adventure. The Fickle Knittress was going to be there, and that was reason enough to go, right? So I called my sister and asked her to meet me over there so I wouldn't be a total loser walking around by myself.

We walked around, checked out the booths, molested a lot of fiber, met Michelle, [who is waaaay cool] and spent practically no money! I didn't buy any yarn, if you can believe it. I think having close to 10 projects in progress was quite a deterrent. We talked to a lot of really nice people [and a few stinkers who didn't know 'excuse me' means move out of the way] and I thought I saw the lovely Natalie wandering around, but wasn't 100% sure, so I didn't say anything to that lady who looked like a fellow blogger. I'm lame, I know.

It was fun all around. I'm especially excited about the new patterns I have to knit up. I could really use an extra set of hands and a month of vacation time.

Every Way Wrap

2009-10-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much for all the comments about my little neckwarmer. I'm just glad that it didn't unravel or spontaneously combust. It could happen. Although I have several projects that need seaming or stuffing or hemming, I decided to cast on for something new. Something that won't need seaming or stuffing or hemming! The Every Way Wrap from IK Fall 2009.

I had picked up two hanks of Eco Wool while we were in Seattle this summer. One hank was to be a tam for my cousin and I was planning on using the left over along with the second hank to make myself something. I started the hat - really I did - but realized that this yarn would be entirely too heavy for the hat I had in mind. So I frogged it and now it's mine! All mine! I am amazed by the size of this yarn ball, so I had to take a picture of it, with a tube of Kaiser Permanente Thrive lip balm for scale. HUGE! It will be so warm and cozy wrapped around me! I can't wait!

Of course, I may have to wait awhile, as I am still slogging through the ribbing. I need to take a mental health knitting day. Is there an allotment of days for that?

The Collette Neckwarmer

2009-10-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

So, last week I mentioned that I knit a neck warmer without the aid of a pattern.

Yeah.
It actually happened.

As you know, if you've ever read my blog, I am not a big fan of knitting variegated yarn. I am, however, a big fan of buying it. There's something about all those beautiful colors here and there in the hank...so many pretty colors...all in one yarn! But alas, when knitted, I hate the pooling and the splotches of colors...it's all just...BLEH! That being said, I have been bothered by an orange and yellow hank of Elizabeth Austin Andes in my stash and I realized if I didn't knit it up soon, I never would.

I searched high and low for a pattern for my single hank. I knew it would have to be either something lace [bleh again] or something with a stitch pattern that would break up the colors and keep the ugly pooling monster at bay. I had limited yardage, so a neck warmer would be the best bet. I saw lots of patterns, but none of them seemed to gel with this yarn.

At wit's end, I pulled out my copy of Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book and started looking at stitch patterns. One seemed like the right stitch for the job. The Linen Stitch.

So I casted on a nice 124 stitches, knit a few moss stitch rows then started the Linen Stitch section. It broke up the yarn enough for a mottled look in some places and stripes in others. I would have loved it to be all mottled, but it's all good because the nasty pool monster was vanquished [for the most part]! The only problem I ran into is the moss stitch border wasn't really working out. It flared a bit too much, so I pulled out what I knit and replaced it with a 2x2 rib. Perfect!

It is still in need of a wash, a block, and a label but I didn't want to delay pictures as people were getting impatient. Geez. Ha ha. It fits nicely and the wool is nice and warm...perfect for a friend who must moved to San Francisco. I hope she likes yellow and orange.

I don't know if I would consider myself a designer just yet, but I do feel freed from the written pattern tether. And now I've got all sorts of ideas running around my head! Is this the slippery slope of designing that I've been trying to avoid?

Umm...

2009-10-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

I think I just knit a neckwarmer without the aid of a pattern.

More to come.

Throwing Horseshoes

2009-10-05T09:09:00.001-07:00

One step forward, two steps back...but it will all work out in the end, right?

Well, the Stash-to-Accessory Knit-a-thon is still in full effect. One of my goals, besides getting rid of onsie/twosie balls of yarn has been to try new techniques on a smaller, more manageable project. Well the Hanne Muff fit into that category as it incorporates a mock cable. I've never done a mock cable before, but I can do non-mock cables, so how hard could it be?

Next to impossible.

I don't know what the problem was, but I just couldn't get it right. So I totally ditched it [failing at one of my Stash-to Accessories Knit-a-thon goals] and decided to just use a real cable.

Ah, the horseshoe cable. I haven't had a lot of opportunity to use this cable so I thought, 'YIPPEE-KAI-YEA, little knitter!'

Ok, I didn't really think that, but I did give it a go and it's coming along nicely.

It's been slower than molasses in the winter, but I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere with this darn thing. Ever feel like your knitting fer a month'a Sundays and it doesn't seem to make a darn-tootin' difference? Only after a weekend's worth of knitting am I finally seein' that this here project is finishin' up. I really want it out of my hair! It's time fer rustlin' other knits up on them there needles!

Besides, the pom pom hat awaits!

SEX

2009-09-29T13:49:00.001-07:00

I had a serious Stash Enhancement eXperience this past weekend. The owner of one of my favorite LYS [it closed a while back] decided to purge her final stock of yarn...so I was there bright and early. Let me show you what I got.

First off, 6 skeins of Shibui Sock, 3 in natural and 3 in black. Y'all know I don't knit socks, so you must be wondering why I would need 6 skeins of sock yarn.
Well my boss was recently gifted with tickets to next year's Olympic Curling event, so I am going to knit her a nice hat and mittens set. I will thoughtfully request pictures of the Canadian debut. I like the Anemoi hat and mittens and think it will be lovely in a black/natural combo.

I also found a bag of hemp yarn. I've never tried 100% hemp, so I'm really excited to see how it knits up. I don't have a pattern in mind for this [I have 2 of the black and 3 of the blue] and am always open to ideas. The one thing I don't think I want to knit is a shopping tote. I have enough of those.

I also picked up 11 balls of Rowan Plaid. I've had the Plaid Collection for years and my intention was to make something from the booklet. But now I'm not so sure. There are a few cardigans I would be excited to make, but with 11 balls of it...my head is spinning with possibilities! If I do make something out of the book, it will most likely be either the Thunder, Lightening [the way she loved me was frightening!] or Shale. Decisions, decisions!

The last item I picked up will probably be used in my next project. 1 hank of Magical Quivit. It's 50% merino, 50% quiviut. I'm super excited to use it! I have just enough to make a lovely smoke ring. HURRY UP, FALL! GET HERE ALREADY!!!

And while I plot the fate of my newest stash yarns, I've picked up an oldie but goodie project. The Cabled Coat.

If you search back into your mind, you'll remember the last time I blogged about this project was back in May of this year. I was trying to decide if I should reknit the front collar because I forgot a rib in betweens the cables.
As you could probably guess, I frogged all 23 incorrect inches and am in the process of reknitting. Yes, I know, I'm crazy obsessive about these things sometimes. But it would have bugged me. And after a year of working on this damn thing, I want it done and I want it done right so I don't wind up hating it. Let's hope I can get it done and seamed by the end of this weekend so I can get back to more important things.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

2009-09-27T23:00:00.000-07:00

There just aren't enough hours in the day.

We moved offices last week and between coordinating the team and packing up my and my boss's stuff, there's been barely a moment to breathe. And going into this week I have to contend with getting everyone settled and unpacking everything. Ugh.

I have been knitting, but have taken hints when projects don't feel like cooperating. I'm in no rush, so when those projects decide to get it together, I'll be here.

I have some great stuff to show off...once I can find my camera...I think it's in one of my 5 knitting bags...

To Cable Or Not To Cable...

2009-09-19T16:13:00.001-07:00

Projects, projects, projects!
I've got so many projects that I want to make right now my head is about to burst! I'm trying to take it slowly and not allow myself to get overwhelmed.

The projects I'm working on right now are coming along nicely. Crimson Waves of Grain is about half way through the first half, the Lala Shawlette needs some edging and the Hanne Muff's inner layer is complete. Although I really want to finish the first half of Crimson Grain scarf, but I'm feeling if I push it too much, lace burn out is imminent.

So, I'm thinking that I'll cast on for the Hanne Muff's outer layer. But I'm stuck.
Here's why.
The outer layer isn't a cable, but a mock cable. I love cables and am thinking that doing an actual cable rather than a mock cable will be much easier and faster. But I question why the designer decided on a mock in the first place. Maybe it saves on yarn or adds less bulk. Hmmm. Maybe it is actually easier. There aren't any others in Ravelry, so I can't count on someone else's experience with this pattern to help me make a decision.

I guess since I've never done a mock cable, I could just follow the damn instructions and chalk it up to learning something new.

Oh, speaking of cables, not sure if anyone was interested in another Fall Cable KAL...if so let me know or join the Ravelry Group.

And Another...

2009-09-16T13:11:00.001-07:00

Can one ever have too many works in progress? I didn't think so.
So I suppose you can guess what I did last night. Yes, I casted on for another project.

The Hanne Muff. Totally practical. I live in Southern California, where the winter temperatures drop into the low 60's. BRRRR!! This will be just the thing to keep my little hands warm during the 2 minutes trek to from my front door to my car.

Ok, ok, so it's totally impractical. But it's soooo cute! I've had this pattern queued since I first saw it. How could I resist such cuteness? It's simply impossible.

I figured that there must be some worsted weight wool/wool blend yarn that didn't have an intended project, but I was wrong. I did, however, have 5 balls of my favorite Rowan All Seasons Cotton. Perfect! It is for all seasons, right? So, the outside will be solid purple and the lining will be pink and purple striped. So cute!

The only thing I'm wondering about in regard to this project is batting. I wanted to either find something eco-friendly or was considering knitting a large square of wool and using that as stuffing. Anyone else have any suggestions?

2009-09-14T09:49:00.000-07:00

Backstory

Pattern: Braided Neckpiece
Yarn: Rowan Cork
Needles: US 10 1/2
Exposition: Still needs blocking. I should have done it this weekend, but I just didn't have the time!

This scarf is great! It may look like an exceedingly complicated knit, but it's super quick and easy. This pattern will definitely be making an appearance in some holiday gift boxes!

The Rowan Cork is a great yarn to work with. Nice and smooshy and the chunky weight means super and fast. This project tool approximately two balls. Not bad! Go knit yourself one!

Friday night when I got home, I tried casting on a few different lacy projects but wasn't having much success. As you all know, I'm no lace knitter and trying to knit a complicated pattern on fine mohair just wasn't happening. So I stepped back and decided to tackle the challenges facing me separately. First on the list was acclimating myself to thread-like yarn and large needles. I took the yarn left over from the Habu Mohairy sweater and cast on for the Lala Scarf from Greetings from the Knit Cafe. A very easy knit, but somehow I ended up with 3 times the number of stitches I should have. Strange but true. Now you see why I don't knit lace often?

This far into it, I'm just going to with it. Frogging this much mohair is out of the question. I was having an extreme moment of indecision when when it came to deciding on a edge color. I kept going back and forth between color combos when my sister offered up some purple lace weight leftover from one of her projects. YIPPPEEE! So this will be on hold until next weekend.

With Lala in a holding pattern, I decided to start on an actual lace project. But rather than use a proper lace yarn, I'm using fingering weight. This pattern is the lovely Waves of Grain scarf from Knitty. Although this pattern was one of my Friday false starts, I was able to get through the first few rows with minimal problems and have gotten through the first repeating pattern with relative ease and with all my stitches correct.

I'm a little concerned about how much of the pattern I'm going to lose by knitting it in this complicated red variegated yarn, but I'll just have to live with it for now. I'm sure it will be pretty in it's own right.

And lastly from this weekend, I did some recon at Diane Von Fursterburg's store on Melrose. They only had one pom pom hat left...and it was sitting atop a mannequin's head in the front window. The sales girl got it down for me and the first thing I noticed about it was that it was a crochet hat, not a knitted one. I tried it on and it was sufficiently silly but not silly enough for me to quit my pom pom hat obsession. I told myself, "With the right outfit..."

I attempted to take a picture of it for reference and this is how it came out...

Photographer? Yeah, no.

Accessories! Accessories!!!

2009-09-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

It's finally the weekend! I don't know why, but short weeks always are the most tedious the get through. But here we are!

I've made some great progress on my Stash-to-Accessory Knit-a-thon.
There's something so satisfying about picking up a ball of yarn on a whim, figuring out what it wants to be, knitting it up and finishing it all within the span of a few days. After deciding against a second Victoria mitten, I moved on to some blue Rowan Cork yarn that has been floating around my stash for a for a long while. It had a previous incarnation as a hat, but that life was spectacularly short-lived due to bad swatching and even worse needle choice.

I love it in its new skin, which will get a proper debut sometime this weekend.

So onto my next project. I was shortly sideswiped by this fabulous monstosity of a hat by the one and only Diane von Furstenberg, originally blogged about by Miss Kate. I dropped everything in search of the perfect yarn for a hat and inordinate amount of yarn for a gazillion pom poms. But searching for a yarn in the stash proved futile. I gave it some thought and something so marvelous really needs some serious thought and consideration. It's not a hat that can just be thrown together. So I'm going to meditate on it.

In the mean time, I've been intrigued by some kid silk and other delights in my stash. I originally intended on mixing the two like yarns together, but since then I think it will be lacy mohair scarves with maybe a hat or something. We'll see. I have a few patterns in mind, I'm going to swatch and see what sticks.

Victoria I...And The Last

2009-09-08T13:02:00.001-07:00

I finished my first Victoria mitten this weekend.

Hmmm. I'm not 100% in love with it.

Maybe it was the tedium I experienced making it.
Maybe I don't know when I'll actually wear a purple striped fingerless glove.
Maybe I'm afraid of all the ends to weave in.

Yes, I'm definitely afraid of those ends.

I hate to frog a few days work, but this purple yarn needs to be made into something more wearable. Purple striped mittens would match my lovely Flicker hat, but aren't exactly what I'd call practical. I will revisit this pattern, however, next time I'll make them solid in a neutral color and I'll knit in the round.

Bye, Victoria. It was fun while it lasted.

Beaded!

2009-09-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

Backstory

Pattern: Flicker from Nectar by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light
Needles: sizes 3 & 5; 6mm glass beads
Exposition: My first beading project done!

This pattern was easy to follow and fast to knit up. The beading itself was pretty simple, although my beads showed up better on the wrong side, so my hat is actually sewn inside out. I considered knitting in the round, but in the end, decided to just follow the instructions to knit flat and seam.

As you can see, at the top, I have reverse stockinette showing, rather than regular. I also see now that I should have pulled my stitches together a little tighter. I should reseam it, but I'm still not 100% sure I want to pull it all out.

The Ultra Alpaca light was a great yarn to work with. It has a great hand and isn't too fuzzy, although my eyes did get a little irritated from loose fibers floating around. Regardless, I would definitely use it again.

I have more than 1/2 a ball of Ultra Alpaca Light left over and hundreds of beads, so I'm starting in on a second project that will use both, the Victoria Fingerless Mittens from Knitting Luxuries. I've had my eye on this pattern since I got the book, and it's about time to make them right? Since I love the striped version, I decide to mix it with some Teva Duram Loop d Loop Quartz in a similar purple shade. I hope the tone on tone looks good.

Now I just need some cooler weather to get here.

On Fire!

2009-08-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, So Cal is on fire. I think there are four fires going on right now, one or two not far from where I work.

Good times for my lungs. My nose has been running all morning and my eyelids feel like sandpaper.

These were the views of the sky on my way into the office today. Nice orange sun. I just hope Griffith Park doesn't catch fire like it did a few years ago. Would you believe there are mountains in that second picture? Yeah. That's how nasty it is. Did I mention it's going to be 100+ in the valley today? Yeaaaaah.

Anyway...with all this bad weather, there's nothing better to do that sit around in some AC and knit for cooler weather, right?

So I broke down and ordered the Phildar magazine. The chances of my finding it anywhere in LA were slim to none, so I just sucked it up and placed the order. I couldn't stand not having that cozy, bumpy wrap.

Amazingly, it only took less than a week and it was in my mailbox. VIVE LA FRANCE!

There are a few patterns in this little booklet that are pretty cute: a nice long sweater, a hat, a poncho and a crochet hat and scarf set, but you know which page I immediately turned to.

And the pattern revealed itself to me. To my shock and surprise, it's actually a tube, not a large scarf-like wrap. Hmmmm. And in another duh moment, the stitch pattern: bobbles. Yes. Big, big bobbles. I had a feeling.

So now that I have all of it's details, I must find a yarn in the stash! I have some red Cascade Eco-wool that just might do the trick. And I'm not sure I want to knit it as two seperate pieces sewn together. Wouldn't it be much cozier as a scarf like wrap? Or maybe as a capelet? Poncho-esqe wraps just tend to get in the way and don't do their job of keeping me warm. Decisions, decisions.

Lastly, an update on Flicker. I've been doing pretty well! I've started the beading, but it seems that my beads show up better on the wrong side than they do on the right side. I think it's due to my left handed-ness, so you best believe the wrong might just become the right side.

I just have two more repeats, crown decreases and seaming! And I'm all done! I will probably have a quite a bit of yarn left over so I might start in on some wrist warmers to go along with it. I'm so excited to get this one off the needles! Just in time for 100 degree weather!

Here We Go!

2009-08-23T19:41:00.001-07:00

Friday I started in on the Flicker hat.

I only had to restart once, can you believe it?

So I got through the ribbing, strung up 300 beads and am almost through with the first lace repeat.

Exciting!

Speaking of beads, here are the ones that I've chosen. When I went to the bead shoppe, I fully intended to buy clear beads to add a bit of sparkle, but when I saw the various colors and styles, I was overwhelmed. I fell in love with a multi-colored blue/purple variation, but since I didn't have the yarn with me I couldn't be 100% sure they'd work out. Knitters instinct was telling me to stick with something simple. So instead of the simple clear bead, I went with a simple purple. I was a little concerned about the shade, but once I got it with the yarn, it looks great! Whoo Hoo!

Okay. Time to get beading!

Something New!

2009-08-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

Armed with my decision to rid myself of those annoying single and '+1' balls of yarn, I went home last night and opened the Pandora's boxes I call a stash. It's not that bad, really, I'm just being dramatic. Anyway, I pulled out all the yarn I want to get rid of and then went through my books. I have all these really lovely books, some of which I've never used for a project. FOR SHAME! From those books, I wrote down the patterns I love, some with interesting construction and some with techniques I haven't tried or would like to perfect and am now in the process of cross pollinating yarn to project. As we all know, however, it always doesn't work out perfectly. With some of the book patterns I just don't have the right yarn on hand. But between my Rav queue my list, I think I have more than enough pattern choices to make use of the 20ish yarns I pulled.

I'm really excited to start these projects. I think I've even decided what I'm going to make first. I'm going tackle a technique I've never done before. Knitting with beads. My choice of pattern is the Kim Hargreaves Flicker hat to be knitted in Berroco Ultra Alcapa Lite. My sister is an expert on bead knitting [she just recently completed the Shipwreck Shawl in which she used 4000+ beads]. She'll be an invaluable resource if I run into trouble.

And speaking of my invaluable sister, look at what she sent me for my birthday! My own labels! She had handmade me some for Christmas, which were super cool, but these take the ice cream and cake and cake! Ice cream and cake do the ice cream and cake!!!! I'm sooooo excited to use them! I feel like I've officially arrived as a knitter!

Looking Forward...

2009-08-19T19:45:00.001-07:00

Thank you for all the compliments on my crochet trim maxi knock off. As you all know, I don't often colour outside the instructional lines, but it was a huge ego boost to have a project come out as well as that did. You guys rock! But on to the subject at hand...

So. I've been doing some contemplating.

It all started, like most knitterly things, with an email. This time from Phildar. Isn't this shawl delectable? So cozy. So warm. So snuggly. I want it. I could order the Phildar catalogue for just that one pattern, but maybe I could find a stitch dictionary that has this lovely bumpy stitch pattern. Who can save me and knows where I can find the stitch pattern?

Once I started obsessing about this lovely Phildar confection, I started thinking about all things Autumn. Scarves. Shawls. Hats. Gloves. How can I resist the call?

So I'm thinking that I'm going to put aside sweater knitting for a little while and start accessory knitting. I would love to get rid of all the onesy-twosy balls and decrease the stash to just yarn that I have at least a sweaters-worth.

Good golly. I'd really love that shawl. It's just so pretty. Any leads on the stitch pattern?

And you know, the holidays are coming up and I'd love to actually be prepared this time. Not only that, I was thinking that with smaller projects I can take on new techniques that I avoid. Like short rows. And steeking. And lace. I'm feeling somewhat adventurous, can you tell?

Anyway. That shawl above is incredible. So pretty. I just have to make it! If only I could figure out the stitch pattern. Any clues?

In Between Project...

2009-08-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

I have this project I finished last week. It's nothing big, but I thought I'd share because I didn't use a pattern and I'm not embarrassed about how it turned out.

A few months ago a coworker of mine leaves a Victoria Secret catalog on my desk. Seems she was sent an extra one and she thought I might want to look through it. Let me admit right now, I'm not a big fan of the VS. The bras don't fit me and the rest of it usually underwhelms me in quality. Enough said. Despite my feelings toward the brand, I decided to look through it...she did take the trouble to lug it into work and leave it on my desk after all.

Most of it was meh, but this dress stood out. The Crochet Trim Maxi, value priced at $118. I instantly fell in love with the cool Mediterranean look. In a dress like that I could pretend I was in holiday in Greece.
"$118? Shit. I could make that."

The quest for a maxi dress that I could add a crochet trim to was an arduous one. As maxi dresses are all the rage, finding any old maxi wasn't a problem. Finding the right maxi was. At first, I was hoping to find a print similar to the picture, but struck out everywhere I looked. I even considered buying print fabric and sewing a maxi, but that thought was quickly put out of my head. So I finally decided to ditch the print idea and stick to a solid. I found a nice chocolate brown maxi and a beautiful orange one but was constantly dogged by the perfect print out there...somewhere.
Before I totally threw in the print maxi towel, I made one final trip to the local Ross. And wouldn't you know, I found a colorful print that would be perfect. It was strapless and the top wouldn't need any futzing and I could definitely live with the $16 price tag. With the dress in hand, I ran over to Joanne's and found some gold metallic crochet thread that would add a little sparkle. $8.

Once I had all my materials, I quickly realized I needed a pattern. A simple shell was too boring. Borders coupon to the rescue. I found a pretty good stitch dictionary that would give me plenty of choices. $15.

With dress, thread and pattern in hand I was finally ready. I blanket stitched the upper edge of the dress in a solid orange thread [the metallic thread in the gold yarn wasn't having all that mess] then switched to a doubled strand of gold for the main part of the trim. There were two things that were giving me trouble. Number one was converting the pattern from being worked flat to in the round and the other was figuring out how to decrease in pattern. I couldn't figure either out, so I decided to work the pattern flat and kept my decreases at the edges which, when seamed together, would allow for a better fit across the bust].

The last bit was the straps. I wasn't sure what to do. A braid seemed blah and didn't want to i-cord nor simple crocheted straps. In the end, I pulled out my handy dandy hair twister and went to it. I twisted four gold strands for each of the four straps [two on each side] and attached at the back with a pretty sparkly button. Totally perfect.
Less than $40. Now if I could just get to Greece...

Why Me?

2009-08-10T15:43:00.000-07:00

We all know I have issues with instructions. Why then, do I not make accommodations for myself?

I was happily knitting away with Joy in my heart and found myself befuddled by the knit I saw before me. The instructions stated "knit 27 rows straight ending with a WS row" and I just happened to have ended my 27 with a right side row. Hubris came a'calling. Must be the instructions. ERRATA! Nope, none to be found. After about 30 minutes, I found the error of my ways. Seems that I missed a single line of instruction. One stating to "knit 23 rows straight" between two decrease rows. Two decrease rows that happened 27 long rows before. What's 23 rows in the grand scheme of things? Well, just a few inches. But alas, Joy was not meant to be a cropped sweater. So I frogged. and cursed. And frogged some more.

Now I'm back to almost the beginning.
Good times.

I've Got That Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down In My Heart...

2009-08-06T12:16:00.001-07:00

It's hot.

Ok. That may be stating the obvious.

Anyway, we took a trip up to Santa Clara last weekend and I needed a project to work on during the 5 hour trip. I would love to work on another entrelac scarf, but working with wool is out of the question. So I thought I would pack up my 12 balls of Rowan Denim and start on Joy. I love this sweater! I just hope mine turns out as well as the 90+ on Ravelry.

I didn't get too far, as you can see, but it's a good start. It's supposed to be "cooling down" this weekend, so I'm hoping for time doing something other than complaining and sweating.

AUGH!

2009-07-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

I've been lazy. I have excuses! Let's see how convincing they are.

It's hot.
Work has been so hectic!
I'm taking an improv and a photography class!
I don't even have time for yoga!!
It's so hot!
The beach was calling my name.
The air conditioned anywhere but here was calling my name.
The farmer's market was calling my name.
I had to take a nap.
Did I mention it was hot?
I had to find something to eat.
The Bachelorette was on.
Nurse Jackie was on.
The power was out.
I'm steaming at home.
I'm freezing at work.
Damn! It's hot!

How does that sound for all the reasons I couldn't possibly pick up the needles/hook to finish a project or even find the time to blog about why I couldn't finish anything?

I'm going to break the habit though.
This weekend.
I promise.
Good things on the way!

I Went To Seattle And All I Got Was Yarn!

2009-07-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

Sadly, I'm back at work after a week of vacationing in Seattle. What a great city. One of my brothers and a cousin were hosting our family reunion up there last weekend and so a few of us took advantage and spent a little more time up north. I didn't do as much site seeing as I would have liked, but that gives us reason to go back and visit, right?

One place that was on the top of my list to go was Little Knits. OH BOY! I met the wonderful Karma there...but was so overwhelmed by the fibery goodness that I didn't chat as with her as much as I would have liked to. Next time we'll do breakfast! If you are in the Seattle area, I highly recommend going by Little Knits. Fulay is so nice and helpful and we all had a wonderful time looking at all there is to see. Although I was picking up a little bit of everything, I only brought home two bags of Elle Elite and two huge hanks of Cascade Eco-Wool. Not exciting, I know, but I have definite projects in mind, so I know it will be put to good use sooner rather than later.

I'll probably be finishing up a few things this week...in between mopping the sweat from my brow, so hopefully I'll have something to show off by week's end.

Vacation!

2009-07-04T10:34:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th everyone and thank you for the wonderful compliments on my finished Buttercup.

Of course with a holiday weekend and a finished project, it begs the question, what's next? Well, I have a long list of things to make...a list that never seems to get shorter. Two hats for cousins and a small...hopefully quick project. I'll keep you posted on my progress...if I can pull myself away from all the 4th of July family fun.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Buttercup!

2009-06-26T21:42:00.001-07:00

Backstory

Pattern: Buttercup by Heidi Kirrmaier [rav link]
Yarn: GGH Safari
Needles: size 4 and 5
Exposition: Let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief.
It's done! It's done!

Can you believe it? Well, believe it!

There are many Buttercups out there, and I have to agree with most of the knitters out there...it was pretty straightforward. Although I knit mine according to the written instruction [for the most part], I've seen quite a few people adapt the pattern for less of an a-line shape, others who added more lace to the bottom and/or the sleeves, and even one that is two toned...and it has proven to be a pattern that is very adaptable to the needs of the wearer. The only change I did make was to add an extra lace repeat a the bottom band.

I've used the GGH Safari once before and I will admit that I enjoyed it equally this time around. I love the suede-y hand and although I was a bit hesitant of the color, but now I have to say, I really like it...especially since I already own a pair of perfectly matched shoes. What could be better?

I was a bit concerned about how stiff it was when I finished, but as before, the yarn softened to a beautiful drapey material after blocking.

All praise aside, I have a two issues with my finished Buttercup. First off, the neckline is very wide. I have broad shoulders and if it's pulling a Flashdance, it's wiiiiiide. I'll get around to redoing it. I was also hoping for a cute poofy sleeve but alas, it doesn't seem to poof at all. No biggie though. I'm just happy it's done.

I Know What You're Thinking...

2009-06-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

...well it could be one of two things.
1. She's still not done with Buttercup. The curse has struck again!
2. She's done with Buttercup! The curse has been reversed!

Well, methinks both would be sorta right. I am done with Buttercup. I've tried it on and I'm not sure how I feel about the trapeze-ness of it. However, I do know that I need to give it a good wash and block before I make my final decision. That will be happening tonight. Keep your fingers crossed!

I Know What You're Expecting...

2009-06-22T14:55:00.001-07:00

...but unfortunately, perfection was not reached Sunday afternoon. There's still a chance for tonight though...I'll keep you posted.

Bloomin'

2009-06-19T13:50:00.001-07:00

Despite dealing with a weather induced depression, I've been pretty busy. Instead of going directly to bed when I get home in the evenings, I've been working on Buttercup. And it's coming along very nicely. Can you say, "No seaming?"

I knew you could.

I finished 4 out of the 6 increases and am at the point of either finishing as directed or deviating and doing my own thing. I've checked out the finished tops on Rav and am still undecided, although I probably need to try it on again and go from there. I just need to find the correct length and flare ratio. I don't want it to be too sack-ish, I am determined to get it right the first time and I'm knitting on borrowed time, as vacation time is coming dangerously close.

I'm pretty sure I will have found perfection by Sunday afternoon.

No pressure or anything.

My Little Buttercup...

2009-06-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

Vacation is coming up. You know what that means.

Not only deciding what project to bring along with me for the trip, but what projects to I want to try to finish before the trip.

One of the projects to finish before we leave is Buttercup.
Knitting the round eases my mind of any Seam: FAIL! issues. And it's been going along at a nice pace, which is also a good thing.

I'm excited to get back on the 'completed project' bandwagon.

...And It Won't Be Helon...

2009-06-03T09:53:00.000-07:00

So much frustration going on here in Superstarra-ville.

All this work on fixing Galaxy has really inspired my crochet craftiness. Which, of course, reminds me of yet another long suffering project. Helon.

I really love this dress, but have been avoiding it like the plague. I'm about 4 repeats in to the larger motif and it's such a slog. I'm not a big fan of the pattern, to be honest with you. It's pretty, but making it is UGH!

So, as much as I love this dress, I'm really thinking of categorizing it as something that is not meant to be.

But...I thought of a compromise.

I bought a crochet stitch book for another project I'm working on and so many of the stitch patterns are so beautiful, I've been considering keeping Helon's shaping but using a different pattern.

In between working on the other 4,245 projects I've got going right now, I think I'll find some time to swatch and see what I can come up with. But as for now, Helon is officially history.

The Galaxy Has Exploded

2009-06-01T10:59:00.001-07:00

I am not having any luck with these wips. Maybe it's their revenge for making me wait so long for finishing.

After the issues with Glint and the Cabled Coat, I figured I would give one of my other long suffering projects a go. The Galaxy Tank. So over the past two weekends, I've been giving Galaxy my finishing attention. I even enlisted my sister and her dressform to help me out.

After attaching the bias tape to the fabric body, we attempted to randomly, yet attractively balance out the crochet circles for Galaxy's top.

Random, attractive and balance were very difficult to achieve, but in the end [which was around midnight], we thought we did a pretty good job.

I did a little tweaking to the edging and this weekend felt I was ready to start attaching the circles to each other and to the fabric portion of the tank.

So the dressform, Dolly, once again volunteered her services as my voluptuous stand in.

I thought crocheting the circles would be a breeze...but alas, it was a pain in the ass.

Once again, random, attractive and balance was difficult to find.

After more time that I would like to admit, I was able to get all of the circles joined to the bodice and thought it might be a good idea to try it on. Just to see how it looked and to give me the motivation to push through the pain and finish it off.

And that was probably one of my best ideas of the day.

First off, the straps were too short causing it to ride up into my armpits. Not a good thing when considering a summer top.

Second, the whole look was off. It looked very dated to me. And not in a hip, retro way. More in a 'oh, you made that in Home Ec, didja?' way. My sister thought it might have been the combo of diagonal stripes and circles trapped in a crochet net. I think she's not far off the mark on that one.

So needless to say, this project has been a bit of a disaster. But all is not lost! I have an idea of how to rework this into something wearable.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Woe Is Me

2009-05-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

Seaming Week Part Three sucks.

There. I've said it.

I did one sleeve of Glint, tried it on and was amazed at how it looked. Baggy. Pulling and drooping and buckling. I put it down and haven't looked back.

I haven't started Buttercup or the super cute Vesper, but I have been working on two other projects. I hope to have them finished this weekend so I can show you what I've been up to.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Back On That Seaming Horse...

2009-05-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

Well, I've made some nice progress on the seaming of Glint. The neck band is on and the side and shoulder edges are together [why didn't anyone tell me that mattress stitch on reverse stockinette is a pain?]. Anyway, it's together and that's all that matters, right? I tried the body on this morning and it fits perfectly! YEAH!

Four more seams, a button and I'm done! I can't wait!

The Third Time Is A Seaming Charm...

2009-05-19T14:18:00.000-07:00

I think the discovery of my last boneheaded mistake has taken the wind out of my knitting sails. But I'm ready to get back on that old seaming horse...if only to see if one sweater...just one sweater...will actually cooperate with me and my evil plot to seam and finish.

Is it possible?

We shall see...we shall see...

A Very Superstarra Memory: Prom

2009-05-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

With prom season in full swing, Miss Natalie thought it might be fun to share our own prom night experiences.

I don't have any stories of raucous parties or wild nights, unfortunately, I'm pretty boring and my friends from high school were pretty low key. No, I take it back, I was just lame.

So instead, let's look at the circumstances and the fashion choices I made on my two prom nights.

Junior Prom-1989
I was kinda planning on not going to prom. Living in Orange County and being the only African American girl in my class really limited dating. No one asked so I was just kinda 'whatever' about the whole thing.

Circumstance: One of my good friends decided that rather than taking her boyfriend to prom, she wanted to take one of her guy friends. Well, since we were all in the same circle of friends, her boyfriend and I decided we might as well just go together. As friends. I'm not that kinda girl, people.
Fashion: I wanted a color I knew no one else would be wearing. My lovely sister offered to make the dress for me, so it would be a one of a kind regardless. Dresses with shorter fronts and longer backs with a contrasting lining color were very popular, so we decided on a purple frock with a yellow interior.

GO LAKERS!

Don't you love the yellow bow at the waist? I think it was supposed to be strapless, but we added spaghetti straps. We also took some of the excess material and voila! A matching wrap! Tres chic! I loved my matching purple shoes.

Unfortunately, there were two other girls in purple that year.

I had a great time at my junior prom, my friend's boyfriend was a great date and we had a great time. A very platonic prom.

Senior Prom-1990
Circumstance: Again. No date. That's cool. Whatever. I think the boy I liked had a girlfriend who went to public school that he was taking her and besides he and I were just friends and although I think he liked me, he never stepped up and admitted it, but whatever, it's his loss, right? So goes the sad song of the girl who's everybody's friend and no body's girlfriend. Cue smallest violin solo and cry me a river. Wah. Wah.

Geez, I didn't know I was still so bitter.

So anyway, not wanting miss out on the good times with my friends on such a huge night for a high school senior...I decided to take my brother. Yes, my brother. Hey, some of my friends were taking random boys who bagged groceries at the corner grocery store. At least I could leave him at the table, have fun and not feel guilty about it.
Fashion: I was desperate to not experience the "Purple Prom Dress Debacle of 1989". For some reason, most of my friends decided to wear white that year. I was like, "White? Hell no!" For me the question of color was "what color would no one else dream of wearing?" The answer came back as "ORANGE!" Yes, orange. My sister was enlisted to make the dress again. We decided to make a mermaid dress with a flounce at the bottom with the short in the front, long in the back look that we loved so much from the year before. The interior color would be an iridescent pink that looked orange from certain angles.

Unfortunately, my high school had a prom dress code. Dresses had to be floor length, and short in the front, long in the back wasn't going to cut it. Instead we decided to make a simple off the shoulder gown. It was cool, but I still would have loved to have worn the other style. I still regret not saying screw it and just having her make the other dress. Regret, regrets.

Needless to say it was a great prom. I abandoned my brother a lot of the time and didn't really care if he had fun or not [it worked out because he actually had a couple of friends there for some reason], which was totally cool. It was probably one of the best times I could have asked for. A great way to end that chapter of life.

And I look at it this way, at some point I'll have a great story to tell on late night talk shows.
Right?

SEAMING WEEK: Redux

2009-05-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest. Seaming Week: Redux almost didn't happen. This weekend, I was really dreading seaming 3 sweaters and putting the Galaxy Tank together. So I did what any knitter in his or her right mind would do.

I casted on for Buttercup.

Fortunately for Seaming Week: Redux, my gauge was totally off and I had to frog the whole thing. I took that as a sign from the knitting gods and got my ass in gear to make Seaming Week: Redux a reality.

You know that my first attempt at Seaming Week was thwarted by two right fronts on Glint. Well, I have that all reknitted, correctly this time. With that out of the way, I decided to check out what was going on with the Cabled Coat. I did a few measurements and realized that the front collars were an inch or two short. So I pulled out my trusty size 7's and got to cabling.

I got both sides to the proper length when something struck me.
Something struck me as terribly wrong.

Collar #1

Collar #2

One of these things is not like the other...

In case you can't tell what's wrong, let me point it out.

Yes. All 25 inches of cabled goodness, cabled incorrectly.

Isn't knitting supposed to be stress reducing?

Seaming Week

2009-05-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

I was going to seam 3 sweaters this week.

1. Habu.
2. Cabled Coat.
3. Glint.

Until it was brought to my attention that Glint's right front was facing left.

I guess I'll be knitting this week.

Need Help Deciding...

2009-04-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

So, Glint is almost off the needles. I should concentrate on fixing and seaming those languishing knits, but all I can think about is what to cast on next.

I have a few projects in mind, but one yarn in particular has giving me reason to pause. It just won't tell me what it wants to be.

Meet the yarn:

GGH Safari: The Salmon. 9 balls of indecision.

At first I was going to use this yarn to make another Rebecca tunic that I made two years ago in purple. I really love that sweater. It's comfy, it fits me well and it's a great summer top.

I've started rethinking that plan. Do I really need two of the same sweater in the same yarn, but different colors? It was quite an endless slog the last time, but the resulting tunic was totally worth it. Somehow I'm almost afraid I'll lose interest pretty quickly.

It's never as good as the first time, right?

Another option for this yarn is Teva Durham's Peasant Blouse.

I really like the look of this top. There's a really nice cable detail across the bottom back that I really love. But I'm not 100% sure of this one. There are 6 completed sweaters on Ravelry and they all look great, but something is holding me back.

Sometimes I'm convinced it's the sweater for me, then I look again and I don't feel the spark. Maybe it's my knitter's intuition telling me that the shade I have won't lend itself to this particular style very well. And I'm not sure how the Safari will do with cables either. I'm slowly talking myself out of this one.

That last option I have is Buttercup. Sorry, but I don't have a proper picture so you'll have to follow the link. I found this randomly on Ravelry and was immediately taken by it. It's simple, yet so summery and sweet. Wouldn't it be perfect for a weekend outing? I love both the short and 3/4 sleeve too...

Hmmm...me thinks I have just convinced myself which sweater to make.

With A Quickness...

2009-04-29T11:28:00.001-07:00

I am really beginning to love cropped sweaters. And Glint is no exception. They go so fast! I was able to knit both sleeves in about 1/2 a day last weekend and am working on the left front. It's been a leisurely pace. No rush. Although, the queue has been growing by leaps and bounds lately.

In that case, this knit needs to be over and done with.

Besides that, I've totally flaked on my April To Do List. It was a short month, wasn't it? I'll just have to keep plugging away...it's just so hard when all these great patterns keep popping up! Maybe they can wait a little while longer?...

Congrats!

2009-04-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well, Sunday has come and gone and here are the winners!

Christine and Cookie!

Send me your address and I will send a bag out to you this week!

Happy Earth Day!

Friday...Thankfully!

2009-04-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

I hate car maintenance.

I took the car in for service two weeks ago and asked that the tires get checked because they kept deflating on me. I was told there was no problem found and sent on my merry way. Three days later, the tire pressure was nil to nothing. So when I got an email asking about my service experience, I let them know how much it sucked. I got a call 30 minutes later asking me to bring my car in...so they could check the tires. DUH!

So I get up this morning and head over to the dealership. Lo and behold, a nail in one tire and a puncture in another. AMAZING! I wonder...how they missed it the first two times I asked? Oh yeah, they probably didn't check at all.
The only silver lining is that I had time to work on Glint. I finished the back last night and moved on to one of the sleeves - just to shake things up a bit.

I should have plenty of knitting time this weekend, so I'm looking forward to making even more progress on this little sweater.

And lastly, I thought I'd include a picture of one of the flowers from the bouquet I received from my boss for Admin Day. Have a great weekend everyone!

And don't forget to enter the Superstarra Earth Day Give-Away. Only if you want. No pressure.

Style?

2009-04-23T13:44:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Nik posted this link, asking if anyone had seen it. Of course, I checked it out and was intrigued by the design and flabbergasted by the styling.

Really, is there any other way to wear crisscrossed banded sleeves? At first, I thought that black cups were a part of the knit, then I realized that's a black bra underneath. Just the perfect outfit for an audition for 'A Chorus Line' or as one of the 'Chicago' Merry Murderesses.

And then there's the infamous Rowan 39. Some of these are styled so strangely that you can't even get passed it to see the knitted garment. The lady below looks like she just stepped off the set of Conan the Barbarian...

I have that belt in my closet.

I could, as most of us could, go on for days about how odd and/or badly styled some knits are and how a leather medallion belt around the neck of an otherwise attractive man really takes away from the one thing we're trying to see...his sweater. Then I was inspired to take my judgment as a challenge. I could challenge myself to elevate my simple handknits, that I would pair with jeans or a skirt, to haute couture...runway worthy!

I'm formulating ideas and making plans. If nothing else, it would be really great for a laugh.

And So This Is Earth Day...

2009-04-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

...and I think in honor of our Mother Earth, there should be a contest! And a little prize! And a way to reduce our use of plastic bags!

I saw these super cute Mickey Earth Day Reusable Totes on the Disney Store website, so I thought I would purchase one for myself and one for a fellow knitter. They're thinking about charging Angelinos 25 cents per plastic bag at the store, so 10 uses and it's paid for...but for you, it's totally free! Not to mention it's much cuter than some Vons bag anyway. But regardess of where you might live, reducing our use of plastic bags and keeping them from mucking up landfills and waterways is a good thing.

So, leave me a comment, or a question or a general musing about life to this post and your entered! Let's say the deadline to enter is midnight on Sunday, April 26th.

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Dawn!

2009-04-21T19:36:00.001-07:00

Backstory Done and Done!

Pattern: Dawn from Kim Hargreave's Nectar
Yarn: GGH Linova - 6 skeins
Needles: US 5 and US 6
Exposition: Well the Dawn has finally arrived!

What to say about this little shrug? It came together so quickly, it's almost like it didn't happen. Like it just magically appeared. Amazing! And now that it's all done I'm excited for an opportunity to wear it.

I had my issue with the collar, but was able to fix it with just a few hours frogging and knitting. Attaching the collar to the back edging was another story. The garter has give and the lace is loose and floppy, so trying to fit one to the other worked out, but caused a little bit of a gathered look at center back. It does lay flatter when pulled up, so it's not anything that's bothering me. I also think that a good wash and block will fix it.

The pattern was pretty easy to follow and it knit up very quickly. My initial concern was about how tight the ribbing would be around my waist, but it seems to be fitting okay - dare I say loosely [I think I blocked it out a bit too much]. Now my concern is stabilizing the wonky button band. The garter is pretty stretchy and therefore I'm having trouble figuring out where exactly to attach the buttons. I don't want any funky pulling [as you can see at the bottom, it's already curling] so I'd like to get it to lay flat and behave. I might have to sew something to the backside or add a hook an eye to give it a little extra stability.

Speaking of buttons - I love the buttons I found at Joanns this afternoon. They are La Mode Vintage - a collection of buttons recreated from their archives. I first saw this pretty leaf style, but unfortunately, it didn't look right on Dawn. These were next ones I picked up and they were perfect! Oh, I love them so!

I love them so much, you might see them appear on another garment in the not too distant future - or maybe I'll have to go back and get those leaf buttons...

Overall, I'm really happy with how Dawn turned out. I'm going to give it a good washing which will hopefully snap the ribbing back a bit, figure out a solution for the band and attach the buttons accordingly. WHOO HOO!

Seaming: FAIL

2009-04-20T13:21:00.001-07:00

I'm wearing my totally cute Cabled Jacket #41 today. It's steaming hot outside and comfy cool inside the office, so this is the perfect little sweater for today. The wool keeps me so nice and cozy, the 3/4 sleeves and croppy-ness keep it spring-y and light. Oh, I'm so glad this sweater worked out!

I guess the love comes from the trials and tribulations we went through.

So that means I'm going to love Dawn once I get her all together.

Seaming. Where did I go wrong? Oh yeah, that part where I decided not to follow those pesky instructions. Yeah, that's it.

Being a knitter of independent and unsound mind, I decided to blaze my own knitting trail. I decided to knit the collar band in one piece rather than knitting two separate pieces and seaming together at center back. Then I sewed the collar to the back. As you can see, it came out all wonky.

So, guess what?

I'm going to frog and follow the instructions this time.

Go figure. You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now. I was pretty mad at myself for being so stubborn. So how did I console myself?

I started a new project.

Summer Of Sweaters

2009-04-16T15:42:00.001-07:00

It's about that time. The planets have finally aligned. My knitting mojo is in full effect, my current WIP is almost off the needles, and I've got projects and yarn lined up and ready to go.

I'm still undecided what to do about my Nectar sweater/bamboo dye lot issue, so I'm going to let it go for the moment and move on. I didn't, however, move on from the Nectar book.

So let see...what's next?
Glint
This past weekend, I frogged the Textured Tunic. I'll be honest, I was happy to see it go. Especially because I already have a project in mind for the green Summer Tweed...Glint!

My first thought was to make this shorter pink sweater with the longer sleeves of a similar sweater from the Nectar book. But I'm not 100% on that idea now. I'm kinda digging the shorter sleeve version. Maybe a 3/4 sleeve version? I'm excited to get working on this one.

Joy
I've also set my sights on Joy. I received 6 balls of Rowan Denim as a membership gift this year and was desperate to get my hands of 6 more. Of course, by the time I procured 6 more, I forgot what project I wanted to make! I finally figured it out. JOY!
I'm excited to try out the denim yarn...check out the 40+ cardis on Ravelry...they're all fantastic! I'm too excited to start this one.

And lastly in the queue...

Jasmine
I really love the look of this sweater. There's something so feminine and delicate about this sweater. I'm not 100% sure it would be right on me. Something is telling me no, but I'm sure I'll be stubborn and give it a go anyway. Unlike the other two patterns, I don't have the yarn called for in the stash. So I started considering frogging Notorious. I have no desire to wear that top. I've tried more than once, but there's just something about it that isn't working. I still love the look of the original...but mine falls short of that potential. Besides that, I love the Safari yarn, so I'd like to use it for something I would actually wear on the regular.

This one is still up in the air...I guess I have more than enough time to decide.

Dawn Is Not Distant...

2009-04-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

Despite my weekend soiree with Jacket #41, I've made some significant progress on Dawn. I'm on the back section and am about 40 rows away from starting the back's bottom ribbing. I'm excited to get this one off the needles, but it's getting heavier, so I may have to pace myself a bit. Working on Helon is an option as well as a few other little projects I have in mind.

The one thing that has been on my mind quite a bit lately is what to do with the Plymouth Bamboo. I'm depressed about the two different dye lot issue. I would need 3 more balls to make Nectar and unfortunately, Webs [who has it on sale] doesn't have either dye lot in stock. I would suck it up and buy the extra 3 balls, but then that's a third shade I'd be throwing into the mix. I thought of the over-dye option, which seems valid, but I'm not sure how bamboo would take the dye not to mention I happen to really love the shade of green it is now. I also thought of buying another colorway and making something striped, but that just doesn't appeal to me at all.

What's a knitter to do?!?!

April Goal #1: Jacket #41

2009-04-13T10:02:00.001-07:00

Backstory

Pattern: Jacket #41 from Rebecca 33
Yarn: Rowanspun 4ply, held double
Needles: US 5 and 7
Exposition: It has risen from the ashes like a brilliant Phoenix! Jacket #41! New, improved and wearable!!!

I chronicled my adventures on Saturday afternoon, as most of the frogging and reknitting was done Friday evening. And being so close to the finish line, I decided that the rest of Saturday should be spent completing Jacket #41. A FO is way more important than reorganizing my closet.

Like you would have made a different choice.
Yeah, I thought so.

As you can see, there's not much difference when looking at it from the front, other than the bottom ribbing being longer. Wearing it, however, was a huge difference. It was much more relaxed and comfortable, mostly due to the cable band being looser and relaxed across the back of my neck.

The biggest difference, as you can see, is from the side. NO MORE PUCKERING! The longer bottom ribbing has helped it lay down and behave! Yipee! This sweater has finally reached its potential!

As for the Rowanspun yarn, I think it's really nice to work with. I had read that it has a tendency to break, but I didn't run into that problem. I love the color and although this is a cropped, 3/4 sleeve sweater, it's really cozy warm. Perfect for wearing in the subarctic office during the summertime over a cute dress or a tank!

The Return Of Jacket #41

2009-04-11T16:11:00.001-07:00

With my freshly received hank of Rowanspun in my hot little hands, I came home last night and plucked Jacket #41 from the "To Fix" pile.

First a status check. I hadn't put it on in months, so maybe the fit miraculously fixed itself.

As usual, it looked okay from the front...well, it looked okay after some pulling and tugging and adjusting and readjusting.

The truth can be seen from the side.

UGH!
A totally tragic handknit.

So I got to work. I wound the new hank into a cake, removed the buttons, pulled out the bottom ribbing and detached the cabled neck band.

I knitted a few extra cm on the neckband. Easy peasy.

Then I sewed it back in place.

Once I got the neck band back in place I tried it on.

Perfect! It's amazing how much difference just adding that extra bit of length to the neckband improved the fit!

Guess they write those instructions so specifically for a reason, huh?

Next was the worst part of this whole project. Picking up 142 stitches for the bottom ribbing. I picked up almost every variation of stitches until I was finally able to get it down to 144 stitches. Good enough for me. I was able to adjust for the ribbing and am about 1/2 way through.

Should have a nice new finished object before the weekend's out!

Mail Call!

2009-04-10T10:23:00.001-07:00

Last week, I posted my April To Do List. The first 'To Do' was fixing the Rebecca Coat #41.

Like I said before, I practically ran out of yarn on this project. So to remedy the situation, I figured that knitting the cable band a few inches short and shortening the bottom ribbing would do the trick.

As you can see, it didn't work out. The shortened cable band caused the front to ride up and the shortened ribbing just looked sad.

The only solution to the problem was to find a extra hank of the now discontinued Rowanspun 4ply. There are quite a few Ravelers that have some in their stash, but none have it listed as willing to sell/trade, so I figured I'd ask people as a last resort.

A quick Google search lead me to a retailer in the UK who had one lonely hank listed on their site. $2. Seemed like it was meant to be. It arrived today, in all its Rowanspun Tweedy glory, so I'm planning on fixing this project as soon as I get home today.

Wish me luck!

Right Before Dawn

2009-04-09T15:30:00.001-07:00

I'm about 6 rows away from finishing Dawn's right front. The pattern states that this shrug is knitting in one piece, so I imagine I'll be joining the two fronts together and working down the back.

Why bother reading the instructions beforehand? I'd rather be surprised.

Famous last words, right?

Thanks, Everyone!

2009-04-07T15:12:00.001-07:00

I just want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and words regarding my Uncle's passing. Yesterday was his funeral in North Carolina. I didn't make the trip, but instead spent some quality time with my dad and grandmother in Orange County. My brother, sil and 3 nieces were also in town, so we all spent the day with Grandma and tried to lift her spirits. I hope we succeeded, but it's hard to say how she coped when she was finally all alone, without the distractions of visitors.

I didn't want this post to be all sad stuff, so I'm including a picture I took of my nieces. My oldest niece has to write a report on Santa Monica, so we drove out there so she could check it out and get a sense of the history of the city. Needless to say, she was most interested in the ocean, the rides at the pier and the cotton candy.

And who can blame her?

Sad News...

2009-04-03T13:26:00.001-07:00

We received word Wednesday night that my Uncle passed away. His wife, two of his children and one of my aunts were with him, so I'm positive he knew that love was around him the whole time. He will be missed by all who knew him.

Thank you everyone who sent love, prayers and good thoughts to my uncle and my family. I truly appreciate it.

April To Do List

2009-04-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

So here we are, April 1st. Already four months into 2009. I can't hardly believe it. With the onset of Spring I'm deciding to Spring Clean my knitting closet.

I have a few items to finish and a few more that need slight tweaking. No more avoidance. No MORE!

1. The Rebecca Coat #41
I finished this last year. I wore it once, decided it needed some tweaking and it's been sitting around ever since. At the time, I was running low and yarn so I knit both the bottom ribbing and the neckband short. Of course, that caused the problem you see the the left. I need to frog the bottom band, remove the cabled collar so I can add another new inches to it. Then reattach the neckband and reknit the bottom ribbing. Of course, I need more yarn. Maybe I can find a nice Raveler who will work out a deal for a hank...

2. Habu 74
Oh Habu, where did we go wrong? Oh yeah, you ran out of yarn then you were a pain to seam. I almost forgot. I think I'll have to take one weekend this month and dedicate it to seaming you up and finishing you off. I will take my fellow knitter's advice and give your edges a good block before I even think about seaming.

And maybe you'll be a good sweater and behave? I'd hate to have to throw you in the corner until next April.

3. Galaxy
The hold up on this baby is sewing the bias tape down so I can attach my cute crochet circles.

Well, I've moved the sewing machine to a more convenient locale so now there's no excuse.

It's going to be so cute. And the weather is warming up. I can't wait to wear this. It's going to be so cute. I can't wait! I can't stand it.

4. Cabled Coat
It's freezing in my office. When it's hot outside, the A/C kicks into high gear, so it's always the season for wool at work.

Like Habu, all the knitting is done, it's just a matter of blocking and making sure the pieces fit together. If you can remember, I decided to make a cropped version, so it's a gamble whether it will all fit together in the end. My fingers are crossed that I measured and figured correctly and it will be perfect. It could happen. Right?

5. Apricot
I finished this two years ago. I love it, but am so unhappy with my button/button hole placement . It's been bugging me for the longest! I've already started taking out the crochet edging, so it's just a matter of getting it all out then putting it right back on. I could have it done in an evening. It's just a matter of making myself do it.

The picture to the left is before I put the offending buttons on. And as you can see, I hate the button placement so much, I haven't even taken a picture with the buttons on!
Sad, but true!

So there you have it...I'm clearing out my knitting closet and exposing it all for the world to see. I think if I work on one of these each week, I can have them done by month's end and still have time for working on Helon and Dawn.

Maybe I can reward myself with something special if I complete it all...

Sleeves A'Dawning!

2009-03-31T09:44:00.001-07:00

I really thought I'd get more done on Dawn while I was visiting my brother's this past weekend, but with three girls to look after, I didn't have much quiet time.

Besides that, Dawn requires my full attention. As many of you know, I sometimes have issues reading instructions. I tend to assume I understand the directions rather than reading and doing what they say as written.

Dawn is a pattern that is not having any of it!

Decreases for the neckline occur AT THE SAME TIME as increases for the sleeve. It's all very confusing [especially to someone who interprets instructions]. I knit and frogged and knit and frogged and knit and frogged. I finally decided to just put it away until I could have some uninterrupted knitting time.

So last night, I took the time and went line by line, doing what the instructions told me to do. It confounds the mind to realize that it worked! I only had to frog once when I missed an increase.

There were a few tools that helped me get through. First was the Stitch Minder application for the iPhone which I used it to keep track of increase and decrease rows. Priceless!

Another tool that is super handy are these colored stitch markers. Blue for decreases, pink for increases, and white for anything else. So when I did need to frog back, I knew exactly where the last increase/decrease/anything else was and could go forward without guess which increase/decrease/anything else it was.

Just one more decrease, twenty some odd rows and I'm at the shoulder! Not bad! Of course, then I have to knit the second side.

sigh...

Christmas Has Come To Superstarra-ville!

2009-03-30T16:49:00.001-07:00

Backstory

Pattern: Sheer Scarf from Shibori Knitted Felt
Yarn: 1/5 balls each of Rowan Kid Silk Haze and Rowanspun 4ply
Needles: size 4
Exposition: It's done! Come to find out the recipient is allergic to wool! More on that later...

I finished the knitting of the scarf itself last week but had never gotten around to felting it. Since I was going to see them this past weekend, I figured I would take it with me to my brother's house and felt it there. The pattern instructs to knit the scarf, felt it, then pick up stitches on each end and add a ruffle. I hate picking up stitches, so I decided to provisionally cast on and add the ruffle that way. In the end, however, I decided against the ruffle entirely and instead decided to just add a seed stitch border...which actually looks pretty nice.

The knitting was easy enough, knit, switch colors, knit, switch colors. I was wondering about the stockinette stitch roll factor, but it seems the felting process is helping it to lay flat. The Rowanspun felted pretty quickly and easily...it only took one pass through the agitation cycle. And if you were wondering, the kid silk didn't felt, but it did shed a whole lot and needed a trim here and there.

Overall, I'm really happy with how this turned out. It's nice and warm and...wool! Yeah...right as I was about to give it to my sister-in-law, my sister remembered that she's allergic to wool! Bummer! SIL figures that she could wear it with a turtle neck or over a jacket. I guess that's good enough for me.

DAMNIT!

2009-03-25T10:57:00.000-07:00

Last night, I checked the tags of the Royal Bamboo I was going to use for the Nectar top. There are two different dye lots.

Damnit!
Damnit!!!
Damnit!!!!!

Dawing...

2009-03-24T09:33:00.001-07:00

I finally remembered to bring my camera with me, so I thought I would share some pictures of Dawn's progress.
So far, so good. There's just a little shaping here and there, so keeping track of row count has been really important.

The Linova is pretty nice to work with so far...it 74/26% cotton/linen blend so my hands haven't been drying out like they do with 100% cotton yarn. I'm excited to see how it is after a wash and a block. The color is called Lint...which although seems to me to be a strange name, is actually an accurate representation of this particular shade of purple [for some reason the picture makes it look more blue than it is].

That's it for now.

Spring!

2009-03-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

Last September, I was seduced by Kim Hargeaves. Her book, Nectar,was available at one of my LYS and once I looked through it, I knew I had to have it. As much as I wanted to cast on immediately, Fall was immanent and knitting something light weight and breezy and having to wait 6 months to wear it would have been torture.

So this weekend, I was rummaging through the stash and pattern books looking for something springy to make. The patterns in the Nectar book once again jumped out at me. I matched them up with some stash yarn and swatched away.

Lucky, the yarn that I thought would work did! I've casted on for Dawn in GGH Linova. It's been a while since I've don't anything that could - even remotely - be considered lace, so it's been slow going to say the least. I mean, are all those yarn overs really necessary?

I also decided that I will start on the Nectar sweater soon. I have some Plymouth Bamboo yarn that I've been really looking forward to using and this pattern will be perfect. I did run into one small problem.

I'm about 3 balls short.

Luckly, Webs has stock so hopefully the dyelot is the same. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Cleverly Titled Post

2009-03-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

I've eaten horribly this weekend.

I just wanted to admit that having chips and salsa [even it is is yummy Newman;s Own Corn and Black Bean Salsa] for dinner isn't going to help me reach my diet goals. Sad, but true.

Now that it's Spring and it's windy and raining outside, I've pulled out my some lighter weight yarns and have casted on for a new project.

Have I finished sil's scarf?
No.
Have I finished the Cabled Coat?
Technically, no. Although I finish knitting the second 1/2 of the collar and plan to block whole thing out this weekend.

Pictures and details of the new project to come, of course.

Inappropriate For The Season

2009-03-16T10:41:00.001-07:00

I am a creature of knitting habit. I should know this about myself. So when I abandoned my sister in laws scarf last week, it wasn't a huge surprise. Especially when I'm so close to finishing. I'll be seeing her next week, so having it done might be a wise idea, because Spring is the perfect time for a warm wool and mohair scarf, right?
It's just over two feet long. The weather is warming up midweek so I'm going to go ahead and felt and block it. If it shrinks too much, I'll still have time to add more length, but I think it will be just fine. Then I'll just have to add the ruffles at the end and call it finished!

And what, you might ask, did I abandon that stripey goodness for?
A long suffering wip, the Cabled Coat. I picked it up last week when I had forgotten the scarf and Helon at work. It's been on like Donkey Kong since then and once again I find myself looking forward the the endless cables. I will hopefully have this half of the collar done sometime this week so I can block and possibly get to assembling. Just in time for spring...a wool sweater! What's wrong with me?

Almost Done?

2009-03-11T21:45:00.000-07:00

I wish I had my camera.
I wish I had my knitting project.
I wish I had my crochet project.

Alas, I left all 3 at work.

So you don't get pictures and I don't get to work on my wips.

The scarf is coming along...I think I'm close to being done, but I'm not sure how much the Rowanspun will shrink when felted, so I want to knit longer that I think it needs to be. but I can't knit on it too much longer because I need to have it done when I see my sister in law in two weeks. Ugh. All these time constraints. And I'm still trying to get over daylight savings time.
Such a lose-lose situation.

I think I'll just forgettaboutit and go to bed.
But before I do, I want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and prayers and such. I really appreciate it. :)

I think I'm going to stop thinking about it and just go to bed.

Sadness And A Blessing

2009-03-05T15:37:00.000-08:00

I have a prayers/good vibes/healing thoughts request.

One is for a friend. She just found out her non-smoking brother has stage 4 lung cancer that has spread to his lymph nodes, close to his heart and into his spine. The doctors have given him between 6 and 18 months. This friend is someone who is very close to my heart...we met in first grade but found out that we were not only born on the same day, but in the same hospital. 6 months ago she lost her dad to cancer, so this is a lot for her and her family to take.

The other request is for my own Uncle. He also has cancer and might be very close to the end of his life. He's my Dad's youngest brother, so you can imagine how hard this is on not only my grandmother, but my dad and his siblings...this is their baby brother. I just hope that his is comfortable and stays as long as he is able.

The last thing I want to share today is a blessing. In light of the two other things, it's trivial at best, but it's still important to me and something to celebrate in the midst of so much sadness. One of my good friends was blessed with a part on The Office tonight. He showed up in one of the promos that have been airing throughout the week and tonight is the big debut. I know I need something to help me laugh, so I'll be watching.

Thanks everyone!

One Of The Cool Kids

2009-03-03T10:36:00.000-08:00

We all wanna be one. One of the "cool kids". I'll admit it...I do. I want to knit cool things and take cool pictures and have cool gadgets. Well, recently, I've taken a few steps closer to attaining the unattainable.

First off, I'm taking a photography class. My division of The Tragic Kingdom offered some development classes, so I decided to learn more about photography. My dad, brother and uncle are all avid photographers, so I thought I might see if it's in all of our genes. I've been experimenting with my point and shoot Canon and trying my hand at 35mm.
GF has an old Russian Zenit camera, so I took some shots from the top floor of the parking garage at The Grove. I'm not sure exactly what I did, but I really love how this picture turned out. Happy accident.
I also borrowed my dad's old Canon camera and shot a roll. This was of the fountain at The Grove. On a different day. I promise you, I don't walk around shopping malls with 20 camera around my neck taking pictures.

That would so be the antithesis of a "cool kid".
Or would it?
I thought maybe the color/saturation issues I was having with the previous rolls of 35mm I shot might have been because I was using 400 asa film, so I was totally stoked to find 100 asa at the art store. I've just started my first roll and am excited to see how it turns out.

And lastly, I finally joined the ranks of the cool kids of the electronic age:
It was totally necessary.

Here's my excuse. I was using a Pocket PC, which totally worked fine. I use a PC at work and it's totally fine. But...[and there's always a BUT]...I use a Mac at home. My phone needed an update to work properly and I couldn't get the update to sync with the Mac and I couldn't update it at work, due firewalls and inability to download programs on my computer and corporation/worker trust issues, so whatever.

So you see, I HAD to buy a new iPhone. I didn't have a choice. But I think it makes me a whole lot cooler.

Right?

A Whole Lotta Nothing.

2009-02-28T19:43:00.000-08:00

I've got a headache.

Not that it makes interesting blog fodder.

I'm still working both the scarf and Helon, but nothing worth sharing.

I think I'm going to lay down and watch the weekend marathon of CSI: Miami.

Helon Vol 2.0

2009-02-23T16:29:00.000-08:00

I should have been working on my SIL scarf as I'm running out of time and patience. It's a decent length right now, but I just want to knit a few more inches to compensate for felting shrinkage.

I'm sure you can guess what I was working on instead of the scarf.

Yes, Helon.
Originally, I had started with the sleeve, but thought better of it this time around, so I started with the back. It's coming along pretty nicely...I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it won't take as long as I think it will.

Back To It

2009-02-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

It's mid February already. You'd think I would have put the 'Fiasco of a Knitted Christmas' behind me.

No, I hadn't.

It wasn't until this weekend that I finally took the time to put the pile of 'Christmas gift yarn' back in it's proper place. In the closet. Out of site. Out of mind.

Well, in the midst of cleaning and reorganizing the stash, I came across a WIP from almost exactly a year ago.

Remember my love of the Helon dress from Rowan 43? Yeah, neither did I. Just kidding. I've actually thought about picking this project up quite a few times, but there was always some distraction. But coming across it again, I have a renewed excitement and commitment to it.

Besides that, I realized that if I would have been more consistent with it last year, I would have had a new dress to wear this Spring. Sad, but true. Let that be a lesson to me.

This goes against my 'no knitting for me until I lose a few' rule, but I'm okay with it. By the time I finish it, I'll pretty much be where I need to be size-wise. There will be a few odds and ends projects that I may try to knit in between [you know how much I like switching back and forth between knit and crochet] but I think it will be my main project for the time being. I'm almost looking forward to working on it. Let's see how I feel a month from now, huh?

Sheer Scarf

2009-02-10T09:58:00.001-08:00

I'm not much of a Christmas list maker, but one item that made the list this year was Shibori Knitted Felt. I've been interested in this technique since seeing an article about it in Interweave Knits a few years back but never tried it. So when I received the book I was pretty excited to try a few of the patterns. I was instantly drawn to the Sheer Scarf and thought it would be great for my sister in law.
The colors I've chosen are a bit unorthodox, but they are not only the colors of the school where she teaches, but also of her favorite football team. Everyone wins, right?

I had some Rowanspun 4ply in the stash and found some Kidsilk Haze at my LYS. I've been knitting away since New Years and am just about to attach the second ball. Whew, it's a marathon! I've got to speed up the progress though. We're going to see her at the end of next month and I'd like to have it done by then.

I think I can do it.

Interesting, But Not

2009-02-09T12:35:00.000-08:00

My best intentions stated that I would take pictures of my 'Formerly Known As Christmas Gifts' projects this weekend. Alas, it didn't happen. It's been cold and rainy here which translates to getting on the road and drive 40 miles south to Orange County. Of course, Southern Californians are known for their lack of driving skills in the rain. We are befuddled and bewildered by the strange substance falling from the sky and just can't keep our eyes or minds on the road. Needless to say I didn't take any pictures of my wips.

Instead, I'll post some pictures from two weekends ago when it was sunny and 72.

I was hoping this dragon would eat someone's head, but alas, it was not to be.

Did I Miss It?

2009-02-04T21:05:00.000-08:00

Hey! Long time no see! I bet you all though Poppy and I ran off with the circus. But alas, we are still in LA.

Let's see, what's happened since December?

I had an insane notion to make Christmas gifts. I unwisely bought a knitting machine from Michael's figuring I could use it to make gifts with yarn I have and hand finish.
Total gifts made: 1. Needless to say, the knitting machine is no longer with us.
When did I decide knitting Christmas gifts wasn't feasible? The evening of December 22nd.
Despite the lack of hand-knitted gifts and in spite last minute shopping, Christmas was really great. A lot of family and just a little bit of drama to keep us from wanting to get back together too soon. Just kidding.
New Years was great too. Quiet. Calm. Foggy. We stayed home and played Rock Band. We ROCK!
Chinese New Year was great. I met some friends in Chinatown and we took in the parade. It was a great time.
Work has been insanely busy...hence no downtime for posting.
We're all scared about lay-offs...even at the Tragic Kingdom, so budgeting, reigning in spending and paying off bills have become more important than ever.
I have been knitting.
No knitting for me...I'm keeping to the promise of my last post [and I really appreciate all of your support and encouragement, by the way]. I have my goal weight in mind and am about 1/3 of the way there. Let me tell you, it's going to be a Superstarra Super-cute Summer!
I've been finishing up my hand knit Christmas gifts. Still.
I hope to have some posts and updates about what I've been working on.

Um...I think that's it for now. I'm promise to get back to regular posting and reading...I miss knowing what you are all up to!

Weights And Measures

2008-12-13T10:10:00.000-08:00

I've noticed something about myself lately. Something I'm not too happy about. About 8 months ago, I decide to take a full time job that was offered to me. Of course, its cut into my audition and performing time, but in this economy I'm positive I've made the right choice to postpone my career in order to pay the bills on the regular. Well, in this job, I'm extremely sedentary. I've refused to acknowledge the fact that I recently needed to upsize my pants. And that some of my favorite clothes now are too tight and extremely unflattering. But yesterday I did it. I couldn't avoid it another day.

I hopped on the scale.

It only confirmed what I knew to be true. I'm over what is usually my maximum density. And I can't just blame it on holiday splurging. It's been a 8 month free for all. And it's just got to stop. I mean, think about all the handknits I have planned. If I knit a larger size, when I get rid of this extra baggage, how will they look? Besides, I've planned on knitting my regular size and bought yarn yardage accordingly. You all know how much of a pain it is finding extra yarn in a specific dye lot! And knitting a larger size just adds extra days of knitting!!!

I JUST CAN'T DO IT!!!
So. I'm making a plan. I'm getting my ass in gear. Literally. I'm doing it for the knits.

So I was thinking that I'll finish up the Cabled Coat and postpone any other sweaters while I shake off the unwelcomed extra. If that's not motivation, I don't know what is.

Checking in...

2008-12-09T09:38:00.000-08:00

I feel like I've been missing in action lately. Work has become insanely busy and between getting ready for the holidays and recovering from Thanksgiving I haven't had much time to breathe.

I've been working on gifts and the Cabled Coat, which is coming along nicely. I accepted the fact that I wouldn't have enough yarn to knit to the collar to length so I sucked it up and decided that I would have to try to find one to two more balls. Should be easy. I only purchased this yarn two years ago. A Ravelry search didn't yield much, but I was able to find the exact dye lot on eBay. Whew! The yarn arrived yesterday, so I'm really hoping to get this project out of my hair sometime next week. It's time to move on.

I hope all is well with you...I wish I had more time to keep up with everyone's blogs, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. But leave a comment if there's something that going on in your corner of the world that I should check out!

The 4 C's

2008-12-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

I would take pictures of my Cabled Coat Collar Calamity but the camera is over there and my knitting is on the other side of the room.

Here's the issue. I have 4 balls with which I need to knit the entire collar. Each half is suppose to measure 25". This weekend, I knit one ball and that measured 10 1/2 inches. Seems the 4 balls won't be enough.

What to do?

The pattern calls for the sweater to be knitted on size 9's, but the collar is to be knit on 7's. So I decided to try to knit one ball on 8's and see how that measures up. It might not make a difference, but here's to hoping!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T08:03:00.000-08:00

Poppy and Ijust wanted to wish you all a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Enjoy yourself today and don't forget to tell those you love how thankful you are for them!

That being said, I just want to thank you all for visiting my little corner of the internets here in Superstarra-ville. I appreciate all your comments and suggestions and love!

Have a beautiful Thanksgiving!

Knitting...

2008-11-25T11:49:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions on how to handle the Habu seaming issue. I haven't given it the time of day since Saturday morning, to be honest with you.

I did, however, get a few rows of the Cabled Coat's collar done...so that's something.

2008-11-25T09:13:00.000-08:00

Hey all! It's me, Poppy with tips and thoughts for your Thanks- giving cele- bration. It's that week we all love.

Thanksgiving!

Turkey, pumpkin pie and everything in between. I can't wait! Neither Christie nor I are really gourmets, so I'm afraid we won't have much in the way of cooking tips. I did want to talk about one thing today and that is getting ready for all that good old holiday family and friends time.

Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season and keeping your sanity should be your top priority. Who can enjoy turkey when they've given themselves an ulcer worrying about this and that?

Help! If you're hosting Thanksgiving event, don't be afraid to ask your guests to lend a helping hand or bring one of their specialty dishes. If your attending a gathering, offer to bring something. It could be as simple as a bottle of your favorite wine or a table centerpiece to something as complicated as volunteering to arrive early to help with the cooking or dinner set up.
The Good Stuff! Rather than using paper plates and plastic utensils, why not break out the fancy dishware? If your guest list exceeds the number if guests your having, consider visiting your local restaurant supply or discount store for some inexpensive coordinating plates and wine glasses to mix in with your china and crystal.
Play It Again, Sam! Music can add fun and festivity to your dinner. Take a moment to put together a playlist of your favorite holiday music...or if you're the music expert of the family, volunteer to make a cd to bring to the party.
Drive Safely! A lot of us visit not only family but friends on Thanksgiving, so please, please, please take extra precautions when out on the road.
Enjoy Yourself! Do what makes you happy and thankful this Thanksgiving. Regardless of who you spend time with this Thanksgiving, have a good time. Sit by someone you like to talk with, catch up family or friends, and enjoy a great a meal and even better company.

I'm sure most of this is elementary, sometimes the simplest things [like enjoying yourself] fall through the cracks in an effort to create the perfect day.

GRRRRRRRRRRAAAHHHHHH!!!!

2008-11-22T09:18:00.000-08:00

Habu is not cooperating. I was trying to attach the sleeve last night and it just wonky and lame and fitting together. The gauge is pretty loose, so I think that might be part of the problem. I don't know what to do. I didn't block the pieces because I'm just going to wind up felting it. Do you think blocking will help? I'm thinking of doing the side seams and seaming the sleeves then trying to put the sleeves in. I'm really at a loss and am looking for any advice, good or bad that you may have.

I would post a picture, but that would be rewarding bad behavior.
And I'm not about that.

So I was really frustrated last night and decided instead to work on the Cable Coat's collar. Cabling will help me find my knitting center so that I can once again pick up seaming later today.

Oh Yeah

2008-11-21T14:52:00.000-08:00

Well would you look at that!

Looks to me like someone recently bound off a sleeve of the Cabled Coat.

Yeah, that would be me.

I rock.

Have a good weekend everyone, and let's keep our fingers crossed that sometime this weekend I have a seamed Habu sweater to show off.

Mental This

2008-11-19T14:46:00.000-08:00

I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Although I came up with a compelling argument to abandon the Cabled Coat's moss stitch sleeve in order to seam the Habu sweater, I've totally disregarded my own good advice. It seems that I'm making quite a bit of headway with the sleeve and am afraid if I put it down I might not get the rhythm back. Besides, at this point I have one more increase, knit a few rows, then the raglan decreases. It's practically done! Why stop now, right?

Besides, I'm thinking that I have all this weekend to seam, felt, button and block Habu-74. And if I can't get it all done this weekend, I have Monday through Wednesday of next week so that it can be ready for Thanksgiving, right?

And speaking of Thanksgiving, Poppy has asked that we continue the Holiday Featurette series with a few tips for Thanksgiving...she just made me promise that I wouldn't dress her up in a turkey or ham costume.

Like I was even thinking about it. Honestly.

Oh, did I totally almost forget to mention that they're shooting an episode of The Mentalist up the street from my work? I totally wanted to go stalk Simon Baker, but alas, they were shooting in one of the building and not in the park. DAMN! Foiled again!

YOU GUYS ARE MIRACULOUS!

2008-11-17T17:19:00.000-08:00

I talked to my Aunt this afternoon and she let me know that the hospital is releasing my Uncle! I don't have any other details, but I'm thankful [and sad] that he and his wife can finally make arrangements to fly home!

Thank you again to everyone for their kind thoughts and good juju and prayers.

You all deserve credit! Now go get yourself some chocolate!